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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Canzone per te - Sandra Simo

Sandra Simo was born as Sandra Studer in Zurich (Switzerland) on February 10, 1969. She represented her country in 1991 with this song, 'Canzone per te'. The song ended up in fifth place in a field of 22 contestants. The B-side of this single is 'Lo so', the song with which Sandra competed in the Swiss national final for Eurovision in 1990.

The singer became a major Swiss television personality, using her real name. In recent years she has hosted the Swiss and German national heats of Eurovision and has also provided commentary of the contest for German audiences in Switzerland.

My collection: 7" single no. 5782
Found: Fun Records, Berlin, received April 24, 2015
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Canzone per te' / 'Lo so'

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Goeiemorgen morgen - Nicole & Hugo

When I bought this single (along with a few others) the shop owner looked at the sleeve and said 'This is one of Belgium's finest Eurovision entries ever, isn't it?'. I could tell he meant what he said and it wasn't what I expected to hear. Eurovision is often met with ridicule, but the ridicule reserved for Nicole & Hugo's later entry Baby Baby was a especially harsh kind of ridicule.

It has to be said, however, that 'Goeiemorgen morgen' ('Good morning, morning') has a beautiful melody and the duo did a very decent performance of the song - considering the Seventies context of course. It's a shame, then, that they ended up on 14th place in a field of 18 competitors when they competed in the Contest in 1971.

My collection: 7" single no. 5780
Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, April 16, 2015
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'Goeiemorgen, morgen' / 'Er gaat altijd een trein'

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Ein Bisschen Frieden - Judy

The sleeve of this single makes much of the fact that Dutch singer Judy sang her cover of Nicole's 1982 Eurovision winner 'Ein Bisschen Frieden' in 6 languages. She was obviously old enough to pronounce Dutch, German, French, English, Spanish and Italian convincingly, even if the lyrics were probably written down phonetically for her.

As a cover version, this doesn't add much to the original song, it's just without the naive charm that would make Nicole win the Contest. This single comes across as a cynical ploy to cash in to someone else's success... but failing because it flopped of course. The less said about this single's B-side - in which Judy introduces herself in six languages - the better.

My collection: 7" single no. 5779
Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, April 16, 2015
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Ein Bisschen Frieden' / 'Introduction'

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