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  1. #1
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    Motown tracks recorded in a foreign language by the original artists

    were there any........is there a definitive list?

  2. #2
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  3. #3
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    Stevie... in Spanish
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_HbM...eature=related

    these must be from a released collection of foreign versions

  4. #4
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    Many of the artists around '65,'66,'67 did record in foreign languages. Mostly the bigger acts with the bigger hits.

  5. #5
    Platters81,

    You might want to consider this compilation: -

    Motown Around The World

    Cheers

    Paul

  6. #6
    Ramone Verona Guest
    It's a nice set.
    But I don't know what they are singing about?
    Wish I knew the languages.

  7. #7
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    Le Velvelettes français est assez bon. Ils devraient avoir enregistré tout un album en français. Fun stuff!

  8. #8
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    You're right Blueskies, the 4 songs in French on their "Anthology" set are pretty good :

    Puis [[As Long As I Know He's Mine)

    Je Veux Crier [[My Foolish Heart [[Keeps Hanging On To A Memory)

    Hoky Poky "[[The) Monkey"

    Le Plus Marveilleux Garcon Du Monde [[You Lost The Sweetest Boy)



  9. #9
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    *smile*

    Stevie Wonder recorded "Castles in the sand" in French on the same day that the Velvelettes recorded their tracks.

  10. #10
    Ramone Verona Guest
    The French vocal coach must have been on the payroll that day?

  11. #11
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    I thought I had read at one time that one of the Velvelettes took French or majored in it in college? That would help. Maybe boyfromcrosstown can verify this as he's in contact with the Velvelettes.

  12. #12
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    Blueskies - Yes that's right, Cal majored in French. But Ramone is right too!

    One day Berry Gordy Jr stumbled on a delivery person talking to Cal in French. Mr Gordy was gobsmacked!

    He then decided to record some Motown songs in French and he enlisted Pierre Berjot to supervise the sessions. Mr Gordy chose the Velvelettes and Stevie Wonder as the artists. Stevie was very nervous and it was Norma that encouraged him.

  13. #13
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    Wow....thanks for that fascinating piece of Motown History. Exactly who was Pierre Berjot?

  14. #14
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    and my favorite, "Il Sole è Di Tutti-[[A Place In the Sun)" from Italiano television:



  15. #15
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    great info..........thanks all for the replys..........

  16. #16
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    Pierre was a noted producer from Paris and had been working with major record companies there. He had experience that was clear but when I got the chance to ask him questions, I didn't like to ask such detailed info.

    A few years ago, one of his tunes was sampled in a rap song and he was doing quite well from the sales. I forgot what song it was now though.

  17. #17
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    I've seen many Four Tops and Supremes recordings in French and Italian and Spanish. I think that some of the major Motown artists even recorded in German [[which would be quite a feat-as German doesn't fit well with just about ANY English songs or contemporary music).

  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by robb_k View Post
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    I've seen many Four Tops and Supremes recordings in French and Italian and Spanish. I think that some of the major Motown artists even recorded in German [[which would be quite a feat-as German doesn't fit well with just about ANY English songs or contemporary music).
    Robb .. There are two SUPREMES tracks on the "Motown around the World" compilation sung in Deutsch .. both #1 U.S. hits in their original English versions ..

    My German is [[ to say the least ) poor, but it seems to me that this one has lyrics that bear no relation to the original .. its called "Johnny Und Joe" .. which gives no clue to the English title. Perhaps you could use your German skills to let us know what they are singing about?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yC498Ups5t8

    This one is called "Wo Ist Unser Leibe" which translates as "Where Is Our love" which is a big clue to its English title ..

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFeVKYOLsfg

    And here is one from Herr Gaye .. "Wie Shon Das Ist" .. "How Sweet That Is" .. you should guess what that is.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NP2pt...eature=related

    There is also a link in there to THE TEMPTATIONS singing "Mein Girl" .. no prizes for guessing what that is ..

    Roger

  19. #19
    Ramone Verona Guest
    Was "Motown Around The World" a complete set of all Motown foreign language tracks?
    Or are there still more in the vault?
    Maybe the liner notes indicate?

  20. #20
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    Ramone

    It released all the known [[Classic Motown) foreign language recordings except the Stevie track. Not yet found and confirmed was Martha's two German tracks.

  21. #21
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    Meiner Mädchen, sprechen om Meiner Mädchen

    Ich habe Sonnenschein an einem bewölkten Tag,

    Somehow these words and syllables are way too long to fit in the American music.

    David and the other Temptations sound great, and I can even understand most of what they are saying [[very good pronunciation)-unlike The Supremes on "Wo Ist Unser Liebe" [[LIEBE NOT Leibe!), -which I cannot understand [[can't hear the words for the slurring). You are correct that most of the song's lyrics are not similar to the English version. This was done because they are restricted to using the already recorded music, which would have to be extended to half-again as long, to accommodate the German words and syllables, as German requires roughly 1.5 times as many words and letters as English, to convey the same meaning [[at least those are the ratios we use for translating English to German in sizing print on pages and word balloons at the European Disney Comics and children's books franchises for which I work). They had to use well-known English words "Well, Girl, Happy, etc, whenever they could to cut down the length and keep close to the music's timing. Even with that, they had to cut lots of meaning out of the song.

  22. #22
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    Marvin did a great job on "Wie Shon Das Ist. It translates a bit better. But it has also lost some meaning. Not surprisingly, Germans who commented all like the English version better. Just as I seem to like Italian operas better in Italian than in English, or "Besame Mucho" by a Spanish-Speaking group, better than an English one even by The Flamingos [[one of my all-time top 5 favourite groups.

  23. #23
    hey greg here...there`s website called soul-stew.de..it is a german website/blog with a radio show called soul stew sendung. some of the past shows are available with mp3 downloads and they have the playlists too on some of them and other shows there may be just a playlist. one of the shows had a lot of german language motown songs and maybe others and i think some were definitely the american music and singers. i enjoyed it. see what you think..greg

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