Lady Marmalade

"Lady Marmalade" is a song written by Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan that is famous for the French refrain of "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi, ce soir?", which is a sexual proposition that translates into English as: "Do you want to sleep with me, tonight?" The song first became a popular hit when it was recorded in 1974 by the American funk rock group Labelle and held the number-one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for one week, and also topped the Canadian RPM national singles chart. In 2021, the Library of Congress selected Labelle's version for preservation in the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
The song has had many cover versions over the years. In 1998, girl group All Saints released a cover version that peaked at number one on the UK Singles Chart. The 2001 version by singers Christina Aguilera, Mýa, Pink and rapper Lil' Kim, recorded for the Moulin Rouge! soundtrack, was a number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 for five weeks, and also a number-one hit in the UK. "Lady Marmalade" was the ninth song to reach number one by two different musical acts in America.
The song was written by Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan after Crewe visited New Orleans. A demo of the song was first recorded by The Eleventh Hour, a disco group made up of studio musicians fronted by Nolan on vocals. It was added in 1974 as a track on the Eleventh Hour's Greatest Hits LP, which did not chart. Crewe showed the song to producer Allen Toussaint in New Orleans, and Toussaint then decided to record the song with Labelle.
Labelle's version of "Lady Marmalade" was produced by Toussaint and Vicki Wickham, with the former also playing an RMI Electra-Piano on the recording. The rhythm section on the recording was New Orleans–based funk band The Meters. "Lady Marmalade" was released as a single in November 1974 from the Nightbirds album released that September, their first album after signing with Epic Records. Patti LaBelle sang lead vocals on "Lady Marmalade" with backing vocals being contributed by bandmates Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash. The song is best known for the French lyric "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir?" ("Do you want to sleep with me tonight?") in the refrain. "Lady Marmalade" is about a man's sexual encounter with the titular prostitute, but Patti LaBelle later claimed that she was completely oblivious to its overall message, saying: "I didn't know what it was about. I don't know French and nobody, I swear this is God's truth, nobody at all told me what I'd just sung a song about."
Steve Huey of AllMusic selected the song as one of the best tracks on Labelle's 1995 compilation Lady Marmalade: The Best of Patti and Labelle. Critic Robert Christgau described it as "great synthetic French-quarter raunch".
"Lady Marmalade" is billed as the song that made Labelle one of the "hottest girl groups" of the 1970s. It was a number-one hit for one week on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in the United States for the week of March 29, 1975, and charted at number one for one week on the Billboard Top Soul Singles chart. Along with the track, "What Can I Do for You?", "Lady Marmalade" peaked at number seven on the disco/dance charts. The single was also a major hit in the United Kingdom, where it charted at number seventeen . "Lady Marmalade" replaced another Crewe/Nolan composition, Frankie Valli's "My Eyes Adored You", as the Billboard Hot 100 number-one single. This feat made Crewe and Nolan the third songwriting team in Billboard history (after Lennon–McCartney and Holland–Dozier–Holland) to replace themselves at number one. Billboard ranked it as the No. 22 song for 1975. Labelle performed "Lady Marmalade" on Soul Train on December 7, 1974.
"Lady Marmalade" debuted at number 92 on the Canadian RPM singles chart on February 1, 1975. It subsequently peaked atop the chart on March 29, 1975, after five weeks on the chart. Labelle's version of "Lady Marmalade" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2003. and was ranked number 479 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2004 and number 485 in 2010. The Labelle version also appears in several films, including The Long Kiss Goodnight, Dick, and Jacob's Ladder. It was used in the video game Karaoke Revolution Volume 2 in a new version performed by Patti LaBelle.
Billboard ranked the song at number sixteen on their list of the "100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time". In 2021, the Library of Congress selected the song for preservation in the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
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"Lady Marmalade" was covered by Italian pop star Sabrina on her eponymous album. It was released in 1987 as the album's second single by Baby Records. In some countries, including France and the Netherlands, the song was known as "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi? (Lady Marmalade)" and was released in 1988. Author James Arena named the cover among Sabrina's "relentlessly catchy" singles. The song charted at number 36 on the Belgian Flanders Singles Chart, number 40 on the Dutch Single Top 100, and number 41 on the French Singles Chart.
