"Johnny, Johnny" is a 1985 song recorded by the French singer

Jeanne Mas Jeanne Mas is a French pop singer. She is well known in France, Switzerland, Canada and Belgium for a number of hit singles released in the 1980s. Her first success was "Toute première fois" in 1984. This song was simultaneously released in the ...

. It was her second single from her debut album, ''

'', on which it features as the second track. Released in February 1985, the song became a hit in France, topping the singles chart for about one month.

Background and writing

"Johnny, Johnny" was written and produced by

Romano Musumarra Romano Musumarra (born 21 July 1956) is an Italian composer, arranger, musician and record producer. Life and career Born in Rome, Musumarra approached music as a child, learning to play pipe organ at his church. He studied piano, composition ...

, who also composed successful songs in the 1980s for many artists such as

Princess Stéphanie of Monaco Princess Stephanie Marie Elisabeth of Monaco (born 1 February 1965) is the youngest child of Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, and American actress Grace Kelly. She is the younger sister of Albert II, Prince of Monaco, and Caroline, Princess of Han ...

Elsa Lunghini Elsa Lunghini, stage name Elsa (born 20 May 1973), is a French singer and actress. She was a teenage pop-star in the late-1980s. In 1986, she was the youngest singer to reach number one in the French charts, with the single " T'en va pas", and sh ...

Demis Roussos Artemios "Demis" Ventouris-Roussos ( ; el, Αρτέμιος "Ντέμης" Βεντούρης-Ρούσσος, ; 15 June 1946 – 25 January 2015) was a Greek singer, songwriter and musician. As a band member he is best remembered for his work in ...

and

Céline Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion ( ; born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Noted for her powerful and technically skilled vocals, Dion is the best-selling Canadian recording artist, and the best-selling French-language artist of all time. Her ...

. The song, which deals with a man named Johnny who bears very badly a break-up, was recorded in

French-language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...

, but also in

English-language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...

and

Spanish-language Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a world language, global language with more than 500 millio ...

. The song is characterized by "melodious and sweet synthetic notes, with a rhythmical bass and lively percussion". Its structure is similar to that of Jeanne Mas' previous hit, "Toute première fois". The song was re-issued in 2005 in a remixed version, but passed unnoticed.

Critical reception

A review in Pan-European magazine ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later ...

'' deemed "Johnny, Johnny" a "based disco track

hich Ij ( fa, ايج, also Romanized as Īj; also known as Hich and Īch) is a village in Golabar Rural District, in the Central District of Ijrud County, Zanjan Province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also ...

deserves to chart elsewhere".

Chart performance

On the French SNEP Singles Chart, "Johnny, Johnny" debuted at number eight on the chart edition of 2 March 1985, climbed to number one in its fifth week and stayed at the top for four weeks, alternating with

Al Corley Alford Corley (born May 22, 1956) is an American actor, singer and producer. Corley is best known as the first actor to play Steven Carrington in the 1980s soap opera ''Dynasty'' and for his 1984 hit single " Square Rooms". Career In the late 19 ...

's "

Square Rooms "Square Rooms" is a song by American singer and actor Al Corley. It was the first single from his debut album of the same name. First released in 1984; the song was a hit single in Continental Europe, and had a moderate success in the United State ...

". After that, it dropped to number six and almost kept on falling. It remained for 14 weeks in the top ten and 23 weeks on the chart (top 50)."Johnny, Johnny", in French Singles Char
Lescharts.com
(Retrieved 20 April 2008) Mas thus became the first female artist to reach number one on the new SNEP French Singles Chart.Alex P. King, ''Hit-parade, 20 ans de tubes'', 2005, Pascal Ed., p. 8 (
Vingt ans de tubes
(Retrieved 23 April 2008) "Johnny, Johnny" was also much played on French radios, topping both the FM and the AM stations charts. As for Mas' previous single "Toute première fois", it achieved Gold status awarded by the

Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique The National Syndicate of Phonographic Publishing (french: Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique; SNEP) is the inter-professional organisation that protects the interests of the French record industry. Originally known under the acronym ...

, the French certifier, for over 500,000 units. The 2005 version failed to reach the top 100. On the European Hot 100, "Johnny, Johnny" entered at number 34 on 11 March 1985 and reached a peak of number 25 four weeks later. On the European Airplay Top 50, it debuted at number 30 on 4 February 1985, peaked at number 13 in its 13th week and charted for a total of 19 weeks.

Official versions

* Single version – 4:05 * Album version – 4:25 * English version – 4:21 * Spanish version – 4:11 * Extended version – 6:30 * New club mix – 6:22 * Radio edit (2005) – 3:26 * Bounce mix edit (2005) – 3:15 * Remix 2 edit (2005) – 3:19 * Club mix (2005) – 5:18 * Bounce mix (2005) – 6:18

Track listings

; 7" single # "Johnny, Johnny" – 4:05 # "Lisa" – 4:13 ; 12" maxi # "Johnny, Johnny" – 6:30 # "Lisa" – 4:13 ; 12" maxi # "Johnny, Johnny" (new club mix) – 6:22 # "Johnny, Johnny" (extended version) – 6:30 ; CD single – 2005 remix # "Johnny, Johnny" (radio edit) – 3:26 # "Johnny, Johnny" (bounce mix edit) – 3:15 # "Johnny, Johnny" (remix 2 edit) – 3:19 ; 12" maxi – 2005 remix # "Johnny, Johnny" (club mix) – 5:18 # "Johnny, Johnny" (bounce mix) – 6:18

Certifications

Charts

References

External links

"Johnny, Johnny", lyrics

{{authority control 1985 singles Jeanne Mas songs SNEP Top Singles number-one singles Songs written by Romano Musumarra 1985 songs EMI Records singles