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Denis (Denee)

"Denise"
Single by Randy & the Rainbows
B-side "Come Back"
Released 1963
Genre Doo-wop
Length 1:57
Label
  • Rust Records (USA)
  • Philips (UK)
Writer(s) Neil Levenson
Producer(s) Bright Tunes Productions
Randy & the Rainbows singles chronology
"Denise"
(1963)
"Why Do Kids Grow Up"
(1963)
"Denis"
Blondie - Denis.jpg
Single by Blondie
from the album Plastic Letters
B-side
  • "I'm on E" (US)
  • "Contact in Red Square" / "Kung-Fu Girls" (UK)
Released
  • February 1978 (UK)
  • May 1978 (US)
Format 7" & 12" vinyl
Recorded 1977
Genre New wave
Length 2:18
Label Chrysalis
Writer(s) Neil Levenson
Producer(s) Richard Gottehrer
Blondie singles chronology
"Rip Her to Shreds"
(1976)
"Denis"
(1978)
"(I'm Always Touched by Your) Presence, Dear"
(1978)
"Denis"
Denis-single-by-georgina.jpg
Single by Georgina
from the album Sugar Spider
B-side "No More Lies"
Released 2002
Label Jive
Writer(s) Neil Levenson
Georgina singles chronology
"This Christmas"
(2001)
"Denis"
(2002)

"Denise" is a song written by Neil Levenson. The song was inspired by his childhood friend, Denise Lefrak. In 1963, the song became a popular top ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, when recorded by the American doo-wop group Randy & the Rainbows. A cover version by the American new wave group Blondie, re-titled "Denis", reached number 2 in the UK Singles Chart in 1978. Dutch actress and singer Georgina Verbaan covered "Denis" in 2002 and reached number 30 on the Dutch Singles Chart.

The American doo-wop group Randy & the Rainbows recorded "Denise" with the producers of The Tokens, releasing it as their single in 1963. The group's version of the song spent seventeen weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, charting at no. 10, peaking at no. 18 on the Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart, and reaching no. 5 on Canada's CHUM Hit Parade.

"Denis" (changing the name to its masculine form, pronounced without the final "s") is a 1977 cover of the song by the American new wave band Blondie. The cover of the song helped the band break into the international market. It featured on the band's second studio album, Plastic Letters (1978), and was the second UK single release by Blondie on Chrysalis records.

The initial Blondie version contained a verse with partly improvised lyrics in French by the group's vocalist Debbie Harry. Although Chrysalis insisted that the band re-record the song with a grammatically correct French translation, both the band and producer Richard Gottehrer preferred the first take. Harry stood her ground on the matter, and the version containing the "pidgin French" lyrics was released. The second, re-recorded version had its debut as a bonus track on EMI UK's 1994 re-issue of Plastic Letters.


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