Summer night city - Abba

The recording sessions for 'Summer night city' began in early 1978. The new recording studio, Polar Music, had opened in May 1978, but it wasn't ready to use, so the primary backing track had been recorded at Metronome Studio. Allegedly, mixing the single took at least a week, far more than it took to mix any other track in ABBA's recording history. In the end, the song had an enormous amount of compression applied to it to give it a more "driving" sound.

The Hungarian edition of the single has a sleeve with glossier paper than its Western European counterparts. The photographs of the band members are much clearer on this sleeve than on any other edition.

My collection: 7" single no. 5891
Found: Discogs.com, received on 31 January 2018 
Tracks: 'Summer night city' / 'Medley: Pick a bale of cotton / On top of old Smokey / Midnight special'

Dancing queen - Abba

'Dancing queen' was released in 1976 with a photograph of the members of Abba wearing hats. The photograph was used in most territories, but the sleeve design was different in almost every country. The Swedish version (which I don't have yet) was the most straightforward one, with the photograph splashed across the front, but in other countries the record companies wanted some fancy borders.

Take for instance the German version, with its orange border and the logo of the band taking centre stage. Or the French one, where the title of the song takes up almost half of the front sleeve.  

Some people will think I'm mad for collecting all these different sleeves, but I quite enjoy watching them. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7608 / no. 7609
Found: Discogs.com, received 4 March 2025
Tracks: 'Dancing queen' / 'That's me' 

Does your mother know - Abba

Although 'Does your mother know' was one of Abba's big hits, I never really connected with the song. As a result, I only had one copy of the single for a long time, until I started collecting more pressings of Abba singles quite recently. 

Earlier this year I found the French pressing of 'Does your mother know'. The sleeve is slightly different from other versions, because it doesn't announce the new album Voulez-Vous on the front cover and because the back cover is the standard template that the Vogue label used for their singles. This made it a nice addition to my collection.

My collection: 7" single no. 7836
Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, 30 October 2025
Tracks: 'Does your mother know' / 'Kisses of fire' 

Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord - Boney M

I have a few different versions of this single, all of them bought at the same place in 2019. But this French version approaches the design differently, which made it interesting for me to buy this one as well. It was a steal, anyway, at just 1 euro.

Contrary to the different versions released in the Netherlands and Germany, this version comes with a dark blue background, while most of the design remains the same. The Christmas song on the A-side remains a yuletide classic, of course.

My collection: 7" single no. 7889
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 15 November 2025
Tracks: 'Mary's boy child / Oh my Lord' / 'Dancing in the streets'

It's gonna be a cold cold Christmas - Dana

Dana was the sweet innocent Irish singer who won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1970 with 'All kinds of everything'. In 1977 she released 'Fairytale', the song I remember from my childhood and which I bought back in 1992. 

In between, there was this seasonal hit: the wistful 'It's gonna be a cold cold Christmas'. When I say 'hit', I don't mean in the Netherlands, because the single didn't chart over here. But in the UK it reached number 4. Dana went on to become a politician in Ireland, saying all kinds of unfortunate things about abortion. She was also vocal for her opposition to divorce and same sex marriage, along with a Eurosceptic line on the EU. She may have a good singing voice, but I'd rather she'd keep her mouth shut to be honest.

My collection: 7" single no. 7612
Found: Discogs.com, 17 March 2025
Tracks: 'It's gonna be a cold cold Christmas' / 'The goodbye song' 

Komm, komm, komm - Monique Melsen

How do you translate a song called 'Pomme, pomme, pomme' into German? German producer and songwriter Fred Wyrich came up with 'Komm, komm, komm', and wrote the lyric for this Eurovision song for the German market.

Monique Melsen performed her song at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1971 for Luxembourg, with medium success. She could have scored higher if she hadn't worn a red blouse, red stockings and rather strange dungarees, I think.

My collection: 7" single no. 7903
Found: Discogs.com, received 13 December 2025
Tracks: 'Komm, komm, komm' / 'Fa-fa-fa' 

Wake me early in the morning - Mary Roos

In 1972 Mary Roos represented Germany during the Eurovision Song Contest with 'Nur die Liebe lässt uns leben'. She also recorded the song in English. The song 'Wake me early in the morning' is contained on this single, along with a B-side that is also translated. 

