10.000: # 7 - Non Ho L'eta (Per Amarti) - Gigliola Cinquetti (1964)

Here's the # 7 most covered Eurovision song of all time. A close call between # 8 and # 7 in the top 10 of most covered Eurovision songs.

# 7
- Non Ho L'eta (Per Amarti)
- Gigliola Cinquetti

- 187 versions listed

Eurovision fans know 1964 is the 'Lost Contest'. Until today all footage of the contest seems lost except for a few fragments. Danish TV (the contest was in Copenhagen) destroyed all light entertainment archives in the late 60's because they were branded uncultural and not worth saving. And somehow all the other TV companies have displaced their copies too.

Before the Eurovision victory Gigliola Cinquetti won the San Remo contest with Non Ho L'eta (Per Amarti) (written by Mario Panzeri & Nicola Salerno) together with Patricia Carli. (from 1957 to 1967 all San Remo songs were performed by two artists).

It was the start of a formidable career for Gigliola Cinquetti in Europe but also in South America and Japan. Non Ho L'eta was her breakthrough hit and she returned to Eurovision in 1974 where she finished second (behind ABBA's Waterloo) with Si. In 1991 she had the daunting task to restrain Toto Cutugno, her co-host in the chaotic Eurovision song contest at Cinecitta.
You can find a superb worldwide Gigliola Cinquetti discography at Big Cobra's site.

Too Young To Love?Several local legends recorded the song but the only worldwide superstar I could find is Vera Lynn, Sweetheart of the forces (47 at the time). Her English version was released on a 1964 single. (This Is My Prayer HMV POP 1287, 1964) which has just been issued on CD for the first time on a 2CD 'Vera Lynn - Singles Collection'.

Eurovision stars that have recorded Non Ho L'eta are Sandra Reemer (when she was 14 years old), Karina (at 20), Alice & Ellen Kessler (both 28), Grethe & Jørgen Ingmann (29 & 42), Mrs Einstein (Combined age 300), José Guardiola , Micky and Raquel Rastenni.

伊東ゆかり- 夢見る想い
A word.doc with all versions (Cinquetti's and covers) listed is here. Versions in 20 languages are there including Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese and Korean.
One of the nine Japanese versions listed is sung by Yukari Ito - 伊東ゆかり who performed in the San Remo contest herself in 1965 with the wonderful L'amore ha i tuoi occhi.
HMV Japan stocks a nice compilation of Yukari Ito's hits including Non Ho L'eta and Dio come ti amo.

Тамара Миансарова - Дай помечтать мне
The Russian version Day pomechtat' mne featured here by Tamara Miansarova started out life as a Flexi-disc with the Krugozor magazine. (San-Remo-64 Krugozor 1964 N2 (12) - Flexi also has Cinquetti's own version. (CD pictured does not include this track)

조애희 -나이도 어린데
A Korean version was recorded by Jo Aehee - 조애희 in the 60's and there's a later re-recording too.
I don't have many details but I do know the first version was on a various artists LP with a title somewhat like this: 이금희,박재란 외 - 오아시스 하이라이트 (or....)

Elly Vilhjálms - Heyr mína bæn

The last version featured is by Ellý Vilhjálms (1935-1995) from Iceland.
Elly Vilhjálms was one of the most popular singers in Iceland in the 60's and 70's and she's still regarded as a national treasure. She earned her pedestal in the Icelandic music history gallery singing Jazz standards, Pop hits and national originals in Icelandic. A recommended CD compilation is Lítill fugl which includes Heyr mina bæn and Það er svo otal margt (A cover of All kinds of everything, Irelands 1970 winner)
The CD is available from various Icelandic CD shops and as a download from http://www.tonlist.is/ (English version is under construction though)

Vilhjálms Icelandic version has been covered at least three times, by Ína Valgerður, Paul Oscars sister Diddú (Sigrún Hjálmtýsdóttir) and by Ragnar Bjarnasson.

LOOKING FOR:
Actually I miss quite a few interesting versions of this song, most notably the one Tsin Ting (Jìng Tíng) 静婷- Aini Aini (Non ho l'eta) - Chinese on EP (Tae 142) from Hong Kong, probably sung in Mandarin.

Vega: Oh My Dio, it's Elvis!

Dio Come Ti Amo, frequent Eurocovers readers know that it's one of my favorite Eurovision songs.
Here's a new version that has a really famous person featuring.

Vega is a Spanish singer who recorded 5 albums in Spanish since 2003. Her new album, Non Ho L'eta, is in Italian and features 11 classic Italian tunes including three Eurovision entries. (see detailed tracklist)

For her Dio Come Ti Amo she get's a little help from non other than Elvis Costello.
Dio is the third (digital) single from the album.
The album was released in March on LP (!), Cassette (!!), CD and digital through La Madriguera Records / Subterfuge Records.

