"The Left Banke songs" . "USLZJ1735740" . "%22Pretty Ballerina%22 is a song written by pianist Michael Brown (born Michael Lookofsky) and was a number 15 hit for his band The Left Banke on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and reaching #4 in the Canadian RPM Magazine charts. The original Left Banke version of the song, released December 1966, was sung by Steve Martin Caro. The song has appeared in the films Apocalypse Now, Off Limits and Things Behind the Sun and has been covered by such artists as Alice Cooper, John Mellencamp, Jason Falkner, Peter Kingsbery, Eels, Irish Electro Band %22Les Marionettes%22, Argentine rock star Charly Garc\u00EDa, Alan Merrill, The Bluetones, and The Dickies.The song features an oboe being played during the instrumental portion of the song, joining the string quartet, before the music pauses, and goes back to the refrain of the song.The song is one of a number Brown wrote about Ren\u00E9e Fladen, girlfriend of The Left Banke's guitarist Tom Finn and object of Brown's affection. Other songs written about her include the band's biggest hit %22Walk Away Ren\u00E9e%22 and %22She May Call You Up Tonight.%22" . . "154000.0"^^ . "352365" . . "Pretty Ballerina" . "ca3131a1-ba7b-4dc3-bdb7-73a727cf0c91" . . "1966 singles" . . "Michael Brown (rock musician)" . "World United, 1595 Broadway NYC" . . . "2"^^ . "116.0"^^ . "17977099" . "2007-08-14"^^ . "Harry Lookofsky" . "57925"^^ . "-0.0848593"^^ . "United States National Recording Registry recordings" . . "5714dee825ac0d8aee5456e9" . "english" . "Pretty Ballerina" . "Smash Records" . . "Eels (band) songs" . "-14.9"^^ . "eng" . "-0.114481"^^ . "6"^^ . "false"^^ . "Songs written by Michael Brown (rock musician)" . . . "false"^^ . "false"^^ . <8rzeGqqethE> . . . .