Won't you hold my hand now - King

'These are heavy times', sighs Paul King on this single, and that message is as true now as it was back in 1985. Still, the band was always able to create melodic pop songs and package them in attractive sleeves and limited edition posters. 

'Won't you hold my hand now' was released as a double pack featuring a bonus second single, and also in this free colour poster version. I was actually aware of this poster version, but didn't want to spend any postage costs on this, and so I was happy to find a copy in one of Vienna's biggest record shops.

My collection: 7" single no. 7784
Found: Alt & Neu, Vienna, 13 October 2025
Tracks: 'Won't you hold my hand now' / 'Fish (reprise) live' 

Eeny meeny miny moe - Luv'

The Dutch girl trio Luv' had considerable success all over Europe near the end of the Seventies, so it may not be surprising that their singles were released in different countries - and sometimes with different sleeves. The Dutch version featured the girls on a bike, whereas the French one preferred an uncredited muscle man while also flipping the sides of the single.

In Austria, the record company was comparatively lazy, simply using the album sleeve with the song titles slapped over it. But it's a cute sleeve, and so I decided to buy it anyway. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7783
Found: Alt & Neu, Vienna, 13 October 2025
Track: 'Eeny meeny miny moe' / 'I.M.U.R.' 

Love machine '88 version - Supermax

'Love machine' was quite a remarkable track in 1978, with its low vocals and repetitive music. The Austrian band was fronted by lead singer Kurt Hauenstein, who died on 21 March 2011. He is buried on Zentralfriedhof in Vienna, near Falco's grave - something I didn't know when I was actually in Vienna last week. 

Before that, Supermax released an '88 version' of 'Love machine'. It is an updated version of the track, which like the original is split up in two parts for the single release. Two years ago a 12" single was released for Record Store Day, bringing both parts together on one side. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7782
Found: Alt & Neu, Vienna, 13 October 2025
Tracks: 'Love machine '88 version (part 1)' / 'Love machine '88 version (part 2)' 

Witch's promise - Jethro Tull

'The witch's promise' was recorded by All About Eve as a B-side for 'December', but it was originally recorded by Jethro Tull and written by their frontman Ian Anderson. When you've heard All About Eve's version, the original version pales in comparison, to be honest. But still, I wanted to have this single because I was curious about this track.

'Witch's promise' is one of the few recorded by Jethro Tull to feature the Mellotron, a tape replay keyboard that could emulate a string section, and the only single released by the band to feature the instrument. It was intended to be the last standalone single from the band that was not taken from an LP. Anderson said the band would issue singles from future albums in order to gain radio play, but he was not particularly interested in promoting them.

My collection: 7" single no. 7781
Found: Alt & Neu, Vienna, 13 October 2025
Tracks: 'Witch's promise' / 'The teacher'

Rovers return - The Korgis

During the Eighties, the Korgis were at the top of their game. I can easily say that, because I heard some of their later recordings and they had neither crack nor taste, as we say in Dutch. I thought I had all of their singles from that decade, but then I saw this one, featuring not one, but two A-sides: both 'Rovers return' and 'If it's alright with you baby' were released as singles in their own right. This single was released in Germany, and it brings both tracks together. It's not a chore to listen to these again; it's pop music at its most brilliant.

My collection: 7" single no. 7780
Found: Alt & Neu, Vienna, 13 October 2025
Tracks: 'Rovers return' / 'If it's alright with you baby' 

Tightrope ride - The Doors

Buying singles can be confusing sometimes, when you have a big collection. Did I already buy this one? It does look familiar, but I am still not sure. Well anyway, it isn't that expensive so I guess I'll just take it. And then you get home and... 'd'oh!', it's already there. 

Fortunately this version of 'Tightrope ride' comes in a slightly different sleeve, and that's because this is the German pressing, whereas the other one was a Dutch one. Maybe I'll let go of one of them at some point, but meanwhile it is here for you to enjoy.

My collection: 7" single no. 7779
Found: Alt & Neu, Vienna, 13 October 2025
Tracks: 'Tightrope ride' / 'Variety is the spice of life' 

Džuli - Daniel

I never knew that the original version of 'Julie' was released in Germany, but then I saw this single. It comes in a sleeve that is quite similar to the one featuring the English version, but it announces that this one features the 'Jugoslawische originalversion' and the 'Jugoslavenska originalnaverzija', which is German and Croatian for 'Yugoslavian original version'. 

After a few seconds of being very surprised by this one, I checked the label of the disc, and it did indeed announce 'Džuli' as the A-side track. What's more, the B-side includes another original track by Daniel, which doesn't appear on the Yugoslavian single. I guess my collection is now complete.

My collection: 7" single no. 7777
Found: Alt & Neu, Vienna, 13 October 2025
Tracks: 'Džuli' / 'Bio sam naivan'