It's Impossible (song)
Encyclopedia
"Somos Novios" is a song
written by the premier Mexican bolero
composer
Armando Manzanero
in 1970
. The song was translated into English
immediately by Sid Wayne
and first recorded by Perry Como
the same year under the title It's Impossible. It is one of the most popular boleros of all time. Besides Como, it has been recorded by Elvis Presley
, Andy Williams
, Jerry Vale
, Dennis Brown
, and Andrea Bocelli
. Tejano
group Mazz
recorded this as part of a meledy entitled "Canciones De Amor" which was on the album Para Nuestra Gente.
The original version of the song was written by French
musician Jack Dieval with French lyrics by Michel Rivegauche in 1960, under the title "J'ai le mal de toi", but it was probably not recorded (the song was written for the national elimination contests of France
for the 1960 Eurovision Song Contest
, and it was not making through the selection). The first evident recording is that of Colette Deréal from 1965 under the same title. The song later became "Parlez-moi de lui" (sung for example by Dalida
), and then the English lyrics was born by Al Stillman
in 1965, called "The Way of Love
", covered by many artists including Kathy Kirby
, Cher
and Shirley Bassey
.
The Perry Como version would be one of his most influential records, and in February 1971, it became his first song to reach the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100
in more than 12 years, peaking at number ten. The song's peak on the Hot 100 chart came just weeks after concluding a four-week run atop the Billboard Easy Listening chart. On the UK Singles Chart
, the single reached number four in 1971.
Vikki Carr
, an influential and popular Spanish-language songstress, recorded a notable version; and the YouTube video of her introducing this song in 1972 on The Tonight Show
With Johnny Carson is available for viewing. Sergio Franchi
covered this song (in English) on his last album, Sergio Con Amore-From My Private Collection (Gold Records, 1976).
Andrea Bocelli has covered the song as a duet with Christina Aguilera
, Katharine McPhee
and Rimi Natsukawa
in 2006. Aguilera features on Bocelli's album, Amore, with the duet with Natsukawa is a bonus track of the album's release in Japan. The duet with Natsukawa also appears as a bonus track for the Japanese version of Bocelli's The Best of Andrea Bocelli: Vivere
. McPhee joined Bocelli onstage at the JCPenney Jam and their version is included on the album for the event.
Luis Miguel
recorded the original version on his album, Segundo Romance
, which was co-produced by Manzanero.
Clay Aiken
recorded the song on his 2010 album Tried and True
.
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
written by the premier Mexican bolero
Bolero
Bolero is a form of slow-tempo Latin music and its associated dance and song. There are Spanish and Cuban forms which are both significant and which have separate origins.The term is also used for some art music...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
Armando Manzanero
Armando Manzanero
Armando Manzanero Canché is a Mexican musician and composer of Maya descent, widely considered the premier Mexican romantic composer of the postwar era and one of the most successful composers of Latin America....
in 1970
1970 in music
- Events :*January 3**Davy Jones announces he is leaving the Monkees**Former Pink Floyd frontman Syd Barrett releases his first solo album The Madcap Laughs....
. The song was translated into English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
immediately by Sid Wayne
Sid Wayne
Sid Wayne was an American songwriter, lyricist and composer, who wrote a number of well-known songs from the 1950s to the 1980s...
and first recorded by Perry Como
Perry Como
Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with them in 1943. "Mr...
the same year under the title It's Impossible. It is one of the most popular boleros of all time. Besides Como, it has been recorded by Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
, Andy Williams
Andy Williams
Howard Andrew "Andy" Williams is an American singer who has recorded 18 Gold- and three Platinum-certified albums. He hosted The Andy Williams Show, a TV variety show, from 1962 to 1971, as well as numerous television specials, and owns his own theater, the Moon River Theatre in Branson, Missouri,...
, Jerry Vale
Jerry Vale
Jerry Vale is an American singer.-Career:In high school, in order to make some money, he took a job shining shoes in a barbershop in New York City. He sang while he shined shoes, and his boss liked the sound so well that he paid for music lessons for the boy...
, Dennis Brown
Dennis Brown
Dennis Emmanuel Brown was a Jamaican reggae singer. During his prolific career, which began in the late 1960s when he was aged eleven, he recorded more than 75 albums and was one of the major stars of lovers rock, a sub-genre of reggae...
, and Andrea Bocelli
Andrea Bocelli
Andrea Bocelli, is an Italian tenor, multi-instrumentalist and classical crossover artist. Born with poor eyesight, he became blind at the age of twelve following a soccer accident....
. Tejano
Tejano music
Tejano music or Tex-Mex music is the name given to various forms of folk and popular music originating among the Mexican-American populations of Central and Southern Texas...
group Mazz
Mazz
Mazz is a Grammy Award–winning Tejano band originating from south Texas. They were formed in Brownsville, TX, by singer/guitarists Jimmy González and Joe López, and emerged as one of the most innovative bands in their genre after adding synthesizer to combine traditional Mexican music and popular...
recorded this as part of a meledy entitled "Canciones De Amor" which was on the album Para Nuestra Gente.
The original version of the song was written by French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
musician Jack Dieval with French lyrics by Michel Rivegauche in 1960, under the title "J'ai le mal de toi", but it was probably not recorded (the song was written for the national elimination contests of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
for the 1960 Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...
