La Musique Explained

La Musique (Angelica)
Cover:La_musique_(Angelica).jpg
Type:single
Artist:Star Academy France
Album:L'Album
B-Side:Remix
Released:December 2001
Recorded:France, 2001
Genre:Pop
Length:3:24
Label:Island, Universal Music
Producer:FB Cool, SDO
Next Title:Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)
Next Year:2002

"La Musique (Angelica)" is a 2001 song recorded by the contestants of the first edition of French TV reality show Star Academy. The song was released as a single in December 2001 from the album L'Album and also recorded in a live version on the album Live. Cover of a 1960s song, this version achieved a huge success in France in terms of chart positions and sales.

Song information

The song "Angelica" was written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, in English, and first recorded by Gene Pitney in 1966 (titled Angelique) but it wasn't released at the time. The first released version was by Mann in 1966. Versions were then recorded by various other artists, including The Sandpipers, Scott Walker, Roy Hamilton, (his last recording, after Elvis Presley, who was scheduled in late January 1969 to record it, turned it over to him), and, in 1970, the American singer Oliver, whose version scraped into the Billboard Hot 100 in the US.[1]

Earlier, in 1967, French singer Nicoletta made her own modified version of the song, under the title "La Musique", but this cover passed unnoticed at the time. Thirty-four years later, this version was covered by Star Academy France which decided to consider this cover as the show's anthem and the lead single from its debut album. Fourteen contestants participated in the recording of the new version which particularly puts foreword the singing.[2]

The song became a smash success in France: it went straight to number-one on December 8, 2001, and stayed there for nine weeks. Then it dropped regularly, totalling 12 weeks in the top ten, 19 weeks in the top 50 and 24 weeks in the top 100. Certified Diamond disc by the SNEP only two weeks after its release, the song became the fifth best-selling single of the 21st century in France, with 1,140,000 units sold.[3]

Track listing

CD single

  1. "La Musique (Angelica)" (mix radio) — 3:24
  2. "La Musique (Angelica)" (mix mega) — 3:40
  3. "La Musique (Angelica)" (instrumental mix radio) — 3:24

Credits and personnel

Mix radio

Mix Mega

Charts and sales

Peak positions

Chart (2001–2002)Peak
position
Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart[4] 1
French SNEP Singles Chart1
Swiss Singles Chart12

Year-end charts

Chart (2001)Position
French Singles Chart[5] 1
Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart[6] 3
Chart (2002)Position
Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart[7] 26
French Singles Chart[8] 11
Swiss Singles Chart[9] 100

Certifications

CountryCertificationDateSales certified
Belgium[10] 3 x PlatinumJanuary 12, 2002120,000
FranceDiamondDecember 19, 2001750,000

Notes and References

  1. http://www.secondhandsongs.com/performance/239131 "Amgelica", SecondhandSongs
  2. Elia Habib, Muz hit. tubes, p. 546
  3. Web site: Top 100 des singles les plus vendus du millénaire en France, le top 10 final! . . 13 September 2014 . 2015-03-17.
  4. "La Musique (Angelica)", in various singles charts Lescharts.com (Retrieved September 30, 2008)
  5. Les classements annuels 2001 snepmusique.com (Retrieved July 7, 2013)
  6. 2001 Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart Ultratop.be (Retrieved September 30, 2008)
  7. 2002 Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart Ultratop.be (Retrieved September 30, 2008)
  8. Les classements annuels 2002 snepmusique.com (Retrieved July 7, 2013)
  9. 2002 Swiss Singles Chart Hitparade.ch (Retrieved September 30, 2008)
  10. Belgian certifications Ultratop.be (Retrieved September 30, 2008)