Маргарита Радинска - Кукла на конци
It's still Year Of The Puppet at Eurocovers and here's a 'new' language version of Puppet On A String to be added to the list.
It's a Bulgarian version by Margarita Radinska titled Kukla Na Koncu.
(Balkaton BTK 2840-1) (Listen here, Youtube Audio)
Pic from discogs
Un ninot penjat d'un fil
Another version I promised to share is the one sung in Catalan. I finally got a reasonably listenable audio so here it is.
It is Un ninot penjat d'un fil by Els De La Torre, (Los De La Torre in Spanish) who have recorded songs in Spanish and Catalan. (Listen here)
They have been Los 4 de la Torre but have also operated as a trio.
I have also updated the Year Of The Puppet post about Florbela Queiros with some release details and a gorgeous picture sleeve.
Bought A 4th Chinese version of 1967 Eurovision winner Puppet On A String by Sandie Shaw.
I'm a bit clueless here. The girl is called Rose (something) (玫瑰 = Rose) and the song seems to be titled 女 Yan Kee (Nu Yan Kee). I haven't been able to find any info on the net searching by record label and all that and off course I'm rubbish at Chinese characters. And is it Mandarin, Cantonese or another Chinese language?.
Po-Lo records MEP 3070. Please E-mail me for ♫or if you can help.
Eurocovers has not fully collapsed yet under the heat, but lazyness prevents indepth analysis of the high standards you are used to from yours truly. I didn't even tie in with the footie and the vuvuzela madness, for which you probably are thankful
But here's some found food and bits and pieces people have been sending.
Perla
Remember Perla? In this Eurocovers post (UPDATED in 2021) you can read all about the beautiful Brasilian pop singer and her covers of your favorite Eurovision songs. There was one version missing which now can be found in this YouTube. It's the Spanish language version of Mia Martini's 1977 entry Libera.
It's one of 90 Perla songs you can listen to on the Perla Radio Youtube channel. Thank you Perla Radio!
Leon Calvert
Easy listening blog Detour features an LP Captivation by Noel Trevlac including an instrumental version of Puppet On A String. Not only is this a must hear track because it is exceptionally good, it's also interesting because Mr. Trevlac is actually Leon Calvert, acclaimed British jazz trumpeteer who probably didn't want to have his name attached to some cheap covers LP. But the quality of the arrangement and the trumpetering betrays him. Thank You Detour Blog!
South Africa
Music news from South Africa is a bit slow at the moment. Several Eurocovers are on the brink of release (or not, as postponing is the word of the day). You can find one little teaser for a forthcoming release at the Jasmyn website.
You can hear a part of Iemand Soos Jy, a coverversion of the ill fated Barbara Dex song that ended last in 1993. Jasmyn will also have two other Eurocovers on her album, but there's not much info on her website yet.
Another anticipated but overdue album is Die Enigste Manier (The only way) by Lee Scott (of Hi-5). It includes Wonderland, an Afrikaans version of Fairytale, last years winner and Wens Ek Kon (2009 runner up Is It True? from Iceland). You can listen to excerpts from the album tracks including the Eurocovers at the Lee Scott website. update: There's also a cover of Chiara's Malta 2009 song titled Vandag. Moniqe Foxx tackles the forgotten Malta entry Believe 'n' Peace by Times 3 (1999) as Ek Glo for her new album.(very short clip at the Moniqe Foxx website). The album will also include a version of Secret Combination (Greece 2008). The album will be out on Markon records. Lea Le Roux covers the luscious Andorran 2009 entry La Teva Decisio (Susanna Georgi) as Ek Es Gereed on her album due in november. (small clip at Rea Le Roux website).
A lot of small excerpts which are of course useless to the Eurovers fan, so I'm pleased to end this shortlist of Afrikaans covers with two full versions:
It's Henk Grimsell with his interpretation of Soraya's La Noche Es Para Mi (Spain 2009). The song is titled Vanaand Is Net Vir My from his new album Dis Tyd (Southern Buzz records). And the girls love him!
South African Bachelor Of The Year Stefan Ludik also has an album out. Burn This Town is out on CD in South Africa and also digitally available at Play.com, We7 and MusicMe. It has one Eurocover, Lose Control, last years clubby Finnish entry by Waldo's People. It's in English and a bit louder than the original.
At MusicMe you can listen to the full tracks of the album.
Totally Off Topic Extra Bit Of Afrikaans Info Cooler As Ekke by Jack Sparow is heading for a massive hit in the Netherlands. It's a soft hippy hoppy track of which I don't understand a word (maybe just as well) but it can be considered quite cool in a Borat kind of way. It's the first Afrikaans language hit in the Netherlands since Thembi took a medley of discofied Afrikaans folksongs to the top 10 in 1976. (Take Me Back To The Old Transvaal)
2010 coverversions
Currently at #4 in the German charts is Schland O Schland by Uwu Lena. The football hymne to the tune of Lena's 2010 Eurovision winner Satellite was released on cdsingle after some initial hesitation. The number 4 is a lucky number for the Germans. #1 next week?. (update: erm, no , #5)
There's also a Finnish version of Satellite, it's called Kiertokuu by Charlotte Kero.