Before you buy you can listen to all the songs at Vega's Youtube channel. (see links and sources below)

Oh, before i forget, it's fab!
(I'm not a very good reviewer, but after Dio you should check out the video for Ma Che Freddo Fa)

Non Ho L'Eta - Vega tracklist

1.   Ma Che Freddo Fa

- Sanremo 1969 - Nada and the Rokes

2.   Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volare)

- Sanremo and Eurovision 1958 - Domenico Modugno

3.   Dio Come Ti Amo - ft Elvis Costello

- Sanremo and Eurovision 1966 - Domenico Modugno, Gigliola Cinquetti

the LP!

4.   Centro Di Gravitá Permanente

- Franco Battiato (1981)

5.   Cittá Vuota

- Mina (1963)

6.   L'Appuntamento

- 1970, originally by Roberto and Erasmo Carlos, Ornella Vanoni recorded an Italian version in 1970.

the Cassette!! / MC / K7

7.   Tu Vuó Fa L'Americano

- 1956 song by Renato Corasone and re-introduced to the dancing audience by Australian DJ’s Yolanda B. Cool as We No Speak Americano (2010)

8.   Non Ho L'Eta

- 1964 Sanremo and Eurovision winner by Gigliola Cinquetti

9.   Se Bruciasse La Cittá

- 1969 single for Massimo Ranieri

10. Azzurro

- An international hit for Adriano Celentano in 1968. Written by Paolo Conto who recorded it in 1985

11. Il Mondo

- 1965 hit for Jimmy Fontana

                                                                                             

Links and sources
Vega Website, facebook, Youtube channel
Spanish people can buy it at Fnac, other will have to work harder, make Spanish friends or get it at e-bay. Digital is available worldwide.
Discover more Eurocovers posts with Volare (Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu), Dio Come Ti Amo and Non Ho L'eta 

the CD

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

Rocky Roberts - Yes Yes My Love

Reply Songs are (obviously) songs that reply to a big hit and it was Michael Jackson untimely departure that got me thinking. Bear with me, I'll explain.
Back in the days I loved Off The Wall and Billie Jean just as much as anyone else, and I still do. Just like any other popmusic fan I have been swept along in the Michael Jackson craze and I am fascinated by the charts being stuffed with Michael Jackson hits. All the sad events transported me back in time and had me reliving the 80's, which were pretty fantastic times for me.

Of course there's no Eurocover by Michael Jackson and it's not really possible to celebrate the King Of Pop within the confines of Eurocovers.

Reply Songs
In those Thriller days I used to DJ and a favorite cliché of mine was mixing Billie Jean with the reply song Superstar by Lydia Murdock (I'm Billie Jean And I'm Mad As Hell).
The question arose, has there ever been a reply song for a Eurovision song? (Any excuse for a Eurocovers post with a Michael Jackson tie).

I actually found one, and even though it's a song heavily featured in some recent Eurocovers posts it's here again. Researching it of course lead to finding more about the singer etcetera, Eurocovers style. And incidentally there turned out to be more Michael Jackson links than I expected.


Rocky Roberts (1941 - 2005)
An interesting CV for Rocky Roberts. Born in Miami, spent some time in the U.S. navy, was a welter weight championship boxer and got his first musical cudo's with the Airedales, recording in the U.S. and in France. In the second half of the sixties he moved to Italy where he recorded most of his songs (as a solo artist) and he was a guest in every other popular TV music show. His American accent didn't stop him from having a great hit with Stassero Mi Butto (amazing YouTube link restored), watch the footwork MJ fans) and he was well known for his energetic Italian language coverversions of Motown and Atlantic soul hits, live and on record. Reach Out I'll Be There (Four Tops, also recorded by the Jackson 5), Chain Of Fools (Aretha Franklin) and Same Old Song (Four tops)

Yes Yes Dear Dear, Perhaps Next Year, Or maybe even never…

It's with the Airedales that Rocky Roberts recorded a reply song (in English) to Gigliola Cinquetti's Non Ho L'eta (Per Amarti).
Yes Yes My Love from the French 10"inch LP Rocks Et Slows - T.Bird from 1964 (BARCLAY 92.107)

The original track by Gigliola Cinquetti is about being too young to love and Rocky Roberts, always a gentleman, is prepared to wait. I don't know if they ever got together…

Here's some lyrics excerpts from both songs:
Non ho l'eta (from Italian)
"I don't have the age to love
I don't have the age to go out with you
I wouldn't know what to say as you know so much more than me
If you want to wait for me one day all my love will be for you".

Yes Yes My Love (original is in English)
"Yes Yes My Love, I know you're too young.
I'll wait for you
These tender years, I'll think of you
when the waiting is through, no more can I do
I'll watch the moon and the stars when I think of you
I'll wait with all my heart to be standing by you".

The track and album are from Rocky Roberts time in France where he mostly recorded French and American classics in English.
This Is My Prayer, the 'original' English version of Non Ho L 'Eta didn't have the being too young theme, which was just as well, as Vera Lynn from the previous Eurocovers post was well into her 40's when she recorded her version.

