Twee hartjes en twee namen - Yvette Ravell & Ronny Temmer

In 1972 Serge & Christine Ghisoland represented Belgium at the Eurovision Song Contest with 'A la folie ou pas du tout'. They represented mainly the French speaking part of the country, as they were chosen by the Walloon broadcaster. In the Flemish part of the country, Yvette Ravell and Ronny Temmer stepped in and took it upon themselves to provide a translation with this single, 'Twee hartjes en twee namen' ('Two hearts and two names').

The B-side of this single is a cover version of 'Als her om de liefde gaat', the Dutch entry from that year. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7617
Found: Discogs.com, received 18 March 2025
Tracks: 'Twee hartjes en twee namen' / 'Als het om de liefde gaat'

Everything I own - Bread

David Gates wrote 'Everything I own', which was recorded by his band Bread in 1971. Although initial listeners may have interpreted it as a song about a broken relationship, David Gates revealed that it was written in memory of his father who died in 1963 before he achieved his success with Bread. David said: "My success would have been so special to him as he was my greatest influence. So I decided to write and record 'Everything I Own' about him. If you listen to the words, 'You sheltered me from harm, kept me warm, you gave my life to me, set me free', it says it all."

The single reached number 5 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 32 in the UK singles chart. Surprisingly, the single didn't chart in the Netherlands.

My collection: 7" single no. 7607
Found: Record fair, Rotterdam, 1 March 2025
Tracks: 'Everything I own' / 'I don't love you'

Horis skopo - Christos Callow

A rare gem, this Eurovision single from 1990. Christos Callow represented Greece with his song 'Horis skopo' and only managed 19th place in a field of 22 competitors. Not that the song was so bad, the juries just went for other songs and they continued to show their bad taste like they'd done through most of the Eighties.

Christos was born in Athens in 1955. He starred as the Archbishop in Jesus Christ Superstar in Greece in 1979. After his Eurovision performance, he was also a candidate in the greek Eurovision finals in 1987 (3rd) and in 1988 (unknown result). 

My collection: 7" single no. 7618
Found: Discogs.com, received 18 March 2025
Tracks: 'Horis skopo' / 'Without a purpose (Take my way)'

Syng lille laerke / En smule - Raquel Rastenni

The Danish singer Raquel Rastenni was born in Copenhagen on 21 August 1915. She started her career as a dancer in the Helsingør Revue in 1936. She debuted as a singer in 1938 by being broadcast on radio. As a Jew, she fled Denmark in October 1943 along with her family, as the country had come under Nazi occupation. She spent the rest of the war years in Sweden where she continued having great success with her career, performing with orchestras and in cabarets and varieties.

In 1958 she represented her country at the Eurovision Song Contest with 'Jeg rev et blad ud af min dagbog' (a single I am still searching for, actually). She kept in touch with the Contest after that, because a lot of her singles are actually cover versions of Eurovision songs. This single, for instance, presents her Danish versions of the number 1 and 2 of the 1959 edition. 'Syng lille laerke' is a version of 'Sing little birdie', and 'En smule' is Raquel's take on ''n Beetje'. It sounds rather good actually!

My collection: 7" single no. 7616
Found: Discogs.com, received 18 March 2025
Tracks: 'Syng lille laerke' / 'En smule'

Aprite le finestre - Nilla Pizzi

'Aprite le finestre' was Italy's first ever Eurovision song, performed by Franca Raimondi in 1956. Although the single still eludes me, there were plenty other artists recording that song and it is a lot easier to get hold of those versions. 

This EP features four songs by Nilla Pizzi, and 'Aprite le finestre' is one of them. Nilla Pizzi was born in Sant'Agata Bolognese on 16 April 1919. She won the first ever San Remo festival in 1951 and performed a total of 31 songs at that festival throughout her career. With her charismatic, warm voice, she is considered the most successful San Remo singer of all time. 

My collection: 7" single no. 7615
Found: Discogs.com, received 18 March 2025
Tracks: 'Arrivederci Roma', 'Aprite le finestre' / 'Due teste sul cuscino', 'Musetto'

So long - Paunita Ionescu

When I order records online, sometimes there are such items that I just buy because they're cheap and interesting. And a disc like this is certainly that. For just 1 euro extra I got this rare gem. 

The Romanian singer Păunița Ionescu recorded a cover version of Abba's 'So long', and it appears on this EP with three tracks. Ionescu apparently had a musical background, as both her parents were opera singers. She started singing in the 70s with the band Catena (Latin for “chain”), a girl band. Finally, Păunița Ionescu opted for a solo career in 1974. She left Romania in 1990 but occasionally returns to her homeground.

My collection: 7" single no. 7614
Found: Discogs.com, received 17 March 2025.
Tracks: 'Don't tell me', 'Is everybody happy?' / 'So long'

Golden years - David Bowie

'Golden years' was the lead single from David Bowie's tenth studio album Station to Station (1976). Harry Maslin, who co-produced the track, recalled that the song was "cut and finished very fast. We knew it was absolutely right within ten days. But the rest of the album took forever." Like the majority of Station to Station, the song's elements were primarily built in the studio rather than written before.

The single was very successful, reaching number 10 in the US BIllboard Hot 100 chart, number 8 in the UK singles chart and number 6 in the Dutch Top 40. I thought I'd bought this single a long time ago, but apparently not. So I did.

My collection: 7" single no. 7610
Found: Record fair, Rotterdam, 1 March 2025
Tracks: 'Golden years' / 'Can you hear me'