Love in itself - Depeche Mode

While Depeche Mode are releasing yet another live album (with four new studio tracks, unfortunately, because that means I will have to buy it!) I am going back to almost the beginning of the band's singles output. 

'Love in itself' came out in 1983 and as per usual the Germans were treated to a red vinyl version. This is one of their finest singles, because not only is the A-side very good, the B-side is almost as catchy as their best work during this period. Their music would turn out much darker in the second half of the Eighties.

My collection: 7" single no. 7755
Found: Record fair, Den Haag, 6 September 2025
Tracks: 'Love in itself' / 'Fools' 

Det' lige det - Hot Eyes

There's something decidedly camp about the Danish entries for the Eurovision Song Contest during the Eighties, and the epitome of that was the duo Kirsten & Søren, known internationally as 'Hot Eyes' (also a very dodgy name). I remember I didn't like their songs at all back then, but with age comes a lot of longing for the past, I guess.

'Det' lige det' isn't necessarily a very good song, but the fact that the duo decided to record multiple versions shows attitude. I already owned the single with the English version on the B-side, and now here's the one with the German version on the B-side. The sleeve is almost identical, so I was quite lucky not to scroll past it online when I bought this.

My collection: 7" single no. 7905
Found: Discogs.com, received 17 December 2025
Tracks: 'Det' lige det' / 'Mit dir will ich zusammen sein' 

Love gives - Hoffmann & Hoffmann

I wasn't actively searching for this single, but I was ordering a few singles from a German seller and this promotional single from the UK just leapt out at me. Of course, I already own the German pressing of 'Love gives', but a promotional single always has its own special appeal.

'Rücksicht', of course, was the German entry for the Eurovision Song Contest back in 1983. Günter Hoffmann died a year after the Contest, after hurling himself out of a hotel window in Rio de Janeiro on 15 March 1984. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7908
Found: Discogs.com, received 17 December 2025
Tracks: 'Love gives' / 'I need you now' 

 

Take on me - A-ha

Last Friday was apparently 'Black Friday', and the people who invented Record Store Day gleefully participate in this day too. It's a second annual opportunity (besides Record Store Day itself) to sell overly expensive records to people who then put it on Ebay to sell it for even higher prices. 

I checked out the list of 'limited collectable records' recently and there was only one disc I really wanted to have. It was this 40th anniversary compilation of A-ha's 'Take on me', pressed on red vinyl, with eight versions of the classic track. The most important one is the first one: a new remix by Jos Leene and Vinny Vero. 

When I went to the local book and record shop yesterday (because no, I won't stand in line for hours just to get a record!) I checked out the Black Friday records, but one man stood before me, holding this very record in his hands. While he stood there, looking at the sleeve, I just thought 'Don't buy it! Don't buy it!', until finally he put the record back and walked away. I immediately grabbed the record and bought it. 

What can I say? It saves a lot of postage costs (because to my surprise a few shops are offering this disc online now for more or less the original price) and it felt like a small victory.  

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: Paagman, Den Haag, 29 November 2025
Tracks: 'Take on me (40th anniversary extended version)', 'Take on me (1984 single version)', 'Take on me (1985 single version)', 'Take on me (1984 instrumental version)' / 'Take on me (2018 Symphonic version)', 'Take on me (2017 acoustic version)', 'Take on me (2017 MTV Unplugged)', 'Take on me (1991 Live in South America)'

Krøllet eller ej - Østjydsk Musikforsyning

Tommy Seebach represented Denmark (together with Debbie Cameron) at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1981 with 'Krøller eller ej'. This single seems to be a cover version of that song, but it is really short (just over two minutes) and I get the feeling, looking at the sleeve, that it might be a parody of the song. Who's to say? My Danish really isn't good enough.

From Wikipedia I learned that Østjydsk Musikforsyning was a Danish entertainment orchestra, known, among other things, from the revues at Hotel Pejsegården in Brædstrup, in which the orchestra participated from 1983 to 2008. In 1988, Østjydsk Musikforsyning was awarded the Honorary Prize by the Danish Musicians' Association for its "untraditional composition of festive musicians to prove that disharmonies also have their place in Danish music life".

My collection: 7" single no. 7898
Found: Discogs.com, received 28 November 2025
Tracks: 'Krøllet eller ej' / 'Dit hjertes dunkle dyb'

Det' lige det - Kirsten & Søren

Although obviously I own a copy of the single 'Det' lige det' by Kirsten & Søren, this flexidisc piqued my curiosity when I spotted it online. It was probably given away with a copy of Se og hør, the leading Danish TV guide, back in 1984. 

