Amiga Quartett - Nena

Another one of those delicious Amiga Quartett EP's is dedicated to Nena. It was their first of two EP's released by the East-German state-run record company, but the one song you might expect to be on here, '99 Luftballons', is suspiciously absent. Probably the anti-war statement was a bit too much for the censors back then. 

Instead there are two other singles on here plus their respective B-sides. 'Nur geträumt' and 'Leuchtturm' were almost equally big in West-Germany, but not so much in other territories. Obviously some people in the GDR were very glad to hear some tracks from a German speaking superband. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7845
Found: Discogs.com, received 7 November 2025
Tracks: 'Nur geträumt', 'Kino' / 'Leuchtturm', 'Indianer' 

Freunde der Nacht - Pascalis, Marianna, Robert & Bessy

With 'Mathema solfege' the quartet consisting of Paschalis Arvanitidis, Marianna Tolli, Robert Williams and Bessy Argyrake represented Greece at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1977. I didn't check, but there are just a few opportunities where Greek Eurovision entries were also recorded in German. Vicky Leandros comes to mind, but other than that, I wouldn't know.

'Freunde der Nacht' is unique, because it completely sets aside the original idea of the lyrics, and replaces it with something else. The chorus of 'sol fa fa fa', mimicking solfege lessons, has disappeared, and with it, a lot of the charm of the song. It's always nice to have a different language version of a Eurovision song, but this time, the English version (appearing here on the B-side) wins. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7847
Found: Discogs.com, received 7 November 2025
Tracks: 'Freunde der Nacht' / 'Music lesson'

I do, I do, I do - Abba

The song most people know as 'I do, I do, I do, I do, I do' was presented as 'I do, I do, I do' on this colour Austrian sleeve of this 1975 single by Abba. It was exactly this colourful sleeve that made me decide to buy the single, because it looked so different from the copies that I already owned. The Austrian record company certainly knew what it was doing!

On the label, the full title is displayed, by the way. The single was a reasonable success for the band, but obviously their biggest success was yet to come at that point in time. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7806
Found: Lenny's Music Store, Vienna, 17 October 2025
Tracks: 'I do, I do, I do, I do, I do' / 'Rock me'

Phased - All About Eve

After All About Eve signed to MCA Records, incredibly, the releases on various formats kept coming, but they weren't as exciting as before. The 'Phased' EP was their first release on the new label, but the 10" single contained the same tracks as the 7" single, cassette single and the cd-single. It was a proper EP, but there were no real surprises unfortunately.

The only surprise, if one might call it that, was that the 10" single was pressed on blue vinyl. Obviously the music has stood the test of time.

My collection: 10" single [unnumbered]
Found: HMV, London, 1992
Tracks: 'Phased', 'Mine' / 'Infrared (instrumental)', 'Ascent/descent'

In the heat of a passionate moment - Princess

After I found 'I'll keep on loving you' on 12", I also found this one by Princess. 'In the heat of a passionate moment' is a lesser known track by the singer, but the 12" single presents an attractive eight minute remix, along with an instrumental version and the original album mix, which also approaches the eight minute mark. It was reason enough for me to take this one home too. 

Princess retired from the music scene and moved to the USA after the death of her mother and the assassination of her brother. From 1991 to 2003 she lived in the U.S., before returning to England in 2003. That same year she formed her own music label with her brother Donovan, OnDa Ground Music Label, which has released all her music since, and released her first single in 14 years, 'Ride', with rap ensemble EEDB. A music video was also filmed which referenced her retirement. In April 2014, she released her third album, The Emergence, the first in 27 years. It was meant to be the first in a trilogy of albums, the other ones titled The Passion and The One. 

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, 30 October 2025
Tracks: 'In the heat of a passionate moment (The So Long mix)' / 'In the heat of a passionate moment (instrumental)', 'In the heat of a passionate moment (album mix)'

I can't give everything away - David Bowie

With the recent release of the box set I Can't Give Everything Away, David Bowie has been promoted heavily by the 'serious' music press. The French Rolling Stone released a single of 'Slow burn' and the German version had to follow suit.

They came up with the brilliant idea of releasing the title track from the box set, and in a radio edit version too. The sleeve is actually the same as the one that was used back in 2016 when the track was originally released for promotional purposes. The B-side is empty except for some etching. That is probably the only disappointing thing about this release.

My collection: 7" single no. 7844
Found: Rolling Stone Germany, received 31 October 2025
Tracks: 'I can't give everything away (radio edit)' 

Electric blue - Icehouse

Every time when I order something from far away - in this case, an American promotional cd-single by Cock Robin that I'd been after for some time - I try to look for singles that the seller might have. This particular seller didn't really have anything that I might fancy, but this item was nice and cheap enough to include with my order.

After a long wait, the package arrived this week, and it turns out to be a gorgeous blue vinyl single. I didn't actually know the track 'Electric blue' by Icehouse, but it is one of those Eighties tunes that goes down well. And so this is a nice addition to my collection.

My collection: 7" single no. 7843
Found: Discogs.com, received 31 October 2025
Tracks: 'Electric blue' / 'Over my head'