Zou Bisou Bisou

Lore & Background

The song was released in the summer of 1960 as Gillian Hills' first single. An English version, Zoo Be Zoo Be Zoo, was produced by George Martin and sung by Sophia Loren, originally recorded as publicity for the film The Millionairess (1960) on the album Peter and Sophia. Although most sources associate the song's origins with Hills, New York claims that the songwriting credits make it more likely that Loren's version was the original. Slate's David Haglund notes that Hills' version is the best-known of the early recordings. Another version by Maya Casabianca appeared on France's Billboard chart in September 1961.

Reader's Guide

Zou Bisou Bisou gained renewed prominence when performed by Jessica Paré as Megan Draper in the Mad Men episode A Little Kiss. The performance became a trending topic on Twitter and was later released as a music download and vinyl special edition. The song's theme, roughly translated as Oh! Kiss Kiss, was described by Haglund as about openly declaring one's love. The Huffington Post summarized it as about how kissing is fun. Paré's version was produced by Matthew Weiner, Russell Ziecker, David Carbonara, and James T. Hill, and was used in the second episode of season 3 of Emily in Paris. Swedish pop and soul singer Emilia Mitiku covered the song in 2013 on her album I Belong to You.

Did You Know?

• The song was Gillian Hills' first single, released in the summer of 1960.
• Sophia Loren's version was produced by George Martin and tied to the film The Millionairess.
• Jessica Paré's performance in Mad Men became a trending topic on Twitter.
• The song reached No. 100 on the Canadian Hot 100 on 14 April 2012.