The sleeve is a thin paper gatefold, featuring the lyrics of the song inside. The flexidisc is red and plays only the couple's Eurovision song, with a Se og hør jingle at the beginning and the end. You can hear it here of course, but the nature of flexi discs combined with my record player means that the speed is not very consistent throughout. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7896
Found: Discogs.com, received 28 November 2025
Tracks: 'Det' lige det' 

Manic Monday - The Bangles

I bought a copy of the Bangles' 'Manic Monday' in 1993 during a holiday in London, and I was pleasantly surprised by the sleeve design, because it looked a lot better than the slightly dull European version that lay in Dutch shops back in 1986. I never bothered to buy the European version, of course.

But then I found this version recently, and I never knew it existed! It is the European version of 'Manic Monday', but in a poster sleeve. The picture on the poster is similar to the one on the sleeve of 'If she knew what she wants', the single that followed 'Manic Monday'. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7894
Found: Discogs.com, received 28 November 2025
Tracks: 'Manic Monday' / 'In a different light' 

Goodbye Lucille #1 - Prefab Sprout

There was a point in time in the second half of the Eighties when I was frankly obsessed with this song. I bought it was 'Johnny Johnny', when it was re-released in the UK, but it was originally called 'Goodbye Lucille #1', a title that was also used on the Golden hits volume 2 EP.

But this is the French release, presumably released earlier than that UK re-released. It features another track from the album Steve McQueen on the B-side. I haven't played the song in a while, but it is still as wonderful as it was when I first heard it.

My collection: 7" single no. 7891
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 15 November 2025
Tracks: 'Goodbye Lucille #1' / 'Moving the river' 

No. 1 - Chaz Jankel

I don't know why Chas Jankel is suddenly called Chaz Jankel on this single, it might just be a typo. I have a few of his singles, but I'd never seen or heard this one.

'No. 1' was written by Jankel with Ian Dury and bassist Norman Watt-Roy. The single was released in 1985 as a track from his fourth album Looking at you. That album didn't sell that well. Jerry Moss, the recording executive of A&M, subsequently rejected the release of his fifth studio album, and terminated his recording contract with the label.

My collection: 7" single no. 7890
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 15 November 2025
Tracks: 'No. 1' / 'Tonight's the night' 

Under attack - Abba

So I bought a lot of Abba singles at the record fair last week, but only one came from Japan - my favourite country for singles. And this was the last one from Abba: 'Under attack', released after their The first ten years compilation album. 

The sleeve of this single is gorgeous and much better than other versions that were released elsewhere in the world. It just shows that the love and care that Japanese record companies had for their releases.

My collection: 7" single no. 7888
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 15 November 2025
Tracks: 'Under attack' / 'You owe me one' 

Modern girl - Sheena Easton

Having bought a Japanese version of '9 to 5' at the record fair last week, I found another Japanese single from Sheena Easton with a different dealer that day. This time it was a version of 'Modern girl', re-released in a regular single sleeve (as opposed to the record company sleeve with an accompanying sheet of paper, as per usual in Japan). 

It was a curiosity, and a curiosity I wanted to have. Fortunately it was another one of those Japanese bargains stands, so I gleefully paid a few euros to own this beauty.

My collection: 7" single no. 7878
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 15 November 2025
Tracks: 'Modern girl' / 'Paradox' 

99 Luftballons - Nena

When you compare the sleeve of '99 Luftballons' as it was released in Europe with this Japanese sleeve you notice that there's a lot of added characters - in Japanese, of course!

The orange star in the upper right corner proclaims: U.S. big hit. And indeed, the English version reached number 2 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. Whether this single was a big hit in Japan is unknown. Another interesting fact: the B-side is 'Nur geträumt', which was another single in Europe.

My collection: 7" single no. 7876
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 15 November 2025
Tracks: '99 Luftballons' / 'Nur geträumt'

Super trouper - Abba

This sleeve of 'Super Trouper' may look familiar to you, but this is a really odd release. It couples the song not with 'The piper', as per usual on European releases, but with 'On and on and on', the song that famously was released on 12" singles only in Europe.

This single was made in Brazil, which might explain this strange coupling of tracks. It's this kind of exceptions that make an impression on me. The reasoning behind it will probably never be cleared up.

My collection: 7" single no. 7875
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 15 November 2025
Tracks: 'Super trouper' / 'On and on and on' 

Catch my fall - Billy Idol

Although I own a copy of 'Catch my fall', I was quite surprised to see this version of the single, because it comes with a completely new cover. It turns out that this version was released in 1988, when his record company released the compilation album Idol Songs. 

Besides the cover, this single doesn't really bring anything new: the A-side and B-side remain the same as on the special box set that was released along with this 'regular' single.

My collection: 7" single no. 7872
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 15 November 2025
Tracks: 'Catch my fall' / 'All summer single' 

Rio - Duran Duran

Sometimes keeping a collection in good shape means that you have to buy a single again and again, as this blog has demonstrated quite well in recent years. There are some old purchases that I really regret, such as the single 'Rio' by Duran Duran without a picture sleeve. What was I thinking? 

Well maybe, back in 1989, I didn't believe that I would ever find a copy with a picture sleeve. I was in London and it was the first time I saw the single for real. I have to say that I only saw it a few times since, and I wasn't really motivated to buy it since 'I already had it'. But finally, a week ago, I corrected a very old mistake. 'Rio' is here!

My collection: 7" single no. 7870
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 15 November 2025
Tracks: 'Rio' / 'The chauffeur (blue silver)' 

Tell me tomorrow - Princess

I bought 'Tell me tomorrow' back in 1986, soon after it didn't become a hit and the store wanted to get rid of the single by dropping the price. Unfortunately the sleeve was a bit worn then, and that bothered me ever since. 

Fortunately, almost four decades later, I got the opportunity to buy this UK pressing of the single. And this limited edition comes in yellow vinyl too! It looks likely that this single is going to be featured a few more times on this blog, because the single was actually released in four different colours.

My collection: 7" single no. 7868
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 15 November 2025
Tracks: 'Tell me tomorrow' / 'Say I'm your number one (original demo)' 

What about love - Heart

The band Heart has a special place in my heart, ever since I first heard 'Magic Man' and 'Crazy on you' back when I was very young. Their self-titled album from 1985 is a firm favourite of mine, so it might not be too surprising that when I saw this Japanese pressing of 'What about love', I simply wanted to have it. Fortunately the dealer wasn't asking a lot for this item.

I did have the US pressing of this single, but without a picture sleeve, so this is a very nice addition to my collection. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7866
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 15 November 2025 
Tracks: 'What about love' / 'Heart of darkness'

Raw - Spandau Ballet

Two weeks ago I nearly bought this poster edition of Spandau Ballet's 'Raw', but decided to wait a little because I was going to the big record fair in Den Bosch. I'm glad I did, because I had the unique opportunity to buy this item for just 1 euro! That saved me a lot of postage costs.

And why would I want this poster edition? It's not because I'm particularly looking forward to seeing the boys from the band in great detail, but I'm just a sucker for limited editions. 'Raw' reached number 47 in the UK singles chart and number 27 in the Dutch Top 40.

My collection: 7" single no. 7864
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 15 November 2025
Tracks: 'Raw' / 'Raw (flip)' 

Rhythm is gonna get you - Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine

Sometimes I buy singles just for the sheer beauty of the artwork. This is a good example. Gloria Estefan used to be (!) very photogenic, and her record company realized this and released a lot of her singles as limited editions with posters and - in this case - a gatefold edition featuring a calendar. 

Inside this gatefold sleeve was a little booklet showing Gloria in all her glory, in six different photographs. 'Rhythm is gonna get you' is a catchy little song, and the fact that I could buy this little gem for just 1 euro was a good deal.

My collection: 7" single no. 7863
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 15 November 2025
Tracks: 'Rhythm is gonna get you' / 'Give it up' 

9 to 5 - Sheena Easton

Although Sheena Easton's hit single was called 'Morning train' in Europe as a result of Dolly Parton's hit single already being called '9 to 5'. But in Japan, the single was unashamedly called '9 to 5'. The sleeve was a thing of beauty, with a very young Sheena Easton pictured in between the titles.  

Japanese singles tend to be very expensive for some reason, even when they're very old, but this time a dealer came up with the standard price of 3 euros. It was a good deal for this beautiful item.

My collection: 7" single no. 7865
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 15 November 2025
Tracks: '9 to 5' / 'Moody (My love)'