Biggest song Americans and Canadians have probably never heard!

[Guest]

My partner "Chris," who likes a lot of retro things (such as myself 😏), introduced me to this song, apparently the biggest worldwide hit by any female duo anywhere, of all time. It appears to have been #1 in most European countries, #9 in Australia, and #33 in New Zealand, but never even charted in the US or Canada! 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yes_Sir,_I_Can_Boogie

Chart (1977–1978)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[13]	9
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[14]	2
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[15]	1
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[16]	1
Belgium (VRT Top 30 Flanders)[17]	1
Denmark (Tracklisten)[citation needed]	1
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100 Singles)[citation needed]	1
France (IFOP)[18]	5
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[19]	1
Ireland (IRMA)[20]	1
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[21]	1
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[22]	1
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[23]	33
Norway (VG-lista)[24]	1
Spain (AFYVE)[25]	2
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[26]	1
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[27]	1
UK Singles (OCC)[28]	1
West Germany (Official German Charts)[29]	1

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baccara

"Baccara was a female vocal duo formed in 1977 by Spanish artists Mayte Mateos (born 7 February 1951) and María Mendiola (4 April 1952 – 11 September 2021). The duo rapidly achieved international success with their debut single "Yes Sir, I Can Boogie", which reached number one across much of Europe and became the best-selling single of all-time by a female group, eventually selling more than 18 million copies worldwide"

 

[samhexum]

Sorry, I wasn't impressed.  It sounds like a track added to the end of a K-tel disco album to make it longer.

This was one instance where Americans and Canadians had better taste than Europeans and Australians.  I kept hoping one of the bubbles would fly into one of their mouths; it would've made the video more entertaining.

 

Edited October 14, 2021 by samhexum

[+ sync]

I didn't get anything noteworthy from either the instrumental or the lyrics.  The one positive component for me are the visuals, the singers are beautiful.

[+ tassojunior]

Those of us Americans who went to school in Europe in the 70's have not-fond memories of cringing at this Euro-pop on every jukebox there and even some clubs with DJ's. European music and American 70's music were different worlds. They didn't "get" the Rolling Stones, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Beatles either.  

[+ purplekow]

Very much like an ABBA song.  Has a nice beat and easy to remember meaningless lyrics.  Yes Sir. I can Boogie. Boogie Boogie all night long.  

[samhexum]

3 hours ago, purplekow said:

Very much like an ABBA song.  Has a nice beat and easy to remember meaningless lyrics.

 

 

Edited October 14, 2021 by samhexum

[+ Cash4Trash]

Thank God all American hits from 1977 were much better. Here's one of the biggest -

 

[BSR]

On 10/13/2021 at 6:17 PM, tassojunior said:

Those of us Americans who went to school in Europe in the 70's have not-fond memories of cringing at this Euro-pop on every jukebox there and even some clubs with DJ's. European music and American 70's music were different worlds. They didn't "get" the Rolling Stones, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Beatles either.  

I could listen to only half the song before turning it off.  OMG, this song makes me puke.  I'm not surprised this song went nowhere in the US but totally baffled it was a monster hit in so many other countries.

It sounds like we suffered some of the same Europop nightmares, just years apart.  The song posted below was a monster hit in Spain the year (1987-88) I studied there.  Musically speaking, the song also makes me puke, but at least the singer has a really great rack (which, granted, is lost on me).  LOL, I see that YouTube age-restricted the video.  

 

[BuffaloKyle]

It's a nice catchy forgettable pop song. It reminds me of The Ketchup Song that came out in the early 2000s! The female singers sound very similar. Have your partner listen to this song @Unicorn

 

Edited October 22, 2021 by BuffaloKyle

[BuffaloKyle]

On 10/13/2021 at 3:00 PM, Unicorn said:

My partner "Chris," who likes a lot of retro things (such as myself 😏), introduced me to this song, apparently the biggest worldwide hit by any female duo anywhere, of all time. It appears to have been #1 in most European countries, #9 in Australia, and #33 in New Zealand, but never even charted in the US or Canada!

So I wonder if it never got a release in North American then. A lot of times songs in Europe don't get released here and vice versa. One instance I can think of off the top of my head is one of my favorite Britney Spears songs is Born to Make you Happy. It only was released as a single in Europe though. And even reached number one in a handful of countries including the UK. It however did not get a release in North America.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Born_to_Make_You_Happy

 

[Guest]

8 hours ago, BuffaloKyle said:

It's a nice catchy forgettable pop song. It reminds me of The Ketchup Song that came out in the early 2000s! The female singers sound very similar. Have your partner listen to this song @Unicorn

 

On the subject of bilingual songs that were a hit in Europe but never made it to the US, on the same lines of the Ketchup Song is the Cola Song from Inna, which I heard and enjoyed as I was traveling in Spain once. Although she's Romanian, she sings "Soy Latina," meaning "I'm Latina," which is only marginally true (I guess Romanians do call themselves a Latin island in a Slavic sea).