Amoureuse
Encyclopedia
"Amoureuse" is the title of a French language composition by Véronique Sanson
introduced on her 1972 album of the same name.; rendered in English the song became a hit single for Kiki Dee
and - as "Emotion" - for Helen Reddy
.
, which is faithful to the French original, was recorded by Sanson herself and issued as a single in the U.S. in January 1973. The Sanson/Osborne version of "Amoureuse" was covered later that year by two British vocalists: Polly Brown
and Kiki Dee
, with Dee's version becoming a UK hit peaking at #13 in December 1973.
Kiki Dee's Amoureuse was reissued as a single in the UK in 1976-1977 and again in 1984. The 1977 release charted in the UK.
, an exec with the Warner Music Group
whose Elektra
label handled Sanson's U.S. releases, sent a copy of Sanson's Amoureuse album to his friend Texas singer/songwriter Patti Dahlstrom
suggesting Dahlstrom put English lyrics to the title cut. Dahlstrom would recall: "I was mesmerised by the music to 'Amoureuse', but I don’t speak French and had no idea what the lyrics meant. I carried the melody in my head for weeks and then one day the first line – 'Lonely women are the desperate kind' – just fell out as my key turned in the lock, and the lyric to 'Emotion' wrote itself very quickly." Dahlstrom's English rendering of "Amoureuse" was introduced on the singer's own album The Way I Am which was recorded in August 1973: the track re-entitled Sanson's composition as "Emotion", that word being prominently featured in Dahlstrom's lyrics which expressed the viewpoint of a woman whose relationship with an inconsiderate lover is redeemed by the passion of their periodic trysts. "Emotion" was issued as a single off The Way I Am in October 1973 but did not chart.
Patti Dahlstrom was also a friend of Paul Williams
whose own compositions were regularly recorded by Helen Reddy
, and Reddy recorded "Emotion" for inclusion on her 1974 Free and Easy album from which an abridged edit was issued as a single in January 1975 to peak at #22, Reddy's first Top Twenty shortfall since "I Am Woman
" in 1972. "Emotion" did reach #1 on the Easy Listening charts
, the sixth of Reddy's eight Easy Listening #1's and her last consecutive.
In 2009, Véronique Sanson
stated in an interview to the French magazine Platine that Dahlstrom's version remains her favorite version of "Amoureuse" although Sanson is evidently unaware Dahlstrom's "Emotion" is lyrically distinct from the Osborne translation of "Amoureuse"
and Lara Fabian
. The version of "Amoureuse" with Gary Osborne's lyrics has also been recorded by Linda Martin
and Olivia Newton-John
while the "Emotion" version was covered by Shirley Bassey
for her 1975 album Good, Bad but Beautiful
. Sanson recorded "Amoureuse" with German lyrics by Michael Kunze (released b/w "Regen am Morgen (Besoin de Personne)") and also recorded a Spanish version enitled "Enamorada". Another German rendering of the song by lyricist Gerd Müller-Schwanke: "Was wär' ich ohne dich" ("What would I do without you"), served as the title cut for a 1976 album by Gitte
. Daniela Davoli had a 1978 single release of an Italian rendering of "Amoureuse" entitled "Diverso amore mio" ("Other than my love").
Véronique Sanson
Véronique Sanson is a two-time Victoires de la Musique Award-winning French singer-songwriter, musician, and producer with an avid following in her native country.She brings a very personal vocal style to the singing of French pop songs: Her voice has a very strong vibrato.Unlike...
introduced on her 1972 album of the same name.; rendered in English the song became a hit single for Kiki Dee
Kiki Dee
Kiki Dee is an English singer with a career spanning more than 40 years....
and - as "Emotion" - for Helen Reddy
Helen Reddy
Helen Reddy , often referred to as "The Queen of 70s Pop", is an Australian-American singer and actress. In the 1970s, she enjoyed international success, especially in the United States, where she placed fifteen singles in the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. Six of those 15 songs made the Top 10...
.
Background and first recordings
The original song title Amoureuse - which does not feature in its lyrics - is the French equivalent of the English adjective amorous and is also be a feminine noun meaning lover. Sanson's lyric describes the mindset of a woman following an intimate encounter who wonders if she and her lover can maintain a relationship once they have parted. The English rendering of the song by Gary OsborneGary Osborne
Gary Osborne is an English singer and songwriter from the United Kingdom.-Career:Osborne was born in London, educated in Switzerland, and followed his father into the music industry at the age of fifteen....
, which is faithful to the French original, was recorded by Sanson herself and issued as a single in the U.S. in January 1973. The Sanson/Osborne version of "Amoureuse" was covered later that year by two British vocalists: Polly Brown
Polly Brown
Polly Brown is an English singer. A member of Pickettywitch and Sweet Dreams - and with each group lead singer on a Top Ten hit, respectively "That Same Old Feeling" and "Honey Honey" - Brown had an international solo hit in 1975 with "Up in a Puff of Smoke".-Biography:Brown recorded with...
and Kiki Dee
Kiki Dee
Kiki Dee is an English singer with a career spanning more than 40 years....
, with Dee's version becoming a UK hit peaking at #13 in December 1973.
Kiki Dee's Amoureuse was reissued as a single in the UK in 1976-1977 and again in 1984. The 1977 release charted in the UK.
"Emotion"
Artie WayneArtie Wayne
Artie Wayne is an American, semi-retired record producer, award winning songwriter, and active blogger.Artie Wayne has pursued an eclectic array of vocations and avocations, including songwriter, singer, producer, publisher, concert promoter, restaurant host, and wearable artist...
