Everybody's Somebody's Fool
Everybody's Somebody's Fool is an English-language piece of music that was successful in the pop music genre in two versions that differ in music and text .
Adams / Hampton version
The American songwriting team Ace and Regina Adams and Gladys Hampton wrote the first version of a piece of music in 1949 with the title Everybody's Somebody's Fool . The first interpreter of the work, which was published repeatedly until the 1970s, was Little Jimmy Scott , whose version was recorded in the USA with playback by Lionel Hampton in December 1949 and rose to number 6 in the rhythm and blues charts in October 1950 . There was a first cover version in 1957 with LaVern Baker , after the Heartbeats (1957) and Dinah Washington (1962) Michael Jackson recorded the title in his long-playing record Ben (Motown M 755L) in 1972.
Version Howard Greenfield / Jack Keller
English version
After her last success with the title Mama in early 1960, Connie Francis asked the writers Howard Greenfield and Jack Keller for a new song. Howard Greenfield had made her a success in 1958 with Stupid Cupid . Although Francis had asked for a country song, Greenfield offered her a blues ballad in polka rhythm with the title Everybody's Somebody's Fool , the music and lyrics of which have nothing to do with the 1949 version. It was only after some hesitation that Francis was ready to take up the title. Production took place on April 7, 1960 in New York's Olmstead Studios under the direction of Arnold Maxin. The playback was provided by the Joe Sherman Orchestra. Was published Everybody's Somebody's Fool , together with the B-side Jealous of You by the record company MGM catalog number 12,899th Already on 22 May 1960, the listed Billboard magazine Everybody's Somebody's Fool in the Hot 100 , on June 27, the title place had one reached. It was the first number one hit for Connie Francis, it stayed on the Hot 100 for 18 weeks and landed at 11th place on the annual charts in 1960. Everybody's Somebody's Fool reached number 2 on the rhythm and blues charts and 24th place in the country charts.
Everybody's Somebody's Fool was also successful in other English-speaking countries . In Great Britain, MGM released the song with the US-identical B-side under catalog number 1086. Everybody's Somebody's Fool started in the hit listing of the British music magazine New Musical Express on August 20, 1960, stayed there for ten weeks and reached number 5 best listing. Everybody's Somebody's Fool became number one in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
English cover versions
Ernest Tubb reached number 16 on the American Country & Western charts with a cover version of this song. Furthermore, Everybody's Somebody's Fool appears as a long-playing track with singers like Lynn Anderson ( What a Man My Man Is ), Pat Boone ( The Sixties 1960-1962 ), Bobby Vee ( 30 Big Hits of the 60's ).
In Germany
In May 1960 MGM released the single Everybody's Somebody's Fool / Jealous of You in Germany under the number 61023. It was only after the German-language cover version was launched in July 1960 that the German public became aware of the original, so that Everybody's Somebody's Fool was listed on the music market charts for the first time on August 20th . He stayed there only four weeks and did not get beyond a 26th place.
After the success of Everybody's Somebody's Fool became apparent in the USA , MGM induced the German text author Ralph Maria Siegel to write a German-language version. This received the title line Love is a strange game , the text differed considerably from the original. While in English the tenor on "Everybody is somebody's fool, everyone is someone's toy" is, says German "Love is a strange game, it comes and goes from one to another." The manager took over the German star producer Gerhard Mendelson , the however, after completing the recording tape, the project was viewed as a failure. Connie Francis, who was completely foreign to the German language, had sung the text so indistinctly that it was almost impossible to understand. A new recording was not possible in the near future because Francis was already on other dates. In order to save the production, the tape was synchronized in the Hamburg studios of the German record company Polydor , partner of MGM, by producer Bobby Schmidt , which made Francis singing understandable for the German audience. The first verse could not be saved, so the song had to start with the chorus.
In July 1960, MGM was finally able to bring the single Die Liebe ist ein Stranglepiel with the catalog number 61025 on the German-speaking market. The English-language title Robot Man had been selected for the B-side , which had previously only been published in Great Britain. The title Love is a strange game , Connie Francis' first German-language recording, developed into a hit song. On August 6, 1960, it entered the music market's charts, and on October 8, it reached the top position, which it held for two weeks. For 29 weeks, the music market listed the title in the top 50. In the 1960 annual charts, Love is a Strange Game landed in 16th place, and Radio Luxembourg awarded the title the Golden Lion .
In contrast to the English original, several cover versions of Love is a Strange Game were produced in the same period. The Deutsche Metronome also published a version with Siw Malmkvist under the pseudonym Jolly Sisters (catalog number 180) in the summer of 1960 , which reached number 26 in the music market charts. Also in 1960 the GDR record company Amiga brought out a single with the title sung by the Fortunas (catalog number 4 50 205). In 1962, Mary Roos published Die Liebe ist ein Strangenpiel on Weltmelodie 3004. GG Anderson ( Traumreise für Zwei , 1989) and the group Wind ( Schön was the time , 2007) recorded the title on LPs as tracks.
Footnotes
literature
- Fred Bronson: The Billboard Book of Number One Hits. Billboard Publications, New York 1992, ISBN 0-8230-8298-9 , p. 69.
- Günter Ehnert: British Chart Singles 1950-1965. Taurus Press, Hamburg 1995, ISBN 3-922542-32-8 , p. 171.
- Günter Ehnert: German Chart Singles 1956-1980. Taurus Press, Hamburg 1990, ISBN 3-922542-24-7 , p. 204.