Disco really made it - Gruppo Sportivo

Attentive readers of this blog know that I had some bad luck with Gruppo Sportivo nine years ago, when I bought the EP 'More mistakes'. The track billed as 'Disco really made it' was actually 'Real teeth are out', and so I still didn't have that track. Well, I knew it would only be a question of time until I would get 'Disco really made it' as a single, and so it finally happened yesterday.

Released in early 1979, this single was Gruppo Sportivo's last and biggest hit, peaking at number 11 in the Dutch Top 40. The sleeve says 'Limited edition black vinyl', and I guess that's true - although I doubt it was actually a 'limited' edition.

My collection: 7" single no. 3741
Found: Record fair, Den Haag, May 23, 2009
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Disco really made it' / 'I don't know'

Il jouait du piano debout - France Gall

France Gall was born on October 9, 1947 in Paris, France. She started her career in music in 1963. Two years later she was asked to represent Luxembourg during the Eurovision Song Contest. It meant that she would become wellknown in the whole of Europe after winning with 'Poupée de cire, poupée de son'.

In the Seventies she became inactive for a few years after marrying with French artist Michel Berger and giving birth to two children. She returned to the fore with the 1980 album 'Paris France' and the single 'Il jouait du piano debout', a hit in many European countries including the Netherlands, where it peaked at number 22.

Searching for a translation of the title, I came up with 'He played the piano standing up'. But it might as well mean 'He played the upright piano'. Language can be a barrier sometimes.

My collection: 7" single no. 3734
Found: Record fair, Den Haag, May 23, 2009
Cost: 0,5 euro
Tracks: 'Il jouait du piano debout' / 'La chanteuse qui a tout donné'

Crazy horses - The Osmonds

The Osmonds originally consisted of brothers Alan, Wayne, Merrill and Jay Osmond. They were later joined by younger siblings Donny, Marie and Jimmy Osmond. After their early bubblegum pop phase, they started writing and performing their own music, and their sound moved towards rock and roll. 'Crazy horses' was one of the first fruits of that labour. The song was a number one hit in the Netherlands in 1972, peaking at number 2 in the UK.

According to Donny Osmond: 'It was Alan, Wayne and Merrill who wrote 'Crazy Horses'. Wayne and Merrill were in the studio and Wayne had started the main riff for the song. Then Alan came in and brought a cohesive concept about pollution: the horses being horsepower. Then Merrill added the 'crazy' before the horses. It's a very serious song.'

My collection: 7" single no. 3737

Found: Record fair, Den Haag, May 23, 2009
Cost: 0,5 euro

Tracks: 'Crazy horses' / 'That's my girl'

P-Machinery medley with Relax - Propaganda for Frankie

This is an interesting one. Propaganda for Frankie is an Italian producer/DJ outfit that decided to profit from the ongoing popularity of the bands Propaganda and Frankie goes to Hollywood. Their track 'P-machinery medley with Relax' is what people would nowadays call a 'mashup'. The difference being that the songs are performed by other, unnamed, artists.

Although the concept is the same as Club House's 'Do it again with Billie Jean', this single didn't become a Europe-wide hit. Instead, it has become some sort of item for Italo House afficionados.

My collection: 7" single no. 3729

Found: Record fair, Den Haag, May 23, 2009

Cost: 0,5 euro

Tracks: 'P-Machinery medley with Relax' / 'Deejay'

Love is love - Culture Club

In 1984, Culture Club was asked to write two songs for the soundtrack to the movie 'Electric Dreams'. Boy George and Roy Hay wrote 'The dream' and 'Love is love'. The latter was released as a single in Canada, Japan and France. It was only a hit in Japan.

I found this single and didn't even know it existed. It was interesting enough for me to want to have it, especially since that other song from 'Electric dreams' ('Together in electric dreams' by Phil Oakey and Giorgio Moroder) has become an Eighties classic. It was interesting to find out how this song would compare.

My collection: 7" single no. 3726

Found: Record fair, Den Haag, May 23, 2009

Cost: 0,5 euro

Tracks: 'Love is love' / 'Don't go down that street'

Abergavenny - Marty Wilde

On the occasion of his daughter Roxanne's wedding today, I thought it might be nice to get out a real classic today: Marty Wilde's 'Abergavenny'. While all of the UK knows him for his hits beween 1958 and 1962, the European continent was more impressed with this song from 1968. Marty performed it at the Knokke festival, and subsequently had a great European hit on his hands: in the Netherlands the song peaked at number 5. The song also became a top 50 hit in America under Marty's pseudonym Shannon. 'Abergavenny' also appears on Marty's 1969 album 'Diversions', a collection of truly great songs including 'Jesamine', the 1968 hitsong he wrote for the Casuals.

I was incredibly lucky to get this Belgian pressing from a dealer who probably wasn't aware that this single normally sells for anything above 10 euros. I should know, I've searched for this one for years...

My collection: 7" single no. 3716
Found: Record fair, Den Haag, May 23, 2009
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'Abergavenny' / 'Alice in blue'

Rendez-vous - Jean Michel Jarre

Jarre recorded the album 'Rendez-vous' after being inspired by the sounds of the Elka synthesizer, which he used a lot on the record. It also features his first heavy use of the Moog synthesizer on a studio album. This single featured part 4 of the album.

In 1986 NASA and the city of Houston asked Jarre to stage a concert to celebrate NASA's 25th and the city of Houston's 150th anniversaries. During that concert, astronaut Ronald McNair was to have played the saxophone part of Jarre's piece "Rendez-vous VI" while in orbit aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger. It was to have been the first piece of music recorded in space, for the album. After the Challenger disaster of January 28 1986 which killed McNair, the piece was recorded with a different saxophonist, retitled 'Ron's piece' and the album dedicated to the seven dead Challenger astronauts.

My collection: 7" single no. 3736

Found: Record fair, Den Haag, May 23, 2009

Cost: 0,5 euro

Tracks: 'Fourth Rendez-vous' / 'First Rendez-vous'