EARLY '70S RADIO: Bobby Goldsboro and Jeane-Claude Borelly: Shared Intros

Sunday, April 27, 2014

Bobby Goldsboro and Jeane-Claude Borelly: Shared Intros

In early '76 the French trumpeting instrumentalist Jeane-Claude Borelly scored a minor #106 hit with a single called "Dolannes Melodie" (a theme for the 1974 film Un linceul n'a pas de poches). Had to wrack my brain a bit, but I can now report that the song's opening musical motif is taken directly from Bobby Goldsboro's "Summer (The First Time)," a #21 hit in '73.

What a fascinating record "Summer" is, by the way - at once uncomfortable and arresting, with its coming of sexual age lyrics and beguiling arrangement. (Millie Jackson did an equally compelling version of it the following year.) Bobby Goldsboro is a puzzle to me, with a catalog that alternates between deep pathos and shallow bathos, sometimes even within a single song. One day I'll take the time to express this more fully.

Bobby Goldsboro - "Summer (The First Time)" (Billboard #21, entered 8/25/73). Written by Bobby Goldsboro. Produced by Bob Montgomery and Bobby Goldsboro. 45: "Summer (The First Time)"/"Childhood - 1949" (United Artists 1973). LP: Summer (The First Time) (United Artists 1973).

The B-side of "Summer," incidentally, revisits the theme of childhood - a preoccupation for both Goldsboro and the entire early '70s zeitgeist.

Jeane-Claude Borelly and His Orchestra - "Dolannes Melodie" (Billboard #106, entered 1/24/76). Written by Paul de Senneville and Olivier Toussaint. Arranged by Hervé Roy. 45: "Dolannes Melodie"/"Dolannes Melodie (Pipes of Pan Version)" (London 1975). LP: (No US album release).

The B-side is the real charmer, for my money - pan pipes, acoustic guitar, and strings, with no stolen Goldsboro motifs.

3 comments:

UnknownJanuary 9, 2020 at 6:05 AM
Borelly's theme was DEFINITELY ripped from Goldsboro-just listen to both-so obvious.
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UnknownMarch 16, 2022 at 4:43 PM
Es un plagio por donde se mire. Hasta las melodias comparten muchisimas semejanzas. Supongo que Goldsboro hizo valer sus derecho s de autor. Por lo demás su versión es lejos mas bella que la de Borelly
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AnonymousSeptember 15, 2022 at 8:36 AM
This is the most blatant example of musical plagiarism I have ever heard. The intuitively titled "Summer (The First Time)" was written by Goldsboro in 73. Dolannes Melodie was written the following year.
A series of musicians released versions of Dolannes Melodie in subsequent years including Richard Clayderman, all seemingly having fun with the musical misappropriation using album titles like: Summer Nights, Summer Dawns etc.
In many previous cases of musical plagiarism, one needs to have a trained musical ear to recognise the similarities, in this instance it is quite blatant. Have a listen and be shocked!
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Good Words About Early '70s Radio

"Kim Simpson does a superb job analyzing the manifold factors that contributed to the radio format revolution while advancing the reader’s understanding of a transformative period in American culture. Ultimately, Simpson’s astute assessment of radio’s second heyday adds richly to the ever-growing canon of media studies. Early '70s Radio is must reading for anyone interested in the unique role specialized audio programming played in an era of historic social change."

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–– Claude Hall, B.J., M.Ed. Radio-TV Editor, Billboard, 1964-79, and Assistant Communications Professor, State University of New York at Brockport, 1983-89

"Too often we separate the agendas contained in business plans from the decisions of daily life. Kim Simpson’s Early ‘70s Radio reunites the items found on playlists with the passions and polemics that infused a complicated decade. His skilful scholarship and attention to detail clarify that what we listen to and how we lead our lives do not march to separate beats, for our actions and our aesthetic preferences bear subtle and significant harmonies."

–– David Sanjek, Professor of Music Director, Salford Music Research Centre University of Salford, U.K.

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–– Eric Weisbard, University of Alabama and editor, Listen Again: A Momentary History of Pop Music