L'amour est bleu - Vicky Leandros

Having already bought 'L'amour est bleu' and 'A taste of Vicky', I thought I had a pretty decent selection of Japanese singles of this song, but it turns out there was one more: this re-release from 1980 featuring Vicky's Eurovision song and a cover version in French of Mary Hopkin's 'Those were the days'. 

It's interesting that even this single doesn't complete the collection: these two tracks were originally released on a Japanese single in 1971. Something tells me that version will land in my collection pretty soon as well.

My collection: 7" single no. 7154
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 13 April 2024
Tracks: 'L'amour est bleu' / 'Les temps des fleurs'

L'amour est bleu / A taste of Vicky - Vicky Leandros

I already had the Japanese single of Vicky Leandros' 'L'amour est bleu', but it turns out that the Japanese also released this EP, entitled 'A taste of Vicky'. Unusually for a Japanese single, it is presented in a regular sleeve instead of the company sleeve with a separate piece of paper to accompany it - if you've seen them you know what I mean. 

What's interesting about this EP is that it adds a track in Japanese and a cover of the familiar Bee Gees hit 'Massachusetts'. And of course, there is the attraction of it being a pretty rare Japanese disc.

My collection: 7" single no. 6726
Found: Discogs.com, received 11 June 2022
Cost: £5
Tracks: 'L'amour est bleu', 'Le soleil a quitté ma maison' / 'Machi-Kutabireta Nochiyobi', 'Massachusetts'

Μόνο Εσύ (Apres Toi) - Βίκυ (Vicky Leandros)

'Après toi' was the song that gave Vicky Leandros victory at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1972. She represented Luxembourg, but she was actually from Greece. No wonder, then, that she also recorded her song in Greek. A copy of that single, made in Greece, finally arrived on my doorstep. Μόνο Εσύ actually means 'Only you', which is an indication that the Greek lyrics differ from the original French version.

Other versions of the song are 'Come what may', 'Dann kamst du', 'Dopo te', as well as Spanish and Japanese versions, which may one day be mine as well. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6681
Found: Discogs.com, received 8 April 2022
Cost: €8
Tracks: 'Μόνο Εσύ (Apres Toi)' / 'Αναμνήσεις (Wenn Die Sehnsucht Nicht War)'

Blau wie das Meer (L'amour est bleu) - Vicky

Vicky Leandros represented Luxembourg in 1967 with 'L'amour est bleu'. The song became a worldwide hit, also thanks to the version by Paul Mauriat, 'Love is blue'. However, Vicky herself also recorded an English version of her song, which was entitled 'Colours of love'. 

This single presents yet another version of the same song: 'Blau wie das Meer' is a German translation of 'L'amour est bleu', released to cater to the Central European market. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6668
Found: Discogs.com, received 26 March 2022
Cost: €3
Tracks: 'Blau wie das Meer (L'amour est bleu)' / 'Nie mehr scheint mir die Sonne so hell (Le soleil a quitté ma maison)'

Auntie - Hildegard Knef, Enrico Macias, Sandra & Andres, Alice Babs, Demis Roussos, Vicky Leandros

'Auntie' is a song released by Philips Records in 1972 to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the BBC. It is named after the affectionate nickname for the corporation, and featured artists from six countries. The singers are Hildegard Knef, Enrico Macias, Sandra & Andres, Alice Babs, Demis Roussos and Vicky Leandros. The composer is Dutch musician Hans van Hemert. 

Though the single peaked at number four in the Netherlands and number five in Greece, it failed to chart in the United Kingdom. Critics observed similarities between Van Hemert's 'Auntie' composition and 'Those were the days', a 1968 hit by Mary Hopkin. In turn, the Belgian entry to the 1979 Eurovision Song Contest - 'Hey nana' by Micha Marah - was accused of plagiarising the song 'Auntie'. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6648
Found: Record fair, Rotterdam, 5 March 2022
Cost: €1
Tracks: 'Auntie' / 'Auntie (instrumental version)'

Dopo te (Après toi) - Vicky Leandros

Vicky Leandros recorded 'Après toi', the song with which she represented Luxembourg at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1972 - and won, in German as 'Dann kamst du' and in English as 'Come what may'. It's no surprise, then, that there are more international versions of this song. Recently I managed to buy the Italian version: 'Dopo te'.

