With 'T'en vas pas' Esther Ofarim represented Switerland at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1963. I bought the single in January 2020, just before the whole Covid thing had its way with the world.
I didn't know at the time that Ofarim also recorded her song in German. I was happy to find a copy of 'Melodie einer Nacht' along with a few Eurovision CD-singles in the Discogs account of one of my oldest and best known dealers. Here's to good old Bea Records!
Exactly eight months after my last visit to Antwerp's Chelsea Records, I went there again. It's an amazing record store, stacked up to the ceilings with boxes of singles and albums. As usual, I checked out the Eurovision boxes first, and to my delight I found a copy of Esther Ofarim's 'T'en vas pas' within the first two minutes.
Almost three hours later, when the time had come to check out, the shop owner looked at the single and said this was a lovely single, and hard to find. I agreed - I actually bought one online a few months ago but although the sleeve was lovely it contained the wrong single ('Non je regrette rien' by Edith Piaf, to be exact). 'A rewarding visit then', he concluded. And I couldn't agree more.
Ofarim represented Switzerland in 1963 with this song. At the close of the voting, the song had received 40 points, placing 2nd in a field of 16 competitors. The winner that year? 'Dansevise' - admittedly a more legendary Eurovision song.
My collection: 7" single no. 6243 Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, January 24, 2020 Cost: 5 euro Tracks: 'T'en vas pas' / 'La cité de mon coeur'
Esther Ofarim was born as Esther Zaied on June 13, 1941 in Safed, Israel. She met guitarist and dancer Abraham in 1959 and subsequently married him. Together with him, but also without him, she began to sing Hebrew and international folk songs.
'One more dance', a slightly morbid tale of a wife (or daughter, this is not entirely clear) who wants to keep dancing while her 'old man' is dying at home. Released in 1964, this single reached number 7 in the Dutch charts. Four years later, the single also charted in the UK, peaking at number 13.
My wife came home with this single today, and I was really glad to get it - not only for the charming A-side, but also for the B-side, a version of the early 20th century song 'Freight train', which has been recorded by numerous artists.
My collection: 7" single no. 4346 Found: Kringloop, Den Haag, December 12, 2009 Cost: - (present) Tracks: 'One more dance' / 'Freight train'