Read more about all the Satellite Eurocovers at Lena's page at the Oslo Collection. More news on the Keistad Street Organ CD (with a cover of the Dutch entry) can be found at the Oslo Collection Sieneke page.
More Mostly Off Topic Great News Samantha 'Touch Me' Fox and Sabrina 'Boys Boys Boys' Salerno have teamed up for an ace coverversion of Blondie's Call Me(Youtube). Welcome back girls, the world just wasn't the same without you.
The cdsingle is only released in Italy so far, but the digital release is widely available. I bought my cdsingle at favorite shop Juno, who also stock a picture disc 12" inch.
Sam Fox's old band Sox once tried to go to Eurovision with Go For The Heart, but they ended 4th and Love City Groove went on to the contest somewhere in Ireland.
O Vento Mudou - UHF
After all that schlager and pop it's time for a bit of Rawk. Portuguese rockers UHF have recorded the Portuguese 1967 entry O Vento Mudou (Eduardo Nascimento) for their new album. And it's great!
You can listen to the song at the UHF MySpace . Thanks Ed!
Perdon Cariño Mio
Two versions of the Italian 1971 entry L'Amore è Un Attimo can be found at the website of Pino Lucciano. One in Spanish (Perdon...) and one in Italian. Eurocovers loves that song, so that's why it's here. There's also a version of Volare if you scroll down a bit on the site.
Another Tex Mex version of the song by Los Reyes Del Camino can be found in this Eurocovers post from 2007.
Eurocovers likes the world and the unlikely pairings of music styles coming from all over it.
One I could never have dreamt up myself is Swiss Lady by Them Mushrooms.
Pepe Lienhard and his band sang Swiss Lady back in 1977 and it was a bit of an horny affair, as the Lady in case is the ever popular folkloristic instrument from the Alps: The Alpenhorn. It was of course the Swiss entry and it ended 6th at the contest held in London.
Them Mushrooms are from Kenya and the band has been around since 1972.
After a good decade of hard work performing in hotels and clubs they have released 16 albums since 1980 (in various line-ups). They were (and are) a popular band, but superstardom in Kenya didn't mean immediate unlimited richess. They even had to borrow their instruments in the early years.
Their most popular song is Jambo Bwana (Hello Mister) from 1980. It was covered by many bands including Boney M., although Tha' Shrooms have never received a penny from Frank Farian for Jambo Hakuna Matata (insert the word allegedly at your own convenience)
The 2005 album Kazi Ni Kazi (Kelele records KE 31011) subtitles as Tribute To Bob Marley which is probably only because there is a track with that title on it.
It's this album that sports Eurocover Swiss Lady and it's an odd mellow journey from the Matterhorn to Mount Kenya, via Jamaica.
The band have ditched the name Them Mushrooms and go through life as Uyoga now. You can read more about them at Big Entertainment .
'When you play your music I'd like to be an Alphorn too': Swiss Lady is sung in English with a small part in Swahili. -
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picture: Giant spliff prooves to be a hard draw.
Blog Tip
Treasure trove Faintly Blowing features an interesting LP. It's The Jet Liners at the Taj Mahal Bombay. The band is from Ceylon (Now Sri Lanka).
The LP has a gorgeous sleeve and there's 15 coverversions of popular songs like Zorba The Greek, Georgy Girl, This Is My Song (anoraks: written by Charlie Chaplin) and Eurocover Puppet On A String, the Sandie Shaw Eurovision winner from 1967.
(Avid readers know there's 1000's of Puppet On A String versions at Eurocovers).
Eurovision 2009 - The Moscow Collection
The Latest 2009 News At The Moscow Collection Blog: Serbia, Cipela, Dance version now at RTS. Albania:Carry Me In Your Dreams - promo sleeve Azerbaijan: Always, single release details, sleeve Bulgaria: download old & new versions, Deep Zone remixes Iceland: Is It True promo sleeve Spain: Soraya promo info. U.K.: Jade: It's Time For Remixes, promo info Lithuania: Sasha Song (!) Love to Moscow, Russian version Finland - Lose Control remix info, cdsingle out now, # 1 hit
Puppet On A String? Bondage more like.
Here's a punky 80's version of the Puppet by Big Hair. I don't know anything interesting about this outfit so here's the picture sleeve.
Big Hair's Puppet has appeared on several compilations, but always with a bit missing. Here's the full version from the vinyl single. (Fresh records Fresh 19)
Another obscure punk single comes from Norway and is by Jeg Falt. The only thing I know is that it can be found on the compilation CD Null Problem - NordNorsk Pønkrock.
Those gloomy Nordic winters can be very long so this must be the unhappiest version of the song ever recorded. There's no recognisable melody, but it sticks to the original lyrics. (Any details on original release are welcome)
Another day, another Puppet. One day before the Big 40 here's a Finnish version of Sandie's song by Maarja-Leena (Hentunen). I couldn't find any info on the singer and I don't have a picture either.
Sätkynukke was released on a single (Philips PF 340 791) and can also be found on the fantastic Finnish compilation CD Eri Esittäjiä Käännetyt viisuhelmet.