I bought the French version 'Nous' just a month ago, and it's funny how the singles of these two versions are housed in sleeves with a similar design - but with totally different photographs. This is the kind of thing I really like about having a physical collection, of course.

My collection: 7" single no. 7904
Found: Discogs.com, received 13 December 2025 
Tracks: 'Wake me early in the morning' / 'When you're singing (don't forget)'

Fernando - Abba

Rumour has it that Abba's old hit 'Fernando' is getting a resurgance because of the appearance of the song in the latest series of Stranger Things (you know, the one with the 'open marriage' adept David Harbour). I haven't noticed any chart placings for the song yet, but who knows. 

Of course I have a few copies of this single (some of them have appeared on this blog already) but this is an original German pressing. I thought it would be nice to feature it here while the song is hot, so to speak. Some people are still hoping for new Abba songs - I think they won't appear anymore. Thanksfully I still have a backlog of Abba singles to feature on here for a while yet. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7103
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 2023
Tracks: 'Fernando' / 'Tropical loveland' 

Popcorn essen ist gesund - Fausti

The very definition of a novelty single is when a badly sung song is based on a popular melody. And this single is a good example of that. Everybody knows the tune 'Popcorn' by Gershon Kingsley, and the person hiding behind the pseudonym Fausti decided to make a song from it, titled 'Popcorn essen ist gesund' ('Eating popcorn is healthy').

The single was released in 1972; the lyrics were apparently written by Hans Podehl, a German drummer. The singer goes uncredited. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7907
Found: Discogs.com, received 17 December 2025
Tracks: 'Popcorn essen ist gesund' / 'Schalalaleila, ich bin 'ne kleine Maus' 

Amiga Quartett - Hot Chocolate

It's time for another one of those delicious Amiga Quartett EP's, this time featuring Hot Chocolate, the successful band fronted by Errol Brown. They had a lot of hits in the Seventies, and four of them were collected on this disc.

The fact that this product was German is underlined by the sleeve photograph, taken by Hartmut Schorsch, a German photographer who was born on 26 March 1936. HIs photographs appeared on a lot of Amiga products between 1973 and 1981. In fact, this EP, released in 1981 was the last to feature one of his photographs.  

My collection: 7" single no. 7906
Found: Discogs.com, received 17 December 2025
Tracks: 'So you win again', 'Emma' / 'Every 1's a winner', 'Going through the motions' 

Thank you for the music - Abba

After about a decade of people sort of resenting Abba (God knows why) the Swedish band had their revenge when the compilation album Abba Gold came out in 1992. The album sold millions.

Quite unique for this compilation album, consisting of old Abba hits, was that a handful of singles were released from it. The first one was 'Dancing queen', the second one was 'Voulez-vous' and the third one was this one: 'Thank you for the music'. I had to search for a long time to find one! This single was released near the end of 1992, and so 'Happy new year' ended up on the B-side. The 'Promo only - Not for resale' sticker on the front sleeve makes this copy a little bit more special.

My collection: 7" single no. 7901
Found: Discogs.com, received 4 December 2025
Tracks: 'Thank you for the music' / 'Happy new year'

Ding-a-dong - Teach-In

For the longest time I have wanted to buy a few Japanese singles of winning Eurovision songs. A few of the most famous ones have become very expensive - and one of them was this one. Luckily this copy was sold for a reasonable price!

Teach-In won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1975 with 'Ding-a-dong', a single that I now own in various different versions. This Japanese version has a unique sleeve with a photograph that, as far as I know, wasn't used on sleeves in other countries. It doesn't beat the Italian sleeve, but I think that one can't be beaten anyway.

My collection: 7" single no. 7900
Found: Discogs.com, received 4 December 2025
Tracks: 'Ding-a-dong' / 'Let me in' 

Djurgårdsfärjan / Äntligen har jag kommit hem (De mallemolen) - Small Town Singers

One of the most revered Dutch Eurovision entries ever is Heddy Lester's 'De mallemolen', in my humble opinion of course. 

