Julie - Tommy Solo

The song 'Julie' by Daniel was very popular after the performance at the 1983 Eurovision Song Contest. The song became a hit all over Europe; in the Netherlands the single reached number 3. Perhaps this was what prompted Dutch singer Tommy Solo to record a cover version of the song, with new lyrics in Dutch. 

Tommy Solo's real name is Jur Eckhardt. He was born in Groningen ìn 1949. 'Julie' was the only single he released as Tommy Solo; further releases happened under other pseudonyms, like Tutti Frutti and Tommy Toeter. None of his releases were ever a hit. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6586
Found: Discogs.com, received 5 January 2022
Cost: €2
Tracks: 'Julie' / 'Ik ben een rocker'

Catherine (en español) - Romuald

Previous entries about Romuald already showed you he was a regular at the Eurovision Song Contest, appearing in 1964 with 'Où sont-elles passées' and in 1974 with 'Celui qui reste et celui qui s'en va'. As I write this, the only one that's missing is 'Catherine' from 1969, but it is currently on its way to me and I should receive it quite soon.

Meanwhile, I recently bought the Spanish version of 'Catherine', which was released in 1969 as well. Besides the French and this Spanish version, Romuald also recorded 'Caterina', an Italian version of this song, and 'Catherine, Catherine', a German version. Unfortunately those singles are prohibitively expensive, so they won't appear on this blog anytime soon.

My collection: 7" single no. 6585
Found: Discogs.com, received 4 January 2022
Cost: €4
Tracks: 'Catherine (en español)' / 'Cada vez (en español)'

Als het weer lente is - Lize Marke

Lize Marke was born as Liliane Couck in Wemmel (Belgium) on 1 December 1936. She started singing professionally in 1962, and first participated in the Belgian Eurovision selection in 1963, when she performed two songs, 'Luister naar de wind' and 'Saksisch porselein', but she didn't win. Two years later, she sung all six songs in the national selection, and 'Als het weer lente is' ('When it's spring again') was chosen by jury vote as the Belgian representative in the tenth Eurovision Song Contest, held on 20 March 1965 in Naples, Italy.

The song failed to score, however, and finished in joint last place with Finland, Germany and Spain in a field of 18 competitors. It was Belgium's second "nul pointer", following Fud Leclerc's zero in 1962. In 1965, Marke fronted her own television show on Belgian channel BRT. After this, her career went quieter, although she continued to release records and perform live until the mid-Seventies.

My collection: 7" single no. 6584
Found: Discogs.com, received 4 January 2022
Cost: €6
Tracks: 'Als het weer lente is' / 'Jij alleen'

Honeycomb - Marty Wilde

This blog has never featured a 78rpm disc before. But I've had a few of these for some years now, and I think it's only right to include the one that has two tracks on it that I don't actually have on 7" vinyl. This is 'Honeycomb', released by Marty Wilde in 1957. It was his debut release, and a version of an American number 1 hit by Jimmie Rodgers. The B-side, 'Wild cat', was written by Lionel Bart and Marty himself.

'Honeycomb' failed to chart, just like the two subsequent singles, 'Love bug crawl' and 'Oh-oh, I'm falling in love again'. It wasn't until his fourth single, 'Endless sleep', that Marty's career would take off - he would be in the UK singles charts for five consecutive years.

My collection: 78rpm disc [unnumbered]
Found: Ebay
Cost: €10
Tracks: 'Honeycomb' / 'Wild cat'

Fiumi di parole - Jalisse

As far as I know, this is the only 7" vinyl release of Jalisse's 'Fiumi di parole': an Italian promotional single featuring a track by Paola & Chiara on the other side. These Italian singles featuring two tracks from two different artists have been a 'thing' since the Seventies, but it was still a bit of a surprise to find this particular one. 'Fiumi di parole' was Italy's last Eurovision entry in the last century. The country actually disappeared from the contest for 14 years: they returned in 2011 after their protracted absence. 

Jalisse is a duo consisting of spouses Alessandra Drusian (born 18 May 1969) and Fabio Ricci (born 5 September 1965). After achieving fourth place in Eurovision, they continued to make music until now. They also released a new version of 'Fiumi di parole' in 2005 - alas, that version was only released on a CD-single and not on vinyl.

My collection: 6581
Found: Discogs.com, received 30 December 2021
Cost: €8
Tracks: 'Fiumi di parole' (Jalisse) / 'Amici come prima' (Paola & Chiara)

Christmas lights - Coldplay

'Christmas Lights' was originally released on 1 December 2020 as a digital download single. According to lead singer Chris Martin, it was written in December 2008. This blue vinyl 7" single was released ten years later to mark the song's tenth anniversary. The band's version of 'Have yourself a merry little Christmas' was recorded during a live session for BBC Radio 1. Another physical release happened this year: single was re-released on black recycled vinyl.  

The cover of the single was designed by Yu Matsuoka Pol, a Japanese artist who was born in 1978 and lives and works in Brussels (Belgium).

My collection: 7" single no. 6487
Found: Amazon, received 21 October 2021
Cost: €8
Tracks: 'Christmas lights' / 'Have yourself a merry little Christmas'

Jinge bells - Dag Kolsrud

Fresh from creating an album with One 2 Many (I would presume), Dag Kolsrud released this Christmas single entitled 'Jingle Bells'. It was his first solo release, with many more to follow during the Nineties - including two Christmas themed albums called 'December' (1990) and 'December II' (1991).  

However, this single, released near the end of 1988 was a one-off. It appeared in the UK and Germany only and failed to reach the charts. After his solo work he joined the band 'Guys in disguise' in 1994. This band only released one album. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6240
Found: Discogs.com, received 22 January 2020
Cost: €2
Tracks: 'Jingle bells' / 'Stina (instrumental)'