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Sympathy (Rare Bird song)

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"Sympathy"
Single by Rare Bird
Released1970
GenreProgressive rock[1]
LabelCharisma (UK), Philips (Scandinavia, Italy and Greece)
Songwriter(s)Rare Bird

"Sympathy" is a song by the English progressive rock band Rare Bird. It became the band's only UK chart entry when it peaked at number 27 in the UK Singles Chart in 1970. The song reached No. 1 in Italy and in France, selling 500,000 copies in France and over one million globally.[2][3] The song peaked at number 98 in Australia, becoming the group's only top 100 appearance there.[4]

The cover art features a painting by Marc Harrison titled The Birdwoman Of Zartacla (also used for the cover of the June 1981 issue of the Heavy Metal magazine).[5]

Cover versions

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  • A 1970 cover version of the track by The Family Dogg reached number one in the Netherlands.[6]
  • In 1970 Caterina Caselli covered the song in an Italian version titled: L'umanità
  • In 1985 Toyah covered the song
  • In 1992 a version by Marillion reached number 17 in the UK, becoming their 17th Top 40 hit.[7]
  • In 2002 Faithless sampled the song.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Paul Hegarty; Martin Halliwell (2011). Beyond and Before: Progressive Rock since the 1960s. Bloomsbury Continuum. p. 188. ISBN 978-0826423320.
  2. ^ Buckley, Jonathan (1999). Rock: the rough guide. Rough Guides. p. 1944. ISBN 1-85828-457-0.
  3. ^ Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p. 284. ISBN 0-214-20512-6.
  4. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 246. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  5. ^ "The Birdwoman Of Zartacla". Grand Comics Database. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
  6. ^ "Steve Rowland & The Family Dogg - Sympathy - dutchcharts.nl" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  7. ^ David Roberts, ed. (2006). British Hit Singles and Albums. Guinness World Records Limited. p. 349. ISBN 978-1904994107.