White Soxx - Versailles (1981) The making of

[DaveMcKeownmusic]

so cool to see this after all these years....I loved this song back then....it got quite a lot of airplay on late night radio in Northern Ireland at the time but I just couldn't buy it anywhere

[tattiepicker1]

I bought this record in the summer of 1980, I absolutely loved it. I always thought it was written because of the TV play 'Mrs Morrison's Ghosts' which was based on the book. I also remember it being played on radio 1, and I think I remember Frederic being interviewed on that station. Can anyone confirm this please?

[apache30]

this is a work of genius, release it again

[Queenforumnl]

You both say that it was a flop and that you were forgotten, but I bet there lots more people out there who just LOVE this song like we writers here do!

Hearing the music can make you see Versailles like it is: beautifull!

[SylviaBos66]

Wat heb ik hier lang naar gezocht. Een geweldig ongeëvenaard nummer!!!

[norwind]

Remember Hearing this on my local radio station in the summer of 1980 by much loved and missed presenter John Warwick

[grumpyjeremy]

@norwind I too heard this song - once - on a radio channel called Mercia Sound. John Warwick was one of the DJs on Mercia. I missed the name of the performer, and it became a mystery to me because there was something haunting about it (I think it's the synthesizer sound) - I asked people if they'd heard it too and nobody had. Nearly 30 years on, I chanced a search with the title on Youtube and there it was. And now this!

[Raidoman]

I think, at the time (long ago), I only heard this song once or twice in my life. But it was different from most pop songs, had an interesting theme to it, and something of a mini-opera story inside. So it stuck in my head somehow, as some songs do. Decades later I tried to find it again; it was one of the hardest MP3's to find on the entire Internet! SO rare...

Not a commercial succes, but still somehow it's now an 'Underground Classic'. Frederic and Fabrice, merci, still a good job!

[Hombrewrx]

Really strange this is not a hit! What a nice remembers hearing this song!!

[steveh310]

I don't know why this wasn't a massive hit in the uk. I loved it from first hearing it, and the writers deserved huge success

[gambojune]

one of my all time favourite songs, please release this on cd, it would make my collection complete.

[djmagnetron]

I heard Versailles on the radio in Holland when i was 14 in summer 1981 and ever since i heard this track i was totally in love with it. I took me weeks to find out what the artist was and how to spell the title. It's incredible that it wasn't a big hit despite a lot of airplay in Holland.

What a magical record great to find out that the entire choir is done by frederic himself :-) hope to find a digital version of the original 7'' soon

[bumperke]

After 30 years still impressed of what these guys did, i agree with all writers.

Tresbien.

Will

[FredericMercierFM]

Hi all,

I'm very honoured by all the comments about this title I composed a long time ago......I still love it and I'm working on a new mix.

THANKS YOU for your interest in my song....

Frederic Mercier

[jazzyr2]

Great to hear about the making of this song.

It was released in the UK in the summer of 1980 (not '81 as above title suggests) and I remember really loving the song as it was very "different" and quite special - I bought it on a 7" single. Radio One DJ Simon Bates played it a lot - I think it was his "record of the week" and he raved about it as well. I was very surprised that it didn't make the Top 40 chart. So pleased that it hasn't been completely forgotten about!

Well done Frederic/Fabrice

[Mick5624]

Eindelijk nog wat erkenning voor dit geweldige nummer. Ik ga dit jaar zeker stemmen om het hoger in de top 2000 te krijgen. Ik hoop de cd ervan (die uit schijnt te zijn sinds 2008) nog te scoren...

Merci beaucoup, Frederic et Fabrice