When the boys talk about the girls - Valerie Carr

Valerie Carr was born in 1936. She made her singing debut in the Fifties, recording some singles for the King Records label, until she signed with Roulette in 1958. This single, 'When the boys talk about the girls' peaked at number 19 in the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1958 and number 29 in the UK singles chart. It is a charming little song, which was covered in 1966 by the Shirelles.

I bought this single along with a handful of other ones, but unfortunately this copy is warped. I'll leave it under a stack of heavy books for some time, but in the mean time I found some recordings of both sides so I can still hear these tracks. Buying singles online can be a bit like Russian Roulette sometimes.

My collection: 7" single no. 6746
Found: Discogs.com, received 11 July 2022
Cost: 0 (yep, I got a refund)
Tracks: 'When the boys talk about the girls' / 'Padre'

Eurovisie songfestival - Teddy Scholten

Although I already own 'n Beetje and 'n Beetje, two singles by Teddy Scholten, this EP is the one that rules them all. It features all three tracks that are found on those two singles, plus a Dutch cover of 'Oui oui oui', the song with which Jean Philippe participated in the 1959 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest - the one that was won by Teddy Scholten.

On this EP Teddy Scholten performs four songs from that Song Contest: cover versions in Dutch from the British, French and Italian entries, plus of course her own winning song. It comes in a beautiful picture sleeve, which has survived the 63 years since its release. That is an impressive feat in itself.

My collection: 7" single no. 6703
Found: Discogs.com, received 14 April 2022
Cost: €5
Tracks: ''n Beetje', 'Zing kleine vogel' / 'Oui, oui, oui', 'Li per li'

Topmelodierne fra San Remo Festival 1957 - Narciso Parigi, Marisa Fiordaliso, E. Amadori

"The great radio and television competition in 1957 for the best European melody will live long in the memory. No less than 10 contries competed here, all of which had mobilized their best composers and lyricists, and to the great success of the event not least contributed to the original Italian contribution. The melody that came to represent Italy, 'Corde della mia chitarra', was chosen at the great San Remo Festival in 1957, and on this record we bring you the award-winning melodies."

This is the text on the back of the sleeve of this Danish EP, which features the numbers one through four from the San Remo Festival competition from 1957. 'Corde della mia chitarra' was performed at the Eurovision Song Contest by Nunzio Gallo. The song appears here in a version by Narciso Parigi. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6687
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 9 April 2022
Cost: €2
Tracks: 'Corde della mia chitarra', 'Usignolo' (Narciso Parigi) / 'Casetta in Canada' (Maria Fiordaliso & E. Amadori), 'Scusami' (Marisa Fiordaliso)

Ciao ciao bambina (Piove) - Dalida

Domenico Modugno's song Piove (Ciao ciao bambina) was extremely successful, despite not winning the Eurovision Song Contest with the song in 1959. It was covered by many artists, some virtually unknown, some world famous. 

Dalida would fall in the latter category. The Italian-French singer was born in Egypt and interpreted her songs in eleven languages. She recorded 'Piove' in French on this EP. Since her death, Dalida has become a cult figure to a new generation of fans. In 1988, the Encyclopædia Universalis commissioned a poll, published in the French newspaper Le Monde, that aimed to reveal the personalities who had the greatest impact on French society. Dalida polled second, behind Général de Gaulle.

My collection: 7" single no. 6683
Found: Discogs.com, received 8 April 2022
Cost: €3
Tracks: 'Ciao ciao bambina (Piove)', 'Ce serait dommage' / 'Tout l'amour', 'La fille aux pieds nus'

The Big Four, no. 11 - Frankie Vaughan, Kaye Sisters, Shirley Bassey, Marty Wilde

This EP was released in May 1959, and featured four hits from 1958 and 1959. My reason for buying this EP is obviously the appearance of Marty Wilde with his hit 'Donna', but there are a few more gems on this: a young Shirley Bassey who sings 'Kiss me, honey honey, kiss me' and Frankie Vaughan with 'Venus' (not the Shocking Blue song). The Kaye Sisters deliver a dreamy version of 'Goodbye, Jimmy, goodbye'.

There have been 20 of these 'big four' EP's between 1956 and 1960, and Marty appears on number 9, 11, 14, 17 and 20. That should make an interesting subcollection, don't you think? Watch this space...

My collection: 7" single no. 6671
Found: Discogs.com, received 30 March 2022
Cost: €4
Tracks: 'Venus' (Frankie Vaughan), 'Goodbye, Jimmy, goodbye' (The Kaye Sisters) / 'Kiss me, honey honey, kiss me' (Shirley Bassey), 'Donna' (Marty Wilde)

Romantica - Willy Alberti

I've posted a lot of singles by Willy Alberti recently, and that's mainly because I discovered these Eurovision covers by him for reasonable prices. There is still a little bit of Dutch pride within me, that I really wanted to have them all, because unlike his daughter Willeke, he really could sing. At least, that's what these singles seem to prove.

