Eurovisão 80 - Various artists

If you were living in Portugal in 1980 and you wanted to have a generous collection of Eurovision Song Contest songs from that year, your cheapest option would be this LP. 'Eurovisão 80' presented twelve of the nineteen entries, starting with the winning song 'What's Another Year'. 

However, only a very small logo in the bottom right corner would tell you that these are cover versions. The artists who performed these songs were all uncredited, so if any of them dreamed of seeing their names printed on the sleeve, that dream would never come true. The versions of these songs are actually quite decent, and so it is still a nice album to have if you're a Eurovision fan.

My collection: LP [unnumbered]
Found: Discogs.com, received 4 February 2023
Tracks: 'What's another year', 'Just nu', 'Non so che darei', 'Cinema', 'Quedate esta noche', 'Love enough for two' / 'Amsterdam', 'Theater', 'Euro-vision', 'Taenker altid paa dig', 'Flute-man', 'Samiid aednan'

Swinging on a star - Spooky & Sue

This single is a throwback to my earliest childhood, when I first started getting interested in pop music in the wake of my sister's singles collection. She would play records for me and I would enjoy most of them. This is how I discovered a lot of music in the Seventies, along with the weekly TV programme Toppop of course. 

The Dutch duo Spooky & Sue - consisting of the Aruban male singer Iwan Groeneveld and British female singer Sue Chaloner - enjoyed their biggest hit in 1974 with the song 'Swinging on a star'; it peaked at number 2 and stayed up there for a full month. The duo continued until 1977, after which they both pursued solo careers.

My collection: 7" single no. 6859
Found: Plato, Leiden, 4 February 2023
Tracks: 'Swinging on a star' / 'Ain't it good'

Wake up - Ian Dury & the Blockheads

A visit to a real record shop is always a pleasure, especially when they've got a good selection of 7" singles to look around in. I was quite surprised to see this single, because I knew the title but I suddenly realized that I didn't own it yet. 

'Wake up (and make love with me)' starts with the immortal line "I come awake / with the gift for womankind", which, as most men will testify, is an accurate description of those early moments of the day. Amazingly, the single wasn't a hit in the UK, but it did make number 25 in the Dutch Top 40. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6858
Found: Plato, Leiden, 4 February 2023
Tracks: 'Wake up' / 'Blockheads'

Madrugada - Duarte Mendes

José Henrique Duarte Mendes (born 7 August 1947) is a Portuguese former captain and singer. He participated in Festival da Canção in 1970, 1971, 1972, and 1973 but he did not win until 1975 when he performed 'Madrugada', written by José Luís Tinoco, about the Colonial War and 1974's Carnation Revolution. He finished in 16th place with 16 points (a surprising 12 points from Turkey) in a field of 19 performers. 

I ordered the single from a Portuguese seller, but he informed me that the wrong disc was inside the sleeve. As a consolation he would send me the sleeve for free. All I had to do next was buy the disc - and fortunately a cheap one without the sleeve was on offer by another seller. And so the set has become complete after all!

My collection: 7" single no. 6857
Found: Discogs.com, received 31 January (sleeve) & 4 February 2023
Tracks: 'Madrugada'  / 'Entre Espanha e o mar'

The wages of love - Muriel Day

For a long time this single was on my wish list. It's the last single that I needed to complete the Eurovision Song Contest 1969 - the legendary edition with four winners. The Irish entry by Muriel Day was hard to find, because there aren't many copies of the original Irish pressing for sale - and the few that are available are offered for ridiculous prices.

Enter Portugal. I bought a few singles from a Portuguese seller and he had a copy of the Portuguese pressing on offer. As you can see, it comes with an attractive - if confusingly coloured - picture sleeve. 'The wages of love' was one of the less successful entries of 1969, ending up in tenth place in a field of sixteen competitors.

My collection: 7" single no. 6854
Found: Discogs.com, received 31 January 2023
Tracks: 'The wages of love' / 'Thinking of you'

Portugal no coração - Gemini

Although the Portuguese entry for the Eurovision Song Contest in 1977 was performed by Os Amigos, the song was performed twice during the Portuguese national final - seven songs were performed by 14 performers. 

The other performers of 'Portugal no coração' were Gemini. They ended up in sixth place, and so didn't get the ticket to represent their country. They would be more lucky the next year, when they won the national final with the song 'Dai li dou'. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6853
Found: Discogs.com, received 31 January 2023
Tracks: 'Portugal no coração' / 'Cantiga de namorar'

La, la, la [Italian version] - Joan Manuel Serrat

Joan Manuel Serrat was the original performer of 'La, la, la', before he was replaced by Massiel after he announced that he would only perform his song in Catalan - something that was unacceptable in Spain at the time. 

His refusal to perform the song in any other language at the Eurovision Song Contest is all the more amazing when you realize that he actually recorded the song in several other languages. And this is one of them: the Italian version of 'La, la, la'. And yes, it does matter, because despite the simple title of the song it does actually contain a few wordy verses.

My collection: 7" single no. 6852
Found: Discogs.com, received 31 January 2023
Tracks: 'La, la, la [Italian version]' / 'Poema d'amore'