Freunde der Nacht - Pascalis, Marianna, Robert & Bessy

With 'Mathema solfege' the quartet consisting of Paschalis Arvanitidis, Marianna Tolli, Robert Williams and Bessy Argyrake represented Greece at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1977. I didn't check, but there are just a few opportunities where Greek Eurovision entries were also recorded in German. Vicky Leandros comes to mind, but other than that, I wouldn't know.

'Freunde der Nacht' is unique, because it completely sets aside the original idea of the lyrics, and replaces it with something else. The chorus of 'sol fa fa fa', mimicking solfege lessons, has disappeared, and with it, a lot of the charm of the song. It's always nice to have a different language version of a Eurovision song, but this time, the English version (appearing here on the B-side) wins. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7847
Found: Discogs.com, received 7 November 2025
Tracks: 'Freunde der Nacht' / 'Music lesson'

Mathema solfege - Pascalis, Marianna, Robert and Bessy

For a long time, 'Mathema solfege' was Greece's most successful Eurovision entry. Its chorus of 'do fa fa fa, sol fa sol fa mi do ti mi mi mi, do ti do ti sol ti do' was recognizable for people all over Europe, even if they didn't understand Greek. These tricks were often employed back when countries had to enter songs in their own national languages. A trick like that wouldn't work anymore these days, but it certainly did in 1977: the song ended up in fifth place in a field of 18 competitors.

The quartet performing the song consisted of Paschalis Arvanitidis (born on 24 August 1946), Marianna Tolli (3 October 1952), Robert Williams (4 December 1949) and Bessy Argyrake (4 April 1957). They recorded one album together and then followed their own solo careers, with Bessy being the most successful one of the four.

My collection: 7" single no. 7790
Found: Moses Records, Vienna, 13 October 2025
Tracks: 'Mathema solfege' / 'I love, I love, I love you'