The single Lass die Sonne in dein Herz has appeared on this blog as far back as March 2009, but this copy is quite different from that one. This one is the original German release, probably released right after their triumph in the national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest in 1987. It features the B-side 'Immer dabei' instead of the English version of the A-side song (like on that other copy).
Like I wrote back in 2009, the song was written and composed by longtime Contest contributors for Germany Ralph
Siegel and Bernd Meinunger. It is a reggae-oriented track with a
lyric full of positive platitudes.
My collection: 7" single no. 5604 Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, August 10, 2014 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'Lass die Sonne in dein Herz' / 'Immer dabei'
The title track of Heaven 17's debut album 'Penthouse and pavement' was released as the band's fourth single in 1981. The band never played the songs live until more recent years. Martyn Ware commented about this in 2010: "We absolutely resisted touring. We decided not to tour at all, or
perform. Because Ian and I were members of The Human League, as you
know, we spent two and a half years touring everywhere in Europe and
Britain. And in those days - can you imagine this now? - the record
company were paying quite a lot for tour support to get on big tours. So
we toured twice with Siouxsie & The Banshees and with Pere Ubu,
Iggy Pop, Stranglers, blah, blah, blah. And whilst it got us loads of
coverage in NME and various style magazines, we weren't actually selling
that many albums. (...) By coincidence it was just the start of MTV when we started BEF, and we
thought that was an ideal mechanism for us to service a lot of markets
simultaneously, spending the same amount of money we would have spent on
tour support but instead spending it on videos, which is what we did."
My collection: 7" single no. 5450 Found: unknown Tracks: 'Penthouse and pavement' / 'Penthouse and pavement (instrumental)'
Classic albums come in many shapes and colours, but among them, The Beatles' 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' is especially loved by pop music historians. The album was full of experimentations that were quite innovative in their time.
This single was apparently released in 1987, probably in conjunction with the CD release of the album. (Back then, record companies still released singles to promote products, remember?) The A-side is a double whammy of the title track and 'With a little help from my friends', while the B-side presents arguably the best track from the album.
My collection: 7" single no. 5370
Found: unknown
Tracks: 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band/With a little help from my friends' / 'A day in the life'
In 1977, Switzerland was represented in the Eurovision Song Contest by the Pepe Lienhard Band. It remains the only Swiss entry to have ever reached number 1 in the official Swiss singles chart. It has to be said, the song has aged well, and the B-side of this single isn't half bad either. Another remarkable fact: this single was actually made in Sweden.
The song is about a man from the mountains who plays the alphorn and considers this instrument his "Swiss Lady". The song was performed twelfth on the night. At the close of voting, it had received 71 points, placing 6th in a field of 18 competitors.
My collection: 7" single no. 5662 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 23, 2014 Cost: 2 euro Tracks: 'Swiss lady' / 'Shiny red balloon'
Long before Mia Martini participated in the Eurovision Song Contest with the beautifully depressing 'Rapsodia' (1992), she appeared in 1977 with 'Libera'. At the time, she was arguably Italy's most successful and celebrated female artist, having had a number of hits since 1971. At the close of voting, 'Libera' had received 33 points, placing it 13th in a field of 18 competitors.
Martini recorded five versions of the song; the original ballad version, the disco version, the Spanish 'Libre', the French 'Libre comme une femme' and the English 'Freedom is today', the latter three all with the up-tempo arrangement.
My collection: 7" single no. 5627 Found: Fun Records, Berlin, received August 29, 2014 Cost: 2 euro Tracks: 'Libera' / 'Sognare è vita'
The 'oldies single' was an attractive way to get old songs into your singles collection, back in the Seventies and Eighties. Warner Bros. had an attractive series of such singles, one of which you can see here. The sleeve was always the same: a small photo in the middle and a large logo above, inside a 'jukebox style' sleeve design.
This single presents the 1968 hit single 'Hello I love you' and the 1971 hit single 'Love her madly', both by The Doors. Of course, both these songs are picked rather randomly, although obviously both have been big hits for the band.
My collection: 7" single no. 5390 Found: unknown Tracks: 'Hello I love you' / 'Love her madly'
The singles Honey and Summer (The first time) were reason enough to become curious about Bobby Goldsboro's further output, but his singles are pretty hard to find. When I came across this one, I simply thought it was a good way to hear more from the man.
'Hello summertime' lacks the melancholy atmosphere of the two titles mentioned above, but does offer a rather upbeat melody and carefree lyrics instead. The B-side is even better, because on there, the melancholy feeling is back... just slightly.
My collection: 7" single no. 5398 Found: unknown Tracks: 'Hello summertime' / 'And then there was Gina'