This is a must have 2CD with 50 Eurovision songs covered by Finnish artists, all sung in Finnish.
Finnish artists have always been very active in covering worldwide hits and Eurovision songs are no exception. It features the big hits and winners but also some unexpected choices. See the tracklist of the CD below.
Eri Esittäjiä Käännetyt viisuhelmet - tracklist CD1 01: TAIVAAN SINESSÄ - Nel blu dipinto di blu - (Volare) Olavi Virta 02: CIAO CIAO BAMBINA - Leif Wager 03: TANSSILAULU - Dansevise - Laila Kinnunen 04: LIIAN NUORI RAKKAUTEEN - Non ho l’eta per amarti - Anneli Sari 05: VAHANUKKE, LAULAVA NUKKE - Poupée de cire, - Ritva Palukka 06: SÄTKYNUKKE - Puppet On A String - Maarja Leena 07: LA LA LA - She Gives me Love - Carola 08: MUA ONNITELKAA - Congratulations - Robin 09: RAKKAUDELTA NÄYTTÄÄ, HITTO VIE - Det börjar verka - Eero Raittinen 10: PENKKI, PUU JA PUISTOTIE - Un banc, un arbre, une rue - Carola 11: VARKAIN VIEN TAIKKA LAINAAN - Beg, Steel Or Borrow - Tapani Kansa 12: RAKASTAN - SAAVUTHAN - Après toi - Carola 13: NUORUUS ON SEIKKAILU - Tu te reconnaitras - Katri Helena 14: SAIN MUISTON - Ey sham - Marion Rung 15: WATERLOO Ami Aspelund 16: NIIN - Si - Lea Laven 17: SAANHAN OLLA HÄN - Let Me Be The One - Kai Hyttinen 18: DING-A-DONG Hanne 19: JENNIE, JENNIE Matti Esko 20: SILLOIN - Era - Marion ja Kirka 21: SÄÄSTÄ SUUKKOSI VAIN - Save Your Kisses For Me - Tapani Kansa 22: NIIN SE KÄY - 1 - 2 - 3 - Lea Laven 23: LINTU JA LAPSI - L´oiseau et l´enfant - Katri Helena 24: PÄIN SEINÄÄ - Rock Bottom - Armi ja Danny 25: VAPAANA - Libera - Seija Simola
CD2 01: SOITTOTUNNIT - Mathima solfege - Silhuetit 02: PALAA - Feuer - Päivi 03: HALLELUJA - Hallelujah - Anna, Muska ja Kirka 04: TSINGIS KHAN - Dschingis Khan - Frederik 05: DISCO TANGO Marion Rung 06: VUODET OHI KÄY - What’s Another Year - Kisu 07: AMSTERDAM Katri Helena 08: KUIN TEATTERISSA - Theater - Ami Aspelund 09: ISÄ-PAPPA PINGVIINI - Le Papa Pinqouin - Armi Aavikko 10: ON MERI TÄNÄÄN RAUHATON - Feggari Kalokerino - Danny 11: LIIAN PIAN ILTA PÄÄTTYY - Layla - Eini 12: HUMANAHUM Kari Tapio 13: JOHNNY BLUE Katri Helena 14: TAHDON ELÄÄ - Hora - Markku Aro 15: RAKKAUS VOITTAA - Mono i agapi - Berit 16: VAIN HIEMAN RAUHAA - Ein bisschen Frieden - Katri Helena 17: MUUKALAINEN - Främling - Meiju Suvas 18: LAHJAN SAIN - Si la vie est cadeau - Taiska 19: JULIE - Dzuli - Ilkka Salo 20: DIGGI LOO - DIGGI LEY Meiju Suvas 21: JUNA TURKUUN - Tredi di tozeur i - Seija Simola 22: MIKSI RAKKAUDELLA LEIKIT - Love Games - Vicky Rosti 23: PÄÄTTYNEET JUHLAT - La fiesta termino - Anneli Saaristo 24: ENNEN SUA - Neka mi ne svane - Laura Voutilainen 25: RAKKAUS ON SININEN - L’amour est bleu – Yölintu
With the Icelandic selection taking off on Saturday (see post below) , it's time to link back to the days when Iceland were too busy fighting geysers and eating puffins to be a Eurovision Nation.
Yes it's back to 1967 again with The Year Of The Puppet.
The Icelandic version of Puppet On A String was recorded by Helena Eyjólfsdóttir and is titled Þú kyssir mig.
In the alternate universe where Iceland entered Eurovision in the 60's, Helena is the dream songstress to have brought the trophy to Reykjavik. Her early work includes coverversions of jazz standards as well as international pop classics.
Not uncommon in Iceland, Helena released her first record when she was 11 years old. Most of her work was recorded in her teens. She sang in several groups and with jazzbands like the Atlantic quartett, Gunnar Ormslev, Björn R. Einarsson and Svavar Gests.
She still performs occasionally but is withdrawing slowly from the music business.
Þú kyssir mig is available on CD 'Hvítu Mávar', a compilation of Eyjólfsdóttirs early work which also includes her version of Boom bang a bang (Og þú).
