7-inch Series, part 714 – The 5.6.7.8’s

I started this blog in December 2000, and since then it’s gone from more to less, quantity-wise. Well, and quality-wise, I suppose. It got to a point that I just kept updating it every once in a while simply because I felt I couldn’t not do so. It would feel like abandoning my child, or something. But at the same time, I hadn’t a lot to say, really. So I thought of a way to keep it alive: I would start uploading mp3 rips of my 7″ singles collection and say something about them – where I got them, what they meant to me, and so on. That way, I would update the blog on a daily basis, and at the same time hear each and every 7″ I own, which would, in its turn, make me realise I don’t need to buy every piece of vinyl I spot. Because I’m very well aware of the fact that some of the records I own are really bad.

So, on July 2nd, 2007, the 7-inch Series started (’68 Comeback – High School Confidential, 1995 PCP Records), first in Dutch, then in English, and I kept it up until almost two years ago. I don’t remember why I stopped, and it doesn’t matter, either. I just know that I’m picking up where I left off. So, a recap: I’ve been uploading the singles in alphabetical order, and every time I purchase a new one by any artist starting with a letter I already finished, I finish the letter that’s going on, then upload the new ones, and after that I continue with the next letter.

Now, doing the series hasn’t really made me stop buying 7″ singles. I’m a sucker for the format, and I still buy them (less than before, but only because I have no money). So you can imagine my 7″ collection has grown since the last 7-inch Series entry. The last letter I finished was the ‘s’ (final entry David Sylvian – The Ink In The Well, and after that I started on the new ones, until I got to Os Fantasmas – Uma Gelada, and then I stopped.

Since then, 122 new 7-inches joined the family, which means that, if I manage to post one each day from now on, I can start with the letter ‘t’ some time in November.

So here goes, the first 7-inch Series entry in almost two years. I’m kind of excited.

Oh, and the files aren’t downloadable. Buy them if you like them. Buying records is fun, you know. And if you’re a smarty pants with a way to download them anyway, they’re ripped at 96 kbps, which isn’t very high. Good enough to play on your computer or phone, but you can’t play that in a club with your fancy Serato/Tractor whatever thingie. Well, you can, but they would sound shit. And who wants to hear music that sounds shit?

The 5.6.7.8’s – Great Balls Of Fire
label: Third Man (The Vault)
year: 2011
side a: Great Balls Of Fire
side b: Hanky Panky

This one’s an exclusive one from Jack White‘s Third Man label, released as part of the Vault series, and not available from official record dealers. You’ll recognise the songs, because they’re classics: “Great Balls Of Fire”, originally by Jerry Lee Lewis, and “Hanky Panky”, originally by The Raindrops. According to Third Man, White asked Japanese ladies The 5.6.7.8’s to play their classic “I Walk Like Jayne Mansfield” (also see 7-inch Series Part 3, if you understand Dutch), and they invited him to join in on guitar, after which they recorded these two tracks on the go. Note that the start of “Hanky Panky” is somewhat similar to the intro of “Jayne Mansfield”.