'Romantica' was Italy's 1960 entry to the Eurovision Song Contest - performed by Renato Rascel - and Willy does a very decent version of this song. He manages to sound Italian, as the back cover of this EP attests: "When he visited New York and Philadelphia in December 1959, and performed in theatres and night-clubs there, he astonished even the Italian members of his audiences, who could not believe that he was a Netherlander". 

My collection: 7" single no. 6638
Found: Discogs.com, received 22 February 2022
Cost: €3
Tracks: 'Romantica', 'Libero' / 'Quando vien la sera', 'E' mezzanotte'

Aprite le finestre - Willy Alberti

I have yet to find a copy of 'Aprite le finestre' by Franca Raimondi. She performed the song during the first ever edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, after having won the Italian national final. The single is, of course, extremely rare, being over 65 years old.

In the meantime, I found this EP by Willy Alberti, featuring his version of the song. The EP, simply titled 'Willy Alberti', features four different Italian songs, and it marks the first time Willy recorded a Eurovision song. This EP is as old as the Italian single, but apparently it's much less sought after. I was quite pleased with the state it's in, it's a beautiful copy.

My collection: 7" single no. 6630
Found: Discogs.com, received 9 February 2022
Cost: €3
Tracks: 'Aprite le finestre', 'La vita e' un paradiso di bugie' / 'Mia cara Carolina', 'Ricordate Marcellino?'

Nel blu dipinto di blu - Willy Alberti

While I am generally not terribly convinced of the merits of Dutch artists, this single by Willy Alberti was curious enough to get my hands on it. Willy, the father of Willeke who entered the Eurovision Song Contest during the Nineties with a terribly oldfashioned song, had an interesting career, singing lots of Italian standards - and his version of 'Nel blu dipinto di blu' was only one of those singles.

Between 1956 and 1960 he recorded a handful of Italian Eurovision Song Contest songs, and this single was just one of them. It is backed with a cheerful version of 'Nanni (Qua gita a li castelli)', a cheerful song composed by Franco Silvestri.

My collection: 7" single no. 6631
Found: Discogs.com, received 9 February 2022
Cost: €2
Tracks: 'Nel blu dipinto di blu' / 'Nanni (Qua gita li castelli)'

Tschau Tschau Bambina - Caterina Valente

One of the big names in entertainment history is Caterina Valente. Bon on 14 January 1931 in Paris (France), she became a singer, guitarist, dancer, and actress. Valente is a polyglot; she speaks six languages, and sings in eleven. While she is best known as a European performer, Valente also spent part of her career in the United States, where she performed alongside Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, Perry Como, and Ella Fitzgerald, among others. 

In 1959 she recorded a cover version of Domenico Modugno's 'Piove', also known as 'Ciao ciao bambina'. Caterina's version is in German, hence perhaps the transliteration to 'Tschau Tschau Bambina'. This copy is in perfect shape, which is rare for a 62 year old disc.

My collection: 7" single no. 6625
Found: Discogs.com, received 29 January 2022
Cost: €3
Tracks: 'Tschau Tschau Bambina' / 'Liebe kommt und Liebe geht'

Bambina (Volare Cantare) - Danny Marino

Danny Marino was born on 29 March 1936 as the son of Italian parents in Tunisia or Italy, at least he spent his youth in Tunisia as Salvatore Mezzasalma. After the age of 16 he went to Paris, where he studied philosophy at the Sorbonne. To finance his studies, he played music with a friend in bars and nightclubs. Around the mid-1950s, his Italian dance combo received good engagement offers from Hamburg, which he immediately accepted. In Hamburg he has already performed under his stage name Danny Marino. The people from Heliodor noticed him and signed him. 

In 1958 he released this single, a cover version of Domenico Modugno's 'Nel blu dipinto di blu', otherwise known as 'Volare' (yep, there it is again). I was lucky to find this copy with an original record company sleeve - try as you might, you couldn't find one like this very easily. 

As a pop singer and chansonnier, Danny was relatively popular because of his performances, but there were no chart successes for him. In 1962 he founded a restaurant with his brother Fabio and his wife, which became a well-known and popular meeting point. In the 1970s the success of the bars, there were already several, dwindled and they had to be closed down one by one. He then went to Agadir, Morocco, where he ran an advertising agency. Already severely marked by an illness, he returned to Germany around 2003, where he died in poverty on September 16, 2003 in the University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf.

