Another in my series of posts about tracks that charted in Australia but not in their countries of origin.
11. Bill Justis -
Tamoure (with the
Stephen Scott Singers)
(Heinz Hellmer - Wolf Petersen - M. Singleton - B. Everette; arranged by Bill Justis. Apparently based on a 1956 composition by Yves Roche)
Song also known as Tamouré (The Dance Of Love) or Vini Vini or Wini-Wini
USA 1963
Smash single (USA) #1812
Philips single (Australia) #BF-26
Australian charts: #1 Sydney #1 Melbourne #1 Brisbane #1 Adelaide #1 Perth
Strictly speaking, Tamouré has an acute accent over the 'e'. Most English databases - and the title printed on the 45 - leave it off, although it is restored on the record's sleeve.
In the annals of
Only in Oz this is a classic case, an American record that made a big splash all over Australia
1 but only managed a ripple in the US: #7 in Chicago, #101 nationally
.2 As far as I can see it wasn't a hit in the UK, Europe, South Africa or even Canada where it peaked in the high thirties.
So, let's say
Only in Oz.
Bill Justis (1927-1982) started out as a trumpeter, but from the early 60s he worked in Nashville as a producer, composer, arranger and musical director.
3
To the record-buying public, though,
Justis was probably best known for his earlier hit instrumental
Raunchy (1957, #2 US), recorded at Sun Records in Memphis where he had been musical director before moving to Nashville. He played the sax on
Raunchy and co-wrote it with the guitarist on the record, . It was the only single in
Bill Justis's name to chart Top 40 in the US, but it has been much played and recorded over the years.
One notable
Bill Justis enterprise in Nashville was his collaboration with keyboardist
Jerry Smith as
Cornbread & Jerry. Their first recording, made in Memphis before the move to Nashville, was
Li'l Ole Me (
covered in Australia by Warren Carr), but they later added a female chorus and put two singles onto the US charts as
Bill Justis's Tamoure is an English-language version of a Tahitian song known as
Wini-Wini or
Vini Vini.
A version on German Polydor by
Die Tahiti Tamourés, as
Wini-Wini,
was a hit in 1963 in Germany, The Netherlands and Belgium
YouTube. It was released in
January 1963 (
says 45cat), with an arrangement that sounds the same as the
Bill Justis record, released in
March 1963 (
45cat) with an arranger credit to
Bill Justis.
The writer credits on the German
Tahiti Tamourés single are to
Heinz Hellmer and
Wolf Petersen, also credited on
Bill Justis's single. The other two writers on the
Bill Justis Tamouré (M. Singleton-B. Everette) would be
Bill Everette (he wrote
Gitarzan with
Ray Stevens) and - I'm guessing -
Margaret Singleton, also known as
Margie, first wife of
Shelby Singleton.
Both records owe a lot to a
1958 version by
Terorotua and His Tahitians, entitled
Vini Vini,
on their
ABC-Paramount album,
Lure Of Tahiti, with a writer credit to French composer
Yves Roche.
There was at least one further single in the US of this "Bill Justis
Tamouré", by
Dick and Dee Dee, reverting to the title
Vini Vini (1965).
Another
single on Almo by
Manuia and Maeva, also entitled
Vini Vini (1965), is probably the same song, since it credits
Yves Roche as writer (as on the 1958
Vini Vini) but I can't verify this. Arnold Rypens at The Originals lists
several other versions 1958-2005, including a 1963 hit in Italy for
Betty Curtis YouTube.
Die Tahiti-Tamourés, 1963 European hit.
The
tamouré or
tamure is a Tahitian dance, and there is no shortage of songs with variations of its name - or
vini vini - in their titles,
4 but I'm not about to research those in depth.
The sleeve of
Bill Justis's single says
THE FRENCH DANCE RAGE COMES TO AM
ERICA. Recordings by
Les Kavika from 1962 are examples of the
tamouré phenomenon in France: his 1962 EP on the French label Vogue
Dansez le tamouré has four
tamouré dance tracks, all arranged by Kavika-Barouh, including one entitled
Tamouré Vini Vini. (See also the four
tamouré compositions by
Kavika on his 1962 EP
Le Tamouré.)
Finally, a case of
Not in Oz: Australians were also contrarian about
Bill Justis's big hit,
Raunchy (1957). It was a #2 on Billboard, #11 in the UK, but Australians preferred to put two cover versions - by
Billy Vaughn and
Ernie Freeman - onto the local charts. (Another version by
Billy Strange popped up on our charts too, but not till 1965.)
See also: Arnold Rypens's a
list of versions at The Originals.
Thanks to Joop and Walter for lighting up this trail for me.
Bill Justis - Tamoure.mp3
Die Tahiti Tamourés - Wini-Wini.mp3
Terorotua and His Tahitians - Vini Vini (1958).mp3
_____________________________________________
Footnotes:
1. Gavin Ryan's Australian chart books [store]. In this case the other chart books agree: The Book for Sydney and Thirty Years Of Hits for Melbourne both have Tamoure at #1.
2. The Smash Records Story at Both Sides Now.
3. Bill Justis biography at All Music Guide.
4. Just three examples of tamure/vini vini variations, different from the Bill Justis Tamoure:
(i) The Wikipedia article on tāmūrē (which seems to have been cut and pasted all over the Net, going by Google search results) mentions a post-World War II popularising version by Louis Martin.
(ii) As my friend Joop Jansen points out, there is a 1930s recording by Tino Rossi, Vieni Vieni [YouTube], also recorded, for example by The Gaylords in the 50s.
(iii) Les Kavioka's tamouré EPs on French label Vogue (1962), featured at Encyclopedisque.fr
5. Song history at The Originals by Arnold Rypens.
