Biały Krzyż - Czerwone gitary

Although most Polish singles I've posted here are from the Eighties, here is something from the Sixties. Czerwone gitary is a Polish rock/pop band, founded in 1965, which had its biggest outside success in the German Democratic Republic. In Poland known as Czerwone Gitary (Red Guitars), they performed numerous songs in German as well and consequently released them using a German name, Rote Gitarren. 

'Biały Krzyż' was released in 1968. Back then the band consisted of Seweryn Krajewski (guitar, keyboards, lead vocals), Bernard Dornowski (guitar, vocals), Jerzy Skrzypczyk (drums, vocals) and Krzysztof Klenczon (guitar, harmonica). Remarkably, their last album was released in 2015 and they are still touring.

My collection: 7" single no. 6837
Found: Received 7 January 2023
Tracks: 'Biały Krzyż' / 'Deszcz Jesienny'

Szklana pogoda - Lombard

Lombard is another Polish band that has appeared on this blog before. Last month, it was their single 'Adriatyk, ocean gorący', and this time it's 'Szklana pogoda', also released in 1983 but not included on the album 'Wolne Od Cła'. This is perhaps explained by the fact that this single was released on the Polskie Nagrania label, whereas their other output appeared on Tonpress. But how am I to know... 

Anyway, 'Szklana pogoda' sounds very much like a new wave track, with synths and guitars fighting for your attention. It's an attractive slice of Eighties pop.

My collection: 7" single no. 6836
Found: Received 7 January 2023
Tracks: 'Szklana pogoda' / 'Kto Mi Zapłaci Za Łzy'

Przytul mnie - Kombi

The band Kombi has appeared on this blog before, with the single 'Linia Życia' from 1983. It certainly sounded good, and this single, released in 1980, is another good example of what this Polish band is capable of. 

'Przytul mnie' ('Hug me') comes with sultry male vocals, something you might expect after reading the title. The music sounds like it is inspired by funk and disco. When you turn over the disc, you suddenly get a piece that leans more toward glam rock. And so my estimation would be that Kombi is an inspired band, offering a wide spectrum of music. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6835
Found: Received 7 January 2023
Tracks: 'Przytul mnie' / 'Hotel twoich snów'

Krach - 2 plus 1

2 plus 1 were known as the "Polish Abba". They formed in the early Seventies and continued making music for decades in varying formations. Their music even reached other territories, which certainly during the Seventies and Eighties was not something that happened often to Polish bands. 

When you listen to this single, 'Krach', released in 1983, it's easy to see why: they created an infectious blend of disco and new wave - even if they came from folk rock beginnings. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6834
Found: Received 7 January 2023
Tracks: 'Krach' / 'XXI wiek'

Od Rana Mam Dobry Humor - Maria Jeżowska

Born in 1960, Maria Jeżowska graduated from the the Faculty of Popular Music of the Academy of Music in Katowice under the direction of Krystyna Prońko. In 1978 she won the ZAKR award at the Festival of Soviet Song in Zielona Góra. In 1979, she participated with the song ´Nutka w nutkę´ in the "Premier" competition at the 17th National Festival of Polish Song in Opole, where she received a distinction for "an interesting interpretation of the songs performed". 

After this success, she released her self-titled debut album in 1981. From this album, the single 'Od rana mam dobry humor' ('In the morning I have a good mood') was taken. It certainly sounds like an upbeat song. Look out for the very nice instrumental solo!

My collection: 7" single no. 6833
Found: Received 7 January 2023
Tracks: 'Od Rana Mam Dobry Humor' / 'Reggae O Pierwszych Wynalazcach'

PePe Wróć - Perfect

The band Perfect is probably already familiar for the most avid readers of this blog, since I featured their singles Chcemy Być Sobą and Zamieniam Się W Psa here a month ago. This single, 'PePe Wróć' does not come close to their best track, 'Bla bla bla', but it's still a good piece of rock. 

It was released in 1982, between the other two singles mentioned above. The title means 'Pepe come back'. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6832
Found: Received 7 January 2023
Tracks: 'PePe Wróć' / 'Opanuj Się'

Funky 608 D - Krzak

At the end of November I received a stack of singles from Poland from my friend Mat. A week ago I was surprised yet again with even more treats from behind the iron curtain. At least, that's how we, in western Europe, described all the countries east of Germany back in the Eighties.

All the names in this batch will be familiar for those who kept an eye on Polish pop, but for me, each and every single was a new discovery - and in most cases, a very pleasant discovery. Take for instance Krzak, described on Discogs as "a phenomenon on a global scale". A band playing instrumental music, it was one of the most popular rock groups in Poland of the early Eighties. This single, 'Funky 608 D' was released in 1980 and will certainly delight you - the B-side perhaps even more than the A-side.

