Lille marionet - Grethe Sønck

Grethe Sønck was born on 16 July 1929 as Grethe Ingeborg Nielsen Hald. She changed her surname to Sønck in 1968. In 1946, she won a talent contest, and in 1947, she became a singer at the Restaurant Sommerlyst at Dyrehavsbakken. As a revue actress, she started in Cirkusrevyen at Dyrehavsbakken in 1962, and later came to Nykøbing Falster Revue.

She starred in several movies and also recorded many singles and albums. Her repertoire included several Eurovision covers, including this one: a Danish version of Sandie Shaw's 'Puppet on a string'. Grethe Sønck died on 12 February 2010 of natural causes, aged 80.

My collection: 7" single no. 6954
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 22 April 2023
Tracks: 'Lille marionet' / 'Jeg drømte mig en drøm'

Libertine - Mylene Farmer

'Libertine' was only Mylene Farmer's third single when she originally released it in 1986. The sleeve pictured here is the original one, before the music video became popular and the single was re-released with a photograph from that video on the front sleeve.

The song remains the same: a charming release by a very young Mylene Farmer, some time before she achieved superstar status in France and some other countries. Thirty years after buying the re-release, I finally own the original single now.

My collection: 7" single no. 6952
Found: Record fair, Den Bosch, 22 April 2023
Tracks: 'Libertine' / 'Greta'

Waiting on a friend - Rolling Stones

I don't have many Rolling Stones singles which may seem strange for a collector such as me, but the fact is, I only like a few of their songs, and the ones I want to have are often too expensive to warrant me buying them. For some reason any Rolling Stones single commands a high price. Therefore I was quite surprised to find this one for one measly euro.

'Waiting on a friend' reached number 13 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, but only managed number 50 in the UK singles chart and number 9 in the Dutch Top 40. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6950
Found: Vinyl & zo, Rijswijk, 15 April 2023
Tracks: 'Waiting on a friend' / 'Little t+a'

National goes international

This is an interesting little EP. It was given away for free during the Firato, an audio and video fair held in Amsterdam between 19 and 29 September 1969. I actually went to the Firato once, somewhere in the late Eighties or early Nineties, when DCC's were demonstrated for the first time. It was an interesting fair, but these days events like this are not organized anymore, unfortunately.

Anyway, this EP comes from National, the biggest manufacturer of radios in the world, according to themselves. It includes instrumental covers of 'Lady Madonna' from the Beatles and 'L'amour est blue' from Vicky Leandros, as well as two lesser known tracks. As usual with discs like these, the performers remain uncredited. The Eurovision connection made me want to have this - obviously.

My collection: 7" single no. 6947
Found: Vinyl & zo, Rijswijk, 15 April 2023
Tracks: 'Lady Madonna', 'Oedo Nihonbashi' / 'L'amour est bleu', 'Suzuran'

La felicidad / La, la, la - Luis Alberto del Parana y los Paraguayos

A few months ago I went to a record fair in Rotterdam and I was quite disappointed when I found this colourful sleeve without the actual disc in it. It's the first time I saw this one and I really wanted to have it - but unfortunately it wasn't to be. So I was happy to find a copy with the disc enclosed recently.

Yet another cover version of that Spanish Eurovision triumph 'La, la, la', then. Luis Alberto del Parana y Los Paraguayos released a lot of albums between 1957 and 1977, concentrating mainly on Spanish-oriented material. Their version of 'La, la, la' is nice but not too different from many other cover versions.

My collection: 7" single no. 6948
Found: Vinyl & zo, Rijswijk, 15 April 2023
Tracks: 'La felicidad' / 'La, la, la'

I will survive / Never can say goodbye - Gloria Gaynor

Although Gloria Gaynor had her biggest successes in the Seventies, her two best known songs were released on this single in 1987.

'Never can say goodbye' was originally recorded by the Jackson 5 in 1971, but Gloria released her version in 1974 to similar success, reaching number 2 in the UK singles chart and number 6 in the Dutch Top 40.

