Verão - Carlos Mendes

I already owned 'A festa da vida', Carlos Mendes' second Eurovision song from 1972, but six years earlier he represented Portugal for the first time with the song 'Verão'. The song, composed by Pedro Vaz Osório and written by José Alberto Diogo, was about a man with a broken heart who realises that summer is over and he can’t wait until summer starts again. It was a very short song, clocking in at just over two minutes. 

This EP presents three more songs, of which 'I'll get over it' is the most enjoyable. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6766
Found: Discogs.com, received 13 August 2022
Cost: €6
Tracks: 'Verão', 'Nobody wants you when you're down and out' / 'I'll get over it', 'Mensagem'

Ensemble - Ilanit

It's impossible to find copies of Ilanit's two Eurovision songs in Hebrew, so for now I have to be satisfied with versions in other languages, which are sometimes available for more affordable prices. Like for instance this one: 'Ensemble' is the French version of  'Ahava Hi Shir Lishnayim', the song she performed at the 1977 edition when she represented Israel for the second time.

The French translation was contributed by Patrick Loubié, who would also deliver a translation for the Turkish song 'Pet'r Oil' in 1980. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6765
Found: Discogs.com, received 13 August 2022
Cost: €4
Tracks: 'Ensemble' / 'Bon voyage bonne chance'

Dansevise - The Cousins

The Belgian band The Cousins formed in the late Fifties. They started under the name Les jeunes équipes, but inspired by their frequent performances in the dance club Les Cousins ​​near the Brussels Grand-Place, they changed the name to The Cousins. In 1960 the band was discovered by record executive Jean Kluger. They had a big hit that year with 'Kili Watch', which sold a million singles. The success of 'Kili Watch' caused disputes in the band over royalties. After composer Gustave Derese had registered the copyright of the gigantic hit with SABAM, he left the group. He later founded the less successful band The Killy Jacks. 

The Cousins continued their career but couldn't match the success of 'Kili Watch'. In 1963 they released this single, a cover version of the winning song of that year's Eurovision Song Contest, 'Dansevise'. It was an instrumental version. In 1966 the band broke up. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6763
Found: Discogs.com, received 12 August 2022
Cost: €3
Tracks: 'Dansevise' / 'Boomeranga'

Bien plus fort - Tereza

Tereza Ana Kesovija was born on 3 October 1938. She graduated from the flute program at the Zagreb Music Academy, and as a student began appearing in amateur music events. In 1962, shortly after the start of her professional career, she won her first international contest at Saint-Vincent, Italy. After this success, Tereza had a tour in USSR and she recorded one EP with Italian songs for the biggest Russian music company – Melodiya. She spent 1963 and 1964 touring USSR, Poland, Finland, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Norway and Sweden. She also had a lot of TV appearances in these countries. 

In 1965, she moved to France. One year later, she was chosen by Grace Kelly to represent Monaco in the Eurovision Song Contest. Her song was 'Bien plus fort'. She also recorded the song as 'Još Mnogo Jače', in Serbo Croat. I had that version earlier than this original French version - but it's good to finally own it now.

My collection: 7" single no. 6762
Found: Discogs.com, received 12 August 2022
Cost: €6
Tracks: 'Bien plus fort', 'Tu viens de très loin' / 'Demain', 'Et c'est pour toi'

Leila - Seid Memic Vaita

Sometimes it seems like I am buying things multiple times, but this single is a good example how that makes sense. I already own the single 'Leyla' by Vayta, which was released internationally after he represented Yugoslavia at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1981. 

However, in Yugoslavia itself, this single was released. 'Leila' is the original version of the song, which is very different from the Yugoslavian version on that other single. As a bonus, this single features another song by the singer - and a totally different sleeve. This is one of the things that make a Eurovision singles collection so great: there's always something to discover.

My collection: 7" single no. 6689
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 9 April 2022
Cost: €5
Tracks: 'Leila' / 'Covjek bez problema'

Saludos al mundo - Ivan & M's

Seven years ago I got my hands on the original single by 4M, 'Dobar Dan'. Last year, I added an EP featuring four songs from the Eurovision Song Contest 1969, on which that song was presented by the Yugoslavian quartet in Spanish. And now, here's the actual single, released in Spain, with the Spanish version of  'Dobar Dan', entitled 'Saludos al mundo'.

