VII: Year Of The Puppet - Organ Donation - Puppet's got a brand new string

Happy Birthday Sandie Shaw!
Today is the big birthday for Sandie Shaw and next to the Eurocovers Year Of The Puppet series it's also celebrated at her own website with a new version of Puppet On A String, especially recorded for the occasion. She recorded it with Howard Jones, remember him? Made some amazing stuff in the 80's and is still going strong.

Sandie's present: 'Puppet's Got A Brand New String' is available for download for 60 days.
On her site you can also find extensive discographies, biography and regular messages from Sandie herself. Plus the stuff that shapes Sandies world today.


The number 1 shop for Eurovision CDs and vinyls is BeaRecords, check out their Sandie Shaw page here.

To light up Sandie's birthday I rented some ole barrel organ to serenade her under her balcony.

Organ DonationWhen I browse my organs, Puppet On A String is the song that found it's way to the streets, fairs & dancehalls more times than any other Eurovision song.
The ump-pah ump-pah bits translate easily to the cardboard perforated books setting the pipes & cymbals of the ornate antique automatons in motion.

Many of the great classic organs have had their music recorded on LP's EP's, singles and even CDs. My collection (Thanks to Rick for many of them) features Dutch barrel organs, Belgian Decap (Dancehall) organs and there's also the odd British fair organ recording available.

Recordings of Dutch street organs (Draaiorgels) like 'De Turk' , 'De Veronica' and 'De Arabier' can be found on many vinyls from the 60's and 70's.

In Belgium Decap - Herentals built organs to entertain the party people in dance halls and party centres from the 1920's on. These organs, similar to the French Gaudin ones, also have their recordings saved for prosterity on many records.

I can go on pretending now to know anything on this subject but I'm a total ignoramus: So let's get to the business.



You can rent 'De Veronica' and other organs for your parties and events here.
Circle of Draaiorgel friends has a site in Dutch English & German with all the links you need.

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, Jamaica. Yugoslavia, Estonia, U.K. (Comedy), Iceland, Lithuania, USA (Musical), Spain, Brasil, UK punk, Norway (gloom) Norway, Turkey, Portugal Basque country
Here is a (sketchy) list of Sandie's Organs, additions & corrections are welcome at the usual address
Decap 121 Key (Dance Organ) -----LP The Thursford Assortment (1978)-----(Thursford Museum TE05 2KR100)
??? Fair Organ (UK) ----- 7" Great hits for fair organ -----(Decca DFE 8679)
The Carl Frei (Dutch street organ) -----LP The Golden Age of Mechanical Music Vol 9. Piston Polka -----(Saydisc, 1970)
Gavioli Mammoth 89 Key Fairground Organ -----LP Fairground Fantasia In stereo (1970) -----(Hallmark HMA231)
Gaudin 89 Key -----LP All The Fun Of The Fair Vol 1 (1970) -----(Gaudin Fair JOYS 168)
Hooghuys Organ CH 660 -----MC (EMB 05588)
Draaiorgel De Kempenaer Decap 123 Key 1927 -----LP Draaiorgel de Kempenaar (1969) -----(Gemini Records GMX 5015)
Limonaire 1900 (Dance organ) -----CD Orgue Limonaire 1900 (2003)----- (ILD 642222)
Limonaire 'Pandora' 35 Key -----LP Airs by the Limonaire (1976) -----(CRS1001)
De Marenghi 63 Key -----LP Feest Met De Marenghi"" (1970) ----- (CBS S 52793)
Mortier Organ Grymonprez in medley -----LP Mortier Organ No3 (1969) ----- (Palette PPB S-611)
Mortier Dance Organ 82 Key -----LP Flötte Melodien Aus Knocke's (1980)----- (CM LP 2063)
Decap 'Napoleon' -----LP Decap Orgel Napoleon (1998)----- (Discount Music DCCD 98004)
Taj Mahal Mortier Dance hall organ -----CD Mortier "Taj Mahal" Dance Organ
Mortier 'The Trumpeter' 84 Key -----LP The Trumpeter-----(SSLX 346)
Draaiorgel De Turk (Dutch street organ) -----LP ?
Draaiorgel De Veronica -----LP Greetings From Holland (1987) -----(TCD 10042 Dureco Telstar)

It's a small world after all.

