Juan Carlos Calderón 1938 - 2012

Spanish musician and songwriter Juan Carlos Calderón has passed away yesterday.
Eurovision fans know him for writing four wonderful entries for Spain, and one of those is an evergreen he will always be remembered for by everyone: Eres Tú.

Eres Tú was performed by Mocedades in the 1973 contest and ended second. It became one of the biggest Eurovision hits of all time. Mocedades (even) took it to the US top 10 as Eres Tu / Touch The Wind and many artists covered the song over the years. A few names are Bing Crosby, Eydie Gormé, Tish Hinojosa, The Kelly Family, Perry Como, Petula Clark, The Shirelles, Rika Zaraï, Byron Lee and Acker Bilk.
Below is a wonderful video of Johnny Mathis singing Eres Tú with Calderón at the piano.


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The 1989 entry Nacida Para Amar is also known as Amante Del Amor, a version with different lyrics which has been recorded by several Latin American singers most notably Luis Miguel.

Calderóns Eurovision entries:
1973 - Eres Tú - Mocedades (2nd place)
1975 - Tú Volverás - Sergio Y Estibaliz (10th)
1985 - La Fiesta Terminó - Paloma San Basilio (14th)
1989 - Nacida Para Amar - Nina (6th)

More about Eres Tú, #8 in the top 10 most covered Eurovision songs in this Eurocovers post.


Juan Carlos Calderón website.

CD news: Daniel Diges - Where were you in the 70's?

Spanish Eurovision singer Daniel Diges who represented Spain with Algo Pequeñito in the 2010 Oslo Eurovision has released a coverversions album titled ¿Dónde Estabas Tú En Los 70?.
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Young Daniel wasn't born then, but I guess he managed to delve into his parents record collection and come up with 13 popular hits of the golden age of disco and disposable pop gems.

Unfortunately he skipped the disco ones so we are left with mostly Spanish (holiday) classics and a handful of worldwide evergreens.

A Eurocover is present, yay!. Eres Tu originally by Mocedades ended 2nd in the 1973 contest and became a worldwide success including a US top 10 hit. Eres Tu is also in the top 10 most covered Eurovision songs.

The 70's cover album is Diges' 2nd album and it is out now in the Spanish shops. It's released by Warner music Spain and also availble through th'i-tunes and other digitessen.

Tracklist ¿Dónde Estabas Tú En Los 70?.
1. Help! (Ayudame)
- Originally by Tony 'El Hollandès Español' Ronald (1971)
2. ‘Porque Te Vas?
- Jeanette had a hit with this José Luis Perales song, including a #1 in Germany in 1977.
3. Eres Tu
- Mocedades Eurovision classic from 1973
4. Gavilan O Paloma
- Originally by Mexian singer José José (1977)
5. Algo De Mi
- Originally by Camilo Sesto

6. El Chico De La Armonica
- I know it best in the German Bernd Clüver version Der Junge mit der Mundharmonika, but the original is a Spanish hit for Eurovision singer Micky*.
7. Hoy Tengo Ganas De Ti
- I didn't know this song until Azucar Moreno ** covered it some years ago. The 1975 original is by Miguel Gallardo
8. Echame A Mi La Culpa
- Written by Albert Hammond and Oscar Gomez
9. Un Rayo De Sol
- A 1970 European summer holiday hit by Los Diablos
10. Eva Maria Se Fue
- Eva Maria was a 1973 hit for Formula V

11. Ven Sin Temor
- A coverversion of Mouth and MacNeals How Do You Do.  The duo had a worldwide hit with it in 1973, including a US top 10 hit. They went on to Eurovision in 1974 and ended 3rd with I See A Star.
12. Delilah
- The Tom Jones hit from 1968
13. Mammy Blue
- A much covered song, the Los Pop Tops version was probably the biggest hit. The song is written by Hubert Giraud, composer of the 3rd Eurovision winner Dors Mon Amour***.


There are a zillion Eres Tu's at Eurocovers. You'll find most of them with this search link.
* Micky entered Eurovision in 1977 with Enseñame A Cantar, find a Tex-Mex Eurocovers tribute here.
** More about Azucar Moreno and the Bandido covers here.
*** Find some Tango Argentina Eurocovers of Dors Mon Amour here.
What's Spain doing in 2012? Find out at the Baku Collection.

Special thanks to José Antonio

Era - Wess Johnson, Sir Howard Morrison

Wess Johnson (1945-2009)This week Wess Johnson, of Wess and Dori Ghezzi (Italy 1975) fame has died.
Just a few months ago Wess Johnson got a mention in the Eurocovers post about Rocky Roberts.
The Italian entry Era ended 3rd in the Stockholm Eurovision in 1975. Era became a hit in several European countries, including a #2 hit in Finland, a #3 in Sweden and Norway, #6 in Switzerland and #20 in the Netherlands.

