Halo, halo - Aska

The trio Aska came to prominence when they were chosen to represent Yugoslavia at the 1982 Eurovision Song Contest. The members of the group were Snežana Mišković, Izolda Barudžija and Snežana Stamenković. Their song "Halo, halo" only managed to achieve 14th place in a field of 18 competitors, although having received the top mark of 12 points from the Swedish jury.

Shortly upon the return from Harrogate, Snežana Stamenković retired and was replaced by Suzana Perović. The girls went on to record several albums before disbanding in order to pursue solo careers. Snežana Mišković remained in pop and went on to have an established career with her band Viktorija. Izolda Barudžija's career faded away after two additional attempts at the Eurovision Song Contest (in 1983 and 1984). Suzana Perović switched to more commercial folk music and released a few semi-successful albums before she vanished from the music scene. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6664
Found: Discogs.com, received 24 March 2022
Cost: €5
Tracks: 'Halo, halo' / 'Hallo, hallo'

 

Merci Chérie - Ronnie Tober

In 1966, Udo Jürgens won the Eurovision Song Contest with 'Merci Chérie'. Given the fact that Eurovision was very much a popular TV phenomenon, other artists were eager to release cover versions of the winning songs, and this is exactly what happened. 

In this case, it was Dutch singer Ronnie Tober who had a go at the song, and he had it translated into Dutch by René Pedde. The B-side was also a Eurovision song: the UK entry 'A man without love' by Kenneth McKellar became 'Een hart is geen hart' ('A heart is not a heart') after Gerrit den Braber had his way with the song. 

The orchestra on this single was led by Jack Bulterman, who, like Gerrit den Braber, was heavily involved with the jazz orchestra The Ramblers, one of the world's longest running orchestras ever. However, in 1966 the Ramblers were on hiatus, so it's not them who are playing on this disc.

My collection: 7" single no. 6657
Found: Discogs.com, received 19 March 2022
Cost: €3
Tracks: 'Merci Chérie (Dutch version)' / 'Een hart is geen hart (A man without love)'

Luna nel blu (Non ho l'eta) - Gigliola Cinquetti

Imagine being sixteen years old and winning with 'Non ho l'eta' at the Italian San Remo festival, and then going on to the Eurovision Song Contest and winning that too. Gigliola Cinquetti, who was born into a wealthy family, must have been a bit overwhelmed by this success. Yet she continued gracefully, recording her song in Spanish as 'No tiene edad' and in Japanese as '夢見る想い (Yumemiru omoi)'.

The German version was called 'Luna nel blu', and is perhaps the most impressive of all these versions, because Gigliola pronounces the language in a rather convincing way (even if the title of the song is still in Italian). This pressing comes from one of the Benelux countries, but why 'Luna nel blu' is relegated to the B-side, I don't know.

My collection: 7" single no. 6656
Found: Discogs.com, received 19 March 2022
Cost: €6
Tracks: 'Con amore' / 'Luna nel blu (Non ho l'eta)'

Les 4 meilleures chansons du Grand Prix Eurovision 65 - Sonia Christie, Marie-Chantal, Eric Richard

This EP is an obvious attempt to profit from the popularity of the Eurovision Song Contest during the mid-Sixties. Released on the Week-end label (never heard of this one!), three different artists perform the songs of Luxembourg, UK, France and Monaco. Remarkably, the UK entry is also performed in French and translated from 'I Belong' to 'Te Voila'. 

This single is the Belgian pressing of an EP that was released in France as 'Premiers prix de l'Eurovision', with the same tracks on it. Although Sonia Christie and Marie-Chantal never released any other tracks, Eric Richard actually had an interesting career, performing on a handful of singles between 1961 and 1965.

My collection: 7" single no. 6638
Found: Discogs.com, received 24 February 2022
Cost: €4
Tracks: 'Poupée de cire, poupée de son' (Sonia Christie), 'Te voilà (I belong)' (Marie-Chantal) / 'N'avoue jamais' (Eric Richard), 'Va dire à l'amour' (Sonia Christie)

Nous les amoureux - José Guardiola

Although 'Exodus' is undoubtedly the lead track on this EP by José Guardiola, I bought it for one of the other tracks: his version of 'Nous les amoureux'. Although the title is shown in French on the sleeve of this EP, José performs it in Spanish. The subtitle on the back is 'Sol de nuestro amor'. The same applies to 'Rockin' little angel', which is subtitled 'Rock entre nubes'. The EP is pressed on blue vinyl, which gives it an obvious appeal.

Guardiola was an obvious Eurovision fan: he also recorded a version of 'Dio come ti amo' in 1966 and he represented his country in 1963 with the song 'Algo prodigioso'. I'm still after that single...

My collection: 7" single no. 6652
Found: Discogs.com, received 12 March 2022
Cost: €3
Tracks: 'Exodus', 'Rockin' little angel' / 'Nous les amoureux', 'Oro negro'

Si - Gigliola Cinquetti

Ten years after she won the Eurovision Song Contest, Gigliola Cinquetti competed again in 1974 with the song 'Si'. I bought the single in 1999. I found the German version, entitled 'Ja' at a record fair in 2011. I ordered the English version 'Go (Before you break my heart)' in the UK via Discogs.com in 2014. The French version, 'Lui', came to me from France, also via Discogs.com, just two months ago, and here is the Spanish version, which, like the original Italian version is called 'Si'. 

This completes all the versions Cinquetti recorded. A Finnish version, entitled 'Niin', was recorded by Lea Laven. Who knows, that single might appear on this blog someday too.

My collection: 7" single no. 6653
Found: Discogs.com, received 12 March 2022
Cost: €4
Tracks: 'Si' / 'El Papagayo'

Jennifer Jennings - Louis Neefs

I was reading an article about Louis Neefs a little while ago, and I found out that he recorded his song 'Jennifer Jennings' in several languages, including Spanish. I remembered that I had bought a Spanish pressing of this song last year, but I never gave it a second thought. As it turns out, that single actually contains the Spanish version of 'Jennifer Jennings'!

Perhaps I should have known, because the B-side is called 'Te quiero (I love you)', whereas the B-side of the original single of 'Jennifer Jennings' is called 'Vanessa (I love you)'. Anyway, finding out that I owned something I didn't know about was a pleasant surprise.

My collection: 7" single no. 6430
Found: Discogs.com, received 11 August 2021
Cost: £3.99
Tracks: 'Jennifer Jennings' / 'Te quiero (I love you)'