Vicky Leandros competed in the 1972 Eurovision Song Contest for Luxembourg with Apres toi. The single was a big hit in Europe, and even managed to chart in the UK. This was helped by the fact that Leandros recorded an English version of her song, entitled 'Come what may'. It appears on this single, along with another English-language track on the B-side.
She turned out to be quite the language wizard, as she also recorded the song in Italian ('Dopo te'), German ('Dann
kamst du'), Spanish ('Y despues'), Greek ('Mono esi') and Japanese
('Omoide ni ikiru'). I'm still looking for those singles, though...
My collection: 7" single no. 5598 Found: Discogs.com, received August 5, 2014 Cost: 2 pounds Tracks: 'Come what may' / 'Takes a little time'
'Satellit' ('Satellite') was the Swedish entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1979, performed in Swedish by Ted Gärdestad.
Gärdestad's first four albums were produced by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus of ABBA, featured backing vocals by Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, and were released on the Polar Music label.
This song, which was arranged and produced by guitarist Janne Schaffer, features a guitar and bass riff influenced by Toto's 1978 hit 'Hold the Line', and four of the band members - Jeff Porcaro, Steve Porcaro, David Hungate and Steve Lukather - were in fact among the musicians playing on Gärdestad's preceding album Blue Virgin Isles, recorded in Los Angeles, and released in late 1978. The English-language version of the track, 'Satellite', was included on subsequent editions of the album, which was issued in both Europe, Australasia and Japan.
The song was performed as entry number fifteen on the night. At the close of voting, it had received 8 points, placing it 17th in a field of 19 competitors, making it Sweden's second lowest placing in the contest at that point in time. Despite this, the Swedish version of the song was a Top 10 hit on the singles chart.
My collection: 7" single no. 5561
Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 23, 2014
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'Satellite' / 'Blue virgin isles'
What makes a Eurovision Song Contest cliche? Listen to Kirsten & Søren's 1984 Eurovision song 'Det' lige det' and you hear what Eurovision sounded like for much of the Eighties. There was nothing really remarkable about the song, there were synths everywhere and while trying to sound modern, the song still felt old-fashioned anyway.
At the close of voting, it had received 101 points, placing fourth in a field of 19 competitors.
The song is sung from the perspective of a woman waiting for her lover to come to her. She tells him that his presence brightens the day considerably and that he shouldn't be afraid of loving her, as he appears to be.
As part of their performance of this song in the Danish national selection, the female half of the duo (Kirsten Siggard), pushed the male half (Søren Bundgaard) into a swimming pool. This act, while unable to be repeated at the Contest itself, earned the song the Danish nickname 'The Swimming Pool Song'.
My collection: 7" single no. 5659 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 23, 2014 Cost: 2 euro Tracks: 'Det' lige det' / 'Nostalgi'
Rare singles come in many gueses, but I always get a weird feeling when I get my hands on a single that was made of 50 years ago. I wasn't even born in 1960, but the Eurovision Song Contest was already celebrating its fifth edition and François Deguelt represented Monaco with the beautiful song 'Ce soir-là', included in this delightful little EP.
'Ce soir-là' is in the chanson style popular in the early years of the Contest. Deguelt describes the first night he spent with his lover and explains to her that he realised then that 'Life would never have attraction for me / Far from you'. It appears from the lyrics, however, that his lover has left him since then, which has resulted in his perpetual waiting for her return in order to relive 'that night'.
At the close of voting, this song had received 15 points, placing third in a field of 13 competitors.
Also check out the swinging 'Linda' on this disc - it is very different and very enjoyable.
My collection: 7" single no. 5643 Found: eBay.co.uk, received September 2, 2014 Cost: 2 euro Tracks: 'Ce soir-là', 'Jean' / Linda', 'Sur la piste (plus loin)'
I don't have any Eurovision singles from Cyprus yet, so getting this single by Anna Vishy was a bit of a milestone. Anna represented Greece in 1980 and 2006, but represented Cyprus in the 1982 Eurovision song Contest with 'Mono i agapi' ('Only love'). At the close of voting, the song was placed fifth in a field of 18 competitors. It has remained Cyprus' best showing in the Contest to date.
The English-language version of the song was entitled 'Love is a lonely weekend' and was released internationally by CBS Records.
My collection: 7" single no. 5666 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 23, 2014 Cost: 2 euro Tracks: "Love is a lonely weekend' / 'I'm gonna be a fool for you'
'Et bonjour à toi l'artiste' ('And a good day to you, artist') was the French entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1975, performed by Nicole Rieu.
The song was performed third on the night . At the close of voting, it had received 91 points, placing 4th in a field of 19 contestants.
The song is a subtle ballad, with Rieu greeting 'the great artist' and reminding him or her that it is time to get to work painting. The artist is also described as an author, an illusionist and an actor.
Rieu recorded the song in no less than six languages; French, English ('Live for love'), German, Spanish ('Dios te guarde buen artista'), Italian ('Buongiorno artista') and Japanese ('Soyokaze no okurimono').
My collection: 7" single no. 5665 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 23, 2014 Cost: 2 euro Tracks: 'Et bonjour à toi l'artiste' / 'La mandarine'
The Belgian band De Strangers have appeared on this blog a few times before, because I bought five of their singles all on one day. This is the last of that series: their 1989 cover version of Riva's 'Rock me baby', the song that won the Eurovision Song Contest that year.
'Vivan bomma' (who knows what that means? I sure don't) was not a hit for the Belgian group, and they never had any chart hits ever since either. They had their last concert on May 14, 2002, followed by a one-off reunion concert in 2006.
My collection: 7" single no. 5619 Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, August 10, 2014 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'Vivan bomma' / 'Njoe-biet van Keskeschiet'
