Patsy Gallant
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Patsy Gallant | |
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Attic , Trilogie Musique, Pee Gee Records |
Patricia Gallant .
Early life
Patsy Gallant was one of the 10 children of Béatrice Aubé Gallant and Arthur Gallant. At age five, she was part of The Gallant Sisters with older siblings Angeline, Florine, and Ghislaine. At eight Gallant gained television exposure after her parents moved to Moncton; two years later the group was playing nightclubs in Montreal. She left the group for a solo career in 1967, was featured in commercials, and was a regular on both the French-language TV variety program Discothèque and its English equivalent, Music Hop.[1]
Career
Successful beginnings in French
Gallant released her first
Patsy Gallant, as a bilingual artist, used to release English and French versions of her albums simultaneously. She aimed for the Francophone market of Quebec and Europe as well as English Canada and the United States. In September 1972 she released Upon My Own, her first English album. Although her two French albums were hits in French Canada, the only song from this album to score a minor hit was "Get That Ball", a funky song written by Yves Lapierre and Ken Owen. Other notable songs from this album are "This Old Lady", "Saturday Weather", "People Going Down the Avenue" and "I've Gotta Make It" (Upon My Own).[6]
Intensifying her efforts in the American market, Gallant recorded her 1974 album Power in
Disco Diva
Gallant's biggest pop success came when she teamed up with producer and manager Ian Robertson for her 1976 album, Are You Ready for Love. Together, Gallant and Robertson would produce five albums for
Having always been involved with jazz, soul music and funk, she started recording disco music in 1973 (initially in French). "Daya Dou Doum", from her album Toi, l'enfant, can be considered her first incursion. In 1975, she released "Makin' Love In My Mind" (in French, "J'ai le droit"). After leaving CBS, Gallant released a 7-inch single with a reworking of
Gallant released the English album Will You Give Me Your Love in 1977, which featured songs like "Every Step of the Way" and "Back to the City". One year later, she recorded the French album Patsy Gallant et Star, both in 1978 on Attic Records,
Although named "the Canadian disco queen", Patsy Gallant never dedicated herself exclusively to the genre. All her albums from the late seventies feature obscure songs that range from Steely Dan-like West Coast music and blue-eyed soul ("Back to the City" and "It'll All Come Around") to Latin-Brazilian jazz ("Te Caliente") and Motown-inspired ballads ("Together Again" and "World of Fantasy").
Personal life
In the early seventies, Patsy Gallant was dating Ian Robertson, a photographer who became her manager and co-produced her recordings from 1975 to 1980. The couple split in 1977 and Gallant started dating Dwayne Ford, a Canadian musician who emerged as a member of Bearfoot and was playing keyboards in her accompanying band Star, as well as collaborating on her recordings. They married in 1980.
In 1985, Gallant and Ford had a son named Jason Remington Ford (who is also a singer and songwriter). The couple divorced in 1987.
Achievement through musicals
With the decline of disco, Gallant focused on adult contemporary music. After her 1984 album Take Another Look, she took a break from the music business. She returned in the late 1980s, performing gigs and taking roles in musical theatre. She has appeared in productions of Cats, Nunsense, a stage biography of Édith Piaf, and played the role of Stella Spotlight in the French hit musical Starmania, in Paris, France, which ran for eight years in the 1990s. Luc Plamondon, the creator of Starmania, wanted Gallant to play Stella in the original stage production in the 1970s; but owing to Gallant's busy schedule at the time, her managers did not even tell her about Starmania, and the role of Stella Spotlight in the original production went to Diane Dufresne. She also had a brief stint as Palma the stepmother in Cindy, a musical based on Cinderella, also written by Plamondon.
After living in Paris for eleven years, Gallant returned to Canada in 2005 and released the compilation album Tout va trop vite. The album contained a number of her biggest French hits, early recordings from the 1960s, lost disco-era songs such as "It's Got to Be You", and a re-recording of "Sugar Daddy". Gallant has more recently recorded a duet with the French rap group, Treizième Étage, called "Faut pas lâcher". The song appeared on the group's album L'Asphalte dans mon district (2006). Her most recent single "Coeur de velours" written by Mario Leonard was released in July 2010.
In 2015, she released the album Patsy Gallant chante Piaf.
In 2022, 38 years after releasing her previous album with original material, Patsy released the album "To Exist and Be Heard", with songs that she had been writing and developing for more than 10 years. The album, preceded by a few singles released on streaming platforms ('Mon bel indifférent / Around the World', 'Overdose de solitude', and 'J'ai besoin d'air / I Don't Care'), was described by her as "the album of my life" [9] and brings a mix of rock, R&B, pop, jazz, blues and dance music.
Film and television
In 1973, Gallant had a minor role in the Denis Héroux film Enuff Is Enuff (J'ai mon voyage!) as an anglophone Canadian girl who tried to seduce Jean Lefebvre's character in a campsite.
