"Summerlove Sensation" is a song originally recorded by the Bay City Rollers. It was part of their 1974 album Rollin'. In the same year, it was also released as a single five months prior. The single peaked at no. 3 on the UK Singles Chart.[3] It also spawned two successful cover versions in the late 1970s, first a French adaption performed by French pop singer Sylvie Vartan, and a cover by American singer Bobby Vinton that was a minor hit in the charts.[4][5]
The song was later reworked into French under the title "Petit rainbow" (meaning "Little rainbow"). It was recorded by Sylvie Vartan and released in August 1977 as the lead single off of her 1977 studio album Georges. In France her version of the song spent one week at no. 1 on the singles sales chart (from 7 to 13 October 1977).[8] The song also reached Number 1 on the French Belgian charts for two weeks in 1977, charting in Belgium from 17 September to 24 December 1977.[9] The song was also adapted into German from French by Michael Kunze as "Ein kleines Herz auf der Haut" (English: "A little heart on the skin", French: "Un petit coeur sur la peau") in 1978 but failed to chart.[10]
7" single (1977, France etc.)
Bobby Vinton covered "Summerlove, Sensation" (adding a comma to the title) in 1978 as a non-album single, released that August on Elektra Records. His version reached #44 on the U.S. Billboard Easy Listening chart during the summer of that year, with Coulter returning to produce Vinton's version.[13] Vinton's version was also released as a promotional single in Canada around the same time but failed to chart.[14] Vinton and Coulter also co-wrote the single's B-side, "My First, My Only Love".[15]