Margaret Annemarie Battavio was born in Landsale, Pennsylvania, on August 8, 1948, at 8:24 p.m., the daughter of an engineer.
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| American Pop Singer Peggy March |
While her parents were both Americans, the family's roots were predominantly Italian - both grandfathers were Italian. Another sister, LINDA, was born in 1952. - Miss Battavio was given the stage name "PEGGY MARCH" since her Italian name felt unsuitable for the show business in the United States. According to mythology (more specifically, Peggy's mother), the tiny girl acted out television ads as a toddler at the age of two.
First appearance at the age of five
Despite the fact that there was no musical heritage in Peggy's family, she became involved with music at a young age. Her music instructor, VERNA KERR, arranged for her to perform on the local show "REX TAILOR's Stars Of Tomorrows" when she was five years old.
TV appearances as a child
Peggy joined the "TUNE DUSTERS" band when she was eight years old. She had some significant performances with the ensemble, initially at fairs, then on the radio with local legends like TONY GRANT (show "Stars Of Tomorrow"). PEGGY departed the band a few years later to work as a soloist. By this time she already had her first TV appearances on regional television in children's programmes such as the "SALLY-STARR - Show". She was even a guest on the well-known children's variety show "Horn & Hardart's Children Hour" when she was 10 years old.
1962: Recruiting a manager
While the parents handled their daughter's economic affairs in the early years, with the help of PEGGY's musical explorer and mentor VERNA KERR, it seemed logical in 1962 to employ a manager to oversee Peggy's budding career as she gradually went beyond amateur status. The context was the so-called "COOGAN legislation," which was meant to ensure that assets acquired by children remain available to them when they reach the age of majority and cannot be exploited by their parents. In the event of a professional engagement, such as Peggy's, this necessitated the presence of a manager.
RUSSEL SMITH, who had heard the young woman singing at her cousin's wedding and approached her parents personally, was there at this occasion. Although PEGGY's father is said to have been less than enthusiastic about his daughter's professional ambitions, he was convinced by her argument that one never knew whether a chance like this would ever come again - after all, RUSSEL SMITH had very good contacts in the music industry, and so agreed "Papa March" on.
First record deal with the ELVIS record company
A short time later, the newly recruited manager scheduled a meeting with people in charge of the American record label RCA Victor, which was also under contract with ELVIS PRESLEY at the time. HUGO PERETTI and LUIGI CREATORE, who worked with PEGGY's idol PERRY COMO and SAM COOKE at the time, were enthusiastic about the young singer, especially since she had to sing a cappella at an agreed audition because the pianist actually scheduled did not appear at the agreed time, and she was still under contract in 1961. Suitable content for the youthful talent was originally seen in the period that followed.
First single “Little Me”
The debut single, "Little Me," was recorded on October 25, 1962, and was released on the American market on November 6, 1962. Peggy March's name was given a "Little" in front of it, most likely because of the song title, and she was dubbed "Little Peggy March" from then on. In addition, "March" was chosen since her true name seemed too hefty, and she was born in March. The debut work, a song from the musical "Sid Caesar," was not a commercial success when it was staged on Broadway.
English version of a PETULA CLARK hit hits: “I Will Follow Him”
Peggy's former producers HUGO and LUIGI were looking for a follow-up title when they came across a hit by pop singer PETULA CLARK, who had good success in France with her song "Chariot," despite the fact that the song had previously been published in France by LES SATELLITES and PAUL MARIAT and also published by FRANK POUCEL). PAUL MAURIAT was also the composer of the song, although he released it under the pen name DEL ROMA.
The English words for this song were written by ARTHUR ALTMAN and NORMAN GIMBEL. The title was recorded on January 7, 1963, and it was released as a single a few days later, on January 22, 1963. " I Will Follow Him " was designed to assist "Little Peggy March" obtain a big break. The song entered the American hit parade in March of that year and reached number one on April 27, 1963. This made PEGGY, aptly named "LITTLE," the youngest number one in American music history at the age of 15. After all, PEGGY dominated the American charts for three weeks.
The song was commercially published in Germany in July 1963. She was also present at a TELDEC news conference in late July, alongside ROY ORBISON and others.
The follow-up album, "I Wish I Were a Princess," wasn't quite as popular, but it did make it back into the US Top 40. Soon later, another single, " Hello Heartache, Farewell Love ", was published. Curious: While the song was not nearly as popular in the United States as "I Will Follow Him," it was Peggy's first and only chart entry in the United Kingdom (top 30 after all).
European debut in Germany with “Tino”
Peggy's debut German single, the German version of her title "Dream World," was published in September 1963, produced by WOLF KABITZKY, JOHANNA VON KOCZIAN's spouse. " Tino " was initially unpopular with us. Nonetheless, she had her European premiere with the song when she sang it as part of the Berlin radio exposition at the time. Another single by PEGGY MARCH was published on the American market in October, although it was not very popular (" The Impossible Happened " was a number 57 in the States).
