Everyone's A Star - Lola Dutronic

Lola Dutronic are producer/keyboard/knobtwiddler Richard Citroen and vocalist Stephanie B. operating from Canada and Germany. I hadn't heard of them, but they've been making sweet musique since 2004 (well, Citroen has).
They have released a few albums and EPs and their latest offering is Everyone's A Star (out on Red Star).
Eurocovers loves all this sensuous retro frenchy stuff and so will you. If you like bands like St. Etienne, Peach, Pizzicato Five and your basic French whispering godesses, Lola Dutronic is defenitely worth a listen.
I'm pleased to find a 2012 version of our beloved 1967 classic Love Is Blue / L'amour Est Bleu.

You can listen to the whole album at Lola Dutronics bandcamp where you can also find details on how to order the CD or digital release. (If you order the CD you'll get the download version straight away). LD also have a facebook and a Youtube channel.

Love Is Blue, originally L'Amour Est Bleu by Vicky (4th in 1967 contest) is written by André Popp and Pierre Cour.
It is the second most covered Eurovision song of all times.

2015 update
Lola Dutronic have released a radio remix of their Love Is Blue. Check it out and buy it here at LD's Bandcamp

Find out more about it in the 10000 coverversions post and in these Eurocovers items.

Please note there are no downloads available through Eurocovers.
Find us at Facebook 

P.S. I was horrified to be even enjoying a Dire Straits song (S.O.S. on Everyone's A Star). (But it's not all coverversions, many tracks are written by the band themselves)

It's blue and it's a single!

German noisy jumpers Scooter recorded C'est Bleu for their new album The Big Mash Up. They got a little help of Eurovision Royal Vicky Leandros, the original singer of L'Amour Est Blue.

The 1967 song, a.k.a. Love Is Blue only ended 4th in the contest, but it became an evergreen. Although several other versions stole Vicky's thunder.
But she's making up for that with a vengeance:  the Scooter/Vicky track is released as a cdsingle (and download of course) and ít will be a smash hit. It's out on the Sheffield/Edel label in Germany.
And above is the official video which is from the Scooter Youtube channel.

BeaRecords sells the 2-track cdsingle which also features the Dubstyle remix of the song.

Update: O.K. it's not # 1 yet, but C'est Bleu enters the German charts at a modest #77 (week 50)

Love Love Love
Eurocovers loves L'Amour Est Bleu a lot (and so do many of you) so there have been several posts since the very first Eurocovers piece on Paul Mauriat and his re-invented 2nd version of the same song.
Check out these:
10.000 coverversions: #2 most covered Eurovision song with The Dells, Liberace and the Amazing Dorothy Ashby.
Little Tempo ft Yoko Futita.
Love Is Blue special with The Pees, Moony and of course Barbara Y Dick.
Thank you India, versions in Hindi and Telugu
Ann Margret or not?
Funky bagpipes: Rufus Harley (if you only check out one....)
Rouge Hot from China
Yvetta Simonova
Åse Kleveland
Disco Colors (tubeclip only)

(Disco colors) Love is blue - Colors 【ツ】

Japan Jamaica Popp! (and a bit of Ronan Keating)

Here’s a fab Japanese cover of André Popp’s classic Eurovision songs L’Amour Est Bleu (Love is blue).

Japanese reggae dubsters Little Tempo mix with Yoko Fujita (藤田陽子) and Ao Inoue (of Dry & Heavy, another Japanese reggae outfit).

It’s from some undergroundish dub remix compilation I didn’t find many details on, but it’s just plain great.

Koi Ha Mizuiro  (恋は水色)

L’Amour Est Bleu was 4th in the 1967 contest representing Luxembourg. The original French lyrics were written by Pierre Cour.

The song was featured many times at Eurocovers. Here's the song as the 2nd most covered Eurovision song and here's another Love Is Blue Special.
Here's some from India and one from China, one by Ann Margret and a groovy Bagpipe version by Rufus Harley. The first ever Eurocovers post features Paul Mauriats 12"inch disco version.

And a bit of Ronan Keating news.
Ronan Keating will release Believe Again as his next single in Australia and New Zealand. Believe Again is the Keating co-penned* 2009 Eurovision entry for Denmark.
Original singer Brinck finished 13th with the song at the Moscow contest, but the song proved to be a popular tune and was covered several times (See below)

Believe Again will be a duet with an as yet unrevealed artist (My bet is on Orianthi, but Olivia would be great). It will be included on the album Duet, especially created for the Australian/New Zealand market.
update: The singer is Paulini Curuenavuli. (website)
You can listen to the song at Soundfiend.