Volare
Yes Yes My Love is not the only Eurocover by Rocky Roberts. In 1970 he recorded Volare as an amazing soul ballad. Accept my apologies for overlooking that one in last years Anno Domenico posts, it's a Eurocover that is not to be missed.
Volare was a b-side to I Won't Think Hard Of You, released in the U.S. on the Chess label (Chess 2096). It can also be found on the compilation CD I Grande Successi Originali.

In 1969 Roberts entered the San Remo contest with La Belle Donne and in 1970 with Accidenti (together with Il Super-gruppo).
Rocky Roberts died in 2005, but his son Randy Roberts continues the family tradition, and hey presto, his MySpace features some nice acoustic Michael Jackson coverversions.


Rocky Roberts MySpace tribute.

One final link for the anoraks: The Airedales continued in the late 60's and 70's with band member (bassist) Wess Johnson as the new lead singer who took over from Roberts in 1967. And Wess is of course known from the 1975 Eurovision entry Era by Wess and Dori Ghezzi, which ended third for Italy and was a reasonable European hit. Contrary to popular myth only Dori is a Ghezzi.

Sanremo 65 - Tutte Le Vincitrici

Sanremo is 68 by now, but I just noticed this 4CD album with coverversions of all 65 winners from 1951 up to 2015 of the Mother Of All Songcontests, the Festival Della Canzone Italiana di Sanremo.

The first Sanremo festival was in 1951 and Nilla Pizzi won with Grazie Dei Fior.
Sanremo quickly became a successful stage for Italian singers and songwriters.
The Eurovision Song Contest which premiered in 1956 was modelled on the Italian music spectacular.
The Sanremo festival became closely connected to Eurovision straight away: The winner of Sanremo went on to be the Italian Eurovision entry from 1956 to 1966.

In 1967 things changed. Sanremo winner Non Pensare A Me by Claudio Villa was disqualified because the new Eurovision regulations ruled the song had been released too early. It was replaced by Non Andare Piu' Lontano after the Eurovision rehearsals started.
After that the actual Sanremo winner only went to Eurovision on four occasions.
Sometimes the Sanremo winning artists would pick another song or someone who ended lower on the Sanremo table represent Italy in Europe. In the 70's and 80's the Eurovision choice was often Sanremo unrelated.

To celebrate the 65th anniversary of the Sanremo contest a 4CD was released by Azzurra Music in 2016. It includes all Sanremo winners recorded by new, young and upcoming artists. 15 of the 65 songs are Eurovision entries.
The 4CD is still available at Azzurra Music, but for you digital youngsters, it's also available through your favorite mp3 outlets, or if you're broke, Spotify.

These are the Eurovision songs on the Sanremo 65 Tutte Le Vincitrici 4CD:
(For the full tracklist see picture below)
Year     Title  - original artist - artist on the Sanremo 65 4CD

1956 Aprite le finestre - Franca Raimondi - Serena Carpi

1957 Corde della mia chitarra - Nunzio Gallo - Marco Tascone
1958 Nel blu dipinto di blu - Domenico Modugno - Swinger Twinger
1959 Piove (Ciao ciao bambina) - Domenico Modugno - Blues Coffee Trio ft Teresa
1960 Romantica - Renato Rascel - Animarma ft. Eniko
1961 Al di là - Betty Curtis - Carlotta ft. Olly Vincent
1962 Addio... addio - Claudio Villa - Michael Vaiasinni
1963 Uno per tutte - Emilio Pericoli - Kabaré Voltaire
1964 Non ho l'età (Per amarti) - Gigliola Cinquetti - Francesca Beccaria
1965 Se piangi se ridi - Bobby Solo - Mercoledi Notte
1966 Dio come ti amo - Domenico Modugno - Luca Bui
1972 I giorni dell'arcobaleno - Nicola Di Bari - Errequatro

1997 Fiumi di parole - Jalisse - Ibrevidiverbi

2013 L’essenziale - Marco Mengoni - Proclama
2015 Grande amore - Il Volo - S.Ma.C.K (Stefania, Carlotta, Karol)

More at Eurocovers about: Aprite Le Finestre, Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu, Piove, Romantica, Al Di La, Addio Addio,  Uno Per Tutte,  Non Ho L'eta,  Se Piangi Se Ridi, Dio Come Ti Amo.

Eurovision 2008 - Eurocovers from Icelands preselection stars

Iceland are still at it. After 12 weeks of pre- pre- semi semi's there's 12 songs left which will compete in a new series of heats to create a final final. You can hear all songs still in the competition at the RÚV website.

Last year there were some interesting Eurocovers by the Icelandic hopefuls (see this Eurocovers post), this year only two of the artists have recorded Eurovision songs.

