Les chants magnétiques (part 4) - Jean Michel Jarre

I am familiar with 'Magnetic fields part 2', which was a hit in the Netherlands, but I didn't know that part 4 was also released as a single. I found this out last week, while I was ordering singles from a French seller. The track may not be as instantly catchy, but it is still a beautiful melody. I did think it was confusing that the title was 'Les chants magnétiques', because I always thought the title was 'Les champs magnétiques' in French.  

Turns out that it is a play on words. The literal English translation of the French title 'Les chants magnétiques' is 'Magnetic songs'. However, the French word for 'fields' (champs) is a homophone of the French word for 'songs' (chants), so in French, if the title is spoken out loud, it can be interpreted as either magnetic fields or as magnetic songs. Les Champs magnétiques was a surrealist book published in 1920.  

My collection: 7" single no. 8366
Found: Discogs.com, received 25 July 2026
Tracks: 'Les chants magnétiques (part 4)' / 'Les chants magnétiques (part 1, extrait)' 

Fernando - Abba

I was lucky to buy a few Austrian pressings of Abba singles last year while I was in Vienna, but I was very surprised to find one online in the inventory of a French seller. These singles are usually sold for high prices, but in this case the seller only wanted three euros for it. It was an easy decision to grab this one. 

The design of this sleeve is quite wonderful. It uses the same photograph used on many European sleeves, but with a different 'Abba' logo and a colourful background. 

My collection: 7" single no. 8365
Found: Discogs.com, received 25 July 2026
Tracks: 'Fernando' / 'Tropical loveland'

A-ba-ni-bi - Izhar Cohen & the "Alpha-Beta"

After the German pressing of 'A-ba-ni-bi', featured recently on this blog, I found myself confronted with the French one, which features another picture sleeve, featuring a photograph of Izhar Cohen. It has to be said: the design of this sleeve is even better. 

The back of the sleeve (not shown here) contains a photograph of the complete group, taken during the national final in Israel in 1978, shortly before they won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1978. It was a sensational win for the country, making Izhar Cohen a national hero right then and there.

My collection: 7" single no. 8364
Found: Discogs.com, received 25 July 2026
Tracks: 'A-ba-ni-bi' / 'Illusions' 

E1 - Emiliana Torrini

In 2021 I bought seven of the eight 7" singles featuring remixes of tracks from the excellent album Love in the time of science. When you read back the entries on this blog (here) you can conclude that I wasn't impressed by those remixes, and that's what stopped me from buying 'E1', because it was only available from sellers in the US - with expensive shipping costs. 

Recently I found a French seller with a copy of this single, and in order to at least complete the set I ordered it. And once again, I find myself wondering 'why?'. Why do these people create 'remixes' like this? Answers in the comments section please...

My collection: 7" single no. 8363
Found: Discogs.com, received 25 July 2026
Tracks: 'Dead things (Grain remix)' / 'Telepathy science (Process remix)'

Close (to the edit) - Art of Noise

The song takes its title from the fifth studio album Close to the edge (1972) by the band Yes. Its working title was 'Close to the edge". Paul Morley said: 'We created the music through editing, and so changed the title. Being perverse and provocative I put the brackets in.' The song also samples the 1983 songs 'Leave it' and 'Owner of a lonely heart' by the same band, both of which were produced by Trevor Horn. The single heavily features the recorded sample of a car, a Volkswagen Golf owned by a neighbour of band member J. J. Jeczalik, stalling and restarting. The short spoken-word vocal and the "Hey!" sample was the voice of Camilla Pilkington-Smyth. Jeczalik's girlfriend at the time taught at a girls' school in Ascot and brought Pilkington-Smyth, one of her pupils, to his attention. The sample of her voice was recorded by Jeczalik in a chapel using a Revox A77 tape recorder. 

This single is a US promotional pressing with a sleeve which is very different from the UK version. The track appears on both sides, as per usual on many promotional 7" singles.

My collection: 7" single no. 8362
Found: Discogs.com, received 21 July 2026
Tracks: 'Close (to the edit)' / 'Close (to the edit)' 

Jezebel / Your cheatin' heart - Frankie Laine

I ended up buying this 'wall of fame' single featuring 'Jezebel' by Frankie Laine, mainly because I forgot I already had this song on a different single: 'High noon / Jezebel', which I bought last year. How quickly we forget. 

Fortunately, the other side contains another cracking song by the American singer, who was born as Francesco Paolo LoVecchio in Chicago on 30 March 1913. 'Your cheatin' heart' was written by Hank Williams, who passed away just before Frankie Laine recorded his version. He ended up having a hit with the song. 

My collection: 7" single no. 8361
Found: Discogs.com, received 21 July 2026
Tracks: 'Jezebel' / 'Your cheatin' heart' 

Dreamin' - Cliff Richard

Cliff Richard has released more than 100 singles during his career, so it's only logical that one wouldn't remember each and every one of them. I had totally forgotten about 'Dreamin'' until I heard it on the radio recently. 

The single was released in 1980. It was composed by Alan Tarney with lyrics by Leo Sayer. When recording the song, Richard was concerned that it was pitched too high for his range. However, Tarney told him "it was fantastic and asked [him] to try to sing it in this key". The single reached number 8 in the UK singles chart and number 12 in the Dutch Top 40.

My collection: 7" single no. 8360
Found: Discogs.com, received 21 July 2026
Tracks: 'Dreamin'' / 'Dynamite'