(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)
Paul Mauriat - "Love Is Blue"
Hit Number 1: February 10, 1968
Stay at Number 1: 5 Weeks
In Chris Carter's television series, Milennium, there was an episode called "A Room With No View" where a kidnapper would brainwash a group of youths. They used the method of brainwashing them with a form of easy-listening music, with the use of the song "Love Is Blue" popping up in the episode over and over again. Little do most people who watched that episode know, is that the song this kidnapper used was a huge pop hit in 1968. It was a song that was written with lyrics in 1967, but the most notable version was an instrumental version by French composer Paul Mauriat. It was the only time that a French lead artist scored a #1 hit in America, and even today, he still remains the only one to accomplish that.
The song in its lyrical form was first recorded by Greek singer, Vicky Leandros, and it compares different forms of love's pleasure and pain to colors. The English lyrics say "Blue, blue, my world is blue...", which is where the song's title originates from. Mauriat's instrumental version is a nod back to the pre-Beatles era, where orchestral music was common on the pop charts. In fact, it's been a long time since we've even seen an instrumental in this blog, with the last one being "Telstar" in 1962. The song resembles a lot of what we saw from other orchestra leaders like Percy Faith and Bert Kaempfert, so you could make a solid argument that "Love Is Blue" could be a moment of nostalgia that the music buying public was feeling in early 1968. But there's something different about "Love Is Blue".
Faith and Kaempfert gave us some nice little songs, but when you compare them to "Love Is Blue", they fall just a little bit flat. "Love Is Blue" is a gleaming sensation of fine orchestral music. It features what sounds like a harpsichord that carries the melody in the verses, along with lush strings, quality background horns, and a swift, happy melody that moves the song at a sweet pace. It's a really cool song, even though there are no words being spoken in Mauriat's version. But in my eyes, he still found a way to improve the song, and there's something to be said for that. Of course, it won't blow you away, but it's hard to imagine anyone being bothered or annoyed by it. This is what orchestral music should be.
Mauriat had limited success in the U.S, after "Love Is Blue", but it still propelled him to international stardom. He became pretty big in Japan, and is the only foreign artist to sell out two shows in one day at the Nippon Budokah arena in Tokyo. He continued to perform with his orchestra until he retired from performing in 1998, though his orchestra continued to perform. He enjoyed a few years of retirement before dying in 2006 at the age of 81. After his death, his orchestra ceased to exist, possibly as a sign of respect to all he had accomplished.
GRADE: 8/10
JUST MISSED:
Dionne Warwick was kept out of the #1 spot by "Love Is Blue", with her gloopy, meaningless song of the "(Theme From) Valley of the Dolls" peaking at #2 behind it. This is NOT Warwick at her best. It's a 4.
(Dionne Warwick will eventually appear in this blog)
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