Yesterday - Matt Monro

One of the Beatles' most famous songs might be 'Yesterday', with its simple and effective lyrics. During last Saturday's record fair I was rather surprised to find this single (for only one euro, I might add) featuring a cover version by that classic British singer Matt Monro.

Although 'Yesterday' was not released as a single in the UK, it did not prevent Matt Monro from recording the first of many cover versions of the song. His version made it into the top ten in the UK charts soon after its release in the autumn of 1965. In the end, 'Yesterday' was released in the UK as an EP in 1966.

My collection: 7" single no. 7066
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 11 November 2023
Tracks: 'Yesterday' / 'Just yesterday (when your love was mine)'

Betcha by golly wow - The Stylistics

'Betcha by golly, wow' is a song written by Thom Bell and Linda Creed, originally titled 'Keep growing strong' and recorded by Connie Stevens under the Bell label in 1970. The composition later became a hit when it was released by the Philadelphia soul group the Stylistics in 1972 under its better known title. It was the third track from the Stylistics' 1971 debut self-titled album; released as a single in 1972, it reached number 3 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 13 on the UK Singles Chart.

In 1996, Prince recorded another version of the song, which leaned a lot on the Stylistics' version. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7065
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 11 November 2023
Tracks: 'Betcha by golly wow' / 'Ebony eyes'

Merci Cherie - Vince Hill

Vince Hill (16 April 1934 – 22 July 2023) was an English traditional pop music singer, best known for his cover version of the Rodgers and Hammerstein show tune 'Edelweiss' (1967), which reached No. 2 on the UK singles chart. He recorded 25 studio albums and several soundtracks, wrote songs and plays and hosted TV shows during the 1970s and 1980s.

In 1963, he participated in A Song for Europe, the UK heat of the Eurovision Song Contest, with 'A day at the seaside'. The next few years proved fallow, as a succession of single releases failed to chart. In 1966 his fortunes changed, as he had three hit singles. The third one was this cover version of Udo Jurgens' winning Eurovision song, 'Merci Cherie'.

My collection: 7" single no. 7064
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 11 November 2023
Tracks: 'Merci Cherie' / 'Can't believe my eyes'

Freedom is today - Mia Martini

Mia Martini performed 'Libera' at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1977, representing Italy. As nice as the song was, Italian is not my strong point, and so I was happy to know that there was also an English version of this song. But how to find it?

This single is rather rare, which is why it was also under the table at the record fair last Saturday. Fortunately the price wasn't very steep, and so I was able to pick up this UK promo, which features both the English and the original version. Oddly, both labels feature the prominent 'A' on them.

My collection: 7" single no. 7063
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 11 November 2023
Tracks: 'Freedom is today' / 'Libera'

Ma petite chatte - Fud Leclerc

Having bought the previous 11 singles from one dealer, I asked whether he had some rare gems hidden under the table. He did, and some of them were already in my collection and featured on this blog. But one item was especially rare and I was rather stunned when I grabbed it: a real copy of 'Ma petite chatte' by Fud Leclerc.

You should know that Fud Leclerc represented Belgium four times at the Eurovision Song Contest, but only two of those songs were ever released on a 7" single: 'Mon amour pour toi' from 1960 and this song, 'Ma petite chatte' from 1958. The other two, 'Messieurs les noyés de la Seine' (1956) and 'Ton nom' (1962) remained unreleased.

This particular single seems to come from the archive of the INR - NIR, Belgium's national broadcasting institute, which existed until 1960. I just hope it wasn't stolen from their archives.

My collection: 7" single no. 7062
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 11 November 2023
Tracks: 'Ma petite chatte' / 'Volare (Dans le bleu du ciel bleu)'

Romantica - Gunnar Wiklund

Renato Rascel represented Italy with 'Romantica' at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1960. The song was covered by many artists across Europe; attentive readers will have seen my entries on versions by Willy Alberti, Achille Togliani and Robertino. 

Up north, you had Gunnar Wiklund, who would record more Eurovision covers during the 1960's. This EP featured his first flirt with Eurovision repertoire, after having released more than a dozen singles with original material in Swedish. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7061
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 11 November 2023
Tracks: 'Romantica', 'Partners' / 'Han måste gå', 'Midnatt'

Die heerlijke wereld - Micha Marah

Micha Marah made headlines earlier this year when she decided to finally record her Eurovision entry from 1979, 'Hey nana'. Until now, only the version by composer Charles Dumolin has been available on record, and unfortunately it seems like it will remain like this, since there is no physical release of Micha's version yet. 

We'll have to made do with Micha's cover version of 'En un mundo nuevo', Spain's Eurovision entry from 1971. She recorded it as 'Die heerlijke wereld' ('That delicious world') in 1971, and it sounds as joyful as the original - even if the lyrics sound rather naff if you can understand Flemish/Dutch.

My collection: 7" single no. 7060
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 11 November 2023
Tracks: 'Die heerlijke wereld' / 'Die ring'