"Lost in France" is a song recorded by Welsh singer

Bonnie Tyler Gaynor Sullivan (née Hopkins; born 8 June 1951), known professionally as Bonnie Tyler, is a Welsh singer who is known for her distinctive husky voice. Tyler came to prominence with the release of her 1977 album '' The World Starts Tonight'' a ...

. It was released as a single in September 1976 by

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

, written by her producers and songwriters

Ronnie Scott Ronnie may refer to: *Ronnie (name), a unisex pet name and given name * "Ronnie" (Four Seasons song), a song by Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe *"Ronnie," a song from the Metallica album '' Load'' *Ronnie Brunswijkstadion, an association football stadium ...

and Steve Wolfe. "Lost in France" was Tyler's second single and first chart hit in her career, which featured on her debut album ''

The World Starts Tonight ''The World Starts Tonight'' is the debut studio album by Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler, released in February 1977 by RCA Records. Most of the songs were written by Ronnie Scott and Steve Wolfe, who worked as her managers while she was signed to RCA. ...

'' (1977). The lyrics depict Tyler in a daze due to

love Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest Interpersonal relationship, interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of ...

. The song was praised by critics, though some preferred her follow-up single "

More Than a Lover "More Than a Lover" is a song recorded by Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler from her debut studio album '' The World Starts Tonight'' (1977). It was released by RCA Records in January 1977, shortly before the release of the album, and was written by her at ...

" for its controversial nature. "Lost in France" was a commercial success. It peaked highest at number two in South Africa, and was also a Top 20 hit in a further six countries.

Background

Bonnie Tyler was spotted by

talent scout In professional sports, scouts are experienced talent evaluators who travel extensively for the purposes of watching athletes play their chosen sports and determining whether their set of skills and talents represent what is needed by the scout ...

Roger Bell in The Townsman Club, Swansea, singing the

Ike & Tina Turner Ike & Tina Turner were an American musical duo consisting of husband and wife Ike Turner and Tina Turner. From 1960 to 1976, they performed live as the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, supported by Ike Turner's band the Kings of Rhythm and backing vocal ...

song "

Nutbush City Limits "Nutbush City Limits" is a semi-autobiographical song written by Tina Turner which commemorates her rural hometown of Nutbush in Haywood County, Tennessee, United States. Originally released as a single on United Artists Records in August 19 ...

" with her band Imagination in 1975. She was invited to London to record some demo tracks. After months had passed, Tyler received a phone call from

, offering her a

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist (or group), where the artist makes a record (or series of records) for the label to sell and promote. Artists ...

. "My! My! Honeycomb" was to become her first single, released in April 1976. The song failed to chart, only receiving local airplay in Wales. In response to this, RCA increased their promotional efforts for the release of "Lost in France", arranging for Tyler to fly to a

château A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. Nowaday ...

in France to meet with a large number of journalists. Soon after the song's release, Tyler underwent an operation to remove nodules from her vocal cords. She failed to follow the six-week rest period instructed by her doctor and was left with a permanent, distinct raspy quality.

Recording

Tyler recorded four demos in London in 1975. "My! My! Honeycomb" was released as her first single with "Got So Used to Loving You" as its

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

, and "Lost in France" was released with "Baby I Remember You" as its B-side. David Mackay,

and Steve Wolfe produced the songs. "Got So Used to Loving You" and "Lost in France" were later chosen to appear on her debut album ''

'', which was released in February 1977.

Composition

"Lost in France" is a country pop song with a length of three minutes and 54 seconds. It is set in

common time The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...

and has a moderate

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...

of 118 beats per minute. It is written in the

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

B-flat major B-flat major is a major scale based on B, with pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A. Its key signature has two flats. Its relative minor is G minor and its parallel minor is B-flat minor. The B-flat major scale is: : Many transposing instr ...

and Tyler's vocals span one

octave In music, an octave ( la, octavus: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is the interval between one musical pitch and another with double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been refer ...

and a

semitone A semitone, also called a half step or a half tone, is the smallest musical interval commonly used in Western tonal music, and it is considered the most dissonant when sounded harmonically. It is defined as the interval between two adjacent no ...

