LA LA LA - NALVA AGUIAR

Brazil singer Nalva Aguiar sings the Spanish 1968 winner, to cheer up the Spanish side.
Originally from a 1968 Carnaval LP Carnaval de Picaretagem. (Various artists)
Picture from / find out more on the LP at Sintonia Musikal

Sintonia Musikal are also showcasing some cool World Cup LP's (like LP's with WC goals on them!) and other history bits.
Also several albums with Eurocovers like
Claudia Barroso, Pop-5, Cauby Peixoto

A website that'll keep you busy until the next game.
Also check out the commentarios.

Some Eurocovers posts featuring stars from Brazil.
Bossavision, Perla, Fabulosa Leny Eversong, Year Of The Puppet: Brasil

CD news: Young for 50 years: Dúo Dinámico

Here’s some info on a new CD album by Dúo Dinámico, just released last week.
The duo are Manuel De La Calva and Rámon Arcusa from Spain and they have been at it for 50 years now, hence the albums title: Young for 50 years.
Somos Jovenes 50 Años is a collection of newly recorded duet versions of songs from the rich Arcusa / De La Calva vaults. Of course it includes their much debated 1968 Eurovision winner La La La in an interesting new version.

At Eurovision the song was performed by Massiel after the original choice singer Joan Manuel Serrat was axed for wanting to sing in Catalan. (more about that here).
Dúo Dinámico have now recorded La La La with Serrat. The first part of the song is Serrat singing in Catalan, the second part is the duo singing in Spanish.
Perhaps not the best version of the song, but an interesting version for the die hard fans and collectors.

The CD is out in Spain now and also available digitally at Los Tunos. The CD version comes with a DVD with a 'making of' the Somos Jovenes documentary and rare archive material in which they undoubtedly sport many of their attractive trademark sweater vests.

The full tracklist of the album:
01 Quisiera Ser - with Miguel Rios
02 Como Ayer - with Soledad Gimenez
03 Resistire - with Alaska
04 Perdoname - with Lolita
05 Eres Tu - with Andy y Lucas (not the Mocedades song)
06 Amor De Verano - with Carlos Baute
07 Quince Años Tiene Mi Amor - with Ana Torroja
08 Esos Ojitos Negros - with Diana Navarro
09 Somos Jovenes - with Los Pecos
10 Lolita Twist - with Leslie of Los Sirex and Santi of Los Mustang
11 Soy Un Truhan Soy Un Señor - with Julio Iglesias
12 La La La - with Joan Manuel Serrat

Title track Somos Jóvenes is a 1962 hit for the duo. Quisiera Ser is also the title of a 2007 musical built with 24 songs of the dynamic boys in Mamma Mia style.
Como Ayer from 1966 is one of their many contest winning hits, in this case the Mediterranean Song Festival.
In the early seventies they more or less stopped recording and focussed on writing and producing for other artists.
In 1968 the duo recorded and released La La La themselves (as Manolo y Ramon) ♫

Special thanks to José Antonio

Some older La La La posts at Eurocovers:
Norwegian with Kirsti, Oddvar and Arne.
Icelandic with the modern kids of Nútímabörn.
La La La and I'll Cry If I Want To with Lesley Gore.
Estonian with Leelo Karp.

Those Kids Of Today: Nútímabörn

In Februari 2008 I did a Eurocovers post about some seemingly non traceable Icelandic Eurocovers including one from an LP with this fantastic sleeve.

Good things come to those who wait, so I'm happy to be able to present one of the songs here. 

The ultra cool looking band called Nútímabörn (Modern kids) recorded a version of the Eurovision winner La La La for their LP Nútímabörn. As given away by the sleeve, the song is a bit more mellow, slightly flower power typical late 60's pop. And of course it's utterly lovely.

Nútimabörn were Drífu Kristjánsdóttir, Ágústi Atlasyni, Snœbirni Kristjánssyni and Sverri Ólafssyni, and they only released one album, the eponymous Nútímabörn from 1969 (SG - hljómplötur SG 023).

La La La, originally by Massiel is of course the Spanish entry that kept Cliff Richard from the #1 spot in 1968.

Very Special Thanks to Dr. Gunni.
You can watch Dr. Gunni in action here. It's the first of four shows reviewing the 2010 Eurovision entries. Dr, Gunni is on the panel and the show is hosted by Paul Oscar, King Of The Couch.
For another track by Nútímabörn (We Can Work It Out in Icelandic) check out Dr. Gunni's fab webspace at this page and scroll down halfway. It's part of the Bítlarnir á íslensku series. There's also a great version Fool On The Hill by Björk as a 11 y.o. just added.
The picture sleeve is from this wiki page.

More La La La at Eurocovers: Lesley Gore, Merit Hemmingson, Leelo Karp

1968: La La La And I'll Cry If I Want To

La La La, the Spanish Eurovision winner by Massiel from 1968 is a well covered song.
Last year or so 'news' came out that it had won because the Generalo, Franco, bribed some juries because he wanted Spain to win.
All Allegedly of course, and I have a hard time believing the story. Cliff Richard didn't win, get over it.

