Live in Japan '86 - Heart

This single was exclusively released in Japan. It features two live tracks, recorded at the NHK Hall in Tokyo in June 1986. It was released as a companion to the album Bad Animals in Japan, but fortunately I was able to buy the single on its own. (I don't collect LP's anymore, since they take up so much space.)

In recent interviews Nancy Wilson described how the band were pushed towards a certain style by the record company during the Eighties. 'I think we felt like we have to wear these clothes, and we need to make these videos, and we have to take the suggestion of the record company and try out these songs. We listened to stacks of demo songs by all these hit songwriters. Some obviously were a great fit, but when we went into rehearsals and tried to learn all these songs, it felt like we were giving up our territory as artists, because it was someone else's style.'

My collection: 7" single no. 8349
Found: Discogs.com, received 16 July 2026 
Tracks: 'Magic man (live)' / 'Barracuda (live)'

 

 

Voodoonight - Boney M

'Voodoonight' was a track from the Boney M album Nightflight to Venus. It was released as a single in Japan only (although a South African single also exists, with the A- and B-sides flipped). The single also features the album track 'Heart of gold', which is a cover version of the Neil Young song. 

The sleeve of this single proudly proclaims 'Disco No. 1 hit!!', but I have no way to verify this claim. Perhaps it was indeed such a big hit in Japan, but more probably it was a way to promote this single to buyers.

My collection: 7" single no. 8347
Found: Discogs.com, received 16 July 2026
Tracks: 'Voodoonight' / 'Heart of gold' 

Sunny - Boney M

Bobby Hebb wrote 'Sunny' and recorded it in 1963. Hebb wrote the song after his older brother, Harold, was stabbed to death outside a Nashville nightclub. Hebb was devastated by the event and many critics say it inspired the lyrics and tune. According to Hebb, he merely wrote the song as an expression of a preference for a "sunny" disposition over a "lousy" disposition following the murder of his brother.

Boney M turned the song into a disco hit in 1976. It became a huge hit all over Europe, But it also made the charts in Australia, New Zealand and Argentina. Whether the song was a hit in Japan I don't know, but the single was released there with a totally different sleeve.

My collection: 7" single no. 8346
Found: Discogs.com, received 16 July 2026
Tracks: 'Sunny' / 'New York City' 

Head over heels - Abba

It's been a while since I last bought an Abba single, but here we are again. This is the Japanese single for 'Head over heels', which amusingly has a different B-side: 'Lay all your love on me' from the band's preceding album Voulez-vous. Perhaps the original B-side, 'The visitors', was too dark for the Japanese record company. 

There aren't many variants of the 'Head over heels' single. It wasn't a big hit for the Swedish quartet, and it signalled the end for them. Fortunately they recorded two more singles after this, before they disappeared from the scene for many decades in 1982.

My collection: 7" single no. 8345
Found: Discogs.com, received 16 July 2026
Tracks: 'Head over heels' / 'Lay all your love on me' 

Save your kisses for me - Brotherhood of man

The United Kingdom won the Eurovision Song Contest a few times, but the best known song is probably Brotherhood of Man's 'Save your kisses for me', which provided the country's victory in 1975. The UK pressing of the single can be found in thrift shops all over Europe, but this Japanese single is pretty rare.

In an interview the band explained: 'We wanted something cheerful, it had to be catchy, and thematically, of course, it had to be something everyone could identify with. Lee came up with the melody quite quickly, but what should the lyrics be about? We could sing about animals; everyone loves animals, right? But then we decided to make it about a child, and that decision was probably the right one.’ 

My collection: 7" single no. 8344
Found: Discogs.com, received 16 July 2026
Tracks: 'Save your kisses for me' / 'Let's love together' 

What do I do - Sandra & Andres

I got 'What do I do' in 2000 as a present from Puck, and since I had all the other versions of 'Als het om de liefde gaat' I wrote that I probably wouldn't post any other Sandra & Andres singles on this blog anymore because I had all the versions after I bought 'C'est pour demain' in 2021.

But of course, I didn't know then that 'What do I do' had already been released in Japan. And Japanese singles, as we all know, are in a league of their own. Of course, I had to order this copy.

My collection: 7" single no. 8343
Found: Discogs.com, received 16 July 2026
Tracks: 'What do I do' / 'Gypsy man' 

愛のおとずれ - Katja Ebstein

Katja Ebstein represented Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1970 with 'Wunder gibt es immer wieder'. While I was searching for some Japanese singles online, I found this Japanese copy on red vinyl. It was beautiful, if slightly on the expensive side. I had it on my wish list for a year or so, and recently I found a French seller who had a copy. Well, the shipping costs are certainly lower than if I'd ordered it from Japan.

I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that this single contains the Japanese version of the song. (This is actually shown on the sleeve, in the green banner - but unfortunately my Japanese isn't good enough that I could read 'Japanese versions' in those characters.) Katja certainly made an effort: she also recorded the song in English, French, Italian and Spanish. The first three will probably appear on this blog at some point.

My collection: 7" single no. 8342
Found: Discogs.com, received 16 July 2026
Tracks: '愛のおとずれ' / 'Der draht in der Sonne (Wichita Lineman)'