"Ding-a-dong" (original Dutch title: "Ding dinge dong", as it was introduced in the titles when broadcast) was the title of the winning song in the

Eurovision Song Contest 1975 The Eurovision Song Contest 1975 was the 20th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Stockholm, Sweden, following the country's victory at the with the song "Waterloo" by ABBA. Organised by the European Broadcasting ...

. It was sung by Teach-In, representing the , and was written by Dick Bakker, Will Luikinga, and

Eddy Ouwens Eddy Ouwens (born 30 May 1946, Rotterdam), also known as Danny Mirror, is a Dutch musician and record producer. Overview He was a founder member in 1966 of the Rotterdam-based group, Eddy Nelson & the Eddysons. After a few hits he left to work ...

. The song reached number 1 in both the

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and the

Norwegian Singles Chart VG-lista is a Norwegian record chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts ...

History

"Ding-a-dong" was notable for being one of the Eurovision winners that had quirky or entirely nonsensical titles or lyrics, following in the footsteps of

Massiel María de los Ángeles Felisa Santamaría Espinosa (born 2 August 1947), professionally known as Massiel, is a Spanish pop singer. She won the Eurovision Song Contest 1968 with the song " La, la, la", beating the British pop singer Cliff Richar ...

's " La La La" in and

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's " Boom Bang-a-Bang" in , later followed by the Herreys' " Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley" in . "Ding-a-dong" was performed first on the performance night (preceding 's

The Swarbriggs Thomas "Tommy" Swarbrigg and John James "Jimmy" Swarbrigg are Irish music promoters and former pop musicians. As The Swarbriggs, they represented Ireland at the 1975 Eurovision Song Contest with " That's What Friends Are For". As The Swarbrig ...

with "

That's What Friends Are For "That's What Friends Are For" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager. It was first recorded in 1982 by Rod Stewart for the soundtrack of the film '' Night Shift'', but it is better known for the 1985 cover version by Dionne ...

"). The song was the first winner under the now-familiar Eurovision voting system whereby each country awards scores of 1–8, 10 and 12. At the close of voting, it had received 152 points, placing first in a field of nineteen. As the first song performed during the evening, the victory ran contrary to the fact that success usually went to songs performed later in the broadcast. According to author and historian

John Kennedy O'Connor John Kennedy O'Connor (born 1964) is a television and radio broadcaster, author and entertainment commentator. He was born in North London, but is a naturalized citizen of the United States. He has written, reported and broadcast for numerous m ...

's ''The Eurovision Song Contest – The Official History'', this was the first of three occasions when the first song would win the contest, the second coming the following year in 1976, and the third in 1984. The song, performed entirely in English, was an up-tempo ode to positive thought; though the song is written entirely in a minor key. The band sings that one should "sing a song that goes ding ding-a-dong" when one is feeling unhappy, and continues "Ding-a-dong every hour, when you pick a flower. Even when your lover is gone, gone, gone." On the night of the Dutch National Song Contest, with the song already having been selected,

Albert West Albertus Petrus Enricus Gerardus Westelaken (2 September 1949 – 4 June 2015), better known by his stage name Albert West, was a Dutch pop singer and record producer. He was the lead singer of The Shuffles from 1963 to 1973. He was born i ...

and

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competed with Teach-In for the honour of performing. In the original Dutch version the "ding-a-dong" describes the heartbeat of the singer remembering the separation from her lover in the past. As well as "ding-a-dong", the lyrics also contain "bim-bam-bom" representing a fearful heartbeat and "tikke-(tikke)-tak" for the ticking of the clock while waiting for the lover to return:

: :Is 't lang geleden? Is 't lang geleden? In de zomerzon ging het bim-bam-bom. :Tikke-tak gingen uren, hoelang zou 't duren?

Translation:

:Is it long ago? That my heart called you with its ding-ding-a-dong? :Is it long ago? Is it long ago? In the summer sun it went bim-bam-bom. :Tick tock went the hours, how long would it take?

The song reached number 13 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

and Teach-In also recorded the song in

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as "Ding ding-a-dong".

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Covers

beFour cover

"Ding-a-Dong" was also recorded by German band beFour for their fourth studio album ''Friends 4 Ever'' and released as the second single in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. ;Charts

Other covers

* Edwyn Collins did a cover of the song for Eurotrash. *

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Alyona Apina Alyona Apina (Еле́на Евге́ньевна А́пина; maiden name — Levochkina) is а Soviet and Russian singer, musical performer, actress and songwriter. Her career started in 1988 and continues to this day. For her unique tone ...

and Murat Nasyrov recorded "" ("''Lunnyje nochi''", "Moonlight nights") to the melody of "Ding-a-Dong" in 1997. *

Bessy Argyraki Bessy Argyraki is a Greek pop singer who started her career in the mid 1970s and recorded albums until the mid '90s. She has represented Greece in many International festivals and won many prizes. She has released a single and an album in Japan ...

sang a cover in Greek, included in her LP ''Robert & Bessie'' (1975). * Füsun Önal covered this song as "Söyleyin Arkadaşlar" ("Tell me friends") in Turkish, included in her first LP ''Alo... Ben Füsun'' (1975). *

Ayla Algan Ayla Algan (born 29 October 1937) is a Turkish film/stage actress and singer. Biography Ayla Algan was born in Istanbul and spent her childhood in France where she studied at Lycée Notre Dame de Sion Istanbul and Versailles Lycee. Then she mo ...

covered this song as "Dünya Tersine Dönse" ("If the world turns back") in Turkish, included in firstly her 45rpm ''Dünya Tersine Dönse/Sen De Katıl Bize'' (1975), laterly in her second LP after ''Yunus Emre'' and the first commercial one ''Ayla Algan'' (1976). * András Csonka recorded a

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version "Ding Dong" in 2001.

References

External links

Stockholm 1975 - Eurovision Song ContestDetailed info and lyrics, Diggiloo Thrush, "Ding-A-Dong"
{{authority control BeFour songs CNR Music singles Eurovision Song Contest winning songs Eurovision songs of 1975 Eurovision songs of the Netherlands Number-one singles in Norway Number-one singles in Switzerland Songs written by Eddy Ouwens 1975 singles 1975 songs 2009 singles