Sailor (Song)
Encyclopedia
Sailor is a song written by Werner Scharfenberger and Fini Busch which via a 1960 recording by Lolita became an international hit, with its #5 peak on the 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...

 chart in Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

making "Sailor" the most successful American hit sung in German until 99 Luftballons
99 Luftballons
"99 Luftballons" is a protest song by the German pop-rock band Nena from their 1983 self-titled album. Originally sung in German, it was later re-recorded in English as "99 Red Balloons" for their album 99 Luftballons in 1984...

by Nena
Nena
Gabriele Susanne Kerner , better known by her stage name Nena, is a German singer and actress. She rose to international fame in 1983 with the New German Wave song "99 Luftballons". In 1984, she re-recorded this song in English as "99 Red Balloons". Nena was also the name of the band with whom she...

 in 1984.

With English lyrics written by Norman Newell
Norman Newell
Norman Newell, OBE was born in Plaistow, Essex , and was a successful British record producer in the 1950s and 1960s, as well as co-writer of many notable songs...

 (credited as "David West") the song also provided a comeback vehicle for two veteran UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 vocalists: Petula Clark
Petula Clark
Petula Clark, CBE is an English singer, actress, and composer whose career has spanned seven decades.Clark's professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II...

 and Anne Shelton whose respective versions of "Sailor" were both musical milestones for each singer marking Clark's first #1 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 ...

 and Shelton's final chart appearance.

Northern European versions

The Lolita version - originally entitled "Seemann (Deine Heimat ist das Meer)" - entered the German Top 20 in March 1960; peaking at #2 in June. Lolita's single was in the Top 20 for ten months and was the fourth biggest German hit of the year. In December 1960 the single's B-side "La Luna" also became a chart hit reaching #30. It was also featured in the film "Schick deine Frau nicht nach Italien". Estimate for global sales of "Seemann (Deine Heimat Ist Das Meer)"/ "Sailor (Your Home is the Sea)" by Lolita is two million units.

There was immense US media interest in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 in 1960 due to the political situation in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

 and also 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"....

's being stationed on a West German airbase: this likely factored into Kapp Records
Kapp Records
Kapp Records was an independent record label started in 1954 by David Kapp, brother of Jack Kapp . David Kapp founded his own label after stints with Decca Records and RCA Victor Records. Kapp licensed its records to London Records for release in the UK.In 1967, David Kapp sold his label to MCA Inc...

' decision to release Lolita's German hit in the US.
Re-entitled "Sailor (Your Home is the Sea)" the US single - which augmented Lolita's original German vocal with a spoken word translation by British actress Maureen Renée - reached #5 on the 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...

 chart in Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

in December 1960. One of only two German language songs to become a Top 10 hit in the United States (See 99 Luftballons
99 Luftballons
"99 Luftballons" is a protest song by the German pop-rock band Nena from their 1983 self-titled album. Originally sung in German, it was later re-recorded in English as "99 Red Balloons" for their album 99 Luftballons in 1984...

by Nena), "Sailor..." also afforded Lotlita a hit in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 (#14), Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 (Top 20) and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 reaching #8 in the latter territory despite the #1 ranking achieved there by the Petula Clark
Petula Clark
Petula Clark, CBE is an English singer, actress, and composer whose career has spanned seven decades.Clark's professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II...

 English rendering "Sailor".

"Seemann..." also provided Lolita with a hit in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 where it spent nine weeks at #1 in the spring of 1961 with sales of 50,00 units recognized that October with the awarding of a Gold Disc. A Norse rendering by Jan Høiland entitled "Sjømann" concurrently charted spending two weeks at #2. In Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 "Seemann..." reached #5 sharing the charts with a translated cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...

 by Towa Carson
Towa Carson
Towa Carson , born on 31 March 1936 in Eskilstuna, Sweden, is a Swedish schlager singer. She debuted in 1954 and had the most success in the 1950s and 1960s, when she recorded many duets with Lasse Lönndahl...

 who in Jun 1961 reached #9 with "Sjöman" (a double A-sided hit with "Sista Dansen" ie. "Save the Last Dance for Me
Save The Last Dance For Me
"Save the Last Dance for Me" is the title of a popular song written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, first recorded in 1960 by Ben E. King with The Drifters....

"). "Sjöman" had first been recorded by Thory Bernhards in a 12 October 1960 session, the Swedish lyrics being the work of Åke Gerhard whose composition "Ann-Caroline" - first sung by Benhards - had coincidentally developed into "Lay Down Your Arms" the career record of Anne Shelton who would have a Top Ten UK hit with "Sailor".

