Piove - Lars Lönndahl

Lars Gunnar "Lasse" Lönndahl (19 August 1928 – 26 December 2022) was a Swedish singer and actor. He was considered the most well-known Swedish singer of the Fifties and Sixties with nicknames including "The Swedish Frank Sinatra" and "World's Oldest Teenager".Even though by the mid-Seventies his career had slowed down, he was still considered arguably Sweden's most popular singer of all time and was long a very popular figure in media. 

In 1959 he recorded a Swedish-language cover of 'Piove', the Eurovision song by Domenico Modugno. This EP features four songs by Lars, including a version of Li' per li', another popular song from the San Remo festival.

My collection: 7" single no. 7400
Found: Discogs.com, received 7 November 2024
Tracks: 'Piove', 'Den enda i världen' / 'Li' per li', 'Pa en regnig gata'

Alla andra får varann – Östen Warnerbring

In 1960 Siw Malmkvist represented Sweden at the Eurovision Song Contest with 'Alla andra får varann'. The song was written by John Watson, a schoolmaster who had published a handful of songs up until that point. However, Siw never recorded the song in the studio.

During the Swedish national final for Eurovision, Östen Warnerbring also performed this song. And he did get into the studio to record the song. It's that single which I found online recently. It's a nice acquisition, especially since the song is very nice.

My collection: 7" single no. 7399
Found: Discogs.com, received 7 November 2024
Tracks: 'Alla andra får varann' / 'Vårens första flicka'

Liefde is leven - Arie Ribbens & Nathalie

One artist I never thought would feature on this blog is Arie Ribbens. Yet, here we are, the party singer from Eindhoven made it. The singer, known for carnival squatters such as ‘Polonaise Hollandaise’ and ‘Brabantse nights are long’ recorded this single in 1989 together with an unknown female called Nathalie. 'Liefde is leven' ('Love is life') is in fact a Dutch version of 'Vivo cantando', the Spanish entry for the Eurovision Song Contest in 1969. And that, of course, changed things for me. 

Another surprise on this single: the Dutch text was written by Pierre Kartner, also known as Father Abraham, one of the Netherlands' most successful songwriters, who also wrote two wellknown Eurovision entries for the Netherlands. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7398
Found: Discogs.com, received 30 October 2024
Tracks: 'Liefde is leven' / 'Ik koop een heel groot hemelbed'

Un banc, un arbre, une rue - Helmut Zacharias

The impact of the Eurovision Song Contest was much bigger, perhaps, when it was much younger. Winning songs were often covered by many artists, both in vocal and instrumental versions. An example of this is this single: 'Un banc, un arbre, une rue' by the German violinist Helmut Zacharias. 

Helmut (born 20 January 1920 in Berlin, Germany) first played violin at the age of two and played in public four years later. He was also known for the pseudonym Charly Thomas. After working at the Conservatory, he turned to pop music as well as, occasionally, jazz.More than 50 LP's bearing his name were released between 1950 and now. He died on 28 February 2002 in Brissago, Switzerland.  

My collection: 7" single no. 7397
Found: Discogs.com, received 30 October 2024
Tracks: 'Un banc, un arbre, une rue' / 'Love story'

We'll meet again - José Cid

José Cid represented Portugal at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1980 with 'Um grande, grande amor'. Besides the original Portuguese version, he also recorded the song in French, and also in English. The amusing thing is that the English version is presented in a sleeve that doesn't reference Eurovision at all, in contrast to the other two versions. It was released by Jupiter Records, owned by Eurovision legend Ralph Siegel, who founded the label in 1973. 

The English version is just as disco-informed as the other two versions, but (obviously) with English lyrics. It's a nice curiosity for any Eurovision fan. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7396
Found: Discogs.com, received 30 October 2024
Tracks: 'We'll meet again' / 'Barbara'

Wir wollen morgen auch so glücklich sein wie heut - Belle & Horst

The German duo Belle Schnetzler and Horst Hornung released one single in 1971, a cover version of 'In this world we live in', a song previously recorded by the Italian duo Remo & Josie. The German version received the lengthy title 'Wir wollen morgen auch so glücklich sein wie heut'. 

The real attraction on this single is the B-side. It's a German version of 'Jungle Jim', a song originally written by Ronnie Scott and Marty Wilde. Of course, this is the reason why I bought this single. I was especially pleased to receive it from a Dutch seller in mint condition. That's pretty impressive for a single that's 53 years old.

My collection: 7" single no. 7395
Found: Discogs.com, received 30 October 2024
Tracks: 'Wir wollen morgen auch so glücklich sein wie heut' / 'Jungle Jim'

In the clouds - All about Eve

Owning two versions of the 7" single and the original version of the 12" single and was obviously not enough for a completist like me: I also had to have All about Eve's 'In the clouds' on the re-released 12" single. And with good reason: this 12" single features an extended version of the song, plus an extra track on the B-side.

Eventually the extended version of 'In the clouds' appeared on the re-released double CD version of the band's eponymous debut album in 2015. But that was a long time after I bought this disc.

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: [unknown], 1989
Tracks: 'In the clouds [extended version]' / 'She moves through the fair', 'Calling your name'