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Remixed by Peter Vriends, produced by Claudio Cecchetto
Credits for Sabrina's version are adapted from CD liner notes:
In 1998, English-Canadian girl group All Saints released a cover version of "Lady Marmalade" as part of the double A-side single "Under the Bridge" / "Lady Marmalade". The song also appeared as the tenth track of their debut self-titled album (1997). A version remixed by Timbaland appeared on the Dr. Dolittle (1998) soundtrack. The "Lady Marmalade" portion of the single was only released in Europe, and the group performed the song at the 1998 Brit Awards.
All Saints' version features different, slightly racier lyrics for its verses, written by the group; the only lyrics retained from the original song are heard in the "gicchi-gicchi-ya-ya da-da" and "mocha-choca-latte ya-ya" (of the pre-chorus) and the French "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soi" ("do you want to sleep with me tonight") of the chorus. Also, instead of singing "Creole Lady Marmalade" as in the original, an unidentified female voice can be heard (albeit to the same melody) singing "Where you think you're sleepin' tonight…?" before fading into the chorus.
Daily Record described All Saints' version as a "passable version of LaBelle's disco classic". "Lady Marmalade" was the third single (fourth in Japan) from their self-titled debut studio album; it contained the "Marmalade" cover and a cover version of "Under the Bridge" by Red Hot Chili Peppers. The single reached number one on the official UK Top 40 chart, becoming the group's second number-one hit. A total of 424,799 singles have been sold in the UK, with proceeds from the single going to breast cancer charities.
The music video for the song shows the band members and other people having a dance party on one of the floors of a skyscraper in New York City at night. British actress Kathryn Allerston appears in the music video.
In 2001, "Lady Marmalade" appeared as part of a medley in the Baz Luhrmann film Moulin Rouge! (2001). For the film's soundtrack album, Christina Aguilera, Lil' Kim, Mýa, and Pink recorded a new version; it was released as the soundtrack's first single in April 2001. Produced by Missy Elliott and writing partner Rockwilder, the song includes an intro and outro by Elliott. Lyrics were not changed from the original version (with the verses being largely identical to the original), Lil' Kim's rap verse being the only obvious new addition. The reworked version transfers the song's setting from New Orleans to the titular Moulin Rouge in Paris.
Aguilera said she embraced the idea of collaborating with Elliott, Pink, Mýa and Lil' Kim on the track as soon as it was pitched to her. "I'm a fan of all of theirs, and just to be in the same song doing something with them—collaborating, which I love to do, is a really big thing for me," she said. "And it's cool to be out there before my next album comes out there, too."
The Moulin Rouge! version of "Lady Marmalade" received mixed-to-positive reviews. AllMusic's Brand Kohlenstein praised the song, saying that "the ladies teamed up for a surefire hit with their naughtier version of Patti Labelle's 'Lady Marmalade.'" Slant Magazine praised the collaboration as well, describing it as "an accolade to the performers' various distinctive styles, with Lil' Kim trashing it up and Aguilera caterwauling her way through the second half of the song". However, Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone called the cover "god-awful". The Sun Journal opined that the Moulin Rouge! version helped the song "find a new life". In a retrospective review, journalist Bianca Gracie noted that the song "highlighted each artist’s signature style: Lil Kim’s raunchy raps, Pink’s soulful tone, Mya’s sultry coos, and Aguilera’s theatrical vocal runs".
MTV ranked "Lady Marmalade" at number six on the list of the best 2001 songs, and LiveAbout.com placed it at number 21 on its list of the hundred best pop songs of the year. Entertainment Weekly's Andrew Hampp named it the best all-female collaboration of the time span 1998 to 2018. The song won the 2002 Grammy Award in the category of "Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals".
