Norway's Eurovision treasure Nora Brocksted has died. She was the singer of the first two Norwegian entries:Voi Voi (1960) and Sommar I Palma (1961).
Next to her Eurovision songs, which she recorded in several languages, Nora Brockstedt also recorded Norwegian and Swedish version of other Eurovision songs.
You can find out about those in the 2010 Eurocovers post The Olso Weeks Part 1.
Also find some more Nora Brocksted related posts here.
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 TylersTotal 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.
In 2014 Lisa Angell recorded a version of the French 1977 winner L'oiseau Et L'enfant (Marie Myriam) with Portuguese singer Tony Carreira. This version in Portuguese and French can be found on Carreira's album Nos Fiançailles, France / Portugal which was a No. 4 in the French album charts.
Other Eurovision singers to duet with Carreira on this album are Natasha St. Pier, Serge Lama, Gérad Lenorman and Anggun
Eurovision entry N'oubliez Pas will be included in Lisa Angells forthcoming album Lisa Angell which will be out on May 11.
On the new album, her 4th, Lisa worked with Robert Goldman, Patrick Fiori (Eurovision 1993), Jacques Veneruso and Serge Lama (Eurovision 1971)
A living legend, Simone De Oliveira, returns to the Festival RTP da Canção, the Portuguese national selection for Eurovision. À Espera das Canções is the song she will try to return to the contest with, 45 years after her last visit to the Eurovision stage.
As far as
festivals go, Simone de Oliveira is royalty.
The Portuguese final of 2015 is on March 7. Update: So Simone didn't make it to Vienna, which is a shame of course. But here at Eurocovers we're happy she's still out there and we hope to see her again in some Festival or another.
Promo EP 1969
Simone De Oliveira made
her first appearances at the Festival da Canção Portuguesa* in the late 50’s
and early sixties, winning a few of them along the way.
Other
festivals she attended are Festival da Canção da Figueira da Foz. (winning
in 1962), Festival Internacional da Canção do Rio de Janeiro,
Festival da Nova Canção de Lisboa (winner in 1979) and the 1980 OTI festival (Songcontest of Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries)
* Not to be
confused with the Eurovision selection Festival RTP da Canção.
Simone De Oliveira entered Eurovision twice. In 1965 with Sol De Inverno and in 1969 with Desfolhada Portuguesa. She only finished 13th and 15th but both songs now rank top five of Great Portuguese Classics that happened to be Eurovision entries. I think Desfolhada Portuguesa only has to leave the 1974 entry E Depois Do Adeus (Paulo De Carvalho) before it in the Portuguese evergeen immortality stakes. Both of Simones songs have been recorded by many artists and are still covered and performed today.
Simone also recorded a few interesting Eurocovers. There's Volare and Puppet On A String (but who hasn't covered these?) but also the 1968 entries of Germany and Monaco. Eurocovers loves lists, so below you can find the discography of Simone's own entries and her Eurocovers. Finally there's a list of Festival RTP da Canção entries.
Simones Eurovision songs and versions
Portugal 1965 -
Sol De Inverno (13th place)
- Sol De Inverno (Portuguese) - on
EP (Continental Rec. P-QB
192)
- Sol De
Invierno (Spanish) on EP Nàpoles 1965 (with three other ESC entries) (ES: Belter
51.520)
Note: Spanish EP Sol De Invierno has the Portuguese version (Belter 51.509, Spain) Thanks for the correction Jean François! - Sol De Inverno (in Medley Português) on LP Algumas Canções
Do Meu Caminho (Live) (Ariola 1106844, 1992)
- Sol De Inverno
(live acoustic 2004) on CD
Intimidades (Vidisco, also on DVD)
Note:
French EP Soleil d'Hiver (Decca PEP 1088) is sung in Portuguese, French version
unconfirmed.
Portugal
1969 - Desfolhada Portuguesa (15th place)
- Desfolhada Portguesa (Portuguese) on EP (Decca PEP 1276)
- Deshojada
(Spanish) on 7” inch single (Decca MO
648, Spain)
- Terre
guitarre (French) on 7” (Decca PN 110,
France, also has Spanish version)
- Promo EP
(Decca VC4) has Portuguese, Spanish, French & Instrumental by Thilo’s
Combo. The Instrumental is actually track 1 on side A.
