Middle of the Road (band)
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Middle of the Road | |
|---|---|
 Middle of the Road in 1972 | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | Part 4 (1967) Los Caraca (1968-1970) |
| Origin | Scotland |
| Genres | Pop |
| Years active | 1967–1976 |
| Labels | RCA (1970-1973) Ariola (1973-1976) |
| Members | Sally Carr Ken Andrew Ian McCredie Neil Henderson |
| Past members | Eric McCredie Linda Carroll Lorraine Felberg |
| Website | middleoftheroad-popgroup.com |
Middle of the Road were a Scottish pop group who enjoyed success across Europe and Latin America in the early 1970s. Four of their singles sold over one million copies each, and received a gold disc.[1] The tracks were "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep" (which went on to sell over 10 million), "Sacramento", "Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum" and "Soley Soley".[1] By early 1972 the group had sold over five million records.[1]
History
Lead singer Sally Carr, drummer Ken Andrew, guitarist Ian McCredie and his bassist brother Eric McCredie, founded the band on 1 April 1970. They already played together under the name Part Four since 1967 and later in Latin American style under the name Los Caracas.
Under the name Los Caracas they won the UK TV talent show Opportunity Knocks.
They moved to Italy in 1970 because they had not found success in the United Kingdom. There they met the Italian music producer Giacomo Tosti, who gave the band their distinctive sound and gave them their international break.
The band had their first and biggest hit record in the United Kingdom with debut UK single, "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep" to reach #1 in the UK Singles Chart in June 1971 and keep it for four more weeks. In all, Middle of the Road had five hit singles in the UK during 1971-1972. The band had especially strong success in Germany, where they achieved eleven Top 40 hits in 1971-1974. As an example of this, Frank Valdor was fast to adapt Sacramento at his "party records". Songs like Chirpy Chirpy Chip Chip and Sacramento was played a lot in Scandinavian radio.
In 1974 early Bay City Rollers member Neil Henderson joined the band on guitar. He wrote and co-wrote songs for Middle of the Road (including the singles "Rockin' Soul" and "Everybody Loves A Winner" and 1974 albums, You Pays Yer Money And You Takes Yer Chance and Postcard, all released in Germany via Ariola like their first German LP, Music Music), but their commercial success could not keep pace with that of earlier songs.
Members
- Sally Carr (born Sarah Cecilia Carr, 28 March 1945, Muirhead, Lanarkshire)
- Ken Andrew (born Kenneth Ballentyne Andrew, 28 August 1942, Bearsden, Glasgow)
- Ian McCredie (born Ian C McCredie, 15 July 1947, Partick, Glasgow)
- Eric McCredie (born 17 July 1945, Partick, Glasgow; died 6 October 2007, Glasgow)
- Neil Henderson (born 11 February 1953, Glasgow)
Discography
| Year | Title | Chart positions | Album | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | UK[2] | DE | AT | CH | NO | NL | |||
| 1971 | "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep" | − | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep |
| "Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum" | − | 2 | 15 | − | − | 6 | 7 | ||
| "Soley Soley" | − | 5 | 2 | − | 1 | 1 | 1 | Acceleration | |
| 1972 | "Sacramento (A Wonderful Town)" | − | 23 | 1 | − | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| "Samson and Delilah" | − | 26 | 2 | − | 3 | 11 | 1 | ||
| "Bottoms Up" | − | − | 2 | − | − | 8 | 5 | Drive On | |
| 1973 | "Yellow Boomerang" | − | − | 6 | 14 | 2 | 8 | 2 | |
| "Kailakee Kailako" | − | − | 29 | − | 5 | − | 19 | ||
| "Samba D'Amour" | − | − | 35 | − | − | − | − | Music Music | |
| "Honey No" | − | − | 31 | − | 5 | − | − | Drive On | |
| 1974 | "Rockin' Soul" | − | − | 31 | − | − | − | − | You Pays Yer Money And You Takes Yer Chance |
| 1976 | "Everybody Loves A Winner" | − | − | 43 | − | − | − | − | |
| Year | Album title | Chart positions | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | UK | DE | AT | CH | NO | ||||||||
| 1971 | Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep | − | − | − | − | − | 3 | ||||||
| Acceleration | − | − | 13 | − | − | 2 | |||||||
| 1972 | The Best of Middle of the Road | − | − | - | − | − | − | ||||||
| 1973 | Drive On | − | − | 48 | − | − | − | ||||||
| Music Music | − | − | 45 | − | − | − | |||||||
| 1974 | Postcard | − | − | − | − | − | − | ||||||
All album releases were on RCA except Music Music, which was released on Ariola and Postcard.[citation needed]
References
- ^ a b c Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p. 298/299. ISBN 0-214-20512-6.
- ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 363. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
External links
- Middle of the Road discography at Discogs