On December 11, 1963, the singer returned to Germany, this time to record songs tailored by well-known pop composers rather than adaptations of her own hits. "Lady Music," written by HENRY MAYER and HANS BRADTKE, was one of them. On January 18, 1964, she featured with the title in the then-popular TV show CATERINA VALENTE's ("Bonsoir Catrin") and subsequently found her way into the German hit parades for the first time with a German-language song.
As her popularity in Germany was flourishing, record sales in her native Country were dwindling; with "I'm Watching Every Little Move You Make," Peggy only reached number 84.
The second German-language single, composed by HENRY MAYER and written by CLAUS RITTER (who also set a song by UDO JÜRGENS to music in 1959: "One arrives"), was a big success - " Wenn der Silbermond " reached number 15 on the local charts. The word "LITTLE" was dropped from PEGGY's moniker after this number.
On June 8, 1964, Peggy recorded the MAYER/BRADTKE hit “ Hallo Boy ” in Berlin. It was enough for a Top 20 hit again. The American singer presented the B-side of this single, the CHARLY NIESSEN number "Der Schuster macht schönschuhe" as part of a guest appearance in the cinema film "The Merry Weiber of Tyrol". She also presented the A-side as part of a film, namely in the cinema film "I'd rather buy a Tyrolean hat."
HENRY MAYER and HANS BRADTKE once again penned a smash for PEGGY - recorded in October 1964, the song "Goodbye, farewell, goodbye" reached the German charts in January 1965 and became PEGGY's first top 10 hit in Germany. She had previously featured on WERNER MÜLLER's then-popular TV show "Schlagermagazin" on December 12, 1964. PAUL ANKA and RITA PAVONE were also visitors at the time, and PEGGY MARCH appeared with the latter in images, which makes one grin because it was PEGGY who was formerly given the suffix "Little" due to the size disparity between the two...
Success in Japan and Italy
But, the young American's career was not only flourishing in Germany; albums were also effectively launched in Japan. In Italy, she even performed at the prestigious San Remo Festival with the song "Passo su Passo," however the song did not advance to the competition's final round. Despite having an LP produced by ENNIO MORRICONE, she soared into the Italian charts and had a tremendous hit there with " Te ne vai ".
The CHARLY NIESSEN song "He shot me a rose" was published in the spring of 1965, which PEGGY had recorded at the end of October 1964 - she also charted in Germany with the song.
The association "Deutsche Schlager-Festspiele e. V." songwriters and lyricists to produce a hit for the competition, which was immensely popular at the time, as early as autumn 1964. A panel led by Franz Grothe picked 24 hits from the 234 titles submitted by the end of January 1965. Peggy March translated two of them. The song "Love Letters," which was eventually released as a B-side, did not make it to the finals.
Did PEGGY MARCH indirectly contribute to FRANK SINATRA's global success?
The song, incidentally, suffered this fate with " Sommerwind ". The authors HENRY MAYER and HANS BRADTKE, who were frequent authors for PEGGY, penned the song for GRETHE INGMANN, who also sang it in Danish and English. This English demo recording of the 1963 Eurovision winner was heard by world great FRANK SINATRA. The rest is history - the song, which failed in the preliminary judgment for the Schlager Festival, became a worldwide smash in FRANK SINATRA's rendition as "Summerwind" - penned by the German HENRY MAYER, whose true name was HEINZ MEIER.
In addition, it is said on a website dedicated to FRANK SINATRA that he discovered the song through PEGGY MARCH's German version of the song - given that it was extremely popular in the United States at the time, this version is not implausible.
Breakthrough with number 1 hit "At 17 you still have dreams"
Returning to Peggy March: on June 12, 1965, she participated with the "Doppelkorn" (music and lyrics penned by the then 41-year-old HEINZ KORN) "At 17 you still have aspirations" and won the competition as the first American. To the anger of many Schlager enthusiasts at the time, the top 3 winners of the Schlager Festival were of foreign nationality: alongside previous year's champion SIW MALMKVIST, a Swedish placed third, WENCKE MYHRE earned silver as a Norwegian and PEGGY as an American won gold.
The song was a major smash in Germany, and it was by far Peggy's biggest hit there. She recorded it in May 1965, when she was 17, therefore she was 17 years old at the time. Peggy recorded the song in English ("Heaven For Lovers") and French ("Quand on n'a que dix-sept ans"). In the GDR, the song was converted into a success by vocalist INA MARTELL. Many cover versions were released throughout the years and decades, most recently by DSDS contestant VANESSA NEIGERT and Grand Prix veterans WIND.