The album will include some previously recorded duets (Lulu, Elton, Cat) alongside new songs with antipodean artists.
The single will be out on November 12. Both album and single will be released exclusively in Australia and New Zealand, so rekindle your contacts with those long lost pen pals. (Or wait for the'Bay).
Keatings most recent album is Winter Songs from 2009, a christmassy album which is also almost appropriate again.

Source: Ronan Keating website
Believe Again at The Moscow Collection has all the details on the coverversions. Or check this Eurocovers post.
See an Afrikaans version by Heinz Winckler here at Eurocovers.

* Keating wrote Believe Again with Lars Halvor Jensen and Martin Møller Larsson. In 2010 the trio wrote All About A Girl for Joakim Tranberg for the Danish selection.

Eurocovers Summer Break part 3, Love Is Blue special.

You probably think I may be overdoing it a bit on the L'Amour Est Bleu front, but it proves to be a popular track with Eurocovers readers, so here's some more for those who can't get enough.

A version I really really love is by Super Falling Star. They're from Australia, it's all a bit indie grumpy, and was released on a Japanese EP Melbourne Holiday. If you want to find out more, I'm sure it's on the world wide net somewhere.

Even more indie and also noisy are The Pees (The ピーズ) from Japan. Their Japanese version, 恋は水色, involves shouting and a lot of haphazard guitar stroking. It's from a b-sides compilation, and so it probably was a b-side at some stage.

Love Is Blue Goes Riverdance, in Korea.
The André Popp / Pierre Cour classic Love Is Blue by a Korean operatic singer named Moony무니 in an Irish Jig Stylee from the album Whispering Of The Moon. The English lyrics were written by Bryan Blackburn btw.
An utterly cheesy 70's version by the Mighty Rhythm Machine is titled Love Is Blue '76. It's your typical orchestra disco, not really funky, but with all the necessary violin bits, synthy parts and horny breaks.


And then there's Barbara Y Dick from Argentina who do it in French .

The Document
I have updated the old Love Is Blue document with the latest finds, corrections and added info. You can download the new file here. As usual it's a word.document with all info on the original releases by Vicky and details on all the coverversions I know of.

Looking For Some Love Is Blue:
To keep my LIB language collection in shape I'm looking for the following versions of L'Amour Est Bleu:
Yvetta Simonová - Má láska je bílá (Czech) from LP At Hudba Dale Zni (Supraphon)
and a Korean one I don't know much about : It's by김행자 from a 1970 Various artists LP힛트가요 레코드전집 10
Or another Korean version by Han Seung Ki 한승기 - 우울한 사랑 from 1990
If you can help me with any of these or have any additions or suggestions, just leave a comment or e-mail me. Thanks!

Blog Tips
Merci Cherie has been updating quite a bit and Eurocovers fans should check out the cool stuff from Iceland. Especially the Icelandic version of Love Is Blue: Örlög Min by Kristín Ólafsdóttir.

Cançons En Català I Més features Un Ninot Penjat D’un Fil by Els De La Torre. Even though it was already at Eurocovers in the Year Of The Puppet series, the Catalan blog has the full EP with picture sleeve. And it's worth a visit anyway….


RE: RE: RE:RE: The Laila Kinnunen Box Set. '(post below). I hadn't noticed, but there's also a 2CD issue of the A La Laila release. It has tracks from all 8 discs from the boxset, but not as many Eurocovers / Eurovision goodies. Just that you know. (Thanks for the tip Mikael)

RE: Sprattelgumma. You probably won't remember, but there was this bit about the very first colour TV broadcast in the Siw Malmkvist Year Of The Puppet post which I was forced to remove from the blog.
Now you can see it at This Youtube link, as long as it's there.

Thank You India

I've been browsing for Eurocovers from India off & on for quite some time now, never with any Eurocovers worthy results. But I always came across all kinds of 'inspired' songs, where known melodies are spiced up with some new notes and the song is credited to the Indian composer.
It turns out that's not uncommon, and Eurocovers doesn't really care. Whichever way you listen, below are three versions of andré Popp's L'Amour Est Bleu / Love Is Blue (you know, Luxembourgs 1967 Eurovision entry originally by Vicky.)


Indian Movies
Composer Saluri Rajeshwara Rao wrote Ee Reyi Teeyanidi for the 1971 Tollywood* movie Chitti Chellelu.
He used a large part of L'Amour Est Bleu / Love Is Blue and added another melody line to the song.
The song is sung in Telugu (Indian language spoken mainly in Andhra Pradesh) by S.P. Balasubrahmanyam and P. Susheela but in the movie you see actors Haranath and Vanisri miming to their voices. (See Youtube in below post). It was common practice to hire professional singers to supply the voices for actors with lesser vocal talents.
Balasubrahmanyam is said to have recorded over 40.000 songs in 40 years.

