Risin' above the need / Where do we go when we die - The The

This fourth and final single from The The's recent album Ensoulment was a bit of a surprise, as I bought a bundled trio of singles just recently. But as Matt Johnson explained: "Having now had the chance to perform the new album live across the UK, Europe and America, we found that these two songs were amongst the most popular. ‘Where Do We Go When We Die?’ was written for my late father Eddie Johnson (author of Tales From The Two Puddings) whilst ‘Risin’ Above The Need’ is a philosophical muse upon addiction and materialism and the power of the human spirit to overcome obstacles."

I ordered the single the minute I received the newsletter from the band, afraid that I might miss out if I waited. This is a limited edition physical release, after all... It neatly completes this particular mini-collection.

My collection: 7" single no. 7527
Found: The The website, received 10 December 2024
Tracks: 'Risin' above the need' / 'Where do we go when we die'

A fragile thing - The Cure

The Cure finally returned with a new album last month, and it is better than its predecessors - at least, that's what I think. The first single was the track 'Alone', which wasn't released physically, which was a disappointment. Fortunately the second single did get a physical release. It's the slightly whimsier track 'A fragile thing'.

This single was pressed on white vinyl and contains two versions of the song: the regular album version and a remix by Robert Smith. There's even an inner sleeve on this one! 

My collection: 7" single no. 7525
Found: Platenzaak.nl, received 6 December 2024
Tracks: 'A fragile thing (RS24 mix)' / 'A fragile thing (RS24 remix)'

Happy - Michael Jackson

With Michael Jackson being at the top of his game in the Eighties, his former record company Motown were all too eager to make some money off his name. They re-released a handful of his songs from the Seventies, and one of them was 'Happy'. 

In order to boost sales, they made a limited edition of this single with a poster sleeve. It's a version I wanted to have for some time now, and I finally found it. The B-side is a rather more famous Michael Jackson song, 'We're almost there'. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7517
Found: Discogs.com, received 6 December 2024
Tracks: 'Happy' / 'We're almost there'

She looked me in the eye - Poogy

The band Poogy was named after the nickname of its drummer. They participated in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974 with a song called 'Natati la khaiai' in Hebrew. Typically for the band, the lyrics are full of unusual imagery. With humour and irony, the song deals, at least in part, with the power of love and its failure, as in lines such as 'if she refused / there's no hope', and 'Someone says that his sky is ending / When there’s enough air for a nation or two'. It has been first suggested, and since confirmed by band member Danny Sanderson, that the song also contained a veiled political protest against then-prime minister Golda Meir, and in favour of the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

The song ended up in seventh place. The band recorded the song in English as 'She looked me in the eye (I gave her my life)'. I ordered the single from a German seller, and it was delivered within a week!

My collection: 7" single no. 7514
Found: Discogs.com, received 2 December 2024
Tracks: 'She looked me in the eye (I gave her my life)' / 'Morris and his turtle'

Midnight train - Kim Wilde

Kim Wilde's latest offering is the second single from her forthcoming album Closer, due out at the end of January. Based on the previous single 'Trail of destruction' and this one, it seems we're looking forward to a corker. 

Still, this single didn't impress me at first - and that's not because of the song, but because of the fact that there was a lot going on in my life when this came out. I only got to play the single about two weeks after it came out (yes, I still don't do digital so I had to wait until this vinyl single arrived!) and I wasn't grabbed right away. Reading through some of the online comments I noticed the same from other people. But I have to say: repeated play absolutely helps this particular song. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7508
Found: Cherry Red website, received 29 November 2024
Tracks: 'Midnight train' / 'Midnight train (instrumental)'

God only knows - The Beach Boys

This is a classic song and the single is very hard to find. I can't remember when I first heard the song, and I think it didn't even make much of an impression on me back then, but as the years went by, I grew to appreciate it more and more. When I finally decided I wanted to own this single, I couldn't find it anywhere, obviously. Thank god there's online sellers now - even if they tend to charge too much for their wornout singles.

Many songwriters, including Paul McCartney and Jimmy Webb, have cited 'God only knows' as their favorite song of all time. They're not wrong: it's a beautifully crafted piece of music.

My collection: 7" single no. 7481
Found: Discogs.com, received 30 November 2024
Tracks: 'God only knows' / 'Wouldn't it be nice'

Primary - The Cure

The Cure have finally released a new album, and it made me curious about their output all over again. Then I started to realise that I don't have all of their singles - and I'm not even familiar with all of them. I heard 'Primary' and decided that I wanted to have that single.

It was actually the only single taken from their album Faith, released in 1981. It was their seventh single, but only the second to chart in the UK after 'A forest'. It only reached number 43. The song is unusual in that both Simon Gallup and Robert Smith play bass, with the effects pedals on Smith's giving the leads a unique sound. There are no guitars (other than bass) or keyboards played in the song. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7480
Found: Discogs.com, received 28 November 2024
Tracks: 'Primary' / 'Descent'