Do you like lounge music?

They say if you want to know about the 60s, just listen to The Beatles, but this song is topping it all. I thought I had hoovered the 60s for gems until the other day I heard this one. Seldom has a song taken be back to such a degree as this song. It`s not only the melody, but all the nuggets in the orchestral arrangement.

What country is able to come up with music as powerful as this? France, of course. A composer and arranger with a German Dutch background born in France in 1924 that started making music in the 50s. In the 60s he thought he had to adapt to the new times and the big youth market. I think the song`s brilliance lies in the combination of old school arrangement by Paul Mauriat and a straightforward and catchy melody. However, allegedly Jeff Beck hated it.

This is a song that at that time was everywhere. If you were a kid like me, you took it for granted, didn`t see the brilliance, but everyone hearing this would remember it. It has been seen more than 3 957 871 times on youtube with 976 comments. Here´s a link to the more tasty clip with the original Paul Mauriat LP cover:

[vimeo.com]

I think Jeff Beck hated it because his manager or label made him record a version of it:


[www.youtube.com]



"Love Is Blue" reminds me of this instrumental, which was also a big hit 50 years ago:

[www.youtube.com]

Haven't heard this song in years. Now it's gonna be an ear worm. I will admit it's a pretty tune and one of those songs from the 1960s that falls into the hippie-dippy flower child kumbaya Zefferelli's Romeo and Juliet would like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony dives where one has to hum the opening bars of also sprach zarathustra while accompanied by Hal the computer to gain admittance and Mrs. Robinson waits to seduce the unwary.

My mom loved it.

I was searching for it on youtube awhile back, and along with the Paul Mauriat instrumental version, found the Al Martino vocal version.
I know my mom used to sing along to it, but that Al Martino version didn't sound familiar at all.
Then found and listened to versions by Vicky as well as Claudine Longet (French and English versions), didn't ring a bell either.
Found a version by Andy Williams (she loved him), but it sounded like a funeral dirge.
Also found a version by Johnny Mathis - not even close.
Then found this version by Heather (who the heck is Heather?) and this one sounds the closest to what I remember.
Heather - Love Is Blue




Being only four years old at the time, very fuzzy memories....
Could be my mom knew the lyrics from the Martino version and was singing along to the instrumental version in the voice of Heather...

*When I was doing my original search back then, had no idea Jeff Beck recorded a version - some seriously cool guitar and it quickly became my favorite version!

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Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2018-02-04 04:45 by Hairball.

I loved the song so much that I bought the album with the naked girl on the cover (shocking and embarrassing for a 12 year old boy to have to bring this up to the counter and pay for it LOL).

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Sighunt
I loved the song so much that I bought the album with the naked girl on the cover (shocking and embarrassing for a 12 year old boy to have to bring this up to the counter and pay for it LOL).

I believe you.

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dmay
Haven't heard this song in years. Now it's gonna be an ear worm. I will admit it's a pretty tune and one of those songs from the 1960s that falls into the hippie-dippy flower child kumbaya Zefferelli's Romeo and Juliet would like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony dives where one has to hum the opening bars of also sprach zarathustra while accompanied by Hal the computer to gain admittance and Mrs. Robinson waits to seduce the unwary.

Yeah, the 60s was a many splendoured thing. A transition phase really, between the 50s and the 70s. From then on, things just evolved.

I`ve been searching the net for this song`s impact, but only found chart positions. It made me thinking "what is this"? Doesn`t it sound a bit like a folk song? Where there other "folk" songs at that time? Oh, yes, there were! Just think of Simon & Garfunkel`s Are You Going To Scarborough Fair! Does`t it sound a bit similar? Well, I`d say it does. Now I feel a bit wiser, methinks.

It was originally recorded in French as "L'amour est bleu" by Vicky (Leandros) a Greek singer who represented Luxembourg with it at the 1967 Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna where it came fourth.
The winning song was "Puppet On A String" by Sandie Shaw.
[en.wikipedia.org]

[www.youtube.com]


"As we say in England, it can get a bit trainspottery"



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2018-02-05 01:38 by Deltics.

Yeah, that is true, I knew. What made sense to me was caused by my own thinking. In my view this song wasn`t made in a vacuum. See my last post above.

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Deltics
It was originally recorded in French as "L'amour est bleu" by Vicky (Leandros) a Greek singer who represented Luxembourg with it at the 1967 Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna where it came fourth.
The winning song was "Puppet On A String" by Sandie Shaw.
[en.wikipedia.org]

[www.youtube.com]

She did of course come back in 1972 to win it with Come What May or Apres Toi as it was called in france.

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noughties

Yeah, the 60s was a many splendoured thing. A transition phase really, between the 50s and the 70s.

Yeah. 60 usually is part of the transition between 50 and 70.

Nah, I was trying to say something more than the obvious.