-
Desfolhada (live 1992) on LP Algumas
Canções Do Meu Caminho (Live)
- Desfolhada
(live acoustic 2004) on CD Intimidades (Vidisco, also on DVD)
- Desfolhada Portuguesa (2018) - Namorados Da Cidade ft. Simone De Oliveira on CD Namorades Da Cidade. All info on this 2018 release is here at Eurocovers.
Simone De
Oliveira Eurocovers
Italy 1958 -
Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volare) - Domenico Modugno
- Nos Teus
Olhos Vejo O Céu - EP (Alvorada mep 60136,
1959)
Spain 1966 - Yo
Soy Aquel - Raphael
- Tu És Aquele
- EP Música No Coração
(Decca PEP 1131) see video above
U.K. 1967 -
Puppet On A String - Sandie Shaw
-
Marionette - EP (Decca PEP 1204)
Germany
1968 - Ein Hoch Der Liebe - Wenche Myhre
- Viva O Amor
- EP (Decca PEP 1250)
Monaco 1968 - A
Chacun Son Chanson - Line et Willy
- Para cada um sua canção - EP (Decca PEP 1250)
The 1968 songs can be found on the same EP
Germany 1967 - Anoushka
- Simone and Marco Paulo
- Duet on EP Tu Só Tu (Decca Pep 1211)
I’m not sure about this one, track could be by Marco Paulo only. If you know more, e-mail me or leave a comment, thanks. Update: It is indeed a song by Marco Paulo solo. Many thanks for the info Klaus! The EP features one duet, two tracks by Simone and one by Marco Paulo.
Acapella coverversion of last years Estonian Eurovision entry by Tanja, recorded for this years National final show.
Tanja's original Eurovision performance may have been a bit of a hit 'n' miss (and missed out on the final), but the original studio track remains my favorite song of the 2014 contest. All details and trivia on Amazing and its releases and versions can be found here at the Copenhagen Collection.
Estonia don't disappoint in 2015 either. Check out all about the totally wonderful Goodbye To Yesterday by Stig Rästa and Elina Born here at the Vienna Collection.
American singer Lesley Gore has passed away. She's probably most known for her hits It's My Party and You Don't Own Me but she also recorded an English version of the 1968 Eurovision winner La La La by Massiel.
Lesley Gore had 19 US top 100 hits and will have her place in music history forever, at least for those two songs.
In 2009 the singer was featured in a Eurocovers post, which you can read again below.
1968: La La La And I'll Cry If I Want To
La La La, the Spanish Eurovision winner by Massiel from 1968 is a well covered song.
Last year or so 'news' came out that it had won because the Generalo, Franco, bribed some juries because he wanted Spain to win.
All Allegedly of course, and I have a hard time believing the story. Cliff Richard didn't win, get over it.
La La La was a song of controversy all along. First the original singer Joan Manuel Serrat was sent packing because he insisted on singing the song in Catalan, later Massiel was critisized over her way too short dress which disgraced the Spanish people in Europe. Today the song is still ridiculed for the amount of La's that are in it, but somewhere deep inside there's a message, of freedom even...
Eurovision singer Massiel recorded the song in Spanish, French, German and English. Original singer Serrat recorded Spanish, English, French, Italian and Portuguese. Serrat's Catalan version was recorded for a radio show many years later, but it has never been released on record.
La La La is written by Ramón Arcusa and Manuel De La Calva, also known as Dúo Dinámico. Coverversions were recorded in at least 20 languages and the list includes version by Eurovision stars Gitte, Kirsti Sparboe with Arne Bendiksen and Oddvar, Edina Pop and Heidi Brühl.
With over 140 coverversions the song sits neatly inside the top 20 of most covered Eurovision songs. Youtube Eurovision Version.
It's My Party
Lesley Gore shot to fame with her first single It's My Party. A classic and a #1 hit in the US and a top 10 hit in many European countries. She followed it up with three more top 10 hits of which the feminist You Don't Own Me is probably the best known. Lesley Gore also recorded You Don't Own Me in French, German and Italian and Eurocovers loves that. You Don't Own Me features heavily in the Bette Midler / Diane Keaton / Goldie Hawn movie The First Wives Club.
