Again - Janet Jackson

A lot of years have passed by since I originally bought the single 'Again' by Janet Jackson. Back in 1994 I thought it was a brilliant heartfelt ballad, and I loved the fact that it was released as a single. (I already owned the album at that point.) 

Flash forward almost three decades and things have changed a bit. I don't listen to Janet as much as I did, the sexually-charged albums that followed after 1993 were a bit weird (although some tracks on there were still very catchy) and listening to this song again it sounds a bit, I don't know, too polished, too calculated. But I can only say this having listened to this single which I recently bought online.

Why did I buy it in the first place? Well, I am a sucker for coloured vinyl, of course!

My collection: 7" single no. 7010
Found: Bennie's Fifties, received 18 August 2023
Tracks: 'Again' / 'Again (piano, vocal)

Be kind to my mistakes - Kate Bush

I am very thankful that I am not a bona fide Kate Bush collector. I mean, I do have all her albums and singles, but I don't need all the various pressings from countries all over the world. There are many variations, especially of those early albums, that would easily cost many thousands of euros to get them all these days. 

That said, there are a few items that are on my wish list. A perfect copy of the UK single of 'Wuthering Heights' is one, and this German promotional single is another. Fortunately, I finally got hold of a copy recently. It features two tracks from the soundtrack of the movie 'Castaway'. Kate Bush's song, 'Be kind to my mistakes', also appears on the B-side of her 1989 single 'This woman's work', but in a different version. This is the original - and longer! - version.

One down, one to go.

My collection: 7" single no. 7009
Found: Discogs.com, received 15 August 2023
Tracks: 'Be kind to my mistakes' (Kate Bush) / 'Chemistry' (Brian Eno)

Il est là - Paule Desjardins

The very first Eurovision Song Contest took place in 1956 and every participating country (seven in total) performed two songs each. Some countries chose to send two different performing artists as well. In the case of France, they were Mathé Altéry with 'Le temps perdu' and Dany Dauberson with 'Il est là'. For some inexplicable reason, both songs were not released on disc at the time.

A version of 'Il est là' appeared on an EP, however, and it was performed by Paule Desjardins (who would go on to represent France the next year). This EP is quite rare, and I was lucky enough to find a copy from a Portuguese seller online. Sometimes you never know where those rare records come from!

My collection: 7" single no. 7008
Found: Discogs.com, received 5 August 2023
Tracks: 'Il est là', 'Mango-rumbo' / 'Casino blues', 'Viens plus près'

Tour de France - Kraftwerk

I went on a holiday in Germany and bought a single about France. That, in a few words, sums up my most recent acquisition. But obviously there's a little bit more to the story: this single came free with the magazine Musikexpress, which contains a cover story about Kraftwerk and their 2003 album 'Tour de France'. In it, there's an interview with Ralf Hütter and a description of every track on that album.

The single contains a new edit of 'Tour de France', which does not appear on the single 'Tour de France' which I bought 14 years ago and which was released 40 years ago. The B-side is, unfortunately, empty.

My collection: 7" single no. 7007
Found: Eckert, Hbf Landau (Germany)
Tracks: 'Tour de France'

Silencio e tanta gente - Maria Guinot

Since their first participation, Portugal has entered many songs into the Eurovision Song Contest without ever winning until just a few years ago. In the mean time they managed to send in some boring, but mostly interesting and beautiful songs. Unfortunately they are forgotten by most, because they were rarely rewarded with high scores.

One example is 'Silencio e tanta gente' by Maria Guinot, Portugal's entry in 1984. You know, the year Sweden won yet again with one of their most inane songs, 'Diggi-loo diggi-ley'. Guinot's song is almost the complete opposite to that poppy, singalong track with golden shoes: it's dramatic, melodic and beautifully orchestrated. But it ended up in 11th place in a field of 19 competitors. I ordered my copy of this single from a Portuguese seller. Because it's actually quite hard to find a copy of this one!

My collection: 7" single no. 7004
Found: Discogs.com, received 14 July 2023
Tracks: 'Silencio e tanta gente' / 'Estimo que esta carta te encontre de saude'

If you could read my mind - Viola Wills

30 years ago I bought 'If you could read my mind' on 7" vinyl. The single featured two versions of the song, including a 'short US Disconet version'. Disconet was always renowned for their long remixes of disco songs, and so it was intriguing enough for me to buy this 12" single which features the full length Disconet remix of the same track. The remix is a whopping 12 minute trip, but it's an extended version rather than the kind of remixes that are being done these days, where the music is usually replaced by something anonymous - and sometimes the vocals too. 

What's more, this 12" single also presents a 'regular' extended version of the track, which is almost seven minutes long. By comparison, it is short, of course.

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: Kringloop, Den Haag, 2 July 2023
Tracks: 'If you could read my mind (Special US Disconet version)' / 'If you could read my mind [extended]'

Ljiljana Petrovic - Ljiljana Petrovic

In 1961 Yugoslavia debuted at the Eurovision Song Contest as the first country from Eastern Europe. Back then there was still an iron curtain between the capitalist west en and socialist east. Yugoslavia was always more focused on the Western European countries than other Eastern European countries and joining in on the song competition was one way to get closer to them. 

Petrovic, who was just 21 years old at the time, competed with the song 'Neke davne zvezde' ('Some distant stars') and it was only ever released on this album on 10" vinyl. The album is a bit of a mixed bag, with covers of 'Itsy bitsy teenie weenie yellow polka dot bikini' and 'Les enfants de Piree' two songs with a 'Cha cha cha' theme and very different sounding songs alltogether. In between the eight songs 'Neke davne zvezde' stands out as a more classic chanson - albeit in the Serbo-Croatian language. The song reached eighth place in a field of 16 competitors.

Petrovic continued to record music until the late 1970s, at which point she retired from public life until the late 1980s, when she became an author, releasing a book of poetry in 1991. She passed away on 4 February 2020.

My collection: 10" vinyl [unnumbered]
Found: Discogs.com, received 23 June 2023
Tracks: 'Deca pireja', 'Jolly Jocker', 'Crni andjeli', 'Mambo cha-cha-cha' / 'Bikini sa zutim tackicama', 'Neke davne zvezde', 'Bongo cha-cha-cha', 'More u kutiji'