I'm Gonna Be Warm This Winter
| "I'm Gonna Be Warm This Winter" | ||||
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| Single by Connie Francis | ||||
| B-side | "Al di là" | |||
| Released | 1962 | |||
| Format | 7" single | |||
| Recorded | September 13 1962 | |||
| Genre | Rock and roll | |||
| Length | 2:25 | |||
| Label | MGM Records K 13116 | |||
| Writer(s) | Hank Hunter, Mark Barkan | |||
| Producer | Danny Davis | |||
| Connie Francis U.S. singles chronology | ||||
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"I'm Gonna Be Warm This Winter" is a 1962 single by Connie Francis, released in that December to peak at #18 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the Cash Box Top 100. The song reached #22 UK in December 2008 via a remake by Gabriella Cilmi entitled "Warm This Winter".
Francis had previously had a seasonally themed hit single with the December 1961 release "Baby's First Christmas" and although she would not have a single released December 1963 her hit "Blue Winter" would be released January 1964.
"I'm Gonna Be Warm This Winter" was written by Mark Barkan with Hank Hunter. Hunter wrote several songs recorded by Connie Francis including her Top Ten singles "Second Hand Love" and "Vacation".
The track was recorded in New York City on September 13 1962 with Danny Davis producing the session.[1] The orchestral arrangement for the session was by Bill Ramal whose credits included the arrangement for the Del Shannon hit "Runaway". Besides the original intro: "We met at a ski lodge/ And we fell in love", Francis recorded a distinct intro for the track's UK release: "We met on a winter day/ And we fell in love", the reasoning being that the "ski lodge" reference would fail to resonate in the UK that nation having virtually no facilities for skiing.[2][3]
In January 1963 the original B-side of "I'm Gonna Be Warm This Winter": "Al di là", picked up enough airplay to reach #90 on the Billboard Hot 100 (#87 in Cash Box).
"I'm Gonna Be Warm This Winter" was one of seventeen of her hits Francis remade for her 1989 album Where the Hits Are a Roger Hawkins production recorded for Malaco Records at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios. "I'm Gonna Be Warm This Winter" was the lowest-charting hit remade for the album with the exception of "If I Didn't Care" (#22).
In the UK "I'm Gonna Be Warm This Winter" spent a single week in the Top 50 appearing at #48 on the chart dated December 22 1962 marking Francis' final UK chart appearance for almost three years. The B-side for the UK single was "Pretty Little Baby".[4]
"I'm Gonna Be Warm This Winter" reached #1 in Hong Kong in February 1963; also in early 1963 the track reached #9 in Australia, to become Francis' final Top 20 hit in that nation. The song is one of the few Connie Francis hits remade by the singer in French, that rendering entitled "L'Amour Est Un Cadeau Du Ciel" being recorded February 10, 1963. Francis also recorded and released the song in Japanese[2]. An Italian version, "Sul monti blu", was recorded[3] but remains unreleased to this day.
[edit] Gabriella Cilmi version
| "Warm This Winter" | ||||
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| Single by Gabriella Cilmi | ||||
| from the album Lessons to Be Learned (UK deluxe edition) | ||||
| Released | 15 December 2008 (UK) | |||
| Format | Digital download | |||
| Genre | Rock and roll | |||
| Length | 2:33 | |||
| Label | Island | |||
| Writer(s) | Hank Hunter, Mark Barkan | |||
| Producer | Xenomania | |||
| Gabriella Cilmi UK singles chronology | ||||
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In 2008 The Co-operative Food had Australian singer Gabriella Cilmi remake the song — re-entitled "Warm This Winter" — to be played during the company's advertising aired over the holiday season. The track was also played heavily in the Co-operative's stores. Cilmi's version uses neither of the opening lines from the two intros recorded by Connie Francis instead opening with the lyric: "We met in the winter". An instrumental version of the song continues to be used in advertisements during the non-holiday period (generally February to October).
Included in the deluxe edition release of Cilmi's Lessons to Be Learned album - the deluxe edition being released November 24 2008 - "Warm This Winter" was made available on December 15 2008 as an exclusive digital download track to peak at #22 on the UK Singles Chart dated December 27 2008, outranking Cilmi's precedent physical single "Sanctuary" which had failed to chart in the UK. "Warm This Winter" also bested the #33 UK peak of Cilmi's single "Save the Lies".
The track received enough downloads during the 2009 holiday season to reenter the UK Top 100 Singles chart for three weeks with a #94 peak. In 2011 Cilmi's "Warm This Winter" is being utilized by Virgin Mobile as a jingle in a North American TV ad campaign.
[edit] Charts
| Chart (2008) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart[5] | 22 |
| Chart (2009) | Peak position |
| European Hot 100 Singles[6] | 68 |
[edit] References
- ^ [1]
- ^ a b Connie Francis: Souvenirs, Booklet of 4-CD-Box, Polydor 1996, Cat.-No. 314 533 382-2
- ^ a b Ron Roberts: Connie Francis Discography 1955 – 1973, Fan Club Project from 1973
- ^ [2]
- ^ "Chart Stats – Gabriella Cilmi – Warm This Winter". Chart Stats. http://www.chartstats.com/songinfo.php?id=34157. Retrieved 2009-12-06.
- ^ "Gabriella Cilmi Album & Song Chart History – European Hot 100". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc.. http://www.billboard.com/search/?keyword=Gabriella+Cilmi&x=24&y=23#/artist/gabriella-cilmi/chart-history/981178?f=349&g=Singles. Retrieved 2009-12-06.
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