Een beetje - John de Mol

The Dutch national final for the Eurovision Song Contest 1959 took place on 17 February of that year in Hilversum. It was a complicated affiar: seven different songs were performed by two artists each. Previous winner Corry Brokken was one of the performing artists, as well as Greetje Kauffeld, who would go on to represent the Netherlands in 1961. 

The winning song was, of course, ''n Beetje', in the version of Teddy Scholten. She would also go on to win the Eurovision Song Contest in Cannes on 11 March. However, 'Een beetje' was also performed by John de Mol, who as a singer released several singles between 1958 and 1961. This single was a recording of his version of the song.

After his music career, De Mol founded the Conamus Foundation in 1962 to represent the interests of other Dutch artists. In 1964 he started working as a sales representative for music publisher Strengholt. In 1987 he founded the Academy for Light Music in his position as director of Conamus. In the early 1970s, De Mol was director of the offshore radio station Radio North Sea International (RNI). He was also the father of John and Linda de Mol, who would plague Dutch TV until this day.

My collection: 7" single no. 6531
Found: Marktplaats.nl, received 30 November 2021
Cost: €1
Tracks: 'Een beetje' / 'Luna napoletana'

Some people - Paul Young

'Some people' was the second single taken from Paul Young's third solo album 'Between two fires'. The album and this single had a sound that was a bit more America-oriented. None of the singles taken from this album would reach the UK Top 40; 'Some people' peaked at number 56.

In a review for Rolling Stone magazine, Laura Fissinger wrote about the album: "Through the first few listens, the album seems muted and reticent, a bashful mishmash of pop riffs and references. But after those initial plays, 'Between Two Fires' takes on remarkable colours, as if its ten tracks were strips of film coming to life in a photographer's darkroom. The record finally reveals itself to be a detailed portrait of the problems human beings have with sharing things – whether it's a whole planet or just a queen-size bed." Quite.

My collection: 7" single no. 6528
Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, 25 November 2021
Cost: €2
Tracks: 'Some people' / 'A matter of fact'

San Remo festival - Robertino

Robertino Loreti was born in Rome on 22 October 1947. As a child he sang in restaurants and in the early Sixties he was discovered by Danish TV producer Volmer Sørensen. Because of this the artist had the opportunity to become one of Italy's best known boy singers.In 1963 he released this EP, performing several songs from the San Remo festival from that year.

The most interesting track on this EP for me is his cover version of 'Uno per tutte'. The song was written by Tony Renis, Mogol and Alberto Testa. It was first performed by Renis and Emilio Pericoli during the Sanremo Music Festival in February 1963, where they performed two different versions of the song, placing first in the competition. The song was then chosen to represent Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest 1963, where it was performed by Pericoli. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6522
Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, 25 November 2021
Cost: €2
Tracks: 'Uno per tutte', 'Giovane giovane' / 'Non costa niente', 'Occhi neri e cielo blu'

Every time you go away - Paul Young

'Every time you go away' is probably my least favourite Paul Young song. Not because it's particularly bad, but because I have heard it so many times back in the day - and it doesn't really excite me. On the other hand, I am glad that I finally bought this single, because I discovered a song I've  never heard before: 'This means anything' doesn't appear on the accompanying album 'The secret of association', but it is a great little track. 

Meanwhile, 'Every time you go away' was one of Paul's most successful singles, peaking at number 4 in the UK singles chart and even reaching the top spot in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. Considering it was his only top 10 hit over there (with the exception of 'Oh Girl', which reached number 8), that is a mean feat.

My collection: 7" single no. 6527
Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, 25 November 2021
Cost: €1
Tracks: 'Every time you go away' / 'This means anything'

(We don't need this) Fascist groove thang (Rapino Brothers remixes) - Heaven 17

I tend to think that the Nineties were the turning point for pop music. All the creativity of the Eighties seemed to have evaporated and made way for soulless dance music. Oddly enough, a lot of those Eighties acts disappeared or suffered from the tests of time. Record companies often felt it was a good idea to release remix versions of those songs that were popular a decade earlier.

'(We don't need this) Fascist Groove Thang' was a big hit for Heaven 17 in the UK in 1981. In 1993, the track was remixed by the Rapino Brothers, but unfortunately all the freshness and originality of the original version was not found in this new version. Still, it scraped to number 40 in the UK singles chart. Ironically, this was five places higher than the original's peak position. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6526
Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, 25 November 2021
Cost: €1
Tracks: '(We don't need this) Fascist groove thang (Rapino edit)' / '(We don't need this) Fascist groove thang (Democratic edit)'

Vivre, vivre heisst leben - Carole Vinci

Carole Vinci initially wanted to be a sports teacher. At the end of 1977 she was approached to participate in the Swiss preselection for the Eurovision Song Contest. With the song 'Vivre' she won the final, which allowed her to represent Switzerland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1978, which was held in Paris. After her participation, she would soon disappear into anonymity again.

However, she also recorded her Eurovision song in German, and that version appears on this sought after single. You'd have a hard time finding a copy online for less than €10, and so finding this copy for a much more attractive price made my heart jump.

My collection: 7" single no. 6520
Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, 25 November 2021
Cost: €2
Tracks: 'Vivre, vivre heisst leben' / 'Leiden und trotzdem lachen' 

You'll always be a friend - Hot Chocolate

Hot Chocolate's career really took off with the song 'Emma' in 1974 - their first international hit. But before that, the band already had a string of hits in the UK. However, they were all non-album singles and nowadays pretty hard to find.

'You'll always be a friend' was released in 1972 and reached number 23 in the UK singles chart. The single was released in a RAK Records company sleeve, like all those early singles. Although it has to be noted that in some other territories - Italy and Germany - the record company gave the single an illustrated sleeve.

My collection: 7" single no. 6524
Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, 25 November 2021
Cost: €1
Tracks: 'You'll always be a friend' / 'Go go girl'