Song Information
A gender-swapping cover of the 1963 hit "Denise" by Randy & the Rainbows, the song helped the band break into the international market. The original version of the song contained a verse with partly improvised lyrics in French by vocalist Debbie Harry. Although Chrysalis insisted that the band re-record the song with a grammatically correct French translation, both the band and producer Richard Gottehrer preferred the first take. Harry stood her ground on the matter,and the version containing the "pidgin French" lyrics was released. The second, re-recorded version had its debut as a bonus track on EMI UK's 1994 re-issue of Plastic Letters.
"Denis" was released in February 1978 and reached number two in the UK and Australia and broke into the top twenty in most European countries. In the UK, the song was kept off of the top spot by Kate Bush's "Wuthering Heights". Just like "Rip Her to Shreds", the single was issued on both 7" and 12" formats in the UK, and both feature two B-sides, "Contact in Red Square" from Plastic Letters and "Kung-Fu Girls" from Blondie. "Denis" was the only single released in the US from Plastic Letters—with "I'm on E" as the B-side—but never charted. In 1988, a remixed version of the track was issued as the lead single for Blondie/Debbie Harry remix compilation Once More into the Bleach.
Read more about this topic: Denis (song)
Famous quotes containing the words song and/or information:
“Commercial to the core, Elvis was the kind of singer dear to the heart of the music business. For him to sing a song was to sell a song. His G clef was a dollar sign.”
—Albert Goldman (b. 1927)
“I believe it has been said that one copy of The Times contains more useful information than the whole of the historical works of Thucydides.”
—Richard Cobden (1804–1865)