Conquistador - Procol Harum

'Conquistador' was written by Gary Brooker and Keith Reid, both members of the band Procol Harum. The song originally appeared on the band's debut album from 1967. In 1972 it was recorded for their live album Procol Harum live in concert with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, from which this single was taken.

Besides 'A Whiter Shade of Pale', 'Conquistador' was the band's highest charting single. It peaked at number 16 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, exactly five years after 'A Whiter Shade of Pale' ascended to its number 5 peak. The single also reached number 22 in the UK singles chart and number 8 in the Dutch Top 40. 

My collection: 7" single no. 8423
Found: Dutch Collectors Society, Rijswijk, 12 September 2026
Tracks: 'Conquistador [live]' / 'All this and more [live]'

Food (for thought) - UB40

It's been a while since I last bought a UB40 single, but this one looked interesting to me. It's the French edition of 'Food for thought', which for some reason retitles the song to 'Food (for thought)'. The sleeve is notably different from the UK one, with a small picture of the group on the front.

The single reached number 4 in the UK singles chart early in 1980 and number 1 in New Zealand a few months later. I don't know how it did in France, though...

My collection: 7" single no. 8422 
Found: Dutch Collectors Society, Rijswijk, 12 September 2026
Tracks: 'Food (for thought)' / 'King'

Dancing in the streets - Boney M

The interesting story of how 'Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord' became 'Dancing in the streets' in Europe was covered on this blog in May 2019. Basically, when Christmas was over, it was time to flip the sides and try to keep the single in the charts as long as possible.

In Japan, the story was quite different. Christmas isn't much of a thing over there, and so the record company decided to release 'Dancing in the streets' right away, and with a totally different sleeve. Apparently the single was released in April 1979, almost six months after the European release. Which makes it intriguing that 'Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord' was still on the B-side of this single!

My collection: 7" single no. 8418
Found: Discogs.com, received 8 September 2026
Tracks: 'Dancing in the streets' / 'Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord'

Scarborough fair / Love is blue - Andy Williams

This was an unexpected pearl: a Japanese single of Andy Williams's version of 'Love is blue', the Eurovision song originally performed by Vicky Leandros at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1967. Andy released his version in 1968, on the B-side of the single 'Scarborough fair'. 'Scarborough fair' is of course the Simon & Garfunkel song based on a traditional Northern English ballad. 

This single appears in a regular single sleeve and not in a record company sleeve with a loose piece of paper, which became so usual for Japanese singles in later years. It's a very beautiful item! 

My collection: 7" single no. 8419
Found: Discogs.com, received 8 September 2026
Tracks: 'Scarborough fair' / 'Love is blue'

Will you still be there? - Howard Jones

I was a bit surprised when I bought the American single of 'Will you still be there?' by Howard Jones a few years ago, because I wasn't aware that it had been released there. I was equally surprised last month when I found this Japanese version, because this came in a different sleeve.

The tracklisting remains the same, of course, and the acoustic version of 'Will you still be there' made it out to the European market when 'A little bit of snow' was released - it was included on the 12" and cassette single (although it was called 'new version' there). 

My collection: 7" single no. 8417
Found: Discogs.com, received 8 September 2026
Tracks: 'Will you still be there?' / 'Will you still be there?  (acoustic version)' 

Ma Baker - Boney M

My most recent purchase of a Boney M single used the same photograph as this one, except this one was released about a decade earlier. It's the iconic photograph of the Love for sale album. 

This is the second issue of the Japanese single of 'Ma Baker', released in 1977. There was some writing on the cover of this single, which surprised me because the Japanese are usually more respectful of material items. But then, the dealer was based in France. Anyway, it's still a nice item to have.

My collection: 7" single no. 8416
Found: Discogs.com, received 8 September 2026
Tracks: 'Ma Baker' / 'A woman can change a man' 

Are you getting enough of what makes you happy? - Hot Chocolate

The singles output of Hot Chocolate during the Seventies and early Eighties was quite impressive, but the 12" singles were not that great. If any 12" singles were released, they simply replicated what was on their 7" counterparts.

But then I found this 'limited edition 12" single' of their 1980 single, 'Are you getting enough of what makes you happy?'. It features a version of the song that stretches out to over five minutes, which is a minute longer than the 7" version. That made me happy.

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: Vinylparadijs, Geesteren, 12 August 2026
Tracks: 'Are you getting enough of what makes you happy?' / 'I've got you on my mind'