(The Hit Hammer is where I'm reviewing each #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100. Starting from when the chart started in 1958 and eventually working my way to the present. To see my inspiration and more information about this blog, please CLICK HERE)
Labelle - "Lady Marmalade"
Hit Number 1: March 29, 1975
Stay at Number 1: 1 Week
Bob Crewe is one of the more respected songwriters from the '60s and '70s, and he mostly worked with the Four Seasons. In fact, we just heard a song in this blog from Crewe, as Four Seasons member Frankie Valli got to #1 with "My Eyes Adored You," a song that was written by Crewe and Kenny Nolan. Crewe often wrote songs that were either sappy pieces of nothing, or they were sincere songs that told a cool story. (See "Rag Doll," a Four Seasons #1 from 1964) But then suddenly in 1975, Crewe and Nolan cranked out back-to-back #1 hits, with the first one being "My Eyes Adored You." Sure, that's fine. "My Eyes Adored You" was a pretty stupid song about an obsessive school crush, and it was something that was right up Crewe's alley. But "Lady Marmalade" is way different. In fact, I never would have guessed that Crewe was the chief songwriter for "Lady Marmalade." And I'm not saying that just because of its disco sound, a sound that Crewe never did much with.
Crewe had just visited New Orleans, and as readers of the Hit Hammer should remember, New Orleans apparently has a way of inspiring songs. Patrick Simmons of the Doobie Brothers was inspired by the laid-back, good vibe lifestyle of New Orleans to give us "Black Water," but Crewe noticed something else about the city. He was drawn to the many sex workers that he saw roaming the streets. So for some odd reason, Crewe decided to write a song about that, and Kenny Nolan was along for it. I feel like this is a good time to point out that Kenny Nolan was a lot like Bob Crewe, in that he never made any songs that slapped. (His highest-charting single is "I Like Dreamin'". A sleepy, nothing of a song that's pretty much another "My Eyes Adored You." It peaked at #3, and it's a 4) But that's what makes "Lady Marmalade" even more strange. Crewe and Nolan often wrote boring, but innocent songs, and "Lady Marmalade" is neither of those things. It's literally about prostitution; and it slaps hard.
Obviously the two guys needed to find the right person to record this song, and someone that was perfectly willing to do it. Nolan made his own demo record with session singers to accompany him, but there was no way in hell that Nolan was going to do the song justice, and sure enough, his version didn't do anything. Crewe then showed the song to Allen Toussaint, a producer/songwriter who appeared in this blog long ago with Ernie-K-Doe's "Mother-in-Law." Toussaint was interested in doing something with the song, and decided to give it to Patti Labelle, a singer who first got a taste of fame in the 1960s with Patti Labelle & the Bluebelles. (I'm unable to look up what their highest-charting single was because Billboard's website is down. I already knew Nolan's highest-charting single, as "I Like Dreamin'" is really the only hit he's ever had as a solo artist) Patti Labelle & the Bluebelles would later change their name to just Labelle, but they still were looking for material for a next hit single, as it had been a while since their last one.
Needless to say, the group agreed to take on "Lady Marmalade," but that was largely because Labelle herself didn't even know what the song was about. At least that's what we're supposed to believe. Part of the song isn't even in English, and that's what the song is widely known for. The chorus goes "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir?", which is French for "Do you want to sleep with me tonight?" (And it's also a very fun thing to say for some reason. Don't lie, you read that to yourself at least three times too) To be honest, Labelle had to have known that the song was about prostitution. The opening lyrics tell all: "He met Marmalade down in old New Orleans/Struttin' her stuff on the street/She said hello, hey Joe/You wanna give it a go?" But maybe, she didn't care. She saw the fun potential the song had and ran with it.
What we're given is three and a half minutes of irresistible pre-disco euphoria. The song has this cadence to it that's so easy to vibe with, including a horn section, a Hammond organ, and even its own damn sax section. A sax section! The song even has those mid-'70s sexy vibes that I'm sure dominated many bedrooms at that time. (Hell, if you were born in 1975-76 there's a halfway decent chance you were conceived while this song was playing. Just saying) Labelle isn't exactly who is selling the sex appeal here, as that's mostly the instrumentation behind her, but when she starts singing in French all bets are off. (It should be said in stone that French is the sexiest language on the planet) Basically, the song is driven on its sex appeal, but it's also easy to dance to. The song just has all the vibes. So let's revisit the question: Did Labelle ever care about the song's content? Absolutely not. There's no way.
Labelle would eventually have herself a nice solo career, and she'll appear in this blog later in one of the most unlikely duets you could ever imagine. Hell, even "Lady Marmalade" will appear in this blog again, but (SPOILER ALERT), it has nothing on the original. Labelle was able to give the song its sex appeal, its pre-disco magic and the dance floor filling potential it was meant to have. That can't be recreated.
GRADE: 8/10
IN POP CULTURE:
The Canadian-English girl group, All Saints, covered "Lady Marmalade" for their 1998 album of the same name as their group. Their version actually hit #1 in England, but it did nothing here. Anyway, here's the music video for their cover:
(Again, due to Billboard's website having serious issues right now, I am unable to see All Saints' highest-charting single on the Hot 100. Assuming there even was one)
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