La La La was a song of controversy all along. First the original singer Joan Manuel Serrat was sent packing because he insisted on singing the song in Catalan, later Massiel was critisized over her way too short dress which disgraced the Spanish people in Europe. Today the song is still ridiculed for the amount of La's that are in it, but somewhere deep inside there's a message, of freedom even...

Eurovision singer Massiel recorded the song in Spanish, French, German and English. Original singer Serrat recorded Spanish, English, French, Italian and Portuguese. Serrat's Catalan version was recorded for a radio show many years later, but it has never been released on record.

La La La is written by Ramón Arcusa & Manuel De La Calva, also known as Dúo Dinámico. Coverversions were recorded in at least 20 languages and the list includes version by Eurovision stars Gitte, Kirsti Sparboe with Arne Bendiksen & Oddvar, Edina Pop and Heidi Brühl.
With over 140 coverversions the song sits neatly inside the top 20 of most covered Eurovision songs. Youtube Eurovision Version.

It's My Party
Lesley Gore shot to fame with her first single It's My Party. A classic and a #1 hit in the US and a top 10 hit in many European countries. She followed it up with three more top 10 hits of which the feminist You Don't Own Me is probably the best known. Lesley Gore also recorded You Don't Own Me in French, German and Italian and Eurocovers loves that.
You Don't Own Me features in the Bette Midler / Diane Keaton / Goldie Hawn movie The First Wives Club.
(You Don't Own Me pic sleeve taken from Wiki)The song was the last Lesley Gore single to reach the US top 10 but she continued to score 16 more top 100 hits.

In 1968 she recorded the Eurovision winner as He Gives Me Love (La La La) and after two singles that failed to chart in the Billboard top 100, He Gives Me Love went to #91. It was her last top 100 hit.

Lesley Gore continued recording in the 70's but after her 1982 cover album The Canvas Can Do Miracles it took over 20 years for her to get back in the studio.
In 2005 she recorded the album Ever Since which includes a stunning new version of You Don't Own Me and several new songs from Lesley Gore's own pen. Ever Since is available at Ama-zon & Ituuns.

Several Lesley Gore compilations are also available including a splendid 5CD box It's My Party! (Bear family) with all her 60's recordings, including several foreign language versions of her early hits.



Lesley Gore Homepage - Fanclub.(since 1965, remarkable!)
Youtubes: It's My Party - You Don't Own Me

Blogtip:
Viejo Pickup - Grupos Españoles de los 60s y 70s.
Features many groups that are named Los something-something, so it's cool by definition.
Eurocovers of interest are by Los Javaloyas, Los Ros, Josecho Y Los Sakings, Jaguars, Leslie & Los Valldemosa.

Swedish Queen Of Groovy Hammond - Merit Hemmingson

Instrumental covers can be a bore and often I don't really understand what actually is the purpose of releasing them on record. But of course the exceptions make the rule and the following instrumental versions of 60's Eurovision entries are just plain groovy. Groovy, for those younsters not familiar with the word, it's dated slang for Cool, Neat, Interesting. To me it means 'swinging your ass off'.

The Hammond organ is a popular keyboard instrument with endless possibilities, but often the Eurocovers on the organ (and there are hundreds) are of the cheesy variety.
But not so Merit Hemmingson, Swedish key-magicienne. Her Hammond antics are the most swinging you'll ever hear.

Debut LP Merit Hemmingson and the Meritones at the Esquire Club (Sonet T 7656, 1967) features an odd collection of popular songs putting a pop song like Sandie's Shaw's Always Something There To Remind Me against a funky jazz Watermelon Man.
And then there's New Fashioned Waltz. It's a version of the jazzy Swedish Eurovision entry of 1966, Nygammal Vals, written by Bengt-Arne Wallin. Even though Merit Hemminsons interpretation is instrumental it's worth mentioning that the lyrics (by Björn Lindroth) are some of the weirdest ever written in Eurovision history. There's a hip pig breeder, a prudish princess and some saucepan banging. You can check them (and translation in English) out at the site for Eurovision lyrics The Diggiloo Thrush.

There's some more serious toetapping and finger snapping to be done with Hemminsons second LP, Merit Hemminson Plays (RCA Camden YSJL-1-547, 1968). It's another collection of hits like Lady Madonna, Mighty Quinn and A Banda. And it has two Eurocovers.
Massiels 1968 winner La La La opens gentle and slowly but you just can't sit still once the beats kick in. Cliff Richards runner up of the same year, Congratulations, gets the groovy hammond treatment laced with some funky sax.
You can find more details about this second LP and its personel here at the Sabu Martinez website.

Today Merit Hemmingson mainly focusses on folk music and she has issued several CDs in recent years (check her MySpace).

In a 40 year career she has released 20 albums (so far), the most recent being Touch of 2006.
In 2005 a compilation of 70's tracks was released at the initiative of Merit fans/Eurovision stars The Ark: Merit - Queen Of Swedish Hammond Folk Groove (Bonnier-Amigo AMSCD 111).Both Merit Hemmingson CDs are available from CD-ON and other sources. The early LP's have not been issued on CD (yet).

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Merit Hemmingson Homepage and MySpace and a Youtube video for 2006 song Halcyon Days.