In 1990 Calcutta born composer Bappi Lähiri created a song in Hindi with the same melody. Hum Dono Akele Hon featured in the film Aaj Ke Shahenshah.
Vocals are by Bappi Lähiri and Anuradha Paudwal. The female role in the song is by Kimi Katkar, the male role is for Chunkey Pandey. Lähiri also stars in the film, but not in this track.
Bappi Lähiri pioneered the use of disco music in Bollywood films (but not in this song). His songs borrow heavily on international hits like Lambada, Hasta Mañana, Karma Chameleon and Billy Jean.

Somewhere in the dark depths of my record vault lurks a vinyl from Mr. Bappi Lähiri. It was 1988, we were all screaming acieeeed, and Lähiri released a house tune called Habiba. I really should dig it up some day.

Ee Reyi Teeyanidi was re-recorded (again in Telugu) in 2003 for the movie Johnny where it was sung by Hariharan and Nanditha with Ramana Gogula producing. They lent their voices to the actor Pawan Kalyan and his wife Renu Desai (Youtube clip).

*Tollywood = Cinema of Andhra Pradesh, Bollywood is the film industry of Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay). Dollywood however, is not the cinema of Dehli.
I know the soundtrack to Johnny (2003) was released on CD (the film on DVD), but for the others I don't have any release details except that the films were released on video. The soundquality isn't very good, but the songs surely make up for that.
I've patched the info together from many sources, so please forgive me if there are inaccuracies in this post.



Brimful Of Asha
And then there's Volare. In Hindi it became Aajare, Aaja re na jaa re laage na mora jiya saajan tere bina soona, or some variation on that title. It's from the movie Sarhad from 1960 and the vocals are by no one else than the queen-mother of Indian film music, Asha Bhosle.
I haven't been able to track down a full recording of the song so that's bad luck, But there is proof, check out this patchy compilation of scenes from the film (Youtube). If anyone happens to have the track, I await your e-mail. Thanks.

Note: Salma & Sabina Agha recorded an LP of Abba songs in Hindi back in the 80's. Unfortunately for Eurocovers, Waterloo isn't on it, but the LP is still a must have. It was released in India, Sweden and the U.K. (at least) and later it was re-issued on CD several times. So if you want your ABBA hits in Hindi, shop around. (although you probably already have this amazing record in your collection).

Rufus Harley (1936-2006) - Love Is Blue

Sometimes I come across a Eurocover that is just too amazing to be true.

This is Rufus Harley playing Love Is Blue (L'amour est bleu, Luxembourg 1967) from his 1970 LP Kings and Queens (Atlantic SD-1539) and reissued on the CD Courage - The Atlantic Recordings. (pictured)

Read more about Rufus Harley at this New York Times obituary. Harley died two years ago.

If you like this one also check out the must hear versions of Love Is Blue by Dorothy Ashby (Afro-Harp) and Ohta San (Ukulele) in this Eurocovers post

10.000: # 2 - L'Amour Est Bleu - Vicky (1967)

# 2 in the top 10 most covered Eurovision songs is another non-winner (i.e. loser) that became one of the most recognisable melodies of all time. Vicky (Leandros) sang L'Amour Est Bleu, written by Pierre Cour & André Popp to a 4th place for Luxembourg in 1967 Eurovision in Vienna. Vicky recorded the song in French, German, Italian, English (2 versions), Dutch and the jury is still out on her Japanese version which is supposed to be released on a megarare flexi.

# 2
- L'Amour Est Bleu
- Vicky
- 530 versions listed

The song was covered in many languages back in 1967 and some did even do well but it wasn't a vocal version that made the song immortal. In 1968 Paul Mauriat and his orchestra scored a worldwide hit with an instrumental version of the song titled Love Is Blue.
5 million singles were sold and the record stayed 7 weeks at #1 in the US. It must have broken Lyricist Pierre Cours heart (& bank?) that the wordless version became the big hit and the blueprint for so many versions.

You can find Paul Mauriats 1976 disco re-invention of Love Is Blue in the very first Eurocovers post.

The famous people doing L'Amour Est Bleu / Love Is Blue: Bing Crosby, Sacha Distel, Eydie Gormé, Byron Lee, Al Martino, Johnny Mathis, Andy Williams, Jeff Beck (U.K. #23 hit) and piano virtuoso extraordinaire Liberace.

Eurovision Stars: Rachel, Michele Torr, Bob Benny, Jimmy Makulis, Severine, Karina, Raphael, Åse Kleveland, Siw Malkvist, Raquel Rastenni and Charlotte Nilsson.

So far I have found details on versions in 18 languages. Next to the Eurovision languages there are versions listed in Japanese (15), Mandarin, Vietnamese and Korean.