Some of us are old enough to remember 1976.
Austria's Eurovision entry My Little World by Waterloo and Robinson (Hans Kreuzmayr and Sepp Krassnitzer) finished a respectable 5th in the The Hague Eurovision Song Contest, won by the mighty Brotherhood Of Man.
Prior to their Eurovision result, Waterloo and Robinson already scored a few hits with Baby Blue and Hollywood, the latter reportedly even being a #1 in Brasil.

Waterloo and / or Robinson have re-recorded their Austrian #1 hitMy Little World several times, but since both their solo re-recordings from 2008 it has been a few years, so it's time for a new one.
(see below)

Das Comebackalbum
To cut a short story even shorter Schlagerfans, Das Comebackalbum is titled Baby Blue and is by Berger, Maier and Waterloo. So Waterloo = Waterloo (leatherfaceon the left), Berger = Ricky Berger and I guess Maier = Christian Maier, producer (but he's not in the picture, and neither is Robinson, who's probably occupied elsewhere).

The Baby Blue album will be released on November 23 and it will include new versions of W and R hits including Baby Blue, Hollywood and My Little World. It will also include a coverversion of the U.K. 1972 entry Beg Steal or Borrow (New Seekers) and  favorite Clout song Substitute (although the Righteous Bro's recorded it first, I know).
Excerpts are already up up up at Amazon.de.
BMW (oh....) have their Facebook.

Here's the list of recordings of My Little World by at least one of the original singers, maybe there are more, just let me know.
h
MY LITTLE WORLD (english) - Waterloo and Robinson

- single  (International Philips 2121 286)

Meine Kleine Welt (german)

- single  (ATOM 238 075)

My Little World (german/english medley) 

- on '2 x Gold' commemorative 7" single (ATOM C-VSTP 558)

My Little World (first english version with 'rude' lyrics)

- single (Portugal: Planisom PLS 5005)*

Meine kleine Welt (re-recording german, year???)

- on single (Germany: Bellaphon 100 05185)

Meine kleine Welt - robinson (solo version 1990)

-   E details wanted

My Little World (english 2008) - Robinson    

- on CD The ballad of my life (Tonora 400.892)

Meine kleine Welt (german 2008) - Robinson

- on CD Ein Morgen mit dir  (Tonora 400.896)

My Little World (english 2008) - Waterloo

- on CD Ewigkeit (Echo 61445)

My Little World (english 2012) - Berger, Maier, Waterloo
- on CD Baby Blue, to be released November 23

  

Details from The Eurovision Collectors Guide.

* not entirely sure of this release as I have never heard it.

Flemish Schlager
And some more release news from the cheesy variety. Laat Me Nu Gaan (Let me go now or rather Just let me go) is a single by Belgian Schlager singer Jo Vally. It's a coverversion of Non Ho L'Eta (Per Amarti), the 1964 Eurovision winner by Gigliola Cinquetti for Italy.
Don't know if there's a cdsingle, but the track is available at iTunes Belgium and possibly other sources.

VII: Year Of The Puppet - Is that a big string in your hand or....

The second Mandarin version of Puppet on a string featured in The Year Of The Puppet series is by Hong Kong singer-actress Betty Chung. Betty Chungs biggest claim to international fame is her role as Mei Ling in Bruce's Lee's 1973 classic movie 'Enter the dragon'.

Betty Chung also played the role of Peter Pan in the Cantonese version of the 70's musical and recorded classics like Bang Bang, Don't sleep in the subway, Massachusetts, Georgie girl and Love Story.

Her version of Puppet on a string, 在你手中把線牽, Zai ni shou zhong ba xian qian, translates as You hold a big string in your hand.

