Dancing queen - Abba

Abba (especially Benny Andersson) wanted to release 'Dancing Queen' as the follow-up single to 'Mamma Mia' but their manager, Stig Anderson, insisted that the more sedate and folksy 'Fernando' should be first, as he felt it would appeal to a broader audience and so was more likely to be a hit. Therefore, whilst 'Dancing Queen' premiered on both German and Japanese television during the spring of 1976, the song did not appear on vinyl until later that summer, having had its first live and domestic performance on 18 June 1976 during an all-star gala staged by Kjerstin Dellert at the Royal Swedish Opera (and shown on Swedish TV) in honour of King Carl XVI Gustaf and his bride-to-be, Silvia Sommerlath, who were married the next day.

The Japanese single came with a very different sleeve when compared to its European counterparts. Like most Japanese sleeves, it looks stylish and even after almost five decades the disc and sleeve are in pristine condition. The B-side is 'Tiger', instead of 'That's me'. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6152
Found: Discogs.com, received 6 October 2021
Tracks: 'Dancing queen' / 'Tiger'

Fernando - Abba

I went through some recent acquisitions pertaining to Abba yesterday, but I also bought a few Japanese pressings a bit longer ago, which I will go through today. 

The first one, chronologically, is 'Fernando', a single from 1976. The sleeve uses the same photograph but has a different layout. I bought this single along with a handful other Japanese Abba singles in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic. At some point, I could only spend my money online, because all the shops were closed. Even when the shops reopened, I was buying the good stuff online - in this case directly from Japan!

My collection: 7" single no. 6156
Found: Discogs.com, received 6 October 2021
Tracks: 'Fernando' / 'Tropical loveland'

Voulez-vous / Angeleyes - Abba

In the UK, the double A-side single was called 'Angeleyes / Voulez-vous', but in Europe the non-alphabetical order 'Voulez-vous / Angeleyes' was preferred. To be fair, 'Voulez-vous' is the stronger track of the two, and also the title of the album where these two tracks came from. 

Presented here is the German copy, with the usual paperthin cover, and a photograph that would turn up years later on the cover of the Thank you for the music box set, which famously includes 'Abba Undeleted', a medley of some studio outtakes. How we wish they would release more from the vaults.

My collection: 7" single no. 5569
Found: Discogs.com, received 31 January 2018
Tracks: 'Voulez-vous' / 'Angeleyes'

Money, money, money - Abba

The song you knew as 'Money, money, money' was called 'Money, money' in Italy. At least, it seems that way when you look at this sleeve. On the label it clearly says 'Money, money, money'.

There's something else which is weird about this single release: the B-side features 'Knowing me, knowing you', which was of course a single in its own right. It replaces the track 'Crazy world', which was the B-side everywhere else. Again, this is one of those singles I wanted to have for the different sleeve design, but the weird B-side is a bonus.

My collection: 7" single no. 7805
Found: Lenny's Music Store, Vienna, 17 October 2025
Tracks: 'Money, money, money' / 'Knowing me, knowing you' 

The name of the game - Abba

I know I did an entry on 'The name of the game' in September, but that was before I went to Vienna and found this copy of the same single. Rather unsurprisingly, it's an Austrian copy, but with a totally different sleeve. And as I wrote back then, I probably won't easily get the Australian, Hungarian and Yugoslavian editions, but it was surprisingly easy to get a few Austrian ones. 

This sleeve comes with a unique design, placing a cropped version of the same photograph in the middle and surrounding it with an attractive shade of blue. It's a lovely variant!

My collection: 7" single no. 7804
Found: Lenny's Music Store, Vienna, 17 October 2025
Tracks: 'The name of the game' / 'I wonder (Departure)'

Knowing me, knowing you - Abba

Along with 'I do, I do, I do' I bought another Abba single in Vienna with a strikingly different sleeve. And again, this one was made in Austria. With a smaller photograph and lots of white space this design is a lot more sophisticated than other sleeves for this single.

'Knowing me knowing you' is of course one of the more dramatic singles by Abba, foreshadowing all the divorce troubles the two couples would go through during the existence of the group.  

My collection: 7" single no. 7807
Found: Lenny's Music Store, Vienna, 17 October 2025
Tracks: 'Knowing me, knowing you' / 'Happy Hawaii' 

Strangelove - Depeche Mode

When I bought 'Blasphemous rumours / Somebody' on red vinyl earlier this year, it was a bit of a lucky buy along with a few other singles. I didn't really see it as the start of a new obsession, but then I stumbled on 'Master and servant' last month, and the gates had opened. So when I spotted this one online, I simply decided to get this one as well. 

'Strangelove' was the last of the Depeche Mode singles to get an Erstauflage in rotem Vinyl in Germany. I ordered this copy online and was very pleased to see that both the disc and the sleeve were in pristine condition. Unfortunately this only encourages me to get all the other red vinyl Depeche Mode singles too. May something have mercy on my wallet.

My collection: 7" single no. 7846
Found: Discogs.com, received 7 November 2025
Tracks: 'Strangelove' / 'Pimpf'