Fernando - Abba

Since I was ordering a few singles from Serbia, I thought it was nice to check out if the seller had any nice sleeve variations of Abba singles. And indeed, he did: this Yugoslavian pressing of Fernando comes with the same photograph that was used on most 'Fernando' singles, but with a different layout and a different 'Abba' logo!

The single was released on the Radio-Televizija Beograd' label, although the original Swedish Polar company gets a mention on the sleeve as well. Collecting Abba singles is best left to the most avid fans, but it is nice to catch a few in my collection as well.

My collection: 7" single no. 7724
Found: Discogs.com, received 15 July 2025
Tracks: 'Fernando' / 'Tropical loveland'

Poslije tebe - Zdenka Vučković

Zdenka Vučković was born in Zagreb on 20 June 1942. She was a Croatian popular music singer with a career spanning 60 years. Her popularity peaked during the Sixties, when she was a teen pop star. In 1972 she recorded a Croatian version of the song 'Après toi', which won the Eurovision Song Contest in the original version by Vicky Leandros.

She announced the end of her career with the song 'Odrasla je djevojčica mala' ['The Little Girl has Grown Up'], performed at the 1989 Zagreb Festival. However, in 1991, she performed the song 'To Love Somebody' (a cover version of the Bee Gees song in Croatian) as a duet with Severina. She passed away in Zagreb on 7 March 2020.

My collection: 7" single no. 7723
Found: Discogs.com, received 15 July 2025
Tracks: 'Poslije tebe' / 'Doći Će ljepši dan' 

Malo mira - Ana Štefok

Yugoslavia competed in the Eurovision Song Contest during the Seventies and Eighties, and like in other participating countries it was pretty popular. Although Yugoslavia didn't manage to win until 1989, the Contest inspired many local artists to record their own versions of winning songs - and in their own language too.

Ana Štefok recorded a version of 'Ein Bisschen Frieden', the winning song of 1982, in Croatian. She even recorded the Belgian entry 'Si tu aimes ma musique' for the B-side. It's interesting how exotic these songs sound just by changing the language.

My collection: 7" single no.  7722
Found: Discogs.com, received 15 July 2025
Tracks: 'Malo mira' / 'Ako voliš tu pjesmu'

I do, I do, I do, I do, I do - Abba

One of the earlier singles of Abba is 'I do, I do, I do, I do, I do', released the year after they won the Eurovision Song Contest with 'Waterloo' and - perhaps unsurprisingly - not as successful. The song was recorded on 21 February 1975 at Glen Studio, and was inspired by the European schlager music of the 1950s, as well as the saxophone sound of the 1950s American orchestra leader Billy Vaughn.

The single did reach number 1 in Australia, Belgium, New Zealand,  South Africa and Switzerland, but in the UK it only got to number 38. The singles shown here are the French and German pressings, featuring different sleeves when compared to the Dutch version which I posted a long time ago.  

My collection: 7" single no. 6598
Found: Discogs.com, received 15 January 2022
Tracks: 'I do, I do, I do, I do, I do' /  'Rock me'

What have you done for me lately - Janet Jackson

Janet Jackson shot to instant worldwide fame when she released 'What have you done for me lately' in 1986. It was the lead single for her third album Control, but the previous two albums didn't score as high as that one would. Of course she profited a little from the stellar popularity of her brother Michael, but engaging Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis for the album was also a smart move. They gave her the right sound for the mid-Eighties.

Back in 1993 I bought the UK pressing of this single, featuring a different sleeve and a different B-side. This European edition has another track from the album on the B-side and the sleeve that most people will recognize.

My collection: 7" single no. 7721
Found: Kay's Outlet, Wagenberg (Netherlands), 12 July 2025
Tracks: 'What have you done for me lately' / 'He doesn't know I'm alive' 

I'm not perfect (but I'm perfect for you) - Grace Jones

There's no-one quite like Grace Jones. She's got a few classic songs to her name, and the album Inside story (1986) was an attempt to add a few more. That album didn't really get that legendary status, despite the involvement of Nile Rodgers.

However, the album did contain a few nice pop songs, and this was one of them. The song came from an idea that Jones and Mick Jagger had "when you are famous, and having to be as perfect for your partner as you are as a performer"; one of the pair did one line and the other followed. Although they only got as far as the title, Jones told Jagger that she would go away and develop it into a song imagining what her and Jagger would have said. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7720
Found: Kay's Outlet, Wagenberg (Netherlands), 12 July 2025
Tracks: 'I'm not perfect (but I'm perfect for you)' / 'Scary but fun'

April love - Pat Boone

'April Love' was composed by Sammy Fain and written by Paul Francis Webster. It was written as the theme song for a 1957 film of the same name, starring Pat Boone and Shirley Jones and directed by Henry Levin. Pat Boone recorded the song, and helped by the release of the film, it became a number one hit for him. In 1958, it was nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song but lost out to Frank Sinatra's 'All the Way'.

In 1973 the song was recorded by Ricky Wilde, and this is how I got to know this song. Obviously I was interested to hear the original as well, and I was lucky enough to find a copy last weekend!

My collection: 7" single no. 7719
Found: Kay's Outlet, Wagenberg (Netherlands), 12 July 2025
Tracks: 'April love' / 'When the swallows come back to Capistrand'