It an be found on the Bell A-Go-Go EP from 1967. Betty Chungs Chinese name is Zhong Ling Ling, although she's also known as Betty Chung Ling Ling.

鍾玲玲 - 在你手中把線牽

(EMI 7 EPA 197)

Tracklist EP:
- Bell a go-go
- Sugar town
- Puppet on a string (Listen here)
- Summer Wine
Just like Lara and the Trailers, Betty Chung also recorded a version of Lee Hazlewoods Sugartown on the EP.



Betty Chung also recorded a Mandarin-Chinese version of another 1967 evergreen: Love is Blue.
The evergreen can be found on her 1968 LP Wild flame (Listen here).

More Chinese Puppets at Eurocovers:
Lara and the Trailers (櫻櫻)
Rose (玫瑰)
Sakura Teng (櫻花)


Thanks to Peter for the translations

Click the pictures for larger 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, Hungary, Russia, Yugoslavia (Slovenia), Chile/Argentina/Mexico, Sweden, Netherlands

Nicki French 2015: The Eurovision EP

Digital release image

Nicki French, much loved British Eurovision chanteuse, releases a new remix EP including new mixes of her 2000 entry Don't Play That Song Again and a few Eurovision covers.

Don't Play That Song Again ended 16th in the 45th Eurovision Song Contest (in Stockholm).
Hold Me Now is the winner of the Brussels contest of 1987. It was Johnny Logans 2nd victory for Ireland.
One Step Further, originally by Bardo, ended 7th in Harrogate (1982)
And then there's Ding A Dong, the winner of 40 years ago. The Dutch entry by Teach In won the contest in Stockholm en became a European hit.

Update 2019: Nicki French released another Eurovision EP, more info here.

Nicki French shot to fame with her dance coverversion of Bonnie Tylers Total Eclipse Of The Heart. 
It was already the third time Nicki released the song but the 1995 version became a worldwide hit.
It was a No. 5 in the U.K. and a No. 2 in the USA. It went to No. 1 in Canada, Japan and Brasil.

Eurovision EP Tracks:

1. Don't Play That Song Again 2015 (Andy Haldane Remix)

2. Hold Me Now (Andy Haldane Remix)

3. One Step Further (Matt Pop Mix)

4. Ding A Dong (John Springate Mix)

5. Don't Play That Song Again 2015 (Matt Pop's Golden Anniversary 12inch)

6. Hold Me Now (Matt Pop Mix)

7. Don't Play That Song Again 2015 (Andy's Karaoke Mix)

8. Hold Me Now (Andy's Karaoke Mix)
A CD single is released on May 15, still available at the Energise Records shop.
The digital release is out May 23. (but discontined now)

Earlier this year the album One Step Further was released including Matt Pop remix versions of the four Eurovision songs mentioned above.
Another recent release is the album Nicki French: The Singles 1997-2015.
Energise Records also offer a 4-disc (though CD-r) release with the albums One Step Further, The Singles 1997-2015, a Megamix CD and a 4th album Total Eclipse Of The Heart including two previously unreleased demo's.

Energise Records website
More Eurocovers Ding A Dong posts are here, and various versions of Hold Me Now are here.

Original cdsingle

Also check out 2015: The Vienna Collection
Quick links to all countries:
Albania - Armenia - Austria - Australia - Azerbaijan - Belarus - Belgium - Cyprus - CzechRepublic - Denmark - Estonia - Finland - France - FYR Macedonia -   Georgia - Germany - Greece - Hungary - Iceland - Ireland - Israel - Italy - Latvia - Lithuania - Malta - Moldova - Montenegro - The Netherlands - Norway - Poland - Portugal - Romania - Russia - San Marino - Serbia - Slovenia - Spain - Sweden - Switzerland - United Kingdom

VII: Year Of The Puppet - Brasil

Brazil may be famous for the rainforests, caipirinha's and futeball magic, but most of all Brazil is the country with the most Eurovision cover versions to its name, without ever setting foot on the Eurovision stage.
Although they lost interest after the 70's, the amount of coverversions from the land of the Carnival far outnumbers any other. The selection is limited though, it mainly includes the songs from Italy, the U.K. and Udo Jürgens.
Domenico Modugno's entries 'Nel blu dipinti di blu' (Volare) and 'Dio come ti amo' seem the most popular of all, but also the late 60's British songs have been Brazilified by the Brazilian greats and less greats.
Puppet on a String is no exception and I know of five versions made in the land of Pelé.

