Back in 1984, my days were filled with music videos. Coming home from school, the television would invariably entertain me with them until dinner time. I don't know why I was so obsessive about it - or maybe I do: I wanted to catch a glimpse of my favourite artists. More often than not, I didn't, of course: the hits of the day were shown ad nauseum, and sometimes something quirky would appear.
Such as the video of Holger Czukay's 'Photo song'. Which I didn't like at all. It was weird. It seemed like a lunatic had been set free from the asylum. It took me many years to see the charm of this song - but I did. I still think the music video is crazy, but now that I own the single, I can truly say I have changed my mind about the song.
My collection: 7" single no. 5382 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'The photo song' / 'Das massenmedium'
Taken from the album of the same name, Laurent Voulzy released 'Le coeur grenadine' in 1979. The single was a hit in France, although I haven't been able to establish just how big a hit the song was. In 2010, Laurent established a range of girls' clothing of the same name.
Voulzy entered my record collection when he released the single 'Les nuits sans Kim Wilde', but the compilation album 'Carib Islander' featured many more great pop songs. This single wasn't included, but it has the same breezy charm.
My collection: 7" single no. 5620 Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, August 10, 2014 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'Le coeur grenadine' / 'Grimaud'
The Danish entry for the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest was the inimitable Krøller eller ej by Debbie Cameron and Tommy Seebach. I wrote about that single 18 monts ago, so I thought it would be nice to post this English edition today. I got it via mail order just over two weeks ago. I didn't know it existed, but now that I have it, it is a real find.
Tommy Seebach has had quite a life, although unfortunately he probably didn't die a happy man, judging from his biography. The Eurovision songs he's made during his career (he entered the contest on three occasions and tried to get it a few times more) were a bit camp but always enjoyable. And this English version just adds to the wonder. Listen to those strange lyrics...
My collection: 7" single no. 5589 Found: KG Records, Sweden, received August 1, 2014 Cost: 2 euro Tracks: 'Straight or curly hair' / 'Tiger'
Belgian singer Nathalie had a hit with the Peter Godwin-produced 'My love won't let you down', but the subsequent single outings haven't been quite as successful. Nathalie Gabay released three more singles before calling it quits .These days she appears to work in the fashion industry.
'The beat goes on' was Nathalie's follow-up to 'My love won't let you down', and produced by Phil Gosez, it sounds very different from its predecessor. The song itself is a cover of the 1967 hit by Sonny & Cher. The sleeve? Well, it's pure Eighties bliss, isn't it?
My collection: 7" single no. 5623 Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, August 10, 2014 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'The beat goes on' / 'You know my name'
If you've followed this blog from the beginning, you will have seen this single before. It was taken down by Blogger because of a DMCA complaint, probably caused by the fact that in those days, you could download the tracks. Now that I stream the music, those complaints don't seem to come by anymore.
'As tears go by', a song written by Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham, was originally released by Marianne Faithfull in 1964. The Rolling Stones recorded their own version a year later, and both versions were hits both in the UK and abroad. Faithfull re-recorded the song in 1987, saying: "Forty is the age to sing it, not seventeen". The accompanying album 'Strange weather' featured 12 cover versions of songs from the 20th century.
My collection: 7" single no. 783 Found: All that music, Leiden, March 24, 1989 Cost: 1 guilder Tracks: 'As tears go by' / 'Trouble in mind (the return)'
'Kingston town' was originally released in 1970 by Lord Creator, a calypso and soca artist from Jamaica. In 1989, the song was covered by UB40 on their album 'Labour of love II', another album filled with covers in their familiar reggae stylee.
The UB40 version reached number 1 in France and the Netherlands, and was a top 10 hit in many other European countries. I never really liked the song until very recently, and so I decided to snap up a copy after all.
My collection: 7" single no. 5480 Found: Kringloop Hebbes, Den Haag, July 25, 2014 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'Kingston town' / 'Lickwood'
One of the reasons why the Eurovision Song Contest is derided by some people, is that some of the acts on stage have a certain dodgy quality. It's hard to explain why, but sometimes these dodgy act are what makes the contest so much fun.
One has to wonder, for example, whether Fredi & Friends, coming from Finland in 1976, seriously thought they had a chance with 'Pump pump'. The song was slightly catchy, but the group looked like they'd only rehearsed it a couple of times before losing their minds completely during the live broadcast. The enthusiasm of the female singer was a big contrast with the inertia displayed by frontman Fredi. Still, 'Pump pump' ended up on 11th place in a field of 18 contestants, so it wasn't too bad after all. And very funny, too.
My collection: 7" single no. 5586 Found: KG Records, Sweden, received August 1, 2014 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'Pump pump' / 'Listen to the rolling sea'
