THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,745) Wallace Collection — “Daydream”
Warning: If you are from Belgium (or the rest of the continent, for that matter), read no further! For this was a #1 hit in Belgium, #3 in France, and #14 in the Netherlands. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daydream_(Wallace_Collection_song) It “became a hit in 21 countries . . . and sold millions of copies”. (Adamus67, https://therockasteria.blogspot.com/2012/10/wallace-collection-laughing-cavalier.html) Even if you’re from the UK or the U.S., it may sound familiar: “Some songs become so widely used as samples in other hit songs that we often lose track of their origins. One of the shining examples of this is . . . “Daydream” – popularized in television commercials featuring acts like I Monster and rapper Lupe Fiasco.” (https://www.thelonelynote.com/2009/02/behind-sample-wallace-collection.html) Here is a list of the covers/samples: https://www.artandpopularculture.com/Daydream_(Wallace_Collection_song).
“Daydream” is one of those grand unforgettable pop rock songs that simply wash over you. I know Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky would have like it — after all, he contributed a few melodies. Radio France tell us (courtesy of Google Translate) that:
An ascending phrase comes from Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. The first theme of the second act, when Siegfried goes to the shores of Swan Lake in the middle of the night. . . . The entire second part of the song is an onomatopoeic chant. For more than two minutes and building to a crescendo, they sing Lalala that really gets stuck in our heads! This melody is taken from the second movement, the andante cantabile, of Tchaikovsky’s first String Quartet. It is the second theme of the movement.
As to the Wallace Collection, Discogs writes that:
Wallace Collection was a [Belgian] group that was founded [in ’68] on the remains of the group Sylvester’s Team. Three of the original members (namely Sylvain Vanholme, Freddy Nieuland and Marc Herouet) then went on to form the band 16th Century, together with bass-player Christian Janssen and the classical musicians Raymond Vincent and Jacques Namotte. These two were members in the Belgian National Philharmonic Orchestra, but had been flirting with popular music already in a band called Stradivarius.
The band’s manager Jean Martin explains (courtesy of Google Translate):
Sylvain had told me about his idea of trying a musical experiment that would combine rock, jazz, and classical music in the same band. . . . You could tell Sylvain was really into it. When they started playing, from the very first notes, I swooned! I was overjoyed. I told them straight away that I agreed to take their careers into my own hands.
https://www.memoire60-70.be/RockBelge/Wallace_Collection_1969_1.htm
Adamus67 adds:
The band’s name has its prototype in the London museum of the same name, which was in the immediate vicinity of EMI. The dream of the group was to record an album in the studio. . . . Their debut studio album, Laughing Cavalier, was recorded at Abbey Road Studios and was released in 1969. . . . [I]n the wake of its success, the group toured Europe, the United States, Mexico, and South America. They also composed the soundtrack to a French film, La Maison, in 1970. Later singles, such as “Love” and “Serenade”, were hits in Belgium and some other countries but did not reach the level of “Daydream”.
https://therockasteria.blogspot.com/2012/10/wallace-collection-laughing-cavalier.html
Lisa Sinder explains the song’s repercussions for the band:
Sylvain Vanholme recalls how this breakthrough was also responsible for the downfall of the band in Wit-Lof from Belgium: “There was chaos. One day we would be playing in the North of Holland, the next day in Spain. We didn’t have time to rehearse or write new material. Between . . . concerts, they booked us a studio and said: quickly record a song like “Daydream”. The quality of the singles that followed went steadily downward. “Love” and “Serenade” at least made it to the Belgian Top 30. In 1971 the band decided to call it a day. . . . The biggest future for the ex-members of The Wallace Collection would be for Sylvain Vanholme, who has had huge hits with Two Man Sound and has produced a large number of Belgian records since . . . .
https://ezhevika.blogspot.com/2006/03/wallace-collection-laughing-cavalier.html
Go to this site for the unbelievable inside story of the Wallace Collection: https://www.memoire60-70.be/RockBelge/Wallace_Collection_1969_1.htm.
Here is the Wallace Collection live:
Here is the Wallace Collection in French:
Here is Claude François:
Here is the Gunter Kallman Choir:
Here is I Monster:
Here is Lupe Fiasco (featuring Jill Scott):
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