September gouden roos - Bob Benny

‘September, Gouden Roos’ was written by Wim Brabants (pseudonym for Clem de Ridder) and Hans Flower. Belgium was in the middle of the Congo crisis: the prime minister Lumumba is murdered two months before the Eurovision Song Contest. Belgium was criticized for its meddling in the former colony.

When Bob Benny arrived in Cannes, one of the organizers told him that he wouldn’t get any points. And indeed, he only gets one point, and finishes as joint last. A Belgian newspaper writes: ‘Bob Benny is a victim of Lumumba’. Blaming failures on politics would prove to be a trick that would last through the history of the competition.

My collection: 7" single no. 6693
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 9 April 2022
Tracks: 'September gouden roos' / 'Blijf bij mij'

Tipi-tii - Marion Rung

'Tipi-tii' (best translated as 'Chirpy-chirp') was the Finnish entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 1962 in Luxembourg. It was performed by Marion Rung, a Finnish pop singer who was born on 7 December 1945. The song finished in 7th place, in field of 16 competitors.

This is one of my favourite Finnish songs from Eurovision, but getting hold of the single sure wasn't easy. One copy was for sale on Discogs, put with the centre pushed out and without any sleeve as far as I could see. The copy I bought at the record fair this weekend comes with an original Philips sleeve and the disc is complete with the centre. What more could I ask for? Well, a picture sleeve perhaps, but they were never made back then for this single.

My collection: 7" single no. 6692
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 9 April 2022
Cost: €5
Tracks: 'Tipi-tii' / 'Pikku rahastaja'

Die Musik und ich - Mary Cristy

In 1976, Mary Cristy represented Monaco at the Eurovision Song Contest with the song 'Toi, la musique et moi'. I bought the single almost exactly 12 years ago, but I didn't know that Mary also recorded her song in German, Italian and English. 

Of these three versions, the German one is the easiest to find. I almost bought it online recently, but then decided to wait for the record fair that would take place on 9 April, because these type of singles usually pop up with German dealers. As it turns out, I bought this copy from a Belgian dealer, specialized in Eurovision singles. I guess I made him happy because I bought a few 7" singles and a handful of cd-singles from him. It made me happy too, of course, as you will see on this blog.

My collection: 7" single no. 6690
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 9 April 2022
Cost: €4
Tracks: 'Die Musik und ich' / 'Er lässt mich geh'n'

Nauravat silmät muistetaan - Boulevard

One of my favourite Eurovision songs from 1988 was the Finnish entry 'Nauravat silmät muistetaan' by the band Boulevard. Unfortunately the single isn't very easy to get hold of, with one seller on Discogs asking €50 for a copy. Of course this is not the kind of money I want to spend on a 7" single. I was therefore lucky to find a copy for a lot less during last Saturday's record fair.

Boulevard was a Finnish rock band, which was founded in 1983, by Kyösti Laihi and Erkki Korhonen. The band mainly played at clubs and bars. After their start, they were joined by Matti Auranen and Tuomo Tepsa. Other members of the band included Juha Lanu, Kari Vehkaluoto and Jari Puhakka. Their song finished in 20th place in a field of 21 competitors. It helps to back up my theory that the best Eurovision songs usually end up right at the bottom of the scoreboard.

My collection: 7" single no. 6689
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 9 April 2022
Cost: €11
Tracks: 'Nauravat Silmät Muistetaan' / 'Laughing eyes'

Oj, oj, oj, så glad jeg skal bli - Kirsti Sparboe

At the 1969 Eurovision Song Contest, Norway was represented by Kirsti Sparboe with the song 'Oj, oj, oj, så glad jeg skal bli' ('Oh, oh, oh, how happy I must be'). The song was the last of three Eurovision appearances in five years for Sparboe. The lyrics of the song – in which the singer appears to tolerate her partner's philandering ways by trying to convince herself that one day he will give them up and devote himself to her – caused a considerable degree of adverse comment from some sections of Norwegian society and became the subject of a good deal of debate. The song finished in last place with just one point. 

Since the Eurovision Song Contest, she has released singles mostly in Germany, where she found moderate success. She also showed off her acting talents for a one-off BBC TV Show, Jon, Brian, Kirsti And Jon, in 1980. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6688
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 9 April 2022
Cost: €5
Tracks: 'Oj, oj, oj, så glad jeg skal bli' / 'Hvem har sagt jeg savner deg'

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)

Det var en yndig tid - Grete Klitgaard

Denmark participated in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1960 with the song 'Det var en yndig tid', performed by Katy Bødtger. The song was also recorded, and in the same year, by Grete Klitgaard.

