Songs that became hits in America sung in a foreign language

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Steve Hoffman, Jun 8, 2003.

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  1. Ed Bishop

    Ed Bishop Incredibly, I'm still here

    Although some songs use portions of foreign languages, it really wouldn't be fair to put them in this context. "Michelle" may have a little french, but that doesn't make it a foreign language recording. Similarly, I'm not sure if Al Martino's "To The Door Of The Sun" would qualify, since there's more English than Italian in that one.

    I'd forgotten all about "99 Luftballoons"; nifty little record; the English language version sounds strange, ironicaly, compared to the original, at least to these ears.

    ED:cool:
     
  2. stereoptic

    stereoptic Anaglyphic GORT Staff

    Location:
    NY
    Wasn't Gloria by Laura Brannigan originally an Italian song?

    how about Let's Live for Today (Grassroots) wasn't that from Italy also?

    oops, I've got the thread backwards!
     
  3. Ere

    Ere Senior Member

    Location:
    The Silver Spring
    'Ma Belle Aime" by The Tee Set.... one of my first 45s:) Not sure of the year, though.

    Ere
     
  4. softtech

    softtech Forum Resident

    Location:
    LA, CA
    I kept looking for the right answer, but if someone posted it, I didn't see it.

    Are you thinking of Vicki Carr??

    Emery
     
  5. Ed Bishop

    Ed Bishop Incredibly, I'm still here

    1970. Unfortunately the lads sang in English(for the North American market, anyway), so they don't qualify...

    On the other hand, Gene Pitney does. Just remembered his Bubbling Under item "Nessuno Mi Puo' Guidcare" from '66.

    And I suppose one could add the Belgian "Jungle Fever"(Chakachas)to that list. They had quite a few years under their belt before they got their one U.S. hit.

    ED:cool:
     
  6. Graham Start

    Graham Start Forum Resident

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    A few things to add here...

    "Lady Marmalade" was originally by Nanette Workman. While this was a hit, it was eclipsed by Labelle's version which came out shortly after.

    Gainsbourg's "Je t'aime... moi non plus" does not make any sense, nor is it supposed to. :)

    "Sukiyaki", if not going by the original Japanese title, should have been titled "I Look Up When I Walk". It was retitled this for North American audiences because it was one of the five Japanese words most people knew at the time. But calling it Sukiyaki is kind of like renaming "Touch Me In The Morning" to "Casserole"...

    Elton Motello did a version of "Ca Plane Pour Moi", with new lyrics in English and retitled "Jet Boy Jet Girl". This was a hit in Canada in the late 70s, but probably more due to the shock value (example: the chorus goes "ooh hoo hoo hoo, he gave me head")
     
  7. Graham Start

    Graham Start Forum Resident

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    Oh, and how could I forget Mitsou's "Bye Bye Mon Cowboy"?
     
  8. Jefhart

    Jefhart Senior Member

    Did I miss it, or didn't anyone mention The Macarena? Or was that not in Spanish. Can't seem to remember, the song was so dumb I think I blocked most of it out.:)

    Jeff
     
  9. pdenny

    pdenny 22-Year SHTV Participation Trophy Recipient

    Location:
    Hawthorne CA
    Re: Songs that became hits in American sung in a foreign language

    According to a judge's recent decision, any rap music. :laugh:

    CNN story
     
  10. Ed Bishop

    Ed Bishop Incredibly, I'm still here

    Yeah, we should be able to include those. There were two versions--at least I remember buying two "Macarena" 45's--and I'm pretty sure they were preddominantly spanish language. So is Connie's "Malaguena," come to think of it.

    You don't suppose Steve has another comp idea in mind?:) We can dream, can't we?

    ED:cool:
     
  11. chip-hp

    chip-hp Cool Cat

    Location:
    Dallas, TX
    According to Joel Whitburn, 'Quando Calinte El Sol (When The Sun Is Hot)', whose English version is known as 'Love Me With All Your Heart', originally charted at #85 in '63 by Steve Allen and His Orchestra with The Copacabana Trio ... The Ray Charles Singers (#3 in '64) and The Bachelors (#38 in '66) charted with the English version ... I am pretty sure that The Ray Conniff Singers and The Johnny Mann Singers had very good English versions on one of their many albums that didn't chart.
     
  12. tim_neely

    tim_neely Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Central VA
    Most of the significant ones have been listed as I join the thread late, but I'll add or clarify a few more...

    All or most of the song in a language other than English:
    "Lullaby of Birdland" by Blue Stars (Top 20 hit in 1956, sung entirely in French)
    "Guantanamera" by the Sandpipers (the only English part is the voice-over in the middle)
    "Por Amor Vivremos" by the Captain and Tennille ("Love Will Keep Us Together" in Spanish; the song got to #49 in the USA in this version)

    About half the song in another language:
    "Sailor (Your Home Is the Sea)" by Lolita (top 10 hit in 1960; German with some English)
    "Wooden Heart" by Joe Dowell (cover of the Elvis song; #1 in the States in 1961 when RCA chose not to issue Elvis' version as a single here; has an entire verse in German)
    "Macarena" by Los Del Rio (the chorus is Spanish, all the added elements are in English)
    "Dur Dur D'etre Bebe! (It's Tough to Be a Baby!)" by Jordy (this is the 4-year-old kid song mentioned earlier; mostly French with some English, though it originally was 100 percent French)
    "Volare" by Dean Martin (cover of the 100 percent Italian version by Domenico Modugno; he sings about half of it in English, half in Italian)
    "Bailamos" by Enrique Iglesias (the chorus is in Spanish)
    "Lazy Mary" by Lou Monte (the first verse is in Italian, the second in English)
    "Mentirosa" by Mellow Man Ace (mix of Spanish and English; also samples two Santana songs)
    "Rico Suave" by Gerardo (the hit mix was called the "Spanglish version")
    "Double Dutch Bus" by Frankie Smith (much of the last part of the song is in a concocted language using the sound "ilz" between syllalbes -- it seems to be a descendant of Pig Latin)

