"Puppet on a String" is a song recorded by

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

singer

Sandie Shaw Sandie may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Sandie Clair (born 1988), French professional racing cyclist * Sandie Fitzgibbon, Irish former camogie player * Sandie Jones (1950/1951–2019), Irish singer * Sandie Lindsay, 1st Baron Lindsay of Birker (187 ...

. The song, written by Bill Martin and

Phil Coulter Philip Coulter (born 19 February 1942) is an Irish musician, songwriter and record producer from Derry, Northern Ireland. He was awarded the Gold Badge from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors in October 2009. Coulter ha ...

, was selected to be the at the

Eurovision Song Contest 1967 The Eurovision Song Contest 1967 was the 12th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Vienna, Austria, following the country's victory at the with the song " Merci, Chérie" by Udo Jürgens. Organised by the European Br ...

, held in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. Shaw won the contest, the first of the United Kingdom's five Eurovision winners. As her thirteenth UK single release, "Puppet on a String" became a

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

number one hit on 27 April 1967, staying at the top for a total of three weeks. In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, a 1967 version by

Al Hirt Alois Maxwell "Al" Hirt (November 7, 1922 – April 27, 1999) was an American trumpeter and bandleader. He is best remembered for his million-selling recordings of "Java" and the accompanying album '' Honey in the Horn'' (1963), and for the them ...

went to number 18 on the

Adult Contemporary chart The Adult Contemporary chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary radio stations in the United States. The chart is compiled based on airplay data submitted to ''Billboard'' by sta ...

and No. 129 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

Eurovision Song Contest

had originally performed the song as one of five prospective numbers to represent the in the

on ''The Rolf Harris Show''. She had never been taken with the idea of taking part in the contest but her discoverer,

Adam Faith Terence Nelhams Wright (23 June 1940 – 8 March 2003), known as Adam Faith, was an English singer, actor, and financial journalist. A teen idol, he scored consecutive No. 1 hits on the UK Singles Chart with " What Do You Want?" (1959) and "P ...

, had talked her into it, saying it would keep her manager Eve Taylor happy. Taylor wanted to give Shaw a more

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or d ...

appeal and felt that this was the right move – and also felt that it would get Shaw back in the public's good books as she had recently been involved in a divorce scandal. Of the five songs performed, "Puppet on a String" was Shaw's least favourite. In her own words, "I hated it from the very first 'oompah' to the final 'bang' on the big bass drum. I was instinctively repelled by its sexist drivel and cuckoo-clock tune." She was disappointed when it was selected as the song she would use to represent the country, but it won the contest hands down, though it has always been felt that this was partly due to her existing popularity on the continent (she had recorded most of her hit singles in French, Italian, German and Spanish). As a result, "Puppet on a String" became her third number one hit in the UK (a record for a woman at the time) and was a big worldwide smash. In West Germany, the single was the biggest seller of the entire year, reaching sales of over 1 million copies. Globally, the single achieved sales in excess of 4 million, making it the biggest-selling winning Eurovision track to date. Some estimates suggest this makes the track the biggest selling single by a British female artist of all time. Shaw also recorded "Puppet on a String" in French ("Un tout petit pantin"), Italian ("La danza delle note"), Spanish ("Marionetas en la cuerda"), and German ("Wiedehopf im Mai").

Re-recording

Shaw re-recorded "Puppet on a String" in early 2007 to mark her 60th birthday. The recording took place after Shaw has visited her friend, the musician Howard Jones, and found him playing some chords on his keyboard and humming a melody. He encouraged her to continue the melody and before long she realised that it was in fact "Puppet on a String". They recorded a new, slow-tempo electronic version of the song and sent it to producer/mixer Andy Gray who put the final touches on the song. Shaw stated that she loved the new version (having spent a great deal of her life hating the original) and released it exclusively for free download from her official website, and Jones's, on 26 February (Shaw's birthday). It was available for free download for 60 days. As a result of its popularity, Shaw continued to put out new songs on her website for download for the remaining months of her 61st year.

Other covers

The song was covered in over 200 versions in over 30 languages. *Bulgarian: "Kukla na kontsi" (), by Margarita Radinska *Chinese: **

Betty Chung Betty Chung (born 1947) is a former Hong Kong recording artist and actress popular during the 1960s and 1970s. She sings in English and Mandarin. Life and career Betty Chung was born in Hong Kong. Her ancestral hometown is Chengdu (成都市) ...

**Singaporean singer Lara Tan ** Malaysian singer Sakura Teng *Dutch: "Speelbal in de wind" ("Beachball in the wind") by Reggy van der Burgt, later by

Anneke Grönloh Louise Johanna "Anneke" Grönloh (; 7 June 1942 – 14 September 2018) was an Indonesian-born Dutch singer. She had a successful career starting in 1959 that lasted throughout the 1960s, and scored a hit with " Brandend zand", one of the best-sell ...

*Estonian: "Hüpiknukk", by

Heli Lääts Heli Lääts (24 June 1932 – 16 February 2018) was an Estonian singer (mezzo-soprano) whose career began in the mid-1950s. Lääts predominantly performed estrada, chamber, pop, polka, and jazz music. Early life and education Heli Lääts wa ...