Don't expect any exotic samba rhythms, the Brazilians surely knew Pop back in the 60's.



My favorite version is the one by Ed Carlos, at the time a child star, who's youthfull voice gives the song the innocent identity it never was supposed to have.
Katia Cilene, another Jovem Guarda star sticks closer to Sandie's original in both sound and looks.
Vocal group Os 3 Morais, three siblings of the Espírito Santo family, recorded the song for their first LP as Os 3 Morais. This also includes a version of Tell The Boys, the song that finished 2nd in Sandie Shaw's Song For Europe selection and that was Sandie's own favorite.

Discography of Brazilian Puppets:
All songs are titled Estou Feliz and are sung in Portuguese.
Ed Carlos - 7" (Fermata FB 33320)
- also on LP Ed Carlos (Fermata FB 209, pictured)
UPDATE Ed Carlos rerecorded the song in 1977 for an LP and EP (CBS) with his voice dropped a few octaves.
Katia Cilene - EP (CBS 33500)
Suzy Darlen - EP 'Oh Johnny' (Odeon 7 BD 1134)
João Luiz - EP (Polydor 555 008)
Os 3 Morais - LP 'Os 3 Morais' (Premier PRLP 1087)

I haven't heard the versions by Suzy Darlen or João Luiz and there may be more too.
Discographies of Brazilian young 60's artists - http://www.jovemguarda.com.br/

VII: 40 Years - Puppet On A String - today UPDATED 12-04

April 8, 1967 - 2007

Today we're flying the flag for Sandie Shaw and the 40th anniversary of the victory of Puppet On A String at the Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna.
For the past months Eurocovers has presented a colourful collection of worldwide coverversions of the song, penned by Phil Coulter and Bill Martin.
A few more will follow in the coming weeks.
Over the past 18 years I have been keeping track of all Eurovision covers I could find in the 10.000 coverversions project and I have uploaded the list of all versions of Puppet On A String in this word document.
It also has a Sandie Shaw - Puppet Discography. Here you can find all Sandie's versions I know of. I hope some of you can add some more, or just fill in some of the blanks on the list. All info is welcome.
PICTURE LEFT:

Marionetas en la cuerda, a Spanish comic book from 1967. A story about a marionette winning a singing competition, tied in nicely with Sandie Shaws success. She's pictured on the front (click for larger image).

Todays celebrations call for some bagpipes and here is one of the coolest / rarest / fantasticest version of the 1967 Eurovision winner.

ALASDAIR GILLIES - GILLE MIREIN
Strap up yer gillies, here's a rarity which will please the Eurovision fans. The U.K. has never attempted an entry in another national language than English. And I only have been able to find details on two Eurovision covers in non English British languages. One is Mary Hopkins' Welsh version of Morgen (Netherlands 1968), the other is this: Gille-mirein (Puppet) by Alasdair Gillies, sung in Gaelic.
"Voice of the Highlands" Gillies is a singer of Scottish songs and according to Daily Express "The music of the mountains and lochs lies deep in his soul". He featured regularly on 1960s TV programmes like ‘Se Ur Beatha’ which brought Gaelic into Scottish homes and with it increasing popularity and interest in the songs of the Gaels and their singers.

UPDATE The only picture I could find is from the sleeve of the CD 'The best of Alasdair Gillies' This CD features 4 songs in Gaelic and 16 in English but no Gille Mirein.

Really big thanks to Klaus for the song.

ALASDAIR GILLIES - GILLE-MIREIN (Scotia records SMD 8)

Word.doc with all versions of Puppet On A String

Singer Alasdair Gillies should not be confused with the late Scottish bagpipe virtuoso/legend of the same name.