She also recorded an Icelandic version of Beg, steal or borrow probably with a band or duo. (Details and recording wanted)
Just one day until the first semifinal of the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest.
If you are one of the unlucky Eurocovers readers without any TV channel broadcasting the contest onto your couch, no problem. It's quite easy to catch the broadcasts this year. Just go to the Streaming TV page of the official Eurovision site. There you will be able to catch all three evenings of Eurovision extravaganza. Needs an octoshape install, but that doesn't hurt.
In the meantime here's just a few of the golden oldies recorded in Norwegian over the years. Some by Norways greatest stars and others by the lost and forgotten. And there's some links to Norwegian treasures featured previously at Eurocovers.
1958 Italy - Volare (Domenico Modugno)
Already featured in 2008: Anno Domenico, Norwegian versions of the Italian Classic by Nora Brockstedt and by Inger Jacobsen with the Monn Keys (Original post)
1959 Netherlands - 'n Beetje (Teddy Scholten)
- Det Kommer En Sommer - The Monn-Keys - 7" (Triola TN 165) & EP
The Monn Keys were a Norwegian vocal outfit founded by Egil Monn Iversen and Sølvi Wang. In fact it was some kind of supergroup with different well known Norwegian vocalists joining the group off and on. (including Eurovision singers Inger Jacobsen, Nora Brocktedt and Arne Bendiksen).
Their recording career started way before Eurovision was invented but they picked up on a few of your favorite Eurovision tunes, dressed them up in Norwegian sweaters and even scored a few hits with them. The Monn Keys lasted from 1948 to 1964. They toured Scandinavia, most of western Europe and also America.
The b-side to the Det Kommer… single is Syng Lille Sangfugl, a cover the the U.K. entry Sing Little Birdie. (Still looking for that one though)
source: More about the Monn Keys (in Norwegian) at Balade.no where I also nicked this picture sleeve.
1960 France - Tom Pillibi (Jacqueline Boyer)
- by the Monn Keys with Sølvi Wang - on 7" (Triola TN 202)
1962 Germany - Zwei Kleine Italiener (Conny Froboess)
- Anita Thallaug - Tina Og Marina - on 7"(NorDisk NOR 67)
Anita Thallaugs place in Eurovision history was earned in 1963. In Eurovision she performed Solhverv (Solstice) which became Norways first nil-pointer. Thallaug was appointed to go to Eurovision even though two other artists had performed the song in the national final (Jan Høiland & Nora Brockstedt). Anita Thallaug never released the song. Zwei Kleine Italiener, probably the biggest hit from the 1962 contest, was already widely covered in this Eurocovers post.
1962 Finland - Tipi Tii (Marion Rung)
- by Jan Høiland, release details wanted
1966 Yugoslavia - Brez Besed (Berta Ambroz)
- Uten Ord - Karin Winje on 7" (Triola TN 487)
1967 U.K. - Puppet On A String (Sandie Shaw)
- Sprellemann - Benthe Aaseth .
Already featured in The Year Of The Puppet post Sprellemann
1967 Luxembourg - L'Amour Est Bleu (Vicky)
- Blå, Blå, Min Kjærlighed - Åse Kleveland - on 7" (Polydor NH 66 814)
1969 U.K. Boom Bang A Bang (Lulu)
- Anne Mette in this post.
1973 Spain - Eres Tu (Mocedades)
Inger Lise (Rypdal) - I Mitt Liv on 7" (Talent TS 009). See comments
Eight winners of Eurovision Days Gone By have been recorded in Russian. (also see below) Ding A Dong, much loved, ridiculed by some. Of course the 1975 Eurovision winner is flowerpicking genius and the Russians agree. The song is covered by Russian artists and it's regularly performed on various CIS states Idols / Eurovision / Kids shows.
Teach In enjoyed some popularity in the Soviet Union in the mid 70's and in 1976 Getty Kaspers, Teach In's singer at Eurovision had a USSR #1 hit with I'm Alone.
Teach In are doing a bit of a re-union tour and they also visitied Russia, playing for 40.000 people at two sold out cencerts. The band will be performing at the opening show welcome party extravaganza in Moscow on the 10th of May.
Ding A Dong Russian coversAlena Apina & Murat Nasirov's version of Ding A Dong is titled Лунные ночи (Lunnye Nochi) and can be found on a 1998 CD The Best Of Alena Apina.
Assorti (Ассорти) gave it a shot in the Russian preselection with Keep On Shining in 2005 and their Динь-Дон (Din Don) from 2003 appeared on their website and various compilations. (pic right) (This one was already featured in this Ding A Dong Eurocovers post)
The most recent Russian version I know is from 2006 by Havana (Гавана) - Novy god v platie novom (Новый Год В Платье Новом). It was released on various Christmas compilations.
Golden Oldie Are You Sure is one of the songs I knew by heart (although in my own invented variation on English) before I found out it actually was a Eurovision tune.
The Allisons (Brian 'John Allison' Alford & Colin 'Bob Allison' Day, not really brothers contrary to popular belief), the U.K.'s answer to the Everly Brothers, scored a European hit with their Eurovision runner up, the third U.K. entry in a row to finish 2nd.
