A force de prier - Nana Mouskouri

For the longest time I have been searching for a good and cheap copy of 'A force de prier'. I bought the English version, 'The one that got away' for almost nothing 2½ years ago, but finding the original version has been much more difficult. I am glad to say that I finally succeeded, for only slightly more than I wanted to pay for this.

'A force de prier' was Nana Mouskouri's Eurovision entry for Luxembourg back in 1963. According to her: "It was a beautiful song, but when I listened to the other participants, I understood that I would not win". It must have been a disappointment to land on 8th place. It has to be said that the winning song, 'Dansevise' was a true classic, but this song should at least have been in the top 5.

My collection: 7" single no. 6455
Found: Discogs.com, received 29 September 2021
Cost: €6
Tracks: 'A force de prier', 'Ensemble' / 'Laissez-moi pleurer', 'Les yeux pour pleurer'

Ballare stretti - Sergio Dalma

Sergio Dalma represented Spain with 'Bailar pegados' in 1991. By that time, recording songs in other languages had become less fashionable (it was pretty common especially in the Sixties and Seventies), but he decided to record his song in Italian as well. This version was entitled 'Ballare stretti'. 

There are a few releases of this song. The commercially-released version fetches some amazing amounts these days, but this Italian promo, amazingly, was quite cheap. There's also the added bonus of a track by a certain Federico Vassallo on the other side of this single, and it is a nice contrast to the rather downbeat ballad by Sergio.

My collection: 7" single no. 6454
Found: Discogs.com, received 28 September 2021
Cost: €5.50
Tracks: 'Siamo qua' (Federico Vassallo) / 'Ballare stretti' (Sergio Dalma)

Ho sognato te / La danza delle note - Sandie Shaw

When I wrote an entry on 'Wiedehopf im Mai' last month, I already promised that the Italian version of 'Puppet on a string' would follow soon. And indeed it does: I received this single just a few days ago. Incredibly, that Italian version entitled 'La danza delle note' appeared on the flipside of 'Ho sognato te', which is the Italian version of 'Had a dream last night', which was the B-side of 'Puppet on a string' in most territories.

It has to be said that the sleeve of this single is probably the most beautiful one of all the international versions of 'Puppet on a string'. I'm satisfied that I now have all the versions of that song. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6453
Found: Discogs.com, received 28 September 2021
Cost: €2.20
Tracks: 'Ho sognato te' / 'La danza delle note'

A la folie ou pas du tout - Christian Lorant

Serge & Christine Ghisoland performed 'A la folie ou pas du tout' at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1972. Apparently there was some interest in this song in Belgium, because it was actually covered by Christian Lorant almost at the same time.

This Christian Lorant remains a mysterious figure, since he doesn't appear on the sleeve and he only released this one single. Needless to say, this single wasn't a hit and it has become a bit of a curiosity. There are actually more cover versions of the song; these may appear in this blog in the future yet. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6452
Found: Discogs.com, received 23 September 2021
Cost: 4 euro
Tracks: 'A la folie ou pas du tout' / 'Madame'

Un peu de poivre, un peu de sel - Tonia

Arlette Antoine Dominicus was born in Anderlecht on 25 July 1947. She released her first single as Tonia in 1963, and continued to release singles throughout the decade. A lot of her releases were Dutch and French covers of popular German songs.

In 1966 she was chosen to represent Belgium at the Eurovision Song Contest. Her song, 'Un peu de poivre, un peu de sel' ('A little pepper, a little salt') deals with the singer's quest to impress the object of her affections, whom she sees every day but can't make look at her twice. In desperation, she enlists the help of "the local sorceress", who gives her a recipe to create a love potion. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the potion does its job. Tonia also recorded the song in Dutch, then under the title 'Een beetje suiker' ('A little sugar'). The song finished in fourth place in a field of 18 competitors.

My collection: 7" single no. 6451
Found: Discogs.com, received 23 September 2021
Cost: 5 euro
Tracks: 'Un peu de poivre, un peu de sel' / 'Tu pourrais m'emmener danser'

Waarom - Jacques Raymond

Jacques Raymond was born as Jozef Remon in Temse (Belgium) on 13 October 1938. He represented Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 1963 with the song 'Waarom?' ('Why?'). The song poses rhetorical questions, with Raymond wondering why the question 'I love you – do you love me too?' is so powerful in the human experience. The song was not particularly successful, as it finished in 10th place in a field of 16 competitors.

I was lucky to find a copy on the Dutch website Marktplaats, because everywhere else this single commands rather high prices. I didn't actually know the song but I have to say it is a charming piece.

My collection: 7" single no. 6450
Found: Marktplaats.nl, received 20 September 2021
Cost: 3 euro
Tracks: 'Waarom' / 'Eens'

Catherine - Daniele Vidal

Daniele Vidal was born on 27 June 1952. She was born in Morocco when it was a French colony. She debuted in 1969 at age seventeen with the record 'Aime ceux qui t'aiment', a French-language cover of Edita Piekha's Russian song 'Nash sosed' with different lyrics. 

An EP of this song featured a cover version of the song 'Catherine', which was performed at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1969 by Romuald, who represented Luxembourg. That song was subsequently also released as a single in Japan. Although I am still looking for the original version by Romuald, I thought it would be nice to own this cover version. 

Daniele moved to Japan in the early 1970s and lived there for several years, while also releasing many singles over there. In 1980 Vidal married musician Shibata (Japanese name: 柴田功) of the Japanese group sounds band Chaco & Hell's Angel. They had one son and later divorced. Vidal now lives in France.

My collection: 7" single no. 6449
Found: Discogs.com, received 9 September 2021
Cost: £2.99
Tracks: 'Catherine' / 'Je suis comme toutes les filles'