Grete Klitgaard (real name: Grete Vita Johansen, born on 5 December 1934) won a singing competition in 1953 at the National Scala, Copenhagen and got a record contract with the Danish record company Tono. Over a period of just over 10 years, she managed to record a very large number of tunes, many of which are considered evergreens. Among other things, she will be remembered for her clear voice and her always smiling mood. She passed away on 26 January 1964. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6686
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 9 April 2022
Cost: €2
Tracks: 'Det var en yndig tid' / 'Gør Hvad Du Vil'

Sig dejlige ting til mig - Poul Bundgaard

In 1963, Ronnie Carroll participated in the Eurovision Song Contest, representing the UK, with 'Say wonderful things'. The Danish singer Poul Bundgaard was quick to try and profit from the prominence of this song (it finished in fourth place) and recorded a Danish cover of the song the same year. Entitled 'Sig dejlige ting til mig', the Danish lyrics were provided by Peter Mynte. I bought my copy from a friendly Danish dealer I hadn't seen for three years. It's good to have international record fairs again after all this Covid shenanigans.

Poul Arne Bundgaard was a Danish actor and singer. In addition to having appeared in a large number of Danish films, Bundgaard starred in a number of operettas in the late 1940s until the 1950s, and worked at the Royal Danish Theatre as a singer between 1958 and 1973; however, he focused mostly on acting later on in his career, partly due to stage fright. He died during the filming of 'Olsen-bandens sidste stik' on 3 June 1998, aged 75.

My collection: 7" single no. 6685
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 9 April 2022
Cost: €2
Tracks: 'Sig dejlige ting til mig' / 'Jeg sa kun et glimt af dig'

Haleluyah - Offen

Filadelfiakyrkan is a Pentecostal church building at Rörstrandsgatan 7 in Stockholm, Sweden; it was dedicated on 2 November 1930. The building is owned by the Filadelfia Stockholm congregation, the largest congregation in the Swedish Pentecostal movement with about 5,400 members as of 2015. 

Why am I telling you this? Because in 1979 the choir from this church recorded a cover version of Milk and Honey's 'Hallelujah', the song that gave them victory at the Eurovision Song Contest that year. There are, of course, many cover versions of that song but this single is a bit of a rarity it seems, as it was the only single this choir released and since it's actually performed in Swedish. As far as I know, the song has not been performed in Swedish by other artists - but correct me if I'm wrong.

My collection: 7" single no. 6684
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 9 April 2022
Cost: €1
Tracks: 'Haleluyah' / 'Vi Är En Familj'

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'

Va dire à l'amour - Marjorie Noël

Marjorie Noël was born as Françoise Nivot on 25 December 1945 in Paris (France). She made her first recordings in 1964, and in 1965 she was invited to represent Monaco at the Eurovision Song Contest. 'Va dire à l'amour' was written by Raymond Bernard and Jacques Mareuil. The song ended in ninth place in a field of 18 competitors. 

Marjorie would later take part in the 1965 La Rose d'Or festival in Antibes, and released in total seven EP's. She retired from showbusiness in 1967 and spent the rest of her life in anonymity. She died of a cerebral hemorrhage, aged 54, in Cavaillon, Vaucluse, on 30 April 2000.

My collection: 7" single no. 6682
Found: Discogs.com, received 8 April 2022
Cost: €4
Tracks: 'Va dire à l'amour', 'De trop mentir' / 'Non docteur', 'Bonjour mon amour'

Μόνο Εσύ (Apres Toi) - Βίκυ (Vicky Leandros)

'Après toi' was the song that gave Vicky Leandros victory at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1972. She represented Luxembourg, but she was actually from Greece. No wonder, then, that she also recorded her song in Greek. A copy of that single, made in Greece, finally arrived on my doorstep. Μόνο Εσύ actually means 'Only you', which is an indication that the Greek lyrics differ from the original French version.

Other versions of the song are 'Come what may', 'Dann kamst du', 'Dopo te', as well as Spanish and Japanese versions, which may one day be mine as well. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6681
Found: Discogs.com, received 8 April 2022
Cost: €8
Tracks: 'Μόνο Εσύ (Apres Toi)' / 'Αναμνήσεις (Wenn Die Sehnsucht Nicht War)'

The pros and cons of hitch-hiking - Roger Waters

Roger Waters is of course best known for his work, and subsequent legal issues, with Pink Floyd. After working on 'The Wall' and 'The final cut', the band fell apart and Waters recorded a solo album, entitled 'The pros and cons of hitch-hiking'. One of the tracks, with the same title, was released as a single. 

Remarkably, the single was not a big hit: it only reached number 76 in the UK singles chart and number 30 in Australia. However, in the Dutch Top 40 the single reached number 16, and this is why I still remember the song - back in 1984 I followed that chart every week. Waters is still making music, and still "having issues" with his old Pink Floyd band mates. Sometimes you wish that adults would grow up.

My collection: 7" single no. 6680
Found: Velvet, Leiden, 2 April 2022
Cost: €3
Tracks: 'The pros and cons of hitch-hiking' / 'Apparently they were travelling abroad'

La! La! La! / Congratulations - Caravelli

Caravelli appeared on this blog before, with his instrumental versions of 'Chez nous' and 'Dio come ti amo', two songs from the 1966 Eurovision Song Contest. In 1968 he was at it again, this time to record his versions of the two songs that landed at first and second place: 'La La La' by Massiel and 'Congratulations' by Cliff Richard. 