Despite their European hit, world domination didn't really happen for the Allisons. They managed to get two more top 40 hits (but not top 30) and called it a day in 1963.
'Goodbye, Farewell.... Are You Sure?' they asked. I guess they weren't, as the Allisons reunited on several occasions and in the 70's recruited some new brothers like Mike Allison and Tony Allison.
John White, earlier member who left in 1959 is the real composer of their Eurovision Song. (It's credited to The Allisons)
Search engines aren't much use when you're browsing with a general term like "Are You Sure" but over the years I have found details on about 40 versions of the song and here are some of them.
My favorite first: The Chicks are a New Zealand sister duo formed by Judy & Sue Donaldson. (real sisters) The single was sent to me by Barry from New Zealand, long before the internet and all that and it has always been one of the treasured little gems in my collection. Are You Sure is the b-side to the 1969 single Miss You Baby (Polydor 425220). -
I could write/copy/paste the girls life story, but instead I recommend this excellent bio at New Zealand Music with gorgeous pictures and very detailed info.
Another sister duo, The Young Sisters (again, real sisters) from the Netherlands recorded AreYou Sure in Dutch.
Johnny, Kom Weer Hier (Johnny come back) was recorded in 1961 and released on single (Philips 318 552 PF).
The Young Sisters are Willy & Nelly De Jong, mom & aunt of Maxine. Maxine represented the Netherlands in Eurovision in 1996 with Franklin Brown (De Eerste Keer, 7th).
Even though the Sisters released several singles covering international hits, they never scored a chart hit. But they prooved to be a popular live act performing for Dutch soldiers abroad, often accompanied by the Jumping Jewels.
There is a short bio with some great pictures here at the West Brabants Rock 'N' Roll Archief (in Dutch).
German versions of the song are called Ahoi-Ohé and it is this version that probably was the inspiration Kalmer Tennosaar & Kalju Terasmaa to record an Estonian version. That version was covered by Estonian girl-folk-humpah band Seelikukütid.
The girls of Seelikukütid have been known to sport the Sebastien Tellier look and tackle popular songs as well as tradional songs on their many albums. Ahoi Ohee is from the CD Seelikukütid 4 from 1997. Seelikukütid also recorded Puppet On A String (as Hüpiknukk, on CD Seelikukütid 5)
A List of Are You Sures List of versions of Are You Sure . (e-mail me) This has release details on the Allisons versions and info on 42 coverversions of the song. (Word document uploaded with 4shared) (Updated November 2013)
Any corrections, additions and comments are of course very welcome.
Don't You Want Me or Love Will Tear Us Apart, that was the choice you had to make in The 80's, remember them? Dead Cool or Cool Dead.
Big Floppy Hair, Outrageous Blousons, Electronic Dans Music, Neue Deutsche Welle and more floppy hair.
Here are two Portuguese new wave tracks that are gloriously 80's. But in fact they're covers of 60's Portuguese Eurovision songs.
Mler Ife Dada were a extravagant band from Cascais, Portugal, heart of Portuguese new wave. They enjoyed their 15 minutes of 80's fame especially after the charismatic Anabela Duarte joined the band. Mler Ifa Dada made two, now of course very important, albums and a few singles. - For the b-side of their first single with Anabela Duarte, L'amour Va Bien, Merci (Ama Romanta records AMRO002, 1986) they recorded a version of Ele E Ela, Portugals 1966 entry by Madalena Iglésias. They re-titled it Ele E Ela….E Eu (Him and her… and me). It's a perfect European new wave gem clocking in under 1:50.
Mler Ife Dada recorded two albums which both have been re-issued on CD and there's also a compilation from 2003 but none of these releases has Ele E Ela….E Eu.
- Coisas Que Fascinam (LP, Polygram, 1987)
- Espírito Invisível (LP, Polygram, 1989)
- Pequena Fábula (Compilation Universal, 2003) Anabela Duarte still tours and released a CD Machine Lyrique in 2006. Duartes 1987 solo LP Lisbunah, on which she re-invents Fado for a new generation, is another recommended album.
The second new wave cover is by Os Delfins, also from Cascais. Their version of the 1967 song O Vento Mudou (Portuguese entry by Angolan born Eduardo Nascimento) is what a Eurovision entry by Joy Division could have sounded like, ok....., let's say early Simple Minds.
Os Delfins, like th' Minds, soon abandoned new wave for rock-pop, but this early single remains a Portuguese new wave landmark. They're still recording and released the CD Delfins earlier this year. You can check them out at their MySpace. -Os Delfins´version of O Vento Mudou was released as a 7" single and 12" inch maxi in 1984 on the Fundação Atlântica label (FA 2002697/6), which was regarded as the Portuguese equivalent of Factory Records.