This Saturday (19-1) is the first round and the third song, Lullaby To Peace, is performed by Ína Valgerður Pétursdóttir, Seth Sharp og Berglind Ósk Guðgeirsdóttir. Ína Valgerður who has recorded a Eurovision winner. It's Non Ho L'Eta, originally by Gigliola Cinquetti.
Valgerður's version however is a straightforward coverversion of the coverversion by Elly Vilhjálms, Heyr Mína Bæn, who recorded the Icelandic version in 1964. You can find Elly Vilhjálms' version in the Eurocovers post 10.000 coverversions: Non Ho L'Eta. (updated with gorgeous picture sleeve!)

Valgerður's version is from Icelandic Idols but her solo album hasn't substantiated yet. More details here.

The second Eurocovering Icelandic singers are Eurobandið (Friðrik Ómar and Regína Ósk). They have been featured recently at Eurocovers (here). Their song Fullkomið líf is in the third semi heat (02-02).
Their Myspace features a live Eurovision medley and they have recorded an Icelandic version of 1981 winner Making Your Mind Up (Bucks Fizz) titled Við Sigrum Að Ári. (also available for dowload at their MySpace)
-
No CD is released yet, but I'm hoping this year will the Eurobandið year! (starting with a few new promo pics??)

And Eurocovers readers may have noticed my personal campaign to promote Dr. Gunni. Well, it worked, and he has one song in the third round. Hvar ertu nú? by Dr. Spock. It won the wildcard round and it's loud!


UPDATE 19-1: - Lullaby To Peace by Ína Valgerður Pétursdóttir, Seth Sharp and Berglind Ósk Guðgeirsdóttir is eliminated.

VII: Year Of The Puppet - Chile, Argentina, Mexico

The Year Of The Puppet takes us to all corners of the globe. Here's three versions of the song made by South American stars of the 60's.

Chile - Gloria Benavides - Marionetas en la cuerdaSinger and comedienne Gloria Benavides, born in 1952, was a child star rising in the early 60's, mainly with Spanish versions of worldwide hits like Norman (Sue Thompson) and Amor por teléfono (Telephone lover, Connie Francis). She was a part of La Nueva Ola Chilena, the generation of young rock'n'roll and pop stars of Chile in the 50's and 60's.

She made her actual radio debut at the age of three in the popular Uncle Alex Club (Club del Tio Alejandro).
Her teenager career was mainly musical, but she finally focussed more on acting and comedy, resulting in the mid 80's show 'La show de Gloria', a regular TV show with comedy and music. Benavides is still regarded as one of the biggest comedy stars of Chile.

Gloria Benavides also recorded No Tengo Edad Par Amar Te (Non Ho l'Eta, Italy's 1964 winner) and Primo O Poi from the 1965 San Remo contest (10th)


Violeta Rivas is a hugely popular singer in Argentina in the from the 60's to today.
You can read all about Violeta Rivas at her homepage (in Spanish)

Here is her Eurocovers Discography (all songs in Spanish)

Dios como te amo (Italy 1966, Dio come ti amo by Domenico Modugno)
- b-side to Ninguno me puede juzgar (RCA Victor 31A-084)
- EP Canciones del Festival de San Remo 1966 (RCA Victor)
with 4 San Remo 1966 songs
- also on LP with the same title with 12 San Remo 1966 songs (RCA Víctor AVL 3650)

Merci Cherie (Austria 1966 winner, original by Udo Jürgens)
- 7" single (RCA Victor 31A-0963)
- EP Sin Final (RCA Victor 3AE-3536)

Titere (U.K. 1967 Puppet On A String - Sandie Shaw)
- 7" single (RCA Victor 31A-1100)
- EP Kilimandjaro - (RCA Victor 3AE-3607)

Dios como te amo & Titere can be found 2004 compilation CD 20 Secretos de amor (BMG Argentina)


Mexico - Los Rockin Devil's - Muñeco de cuerdaLos Rockin Devil's were a rock band from Tijuana, Mexico, part of a huge wave of rock'n'roll bands that emerged in the 60's.
At the height of their fame they produced 2 LP's each year (1964-1969) on which they covered all the Rock 'n' roll classics in Spanish but also turned some Eurovision songs into fresh pop hits.

Los Devil's Eurocovers, all in Spanish

No tengo edad para amarte (Italy 1964 winner Non ho l'eta by Gigliola Cingquetti)
- on LP Los Rockin Devils (Orfeon 1964)
Muñeco de cuerda (Puppet on a string)
- on LP Nuevos Hit's de Los Rockin Devil's (Orfeon 1967)
Bum Bang A Bang - (Lulu's co-winner, UK 1969)
- on LP Los Nuevos hits de Los Rockin Devil's (Orfeon 1969)

Bio and Discography can be found on the Los Rockin Devil's website







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) more to come....

Af álfum - Frostrósir, Christmas is coming

Today I am in the mood for getting this post up to the top. (links may not all work)

Not a Eurocover and way early of course, but how many famous Icelandic Eurovision people do you recognise in this clip? (see below) What a wonderful christmas song. (and I don't do christmas songs very much thank you)
RÚV (Icelandic TV people) should consider sending this to Eurovision. I mean, it's wonderful, it's already finished, no hassle and costs of a multi-round preselection and even if some get the flu, there's enough singers here to do it. It would be the first Christmas song at Eurovision which would be in itself Eurovision History-Book-On-The-Shelf worthy. Consider it....