    Snippets of the song in another language:
    "Hold On Tight" by ELO (one repeat of the chorus is sung in French)
    "Games Without Frontiers" by Peter Gabriel (that mysterious line that always ends up on "kiss this guy" lists is "Jeux sans frontieres" -- "Games without frontiers" in French)
    "La Isla Bonita" by Madonna
    "Chanson d'Amour" by Art and Dotty Todd
    "Ma Belle Amie" by the Tee Set (in addition to the title line, one other line is sung in French)
     
  13. proufo

    proufo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bogotá, Colombia
    Re: Re: Re: Eres Tu

    Sadly. It deserved to be another Nacarena. Unworthy of any R E S P E C T, but what a fun single!
     
  14. JoelDF

    JoelDF Senior Member

    Location:
    Prairieville, LA
    Yes, but both versions got a lot of airplay in the States, so, I'd say the you would have to include "99 Luftballoons".

    At least it got a lot of airplay here in Baton Rouge - which, begining in the early 80's, commercial radio stations here refused to play anything that wasn't already a hit in the rest of the nation for several months.

    At least it seemed that way...even to this day.:rolleyes:

    Joel
     
  15. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host Thread Starter

    Did the German version of Major Tom chart here at all? The 12" single maybe?
     
  16. stereoptic

    stereoptic Anaglyphic GORT Staff

    Location:
    NY
    thanks for the reminder - Bowie recorded Heroes in German (Helden) and French(?)
     
  17. tim_neely

    tim_neely Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Central VA
    Don't think so; they were the B-side of the 45 and 12-inch singles here in the States. I always thought the English version worked better, just as I feel the German version of Nena's "99 Luftballons" works better. Maybe it's because of the familiarity factor. When they were popular, I heard the English version of "Major Tom" more often and the German version of "99 Luftballons." Today, too many 80s programs play the English version when it wasn't really the hit version, even in America.

    A couple more Top 40 US hits not sung in English:

    "Torero" by Renato Carosone (1958)
    "Corazon" by Carole King (1973)

    And another hit partially sung in another language:

    "Adeste Fideles (O Come All Ye Faithful)" by Bing Crosby was recorded in 1942 but didn't make the Billboard charts for the first time until December of 1960! (It peaked at #45.) It is sung in Latin and English.
     
  18. proufo

    proufo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bogotá, Colombia
    Hey Negrita by the Stones in Black and Blue includes "Mueve las caderas!", a snippet in Spanish meaning Shake your hips!.

    And also a song in Soft Machine II, Dada was here, is sung entirely in Spanish, with so much echo almost nothing can be understod. Roger Wyatt later recorded solo a beautiful song called Yolanda, by a Cuban SS, in Spanish too. He destroys it completely.
     
  19. RetroSmith

    RetroSmith Forum Hall Of Fame<br>(Formerly Mikey5967)

    Location:
    East Coast
    Love Me


    >>>>>Yes, and also "The Lettermen" did a very nice version based on The Bachelors version.


    I always thought the Lettermen should have released that as a single....it was right up their alley.
     
  20. RetroSmith

    RetroSmith Forum Hall Of Fame<br>(Formerly Mikey5967)

    Location:
    East Coast
    How about that song from a few years ago, "The Lambada"?? That was all Spanish.
     
  21. Joe Koz

    Joe Koz Prodigal Bone Brother™ In Memoriam

    Location:
    Chicagoland
    Great Great Record!!
     

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  22. Cousin It

    Cousin It Senior Member

    Location:
    Sydney, Australia
    Zooma Zooma
     
  23. Jimbo

    Jimbo Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Zero/Zero Island
    On the subject of Christmas records, I thought of Jose Feliciano's "Feliz Navidad," but was surprised to learn that it never charted on the Hot 100! I'd still say it counts as a hit, though, since it's become a Christmas standard.
     
  24. klinkhamer

    klinkhamer Forum Resident

    Location:
    the netherlands
    Was Una Paloma Blanca by the George Baker Selection ever a hit in the USA? If I recall correctly the song was mainly sung in english though. According to Norman Mailer's The Excecutionor's Song this was Gary Gilmore's favorite song.
     
  25. Ed Bishop

    Ed Bishop Incredibly, I'm still here

    Billboard had a separate Xmas singles chart for several years. "Feliz Navidad" would certainly have done well on the Hot 100 had it been listed there(and it should have been); same with such holiday gems as John & Yoko's "Happy Xmas," the J5's version of "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" and the Carpenters' "Merry Christmas, Darling." Cashbox DID list such titles, and "Feliz" got to #71, the Carps' to #41, J5 #51(all 1970), and J&Y to #36(1971). Most stayed on the chart just a few weeks, and only in their first year of release. Personally, I think those numbers undersell the truth, since I remember all getting heavy airplay at the time, and the 45's were readily available everywhere; all, I would guess, if Cashbox had been able to properly track them(think of today's Soundscan capabilities)would have been Top Ten hits, I'm sure.

    ED:cool:
     
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