Downtown - One 2 Many

The group One 2 Many only released one album, but it was a great pop album and one of those albums that I still play regularly. Their biggest hit was 'Downtown', released in 1988. I own two singles of the track and a CD-single, but somehow it got past me that there was also a 12" single with exclusive remixes on it. 

And so, a quarter of a century later, I acquired it from a Dutch seller on Discogs - an American promotional 12" single with two mixes on it. Actually, the 7" edit on this one also sounded different to me, because at 2'17 lead singer Camilla Griehsel sings 'This is no time in a village for a while', a line I never heard on the three discs I mentioned before. So, three 'new' tracks by One 2 Many - that's a good catch.

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: Discogs.com, received 9 November 2022
Tracks: 'Downtown (Way Downtown mix)' / 'Downtown (7" edit)', 'Downtown (2 Down Dub)'

Pazzo amore / Nel blu dipinto di blu (Volare) - Domenico Modugno

The earliest Eurovision song to obtain legendary status is Domenico Modugno's 'Volare', or, more correctly, 'Nel blu dipinto di blu'. I'm not sure that everybody knows that Domenico actually re-recorded this song a few times, and this single, released in 1984, is one of those versions.

It was recorded with the orchestra of maestro Nello Ciangherotti for the TV series La luna nel pozzo - although I'm not sure if that claim holds true for both tracks on this single. I can say for sure that 'Pazzo amore' was featured on that TV show. The modernized and slightly 'discofied' version of 'Nel blu dipinto di blu' is what is the real attraction on this disc for me, however. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6784
Found: Discogs.com, received 8 October 2022
Tracks: 'Pazzo amore' / 'Nel blu dipinto di blu (Volare)'

Eres tu - Mocedades

The Spanish group Mocedades represented Spain at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1973 with the song 'Eres Tu'. Without winning, the song still gained a legendary status and became a big hit all over the world.

Proof of this is found in this Mexican copy of the song. It is actually an EP, featuring four tracks by the band. I got my hands on it when I ordered the 12" single of 'Parlez-vous Français', which was released in Mexico only. But this is a very nice item too, and probably quite rare in this part of the world.

My collection: 7" single no. 6777
Found: Discogs.com, received 14 September 2022
Tracks: 'Eres tu', 'Rin ron' / 'Adios amor', 'Ayer (fue un dia feliz)'

De diepte - S10

It was reported recently that the Netherlands will be sending two unknown singers to next year's Eurovision Song Contest. Some people think that we should send "big names"; that is, artists that are wellknown in the Netherlands. The past has proven that this is a recipe for disaster. Just remember Willeke Alberti, The Toppers and the 3JS for example. 

In recent years we've done pretty well with unknown artists. Duncan Laurence won a few years ago and this year's entry met critical acclaim. 'De diepte' ('The depth') reached 11th place in the contest and was released on 7" vinyl just recently. There were actually two versions: one on black vinyl and one on pink vinyl. The sleeve remained the same, and the tracks as well. One point of criticism: the 'acoustic live session' on the B-side sounds like a home tape. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6786 & 6787
Found: Top Notch website, received 12 October 2022
Tracks: 'De diepte' / 'De diepte (acoustic live session)'

Amiga Quartett - Abba

A few East German singles from Abba, released by the state-run record company Amiga have already popped up on this blog: Dancing Queen/Fernando, Mamma Mia and The winner takes it all. The collection is not complete yet, but I recently found perhaps the most interesting of them all: an EP that featured four of the Swedish band's hits. 

This quartet mops up singles from their last two albums, plus the track 'Under attack' that was released as the last original Abba single back in 1982. The cover actually features a photograph of the band, which didn't happen often on these Amiga releases. As far as I know, there's only two more singles to go. I'm sure they will pop up on here sometime.

My collection: 7" single no. 6778
Found: Discogs.com, 1 October 2022
Tracks: 'Super trouper', 'Head over heels' / 'One of us', 'Under attack'

All souls night - Loreena McKennitt

When I posted this single recently, I noticed that there was no previous entry about Loreena McKennitt on this blog. Which is strange, because I definitely own another single by her. I bought it on 30 December 1994 in a period of frantic singles buying because I'd just recently started - and lost - my first proper job. I bought this single in Utrecht in a shop called Grammophoonwinkel, and I recently found out that the shop had closed down back in May, after almost fifty years. I would have liked to visit the shop one last time, but I found out too late. 

Anyway, 'All souls night' is one of the singles I bought on that cold and dark December afternoon, just before a birthday party in the same city. I think this single must have been on this blog in the early days, but back then Blogger used to honour "copyright claims" from unknown parties who apparently protested against me writing about "their" records. Fortunately this doesn't happen anymore. So here it is, just a few days too late because the traditional Irish All Souls' Night happened a few days ago. 

My collection: 7" single no. 2230
Found: Grammophoonwinkel, Utrecht, 30 December 1994
Tracks: 'All souls night (edit)' / 'Bonny Portmore'

Liebe, so heisst meine Welt - Véronique Muller

The German language has a tendency to sound a bit aggressive, especially when during my childhood my peers did impressions of a certain leader. A song like 'Liebe, so heisst meine Welt' shows a more tender side of the language: Véronique Muller shows that German can sound tender and soft as well.

'Liebe, so heisst meine Welt' is the German version of 'C'est la chanson de mon amour', with which she represented Switzerland at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1972. I bought that single almost a year ago, and this one is the only other version of that song. Even the B-side was translated into German: 'Quand le printemps revient' became 'Der Frühling kommt niemals allein'. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6791
Found: Discogs.com, received 28 October 2022
Tracks: 'Liebe, so heisst meine Welt' / 'Der Frühling kommt niemals allein'