Summertime bits and pieces part 1.

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.

2010 The Oslo Weeks - Part 5: The Classics

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

2010 The Oslo Weeks- Part 1: Nora Brockstedt

By all means of transport, ashclouds permitting, the 2010 Eurovision stars are arriving in Norways capital city Oslo for the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest.

While the new Superstars and main contenders are working their pretty little arses off drinking at parties, spending their allowance on overpriced souvenirs and other important promotional activities, Eurocovers reminisces on the gone old days.

Since the Finweeks in 2007 Eurocovers dives into Eurovision history with the popular songs and artists of the host country.

I Voted For Nora!

A few months ago there Norway Post was having a bit of a internet vote on who should be the 4th Norwegian Eurovision entity to be honoured with their face on a stamp. Three stamps were already decided to be graced by Norways Eurovision winners Bobbysocks!, Secret Garden and Alexander Rybak, and the public was to vote for another one. I voted for Nora Brockstedt, but in the end the people decided to give Jahn Teigen the honour. Bless him.
I'm sure it must have been a very close call, as Nora Brockstedt is one of the lovely superstars of early Eurovision.

She sang with the popular Monn Keys in the early 50's  and scored some popular tunes before she set foot on the Eurovision stage like En Liten Pike I Lave Sko and Eurocover Augustin (see below) .

She represented Norway on their first two Eurovision entries and after that Nora tried four times more in the national finals, the last time being in 1977.

In the 21st century Nora is still singing, she released her latest CD For Swingende in 2008.
You could have seen Nora Brockstedt live in action on May 28 at the Byporten shopping centre in Oslo. Bobbysocks! and Maria Haukaas Storeng also joined. (Byporten info).
update BeaRecords happened to be shopping in Oslo and recorded this footage of Nora Brockstedts performance of Voi Voi  for Youtube. BeaRecords YouTube channel is here.

Voi Voi

The first Eurovision entry for Norway was the brilliant Voi Voi by Nora Brockstedt. It ended 4th and still remains a popular tune in Norway. Nora recorded Norwegian, Swedish, Danish and English versions of the song. Voi Voi was a # 5 hit on the Norwegian charts (9 weeks on the list)
In 1988 a new version was released by Nora and the original singer can also be heard on some coverversions.

A very 21st century rappy coverversion is by Superstars who use the original version of the song. See the videoclip here at YouTube.

Follow up Sommer I Palma, also by Nora,  ended 7th at the contest but was picked up by two French Eurovision singers Isabelle Aubret  (the 1962 winner for France) and Jean Claude Pascal  (1961 winner for Luxembourg) both recorded the song as Si Mon Amour.
Finnish Eurovision legend Laila Kinnunen recorded the song in Finnish and Swedish.

Nora Brockstedts own collection of Eurocovers starts in 1957 with Norwegian and Swedish versions of the Danish entry Skibet Skal Sejle I Nat.

Below is a list of all Nora's Eurovision songs including all the Eurocovers I know of. There's many details missing, especially label info on the Norwegian releases. So if you know more, just let me know. I'm also looking for a complete picture sleeve scan of Sommer I Palma.

Nora Brockstedt
Eurovision and Eurocovers Discography.

---

Norway 1960 - Voi Voi

- Voi Voi (norwegian) on 7"(Karussell KM12)

- Big boy (english) - as Norah Brockstedt on 7" (U.K.: Top Rank JAR 353)

- Voi Voi (swedish) on 7" (Sweden: Joker JK 4004)

- Voi Voi (danish) on 7" (Denmark: Karussell KD 5010)

- Voi Voi (1988) on 7" (Garlic Records GR-1)

- Voi Voi (2006) - Bjelleklang with Nora Brockstedt

---on CD Sokker I Sandaler (Big Box records BBRCD 012, 2006)

- Voi Voi (2006) - Superstars (pop-rap version with original sample)

---Two versions on cdsingle  (Soundfarm recordings SFRCDS 0601)

Norway 1961 - Sommer I Palma

- Sommer I Palma (norwegian) on EP (Karussell TNEP 1062)

- Sommar I Palma (swedish) (Sweden: Joker JK 4014)

Denmark 1957 - Skibet Skal Sejle I Natt

---(Birthe Wilke & Gustav Winckler)

- Skibet skal seile i natt (norwegian) -  (RCA, details wanted)

- Skeppet skall segla i natt (swedish) on 7" (Cupol CS 4521)
--- & EP Höst i en park i Paris (Cupol SEP 105)

France 1958 - Dors Mon Amour (André Claveau)

- Sov i min favn (norwegian) on 7" (details wanted)
---and CD Tango For To, 50 Innspillinger Fra 50 År.