, an exec with the Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies...
whose Elektra
Elektra Records
Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....
label handled Sanson's U.S. releases, sent a copy of Sanson's Amoureuse album to his friend Texas singer/songwriter Patti Dahlstrom
Patti Dahlstrom
Patti Dahlstrom is a widely respected singer/songwriter, recording artist and teacher. Born in Texas, she cut four albums in the seventies, and co-wrote the Helen Reddy hit "Emotion", before enjoying a renaissance and renewed visibility in 2010.-Early life:...
suggesting Dahlstrom put English lyrics to the title cut. Dahlstrom would recall: "I was mesmerised by the music to 'Amoureuse', but I don’t speak French and had no idea what the lyrics meant. I carried the melody in my head for weeks and then one day the first line – 'Lonely women are the desperate kind' – just fell out as my key turned in the lock, and the lyric to 'Emotion' wrote itself very quickly." Dahlstrom's English rendering of "Amoureuse" was introduced on the singer's own album The Way I Am which was recorded in August 1973: the track re-entitled Sanson's composition as "Emotion", that word being prominently featured in Dahlstrom's lyrics which expressed the viewpoint of a woman whose relationship with an inconsiderate lover is redeemed by the passion of their periodic trysts. "Emotion" was issued as a single off The Way I Am in October 1973 but did not chart.
Patti Dahlstrom was also a friend of Paul Williams
Paul Williams (songwriter)
Paul Hamilton Williams, Jr. is an Academy Award-winning American composer, musician, songwriter, and actor. He is perhaps best known for popular songs performed by a number of acts in the 1970s including Three Dog Night's "An Old Fashioned Love Song", Helen Reddy's "You and Me Against the World",...
whose own compositions were regularly recorded by Helen Reddy
Helen Reddy
Helen Reddy , often referred to as "The Queen of 70s Pop", is an Australian-American singer and actress. In the 1970s, she enjoyed international success, especially in the United States, where she placed fifteen singles in the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100. Six of those 15 songs made the Top 10...
, and Reddy recorded "Emotion" for inclusion on her 1974 Free and Easy album from which an abridged edit was issued as a single in January 1975 to peak at #22, Reddy's first Top Twenty shortfall since "I Am Woman
I Am Woman
"I Am Woman" is a song cowritten by Helen Reddy and singer/songwriter/guitarist Ray Burton and performed by Reddy. Released in its most well-known version in 1970, the song became an enduring anthem for the women’s liberation movement.-Success:...
" in 1972. "Emotion" did reach #1 on the Easy Listening charts
Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks
The Adult Contemporary chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States...
, the sixth of Reddy's eight Easy Listening #1's and her last consecutive.
In 2009, Véronique Sanson
Véronique Sanson
Véronique Sanson is a two-time Victoires de la Musique Award-winning French singer-songwriter, musician, and producer with an avid following in her native country.She brings a very personal vocal style to the singing of French pop songs: Her voice has a very strong vibrato.Unlike...
stated in an interview to the French magazine Platine that Dahlstrom's version remains her favorite version of "Amoureuse" although Sanson is evidently unaware Dahlstrom's "Emotion" is lyrically distinct from the Osborne translation of "Amoureuse"
Other versions
In its original French "Amoureuse" has also been recorded by Barbara DexBarbara Dex
Barbara Deckx , better known by her stage name Barbara Dex, is a Belgian singer who represented her country in the 1993 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Iemand als jij". Dex had qualified via the Belgian national heat, Eurosong 93, held at the Casino Knokke on March 6...
and Lara Fabian
Lara Fabian
Lara Fabian is a Belgian-Italian international singer who also holds Canadian citizenship. Multilingual, she sings in French, Italian and English....
. The version of "Amoureuse" with Gary Osborne's lyrics has also been recorded by Linda Martin
Linda Martin
Linda Martin is an Irish singer and television presenter. She is best known in Europe as the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest in 1992, with the song "Why Me?", and in Ireland as a member of the 1970s/1980s band, Chips.-Chips:Martin started off her musical career when she joined the band Chips...
and Olivia Newton-John
Olivia Newton-John
Olivia Newton-John AO, OBE is a singer and actress. She is a four-time Grammy award winner who has amassed five No. 1 and ten other Top Ten Billboard Hot 100 singles and two No. 1 Billboard 200 solo albums. Eleven of her singles and 14 of her albums have been certified gold by the RIAA...
while the "Emotion" version was covered by Shirley Bassey
Shirley Bassey
Dame Shirley Bassey, DBE , is a Welsh singer. She found fame in the late 1950s and was "one of the most popular female vocalists in Britain during the last half of the 20th century"...
for her 1975 album Good, Bad but Beautiful
Good, Bad but Beautiful
Good, Bad but Beautiful is a 1975 album by Shirley Bassey. In the first half of the decade, Bassey recorded nine albums, with three making the top ten. In March 1975, Bassey released a compilation that became her highest-charting album to date, The Shirley Bassey Singles Album , and reflects the...
. Sanson recorded "Amoureuse" with German lyrics by Michael Kunze (released b/w "Regen am Morgen (Besoin de Personne)") and also recorded a Spanish version enitled "Enamorada". Another German rendering of the song by lyricist Gerd Müller-Schwanke: "Was wär' ich ohne dich" ("What would I do without you"), served as the title cut for a 1976 album by Gitte
Gitte Hænning
Gitte Hænning is a Danish singer and film actress, who rose to fame as a child star in the 1950s.Because her name was relatively unique, she was known primarily without a surname in Europe. She moved to Sweden in 1958. Her first hit in Swedish was "Tror du jag ljuger" from 1961...
. Daniela Davoli had a 1978 single release of an Italian rendering of "Amoureuse" entitled "Diverso amore mio" ("Other than my love").