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'