Carlos Paião Cover Play BackPortuguese outfit My Tie have recorded a new version (in 2004) of the Portuguese 1981 entry Play Back by Carlos Paião. The coverversion is in English and was only released as a bonus track on promo cdsingle The Entrance. But it can also be heard at My Tie´s MySpace. And there´s some more good stuff too. - - - 1966 - Ele E Ela (He and she or Him and her)
Original singer Madalena Iglesias came 13th in the contest in 1966 and recorded the song in Portuguese and Spanish (EP pictured above). Madalena Iglesias recorded many Eurocovers herself. One EP Eurovisão 1965 (Alvorada AEP 6030, tracks wanted!!) features coverversions in Portuguese of the 1965 entries of Austria, France, U.K. and Luxembourg. She also recorded the 1966 winner Merci Cherie (in Spanish), Italian evergreen Romantica (1960) and Simone de Oliveira´s Portuguese entries of 1965 and 1969. 1967 - O Vento Mudou (The wind changed)
Original singer Eduardo Nascimento came 12th in the contest of 1967 and recorded the song in Portuguese and English. 1981 - Play Back
Original singer Carlos Paião (1957 - 1988) ended 18th in the contest and recorded the song in Portugese and English. (Eurovision Collectors Guide)
Forget about a new president, the French people had far more important voting to do last night. And there was a superbe lot to chose from so and I'm pleased they gave the vote to Les Fatals Picards to represent them in the Helsinki contest in May.
The jumpy rocking pop tune with the great accent is a big departure from the traditional grumpy French chansons of recent years which really only work about once every three times.
The Jean Luc Picard link is not the first intergalactic connection for a French entry.
A memorable choice from France was back in 1999 when they picked that spaced out woman Nayah who had ties with the Raelian cult and caused a bit of a stir. Spaceships would come for her (remember it was 1999) and make her the queen of the Universe, or at least win the Galactivision Song Contest. Je veux donner ma voix was the song, and the greatest thing it did back then was score a # 100 hit (one week) in the French charts. And it scared away the aliens.
Still Nayah's Voix was heard as far as Tahiti and Canada where coverversions of the song were made.
First up there's Maruia from Tahiti. Don't know much about her except she has made quite a few CDs with Polynesian pop mixed with coverversions of ABBA et les chansons pop. She also recorded a version of the Swedish 1999 winner Take me to your heaven. (Find that in this Eurocovers post)
Ginette Reno does a great job on the song and makes it actually quite good.
The Canadian singer was one of the most popular artists in Quebec in the 60's and 70's and even had a fling with the BBC after she won the Yamaha Tokyo Song Festival representing England. Je veux donner ma voix is on the first CD of a series collecting her work mixed with new and unreleased recordings.
She also recorded a version of Udo Jürgens 1964 entry Warum, nur warum better known as Walk away. (Dis-moi pourquoi)
Read more about her at http://www.ginettereno.com/
Je veux donner ma voix - Maruia - CD Te Ora Hau (Vol. 11) (1999)
Take me to your heaven - Maruia - CD Te Ora Hau (Vol. 11) (1999)
Dis-moi pourqoui - Ginette Reno - LP Ginette en amour (Apex, ALF-1580, 1965)
Je veux donner ma voix - Ginette Reno - CD Mademoiselle Reno (Melon-Miel, 2004)
Related posts: French versions of Sandie Shaws Puppet on a string can be found in this Eurocovers post. Le dernier qui a parlé (France 1991) in Cantonese is here. A Lithuanian version of the French 1993 song Mama Corsica is here.
With the French presenting their rather amazing selection for the Helsinki Eurovision (I so loooove Jean Luc Picard band) time for a couple of French versions of Puppet On A String.
Les Parisiennes are a quartet of danseuses brought together by Jazz Musician / Producer Claude Bolling.
Don't be fooled by the 'I'm a Patsy double at an Absolutely Fabulous Flashback scene' look, Raymonde Bronstein (Beretta), Anne Lefébure, Hélène Longuet et Anne-Marie Royer were very able to sing and their song and dance show enjoyed some popularity in France and Canada during the 60's . They mostly recorded songs by Franck Gérald & Claude Bolling but tackled a few coverversions too.
Les Parisiennes recorded two Eurovision coverversions in French
U.K. 1967 - Un tout petit pantin (EP: Philips 437.305)
U.K. 1969 - Boom bang a bang (EP: Philips 437.457)
Un tout petit pantin can be found or the best of CD 'Il fait trop beau pour travailler' (Mercury 2004) which also includes their song that became famous because of it's title, which is longer than the song itself: C'est tout de même malheureux … qu'on ne puisse pas se promener tranquillement dans les rues après neuf heures du soir. There are several French versions of Sandie Shaws winner, including one by Sandie Shaw herself. Another I really love is the one by Marianne Mille (pictured right). Don't know anything about her, but the song is below anyway.
Here's a list of P'tit Pantins I know, any additional detail, version or song is welcome at the usual address, I'm especially looking for the Canadian versions.
Sandie Shaw - Un tout petit pantin
- 7" Pye 45 PV 15261, France
Arlette - EP
Mr Blot - ?
Marianne Mille - Comme un tout petit pantin
Les Parisiennes - EP Philips 437.305
Sophie Renaud (Canada) - EP
Tonia (Belgian ESC singer) - 7" also has a cover of France 67
Karolyn Vallée (Canada) - 7" Match 6104
The Year Of The Puppet is a journey through space and time with Sandie Shaw and her classic Eurovision winner as our only guideline. So far versions of the song from France, Singapore, Jamaica. Yugoslavia, Estonia, U.K. (Comedy), Iceland, Lithuania, USA (Musical) and Spain have been featured and listened to. Still to come, More Singapore, Brasil, Scotland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Netherlands, Spain, Catalonia, Basque Country, Russia, more Jamaica, Chile, Argentina, Mexico, Portugal, Tirol, Japan, Turkey, Czech republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary and any other destination that we visit on our travels.