My collection: 7" single no. 6624
Found: Discogs.com, received 29 January 2022
Cost: €3,5
Tracks: 'Bambina (Volare Cantare)' / 'Bleib' bei mir, Forestiera' 

La belle amour - Paule Desjardins

This EP presents four songs by Paule Desjardins, who represented France at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1957 with 'La belle amour'. It's interesting how little is known about this song. It was composed by Guy Lafarge (5 May 1904 - 17 December 1990) and written by Francis Carco (3 July 1886 - 26 May 1958). 

The song finished in second place, behind Corry Brokken's 'Net als toen', the first time the Netherlands took home the prize. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6618
Found: Discogs.com, received 21 January 2022
Cost: 100 SEK
Tracks: 'La chanson de Lima', 'La belle amour' /  'Amour perdu', 'Dis-moi quelque chose de gentil'

Skibet skal sejle i nat - Birthe Wilke & Gustav Winckler

It was 1957, and two Danish performers were selected to perform a duet called 'Skibet skal sejle i nat' ('The ship will sail tonight') at the Eurovision Song Contest. Birthe Wilke was a young, innocent singer and Gustav Winckler, 10 years her senior, the experienced crooner with a string of hits to his name. They famously finished their performance with a kiss that lasted for 11 seconds - apparently because someone forgot to say 'cut' at the end. This in turn shocked the international juries, so much so that they didn't award them as many points as predicted beforehand. They finished in third place in a field of 10 competitors.

This disc is the original 78rpm record, released at the time. I've taken some interest in these old discs because I can finally play them. And playing such old records is a real nostalgic sensation, I can tell you. 

My collection: 78rpm [unnumbered]
Found: Discogs.com, received 14 January 2022
Cost: €8
Tracks: 'Skibet skal sejle i nat' / 'Kaerlighedens cocktail'

Honeycomb - Marty Wilde

This blog has never featured a 78rpm disc before. But I've had a few of these for some years now, and I think it's only right to include the one that has two tracks on it that I don't actually have on 7" vinyl. This is 'Honeycomb', released by Marty Wilde in 1957. It was his debut release, and a version of an American number 1 hit by Jimmie Rodgers. The B-side, 'Wild cat', was written by Lionel Bart and Marty himself.

'Honeycomb' failed to chart, just like the two subsequent singles, 'Love bug crawl' and 'Oh-oh, I'm falling in love again'. It wasn't until his fourth single, 'Endless sleep', that Marty's career would take off - he would be in the UK singles charts for five consecutive years.

My collection: 78rpm disc [unnumbered]
Found: Ebay
Cost: €10
Tracks: 'Honeycomb' / 'Wild cat'

Volare - Umberto

It's time for another version of 'Volare'! Umberto Marcato was born in Padua (Italy) in 1936. He started his career at the age of 18, when he became the singer of the Casamatta Orchestra, led by Luciano Viani. With the orchestra, he toured in Italy and later on, in the rest of the Europe. In 1957, during a successful tour in Scandinavia, the orchestra signed a contract with the Swedish Karusell, and recorded four songs: 'Maruzella', 'Lazzarella', 'Guaglione' and 'Chella Ilà'. These songs were successful in Sweden, but also in Finland. This EP featuring 'Volare' followed quickly.  

This particular copy of the EP looks a bit strange: there are 'bubbles' in the vinyl and when you listen to the track you can hear it actually affects the sound. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6578
Found: Discogs.com, received 17 December 2021
Cost: €3
Tracks: 'Volare', 'Pueblo' / 'Biundulella', 'Autumn concerto'

Piove - Bruno Martino and his Orchestra

Bruno Martino was born in Rome on 11 November 1925. His debut as a jazz piano player was already in 1940, when he was only fifteen, playing, in secret, in a student jazz little orchestra. In 1944 he joined RAI, as a piano player for Piero Piccioni's Orchestra. Then he gained great success abroad, particularly in Northern Europe, experimenting with a mix of jazz, Neapolitan songs and his own pieces. When he came back to Italy in 1958, he composed songs for Caterina Valente, Renato Rascel and Wilma De Angelis. A fortuitous event launched him also as an interpreter, when he replaced his orchestra's singer. 

This Norwegian single, pressed on red vinyl, features a cover version of Domenico Modugno's 'Piove (Ciao ciao bambina)', performed at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1959. This single does not mention any year but it is assumed to be released in the same year. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6577
Found: Discogs.com, received 17 December 2021
Cost: €4
Tracks: 'Piove' / 'Li per li'

Festival i Cannes - Brita Borg

Brita Borg participated in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1959, representing Sweden, with the song 'Augustin'. The same year she also released this EP, featuring her versions of four other Eurovision songs. The A-side consists of Swedish versions of ''n Beetje' and 'Oui oui oui oui', the B-side presents a version of 'Piove' and 'Uh, jeg ville ønske jeg var dig'. 

