Eloise (Paul Ryan song)

After not being able to cope with the success of some of his hits as a duo with Barry, Paul decided to take a step away from the limelight and to concentrate on songwriting. "Eloise" was the second song he wrote and was influenced by Richard Harris' arrangement of "MacArthur Park" after listening to a rough mix of it at a party at Harris' house.[12][13] After listening to it, Paul locked himself away and wrote "Eloise" in three days. The song was then recorded at IBC Studios at the end of a recording session with their mother Marion and they only had two takes to do it due to the length of the song. The session musicians included Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones, both of whom went on to form Led Zeppelin, and Glenn Ross Campbell. Everyone then wanted to go to the mixing desk to listen to the end result due to it being so unusual and they said it was going to be a bit hit.[12]

"Eloise"
Single by The Damned
B-side	"Temptation"
Released	27 January 1986 (1986-01-27)
Recorded	14–15 October 1985, Music Works, London 23–24 November 1985, Eel Pie, London[46]
Genre	Gothic rock new wave post-punk
Length	5:10
Label	MCA
Songwriter(s)	Paul Ryan
Producer(s)	Jon Kelly
The Damned singles chronology
"Is It a Dream?" (1985) "Eloise" (1986) "Anything" (1986)

On the back of the commercial success of the 1985 Phantasmagoria album, the Damned released their cover of the track as a single in 1986. It reached No. 3 in the UK Singles Chart,[47] boosted by two different 12" releases. It was not included on any studio albums, but has since been issued on several Damned compilations, and "Eloise" appeared as a bonus track on the 1986 reissued LP versions of Phantasmagoria in Australia, Germany and Italy. MCA also issued the single in Germany, Australia, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, New Zealand and South Africa.

Dave Vanian had been thinking about doing a cover of the song from at least 1980 and in 1985 wanted to do a non-album single. Rat Scabies did not want a third single released from Phantasmagoria, which MCA wanted to do. It was decided that "Eloise" could be recorded as long as "Is It a Dream?" was released as the third single. Steve Kutner, who signed the Damned to MCA, has said that "it was a nightmare track to record", being "originally twice as long as what came out". Scabies wasn't convinced by the song and has said that "it never sounded finished to me" and Roman Jugg has said that Vanian had actually ended up calling MCA to ask them not to release it.[48]

At the same time, a version of "Eloise" by Far Corporation singer Robin McAuley was released. McAuley said that the Damned's version had "got absolutely no chance of making it in the charts". Of the two competing versions at the time, Barry Ryan said that "I like the Damned's version best, it's even better than mine".[48]

The backing track was recorded at Music Works Studios in London on 14 and 15 October 1985. There were due to be a further two days of recording at the studios, but they were cancelled due to a death in one of the band's family. The band were very committed to touring, so were unable to continue recording for a while. Recording finally continued on 23 November at Eel Pie Studios, and was finished by the next day. It was then mixed at Swanyard Studios with the help of Stuart Bruce.[46]

• In 1968, French pop star Claude François released a French-language version, which was a top 10 hit in France and Belgium, and charted at the same time as Ryan's version.[12][57] This version was then covered the following year by Donald Lautrec and released in Quebec, where it was a number one hit.[58]
• Also in 1968, Argentine band Los Náufragos released a Spanish-language version as a non-album single.[59]
• In 1969, Tapani Kansa released a Finnish-language version on his eponymous debut album, which went to number 3 in the Finnish charts.[60]
• Also in 1969, German singer James Last included an abridged version on his album Non Stop Dancing.
• In 1970, Karel Gott released a Czech-language version as a single from his 1969 album Poslouchejte! Karel Gott zpívá Lásku bláznivou a další hity.[61][62]
• In 1981, German band, the Teens covered the song as a non-album single, which reached number 55 in the German charts.[63]
• In 1985, Robin McAuley released a cover as a single, around the same time as The Damned. (See above.)
• In 1985, Italian singer Mina covered the song for her album Finalmente ho conosciuto il conte Dracula....
• In 1987, Tino Casal released a Spanish-language version for his album Lágrimas de Cocodrilo. The song was number one in Spain for several weeks in 1988.[64] It was recorded at Abbey Road Studios with the Philharmonia Orchestra.[65][66]
• In 2001, Italian singer Spagna covered the song for her album La Nostra Canzone.
• In 2003, Finnish rock band Leningrad Cowboys covered the song on their album Global Balalaika Show.
• In 2006, the Turtles lead singer Howard Kaylan covered the song for his 2006 solo album Dust Bunnies.[67]
• In 2011, Australian band Art vs. Science sampled the chorus for their single "With Thoughts" from their debut album The Experiment.
• In 2016, a previously unreleased cover of the song was included on the Associates' album The Very Best Of, and is a punky version from an early demo of their debut album The Affectionate Punch.[68][69]

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics