Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A man after midnight) - Abba

'Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)' was written and composed by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, with the lead vocal sung by Agnetha Fältskog. Fältskog, as the narrator, weaves the image of a lonely woman who longs for a romantic relationship and views her loneliness as a forbidding darkness of night, even drawing parallels to how the happy endings of movie stars are so different from her existence. The melody line of the song was played on an ARP Odyssey synthesizer.

The song came about after Benny and Bjorn heard Donna Summer's hit 'Hot stuff', and upon hearing it, it inspired the riffs, melody and sentiment of the song with Agnetha yearning for 'a man after midnight' whilst Donna was in need of some 'hot stuff'.

My collection: 7" single no. 6155
Found: Discogs.com, received 6 October 2021
Tracks: 'Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A man after midnight)' / 'The king has lost his crown'

Chiquitita - Abba

'Chiquitita' proved to be one of Abba's bigger hits. It was featured in the Music for UNICEF Concert, broadcast worldwide from the United Nations General Assembly in 1979. As a direct result of this event, Abba donated 50% of all royalties from the song to UNICEF in recognition of the "International Year of the Child". In 2014, all ABBA members agreed on increasing their donation to 100% of all royalties from the song to UNICEF. As of 2021, the song's royalties had raised $4.8 million for the charity.

The Japanese sleeve only adds a few Japanese characters, which makes it less original when compared to earlier releases.

My collection: 7" single no. 6153
Found: Discogs.com, received 6 October 2021
Tracks: 'Chiquitita' / 'Lovelight' 

Summer night city - Abba

While 'Summer night city' was recorded during sessions for the group's then-upcoming sixth studio album Voulez-Vous (1979), it was scrapped from the album. It was, however, included on the group's compilation album Greatest Hits Vol. 2, a year after its release. Both Andersson and Ulvaeus have shared dislike of the song, due to being unsatisfied with the final mix. 

A planned US release was cancelled, the second ABBA single to be shelved following 'Eagle', and charted poorly in Canada. The single was, however, released in Japan, and with the same sleeve as in most of Europe. Due to the fact that the group was going to tour in Japan at the time, the sleeve also proclaims 'Welcome ABBA'. It's a nice touch.

My collection: 7" single no. 6154
Found: Discogs.com, received 6 October 2021
Tracks: 'Summer night city' / 'Medley: Pick a bale of cotton * On top of old Smokey * Midnight special' 

Eagle / Thank you for the music - Abba

This double A-side single was also released as a double A-side single in Japan, with almost exactly the same sleeve - with some added Japanese on it, of course.

Personally I always preferred 'Eagle'. The song was written and composed by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus as a kind of tribute to a band that the two men admired at the time, the Eagles. The recording, which commenced on 1 June 1977, had the working titles of 'High, High' and 'The Eagle'. Ulvaeus said that with the lyrics, he was "trying to capture the sense of freedom and euphoria" that he got from reading Richard Bach's 1970 novella Jonathan Livingston Seagull.

My collection: 7" single no. 6151
Found: Discogs.com, received 6 October 2021
Tracks: 'Eagle' / 'Thank you for the music' 

Take a chance on me - Abba

Contrary to most of those earlier Abba singles, 'Take a chance on me' came with a similar sleeve to European ones in Japan. The only thing added were the Japanese characters and the fact that the lettering was transparent instead of white. Other than that, it was probably the start of the Japanese record company copying off the European sleeves from then on. 

The origin of the song sprang from Ulvaeus, a keen runner, who would repeat a 'tck-a-ch'-style rhythm to pace himself. This evolved into "take-a-chance" and the eventual lyrics. Roger Palm, the drummer on the track, described the song as "ABBA at their most energetic and forceful". 

My collection: 7" single no. 6159
Found: Discogs.com, received 6 October 2021
Tracks: 'Take a chance on me' / 'I'm a marionette' 

The name of the game - Abba

Yet another copy of 'The name of the game', this time from Japan. Originally, another track entitled 'Hole in Your Soul' was intended for release, but those plans were soon shelved. 'The Name of the Game' was released with a live version of 'I Wonder (Departure)' as the B-side. This B-side was one of several songs written for the mini-musical The Girl with the Golden Hair, written by Ulvaeus and Andersson and originally performed by ABBA on their 1977 world tour. 

The recording used on this single was recorded at Sydney Showground, Sydney, Australia on 3 or 4 March 1977. A studio recorded version of the song was included on ABBA: The Album. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6157
Found: Discogs.com, received 6 October 2021
Tracks: 'The name of the game' / 'I wonder (Departure)' 

Dancing queen - Abba

Abba (especially Benny Andersson) wanted to release 'Dancing Queen' as the follow-up single to 'Mamma Mia' but their manager, Stig Anderson, insisted that the more sedate and folksy 'Fernando' should be first, as he felt it would appeal to a broader audience and so was more likely to be a hit. Therefore, whilst 'Dancing Queen' premiered on both German and Japanese television during the spring of 1976, the song did not appear on vinyl until later that summer, having had its first live and domestic performance on 18 June 1976 during an all-star gala staged by Kjerstin Dellert at the Royal Swedish Opera (and shown on Swedish TV) in honour of King Carl XVI Gustaf and his bride-to-be, Silvia Sommerlath, who were married the next day.

The Japanese single came with a very different sleeve when compared to its European counterparts. Like most Japanese sleeves, it looks stylish and even after almost five decades the disc and sleeve are in pristine condition. The B-side is 'Tiger', instead of 'That's me'. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6152
Found: Discogs.com, received 6 October 2021
Tracks: 'Dancing queen' / 'Tiger'

Fernando - Abba

I went through some recent acquisitions pertaining to Abba yesterday, but I also bought a few Japanese pressings a bit longer ago, which I will go through today. 

The first one, chronologically, is 'Fernando', a single from 1976. The sleeve uses the same photograph but has a different layout. I bought this single along with a handful other Japanese Abba singles in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic. At some point, I could only spend my money online, because all the shops were closed. Even when the shops reopened, I was buying the good stuff online - in this case directly from Japan!

My collection: 7" single no. 6156
Found: Discogs.com, received 6 October 2021
Tracks: 'Fernando' / 'Tropical loveland'

Voulez-vous / Angeleyes - Abba

In the UK, the double A-side single was called 'Angeleyes / Voulez-vous', but in Europe the non-alphabetical order 'Voulez-vous / Angeleyes' was preferred. To be fair, 'Voulez-vous' is the stronger track of the two, and also the title of the album where these two tracks came from. 

Presented here is the German copy, with the usual paperthin cover, and a photograph that would turn up years later on the cover of the Thank you for the music box set, which famously includes 'Abba Undeleted', a medley of some studio outtakes. How we wish they would release more from the vaults.

My collection: 7" single no. 5569
Found: Discogs.com, received 31 January 2018
Tracks: 'Voulez-vous' / 'Angeleyes'

Money, money, money - Abba

The song you knew as 'Money, money, money' was called 'Money, money' in Italy. At least, it seems that way when you look at this sleeve. On the label it clearly says 'Money, money, money'.

There's something else which is weird about this single release: the B-side features 'Knowing me, knowing you', which was of course a single in its own right. It replaces the track 'Crazy world', which was the B-side everywhere else. Again, this is one of those singles I wanted to have for the different sleeve design, but the weird B-side is a bonus.

My collection: 7" single no. 7805
Found: Lenny's Music Store, Vienna, 17 October 2025
Tracks: 'Money, money, money' / 'Knowing me, knowing you' 

The name of the game - Abba

I know I did an entry on 'The name of the game' in September, but that was before I went to Vienna and found this copy of the same single. Rather unsurprisingly, it's an Austrian copy, but with a totally different sleeve. And as I wrote back then, I probably won't easily get the Australian, Hungarian and Yugoslavian editions, but it was surprisingly easy to get a few Austrian ones. 

This sleeve comes with a unique design, placing a cropped version of the same photograph in the middle and surrounding it with an attractive shade of blue. It's a lovely variant!

My collection: 7" single no. 7804
Found: Lenny's Music Store, Vienna, 17 October 2025
Tracks: 'The name of the game' / 'I wonder (Departure)'

Knowing me, knowing you - Abba

Along with 'I do, I do, I do' I bought another Abba single in Vienna with a strikingly different sleeve. And again, this one was made in Austria. With a smaller photograph and lots of white space this design is a lot more sophisticated than other sleeves for this single.

'Knowing me knowing you' is of course one of the more dramatic singles by Abba, foreshadowing all the divorce troubles the two couples would go through during the existence of the group.  

My collection: 7" single no. 7807
Found: Lenny's Music Store, Vienna, 17 October 2025
Tracks: 'Knowing me, knowing you' / 'Happy Hawaii' 

Freunde der Nacht - Pascalis, Marianna, Robert & Bessy

With 'Mathema solfege' the quartet consisting of Paschalis Arvanitidis, Marianna Tolli, Robert Williams and Bessy Argyrake represented Greece at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1977. I didn't check, but there are just a few opportunities where Greek Eurovision entries were also recorded in German. Vicky Leandros comes to mind, but other than that, I wouldn't know.

'Freunde der Nacht' is unique, because it completely sets aside the original idea of the lyrics, and replaces it with something else. The chorus of 'sol fa fa fa', mimicking solfege lessons, has disappeared, and with it, a lot of the charm of the song. It's always nice to have a different language version of a Eurovision song, but this time, the English version (appearing here on the B-side) wins. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7847
Found: Discogs.com, received 7 November 2025
Tracks: 'Freunde der Nacht' / 'Music lesson'

I do, I do, I do - Abba

The song most people know as 'I do, I do, I do, I do, I do' was presented as 'I do, I do, I do' on this colour Austrian sleeve of this 1975 single by Abba. It was exactly this colourful sleeve that made me decide to buy the single, because it looked so different from the copies that I already owned. The Austrian record company certainly knew what it was doing!

On the label, the full title is displayed, by the way. The single was a reasonable success for the band, but obviously their biggest success was yet to come at that point in time. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7806
Found: Lenny's Music Store, Vienna, 17 October 2025
Tracks: 'I do, I do, I do, I do, I do' / 'Rock me'

Take a chance on me - Abba

Finding different versions of Abba singles has become a minor obsession, but that's because it's so interesting to see the various versions that were made during the Seventies. Sleeves seemed to vary a lot, depending on the country where the single was made. In France Abba was signed to Melba Disques at one point, and they were very creative with their sleeves. For 'Take a chance on me' they used the same photograph that was used elsewhere in Europe, but the layout of the sleeve was remarkably different. I think it was smart to put the title of the single on the top, but I wonder why the B-side was announced so prominently beneath the 'Abba' logo.

When you compare the design with the one on the German sleeve (which I bought some time ago) you can see what I mean. In this design the A-side title appears within the rectangle. It's just awkward that most of the photograph is covered in this design.

My collection: 7" single no. 7835 / no. 7103
Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, 30 October 2025 / Record fair, Utrecht, 2023
Tracks: 'Take a chance on me' / 'I'm a marionette' 

Denis - Blondie

There were a lot of different incarnations of the single 'Denis' by Blondie. I own the Dutch version, of course, but the German pressing came in a different sleeve and with a different B-side. It was interesting enough for me to want to have it. 

If you're not familiar with Chelsea Records in Antwerpen; it's a relatively small-sized record shop, stacked to the ceiling with boxes of singles. In order to get to the first letters of the alphabet you need to climb a tall ladder, get one of the boxes out, step down and go through its contents. There were a few moments where I thought I was going to fall, with about 200 singles scattered on the floor as a result. Fortunately, I managed to get through the process without too many problems. Finding a few new discs for my collection was the reward for all my troubles.

My collection: 7" single no. 7832
Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, 30 October 2025
Tracks: 'Denis' / 'Bermuda Triangle Blues (Flight 45)'

Fantasy - Earth Wind & Fire

Maurice White saw the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind and became so inspired, that he wrote 'Fantasy', together with Eddie Del Barrio and Verdine White. The song was included on the album All 'n All and released as a single in January 1978. It reached number 32 in the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 14 in the UK singles chart. In the Dutch Top 40 it peaked at number 6. 

I found this single among a few dozen Earth Wind & Fire singles in the shop, but this was the only copy of 'Fantasy'. I wondered for a while whether I already had this single - EWF singles of that period have very similar sleeves - but thanks to this blog I found out I didn't. It was a good find.

My collection: 7" single no. 7828
Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, 29 October 2025
Tracks: 'Fantasy' / 'Be ever wonderful' 

 

Gentlemen callers not allowed - Gilla

Although 'Gentlemen callers not allowed' was presented as a single by Gilla & Bobby at some point, but originally it was simply a single by Gilla on her own, as this sleeve demonstrates. So it isn't strange that I thought I didn't already have the track. Unfortunately the content of the single is identical, including the vocals of Bobby Farrell (or should I say, Frank Farian?). 

After the birth of her daughter, Gilla ended her career. Her husband, Helmut Rulofs, released several songs under the pseudonym Chris Denning and worked for Frank Farian. Under the pseudonym G. Winger she wrote the song 'I see a boat on the river' for Boney M. Later, she founded the group Vanilla.

My collection: 7" single no. 7824
Found: Wienyl, Vienna, 17 October 2025
Tracks: 'Gentlemen callers not allowed' / 'Say yes' 

Komm komm zu mir - Edina Pop

Edina Pop was born in Budapest as Marika Késmárki on 4 February 1941. She came to Germany in 1969 and forged a singing career in German. Some of her singles were actually cover versions of Eurovision singles, and this is one of them: 'Komm komm zu mir' is actually a version of Mary Hopkin's 'Knock, knock who's there' - and this is proudly proclaimed on the sleeve of this single.

'Komm komm zu mir' was the first of two of her singles that made the charts in Germany. It reached number 35 in June 1970. The other one, 'Tomatenrote Lippen', followed in January 1971 and only got to number 39. In 1979 she was recruited by Ralph Siegel for his group Dschinghis Khan.

My collection: 7" single no. 7823
Found: Wienyl, Vienna, 17 October 2025
Tracks: 'Komm, komm zu mir' / 'Alle Tränen die ich weine' 

Carrie - Cliff Richard

Some singles by Cliff Richard have appeared on this blog recently, but there was always one single that I couldn't find anywhere. It's a track I remember from my childhood, and I guess I would have bought it back then if pocket money had been enough to finance it. 

I am talking about 'Carrie', a track from Cliff's album Rock 'n' Roll Juvenile. Playing this single 45 years later I can still remember the chorus and the last few seconds of the track. It's funny how brains seem to absorb music and can still replicate it after not having heard it for so long.

My collection: 7" single no. 7822
Found: Wienyl, Vienna, 17 October 2025
Tracks: 'Carrie' / 'Moving in'