- Sov, min älskling (swedish) on EP (Cupol CEP 193) also includes I Det Blå.

Italy 1958 - Volare (Domenico Modugno)

- I dine blå øynes blå (norwegian) -  release details wanted

- I det blå (swedish) on EP (Cupol CEP 193)

Sweden 1959 - Augustin (Brita Borg)

- Augustin (norwegian) -  7" (RCA NA 1099) - a 5/7 hit in Norway

- Augustin (swedish) on EP (Cupol CEP 214, pic below)

Norway 1963 Solhverv

---(Anita Thallaug at Eurovision)

This song was performed twice in the Norwegian National selection, once by Jan Høiland and once by Nora Brockstedt. A different singer, Anita Thallaug, performed it at Eurovision and Jan Høiland is the only one to release the song (7" Columbia GN 1755).

Special thanks to Erik.

Sources: Eurovision Collectors Guide 1956-2005
The 10.000 Coverversions Project
Rate Your Music (Augustin label image).

The Oslo Collection for all your 2010 release news.

Previous Eurocovers posts with Norwegian stuff:

Grethe Kausland, Lille Grethe

Døsty Cåwshit, also a bit about them here.

Anne Mette - Boom Bang A Bang

Puppet On A String: Norwegian Happy and Norwegian Gloom

Let It Swing by Pia Beck

Volare International: Inger Jacobsen and Nora Brockstedt

Lars Forsell: Du Er Sommer

Эмиль Горовец - The Moscow Weeks - Emil Gorovets

Here's a re-hash of an older Eurocovers post, but I think the Moscow Weeks can't go by without mentioning Emil Gorovets, who recorded some of the great 60's Eurovision entries in Russian.
I know I promised a feature story about the Russian Jewish singer, but even after much research I wasn't able to write a coherent story that does his life story justice.
Emil Gorovets was born in Ukraine in 1927, moved to the US in 1970 and died in 2001 in New York.

So for The Moscow Weeks you'll have to make do with his Eurovision covers discography and the songs (♫) most songs are in Russian but there is also one from his rare Yiddish LP Emil Gorovets sings the worlds songs in Yiddish.
Эмиль Горовец - Eurocovers discography
Austria 1966 - Merci Cherie - Udo Jürgens
Мерси, Шери - on Russian Flexi 00019601-2
A Dank (in Yiddish) - LP (LPG 1003)
Luxembourg 1967 - L'amour Est Bleu - Vicky
Тень и свет (Ten I svet) - on LP Poet
U.K. 1967 - Puppet On A String - Sandie Shaw
Я не кукла (Ya ne kukla) - on flexi EP Melodija 0001183-4
U.K. 1968 - Congratulations- Cliff Richard
Сто поздравлений (Sto Pozdravleniy) - on flexi EP Melodija Д 00025771-2
Israel 1979 - Hallelujah - Milk & Honey
Hallelujah (English/Russian) - on CD Luchshie Pesni (1996)

The Russian compilation 2CD Emil Gorovets - Zolotaya kollektsiya retro 2004 features all 60's tracks in Russian.

A good discography of Gorovets' Russian work is here.

Details and tracklist of the Yiddish LP are here

Динь-Дон - The Moscow Weeks - Ding A Dong

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.


The Moscow Weeks - Dschinghis Khan
More Eurovision Winners In Russian At Eurocovers:
1964 - Non Ho L'Eta - Tamara Miansarova
1965 - Poupée De Cire, Poupée De Son - Muslim Magomaev
1967 - Puppet On A String - Emil Gorovec

Picture Sleeves, Moscow 2009

The Moscow Weeks
In a week the delegations of the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest will be boarding their private jets for Moscow. Watch out for a few Moscow Weeks posts soon at Eurocovers. In the meantime getting Moscow 2009 sorted is taking up a lot of time, so today you'll have to do with some picture sleeves only. I found these over the years at the net, e-bay etcetera, but I don't have the records or even recordings. But I think they're worth having a look at so I though I'd share them to kill the time to 12 - 14 - 16 May.


