Fourth time lucky?

After a couple of months of being busy with work, today I thought I'd give you an update and voice my frustration over my quest to acquire all the UK number one 7" singles of the 1980s in playable condition. As the rain lashes down outside on this dismal Tuesday, it's still a case of mission impossible, it seems.

As I am now addicted to vinyl, I'm also collecting 1970s classics (including number ones) too. So this morning, the postman delivered three singles: 'Pinball Wizard' by Elton John (plays perfectly), 'Night Fever' by The Bee Gees (plays perfectly) and a third single – of which I now own three faulty copies:

Ignoring the musical merits of some DJs from Rotherham sampling and mixing together some old tunes for us all to dance to at family weddings, Jive Bunny scored three UK number ones in 1989. 'Swing The Mood' was the first of them. The record is now also the only 7" I need to complete the list of the 190 chart-toppers of the 1980s.

To make matters worse, on visual inspection, every 7" in the photo looks to be in great condition for a 25-year-old bit of plastic. But I'm puzzled as to why all three copies jump in exactly the same place – at around 2:34 when Elvis sings "I'm itching like a man in a fuzzy tree". I have no idea why this keeps happening.

Relatively few records have given me any trouble since I began collecting obsessively in April of this year. Besides this record, I've probably bought second copies of four or five other 80s number ones, with some playability issues also concerning several of the 12" singles I'm also collecting. A record cleaning kit will be on my Christmas list, though for the time being, I'm taking a chance on a fourth copy of 'Swing The Mood'.

I'm grateful that the last tune I need is easy to find at a cheap price. I'm now awaiting delivery of another copy, this time on a now-defunct Belgian record label called Indisc. My hope is that a non-UK pressing of the record may make a difference and shouldn't jump in the same place as the other three. But if that blasted bunny continues to hop all over my turntable, I swear he'll end up in a stew! In the meantime, if anyone out there has any ideas about how I can clean up the copies I already have – I'm all ears.