"Gondolier" is a song by the French singer Dalida, first released on EP in December 1957. It was her second major hit after "Bambino". Reaching No. 1 on both the La Bourse des Chansons chart and the Music Hall chart in France, it was the title song for Dalida's 1958 album Gondolier.[1] The song also reached No. 1 on the Belgian and Canadian charts.[2]
Description
The song's melody was composed by Peter De Angelis with lyrics by Jean Broussolle.[3] It was released as promotional single on February 22, 1957,[4] but it received no promotion because of the prolonged success of "Bambino".[4]
As the song did not reach its audience, De Angelis and his colleague Bob Marcucci[5] wrote the English language version which gained success in the US and UK in mid 1957.[6] During an interview in 1958, Dalida said, "I heard on radio Petula Clark singing it in English, and I like it very much so I decided to use the song for my Christmas special show."
On the end of 1957, Dalida used "Gondolier" as the title song of a French TV Christmas special, in which she was the main attraction. The song was issued on EP the next day and it gained instant success.[4] It entered the charts at #1 in the first week of January 1958, and eventually spent 53 weeks in the top 20, until the last week of December 1958.[7] It spent 9 weeks as #1 in January and February and again reached #1 for 10 weeks during the summer, earning Dalida her third gold disc.[8]
Eventually, it became the most sold record of 1958,[7] so promotions through TV and concert performances made the song a pop standard in France and one of Dalida's signature tracks.[9]
In English, the song has been recorded by several artists under the title With all my Heart, including:
Jodie Sands recorded the first version in English, released in April or May 1957. It reached #1 in the Belgian chart and was her only major hit in the United States (reaching #15 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart in 1957).
Petula Clark released it in June or July 1957 in Belgium and the United Kingdom (it reached #4 in the UK Singles Chart), which was before she became known in the US.[10]
Daniel Lesueur, L'argus Dalida: Discographie mondiale et cotations, Éditions Alternatives, 2004. ISBN2-86227-428-3 and ISBN978-2-86227-428-7. (in French)