This version of the song reached No. 1 in its eighth week on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and spent five weeks at the top of the chart, 26 years after Labelle's version had reached No. 1, making "Lady Marmalade" the ninth song in history to top the U.S. chart when performed as different artists. It was the third airplay-only song in Billboard chart history (after Aaliyah's 2000 single "Try Again" and Shaggy's 2001 single "Angel") to hit No. 1 without being released in a major, commercially-available single format.
The song also holds the record for the longest-reigning No. 1 on Billboard's Mainstream Top 40 chart for an all-female collaboration, topping the chart for nine consecutive weeks. "Lady Marmalade" is the best-selling single for Lil' Kim and Mýa. Lil' Kim also held the record for having the longest No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100 for a female rapper, with "Lady Marmalade" being on the top of the charts for five consecutive weeks, until Australian rapper Iggy Azalea's "Fancy" surpassed that record, holding the No. 1 position for seven weeks in 2014. "Lady Marmalade" was included on the non-US versions of Aguilera's first greatest hits album, Keeps Gettin' Better: A Decade of Hits (2008). "Lady Marmalade" was the top-selling song of 2001 and had sold 5.2 million copies worldwide by December of that year.
In the United Kingdom, "Lady Marmalade" debuted at number 1 on that country's Official Singles Chart, and spent six weeks in the Top 10 and a total of nineteen weeks in the Top 100.
The single peaked at number one in an additional thirteen countries, including Australia, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Spain and Sweden.
The music video, directed by Paul Hunter, shows all four performers in lingerie in a cabaret-style video (with rapper Missy Elliott giving an introduction) and was filmed on sets built to resemble the actual Moulin Rouge nightclub around the turn of the 20th century. Interviewed by MTV News, the singers expressed their excitement about the video. Pink predicted the clip would be like a "circus on acid", while Aguilera said that "The video's going to be dope." She further elaborated on the video's concept, saying: "We're going to be having cabaret costumes. It's something you've never seen from us before. So, it's going to be fun."
The video's art direction anachronistically merged hip-hop sensibility with the film's French cabaret setting, thanks to some props and costumes actually used in the movie, according to Hunter's office. Choreographer Tina Landon was hired to choreograph the video. The video won the 2001 MTV Video Music Award for "Best Video of the Year" and "Best Video from a Film". The four singers performed the song live at the 2001 MTV Movie Awards, as well as at the 44th Annual Grammy Awards (2002), the latter performance featuring an appearance by Patti LaBelle, herself. In March 2021, Glenn Garner of the People magazine noted that "Lady Marmalade" "remains one of the most iconic music videos of our time". The video received a Vevo Certified Award on YouTube for over 100 million views. As of 2024, the music video has over 555 million views on Aguilera's official YouTube channel.
The song is considered a gay anthem. According to Kelley Dunlap of BuzzFeed, "Lady Marmalade" influenced Jessie J, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj's 2014 song "Bang Bang". It was featured in the music montage at the 92nd Academy Awards, which covered iconic movie soundtrack songs. "Lady Marmalade" was also featured in an episode of the thirteenth season (2021) of RuPaul's Drag Race, where contestants Tina Burner, Elliott with 2 Ts and Kahmora Hall had to perform a lip sync of the song. In 2022, Brazilian drag singers Gloria Groove, Grag Queen and Pabllo Vittar performed a version of "Lady Marmalade" on the Brazilian music program Música Boa Ao Vivo ("good live music"). The trio featured Groove rapping Lil Kim's verses, and all three performing live vocals.
Moulin Rouge!, the musical, opened on Broadway at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on July 25, 2019, featuring "Lady Marmalade" sung by The Lady M's: Nini 'Legs-in-the-Air' (Robyn Hurder), Arabia (Holly James), Baby Doll (Jeigh Madjus) and La Chocolat (Jacqueline B. Arnold). The song has been used in many promotional videos, and both opens and closes the show. It was announced that a full cast recording would be released in Fall 2019.
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