Epica Oxygene - Jean Michel Jarre

The French synth wizard Jean Michel Jarre returns to his epic work 'Oxygene' every once in a while, and whenever he does, it's always interesting. This particular version comes from a live performance at the palace of Versailles, and it's a rework that breathes some new life into the composition.

The single, pressed on green vinyl, was released along with Electronic Sounds magazine in the UK. The magazine keeps coming up with interesting releases from time to time, and whenever they do, I'm there to order a copy!

My collection: 7" single no. 7539
Found: Electronic Sounds magazine website, received 28 December 2024
Tracks: 'Epica Oxygene' / 'Equinoxe 7'

C'est d'la faute a pas d'chance - Colette Deréal

Nora Nova represented West-Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1964 with 'Man gewöhnt sich so schnell an das Schöne'. The song wasn't very successful: it ended up in a shared last place, along with the entries from Portugal, Yugoslavia and Switzerland.

Still, the French actress and singer Colette Deréal deemed the song interesting enough to make a cover version. Translated into French, the song became 'C'est d'la faute a pas d'chance', and it was released on this EP.

My collection: 7" single no. 7540
Found: Discogs.com, received 31 December 2024
Tracks: 'Je serai la', 'Reviens l'ami' / 'C'est d'la faute a pas d'chance', 'Moi (qui n'ai plus rien)'

Sen eläisin uudelleen - Gugi & Titta

Al Bano & Romina Power represented Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1976 with 'We'll live it all again', a love song that was inspired by their own love story. Although they recorded the song in French and Spanish, Finnish was just a step to far for the Italian duo.

Cue Gugi & Titta, who recorded their own version of the song - in Finnish! Their version is called 'Sen eläisin uudelleen', which means 'I would do it again in a heartbeat'. Slightly different, then, but a reasonably good translation. The single came without a sleeve, unfortunately, but it plays well nonetheless.

My collection: 7" single no. 7541
Found: Discogs.com, received 3 January 2025
Tracks: 'Sen eläisin uudelleen' / 'Pedron maa'

Happy new year - Abba

The good thing about a song called 'Happy new year' is that you can re-release it every year, even if the lyrics are strictly bound to the year 1979. The song has the line 'Who can say what we'll find / What lies waiting down the line / In the end of '89'. Throughout the Eighties it would be believable, but now that we're in the year 2024, we pretty much know what lay waiting in the end of 1989. But maybe the band is now pretending to look forward to 2089? Who knows. 

Still, Abba has this nice tradition to re-release the song on vinyl pretty much every year, and this year they went for a white vinyl disc in a totally white sleeve - except for the titles on the front sleeve in silver and the text on the back sleeve in black. Originally the seller announced a poster as well, but that statement was quickly retracted. That would have been a nice bonus, but oh well. I'm just happy to have 'Felicidad' (the Spanish version of 'Happy new year') on the B-side. At least there is a B-side!

2024 was a good year for my record collection, and I think you've noticed a lot of additions this year. Hopefully 2025 will be just as good! Happy new year to all of you, and see you right here in a couple of days! 

My collection: 7" single no. 7510
Found: Platenzaak.nl, received 29 November 2024
Tracks: 'Happy new year' / 'Felicidad'

Last Christmas - Wham!

Although 'Last Christmas' has been re-released many times since 1984, the record company keeps coming up with new ways to make their re-releases attractive. The latest in the series is this 12" single - a picture disc with the so-called zoetrope effect. It means that you have to look at the disc from about a foot distance from above while it's spinning, and then you may see some moving images.

The track listing of this 12" single is a bit different too: it includes four versions of the track. Both tracks on the B-side are new: they are an instrumental version and a live version from December 2006. George Michael may be dead, but his music still lives on.

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: Sounds, Delft, 28 December 2024
Tracks: 'Last Christmas', 'Last Christmas (Pudding mix)' / 'Last Christmas (live)', 'Last Christmas (instrumental)'

December skies - Steven Wilson

Last year Steven Wilson released a Christmas song as a digital single. The song was created with the help of ChatGPT, since he thought he wouldn't be able to write a seasonal lyric himself. It may just be the first song created with the help of artificial intellgence. Personally I have some reservations about using AI to write any text at all, but anyway... 

