Du gingst fort ohne Abschied - Alain Barrière

In 1963 Alain Barrière competed in the Eurovision Song Contest, representing France, with 'Elle était si jolie'. As per usual back then, he also recorded the song in different languages, such as the Italian version 'Era troppo carina' and this one, the German version. 

Although 'Du gingst fort ohne Abschied' was released as a single with a picture sleeve in Germany, copies are now changing hands for rather large amounts. Fortunately, the track also appears on this EP with four different tracks from four different artists. And so, this selection also features tracks by Paul Anka, Rita Pavone and Peggy March. It's a good deal, I think, for just a few euros.

My collection: 7" single no. 7934
Found: Discogs.com, received 5 February 2026
Tracks: 'Zwei Mädchen aus Germany' (Paul Anka), 'Mein Jack, der ist zwei Meter gross' (Rita Pavone) / 'Wenn der Silbermond' (Peggy March), 'Du gingst fort ohne Abschied' (Alain Barrière) 

 

A little rain must fall - Fra Lippo Lippi

I've been listening to Fra Lippo Lippi a lot recently. It was caused by the fact that I rediscovered the album Light and Shade, which I've had for many decades now. I remember I wasn't impressed by that album at first, because it sounded very different from their peak album Songs, which I bought back in the late Eighties.

Anyway, it made me wonder if there were any singles by the band that I didn't have already. As it turns out, there was this obscure single, released in 1989. It was taken from The colour album, which was the band's fifth studio album. It was released for promotion only in Germany, hence the generic sleeve and the 'Ariola Single Facts' included in it. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7932
Found: Discogs.com, received 5 February 2026
Tracks: 'A little rain must fall' / 'You bring me joy' 

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' 

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)' 

Sloop John B - The Beach Boys

'Sloop John B' is a Bahamian folk song from Nassau. A transcription was published in 1916 by Richard Le Gallienne, and Carl Sandburg included a version in his The American Songbag in 1927. There have been many recordings of the song since the early Fifties.

In 1966, American rock band the Beach Boys recorded a folk rock adaptation that was produced and arranged by Brian Wilson and released as the second single from their album Pet Sounds. The record peaked at number 3 in the US Billboard Hot 100, number 2 in the UK singles chart, and topped the charts in several other countries. It was innovative for containing an elaborate a cappella vocal section not found in other pop music of the era, and it remains one of the group's biggest hits.

My collection: 7" single no. 7922
Found: Record fair, Amsterdam, 18 January 2026
Tracks: 'Sloop John B' / 'You're so good to me'

I'm the man - Joe Jackson

Joe Jackson released the album I'm the man in October 1979, just nine months after his first album Look sharp!. On his website, he explained: 'This is really Part Two of Look Sharp! – it was released less than a year later. I don't know how I even had the time to write and record a slightly more mature record, but I think it is, and the best of the first three.'

Besides the LP version, there was also a box set of five 7" singles, featuring all ten tracks of the album (one on each side), as well as a poster of the sleeve image. I was surprised to find a copy of this box set in such great condition for just 10 euros, and I bought it despite the fact that I only knew one track: the single 'It's different for girls'. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7921
Found: Record fair, Amsterdam, 18 January 2026
Tracks: 'On your radio' / 'The band wore blue shirts' // 'Geraldine and John' / 'Don't wanna be like that' // 'Kinda kute' / 'Amateur hour' // 'It's different for girls' / 'Get that girl' // 'I'm the man' / 'Friday' 

Love is the art - Living in a box

'Love is the art' was the fourth single from Living in a box's eponymous debut album. It was the least successful of the four, reaching number 45 in the UK singles chart. 

I was lucky to find a copy of the UK pressing of the single, among many German and Dutch pressings of different singles from different artists, so I don't really know how this dealer got this particular item. But that's the fun part of record fairs: finding singles you weren't particularly looking for, but get to buy them just the same.

My collection: 7" single no. 7917
Found: Record fair, Amsterdam, 18 January 2026
Tracks: 'Love is the art' / 'Love is the art (instrumental)' 

The hit combination - Level 42

Level 42 was very popular during the Eighties, but in the Nineties that popularity seemed to elude them. Their ninth album Guaranteed (1991) didn't score as well as its predecessors, and so the record company tried to reverse their fortunes. A greatest hits album wasn't going to do that, because Level Best was just two years old at that point, and so they went for the next best thing: a remix album. The Remixes was released on 20 July 1992.

