#2: Chanson D’Amour by the Fontane Sisters

City: Hull, QC
Radio Station: CKCH
Peak Month: July 1958
Peak Position in Hull ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #12
YouTube: “Chanson D’Amour”
Lyrics: “Chanson D’Amour”

The Fontane Sisters were a trio of sisters. They were Bea (born 1915), Geri (born 1921) and Marge (born 1917) Rosse, all from New Milford, New Jersey. Bea and Marge started out singing for local functions, doing so well that they were urged to audition in New York City. Originally they performed as a trio with their guitarist brother Frank, under the name the Ross Trio (Rosse with the “e” omitted). The group auditioned for NBC and was soon sent off to work in Cleveland, Ohio. When they returned to New York in 1944, Frank was drafted into the Army. He went to France and was mortally wounded by a German sniper. Geri, who had just finished school, took her brother’s place, making it an all-girl trio. The sisters first performed together as The Three Sisters. Sheet music of two of their songs, “I’m Gonna See My Baby”, and “Pretty Kitty Blue Eyes”, was published by Santly-Joy in 1944.

The now all-female group chose the name of Fontaine (with an “i”) from a French-Canadian great-grandmother. They cut two singles for Musicraft Records in 1946, and then worked on sustaining (non-sponsored) programs for NBC, meeting and working with Perry Como soon after he came to the network. Word reached the sisters, then in Chicago for NBC, that “Supper Club” would be making cast changes; they were eager for a chance to join Como’s show, which also meant being closer to their home. Beginning in the summer of 1948, they were featured on his radio and TV show known as The Chesterfield Supper Club and later (1950–1954) as The Perry Como Show. The trio also did appearances on Chesterfield Sound Off Time when the program originated from New York; however, the television show lasted only one season.

In 1949, they were signed by RCA Victor and dropped the “i” from “Fontaine,” becoming the Fontane Sisters. At RCA they cut a few dozen singles over the next several years, sometimes as backup to Perry Como. One of these was “A You’re Adorable”, which peaked at number-one in April 1949. Another was “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo”, a #14 hit from the animated film Cinderella. In 1951, they had a minor hit with “The Tennessee Waltz” which peaked at #20. The bigger selling recordings of “Tennessee Waltz” were made by Patti Page (#1), Les Paul and Mary Ford (#6), Guy Lombardo (#6), and Jo Stafford (#7). Another Top 20 hit was backing Perry Como on “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas”. They also had a #16 hit with “Cold, Cold Heart”. That winter, the Newburgh News (Newburgh, NY) published a news story about the Fontane Sisters spending Christmas with their parents in the nearby town of Cornwall, NY, some fifty miles north of Manhattan. At the time Cornwall was a town of about 6,100.

In 1954 they left RCA Victor and switched to Randy Wood’s Dot Records. At this point in their career, they abandoned the slow late 1940s-early 1950s style for faster material aimed at the growing teen/rock-and-roll audience. On the Dot label they had 20 songs reach the Billboard pop charts, including eleven in the Top 40. In 1954, the Fontane Sisters covered the Charms number-one R&B hit “Hearts of Stone”. The sisters took the song to number-one on the pop charts for four weeks in the month of February 1955.

In 1955, the Fontane Sisters continued to have success on the pop charts. They had a song on the Top 40 of the national charts in the USA for over ten of twelve months. “Rock Love”, “Rollin’ Stone”, and “Playmates” each peaked on the Billboard pop chart at #13. “Daddy-O”, a cover of the country singer Bonnie Lou, peaked at #11 in late 1955. They covered the #5 rockabilly tune by Boyd Bennett, “Seventeen”, which the Fontane Sisters took even higher to number-three. The Fontane Sisters ended the year with a minor hit, “Adorable”, which stalled at #71 on the Billboard pop chart. It had been a #11 R&B hit for the Colts, and an R&B cover by the Drifters climbed to #1.

In 1956, they covered the Teen Queens’ song “Eddie My Love”, and reached #11, surpassing the Teen Queens peak of #14 (and #3 R&B). Late that year, their cover of Harry Belafonte’s “Banana Boat Song” reached #13. The sisters covered Fats Domino’s “I’m In Love Again”, (a number-one R&B hit, and #3 pop hit). But their cover stalled at #38. They also covered LaVern Baker’s #4 R&B hit titled “Still”. However, the cover barely cracked the Top 100, stalling at #86.