It's not unusual for Eurovision artists to record cover versions of other Eurovision songs, just think of Cliff Richard's 'Marianne' and Matt Monro's 'Walk away'. But this EP was released quite quickly after Brita Borg's own Eurovision adventure, and that makes it a rather special collection of songs.

My collection: 7" single no. 6575
Found: Discogs.com, received 17 December 2021
Cost: €4
Tracks: 'Om våren', 'Oui oui oui oui' / 'Piove', 'A ifall jag vore du ända'

Augustin - Brita Borg

Whatever happened to the sleeve of this single, I don't know exactly, but its slightly dismal state has to explain the lower price of this rather rare and very old single. By contrast, the actual single is in a very good state, as you can hear.

'Augustin' was the Swedish entry for the Eurovision Song Contest back in 1959. It was actually performed by Siw Malmkvist at the Swedish national final (Melodifestivalen) but it was Brita Borg who took to the international stage. Unfortunately the song only got 4 points and finished in 9th place in a field of 11 competitors. 

The B-side of this single features a monologue by a Swedish comedian (at least, I think that it has to be a comedian of some sort since the audience is laughing) which drags on for six minutes. Perhaps it's funny when you're Swedish but I couldn't understand anything of this.

My collection: 7" single no. 6573
Found: Discogs.com, received 17 December 2021
Cost: €3,5
Tracks: 'Augustin', 'Dags igen att vara kära' (Brita Borg) / 'Ester' (Martin Ljung)

Accordeon Potpourri no. 39 - The 3 Jacksons

I found a single by the 3 Jacksons just eight days ago: Potpourri nr. 62 featuring their take on the Marty Wilde classic 'Abergavenny'. My subcollection of Marty Wilde cover versions was happy. 

Imagine my surprise when my eyes fell on this single, 'Accordeon Potpourri no. 39', featuring the 3 Jacksons' version of 'Nel blu dipinto di blu', Domenico Modugno's immortal Eurovision song from 1958. It is a worthy addition to my subcollecton of Eurovision covers, and more specifically, covers of the song that became best known as 'Volare'. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6566
Found: Rataplan Kringloop, Den Haag, 12 December 2021
Cost: €0,50
Tracks: 'Veel bittere tranen / La Paloma / De verloren zoon' / 'Nel blu dipinto di blu / Love letters in the sand / Colonel Bogey'

'n Beetje - Sonja Oosterman

A single that is credited to 'Sonja Oosterman, Cees Vanos, vocals with the Festival Five, under direction of Dick Schallies' demands some further explanation. All four tracks appear to feature the Festival Five under direction of Dick Schallies - they provide the music. The vocals are provided by Sonja Oosterman on three of the four tracks, whereas 'Who knows why' is sung by Cees Vanos. 

''n Beetje' was chosen to represent the Netherlands at the Eurovision Song Contest when this single was created, hence the "Nr. 1 Dutch finale Eurovision Song Contest 1959" which you can read on this sleeve. The song would, of course, go on to win the Contest. The one and only mystery remains: why was  this single, aimed at the Dutch market and even part of a "Dutch Fono Club" made in Germany? Answers on a postcard please... (or below)

My collection: 7" single no. 6549
Found: Marktplaats.nl, received 30 November 2021
Cost: €1
Tracks: ''n Beetje', 'Ied're dag met jou' / 'Ja of nee', 'Who knows why'

Oui oui oui oui - Les Djinns

This EP actually features four different songs, but it is their cover of 'Oui, oui, oui, oui' (originally performed by Jean Philippe) that caused this particular purchase. Upon playing the entire EP, I had to conclude that I wouldn't probably listen to all the other tracks much. 

Les Djinns were a French choir with a distinctive singing style, composed of sixty girls between the ages of nine and eighteen years, conducted by Paul Bonneau. In 1959, the French government organized a 'Master School' for the instruction of girls in musical subjects in order to ensure a supply of performance talent for the country's radio and television industry. The Master School set a course of study where the girls followed a curriculum of standard academic subjects in the morning hours, then musical courses in the afternoons consisting of scales, vocal techniques, harmony and choral vocalizing. Upon graduation, each girl was accepted into Les Djinns. Within six weeks of the group's founding, Les Djinns were awarded the Grand Prix of the Academy of Records in France, and their popularity began to proliferate with stage appearances in France and tours in other European countries. Eventually, a total of 88 tunes were recorded, including a Christmas album and an album of American favorites sung in French, and released on the ABC-Paramount label. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6532
Found: Marktplaats.nl, received 30 November 2021
Cost: €1
Tracks: 'Une rose rouge', 'Oui, oui, oui, oui' / 'Balade Irlandaise', 'L'ames des poètes'