The Fróstrosir project celebrates 10 years of Christmas music this year.
Here's the Fróstrosir homepage where you can find out if you spotted all the stars. (under Flytjendur)

In the past Fróstrosir have Christmafied two Swedish Eurovision entries.
The 1996 entry Den Vilda (One More Time, 3rd place) became Dansaðu Vindur and was released on the CD Fróstrósir (2002) and compilation Fróstrósir - Best lögin' (2006).
1995's Se på mig (Jan Johansen, 3rd place) became Stjärnan Min and was released on the CD Heyr Himna Smiður (2008)
Update: Fróstrósir and Eurobandið singer Friðrik Ómar also gave a Swedish Eurovision track the Christmas Once Over: Tommy Körbergs majestic Stad I Ljus (Sweden 1988 by Tommy Körberg) became Vetrarnótt for the 2010 holiday season.
Another Update: Af Álfum, Vetrarnótt, Stjärnan Min and Dansaðu Vindur can all be found on the new album / 2CD Fróstrosir Fagna. (thanks Dominique!)

More Fróstrosir in this Eurocovers post.

Fróstrosir 2011 features the following Eurovisiony people:
Eiríkur Hauksson - Three time Eurovision star (1986 with trio Icy, 1991 with quartet Just4Fun for Norway and his own fantastic Valentine Lost in 2007.
Hera Björk - Je Ne Sais Quoi was her Eurovision eruption in 2010, and she also had the fabulous entry Someday ending 2nd in the Danish 2009 final. She also recorded an Icelandic coverversion of Christine Guldbrandsens Alvedansen (Norway 2006)
Friðrik Ómar - Member of Eurocovers fabulous favorites Eurobandið, well know for This Is My Life (2008) also had some great solo tunes in the Icelandic preselections (Það Sem Verður 2006 and Eldur 2007)
Regína Ósk - Member of Eurocovers favorites Eurobandið, also had a great solo tune in the Icelandic preselection (Þér Við Hlið in 2007)
Guðrún Árný - Pre-selection singer in 2003 with Með Þér.
Eivør Pállsottir - Faroese singer participated in the Icelandic selection with I Nótt in 2003. She's the main singer on Dansaðu Vindur.
Heiða Ólafs - In 2009 pre-selection with Dagur Nýr.
Matti Matt - My favorite Sjonni Boy. Coming Home 2011. In 2010 he had a solo song in the selection: Out Of Sight.
Stefán Hilmarsson - Two time Eurovision singer Stefan out of Beathoven (1988) and Stefan and Eyfi.
Also appeared as backing singer and musician on various Icelandic entries.
Ína Valgerður - Eurocovers star recorded the Italian 1964 winner Non Ho L'eta in Icelandic. Entered the Icelandic selection in 2008 with Lullaby To Peace.
Jógvan Hansen - Preselection 2010 (One More Day) and 2011 (Ég Lofa)
Ragnar Bjarnason - Legendary Icelandic singer, recorded Eurocovers of Volare and Non Ho L'eta(Italy's 1958 and 1964 entries)
Sissel Kyrkjebø - Internationally acclaimed classical singer from Norway, was in the 1986 contest interval performance.
Ragga Gröndal - Two times national semi finalist (2003 with Ferrari and 2008: Wake Me Up), member of the Fancy Toys and a bestselling singer in Iceland.
Guðrún Gunnars - Judge on the Paul Oscars Eurovision previewTV show Alla Leið
The other singers without any Eurovision relation that I know of are: Ágúst Ólafsson, Björg Þórhallsdóttir, Erna Hrönn, Garðar Thór Cortes, Gissur Páll, Guðrún Gunnars, Hulda Björk Garðarsdóttir, Jóhann Friðgeir, Kolbeinn Ketilsson, Margrét Eir, Óskar Pétursson, Vala Guðna and Védís Hervör. Producers / arrangers Karl Olgeir Olgeirsson and Árni Harðarson  also appear in the video.  

VII: Year Of The Puppet - Sätkynukke from Finland

Another day, another Puppet. One day before the Big 40 here's a Finnish version of Sandie's song by Maarja-Leena (Hentunen). I couldn't find any info on the singer and I don't have a picture either.

Sätkynukke was released on a single (Philips PF 340 791) and can also be found on the fantastic Finnish compilation CD Eri Esittäjiä Käännetyt viisuhelmet.
This is a must have 2CD with 50 Eurovision songs covered by Finnish artists, all sung in Finnish.
Finnish artists have always been very active in covering worldwide hits and Eurovision songs are no exception. It features the big hits and winners but also some unexpected choices. See the tracklist of the CD below.