Does anyone know of any other Eurovision coverversions in Gaelic, Welsh or any other British language that isn't English? drop me a comment or e-mail

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

Life goes on, some updates and blog tips... (UPDATED again)

Serbia won the 2007 Eurovision song contest. Congratulations to Marija Šerifović and her girls!
You can download all versions of the 2007 winning song on the official Serbian Eurovision site. It features the song Molitva in Serbian, English, Russian and Finnish plus a host of remixes.

While Serbia is celebrating the victory it's time for Eurocovers to get back to all year round business as usual: Coverversions of Eurovision songs from 1956 to 2007.
First there some updates on previous posts sent to me by e-mail or added in the comments. Thanks to all for your contributions.


CHINESE VERSIONSI have updated the Chinese versions document with some more information and have re-uploaded it here. (word.doc, updated januari 2009)

A great addition is a lovely Chinese version of Johnny Blue, the 1981 entry from Germany originally by Lena Valaitis. (Thanks to Anonymous, not the Andorran band)
雷安娜 - 別了憂鬱
Annabelle Lui -
Bie liao you yu Johnny Blue
on LP 舊夢不需記 (No Need To Remember Old Dreams) 1981 & best of CD 真經典 Zhen Jin Dian.



UPDATE: The CD re-issue of the 1981 Annabelle Lui LP can be ordered at YesAsia.com (Global) - -
PUPPETS ON A STRINGIn the comments on the Tatjana Hubinská article with the Slovak version of Puppet On A String, Lou Kash from Funky Czech-In posted a nice biography of the singer which I have added to the article. (Thanks Lou!)

The Year Of The Puppet, featuring coverversions of Sandie Shaws 1967 Eurovision winner isn't over yet. I will be featuring more versions all through 2007.
Meanwhile you can hear an exotic version of the song at the I'm Learning To Share blog.
It's by the Old Oak Casablanca Steel Orchestra from Trinidad and you can find backgrounds and songs of one of Trinidad's longest running steel bands in this article.

Check out this blog for some amazing 78's, advertisments and loads of interesting odds and ends. The Gerty Molzen post is a must see/hear! (Thanks Jim!)

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 of Puppet On A String 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)

Another blog tip:I found an interesting LP featured at 7 Black Notes, a blog about the Strange Side Of Movie Music.
In the december article Smile On Your Brother a soundtrack LP of the movie Come Together from 1971 is featured. The Eurovision connection here is that the LP features no less than 4 versions of the 1967 Eurovision song Love Is Blue (Originally L'amour est bleu by Vicky).
quote: "with enough versions of "Love Is Blue" (both instrumental and vocal) to put you off that tune for life". Check it out and click the pic for the LP.
Paul Mauriats disco version of Love Is Blue was featured in the very first Eurocovers Post ever.

Zwei Kleine Italiener - Happy Birthday Conny!

O.K., I'm a bit late, but belated best wishes go to Conny Froboess who celebrated her 65th birthday last month.
Conny Froboess was a German teen idol in the late 50s and early 60's and scored hitsingles and hitmovies in several European countries.
Only eight years old she scored her first hit with Pack die Badehose ein, a chirpy song about packing up your swimsuit for a day out at the beach. The song, written by her father, was covered in many languages in every beach loving country.

Hits like Teenager Melodie, Kleine Lucienne and Midi Midinette followed but it's of course the Eurovision entry Zwei kleine Italiener that remains her biggest evergreen.
Conny Froboess recorded the song in German, Dutch (pictured), English and Italian. A rumoured French version has not yet emerged.
The song only ended 6th at the contest but it became a big hit in Europe. I blame Conny for my love affair with Eurovision as I was exposed to the song while happily frolicking in the womb. It was a #1 hit in my country when I was born.
Zwei kleine Italiener is written by Christian Bruhn (Music) and Georg Buschor (lyrics)

Coverversions
Zwei kleine Italiener is a top 20 most covered Eurosong with currently 105 coverversions listed. The most famous cover is of course by the other Connie, Connie Francis, who recorded the song in Italian (single MGM K 2065). The song was covered in at least 12 languages, but I haven't found an English coverversion yet.
Eurovision singers that have covered Zwei kleine Italiener are Gitte, Lisa Del Bo, Mary Roos, Mathé Altéry, Colette Déreal, Anita Thallaug (see below), Monica Aspelund (with the Four Cats) and the German group Wind (although no original members were in the group when they recorded the Italiener).

