Lucky Lips
Lucky Lips is the title of a pop song that was written by the American songwriting team Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller . In 1957 the track reached number 26 in the US charts with Ruth Brown, and in 1963 the British singer Cliff Richard made the song a world hit. In German-speaking countries, the song entitled Red lips should one kiss is popular.
Ruth Brown
Four months after the release of Ruth Brown's last single , her record company Atlantic prepared a new record with the American singer with African roots in September 1956. Brown had been under contract with Atlantik since 1949 and had so far mainly published songs in the rhythm and blues style . In 1954 she was number one in the R&B charts twice, her last chart success she achieved in May 1956 with the R&B song Sweet Baby of Mine (# 10).
For the new single, Brown's producers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller chose the song they wrote themselves, Lucky Lips . Leiber and Stoller, who always worked together as a team, had last achieved a number one hit with their Elvis Presley production Hound Dog in August 1956. The melody was written in a foxtrot rhythm , the lyrics by Lucky Lips promise that lucky lips promise carefree love and will never lead to a broken heart. You will always be able to hold a lover with such lips. The single with Lucky Lips on the A-side (B-side: My Heart Is Breaking Over You ) was produced on September 25, 1956 in New York's Atlantic Studios and released in January 1957 with the catalog number Atlantic 1125.
Ruth Brown's Lucky Lips was listed on February 23, 1957 for the first time by the US music magazine Billbord in the Top 100 hit list . The title started at number 58 and two weeks later reached its best value as a pop song at number 26. Lucky Lips was listed in the top 100 for nine weeks. In the list of R&B Best Sellers in Stores, Ruth Brown achieved tenth place as the best value.
Cliff Richard
Six years after Ruth Brown's inclusion of Lucky Lips , the title was reissued in the UK with Cliff Richard. In 1963 Richard was one of the most successful pop singers on the island, at the beginning of the year he had released his sixth number one hit with Summer Holiday . In search of a successor title, Richard's producer Norrie Paramor dared to re-produce the only moderately successful title from the 1950s with his superstar. He gave the song a contemporary arrangement, in which mainly Cliff Richard's backing band The Shadows was involved. The original lyrics have been slightly modified for a male performer, from the opening line sung by Ruth Brown, “When I was a little girl with long, silky locks, Mama said to me I had more than the other girls” became with Cliff Richard “As When I was a little kid, I didn't have a lot of toys, but my mom said I had more than the other boys ”. On March 8, 1963 Lucky Lips was produced under the direction of producer Paramor in the London EMI Abbey Road Studio 2 for a single for the record label Columbia . The record was put on sale in Great Britain in May 1963.
On May 11, 1963, Cliff Richard moved to number 21 with Lucky Lips in the British charts. There he rose to fourth place and was able to stay in the hit lists for a total of 15 weeks. Lucky Lips with Cliff Richard was exported to numerous countries, where the title hit the top of the charts several times. So z. B. in Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands or Sweden. This was achieved overseas in Israel and South Africa. In the country of origin of Lucky Lips , the USA, the song was released in June 1963 by the record company Epic Records , but only reached number 62 in the Hot 100. In Germany, Cliff Richards Lucky Lips was also distributed by Columbia from June 1963. The German music magazine Musikmarkt included the song in its hit parade from July, which lasted until October and got its best rating with 13th place.
As early as 1957, the German songwriter Hans Bradtke had written a German text on Lucky Lips for Illo Schieder , at that time with the title Dolly Dick . For Cliff Richard he wrote a completely new text, which, like Dolly Dick, deviates completely from the original. With the headline Red lips should be kissed it was now from the first kiss in the bus to kissing the bride, because red lips are there to be kissed . Since Cliff Richard had already covered his own songs with success in German in the past ( I'm in love / Fall in Love, Schön wie ein Traum / Theme for a Dream ), Columbia decided to let Cliff Richard sing Bradtke's text. Production took place on August 11, 1963, just like the original with producer Paramor in Abbey Road Studio 2. The original background tape was used, which was mixed with Richard's German vocals, supported by the Botho Lucas choir . The recording was brought to the German record stores on the single Columbia 22563 in September 1963. In the absence of another German text, the English title Let's Make a Memory from the LP 32 Minutes and 17 Seconds with Cliff Richard was on the back . In contrast to Lucky Lips , Rote Lips one should kiss developed into a number one hit in Germany, both in the hit parade at Musikmarkt and in the Musicbox hit list of the youth magazine Bravo . In November 1963, the song was at number one in almost all hit parades of German-speaking radio stations.
More artists
Both the female version with Ruth Brown from 1957 and Cliff Richard's male adaptation from 1963 have been covered by other singers. In the US, there were 1,957 Dottie Evans and Gale Storm , with Lucky Lips came on the market. Gale Storm even managed to get into the Billboard Top 100 like Ruth Brown, where she reached number 77. In Great Britain there was an unsuccessful cover version with Alma Cogan . The first German-language version Dolly Dick with Illo Schieder was largely ignored. In 1963, Cliff Richard's British colleague Mike Redway competed in vain. Red lips should be kissed appeared in Germany in three other versions. Two months late, the largest record company there, Polydor, released a follow-up with Gus Backus , who had no chance due to the bad timing. As usual, there was also a new edition with Jimmy Fields alias Teddy Parker at the cheap label Tempo . In the GDR , too , their pop label Amiga brought out a version of Red lips should one kiss with the East German pop singer Günter Geißler .
Singles discography
| Interpreter | title | Label | published |
| Ruth Brown | Lucky Lips | Atlantic 1125 | USA 1/1957 |
| Dottie Evans | Lucky Lips | Bell 28 | USA 1957 |
| Gale Storm | Lucky Lips | Dot 15539 | USA 1/1957 |
| Ruth Brown | Lucky Lips | Columbia 3913 | UK 4/1957 |
| Alma Cogan | Lucky Lips | HMV 317 | UK 4/1957 |
| Illo Schieder | Dolly Dick | Polydor 23506 | D 8/1957 |
| Cliff Richard | Lucky Lips | Columbia 7034 | UK 5/1963 |
| Mike Redway | Lucky Lips | Embassy 565 | UK 5/1963 |
| Cliff Richard | Lucky Lips | Epic 9597 | USA 6/1963 |
| Cliff Richard | Lucky Lips | Columbia 22454 | D 6/1963 |
| Cliff Richard | Red lips should be kissed | Columbia 22563 | D 9/1963 |
| Gus Backus | Red lips should be kissed | Polydor 52205 | D 11/1963 |
| Jimmy Fields | Red lips should be kissed | Tempo 908 | D 2/1964 |
| Günter Geissler | Red lips should be kissed | Amiga 450409 | GDR 1964 |
literature
- Victor Rust: The Cliff Richard Recording Catalog 1958-2010 , self-published 2010, ISBN 978-0956738400 , pp. 331, 439