"Pretty Ballerina" is a song written by pianist Michael Brown that was released as a single by his band

the Left Banke The Left Banke was an American baroque pop band, formed in New York City in 1965. They are best remembered for their two U.S. hit singles, " Walk Away Renée" and "Pretty Ballerina". The band often used what the music press referred to as "baroq ...

in December 1966. It peaked at number 15 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and number 4 on the Canadian '' RPM'' chart. The original Left Banke version of the song was sung by

Steve Martin Caro Carmelo Esteban "Steve" Martin Caro (October 12, 1948 – January 14, 2020), originally known as Steve Martin, was an American rock musician. He is best known as the original lead singer of the 1960s baroque pop Baroque pop (sometimes call ...

and has appeared in the films ''

Apocalypse Now ''Apocalypse Now'' is a 1979 American epic war film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The screenplay, co-written by Coppola, John Milius and Michael Herr, is loosely based on the 1899 novella '' Heart of Darkness'' by Joseph ...

'', '' Off Limits'' and ''

Things Behind the Sun ''Things Behind the Sun'' is a 2001 drama film directed by Allison Anders and starring Kim Dickens and Gabriel Mann. It premiered at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival and was later aired on television by Showtime on August 18, 2001. The film is ba ...

''. The song has been covered by such artists as

Alice Cooper Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guilloti ...

John Mellencamp John J. Mellencamp (born October 7, 1951), previously known as Johnny Cougar, John Cougar, and John Cougar Mellencamp, is an American singer-songwriter. He is known for his catchy brand of heartland rock, which emphasizes traditional instrumen ...

Jason Falkner Jason Falkner (born June 2, 1968) is an American songwriter, musician, and guitarist who was a member of the bands Jellyfish, the Three O'Clock, and the Grays. Since 1996, he has released six solo albums, starting with '' Presents Author Unknown ...

, Peter Kingsbery,

Eels Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...

, Argentine rock star

Charly García Charly García (born Carlos Alberto García, October 23, 1951) is an Argentine singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. He formed and headlined two of the most popular bands in Argentina's rock history: Sui Generis in the 1970s and Se ...

Alan Merrill Alan Merrill (born Allan Preston Sachs; February 19, 1951 – March 29, 2020) was an American vocalist, guitarist and songwriter. In the early 1970s, he was one of the few resident foreigners to achieve pop star status in Japan. He was the write ...

the Bluetones The Bluetones are an English indie rock band, formed in Hounslow, Greater London, in 1993. The band's members are Mark Morriss on vocals, Adam Devlin on guitar, Mark's brother Scott Morriss on bass guitar, and Eds Chesters on drums. A fifth m ...

, and

the Dickies The Dickies are an American punk rock band formed in the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles, in 1977. One of the longest tenured punk rock bands, they have been in continuous existence for over 40 years. They have consistently balanced catchy mel ...

Composition

"Pretty Ballerina" was one of the first pop songs to use the

Lydian mode The modern Lydian mode is a seven-tone musical scale formed from a rising pattern of pitches comprising three whole tones, a semitone, two more whole tones, and a final semitone. : Because of the importance of the major scale in modern musi ...

in its melody (more specifically the

acoustic scale In music, the acoustic scale, overtone scale, Lydian dominant scale, Lydian 7 scale, or the Pontikonisian Scale is a seven-note synthetic scale. : This differs from the major scale in having an augmented fourth and a minor seventh scale deg ...

), predating

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

-inspired "

Blue Jay Way "Blue Jay Way" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles. Written by George Harrison, it was released in 1967 on the group's '' Magical Mystery Tour'' EP and album. The song was named after a street in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles w ...

" and

Donovan Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter, and record producer. He developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelic rock and world mus ...

's "Peregrine". The recording features an oboe over the instrumental portion of the track, joining the string quartet, before the music pauses, and goes back to the refrain of the song. It is one of several songs that Brown wrote about Renée Fladen, the girlfriend of Left Banke guitarist Tom Finn and the object of Brown's affections. Other songs written about her include the band's biggest hit, " Walk Away Renée", and "She May Call You Up Tonight".

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

LeftBanke.nuDJ Tom FinnAlice Cooper
* 1966 singles Eels (band) songs Songs written by Michael Brown (rock musician) The Left Banke songs 1966 songs Smash Records singles Songs about dancing Philips Records singles {{1960s-rock-song-stub