music.wikisort.org - Composition

"Puppet on a String" is a song recorded by British singer Sandie Shaw. The song, written by Bill Martin and Phil Coulter, was selected to be the United Kingdom's entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 1967, held in Vienna. Shaw won the contest, the first of the United Kingdom's five Eurovision winners.[3][4] As her thirteenth UK single release, "Puppet on a String" became a UK Singles Chart number one hit on 27 April 1967, staying at the top for a total of three weeks.[5] In the United States, a 1967 version by Al Hirt went to number 18 on the Adult Contemporary chart and No. 129 on the Billboard Hot 100.[6]

"Puppet on a String"
Single by Sandie Shaw
B-side	"Tell The Boys"
Released	7 March 1967
Recorded	1967
Genre	Pop
Length	2:21
Label	Pye[1]
Songwriter(s)	Bill Martin and Phil Coulter[2]
Producer(s)	Ken Woodman[2]
Sandie Shaw singles chronology
"I Don't Need Anything" (1967) "Puppet on a String" (1967) "Tonight in Tokyo" (1967)
Eurovision Song Contest 1967 entry
Country	United Kingdom
Artist(s)	Sandie Shaw
Language	English
Composer(s)	Bill Martin, Phil Coulter
Lyricist(s)	Bill Martin, Phil Coulter
Conductor	Kenny Woodman
Finals performance
Final result	1st
Final points	47
Entry chronology
◄ "A Man Without Love" (1966)
"Congratulations" (1968) ►

Eurovision Song Contest

Sandie Shaw had originally performed the song as one of five prospective numbers to represent the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1967 on The Rolf Harris Show. She had never been taken with the idea of taking part in the contest but her discoverer, Adam Faith, had talked her into it, saying it would keep her manager Eve Taylor happy. Taylor wanted to give Shaw a more cabaret appeal and felt that this was the right move – and also felt that it would get Shaw back in the public's good books as she had recently been involved in a divorce scandal.[7]

Of the five songs performed, "Puppet on a String" was Shaw's least favourite. In her own words, "I hated it from the very first 'oompah' to the final 'bang' on the big bass drum. I was instinctively repelled by its sexist drivel and cuckoo-clock tune."[8] She was disappointed when it was selected as the song she would use to represent the country, but it won the contest hands down, though it has always been felt that this was partly due to her existing popularity on the continent (she had recorded most of her hit singles in French, Italian, German and Spanish). As a result, "Puppet on a String" became her third number one hit in the UK (a record for a woman at the time) and was a big worldwide smash. In West Germany, the single was the biggest seller of the entire year, reaching sales of over 1 million copies. Globally, the single achieved sales in excess of 4 million, making it the biggest-selling winning Eurovision track to date.[9] Some estimates suggest this makes the track the biggest selling single by a British female artist of all time.[10] Shaw also recorded "Puppet on a String" in French ("Un tout petit pantin"), Italian ("La danza delle note"), Spanish ("Marionetas en la cuerda"), and German ("Wiedehopf im Mai").[11]

Re-recording

Shaw re-recorded "Puppet on a String" in early 2007 to mark her 60th birthday. The recording took place after Shaw has visited her friend, the musician Howard Jones, and found him playing some chords on his keyboard and humming a melody. He encouraged her to continue the melody and before long she realised that it was in fact "Puppet on a String". They recorded a new, slow-tempo electronic version of the song and sent it to producer/mixer Andy Gray who put the final touches on the song. Shaw stated that she loved the new version (having spent a great deal of her life hating the original) and released it exclusively for free download from her official website, and Jones's, on 26 February (Shaw's birthday).^{[citation needed]} It was available for free download for 60 days. As a result of its popularity, Shaw continued to put out new songs on her website for download for the remaining months of her 61st year.^{[citation needed]}

Other covers

The song was covered in over 200 versions in over 30 languages.[12]

