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' 

Japanese lovesong - Ten Sharp

I always thought Ten Sharp's 'Japanese lovesong' was the weakest track they released in the mid-Eighties. Still, I bought the 7" single in 2009, and now here's the 12" single.

I was quite surprised at the extended mix included on this disc. It runs just over ten minutes and contains a great little jam right in the middle of the track. It's a big improvement on the mediocre single version. 

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: Record Palace, Amsterdam, 18 January 2026
Tracks: 'Japanese lovesong (extended dance mix)' / 'Goin' on' 

Windpower - Thomas Dolby

I bought the 7" single of 'Windpower' almost twenty years ago. No wonder that the sleeve of this 12" single looked familiar, but I quickly realized that I'd never heard an extended version of the track.

The single was taken from Dolby's debut album The golden age of wireless (1982) and released on 26 July 1982.  

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: Record Palace, Amsterdam, 18 January 2026
Tracks: 'Windpower (high power extended play)' / 'Flying North (High Altitude extended play)'