Sanremo 1965 - Los Mustang

Back in the Sixties, the Sanremo festival was a popular music festival and spawned many cover versions. This single from the Spanish group Los Mustang demonstrates just how international the appeal of the festival was. 

This EP presents four songs from the Sanremo Festival 1965, including Italy's Eurovision entry 'Se piangi, se ridi' - and this obviously explains my interest in this disc. All four songs are translated into Spanish to appeal to the Spanish record-buying public. My copy is a bit tatty but it's a great item nonetheless.

My collection: 7" single no. 6967
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 22 April 2023
Tracks: 'Yo que no vivo sin ti', 'Antes o despues' / 'Amigos mios', 'Si lloras, si ries'

Tracks of my tears - Colin Blunstone

This single is a bit of an odd beast. Colin Blunstone has one of the best voices in the business and 'Tracks of my tears' is a classic song that probably everyone loves. Add in some early Eighties synth bleeps... and then you get this single. 

Somehow it doesn't quite work as it should. That's not to say that I don't like this single, but much to my own surprise, I think the B-side is better. Trying out singles from time to time means coming up with surprises like this.

My collection: 7" single no. 6971
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 22 April 2023
Tracks: 'Tracks of my tears' / 'The last goodbye'

Si tu eres mi hombre y yo tu mujer - Jennifer Rush

It's the song you know in a version that you don't. Jennifer Rush had a big hit in 1985 with 'The power of love', but she also recorded the song in Spanish. The title for this version isn't as short: 'Si tu eres mi hombre y yo tu mujer' ('If you are my man and i am your woman').

I found this single - not surprisingly - at a stand of a Spanish seller, and I was interested enough to pick up this single. The B-side features the original English version of the song.

My collection: 7" single no. 6969
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 22 April 2023
Tracks: 'Si tu eres mi hombre y yo tu mujer' / 'The power of love'

Eenmaal kom je weer - Claude Lombard

It's only 16 months since I bought Claude Lombard's 'Quand tu reviendras', and even then I was aware that there was also a Flemish version of the song. (I am always tempted to say 'Dutch', but since Claude comes from Belgium the correct word is actually 'Flemish'.) 

'Eenmaal kom je weer' ('One day you'll return') is a pretty faithful translation of 'Quand tu reviendras', whereas ''t Geluk ligt verborgen' ('Happiness lies hidden') takes a bit more liberty from the original title 'Le temps ça s'invente'. Claude also recorded her song in German ('Wenn du wieder kommst') and Spanish ('Se que volveras'), but whether I can find those singles for a reasonable price remains to be seen...

My collection: 7" single no. 6962
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 22 April 2023
Tracks: 'Eenmaal kom je weer' / ''t Geluk ligt verborgen'

Triad dimensions - Rheingold

Three decades went by since I bought 'Dreiklangs dimensionen' by Rheingold. The band was confident enough to also record an English version of their song. And 'Triad dimensions' came to be. 

My copy is an Italian promotional single, recognizable thanks to the little holes in one corner of the sleeve saying 'Campione Gratuito'. I think I still prefer the German version, but this is a nice little version as well.

My collection: 7" single no. 6961
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 22 April 2023
Tracks: 'Triad dimensions' / 'River'

Viviremos todo de nuevo - Al Bano & Romina Power

Having bought a Spanish single of 'We'll live it all again' before, I was extra cautious before buying this one. Like the other one, it features the Spanish title 'Viviremos todo de nuevo' but this time it adds the notice 'cantan en español', which made me more certain that this is actually the Spanish version of the duo's Eurovision entry from 1976.

Still, like the original version this song is only partly in Spanish: some parts are still in English. For a while during the 1970's it was allowed to sing in different languages than the country's own, just like in more recent times. Despite this, the Italian duo didn't manage to get higher than 7th place.

My collection: 7" single no. 6960
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 22 April 2023
Tracks: 'Viviremos todo de nuevo' / 'Na, na, na'

Waterloo (German version) - Abba

It's always great to find an Abba single I don't have yet, and this is a special one: the German version of 'Waterloo'. Yes, the Swedes actually recorded their winning Eurovision song in German and released it in Germany. The single isn't especially rare, but it is still hard to find. I finally got myself a copy at the stand of a Eurovision singles seller, and it's a great find.

Obviously I've already got the English and Swedish versions, as well as a beautiful picture disc (and cover versions by Dr. and the Medics, the Gerd Michaelis Chor, Lecia & Lucienne and a certain Swedish Group!) but this single was one I'd been searching for some time already. Now I only want the French version, but I'd rather not pay 100 euros for it...

My collection: 7" single no. 6959
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 22 April 2023
Tracks: 'Waterloo (Deutsche originalaufnahme)' / 'Watch out'