夢見る想い (Yumemiru omoi [Non ho l'età]) - Gigliola Cinquetti

Japanese versions of Eurovision songs, performed by the original artist, are a rarity in themselves. I don't know if there are more, but I was aware of Gigliola Cinquetti's version for quite some time now. However, I never thought that I would own a copy! Much to my satisfaction, I found a copy online for a reasonable price from a Japanese seller, and since I could combine it with this single by Marco Polo and the Japanese single of 'Non ho l'eta' (the original Italian version, which was also released in Japan apparently) it worked out quite well. 

'夢見る想い' or 'Yumemiru omoi' was translated by Japanese lyricist Hiroshi Arakawa (Real name 牧野 剛 or Makino Gou). Quite how young Cinquetti managed to pronounce the Japanese I don't know. Perhaps the lyrics were written down for her phonetically. Anyway, it is a very nice rarity. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6408
Found: Discogs.com, 19 June 2021
Cost: ¥1,590
Tracks: '夢見る想い (Yumemiru omoi [Non ho l'età])' / 'Penso alle cose perdute'

E7 - Emiliana Torrini

Another single in the series of eight, featuring remixes of Emiliana Torrini's songs on her album 'Love in the time of science'. Nothing wrong with a bit of experimentation, of course, but again I find myself wondering if these tracks bear any resemblance to those songs at all. Getting the eight singles together is a challenge itself, but listening to them all is another challenge altogether...

The remixes are provided by Immense and Fonn. According to Discogs, Immense is a collaboration between Dave Collingwood, Mark Toghill, Matt Wiltshire, Patrick Case and Tom Davies, whereas Fonn is a stage name for a certain James McKechan (although a picture shows six people - quite a mystery there). 

My collection: 7" single no. 6402
Found: Discogs.com, received 16 June 2021
Cost: 4 pounds
Tracks: 'Easy (Immense remix)' / 'To be free (Fonn remix)'

Les amours oubliées - Michèle Arnaud

The very first Eurovision Song Contest was won by Lys Assia, but there were other contestants too, of course. Not all of the songs were released on single, but Michèle Arnaud's two songs from that edition appear on this EP. Representing Luxembourg, she performed 'Ne crois pas' and 'Les amants de minuit'. Since only the winner was announced in 1956, we'll never know what the juries thought of these two songs. 

It wasn't the only 'first' in her career: on 11 July 1962, she appeared in the first-ever live television transmission via satellite from France to the United States. Because of the orbital path of the newly launched American satellite, Telstar, the program lasted only twenty minutes. Also appearing that evening was Yves Montand.

My collection: 7" single no. 6411
Found: Discogs.com, received 23 June 2021
Cost: 5 euro
Tracks: 'Les amours oubliées', 'Les amants de minuit' / 'Ne crois pas', 'Les mots qu'on vous dit à l'oreille'

C'est pour demain - Sandra & Andres

I already had three singles by Sandra & Andres and they are all the same song. It's their Eurovision Song Contest entry for 1972: 'Als het om de liefde gaat'. The duo recorded the song in several different languages. I already owned the German and English versions, but recently I was fortunate enough to also find the French version.

It's interesting that the sleeve of this single differs a lot from the three others. It looks like this will be the last Sandra & Andres single I buy, since I don't know any other versions of this song. But who knows, I might be surprised.

My collection: 7" single no. 6409
Found: Discogs.com, received 22 June 2021
Cost: 5 euro
Tracks: 'C'est pour demain' / 'Dans chaque mélodie'

Dschingis Khan - Marco Polo

The band Dschingis Khan had considerable success with their 1979 Eurovision entry Dschingis Khan - even if it seemed a bit tasteless for a German band to go to Israel to sing a song about a mass murderer. But there was also another band who recorded the track. Confusingly, that band was named Marco Polo and all their singles were released in Japan only. It remains unclear whether 'Marco Polo' was a German band, although it seems to be the case. 

