Love shines - Fleetwood Mac

The line-up of Fleetwood Mac is an intricate puzzle, because members come and go. By 1992, when 'Love shines' was released, the band consisted of Mick Fleetwood (of course!), John McVie (of course!), Christine McVie, Stevie Nicks, Billy Burnette and Rick Vito. 

'Love shines' was taken from the 'greatest hits' compilation 25 Years - The Chain, which came just four years after the successful Greatest Hits album. Since then, only the album Behind the mask had been released, so one might say this compilation was a bit of a moneygrab. The single only charted in the Netherlands (no. 51) and Germany (no. 82).

My collection: 7" single no. 7594
Found: Record fair, Rotterdam, 1 March 2025
Tracks: 'Love shines' / 'The chain (previously unreleased alternate mix)'

Trans Europa Express - Kraftwerk

Buying Kraftwerk singles here and there through the years, I have managed to amass quite a collection. It's not an easy band to collect singles from: they're pretty scarce and many times they're pretty expensive. But I regularly find a good deal, and that makes it fun.

I already had 'Trans Europe Express' of course, having bought it back during a record fair in Utrecht in 2019. And now the German version of that same song was on offer during a record fair in Rotterdam. Another nice addition to my Kraftwerk collection.

My collection: 7" single no. 7600
Found: Record fair, Rotterdam, 1 March 2025
Tracks: 'Trans Europa Express' / 'Franz Schubert'

Rikki don't lose that number - Steely Dan

With 'Rikki don't lose that number', the band Steely Dan had the biggest hit of their career. But what was the song about? Walter Becker stated in a 1985 interview in the magazine Musician that the "number" in question was not slang for a marijuana cigarette, and an uncharacteristically forthcoming Donald Fagen revealed that the "Rikki" in question was simply a woman he'd had a crush on in college [writer Rikki Ducornet].

This copy was pressed on yellow vinyl and comes in a slightly suggestive sleeve. The single reached number 4 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, but failed to chart in Europe.

My collection: 7" single no. 7598
Found: Record fair, Rotterdam, 1 March 2025
Tracks: 'Rikki don't lose that number' / 'Any major dude will tell you'

Strawberry fields forever - The King's Singers

With a suggestive sleeve like this (there's even [gasp!] a nipple on the back cover!) and a disc pressed on red vinyl, it's no wonder that my interest was piqued. Especially when it contains a version of one of my favourite Beatles songs, 'Strawberry fields forever'. I would think this is quite a rare record, but to my surprise there's a lot of copies available online.  

The King's Singers is a British vocal ensemble founded in May 1968 in Cambridge, England.  Countertenor singers Alastair Hume & Nigel Perrin, Tenor singer Alastair Thompson, Baritone singer Simon Carrington & Anthony Holt, Bass singer Brian Kay were the former members of the ensemble.  The King's Singers are now Patrick Dunachie (countertenor), Timothy Wayne-Wright (countertenor), Julian Gregory (tenor), Christopher Bruerton (baritone), Christopher Gabbitas (baritone) and Jonathan Howard (bass).

My collection: 7" single no. 7597
Found: Record fair, Rotterdam, 1 March 2025
Tracks: 'Strawberry fields forever' / 'Disney girls (1957)'

Tightrope ride - The Doors

After the sudden death of Jim Morrison, the three remaining members of The Doors soldiered on. They released an album called Other voices, and this single was taken from that album. While 'Tightrope ride' could never compare with classics like 'Light my fire', 'Touch me' or 'Riders on the storm', it is still a good example of what these men were capable of. 

Robbie Krieger later reflected: 'We probably shouldn’t have put it out that quick after Jim’s passing. We just felt like that was all we could do. We could've sat around and be depressed. Which we were. But, I don't know. The record company, Elektra, they were wanting us to continue. It wasn’t that hard of a decision.'

My collection: 7" single no. 7591
Found: Record fair, Rotterdam, 1 March 2025
Tracks: 'Tightrope ride' / 'Variety is the spice of life'

Lookin' through the windows - The Jackson 5

Since most of the Jacksons singles from the Eighties are already in my possession, I am often tempted to go back in time and buy some of their earlier stuff. It's not bad, it just doesn't appeal to me in quite the same way. 

'Lookin' through the windows' was released as the second single from the 1972 album of the same name. It reached number 16 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, but it didn't chart at all in Europe - with the exception of the UK, where the song peaked at number 9. This single is the Dutch pressing, with the sort of sleeve that was kindof habitual at that time.

My collection: 7" single no. 7593
Found: Record fair, Rotterdam, 1 March 2025
Tracks: 'Lookin' through the windows' / 'Love song'

Llámame - Victor Balaguer

This single spent a long time on my wantlist, and when I ordered it online I didn't pay enough attention to the description, otherwise I would have known that I would receive this single in a record company sleeve instead of the picture sleeve. Oh well, at least it is the original record company sleeve.

'Llámame' was the song performed by Victor Balaguer for Spain at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1962. It was a rather traditional Spanish-style song, which was not out of the ordinary at the Contest around that time. It wasn't a very successful song: it finished in shared last place (with Belgium, the Netherlands and Austria) with zero points. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7587
Found: Discogs.com, received 22 February 2025
Tracks: 'Llámame', 'Serenata' / 'Leccion de Twist', 'Dile tu'