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'

Dr. Mabuse / Duel - Propaganda

The magazine Electronic Sounds did it again! They released their latest issue with a cover story on Propaganda and included a clear vinyl 7" single with it. When this issue was announced I read something about a 'David Kosten mix', so I ordered it right away.

It turns out that David Kosten was the one who reconstructed the album A Secret Wish from the original master tapes. So these mixes are not remixes, but just reconstructions of the original versions. In that sense, this single doesn't contain anything unique.

My collection: 7" single no. 7924
Found: Electronic Sounds website, received 22 January 2026
Tracks: 'Dr. Mabuse - The first life (David Kosten mix)' / 'Duel (David Kosten mix)' 

Prisoner of love - Miami Sound Machine

'Prisoner of Love' was the second single released by the American band Miami Sound Machine on their first English language album, and eighth overall, Eyes of Innocence. The song was written by the band's drummer Enrique "Kiki" Garcia. 

The single was released worldwide following the release of the album with great expectations. The lead single, 'Dr. Beat', also written by Enrique Garcia, had moderate success, also in Europe. 'Prisoner of Love' was unable to follow the success, debuting on the UK singles chart at only number 98 and failing to chart elsewhere. The single was only released in Europe, Australia and Japan.

My collection: 7" single no. 7923
Found: Record Palace, Amsterdam, 18 January 2026
Tracks: 'Prisoner of love' / 'Toda tuya'