Als het om de liefde gaat - Sandra en Andres

Sandra Reemer (born October 17, 1950 in Bandung, Indonesia) teamed up with Dries Holten (born January 30, 1942 in Tjimahi, Indonesia) to form the duo Sandra & Andres. They performed together between 1966 and 1975. In 1972, they represented the Netherlands during that year's Eurovision Song Contest. 'Als het om de liefde gaat' ended up in fourth place. They recorded the song in a few other languages. But more about that soon...

My friend Puck bought this single for me elsewhere in the country while I ended up in a record shop myself. Since we both bought some Eurovision singles for me, it's a miracle we didn't end up with the same titles...

My collection: 7" single no. 3704

Found: May 5, 2009

Cost: -

Tracks: 'Als het om de liefde gaat' / 'Oude zigeuner'

Colorado - Xandra

Dutch singer Sandra Reemer (born October 17, 1950 in Bandung, Indonesia) participated three times in the Eurovision Song Contest. Her third and last attempt took place in 1979 as Xandra with the song 'Colorado'. While she made fourth place in 1972 together with Andres and ninth place in 1976 singing 'The party's over', this time she only made twelfth place.

Written by Rob and Ferdi Bolland together with Gerard Cox, 'Colorado' was only a minor hit in the Netherlands, peaking at number 37 in the Dutch Top 40.

My collection: 7" single no. 3347

Found: Record fair, Amsterdam, 2002

Cost: 1 euro

Tracks: 'Colorado' / 'Intercity'

Als jij maar wacht... - Sandra Reemer

I recently wrote about (and bought) the single 'Non ho l'eta', Gigliola Cinquetti's 1964 Eurovision winner. Not long after that, I found out that the song was actually covered by one of the Netherlands' most prominent Eurovision singers. Sandra Reemer participated in the Contest three times, but long before that she made singles as a very young girl.

'Als jij maar wacht' is a cover of 'Non ho l'eta' with alternate lyrics in Dutch. The single was released, probably in 1964, in the series 'Favorieten Expres', a series of singles on the Philips label. The sleeve only mentions Sandra's first name, but we all know it's her. I almost bought the single via a website recently, but the seller didn't come through. Now I've got the single for slightly less, because there's no postage charge!

My collection: 7" single no. 3603

Found: Record fair, Rijswijk, March 14, 2009

Cost: 4 euro

Tracks: 'Als jij maar wacht...' / 'Ben je 't heus?'

The party's over - Sandra Reemer

After Teach-In won the 1975 Eurovision Song Contest with 'Ding-a-dong', the 1976 edition was organised in Den Haag, the Netherlands. Sandra Reemer was chosen to perform that year's song, which was written in English for the first time. 'The party's over' proved to be a reasonable success, finishing on ninth place in the Contest.

It was not the first time for Sandra: in 1972 she'd already sung 'Als het om de liefde gaat' together with Dries Holten as 'Sandra & Andres'. In 1979 she would return to the Contest, singing 'Colorado'.

My collection: 7" single no. 3279

Found: February 9, 2001

Cost: 1 guilder

Tracks: 'The party's over' / 'Mrs. Lonely'