The Moscow Collection
As you have noticed by now, over at my other blog you can find all details on the releases of the 2009 contest. Versions, Picture sleeves, Release info, Charts, Links, it's all there and constantly updated.
The latest updates include:
Greece - Sakis Rouvas This Is Our Night Album info
Moldova: Three remixes online at Nelly Ciubano Website
Andorra cdsingle out now, remix
Macedonia - English and Serbian versions online, promo info
Ukraine: Anti Crisis Girl, Russian version
Bosnia Hercegovina: Bistra Voda, download Russian and English
Serbia, Cipela!, more versions: French, Russian, Greek, English, Hebrew & Finnish!
Turkey: Hadise in the Belgian charts (and out again)
Russia, new Eurovision version online
Malta: Chiara promo

The picture seeves above feature coverversions of Puppet On A String (U.K. 1967), Yo Soy Aquel (Spain 1966), Congratulations (U.K. 1968), I Belong (U.K. 1965) and Sol De Inverno (Portugal 1965).

From Matterhorn to Mount Kenya: Swiss Lady

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.
-

-

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

Team GB 1961 - Are You Sure?

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 Are You 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.

All Kinds Of Everything From China

2008, Beijing, Olympics, etcetera.
I'm not going to deep into the politics (or the sports for that matter) of it all here, I'm sure you'll find enough websites for that. Opening Ceremony was great, but I caught some zzzz's too.The square drummers at the start were totally amazing.
Unfortunately the TV forgot to include any televoting numbers when all the countries marched on, missed opportunity I say.
-

But I did notice a complete absence of Chinese visitors to Eurocovers, when normally there is always a steady flow of friends from Beijing and Guangzhou visiting my blog.

I find it hard to imagine that a blog like Eurocovers should all of a sudden be branded dangerous to national interest, so I have to assume our Chinese friends are just to busy right now with watching the Olympics. Or relocating.


潘巧丹 - Michelle - All Kinds Of Everything (in English)
- from 2005 CD Angel Of The Morning (pic. right)
区瑞强 - Albert Au - All Kinds Of Everything (in English)
- from CD Simple Folk (2000), Albert Au is a Hong Kong cantopop singer and DJ at Radio Television Hong Kong.
胭花四乐 - Rouge Hot - Love Is Blue (in Chinese)
- from the CD Oriental Instruments Vs Occidental Music, (pictured top left). Odd version, sounds more Barok than Oriental to me, but lovely still.


and check out these earlier Eurocovers posts with Chinese related Eurocovers:
鍾玲玲 - Betty Chung - Puppet On A String
櫻櫻 - Lara and the Trailers - Puppet On A String
Sakura Teng & Quests - Puppet On A String
難得有情人 - Shirley Kwan - Le dernier qui a parlé (France 1991)
雷安娜- Annabelle Lui - Johnny Blue (Germany 1981)

2008: ANNO DOMENICO - Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, it's 2008 and I wish all Eurocovers readers a fantastic year. May some of your wishes come true and may there always be something to wish for.

Anno Domenico ©
2008 at Eurocovers will be Anno Domenico ©. After last years celebration of the 40 year anniversary of Sandie Shaw's Puppet On A String in The Year Of The Puppet we go back 50 years this time to pay hommage to the best selling Eurovision song Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volare) written and performed by Domenico Modugno. By now you know many details about the history of the song already but there's more in 2008, and of course a host of interesting, cool, rare and odd coverversions of the Italian evergreen.
And there will be info on Volare celebrations held in Italy this year: There will be a Volare stamp, TV shows, concerts and releases spread all over 2008.

2008 will also see a new Eurovision, in Belgrade, Serbia and a record 43 countries will participate in this edition. National selections will see hundreds of artists trying to get a ticket to the Balkan and several of them have recorded coverversions of Eurovision songs. They will all be here.

I have prepared several Anno Domenico © posts already but I had a hard time to start somewhere. Currently the list of Volare coverversions counts 1060 (and rising). The famous and the forgotten, the obvious and the obscure, the polka, the punk & the philharmonic, so much to choose from.

I decided to kick off Anno Domenico © with a favorite version from 1958. Several American artists have recorded the song before Modugno had his breakthrough with his song but none of them stole his thunder. One of them is featured here.

