Eurovision - Telex

I have a big subcollection of Eurovision singles and within that subcollection there's another subcollection: 12" singles of Eurovision songs. You'd be surprised how many 12" singles of Eurovision songs actually exist, and many have already featured on this blog anyway. But one eluded me, and I consider it the ultimate Eurovision 12" single: it's 'Eurovision' by Telex.

It's quite a rare one, because it was only released in the USA as a promotional disc. But it contains an extended version of that song, and as far as I know this version has never been released anywhere else. I've had to search for this one for quite a long time, and I am really glad to finally have it. Even if I had to have it sent over from Canada!

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: Discogs.com, received 9 March 2024
Tracks: 'Eurovision [extended]' / 'Dance to the music', 'Twist a Saint-Tropez'

Moskow Diskow / Eurovision - Telex

Nothing is more appropriate this month than highlighting that classic Belgian song 'Euro-vision' by Telex. They performed it on the Eurovision stage in The Hague in 1980. I do have the original single, of course, but more recently the track was re-released on a special cover 7" single with the magazine Electronic Sound. That issue - number 74 - is actually a few months old but I only discovered this one recently, and ordered it straight away.

This single presents the English version of 'Euro-vision' together with the track 'Moskow Diskow' on yellow vinyl. The hallucinating sleeve image requires you to look away after a few seconds in order to avoid going crazy - or getting a headache. Other than that, this is a brilliant little collector's item. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6379
Found: Electronic Sound magazine website, received 8 May 2021
Cost: 8 pounds
Tracks: 'Moscow Diskow' / 'Eurovision'

L'amour toujours - Telex

The Belgian synthpop group Telex released their fourth album 'Wonderful world' in 1984. The single 'L'amour toujours', released a year later, was taken from this album. The single wasn't a commercial success for the band.

I didn't know this song when I bought it, I just assumed that it would be just as nice as the other Telex singles I have. And it is.

My collection: 7" single no. 3637

Found: Record fair, Utrecht, April 18, 2009

Cost: 1 euro

Tracks: 'L'amour toujours' / 'I don't like music'

Euro-vision - Telex

When Belgian synthpop group Telex entered the 1980 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, they did so before a stunned audience. They were asked by their manager to enter, and when they did, they performed the song 'Euro-Vision' with just their synthesizers and a perfectly executed song with banal lyrics about the Contest itself.

The audience seemed unsure how to react to the performance. At the end of it, frontman Marc Moulin took a photograph of the bewildered audience. There was mostly stunned silence, with scattered polite applause. The band then walked off amidst sounds of muttering. Apparently the band hoped to come last: 'We had hoped to finish last, but Portugal decided otherwise. We got ten points from them and finished on the 19th spot', said Marc Moulin afterwards.

My collection: 7" single no. 1238

Found: Melody Maker, Den Haag, 1990

Cost: 3 guilders

Tracks: 'Euro-Vision (French version)' / 'Euro-Vision (English version)'

Rock around the clock - Telex

Marc Moulin, Dan Lacksman and Michel Moers formed the Belgian synthpop group in 1978. Their debut single was a stripped-down synthesized cover of 'Twist à St. Tropez' by Les Chats Sauvages. They followed this up with 'Rock around the clock', which would become their only hit in the UK. It reached number 34 in that country in the Summer of 1979.

Like Kraftwerk, Telex built their music entirely from electronic instruments, and the sounds of the two groups have a certain similarity. However, unlike Kraftwerk's studied irony, Telex favour a more joyously irreverent humour.

My collection: 7" single no. 3112

Found: Big Company records, London, May 13, 1999

Cost: 1 pound

Tracks: 'Rock around the clock' / 'Moskow Diskow'

Download: here