| Patsy Gallant | |
|---|---|
Patsy Gallant (left) with Gregory Charles in concert |
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| Background information | |
| Born | August 15, 1948 |
| Origin | Campbellton, New Brunswick, Canada |
| Genres | Rock, Blues, Disco |
| Occupations | Singer/Songwriter, Actress |
| Years active | 1965–present |
| Labels | Trilogie Musique |
Patsy Gallant (born August 15, 1948, Campbellton, New Brunswick, Canada) is a Canadian pop singer and musical theatre actress. Of Acadian ancestry, she has recorded and performed in both English and French.
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Gallant released her first single in 1967, earning appearances on a number of television variety shows. She later performed at Montreal's Place des Arts with Charles Aznavour,[1] and shortly after, she assembled a team of young and talented creators including Yves Lapierre, Judi Richards, Denis Forcier, Jean-Guy Chapados and Ken Owen who composed and wrote for her in English.[2] In 1971, Gallant co-starred on the weekly television variety show Smash presented by SRC, (CBC French television).[3] During the show, Gallant teamed up with singer-songwriter Christine Charbonneau who gave her career a start by writing most of the lyrics for her two major French albums, produced by Columbia Records [4] Patsy Gallant (Tout va trop vite), in 1972, followed by Toi l'enfant in 1974.[5] Several of the songs including Tout va trop vite, Un jour comme les autres, Le lit qui craque, and Thank you come again (French version) climb the Québec charts.[6] Also found in this last album, the original song, Les Femmes (Charbonneau). Created by Gallant with this inspiring interpretation she had,[7] the hit song was covered in 1976 by Sheila in France.Towards the end of 1972, Gallant made her debut in English by releasing Upon My Own, her first English album. Although her two French albums were hits in Quebec and French-Canada, from the English version Get That Ball scored only a minor hit.
With her eye on the American market, Gallant recorded her 1974 album Power in Nashville, Tennessee. Although the album spawned four moderately popular singles with Save the Last Dance For Me, Make My Living, Doctor's Orders and the title song Upon my own, they were not a commercial breakthrough.
Gallant's greatest popular success came with the 1976 album Are You Ready For Love, and the disco single From New York to L.A.. The latter takes its melody from Gilles Vigneault's song Mon Pays, earning Gallant criticism in Quebec from Gilles Vigneault.[8][9]for what was perceived as a trivialization of the Québec National anthem [10] (sui generis) [11]. The English lyrics were written by Gene Williams[12]. Gallant later recorded Mon Pays with its original lyrics by Vigneault.
From New York to L.A. was Gallant's only recording to attract notice outside Canada; although overlooked by radio in the U.S. it became a hit in many other countries such as UK (#6), Ireland (#5), Australia (#10), the Netherlands (#15), Norway (#7), South Africa (#5) and Sweden (#17).[13] Sugar Daddy and the album's title song Are you ready for love are also Top 20 Canadian hits that helped Gallant to win Juno Awards for Best Female Vocalist in 1976 and 1977. From New York to L.A. and Sugar Daddy also received some support in American discos. Gallant followed up in 1977 with her French album Besoin d'amour, which includes a French rendition of Sugar Daddy. Consequently to her sudden disco success, Gallant was given her own disco-variety show, The Patsy Gallant Show, produced and broadcast on CTV, in 1978 and 1979.
Gallant released the English album Will You Give Me Your Love and the French album Patsy Gallant et Star both in 1978 on Attic Records,[14] and has a hit with Stay Awhile With Me (Aime-moi in French); she also released the English album Patsy! which contains the disco hit Michel. Gallant then released a bilingual greatest hits package in early 1979, which includes a rendition of the original Mon Pays. The English greatest hits album was reissued in 1995 on Attic Records with new remixes of From New York to L.A., and a Best Of, Compilation, Tout va Trop Vite in 2005.
With the decline of disco, Gallant's subsequent albums did not sell well. After her 1984 album Take Another Look, she retreated from the music business, and in the late 1980s began taking roles in theatre musicals. She has appeared in productions of Cats, Nunsense, a stage biography of Édith Piaf, and played the role of Stella Spotlight in the French musical, Starmania for eight years in the 1990s. Ironically, Luc Plamondon, the creator of Starmania, wanted Gallant to play Stella in the original stage production in the 1970s; but owing to Gallant's hectic schedule at the time, her managers did not even tell her about Starmania, and the role of Stella Spotlight in the original production went to Diane Dufresne. She also had a brief stint as the stepmother in Cindy, a musical based on Cinderella, also written by Plamondon.
Gallant married (and later divorced) guitarist Dwayne Ford, who has appeared on many of Gallant's records, and who produced her Take Another Look album. The couple had a son together, Jason.
After living in Paris for eight years, Gallant returned to Canada in 2005 and released the compilation album Tout va trop vite. The album contained a number of her biggest French hits, early recordings from the 1960s, lost disco-era songs such as It's Got to Be You, and a new re-recording of Sugar Daddy. Gallant has more recently recorded a duet with the French rap group, Treizième Étage, called Faut pas lâcher. The song appeared on the group's latest album. Her latest single Coeur de velours was released in July 2010.
| Year | Song | CAN | CAN AC | UK[13] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | "Get That Ball" | 32 | 27 | - |
| 1973 | "I Don't Know Why" | - | 47 | - |
| 1974 | "Save the Last Dance for Me" | - | 97 | - |
| "Raconte" | - | 42 | - | |
| 1975 | "Doctor's Orders" | 83 | - | - |
| "Makin' Love in My Mind" | 66 | - | - | |
| 1976 | "From New York to L.A." | 6 | 1 | 6 |
| 1977 | "Are You Ready for Love?" | 16 | 4 | - |
| "Sugar Daddy" | 9 | 6 | - | |
| 1978 | "Back to the City" | 69 | - | - |
| "Stay Awhile with Me" | 77 | 28 | - | |
| "Every Step of the Way" | - | 26 | - | |
| 1979 | "O Michel" | - | 22 | - |
| "We'll Find a Way" <w/ Dwayne Ford> | 94 | - | - | |
| 1980 | "How Many Lonely Nights" | - | 27 | - |
| "Ce matin-la" | ? | - | - | |
| 1981 | "Don't Forget About Me" | - | 24 | - |