夢みるシャンソン人形 日本語盤 - France Gall

It ain't easy to decipher the title on this particular single, but that's because it is written - and sung! - in Japanese. If you use Google Translate on this one, you get 'Dreaming Chanson Doll Japanese Edition' as the result, but fortunately we can listen to the track and find out that this is the Japanese version of 'Poupée de cire, poupée de son', the Serge Gainsbourg-penned track that propelled France Gall to worldwide stardom. 

France Gall only recorded a French and Japanese version of the song, as far as I know, but quite why she recorded the song in Japanese remains unknown. We do know, however, that the song was covered numerous times and in no less than 20 different languages. Thank you Wikipedia!

My collection: 7" single no. 6446
Found: Discogs.com, received 9 September 2021
Cost: £7.99
Tracks: '夢みるシャンソン人形 日本語盤' (France Gall) / 'ドナ・ドナ・ドーナ 日本語盤' (Claude François)

Stop - Bang

The Greek band Bang was formed in 1987 consisting of members Thanos Kalliris, Vasilis Dertilis and Michalis Capoulas. The band's first release was 'Run for your love'. Capoulas left soon after and the band became a duo. In 1987, the duo competed in the Greek selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 1987. Their song, 'Stop', a pop/funk dance anthem was a success and the duo, along with Thanos' sister Katerina Kalliri, Mariana Efstratiou (who competed for Greece in Eurovision 1989) and Laura Burke doing the backing vocals, travelled to Brussels for the contest. 

The song started in Brussels with high hopes and good reviews, but scored only 64 points, reaching the 10th place. That however was a good result for a Greek entry at the time and the band was a massive hit back home. It was released on 7" and 12", but bizarrely the 12" single is available for a lot less than the 7" single. So I decided on ordering the 12" single for now - hopefully I will be able to get the 7" one day for a reasonable price (i.e. for less than 70 euros, which seems to be the average going rate for this one).

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: Discogs.com, received 6 September 2021
Cost: 6 euro
Tracks: 'Stop (English version)' / 'Stop (Greek version)'

Charlie Chaplin - Tania Tsanaklidou

In 1973 the Eurovision Song Contest dropped the rule that artists had to perform songs in (one of) the official language(s) of their country. When the rule was reinstated in 1977 various countries started being creative to work around this rule. And since there were no rule about singing about wellknown persons, the Greek song from 1978 was particularly inventive: they simply sang about Charlie Chaplin.

Chaplin had died the year before, and so it seemed a tribute to the wellknown actor and comedian. Tania Tsanaklidou, who performed the song, described his comic appearance (she was dressed in a similar style for her performance) and wishing that there were more of him. Of course, since she was singing in Greek, nobody made sense of the lyric - only the title. She finished in eighth place in a field of 20 competitors. Not bad!

My collection: 7" single no. 6445
Found: Discogs.com, received 6 September 2021
Cost: 5 euro
Tracks: 'Charlie Chaplin' / 'Charlie Chaplin (instrumental)'

Let's go crazy - Tajči

Tajči, a.k.a. Tatjana Matejaš, was born on 1 July 1970 in Zagreb, Croatia. She represented Yugoslavia in 1990 with the song 'Hajde da ludujemo'. This 12" single features three remixes of the song, of which two are in English, and called 'Let's go crazy'. Presenting herself as a Balkan version of Marilyn Monroe, she certainly made an impression on the European juries, who awarded her 81 points, which gave her a 7th place in the competition.

Since 1992 Tatjana lives in the USA, where she has since taken up citizenship and residence.She continued to release albums, although they are certainly not all in the upbeat style of this disc.

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: Discogs.com, received 6 September 2021
Cost: 6 euro
Tracks: 'Hajde Da Ludujemo (Party Extended)', 'Let's Go... (Jack Mix D.J. Got Crazy)' / 'Let's Go Crazy (Total Madness)', 'Moj Mali Je Opasan / Let's Twist Again'

Jamas, jamas - Guy Mardel

Guy Mardel was one of many Eurovision artists who recorded his song for the competition in different languages. His 1965 entry 'N'avoue jamais' appeared in Spanish as 'Jamas, jamas'. What's more, he recorded an entire EP in Spanish, as you can see here.

The Spanish version of 'N'avoue jamais' was translated by a certain Salina, who remains otherwise uncredited. The other three songs were translated by a certain Mapel, who also remains unknown to me.  

My collection: 7" single no. 6443
Found: Discogs.com, received 1 September 2021
Cost: 3 euro
Tracks: 'Jamas, jamas', 'Si lloviendo está' / 'La primera vez', 'Sera muy grande el mundo'

Wiedehopf im Mai - Sandie Shaw

I've no idea why Ernst Bader, who provided the German lyric of 'Puppet on a string', decided on 'Hoopoe in May' when he wrote this translation, but that is what 'Wiedehopf im Mai' means.

Sandie Shaw recorded the song in several different languages and I thought this was the last version that I still needed to get as a single. But there is still an Italian version to go...  You may find it on this blog soon.

My collection: 7" single no. 6442
Found: Discogs.com, received 1 September 2021
Cost: 5 euro
Tracks: 'Wiedehopf im Mai' / 'Was kann ich dafur'

Eins zwei drei - Catherine Ferry

I don't know exactly how unusual it is for a French artist to record a German version of their song, but I think it doesn't happen very often. Catherine Ferry does a good job with her German version of '1, 2, 3', the song with which she represented France during the Eurovision Song Contest. I think she pronounces everything just right - although German readers and listeners may think otherwise. I do think it is a pity she didn't bother to record a German version of the B-side, 'Petit Jean', as well.

There is a Spanish version of this song as well, but from what I've seen the sellers seem to want more for it than I am willing to pay. So I guess I'll have to be patient. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6441
Found: Discogs.com, received 1 September 2021
Cost: 5 euro
Tracks: 'Eins, zwei, drei' / 'Petit Jean'