B-side "That Promise" Recorded 1967 Length 2:57 | Released September 1967 Genre Easy listening | |
Label Decca Records (F 12655) | ||
"The Last Waltz" is an english schlager song written by Barry Mason and Les Reed. It was one of Engelbert Humperdinck's biggest hits, spending five weeks at number 1 on the UK Singles Chart, from September 1967 to October 1967, and has since sold over 1.17 million copies in the United Kingdom.
Contents
In the United States, "The Last Waltz" reached number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and made the top ten of the easy listening chart.
The song is associated with the English football clubs, Peterborough United F.C. and Gillingham F.C.
Background
The title of the song is something of a double entendre as it refers to both the narrator's first and last dances with the woman he loves: the first dance was the "last waltz" played at the party where the two met, and the final dance signified the end of their relationship after their romance had cooled.
Versions
French-language versions, titled "La Dernière Valse", were released by Mireille Mathieu and Petula Clark in 1967. Mireille Mathieu's version spent three weeks at number one in the French pop charts, and also was a hit in Britain, reaching #26. Petula Clark's version entered the French charts in February 1968 and reached number two but did not chart in the UK. It is also included on her album, The Other Man's Grass Is Always Greener (1968). In 1968 Québec singer Stéphane released a French cover on his album Stéphane and in 1969 Ginette Reno also released a French version. Total sales of the different versions combined are over eight million copies.
The Austrian singer Peter Alexander took the song as Der letzte Walzer in November 1967 to the top of the German charts. In his home country it reached only the tenth position.