'I will survive' is the song that Gloria is most remembered for. It topped the UK singles chart in 1978, and reached number 4 in the Dutch Top 40.

My collection: 7" single no. 6943
Found: Vinyl & zo, Rijswijk, 15 April 2023
Tracks: 'I will survive' / 'Never can say goodbye'

Don't stop believing - Journey

'Don't Stop Believing' was released in October 1981 as the second single from Journey's seventh album, 'Escape'. The song was written by the band's vocalist Steve Perry, guitarist Neal Schon, and keyboardist Jonathan Cain. The song is memorable for its opening keyboard riff, one of the most recognizable intros of the early Eighties.

The song is unusual in that its chorus does not arrive until the song is nearly finished; its structure consists of two pre-choruses and three verses before it arrives at its central hook. The band recorded the song in one take at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, California. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6942
Found: Vinyl & zo, Rijswijk, 15 April 2023
Tracks: 'Don't stop believing' / 'Natural thing'

I'll be there - The Jackson 5

The first single from the Jackson 5's third album was 'I'll be there', a track that has since become part of that huge Motown legacy. In his autobiography 'Moon walk', Michael Jackson noted that this song solidified The Jackson 5's careers and showed audiences that the group had potential beyond bubblegum pop. 

Jackson turned 12 one day after the song was released.  The single sold 4.2 million copies in the USA, and 6.1 million copies worldwide. It was the group's final number 1 hit in the Billboard Hot 100 chart. For the rest of their career as a major-label act, Jackson 5 singles would climb no higher than number 2. The song was famously butchered by Mariah Carey during her MTV Unplugged session in 1992.

My collection: 7" single no. 6941
Found: Vinyl & zo, Rijswijk, 15 April 2023
Tracks: 'I'll be there' / 'One more chance'

Stress - Viggo & Reidar

'Stress' was the Norwegian entry at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1968, performed by Odd Børre. That single remains a bit hard to find, but meanwhile I did get my hands on this cover version by the duo Viggo & Reidar, who created their take on the track in 1989.

The track appears on their album 'Tidligere Utgitt På Alvor', but on the back sleeve of this single it is announced as 'Norges dummester poplåter'. When you realize the latter means 'Norway's dumbest popsongs' and the former means 'Previously issued seriously', you get that they are actually making fun of certain songs. No wonder that this single is released on the label 'Garbage records', with the tagline 'Where most stars belong'. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6928
Found: Discogs.com, received 5 April 2023
Tracks: 'Stress' / 'B-siden'

Željo Moja - Doris

The single 'Love is fire' features two versions of the Yugoslavian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 1986, 'Željo Moja', in Croatian and English. However, the Yugoslavian record company Jugoton also released an EP with two more versions on it: in French and German. It's interesting to hear this song in four different languages and I was happy to get a copy of this single from a Norwegian dealer on Discogs. 

'Željo Moja' finished eleventh in the contest, in a field of 20 competitors. Quite why the single was released in several different European countries at the time remains a bit of a mystery.

My collection: 7" single no. 6927
Found: Discogs.com, received 5 April 2023
Tracks: 'Željo Moja', 'Love is fire' / 'Vive la douleur', 'Meine Sehnsucht'

Race to the end - Demis Roussos

I don't think I've ever seen this single before - and I have visited loads of shops, record fairs and markets through the years. If I'd seen it before I would certainly have picked it up, because it's very interesting to find out what Demis Roussos would make of 'Chariots of fire', the classic melody by Vangelis.

For that's what this is: a vocal version of 'Chariots of fire', with lyrics provided by Jon Anderson (who recorded loads of tracks together with Vangelis himself). And although this version isn't quite as beautiful as the original instrumental version, it's interesting nonetheless.