Tohama
Tohama (1920 - 1995) was born in France as Nadia Altman, and the age of 12 she moved to Brussels, Belgium.
Her father was painter Alexandre Altman who'se work I don't know, but he has streets named after him, so he must have done something right.
Nadia adopted the name Tohama (Tahitian for I love you) as her artists name in 1937, the year she released her first record Le Vent M'a Dit Un Chanson. (A song made famous in German by Zarah Leander).

Tohama released many 78's from the late 30's to well into the 50's, both romantic songs and comedy songs including popular hits like Gigi, Le petit cousin, Suzanna Youpi You La la and Dis-moi oui, Dis-moi non. Even though she toured the world her fame was restricted to France, Belgium and Canada. Her work up to the mid 50's has been released on several compilation CDs but the Eurocovers from the early 60's are hard to find items on the original vinyl releases only.
At the dawn of the 70's she packed in her career and Tohama died in 1995 aged 75.

I know five Eurovision songs covered by Tohama, al songs in French
1959 France - Oui, Oui Oui Oui (original by Jean Philippe)
- released 7" single (Decca 922988)1960 France - Tom Pillibi (Jacqueline Boyer's winner)
- released on EP (Decca 460.734)1960 U.K. - Looking High, High, High by (Brian Johnson)
- Qu'il est Haut Haut Haut, on same EP as Tom Pillibi1960 Germany - Bonne nuit, ma cherie (Wyn Hoop)
- on EP Itsy Bitsy Petit Bikini (Decca edge 71420)1962 Germany - Zwei kleine Italiener by Conny Froboess
- Cheveux Fous et lèvres roses (Details wanted)

Another celebrated version is the Swedish version by Tina och Marina. Tina and Marina named themselves after the characters in the song. It was released on various EPs and singles including a solo EP by Margareta Rudebro, who is Tina (Karussell).

Zwei kleine Italiener - The List
As usual, I have prepared a list with all versions of the song I know about. There are details on Conny's own versions and on 105 coverversions. It's a word document and you can get it  here (Updated April 2011)
Looking for…As I am a sucker for Eurocovers from Brasil there's one version of the Italiener I'm especially looking for. A Portuguese language version titled Os dois Italianinhos was released on an EP in 1963 by Brasilian singer Meire Pavão with Conjunto Alvorada.



EUROCOVERS vs THE MAN
The Man has got to Eurocovers. Blogger has been forced to remove some Eurocovers posts from the blog. I don't exactly know who filed the complaints (the promised letters haven't arrived yet) but I'm not going to make too big a deal of it.
The main posts that have been removed are the Belgrade Weeks post about Lane Moje (Serbia Montenegro 2004) and the 10.000 coverversions top post about Domenico Modugno's Volare.
Especially the latter is a shame as it's a bit silly to have a top 10 without it's #1.
On the bright side, I know of several artists who are in the process of recording Volare after they read the Eurocovers posts about it.
Concluding: Some posts may be gone and therefor some links may not work. I still hope to bring you interesting articles on Eurocovering artists, the latest release news and must read web tips.

2008: Anno Domenico - Volare meets The Beautiful Game (1)

After Eurovision there's another event that enjoys some popularity in the European communities this year, the European Cup Football, Euro 2008. Similarities enough: It attracts colourful fans waving flags and what have you, there's joke entries, Diva's and Drama Queens and whole hordes of people migrate across Europe to catch their favorites in action.
There's some leg action, opening ceremonies and people drink a lot. It has all the ingredients of Eurovision except maybe neighbourly voting.
Tonight it's Oranje against the Azzurri in the Group of Death (a bit like Belgrades second semi final this year) and here's a little tribute to Dutch Football squads from the past. Oh, and it's Volare, Song #1 if it comes to Football related coverversions.