In 1957, the Fontane Sisters covered Jimmy Bowen’s “I’m Stickin’ With You”, which stalled at #72 on the Billboard pop chart. In the spring of 1958, the Fontane Sisters covered Art & Dotty Todd’s “Chanson D’Amour”.

“Chanson D’Amour” was written by Wayne Shanklin. He was born in Joplin, Missouri, in 1916. In 1951, “Jezebel” was the first notable composition to gain him attention as a songwriter. Shanklin wrote “Primrose Lane” for Jerry Wallace in 1959, which climbed to #8 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 1960, his song “The Big Hurt” was recorded by Miss Toni Fisher and peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, and crossed over to the Hot R&B Sides chart where it climbed to #16. Miss Toni Fisher had a Top 40 hit with Wayne Shanklin’s “West Of The Wall” in 1962. Wayne Shanklin also contributed music for the 1957 westerns Shoot-Out at Medicine Bend, and The Big Land. In 1961, Wayne Shanklin wrote the music for the dramatic film Angel Baby. His compositions were recorded by Eartha Kite, Johnnie Ray, Jimmy Boyd, Tony Bennett, Eddie Albert, Danny Kaye, The DeCastro Sisters, Gisele MacKenzie, Spike Jones, Earl Grant, Connie Francis, The Chordettes, The Everly Brothers, Johnny Rivers, Sandy Posey and others. Over the years, Wayne Shanklin was married four times: in 1934, in 1942, in 1960, and the last time in 1965. Shanklin died of a heart attack at the age of 54 in 1970.

“Chanson D’Amour” in English means “love song.” The second line is “play encore,” emphasizing this is a love song you’d want to hear over and over again. The song offers up a series of phrases that collectively underscore a deep love: “I adore,” and “here in my heart, more and more.”

“Chanson D’Amour” peaked at #1 in Hull (QC), Jackson (MS), Schenectady (NY), Smiths Falls (ON), and Odessa (TX), #2 in Albany (NY), Washington DC, and Chicago, #3 in Toronto, #4 in Phoenix, #5 in San Diego and Georgetown (DL), and #10 in Clovis (NM).

“Chanson D’Amour” was successfully covered by Manhattan Transfer where it peaked at #1 in 1977 in Ireland, Norway and the UK. Later that year, “Jealous Heart”, a cover of the tune by the country & western star Tex Ritter, only reached #94.

In 1959, the Fontane Sisters released a vocal version of “Theme From A Summer Place”. However, it was Percy Faith’s instrumental version that caught on, while the trio failed to crack the Hot 100. In 1963, they released their final single, “Tips Of My Fingers”. Over their career, the Fontane Sisters released nearly fifty singles.

The Fontane Sisters retired from performing around 1961, when youngest sister Geri was expecting her daughter. The rise of rock ‘n roll had sidelined traditional pop singers like the Fontane Sisters, along with Rosemary Clooney, Teresa Brewer, Patti Page, Doris Day, Jane Morgan, Gigi Grant, Kay Starr, the Chordettes, Cathy Carr, The McGuire Sisters, Georgia Gibbs, Gisele MacKenzie, Kitty Kallen, Jo Stafford, and others.

All three of the Fontane Sisters were married by 1964. In a 1977 interview with The Evening News, they all agreed they were enjoying “home life” since they retired. They were happy living their lives out of the limelight, and saying goodbye to busy travel schedules. Geri died in 1993, Bea died in 2002, and Marge died in 2003.

November 20, 2024
Ray McGinnis

References:
May Okon, “They Have Their Harmony Too,” Sunday News, February 20, 1955.
Martha Schiff, “Where Are The Fontane Sisters Now? The Evening News, January 23, 1977.
Helen Peterson, “Music To Their Heirs: Long Lost Royalties Delivered,” New York Daily News, March 13, 2004.
“Fontane Sisters Spend Yule with Parents in Cornwall,” Newburgh News, Newburgh, NY, December 26, 1951.
“Wayne Shanklin” Wikipedia.org.

CKCH 970-AM Hull (QC) Top Ten | July 12, 1958