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Post by Alan on Apr 25, 2023 15:35:31 GMT
Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Man After Midnight) / The King Has Lost His Crown
S EPC 7914, 12 October 1979Two photos for the six variants, still no push-out.  
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Post by Alan on Apr 25, 2023 15:42:24 GMT
I Have A Dream / Take A Chance On Me (Recorded live at Wembley Arena)
S EPC 8088, 7 December 1979Push-out is back, but it’s one of only two in the blue-era. The large “A” of the promo is now much smaller and solid, a much better look than the intrusive outline of the yellow and orange periods. The larger size of the Dutch label is noticeable against the others. 
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Post by Alan on Apr 25, 2023 15:55:44 GMT
The Winner Takes It All / Elaine
S EPC 8835, 25 July 1980 The blue of the standard paper labels can vary. Bottom left is quite dull, top right is better but the promo is the brightest. 
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Post by Alan on Apr 25, 2023 16:01:09 GMT
Super Trouper / The Piper
S EPC 9089, 14 November 1980Final push-out, and the second of only two in the blue-era. The larger Dutch label means a smaller run-off groove area. 
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Post by Alan on Apr 25, 2023 17:47:39 GMT
One of Us / Should I Laugh Or Cry
EPC A 1740, 4 December 1981Only 7” singles included in the photos, so no Lay All Your Love On Me. The promo no longer shows the release date. Instead, it says “Promotion Copy Not For Sale”. 
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Post by Alan on Apr 25, 2023 17:53:15 GMT
Head Over Heels / The Visitors
EPC A 2037, 5 February 1982The big “A” on the promos so far have been solid. For this title, it reverts to being an outline. Larger than the solid A, but thankfully still much smaller than the A of orange and yellow. 
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Post by Alan on Apr 25, 2023 17:59:28 GMT
The Day Before You Came / Cassandra
EPC A 2847, 8 October 1982As with most of the promo issues, the promo for this is the same label as the UK commercial pressing but with the big “A” added. 
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Post by Alan on Apr 25, 2023 18:03:18 GMT
Under Attack / You Owe Me One
EPC A 2971, 3 December 1982Back to a solid “A” on the promo. This release is the first to have a larger print for the catalogue number. 
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Post by Alan on Apr 25, 2023 18:11:30 GMT
Thank You For The Music / Our Last Summer
A 3894, 4 November 1983This is the only 7” single in the blue-era not to get either a Dutch pressing or an injection-moulded, and the only one to have just one commercial variant on standard black vinyl available in Britain. Perhaps because CBS didn’t expect it to do that well? However, they went to town on the special issues, with the widely available poster sleeve and the novelty shaped picture disc. 
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Post by gary on Apr 25, 2023 18:16:32 GMT
Is there really an expletive on Summer Night City then? I thought that was a myth.
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Post by Alan on Apr 25, 2023 18:22:42 GMT
Is there really an expletive on Summer Night City then? I thought that was a myth. I’m fairly certain there is, yes. I know there are many that would say “ABBA wouldn’t do that, how on earth can you think such a thing?” but I definitely hear it. Admittedly I didn’t hear it until I read about the controversy but that’s just it - it’s so subtle that unless you know to look out for it, you wouldn’t hear it. It’s the “walking in the moonlight” line. It’s sang so many times throughout the song but on the fade, there’s just one occasion where it’s sung differently, and very definitely sounds like “f**king in the moonlight”. On the radio the DJ would probably be talking over it by that point, and as it’s on the fade, the general listener will have lost interest. This promo is a rare edit of the song (presumably an earlier fade). |
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Post by gazman on Apr 25, 2023 18:46:04 GMT
Thanks for all the photos. They are great.
Now here's a thing - I bought 'Fernando' upon its release (UK Epic yellow sleeve) and I thought the label said "Taken from the forthcoming LP 'Greatest Hits'" i.e. the extra word inserted.
However, I lost my copy some years ago, so I can't say for sure....so I guess we'll never know?
