Luv'

Artist: Luv'

LP: Lots of Luv'
Song: "The Night of Love"

[ listen ]

I took the day off work to relax, but instead I spent my time dealing with a malfunctioning smartphone (so-called), and engaging in auto repair (I replaced the bulbs for my driver's side headlight and the passenger side front turn signal). And now I'm in need of a perfect and perfectly frivolous pop song. This one from Luv's 1979 "Lots of Luv'" LP fits the bill. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

[ Luv' ]

Luv'

Artist: Luv'

LP: With Luv'

Song: "You're the Greatest Lover"

[ listen ]

Today the sun was brightly shining, I didn't have to go to work, I rode the bike out to get coffee and donuts and, in case you haven't heard, the Seattle Seahawks are going to the Super Bowl! And I don't even CARE about football! This Luv' song somehow made the perfect soundtrack for a rare gem of a day like today. It's been stuck in my head for hours. If you listen to just one pop song at top volume while driving on the freeway in your car in 2014, I recommend this one. You will not be disappointed.

Heintje Simons

Artist: Heintje Simons

LP: Ich Denk an Dich

Song: "Hey Mister"

[ listen ]

I've been gallivanting all over Europe these past few weeks, via my record collection, weeding out LPs from my overcrowded Italy, Germany, and "other" sections. Next, I'm off to France! This 1973 record by the sensational singing Dutch tot Heintje (by now an elderly 18-year-old) was one of the things I had to send off to boarding school to make more room. Like Loretta Lynn, Heintje was a coal miner's daughter—er, son—and the young singer's immense popularity and fame lifted his family from the depths of poverty. You can read more about Heintje Simons here, listen to another one of his songs from an earlier posting here, and I've still got several pre-'70s Heintje LPs on my shelves, so you'll probably be seeing him again real soon.

Luv'

Artist: Luv'

LP: 7" single

Song: "Trojan Horse"

[ listen ]

Have you ever wondered what Bananarama would sound like if they'd made disco in the Scottish Highlands? On the one hand I'm amazed and a little annoyed that I'd never heard of this lovely Dutch trio before finding this catchy 1978 single at Som Records in Washington, DC last month. But on the other hand, I'm probably only now finally mature enough to handle knowing about them while still maintaining my dignity. If I'd seen Luv's televised performance of "Trojan Horse" when I was ten, I'd have been prancing around the playground singing "1-2-3-4-5, you say I'll be your wife!" while mimicking the group's dance moves—thereby thrusting myself even further down the rungs of Robertson Elementary's popularity ladder. Knowing about Wonder Woman, Charlie's Angels, and ABBA at that tender young age was making life difficult enough. You can read about Luv' on Wikipedia here.

Luv' on YouTube:

[ "Trojan Horse" ]

Heintje

Artist: Heintje

LP: Best of All

Song: "Giddy Up My Pony"

[ listen ]

I just got back from Austin, Texas! It was my first time in the city, and I had lots of fun visiting friends, eating tacos, going to the Austin Film Festival...and of course I stumbled upon lots of neat records. I'll be posting some of those, but first I decided to try exorcising this nutty song about pony-riding, from Dutch child singer Heintje, since it's been stuck in my head for over a week. Born in Kerkrade in The Netherlands on August 12, 1955, Hendrik Nikolaas Theodoor Simons (aka. Heintje) became a superstar with his hit 1967 single "Mama" when he was just 12 years old. To counter the "goody-goody" mama's boy image he'd earned with his music career, Heintje threw his weight and considerable acting chops into films like "To Hell With School" and "Hurrah, the School Is Burning," which inspired waves of arson, vandalism and massive drop-outs at schools throughout West Germany. You can read more about Heintje here and go here to see a list of the young lad's film and TV appearances.

Robert Long

Artist: Robert Long

LP: Vroeger of Later
Song: "Het Leven Was Lijden"
[ listen ]

Here's a nice song from Dutch singer Robert Long's first solo LP in 1974, following his stints in bands The Yelping Jackals and Unit Gloria in the 1960s. According to Wikipedia, Robert became a popular Dutch TV personality and news columnist in the 1980s and '90s. In 1998, a revealing collection of his personal letters about life, death, love, sex, work and various colleagues was made public in a book titled Beste Robert, Waarde Cees. In December of 2005, he married his Belgian boyfriend/manager Kristof Rutsaert, but sadly, Robert died just a year later from cancer at the age of 63.

Last night I discovered a mysterious letter written in Dutch that had been folded and tucked inside the LP cover next to the record. I'm assuming it's one of Robert Long's personal letters to his boyfriend, Kristof Rutsaert:

My suspicions were confirmed after I used Altavista's Babelfish to get an English translation:

The day comes dearest, the day The sun by the gordijneu, Dromeu which verdwjieu I weet that you cannot bijua. Become wakkes dearest tis slightly, Your hasen on the kussau, your mouth and daas between shadow on your qezicht. Up to morning dearest mischien, Now softly down Do not crack with the tredau: M' n ousbest cannot your zieu. Because tide and all audese dearest probereu telkaus, for our at verauderau dearest in a lady and a lord. Those altja tidy blineu dearest and never queaar do lijk; Never hartstochl let through themselves drijuen dearest except zoms zoeu. Nevertheless gaau we dearest our pace, If I was possible dau faithfully I with your because that wanted I that weet you nevertheless already since this way laug. Also without dearest also dau, kawik vau keep you without marrying yourself Tired jej minus woman and I your maw. Love dear is strong, Stronger daw we meuse. That everything tidy weusen with by the weeks the matter, and Sunday church. I open the windows dearest The street is empty and suffocates, I see you running outside lierste our bed is empty enkil. Now you gone are I to dream dearest vow what I and pocket had. To your lerug komau litfsie I dream alleau vow you.

[If anyone knows Dutch and can give me a better translation of Robert's letter, please send me an email.]