Du gingst fort ohne Abschied - Alain Barrière

In 1963 Alain Barrière competed in the Eurovision Song Contest, representing France, with 'Elle était si jolie'. As per usual back then, he also recorded the song in different languages, such as the Italian version 'Era troppo carina' and this one, the German version. 

Although 'Du gingst fort ohne Abschied' was released as a single with a picture sleeve in Germany, copies are now changing hands for rather large amounts. Fortunately, the track also appears on this EP with four different tracks from four different artists. And so, this selection also features tracks by Paul Anka, Rita Pavone and Peggy March. It's a good deal, I think, for just a few euros.

My collection: 7" single no. 7934
Found: Discogs.com, received 5 February 2026
Tracks: 'Zwei Mädchen aus Germany' (Paul Anka), 'Mein Jack, der ist zwei Meter gross' (Rita Pavone) / 'Wenn der Silbermond' (Peggy March), 'Du gingst fort ohne Abschied' (Alain Barrière) 

 

A little rain must fall - Fra Lippo Lippi

I've been listening to Fra Lippo Lippi a lot recently. It was caused by the fact that I rediscovered the album Light and Shade, which I've had for many decades now. I remember I wasn't impressed by that album at first, because it sounded very different from their peak album Songs, which I bought back in the late Eighties.

Anyway, it made me wonder if there were any singles by the band that I didn't have already. As it turns out, there was this obscure single, released in 1989. It was taken from The colour album, which was the band's fifth studio album. It was released for promotion only in Germany, hence the generic sleeve and the 'Ariola Single Facts' included in it. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7932
Found: Discogs.com, received 5 February 2026
Tracks: 'A little rain must fall' / 'You bring me joy' 

Vuggevise - Ellen Winther

Having written three books about the Eurovision Song Contest (in Dutch) that were published last year, I've been buying a lot of Eurovision singles during that time in order to be able to include pictures of the sleeves in those books. I still haven't got them all, but one particularly irritated me, because it was on my wantlist for so long and the only dealer offering it had three copies for extortionate prices. 

But I finally got lucky last month when another dealer offered this single. 'Vuggevise' was the Danish entry for the Eurovision Song Contest in 1962. It was performed by Ellen Winther in that old opera style that was so popular during the early years. Finally I have a copy, so I can cross this one off my wantlist.

My collection: 7" single no. 7930
Found: Discogs.com, received 4 February 2026
Tracks: 'Vuggevise' / 'Vinden går og nynner' 

Bad Boy - Tex Rubinowitz

Marty Wilde made history when he had a hit with his self-penned song 'Bad Boy'. It was quite unusual for Rock 'n' Rollers to write their own material, but Marty tried his hand at it when good songs were hard to come by at the end of the Fifties. 

Perhaps not amazingly, the song was picked up years later by the American rocker Tex Rubinowitz, who recorded 'Bad Boy' on 16 December 1978. Rubinowitz was born on 10 October 1944 in Abilene, Texas, where his father, an Army officer, was stationed during part of World War II. He recorded a lot of rockabilly material through the Eighties, although chart success eluded him.

My collection: 7" single no. 7929
Found: Discogs.com, received 2 February 2026
Tracks: 'Bad Boy' / 'Feelin' right tonight' 

Hounds of love - Kate Bush

It's very odd that I only found out about this single a few months ago. It's a US pressing of 'Hounds of love', featuring an 'extended version' on the B-side. That extended version is exclusive to this single and is basically a repeat of 40 seconds somewhere in the middle of the track. I doubt Kate was involved in this version, probably someone at the American record company thought this was a good idea.

It took me a while to find a copy that struck a balance between looking good, playing well and being not too horribly expensive. But I did it, and it is now mine. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7927
Found: Discogs.com, received 2 February 2026
Tracks: 'Hounds of love' / 'Hounds of love (extended version)' 

Spiralling - Keane

Is it me, or did Keane drop the ball after their excellent second album Under The Iron Sea? It seems like nobody really remembers Perfect Symmetry and the albums that followed. Whatever happened, the first single of that third album was 'Spiralling' and for some reason the 7" single was unavailable everywhere. 

Apparently the single was released in the UK as a special one-sided limited edition 7" of 1,000 copies. The single came inside a special box designed to contain the remaining singles of the Perfect Symmetry era. As it is, I only managed to find the US pressing of 'Spiralling' online last month, and that completes my collection of the singles from that era - without the box, but oh well.

My collection: 7" single no. 7928
Found: Discogs.com, received 2 February 2026
Tracks: 'Spiralling' / 'Spiralling (Diplo vs Keane 'Mad Spirals Mix')' 

Min kärlekssang till dej - Lars Berghagen

In 1974 the Swedish national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest, called Melodifestivalen, had ten competitors. One of them was Lars Berghagen, who competed with his self-penned 'Min kärlekssang till dej'. It was a quaint litte song that almost made it to the top. Almost, because he was surpassed by a quartet called Benny, Björn, Agnetha and Anni-Frid - who called themselves ABBA and performed a song called 'Waterloo'. 

Can you imagine what would have happened if Lars Berghagen had won? I can: he wouldn't have stood a chance against Olivia Newton-John and Mouth & MacNeal. I'm not sure what would have happened to ABBA. The outcome that actually did happen meant that Lars would compete again the next year, and in 1975, he represented Sweden with 'Jennie, Jennie'.  

My collection: 7" single no. 7925
Found: Kringloop, Den Haag, 24 January 2026
Tracks: 'Min kärlekssang till dej' / 'De' e' slut'