In the week leading up to two important Sandie Shaw anniversaries I'll be presenting some coverversions of Puppet On A String I don't have much details on.
Not even a picture for this one.
Sprellemann is the only Norwegian version I know of and it was on my wanted list until Jan from Norway came along. Thanks Jan!
Bente Aaseth was in the 1967 national selection for Eurovision: the 'Norsk Melodi Grand Prix 1967', with the song Shake (also performed by Laila Granum). The song finished 2nd.
Another thing I know is that Sprellemann was released on a 7" as a b-side to Jeg tror på sommeren.
You can find an introduction to the Year Of The Puppet series in this Eurocovers post
More Norwegian stuff by Døsty Cåwshit a.k.a. Dusty Cowshit is here
UPD 12-04Blog Freche Früchtchen has an nice item on 'Shake' the Norwegian preselection song mentioned above.
Excusez the puns, but I've been brooding on them ever since I heard the Czech Republic would make their debut at this years Eurovision Song Contest in Helsinki.
You can find the Czech list of national finalists at the usual places. (see links)
One of the participants is legendary Czech superstar Helena Vondráčková. It's rumoured she's been selected as a tv-crowd puller, but that doesn't matter, Eurocovers just loves the local legends.
Presenter of the Eurosong preselection show will be Jiří Korn and hey presto, a Eurocover is born.
Jiri and Helena recorded a Czech version of the Great British 1976 classic Save your kisses for me back in 1977 titled Já půdju tam a ty tam.
Another Eurocover by Helena was Jak mám spát, Après toi by Vicky Leandros (Luxembourgs 1972 winner).
Jak mám spát
- (7" - Supraphon 043 1399)
Já půdju tam a ty tam. w. Jiří Korn
- (7" - Supraphon 143 2059)
Helena Vondráčková has recorded about a million songs from 1964 to present day and at her excellent multilingual home page you can find very detailed discographies and songlists. http://www.vondrackova.net/
Soon: The Czech version of Puppet On A String in the Year Of The Puppet
Update: Helena Vondráčková will be participating with the song Samba which is already available on her new album Zastav se (... a poslouchej) - (Universal 170 851-2)
Another Update: Samba has been removed from the participants list and will be replaced by another song by Helena Vondráčková.
Last Update: After presenting another song Ha Ha Ha Helena Vondrackova withdrew from the competition beacuse she couldn't agree on juries not playing a part in the decision for the first Czech Eurovision entry.
Happy New Year from Eurocovers to our Chinese Visitors . May the year of the Pig bring you health and posperity.
What better way to celebrate than with a Eurocover.
A great Chinese Eurovision cover is by Hong Kong superstar 关淑怡 - Shirley Kwan , who covers the French 1991 song, Le dernier qui a parlé, in Cantonese.
After her debut hit 難得有情人 Shirley Kwan became famous for her mixture of Cantonese Pop with western music. Next to many originals she covered music by Roxette, the Beegees, Sandra and even Ralph Siegel.
Kwan released about a dozen original albums sung in Cantonese. In the mid 90's she also recorded several in Mandarin (but not the Eurocover) and a few in Japanese in 1989 and 1990.
After a relative period of silence she is back on top in 4704 with the live CD/DVD Being Shirley On Stage.
梵音 - 关淑怡
Shirley Kwan released three versions of Amina's song that almost/also won the Eurovision Song Contest in Rome in 1991. Studio version from 1991
- CD Love is forever and CD 32 Top Selections
Live version from 1995
- CD Shirley Shirley Kwan live in concert
Live version from 2006
- CD/DVD Being Shirley On Stage
It's Eurovision Week, 40 years ago that is, and today Year Of The Puppet features a Dutch version of Puppet On A String. Speelbal in de wind (Toy-ball in the wind).
Reggy van der Burgt is a fairly unknown Dutch singer who, like so many, could have been a star if only….
She won a talent show when she was in her 20s and scored her only hit Teddybeer in 1966/1967. Follow up singles (incl. Speelbal…) fail to chart and her well received debut album fails to score commercially. I guess it's the sad old story 'Record company has other plans than artist' that probably killed off Reggy's career. But Teddybeer, a tale about exchanging your faithfull cuddly toy for a live one that hugs back, remains a treasured classic in Dutch pop history.
Reggy van der Burgt also recorded De tijd staat niet stil (Time doesn't stand still) a wonderful coverversion of the German 1966 song Die Zeiger der Uhr (Hands of the clock) which can be found on the b-side of Teddybeer. (single CNR UH 9833)
Speelbal in de wind / Maar morgen is hij mij vergeten (single CNR UH 9930)
Speelbal in de wind was also recorded by Dutch Eurovision singer Anneke Grönloh.