The Finnish Eurocovers 2CD is available from BeaRecords, (Kaannetyt Viisuhelmet) and at most Finnish CD stores

Eri Esittäjiä Käännetyt viisuhelmet - tracklist
CD1
01: TAIVAAN SINESSÄ - Nel blu dipinto di blu - (Volare) Olavi Virta
02: CIAO CIAO BAMBINA - Leif Wager
03: TANSSILAULU - Dansevise - Laila Kinnunen
04: LIIAN NUORI RAKKAUTEEN - Non ho l’eta per amarti - Anneli Sari
05: VAHANUKKE, LAULAVA NUKKE - Poupée de cire, - Ritva Palukka
06: SÄTKYNUKKE - Puppet On A String - Maarja Leena
07: LA LA LA - She Gives me Love - Carola
08: MUA ONNITELKAA - Congratulations - Robin
09: RAKKAUDELTA NÄYTTÄÄ, HITTO VIE - Det börjar verka - Eero Raittinen
10: PENKKI, PUU JA PUISTOTIE - Un banc, un arbre, une rue - Carola
11: VARKAIN VIEN TAIKKA LAINAAN - Beg, Steel Or Borrow - Tapani Kansa
12: RAKASTAN - SAAVUTHAN - Après toi - Carola
13: NUORUUS ON SEIKKAILU - Tu te reconnaitras - Katri Helena
14: SAIN MUISTON - Ey sham - Marion Rung
15: WATERLOO Ami Aspelund
16: NIIN - Si - Lea Laven
17: SAANHAN OLLA HÄN - Let Me Be The One - Kai Hyttinen
18: DING-A-DONG Hanne
19: JENNIE, JENNIE Matti Esko
20: SILLOIN - Era - Marion ja Kirka
21: SÄÄSTÄ SUUKKOSI VAIN - Save Your Kisses For Me - Tapani Kansa
22: NIIN SE KÄY - 1 - 2 - 3 - Lea Laven
23: LINTU JA LAPSI - L´oiseau et l´enfant - Katri Helena
24: PÄIN SEINÄÄ - Rock Bottom - Armi ja Danny
25: VAPAANA - Libera - Seija Simola

CD2
01: SOITTOTUNNIT - Mathima solfege - Silhuetit
02: PALAA - Feuer - Päivi
03: HALLELUJA - Hallelujah - Anna, Muska ja Kirka
04: TSINGIS KHAN - Dschingis Khan - Frederik
05: DISCO TANGO Marion Rung
06: VUODET OHI KÄY - What’s Another Year - Kisu
07: AMSTERDAM Katri Helena
08: KUIN TEATTERISSA - Theater - Ami Aspelund
09: ISÄ-PAPPA PINGVIINI - Le Papa Pinqouin - Armi Aavikko
10: ON MERI TÄNÄÄN RAUHATON - Feggari Kalokerino - Danny
11: LIIAN PIAN ILTA PÄÄTTYY - Layla - Eini
12: HUMANAHUM Kari Tapio
13: JOHNNY BLUE Katri Helena
14: TAHDON ELÄÄ - Hora - Markku Aro
15: RAKKAUS VOITTAA - Mono i agapi - Berit
16: VAIN HIEMAN RAUHAA - Ein bisschen Frieden - Katri Helena
17: MUUKALAINEN - Främling - Meiju Suvas
18: LAHJAN SAIN - Si la vie est cadeau - Taiska
19: JULIE - Dzuli - Ilkka Salo
20: DIGGI LOO - DIGGI LEY Meiju Suvas
21: JUNA TURKUUN - Tredi di tozeur i - Seija Simola
22: MIKSI RAKKAUDELLA LEIKIT - Love Games - Vicky Rosti
23: PÄÄTTYNEET JUHLAT - La fiesta termino - Anneli Saaristo
24: ENNEN SUA - Neka mi ne svane - Laura Voutilainen
25: RAKKAUS ON SININEN - L’amour est bleu – Yölintu

Eurocovers - 10.000 Eurovision Coverversions !

Today I found details on the 10.000th Eurovision coverversion.
10.000 coverversions is a side project of the Eurovision Collectors Guide which started with just keeping the information of all covers I received and came across while researching for the Collectors Guide (The must have Collectors booklet with all versions and releases by original Eurovision artists).

Since the early 90's I have been keeping track of any (officially released) version I could find either in sound or just picture sleeves or release info and today number 10.000 was added to the list.

I love lists, I'm mad I know, but that's me. I have featured many discographies & coverversions lists in this Eurocovers blog which were all taken from the 10.000 project list.
Browse the archives and find out more.