The song was the last Lesley Gore single to reach the US top 10 but she continued to score 16 more top 100 hits.
In 1968 she recorded the Eurovision winner as He Gives Me Love (La La La) and after two singles that failed to chart in the Billboard top 100, He Gives Me Love went to #91. It was her last top 100 hit. (Mercury 78219)
Lesley Gore continued recording in the 70's but after her 1982 cover album The Canvas Can Do Miracles it took over 20 years for her to get back in the studio.
In 2005 she recorded the album Ever Since which includes a stunning new version of You Don't Own Me and several new songs from Lesley Gore's own pen. Ever Since is available at Amazon and iTunes Several Lesley Gore compilations are also available including a splendid 5CD boxIt's My Party! (Bear family) with all her 60's recordings, including several foreign language versions of her early hits.
Il Volo have won the 2015 edition of the Sanremo contest with the song Grande Amore. The trio have stated they will be the Italian representatives in Vienna, but it is not confirmed Grande Amore will be the Eurovision song. (well, now it is..ed.)
A 7 track CD Sanremo Grande Amore will is released on februari 17. It includes the winning Sanremo song and also coverversions of two ancient Italian Eurovision songs. See full tracklist below.
Young operatic trio Il Volo are Piero Barone (Tenor), Ignazio Boschetto (Tenor) and Gianluca Ginoble (Baritone).
They met in 2009 when they were individual participants at Ti Lascio Una Canzone, a singing competition on RAI TV.
Il Volo have released four official albums and several digital singles.
Their 2010 (2011 in most countries) debut album Il Volo (produced by Tony Renis) was a worldwide success. It was a #1 album in Austria and #2 in New Zealand. It reached the album top 10 in Italy, Germany, France, Netherlands, Belgium and the USA. Plus a #18 in Australia and 43 in the U.K..
The trio also recorded the album in Spanish, which scored well the charts in Mexico, Argentina, Venezuela, Colombia and Puerto Rico.
The albums Il Volo, We Are Love and live album Il Volo... Takes Flight: Live from the Detroit Opera House, are re-issued on februari 24 in a boxset titled the Platinum collection.
Oh well, the video is removed, but I'll leave the rest here anyway...
Someone uploaded this to the Tube and made me very happy.
It's the Afrikaans coverversion of the Dutch 1973 entry De Oude Muzikant by Ben Cramer.
This version was released on a single in 1974 (Philips TOS 1010, South Africa).
I'm quite sure this version uses the original backing track.
Marnie is an early artists name of Manuel Escorcio. Under his own name he (later) recorded coverversions of Volare, Piove, All Kind Of Everything, Halleluja, Ein Bisschen Frieden and Io Senza Te.
See full Eurocovers discography below.
Still looking for the b-side though (well, and the actual vinyl single). The b-track Sylvia Kom Dans Met My is a coverversion of one of Ben Cramers National Final songs that was also the flipside to his own releases.
Marnie /
Manuel Escorcio Eurocovers Discography
Italy 1958
Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volare) - Domenico Modugno
- Volare
(Portuguese) on CD Iets Vir Almal (Select SELBCD 154)
- Italian on
CD Iets Vir Almal (Select SELBCD 154)
Ireland
1970 - All Kinds Of Everything - Dana
- Soveel
Herinner My (Afrikaans) on LP Hei Monique
Netherlands 1973 - De Oude Muzikant - Ben Cramer
- as Marnie - Die Oue Musikant, single (Philips TOS 1010)
- Single also has Ben Cramer pre-song Kom Sylvia Dans Met My, Israel 1979 - Halleluja - Milk And Honey - on LP Manuel Escorcio With The Drakenberg Seunskoor (1984 Transistor CBK 7031)
Switzerland 1981 - Io Senza Te - Peter, Sue and Marc.
- Me Without You (English) on LP Musica (1983,Transistor CBK 7011) Germany
1982 - Ein Bisschen Frieden - Nicole
- A Little
Peace (English) on LP Romance (Select SEL 106)
Links and Sources:
Manuel Escorcio website and Facebook
If you want to find out more about Eurocovers in Afrikaans, just follow this link and you'll get the posts with South African stars doing your favorite Eurovision tunes
Also check out our Facebook page and the Vienna Collection
Lovely new version of the first ever Finnish entry, still a classic at home.