In Italy Wess and Dori Ghezzi scored 10 hits.. Their first hit was an Italian version of United We Stand (1972) and in 1975 Un Corpo E Un'Anima was a #1 hit. Era reached #13 in the Italian charts. Their last hit together was Amore Bellissimo (#9 hit in 1977). Together Wess and Dori made 5 albums.

Wess Johnson sold 10 million records worldwide throughout his career with the Airedales (first as bassist, later as lead singer), with Dori Ghezzi and as a solo singer. From 2000 he toured with the Wess Band, celebrating Italian and American (soul) classics at many live events.

The song Era was originally offered to Loredana Berté (sister of Mia Martini) but she didn't want to release it. At the time it wasn't intended as a Eurovision entry yet. Berté released her recording on a rarities LP Lorinedita in 1983.

Watch the Youtubes of Era (videoclip) and Un Corpo E Un'Anima (live) by Wess and Dori Ghezzi. And I Migliori Anni from 2008 where Wess sings with a virtual Dori.


Sir Howard Morrison (1935-2009)
Another sad goodbye this week. New Zealands King Of Entertainment, Sir Howard Morrison has passed away at the age of 74. With a music career of over 40 years, Morrison is a celebrated singer who's biggest hit in his home country was How Great Thou Art in 1981.

Eurocovers remembers Howard Morrison especially for his version of Eres Tu (The 1973 Spanish entry by Mocedades) which he recorded with a Maori choir on his 1979 album Morrison Magic - Tu Tangata. The track, a medley with Sailing, is sung in English and Maori.
As far as I know it's the only Eurocover in the Maori language.

You can read an extensive biography here at New Zealand Music com. and Wiki

The Kids Are Alright, Part 3: The Angels

So, Congratulations to Alexey Zhigalkovich and to Belarus who won the Junior Eurovision Song Contest last night in Rotterdam. The voting was exiting like in olden days, although the field and the 12's were very leaning very much to the East. Just one piece of analisys from me: Don't bother sending slightly older kids, even with good songs (Sweden, Serbia), it's always a tiny one that wins.

That was the last word about the JESC at Eurocovers for now, If you want to find out more I recommend ESCKaz. But here's the third part of The Kids Are Alright, that sort of ties in nicely with the Next Big Event: Christmas.

The Kids Are Alright - Part 3 - The Angels
Hark! The lists of Eurocovers is riddled with childrens (mostly boys) choirs from France all named Les Petits Chanteurs De Something, Something.

France 1960 - Tom PillibiLes Petits Chanteurs A La Croix Du Boix from Paris (pictured above) do a mean Tom Pillibi (France's 1960 winner by Jacqueline Boyer). This boys choir celebrated it's 100th anniversary with a star studded (Nadiya, Mireille Mathieu, Lara Fabian, Charles Aznavour etc….) christmas show last December. And at the 14th of july they sang at the military parade, le defilé militaire, at the Champs Elysees.
The Petits Chanteurs have recorded many singles and albums since the 50's, mostly religious music, and they still tour the world. A bit more about their 100 year history is here (in French).
Israel 1979 - HallelujahLes Petits Chanteurs D'Aix En Provence is a boys choir with 45 years of history. On a 4CD collection Les Plus Grands Airs De Chorale (pic) they perform the Eurovision winners of 1977 and 1979. (although some of them don't seem so petit on the picture sleeve).
Hallelujah is the Israel entry of 1979, which was originally performed by Milk & Honey and won the contest on home ground.

At composer J.P. Cara's site you can find some kids choir versions of the 1977 winner L'Oiseau et l'enfant (France) by Les Petits Chanteurs D'Aix En Provence and by Les Fans and of Le Papa Pinguoin (Luxemburg 1988, Sophie et Magaly) by Le Top des Tout P'Tits.

1973 Eres TuThe Little Angels Of Korea are an all singing and dancing troupe from the Little Angels Performing Arts Centre in Seoul.
And their version of Mocedades' Eres Tu (Spain 1973) is truly angelic and should be featured on any Christmas mixtape.




Related Eurocovers PostsMocedades' Eres Tu in the top 10 most covered Eurovision songs
Hallelujah - almost in the top 10 most covered Eurovision Songs

10.000: # 8 - Eres tu - Mocedades (1973)

Here's # 8 in the top 10 most covered Eurovision songs of all time. Look here for more details.