ZingZing has a lovely Reggy van der Burgt discography.
Stay tuned for some more great Puppets in the coming days.
Please Note: Several wonky links in older posts have been restored.
Here's Anggun performing Puppet On A String in the 2011 Eurovision presentation show where the 2011 French entry Sognu by Amaury Vassili was introduced.
It was just announced that the same Anggun will represent France in the 2012 contest in Baku. Find out more about next years French bid here at the Baku Collection.
It’s been a bit quiet at Eurocovers lately. Too much work, recession depression, some PC problems and all kinds of personal excuses, you know the tune.
But I received a bit of release news from Erik of Sweden I didn’t want to keep from you as it includes the magic words ‘Previously Unreleased’ and ‘Italian Version’.
Siw Malmkvist, Eurovision singer, Swedish National Final repeat offender and beloved Eurocovers artist has given her memoires to the world in a Swedish book called Tunna Skivor Av Mig.
It was written with Carl Magnus Palm who is most known as the best ABBA historicus. (His fantastic ABBA - The Complete Recording Sessions (1994) is unrivalled).
Tunna Skivor Av Mig (Thin slices of me) is a take on her 1960 single Tunna Skivor which is a coverversion of Connie Francis’ Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool. Skivor is also Swedish for records.
Siw Malmkvist entered Eurovision in 1960 with Alla Andra Får Varann (for Sweden) and in 1969 with Primaballerina (for Germany) and she recorded coverversions of several Eurovision songs (see * below). This new release adds two more to the list.
Augustin, April April
Siw Malmkvist also entered (and won) the Swedish national selection several times and two of those appearances are linked to the Eurocovers on the Tunna Skivor bonus CD.
In 1959 Siw Malmkvist sang Augustin in the Swedish selection even though it was already known that Brita Borg would represent Sweden at Eurovision.
Siw recorded Augustin in Swedish, German, Danish, Norwegian and Italian and it’s the Italian version that is released here for the first time.
In 1961 Siw won the Swedish selection with April April, but Swedish TV decided that Lill Babs would go to Eurovision because Siws performance wasn’t quite satisfactory. ** April April features on the CD in a previously unreleased Danish version.
The CD included with a limited number of the book includes 17 tracks of which only the last one was previously released. One track is a new recording; Du bist der Anfang und das Ziel, recorded with her son Henrik. The other 15 tracks are mostly different language recordings of well known Siw songs.
Less great news is that the CD is only available with the first 1000 copies of the book, which is of course not a very fan-friendly marketing strategy.
The Tunna Skivor Av Mig edition with the CD is only available at Bokus, who dont ship to everywhere, but to most European countries and some beyond. (Best inquire first to get the right edition)
Tunna Skivor tracklist:
1 Ten Thousand Miles - 1965
2 Am Platz von Tegelbacken - 1964
3 Amore Scusami (German) - 1964
4 Augustin (Italian) - 1959
5 Bring Back My Love - 1965
6 Du spricht immer von Paris - 1959
7 Du är bäst - 1964
8 Frosty der Schneemann - 1964
9 Goodbye Charlie - 1965
10 Hej Mr Banjo - 1955
11 Lejonburen - 1964
12 Någon gång någonstans - 1964
13 Rosorna i Portugal - 1959
14 April april (Danish) - 1961
15 Du bist der Anfang und das Ziel - with Henrik Ohlsson - 2010
16 Introduction recorded in the studio for Vackraste paret i världen
17 Vackraste paret i världen - Duett med Svante Thuresson - 1968
* Sprattelgumma, Puppet On A String at Eurocovers has a discography of Siws Eurocovers
** I haven’t read the book yet, so I don’t know if there’s anything about this historic Swedish Eurovision debacle in it.
The Turkish version of Puppet On A String, Ben Senin Kuklan Değilim, is another one I couldn't find much info on. The song is by Suna Artun Poyraz and can be found on a single (Ezgi Plákk 45-12?) and a Turkish various artists LP 'Yıldızlar geçidi' (Ezgi Plákk).
I don't know who Suna Artun Poyraz is, the only thing I know is that she recorded several coverversions of 60's songs and that she released some singles as Suna Artun (without Poyraz).
If anyone knows some more or has a picture, please let me know.
A recommended site for fans of (any) coverversions is http://www.birzamanlar.net/ which has an extensive lists of versions in Turkish with titles and artists of the originals and the covered versions.
The Year Of The Puppet celebrates the 40 year anniversary of Sandie Shaw's Eurovision victory with Puppet On A String. Introduction to the series in this Eurocovers post.Other versions already featured are from France, Singapore (Mandarin-Chinese), Jamaica. Yugoslavia, Estonia, U.K. (Comedy), Iceland, Lithuania, USA (Musical), Spain, Brasil, UK punk, Norway (gloom) Norway, Turkey, Portugal, Basque country Organland, Tirol, Denmark, CzechoSlovakia (Czech), Hungary, Russia, Yugoslavia (Slovenia), Chile/Argentina/Mexico, Sweden, Netherlands, Hong Kong, Finland, Scotland, Poland, Czechoslowakia (Slovak), Trinidad*, More Jamaica and more Singapore