The track appears in two versions on this single: in English and in German. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6406
Found: Discogs.com, received 19 June 2021
Cost: ¥290
Tracks: 'Dschingis Khan [English version]' / 'Dschingis Khan (German version)'

E4 - Emiliana Torrini

Eight singles with remixes of Emiliana Torrini songs sounds like a good proposition, but when you expect all remixes to be great, this single will come as a disappointment. At least it did for me. The tracks have strange names and the sounds coming from these grooves are even stranger. 

I wonder why some remixers feel it's okay to create something that has absolutely nothing in common with the original tracks? At least back in the 1970's and 1980's, extended remixes were just that: extended versions of songs you knew and loved. By the end of the 1980's, some remixers started experimenting and this single is perhaps the worst example of such practices. Shame on Antenna Farm and Motion, I say.

My collection: 7" single no. 6404
Found: Discogs.com, received 18 June 2021
Cost: 4 pounds
Tracks: 'Ambush Emiliana (Antenna Farm remix)' / 'Tracking Misalignment (Motion remix)'

Η Αγαπη Ακομα Ζει - Stavros & Dina

Cyprus was represented by the duo Stavros & Dina, singing 'Η Αγαπη Ακομα Ζει' ('I agapi akoma zi'), a plea for unity and peace on a folk-inspired musical backing. 

Stavros Sideras is a successful singer/songwriter, having been awarded two platinum and three gold albums during her career. Dina (a.k.a. Constantina) is equally successful - her career actually started with this Eurovision appearance but she's released more than 20 albums since then.

My collection: 7" single no. 6405
Found: Discogs.com, received 18 June 2021
Cost: 4 euro
Tracks: 'Η Αγαπη Ακομα Ζει' / 'Love is still alive'

Twilight zone / When the lady smiles - Golden Earring

The annual Record Store Day is a feast for collectors and those who sell items on for ridiculous amounts of money on Ebay. But sometimes there are some scraps for casual buyers like me. I found not one, but about twenty copies of this Record Store Day release last week. Apparently a limited edition of 3000 copies on yellow vinyl was more than enough to satisfy everyone in the Netherlands.

I already had the single 'Twilight zone' already - I bought it back in 1982 - but the single 'When the lady smiles', which appears on the other side of this release, was still missing. That single became a classic for its controversial music video, although 'controversial' couldn't apply to a music video like that nowadays. Violence and nudity have become regular ingredients in music videos these days.

My collection: 7" single no. 6398
Found: 33|45 Records, Den Haag, 12 June 2021
Cost: 10 euro
Tracks: 'Twilight zone' / 'When the lady smiles'

E6 - Emiliana Torrini

When I discovered these singles by Emiliana Torrini I was lucky enough to find an online seller who had five singles of the eight in the series. Unfortunately, one of them went missing, but he still sent me four of them. This number six contains another two remixes from her 1999 album 'Love in the time of science'.

Foehn is the working alias of Bristol-based Debbie Parsons. She's released three albums between 1998 and 2000 and a few self-released tracks more recently. Chasm is Robert Hampson, who to date has only released on 12" single himself.

My collection: 7" single no. 6401
Found: Discogs.com, received 16 June 2021
Cost: 4 pounds
Tracks: 'Wednesday's child (Foehn remix)' / 'Dead things (Skywave) (Chasm remix)'

E3 - Emiliana Torrini

This single has no indication of track names, or artist name: it just says 'E3' on the sleeve, and that's all. I would never have bought this single in a shop, but in the online world, things are different. I discovered this single, along with seven others, on Discogs as a release by Emiliana Torrini. Apparently these singles were released in October 2000, a year after the release of her remarkable album 'Love in the time of science', which was produced by Tears for Fears' Roland Orzabal.

Each of these singles contain two remixes of tracks from that album. The remixes are sometimes reminiscent of the original tracks, sometimes they can't be recognized. These two fall in the second category.