Jesse Belvin (1932 - 1960)
Jesse Lorenzo Belvin was a soul singer from Los Angeles (but born in San Antonio, Texas) and he only spent 28 years on this earth, but not without leaving his marks on 20th music history.
His first chart hit was in 1953 with Dream Girl (Jesse & Marvin). He co-wrote Earth Angel, a 1954 hit for the Penguins, and later for the Crew-Cuts and much much later for New Edition (1986). His second band The Shields, also featuring Johnny Guitar Watson, scored a hit with You Cheated (1958). The most successful Belvin hits were Goodnight My Love (1958) and Guess Who (1959) from his first solo LP Just Jesse.
Tragedy struck when after a concert with stars like Sam Cooke and Jackie Wilson, Jesse Belvin and his wife Anne died in a car accident in Arkansas. It was just before his third album Mr. Easy (his nickname) was released.

Jesse Belvin's wonderful soul-voiced version of Volare, sung in English and Italian, was released on a 7" single in the US in July 1958 (RCA Victor 47-7310). It was his 30th single.

Jesse Belvin recorded for various labels like Specialty, Imperial, Modern, RCA-Victor, King and Knight. His RCA recordings (including Volare) are collected on the recommended 2CD Guess Who - The RCA Victor Recordings (ACE records, UK) which was released in 2004 and is available in any good music store and in most internet CD shops.
♫ Jesse Belvin / Jesse Belvin

You can find a detailed Jesse Belvin discography here.

Also check out these 2007 Eurocovers posts that feature versions of Volare:
Jazz legend Oscar Peterson, Brasilian superstar Leny Eversong, Chorrujumo, 10.000 Eurocovers featuring Milva, Wayne Newton, Dolores Duran, Gery Scott & Earl Grant. Ella Fitzgerald, Luciano Pavarotti & G4 , Lithuanian Mino and La Grande Dame De France: Juliette Greco.


Some facts about Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volare)
The song was written by Domenico Modugno (music) and Franco Migliacci (lyrics). The most used English lyrics are written by Mitchell Parish.
The song was written in 1957 but was first launched at the eighth San Remo contest (Final Februari 1st) where it was performed twice. Once by Domenico Modugno and once by Johnny Dorelli.
Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu won the San Remo song contest and Modugno represented Italy in the third Eurovision Song Contest in 1958 in Hilversum, The Netherlands at the 12th of March.

The contest was won by France's Dors Mon Amour by André Claveau and Modugno ended third with 13 points. 2 times 4 from Belgium and Germany and five times 1 point. And zero poing from Denmark and Luxemburg.

But Modugno laughed all the way to the bank, as his song , soon known as Volare (after the refrain) became one of the top 100 best selling singles of 20st century, a US #1 hit, A grammy winner and one of the most covered songs with several lives in most decades since the original recording.
Volare won the first ever Grammy for a song in 1958. Both for song of the year and record of the year.

More facts to come….

The Kids Are Alright, Part 2: The Boys

This Saturday (december 8) the 5th Junior Eurovision Song Contest takes place in Rotterdam.
You can read more about the history of kids in Eurovision in the introduction to this 3 part article (Part 1 has the Girls). Here's part 2, with some boys who haven't been close to a razor yet, but sing their lungs out in their Eurocovers.

The Kids Are Alright -
Part 2. - The Boys

1960 Romantica
Robertino Loretti was discovered by Grethe Sønck.* (wife of Danish producer Volmer Sørensen) when the boy was singing in an Italian café. The discovery resulted in performances on Danish TV and Robertino recording his first LP in Copenhagen. European and Asian fame followed soon afterwards and in the early 60's Robertino scored hits with O Sole Mio, Ave Maria, Santa Lucia and most notably Mama. It was only after these hits that Robertino got an Italian record deal. In 1964 he scored his first hit in Italy with SanRemo song Un bacio piccolissimo, one of the best selling records of the year. A few hits followed but after Era La Donna Mia (1967) it slowed down. But Robertino kept on touring the world and he's still a welcome performer in Eastern European countries.
He recorded Eurovision entry (and evergreen) Romantica (Italy 1960, originally by Renato Rascel) when he was 14 years old. Robertino also recorded Uno per Tutte, Italy's 1963 entry.

* Grethe Sønck, we all know and love her from her version of Puppet On A String, to be found in this Eurocovers post.

1984 Ik Hou Van JouThe Dutch classic entry from 1984, originally by Maribelle, lost big time at the contest despite the orchestra's applause for the singer.
The Dutch evergreen has since been covered by Cilla Black, Engelbert Humperdinck, José Carreras, Bold & Beautiful actor John McCook and every second singer from South Africa. Here's a wonderful junior version by Demis from his CD Het Leukste Moment (The best moment, Discosound 1995). Demis' (actually named after Mr. Roussos) biggest hit was Ga Dan (Just go, Youtube) from his second album Met Jou (With you, 1996) and it seems his singing career ended when his voice dropped.
-
The music he makes today as DJ Demis H. is mostly instrumental and he's co-founder of Dynamik Traxx.