That's why I had a look at cover versions of the song, and it turns out that the song made some impression in Europe. This single presents a Swedish version, with Swedish lyrics by Ingela Forsman. She is no stranger to Eurovision, of course: she also wrote the lyrics to 'Casanova', 'Främling' and 'Kärleken är', Swedish entries between 1977 and 1998.

My collection: 7" single no. 7899
Found: Discogs.com, received 2 December 2025
Tracks: 'Djurgårdsfärjan' / 'Äntligen har jag kommit hem (De mallemolen)'

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

When I saw this sleeve of 'Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!', I instantly knew there was something different about it, but I couldn't really put my finger on it. Initially I thought the photograph was cropped differently, but when I compared it to the other singles I own at home, I saw what was wrong with it: the photograph was mirrored! 

This version of the single comes from New Zealand. I don't have a lot of singles from that part of the world, and so it is quite nice to own one.

My collection: 7" single no. 7887
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 15 November 2025
Tracks: 'Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A man after midnight)' / 'The king has lost his crown'

Dancing queen - Abba

If the photograph on this sleeve looks familiar, it's because it also appeared on this Spanish sleeve of 'Honey, Honey'. But this single was released some time later, when Abba released 'Dancing queen'. 

The single was made in Hungary, and features 'Fernando' on the B-side. As far as I know only six Abba singles were made in Hungary. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7886
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 15 November 2025
Tracks: 'Dancing queen' / 'Fernando' 

Fernando - Abba

While I bought the Spanish single of 'Fernando' I also found the Italian version. And again, the sleeve came with a different design. Just like on the Spanish one the Abba logo has gone missing, and is replaced by a certain custom font. 

There is no info on how many copies were sold of this single in Italy, but it reached number 3 in the chart run by the oldest music industry publication Musica e dischi. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7885
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 15 November 2025
Tracks: 'Fernando' / 'Tropical loveland' 

Money, money, money - Abba

I've bought a few copies of this single. But we've had 'Money, money, money' and 'Money, money', but this Yugoslavian pressing changes the layout even more and adds the B-side title to the front sleeve as well. 

The single was released by Radio-Televizija Beograd, as usual in Yugoslavia at that time. Interestingly, the Polar logo still survives in the upper right corner of this sleeve. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7884
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 15 November 2025
Tracks: 'Money, money, money' / 'Crazy world' 

Fernando - Abba

Another Spanish Abba single comes with another variation of the sleeve for 'Fernando'. Just like on 'Mamma Mia' the recommendation 'No. 1 en Inglaterra' is featured on this sleeve. What else? The familiar 'Abba' logo has gone missing and the title 'Fernando' is repeated three times. It's a design that is imperfect in a way. 

On the back sleeve the lyrics of 'Fernando' are printed in full, which I think is a first for an Abba single. It's another nice item for my growing Abba collection.

My collection: 7" single no. 7883
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 15 November 2025
Tracks: 'Fernando' / 'Intermezzo no. 1'

Mamma Mia - Abba

In 1975 Abba released Greatest Hits with on the cover a caricature of the band. That version was only released in Scandinavia and Spain, with a photograph on the inside of the gatefold sleeve. In the UK that photograph was promoted to the front sleeve, and so the illustration didn't get a lot of exposure in much of Europe.

This Spanish single of 'Mamma Mia' uses the illustration and adds the recommendation 'No. 1 en Inglaterra'. It makes this single quite remarkable and an attractive item.

My collection: 7" single no. 7882
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 15 November 2025
Tracks: 'Mamma Mia' / 'Tropical loveland' 

Does your mother know - Abba

For some reason you wouldn't associate Abba with huge success in America, but a lot of singles were released there. It is, however, not easy to find American singles with picture covers for some reason. So I was happy to find this copy of 'Does your mother know' at the record fair last week. (That saves a lot of postage costs.)

The funny thing about this sleeve is the back cover, on which there is an advertisement for three albums 'also on Atlantic Records & Tapes'. The albums Greatest Hits, Arrival and The Album are pictured. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7881
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 15 November 2025
Tracks: 'Does your mother know' / 'Kisses of fire'