Song:Love Is Blue
Album:Love Is Blue
Love Is Blue topped the Billboard Hot 100 for five weeks in 1968. It was a fluke hit for French composer Paul Mauriat who recorded easy listening music for decades. He was very popular in Europe. He was born Mar. 4, 1925 in Marseille, France. His father was a postal worker who played piano and loved classical music. Mauriat played piano as a child and entered the Marseille conservatory at age ten. He led his own dance band in the 40s. In the 50s he was musical director and he toured with Charles Aznavour and Maurice Chevalier. He first recorded in 1957 and he recorded several albums of instrumental music through the 60s along with composing music for French films. His first US chart success was when his song Chariot got English lyrics and was turned into the Little Peggy March hit I Will Follow Him. Love Is Blue was written by French composers Andre Popp and Pierre Cour. Bryan Blackburn wrote English lyrics for the song and a recording by Vicky Leandros was entered in the 1967 Eurovision Song Contest. Meanwhile Mauriat's instrumental cover of Love Is Blue reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in 1968 and stayed there for five weeks. I don't know why it was a hit. Obviously I have written about fluke hit singles in the past. I guess some radio DJ liked it. Al Martino charted with his cover of Love Is Blue. A couple of Mauriat's other recordings charted like the theme for the film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Mauriat continued to record and tour until he retired in 1998. He was especially popular in Japan and he recorded for the Japanese label Pony Canyon. This budget comp from the British label Spectrum is a good intro to Mauriat's music. Mauriat's orchestra continued after his retirement. But they ceased after his death on Nov. 3, 2006 at age 81. Here's Paul Mauriat and his Orchestra performing Love Is Blue 1983.
I love that instrumental piece by his orchestra. It was a big favorite of the AM/FM radio stations growing up in the early 70's. A lot of people loved it. It may have been a fluke, your right Frank, but it was a very well loved fluke that many people myself included enjoyed a great deal. Thank-you sir for the music and the bio. David.
ReplyDelete