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Post by Alan on Apr 25, 2023 18:56:14 GMT
There’s nothing on either Discogs or 45cat for that, gazman so it’s difficult to say. |
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Post by HOMETIME on Apr 25, 2023 19:39:43 GMT
Is there really an expletive on Summer Night City then? I thought that was a myth. I’m fairly certain there is, yes. I know there are many that would say “ABBA wouldn’t do that, how on earth can you think such a thing?” but I definitely hear it. Admittedly I didn’t hear it until I read about the controversy but that’s just it - it’s so subtle that unless you know to look out for it, you wouldn’t hear it. It’s the “walking in the moonlight” line. It’s sang so many times throughout the song but on the fade, there’s just one occasion where it’s sung differently, and very definitely sounds like “f**king in the moonlight”. On the radio the DJ would probably be talking over it by that point, and as it’s on the fade, the general listener will have lost interest. This promo is a rare edit of the song (presumably an earlier fade). Here's a version of SNC with the vocals isolated. I have to say that, even with all the instrumentation removed, it's hard to be definitive about whether Bjorn was running a potty mouth. I think it has to do with the very breathy delivery they chose. At one point, the phrase "soul dancing in the dark" sounds a bit like "tone dancing in the dark." While I seriously doubt that they'd have courted that kind of controversy, I like the idea that they might have coyly inserted an F-bomb in their sexiest single. |
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Post by richard on Apr 25, 2023 20:33:58 GMT
I think ABBA's most sexually brazen song - despite Agnetha's innocent-sounding double-tracked vocals, and the soft, chocolate box musical exterior - is Honey Honey. Here's some of the lyrics, randomly, from memory:
Honey, honey, let me feel it; honey, honey, don't conceal it...
I heard about you before and I wanted to know some more...
When you do your thing...
Oh, you make me dizzy...
You're a love machine.
And not forgetting Bjorn's heavy breathing, of course.
As I've said before: it's about a promiscuous stud, and the girl wants some of that. The f-word would be redundant.
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Post by Alan on Aug 5, 2023 21:01:56 GMT
I acquired another of my long sought-after variants today. The fairly rare injection-moulded Chiquitita was buried amongst a bundle of 16 ABBA UK singles in an eBay listing but I spotted it. Second of four orange-era “plastics” and the last to have the Epic logo in an odd position. Apparently these types are hated within the collecting community and known as “plasticraps” but I quite like them.   |
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Post by johnny on Aug 7, 2023 9:56:17 GMT
One of Us is without doubt ABBA's most EROTIC song. Steamy, Sensual, Sexual.
Look at the lyrics
One of us is crying, one of us is lying
In a lonely bed
Staring at the ceiling
...wishing she had never left at all
Wow! Hot under the collar or what.
So Agnetha is writhing, suggestively in her silk sheets. Groaning as she remembers the love-making that went on between those musty sheets. Staring up at the mirror on the ceiling, looking down on her heaving breasts and pouting, sweaty lips."Wishing she had never left at all" yes, it's wishing her female partner had not left. How she misses that woman on woman action.
Anyway, sure would have made for a better video.
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Post by Alan on Apr 8, 2024 15:25:31 GMT
Saturday was ABBA’s 50th Eurovision anniversary, and I marked it (by complete coincidence) by taking delivery of this little beauty. The holy grail of ABBA collecting for me - more coveted than the original Epic Ring Ring single from 1973, which I still don’t have - was the Dutch pressing of I Have A Dream. A friend got it years ago and had never otherwise seen it for sale. A couple of weeks ago one finally turned up on the ‘Bay. Not taking any chances, I put a bid in that was nearly £100 more than I actually paid for it, though I still paid a lot! Thankfully I won it against two other bidders. This version of the Epic label, pressed in the Netherlands, is common for Super Trouper and Head Over Heels, and there’s also a (different) album version of it. For some reason, the I Have A Dream one is extremely rare.   |
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Post by jj on Apr 9, 2024 5:58:55 GMT
I just noticed there's no track length provided for Take a Chance On Me on that disc. Had you, too? There's a track length given for the A-side (as is customary). Could that be because the B-side's a live version, and shorter, and no-one bothered to ask or find out how long it was before the label was printed?
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Post by Alan on Apr 9, 2024 6:25:44 GMT
I think I’d read that somewhere before, jj but well spotted! Guessing it’s because the Wembley dates were 5 to 10 November and the single was released on 7 December, so there was only a month to get everything done. I checked the other Epic label variants and none of them have it. However, the Polar single does, where it’s given as 4:25 (which is accurate). The studio-recorded version of the track is 4:05. I’m assuming the applause must make up the difference as the live version is faster and, as you say, should therefore be shorter. |
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