Night of the swallow - Kate Bush

After seeing Kate Bush live on stage in London, a little over a year ago, my bucket list was almost totally executed. There was only one thing left to do: get me a copy of her elusive 1983 single 'Night of the swallow'. A track from her excellent fourth album 'The Dreaming' (1982), it was only released in Ireland and copies of the single never made it to the Netherlands at the time. By now, the single almost always fetches premium prices.

In July this year, I finally got hold of a decent copy of 'Night of the swallow', after seeing a copy in Utrecht in April. That copy featured a torn square on the front sleeve; this copy is in excellent state. I have nothing more to ask for - which is probably why my record collection is growing less fast by now.

My collection: 7" single no. 5790
Found: Discogs.com, received July 23, 2015
Tracks: 'Night of the swallow' / 'Houdini'

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Jag är en astronaut - Linus Wahlgren

By all accounts, Ricky Wilde's I am an astronaut was a hit in Scandinavia, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that the song was covered a few times by Scandinavian artists. Unfortunately those singles are exceedingly hard to find - except if you're willing to part with considerable sums of money. But sometimes, in these days of the internet, you can get lucky.

I found a copy of Linus Wahlgren's 'Jag är en astronaut' (on yellow vinyl, no less!) on Discogs, the website where people not only describe their records, but also buy and sell them. Linus Wahlgren was born 10 September 1976 in Gustavsberg, Värmdö, Sweden. He is an actor an musical artist.

My collection: 7" single no. 5789
Found: Discogs.com, received July 9, 2015
Cost: 4 euro
Tracks: 'Jag är en astronaut' / 'Svart på vitt'

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Heimatpop EP - Heimatglück

The German punk rock band Heimatglück was founded in 1996 in Hamburg by Coco and Jana after their previous band Paradontax broke up. They recruited Felix, formerly from the band Tohu-wa-bohu, and started recording songs and performing live. The band still exists in the original lineup.

Their most interesting release - for me anyway - is their 2001 EP Heimatpop. It features five cover versions of Eighties tracks by Kim Wilde, Nena, Madonna, Slime (another German punk band) and Fehlfarben. The song 'Wasserglass' is the most interesting of the lot: a version of Kim Wilde's 'Water on glass'.

My collection: 7" single no. 5788
Found: Discogs.com, received May 2015
Cost: 3 euro
Tracks: 'Hamster', 'Wasserglass', 'Ich brenne ab' / 'Paul ist tot', 'Disco'

Listen to 'Wasserglass'

Aina mun pittää - Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät

'Aina mun pittää' ('I always have to') is a punk song by a Finnish band of adults with developmental disabilities. They participated in this year's Eurovision Song Contest, representing their country. Some people felt it turned the show into even more of a 'freak show', after dinosaurs, transvestites, transsexuals, men with beards wearing dresses and lots of people wearing strange stage clothes, but in fact it was a bit of emancipation for the band. I felt they did a great performance, and their song was quite powerful.

Best of all, the song was released on 7" vinyl. As far as I know, it's the first Eurovision 7" single since Sébastien Teller's Divine in 2008.

My collection: 7" single no. 5786
Found: Discogs.com, received April 28, 2015
Cost: 6 euro
Tracks: 'Aina mun pittää' / 'Diaknoosi vammainen', 'Sofian lehto'

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Dreams are made for everyone - Wind

In 1992, Wind participated in the Eurovision Song Contest with Träume sind für alle da. And as with their other two entries, there is an English version of the song. I didn't know this until I found a listing of this single on the website of Fun Records in April. It was a nice discovery, and of course I ordered the single right away.

I've always been a sucker for translations of Eurovision songs by the original artists - although I still have to find Japanese singles of Udo Jürgens and Gigliola Cinquetti that apparently exist. 'Dreams are made for everyone' is a good translation of the original, and sounds almost identical to the German studio version.

My collection: 7" single no. 5785
Found: Fun Records, Berlin, received April 24, 2015
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Dreams are made for everyone' / 'One night only'

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Found you out - Daniela Simons

Eurovision singer Daniela Simons followed up her 1986 Eurovision single 'Pas pour moi' with several other singles. 'Found you out' was released in 1989 and sounds nothing like the Eurovision song. It is an attempt to reach the charts with danceable music.

It's a nice enough song, but it didn't chart anywhere, as far as I know. But I am open to any suggestions on where to find more information about this single.

My collection: 7" single no. 5784
Found: Fun Records, Berlin, received April 24, 2015
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Found you out' / 'Loving somebody'

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Sobran las palabras - Braulio

Braulio García was born in 1946 in Santa María de Guía de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands. He began his career in music in 1971, debuting in a local festival with a song called 'Mi Amigo El Pastor'. In 1976 he represented Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest with the song 'Sobran las palabras' ('Words are unnecessary'). He placed 16th in a field of 18 contestants.

Over the years he also participated in some other song festivals: three times at the Benidorm International Song Festival (1973, 1975 and 1981); at the Viña del Mar International Song Festival in 1979, where he won the main prize; or at the Yamaha Music Festival in 1982. He has written songs for, amongst others, other Spanish Eurovision singers José Vélez and Massiel.

My collection: 7" single no. 5783
Found: Fun Records, Berlin, received April 24, 2015
Cost: 1,5 euro
Tracks: 'Sobran las palabras' / 'A ti que hoy despiertas a la vida'

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