Only the light - Rikki

'Only the light', written and composed by Richard Peebles, was the United Kingdom's entry at the 1987 Eurovision Song Contest, performed by Peebles himself, who was credited as Rikki. Rikki won the right to perform at Brussels by winning the UK national final, A Song for Europe, where he was the first singer to perform.

At the end of judging that evening, 'Only the light' finished on 13th place. It was a huge disappointment to the United Kingdom as it was the lowest placement any of the country's entries had received up to that time. Like the previous year, a rock song was in the offering, with an unclear theme (it is never explained what "the light" is, what kind of metaphor it is, why "the light" is after him or why he is avoiding it). In the UK singles chart, the single rose no further than to number 96.

My collection: 7" single no. 5632
Found: Fun Records, Berlin, received August 29, 2014
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Only the light' / 'You came into my life'

Ti scrivo - Luca Barbarossa

Luca Barbarossa is an Italian singer/songwriter who was born on April 15, 1961. He has released 12 albums since 1981, appearing at the prestigious San Remo festival numerous times. In 1988, he was chosen by Italian broadcaster RAI as the representative for Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest, performing the song 'Ti Scrivo'.

The song is a ballad, in which Barbarossa apologises to the recipient of a letter he is writing for using this method of communication. This recipient appears to be a former lover, as he sings that 'Without a good reason / I just scream out your name / It makes me feel alive' and makes mention of deep feelings which needed to be communicated. At the close of voting, the song had received 52 points, placing 12th in a field of 21 competitors.

My collection: 7" single no. 5631
Found: Fun Records, Berlin, received August 29, 2014
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Ti scrivo' / 'Da grande'

Hé hé m'sieurs dames - Profil

The band Profil was put together especially for the 1980 Eurovision Song Contest to represent France with the song 'Hé Hé M'sieurs dames' ('Hey hey, Ladies and Gentlemen'). The band members were: Martine Havet, Martine Bauer, Francis Rignault, Jean-Claude Corbel and Jean-Pierre Izbinski. Their song was performed sixteenth on the night. At the close of voting, it had received 45 points, placing 11th in a field of 19 competitors.

This single is one of only three I still needed to complete my collection of singles from the 1980 Eurovision Song Contest. It will be a real feast when I find the last one, 'Huilumies', the song  that represented Finland.

My collection: 7" single no. 5647
Found: Discogs.com, received September 11, 2014
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'Hé hé m'sieurs dames' / 'Jour de chance'

Morgen - Ronnie Tober

In 1968, the Netherlands were represented in the Eurovision Song Contest by Ronnie Tober. He sang the song 'Morgen', a ballad in which the singer expresses his desire for "tomorrow" to arrive as soon as possible, enabling him and his wife, who is far away, to be reunited. This is slightly ironic, since Ronnie Tober later turned out to be gayer than Christmas.

The song was performed second on the night. At the close of voting, it had received 1 point, placing 16th (equal last) in a field of 17 competitors. Of course, the next year, the Netherlands would be one of four winners of the Contest, when it was organised in Spain.

My collection: 7" single no. 5594
Found: Marktplaats.nl, August 1, 2014
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Morgen' / 'Die ouwe pianola'

Angelique - Dario Campeotto

Dario Campeotto was born on February 1, 1939 in Frederiksberg, Copenhagen to Italian parents, Emma and Ernesto Campeotto. He started performing at the age of ten, but his breakthrough was a victory in the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix in 1961 with the song 'Angelique', which went on to finish fifth in the Eurovision Song Contest. The song is a love ballad directed towards one Angelique, with Campeotto singing about the various things he would do for her if he had the skill - such as writing poetry if he were William Shakespeare or playing the violin if he were Yehudi Menuhin.

Following Angelique, Dario Campeotto released a number of records, starred in theatrical play, operettes, revues, and movies. He has been married twice and once lived in Italy with his former wife, actress Ghita Nørby, but returned to Denmark where he is currently continuing his career.

My collection: 7" single no. 5660
Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 23, 2014
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'Angelique' / 'Du er min kaerlighed'

Aba-nibi - Rika Zarai

Throughout her career, Rika Zarai has recorded Eurovision covers, starting with Alors je chante in 1969 - a single I bought five years ago. In 1978, she recorded a cover version of Israel's winning Eurovision song A-ba-ni-bi, originally performed by Izhar Cohen and the Alpha-Beta.

There is a big difference between the original version and this one: Rika performs the song with French lyrics, written by Pierre Delanoë.

My collection: 7" single no. 5482
Found: eBay.co.uk, received July 31, 2014
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Aba-nibi' / 'Et meme plus'

Looking high, high, high - Bryan Johnson

Bryan Johnson was born on July 18, 1926. He became a regular appearance on 'A Song For Europe', the UK national finals for the Eurovision Song Contest. He competed in 1957, 1960 and 1961, but only qualified for the 1960 edition with 'Looking high, high, high', a song written by John Watson. He ended up in second place on the Contest, behind 'Tom Pillibi' by Jacqueline Boyer. The single reached number 20 in the UK singles chart. 

Johnson was also an actor who, in Donald Wolfit's company, played such roles as Feste in Twelfth Night and the Fool in King Lear. In Ronald Harwood's biography of Wolfit, the actor is quoted as saying that he was "the best Fool I ever had". Later he played roles in musicals such as 'Lock Up Your Daughters' and enjoyed a late success as Scrooge in a touring production of 'A Christmas Carol'. He died on October 18, 1995.

My collection: 7" single no. 5602
Found: Marktplaats.nl, received August 6, 2014
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'Looking high, high, high' / 'Each tomorrow'