Patsy Gallant

Patricia Gallant (born August 15, 1948, in Campbellton, New Brunswick) is a Canadian pop singer and musical theatre actress. Of Acadian ancestry, she has recorded and performed in both English and French.

Early life Patsy Gallant was one of the 10 children of Béatrice Aubé Gallant and Arthur Gallant. At age five, she was part of The Gallant Sisters with older siblings Angeline, Florine, and Ghislaine. At eight Gallant gained television exposure after her parents moved to Moncton; two years later the group was playing nightclubs in Montreal. She left the group for a solo career in 1967, was featured in commercials, and was a regular on both the French-language TV variety program Discothèque and its English equivalent, Music Hop.

Career

Successful beginnings in French Gallant released her first single in 1967, which earned her appearances on a number of television variety shows. That same year she performed at Montreal's Place des Arts, opening for Charles Aznavour. Through the late 1960s and 1970s Gallant worked with a host of young and talented creators including Yves Lapierre, Judi Richards, Christine Charbonneau, and Denis Forcier. In 1971, Gallant co-starred on the weekly television variety show Smash presented by Télévision de Radio-Canada (the French arm of CBC Television). During the show, Gallant teamed up with singer-songwriter Christine Charbonneau who wrote most of the lyrics for her two major French albums that were released by Columbia Records. Gallant songs, written by Charbonneau included, "Tout va trop vite", "Thank you come again" (French version), "Le lit qui craque", "Un monde en voie de naître", and "Un jour comme les autres". The album Patsy Gallant (Tout va trop vite) from 1972 was followed by Toi l'enfant in 1974. Several of the songs including "Tout va trop vite", "Un jour comme les autres", "Le lit qui craque", and "Thank You Come Again (French version)" climbed the Quebec charts. Also found on the latter album is the original song "Les femmes", a hit song which was covered in 1976 by Sheila in France.

Patsy Gallant, as a bilingual artist, used to release English and French versions of her albums simultaneously. She aimed for the Francophone market of Quebec and Europe as well as English Canada and the United States. In September 1972 she released Upon My Own, her first English album. Although her two French albums were hits in French Canada, the only song from this album to score a minor hit was "Get That Ball", a funky song written by Yves Lapierre and Ken Owen. Other notable songs from this album are "This Old Lady", "Saturday Weather", "People Going Down the Avenue" and "I've Gotta Make It" (Upon My Own).

Intensifying her efforts in the American market, Gallant recorded her 1974 album Power in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Although the album spawned four moderately popular singles with "Save the Last Dance For Me", "Make My Living", "Doctor's Orders" and the title song "Power", they were not a commercial breakthrough.

Disco Diva Gallant's biggest pop success came when she teamed up with producer and manager Ian Robertson for her 1976 album, Are You Ready for Love. Together, Gallant and Robertson would produce five albums for Attic Records. They were nominated for the Juno Award on the Producer of the Year category in 1977 and 1978. Although they did not win, the nominations made Gallant the first woman ever to be nominated for a major record production award.

Having always been involved with jazz, soul music and funk, she started recording disco music in 1973 (initially in French). "Daya Dou Doum", from her album Toi, l'enfant, can be considered her first incursion. In 1975, she released "Makin' Love In My Mind" (in French, "J'ai le droit"). After leaving CBS, Gallant released a 7-inch single with a reworking of Gilles Vigneault's 1964 Québécois song "Mon Pays". Then, the following year, she released the English language version for this song: "From New York to L.A.". It was her only recording to attract considerable notice outside Canada, becoming a hit in many other countries such as the UK (#6 in the UK Singles Chart) in August 1977, Ireland (#5), Australia (#10), the Netherlands (#15), Norway (#7), South Africa (#5) and Sweden (#17).

Gallant released the English album Will You Give Me Your Love in 1977, which featured songs like "Every Step of the Way" and "Back to the City". One year later, she recorded the French album Patsy Gallant et Star, both in 1978 on Attic Records, and brings a mix of rock, R&B, pop, jazz, blues and dance music.

Film and television In 1973, Gallant had a minor role in the Denis Héroux film Enuff Is Enuff (J'ai mon voyage!) as an anglophone Canadian girl who tried to seduce Jean Lefebvre's character in a campsite.

On the strength of her disco success, Gallant hosted her own variety show, The Patsy Gallant Show, which was produced and broadcast on CTV in 1978 and 1979.

In 2002, Gallant had a supporting role in the feature film Yellowknife, in which she played a nightclub singer. Gallant performed four songs for the film soundtrack, including "Sugar Daddy" and three compositions penned by her, "Ain't No Way to Treat a Woman," "Dancing in the Wind," and "Save My Soul". For this role, Gallant was nominated for a 2003 Jutra Award for Best Supporting Actress (Meilleure Actrice de Soutien).

Discography

Albums Patsy Gallant (Tout va trop vite) (1972) Upon My Own (1972) Power (1973) Toi l'enfant (1974) Are You Ready For Love (1976) Besoin D'Amour (1977) Will You Give Me Your Love? (1977) Patsy! (1978) Patsy Gallant Et Star (1978) Greatest Hits / Ses Plus Grands Succès (1979) Stranger in the Mirror (1980) Amoureuse (1981) Take Another Look (1984) Tout va trop vite ("best of" compilation including new version of "Sugar Daddy") (2005) Patsy Gallant chante Piaf (2015) To Exist And Be Heard (2022)

Singles Year Song CAN CAN AC AUS UK 1972 "Get That Ball" 32 27 - - 1973 "I Don't Know Why" - 47 - - 1974 "Save the Last Dance for Me" - 97 - - "Raconte" - 42 - - 1975 "Doctor's Orders" 83 - - - "Makin' Love in My Mind" 66 - - - 1976 "From New York to L.A." 6 1 10 6 1977 "Are You Ready for Love?" 16 4 - - "Sugar Daddy" 9 6 - - 1978 "Back to the City" 69 - - - "Stay Awhile with Me" 77 28 - - "Best of The Woman In Me" 77 28 - - "Every Step of the Way" - 26 - - 1979 "O Michel" - 22 - - "We'll Find a Way" 94 - - - "It's Got To Be You" - - - - 1980 "How Many Lonely Nights" - 27 - - "Ce matin-la" - - - - 1981 "Don't Forget About Me" - 24 - -

JUNO Awards 1975 Female Vocalist of the Year (Nomination) 1977 Best Selling Single: "From New York to LA" (Nomination) Gilles Vigneault nominated for Composer of the Year and Gene Williams for lyrics (1977) for "From New York to L.A.