My collection: 7" single no. 6400
Found: Discogs.com, received 16 June 2021
Cost: 4 pounds
Tracks: 'Wednesday's child (Professor Ludlow & Dr. Smith remix)' / 'Love in the time of science (Stromba remix)'

Anna-Marie Elena - Andy Paul

The singer/songwriter Andy Paul immigrated from Cyprus to the UK in the early Sixties. He was influenced by artists like Elvis, Cliff Richard, Tom Jones and Engelbert Humperdinck. He won a talent contest imitating his childhood idol Elvis and got a recording contract on the strength of this. 

In 1984 he was asked to represent Cyprus with the song 'Anna-Marie Elena', a song he wrote himself. The song ended up in 15th place in a field of 19 contestants. The recordings on this single were produced by Pete Waterman, while the English version of this song was translated by Matt Aitken. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6399
Found: Discogs, received 16 June 2021
Cost: 5 euro
Tracks: 'Anna-Marie Elena (English version)' / 'Anna-Marie Elena (Greek version)'

Female intuition / Body and soul - Mai Tai

Another re-release single by Mai Tai, also released by SMG last year, this time on purple vinyl. 

'Female intuition' reached number 9 in the Dutch Top 40 and number 54 in the UK in early 1986, whereas 'Body and soul' reached number 9 in the UK in the summer of 1985 and number 31 in the Dutch Top 40 near the end of 1984. 

Mai Tai fell apart in the 1980's but they had several reunions. They are actually performing live this December - Covid permitting - but the days of them having chart hits will probably never return.

My collection: 7" single no. 6397
Found: 33|45 Records, Den Haag, 12 June 2021
Cost: 10 euro
Tracks: 'Female intuition' / 'Body and soul'

History / Am I losing you forever - Mai Tai

Although this single features two tracks that I already own on 7" single, I still couldn't resist buying this. It is actually a recent re-release and pressed on orange vinyl. Nice bonus on this single: 'Am I losing you forever' appears in the full length version, instead of the single edit. 

The SMG label (Suburban Music Group, apparently) specializes in releasing 7" singles of old hits, and so far they have released singles by Petula Clark, Gerard Joling and Hardwell - not very interesting for me despite the fact that those singles were also pressed on various colours of vinyl.

But as you know, I usually only buy singles with songs I like, and so this one did make the cut. Both 'History' and 'Am I losing you forever' were released in 1985 and reached number 22 and 27 in the Dutch Top 40 respectively. In the UK, 'History' reached number 8, while 'Am I losing you forever' only got to number 78.

My collection: 7" single no. 6396
Found: 33|45 Records, Den Haag, 12 June 2021
Cost: 10 euro
Tracks: 'History' / 'Am I losing you forever'

Oui, oui, oui, oui - Sacha Distel

The sleeve of this single proclaims that 'Oui, oui, oui, oui' is a song from the Eurovision Song Contest 1959, and that is correct - however, on the Eurovision stage this song was performed by Jean Philippe, not Sacha Distel. However, Distel recorded this song, presumably to profit from the Contest's popularity at the time. After all, the song ended up in a respectful third place at the time.

There's another remarkable thing about this EP: although 'Oui, oui, oui, oui' is listed as the first song, it is actually on the B-side of this EP. There are more cover versions on the EP: 'Dis! O Dis!' is a cover version of 'Everybody loves a lover', a hit for Doris Day in 1958, and 'Oh! Quelle Nuit' is a version of 'Lonesome me', which was released by Don Gibson, also in 1958. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6395
Found: 33|45 Records, Den Haag, 12 June 2021
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'Dis! O Dis!', 'Quand Tu Es Partie...' / 'Oui, oui, oui, oui', 'Oh! Quelle nuit'

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'

I cried - The Wilde Three

Nothing, but nothing makes me happier than getting my hands on an ultra rare single. And this is certainly a good example. A year ago, I was happy to finally find Since you've gone, the first single by the Wilde Three. Their second release was to be their last: 'I cried' was released on 10 September 1965, five months after their first single. 

