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I Will Follow Him

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"I Will Follow Him"
Song
B-side"Wind Up Doll"

"I Will Follow Him" is a song recorded by Little Peggy March. The music was written by Frank Pourcel (using the pseudonym J.W. Stole) and Paul Mauriat (using the pseudonym Del Roma). The music was adapted by Arthur Altman and the English lyrics were written by Norman Gimbel. [1]

The song is a translation of the French language tune "Chariot" recorded a year earlier by Petula Clark, which hit #1 in France and #8 in Belgium and earned Clark a gold record. (Clark's Italian and German recordings of the song were also major hits.)

Song History

The song began as an instrumental piece, recorded in 1961 by Franck Pourcel, appearing on the 1961 European LP release: "Amour, Danse, Et Violons. No.17". At the same time, it also appeared on the EP release: "La Voix de son Maitre". Pourcel co-wrote the song with friend and fellow French bandleader Paul Mauriat. Franck Pourcel's original recording was popular on MOR or "easy listening" stations. Paul Mauriat himself later recorded an instrumental version in 1976 with a disco beat, using moog synthesizers.

March's English version, backed with "Wind Up Doll", was released by RCA Victor and hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on April 27, 1963, making 15-year-old March the youngest female artist to have a US chart-topping single. Her version also made it to #1 on the soul singles chart.[2]

Other versions

The song was featured in the 1992 movie Sister Act, where it was performed by Whoopi Goldberg and the main cast. A disco arrangement of the song was recorded by Claudja Barry. Moreover, José Hoebee, a Dutch pop singer, recorded a cover version of this standard which reached the first position on the Dutch[3] and Belgian singles charts in 1982. Hong Kong singer Sammi Cheng sang I Will Follow Him in her 2007 tour Show Mi. The song inspired the chorus in the radio edit version of the Eminem and Dr. Dre song "Guilty Conscience", by lyrically interpolating "I Will Follow Him".

Other versions worth noting:

  • Les Satellites (first vocal version, in French, even pre-dating Petula Clark's recording)
  • Skeeter Davis
  • Dee Dee Sharp
  • Bobby Darin (as "I Will Follow Her")
  • Ricky Nelson (As "I Will Follow You")
  • Percy Faith and His Orchestra
  • Forte
  • Thurop Van Orman as Flapjack (as "He Will Follow Me")
  • Betty Curtis (in Italian, as "Chariot")
  • Rosemary Clooney (as "I Will Follow You")
  • New York cabaret singer Lady Rizo, who re-imagined the song as a crazy stalker's ode to her prey.

In 1982, Norwegian comedy trio KLM made a popular remake of this song called "Torsken kommer" ("Here comes the cod fish" in English).

References

  1. ^ I Will Follow Him by Peggy March - Songfacts
  2. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 803.
  3. ^ "De Nederlandse Top 40, week 26, 1982". Retrieved 2008-02-18.
Preceded by Billboard Hot 100 number one single
April 27, 1963 (three weeks) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Billboard Hot R&B Singles number-one single
May 25, 1963 		Succeeded by


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