Notre vie c'est la musique - Laurent Vaguener

Laurent Vaguener is actually a pseudonym: his real name was Jean Baudlot. He was born in Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine on 16 February 1947, and died only recently, on 24 March 2021. During the 1970's he was best known as a composer, writing songs for Joe Dassin, Michele Torr and Gérard Croce among others.

In 1979 he wrote 'Notre vie c'est la musique' for the Eurovision Song Contest, and ended up performing the song on stage as well, using the pseudonym Laurent Vaguener. At the close of voting, it had received 12 points, placing 16th in a field of 19. Following this result, Monaco withdrew from the Contest for 25 years. 

Meanwhile, Baudlot continued to compose music in the following decades, eventually also composing for video games during the Nineties and for documentaries during the last two decades. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6420
Found: Discogs.com, received 15 July 2021
Cost: 5 euro
Tracks: 'Notre vie c'est la musique' / 'Israel connection'

Singing this song - Renato

Malta has an interesting history at the Eurovision Song Contest. The country first participated in 1971 and 1972 with songs in Maltese. Both entries finished in last place. They took two years off, and then returned in 1975 with Renato's 'Singing this song'. It was the first Maltese entry in English, and they were rewarded with a better placing: the song finished in 12th place. 

Despite this, Malta disappeared from Eurovision for no less than 15 years. Since their return in 1991, Malta has consistently chosen to enter songs in English and this was a good decision for them: during the Nineties they rarely finished outside the top 10. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6421
Found: Discogs.com, received 15 July 2021
Cost: 5 euro
Tracks: 'Singing this song' / 'Without your tenderness'

E2 - Emiliana Torrini

I've been critical about the Emiliana Torrini remix singles that were released two decades ago. It could have been a fun project, but the execution leaves a lot to be desired. Take this single for instance: the A-side takes one line from the song 'Fingertips' ('From the oceans to the skies') and repeats it throughout the remix. After that, there's the first track of the B-side. A certain Adam Pierce, who calls himself Mice Parade, thinks it's a great idea to deliver three minutes of noise. And the third track bears no resemblance to the original song 'To be free' whatsoever. 

My collection is almost complete, but I can't really claim that I enjoy these singles. It's a shame, because the Emiliana Torrini albums that these remixes vaguely allude to is an excellent album.

My collection: 7" single no. 6412
Found: Discogs.com, received 30 June 2021
Cost: 4 pounds
Tracks: 'Fingertips (The Phone Home remixes)' / 'Unemployed in summertime (Unemployed butcher in the summertime)', 'To be free (Mùm remix)'

Maman (German version) - Jean-Jacques

Back in 1969, Jean-Jacques represented Monaco at the Eurovision Song Contest with the song 'Maman'. I actually bought the single back in 2010, and then the Spanish version in 2015. With mathematical precision (well, almost!) the German version became mine recently. 

No fancy photo sleeve on this single, but at least the title of the song is clear (why didn't they change it into the German 'Mama'?) and the name of the performer is also hard to miss. However, somehow they forgot to mention that this was the German 'Originalaufnahme' of this song.

My collection: 7" single no. 6417
Found: Discogs.com, received 15 July 2021
Cost: 3 euro
Tracks: 'Maman (German version)' / 'Paris, du meine Liebe'

Så går vi til enkebal - Katy Bødtger

I haven't suddenly developed a taste for bizarre Danish songs (and the A-side surely is one), but this single by Katy Bødtger has a special attraction: as you can see, the B-side is called 'Popcorn'. And it is indeed a version of the Gershon Kingsley track, but, and this is where it gets interesting, with Danish vocals. 

Gustav Winckler wrote the lyrics for this version, but my Danish isn't good enough to understand what Katy is singing about. The single isn't very rare - it has already been listed on the Popcorn-song website, for instance - but it is surely one of the more quirky versions I've ever had the pleasure of owning. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6416
Found: Ebay, received 15 July 2021
Cost: 4 euro
Tracks: 'Så går vi til enkebal' / 'Popcorn'

Break away - Bill van Dijk

Although Bill van Dijk wasn't very successful at the 1982 Eurovision Song Contest with 'Jij en ik', he still recorded the song in English. It's even more remarkable when you think the single wasn't even a hit in the Netherlands, the country he represented.

The song was composed by Dick Bakker and the lyrics were written by Liselore Gerritsen, a Dutch singer and songwriter who died last year on 25 November 2020, aged 83. Bill van Dijk went on to become a successful performed in musicals.

My collection: 7" single no. 6415
Found: Ebay, received 15 July 2021
Cost: 6 euro
Tracks: 'Break away' / 'Blame it all on love'

Festival Eurovision 1967 - Los Stop

The Spanish band Los Stop consisted of Maria Del Carmen (Cristina) Arévalo Latorre (vocals), Juan Comellas (organ), José Maria Serra (guitar), Fernando Cubedo (bajo) and Andrés Gallego (drums).In 1967 they released no less than 10 singles, and even slightly more in 1968. They specialized in cover versions, and this EP of four songs from the 1967 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest is a good example of just how well executed their tracks were.

There were, of course, some liberties in their cover versions. Sandie Shaw's 'Puppet on a string' was covered in Spanish ('Marionetas en la cuerda'), just like 'Quel coeur vas-tu briser' (which became 'Que corazon sera'). The beautiful Spanish song 'Hablemos del amor', originally performed by Raphael, takes on a different guise when it is sung by the female lead singer of this band. The four tracks on this EP are worth a spin, and certainly aren't inferior to the original versions, which all became immortal in their own way.

My collection: 7" single no. 6414
Found: Discogs.com, received 10 July 2021
Cost: 5 euro
Tracks: 'Marionetas en la cuerda', 'Boum badaboum' / 'Hablemos del amor', 'Que corazon sera'