Alphabet (Amanda Lear song)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "Alphabet" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Amanda Lear | ||||
| from the album I Am a Photograph | ||||
| B-side | "Queen of Chinatown" | |||
| Released | 1977 | |||
| Genre | Euro disco | |||
| Length | 4:00 | |||
| Label | Ariola Records | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Amanda Lear | |||
| Producer(s) | Anthony Monn | |||
| Amanda Lear singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Alphabet" is a song by French singer Amanda Lear, released as a single from her debut album I Am a Photograph in 1977 by Ariola Records.
"Alphabet" is a mid-tempo disco song, arranged by Charly Ricanek and Anthony Monn, and is largely based on the melody from Johann Sebastian Bach's Prelude and Fugue in C major, BWV 846. Autobiographical lyrics were written by Amanda Lear and include her personal associations with each letter of the alphabet recited over the music. In a 2013 interview, Lear stated that "Alphabet" was "the first song to be completely just spoken onto classical music".[1]
The song carries a subtitle "Prelude in C by J. S. Bach" in the track listing of its parent album, and was also known as "My Alphabet" when released as the B-side on the single "Queen of Chinatown". French- and Italian-language versions of the song were also recorded, entitled "Mon alphabet" and "Alfabeto", respectively. "Mon alphabet" was the B-side on the single "Tomorrow", released in France earlier that year.[2]
"Alphabet", just like the previous single, "Blue Tango", at that time was only released in the Netherlands. "Queen of Chinatown" made the B-side, however, it would become Lear's next single the same year. "Alphabet" was not a commercial success and did not chart. In 2015, the track was used in a Louis Vuitton jewelry advert.[3]