# 8 - Eres Tu - Mocedades
184 versions listed

Eres Tu, the Spanish 1973 entry written by Juan Carlos Calderón for Mocedades is a classic. It didn't win but kept Cliff Richard at # 3..
A worldwide hit including a top 10 hit in the US top 100 as Eres tu / Touch the wind. The song is about love and is often interpreted as a religious hymn, so it's on the repertoire list of many gospel groups and choirs.
Mocedades say you should decide for yourself who & what the song is about and 184 coverversions did just that. Mocedades themselves recorded the song in Spanish, English, French, German, Italian and Basque.

International stars that recorded Eres Tu are Bing Crosby, Eydie Gormé, Perry Como, Petula Clark, Acker Bilk, The Shirelles, Johnny Mathis, Luis Miguel and the Kelly Family.
Eurovision artists with Eres Tu in their collection are Willeke Alberti, Bob Benny, Karel Gott and Katri Helena. In the list you will find versions in 18 languages.

Croon along with Eres túBing Crosby, the man who made Christmas white, recorded a Spanish/English version for his LP 'Bingo viejo' (1975) and Perry Como released it in 1974 on the LP Perry (RCA) and on a green vinyl single in Bolivia.

Perry Como (1912-2001) was one of the best-known American singers since the 1940's, he sold more than 100 million records over a 60-year career, with 27 of his records going gold. The former barbers most popular songs included For The Good Times, Magic Moments, It's Impossible and Catch A Falling Star.
His version of Eres Tu is titled That's You. http://www.kokomo.ca/ has a great discography.

Eres Tu is the only Eurovision song recorded* in the Māori language. It was recorded by Howard Morrison (in English) and a choir from New Zealand (In Maori) in a medley with Sailing (The Rod Stewart song). I don't have any recording from the original which appeared in a 1978 LP Morrison Magic - Tu Tangata. But there is another recording from 1995 with Mr. Morrison now a Sir. It's a live version from the CD This is my life and it's featured here (although a bit crappy quality). If anyone can help with the original studio recording please let me know.

To compensate above snoozefests there's a spicy reggae version from Panama. It's by Chicho Man (Jiffth Donaldson) recorded in the mid 80's. Chicho Man is regarded as a pioneer in Spanish language reggae-rap and is basically the inventor of reggaeton.

Last one up is a sensational steel band (pan) version by the Self Help Marines from Trinidad & Tobago. The recording is taken from a steel band competition "Pan in the 21st century" from 2005 and I dare you to sit still during this one.


Eres tu - versions list (word.doc) including details on all versions by Mocedades and 202 coverversions. (Updated nov 2012)
If you want to shop Mocedades: BeaRecords Mocedades page

* = as in the 10.000 coverversions project = that I know of.

Jamaica, Can I have your votes please? pt. 1

Not very likely that Jamaica, home of Reggae music, will ever participate in our beloved contest anytime soon, but then, no one imagined Jamaica at the Winter Olympics either.
In the 60's and early seventies some of the great Eurovision hits found their way to the Caribbean island so famous for its music and were covered by local singers from the 60's to (almost) present day.
Don't expect Bob Marley style militant Jah praising revolutionary stuff though, it's often more reggae of the Lovers Rock variety.
'Puppet on a string' must have been a popular tune in Jamaica as at least 15 artists from Jamaica have covered the song.

Byron Lee is the most active of them all, having 5 coverversions to his name.
Although very popular at home, his only worldwide claim to fame is 'Only a fool' with the Mighty Sparrow, a 1969 song that became a big hit in the mid 70's.
He has released many cds featuring reggae, soca and soft pop.

Byron Lee's Mighty Eurovision songs:
Walk away (Warum nur warum) - with the Mighty Sparrow
- on LP Sparrow meets the dragon from 1969 , also includes 'Only a fool'
Al di la - with the Dragonaires
- on LP The sounds of Jamaica (Towers Hall productions)
Love is blue - with the Dragonaires
- on a 7" single (on his own Dynamic label) - b side to Elisabeth Serenade
Eres tu - with the Dragoniares
- Mellow version with only the chorus sung (in English) on CD Soft Lee 4.
Puppet on a string * - with the Dragonaires
- The most covered Eurovision song in Jamaica, from the CD 'No woman no cry'.

* Puppet on a string versions will be featured frequently in this blog in 2007 to celebrate Sandie Shaws birthday and the 40th anniversary of her Eurovision victory. Year Of The Puppet.
Check out Jamaican versions by Ken Boothe, Tyrone Taylor, Enos McCloud and Paul Sinclair.