There are also versions in Spanish, Greek and even Japanese - who knows, if I can find a copy for a reasonable price, those will also appear on this blog sometime. For now, though, this beautiful version in a pretty well preserved sleeve can be shown here now.

My collection: 7" single no. 6627
Found: Discogs.com, received 3 February 2022
Cost: €7
Tracks: 'Dopo te (Après toi)' / 'Il principe'

L'amour est bleu - Vicky

Vicky Leandros was just 17 when she was offered to represent Luxembourg at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1967 with 'L'amour est bleu'. The song eventually finished in fourth place, but became a classic despite not winning - a fate shared with songs like 'Volare' and 'Eres tu'. 

For the longest time I have been searching for a copy of the single but it is very hard to find - if you're not willing to pay an unreasonable price. So imagine my surprise when I recently stumbled on a Japanese pressing of this single for just £3.99! You would even think it was a bad copy, but both the disc and the sleeve are in pristine condition. Add to that the fact that I really love Japanese singles, and you can imagine that I am pretty happy with this single.

My collection: 7" single no. 6447
Found: Discogs.com, received 9 September 2021
Cost: £3.99
Tracks: 'L'amour est bleu' / 'Le soleil a quitte ma maison'

Colours of love - Vicky Leandros

Back in 1967, Vicky Leandros competed in the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time. She was just seventeen years old at the time, but had already released her first album, 'Songs Und Folklore' in October 1966. Although she lived in Germany since she was eight (having been born on the Greek island Corfu) she was asked to represent Luxembourgh with the song 'L'amour est bleu'. 

It's not easy to find a copy of that song on a single for a reasonable price, however I did recently buy a copy of the English version of that song. 'Colours of love' was released in the UK only (as far as I know) in a record company sleeve only. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6394
Found: Discogs.com, received 10 June 2021
Cost: 3 euro
Tracks: 'Colours of love' / 'Who can tell'

Dann kamst du (Apres toi) - Vicky Leandros

Vicky Leandros won the 1972 Eurovision Song Contest with Après toi. Just four months ago I found the English version, Come what may, and I mentioned in passing that I still had to find the Italian, German, Spanish, Greek and Japanese versions.

Well, obviously, from the five, the German version is the easiest one to track down, since German singles are regularly offered on the internet and record fairs. 'Dann kamst du' turned up on the recent record fair in Utrecht, and in a mint picture cover too.

My collection: 7" single no. 5745
Found: Record fair, Utrecht, April 11, 2015
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Dann kamst du (Après toi)' / 'Alles, was ich hab'

...

Come what may - Vicky Leandros

Vicky Leandros competed in the 1972 Eurovision Song Contest for Luxembourg with Apres toi. The single was a big hit in Europe, and even managed to chart in the UK. This was helped by the fact that Leandros recorded an English version of her song, entitled 'Come what may'. It appears on this single, along with another English-language track on the B-side.

She turned out to be quite the language wizard, as she also recorded the song in Italian ('Dopo te'), German ('Dann kamst du'), Spanish ('Y despues'), Greek ('Mono esi') and Japanese ('Omoide ni ikiru'). I'm still looking for those singles, though...

My collection: 7" single no. 5598
Found: Discogs.com, received August 5, 2014
Cost: 2 pounds
Tracks: 'Come what may' / 'Takes a little time'

Après toi - Vicky Leandros

Vicky Leandros was born as Vassiliki Papathanasiou on August 23, 1949. In 1958 her parents took her to Germany where she stayed with her father permanently after her parents' divorce. She revealed her talent at a young age while taking guitar, music, dance, ballet and singing lessons. In 1967 she received an offer to sing for Luxembourg at the Eurovision Song Contest with the song 'L'amour est bleu'. She finished in fourth place but the song became one of the biggest worldwide hits of the year and was covered by many artists.

In 1972 she represented Luxembourg at Eurovision for the second time and won the contest with the song 'Après toi'. It became a number one hit in the Netherlands. Translated into English as 'Come what may' it was also a big hit in the UK reaching number 2 on the charts. Leandros recorded the song in seven languages.

My collection: 7" single no. 3401

Found: Geest, Den Haag, 2001

Cost: 1 guilder

Tracks: 'Après toi' / 'La poupée, le prince et la maison'