Today saw quite a startling discovery in terms of Eurovisionness (if that's a word).
I reckoned the time had come to reveal a seminal Eurovision song to the world. It is Teach-In's Ding Dinge Dong (or is it Ding A Dong? I really can't be sure even though I have researched it in three different places) from the 1975 Eurovision Song Contest which saw my interest in Eurovision reignited.
Around about ten years ago the ex of my long-suffering partner Simon came round one evening for a spot of socialising. It could have been that he was making sure that Simon's new chap was up to the required "standard", I'm not sure. That aside, it was one of my CDs which Simon played to fill in the gaping silence which descended over the room from time to time.
Ding Dinge Dong was one of the tracks Simon played from my "Eurovision Winners Double CD of Joy" and which which sparked the interest of our guest for the evening. "I forgotten all about this. This was my favourite." It turned out our guest hadn't really consumed any Eurovision stuff since 1975.
Up until that point I thought I was pretty much the only person who confessed a love of this much-maligned event. Most people cast me a confused eye when I admitted to having "a number" of contests on video. Now, someone else with an otherwise healthy interest in the show had given one of it's winning songs some kudos.
Now I come to search on youTube for Teach-In's performance in 1975 contest I realise that there are a number of versions which amuse and entertain for a variety of reasons.
Shocking revelation number one is that until this afternoon I had absolutely no idea that the Netherlands pre-selection show featured three (possibly more) different performances of the same song. There was Teach-In's, power-singer "Debbie" and - by far the grooviest affair - one by Albert West.
As I delved deeper however, I discovered a brass band arrangement , a souped up (but no less satisfying) version by Russian blokey Alexey Glyzin and by far the best remix accompanying a slightly uncomfortable video by "Jane et Moi"
But by far the most entertaining is the simplest rendition of all. Included thus. Sometimes you don't need all the bells and whistles to deliver a punchy tune.
Monday 10 March 2008
# 29 Ding Dinge Dong
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3 comments:
Ah - what an infectious piece of nonsense this is. It's very immediate, so I can see why it managed to win from first in the running order.
This despite the fact that there were a number of better songs in 1975. After all, the lyrics here are very silly indeed. Part of the song's charm is undoubtedly due to lead singer Getty Kaspers, whose engaging presence helps paper over this weakness, and the male band members...
Oh, and it's always been "Ding Ding A Dong" to me. I don't trust those Dutch and Swedish folks at all - especially since "Dinge" conjures up images of a castle dungeon and not picking a flower when your lover is gone, gone, gone!
I think of it as Ding a Dong, and didn't know about all those other versions, most interesting and somewhat bizarre!!
I've always loved it, bright, breezy, tuneful and silly. I prefer it sung in Dutch (tikatikatak and a bim bam bom) because lyrically it doesn't mean much anyway!
Does anybody else play the air-triangle at the end? (Or is it just me...)
I often play air triangle on my own in the bathroom. But that's me ..
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