Light my fire - Amii Stewart

Another picture disc I bought online is this one by Amii Stewart, featuring her version of 'Light my fire' coupled with '137 disco heaven'. I already owned this single as a regular 7", but like the other picture discs I bought from this online seller I thought it was too pretty to miss.

Amy Paulette "Amii" Stewart was born on 29 January 1956. She grew up as the fifth of six children in a strictly Catholic family. In 1975, before signing a contract at Ariola Records, Stewart worked at the touring company for the stage production of the musical revue Bubbling Brown Sugar, relocating to places of production, such as Miami, then New York city's Broadway and eventually London's West End, where she met Barry Leng, songwriter and record producer for Hansa Records. Her debut album in 1979 yielded this energetic take on the Doors classic. Since relocating to Rome in the mid-Eighties her career has mainly developed in Italy.

My collection: 7" single no. 7750
Found: Discogs.com, received 30 August 2025
Tracks: 'Light my fire/137 Disco Heaven' / 'Bring it on back to me'

Through the barricades - Spandau Ballet

It's been five years since I last bought a Spandau Ballet single, and I thought I had them all. But then I saw this picture disc while I was browsing through an online seller's catalogue and I felt it was pretty enough to want to have it.

The album of the same name was re-released a few years ago as a deluxe edition, but unfortunately the extra tracks on that one were not interesting enough. Now that the band has released a sumptuous book/disc collection spanning their formative years, here's hoping they will do a similar thing for later years in their career too. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7749
Found: Discogs.com, received 30 August 2025
Tracks: 'Through the barricades' / 'With the pride (live in '85)' 

Who will you run to - Heart

In the Eighties, Heart went through a kind of metamorphosis, after the record company took the band aside and said they needed to change their style in order to have some kind of success. According to Nancy Wilson in an interview: 'The image of it was so intensely unreal. It was the [hair] extensions, the corsets and all the stuff'.

'Who will you run to' was taken from the band's 1987 album Bad Animals, which was full of these high energy, loud songs. Personally I prefer the more intimate sound of the B-side, 'Nobody home', which ends up pretty loud anyway, but in a good way. I already owned the regular 7" single, but this picture disc is definitely an added bonus.

My collection: 7" single no. 7748
Found: Discogs.com, received 30 August 2025
Tracks: 'Who will you run to' / 'Nobody home' 

Excerpts from Bye Bye Birdie, vol. 3 - Various artists

In 1961 the musical Bye Bye Birdie opened in London's West End, after its Broadway debut a year earlier. The role of the titular Conrad Birdie was played by Marty Wilde. Together with Chita Rivera, Peter Marshall and others the story revolved around a popular singer going off to the Army and its effect on a group of teenagers in a small town in Ohio. There were obvious parallels to Elvis Presley being drafted to go to Germany in 1957. The name of the rockstar, 'Conrad Birdie', was word play on the name of the then-popular Conway Twitty.

The EP presents five songs from the musical, two of which were performed by Marty Wilde: 'One last kiss' together with the ensemble, and 'A lot of livin' to do' with Sylvia Tysick and a group of teenagers. With its big band sound, the tracks border on jazz at times.

My collection: 7" single no. 7747
Found: Discogs.com, received 30 August 2025
Tracks: 'Hymn for a Sunday evening', 'One last kiss' / 'What did I ever see in him?', 'A lot of livin' to do', 'Kids' 

We love you - Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark

Back in 1986, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark released this double single of 'We love you'. The package contained the original single of 'We love you' plus the original single of 'If you leave'. Although I already own both singles, this double single package was just too good to pass on. 

The inside of the gatefold sleeve shows the group, which at the time counted no less than six members. These days OMD still exists, but only with core members Paul Humphreys and Andy McCluskey.

My collection: 7" single no. 7745
Found: Discogs.com, received 30 August 2025
Tracks: 'We love you' / 'We love you (dub)' // 'If you leave' / '88 seconds in Greensboro' 

Does your mother know - Abba

'Does your mother know' is one of the rare occasions (at the time anyway) where the lead vocals were performed by Bjorn Ulvaeus. By today's standards the lyrics are a bit risqué, because the singer seems to lead on a very young girl. 

The sleeve of this single leapt out at me because the blue on this one is brighter than the blue on the one I already owned. On top of that, this was an Austrian pressing. I don't have many 7" singles pressed in Austria, and so this was a very pleasant surprise.

My collection: 7" single no. 5537
Found: Teuchtler, Vienna (Austria), 25 September 2017
Tracks: 'Does your mother know' / 'Kisses of fire' 

Kate Bush - Kate Bush

Kate Bush is a mini-LP released in the USA and Canada in 1983. With this release the record company EMI America hoped to raise the profile of the British singer/songwriter who had until then been largely ignored by the record buying public over there.

The record was a mix of two tracks from Kate's most recent album at that time ('Sat in your lap' and 'Suspended in gaffa'), one track from the preceding album ('Babooshka'), a live track from the On Stage EP ('James and the cold gun') and one new track: a French version of 'The infant kiss', called 'Un baiser d'enfant'. The Canadian release came with one extra track, 'Ne t'enfuis pas'. 

I bought this mini LP a few years after it came out, after a lengthy period of doubt. I had all of the tracka already on various single releases, and so it didn't really add anything. In the end, I still bought this record. Of course I should have gotten the Canadian one, but that one wasn't available at the time. Many variations on coloured vinyl existed, but these days they cost a bundle. So I'm glad I at least have this one.

My collection: LP [unnumbered]
Found: Free Record Shop, 1986
Tracks: 'Sat in your lap', 'James and the cold gun (live version)' / 'Babooshka', 'Suspended in gaffa', 'Un baiser d'enfant'