1990 Oranje Sjampagne
------ Duo de PelikaanDutch comedy version for the World Cup in Italy when the Dutch were kicked out in the second round by Germany.
1998 Oranje Oh Oh Oh
---- - Danny Lukassen
This was for the World Cup in France where the Dutch made it to the semi finals, but got out-penaltied by Brasil after a 1 all draw. In the match for third place Holland lost to Croatia.



More Volare meets The Beautiful Game coming soon

Goodbye, Farewell, Colin 'Bob Allison' Day

Colin Day, known as Bob Allison from the Allisons has passed away aged 72.
The Allisons scored an international hit with their U.K. Eurovision entry Are You Sure (2nd place in 1961)

Golden Oldie Are You Sure is one of the songs I knew by heart (although in my own invented variation on English) long before I found out it actually was a Eurovision tune.
The Allisons Brian 'John Allison' Alford and Colin 'Bob Allison' Day were childhood friends, not really brothers contrary to popular belief. They were more or less the U.K.'s answer to the Everly Brothers. They scored a European hit with their Eurovision runner up, the third U.K. entry in a row to finish 2nd.
The song sold over a million copies in the U.K. alone.

Despite their European hit, world domination didn't really happen for the Allisons. They managed to get two more top 40 hits and called it a day in 1963.
'Goodbye, Farewell.... Are You Sure?' they asked themselves. 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).

Colin Day also recorded a coverversion of Angelique, the Danish 1961 entry by Dario Campeotto. It was released as a b-side to his single Brasil (Parlophone R 4803).

Source: BBC entertainment
Parts of the above have been published the 2008 Eurocovers article Team GB 1961: Are You Sure?
List of versions of Are You Sure . This has release details on the Allisons versions and info on 42 coverversions of the song. (Word document, email me if you want it)
Discography: Colin Day and the Allisons at 45Cat,com

Another post: Jody Wayne (South Africa) - Are You Sure

VII: Year Of The Puppet - Bulgarian & Catalan

Pic from Nabore.bg

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.



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

100! Forces' Sweetheart Vera Lynn - This Is My Prayer

Happy 100th Birthday Vera Lynn!

Below is a Eurocovers post from 2009 about Vera Lynn who turned 100 on March 20..
A remarkable anniversary for a remarkable singer who means more to many people than I can ever imagine.

Vera Lynn, Dame Vera Lynn to the Brits, is internationally the best known Sweetheart Of The Forces.
As promised in the Eurocovers post about another Forces' Sweetheart, Anne Shelton, here's a Eurovision coverversion by the singer most identified with the Second World War and
all commemorative ceremonies ever since.

Vera Lynn was born in the First World War and started to record in 1935. Signature song We'll Meet Again was first recorded in 1939. It became a song of hope in the dark days of the war and later a song of remembrance. The song gave its title to the popular 1942 film starring Vera Lynn herself.

Vera Lynn sang for the British and Allied forces all over the world on many occasions during the Second World War and she had her own radio show in which she sang songs requested by British soldiers serving abroad and messages from their families were broadcasted.
Other popular Vera Lynn hits of the (pre charts) war years were The White Cliffs Of Dover, Yours and You're In My Arms. In the 50's she scored hits with Forget Me Not (a U.K. #1), Auf Wiedersehn, Homing Waltz and My Son My Son. Her last U.K. hit was Travelling Home in 1957.

Vera Lynns career started way before Eurovision and unlike Anne Shelton she didn't participate in any of the early British preselections for Eurovision. But she was on the selection committee of the 1959 U.K. selection.

Eurovision 2020: The Rotterdam Collection is (still) on!