And a new classic in the making: a Finnish version of Dutch 2014 entry Calm After The Storm
Jamaican singer John Holt passed away October 19, aged 67.
Here's an audio of his coverversion of Warum Nur Warum by Udo Jürgens (Austria's entry of 1964), maybe better known as Walk Away made famous by Matt Monro.
John Holt had several hits with coverversions of other peoples songs, but his biggest claim to fame probably is The Tide Is High which Holt wrote and recorded with his band The Paragons. The song was covered by Blondie and by Atomic Kitten who both took it to the Number 1 spot of the U.K. charts.
The Kids Are Alright!. Here's Polle and Myrthe doing a younger version of the Common Linnets' Eurovision hit Calm After The Storm.
Junior fans may know Polle from his 2011 participation in the Dutch preselection for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest. His Music In My Heart stranded in the first semi.
It was an unexpected pleasure to see the Netherlands end the runner up at the Copenhagen contest, but the commercial success of Calm After The Storm is even more surprising. The song went top 10 in many countries' charts and is still in the top 10 in Germany and Austria (August 2014).
It was also the first ever #1 hit for a Dutch entry in the Belgian (Flemish) charts.
Find out more about Calm After The Storm, the chart history, the cdsingles, versions and the acclaimed hit album The Common Linnetshere at the Copenhagen Collection
More Calm After
The Storm coverversions
Zuwer
Scheerwol - Pien In Mien Haart (Pain In My Heart, sung in Gronings,Dutch regional language)
- on CD Doalders (2015, Amlow records 0150028)
Lisa del Bo
and Eli - Stilte na de storm (Flemish)
- on CD Voor
Een Moeder, Door Een Moeder (APR Works 217)
Howard Carpendale (English, live) - on CD Das ist
unsere Zeit - Live aus Berlin
Sonja Maria (English) - on CD Last Chance Texaco Uwe Müller (English) - on CD Ein
Weihnachtstraum von Uwe Müller 2017 Live!
Josh
Oudendijk (English)
- on CD Nylon
Peter Simon Company (English) - on CD Harvest Urban Beach
(English)
- on CD Urban
Vibes-Live in Hamburg
Gab
Veläzques (English)
- on CD The Remixes (Ethernal works)
Asher Quinn
(English)
- on CD Sun,
Sorrow, Flowers, Moon
Ben Ransom (English) - on digital album Ben Ransom Live Erica from
Drifters and Andreas from Sannex - Lugn
Efter En Storm (Swedish)
- on CD Blå
blå Känslor (Drifters) (Neptun
Records)
Tommi
Soidinmäki ja Saija Tuupanen - Myrskyn Jälkeen Kirkastuu (Finnish)
- digital
release (Magnum music)
Ágústa Eva Erlendsdóttir (Sylvia Night) & Magni Ásgeirs
- Þegar storminn hefur lægt (Icelandic)
- digital release (Magnaðir ehf, 2018)
Frankie
Zhyrnov a Lenka Ambrožová (Violin + Saxophone instrumental)
- on CD Memory
Cheap xerox
versions under different names like The Campfires, Mix factor, MC Flipside, New
Tribute Kings, Clara Oaks, Cream Cuts etc. also exist but are crap.
Above video is a coverversion of the Hungarian 2013 entry Kedvesem by ByeAlex
It's sung in English by Eisenhauer and is titledOne For Me.
The track wass released in May 2014 in Germany. The cdsingle includes four versions of the song.
One For Me - single version
One For Me - Thomas Lizzara mix
One For Me - "One Love" remix
One For Me - Karaoke
Out on Rhingtön (Universal Music), also available at your usual digital outlets.
Kedvesem ended 10th in the final in Malmö.
Read all about the original song and its versions here at the Malmö Collection.
For a coverversion by Swedish Eurovision singer Jan Johansen go here at Eurocovers.
Polish 2014 Eurovision stars Donatan Cleo and their Slavic Girls brought you Boobs, and the viewing rates for the contest went up by 15.000.000. But what do real men love even more than Boobs? Yes, Metal, Full Growl Metal to be more specific.
My Słowianie, this years 'The Song That Keeps On Giving' is covered in this amazing version by Sławek Wyłup and Mateusz Trojak in the clip above.
