Careless whisper - Wham! featuring George Michael

Everybody knows 'Careless whisper' as George Michael's first solo single, and I bought it 35 years ago when it came out. When I saw this Japanese release, credited to Wham! featuring George Michael I thought it was a nice one to add to my collection. 'Careless whisper' was first released on Wham!'s second album 'Make it big', of course, but it became a single credited to George Michael everywhere except in Japan.

Despite its success, George was never fond of the song. He said in 1991 that it 'was not an integral part of my emotional development ... it disappoints me that you can write a lyric very flippantly—and not a particularly good lyric—and it can mean so much to so many people. That's disillusioning for a writer.'

My collection: 7" single no. 6202
Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 17, 2019
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'Careless whisper' / 'Careless whisper (instrumental)'

Disco Duck - Rick Dees

Rick Dees was working as a DJ on the Memphis AM radio station WMPS when he heard a guy doing a duck voice while he was working out at his local gym. Inspired by this duck voice, Dees wrote 'Disco Duck', and he hired the guy from the gym to do the duck voice on the song. The name of the guy was Kenneth Pruitt. He did a lot to help Dees promote 'Disco Duck'. He went on the TV shows 'Midnight Special' and the 'Merv Griffin show'. He did a promotional walk through Times Square with Dees while wearing a duck costume. A few months after 'Disco Duck' hit number 1 in America, Pruitt sued Dees, claiming that he’d only been paid $188 for all of this. WMPS wouldn’t let Dees play the song; they figured it would violate FCC rules about conflict of interest.
In 1977, 'Disco Duck' even made an appearance in the iconic disco film 'Saturday Night Fever' in a scene in which a group of senior citizens were learning to dance disco.

This Japanese single is an interesting curio, since it features a drawing of Donald Duck on the sleeve. You can't help but wonder if Disney knew about this.

My collection: 7" single no. 6201
Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 17, 2019
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'Disco duck' / 'Disco duck (instrumental)'

Go west - Village People

Continuing on the theme of Japanese singles of songs that I already own, this is another copy of the single 'Go west', a single I've had for fourty years already. But I thought after buying 'YMCA' and 'In the navy', it would be good to complete the hattrick of great singles by the Village People in Japanese form. After all, these sleeves are as colourful as the band.

Most people are more familiar with the version by the Pet Shop Boys, but this is the original version of the song, recorded by the American band that featured a cop, a cowboy, an indian, a GI/Sailor, a leather man and a construction worker.

My collection: 7" single no. 6200
Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 17, 2019
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'Go west' / 'Citizens of the world'

Bette Davis eyes - Kim Carnes

Back in 2004, I bought a copy of 'Bette Davis eyes', a great hit from 1981. And more recently, I bought an Italian promo featuring Kate Bush's 'Sat in your lap' and 'Bette Davis eyes' by Kim Carnes. Two copies on vinyl would be enough for most people - but I just couldn't resist this Japanese version of the single.


In recent years, Carnes has written songs such as 'It's a mighty hand' with Greg Barnhill on a 2006 film, 'Chances: The Women of Magdalene', 'Enough' with Dana Cooper on his 2010 album, 'The Conjurer', for which she also provided backing vocals. Carnes also co-wrote 'Live to tell' with Jamie Appleby, Marv Green and Alyssa Reid on Reid's 2011 album, 'The Game'.

My collection: 7" single no. 6199
Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 17, 2019
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'Bette Davis eyes' / 'Miss you tonite'

Rasputin - Boney M

I've had a copy of Boney M's 'Rasputin' for ten years already, so I guess that means that this single is superfluous in my collection - but with a totally different sleeve, this Japanese single is a great addition to my collection.

Two other Japanese singles on offer by the same dealer, 'Hooray! Hooray! It's a holiday' and 'Gotta go home', had sleeves that were similar to their German counterparts, so I left them there.

My collection: 7" single no. 6198
Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 17, 2019
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'Rasputin' / 'Never change lovers in the middle of the night'

Make love whenever you can - Arabesque

The German trio Arabesque was very successful in the far east, and this Japanese single just underlines that fact. Their advice for the Japanese record buyers was a sound one: 'Make love whenever you can'. This song was taken from the trio's fourth album, but only released as a single in Japan.

I bought this single from a seller who had many Japanese singles on offer for the measly sum of 2 euros (Usually these great singles fetch a minimum sum of two digits). There were quite a few Arabesque singles on offer, but I decided against buying them all. I still am unsure whether I regret that - most of Arabesque's songs are quite forgettable after all.

My collection: 7" single no. 6197
Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 17, 2019
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'Make love whenever you can' / 'I don't wanna have breakfast with you'

Genghis Khan - Genghis Khan

So, I have the single 'Dschinghis Khan' by the German band Dschinghis Khan, and I have the English version of the song, 'Genghis Khan', also by Dschinghis Khan. But this German release, both the band and the song are called Genghis Khan - but it is the German version of the song playing on the record, i.e. 'Dschinghis Khan'.

I love the fact that this Eurovision song in German was released in Japan, a country where German is probably as exotic a language as Korean is over here. It's a great addition to my ever growing Eurovision collection.

My collection: 7" single no. 6196
Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 17, 2019
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'Genghis Khan' [i.e. 'Dschinghis Khan'] / 'Desert land'