, from A₃ to B-flat₄.

Music Video

Tyler is seen singing as she walks through the gardens of a château, inside a cafe, and later singing from an upstairs window.

Chart performance

On the week ending 30 October 1976, "Lost in France" entered the UK Singles Chart weeks after its initial release. Two weeks later, the song reached the Top 40, reaching number twenty-two. "Lost in France" continued to rise until it reached number nine on 27 November, maintaining the position for two weeks. The single gradually dropped following its peak, spending a total of ten weeks on the UK Singles Chart.

Critical reception

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'' described the song as the "stand-out track" from ''

'', naming it the "most commercial." ''Record Mirror'' favoured the follow-up single "

", though agreed "Lost in France" was the more commercial of the two.

Live performances

Tyler's first television promotion for "Lost in France" took place on ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

'' on 4 November 1976. Tyler performed "Lost in France" live in

Zaragosa Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributar ...

, Spain, in 2005. The performance was recorded and released on Tyler's album '' Bonnie Tyler Live'' (2006) and the accompanying DVD ''

Bonnie on Tour ''Bonnie on Tour'' is a live DVD by Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler. It was released in 2006 by Stick Music. The DVD contains footage of Tyler performing at La Cigale in Paris, France, at the 2005 Sopot International Song Festival in Poland, and at an ...

'' (2006).

Track listing

; 7" single # "Lost in France" — 4:03 # "Baby I Remember You" — 3:19

Charts

Weekly charts

Year–end charts

Cover versions

*Swedish

dansband (; "dance band"), or in Norwegian and Danish, is a Swedish term for a band that plays ("dance band music"). ' is often danced to in pairs. Jitterbug and foxtrot music are often included in this category. The music is primarily inspired by ...

Wizex Wizex is a Swedish dansband formed in Osby in 1973. It purchased the rights to the name from a band that started as ''Ulrik Wittmans Kvintett'' in 1957''.'' When Ulrik Wittman left the band in 1963 they started to use the name ''Wizex''. When rea ...

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

the song in 1977, featuring

Kikki Danielsson Ann-Kristin "Kikki" Danielsson (born 10 May 1952) is a Swedish country, dansband and pop singer. Sometimes, she also plays the accordion and she has also written some lyrics. She has gained notice for yodeling in some songs. Danielsson gained he ...

on lead vocals. The song was later rereleased on Danielsson's 2001 compilation album ''

Fri Fri is a common abbreviation of Friday. Fri or FRI may also refer to: * ''Fri'' (yacht), involved in anti-nuclear protests * ''Fri – En samling'', a 2001 album by Kikki Danielsson * Family Research Institute, US * Forest Research Institute (dis ...

''. *Chris Conti recorded a dance version of "Lost in France" as a single, released in 1995.

Personnel

Credits are adapted from

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desce ...

of ''The World Starts Tonight''. ;Technical and production *Dave Harris – assistant engineering *Ashley Howe – engineering *Andrew Hoy – production co-ordination *David Mackay – arranging, engineering, producer *George Nicholson – engineering *

– producer *Simon Wakefield – assistant engineering *Steve Wolfe – producer ;Sounding *

– vocal ;On instruments *

Terry Britten Terence Ernest Britten (born July 1947) is an English-Australian singer-songwriter and record producer, who has written songs for Tina Turner, Cliff Richard, Olivia Newton-John, Status Quo and Michael Jackson amongst many others. Britten (along w ...

– guitar *Dave Christopher – guitar *Mo Foster –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

*Barry Guard –

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

*Simon Phillips –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

*Alan Tarney – bass guitar, guitar *Steve Wolfe – guitar

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lost In France 1976 singles Bonnie Tyler songs Songs written by Ronnie Scott (songwriter) Songs written by Steve Wolfe Songs about France