![](http://web.archive.org./web/20200623143512im_/http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_HvCNHaaadrI/SY27RoNIpbI/AAAAAAAABas/gVvgMkm13wE/s200/maribelle1.jpg)
If it wasn't obvious already, I have a built-in loathing of Dutch music. Most Dutch productions are cheesy and substandard, while most Dutch artists think the world of themselves. So I approach Dutch contributions to the Eurovision Song Contest with caution - and more often than not, I find them downright appalling.
More than a decade after Maribelle represented the Netherlands at the Contest in 1984 and finished 13th, my friend played me his copy of the single. It was quite a shock to find that 'Ik hou van jou' was actually a true classic. Not because of the cheesy lyrics or the slightly overemotional rendition by the singer, but for the sheer beauty of the melody the orchestra plays. After I got the Dutch single I went looking for the English version. This single is actually quite rare, since it wasn't a hit anywhere.
My collection: 7" single no. 2982
Found: Bea Records, April 4, 1998
Cost: 15 guilders
Tracks: 'In love with you' / 'I want you back again'
Download: here