[drequon]

109

Artist: Ceffyl Pren
Release: Blwyddyn y Ddraig (one-sided flexi single)
Genre: NWOBHM
Country: UK-Wales
Bitrate: 320 kbps
►Hidden Link
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Had no idea this "Blwyddyn y Ddraig" song (translates as "Year of the Dragon" existed until a few days ago. It was released in early 1988 (perhaps late 1987) as a one-sided flexi single. Have no idea who took part in this recording, but it was probably the same (or nearly the same) musicians who recorded "Roc Roc Nadolig" in 1987.

Apart from singles "Collasant Eu Gwaed" and "Roc Roc Nadolig" (and this "Blwyddyn y Ddraig" of course), there's a fourth official Ceffyl Pren release:

CEFFYL PREN - Ennill dros Gymru 12'' (UK-Wales, 1990) - Recorded as an official song for Wales in the Commonwealth Games 1990 - not sure if it was released as a one-sided single or if it had a proper B-side

If anyone could help us to get it, I would be extremely grateful!
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1. Blwyddyn y Ddraig

[riptorn]

Hi Drequon, thanks for the info about the 4th Ceffyl Pren release, i had no idea that that one existed.
Another one to add to the 'wants' list.
I d/led your version of 'Blwyddyn y Ddraig' in the hope that it sounded better than the version i have.
Yours is missing a few seconds from the beginning of the song and is very quiet and hissy, so i've uploaded my own version.
Mine sounds less than perfect, but it is complete and louder too, hope you enjoy it.
Feel free to update your post with my link if you like.

http://dzmkpc.1fichier.com/en/

Here's the Ceffyl Pren line-up for this record:

Vocals : Alun Wyn Davies
Guitar/Vocals : Huw John
Bass/Vocals : Marc Hammond
Keyboards/Vocals : John Evo
Drums : Tim Lewis.
Backing Vocals : Mandy Evans
Backing Vocals : Sian Davies



A promo video was also made for 'Blwyddyn y Ddraig'.
It was filmed at St. Peter's Church, Butetown, Cardiff and at The Noble House in Cardiff on the 8th March 1988.
The video has been posted on youtube, here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7u7XtsHiq8

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[riptorn]

Hey Drequon after a little research, here's what i found out about the 4th Ceffyl Pren release:

Ceffyl Pren - Ennill Dros Cymru (Winning For Wales) 12" (1989) Wales
Recordiau Graffeg Records [GRAFFEG 003]
(Included a large fold-out poster)





01. Ennill Dros Cymru (Winning For Wales)
02. Cantorian Y Rhyd
03. Ennil Dros Cymru (Sports Mix)
04. Medal

I'd also found an old ebay auction of the record where the seller had uploaded 320kbps files of the record, but sadly those links are now gone.
Hopefully, someone had the foresight to download them before they went offline, and might some day share them.
Here's hoping.

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[drequon]

Awesome info, riptorn! Will download your vrs straight away - it seems to be better than mine! Thanks a million for sharing it ^^
Ennill dros Gymru doesn't look like a great record (the images are quite frightening to be honest!), but now I'm VERY curious to hear it!

[drequon]

The post was updated with riptorn's upload, which actually sounds better than mine. Go for it!

[riptorn]

I'm a bit puzzled as to why the sleeve of the 12" appears to say 'Ennill Dros Gymru'.
I know 'Cymru' is 'Wales' in the Welsh language, and as the record is subtitled 'Winning For Wales' i believe the title should be 'Ennill Dros Cymru'.
Any Welsh speakers able to unravel this one?
It could be a typo, or maybe they were just trying to be fancy with the font, or perhaps there is a linguistic reason.
Any ideas?

[drequon]

I'm not 100% sure, but Gymru seems to be a soft modified form of Cymru (the name of Wales) used right after some words or prepositions. It happens so the words can be easier to spell. I think it happens after "dros", for instance. But I may be wrong on that, as my knowledge in Welsh is extremely rudimentary =p

[riptorn]

That sounds entirely plausible to me Drequon.
I'm glad to know i'm not the only one who ponders about such things.

[drequon]

I'm very curious about languages, riptorn - I guess that's much of the fascination I have for bands such as Crys and Y Diawled, for instance: Welsh is such an enigmatic language! I love toying with Romanian as well, for the same reasons

[riptorn]

I'm very curious about languages, riptorn - I guess that's much of the fascination I have for bands such as Crys and Y Diawled, for instance: Welsh is such an enigmatic language! I love toying with Romanian as well, for the same reasons

You obviously have a rare talent for it.
I'm assuming you are a Portugese speaker from the Brazilian avatar on your profile, and your written English is very good on here.
That's impresive to me on it's own, but you say you toy with Romanian & Welsh too?
That's mind-boggling to me, as i have no talent for languages at all.

[drequon]

I'm very curious about languages, riptorn - I guess that's much of the fascination I have for bands such as Crys and Y Diawled, for instance: Welsh is such an enigmatic language! I love toying with Romanian as well, for the same reasons

You obviously have a rare talent for it.
I'm assuming you are a Portugese speaker from the Brazilian avatar on your profile, and your written English is very good on here.
That's impresive to me on it's own, but you say you toy with Romanian & Welsh too?
That's mind-boggling to me, as i have no talent for languages at all.

Thanks a lot, riptorn! I don't even know how to properly answer such a compliment
Romanian is not THAT hard for me, as it derives from Latin just as Portuguese - yes, I'm a native Portuguese speaker BTW. The phrases are quite similarly-structured, for instance. But they speak the words way too fast, I can't really follow their pace on that!
(Welsh is way too difficult, but the way they organize sentences is not that dissimilar to Portuguese as well, which is a bit odd!)
I'm actually considering to have some language classes soon - maybe French would be a fine choice, as I already learned English and Spanish by myself. Let's see!

[riptorn]

I speak a little French, and if i can pick it up then you should master it far easier.
Why not give Esperanto a try?

[drequon]

I speak a little French, and if i can pick it up then you should master it far easier.
Why not give Esperanto a try?

Not a bad idea really! Never gave Esperanto a try actually, but I guess it would be fun! Let's see what happens

[Keir]

Thanks for this! It's how I always imagined Ceffyl Pren should sound, not like their other singles (for the record, "Mae'r Ddraig Yn Hedfan" is still my favorite song of theirs).

I'd also found an old ebay auction of the record where the seller had uploaded 320kbps files of the record, but sadly those links are now gone.
Hopefully, someone had the foresight to download them before they went offline, and might some day share them.
Here's hoping.

I don't recall where I got it from, but I have an mp3 of the title track. Unfortunately it is utter crap!

[drequon]

Re-upped to HMR Folder