#23: French Song by Lucille Starr
City: Toronto, ON
Radio Station: CHUM
Peak Month: June 1964
Peak Position in Toronto ~ #2
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ #37
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #54
Peak Position on Belgian Singles chart ~ #1
Peak Position on Dutch Singles chart ~ #1
YouTube: “The French Song”
Lyrics: “The French Song”
Lucille Marie Raymonde Savoie was born in Saint Boniface, Manitoba, in 1938. During her childhood years in Saint Boniface, she first sang in church. When Starr was seven the family moved to Maillardville, a Francophone community in Coquitlam, British Columbia, where she learned to play guitar, bass and mandolin. In 1958, she met Bob Regan at a wedding. They began playing together in concert. They soon married and started playing and recording under the billing “Bob and Lucille.” They released two singles on the Ditto label recorded in Hollywood, California, in 1958. The first recording was “Eeny-Meeny-Miney-Moe”, followed up with “The Big Kiss”.
At this point, they started billing themselves as “The Canadian Sweethearts” and, in 1961, released a single, “No Help Wanted”, with Soma. Into the mid-60’s the Canadian Sweethearts appeared on various television programs, including regular appearances on ABC’s Country America show, and toured with Hank Snow. In 1963, they signed with A&M Records and released two albums and a number of singles, including “Out For Fun”/”Freight Train“. In 1964, Starr recorded “The French Song”, singing solo and backed by the Tijuana Brass, the label co-owner Herb Alpert’s band.
“The French Song” (Quand Le Soleil Dit Bonjour Aux Montagnes) was written by Lucille Starr. The first two verses of “The French Song” were in French. The third verse and the first half of the fourth verse were restatements of the French in English.
Now when the sun says good day to the mountains,
And the night says hello to the dawn.
I’m alone with my dreams on the hilltop,
And I can still hear his voice though he’s gone.
I hear from my door the love songs through the wind,
It brings back sweet memories of you.
“The French Song” peaked at #1 in Montreal, #2 in Toronto, and Winnipeg (MB), #3 in Hartford (CT) and Calgary (AB), #4 in Springfield (MA) and Revelstoke (BC), #5 in Wilkes-Barre (PA), Richmond Hill (ON) and Hamilton (ON), #6 in Ottawa, #8 in Phoenix, #9 in Providence (RI), #11 in Manchester (NH), and #12 in El Paso (TX), Salem (OR), and Boston. According to music critic, John Einarson, “the single became the first million-selling record by a Canadian female country music recording artist.”
“The French Song” is among a select list of non-English (mostly) songs on the pop charts in the late 50s and 60s that were successful Top 40 hits. Others include “Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volare)” by Domenico Modugno, “Al Di La” by Emilio Pericoli, “Sailor (Your Home is the Sea)” by Lolita, “Sukiyaki” by Kyu Sakomoto, “Dominique” by The Singing Nun (Soeur Sourire), and “Guantanamara” by the Sandpipers.
In the summer of 1964, Lucille Starr’s “I’m Yours” reached the Top Ten in Springfield (MA). While the flip side, “Jolie Jacqueline”, reached the Top Ten in Sudbury (ON) and Toronto. It also reached #8 in Belgium and #19 in the Netherlands. That same year the Canadian Sweethearts had a Top 40 hit in Vancouver called the “Hootenanny Express”. In 1965, Starr’s disc “Crazy Arms”, reached #3 in the Netherlands. While “Colinda” reached the Top Ten in Montreal, #2 in the Netherlands, and #12 in Belgium. Later in 1965, her release “So Many Others”, was a Top Ten hit in Flint (MI), and reached the Top 20 in both Battle Creek (MI) and Detroit. In 1966 the duo charted a song called “I Love You” into the Top 5 in South Africa. Music critic John Einarson notes, “In South Africa the Prime Minister held a special luncheon in Lucille’s honour at their parliament.”
Into the late 60s, Lucille Starr charted a number of regional Top Ten hits on the country & western charts in the USA.
She won Holland’s Golden Tulip Award – becoming the second artist and first woman to receive it – and the first North American to have a television special there (in fact two TV specials). Starr also appeared at Amsterdam’s Grand Gala du Disque.
As well, she had more hits in South Africa. “The French Song” reached #4 in South African in 1967. Another, “Send Me No Roses”, was a #6 hit in 1968 in South Africa. In fact, Lucille Starr toured a number of times to South Africa and released an album in 1968 South Africa’s Sweetheart: Lucille Starr with Bob Regan, and another titled In South Africa. Starr also toured to Australia, China, Guam, Japan, the Philippines, and South Korea.
On the Canadian country chart Lucille Starr charted two single to number-one: “Too Far Gone” and “Cajun Love”. In her honour, a street in the city of Coquitlam was named “Lucille Starr Way” in 1988. The Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame inducted Lucille Starr in 1989. While in 1996, In 1996 she got her own star in the Country Music Hall of Fame’s Nashville Walk of Stars.
Her final charting single was “Just the Way We Were,” which appeared on the Canadian country charts in 1990, peaking at #99. She released three final studio albums in 1991.
Back to You: the Life and Music of Lucille Starr, a jukebox musical with a script by Tracey Power, was performed at the Prairie Theatre Exchange in Winnipeg in November 2010. It portrays the turbulent relationship between Lucille Starr and Bob Regan in the Canadian stage production. Regan became increasingly jealous of Starr’s growing success and opportunities to tour internationally.
She had a happier second marriage. Looking back over her career, Starr remarked, “When I was just a kid, all I ever thought about was getting up on a stage and singing. I never thought about stardom or gold records. It’s like the happy ending you read about in story books.”
October 31, 2026
Ray McGinnis
References:
“Manitoba-born country music queen Lucille Starr dies at 82,” CBC, September 6, 2020.
Tom Hawthorn, “Coquitlam’s Forgotten World-Famous Francophone Country Star,” Montecristo Magazine, October 2020.
John Einarson, “Winnipeg-born Lucille Starr shone brightly around the world,” Lifestyles 55, October 2, 2020.
CHUM Hit Parade | CHUM 1050-AM Toronto (ON) | June 22, 1964
Leave a Reply