Our pick of the pops, March 2008

Marion
I go to sleep
Long, long before the Pretenders enjoyed a big hit with Ray Davies’ I go to sleep, German singer Marion went to London to record her version of the song. She had scored a huge hit in 1965 with Er ist wieder da, but became increasingly disenchanted with the material she was given to sing over the following years. Her delight at releasing this classy number as a single in 1967 is only second to ours at finally having a copy of it (thanks, Jens).

Stone
Garde ton sang froid
Here French singer Stone has a go at the Troggs’ I can’t control myself and pulls it off with panache. The 1966 Miss Beatnick gained her stage moniker after friends compared her helmet hair to that of Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones. She scored several hits in the 1960s but had to wait until the 1970s before really establishing herself as a household name as half of the cheesy husband-and-wife duo Stone et Charden. Pity.

Jane Hillery
You’ve got that hold on me
This one-off single appeared on the first of the excellent Dreambabes series and is a highlight of the compilation. It was issued by Birmingham’s Jane Hillery in May 1966 but died upon release. It has since found favour on Britain’s northern soul dance scene. The song was penned by Peter Lee Sterling and Phillip Peters, who had enjoyed some success a year earlier with their I belong, which Kathy Kirby had taken to Naples as the British entry to the Eurovision song contest.

Rosalía
Ciudad solitaria
Spanish singer Rosalía was Spain’s second yé-yé girl, behind Karina. She was born Rosalía Garrido Muñoz in 1944 and began recording in 1962. Her first big hit came in 1965. Our choice is Ciudad solitaria, her version of US singer Gene McDaniels’ It’s a lonely town, which was issued a year earlier. The song had been a big hit in Italy as Città vuota for Italian star Mina, who also issued a Spanish version of the song.

Elsa
Dis pourquoi moi, dis-moi pourquoi, dis
Taken from her third EP for the Mercury label, this song is, for us, Elsa’s finest moment. She co-wrote all of her material, which tended towards the folk-rock end of the market. She never enjoyed any success with the results, but since when have we let a little thing like that spoil our enjoyment? Since back and enjoy this fab track from 1968.

Isabella Bond
Bread and butter
Isabella Bond – or Isabel Bond, as she was later known in the UK – left her native Glasgow in 1963 for the bright lights of Hamburg’s Top Ten Club. Here she twists her tongue round the German language on a cover of the Newbeats’ Bread and butter. It was issued as the B-side of her take on Petula Clark’s German version of Downtown. Isabella stayed in Hamburg for several years before returning to Britain for a contract with the Major-Minor label in 1968.