LABELLE - LADY MARMALADE
LABELLE - LADY MARMALADE
NOTE: I've upscaled and improved the colour saturation of this TV clip.
Remembering BOB CREWE, American songwriter, dancer, singer, manager, and record producer. He was known for producing, and co-writing with Bob Gaudio, a string of Top 10 singles for the Four Seasons and LADY MARMALADE by LABELLE (Nov 12, 1930 – Sep 11, 2014)
An L.A. studio giant, Bob Crewe is primarily remembered as the producer/songwriter behind a bevy of soft pop songs in the '60s and '70s for such artists as the Four Seasons, the Osmonds, and others.
Along with partners Bob Gaudio and, later, Kenny Nolan, Crewe co-penned/and or produced such hits as Labelle's "Lady Marmalade," the Walker Brothers' "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine (Anymore)," and the Four Seasons' "Big Girls Don't Cry" and "Walk Like a Man," among many more.
In fact, Crewe was so closely associated with the Four Seasons, he was often referred to by members as "the Fifth Season."
LADY MARMALADE
When Labelle performed this on television, broadcast standards of the day prohibited them from singing the chorus as written ("Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir"), so they often changed it to "Voulez-vous danser avec moi ce soir" (do you want to dance with me). However, in this clip, they certainly don't!
Lady Marmalade was inspired by New Orleans prostitutes. The French Quarter is near the city's red-light district.
This was originally recorded by the disco group The Eleventh Hour, which was made up of studio musicians and featured Kenny Nolan's vocals.
Labelle recorded the song at the suggestion of their producer Allen Toussaint, who recorded it with the group in New Orleans at his Sea-Saint studios (he also did the arrangements and played the piano).
Labelle turned this song into an outrageous party anthem which went along with their glamorous look and sexual persona, earning them a huge following in the gay community. To anyone paying attention, the song was highly suggestive and it did ruffle some feathers, partly because it seemed to glamorize prostitution.
In a 1986 interview with NME Patti LaBelle explained: "That song was taboo. I mean, why sing about a hooker? Why not? I had a good friend who was a hooker, and she died. She never took the mike out of my mouth and I never took the mattress from under her. She was a friend, doing her thing. It'd be like discriminating because you're white and I'm black, or you're gay and someone's straight. I don't believe in separating people. If your job is as a hooker, more power to you."
In the same NME interview, LaBelle claimed she didn't know the real meaning of the song until much later. Said Patti: "I thought people would boo us because we'd gone too far. I was afraid of change. But when we went out and did it, I said 'good!' Three outrageous black women who wore and said anything onstage... Although with 'Lady Marmalade' I swear I had no idea for a while what it meant, until I asked Bob Crewe, who recorded it, 'what's voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir?' He told me, 'Oh gosh', I said, 'what will my mother think?'"
This is the only hit credited to Labelle. Patti LaBelle, the lead singer of the trio, recorded in the '60s as Patti LaBelle And The Blue Belles, and in the '80s as a solo artist. Another member, Nona Hendryx, went on to a very eclectic solo career that included a Captain Beefheart tribute. The third member, Sarah Dash, had a minor hit in 1979 with "Sinner Man" and toured extensively with Keith Richards.
In 2021, the Library of Congress announced that "Lady Marmalade" had been entered into the National Recording Registry, making it, officially, a national treasure.
LABELLE - LADY MARMALADE
NOTE: I've upscaled and improved the colour saturation of this TV clip.
Remembering BOB CREWE, American songwriter, dancer, singer, manager, and record producer. He was known for producing, and co-writing with Bob Gaudio, a string of Top 10 singles for the Four Seasons and LADY MARMALADE by LABELLE (Nov 12, 1930 – Sep 11, 2014)
An L.A. studio giant, Bob Crewe is primarily remembered as the producer/songwriter behind a bevy of soft pop songs in the '60s and '70s for such artists as the Four Seasons, the Osmonds, and others.
Along with partners Bob Gaudio and, later, Kenny Nolan, Crewe co-penned/and or produced such hits as Labelle's "Lady Marmalade," the Walker Brothers' "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine (Anymore)," and the Four Seasons' "Big Girls Don't Cry" and "Walk Like a Man," among many more.
In fact, Crewe was so closely associated with the Four Seasons, he was often referred to by members as "the Fifth Season."
LADY MARMALADE
When Labelle performed this on television, broadcast standards of the day prohibited them from singing the chorus as written ("Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir"), so they often changed it to "Voulez-vous danser avec moi ce soir" (do you want to dance with me). However, in this clip, they certainly don't!
Lady Marmalade was inspired by New Orleans prostitutes. The French Quarter is near the city's red-light district.
This was originally recorded by the disco group The Eleventh Hour, which was made up of studio musicians and featured Kenny Nolan's vocals.
Labelle recorded the song at the suggestion of their producer Allen Toussaint, who recorded it with the group in New Orleans at his Sea-Saint studios (he also did the arrangements and played the piano).
Labelle turned this song into an outrageous party anthem which went along with their glamorous look and sexual persona, earning them a huge following in the gay community. To anyone paying attention, the song was highly suggestive and it did ruffle some feathers, partly because it seemed to glamorize prostitution.
In a 1986 interview with NME Patti LaBelle explained: "That song was taboo. I mean, why sing about a hooker? Why not? I had a good friend who was a hooker, and she died. She never took the mike out of my mouth and I never took the mattress from under her. She was a friend, doing her thing. It'd be like discriminating because you're white and I'm black, or you're gay and someone's straight. I don't believe in separating people. If your job is as a hooker, more power to you."
In the same NME interview, LaBelle claimed she didn't know the real meaning of the song until much later. Said Patti: "I thought people would boo us because we'd gone too far. I was afraid of change. But when we went out and did it, I said 'good!' Three outrageous black women who wore and said anything onstage... Although with 'Lady Marmalade' I swear I had no idea for a while what it meant, until I asked Bob Crewe, who recorded it, 'what's voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir?' He told me, 'Oh gosh', I said, 'what will my mother think?'"
This is the only hit credited to Labelle. Patti LaBelle, the lead singer of the trio, recorded in the '60s as Patti LaBelle And The Blue Belles, and in the '80s as a solo artist. Another member, Nona Hendryx, went on to a very eclectic solo career that included a Captain Beefheart tribute. The third member, Sarah Dash, had a minor hit in 1979 with "Sinner Man" and toured extensively with Keith Richards.
In 2021, the Library of Congress announced that "Lady Marmalade" had been entered into the National Recording Registry, making it, officially, a national treasure.
