War of the worlds EP - Jeff Wayne

Several singles from the legendary 'War of the world' album by Jeff Wayne have already been featured on this blog, but today's addition to my collection is especially rare. While I was browing the Discogs website - I have done that a lot lately - I discovered this promotional EP, released in New Zealand only. Normally I wouldn't consider buying a single just like that, but it was cheap and the same seller also had an extremely rare New Zealand pressing of Kim Wilde's 'Kids in America'. It was simply an offer I couldn't resist.

So here it is, a rare EP from New Zealand with four tracks from 'War of the worlds' in edited form. These edits appear on the singles for 'Horsell Common and the Heat Ray', 'Forever autumn' and 'Thunderchild' as well, but anyway...

My collection: 7" single no. 5999
Found: Discogs.com, received February 20, 2019
Cost: $5
Tracks: 'Horsell Common and the Heat Ray', 'Forever autumn' / 'The fighting machine', 'Thunder child'

The one that got away - Nana Mouskouri

Collecting Eurovision Song Contest singles is both a joy and a pain. The older the singles are, the more expensive they get. And in the case of artists that became famous, they can get very expensive indeed.

You can imagine my surprise when I found this single by Nana Mouskouri in a thrift store during a day out in Haarlem. Nana famously participated in the Contest in 1963 with 'A force de prier' for Luxembourg, but I haven't found that single until now - at least not for a reasonable price. This single features the English version of that song. After buying the single I checked online what it would cost me... Well that would be at least 30 times as much - not including shipping. My day started well.

My collection: 7" single no. 5998
Found: Rataplan, Haarlem, February 19, 2019
Cost: 0,5 euro
Tracks: 'The one that got away (A force de prier)', 'My colouring book' / 'No moon at all', 'The touch of your lips'

Danswijsje - Corry Brokken

The Eurovision Song Contest isn't often won by the best song, but in 1963 it happened: 'Dansevise' by Grethe and Jørgen Ingmann was the winner that year, representing Denmark. It is one of my favourite Eurovision tunes of all time.

What I didn't know was that previous Eurovision winner Corry Brokken (who represented the Netherlands when she won with 'Net als toen' in 1957) recorded a cover version of the song in Dutch. Entitled 'Danswijsje', the lyrics stay fairly true to the original and the music certainly does too. The B-side is called 'Ga niet weg', and that is a cover of the Swiss entry from 1963: 'T'en va pas' by Esther Ofarim, who represented Switzerland. The orchestra on this single was conducted by Jack Bulterman, who also conducted that legendary Dutch jazz ensemble The Ramblers.

My collection: 7" single no. 5997
Found: Discogs.com, received February 13, 2019
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'Danswijsje' / 'Ga niet weg'

Save your love for me - Marty Wilde

In my ongoing quest for Marty Wilde singles, I have found yet another one. It is slightly damaged as you can see here, but finding a copy of 'Save your love for me' isn't easy to begin with. Released in 1963, it was one of the first singles that didn't end up in the UK singles charts, and also one of the first singles that Marty released for Columbia instead of Philips.

The hits of Marty Wilde have become very wellknown, but I have to say that I heard these two songs for the first time. And I liked them a lot. It's interesting how the music from half a century ago is more captivating than whatever's in the charts right now.

My collection: 7" single no. 5996
Found: Discogs.com, received February 12, 2019
Cost: 5 pounds
Tracks: 'Save your love for me' / 'Bless my broken heart'

Them heavy people - Ray Shell

It should be no surprise that I love Kate Bush's music, just look at my collection of Kate Bush records on this blog. I also like cover versions, so any cover version of Kate Bush songs will catch my attention. The problem is: some are good, others can be very bad.

I'm not really sure in which category Ray Shell's disco version of 'Them heavy people' should belong. It's innocent fun, but could also be considered sacrilege. It's quite weird to sing about whirling dervishes on the disco handclap beat in this track. But for some reason, it does tickle me in a pleasant way. The fact that I've searched for this single a long time (it is usually much too expensive) makes the relief that I finally own it now that much bigger.

My collection: 7" single no. 5995
Found: Discogs.com, received February 5, 2019
Cost: 5 pounds
Tracks: 'Them heavy people' / 'Them heavy people (version)'

Respectable - Mel & Kim

When I bought the Japanese single of 'Showing out', the same online dealer also offered the Japanese single of 'Respectable'. And these are the only two 7" singles from Mel & Kim ever released in Japan, so that makes a complete collection in this case.

Interesting on this release is the mention of the 'dub mix' on the B-side. It is actually the very same track that is listed as 'instrumental' on the European releases of this single.

My collection: 7" single no. 5988
Found: Ebay.co.uk, received January 29, 2019
Cost: 5 euro
Tracks: 'Respectable' / 'Respectable (dub mix)'

Showing out (Get fresh at the weekend) - Mel & Kim

This single has been featured on this blog a few times before, both as a 7" single and as a 12" single (oh, and another 12" single). This Japanese 7" single is an interesting one, because it features the album version of 'Showing out', whereas the European versions had an edited single version.

Japanese singles are always interesting, of course, because the Japanese make a special package of every single: a record company sleeve with the disc in it comes with a special inlay that often features the song lyrics in English and Japanese and sometimes an extra photograph - and then there's the picture front which in this case is different from the European ones. The fact that I got this single for a low price also helped, of course.

My collection: 7" single no. 5987
Found: Ebay.co.uk, received January 29, 2019
Cost: 5 euro
Tracks: 'Showing out (Get fresh at the weekend)' / 'System (House mix)'