Being one of the biggest names in pop music, you would wish for the Beatles that if they got a musical tribute, it would be a worthy one. 'Beatles', written by Sven Olov Bagge and Claes Bure, was not that song. It was a calculated move by the Swedish band Forbes to use English phrases, motivated by the fact that the 1977 Eurovision Song Contest took place in the United Kingdom.
The audience cheered at the song, but the juries had another opinion. The song finished last, with only two points from West Germany.
At the Swedish singles chart, it peaked at number 3, amazingly.
My collection: 7" single no. 5636 Found: Fun Records, Berlin, received August 29, 2014 Cost: 2 euro Tracks: 'Beatles' / 'Sweet kiss of fire'
Sometimes I buy a single and I can't believe my luck. This EP from 1964 (!) in very good condition and a 'Factory sample - not for sale' sticker on the label appeared in my hands during the recent record fair in Utrecht. I think the dealer didn't know what he was selling, because this EP appears online for a tenner or more.
This 'A Song For Europe' EP was released on the occasion of Matt Monro's appearance in the TV programme of the same name, also known as the national final of the Eurovision Song Contest in the UK. The song that was chosen was 'I love the little things' (track 3 on side A), which ended second in a field of 16 competitors in the Contest that year.
My collection: 7" single no. 5656 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 23, 2014 Cost: 2 euro Tracks: 'Choose', 'It's funny how you know', 'I love the little things' / 'I've got the moon on my side', 'Ten out of ten', 'Beautiful, beautiful'
'Chanteur de charme' ('Crooner') was the French entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1988, performed by Gérard Lenorman.
The song was performed nineteenth on the night. At the close of voting, it had received 64 points, placing 10th in a field of 21 competitors.
As befits the title, the song is a ballad, with Lenorman singing about the subject matter that crooners traditionally sing about. That is to say, he sings about the subject matter itself, rather than singing the type of song usually associated with the style. Indeed, he likens the songs themselves to "these stories of three times nothing, which rhyme badly, which do good" and later adds that "Nothing has ever prevented us from setting to music, those endlessly repeated clichés, romantic feelings" and remarks that his heart "stupidly proposes on the first page of a paper".
My collection: 7" single no. 5648 Found: Discogs.com, received September 11, 2014 Cost: 2 euro Tracks: 'Chanteur de charme' / 'Heureux qui communique'
Although I already own the original version of Stool Pigeon and this remix version, the double pack pictured here looked like an even more attractive package. Regular readers will know that I'm a sucker for limited edition packages, and especially when they are cheap. Well this one was 'two singles for the price of one', and in the second hand market, even less than that.
However, the second single serves only as proof that Kid Creole and the Coconuts are not necessarily an attractive package as a live act. Perhaps the quality of these recordings are to blame, but I find these two tracks rather clunky. Oh well, you can't win them all.
My collection: 7" single no. 5429 Found: unknown Tracks: 'Stool pigeon (remixed version)' / 'In the jungle (remixed version)' // 'He's not such a bad guy (after all) (live version)' / 'There but for the grace of god go I (live version)'
The single Lass die Sonne in dein Herz has appeared on this blog as far back as March 2009, but this copy is quite different from that one. This one is the original German release, probably released right after their triumph in the national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest in 1987. It features the B-side 'Immer dabei' instead of the English version of the A-side song (like on that other copy).
Like I wrote back in 2009, the song was written and composed by longtime Contest contributors for Germany Ralph
Siegel and Bernd Meinunger. It is a reggae-oriented track with a
lyric full of positive platitudes.
My collection: 7" single no. 5604 Found: Chelsea Records, Antwerpen, August 10, 2014 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'Lass die Sonne in dein Herz' / 'Immer dabei'
The title track of Heaven 17's debut album 'Penthouse and pavement' was released as the band's fourth single in 1981. The band never played the songs live until more recent years. Martyn Ware commented about this in 2010: "We absolutely resisted touring. We decided not to tour at all, or
perform. Because Ian and I were members of The Human League, as you
know, we spent two and a half years touring everywhere in Europe and
Britain. And in those days - can you imagine this now? - the record
company were paying quite a lot for tour support to get on big tours. So
we toured twice with Siouxsie & The Banshees and with Pere Ubu,
Iggy Pop, Stranglers, blah, blah, blah. And whilst it got us loads of
coverage in NME and various style magazines, we weren't actually selling
that many albums. (...) By coincidence it was just the start of MTV when we started BEF, and we
thought that was an ideal mechanism for us to service a lot of markets
simultaneously, spending the same amount of money we would have spent on
tour support but instead spending it on videos, which is what we did."
My collection: 7" single no. 5450 Found: unknown Tracks: 'Penthouse and pavement' / 'Penthouse and pavement (instrumental)'
Classic albums come in many shapes and colours, but among them, The Beatles' 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' is especially loved by pop music historians. The album was full of experimentations that were quite innovative in their time.