Four months after that, Justin Hayward released his debut solo single, the self-penned 'London is behind me'. He joined the Moody Blues and the rest became history. Meanwhile, Marty carved out a career as a songwriter - and a pretty successful one at that - and of course made a pop star of his daughter in the 1980's. The Wilde Three was a shortlived project, and only released four songs, but they are an essential piece of music history - and I am very glad to finally have these two discs.

My collection: 7" single no. 6393
Found: Discogs.com, received 10 June 2021
Cost: enough
Tracks: 'I cried' / 'Well who's that'

Printemps (Avril Carillonne) - Jean-Paul Mauric

When a song starts with 'Bing et bong et bing et bong' you know you're in for something interesting. This is how Jean-Paul Mauric started his song 'Printemps (Avril Carillonne)' in 1961 at the Eurovision Song Contest. Mauric was born on 17 June 1933 and started his career in music in 1957 after winning a talent contest. He released a series of EP's and was chosen to represent France in 1961. 

The lyric of 'Bing et bong et bing et bong...' is often cited as setting a precedent which would become very prolific in later Eurovisions. He ended up in fourth place in a field of 16 competitors. Although he released less records in the 1960's he still performed live a lot, until he was taken ill in December 1970.
On 5 January 1971 he died from complications of cardiomyopathic disease, aged just 37. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6392
Found: Ebay
Cost: 4 euro
Tracks: Printemps (Avril Carillonne), Tendresse / C'est Joli La Mer, Les filles du midi

Summer is over - Aylin Vatankoş

It would be nice to see Turkey back in Eurovision, because they usually managed to enter with remarkable songs. That said, it would be nice if Turkey wasn't led by a maniac, but let's not go into politics here. 'Yaz Bitti' was Turkey's song for the 1992 edition and it's a relatively traditional ballad. 

Aylin Vatankoş was born in 1970 in Izmir and studied music in Istanbul. She represented her country in 1992 and ended up in 19th place in a field of 23 competitors. Her music career continued after this adventure: she released two albums, in 1995 and 2010. 

This single was released by the Belgian record company Madierpo, which specialized in releasing Eurovision songs throughout the 1990's. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6391
Found: Bea Records, received 27 May 2021
Tracks: 'Summer is over' / 'Yaz bitti'

S.O.S. - Helen Patroklou

Two songs from the 1991 Eurovision Song Contest really made a big impression on me, and they were not the two songs that were competing for the win that year. Instead, I focused on the two Greek songs: 'I Anixi' by Sophia Vossou and 'S.O.S.' by Helen Patroklou. Both singles aren't exactly easy to get, but I finally managed to get at least the latter. 

Patroklou was born in Nicosia in 1968. She began her musical career studying guitar and piano when she was just ten years old. She completed her musical studies in Vienna and Cyprus and received her music diploma in 1989. The song 'S.O.S.' earned her ninth place in the Eurovision Song Contest that year, out of 22 competitors.

My collection: 7" single no. 6390
Found:  Bea Records, received 27 May 2021
Tracks: 'S.O.S. (Greek version)' / 'S.O.S. (English version)'

Tell me - Dulce

Dulce José Silva Pontes was born on 8 April 1969 in Montijo, near Lisbon. She trained as a pianist, and started a career in singing after entering a competition in her hometown at the age of 18. She soon became an actress on Portuguese television and theatre. In 1991 she won the national music festival with her song 'Lusitana Paixão', which led her to represent Portugal at the Eurovision Song Contest. She finished 8th in the competition, which is to date the fourth-best finish for a Portuguese performer

Dulce Pontes started her career as a mainstream pop artist, but over the years she has evolved to become a world music singer. She blends traditional fado with contemporary styles and searches out new forms of musical expression. Her career continues to this day.

My collection: 7" single no. 6389
Found: Bea Records, received 27 May 2021
Tracks: 'Tell me' / 'Lusitana Paixão'