My collection: 7" single no. 6831
Found: Received 7 January 2023
Tracks: 'Funky 608 D' / 'Kołysanka Dla Maciusia'

Boosh - Whelan & Di Scala (Da Mode)

'Running Up That Hill' was a big hit last Summer as a result of the Netflix series 'Stranger Things', which featured the song quite prominently. It certainly did wonders for the exposure of Kate Bush to younger generations. Of course, most older people were already familiar with the singer and the song. 

Even in 2006, the song was picked up by a young duo. Dave Whelan and Mike Di Scala took it upon themselves to make a remix of 'Running Up That Hill'. They titled it 'Boosh' and released it on a one track 12" single (the other side remained blank). 

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: Discogs.com, received 11 June 2022
Track: 'Boosh'

Here again - Mighty high

Few will have missed the resurgence of Kate Bush last year, because she went number 1 in several countries with 'Running Up That Hill', all because of a certain Netflix series. But Kate Bush has always been around, ever since she debuted with 'Wuthering Heights' in 1978 and the follow-up single 'The Man With The Child In His Eyes'. 

It is that latter song that has been remixed by Mighty High some time around 2010. I bought the 12" single, which was released unofficially, last year, but for some reason it didn't appear on this blog yet. As I am rectifying that, it's a good chance to listen to this interesting version of a classic song.

My collection: 12" single [unnumbered]
Found: Discogs.com, received 11 June 2022
Tracks: 'Here again (vocal mix)' / 'Here again (dub mix)'

Giving you the best that I got - Anita Baker

Anita Baker's 'Sweet love' is a beautiful soul song, and after I bought it I came across this limited edition box set, released some time after that single. The box set only included the single and a poster, which made you think a poster sleeve could also have been an option - but perhaps a box set made more of an impression in the UK stores in 1988. 

The song itself is, unfortunately, not as good as 'Sweet love'. At least, that's what I think. I've had this set for a few decades now but I am letting go of it, along with a handful of other singles. If you're interested, check out my Discogs inventory. 

My collection: 7" single no. 2454
Found: Record fair, Leiden, 2 September 1995
Tracks: 'Giving you the best that I got' / 'Good enough'

Et bonjour à toi l'artiste - Nicole Rieu

Back in November 2014, I bought 'Et bonjour à toi l'artiste', the French Eurovision entry from 1975 by Nicole Rieu. As I wrote back then, she recorded her song in no less than six languages. One of these was Japanese. 

'Soyokaze no okurimono' appears on the B-side of this Japanese single. Normally it is prohibitively expensive to order Japanese singles because of the postage costs involved, but I found this copy on Discogs from a French seller. That made it a lot easier to decide to buy this one. After all, we don't hear Eurovision songs in Japanese often enough. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6830
Found: Discogs.com, received 5 January 2023
Tracks: 'Et bonjour à toi l'artiste' / 'Et bonjour à toi l'artiste [Japanese version]'

Oração - António Calvário

Most people would think that the first ten years of the Eurovision Song Contest were pretty dull. Well, except my father, who thought that all the music made after the 1950's was bad. I grew to appreciate the music of the Fifties and Sixties later in life, and I have grown a pretty impressive Eurovision collection of singles as you can see on this blog. 

A recent acquisition is this Portuguese song from 1964. António Calvário sang 'Oração' ('Prayer') and recorded an EP with three more songs. Like most Portuguese songs, it didn't win but ended up in 13th place among 16 participants. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6829
Found: Discogs.com, received 4 January 2023
Tracks: 'Oração', 'Notre dame d'amour' / 'Alma de boémio', 'Tricana'

I am not afraid - Black / Angel eyes (Home and away) - Wet wet wet

This single represents the last Italian promo featuring a song by Black, completing my series of three. It was released in 1987 when a little UK band called Wet wet wet were making a name for themselves with the track 'Angel eyes (Home and away)', which I consider to be a terrible song because of those weird vocals. 

As for 'I am not afraid' by Black, the track is, of course, called 'I'm not afraid', but what's interesting about this single, is that the label says it has a duration of 3 minutes and 30 seconds, whereas in reality the track goes on for the full five minutes. That is a good thing, of course, because the single edit, which is found on this single, which was released commercially, is one of the worst single edits in the history of mankind.

My collection: 7" single no. 6828
Found: Discogs.com, received 3 January 2023
Tracks: 'Angel eyes (Home and away)' (Wet wet wet) / 'I am not afraid' (Black)

Chequered love / Kids in America - Kim Wilde

Obviously I have a lot of Kim Wilde singles, as you can see here, but I am a sucker for rare pressings - and boy, this really is a rare one. Made in the Philippines, it features 'Chequered love' on the A-side and, strangely, 'Kids in America' on the B-side. 

What's also interesting, is that this single features the classic 'EMI' logo on the label. Although Kim was signed to RAK records in the UK, and RAK is actually mentioned on this label, the Philippines probably didn't use the RAK artwork on their records at all. 

