Speedy Gonzales (song)
Speedy Gonzales , originally the name of a cartoon mouse, is also the title of an English-language pop song that was written in the early 1960s by the writing team Buddy Kaye , David Hill aka David Hess and Ethel Lee. The version with Pat Boone made it onto the Billboard - Hot 100 , Rex Gildo achieved a number one success in Germany with a German-language version.
Original version
While in the film version the Mexican mouse Speedy Gonzales is constantly on the run from her pursuers, in the song the mouse lady Rosita begs her Gonzales to stop drifting around and take care of the desolate home. Gonzales tries to calm his Rosita down in short spoken sequences. The US record company RCA Victor released the first version of the Kaye Hill Lee song Speedy Gonzales in March 1961 with co-writer David Hess, who appeared on the single as David Dante. The record could not place in the nationwide US charts.
Version with Pat Boone
United States
On May 16, 1962, Randy Wood produced a new version of Speedy Gonzales with Pat Boone at Radio Recorders Hollywood . The background music was conducted by Billy Vaughn , the short refrains from singer Robin Ward . In the same month the record company Dot Records released Speedy Gonzales together with the track The Locket on the single No. 16368. On June 16, 1962 Speedy Gonzales was listed for the first time in the Hot 100 of the US music magazine Billbord (No. 80). On July 28, the title reached its best ranking with sixth place in the Hot 100. In total, Speedy Gonzales was in the Hot 100 for 13 weeks.
International
In contrast to the USA, where Speedy Gonzales did not become an absolute top hit, Pat Boone reached number one in the hit lists in several other countries (e.g. Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway). In Germany, the single with Speedy Gonzales (B-side as in the USA The Locket ) was distributed by the British label London Records under catalog number 20637 and was released in July 1962. On August 4th, Speedy Gonzales appeared in the top 50 of the specialist magazine Musikmarkt for the first time and reached number one on September 22nd, where the title stayed for nine weeks. Overall, Speedy Gonzales held its own in the top 50 for 25 weeks. The German record industry awarded the title the golden record for 500,000 copies sold. London Records also distributed the single Speedy Gonzales / The Locket (Cat.-No. 9573) in Great Britain . There it also appeared in July 1962, and the track Speedy Gonzales first appeared on July 14th in the Top Thirty of the New Musical Express . On August 3rd, he achieved his best ranking with second place and stayed in the Top Thirty for a total of 14 weeks.
Singles with Pat Boone's Speedy Gonzales were distributed worldwide almost exclusively by the labels London and Dot.
Cover versions (Kaye Hill Lee version)
After Pat Boone's success, numerous cover versions appeared both in the USA and in other countries, some in the local languages. In the USA the unknown group The Del-Knights covered the title, in Great Britain it was sung by Redd Wayne, who specializes in cover versions. In France, Danyel Gérard wrote a French text for several interpreters, including a. also for Dalida . Only Peppino di Capri , who reached number one in Italy with his Italian version in 1963, and Rex Gildo in Germany were really successful .
Its German text was written by Alexander Gordan and Gerhard Hämmerling (under the pseudonym Charles Gerard). In contrast to the English version, in German Gonzales becomes a womanizer who teases the wife of a catcher king. The German record company Electrola brought this title onto the market in July 1962 with catalog number 22231, initially as Kleiner Gonzales , but which was soon changed to the original title. In the Musikmarkt magazine, Rex Gildo was always rated together with Pat Boone, both of them took first place in the top 50 from September 22 to November 17, 1962. The youth magazine Bravo did a similar thing, but initially only had Rex on September 11 Gildo in the rating, while Pat Boone was only rated on October 30th, but it was in first place together with Rex Gildo, which both maintained for five weeks.
Further German cover versions were released with Lou van Burg (Polydor 24886), Jimmy Fields, alias Teddy Parker (Tempo 873), Alexander Gordan (Universum 54844) and Caterina Valente / Silvio Francesco (Decca 19368). In 1974 a cover version of the Austrian Peter Alexander appeared on his album Peter Alexander served world hits .
literature
- Billboard, June through September 1962 issues
- Günter Ehnert (Ed.): Hit Records British Chart Singles 1950-1965 Taurus Press 1995, ISBN 3-922542-32-8 .
- Günter Ehnert (Ed.): Hit balance sheet German chart singles 1956–1980. Taurus Press 1987, ISBN 3-922542-24-7 .
swell
- ^ Günter Ehnert: Hit balance sheet - German chart singles 1956-1980 . 1st edition. Verlag popular music-literature, Norderstedt 2000, ISBN 3-922542-24-7 , p. 443 .