"Maladie d'Amour" (French: Love Sickness) is a

popular Popularity or social status is the quality of being well liked, admired or well known to a particular group. Popular may also refer to: In sociology * Popular culture * Popular fiction * Popular music * Popular science * Populace, the total ...

folk tune of the

French West Indies The French West Indies or French Antilles (french: Antilles françaises, ; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Antiy fwansez) are the parts of France located in the Antilles islands of the Caribbean: * The two overseas departments of: ** Guadeloupe, ...

recorded for the first time in 1931 by

Léona Gabriel Léona Gabriel-Soïme (8 June 1891 - 11 August 1971) was a biguine singer from Martinique active in Paris during the interwar years. She married the military doctor Norbert Soïme in 1933. She was born at Rivière-Pilote. Daughter of a white cr ...

but popularised in the arrangement by

Henri Salvador Henri Salvador (18 July 1917 – 13 February 2008) was a French Caribbean comedian, singer and cabaret artist. Biography Salvador was born in Cayenne, French Guiana. His father, Clovis, and his mother, Antonine Paterne, daughter of a native Ca ...

published in

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – Luis ...

. The published lyrics of

Marc Lanjean Jean Alciede Marie Marcland ( Limoges, 1903 - 26 February 1964) was a French composer of film music. He also wrote popular tunes under the name Marc Lanjean. Discography *''Musique Aux 4 Vents'' with Roger RogerBillboard - 22 Dec 1962 - Page 18 GR ...

begin: "Maladie d’amour,/ Maladie des amoureux / Si tu n’aimes que moi / Reste tout près de moi". However Salvador himself often sang the song in French Creole with the lyrics "Maladi damour, Maladi dé zamoureu, Chacha si’w enmen-mwen, Wa maché dèyè-mwen", a tribute to a ''chacha'', meaning an older woman sweet on a younger man. The song became a standard among French singers, being sung among others by

Jean Sablon Jean Sablon (Nogent-sur-Marne 25 March 1906 – Cannes 24 February 1994) was a French singer, songwriter, composer and actor. He was one of the first French singers to immerse himself in jazz. The man behind several songs by big French and Amer ...

Sacha Distel Alexandre "Sacha" Distel (29 January 1933 – 22 July 2004) was a French singer, guitarist, songwriter and actor who had hits with a cover version of "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" in 1970, which reached No 10 in the UK Charts, "Scoubidou", ...

, Élisabeth Jérôme (fr), La Compagnie créole (fr), Manu Dibango, David Martial (fr) and Jacob Desvarieux (fr).

English version

The song is better known in English-speaking countries by the English version with lyrics by Leo Johns to an adapted French title "Melodie d'Amour" (French: "Melody of Love") by

The Ames Brothers ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

which was first released by

RCA Victor 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 Aris ...

as catalog number 47-7046 in 1957. The new English lyrics by Leo Johns begin "Melodie d'amour, take this song to my lover. Shoo shoo little bird, go and find my love." This song featured an electric harpsichord, in a rhumba rhythm. The Ames brothers version first reached the Billboard magazine charts on October 7, 1957. On the Disk Jockey chart, it peaked at #5; on the Best Seller chart, at #12; on the composite chart of the top 100 songs, it reached #12. In Canada it reached #5 on the

CHUM Chart The CHUM Chart was a ranking of top 30 (and, until August 1968, the top 50) songs on Toronto, Ontario radio station CHUM AM, from 1957 to 1986, and was the longest-running Top 40 chart in the world produced by an individual radio station. On Janua ...

Other versions

Other vocal versions appeared from

Edmundo Ros Edmundo Ros OBE, FRAM (7 December 1910 – 21 October 2011), born Edmund William Ross, was a Trinidadian-Venezuelan musician, vocalist, arranger and bandleader who made his career in Britain. He directed a highly popular Latin American orchestra ...

who sung the version in English with his orchestra, and the single appeared on the Variety magazine charts in 1957.

