Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Conny Vandenbos Box, Result!

Another Update on the Conny Vandenbos Complete Works.
It has arrived!, #295 out of a 1000. The finished product looks gorgeous and now I have to find some time to listen to the 15 CDs (it's Eurovision week...).
You can find the full (and very detailed) tracklists at here at Discogs.

If you want to get this wonderful box in your collection, just go the Conny Vandenbos website and drop an e-mail for details.



The 1965 Conny van den Bos Songfestival EP
Update
The crowdfunding project has finished successful. Congratulations to Marc!. Respect for your amazing job.
If you didn't pledge yet I'm sure the box will be available as soon as it's finished (1000 copies are made)
I'll keep you updated, watch this space.

Conny Vandenbos Box
Here’s one for the Dutchies and maybe for some other fans too.
Eurovision fans know Conny Vandenbos (as Conny van den Bos) from her 1965 entry ‘t Is Genoeg. The song only finished 11th, but is a much loved classic with an amazing orchestral backing track.

Now there’s a project to release a 15CD box set spanning her work from the early 60’s to 2001.
Conny Vandenbos released some classic songs in the 60’s, but I guess her most successful era was the seventies when she had several bestselling hitalbums and singles.

found this....
It's Enough
The 15CD box will include 308 songs, 94 that are released on CD for the first time and 35 that haven’t been previously released at all.
In the last category we’ll find It’s Enough, the never before heard English version of the 1965 Eurovision song.
‘t Is Genoeg also features in three versions, the original single, the 1968 album version and a 90’s live version.
Preselection songs Laat Me Alleen and Van De Week are also included. (Van De Week in two versions).
Van De Week is also featured twice in English as The Night. One version is from 1965 and one from 1969 from Conny's English language album that never saw the light of day. (both also previously unreleased).
And for completists, there's are Sanremo covers too:
Als Vreemden (Like strangers) is a Dutch cover of  Iva Zanicchi's La Notte Dell'addio from the 1966 Sanremo. (Thanks Frank!)
Loretta Goggi's Maledetta Primavera (1981) can be found as Vrij Als Een Vogel (Free as a bird). It's featured in the album version (1981) and also in the single version from 1982.

Another track worth mentioning is Als De Morgen Niet Bestaat (If tomorrow doesn't exist), a song sent in for the 1989 Nationaal Songfestival (Dutch preselection for Eurovision) that wasn't selected. It wasn't intended for Conny to enter the contest, but she recorded the demo.

The Box
Check this video for snippets of 83 (of the 308) tracks. At 25:20 you can hear a bit of It's Enough.

But of course it's not just the Eurovision connection that makes this collection a must have.
Some of the best early singles take pride of place in my record collection; Paleis Met Gouden Muren (Palace with golden walls) and Ik Ben Gelukkig Zonder Jou (I'm happy without you) are two.
And no-one was left unmoved by Sjakie Van De Hoek (Jack from the corner....) and Roosje Mijn Roosje (Rose for my Rose, a version of A Daisy A Day) in the mid 70's. The perfect blend of melancholy and love.

How to participate
The project needs some more supporters. Please go here to Voor De Kunst to find out more about how to participate in this massive  labour of love and secure your copy of this elaborate CD box.
All tracks will be remastered / digitalized to a very high standard and the sleeves will feature some rare photographs.

Conny Vandenbos passed away in 2002, this collection is a lovely way to celebrate her wonderful legacy.

Pledging
I've bought quite a few fantastic records the past few years through pledging (Cornelis Vreeswijk, Marc Almond, V V Brown). 
It means you pledge to buy the forthcoming product and if a project fails to raise enough to continue you'll get your money back.
It's a great way to get music from artists who are somehow not interesting enough for your average record company.

Special thanks to Frank and to Marc. And a shoutout to Frans.

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