Great 7″ singles/sleeves/vinyl

7 December 2022

Jeanne-Paule Marie Deckers was born in Brussels in 1933. She joined
the Belgian wing of the Dominican Order in 1959 and was named
Soeur Sourire (‘Smiling Nun’).

She played the guitar and wrote songs since she was 15. Her religious superiors encouraged her to spread the Catholic message through her music. An LP was recorded/released, containing the song DOMINQUE.

An ode to Saint Dominic, a Spanish-born priest and founder of the Dominican Order
which became a worldwide hit. She was the first and (so far) only Belgian artist who
topped the US Charts.

It happened this day 59 years ago, on 7 December 1963. She occupied the top
seat for 4 weeks. The single sold over 1.5 million copies in America alone, winning
a Grammy Award for the year’s best Gospel song. The Signing Nun topped also the
charts in 11 other countries. She also sang Dominisue in English, Dutch, German,
Hebrew, Japanese, Korean, and Portuguese.

Secretly, she had a lesbian relationship. But when the news came out she strongly
denied it. After several mental problem periods, she and her lover Annie Pécher took
both their own lives in 1985 by taking overdoses of barbiturates and alcohol.
Sad, really sad story.

Domi-nique -nique -nique
s’en allait tout simplement,
Routier, pauvre et chantant.
En tous chemins, en tous lieux,
Il ne parle que du Bon Dieu,
Il ne parle que du Bon Dieu.

THE SINGING NUN: History