On January 28th, German label DA Music will release "Lieblingsschlager", a compilation by American singer Peggy March. This anthology will include the pop classic "I Will Follow Him" recorded as a duet with José Hoebee, which appeared on the 2012 reissue of Peggy March's album "Always and Forever" in German-speaking countries.
Front cover of Peggy March's new compilation
Back cover of Peggy March's compilation
Here's the story of Peggy & José's legendary duet that celebrates its 10th anniversary this year.
"I Will Follow Him" was originally a French tune entitled "Chariot" written by Frank Pourcel (as J.W. Stole) and Paul Mauriat (as Del Roma). It was first recorded by "Frank Pourcel et Son Grand Orchestre" and appeared as an instrumental piece on the 1961 French LP "Amour, danse et violons No. 17".
Jacques Plante wrote French lyrics and British vocalist Petula Clark recorded the track which became very popular in France.
The song was later adapted in English by Arthur Altman and Norman Gimbel. 15-year old artist Little Peggy March performed it as "I Will Follow Him" and made it a world sensation when it reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 1963 in the USA.
In 1982, José Hoebee covered this pop classic and reached the number-one spot in the Netherlands and Belgium.
After the huge success of "I Will Follow Him", Peggy March scored hit after hit in Germany in the 1960s and 1970s. Her most popular German single was "Mit 17 hat man noch Träume" which peaked in Goethe's country at #2 in 1965. In 1984, Jermaine Jackson and Pia Zadora achieved a major European hit single with "When the Rain Begins to Fall", co-written by Peggy March.
On February 7th, 2011, José Hoebee appeared on MAX/Nederland 2's morning talk show "KoffieMAX" to announce a special project: the re-recording of "I Will Follow Him" with Peggy March.
José (who was still involved in Luv' at the time) was approached by fellow artist Casper Janssen who was in touch with Peggy's producer Søren Jensen and who could arrange the contact between the ladies. The recording session took place in Piet Souer's studio in Blaricum, the Netherlands. Luv' colleague Marga Scheide was present there to support José. A second duet entitled "My Christmas Wish" was also cut.
José Hoebee, Søren Jensen, Peggy March and Marga Scheide
José Hoebee, Darren Harvey and Marga Scheide
On March 16th, 2011, Peggy & José discussed their collaboration on "KoffieMAX" and SBS6's entertainment news program "Shownieuws".
Peggy & José on KoffieMAX
A music video for "I Will Follow Him" was shot and posted on Vimeo but was rapidly deleted. It looked like a stillborn project.
Fortunately, one year later, in April 2012, the duets mentioned above appeared as bonus tracks of the German edition of Peggy's album "Always and Forever" released by Night Dance Records/DA Music.
Photo montage by Marco Rens
German press release "Always and Forever" by Peggy March:
The music video for "I Will Follow Him" reappeared on YouTube in the Spring of 2012:
Night Dance Records released the ladies' second duet "My Christmas Wish" as a digital single for Christmas 2012.
Source: Hans R. De Vries, José Hoebee Fan Page (Facebook), DA Music, Luv' weblog archives, YouTube