Ik heb zorgen - Louis Neefs

It ain't easy to find a copy of Louis Neefs' first Eurovision entry, so it is only appropriate that I should find one in Belgium. After all, Belgium was the country he represented when he performed 'Ik heb zorgen' in Vienna in 1967.

His participation was quite successful, since he finished in seventh place in a field of 17 competitors. Neefs recorded the song in English ('I got troubles') and German ('Ich habe Sorgen'). He would return to the Eurovision stage in 1969, with the song 'Jennifer Jennings'. I am still looking for that single...

My collection: 7" single no. 6079
Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, May 24, 2019
Cost: 5 euro
Tracks: 'Ik heb zorgen' / 'Alleen met z'n twee'

How do you mend a broken heart - Guys 'n' Dolls

As one of the popular groups of the Seventies, Guys 'n' Dolls scored a string of hits in the UK and Europe. It is less wellknown that they also had a shot at representing the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest.

In 1979, the group took part in the national A Song For Europe contest with the song 'How do you mend a broken heart?'. Although the TV show was abandoned due to a BBC strike, the song finished in tenth place of the 12 entries when the judges cast votes on the audio recordings of the songs. When you hear the song now, you could say that it might have been a better effort than Black Lace's 'Mary Ann'.

My collection: 7" single no. 6077
Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, May 24, 2019
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'How do you mend a broken heart' / 'Perfectly well'

La, la, la - Digno Garcia y sus Carios

Spain won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1968 with the song 'La la la', as performed by Massiel. Such was the success of the song that several cover versions happened. One of them already appeared on this blog, recorded by Heidi Brühl. And here is another one, recorded by Digno Garcia y sus Carios.

Digno Garcia was a Paraguayan harpist, who formed his own group, sus Carios, with Lonardo Aquino, Antonia Alvarez and Arnaldo Peralta. 'La la la'  appeared in 1968, right about the time when Massiel had stormed the charts with that song.

My collection: 7" single no. 6076
Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, May 24, 2019
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'La la la' / 'Costa Brava'

Eurovision 1966 - Caravelli et ses violons magiques

Caravelli was a French orchestra leader, born in Paris on September 12, 1930. Born as Claude Vasori, he was the son of an Italian father and a French mother. Vasori took his stage name in 1956 from the newly introduced twin-jet Caravelle from Caravelle Aerospatiale. This plane was the first jet created for the short-haul market. The first Caravelle entered service for Air France on May 9, 1959. He made it more Italianate in honor of his father's origins, changing the last letter: 'Caravelli et son Violons Magiques' ('Caravelli and his magnificent strings').

In 1959 with the help of the French jazz musician Ray Ventura, he obtained a contract to form his own orchestra oriented to popular music. He signed a contract with the French record label Versailles. His first album Dance Party was recorded. In 1963, he composed 'Accroche-toi Caroline!' which was used by the BBC as the theme to the Vision On television series.

This single was released in 1966 and features cover versions of two Eurovision songs: 'Chez nous' (originally performed by Dominique Walter representing France) and ' Dio come ti amo' (performed by Domenico Modugno representing Italy).

My collection: 7" single no. 6075
Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, May 24, 2019
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Chez nous'  / 'Dio como ti amo'

Made in Spain (La chica que yo quiero) - La decada prodigiosa

La Década Prodigiosa was formed in 1985 as a project directed by Javier de Juan (drums), Manel Santisteban (piano) and Manuel Aguilar (bass) to produce an album of medleys of popular Spanish songs from the sixties. Several session singers collaborated in this first album, 'Los Años 60, Vol. I'. Due to the success of the album, a band of eight members was formed in 1986 for the second album ('Los Años 60, Vol. II'): Manolo Rodríguez, Cecilia Blanco, Ana Nery, Carmelo Martínez and Jose Subiza joined the three creators.

In 1988, La Década was internally chosen by broadcaster Televisión Española to represent Spain at the 33rd Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin with one of their first original songs, 'La chica que yo quiero (Made in Spain)'. As only six people were allowed on stage by EBU rules, Javier de Juan directed the orchestra and Manolo Rodríguez stayed backstage. The song finished eleventh out of 21 competitors. Since then, the group has survived many replacements of members, even though in the mid-nineties their popularity began to decline.

The single is pretty rare nowadays and is often sold online for upwards of 10 euros. I was therefore pretty happy to find a copy of this single on a Spanish marketplace website.

My collection: 7" single no. 6074
Found: Todocoleccion.net, received May 23, 2019
Cost: 4 euro
Tracks: 'Made in Spain (La chica que yo quiero)' / 'Made in Spain (La chica que yo quiero)'

Love is blue - Paul Mauriat and his Orchestra

I already bought a copy of 'L'amour est bleu' by Paul Mauriat and his Orchestra in January 2015, and in the very same store too, but when I saw this copy I just couldn't leave it there last Saturday. This is the original French single, complete with a small price tag attached to the sleeve (not scanned here) and a different B-side.

It does happen occasionally that I buy different releases of the same single, especially when it comes to Eurovision releases. And since we're in a winning mood this week, why not listen to this great instrumental version of the Vicky Leandros song all over again?

My collection: 7" single no. 6070
Found: Velvet Vinyl Outlet, Leiden, May 18, 2019
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Love is blue' / 'Comme un garçon'

Rock 'n' Roll is king - Electric Light Orchestra

I think I wasn't the only one who was quite shocked when Electric Light Orchestra released this single in 1983. Ever since they hit it big with 'Sweet talkin' woman', 'Mr. Blue Sky', 'Don't bring me down' and 'Xanadu', listeners had grown accustomed to lush arrangements and melodic songs, so 'Rock 'n' Roll is king' felt a bit like the band had gone back to basics. And after radio picked it up, I quickly didn't want to hear this song ever again.

And so I ended up in a record store in Leiden last Saturday, where another visitor was playing a few singles before he decided to buy some of them, and I heard this one come by. Quite nice. And so I picked up a copy and took it home. A lot changes in 35 years.

My collection: 7" single no. 6073
Found: Velvet Vinyl Outlet, Leiden, May 18, 2019
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Rock 'n' Roll is king' / 'After all'