Caterina Valente
Caterina Valente
Caterina Valente is a singer, dancer, and actress. She was born into an Italian artist family; her father Giuseppe was a well-known accordion player, her mother, Maria Valente, a musical clown...

 covered Lolita's hit for the Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...

 market: in the autumn of 1960 her version - entitled "Zeeman" - charted in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 and reached #10 on the charts for the Flemish region of Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

. Even so the Lolita original itself reached the Dutch Top Ten and in Flemish Belgium - co-ranked with Petula Clark's English rendition - Lolita's "Seemann" reached #12. "Zeeman" was also recorded by the Fouryo's and a 1981 remake by Ciska Peters - as "Zeeman, Je Verlangen Is Dezee" - reached #19 in the Netherlands.

Géraldine Olivier has remade the original German version - as "Seemann, deine Heimat ist das Meer" - for her 2009 album Maritime Welthits der 50er und 60er.

Composition

Lyricist Norman Newell would recall that his publisher phoned him on a Friday requesting he write English lyrics for Lolita's hit ""Seemann...": although Newell agreed to prepare the lyrics over the weekend the assignment slipped his mind until a messenger arrived Monday morning to pick up Newell's work. "I sent [the messenger] to the canteen and wrote the lyric 'Sailor' in ten minutes."

Petula Clark

Alan A. Freeman
Alan A. Freeman
Alan A. Freeman was an English record producer, remembered for being Petula Clark's producer from 1949 until 1963, when his role was taken over by Tony Hatch...

, who regularly produced Petula Clark, suggested she record "Sailor" and produced Clark's recording in a session which featured guitarists Vic Flick
Vic Flick
Victor Harold Flick is an English guitarist, most famous for playing the guitar riff in the "James Bond Theme".-Biography:...

 and Big Jim Sullivan
Big Jim Sullivan
Big Jim Sullivan is an English musician, whose career started in 1959. He is best known as a session guitarist. In the 1960s and 1970s, Sullivan was one of the most "in-demand" studio musicians in the UK, and performed in more than one thousand charting singles over his career...

. Freeman was assisted with the production of "Sailor" by Tony Hatch
Tony Hatch
Anthony Peter "Tony" Hatch is an English composer, songwriter, pianist, music arranger and producer.-Early life and early career:...

 marking the first collaboration between Clark and her future hitmaking mentor.

"Sailor" debuted at #18 in the UK Top 50 dated 28 January 1961, becoming Clark's first UK chart entry since "Baby Lover", #12 in March 1958, an intermittent ten single releases having failed to chart.
A sales total of 250,000 units for Clark's "Sailor" was announced by Pye Records
Pye Records
Pye Records was a British record label. In its first incarnation, perhaps Pye's best known artists were Lonnie Donegan , Petula Clark , The Searchers , The Kinks , Sandie Shaw and Brotherhood of Man...

 the week of 18 February 1961 when the single was in its second week at #2: on the chart for the following week: that of 23 February 1961, Clark's "Sailor" moved to the #1 position of the UK chart, besting Clark's previous strongest UK charter: the #4 "With All My Heart
With All My Heart
"With All My Heart" is a popular song, based on an originally French and Italian language song called "Gondolier." It was written by Peter De Angelis and Bob Marcucci....

" (1957). Although "Downtown" was to become Clark's signature song its UK chart peak would be #2: the second Petula Clark single to reach #1 UK would be "This is My Song
This Is My Song (1967 song)
"This Is My Song" is a song written by Charlie Chaplin in 1966 and performed by Petula Clark.-Origin/ Petula Clark recording:"This is My Song" was intended for the film, A Countess from Hong Kong, which Charlie Chaplin wrote and directed...

" in 1967.

Clark's "Sailor" became the third hit version of the song in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 (#13) and - in a tandem ranking with ""Seemann (Deine Heimat Ist Das Meer)" by Lolita - reached #12 on the chart for the Flemish Region of Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

. "Sailor" was #1 in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 and Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

 in respectively March and September 1961. A hit in Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 (#9) and Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 (Top 20), "Sailor" reached #2 in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

 in 1961 and when re-released there as the follow-up to "This is My Song
This Is My Song (1967 song)
"This Is My Song" is a song written by Charlie Chaplin in 1966 and performed by Petula Clark.-Origin/ Petula Clark recording:"This is My Song" was intended for the film, A Countess from Hong Kong, which Charlie Chaplin wrote and directed...

" in 1968 reached #9.

Both of Clark's UK #1 hits would compete with rival versions: "Sailor" would be a #10 hit for Anne Shelton while Harry Secombe
Harry Secombe
Sir Harry Donald Secombe CBE was a Welsh entertainer with a talent for comedy and a noted fine tenor singing voice. He is best known for playing Neddie Seagoon, the central character in the BBC radio comedy series The Goon Show...

