When the Dutch band Earth and Fire first started out, there was a definite symphonic rock vibe to their work. It is perhaps most obvious on this early single, 'Storm and thunder', which sounds nothing like the pop hits they would have from 1976 onwards.
'Storm and thunder' was released in 1971 as the second single from their second album 'Song of the marching children'. It was a hit in the Netherlands, peaking at number 6 in the Dutch Top 40.
My collection: 7" single no. 5737 Found: Flea market, Rijswijk, April 6, 2015 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'Storm and thunder' / 'Lost forever'
Like many singles on this blog lately, this single has a few connections to the Eurovision Song Contest, as Nucha performed in the 1990 edition with Ha sempre alguem, representing Portugal. This single was a follow-up to that one, and amazingly, the song was written and composed by Maarten Peters, with a lyric translation by the brothers Fransisco and Frederico Teotónio Pereira.
Maarten Peters wrote the song as 'Het zal nooit meer zo zijn' ('It will never be the same') for the national finals of the Eurovision Song Contest in the Netherlands in 1989. It was performed by Ingrid Souren and finished in third place. It was translated into Portuguese for this version by Nucha and ended up in the top 10 in Portugal. Afterwards, the original Dutch version was recorded by Willeke Alberti, who herself appeared on the Eurovison Song Contest with the embarrassing song 'Waar is de zon' in 1994.
My collection: 7" single no. 5736 Found: Kringloop Sassenheim Cost: 0,5 euro Tracks: 'Deixar de sonhar' / 'Se o dia nascesse'
This EP is a mixed bag, and gives a little impression of what people listened to back in the Sixties. It has to be said, of course, that this '4 Tophits' EP is part of a series of so-called Fonodiscs which included classical music and light entertainment, as well as marching band music and children's songs.
Of special interest is the first track on this EP: it's a cover version of 'Zwei kleine Italiener', the song that was performed by Conny Froboess as the German entry in the 1962 Eurovision Song Contest. This version is almost identical, which was the secret behind the cheap EP's of Fonodisc: cheap versions of hits could mean big profits. Although this EP never charted, of course.
My collection: 7" single no. 5735 Found: Kringloop Voorhout Cost: 0,5 euro Tracks: 'Zwei kleine Italiener' (Charlotte Marian), 'Auf wiederseh'n, Marlene' (The Music-Makers) / 'Tanze mit mir in den morgen' (Udo Spitz), 'Hawaii Tattoo' (Ernst Zeiner)
This single is an interesting one, as it was never a hit but it is still a bit of a collector's item. It's very hard to get this for any price below 15 euros, although I am proud to say that I did manage that. I was almost ready to have this flown in from Scandinavia or America, when suddenly a Dutch seller had this one. And I had to have it, although I can't exactly say why. But at least one of my Twitter followers knows....
Johnny Curious formed in Welwyn Garden City in 1976. As far as I know, the band only released two singles: 'In tune' (1978) and this one, 'Someone else's home' (1979). Band members Alan Cowley and Ian Cowley are credited on the sleeve of this single. Original band members John Philips and Bob Green had already left.
My collection: 7" single no. 5734 Found: Discogs.com, received March 12, 2015 Cost: a little too much Tracks: 'Someone else's home' / 'Backwards in the night'
Rose Rengel, Paul Braukmann and Gerry Braukmann formed Rainy Day, the band that represented Switzerland at the 1984 Eurovision Song Contest with 'Welche Farbe hat der Sonnenschein'. The song asks the question: "What colour is the sunshine?". The group ask us 'how to paint
it?' They say that there are many colours, the way we see the world
depends on our feelings.
The song was not very successful at the Contest: at the close of voting, it had received 30 points, placing 16th in a field of 19 competitors.
My collection: 7" single no. 5733 Found: Discogs.com, received February 25, 2015 Cost: 2 euro Tracks: 'Welche Farbe hat der Sonnenschein' / 'Die Stadt'
Keywords on blogs can be misleading. Nova, for instance, exists as a Dutch duo of synthesizer wizards, but also as a Swedish duo consisting of Claes af Geijerstam and Göran Fristorp, who made a name for themselves representing their country at the 1973 Eurovision Song Contest. They were originally called Malta, but were forced to change their band name because of the possible confusion with one of the participating countries in that year's contest.
Their song was called 'You're summer', which contains the rather intriguing line 'Your breasts are like swallows in nesting', written by the well-known poet Lars Forssell. At the close of voting, it had received 94 points, placing 5th in a field of 17 competitors.
My collection: 7" single no. 5732 Found: Discogs.com, received February 25, 2015 Cost: 2 euro Tracks: 'You're summer' / 'You never tell me no'
I have bought a lot of Eurovision singles over the past year (as you can see on this blog), but so far it has been difficult to buy all the singles of one particular year. But I finally did it recently, as this single completes the year 1980 for me. Well... almost, because this copy unfortunately came without the picture sleeve. But for now, this will certainly do, because the track 'Huilumies' is one of my favourites of the year.
'Huilumies' (Finnish for 'A flute man') is sung from the perspective of the tititular 'flute man', who
sings that while he may not be able to express his feelings in words, he
is able to do so with his flute. At the close of voting, it had received 6 points, placing last in a field of 19 competitors.
My collection: 7" single no. 5730 Found: Discogs.com, received February 25, 2015 Cost: 2 euro Tracks: 'Huilumies' / 'Vie minut valoon'
