B-side "Come Back" Genre Doo-wop Writer(s) Neil Levenson | Released 1963 Length 1:57 | |
Label Rust Records (USA)
Philips (UK) | ||
"Denise" is a song written by Neil Levenson. The song was inspired by his childhood friend, Denise Lefrak. In 1963, the song became a popular top ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, when recorded by the American doo-wop group Randy & the Rainbows. A cover version by the American new wave group Blondie, re-titled "Denis", reached number 2 in the UK Singles Chart in 1978. Dutch actress and singer Georgina Verbaan covered "Denis" in 2002 and reached number 30 on the Dutch Singles Chart.
Contents
Randy & the Rainbows version
The American doo-wop group Randy & the Rainbows recorded "Denise" with the producers of The Tokens, releasing it as their single in 1963. The group's version of the song spent seventeen weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, charting at no. 10, peaking at no. 18 on the Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart, and reaching no. 5 on Canada's CHUM Hit Parade.
Track listings
- "Denise" (Levenson) – 1:57
- "Come Back" 2:17
Blondie version
"Denis" (changing the name to its masculine form, pronounced without the final "s") is a 1977 cover of the song by the American new wave band Blondie. The cover of the song helped the band break into the international market. It featured on the band's second studio album, Plastic Letters (1978), and was the second UK single release by Blondie on Chrysalis records.
The initial Blondie version contained a verse with partly improvised lyrics in French by the group's vocalist Debbie Harry. Although Chrysalis insisted that the band re-record the song with a grammatically correct French translation, both the band and producer Richard Gottehrer preferred the first take. Harry stood her ground on the matter, and the version containing the "pidgin French" lyrics was released. The second, re-recorded version had its debut as a bonus track on EMI UK's 1994 re-issue of Plastic Letters.
"Denis" was released in February 1978 and reached number 2 in the UK and broke into the Top 20 in most European countries including number 1 in Netherlands. In the UK, the song was kept at number 2 for four weeks, first by Kate Bush's "Wuthering Heights" and then by Brian and Michael's "Matchstalk Men and Matchstalk Cats and Dogs". Just like "Rip Her to Shreds", the single was issued on both 7" and 12" formats in the UK, and both feature two B-sides, "Contact in Red Square" from Plastic Letters and "Kung-Fu Girls" from Blondie. "Denis" was the only single released in the US from Plastic Letters (with "I'm on E" as the B-side) though it never charted. In 1988, a remixed version of the track was issued as a single from the Blondie/Debbie Harry remix compilation Once More into the Bleach. This time the single reached number 50 in the UK. In 2014, the Blondie track was included in the opening credits to the movie The Skeleton Twins.
Track listings
- "Denis" (Levenson) – 2:18
- "Contact in Red Square" (Destri) – 2:01
- "Kung-Fu Girls" (Destri, Harry, Valentine) – 2:33
- "Denis" (Levenson) – 2:18
- "I'm on E" (Harry, Stein) – 2:13
- "Denis '88" – 5:26
- "Rapture" (The Teddy Riley Remix) – 7:02
- "Denis" (The Danny D Remix) – 5:26
- "Rapture" (The Teddy Riley Remix) – 7:02
- "Rapture" (The Teddy Riley Dub Version) – ?:??
- "Denis '88" – 5:26
- "Rapture (The Teddy Riley Remix) – 7:02
- "Heart Of Glass" – 4:00
- "Atomic" – 3:32
Georgina Verbaan version
In 2002, Dutch actress and singer Georgina Verbaan recorded a cover version of "Denis" for her debut studio album Sugar Spider. Her version of the song was issued on the Jive Records label as a single and it reached number 30 on the Dutch Singles Chart.
Track listings
- "Denis"
- "No More Lies"