This work wouldn't have been possible without the help of many fellow collectors who have contributed over the past 18 years. To you: BIG BIG THANKS!
Some facts and trivia
- Italy alone takes care of almost 25% of the coverversions listed.
- Over 600 versions are in Finnish
- I have found versions in 39 languages and a number of dialects
- 20 Eurovision entries have over 100 versions listed.
- Domenico Modugno (co) wrote 3 of the top 10 most covered Eurovision songs.
- Runner up Love is blue / L'amour est bleu has 60% instrumental versions
- Puppet On A String scored the most language recordings

here's the top 10 most covered songs from the list.
994 - Nel blu dipinto di blu (Volare) (Italy 1958)
Unfortunately The Man ordered the Volare post to be removed.530 - L'Amour est bleu (Love is blue) (Luxembourg 1967)351 - Piove (Ciao Ciao Bambina) (Italy 1959)328 - Waterloo (Sweden 1974)268 - Al di la (Italy 1961)252 - Puppet on a string (U.K. 1967)187 - Non ho l'eta per amarti (Italy 1964)184 - Eres tu (Spain 1973)168 - Dio come ti amo (Italy 1966)
155 - Poupée de cire , poupée de son (Luxembourg 1965)

Each link above is to a Eurocovers post about the song with backgrounds, lists, some interesting artists and music.

If you'd like to know more about the project, participate or if you are just curious, please drop me a line.

These files (word.doc) taken from the 10.000 Coverversions project are still available for download.
- Puppet On A String coverversions in the Year Of The Puppet
- Chinese versions
- Ding A Dong coverversions

Géo Voumard 1920 - 2008

This week the Eurovision community says goodbye to Swiss composer, pianist and radio maker Géo Voumard, composer of 5 Eurovision songs including the first ever winner, Refrain from 1956.
With lyricist Emile Gardaz (1931 - 2007) Voumard is responsible for half of the first 10 songs that entered Eurovision for Switzerland. Three of them finished in the top three.
In 1967 Voumard co-founded* the world renowned Montreux Jazz Festival of which the 42nd edition took place last july.

Géo Voumard / Emile Gardaz Eurovision songs:1956 - Refrain - Lys Assia (winner)
1957 - L'Enfant Que J'Etais - Lys Assia (8th)
1961 - Nous Aurons Demain - Franca Di Rienzo (3rd)
1962 - Le Retour - Jean Philippe (10th)
1963 - T'En Va Pas - Esther Ofarim (2nd)

EurocoversRefrain, one of two songs** that entered for Switzerland in 1956 is the most covered of the Voumard/Gardaz songs, followed by Esther Ofarims runner up that almost won *** T'En Va Pas from 1963.
Of the other three songs I only know about an accordion cover of Nous Aurons Demain by André Verchuren. L'Enfant Que J'Etais and Le Retour still have a big 0 in the 10.000 coverversions list. The original artists records are (also) among the rarest Eurovision singles.

Refrain was recorded by Lys Assia in French, German and English (pictured). An Italian coverversion was recorded by Flo Sandon's (her Refrain is in this Eurocovers post). I know of three versions in Portuguese recorded in Brasil (Carlos Augusto, Araci Costa, Arthur Murat) (all wanted) and La Esterella recorded a Flemish version.
We're deep into 78rpm territory here and the covers of Refrain are not the easiest to find. About half of them are instrumental and of course quite a few in French.

Two 1956 Eurovision singers that have recorded Refrain in French are Corry Brokken (who went on to win in 1957) and Mathé Altery (France). Both recorded the winning song but neither released their own entry of that year.
My favorite coverversion is by Jula De Palma ♫, who slows the song down even further than the original.

T'En Va Pas
Esther Ofraim recorded her Eurovision entry in French, German and Italian (pictured). A lovely English version is recorded by Dana Valery ♫. She's an Italian born singer from South Africa.
Her version Would I Love You Again is the b-side to This Is My Prayer, an English version of the 1964 wonner Non Ho L'Eta (Gigliola Cinquetti). (Decca F 11881).
Other coverversions were rcorded in Finnish (by Olavi Virta), Dutch (Corry Brokken), Flemish (Jo Leemans), Swedish (Majbritt Persson) and Danish (Ellen Winther).
T'En Va Pas also found its way to Brasil, but so far I've only found details on instrumental versions (The Jordans ♫, The Bells, Os Carbonos)



* with Claude Nobs and René Langel
** Each country entered two songs in the first contest, 7 countries, 14 songs. The contest, held in Lugano, Switserland, was only aired on radio and only the winner was announced.
*** Esther Ofarim was pipped to the post only after Norway re-casted their votes which differed from their initial ones. It gave Dansevise by Danish Grethe & Jørgen Ingmann the final victory.

50.000.000 Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong ?

Probably it completely escaped you in your part of the world, but down in the lowlands the 2009 Belgian Eurovision entry, Copycat by Patrick Ouchène, is big news.

Now Georgia may think they're having problems with Putin on their case, Ouchène is really in trouble as he has offended Elvis and the wrath of the Elvis Army is a force to be reconed with.

Elvis fans have inundated all the Eurovision blogs and websites with their grief and the fanclub Elvis Matters has called upon the EBU (Big Giant Head of Eurovision) for the song to be banned because they are offended, hurt and deeply disturbed by the lyrics of the song.