What's interesting about this single, is that the B-side, 'Don Pasquale', was actually recorded in 1964 and released as a title track of an EP in Yugoslavia at the time. The sleeve of this single is in the style of other singles released in Spain at the time of the Eurovision Song Contest 1969, since the event took place in Spain that year.

My collection: 7" single no. 6749
Found: Discogs.com, received 13 July 2022
Cost: €3
Tracks: 'Saludos al mundo' / 'Don Pasquale'

When the boys talk about the girls - Valerie Carr

Valerie Carr was born in 1936. She made her singing debut in the Fifties, recording some singles for the King Records label, until she signed with Roulette in 1958. This single, 'When the boys talk about the girls' peaked at number 19 in the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1958 and number 29 in the UK singles chart. It is a charming little song, which was covered in 1966 by the Shirelles.

I bought this single along with a handful of other ones, but unfortunately this copy is warped. I'll leave it under a stack of heavy books for some time, but in the mean time I found some recordings of both sides so I can still hear these tracks. Buying singles online can be a bit like Russian Roulette sometimes.

My collection: 7" single no. 6746
Found: Discogs.com, received 11 July 2022
Cost: 0 (yep, I got a refund)
Tracks: 'When the boys talk about the girls' / 'Padre'

The winner takes it all - Abba

What can I say about Abba that hasn't been said already a hundred times before? Well, maybe that their "live" show in London is absolutely groundbreaking, but also prohibitively expensive. You would think that once the expenses of creating a purpose-built arena in London have been earned back, the prices for those seat would go down but there is no sign of that happening anytime soon. And so Abba will remain the biggest money-making machine Sweden has ever created (with only the possible exception of Ikea). 'The winner takes it all', indeed. 

This 7" single was released in the GDR, or East-Germany as we would call it back then. We didn't know much about that part of Germany except that it was ruled by communists and that Amiga was their state-controlled record company. Those Amiga Abba-singles have now become a nice little sub-collection for me, and I'm glad to add this one to my already too large Abba collection.

My collection: 7" single no. 6624
Found: Discogs.com, received 29 January 2022
Cost: €2
Tracks: 'The winner takes it all' / 'Elaine'

Falter im Wind - Milestones

The Milestones came together in 1968. The band's original line up was Beatrix Neundlinger, Günter Grosslercher, Robert Unterweger and Rudi Tinsobin. Their first self-titled album was released in 1970. In 1972, just before they were selected to represent Austria at Eurovision, Unterweger and Tinsobin left the band and were replaced by Norbert Niedermeyer and Christian Kolonovits.

Although Austria isn't known for its great Eurovision entries, this certainly can compete with the best of them. The song is tastefully arranged and has rather poetic lyrics. This single was also released in a sort of proto-gatefold sleeve, with one piece of paper folded into another one, with either a photograph of a dog or a photograph of the band appearing in the hole in the middle of the front sleeve. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6760
Found: Discogs.com, received 10 August 2022
Cost: €9
Tracks: 'Falter im Wind' / 'Du schöner Tag'

Chirpy chirpy cheep cheep - Middle of the road

Among my early memories of pop music I find this song, 'Chirpy chirpy cheep cheep' by Middle of the road. Which is odd, considering it was released when I was just a baby. All I know is that my older brother and sister were suitably impressed by this group and they must have played their copies of this single later on in the Seventies.

It took me a while, but I finally bought my own copy. It has to be said that I bought it along with a couple of other single I ordered online - but at the same time, I'm rather glad to have this song because it is a charming little pop song from (gulp) 51 years ago.

My collection: 7" single no. 6758
Found: Discogs.com, recieved 9 August 2022
Cost: €2
Tracks: 'Chirpy chirpy cheep cheep' / 'Rainin' 'n painin''

Love is stronger than death - The The

This single really isn't much to look at, but it does complete the set of singles from the The The album 'Dusk'. As 7" singles became increasingly rare in the Nineties, only 'Dogs Of Lust' got a decent commercial release in the UK. The next single, 'Slow emotion replay' was only ever released as a Spanish promotional 7" single, and this single of 'Love is stronger than death' was released in the USA. 

'Dusk' was the last 'big' album by The The. After the Hank Williams tribute 'Hanky Panky' their contract with the Epic label ended and Matt Johnson devoted himself increasingly to soundtracks and independent releases. Sometimes I wish the days of the 'old' The The could continue.