It didn't end there either: besides recording instrumental versions of big hits of the Sixties and Seventies, he would also record a handful of covers of Eurovision songs in subsequent years. Some of them ended up on singles - so he might appear on this blog a few times more.

My collection: 7" single no. 6679
Found: Velvet, Leiden, 2 April 2022
Cost: €2
Tracks: 'La! La! La!' / 'Congratulations'

Hi, Hi, Hi / C Moon - Wings

It's been a while since I had the opportunity to go to a real record shop and browse through racks of singles. It's always more interesting than buying singles online, because you tend to come across discs that you would never order from an online dealer. This is such a single: Wings' double A side of 'Hi, Hi, Hi' and 'C Moon'. 

In the UK, 'Hi, Hi, Hi' was banned by the BBC for its sexually suggestive lyrical content. The BBC also assumed that the title phrase, "We're gonna get hi, hi, hi" was a drug reference.The specific lyrics objected to is the apparent phrase "get you ready for my body gun"; McCartney has said that the correct lyrics are "get you ready for my polygon", an abstract image, and later said, "The BBC got some of the words wrong. But I suppose it is a bit of a dirty song if sex is dirty and naughty. I was in a sensuous mood in Spain when I wrote it."

As for 'C Moon', that title was inspired by lyrics in the song 'Wooly Bully' by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs. McCartney said, "There's a line in [Wooly Bully] that says, 'Let's not be L7.' Well, L7, it was explained at the time, means a square—put L and 7 together and you get a square... So I thought of the idea of putting a C and a moon together (a half-moon) to get the opposite of a square. So 'C Moon' means cool, in other words."

My collection: 7" single no. 6678
Found: Plato, Leiden, 2 April 2022
Cost: €2
Tracks: 'Hi, Hi, Hi' / 'C Moon'

I'm not in love - 10CC

Although I own an 'Old Gold' version of 10CC's 'I'm not in love', I came across this single and just couldn't resist buying it. Part of the appeal was the fact that it was a UK pressing, another part of the appeal was that it was a beautiful, untouched copy. It's hard to believe that this single survived since its release at the end of the Seventies. 

This single was released in order to promote the band's compilation album 'Greatest hits 1972-1978', which featured all their hits until then. 'I'm not in love' was one of their biggest hits, reaching number 1 in Canada, Ireland and the UK, and reaching the top 10 almost everywhere else.

My collection: 7" single no. 6677
Found: Plato, Leiden, 2 April 2022
Cost: €2
Tracks: 'I'm not in love' / 'For you and I'

Muistathan - Päivi Paunu & Kim Floor

Finnish entries to the Eurovision Song Contest are always worth listening to. The language is intriguing and the Finnish have a habit of coming up with great melodies. At the same time, getting a hold of Finnish singles is incredibly difficult, so they usually have to be ordered from that country which is a rather expensive hobby. 

'Muistathan' ('I hope you remember') was Finland's 1972 entry to the Eurovision Song Contest and was performed by Päivi Paunu and Kim Floor. You would be forgiven for thinking that Kim was a woman, but in fact, it's Päivi who is female and Kim is male. Their song finished in 12th place in a field of 18 competitors. Päivi passed away on 14 December 2016, aged 70, of cancer. Kim is still alive and hosted the Finnish version of 'Wheel of fortune' during the Nineties.

My collection: 7" single no. 6675
Found: Discogs.com, received 2 April 2022
Cost: €9
Tracks: 'Muistathan' / 'Yhteinen tie'

Wenn du da bist - Marty Brem

Austria's pop culture has never really taken off. They are mostly remembered for Udo Jürgens and Opus; the latter produced the awful 'Life is life', the song that sounds every bit as naff as its title. 

In 1981, they tried their luck at the Eurovision Song Contest with Marty Brem, a singer who had been part of the band Blue Danube, who competed the year before with 'Du bist Musik'. His song was a ballad, a schmaltzy little thing that didn't make much of an impression. He finished in 17th place in a field of 20 competitors. 

I have been searching for this single for some time, but it was always a bit too expensive. In the end, I ordered it from Spain and got a mint copy for all my troubles!

My collection: 7" single no. 6673
Found: Discogs.com, received 2 April 2022
Cost: €4
Tracks: 'Wenn du da bist' / 'Wozu noch ein Stern'

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)

Uno per tutte - Willy en Willeke Alberti

Recent entries in this blog have shown that Dutch singer Willy Alberti recorded quite a few Eurovision songs during the first years of the event. In 1963, he was at it again, and this time he took along his daughter Willeke Alberti as well. 

Willeke was born on 3 February 1945 and was eighteen when she recorded this duet with her father. 'Uno per tutte' and 'Non costa niente' were both performed at the Italian San Remo festival in 1963, with the former going on to the Eurovision stage in a version by Emilio Pericoli. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6672
Found: Discogs.com, received 30 March 2022
Cost: €2
Tracks: 'Uno per tutte' / 'Non costa niente'