Through the eyes of a child - Frida Boccara

One of the most beautiful songs ever performed on the Eurovision stage is Frida Boccara's 'Un jour, un enfant'. No wonder, then, that I am after every version of that song. I found 'Un dia, un niño' four years ago at a record fair, and now the English version also turned up duing a record fair. 

The single comes in a standard Philips sleeve, as picture sleeves weren't that common in the UK back in the Sixties. 

What's next? The German and Italian versions. That's not going to be easy.

My collection: 7" single no. 7054
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 11 November 2023
Tracks: 'Through the eyes of a child' / 'So fair'

Peccato che sia finita cosi - Udo Jurgens

When Udo Jürgens represented Austria at the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time in 1964, he did so with the song 'Warum nur, warum'. The song was a big success for him despite not winning the Contest: fellow contestant Matt Monro recorded the song in English as 'Walk away' and the song became an international hit. 

Udo recorded 'Walk away' himself too, as well as a version in Spanish and in Italian. It is the Italian version that is listed here, with the impressive longer title 'Peccato che sia finita così'. It means 'Too bad it ended like this', in case you're wondering. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7053
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 11 November 2023
Tracks: 'Peccato che sia finita così' / 'Finito l'amore'

Ora che io ti amo - Udo Jurgens

Udo Jürgens represented Austria at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1965 with 'Sag ihr, ich lass sie grüssen'. I bought the French EP back in 2019 when the twice annual record fair was still held in Utrecht. The fair moved to Den Bosch after a little incident when the venue in Utrecht closed the fair a day before it was supposed to open, due to a Covid lockdown which the government was planning a few days after that. A lot of dealers lost a lot of money that weekend.

Anyway, Udo recorded his Eurovision song in Spanish and Italian as well, and it is the Italian version that I managed to pick up this weekend. It comes in a very different sleeve and it is a charming version.

My collection: 7" single no. 7052
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 11 November 2023
Tracks: 'Ora che io ti amo' / 'Se non ti capira'

Die Liebe geht - Françoise Hardy

Françoise Hardy represented Monaco at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1963 with 'L'amour s'en va', and I was already aware that she recorded that song in Italian and German eight years ago when I bought that single. However, getting them was quite difficult.

I was happy to come across a copy during the record fair last Saturday. This was no coincidence: the dealer had a big Eurovision collection and that's why I checked out his stand first. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7051
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 11 November 2023
Tracks: 'Die Liebe geht' / 'Ich sag' ja'

Ey sham - Ilanit

Back in 1973 a country called Israel made its debut at the Eurovision Song Contest. The song 'Ey sham' was performed by Ilanit, a singer who was originally contacted to perform for Germany. Then the opportunity arose to represent her own country. This single is particularly special since it features the original Hebrew version and only contains Hebrew writing. Hence, I relied on a transliteration to name these tracks.

Some people wonder why Israel even takes part in Eurovision. I think the world would be a better place if Arabic countries would also participate. Morocco tried it once, other countries never dared to. I guess there's a lot of unresolved hate in the world, and some people (both in Israel and elsewhere) are just not interested in peace and unity.

My collection: 7" single no. 7048
Found: Discogs.com, received 27 October 2023
Tracks: 'Ey sham' / 'Bifrot nevel ve'ugav'

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'