Fernando och Filippo - Suzie

Hard to imagine this year, but back in 1966 the Netherlands were still sending quality songs to the Eurovision Song Contest. Milly Scott made an impression with her bouncy 'Fernando en Filippo'. 

The song was covered in Swedish by Suzie. You may wonder, how come a Swedish singer covers this song? That's because the singer isn't actually Swedish. Suzie was born as Maria Catharina Martina Pereboom in Tilburg, the Netherlands, on 21 August 1946. She moved to Sweden around 1960. In 1965 she married Mike Watson (bass player in The Lee Kings). This EP wsa released in 1966, not long after the Eurovision Song Contest took place. Interestingly, around that time she also recorded singles in Dutch, German, French and, in 1969, a successful cover version of 'Walkin' Back to Happiness'. For many years she owned a very exclusive snack bar in Täby, just north of Stockholm, Sweden. She passed away in March 2008. 

My collection: 7" single no.7188
Found: Discogs.com, received 30 April 2024
Tracks: 'Fernando och Filippo', 'Grabben I Ljusblå Tröja' / 'Gott om tid', 'Svag i geografi'

Kleptocracy - OMD

OMD delivered a great album with Bauhaus Staircase recently, and 'Kleptocracy' is possibly the strongest track on that album. No wonder that it was finally released as a single. The CD-single comes with two remixes, but the 7" single only features the original song and an instrumental B-side track. The single was pressed on red vinyl. 

The word 'kleptocracy' is used to describe a society or system ruled by people who use their power to steal their country's resources. McCluskey's lyrics deal directly with such subjects. Institutions such as Deutsche Bank, the Kremlin, the KGB, the GOP, as well as the assassinated Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, are all name-checked. There is also veiled reference to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson "The narcissist (who) stole the exit." 

My collection: 7" single no. 7191
Found: OMD webstore, received 4 May 2024
Tracks: 'Kleptocracy' / 'Silver cloud'

Queen of sorrow - Sade

A white label 12" featuring a 10 minute remix of a Sade song. It sounds pretty interesting, doesn't it? Well, that's what I thought. The 12" came with an A4 leaflet announcing that the disc contained "the choc electric 2001 mixes", but only one side is playable. As for the track itself, well... admittedly it does seem to contain a few samples of Sade Adu's voice, but the whole thing sounds pretty dismal. But I bet that this kind of thing did pretty well in clubs at the beginning of this century.

I played it, I recorded it and I put it up for sale on Discogs. If you'd like to own it - there's your chance. Meanwhile, I'll wait for better Sade discs to turn up.

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: Record fair, Delft, 4 May 2024
Tracks: 'Queen of sorrow (Choc Electric 2001 mix)'

Opportunities (Let's make lots of money) - Pet Shop Boys

The Pet Shop Boys have been around for forty years now and they have been able to create great music consistently. The early beginnings weren't easy, with a few Bobby Orlando-produced tracks and singles that didn't end up high in the charts. One of those early singles was 'Opportunities', released by EMI to muted response. It was only when they released their next single, 'West End Girls', that their career took off.

This 12" single has, therefore, become a bit of a collector's item. It features two remixes by the Latin Rascals. The dub mix on the B-side of this disc has never been released on CD, and so it was worth getting this disc just for that track alone - although the A-side remix slightly differs from the one on the album Disco as well!

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 13 April 2024
Tracks: 'Opportunities (Let's make lots of money) (Version Latina)' / 'Opportunities (Let's make lots of money) (dub for money)', 'In the night'

Running up that hill - Kate Bush

It's always nice to buy a rare Kate Bush item, but buying an illegal item always feels less comfortable. In the case of this 12" single, it has to be established that this is certainly an illegal item. For one thing, it uses the catalogue number of the original US promotional 12" single from 1985. It hss an EMI logo and a His Master's Voice image, while all of Kate's releases are done by Fish People these days, and the disc features two remixes that almost certainly have never been approved by Kate. 

Still, it's a nice item to have, especially when one of the two remixes - the one by Orlando Voorn - is a really good one. My excuse is that I've already bought all of Kate's official releases anyway. Except those insanely expensive reissues of last year and this year, that is. She can't have it all.

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: HHV.de website, received 2 April 2024
Tracks: 'Running up that hill (12" remix)' / 'Running up that hill (Orlando Voorn downtempo mix)', 'Running up that hill (Ashley Beedle edit)'

You keep me hangin' on - Reba McEntire

Today is King's Day in the Netherlands, and traditionally this means that you take the stuff you don't want anymore and offer it for sale on a little piece of claimed territory (often beforehand) in the middle of town, together with other citizens living nearby. In my case, I always offer some music on vinyl and CD's that I don't want anymore. (My collection is a living one: I often buy better versions of singles I had when I was younger and when I used to write on the sleeves.) 

One of the records I had on offer was this 12" single by Reba McEntire. I bought it a long time ago, basically because it was another version of 'You keep me hangin' on', a song made famous by the Supremes and later by Kim Wilde. Reba's version - I have to say it - pales in comparison to those versions. But: it was pressed on very pretty pink vinyl. I sold my copy today, but it hasn't featured on this blog yet, so here it is... 

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: [unknown], 20 years ago
Tracks: 'You keep me hangin' on (Classic Paradise mix)', 'You keep me hangin' on (Classic Paradise instrumental)' / 'You keep me hangin' on (Deep Love mix)', 'You keep me hangin' on (Aphrodisiac mix)'

I'm just (a simple country girl from France) - Michele Torr

Michèle Torr represented Monaco at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1977 with 'Une petite Française'. The song reached fourth place in the competition, and this apparently prompted the singer or her team to also record the song in other languages, Besides the German, Italian and Spanish versions, there was this English version of the song, which for those of us who can read this blog is probably the most accessible version. It certainly is for me.

The lyrics stay roughly the same: just like in the French version, the singer explains that she is just a simple country girl from France with a desire to sing. And so she does, and if I may say so, it comes across a little better in English.

My collection: 7" single no. 7186
Found: Discogs.com, received 17 April 2024
Tracks: 'I'm just (a simple country girl from France)' / 'Une petite Française'