My collection: 7" single no. 6757
Found: Discogs.com, received 9 August 2021
Cost: €3
Tracks: 'Love is stronger than death' / 'Infected (live)'

Hey hey rise up - Pink Floyd featuring Andriy Khlyvnyuk

In February 2022, the Ukrainian singer Andriy Khlyvnyuk, who had abandoned a US tour by his band BoomBox to serve in the Ukrainian military in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, recorded an a capella version of the first verse of the Ukrainian anthem 'Oh, the Red Viburnum in the Meadow', a Ukrainian patriotic march.Due to the song's association with the Ukrainian people's aspiration for independence, singing of the song was banned during the period in which Ukraine was a Soviet Republic (1919-1991). Nevertheless, it was sung by Ukrainian patriots, with defiance; anyone caught singing it was jailed, beaten, and even exiled.

Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour was shown the Instagram post by the Ukrainian artist Janina Pedan, who is married to his son Charlie, and was inspired to record something in support of Ukraine in the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War. Together with drummer Nick Mason he recorded this track, released as a single to raise money for humanitarian efforts in the region.

This blog is not politically involved, but it does need some clarification that Pink Floyd have always released beautiful music and the fact that they use their name and reputation to raise awareness about this horrible Russian crime - which is still continuing as I'm writing this - is something anyone of sane mind should applaud. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6755
Found: Amazon, received 18 July 2022
Cost: €8
Tracks: 'Hey hey rise up' / 'A great day for freedom 2022'

If we only have love - Paul Andrews

Who is Paul Andrews? Try as you might, you will not get an answer to this question, because the web lists a lot of Paul Andrews-es, but not this one. He released two singles: 'My Girl Maria' (1970) and this one, 'If we only have love' (1972), a cover version of Jacques Brel's 'Quand On N'a Que L'amour'.

But it's the B-side I was really interested in: it features a cover version of Marty Wilde's song 'Lullaby', which appeared on his 1969 album 'Diversions'. That album is fabulous and 'Lullaby' is one of the more gentle and touching tracks on it. This single was released in Angola, and so this marks the first time I ever bought a single that was pressed in that country. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6750
Found: Discogs.com, received 13 July 2022
Cost: €8
Tracks: 'If we only have love' / 'Lullaby'

Moitié-moitié - Carol Rich

The synthesizer became increasingly popular during the Eighties, and although it took a little while, the Eurovision Song Contest also caught on. During the second half of the decade many entries were so synth-heavy that the records almost couldn't cope with the walls of sound that were built. And this single is a good example.

Anne-Lyse Caille (stage name: Carol Rich) represented Switzerland in 1987 with a song called 'Moitié-moitié', which means either 'so so', 'half half' or 'fifty-fifty'. It highlights the good and bad aspects of love. All the synthesizers couldn't really help the song: it ended up in 17th place in a field of 22 competitors.

My collection: 7" single no. 6756
Found: Ebay, received 21 July 2022
Cost: €6
Tracks: 'Moitié-moitié' / 'Fou dans la tête'

The first day of love - Anne-Karine

Norway was an unlucky country when they participated in the Eurovision Song Contest. Although they started competing in 1960, their songs only made it to the top 3 once, in 1966. But they kept on trying, and by 1974 they depended on one man for their success: Arne Bendiksen delivered the majority of their songs during the 1970s. 

Anne-Karine Strøm was one of the Bendik Singers, who performed 'It's just a game' in 1973, and in 1974 she was back as a solo artist (with the other three members acting as her backing singers!). 'The first day of love' was performed in English.

My collection: 7" single no. 6754
Found: Discogs.com, received 15 July 2022
Cost: €4
Tracks: 'The first day of love' / 'Harmony'

Der Sommer ging vorüber - Grethe & Jørgen Ingmann

When Grethe & Jørgen Ingmann won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1963 with 'Dansevise', it was the first time a Scandinavian country went away with the prize. The duo recorded two versions of their song in other languages: 'I loved you' in English and this one, 'Der Sommer ging vorüber' in German.

It's interesting that only the German version came with a colour picture sleeve. The B-side is a cover of the song 'The end of the world', written by Sylvia Dee and Arthur Kent and originally recorded by Skeeter Davis.

My collection: 7" single no. 6752
Found: Discogs.com, received 15 July 2022
Cost: €4
Tracks: 'Der Sommer ging vorüber' / 'Das Ende der Welt'