My collection: 7" single no. 6944
Found: Vinyl & zo, Rijswijk, 15 April 2023
Tracks: 'Race to the end'  / 'Seasons of love'

Da' ya' think I'm sexy - Rod Stewart

These days Rod Stewart has become a bit more jaded, singing songs from the American Songbook and so on, but back in the Seventies, he became this racy, sex-obsessed maniac. Or so it seems. This single illustrates this best, with the big hit 'Da' ya' think I'm sexy' plus the B-side 'Dirty weekend', which delivers exactly what it promises: two songs about sex and being sexy.

The song was released as the first single from Stewart's 1978 album 'Blondes Have More Fun'. It reached number one in the UK and the USA, as well as Canada and Australia. Royalties from the song were donated to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and Stewart performed the song at the Music for UNICEF Concert at the United Nations General Assembly in January 1979.

My collection: 7" single no. 6940
Found: Vinyl & zo, Rijswijk, 15 April 2023
Tracks: 'Da' ya' think I'm sexy' / 'Dirty weekend'

San Salvador - Azoto

From 1980 to 1992 San Salvador was the scene of a bloody civil war between a right-wing government and left-wing guerrilla groups. It makes you wonder why Azoto decided to release an upbeat disco song with the title 'San Salvador'. The song was written by Celso Valli and Julie Scott. The Italian Celso Valli was actually hidden behind the studio group Azoto. He is an Italian composer, conductor and musician. At the beginning of his career, in the late 1970s, he was at the forefront of the Italian disco scene. During the 1980s he produced a large number of songs belonging to the so-called Italo disco. 

Astonishingly, Valli also wrote 'Ti Sento' by Matia Bazar and 'Self Control' by RAF (and later Laura Branigan). After 1985, Valli decided to focus more and more on Italian pop music. Since then, as a songwriter, arranger, keyboardist and/or producer, he has collaborated with many well-known Italian artists, including Andrea Bocelli, Filippa Giordano, Giorgia, Jovanotti, Mina, Laura Pausini, Eros Ramazzotti, Vasco Rossi and Il Volo.

My collection: 7" single no. 6939
Found: Vinyl & zo, Rijswijk, 15 April 2023
Tracks: 'San Salvador' / 'San Salvador (instrumental)'

Ma Baker / Baby do you wanna bump - Boney M

This 'original double hit' single comes from 1982 and features two of the earliest hits of the group Boney M. What's interesting about this release is that the version of 'Baby do you wanna bump' brings together the two parts that appear on the original single as one track. 

The record label Hansa also continues their tradition of putting the wrong track times on the label. 'Ma Baker' is said to last 4 minutes and 10 seconds (and actually lasts for 4 minutes and 33 seconds) and 'Baby do you wanna bump' is listed as 6 minutes and 10 seconds, but in reality adds 43 more seconds. Basically you get more - which is always good, of course.

My collection: 7" single no. 6931
Found: Easter market, Den Haag, 9 April 2023
Tracks: 'Ma Baker' / 'Baby do you wanna bump'

Lover don't go - Princess

'Lover don't go' would turn out to be the last single by Princess, released in 1989. She'd released two albums, but while the first album, recorded with Stock, Aitken & Waterman was a big success, the second album was already less successful. 

In 1989, Princess released the stand-alone single 'Lover Don't Go', which failed to chart. Her brother/manager Don alleged that the single's chart prospects were unfairly halted, after its sales were mysteriously assigned to another artist's record, causing Princess' single to miss the top 100. "On the Tuesday, the track was 108 the chart, but come Thursday, we see nothing. We hear later on it dropped to 365, and they told us that they made an error with the barcode and gave our sales to some other record. That killed the record." Her third album, 'Say It', which was slated for release in 1990, was never issued as Princess retired from the music scene and moved to the US. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6937
Found: Easter market, Den Haag, 9 April 2023
Tracks: 'Lover don't go' / 'Lover don't go (instrumental)'

I'm not in love - Johnny Logan

It's a bit of a mystery why Eurovision legend Johnny Logan never actually succeeded in building a successful career. Although he won the Eurovision Song Contest three times (twice as a performer and once as a writer), his material outside of Eurovision failed to make much of an impression on the buying public. 

