Fans of the mid-sixties music scene probably remember Canadian singer Lucille Starr for her hit tune "The French Song," which, since its release in 1964, has reputedly sold more than seven million records and earned the singer one platinum and five gold records.

But Starr (real name Lucille Savoie), a native of St. Boniface, Manitoba, also appeared on a handful of TV shows in the 1970s and 1980s. At one point, she handled behind-the-scenes yodelling for Beverly Hillbillies character Cousin Pearl.

As a singer, she and her former husband Bob Regan, also a singer, toured Canada for 20 years as the Canadian Sweethearts before moving to California and linking up with A & M records, which was run by Herb Alpert and Gerry Moss. She re-recorded her earlier 1950s version of The French Song and the bilingual tune, with musical backup from Alpert's band the Tijuana Brass, soared to international fame. The song earned her tours in South Africa, Australia and Holland.

It was following a seven-year break from the music business in the early 1970s that she supplied Cousin Pearl's yodelling voice.