Hello
by Martin Solveig (featuring Dragonette)

Album: Smash (2010)
Charted: 13 46
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song by the French electropop DJ and producer Martin Solveig became his first top 20 hit in the UK. It also topped the charts in several European countries including Belgium and the Netherlands.
  • The song features Canadian electropop group Dragonette. Their singer, Martina Sorbara, also provided the vocals for Kaskade's dance hit, "Fire In Your Shoes."
  • When South Africa's landline operator Telkom launched its Mobile arm 8ta(Heita) in 2010, it used this tune as its theme song for its adverts.
  • The music video for the song was recorded at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris and finds Martin Solveig facing another French DJ, Bob Sinclar, in a tennis match. Tennis stars Novak Djokovic and Gaël Monfils both make cameo appearances in the clip.
  • The song was used in an American advertising campaign by Trident to promote its new Vitality line of chewing gum.
  • The video features tennis player Solveig smitten with a girl who's unavailable. "The story in the song focuses on the character of the girl," he told Billboard magazine, "who just came to say 'hello' and nothing else."
  • The song was used in promo spots for the Zooey Deschanel starring sitcom New Girl.
  • Unusually, Solveig recorded the song after he shot the video. He explained why to Artist Direct: "I was working on a short movie as a director --that is my other passion. I direct videos. It was not meant to become a music video. The film was a story where you mix reality and fiction, which I like about making film. The inspiration for the song came from the shooting of this video. It was a bit of a premiere. It was shot for broadcast TV and we agreed with the directors of the tournament [The French Tennis Open, with 12,000 spectators on hand] to let us play a fake game for 15 minutes, so everyone was caught off guard, including the audience, and that inspired the song."
  • Martin Solveig's birth name is Martin Picandet. He chose his pseudonym as an homage to the French actress Solveig Dommartin.
  • "Hello" plays during Ted Lasso Season 2 Episode 9 ("Beard After Hours"). The music discovery website Tunefind reported the track's placement in the Apple show was their most-searched song sync in 2021.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Allen Toussaint - "Southern Nights"

Allen Toussaint - "Southern Nights"They're Playing My Song

A song he wrote and recorded from "sheer spiritual inspiration," Allen's didn't think "Southern Nights" had hit potential until Glen Campbell took it to #1 two years later.

Richard Marx

Richard MarxSongwriter Interviews

Richard explains how Joe Walsh kickstarted his career, and why he chose Hazard, Nebraska for a hit.

Commercials

CommercialsFact or Fiction

Was "Ring Of Fire" really used to sell hemorrhoid cream?

John Doe of X

John Doe of XSongwriter Interviews

With his X-wife Exene, John fronts the band X and writes their songs.

Yoko Ono

Yoko OnoSongwriter Interviews

At 80 years old, Yoko has 10 #1 Dance hits. She discusses some of her songs and explains what inspired John Lennon's return to music in 1980.

Loreena McKennitt

Loreena McKennittSongwriter Interviews

The Celtic music maker Loreena McKennitt on finding musical inspiration, the "New Age" label, and working on the movie Tinker Bell.