After the worldwide hit came the question: lucky strike or recipe? Baccara answered with this single.
Pressed in France, sold in Liège: Gilbert Bécaud in 1954, a year before the Olympia made him a star.
Two melodies that only later became church music – Rudolf Schock sings them, in a sleeve built on his stardom.
Straw hat, dungarees, cotton – and underneath, a city kid from Watts who became a bluesman in Munich.
Both labels name the same band. On the second side, though, a different drummer and guitarist probably played.
How Fabian’s growling “Tiger” became a German hit – and who gave it its words.
Beer stein, cuckoo clock, Heidelberg pennant – and in the middle a word that is no souvenir.
A Swedish singer, a West Berlin dance band and a film about midsummer night: Stockholm as a German cinema dream.
The label says “from the film” – but by the time it reached cinemas, some of the Comets on screen were new faces.
Headlines on the front, a shower and a crucifix inside: in 1981 Prince packed his whole provocation into one cover.
The first rapper on a major label, the first rap song to go gold – and his manager’s brother, soon to be Run of Run-DMC.
Only his records tell us about Jimmy Gregg – three on Kingsport, more than any other known artist on the label.
Two bracketed numbers show both sides are Victor recordings – one was made in Chicago, the other in Havana.
The kiss made the headlines – the record behind it was meant for DJs, and Madonna is missing from its writing credits.
A white label with no singer’s name – and behind it a former teen idol sending his number-one hit to the club.
On Omega the piece was “Full Petrol”, on the German Decca “Full Patrol”: Brussels boogie from the early fifties.
“Miller” appears on both sides – a different man each time, with one session in Hollywood and one in New York.
After the concert an angry Furtwängler reportedly had the car stopped – what his producer made of Bayreuth is in this box.
A prison song, a Leroy Carr blues and a trombonist on harmonica: Lonnie Donegan in May 1955, before the breakthrough.
The schlager king on a lion throne – and the title song’s lyrics were co-written by the mastermind of Austria’s satirical EAV.
Two sides, two arrangers – and a singer who had only just signed his first record contract in 1956.
Father Christmas, a mini dress and a dance party: why a Hamburg magazine publisher made this Christmas record.
Two sisters on the label, one singer in the studio: as the Kitty-Sisters, Erni Bieler sang with herself.
A German Eurovision wonder, rewritten in English – by the man who wrote the words to “Delilah”.