Over 60% of the coverversions listed are instrumental versions, Some odd, quirky and fab, many just plain copies of the Mauriat version. Here are a few of my favorites.


AFRO HARPING
It's thank to my hunt for Love Is Blue's that I discovered the totally fantastic music of Dorothy Ashby. She's a jazz harpist playing groovy (never has the word groovy been more suitable) versions of many international standards (and also originals). It's the best feel good music you'll ever hear and I recommend anyone to get a CD or LP by this genius musician. Love Is Blue is on the LP Dorothy's Harp from 1969 but I think Afro Harping (1968) is her best work. Dorothy Ashby's CDs are available through most web-shops or visit your local record dealer.

LIBERACE
Extravaganza is Liberace's middle name but his version of Love Is Blue is quite a straightforward romantic piano version of the song. Just a few frills here and there. It's from a 10 inch LP titled Liberace but can also be found on the compilation CD The artistry of Liberace. (Picture: A rare meeting of the two greatest pianists in the history of music)
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LOS GUITARSAnother style Love Is Blue is perfect for is the twangy soft rock'n'roll Shadows-like guitar pop.
Versions by the Dixie Aces, The Quests, Santo & Johnny, The Ventures, The Jordans, The Diamonds, Nano Figueroa, Los Barrocks and the Downbeats all have that characteric twangy guitar sound that spawned so many great instrumental hits in the 60's.
I chose the version by Los Belkings from Peru because any band with Los in front of the name is cool by definition. And they have a wailing lady which is always good. Renamed El Amor Es Triste it was their 4th single and it also appeared on the 1968 LP Lo mejor de Los Belkings.

Mortier Teugels' version is one for the organ fans. Street & dance organs were already featured in this Eurocovers post (Puppet On A String) and now there's a version of the other 1967 winner for your entertainment.
And for the Ukelele lovers there's a version by Ohta San (Herb Ohta).
Love Is Blue composer André Popp was a big fan of the Ukelele virtuoso and wrote A Song For Anna especially for him. It became a million selling international hit. Love is blue was a b-side to One Day Of Love and can also be found on the LP Ohta San meets André Popp (Japan BRS)

Last instrumental is a personal space-favorite. Chris Waxman handles the Hammond on his LP Organized from 1969 (Decca).

SING A RAINBOWPaul Mauriats version had hardly left the charts when a third incarnation of the song hit the airwaves worldwide: The Dells 1969 'power-soul version in which they mixed the song with Sing A Rainbow, a childrens song that was written/claimed by Arthur Hamilton.
The Dells story goes that they were so pissed off when their 1968 single There Is was knocked out the US top 20 by Paul Mauriats Love Is Blue that they cut their own version of the song to avenge themselves. (… according to Dells member Charles Barksdale)
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The Sing A Rainbow / Love Is Blue combination was covered many times too, including some great soul versions and a few sung in Italian like the somewhat tormented one by Maurizio from the 1970 LP Maurizio (Polydor). (featured below and see a video here)

THE BEACH BOYS
No, not really, but Hugo Montenegro and his singers sure try very hard to sound like them.
From the LP Good Vibrations (RCA Victor 1969), which is a sort of Beach Boys sound tribute LP. CD is available from Amazon and other online music stores.

Word.doc featuring release details on all versions of the song by Vicky and the list of 567 coverversions of the ever blue evergreen. Also includes some picture sleeves.

Shop for Vicky Leandros CDs, DVDs and vinyl at BeaRecords


LOVE IS BLUE - BLOG TIPS
For an ultimate version of Love Is Blue in Mandarin by Patrina and The Melodians you must check this post at the highly recommended Mod-ified Music blog if you haven't done so already.
7 Black notes, the blog about the strange side of movie music has a soundtrack LP featured of the movie Come Together. The LP features 4 versions of Love Is Blue including the one by the Dells.
Loronix features an LP of Os Velhinhos Transviadios with Love Is Blue.
Jeff Becks LP Truth gets an indepth review at ChrisGoesRock

Love is blue

There is no better way to kick off this blog than with a tribute to the man who has the most successful Eurovision cover to his name: Paul Mauriat, the French orchestra leader who died last week at the age of 81.

His instrumental version of Vicky's L'amour est bleu (music by André Popp) was a worldwide hit in 1968, a US number 1 and probably the second most sold Eurosong ever.
Since then every selfrespecting orchestra, hammond wizzard, accordion artiste, ukulele genius or moog magician has recorded the tune as an instrumental, leaving the original lyricist Pierre Cour a bit short on cash.

The man et son orchestre recorded many Eurovision songs and even re-recorded his big hit in a disco version in 1976 for a 12"inch.

Love is blue - 1976 disco version with the added bonus of autenthic vinyl crackling sound for your entertainment.