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'

Siempre hay algun milagro - Katja Ebstein

Katja Ebstein represented Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1970 with 'Wunder gibt es immer wieder'. She recorded the song in various languages, and this Spanish version was one of them. Even the B-side was recorded in Spanish, too. 

Other versions in Italian, Japanese, French and English also exist - but those singles are very rare and very hard to come by. So if you're reading this, and you have the inclination to do me a favour, send me one of them and I'll feature it on this blog. Deal? Miracles do happen, Katja said it herself.

My collection: 7" single no. 6413
Found: Discogs.com, received 10 July 2021
Cost: 4 euro
Tracks: 'Siempre hay algun milagro' / 'Yo le quiero'.

E5 - Emiliana Torrini

Try as you might, it's not exactly easy to like these remix 7" singles, credited to Emiliana Torrini. It's as if remixers got the thought to cut up the vocals and put weird sounds underneath it. The practice leads to experimental, but also annoying tracks. It's a bit of a nightmare for a collector, to be honest.

The tracks on this single, number 5 in the series, were created by Lucky Kitchen and Team Doyobi. Lucky Kitchen apparently consisted of Aeron Bergman, Alejandra Salinas and Daniel Raffel, but it looks like they quit after just one album (and rightly so). The British electronic music duo Team Doyobi, comprised of Christopher Gladwin (born 1976) and Alexander Peverett (born 1976), stuck it out a little longer, releasing three albums between 2001 and 2006. They never managed to produce anything coherent, though, either.

My collection: 7" single no. 6404
Found: Discogs.com, received 16 June 2021
Cost: 5 euro
Tracks: 'Unemployed in summertime (Lucky Kitchen remix)' / 'Tuna fix (Team Doyobi remix)'