TOP 2O
GREATEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE SINGLES OF THE 80S
GREATEST FOREIGN - LANGUAGE SINGLES OF THE 80S TOP 20
OUR RUN-DOWN OF THE BEST SONGS NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE…
JON O’BRIEN
Asa whole, the UK’s record buyers have been stubbornly resistant to anything outside their native tongue. And unlike the cinemagoing and televisionwatching public, they don’t even have the ‘one-inch-tall barrier of subtitles’ as an excuse.
But occasionally – just occasionally – a song not performed in English will sneak its way into our collective consciousness.
From Latin hymns to Zulu dance anthems, here’s a look at 20 singles which proved that 80s audiences weren’t entirely averse to lyrics that they didn’t necessarily understand.
20 SARAH BRIGHTMAN & PAUL MILES-KINGSTON
PIE JESU
Joined by Winchester Cathedral’s Head Chorister Paul Miles-Kingston, Sarah Brightman distanced herself from her Hot Gossip days for good with this emotive interpretation of Pie Jesu. Taken from Requiem, her then-husband Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Grammy-winning tribute to his late father, the classical duet was a surprise No.3 hit in 1985. It has since become the ultimate modern version of the Latin text, with a spontaneous rendition on an ITV talent show helping to launch Charlotte Church’s career.
19 JULIO IGLESIAS
BEGIN THE BEGUINE
Twenty-one years before his son Enrique reached No.1 with Hero, housewife’s favourite Julio Iglesias achieved the same feat with an even more melodramatic ballad – and one sung entirely in his native Spanish, too. Back in the late 30s, RCA had dismissed this Cole Porter composition as a tune that “nobody could remember from beginning to end.” Everyone from Sinatra to Elvis to tried to make it less forgettable over the next 40 years, but it took a translated version from a Latin lothario to make its way into the hearts of the UK’s record-buying public.
18 CORINNE HERMÈS
SI LA VIE EST CADEAU
Two of the decade’s seven foreignlanguage Eurovision winners managed to score a minor UK hit while still keeping their original lyrics intact. Sweden’s Herrey’s and their utterly ridiculous Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley may be the more memorable, but Corinne Hermès’ Francophone entry Si La Vie Est Cadeau (If Life Is A Gift) is less likely to get you reaching for the earplugs. The ballad helped Luxembourg storm to their fifth and final victory at the annual event in 1983, pipping this rundown’s Israeli representative to the top of the scoreboard in the process.