The single came in a generic white sleeve. If anyone is reading this in the Philippines, I am quite interested in the sleeve that would have been on this one originally - most probably a record company sleeve or something!

My collection: 7" single no. 6827
Found: Discogs.com, received 3 January 2023
Tracks: 'Chequered love' / 'Kids in America'

La la la (deutsch gesungen) - Massiel

Massiel's 'La la la' is often cited as one of the most inane Eurovision winners, because of the title and chorus of the song. Still, if you listen to the verses and the music in the background, you get to appreciate the song more. Personally I have grown to appreciate this song more than Cliff's 'Congratulations', which is actually a less challenging song. 

When I saw this copy in the shop I didn't initially think I should have it, until I saw the little red banner in the lower right corner. Deutsch gesungen? I didn't know Massiel recorded this song in German. It was a no-brainer: of course I had to have this single. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6825
Found: 33|45 Records, Den Haag, 31 December 2022
Tracks: 'La la la (deutsch gesungen)' (Massiel) / 'Spanish step' (Orchester Roberto Delgado)

Figure of eight / Ou est le soleil? - Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney has released a lot of singles during his career. So many, that he decided to release an expensive box set last year, featuring no less than 80 7" singles. There was, of course, a price to match: you could only get the set if you were willing to fork out about 600 euros. That's about 7,5 euros per 7". 

I got this 7" for considerably less. The weird thing about this single is that the B-side (or the AA-side, as it is declared on the disc) is much better than the title track 'Figure of eight'. 'Ou est le soleil' is an inspired piece of throwaway pop, produced by the inimitable Trevor Horn. More tracks like this would have been welcome!

My collection: 7" single no. 6824
Found: 33|45 Records, Den Haag, 31 December 2022
Tracks: 'Figure of eight' / 'Ou est le soleil?'

Always look on the bright side of life - Monty Python

On the last day of 2022 I got that urge. You know, the urge to visit a record shop and buy some vinyl. Unfortunately there aren't that many shops where I live - blame the internet for that - and so I had to go to the only shop that offers some interesting second hand singles in the area. There's always something there if you're desperate enough to buy something. 

This classic single by Monty Python was a bit of a surprise find. The song is familiar enough, but I don't think I've seen the single that much. My favourite line of the song is "Life's a piece of shit / When you look at it", and it pretty much sums up my view on life in general. I wasn't really intent on owning this single, but it was a nice find nonetheless.

My collection: 7" single no. 6823
Found: 33|45 records, Den Haag, 31 December 2022
Tracks: 'Always look on the bright side of life' (Monty Python) / 'Brian' (Sonia Jones)

Tschau, tschau Bambina - Peter Alexander

Domenico Modugno had a hit on his hands when he sang 'Piove (Ciao ciao bambina)' in 1959 at the Eurovision Song Contest. He probably didn't realize this when he failed to win that edition (the prize went to the Netherlands instead) but there are many cover versions of his song, and it must have earned him a fortune.

One of those cover versions was released the same year by Austrian singer Peter Alexander. He was born on 30 June 1926 and died on 12 February 2011.During his life he released almost 100 albums and twice as many singles. 'Tschau, Tschau Bambina' was a beautiful, sentimental version of that Italian song. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6822
Found: Discogs.com, received 31 December 2022
Tracks: 'Tschau, tschau Bambina' / 'Hol den Peter'

Zwei blaue Vergissmeinnicht - Rex Gildo

Ronnie Carroll represented the UK at the Eurovision Song Contest sixty years ago with 'Say wonderful things', ending up in fourth place. Still, the Contest being what it was in those early years, it caused him to have a hit around Europe and several artists got the idea to cover his song.

The German singer Rex Gildo recorded a version in German, entitled 'Zwei blaue Vergissmeinnicht'. It wouldn't be his only Eurovision adaptation, either: in 1976 he recorded 'Küsse von dir', a version of Brotherhood of Man's 'Save your kisses for me'. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6821
Found: Discogs.com, received 31 December 2022
Tracks: 'Zwei blaue Vergissmeinnicht' / 'My Sonny I love you'

Jennifer Jennings - Louis Neefs

Not so long ago, I acquired the French version of 'Jennifer Jennings' by Louis Neefs. Only two more versions to go, I wrote back then, and I was lucky enough to find the German version recently - and for a low price too! Obviously I had to order a couple more singles to make the postage worthwhile, but this was a very good catch. Certainly when it was described as 'very good', which on a scale towards 'very good +', 'near mint' and 'mint' is not something to write home about. Imagine my surprise when I actually received this one: it is nearly flawless! Okay, so there's a name and address written on the back of the sleeve, but it's the front of the sleeve that counts - and obviously the disc itself which is in a very good state, as you shall hear. 

Only one more version to go! Oh, those Italians... I hope there will be a generous one out there.

My collection: 7" single no. 6820
Found: Discogs.com, received 31 December 2022
Tracks: 'Jennifer Jennings (deutsch gesungen)' / 'I love you'