The world keeps turning - Heddy Lester

Heddy Lester represented the Netherlands with the song 'De Mallemolen', with a fairly depressing lyric. I wrote about that nine years ago. I didn't know back then, that there was also an English version of the song. It seems to have a more positive stance: even the title is 'The world keeps turning', which seems to offer a glimmer of hope.

Heddy recorded her song in four different languages: in Dutch, English, German and France. The latter two are very hard to come by, but who knows... as long as the world keeps turning there might be a chance for those to turn up in my collection and on this blog.

My collection: 7" single no. 5923
Found: Discogs.com, received August 28, 2018
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'The world keeps turning' / 'Never saw him laughing'

A ave e a infancia - Marie Myriam

'A ave a infancia' is the Portuguese version of 'L'oiseau et l'enfant', the song that won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1977. I ordered a few singles from Portugal recently and this one came up as well, so I thought I might as well take it. I've always had a soft spot for Eurovision songs by the original artists in a different language.

French singer Marie Myriam is actually of Portuguese descent, so her pronunciation of this version is probably spot on. She also recorded the song in English, German and Spanish. I'm still looking for those singles...

My collection: 7" single no. 5922
Found: Discogs.com, received August 28, 2018
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'A ave e a infancia' / 'On garde toujours'

Little Julie - Peter Shelley

Taken from his album 'Girls and Places', 'Little Julie' may be a little sentimental, but this single was typical Seventies fare. Having launched Magnet Records in 1973 and Alvin Stardust's career (initially by performing as Stardust himself!), he started a career as a songwriter and performer in his own right.

His songwriting was often done in collaboration with Marty Wilde, who also penned the two songs on this disc: 'Little Julie' and 'Wisconsin'. Shelley was presented with the Ivor Novello Award in 1975 for his services to the UK music industry. However, due to differences between Magnet co-founder Michael Levy and himself, Shelley resigned from Magnet in late 1975 to pursue an independent career.

My collection: 7" single no. 5921
Found: Discogs.com, retrieved August 31, 2018
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'Little Julie' / 'Wisconsin'

Du er fuld af løgn - Trax

Lise Haavik (born 23 February 1962) is a Danish/Norwegian singer, best known for representing Denmark at the Eurovision Song Contest in Bergen, Norway in 1986. She is also well-known domestically for her partnership in the duo Trax with John Hatting, her ex-husband. While they were both on the Eurovision stage, only Lise Haavik was credited as she was the only one who sang. Still, this single release is credited to Trax.

The song was successful in the Contest, placing sixth out of 20 entries that evening. This would be the only time Haavik would appear at Eurovision, having tried and failed to represent Denmark in 1984 and 1985. She also made an attempt to represent Norway in 1988.

My collection: 7" single no. 5919
Found: Discogs.com, received August 16, 2018
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'Du er fuld af løgn' / 'Du er fuld af løgn (instrumental)'

Once we might have known - Cock Robin

Not content with just the promo 7" single I bought two months ago, I was happy to find the commercially released single of Cock Robin's 'Once we might have known' recently. I didn't actually expect to find it this quickly, but with online ordering you have to be smart about orders: I got a few from these sellers and then one extra disc doesn't matter much for shipping.

This commercial 7" features a B-side, the album version of 'More than willing'. It might be a little underwhelming, but I still think it's a nice addition to my collection.

My collection: 7" single no. 5920
Found: Discogs.com, received August 16, 2018
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'Once we might have known' / 'More than willing'

More than words can say - Mel & Kim

Mel & Kim are best known for their four singles released in 1987 and 1988, from Showing out to That's the way it is. It may come as a surprise that another single saw the light of day in 1989. It was this one, 'More than words can say', a track taken from their debut (and only) album. It was released in Scandinavia to support the release of 'Something Special', an album that was also released in only a few countries. 'Something Special' brought together a selection of remixes, and this single was apparently released to promote that compilation album.

I didn't know all this until a few years ago, but the single, rare as it is, is pretty hard to find. I was pleasantly surprised recently when a copy popped up in the collection of a Danish seller on Discogs.com, so I snapped it up immediately (along with a few other singles).

My collection: 7" single no. 5916
Found: Discogs.com, received August 16, 2018
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'More than words can say' / 'You changed my life'

N'oublie pas - Mylene Farmer & LP

For the first time in a long time, Mylene Farmer has released a single on the 7" vinyl format. I thought the last one was Que mon coeur lâche, but to my dismay I just found out that her 2013 single 'Je te dis tout' was also released on 7" vinyl - as a limited edition picture disc.

Anyway, the new single 'N'oublie pas' was released last Friday on CD-single and 7" vinyl. It is a decent song, and a duet with a certain LP. I'd never heard of her. Full name: Laura Pergolizzi, an American singer from Italian descent with a less than pleasant voice. The single was a no. 1 hit in France upon its release, of course, because Mylene Farmer hasn't stopped being a superstar over there.

My collection: 7" single no. 5915
Found: Fnac.com, received August 14, 2018
Cost: 10 euro
Tracks: 'N'oublie pas' / 'N'oublie pas (instrumental)'