Boom boom boomerang - Schmetterlinge

Eurovision Song Contest fans always have to deal with criticism from other people. There are always comments about the music, the nonsensical lyrics, the show itself, the dreadful presenters, the boring intermezzo acts, sometimes even the organising country. But to Eurovision fans, all these elements are just part of the deal: in order to discover beautiful songs you'll have to deal with the odd nonsensical ones, just like when you listen to the radio.

The Austrian band Schmetterlinge have took the 'nonsensical lyrics' aspect to uncharted terrritories in 1977. What to make of a chorus that goes: 'Boom Boom Boomerang, Snadderydang / Kangaroo, Boogaloo, Didgeridoo / Ding dong, sing the song, hear the guitar twang / Kojak, hijack, me and you'? The performance is also memorable, as the band featured four male singers wearing cream suits and red shirts. During the performance, the men would turn their backs to the audience at various points, revealing a costume which looked like the front of a tuxedo, complete with a fake face. The song ended up in seventeenth place out of 18 competitors.

My collection: 7" single no. 6106
Found: eBay, received May 24, 2019
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'Boom boom boomerang' / 'Mr. Moneymaker's Musicshow'

Songfestival-successen - Various artists

I don't often post LP's on this blog, simply because I don't often buy them. And even the ones I did buy were not always that interesting for this blog. But here's an exception to that rule. 'Songfestival-successen' is a compilation album of Eurovision Song Contest songs, performed by various Dutch artists. The album presents twelve tracks in glorious mono sound.

Most of these tracks are familiar Dutch entries to the Contest, but there are a few interesting exceptions. 'Fernando en Filippo' is not performed by Milly Scott, who represented the Netherlands in 1966, but Conny van Bergen. There's also a cover version of 'Nous les amoureux', partly in Dutch, by Jan van der Most and a cover version of 'Non ho l'eta' by Sandra Reemer, also in Dutch ('Als jij maar wacht'). And finally, the songs 'Middellandse zee', 'Geweldig' and 'Niet voor mij 'were never performed on the Eurovision stage. 'Middellandse zee' was a hit for Anita Berry in 1962. Ronnie Tober reached second place in the Dutch national final for Eurovision with 'Geweldig' in 1965 and 'Niet voor mij' was performed at the Dutch national final for Eurovision in 1960. (Remarkably, Kauffeld ended up representing the Netherlands with the song 'Wat een dag' in 1961, but that song was never released on any record!)

My collection: LP [unnumbered]
Found: Marktplaats, received May 11, 2019
Cost: 6 euro
Tracks: 'Net als toen' (Corry Brokken), 'Katinka' (De Spelbrekers), 'Middellandse Zee' (Anita Berry), 'Geweldig' (Ronnie Tober), 'Niet voor mij' (Greetje Kauffeld), ''t Is genoeg' (Conny van den Bos) / 'Fernando en Filippo' (Conny van Bergen), 'Als jij maar wacht' (Sandra), 'Jij bent mijn leven' (Anneke Grönloh), 'Nous les amoureux' (Jan van der Most), 'Speeldoos' (Annie Palmen), ''n Beetje' (Teddy Scholten)

Eitt lag enn / One more song - Stjórnin

I only had one Icelandic entry to the Eurovision Song Contest on 7" vinyl so far - Stefan & Eyfi's 'Nina' - and, it must be said, it isn't easy to get hold of Icelandic singles for a reasonable price. But somehow I managed this time, when I won an auction on eBay recently.

Stjórnin represented Iceland in the 1990 edition of Eurovision with 'Eitt lag enn'. At the close of voting it was fourth in a field of 22 competitors, which made it Iceland's best placement in the contest so far at the time.

My collection: 7" single no. 6102
Found: eBay, received May 24, 2019
Cost: $10
Tracks: 'One more song' / 'Eitt lag enn'

Boys keep swinging - David Bowie

Parlophone continues with their series of '40th anniversary picture discs' of David Bowie singles. It is a lucrative series because the singles keep selling despite their decidedly inflative prices. It's hard to realise that you'd only pay a couple of pounds for a single like this 40 years ago, a price that has doubled a few days now in 2019. Shame on Parlophone.

This picture discs presents the 2017 mix by Tony Visconti of 'Boys keep swinging', along with a rare unreleased track 'I pray, Olé' - at least, it was unreleased in 1991 when it appeared as a bonus track on the Rykodisc reissue of the album 'Lodger'. Although the takes of the instruments and vocals were recorded during the sessions of the 'Lodger' album, the mix of the song was performed in 1990. It is unclear whether overdubs were recorded later.

My collection: 7" single no. 6101
Found: Fnac, Antwerpen, May 24, 2019
Cost: 14 euro (!)
Tracks: 'Boys keep swinging (2017 Tony Visconti mix)' / 'I pray, olé'

Occhi di ragazza - Gianni Morandi

Italy was represented at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1970 by Gianni Morandi, singing 'Occhi di ragazza' ('Eyes of a girl'). The breezy song is a ballad, with Morandi musing on the power of his lover's eyes. Initially, he describes them as windows into her soul and places where he can see their future. The song ends, however, on something of a pessimistic note, as he explains that these same eyes will one day fill with tears as their relationship ends. The song received 5 points, placing it eighth in a field of 12 competitors.

Gian Luigi Morandi was born in a little village called Monghidoro on the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines. His father Renato was active within the Italian Communist Party and Gianni used to help him sell the party newspapers. At an early age Morandi worked as a shoe-shiner, cobbler and as a candy vendor in the village's only cinema. His vocal abilities led him to a number of small gigs, some of which were during the Communist Party’s activities. His career took flight during the Sixties. He achieved national stardom with the song 'Fatti mandare dalla mamma', and remained Italy’s darling throughout that decade. He remains active in the Italian music scene until the present day. One of his most recent hits is a duet with Fabio Rovazzi, called 'Volare' - not the Domenico Modugno song!

My collection: 7" single no. 6100
Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, May 24, 2019
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'Occhi di ragazza' / 'T'amo con tutto il cuore'

Li´ per li´ / Piove...! - Teddy Reno

Released in 1959, this single features cover versions of two wellknown songs of that time: Li' per li' (also covered by Teddy Scholten and Willy Alberti that year) and 'Piove', the song made famous by Domenico Modugno when he represented Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest.

Teddy Reno was born as Ferruccio Merk Ricordi in Trieste on July 11, 1926. The Italian singer and actor started his career in the Fifties and took part in several San Remo Music Festivals in Italy. In 1948 he founded one of Italy's first record companies, CGD (i.e. Compagnia Generale del Disco), which he later sold to Ladislao Sugar. In the 1960s he focused his career on discovering and producing new talents, mainly through the Festival degli sconosciuti (Festival of the Unknowns) which he created in 1961. Some or Reno's discoveries at the Festival include The Rokes, Dino and Rita Pavone, whom he married in 1968.

My collection: 7" single no. 6098
Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, May 24, 2019
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Li' per li'' / 'Piove...!'

King of fools - Perfect day

Having bought 'Jane' and 'Liberty town' in April, I followed up last month with the acquisition of 'King of fools', another single by Perfect Day. As with the previous two, the involvement of Ricky Wilde made me want to check this one out: the B-side 'Step out' is produced by him and contains some of the hallmarks that makes Kim Wilde's music so glorious.

This single was released in a special gatefold sleeve, probably in an attempt by the record company to make this a more attractive package. Unfortunately this didn't help: this was to be the band's final release.

My collection: 7" single no. 6066
Found: Discogs.com, received May 10, 2019
Cost: 2 pounds
Tracks: 'King of fools' / 'Step out'