JUDY STONE
House For Sale
(Harry Lloyd - Gloria Sklerov)
Australia 1977

Single on Polydor.

For more on Harry Lloyd and Gloria Sklerov, see their composition Hollywood Seven, an Australian hit for Jon English in 1976. They also wrote, for example, the Vicki Lawrence hit He Did With Me (1973).

Judy Stone: popular Australian singer, a regular on the long-running TV pop show Bandstand, often on the charts in Australia from the early 60s to to the mid-70s.

Further reading: Wikipedia article on Judy Stone.

Thanks to Guuz Hoogaerts for heads up, version alerts and other information.

 
LUCIFER
House For Sale
(Harry Lloyd - Gloria Sklerov)
Netherlands 1975
Original version
#4 Netherlands

A classic oldie in the Netherlands, House For Sale was the first of several hits for this Dutch band formed in 1972, with keyboardist-guitarist Margriet Eshuijs on vocals. Lucifer continued with new recruits after three members joined Match in 1977. 

References: 1. Lucifer history at Alex Gitlin's Nederpop Encyclopedia. 2. Dutchcharts.nl

See also: The House For Sale/Lucifer page at Dutch Radio 2's Top2000 Cover Contest which has embedded videos of Lucifer performing the song and of Lucifer vocalist Margriet Eshuijs discussing it (Dutch language site).
THE FIFTH DIMENSION
House For Sale
(Larry Brown - Oleg Lopatin)
USA 1974
Red herring

Same title but not the same song as "House For Sale" by Judy Stone.

On the 1974 album Soul And Inspiration.

 With its connotations of breaking up and selling up, it's not surprising that House For Sale has been used many times as a song title: BMI lists 38 examples. A recent House For Sale is Nick Lowe's from 2010.

Further reading: Browse the song title at All Music Guide.

Later versions:

AN + JAN
Vrij Perceel
(Harry Lloyd - Gloria Sklerov [+ Dutch lyricist])
Netherlands 2006
Later version

Dutch version of House For Sale. Vrij Perceel translates as something like "vacant premises".

An + Jan (aka An + January) are Marjolein Meijers and Jan Rot. Both already had varied careers in music and theatre before touring as a duo in 2002 with guest accompanists. Since 2003 they have released albums of their reworkings of pop and country classics.

References (all in Dutch): 1. Entries for An + January and Jan Rot at MuziekEncyclopedie.nl 2. Marjolein Meijers entry at nl.wikipedia.org. 3.  An + Jan chronology at JanRot.nl.

THE GINO MARINELLO ORCHESTRA
House For Sale
(Harry Lloyd - Gloria Sklerov)
2008
Later version

On Twilight Melodies, one of many albums by studio outfit specialising in easy listening arrangements of popular songs. Biographical details of Maestro Marinello are elusive.

Some other later versions, all from the Netherlands:

  • Ricky Koole (2010) on To The Heartland
  • !JP (Jean Koning, 2010) on Forbidden Pleasures Shouted to the Moon Over Venice Beach;
  • Grant & Forsyth (2010) on Alle 40 Goed; English artists based in The Netherlands.

At the House For Sale page at Top2000 Cover Contest you can also listen to a number of cover versions entered in the contest in 2011 (Dutch language site). 

Corrections or comments? Contact the writer.