The song turned out pretty good. In fact, it was released physically this year, both as a cd-single and as a 7" vinyl single. It is actually quite a luxury release, because it also includes three postcards with illustrations by Hajo Müller. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7538
Found: Velvet, Delft, 28 December 2024
Tracks: 'December skies' / 'December skies (instrumental)'

Little things - Abba

The last Abba album Voyage came out a few years ago, and from that album some singles were taken. They were all issued on one track cd-singles (which, I have to add, feels a bit disappointing: no B-sides, not even instrumental versions or remixes?) but only 'I still have faith in you' was released as a vinyl single.

That error has been corrected last month, because finally one of the other singles was released on vinyl as well. It's the Christmassy song 'Little things', with the creative sleeve that is wellknown from the cd-single version. Again, this single only features one track, but the other side has an etching - it's the song lyrics of the song. That feels a bit superfluous, since the inner sleeve also has the song lyrics printed on it. Still, this single release is rather welcome. Here's hoping that 'Just a notion' will also get a vinyl release at some point.

My collection: 7" single no. 7509
Found: Platenzaak.nl, received 29 November 2024
Tracks: 'Little things'

It's Christmas all over the world - Sheena Easton

In 1986 the movie Santa Claus was released, and it featured some Christmas songs, obviously. This single was taken from the movie soundtrack, and it features Sheena Easton in a yuletide mood. 1986 wasn't a particularly successful year for the Scottish singer, as the singles from her recently re-released album Do you didn't chart, and the single 'So far so good' from the soundtrack of About last night only made it to number 43 in the US Billboard Hot 100.

Unfortunately, 'It's Christmas all over the world' fared even worse: the single didn't chart anywhere and the song disappeared from the radar. Some artists have their income sorted when they record a Christmas song - in the case of Sheena, she had to work a little harder in the years that followed.

My collection: 7" single no. 7482
Found: Discogs.com, received 29 November 2024
Tracks: 'It's Christmas all over the world' / 'Thank you, Santa' (The Ambrosian Children's Choir)

A personal Christmas and New Years message - Howard Jones

I rarely buy flexi discs, because the quality of such discs is nothing to write home about. But there are exceptions, such as this special Christmas and New Years message from Howard Jones to his Japanese fans. This little red flexi was released exactly 40 years ago as a present for fans in Japan - a country visited by Howard during his first live tour earlier in the year. 

You could wonder if Japanese fans actually understand his English words, but there was a solution for that: the entire text is translated into Japanese on the back of this sleeve, printed in black and white.

My collection: 7" single no. 7152
Found: Record fair, Rijswijk, 3 November 2024
Tracks: 'A personal Christmas and New Years message'

Risin' above the need / Where do we go when we die - The The

This fourth and final single from The The's recent album Ensoulment was a bit of a surprise, as I bought a bundled trio of singles just recently. But as Matt Johnson explained: "Having now had the chance to perform the new album live across the UK, Europe and America, we found that these two songs were amongst the most popular. ‘Where Do We Go When We Die?’ was written for my late father Eddie Johnson (author of Tales From The Two Puddings) whilst ‘Risin’ Above The Need’ is a philosophical muse upon addiction and materialism and the power of the human spirit to overcome obstacles."

I ordered the single the minute I received the newsletter from the band, afraid that I might miss out if I waited. This is a limited edition physical release, after all... It neatly completes this particular mini-collection.

My collection: 7" single no. 7527
Found: The The website, received 10 December 2024
Tracks: 'Risin' above the need' / 'Where do we go when we die'

A fragile thing - The Cure

The Cure finally returned with a new album last month, and it is better than its predecessors - at least, that's what I think. The first single was the track 'Alone', which wasn't released physically, which was a disappointment. Fortunately the second single did get a physical release. It's the slightly whimsier track 'A fragile thing'.

This single was pressed on white vinyl and contains two versions of the song: the regular album version and a remix by Robert Smith. There's even an inner sleeve on this one! 

My collection: 7" single no. 7525
Found: Platenzaak.nl, received 6 December 2024
Tracks: 'A fragile thing (RS24 mix)' / 'A fragile thing (RS24 remix)'

Happy - Michael Jackson

With Michael Jackson being at the top of his game in the Eighties, his former record company Motown were all too eager to make some money off his name. They re-released a handful of his songs from the Seventies, and one of them was 'Happy'. 

In order to boost sales, they made a limited edition of this single with a poster sleeve. It's a version I wanted to have for some time now, and I finally found it. The B-side is a rather more famous Michael Jackson song, 'We're almost there'. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7517
Found: Discogs.com, received 6 December 2024
Tracks: 'Happy' / 'We're almost there'