1991 Draumur Um Ninu (a.k.a. Nina)A huge ballad for Iceland in 1991 by Stefan & Eyfi here by Hákon Guðni Hjartarson. He performed in a kids show Stóra Stundin Ykkar (2006) with this song. The CD Stóra Stundin Ykkar (Sena records) also includes karaoke versions and is probably still available in Iceland. Hákon is the one top left on the pic.



Junior Eurovision Song Contest official website

Junior Eurovision related CDs are available at BeaRecords. OUT NOW: The 2 CD with all entries for the Rotterdam contest + all karaoke versions.

80's Eurocovers - A Wave Of Portuguese New Wave.

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)

More Portuguese Versions In Other Eurocovers Posts:
Leny Eversong (Brasil), Florbela Quieros (Portugal), Puppet On A String , coverversions from Brasil, Jose Cid (Portugal), Portugal preselections artists Duo Ouro Negro (Singing in Italian)

Eurocovers 1st Birthday !!!

Today Eurocovers celebrates its first birthday. A year ago it all started with a little tribute to Paul Mauriat without really knowing where things would go from there.

It's been a year of fun, finding out about all kinds of singers who are (or were) stars in their own country, had an interesting story or just recorded an awesome version of a Eurovision song.
All this research often creates more questions and wantslists, and I want to say thanks to everyone who has replied to my requests and sent me cool stuff. A lot of it will pop up here sooner or later. Please keep it coming….
'Meeting', other bloggers, receiving some great tracks and even getting weird e-mails all has been great fun and I hope to continue for another year.

My favorite parts have been The Year Of The Puppet, with all kinds of versions of Sandie Shaws Eurovision winner Puppet On A String and the top 10 most covered Eurovision songs.
I thoroughly enjoyed finding out about fabulous singers like Leny Eversong (as one Eurocovers reader put it: How can anybody not love Leny Eversong?), Ken Boothe, Helena Vondráčková, Hồ Quỳnh Hương and Argentina Tango King Carlos Di Sarli.

Next year, Anno Domenico ©, Eurocovers will celebrate 50 years of Volare (Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu) and there will be an updated look at the most covered songs, expanding to the top 20. There will be lists, links, music, pictures, blog tips, competitions, new releases and what have you.

Now I'm blowing out the first candle and give you all another slice of the Eurocovers cake.

The first post featured L'Amour Est Bleu, so it's just fitting there's another one here.
This version is by Maria Magdalena, and when you hear the sound of the record it could well be recorded 2000 years ago. The song is titled something like Ipangamo Uy Unoy Co. The exitement being that the song is sung in Ilokano, the 3rd language of the Philippines.
No need to say that it's the first ever Ilokano Eurocover listed.
The song is likely from a single which also features another song, Maudi A Bilin, which is an Ilokano classic..
HELP WANTED: If anyone can shed some light on the singer, single or even share a picture that would make me very happy. (Thanks Maian for the song)


One of my all time favorite songs is Dio Come Ti Amo, the 1966 Italian entry by Domenico Modugno. In the top 10 most covered Eurovision songs (it's at #9) I requested the version by Duo Ouro Negro from Angola and five! of you sent me the song. Thanks to all, it's a lovely as I hoped it would be, judge for yourself below.

# 10 of the most covered Eurovision songs is Poupée De Cire, Poupée De Son, the best pop song written in the 60's. It's also one of the most visited Eurocovers subjects. Les Sans Culottes demonstrate how it would sound if it was recorded by Blondie. From their great CD Fixation Orale from 2004.


Last up there's two Puppets. Suzy Darlén (pic left) as asked for in the Puppet In Brasil post (from EP Oh Johnny, Brasil Odeon 7 BD 1134) (Thanks Jorge!) and a crazy mix of styles in Sounds Orchestral (CD Sounds Chart Bound, 1998 Sequel records) (Thanks Jim!)
I'm still looking for versions of Puppet On A String in Greek, Japanese, Hebrew, Thai, Vietnamese etc. and from now on, Ilokano.


And don't forget to check out some of my friends blogs and favorite sites, the links are on the right side of this page.