“Producer Jennifer Sharpe has amassed a small collection of what she likes to call ‘foreign tongue recordings.’ They're versions of hit songs from the American charts, sung by the original artists, usually in German, Italian or French.
The singers learned the lyrics phonetically, line by line, taught by a language coach. Sharpe says the songs were recorded in a time when English-language songs had a tough time making it in Europe.”
https://www.npr.org/2005/08/01/4777378/den-weg-zuruck-pop-tunes-translated
@jalefkowit About 55 years ago, I had an album by the Beatles - in German. Wish I still had it.
@jalefkowit I'll have to read it. It makes a huge difference in vocals. You can hear it in early Celine Dion before she learned English. I loved her French music, but there was no pain in the English language songs.
@jalefkowit Fabulous article! Thank you.
@AlliFlowers This article has some interesting details on how the Beatles specifically translated their lyrics.
https://www.thoughtco.com/the-beatles-only-german-recordings-4075314