(1967), transl. by Heldur Karmo *Finnish: "Sätkynukke", by Maarja-Leena Hentunen (single, Philips PF 340 791) * Hungarian: "Paprikajancsi" (1967), by

Zsuzsa Koncz Zsuzsa Koncz (born Zsuzsanna Koncz) (, born 7 March 1946, Pély) is a Hungarian pop singer, whose lyrics (mostly written by János Bródy) were sometimes highly critical of the country's pre-1990 political system. Her career started after he ...

* Lithuanian: "Lele", by Violeta Riaubiskyte * Norwegian: "Sprellemann" (1967), by Bente Aaseth with lyrics by Juul Hansen, under

His Master's Voice His Master's Voice (HMV) was the name of a major British record label created in 1901 by The Gramophone Co. Ltd. The phrase was coined in the late 1890s from the title of a painting by English artist Francis Barraud, which depicted a Jack Russ ...

* Polish: "Ale Marionetka" ("What a puppet"), by

Halina Kunicka Halina is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Halina Łukomska (born 1929), Polish soprano *Halina Aszkiełowicz (born 1947), Polish former volleyball player and 1968 Olympic medallist *Halina Balon (born 1948), Polish fencer *H ...

* Portuguese: "Marionette" (1967), by

Simone de Oliveira Simone de Macedo e Oliveira, GCIH • GMC (born 11 February 1938) better known as Simone de Oliveira is a Portuguese singer and actress. She performed the Portuguese entries at the 1965 and 1969 editions of the Eurovision song contest. Ear ...

; "Feira Popular" (1990), by Ana Faria and

children A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger ...

/ teenpop group Onda Choc, on their eighth album with the same title * Russian: "Ya ne kukla" (, "I am Not a Puppet"; 1968), by

Emil Gorovets Rahmil "Emil" Yacovlevich Gorovets (in Russian Рахмиль Яковлевич Горовец; 10 June 1923, in Haisyn, Ukraine – 17 August 2001, in New York) was a famous Soviet Ukrainian singer of Jewish origin, Gorovets standing for Hor ...

* Serbian: "Marioneta" ("Marionette", 1967), by

Sanjalice Sanjalice ( sr-Cyrl, Сањалице, trans. ''The Dreamers'') were a Yugoslav rock band formed in Belgrade in 1964. Sanjalice are notable for being one of the pioneers of the Yugoslav rock scene, as well as one of the first Yugoslav all-femal ...

* Slovak: "Ako malý psík" ("Like a puppy", 1967), by Tatjana Hubinská (0130166

Supraphon Supraphon Music Publishing is a Czech record label, oriented mainly towards publishing classical music and popular music, with an emphasis on Czech and Slovak composers. History The Supraphon name was first registered as a trademark in 1932. T ...

, mono); released on the day after the Eurovision Song Contest ''Ako malý psík'' was also covered by Jana Procházková * Spanish: "Marionetas en la cuerda" (1967), by Lea Zafrani with the same lyrics as Shaw's, witten by Manuel Clavero * Swedish: "Sprattelgumma" (1967), by

Siw Malmkvist Siw Gunnel Margareta Malmkvist (born 31 December 1936) is a Swedish schlager singer and actress popular in Scandinavia and West Germany. She had a number one hit in West Germany in 1964 with "''Liebeskummer lohnt sich nicht''" (''"Lovesickness ...

* Tamil: by Nantha Balan Selvanayagam (1969). Covers not translated into another language include: *

Mantovani Annunzio Paolo Mantovani (; 15 November 1905 – 29 March 1980) was an Anglo-Italian conductor, composer and light orchestra-styled entertainer with a cascading strings musical signature. The book ''British Hit Singles & Albums'' stat ...

's instrumental version, included in the 1968 release ''The Mantovani Touch'' *the

rocksteady Rocksteady is a music genre that originated in Jamaica around 1966. A successor of ska and a precursor to reggae, rocksteady was the dominant style of music in Jamaica for nearly two years, performed by many of the artists who helped establish ...

version by

Ken Boothe Kenneth George Boothe OD (born 22 March 1948) is a Jamaican vocalist known for his distinctive vibrato and timbre. Boothe achieved an international reputation as one of Jamaica's finest vocalists through a series of crossover hits that appeal ...

under the Studio One label *Lady Marmalade's version entitled "Puppet on a String (Blueboy Remix)" *Dutch group Mrs. Einstein's English-language version, released just after appearing in the Eurovision Song Contest 1997.

In popular culture

The song was featured in The 1975 Bulgarian Cartoon Buffo-Synchronists by Proiko Proikov and the soundtrack of the 2021 film ''

Last Night in Soho ''Last Night in Soho'' is a 2021 British psychological horror film directed by Edgar Wright and co-written by Wright and Krysty Wilson-Cairns. It stars Thomasin McKenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy, Matt Smith, Rita Tushingham, Michael Ajao, Terence Stam ...

''.

Charts

References

External links

Sandie Shaw personal website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Puppet On A String 1967 singles Songs written by Bill Martin (songwriter) Eurovision songs of the United Kingdom Songs written by Phil Coulter Sandie Shaw songs Pinky and Perky songs Eurovision songs of 1967 Eurovision Song Contest winning songs UK Singles Chart number-one singles Number-one singles in Germany Number-one singles in Norway Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Number-one singles in Austria Number-one singles in New Zealand Dutch Top 40 number-one singles Pye Records singles 1967 songs