's version of "This is My Song" would rise as high as #2.
(The relevant recordings by both Shelton and Secombe have Wally Stott
Angela Morley
Angela Morley was an English composer and conductor. Morley was born in Leeds, Yorkshire in 1924, and played saxophone in a number of dance bands, and in 1944 became a member of Geraldo's band....

 perform arranging and conducting duties.)

Anne Shelton

Another veteran British vocalist: Anne Shelton, also utilized "Sailor" as a comeback vehicle. Like Clark's version, Shelton's featured guitarist Big Jim Sullivan
Big Jim Sullivan
Big Jim Sullivan is an English musician, whose career started in 1959. He is best known as a session guitarist. In the 1960s and 1970s, Sullivan was one of the most "in-demand" studio musicians in the UK, and performed in more than one thousand charting singles over his career...

.

Shelton had spent four weeks at #1 UK with "Lay Down Your Arms
Lay Down Your Arms
"Lay Down Your Arms" is a 1956 popular song with music by Ake Gerhard and Leon Landgren and lyrics by Gerhard and Paddy Roberts ....

" in 1956 but had since only had one further chart record: " The Village Of St. Bernadette" #27 in 1959, when her version of "Sailor" reached #10 in January 1961. Although she'd been recording since 1943 "Sailor" was only her fifth UK chart appearance as her most intense period of popularity had pre-dated regulated record-sales chart formatting in the UK (which began in 1952, prior to this sales of music sheets
Sheet music
Sheet music is a hand-written or printed form of music notation that uses modern musical symbols; like its analogs—books, pamphlets, etc.—the medium of sheet music typically is paper , although the access to musical notation in recent years includes also presentation on computer screens...

 with or without record sales were common marker of a tune's popularity ).

Shelton's strongest association was as an entertainer of the forces in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

: while this made "Sailor" a good thematic choice for her this association also probably made her seem outmoded (despite only being four years Clark's senior) and although Shelton's version of "Sailor" and Clark's both debuted on the UK Top 50 for 28 January 1961 there was immediate preference apparent for Clark's version at #18 over Shelton's at #27. The 4 February chart had Clark rise to #4 for the first of six weeks in the Top Five three of them at #2 and one at #1, while Shelton's version in its second week rose to #19 and in its third week to #10 which proved to be its peak as it subsequently descended the charts over the next five weeks for a total eight week chart span: Clark's version had almost double the chart span at fifteen weeks. After "Sailor" Shelton had eleven subsequent single releases, the last in 1965.

Other versions

"Sailor" was also recorded by the Andrews Sisters
The Andrews Sisters
The Andrews Sisters were a highly successful close harmony singing group of the swing and boogie-woogie eras. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne Sophia Andrews , soprano Maxene Angelyn Andrews , and mezzo-soprano Patricia Marie "Patty" Andrews...

 who were in London for an engagement at the Talk of the Town
Hippodrome, London
The Hippodrome is a building on the corner of Charing Cross Road and Leicester Square in the City of Westminster, London. The name was used for many different theatres and music halls, of which the London Hippodrome is one of only a few survivors...

 and made a one-off single for Decca Records
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....

 (UK) comprising "Sailor" backed by "Goodnight and Sweet Dreaming"; the tracks featured Bernard Ebbinghouse conducting his orchestra were recorded 29 December 1960.

Louise Morrissey recorded "Sailor" for her 2008 album release The Gift.

French version: Petula Clark: "Marin"

Although absent from the UK charts through the late 1950s and the year 1960, Clark did during the same period enjoy a string of hit singles in 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...

 and "Sailor" - recorded with French lyric by Jean Broussolle as "Marin" - was to reach #2 on the French charts in May 1961. Clark's eighth French chart hit, "Marin" matched her previous #2 chart peak of "Java Pour Petula" in 1959: the follow-up to "Marin": "Roméo
Romeo (Petula Clark song)
Romeo was a 1961 hit single for Petula Clark peaking at #3 on the UK chart dated 26 August.The song was a 1921 composition by Robert Stolz for which Jimmy Kennedy wrote a new lyric...

" would be the first of Clark's five French #1's.
"Marin" reached #10 on the charts for the French speaking sector of Belgium and the single also entered the Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

 charts (as "Sailor") in January 1961 peaking at #13 marking Clark's first appearance on an accredited North American chart almost four years before her breakout hit "Downtown
Downtown (Petula Clark song)
"Downtown" is a pop song composed by Tony Hatch which, as recorded by Petula Clark, became an international hit – No. 1 in the US and No. 2 in the UK – at the end of 1964.-Original recording:...

".
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