Anna rakkaudelle tilaisuus - Seija Simola

Four years ago I bought the single 'Give love a chance' by Seija Simola, the English version of Finland's Eurovision entry from 1978. The original Finnish version was still missing from my collection, but I am glad to say that I finally managed to buy a copy. 

It comes from a slightly expensive seller in France, who happened to have more than a few collector's items on sale. I decided to buy this one because it isn't offered for any low price online - and don't think you'll ever find it during record fairs or anything. Collecting Eurovision singles can be frustrating, but it's always an exciting feeling when a particularly rare item ends up in your collection!

My collection: 7" single no. 7049
Found: Discogs.com, received 27 October 2023
Tracks: 'Anna rakkaudelle tilaisuus' / 'Pieni hymy'

Poupée de cire, poupée de son - Dominique

Eurovision songs were popular in the Sixties, so much so that many artists tried to have success with cover versions of songs - even artists that were virtually unknown. 

Dominique was married to French trumpet player George Jouvin (19 June 1923 - 24 October 2016), who released 70 albums, recorded 3.000 tracks and sold 25 million records. Dominique appears on plenty of sleeves of Jouvin's records, but she also recorded no less than 33 singles together with her husband. On a few of these, she is credited along in a series of EP's called 'Dominique chante...'. 

This EP features two Eurovision songs: the winning song of 1965, France Gall's 'Poupée de cire, poupée de son' and the French entry of that year, Guy Mardel's 'N'avoue jamais'. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7047
Found: Discogs.com, received 23 October 2023
Tracks: 'Poupée de cire, poupée de son', 'Viens danser le Letkiss' / 'Comme on change', 'N'avoue jamais'

Pop corn - Antoine

Born as Pierre Antoine Muraccioli on 23 January 1945 in Toamasina, Madagascar, Antoine is a French singer, and also a sailor and adventurer, writer, photographer, and filmmaker. He was very popular in the Sixties and Seventies. In 1972 he released this single, a vocal version of Gershon Kingsley's fabulous composition 'Popcorn', with lyrics he wrote himself.  

He stopped his musical career to travel around the world. Antoine published the first book of his adventures, Globedrifter (French: Globe Flotteur) in 1977; several more have followed, including his book on distance navigation Setting Sail (French: Mettre les Voiles).

My collection: 7" single no. 7045
Found: Discogs.com, received 10 October 2023
Tracks: 'Pop corn'  / 'Feuilles d'automne'

The A project - Def Syndicate

It's easy to dismiss music from the Nineties because it was so bad. At least, a lot of bad music was produced during that decade. This single was called 'The A project' because Def Syndicate weren't allowed to use the name Abba. And with good reason: the guys from Abba were all about quality control, and the lack of quality is quite apparent when you listen to this medley of Abba tracks. 

When I say 'medley', I am using the term very lightly, because this single contains virtually all the hallmarks of a cheap early Nineties production: run-of-the-mill beats, sound effects and, frankly, not a lot of listenable vocals. A strange curiosity.

My collection: 7" single no. 7044
Found: Discogs.com, received 10 October 2023
Tracks: 'The A Project (radio version)' / 'The A Project (bonus beats)'

Aan het Wolga-strand / Straatdeuntje - Jean Walter

In 1957, Bobbejaan Schoepen represented Belgium at the second edition of the Eurovision Song Contest with 'Straatdeuntje', composed by Harry Frekin and written by Eric Franssen.The strange thing is that his version was never released on a 7" single, whereas this single by Jean Walter does contain the song - albeit on the B-side. 

Jean Walter was born in Sint-Niklaas on 11 February 1922 and died on 5 June 2014. During his lifetime he only released one album, but between 1950 and 1960 he released more than a dozen singles. He never achieved the legendary status that Bobbejaan got in Belgium, but this particular single remains a highlight for Eurovision collectors.

My collection: 7" single no. 7043
Found: Discogs.com, received 10 October 2023
Tracks: 'Aan het Wolga-strand' / 'Straatdeuntje'

Ceol an ghrà - Sandie Jones

Sandie Jones was born in Dublin in 1951. She was one of 11 children. She began recording songs from 1969 onwards. Those singles were all in English. When she represented Ireland at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1972, she performed 'Ceol an ghrà', a song in Gaelic. It was a first for her, although she was obviously a native speaker. 

'Ceol an ghrà' ('The music of love') remains the only time Ireland contributed a Eurovision song in Gaelic. The song ended up in 15th place in a field of 18 competitors.

My collection: 7" single no. 7041
Found: Discogs.com, received 5 October 2023
Tracks: 'Ceol an ghrà' / 'Cry cry again'

Teatro - Katja Ebstein

Germany's Katja Ebstein recorded her 1980 Eurovision entry 'Theater' in several languages, and it's a bit of a sport to get all the singles together in my collection. After the original German version in 1980 and the French and English versions in 1998, I finally managed to find a copy of the Italian version recently. 'Teatro' was translated into Italian by Cristiano Minellono, an Italian lyricist who wrote several songs for acts like Ricchi & Poveri, Al Bano & Romina Power and Toto Cutugno, amongst others. 

Now all I need to find is the Spanish version, but apparently that one is very rare!

My collection: 7" single no. 7040
Found: Discogs.com, received 5 October 2023
Tracks: 'Teatro' / 'It's showtime'