, and it was not making through the selection). The first evident recording is that of Colette Deréal from 1965 under the same title. The song later became "Parlez-moi de lui" (sung for example by Dalida
Dalida
Dalida , born with Italian name of Iolanda Cristina Gigliotti, was a world-famous singer and actress born in Egypt with Italian origins but naturalised French with the name Yolanda Gigliotti. She spent her early years in Egypt amongst the Italian Egyptian community, but she lived most of her adult...
), and then the English lyrics was born by Al Stillman
Al Stillman
Al Stillman was an American lyricist.-Biography:Stillman was born in New York City. His name was originally Albert Silverman, but changed it to that of a well-known New York banking family. He was Jewish. He attended New York University. After graduation, he contributed to Franklin P...
in 1965, called "The Way of Love
The Way of Love
"The Way Of Love" is a song written by Jacques Dieval and Al Stillman .- First versions :Originally written by Jack Diéval with French lyrics by Michel Rivgauche the song was introduced as 'J'ai le mal de toi'...
", covered by many artists including Kathy Kirby
Kathy Kirby
Kathy Kirby was an English singer who was reportedly the highest-paid female singer of her generation. She is best known for her cover version of Doris Day's "Secret Love" and for representing the United Kingdom in the 1965 Eurovision Song Contest, where she came in second place...
, Cher
Cher
Cher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...
and Shirley Bassey
Shirley Bassey
Dame Shirley Bassey, DBE , is a Welsh singer. She found fame in the late 1950s and was "one of the most popular female vocalists in Britain during the last half of the 20th century"...
.
The Perry Como version would be one of his most influential records, and in February 1971, it became his first song to reach the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
in more than 12 years, peaking at number ten. The song's peak on the Hot 100 chart came just weeks after concluding a four-week run atop the Billboard Easy Listening chart. On the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
, the single reached number four in 1971.
Vikki Carr
Vikki Carr
Vikki Carr is an American singer and humanitarian from El Paso, Texas. She has performed in a variety of music genres, including jazz, pop and country, but has enjoyed her greatest success singing in Spanish.-Career:After taking the stage name 'Vikki Carr', she signed with Liberty Records in 1962...
, an influential and popular Spanish-language songstress, recorded a notable version; and the YouTube video of her introducing this song in 1972 on The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. It is the longest currently running regularly scheduled entertainment program in the United States, and the third longest-running show on NBC, after Meet the Press and Today.The Tonight Show has been hosted by...
With Johnny Carson is available for viewing. Sergio Franchi
Sergio Franchi
Sergio Franchi was an Italian tenor.Franchi was born in Cremona, Italy. His father wanted him to become an electrical engineer, so he studied both music and engineering simultaneously. The family moved to South Africa in 1952, where Sergio worked part-time as a draftsman, while continuing to study...
covered this song (in English) on his last album, Sergio Con Amore-From My Private Collection (Gold Records, 1976).
Andrea Bocelli has covered the song as a duet with Christina Aguilera
Christina Aguilera
Christina María Aguilera is an American recording artist and actress. Aguilera first appeared on national television in 1990 as a contestant on the Star Search program, and went on to star in Disney Channel's television series The Mickey Mouse Club from 1993–1994...
, Katharine McPhee
Katharine McPhee
Katharine Hope McPhee is an American pop singer, songwriter, actress, model, and television personality. She gained fame as a contestant on the fifth season of the Fox reality show American Idol in 2006, eventually finishing as the runner-up.Her self-titled debut album was released on RCA Records...
and Rimi Natsukawa
Rimi Natsukawa
is an Okinawan singer. She is best known for her 2001 single "Nada Sōsō."- Childhood :Natsukawa was born in Ishigaki, the largest city in the Yaeyama Islands chain. From a young age she enjoyed singing, and wanted to be a singer after hearing her father sing Yaeyama folk songs, such as and...
in 2006. Aguilera features on Bocelli's album, Amore, with the duet with Natsukawa is a bonus track of the album's release in Japan. The duet with Natsukawa also appears as a bonus track for the Japanese version of Bocelli's The Best of Andrea Bocelli: Vivere
The Best of Andrea Bocelli: Vivere
The Best of Andrea Bocelli: Vivere is the second greatest hits album released by Italian pop tenor Andrea Bocelli. It includes five new studio recordings and was internationally released, by Sugar, October 22, 2007. The song "Vive Ya", was nominated for Record of the Year at the Latin Grammy...
. McPhee joined Bocelli onstage at the JCPenney Jam and their version is included on the album for the event.
Luis Miguel
Luis Miguel
Luis Miguel Gallego Basteri is a Mexican singer. He is widely known only by the name Luis Miguel and is often referred to as "El Sol de México"...
recorded the original version on his album, Segundo Romance
Segundo Romance
Segundo Romance is the 13th studio album released by Mexican singer Luis Miguel on August 30, 1994 by Warner Music Group. The album was produced by Miguel himself and co-produced by Armando Manzanero, Juan Carlos Calderón, and Kiko Cibrian...
, which was co-produced by Manzanero.
Clay Aiken
Clay Aiken
Clayton Holmes "Clay" Aiken is an American singer, songwriter, actor, producer and author who began his rise to fame on the second season of the television program American Idol in 2003. RCA Records offered him a recording contract, and his multi-platinum debut album Measure of a Man was released...
recorded the song on his 2010 album Tried and True
Tried and True
Tried and True is the fifth full length studio album released by Clay Aiken on June 1, 2010. This album is Aiken's first release on the Decca label. The deluxe edition includes two additional tracks plus a second disk with behind the scenes video and a live performance.-Background:The songs on...
.