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Gondolier (song)
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Wikipedia article
"'Gondolier'" is a song by French singer Dalida, first released on EP in December 1957. It was her second major hit after "Bambino". Reaching No. 1 on both the La Bourse des Chansons chart and the Music Hallchart in France, it was the title song for Dalida's 1958 album'Gondolier'. The song also reached No. 1 on the Belgian and Canadian charts.
Description
The melody of song was composed by Pete De Angelis and lyrics by Jean Broussolle. It was released as promo single on February 22, 1957, but it received no promotion due to prolonged success of 'Bambino'.
As the song did not met its audience, De Angelis and his colleague Bob Marucci wrote the English language version which gained success in USA and UK in mid 1957. During an interview in 1958, Dalida said: "I heard on radio Petula Clark singing it in English, and I like it very much so I decided to use the song for my Christmas special show".
On the end of 1957, Dalida used 'Gondolier' as the title song of a French TV Christmas special, in which she appeared as main attraction. The song was issued on EP the next day and it gained instant success. On charts, it debuted at #1 in first week of January 1958, and eventually spent future 53 weeks in the Top 20, until last week of December 1958. It spend 9 weeks as #1 in January and February, again reached first spot for 10 weeks during summer, earning Dalida her third gold disc.
Eventually it became the most sold record of 1958, so promotions through TV and concert performances made the song an pop standard in France and one of signature tracks of Dalida.
Cover versions
"Gondolier" was covered by many other artists, among them:
In English, the song has been recorded by several artists under the title 'With all my heart', among them:
:*Jodie Sands recorded first version in English, released in April or May1957, and remained the only major hit for her in the United States (reaching #15 on the 'Billboard' Pop Singles chart in 1957)(reaching #1 in the Belgian chart)
:*Petula Clark released it in June or July of 1957 in Belgium and United Kingdom , #4 in the UK Singles Chart), which was before she became known in the US.
:*Bing Crosby in 1958
:*Dawn Robertson in 1977, disco remix on maxi single.
:*Dave King in 1957.
:*Betty Curtis
*Eve Boswell in 1957.
*Judy Scott
Charts
References
Bibliography
* 'L'argus Dalida: Discographie mondiale et cotations', by Daniel Lesueur, ditions Alternatives, 2004. and .
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