Butterfly (Danyel Gérard song)
Butterfly is the title of a pop song sung by Danyel Gérard , written by the singer (music) and Ralph Bernet (text) and which became a million-seller after its publication in 1971 .
History of origin
In 1968, Gérard brought out the title Hélas trois fois hélas ("Three times ach") (AZ 10353) as his 29th single, the melody of which - composed by Gérard and Vline Buggy (Liliane Koger) - was slightly varied. Provided with a different text dealing with the beloved by the nickname "Butterfly" (butterfly), Gérard already presented the song under the title Butterfly on his LP Atmosphère with the Claude Vallois orchestra, produced by Hervé Roy (CBS 64222; October 1970) , which was ranked 44th in the German LP hit parade. The nickname "Butterfly" (butterfly) could be misunderstood, because in non-European cultures the word is an expression for easy-going women, because butterflies fly from flower to flower.
Publication and Success
The extract from the LP was released in Germany as the single Butterfly / Who I am (CBS 7129) on January 26, 1971. The German text came from Ben Juris (the pseudonym of Jean Frankfurter, who was only active as a lyricist in 1970 ). In France and Belgium the single was only released in February 1971 as Butterfly / Le petit ours en pluche (CBS 5420).
The single reached the top positions in many European countries, so it became the number one hit in Germany (15 weeks in total), Switzerland (6 weeks) and in Austria (4 weeks). In the Netherlands it reached number 2, in Belgium to number 3 and in Great Britain to number 11 of the national charts . Gérard appeared with the hit for the first time on July 3, 1971 in the fifth episode of Disco , in the ZDF hit parade he was on July 17, 1971 and 3 other episodes in front of the camera. When he appeared in the first episode of the GDR Saturday evening show Ein Kessel Buntes on January 29, 1972 and was happy to “finally be behind the wall”, he was never invited again.
By May 1972 the hit had already sold five million records and sold over 13 million copies worldwide in 7 languages; In Germany alone, 2 million copies were sold, for which Gérard received a gold record from his music label. Butterfly is one of only four French singles that have sold over five million times. On May 21, 2003, the song was featured in the first RTL broadcast of the television series Die ultimative Chartshow as the most successful hit in the German single charts of the last 30 years.
Cover versions
Due to its success in 7 languages there are at least 54 cover versions , including in German by Bata Illic (LP Voice of Sehnsucht ; December 1971), Oliver Thomas (April 2001) or the Techno-Buben feat. Wind (August 2013). The piece is featured in the movie The Great Aunts Strike (premiere: September 24, 1971).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Wolfgang Maria Weber / Wolfgang Stemmler, 50 Years of German Television , 1999, p. 158
- ^ Joseph Murrells, Million Selling Records , 1985, p. 323
- ^ Günter Ehnert: Hit balance sheet - German chart singles 1956-1980 . 1st edition. Verlag popular music-literature, Norderstedt 2000, ISBN 3-922542-24-7 , p. 444 .
- ^ Donald Morrison / Antoine Compagnon, The Death of French Culture , p. 55