Songfestival Londen 1960 - Festival Orchestra

The 1960 Eurovision Song Festival took place in London, with artists from thirteen different European countries. Thirty million viewers watched France win this time with the song 'Tom Pillibi'.

This EP features four songs from the contest: 'Wat een geluk', 'Romantica', 'Tom Pillibi' and 'Looking high high high', the entries from the Netherlands, Italy, France and the UK respectively. The songs were performed by uncredited vocalists with the Festival Orchestra conducted by Harry S. Owens. The single turns up regularly when you hunt for Eurovision singles, but never at a decent price. Until today, that is.

My collection: 7" single no. 6225
Found: 33|45 Records, Den Haag, December 28, 2019
Cost: 3 euro
Tracks: 'Wat een geluk', 'Romantica' / 'Tom Pillibi', 'Looking high high high'

I wish it could be Christmas every day - Wizzard

A few years ago I went to a Christmas gig by Kim Wilde, and she played a version of 'I wish it could be Christmas every day'. The original song was released in 1973 by Wizzard - around the time I started watching Toppop on a weekly basis as a wee three year old kid. I didn't really know this song very well, but it did sound vaguely familiar.

When I started looking for the single I quickly found out it was issued in a gatefold sleeve - and it was pretty hard to find. I was therefore delighted to find this single finally in April this year. Not really the season for a Christmas single, but when something is on your list for a few years, you can't miss the opportunity.

'I wish it could be Christmas every day' reached number 4 in the UK singles chart when it was released. It has had no less than 15 re-entries since then, in 1981, 1984 and then from 2007 until this year - every year in December of course. However, since the original tapes were lost all the re-entries were based on a re-recording made in 1981.

My collection: 7" single no. 6033
Found: Record fair, Utrecht, April 13, 2019
Cost: 5 euro
Tracks: 'I wish it could be Christmas every day' / 'Rob Roy's nightmare'

Mary's boy child (remix) - Boney M

The legacy of Boney M was tarnished somewhat when Frank Farian continued to churn out singles after Bobby Farrell left the group. Less successful singles eventually forced him to stop - but in 1988 he came back with a vengeance when the compilation 'Greatest Hits of all times remix '88' was released. The original line-up reformed and several singles were released: new remixes of old hits.

'Mary's boy child' was released in time for Christmas in 1988, in a remix version created by mix-master Pete Hammond - an obvious attempt to use the name and fame of the Stock, Aitken & Waterman team, who were continually in the charts with their acts. The single did not chart. Tensions ran high between the members, and Liz Mitchell left in the spring of 1989 to be replaced by Madeleine Davis.

My collection: 7" single no. 6175
Found: Record fair, Amsterdam, September 21, 2019
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Mary's boy child (remix)' / 'Megamix (edited version)'

Mary's boy child (Oh my Lord) / Dancing in the streets - Boney M

'Mary's boy child' is a Christmas song, originally written by Jester Hairston. The song was written when Hairston was sharing a room with a friend. The friend asked him to write a song for a birthday party. Hairston wrote the song with a calypso rhythm because the people at the party would be mainly West Indians. The song's original title was "He Pone and Chocolate Tea", pone being a type of corn bread. It was never recorded in this form. Some time later Walter Schumann, at the time conducting Schumann's Hollywood Choir, asked Hairston to write a new Christmas song for his choir. Hairston remembered the calypso rhythm from his old song and wrote new lyrics for it.

Harry Belafonte heard the song being performed by the choir and sought permission to record it. It was recorded in 1956 for his album 'An Evening with Belafonte'. It was also released as a single. It reached number 1 on the UK Singles Chart in November 1957, and has since sold over 1.19 million copies there.

When Boney M recorded 'Mary's boy child' in 1978, they coupled it with a new song, 'Oh my Lord', written by Frank Farian and Fred Jay. This version also reached number 1 in the UK, and topped the chart for four weeks. When Hairston - who was 78 years old at the time - found out how well the Boney M version had done, he said: "God bless my soul. That's tremendous for an old fogey like me".

After Christmas, Hansa Record flipped the single and released it with 'Dancing in the streets' as the A-side. As you can see from the pictures here, the sleeve was different. On the labels the 'A' and 'B' were indeed changed. The tracks, however, remained the same.

I was lucky enough to find three versions of this single in the same store: the Dutch pressing with the black and white sleeve and two versions of the German pressing. This Boney M single remains one of the best selling Christmas singles of all time.

My collection: 7" single no. 6073
Found: Velvet Vinyl Outlet, Leiden, May 18, 2019
Cost: 3x1 euro
Tracks: 'Mary's boy child (Oh my Lord)' / 'Dancing in the streets'

Elton John's Christmas EP - Elton John

Now that Christmas is approaching, it's finally time to post a few Christmas singles I acquired this year. And here's a good one: back in 1990, Elton John released the compilation album 'The very best of Elton John', featuring a good portion of his hits spread over two CD's.

Elton John's Christmas EP cleverly brought together two Christmas-themed songs along with two other songs that were less Christmassy but very enjoyable nonetheless. Packaged in a gatefold sleeve which on the inside marketed the compilation album and left open the space for the label on which you could write a dedication ("To:.... From:..." on both sides).

My collection: 7" single no. 6178
Found: Record fair, Amsterdam, September 21, 2019
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Step into Christmas', 'Cold as Christmas (In the middle of the year)' / 'Easier to walk away', 'I swear I heard the night talking'

Last Christmas - Wham!

The Christmas season is never complete without the Wham! track 'Last Christmas'. Especially this year, when the movie of the same name is in the cinemas everywhere. The record company decided to capitalize on the success and re-release the video in remastered form - it was recorded on film back in 1984, making it possible to release a 4K version now. Never has it looked any better than this.

The same goes for the 7" vinyl single, released this month. Pressed on white vinyl, it comes in a reproduction of the original gatefold sleeve. So, despite already owning Last Christmas, Last Christmas, Last Christmas and Everything she wants / Last Christmas, I had to have this one of course.

My collection: 7" single no. 6222
Found: Amazon.co.uk, received December 17, 2019
Cost: 8 pounds
Tracks: 'Last Christmas' / 'Everything she wants'

Burning the heather - Pet Shop Boys

The second single off the Pet Shop Boys' forthcoming album 'Hotspot' is 'Burning the heather', a ballad with Bernard Butler on guitar. Curiously, the Boys didn't release this single as a cd-single (like the first one, 'Dreamworld') but on 7" vinyl. That would have been great if they had released previous singles on this format, but this is the first 7" vinyl release since 'Leaving' in 2012. It's a nightmare for completists.

As far as the song is concerned, I don't think this will be a huge hit. But I'm not sure the Boys are really bothered about that: the new album is bound to be a great seller, and more importantly, there's a live tour coming in 2020. That's where the real revenue comes from these days. Personally, I prefer records though. And cd-singles.

My collection: 7" single no. 6221
Found: Amazon.co.uk, received December 16, 2019
Cost: 8 pounds
Tracks: 'Burning the heather' / 'Decide'