This single was apparently released in 1987, probably in conjunction with the CD release of the album. (Back then, record companies still released singles to promote products, remember?) The A-side is a double whammy of the title track and 'With a little help from my friends', while the B-side presents arguably the best track from the album.
My collection: 7" single no. 5370
Found: unknown
Tracks: 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band/With a little help from my friends' / 'A day in the life'
In 1977, Switzerland was represented in the Eurovision Song Contest by the Pepe Lienhard Band. It remains the only Swiss entry to have ever reached number 1 in the official Swiss singles chart. It has to be said, the song has aged well, and the B-side of this single isn't half bad either. Another remarkable fact: this single was actually made in Sweden.
The song is about a man from the mountains who plays the alphorn and considers this instrument his "Swiss Lady". The song was performed twelfth on the night. At the close of voting, it had received 71 points, placing 6th in a field of 18 competitors.
My collection: 7" single no. 5662 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 23, 2014 Cost: 2 euro Tracks: 'Swiss lady' / 'Shiny red balloon'
Long before Mia Martini participated in the Eurovision Song Contest with the beautifully depressing 'Rapsodia' (1992), she appeared in 1977 with 'Libera'. At the time, she was arguably Italy's most successful and celebrated female artist, having had a number of hits since 1971. At the close of voting, 'Libera' had received 33 points, placing it 13th in a field of 18 competitors.
Martini recorded five versions of the song; the original ballad version, the disco version, the Spanish 'Libre', the French 'Libre comme une femme' and the English 'Freedom is today', the latter three all with the up-tempo arrangement.
My collection: 7" single no. 5627 Found: Fun Records, Berlin, received August 29, 2014 Cost: 2 euro Tracks: 'Libera' / 'Sognare è vita'
The 'oldies single' was an attractive way to get old songs into your singles collection, back in the Seventies and Eighties. Warner Bros. had an attractive series of such singles, one of which you can see here. The sleeve was always the same: a small photo in the middle and a large logo above, inside a 'jukebox style' sleeve design.
This single presents the 1968 hit single 'Hello I love you' and the 1971 hit single 'Love her madly', both by The Doors. Of course, both these songs are picked rather randomly, although obviously both have been big hits for the band.
My collection: 7" single no. 5390 Found: unknown Tracks: 'Hello I love you' / 'Love her madly'
The singles Honey and Summer (The first time) were reason enough to become curious about Bobby Goldsboro's further output, but his singles are pretty hard to find. When I came across this one, I simply thought it was a good way to hear more from the man.
'Hello summertime' lacks the melancholy atmosphere of the two titles mentioned above, but does offer a rather upbeat melody and carefree lyrics instead. The B-side is even better, because on there, the melancholy feeling is back... just slightly.
My collection: 7" single no. 5398 Found: unknown Tracks: 'Hello summertime' / 'And then there was Gina'
Long before Enya died and her subsequent albums were created by producers in a studio, reusing her vocals time and again, she recorded a self-titled debut album. The album was used as the soundtrack to the BBC documentary series 'The Celts'. The album includes only a portion of the music Enya composed for the documentary series.
Hard to believe, but this single taken from the album sounds rather original. It actually sounds like Enya sang the words herself instead of being pieced together from previously sung vocals. However, the single did not chart. Her next single, 'Orinoco flow' would become a worldwide hit and would later turn out to be the first version of all her subsequent singles.
My collection: 7" single no. 5670
Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 23, 2014
Cost: 0,5 euro
Tracks: 'I want tomorrow' / 'The Celts'
What you find here is the original UK version, featuring 'Play to win' and the instrumental (dub) version 'Play' on the B-side. That B-side is a treat for those who like this quirky electronic track, because it gives you the opportunity to check out all the intricate instrumentation behind a rather flippant and funky track.
My collection: 7" single no. 5400 Found: Record Exchange, London Cost: 10p Tracks: 'Play to win' / 'Play'
Attentive readers of this blog will have seen many entries about Depeche Mode, but one thing was still missing: the band's debut single. I never got round to buying a copy, didn't even know it was missing from my collection in fact. However, I have finally rectified this shortcoming.
Released on February 20, 1981, 'Dreaming of me' only reached number 57 in the UK singles chart and was subsequently not included on the band's debut album 'Speak and spell'. Exactly 30 years after 'Dreaming of me' was first released in the UK, a fan action tried to push the track back into the charts by
way of (legal) online downloads. The action failed except in Germany, where the
track entered the singles charts for the very first time at number 45
giving the band its 47th chart entry.
My collection: 7" single no. 5667
Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 23, 2014
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'Dreaming of me' / 'Ice machine'
Kraftwerk are pioneers of techno pop, and have been responsible for some of the most astonishing records of the Seventies. It's remarkable that they were able to produce music that sounds timeless even now, mostly thanks to the technology that has become mainstream now, but was quite difficult and expensive back then.