The Ray Conniff Singers Joseph Raymond Conniff (November 6, 1916 – October 12, 2002) was an American bandleader and arranger best known for his Ray Conniff Singers during the 1960s. Biography Conniff was born November 6, 1916 in Attleboro, Massachusetts, United St ...

released a version of "Melodie D'Amour" (1964). Instrumental versions appeared from

The Moontrekkers The Moontrekkers were a British instrumental rock band in the early 1960s, who are best known for their minor chart hit " Night of the Vampire", arranged and produced by Joe Meek, and for their peripheral involvement in the early career of singer ...

"Night Of The Vampire" / "Melodie D'Amore" Parlophone - UK - R 4814 and

Lawrence Welk Lawrence Welk (March 11, 1903 – May 17, 1992) was an American accordionist, bandleader, and television impresario, who hosted the ''The Lawrence Welk Show'' from 1951 to 1982. His style came to be known as "champagne music" to his radio, tele ...

and his Orchestra "Calcutta" (Nicolette) / "Melodie D'amour" - London - UK - HLD 9261 1961

Dean Martin Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti; June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995) was an American singer, actor and comedian. One of the most popular and enduring American entertainers of the mid-20th century, Martin was nicknamed "The King of Cool". M ...

adapted the first line of the lyrics and title to "Cha Cha Cha De Amor" on Capitol (1962). Martin's "Cha Cha Cha D'Amour" was arranged from the Johns and Salvador version into a cha cha by arranger

Nelson Riddle Nelson Smock Riddle Jr. (June 1, 1921 – October 6, 1985) was an American arranger, composer, bandleader and orchestrator whose career stretched from the late 1940s to the mid-1980s. He worked with many world-famous vocalists at Capitol Records ...

. In Europe

Angèle Durand Angèle Caroline Liliane Josette Marie-José DeGeest ( Antwerp 23 October 1925 – Augsburg 22 December 2001) was a Belgian singer and actress. Durand was a popular singer in Germany during the early 1950s.Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2001 ...

sang a version to a German text by Glando.

Jason Kouchak Jason ( ; ) was an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Medea. He w ...

recorded the song on his 2008 ''Comme d’Habitude'' album. The Dutch singer Linda Petterson Bratt (born 1958) covered the song as "Weet Je Wat Ik Wil" in 1977 to words and arrangement by Lanjean and N. Hiltrop. Jazz pianist

Jacky Terrasson Jacky Terrasson (born November 27, 1965) is a French jazz pianist and composer. Background Terrasson's mother is African-American from Georgia, and his father is French. From his parents he heard classical music as a child. He began piano lesson ...

included the song in his 2015 album ''

Take This ''Take This'' is a studio album by French jazz pianist and composer Jacky Terrasson. The album was recorded in Pompignan, France in September 2014 and released on February 24, 2015 by Impulse!. The album title derives from Paul Desmond's song "Ta ...

''.

Use in popular culture

In 1962, Maladie d'amour was played by

Nina van Pallandt Nina, Baroness van Pallandt (born Nina Magdelena Møller; 15 July 1932) is a Danish retired singer and actress. Acting Van Pallandt acted on television and in films. From 1969 to the early 1970s, she appeared as a guest on several episodes of t ...

and

Frederik van Pallandt Frederik Jan Gustav Floris, Baron van Pallandt (4 May 1934 – 15 May 1994) was a Danish people, Danish-Dutch people, Dutch singer best known as the male, guitar-playing half of the singing duo Nina & Frederik, which was together from the late 1950 ...

in The Sold Grandfather directed by

Hans Albin Hans Albin (27 July 1905 – 5 September 1988) was a German actor, film producer and film director.Goble p.9 Selected filmography * '' Homecoming to Happiness'' (1933) * ''Three Bluejackets and a Blonde'' (1933) * '' The Champion of Pontresina ' ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maladie d'amour (song) 1949 songs 1957 singles Ames Brothers songs RCA Victor singles Henri Salvador songs