Une chanson c'est une lettre - Sophie

Sophie was born on 9 October 1944 in Dax (France) as Sophie Hecquet. Early in her career, as Jenny Ann, she toured with French rock 'n roll legend Johnny Hallyday. In 1962 she appeared in a short film directed by Claude Lelouch. She started her recording career, as Sophie, in 1963, and appeared in Michel Boisrond's film Cherchez l'idole. She released a succession of singles and EPs for Decca Records in France, as an exponent of the yé-yé style, arranged by either Eddie Vartan or Jacques Loussier. She often recorded French language versions of American or British pop songs. After a break, she resumed a singing career in the early 1970s. In 1975, she represented Monaco at the Eurovision Song Contest with the song 'Une chanson c’est une lettre', co-written and arranged by André Popp, finishing in 13th place.

Her career continued after this, working in radio and television, presenting children's programmes, among other things. In the early 2000s she opened the restaurant 'La Maison de Sophie' in Uccle, Belgium. In 2012, she was moved to Paris for an operation on a ruptured aneurysm, but died in hospital there, aged 68, on 28 October 2012.

My collection: 7" single no. 6381
Found: Discogs.com, received 15 May 2021
Cost: 5 euro
Tracks: 'Une chanson c'est une lettre' / 'Madame à la faux'

Die Zeiger der Uhr - Margot Eskens

This single has been on my wantlist for some time. It's one of the prettiest cover photos from the Sixties-era Eurovision singles, partly because it ties in so neatly with the title of the song. 'Die Zeiger der Uhr' ('The hands of time') was the German entry to the 1966 Eurovision Song Contest. The song is a ballad, with Eskens singing about the feelings brought on by reading old love letters and seeing photographs from an old relationship. As she explains, however, 'The hands of time only turn / forwards, forwards and never backwards'. The song ended up in tenth place in a field of 18 competitors. 

Eskens' career continued for decades, although her success was limited to German-speaking countries only. In 2005 she celebrated 50 years on stage. She has sold over 40 million records during her long and impressive career.

My collection: 7" single no. 6380
Found: Discogs.com, received 15 May 2021
Cost: 5 euro
Tracks: 'Die Zeiger der Uhr' / 'Nur deine Bilder'

Moskow Diskow / Eurovision - Telex

Nothing is more appropriate this month than highlighting that classic Belgian song 'Euro-vision' by Telex. They performed it on the Eurovision stage in The Hague in 1980. I do have the original single, of course, but more recently the track was re-released on a special cover 7" single with the magazine Electronic Sound. That issue - number 74 - is actually a few months old but I only discovered this one recently, and ordered it straight away.

This single presents the English version of 'Euro-vision' together with the track 'Moskow Diskow' on yellow vinyl. The hallucinating sleeve image requires you to look away after a few seconds in order to avoid going crazy - or getting a headache. Other than that, this is a brilliant little collector's item. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6379
Found: Electronic Sound magazine website, received 8 May 2021
Cost: 8 pounds
Tracks: 'Moscow Diskow' / 'Eurovision'

Voor altijd - André van Duin

During an impressive career of six decades, André van Duin started out as a comedian and did theatre shows, TV programmes, even performed as a support act for the Rolling Stones in the Netherlands. In recent years, he has reinvented himself as a 'serious' entertainer, acting in a dramatic series and presenting the Dutch version of the Great British Bake-off. 

After losing his partner Martin last year and going through treatment against a medical condition, things became increasingly serious. He made an impressive speech on 4 May on Remembrance Day in Amsterdam and, also recently, recorded this single. 'Voor altijd' ('For always') was dedicated to his late partner and benefits the Dutch Cancer Society. Although the song was co-created with the massively overrated Dutch artist Danny Vera it is actually quite beautiful. For the first time in months I had the chance to buy a single in a regular shop, and so I did.

My collection: 7" single no. 6378
Found: Paagman, Leidschendam, 8 May 2021
Cost: 9 euro
Tracks: 'Voor altijd' / 'Voor altijd (instrumental)'

Soldi - Mahmood

Alessandro Mahmood represented Italy during the 2019 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. Born in Milan to an Italian mother from Sardinia and an Egyptian father, he was raised around Gratosoglio, a district of Milan.When he was five years old, his parents divorced and he was subsequently raised by his mother.

Mahmood revealed he started writing the song while hanging out with some friends. Its lyrics explore Mahmood's relationship with his father. It depicts a lying, contradictory and unreliable father, whose main priority is money instead of his own family. Mahmood explained that the song's lyrics "evoke a memory" and that "there's a lot of anger" in it. This was reflected during his performance: he looked angry throughout his appearance on the Eurovision stage, which surprisingly didn't affect the score: he finished in second place during the Eurovision final. 

This 7" single was sold together with the album 'Gioventù Bruciata' in Italy. Both the CD and this single feature two versions of the song 'Soldi'.

My collection: 7" single no. 6374
Found: Amazon Germany, received 24 April 2021
Cost: 20 euro (CD + single)
Tracks: 'Soldi' / 'Soldi (feat. Gue Pequeno)'

The wrong place - Hooverphonic

This month, the Eurovision Song Contest will finally take place in Rotterdam. Last year the Contest did not take place because of the Covid-19 pandemic, which meant that the Netherlands held the title of Eurovision winner for another year. The 2021 edition will still be a sad affair: although an audience will be present, it will only be half the capacity of the Ahoy hall where the event is taking place and where other countries have benefited greatly from tourists flocking in from all over Europe, Rotterdam will only host Dutch people (and perhaps a few lost people from other countries - although that seems unlikely).

To make things even worse, it seems that record companies have given up on physical products for their Eurovision acts. So far, only the Belgian band Hooverphonic have released their Eurovision song on 7" vinyl. And that, of course, is to be applauded. 'The wrong place' is an excellent song, although it doesn't seem likely that it will win this year's edition. We can only hope that the winning song will also be released on the 7" vinyl format. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6373
Found: Velvet Music, Leiden, received 24 April 2021
Cost: 8 euro
Tracks: 'The wrong place' / 'The wrong place (instrumental)'

Refrain, du goldner Traum aus meiner Jugendzeit - Lys Assia

Only two years ago I was able to buy Refrain, the 7" single of the first ever winning song of the Eurovision Song Contest. The song made Lys Assia part of history. She would continue to be a special guest in the audience of the Contest even in recent years, until she passed away in March 2018. 

I was always aware that she recorded a German version of her winning song, but like the original single it wasn't easy to get hold of a copy. After all, this is a single that is hunted after by many Eurovision fans and it's 75 years old. But I was quite surprised two weeks ago when I saw one on Ebay for a few euros. I placed my bid and waited until last Saturday, when the auction would end. As usual, the bidding went crazy in the last few minutes, but I was successful in the end - even if I had to spend just a little more than I really wanted to. Never mind - now that record fairs are a thing of the past and the next one won't happen until 2025, probably, I have some budget to spare. I am grateful to the Austrian seller of this little piece of history.

My collection: 7" single no. 6372
Found: Ebay.co.uk, received 15 April 2021
Cost: 13,20 euro
Tracks: 'Refrain, Du Goldner Traum Aus Meiner Jugendzeit' / 'Addio, Bella Napoli'