In 1987, after winning for the second time with 'Hold me now', he released a cover version of 10CC's 'I'm not in love', but the single would only reach a lowly number 51 in the UK singles chart. I wonder if this limited edition poster sleeve contributed to the appeal, but I can't be sure - I'm not even sure that many people had posters of Johnny on their walls. It's a nice, if not essential, release anyway.

My collection: 7" single no. 6936
Found: Easter market, Den Haag, 9 April 2023
Tracks: 'I'm not in love' / 'Such a lady'

Hot blooded - Foreigner

I think it's hard to resist coloured vinyl singles if there's even a remote chance that I'll like the track. And this single by Foreigner is a good example of my policy. I didn't even know 'Hot blooded' very well but when I spotted this single in an almost-red colour, I decided I had to have it. (It does actually look red in this picture but if I hold up the disc against the light it turns pink-purpleish.) 

Lead singer Lou Gramm said: "We used to work at Mick's apartment and he would just keep playing one guitar riff after another. Just playing whatever came into his mind. When he started playing that riff, I remember saying, “Wait! Stop! What’s that?” Mick said it was just another riff. So, I started singing along to it. We eventually got the idea of what the chorus would be and then started working on the verse lyrics. Once they were put together it naturally led to the “Hot Blooded” verbal line. I remember we were jumping off the walls when we cracked the title of the song." 

My collection: 7" single no. 6934
Found: Easter market, Den Haag, 9 April 2023
Tracks: 'Hot blooded' / 'Tramontane'

Don't tell me lies - Breathe

The single 'Don't tell me lies' which I bought in 1989 was actually a re-release of an earlier version of 'Don't tell me lies'. That earlier version was released on a double 12" single (which I bought in 1995) but somehow I never found the 7" single. 

The big success for Breathe came with the single 'Hands to heaven' and 'How can I fall'. Astonishingly, the band disappeared quite quickly after their debut album, and a second album, 'Peace of mind', dropped like a stone.

My collection: 7" single no. 6933
Found: Easter market, Den Haag, 9 April 2023
Tracks: 'Don't tell me lies' / 'Moments'

Ghosts again - Depeche Mode

Just last month I posted the exclusive Musikexpress single of Depeche Mode's 'Ghosts again' on this blog. The single features one track and an etching of the DM logo on the other side. The (also German) magazine Rolling Stone decided to do a similar thing and include an exclusive Depeche Mode single with their current edition - but this time with a B-side. 'Never let me down again' became very popular recently when it was used in the HBO series The Last of Us - an irritating series for its repeated ads on TV for a channel I don't subscribe to.

And so I end up with two different singles of 'Ghosts again'. I like this song a lot, but the new album 'Memento mori' is a bit lacking in similarly appealing songs, in my humble opinion. But the band has delivered loads of great songs during their 40+ years, so I guess this album is a good enough epitaph - assuming that Dave and Martin won't continue after this one.

My collection: 7" single no. 6924
Found: Mein Presseshop (Germany), received 4 April 2023
Tracks: 'Ghosts again' / 'Never let me down'

Piove - Arturo Testa

Domenico Modugno's 'Piove' has been covered numerous times, especially in the late 1950's and 1960's when this song was wildly popular. Most versions are as dramatic and slow as the original, but Arturo Testa recorded a fast, jazzy version that is far less dramatic - and more appealing I might add. 

This EP presents four songs from the San Remo Song Festival 1959, as the title suggests, but performed by Arturo Testa and Wilma de Angelis, and not the original artists. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6926
Found: Discogs.com, received 5 April 2023
Tracks: 'Piove', 'Io sono il vento' / 'La marcia in fa', 'Li per li'