The inescapable Alors On Danse has been an absolutely huge smash hit across Europe this year, topping the charts in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Netherlands, France, Germany, Italy, Slovakia and Switzerland and going top 3 in Sweden, Russia, Poland and Finland. Of course, with any other hit on this scale it would seem rather obvious that eventually, and always last, it would cross over to the UK market. However, I was always dubious about this prospect in the respect that foreign language hits in the UK are few and far between to say the least, the last French language top ten hit here being Moi Lolita by Alizee in 2002. Others have been promoted on TV to no avail - La Tortura by Shakira and Ella Elle L'a by Kate Ryan for example, but they've never properly caught on, mainly because radio refuse to play them.
So was Australian act Yolanda Be Cool's Italian language recent UK No.1 hit We No Speak Americano breaking through the dawn of a new era for non English language songs to cross over into the UK charts? Certainly the country's biggest radio station, BBC Radio 1, seem like they're finally going to start supporting them. No sooner than Yolanda Be Cool is taken off the playlist, Belgian singer Stromae's Euro smash is added!!! So if you're from the UK but have been living under a rock and managed to avoid Alors On Danse's huge internet presence this year, get ready for the onslaught because it's about to go big!!! If you're a European reader, you may laugh at how ridiculously long it takes 99% of Euro hits to reach these shores, if they ever do at all that is, knowing full well that you were dancing to Alors On Danse in March!!!
Hopefully this is going to be the start of something for UK radio's near blanket refusal to play anything in a language other than English. We've missed out on some great tracks here that are regarded as classics across the rest of Europe, so please, can the snobbery finally end now? Imagine if radio and TV in Germany enforced a policy of playing only German language music - the country would be up in arms about not being able to listen to new material from the likes of Lady GaGa, Robbie Williams, Katy Perry and Amy Winehouse!!! Similarly many of us in the UK are getting a little bit tired of missing out on all of the big foreign language hits that we all enjoy on our holidays on the continent, or hear through the internet. So here's to change, ALORS ON DANSE! da, da, da, da, da, da...
not only that but there is an English language version by Erik Hassle. Scott Mills played it one day this week and said on air that the French version is better (which it is although Erik's version is pretty good) and now it's the French version they've put on the playlist
ReplyDeletehurray for Radio 1
So I heard. I love Erik Hassle usually but his version really isn't to my taste, so hurrah for common sense prevailing!
ReplyDeleteI also do not like this one so much...
ReplyDeleteWhoop whoop! So it's made the R1 playlist then eh! Good, that's one less dreary r'n'b/grime song to suffer. Those of us flying the flag for European music will rejoice when "Alors..." gets its rightful place in the top 40.
ReplyDeleteI'm still disgusted by this country's musical prejudice against music in a foreign language, not to mention the prejudice against foreign artists even if they do sing in English! Combining these two topics, I do like Erik Hassle and am totally disappointed that he hasn't found the success he deserves over here yet, but the version of "Alors..." with him singing on it is vastly inferior to the original which is better by a long way.