Ouchène sings about this guy who is copying him, wearing the same clothes, eating the same sandwich etcetera. In fact Copycat is a tale about a cat. The cat being an Elvi-fied version of Le Chat, a popular cartoon figure by Philippe Geluck.

I thought is was funny, and even sweet. It's probably the F-word* that causes the biggest problem

Elvis Presley himself had to cope with similar outraged masses and the long arm of the law in his time. The good law abiding Christian society was deeply offended by his hip gyrating Hound Dog humping performances. And now it's the Elvis fans' turn to have their crusade.
I think it's a good publicity stunt for Elvis and the fans should be pleased that the King is put in the spotlight by someone else than the recordcompanies who are only re-re-releasing the 17th limited edition picture disc of Are You Lonesome Tonight because the fans will buy it anyway. But that's just my opinion.

Copycat Le Blog has all info, lyrics and the video of this years Belgian entry.
Copycat at the Moscow Collection
* - Fat

Eurocovers
Elvis Presley never recorded a cover of a Eurovision song although he came close in 1965 when he recorded, Please Don't Stop Loving Me (YouTube) which plagiarised the Italian 1964 winner Non Ho L'eta (by Gigliola Cinquetti).

Rock 'n' Roll Kids
Copycat is a Rock'n' Roll song, a rarity in Eurovision world. Except for some very light twisty jive variations in the 80's (Yugoslavia's 83 and 87 songs for example) the only real Rock 'n' Roll song was one of the German entries of 1956: So Geht Das Jede Nacht by Freddy (Quinn).
A two minute hip shaker about a girl who dates a different guy every night (for dancing only of course, it's 1956).
Freddy didn't win, and the choice for the syrupy Refrain by Lys Assia shaped Eurovision for many years to come.
How the world would have been different if Freddy would have set the Eurovision standard back then.
Freddy recorded So Geht Das Jede Nacht in German (Youtube) and in Japanese (!).

I know of 10 coverversions of Eurovisions first Rock 'n'Roll song but none of them really catches the spirit of the Freddy original. Ralf Bendix gives the song a jazzy swing mood and is probably the best effort. (although I haven't heard them all).

Freddy himself also steered away from Rock'n' Roll, becoming one of the greatest melancholy German Schlager singers of all time, with romantic songs about sailors and heartbreak.
I don't know of any coverversions other than German or Instrumental.

So Geht Das Jede Nacht coverversions
Götz Alsmann
- details wantedRalf Bendix
- on 7" (Electrola EG 8616)
Charly
- on EP (Harmona 3D 36329)
Crazy Legs
- on CD Wir Sind Wider Wer (Bear family)
Dirk Darmstaedter u. Bernd Begemann
- on CD Tapete Unterwegs (5 track VA cd)
Wolf Gabbe u. Jonny's Boogie Band
- on VA EP SchlagerParade 2 (Opera Europäischer Phonoklub 4123)
Freddy Grün
- on 78rpm (Bertelsmann Schallplattenring 78 8632)
Die Tornados
- on CD Kaviar Statt Reis (Bear family)
Hans Arno Simon
- in medley (Piano) - details wanted
The 3 Jacksons (Accordion) part of medley
- on 10" LP Jacksons Parade No. 7 (Philips 13055 R)

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.

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

Grethe & Jörgen present the Winners & Losers....

In 1967 Danish Eurovision winners Grethe and Jörgen Ingmann recorded an LP full of Eurovision classics titled 'Winners and losers from European television song contests'

The LP features 11 coverversions (in English) of Eurovision songs plus a new recording of their own 1963 winner Dansevise (I loved you).

Even though it's never a good idea to have the word Losers in your album title, this is a lovely LP with smooth interpretations which has never been rivalled by any other coverversions project since.
Mixing Jörgen Ingmanns guitar magic with the laid back jazzy vocals of Grethe, they hardly ever stick close to the original versions of the songs.
The LP is a bit remeniscent of Julie Jondon's 'Julie Is Her Name' album, but with better songs of course.

Stand out tracks:
So near, yet so far, originally by Monica Zetterlund, which in any other universe is one of the greatest vocal jazz classics ever written.
Que bueno, que bueno in which the fiery Flamenco is exchanged for a gipsy guitar flavoured bossa rhythm.


Side 1
I love the little things
Only tears are left for me (Ce soir je t'attendais)
Without words (Brez besed)
Que Bueno, Que Bueno
Walking the streets in the rain
Absent minded (Uh, jeg ville önske jeg var dig)

Side 2
This is my prayer (Non ho l'eta)
We, who are in love (Nous les amoureux)
Merci Cherie
So near, yet so far (En gång I Stockholm)
Mallory (Le chant de Mallory)
I loved you (Dansevise)


It's not an easy to find LP and an official CD re-issue (with bonus tracks please) is long overdue.

Winners and losers from European television song contests
Grethe and Jörgen Ingmann
(Metronome MLP 15.267, Germany)