A la folie ou pas du tout - Serge & Christine Ghisoland

Serge & Christine Ghisoland (both born in 1946) are a singing duo and married couple from Mouscron, Belgium, best known for their participation in the 1972 Eurovision Song Contest. With their song 'A la folie ou pas du tout' ('Madly, or not at all'), they only managed to reach 17th place in a field of 18 competitors, ahead only of the Maltese entry.

Although they released a few more singles between 1970 and 1972, there is little information available on the couple after their Eurovision appearance. Serge Ghisoland is believed to have worked for many years with Belgian record label, Elver. He was also a music teacher in several schools in the Mouscron/Comines region of Belgium.

My collection: 7" single no. 6296
Found: Discogs.com, received May 30, 2020
Cost: 3 euro
Tracks: 'A la folie ou pas du tout' / 'Femme'

Rhapsody in blue - Leonard Bernstein

As you can gather from this blog, my collection focuses on pop music, but I do enjoy a bit of classical music now and then. Whether George Gershwin's compositions are actually classical music is another debate, because his work borders on the modern and has even been turned into pop songs by the likes of Kate Bush and Fun Boy Three.

Anyway, whatever: this single was interesting enough to warrant a place in my collection. It's an outtake from an album that presents 'Rhapsody in blue' and 'An American in Paris', released in 1959 by Philips in the Netherlands. This single cuts 'Rhapsody in blue' in two and presents the two parts on a 7" single, to be played on 33 rpm, in order to offer the full 16 minute work.

My collection: 7" single no. 6294
Found: Plato, Leiden, May 30, 2020
Cost: 0,5 euro
Tracks: 'Rhapsody in blue (part 1)' / 'Rhapsody in blue (part 2)'

I've found love (now that I have found you) - Love & kisses

I'm not really sure if a sleeve like the one shown here would be well received nowadays, with all the #metoo scandals we have been witnessing over the past few years. But back in 1977, this wasn't a problem. Love & Kisses was a disco group assembled by European producer Alec Costandinos, using a variety of male/female singers. Costandinos was born Alexandre Kouyoumdjiam in Cairo, Egypt, in 1944 to an Armenian father and a Greek mother.

The debut album consisted of just two songs: 'Accidental lover' and 'I've found love (now that I've found you)'. This single contains the same two tracks, but obviously in edited form, because the LP presented versions that exceeded 15 minutes.The single reached number 12 in the Dutch Top 40.

My collection: 7" single no. 6293
Found: Plato, Leiden, May 30, 2020
Cost: 0,5 euro
Tracks: 'I've found love (now that I've found you)' / 'Accidental lover'

Since you've gone - The Wilde Three

The previous two entries on this blog came with the big one: this single. I have been hunting for the two Wilde Three singles for decades now, but they are very rare and so I haven't been able to get them - until now. 'Since you've gone' was the first release by the Wilde Three, the group formed by Marty Wilde after his solo career didn't go as well as before. Figuring that there was a trend for harmony groups, he enlisted his wife Joyce and a young unknown singer called Justin Hayward to record a handful of tracks. This single shows exactly what they were made of: two great songs written by Marty (using his pseudonym Frere Manston) and performed with passion by three excellent singers.

The single didn't chart, and Justin soon parted ways again. However, it was Marty who encouraged him to write his own song material. Without him, the world might never have heard songs like 'Nights in white satin', for that was a song penned by Hayward just two years later.

Meanwhile, this single sits proudly in my record collection now. And if anyone can find the other one, 'I cried', I will gladly pay. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6292
Found: Discogs.com, received May 29, 2020
Cost: enough
Tracks: 'Since you've gone' / 'Just as long'

He's misstra know it all - Stevie Wonder

Stevie Wonder has a lot of big hits on his name, but sometimes even Stevie Wonder released unsuccessful singles. 'He's misstra know it all' was one of them. It was taken from his album 'Innervisions' as the fifth single, but only managed to chart in New Zealand and the UK, peaking at number 18 and number 10 respectively.

While scouring through a list of singles sold by an online dealer I came across this title and heard the song for the very first time. It was immediately catchy to my ears, which made me wonder why the single wasn't more successful in other territories. But it's nice to discover something new sometimes - even if it's almost 50 years old.

My collection: 7" single no. 6291
Found: Discogs.com, received May 29, 2020
Cost: 1 pound
Tracks: 'He's misstra know it all' / 'You can't judge a book by its cover'

Dizzy - Tommy Roe

American singer-songwriter Tommy Roe was born on May 9, 1942 started his career in the USA, but moved to the UK after a successful tour with Roy Orbison in that country. In 1964, Roe recorded 'Diane From Manchester Square' about a girl who worked at EMI House, when it was based in London's Manchester Square. Sales of this single in the UK were poor, and it failed to chart.

Other singles were more successful, such as 'Sweet Pea' and 'Hooray for Hazel', both top 10 hits in Canada. In 1969, his song 'Dizzy' went to number 1 on the UK Singles Chart as well as Canada and the USA. It remains easily his most remembered song, and I picked up a copy of this single while buying two more online because I still remembered it despite not having heard it for decades. So that means something.

My collection: 7" single no. 6290
Found: Discogs.com, received May 29, 2020
Cost: 1 pound
Tracks: 'Dizzy' / 'The you I need'

Dancing in the city (Summer '92 remixes) - Marshall, Hain

'Who comes up with these things?' is a question I ask myself sometimes when I hear remixes of great old songs. Take for instance this 'Summer 92' take on Marshall & Hain's 'Dancing in the city'. Steve Proctor may have had a good time creating this (as evidenced on the title of the B-side: it's certainly self-indulgent but not a pleasure to listen to!) but the song suffers.

I must say that I am a fan of the British duo but these remixes don't really do them justice. One has to wonder what would have happened if they'd stayed together longer. Their music would certainly have been a joy to listen to with more eighties influences. As it stands, Kit Hain now lives in the USA and has become an author of novels, whereas Julian Marshall is a songwriter, composer, teacher, lecturer, mentor and musician.

My collection: 7" single no. 6288
Found: Discogs.com, received May 27, 2020
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'Dancing in the city (Summer '92 remix)' / 'Dancing in the city (Steve's self-indulgent trumpet mix)'