More of Marty - Marty Wilde and his Wildcats

An EP called 'More of Marty' offers, indeed, more of Marty Wilde: four tracks instead of two. This EP was released in Denmark, which is evidenced by the short bio on the back of the sleeve.

The EP features two singles of the man: 'Oh-oh, I'm falling in love again' and 'Endless sleep', plus their respective B-sides. Both singles were originally credited to Marty Wilde and his Wildcats, as is this EP. There were many more EP releases back in the day, but it's not easy to find them for an affordable price. And that's important, because I'm not going to pay top dollar for tracks that I already own a few times - both on vinyl and CD!

My collection: 7" single no. 7033
Found: Discogs.com, received 20 September 2023
Tracks: 'Oh-oh, I'm falling in love again', 'Sing boy sing' / 'Her hair was yellow', 'Endless sleep'

Amiga Quartett - Udo Jurgens

One of the weirder purchases during last week's record fair was this Amiga Quartett EP with four tracks by Udo Jürgens. It features his Eurovision winning song 'Merci Chérie', but also three other tracks. Two of them veer dangerously towards schlager territory, but 'Ich schrieb nie ein Lied für Karin' ('I never wrote a song for Karin') is a touching little song about how you sometimes neglect those closest to you. Although that may be my interpretation of the song, I don't know.

These Quartett EP's are always fun, because it's obviously from a country that doesn't exist anymore (the German Democratic Republic existed until the early 1990's, when Germany became one country again after a few decades of total divorce) and it can be interesting to hear some more tracks from artists you don't know that well.

My collection: 7" single no. 7068
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 11 November 2023
Tracks: 'Mit 66 Jahren', 'Ich schrieb nie ein Lied für Karin' / 'Aber bitte mit Sahne', 'Merci, Chérie'

Showroom dummies - Kraftwerk

This single has been on my wish list for a while, but it was hard to find a decent copy for not too much money. It felt good to finish my visit to the record fair with the acquisition of this single by Kraftwerk. 

'Showroom dummies' was taken from the band's album 'Trans-Europe Express'. The single was originally released on 14 September 1977, but this UK pressing comes from 1981. It comes with a remix of 'Numbers', taken from the album 'Computer World', on the B-side.

My collection: 7" single no. 7079
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 11 November 2023
Tracks: 'Showroom dummies' / 'Numbers (re-mix)'

Zero gravity - Kate Miller-Heidke

'Zero gravity' could be described as a pop-opera song. Kate Miller-Heidke wrote the song following her experience with post-natal depression after the birth of her son, Ernie, and how she felt "weightless" as she recovered. In an interview with broadcaster SBS, Miller-Heidke said she has always known of Eurovision, but became more invested since Australia became involved. She said "I think what I love about Eurovision is the permission to go a bit bonkers and I love how it embraces all different genres and different levels of experimental music and performance. I love how theatrical it is."

Theatrical is a way to describe her performance: it was over the top, with the singer swaying about on high poles, before a background of stars. The Cirque du Soleil-inspired performance made the song very popular with viewers. Still, it finished in ninth place.

A blue vinyl single was released in 2020 in an edition of 284 copies. My copy is number 188.

My collection: 7" single no. 7078
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 11 November 2023
Tracks: 'Zero gravity' / 'Zero gravity (acoustic)'

Let's get serious - Jermaine Jackson

It's an odd fact that Jermaine Jackson always remained somewhat in the shadows of his younger brother Michael, despite the fact that certainly in the late Seventies he released some very great material. This single is a good example: 'Let's get serious', produced by Stevie Wonder, is a song that is impossibly catchy. 

I actually only discovered this track recently, when I bought a CD of 12 inch singles from 1980. This is quite strange, since this single was released in 1978. But it's true: in the UK this single peaked at number 8 in the singles chart in 1980. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7077
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 11 November 2023
Tracks: 'Let's get serious' / 'Je vous aime beaucoup (I love you)'

Eden is a magic world - Pop concerto orchestra

The Pop Concerto Orchestra is a French pop music group singing in English, whose compositions are signed by Paul de Senneville and Olivier Toussaint. Their most famous song is 'Eden is a magic world', initially recorded in 1976 and which achieved success in the summer of 1982.

The single sold more than a million copies, after having been used at the time for an advertisement for the Telefunken brand. After the release of several 45s which did not meet with the same success, the group disbanded in 1985.

My collection: 7" single no. 7076
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 11 November 2023
Tracks:  'Eden is a magic world' / 'She wears a rainbow'

Wann - Camillo

The funny thing about record fairs is that sometimes you can get yourself a good deal. Having bought a dozen singles at the stand of a Eurovision specialist, I spotted this single for a few euros but passed on it. When I saw the same single a few stands further down for just one euro, I became more interested in its contents. 

It turns out that this EP features a German version of 'Petit Bonhomme', the song with which Camillo represented Luxembourg at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1962. 'Du kleiner Mann' appears as the third track on this EP, which might seem an odd choice.

My collection: 7" single no. 7075
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 11 November 2023
Tracks: 'Wann', 'Das Gluck, von demich einst getraumt' / 'Du kleiner Mann', 'Wenn ein Stern vom Himmel fallt'