Besides remixes of their biggest hits, taken from various 12" singles, there was also a medley mix titled 'The hit combination', created by Ben Liebrand. That remix was released as a single as well. The full version appeared on the B-side, whereas an edit appeared on the A-side of this single.

My collection: 7" single no. 7916
Found: Record fair, Amsterdam, 18 January 2026
Tracks: 'The hit combination (edit)' / 'The hit combination (full version)'

Rivers of Babylon - Boney M

I was glad to buy a Japanese single of Boney M's 'Rasputin' a little over six years ago, because of the radically different sleeve of that one. Well, it happened again, when I went to a record fair in Amsterdam last week, and the first thing I found was the Japanese edition of 'Rivers of Babylon'. 

Quite why the Japanese decided on using a very small picture of the group, in the corner of a generic 'tropical island' image is a mystery to me, but it is a nice little rarity to add to my collection. Of course, Japanese singles are almost always in an impeccable state, and this one is no exception.

My collection: 7" single no. 7915
Found: Record fair, Amsterdam, 18 January 2026
Tracks: 'Rivers of Babylon' / 'Brown girl in the ring' 

Radioactivity - The Divine Comedy

The latest issue of Electronic Sounds magazine in the UK came with a free 7" single of The Divine Comedy, featuring their excellent cover version of Kraftwerk's 'Radioactivity' (actually an old B-side from 1998), backed with the rather less impressive, but brilliantly titled 'The Synthesizer Service Centre Super Summer Sale' (from the rather frustrating album Office Politics). 

When I bought the issue online I assumed that both the original 'Radioactivity' by Kraftwerk and The Divine Comedy's cover version were on this single, which actually would have made it an excellent single. But it's still a nice item, and pressed on yellow vinyl, too!

My collection: 7" single no. 7914
Found: Electronic Sounds magazine website, received 7 January 2026
Tracks: 'Radioactivity' / 'The Synthesizer Service Centre Super Summer Sale'

Happy New Year - Abba

Just like last year, the last entry in my bl
og for this year has to be 'Happy New Year' by Abba. They stayed true to their tradition of re-releasing the single in December. This time they opted for a black sleeve and a zoetrope picture disc. This edition was limited to 4500 copies. I was happy to order one right when it was first announced, so I didn't have to miss it. 

It's funny how the record company comes up with new ways to sell this single. In the past, there have been picture discs, silver and gold vinyl variations. I would propose a version with a poster sleeve and one with a gatefold sleeve in the future. Perhaps a double single? A single with a double groove? I have lots of ideas.

My collection: 7" single no. 7902
Found: Platenzaak.nl, received 6 December 2025
Tracks: 'Happy New Year' / 'Felicidad' 

 

Under attack - Abba

Just before the end of this year I succeeded in putting all the Abba singles I didn't post on this blog yet, although I've had them in my collection for quite some time. And the last one to post is also the last single they ever released - or so we thought - in 1982. 

'Under attack' was recorded for an album that never came, but it did end up in the compilation album The Singles - The first ten years. Different countries had different sleeves for this one. The most colourful one came from Germany. I bought it during my final visit to All That Music in Leiden in 2010. At the time the shop was closing down, and I was lucky enough to buy 52 singles during their final sale.

The French edition followed more recently, in 2022. I bought it online as part of a package that included some Eurovision singles. You would never guess it, but the seller was French.

My collection: 7" single no. 4687 / no. 6764
Found: All that music, Leiden, 13 March 2010 / Discogs.com, received 13 August 2022 
Tracks: 'Under attack' / 'You owe me one'

The day before you came - Abba

For those who knew Abba mainly for their upbeat songs like 'Waterloo', 'Dancing queen' and 'Mamma mia', it would have been a shock to hear 'The day before you came' for the first time. The moody, wistful track took most people offguard and because of the fact that the Seventies had turned into the Eighties, the overpowering popularity of Abba was starting to crumble. 

Still, 'The day before you came' is an epic track, and stands apart as one of my most favourite songs of the quartet. It is strange that I never bothered to buy other pressings of the single than the one I bought in 1982, but this year I corrected that by buying the UK edition of the single. The front cover isn't different this time, although the back cover definitely is - it says 'Taken from the double LP/Cassette ABBA - The Singles AVAILABLE SOON' under the same photograph that was used at the front. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7837
Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, 30 October 2025
Tracks: 'The day before you came' / 'Cassandra'