The hyphenated title of the album 'Radio-activity' (1976) displays Kraftwerk's typical deadpan humour, being a pun on the twin themes of the songs, half being about radioactivity and the other half about activity on the radio.
More word plays are evident in the track listing: "Radio Stars", which
as a title could refer to pop stars, but upon listening is revealed to
be about quasars and pulsars. The title track was issued as a single and reached number 7 in France and number 31 in Italy - but failed to chart everywhere else.
My collection: 7" single no. 5433 Found: unknown Tracks: 'Radio-activity' / 'Antenna'
Robert Cogoi was born as Mirko Kogoj on October 25, 1939 in Châtelet to Yugoslav parents. In 1961 he picked up a contract with Philips Records, and the following year, won first prize at the Grand Prix International des Variétés at the Casino in Ostend with the song 'Si un jour', which went on to sell 100,000 copies in France, earning Cogoi a gold disc.
In 1964, he represented belgium with 'Près de ma rivière' ('Near my river'). At the close of voting, it had received 2 points, placing 10th in a field of 16 competitors. Cogoi also recorded the song in English, German and Italian language versions, entitled, respectively, 'My River of Memories', 'Weit, da wo der Strom beginnt' and 'Sulla mia riviera'. The English version, however, was not released until nearly 30 years after the Contest.
Cogoi continued releasing albums and singles, with modest success, until the late 1960s. In 1976 he appeared in the Belgian movie 'Les arpents dorés'. After many years out of the public eye, Cogoi made a guest appearance, along with several other former Eurovision participants, at the Belgian Eurovision national final in 2005.
My collection: 7" single no. 5652 Found: Marktplaats.nl, November 5, 2014 Cost: 2 euro Tracks: 'Pres de ma riviere' / 'Quand le jour se leve'
'Only the light', written and composed by Richard Peebles, was the United Kingdom's entry at the 1987 Eurovision Song Contest, performed by Peebles himself, who was credited as Rikki.
Rikki won the right to perform at Brussels by winning the UK national final, A Song for Europe, where he was the first singer to perform.
At the end of judging that evening, 'Only the light' finished on 13th place. It was a huge disappointment to the United Kingdom as it was the lowest placement any of the country's entries had received up to that time.
Like the previous year, a rock song was in the offering, with an unclear theme (it is never explained what "the light" is, what kind of metaphor it is, why "the light" is after him or why he is avoiding it). In the UK singles chart, the single rose no further than to number 96.
My collection: 7" single no. 5632 Found: Fun Records, Berlin, received August 29, 2014 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'Only the light' / 'You came into my life'
Luca Barbarossa is an Italian singer/songwriter who was born on April 15, 1961. He has released 12 albums since 1981, appearing at the prestigious San Remo festival numerous times. In 1988, he was chosen by Italian broadcaster RAI as the representative for Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest, performing the song 'Ti Scrivo'.
The song is a ballad, in which Barbarossa apologises to the recipient of a letter he is writing for using this method of communication. This recipient appears to be a former lover, as he sings that 'Without a good reason / I just scream out your name / It makes me feel alive' and makes mention of deep feelings which needed to be communicated.
At the close of voting, the song had received 52 points, placing 12th in a field of 21 competitors.
My collection: 7" single no. 5631 Found: Fun Records, Berlin, received August 29, 2014 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'Ti scrivo' / 'Da grande'
The band Profil was put together especially for the 1980 Eurovision Song Contest to represent France with the song 'Hé Hé M'sieurs dames' ('Hey hey, Ladies and Gentlemen'). The band members were: Martine Havet, Martine Bauer, Francis Rignault, Jean-Claude Corbel and Jean-Pierre Izbinski. Their song was performed sixteenth on the night. At the close of voting, it had received 45 points, placing 11th in a field of 19 competitors.
This single is one of only three I still needed to complete my collection of singles from the 1980 Eurovision Song Contest. It will be a real feast when I find the last one, 'Huilumies', the song that represented Finland.
My collection: 7" single no. 5647 Found: Discogs.com, received September 11, 2014 Cost: 2 euro Tracks: 'Hé hé m'sieurs dames' / 'Jour de chance'
In 1968, the Netherlands were represented in the Eurovision Song Contest by Ronnie Tober. He sang the song 'Morgen', a ballad in which the singer expresses his desire for "tomorrow" to arrive as soon as possible, enabling him and his wife, who is far away, to be reunited. This is slightly ironic, since Ronnie Tober later turned out to be gayer than Christmas.
The song was performed second on the night. At the close of voting, it had received 1 point, placing 16th (equal last) in a field of 17 competitors. Of course, the next year, the Netherlands would be one of four winners of the Contest, when it was organised in Spain.
My collection: 7" single no. 5594 Found: Marktplaats.nl, August 1, 2014 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'Morgen' / 'Die ouwe pianola'
