Looking for a seventies music title...

[MerleOne]

Hi all,

I have been struck by a violent nostalgia access and I am currently looking for an old song.  It was sung, in the seventies, as far as I remember, by a young girl, possibly British, and she sang in some kind of a non-existing language.  Possibly using also words like pop, whizz, and so forth.

I'd be most grateful if someone could identify this very unique song.

Thanks in advance,

[Ath]

What country was it released in? Not every song is released/available in every country

[MerleOne]

Good point !

One of my sisters brought the 45rpm from either the UK or France.  I am pretty sure it was on the radio in France too but I was around 10 years old at that time.  And of course my sisters don't remember anything about this song.

Thanks !

[40hz]

I'm guessing it might be somebody singing a Breton variant of puirt-a-beul vocalisms (rather than a made up language) - but the date and the fact it was a pop performer have me stumped.

If anybody here would know who that is, it probably would be app103. She's the only person I know who is even more into fringe and obscure musicians, instruments, and idioms than I am.

How about it April? You're our resident whiz for this sort of thing.

[joiwind]

I think it might be a song performed by Jane Birkin and written by Serge Gainsbourg - but I can't remember the title !!! 

[Ath]

a song performed by Jane Birkin and written by Serge Gainsbourg

Their most popular, EU-wide IMHO, was Je t'aime (lyrics)

[TaoPhoenix]

I'm guessing it might be somebody singing a Breton variant of puirt-a-beul vocalisms (rather than a made up language) - but the date and the fact it was a pop performer have me stumped.

Not necessarily "Pop Performer" ... "using words like Pop". ("Maybe")

Heh this sounds like a programmer's dream!
"Go Go Music Database Boolean Search!

Give me all 45's from the 70's with female singers in France and UK with Non-Obviously-Identifiable-Language"!

That Language thing really chops it down because it knocks out all the English and French songs. So you for example might not recognize Japanese (on a cross-euro cheap Italian re-issue etc) but say there's 500,000 eligible songs from the 70's on 45
RPM, Non-English Non-French would chop out 490,000 of them!

[Curt]

I have been struck by a violent nostalgia access and I am currently looking for an old song.  It was sung, in the seventies, as far as I remember, by a young girl, possibly British, and she sang in some kind of a non-existing language.  Possibly using also words like pop, whizz, and so forth.
I'd be most grateful if someone could identify this very unique song.

Come on, MerleOne, I am certain you can remember just a little more! What year? Was it slow or fast - soft or hard - did they use an accordion, or maybe some drums, or, or?

I was born in 1957 and the radio was my friend, so just maybe...

[Curt]

My instinct says "Look what they've done to my song" with both English and French lyrics.

No, of course not, it has been played so many times since then that MerleOne would know it.

Hm... what then?

[Curt]

L:\PlayList\Sukiyaki - Kyu Sakamoto.mp3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C35DrtPlUbc

[tomos]

^ enjoyed that Curt :-)



I presume with words like pop & whiz, that it was something very poppy?

[Curt]

some kind of a non-existing language.  Possibly using also words like pop, whizz, and so forth

- TaoPhoenix and the word "possibly" made me think Japanese could be right. However, it was first released already in 1961, so it's probably not the one he's asking for.

[MerleOne]

I think it might be a song performed by Jane Birkin and written by Serge Gainsbourg - but I can't remember the title !!! 

Thanks but I am 100% sure is was not a JB/SG song.  The performer was much younger I think than JB even at that time.

[MerleOne]

I have been struck by a violent nostalgia access and I am currently looking for an old song.  It was sung, in the seventies, as far as I remember, by a young girl, possibly British, and she sang in some kind of a non-existing language.  Possibly using also words like pop, whizz, and so forth.
I'd be most grateful if someone could identify this very unique song.

Come on, MerleOne, I am certain you can remember just a little more! What year? Was it slow or fast - soft or hard - did they use an accordion, or maybe some drums, or, or?

I was born in 1957 and the radio was my friend, so just maybe...

Well, the difficulty is that I heard this song less than ten times probably.  What year : I would say sometimes between 70 and 75 (I was 14 that year).  Rather Soft.  I think the music was from a synthetizer (like pop corn, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjxNnqTcHhg) but much softer.  Maybe there was only a guitar. Can't remember about drums, or other instruments, I just recall the very young voice and these strange words.  The melody was, how could I say, very attractive (compelling?): when I heard it I couldn't do anything else, just listen to it.

[MerleOne]

^ enjoyed that Curt :-)



I presume with words like pop & whiz, that it was something very poppy?

Sorry, I was not clear about that point, I was trying to describe the possible usage of onomatopoeia, but I don't think there was too many of them in that song.

[MerleOne]

Look what they've done to my song

Not that one, sorry, I don't think any word could be recognized.  I was much too young to speak English back then but I think I could identify it was English, and it wasn't.  Just the accent of the singer.

[MerleOne]

puirt-a-beul

Yes, it could very well be, regarding the lyrics.  The music was however very different.  Very "commercial". And more like "pop" music from that time.

[Curt]

I am wondering if the song could have been Irish: Gaudete by Steeleye Span from 1973, here from 2008 but almost a copy of their original version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDc2FD-vy8M

[40hz]

I was thinking something more along the lines of Talitha Mackenzie's   Fair Shoulders - or Fionnaghuala if you speak Gaelic. (I don't!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXmaeF0bS-U

Even if it's not, Talitha is well worth a listen.

[MerleOne]

I am wondering if the song could have been Irish: Gaudete by Steeleye Span from 1973, here from 2008 but almost a copy of their original version:

Nice song, but not that one.  Thanks for the find.

[MerleOne]

I was thinking something more along the lines of Talitha Mackenzie's   Fair Shoulders - or Fionnaghuala if you speak Gaelic. (I don't!)

Even if it's not, Talitha is well worth a listen.

Not that one either, but nice to discover it.  The one I was looking for was less "rythmy".

[tomos]

I am wondering if the song could have been Irish: Gaudete by Steeleye Span from 1973, here from 2008 but almost a copy of their original version:

another one I enjoyed Curt - but definitely not Irish -
Latin lyrics, with a melody of unknown (possibly Skandinavian) origin -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaudete

[tomos]

I was thinking something more along the lines of Talitha Mackenzie's   Fair Shoulders - or Fionnaghuala if you speak Gaelic. (I don't!)

*not* wanting to go off-topic

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

enjoyed that - the version I knew growing up was from the Bothy Band - from the album with the wonderful name "Old Hag you have killed me" ;-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nmLlY3Z96Y

[Curt]

I am wondering if the song could have been Irish: Gaudete ...

... definitely not Irish - Latin lyrics, with a melody of unknown (possibly Skandinavian) origin - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaudete

-thanks a lot for this interesting information, Tom. Because I right away didn't understand what they were saying, I never bothered to actually listen to the lyrics.

[app103]

If anybody here would know who that is, it probably would be app103. She's the only person I know who is even more into fringe and obscure musicians, instruments, and idioms than I am.

How about it April? You're our resident whiz for this sort of thing.

Unfortunately, I can't help with this one. Not really an expert in foreign language (non-English) music.

Only one artist comes to mind when referring to songs in a made up language, and that would be Adiemus, but they didn't come into existence till the 90's...and they really couldn't be considered pop, any way. (new age)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aL8kZ-iVk90