And if the growling vocals are too much for you, you can also listen to the Metal version mixed with Cleo's vocals. (Here at Youtube)
There's more Slavic fun to be had, V-Unit, Polish hip-hop rappers, have recorded a 'parody' (Youtube here also has a free download link). It deals with a whole other set of prejudices than the Donatan Cleo version, involving testosteron and stealing wallets. And instead of boobs there's muscles, very big muscles.
The V-Unit track was also remixed asMy Słowianie (Odpowiedź mężczyzn)and that one is released on their CDBękarty Internetuon(also on Spotify).
A rock'n'roll version of My Słowianiewas recorded by Late Again. I don't know if it has been released officially, buthere's a Youtubeof the studioversion. Nice.
There are many more parodies of My Słowianie. Here's one with some Polish firefighters already clocking over 2.000.000 views.
Donatan (and) Cleo have recorded quite a few fab versions and remixes in Polish and English themselves. You can find out all about these here at the Copenhagen Collection.
Brazil singer Nalva Aguiar sings the Spanish 1968 winner, to cheer up the Spanish side.
Originally from a 1968 Carnaval LP Carnaval de Picaretagem. (Various artists)
Picture from / find out more on the LP at Sintonia Musikal
Eurovisjonen EP is an EP with three coverversions of Norwegian Eurovision entries and a song from an ancient Norwegian Melodi Grand Prix.
It's chirpy fun rock, but not really loud.
Tracks: 1. Aldri I Livet
- Finn Kalviks 1981 entry that got zero poing. Agnetha and Frida sing on the original studio version you know, and Benny tinkles the ivories. 2. Voi Voi
- Noways first ever Eurovision entry / classic from 1960. Originally by Nora Brockstedt. 3. Du Ber Meg Om Evighet
- 5th in the 1983 Norwegian national selection for Nyssa Nyberget. 4. Do Re Mi
- Norwegians Prince Of Eurovision Jahn Teigen managed to make it to #9 with third and last Eurovision entry.
The Eurovisjonen EP is part of a project involving students of the Nordic Institute of Stage and Sound and EP's. I can pretend I know all about it, but I don't.
Norwegians (and others??) can buy the digital EP at Klicktrack
The EP is on also Spotify, so you can have a listen for yourself.
You can find Nora Brocksteds full Eurovision and Eurocovers Discography here at Eurocovers
Aldri I Livet Again
Another new version of the ill fated Finn Kalvik song was recorded by Kjell Inge Torgersen.
It's the first single of a various artist project Kom Ut Kom Fram, covering Finn Kalvik songs.
The digital single is out now through DaWorks.
Haba Haba
Here's one that's a little bit older, but worth mentioning. Another Norwegian entry that enjoys an interesting cover is Stella Mwangi's Haba Haba. It crashed in Eurovision but that didn't stop South Africa's Country boys Die Campbells recording the song. Haba Haba found its way to their Greatest Hits double CD Grootste Platinum Treffers (Biggest Platinum Hits) as one of four new tracks. The album was released in 2011. Listen here to Haba Haba.
Oh, and Country is the new Eurovision, with hats'n'all.
The album is available through iTunes, as are most of their 15 or so albums. The CD's are available at Kalahari.
Die Campbells Website
Please Speak To Me Of Love is the English version of Hablemos Del Amor, the 1967 Eurovision entry for Spain by Raphael.
The lyrics to the English version were written by Tony Hiller (I didn't know that), the man who gave us Save Your Kisses For Me (U.K. 1976) and a couple of hundred other Brotherhood Of Man songs.
The clip above is an audio of the coverversion by Earl Wilson Jr., there's also Raphaels own English version on Tony Hillers Youtube.
Earl Wilson Jr.'s version was released in 1968 on the LP This Is. Earl Wilson Jr. (Mercury SR 61147)
Another version of Please Speak To Me Of Love was recorded by the Dutch band Sparklings fronted by 1973's Dutch Eurovision singer Ben Cramer. (on LP ...... And The Sparklings (Kritos 130046, 1967) See discogs entry here)
Tony Hiller Website
New Yorker Earl Wilson Jr. from works as a composer / lyricist of musicals.
There's a good bio here at Don Cornell (it's a PDF file).
Earl Wilson Jr. Website
Raphael Website