Pic from Discogs

This Is My Prayer
As far as I know Vera Lynn recorded one Eurocover and it's the 1964 winner Non Ho L'eta (Italy, Gigliola Cinquetti). Vera Lynns English version, This Is My Prayer was released on a single in 1964 (HMV POP 1287). It didn't reach the charts and now is a hard to find collectors item. It was re-released in 2007 on the 2CD The Singles Collection (EMI Gold)
Here's an audio tube

This Is My Prayer was recorded by several artists in the 60's, but original singer Gigliola Cinquetti didn't release an English version until 1974, when she included a new recording on her album Si, coinciding with her second Eurovision appearrance. Cinquetti released Non Ho L'eta in Italian, French, German, Spanish and Japanese in 1964. Contrary to popular rumours, Cinquetti never recorded an English version in 1964, so her 1974 version is actually a coverversion of a coverversion of her own song. (...)

The Veterans Sweetheart
Vera Lynn never repeated her 40's and 50's hit successes but always remained a high profile guest on war remembrance ceremonies and TV shows. Her most successful albums later have always been reworkings of 40's songs like the 1962 LP Hits Of The Blitz.

For the largest part of her 70 year career, Vera Lynn has been a remembrance singer, always representing the good old days and the bad old days.
No disrespect intended, but it seems a bit sad that her career has always been stuck in the war. Record buying audiences just couldn't accept her work as that of a contemporary artist having a recording career with new songs.
In 1979 she has a go at ABBA's Thank You For The Music (released on single PYE N 108), which perfectly illustrates the mood of always looking back.


Update 14-09-09: Congratulations are in order. In the week that 11 Beatles albums enter the top 40, Dame Vera Lynn scores this weeks #1 in the U.K. Album Charts with the compilation We'll Meet Again - The Very Best Of Vera Lynn.
The new compilation (on Decca) has 20 tracks including all the evergreens. (but not This Is My Prayer)

The album is available in the U.K. shops and at all major internet outlets, including digital.

links and sources:
We'll Meet Again RAF performance (YouTube)
Vera Lynn at 92 article in The Guardian
This is my prayer at Discogs
Vera Lynn Wiki
Anne Shelton at Eurocovers.

Check this Eurocovers post for This Is My Prayer by Dana Valery and this post for more versions of Non Ho L'Eta, # 7 in the top 10 most covered Eurovision songs.



CD Tip: Twangvision
Here's one I missed back in the days.
After (or rather before) Caramba Samba from Norway and Greek Bossavision from Brasil here's Twangvision. Twangy guitars, think Surfari's, Telstar, Apache.

Twangvision is a CD released in 2007, coinciding with the Helsinki contest.
It features instrumental guitar versions in Twang style of some popular Eurovision hits and a host of classic Finnish entries. All newly recorded by Finnish guitar bands.

I've been trying to find some audio clips on the net, but I haven't found any yet, so you'll have to make do with the tracklist.
The CD is available through many Finnish webshops including the recordcompanies own site Twangsville.


Twangvision: Instrumental guitars from Finland play Eurovision Song Contest. (Twangsville Productions TWGS 3466)
1 Te Deum (Eurovision hymn) - The Regents
2 Light In The Window (Valoa ikkunassa Finland 1961) - The Lunaters
3 Tipi-Tii (Finland 1962) - Honey B. & T-Bones
4 Sentimental Song (Muistojeni laulu Finland 1963) - The Webasto
5 Non ho l´età (Italy 1964) - The Aftons
6 Western Sunset (Aurinko laskee länteen (Finland 1965) - Pekka Tiilikainen & Beatmakers
7 Poupée De Cire, Poupée De Son (Luxembourg 1965) - Waikiki Kuks
8 Playboy (Finland 1966) - The Spectre
9 Waterloo (Sweden 1974) - Kaapo & Zetor
10 I Will Follow Starlight (Katson sineen taivaan Finland 1979) - The Webasto
11 Fantasy Dream (Fantasiaa Finland 1983) - The Regents
12 Ein bißchen Frieden / Valo yössä: Hold Me Now (Germany 1982 & Ireland 1987) - Toptones
13 Eurovision Theme - The Silver Hawks