The song was originally written and recorded by South African musician “Solomon Linda” under the title Mbube. It was adapted and covered internationally by many artists in the 1950’s and 1960’s. When “The Tokens” recorded the song in 1961 they added a few comprehensible lines in English and called it The Lion Sleeps Tonight. Initially released as a B-side it quickly became clear the song was no mere novelty, but a huge hit. The Tokens’ version included backup Soprano vocals by “Anita Darian” who had a classically-trained voice with a four-octave range. It rocketed to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 this week in 1961 and remained there for three weeks. The song has endured thanks to its constant use in movies and TV, and also because of many cover versions.
Category: Flashback
“Stop!” was the first hit single by Sam Brown, an English singer, musician, songwriter and Ukulele player who came to prominence as a solo artist in the late 1980’s. When it was first released in 1988 “Stop!” reached number 52 on the UK Singles Chart. When it was re-released in 1989, the song peaked at number four, becoming Brown’s highest-charting single, spending 12 weeks on the chart. “Stop!” topped the charts in Belgium, Iceland, the Netherlands and Norway, while reaching the top five in Australia, Austria, Finland, France, Ireland and Switzerland. Sam Brown released six singles that entered the UK Singles Chart in the 80’s and 90’s and has worked as a session backing vocalist with artists including Gary Moore, George Harrison, Small Faces, Spandau Ballet, Adam Ant, Jon Lord (of Deep Purple), Pink Floyd, David Gilmour), The Firm and Nick Cave.
The “Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band” is a British brass band formed around 1881 through public donations given by the townsfolk of the adjacent villages of “Brighouse” and “Rastrick” that face each other across the River “Calder” in West Yorkshire, England. Today, the band still continues to be supported through public subscriptions and its own fund raising efforts. One such fundraising effort in the 1970’s was their Recording of The Floral Dance with which they reached number 2 on the UK Singles Chart. The instrumental recording stayed at number 2 for an astonishing 6 weeks, only prevented from reaching number 1 by “Paul McCartney and Wings” with Mull of Kintyre, the first UK single to sell more than two million copies, and third best selling UK single of all time.
This week in 1975 Fly Robin Fly by “Silver Convention” hit number 1 in America for the first of three weeks. The song was written with very few lyrics because the German group couldn’t speak English which made memorizing a page of lyrics in a language unfamiliar to them too difficult. The disco classic contains only six unique words. It simply repeats “fly, robin, fly” three times, with an ending of “up, up to the sky!” Initially the song was titled Run, Rabbit, Run, but the writers changed it moments before the recording took place. Fly Robin Fly won the 1975 Grammy Award for Best R&B Instrumental Performance.
This week in 1987 the “Dirty Dancing” hit (I’ve Had) The Time of My Life went to number 1 in America while the “Swayze-lift” became a popular dance move. The song plays during the movie’s big finish when Jennifer Grey leaps into Patrick Swayze’s arms. The song also topped the charts in Australia, Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands and South Africa and won a number of awards including the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
Three young ladies, known as “The Andrews Sisters,” started their career as imitators of an earlier successful singing group, the “Boswell Sisters,” who were popular in the 1930s. The Andrews Sisters sang with various bands and for several radio broadcasts while they were struggling to establish a reputation during the mid-1930’s. A failed radio performance in 1937 turned out to be the sisters’ big break. Although they were fired soon after their first night on the program Saturday Night Swing Club, they were signed to a recording contract by a Decca Records executive who had heard the broadcast. On 24 November 1937 they recorded their first major hit, Bei Mir Bist Du Schön (To me, You are Beautiful). The song went on to become the first million-selling record by a female singing group. The sisters, Laverne, Maxene and Patricia, have sold an estimated 80 million records. In 1984 a dance/pop trio from The Netherlands, “The Star Sisters,” charted internationally when they recorded a medley imitating the Andrews Sisters.
“Kim Wilde” celebrates her 62nd birthday on the 18th of November. She is the eldest child of 1950’s rock and roll star “Marty Wilde” whose real name is “Reginald Smith.” Kim’s first big success came in 1981 with her debut single, Kids In America, which peaked at number 2 in the UK. Between 1981 and 1996 she had 25 singles that charted within the Top 50 of the UK Singles Chart. World-wide she scored three number one hits, Cambodia (1981), a cover of the “Supremes” classic You Keep Me Hanging On (1987) and a collaboration with “Nena,” Any Place, Anywhere, Anytime (2003).
Substitute was originally recorded by “The Righteous Brothers.” Released as a single in 1975, it went nowhere. The song was revived in 1977 by “Clout,” a 5-member, originally all-girl band from South Africa. Clout’s new arrangement of the song reached number 1 in South Africa, New Zealand, Germany, France, The Netherlands, Sweden, Austria, Denmark and Belgium. It also made number 2 in the UK behind You’re The One That I Want by “John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. Later in their career, the group included some male musicians who had played as session musicians on Substitute.” In Europe Clout scored more Top 10 singles including Save Me, You’ve Got All of Me and Under Fire. They split up in 1981, shortly after the release of their last major single, a re-arrangement of the Hall & Oates song Portable Radio.
Lido Shuffle was written by “Boz Scaggs” and “David Paich” and first appeared on the 1976 “Boz Scaggs” album Silk Degrees. The song was subsequently released as a single in 1977. Released as the album’s fourth single, Lido Shuffle reached number 11 in the US and 13 on the UK Singles Chart. In Australia it spent three weeks at number 2 as a double A-side hit with What Can I Say. Members of the backup band on Lido Shuffle included “David Paich,” “Jeff Porcaro” and “David Hungate” who would soon go on to form “Toto.”
This week in 1991 Michael Jackson’s Black or White music video debuted on various music channels. It landed Michael in hot water with some viewers who complained about his excessive crotch-grabbing and gratuitous displays of violence. The controversy only made the clip more popular and it became the most requested and most played video on MTV.