• Bulgarian: "Kukla na kontsi" (Кукла на конци), by Margarita Radinska
• Chinese:
  • Betty Chung[13]
  • Singaporean singer Lara Tan[14]
  • Malaysian singer Sakura Teng
• Dutch: "Speelbal in de wind" ("Beachball in the wind") by Reggy van der Burgt, later by Anneke Grönloh
• Finnish: "Sätkynukke", by Maarja-Leena Hentunen (single, Philips PF 340 791)
• Hungarian: "Paprikajancsi" (1967), by Zsuzsa Koncz
• Lithuanian: "Lele", by Violeta Riaubiskyte
• Norwegian: "Sprellemann" (1967), by Bente Aaseth with lyrics by Juul Hansen, under His Master's Voice
• Polish: "Ale Marionetka" ("What a puppet"), by Halina Kunicka
• Portuguese: "Marionette" (1967), by Simone de Oliveira; "Feira Popular" (1990), by Ana Faria and children/teenpop group Onda Choc, on their eighth album with the same title[15]
• Russian: "Ya ne kukla" (Я не кукла, "I am Not a Puppet"; 1968), by Emil Gorovets[16]
• Serbian: "Marioneta" ("Marionette", 1967), by Sanjalice[17]
• Slovak: "Ako malý psík" ("Like a puppy", 1967), by Tatjana Hubinská (0130166 Supraphon, mono); released on the day after the Eurovision Song Contest[18] Ako malý psík was also covered by Jana Procházková[19]
• Spanish: "Marionetas en la cuerda" (1967), by Lea Zafrani with the same lyrics as Shaw's, witten by Manuel Clavero
• Swedish: "Sprattelgumma" (1967), by Siw Malmkvist[20]
• Tamil: by Nantha Balan Selvanayagam (1969).

Covers not translated into another language include:

• Mantovani's instrumental version, included in the 1968 release The Mantovani Touch
• the rocksteady version by Ken Boothe under the Studio One label
• Lady Marmalade's version entitled "Puppet on a String (Blueboy Remix)"
• Dutch group Mrs. Einstein's English-language version, released just after appearing in the Eurovision Song Contest 1997.

In popular culture

The song was featured in The 1975 Bulgarian Cartoon Buffo-Synchronists by Proiko Proikov and the soundtrack of the 2021 film Last Night in Soho.[21]

Charts

Chart (1967)[4][22]	Peak position
Argentina (ACPVP)[23]	1
Australia (Australian Singles Chart)	2
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)	1
Belgium (Ultratop)	1
Canada (Canadian Singles Chart)	13
Denmark (Danish Singles Chart)[24]	2
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[25]	5
France (French Singles Chart)	2
Ireland (IRMA)[26]	1
Italy (Italian Singles Chart)	12
Malaysia (Radio Malaysia)[27]	2
Netherlands (Dutch Singles Chart)[26]	1
New Zealand (New Zealand Singles Chart)	1
Norway (VG-lista)	1
Singapore (Radio Singapore)[27]	3
South Africa (Entertainment Monitoring Africa)[28]	3
Spain (Spanish Singles Chart)	6
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[27]	1
UK Singles (OCC)[2]	1
Venezuela[29]	6
West Germany (Schallplatte)[30]	1

References

External links

• Sandie Shaw personal website

На других языках

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[de] Puppet on a String

Puppet on a String ist der Titel des Gewinnerbeitrags zum Eurovision Song Contest 1967 in Wien. Komponiert wurde er von Bill Martin und Phil Coulter und interpretiert von der britischen Sängerin Sandie Shaw. Es war Shaws 13. Single. Am 27. April 1967 erreichte der Titel Platz 1 der britischen Single-Charts, wo er für drei Wochen blieb. In Deutschland war das Lied acht Wochen auf Platz 1 und 22 Wochen in den Top 10. In Österreich war er 12 Wochen auf Platz 1 und 16 Wochen in den Top 10. Damit ist Puppet on a String der erfolgreichste ESC-Titel in den deutschen und österreichischen Single-Charts.

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- [en] Puppet on a String (Sandie Shaw song)

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[es] Puppet on a String

«Puppet on a String» —[ˈpʌpɪt ɒn ə stɹɪŋ]; en español: «Marioneta en una cuerda»— es una canción compuesta por Bill Martin y Phil Coulter, e interpretada en inglés por Sandie Shaw.[2] Se lanzó como sencillo en 1967 mediante Pye.[3] La canción encabezó la UK Singles Chart durante tres semanas.[4] Fue elegida para representar a Reino Unido en el Festival de la Canción de Eurovisión de 1967 tras ganar la final nacional inglesa, A Song For Europe 1967, y se declaró ganadora de esa edición.[5][6]

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