Johnny and Mary is a song of songwriter and performer British Robert Palmer appeared in single in 1980 with Island Records 1 . Twelfth single of the artist and first part of the album Clues , released the same year, Johnny and Mary meets a moderate reception of the public in the United Kingdom and is not ranked at Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. However, it is in Europe that the title works best in the charts , reaching the top 10 of some countries, includingFrance , where the single meets a huge commercial success in terms of sales – it will be certified gold – and will be used thereafter as a theme for Renault commercials .

The lyrics

Johnny and Mary refers to the relationship between Marilyn Monroe and John F. Kennedy .

Reception

Johnny and Mary ranks only at the 44 th place of the British charts 2 and manages to classify to the 18 th place ranking Billboard’s Club Play Singles in the United States 3 . It is a success in several countries like France , where the single sells 459,000 copies and is certified gold 4 .

He reached the fifth place in the charts in Switzerland , the tenth in Austria and Canada 5 and the twelfth in New Zealand .

Reversals

  • Takeover by the German group of indietronica The Notwist
  • Takeover by alternative rock band Placebo
  • Takeover by the German group of indie Knabenkraut
  • Resumed by Norwegian composer Todd Terje and singer Bryan Ferry in 2014 .

Use in other media

Johnny and Mary was used as theme music in commercials promoting cars Renault throughout 1980 and 1990 6 . The first commercials used the original version of Palmer, while a range of special recordings in different styles were produced in the 1990s , the most famous being the acoustic rendition of Martin Taylor , which was published on his album Spirit of Django . Taylor has recorded alternative versions for Renault, the latest being in 1998 for the launch of the all-new Renault Clio .

Rankings and certifications

Weekly rankings

Classification (1980-1981) Best
position
 Austria ( Ö3 Austria Top 40 ) 7 10
 Belgium (Flanders Ultratop 50 Singles ) 8 8
 Belgium ( VRT Top 30 Flanders) 9 6
 Canada ( Canadian Singles Chart ) 5 10
 France ( SNEP ) 10 2
 New Zealand ( RIANZ ) 11 12
 Netherlands ( Nederlandse Top 40 ) 12 21
 Netherlands ( Single Top 100 ) 13 27
 United Kingdom (UK Singles Chart) 14 44
 Sweden ( Sverigetopplistan ) 15 11
 Switzerland ( Schweizer Hitparade ) 16 5
 South Africa ( Springbok Radio ) 17 5
 Spain ( AFYVE ) 18 1
 Italy ( FIMI ) 19 5
 Germany ( Media Control AG ) 20 7
 Australia ( Kent Music Report ) 21 20
 United States (Billboard Hot Dance Club Play) 22 18

Annual rankings

Classification (1980) Best
position
 Belgium (Flanders Ultratop 50 ) 23 80
 France ( SNEP ) 24 24
Classification (1981) Best
position
 Italy ( FIMI ) 19 15

Certifications

Country certification Year Sales
 France ( SNEP ) 4  Gold 1980 459,000

Notes and references

  1. ↑ ( in ) ” Robert Palmer -” Johnny and Mary “ ”  [ archive ] , on Discogs (accessed 29 May 2013 ) .
  2. ↑ ( in ) O’Brien, Karen (Editor), Guinness British Hit Singles , London, Guinness Publishing Ltd., 12th ed. ( ISBN 0-85112-092-X ) , p.  317
  3. ↑ ( in ) ” Robert Palmer – Awards ”  [ archive ] , on Allmusic (accessed 27 May 2013 ) .
  4. ↑ a and b ” Certifications of singles (by artist) ”  [ archive ] , on InfoDisc (accessed May 27, 2013 ) .
  5. ↑ a and b ( in ) ” Robert Palmer ”  [ archive ] , on tsort.info (accessed May 27, 2013 ) .
  6. ↑ http://www.liberation.fr/culture/0101455582-robert-palmer-fin-d-un-dandy-colonial  [ archive ]
  7. ↑ ( in ) Austrian-charts.com – Robert Palmer – Johnny and Mary [ archive ] . Ö3 Austria Top 40 . Hung Medien. Accessed May 27, 2013.
  8. ↑ ( nl ) Ultratop.be – Robert Palmer – Johnny and Mary [ archive ] . Ultratop 50 . Ultratop and Hung Medien / hitparade.ch. Accessed May 27, 2013.
  9. ↑ ( nl ) ” Johnny And Mary – ROBERT PALMER ”  [ archive ] , Top 30 (accessed July 26, 2013 ) : “Hoogste notering in of top 30: 6”
  10. ↑ ” Classification of songs (by artist) ”  [ archive ] , on InfoDisc (accessed May 27, 2013 ) .
  11. ↑ ( in ) Charts.org.nz – Robert Palmer – Johnny and Mary [ archive ] . RIANZ . Hung Medien. Accessed May 27, 2013.
  12. ↑ ( nl ) Nederlandse Top 40 – Robert Palmer search results  [ archive ] . Nederlandse Top 40 . Stichting Nederlandse Top 40. Accessed May 27, 2013.
  13. ↑ ( nl ) Dutchcharts.nl – Robert Palmer – Johnny And Mary [ archive ] . Single Top 100 . Hung Medien. Accessed July 25, 2013.
  14. ↑ ( in ) Archive Chart  [ archive ] . UK Singles Chart . ChartArchive. Accessed May 27, 2013.
  15. ↑ ( in ) Swedishcharts.com – Robert Palmer – Johnny and Mary [ archive ] . Singles Top 60 . Hung Medien. Accessed May 27, 2013.
  16. ↑ ( in ) Swisscharts.com – Robert Palmer – Johnny and Mary [ archive ] . Schweizer Hitparade . Hung Medien. Accessed May 27, 2013.
  17. ↑ ” South African Rock Lists Website SA Charts 1969 – 1989 Acts (P) ”  [ archive ] , Rock.co.za (accessed July 25, 2013 )
  18. ↑ ( es ) Fernando Salaverri , Sólo éxitos: año año has, from 1959 to 2002 , Spain, Fundación Autor, SGAE, ( ISBN  84-8048-639-2 )
  19. ↑ a and b http://www.hitparadeitalia.it/hp_yends/hpe1981.htm  [ archive ]
  20. ↑ ( in ) Charts.de – Robert Palmer – Johnny And Mary [ archive ] . GfK Entertainment . PhonoNet GmbH. Accessed July 25, 2013.
  21. ↑ ” Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – CHART POSITIONS PRE 1989, part 2 ”  [ archive ] , Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien (accessed July 25, 2013 )
  22. ↑ ( in ) ” Robert Palmer – Awards ”  [ archive ] , AllMusic . All Media Network (accessed June 24, 2013 )
  23. ↑ ( nl ) ” Jaaroverzichten 1980 ”  [ archive ] , Ultratop . Hung Medien (accessed July 13, 2014 )
  24. ↑ ” http://www.top.france.free.fr/html/annuel/1980.htm ” ( Archive • WikiWix • Archive.is • Google • What to do? ) (AccessedMarch 3, 2015 )