On the strength of her disco success, Gallant hosted her own variety show, The Patsy Gallant Show, which was produced and broadcast on
In 2002, Gallant had a supporting role in the feature film
Discography
Albums
- Patsy Gallant (Tout va trop vite) (1972)
- Upon My Own (1972)
- Power (1973)
- Toi l'enfant (1974)
- Are You Ready For Love (1976)
- Besoin D'Amour (1977)
- Will You Give Me Your Love? (1977)
- Patsy! (1978)
- Patsy Gallant Et Star (1978)
- Greatest Hits / Ses Plus Grands Succès (1979)
- Stranger in the Mirror (1980)
- Amoureuse (1981)
- Take Another Look (1984)
- Tout va trop vite ("best of" compilation including new version of "Sugar Daddy") (2005)
- Patsy Gallant chante Piaf (2015)
- To Exist And Be Heard (2022)
Singles
Year | Song | CAN | CAN AC
|
AUS[15] | UK[7]
|
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1972 | "Get That Ball" | 32 | 27 | - | - |
1973 | "I Don't Know Why" | - | 47 | - | - |
1974 | "Save the Last Dance for Me" | - | 97 | - | - |
"Raconte" | - | 42 | - | - | |
1975 | "Doctor's Orders" | 83 | - | - | - |
"Makin' Love in My Mind" | 66 | - | - | - | |
1976 | " From New York to L.A. "
|
6 | 1 | 10 | 6 |
1977 | "Are You Ready for Love?" | 16 | 4 | - | - |
"Sugar Daddy" | 9 | 6 | - | - | |
1978 | "Back to the City" | 69 | - | - | - |
"Stay Awhile with Me" | 77 | 28 | - | - | |
"Best of The Woman In Me" | 77 | 28 | - | - | |
"Every Step of the Way" | - | 26 | - | - | |
1979 | "O Michel" | - | 22 | - | - |
"We'll Find a Way" <w/ Dwayne Ford >
|
94 | - | - | - | |
"It's Got To Be You" | - | - | - | - | |
1980 | "How Many Lonely Nights" | - | 27 | - | - |
"Ce matin-la" | - | - | - | - | |
1981 | "Don't Forget About Me" | - | 24 | - | - |
JUNO Awards
- 1975 Female Vocalist of the Year (Nomination)[16]
- 1977 Best Selling Single: "From New York to LA" (Nomination)[16]
- 1977 Female Vocalist of the Year (Win)[16]
- 1977 Producer of the Year: "From New York to LA" (Nomination; with Ian Robertson)[16]
- 1978 Best Selling Single: "Sugar Daddy" (Win)[16]
- 1978 Female Vocalist of the Year (Win)[16]
- 1978 Producer of the Year: "Sugar Daddy" (Nomination; with Ian Robertson)[16]
- 1979 Female Vocalist of the Year (Nomination)[16]
- Carlisle Miller nominated for Composer of the Year (1978) for "Sugar Daddy"[17]
- Gilles Vigneault nominated for Composer of the Year and Gene Williams for lyrics (1977) for "From New York to L.A.[18]
References
- ^ "The Canadian Encyclopedia: Patsy Gallant". Historica Canada. Retrieved 2013-12-15.
- ^ "Patsy Gallant biography". Patsygallant.free.fr. Retrieved 2015-07-25.
- ^ Michel Fournier and Louis Bédard. "Québec Info Musique | Patsy Gallant". Qim.com. Retrieved 2015-07-25.
- ^ a b "Patsy Gallant". Le Parolier. Archived from the original on 2011-11-09. Retrieved 2015-07-25.
- ^ [1] Archived April 25, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Patsy Gallant - Upon My Own", Discogs, 1972, retrieved May 6, 2020
- ^ ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ISSN 0006-2510.
- ^ "Patsy Gallant: «C'est l'album de ma vie»". 4 June 2022.
- ^ Risdon, James (5 March 2002). "Entertainer Patsy Gallant keeping a frantic pace; NOW IN PARIS: Campbelltown native's career enjoying a resurgence". New Brunswick Telegraph Journal.
- ^ Brendan, Kelly (25 February 2002). "Disco's dead, but Gallant is back". The Gazette (Montreal).
- ^ "Yellowknife". Internet Movie Database (IMDb). IMDb.com. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
- ^ "Patsy Gallant". Internet Movie Database (IMDb). IMDb.com. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
- ^ "Yellowknife: Awards". Internet Movie Database (IMDb). IMDb.com. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
- ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Patsy Gallant". JUNO Awards Nominations and Winners, 1970-2016. JUNO Awards website. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
- ^ "Composer of the Year, Carlisle Miller (1978)", The JUNO Awards, retrieved May 6, 2020
- ^ "From New York to L.A. by Patsy Gallant - Songfacts", Songfacts.com, retrieved May 6, 2020