No, this does not count as a Song of the Week, but it may well factor in the 2013 Worst Song Ever category.
HOW I HEARD IT
I have CD's, flash drives and radio in the car. As always, I encourage staff to flip any rock they can find to discover something worth featuring on this blog. My flash drive was corrupted, I was tired of my cd's in the car and it was a tough day with lots of traffic going home. I went with the radio search button and came upon WKTZ, which apparently has been "proudly broadcasting beautiful music in Jacksonville, Florida".Well I'm cool with that, something for everyone and so forth.
The first song was "Mack the Knife". Hey, no problem there, a classic. Second song was a violin arrangement of "Maxwell's Silver Hammer", O.K., fine. I still wanted to kill the guy driving in front of me but this WAS calming. Then what I think was a Jerry Vale version of " Up, Up and Away" came on. Hysterical! If you made me listen to it several times in interrogation, I would crack. My finger was on the preset when...
WHAT I THOUGHT I WAS HEARING
I heard the singer doing "Dominique," which, upon hearing the version by "The Singing Nun" is normally a license to slam your car into a tree, but I was in tight traffic (for Jacksonville) at that point. I almost thought it had a Hawaiian quality to it so I hung. Maybe a ukulele might come in. After the first verse, someone harmonizing started singing "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen" in a Barry White voice? Oh no, it doesn't stop there, the guy keeps singing "Dominique" as the other bottom voice goes into "Down By the Riverside," "When the Saints Go Marching In", etc. Wow...
I played this song for staff member Suzi Suarez, who promptly got into her car and drove right through the garage door without opening it. Haven't seen her for days...but hey, listen for yourself. Please ask some one you know to hide your keys first.
SO WHO ARE THESE GUYS AND WHY THIS SONG?
According to Allmusic.com: One sang in French, the other in English, and that, in a nutshell, was easy listening vocal duo Sandler and Young's gimmick. Although they didn't approach every number that way, it became the formula for which they were best known... and a delightful French version of Johnny Cymbal's "Mr. Bass Man." (which we listened to as well, causing Mike Yasich to stick a fork in his ear). Back to Allmusic.com... Sandler & Young may have been a pair of hopelessly square lounge singers, but for a while they mined a vein of light intellectual pop that provided them with a successful album career.
Perhaps all this comes as a Civil Rights Act tribute. The song actually charted on the easy-listening list in 1966. Also, Dominique means "Lord" in French and was perhaps a base for the spirituals sung in the background.
We think their greatest hits album would make a wonderful gift for someone you want to weird out.
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