I featured this song a long time ago on this blog but with different video links which have since expired…
In the late seventies, there was a hit song in Israel called "Hallelujah," written by composer Kobi Oshrat. It was written for and entered into something called the Eurovision Song Contest 1978, where it was rejected by the judging committee but accepted a year later for Eurovision Song Contest 1979. There, it was performed by singer Gail Atari and a group called Milk & Honey and it won a major award. Soon, it was released as a record that sold many, many copies in many, many countries in many, many languages. Here's Ms. Atari and the group singing it in, I think, Hebrew…
And here they are singing it in English…
And it was recorded in many other languages. Here they are doing it in German…
In America, it came to the attention of the singing married couple, Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme. I know that for a lot of people, Steve and Eydie were too 'middle of the road" and way outta sync with the music of the sixties, seventies and beyond. They were on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson a lot, though in Johnny's later years, the network folks would complain that a lot of the musical acts being booked were "too Steve and Eydie." That meant a certain style of music, not specifically those two performers, but I liked them. I thought there was something very comforting about the way they handled a tune.
Steve and Eydie thought "Hallelujah" had a good shot at becoming a hit in this country so they recorded a single record of it under the names "Parker and Penny." Why the fake names? Well, I heard two stories, the less interesting of which is that they were under contract to one record company and wanted to do this one for another.
The more interesting reason — and it might even be true for all we know — is that they thought they might reach an audience that would automatically pass up a record by Steve and Eydie. At least, it might get played on radio stations that would pass on playing a record with their names on it.
The secret did not stay secret for long. Mr. Carson had them on a couple of times to sing it. I think they did it three times in about two months on his show. The first time, Steve came on solo, started to perform it and then Eydie popped in as surprise to join him in it. The second time, Eydie came on alone but Steve suddenly turned up in the middle of the song. The third time, they came on as a duo.
I may have the order wrong but I remember the unsurprising surprises. Each time, the number started on stage and then the two of them went out into the audience — Steve up one aisle, Eydie up the other — to sing as they shook hands with audience members. The song made it as high as #46 on the charts, probably because of The Tonight Show exposure. If you can stand it one more time, here they are performing it at a concert in France but in English. And I apologize if you're never able to get it out of your head…