"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 journalism, music press refer ...
in December 1966.
It peaked at number 15 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and number 4 on the Canadian ''
RPM'' chart.
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 m ...
in its melody (more specifically the
acoustic scale), predating
the Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
'
Indian-inspired "
Blue Jay Way" and
Donovan
Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter and record producer. He emerged from the British folk scene in early 1965 and subsequently scored multiple international hit singles ...
'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.
The original Left Banke version of the song was sung by
Steve Martin Caro and it is one of several songs that Brown wrote about singer
Renee 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
Cover versions
*
Alice Cooper
*
John Mellencamp
*
Jason Falkner
*
Peter Kingsbery
*
Eels
*
Charly García
*
Alan Merrill
*
the Bluetones
*
the Dickies
*
Elio e le Storie Tese
Popular culture
The song has appeared in the films: ''
Apocalypse Now
''Apocalypse Now'' is a 1979 American psychological epic war film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The screenplay, co-written by Coppola, John Milius, and Michael Herr, is loosely inspired by the 1899 novella '' Heart of Darkn ...
'', ''
Off Limits'' and ''
Things Behind the Sun''.
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
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