La la la - Claire Lepage

Claire Lepage is a popular singer of the late Sixties. She was born in Lachute (Canada) on 9 November 1945.

This single by her presents two versions of the song 'La la la', the song that won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1968. This single does not have a picture sleeve, and unfortunately the record company also went missing. The good news is: there was no picture sleeve for this release, and this is actually the Canadian pressing.

My collection: 7" single no. 6541
Found: Marktplaats.nl, received 30 November 2021
Cost: €1
Tracks: 'La la la (He gives me love)' / 'La la la (Version Française)' 

Uno per tutte - Marino Marini e il suo quartetto

Here's another version of 'Uno per tutte', the song that was performed by Emilio Pericoli at the 1963 Eurovision Song Contest when he represented Italy. This version is performed by Marino Marini, an Italian musician who achieved international success in the 1950s and 1960s. 

 Marini's recordings in the late 1950s and early 1960s included covers of Domenico Modugno's 'Volare' and 'Ciao ciao bambina' and Rocco Granata's 'Marina'. He retired from performing in 1966 but continued to compose. He died in March 1997.

My collection: 7" single no. 6540
Found: Marktplaats.nl, received 30 November 2021
Cost: €2
Tracks: 'Uno per tutte' / 'Non costa niente'

Em Aranjuez come tue amor - Amalia Rodrigues

Amália da Piedade Rebordão Rodrigues GCSE, GCIH (23 July 1920 – 6 October 1999), better known as Amália Rodrigues  was a Portuguese fadista (fado singer) and actress. Known as the 'Rainha do Fado' ("Queen of Fado"), Rodrigues was instrumental in popularising fado worldwide and travelled internationally throughout her career. Amália remains the best-selling Portuguese artist in history.

This single presents two rather impressive songs: a track derived of the 'Concerto de Aranjuez' and a cover version of 'La, la, la', the song with which Massiel won the 1968 Eurovision Song Contest for Spain. I bought the single for the B-side, but if I'm honest, the A-side was actually better!

My collection: 7" single no. 6539
Found: Marktplaats.nl, received 30 November 2021
Cost: €1
Tracks: 'Em Aranjuez come tue amor' / 'La, la, la'

Speeldoos - Sandy Fort

Sandy Fort was born as Jopie Sandifort in Rotterdam in 1931. She was part of the duo Sandy & Max, who released a version of 'Moon river' in 1962. Sandy subsequently released a few singles as a solo artist, of which this 'Speeldoos' was the last one, in 1963.

'Speeldoos' was originally performed by Annie Palmen, who represented the Netherlands at the Eurovision Song Contest with this song. Sandy Fort's version was quickly released to profit from the national sentiments surrounding Eurovision, however these sentiments disappeared when the song got zero points from the international juries.

My collection: 7" single no. 6538
Found: Marktplaats.nl, received 30 November 2021
Cost: €1
Tracks: 'Speeldoos' / 'Stel je toch 'es voor'

Dio come ti amo - José Guardiola

José Guardiola was born on 22 October 1930 in Barcelona. He performed and recorded mostly Spanish versions of foreign songs and reached his maximum fame in Spain and Latin America in the early 1960s with versions of songs like 'Sixteen tons', 'Mack the knife' and 'Ya Mustafa'. He also represented Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest 1963. 

Three years later he released this single, featuring a cover version of Domenico Modugno's 'Dio come ti amo'. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6536
Found: Marktplaats.nl, received 30 November 2021
Cost: €1
Tracks: 'Dio come ti amo' / 'La vida es asi'

La, la, la -Gitte Hænning

Gitte Hænning is no stranger to the Eurovision Song Contest: she represented Germany in 1973 with the song 'Junger Tag'. She also attempted to represent her own country Denmark in 1962 with 'Jeg snakker med mig selv', but was disqualified because the composer, Sejr Volmer-Sørensen, had whistled the song in the canteen of the Danish Broadcasting Corporation.

Inbetween, she released this single. It features not one, but two cover versions: both from the 1968 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. The A-side features the winning song, 'La, la, la', while she also covers Cliff Richard's song 'Congratulations', which controversially ended up in second place. The Danish lyrics of 'Ønsk mig tillykke' were provided by Thøger Olesen.

My collection: 7" single no. 6535
Found: Marktplaats.nl, received 30 November 2021
Cost: €1
Tracks: 'La, la, la' / 'Ønsk mig tillykke'

Waarom toch, waarom - Dick Rienstra

Dick Rienstra (Assen, 1941 – 2021) was a Dutch singer and actor. He began his musical career in a local group, The Double S Combo, where he sang and played guitar, clarinet, and saxophone. In 1960 he debuted on the radio, and in 1962 on the TV, in a talent show. He moved to Amsterdam in 1963 and got a job in a musical comedy production as a singer and an actor in skits and revues. He was a contender in the preliminaries for the Eurovision Song Contest in 1977, and after that performed in the theater and in minor roles on television. 

This single features his cover version of Udo Jürgens' 1964 Eurovision entry 'Warum nur, warum' with Dutch lyrics.

My collection: 7" single no. 6534
Found: Marktplaats.nl, received 30 November 2021
Cost: €1
Tracks: 'Waarom toch, waarom' / 'Adios my darling'