Twenty Greatest

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Twenty Greatest is the sixth album released by British pop group Brotherhood of Man and their first compilation. It was released in 1978 and became their biggest selling album.

Background

This album was a Greatest Hits compilation featuring all their hit singles up to this point as well as selected album tracks and new recordings. The album was released on K-Tel records (in association with their regular label Pye) in late September 1978 and reached No.6 in the UK album charts. It remained on the charts for 15 weeks and was certified gold by the BPI, becoming the most successful album of their career.

The singles included are: "Lady", "Lady Lady Lay", "Kiss Me Kiss Your Baby", "Save Your Kisses for Me", "My Sweet Rosalie", "Oh Boy (The Mood I'm In)", "Angelo", "Highwayman", "Figaro", "Beautiful Lover" and "Middle of the Night". The early hits "United We Stand" and "Where are You Going to My Love" included here are new recordings by this version of the group. Two other new recordings for this album are cover versions of "How Deep Is Your Love" and "Send in the Clowns", which is largely an a cappella piece, with piano accompaniment by member Nicky Stevens.

This album is sometimes referred to simply as Brotherhood of Man - as this was the name (erroneously) accredited to it in the UK Chart listings. Early pressings of the album gave the group's name as 'The Brotherhood of Man' (a name they hadn't been known as since the first incarnation of the group in the early 1970s) (see illustration), but later pressings had recified this to simply 'Brotherhood of Man'.

The Soviet record company Melodiya released this album in 1981 as a 12-track collection: Side A: "Save Your Kisses for Me", "Angelo", "Oh Boy (The Mood I'm In)", "My Sweet Rosalie", "Kiss Me Kiss Your Baby", "Beautiful Lover"; Side B: "Middle of the Night" , "Figaro", "Highwayman" , "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother", "Lady Lady Lady Lay", "United We Stand". This compilation was very popular in the USSR and sold 500,000 copies.

Track listing

Side One

1. "Save Your Kisses for Me" (Tony Hiller / Lee Sheriden / Martin Lee) 3.04
2. "Angelo" (Hiller / Sheriden / Lee) 3.18
3. "Oh Boy (The Mood I'm In)" (Tony Romeo) 3.16
4. "Where are You Going to My Love" (Hiller / Goodison / Day) 3.24
5. "Images" (Hiller / Sheriden / Lee) 2.25
6. "Send in the Clowns" (Stephen Sondheim) 3.50
7. "In Love" (Hiller / Sheriden / Lee) 3.53
8. "My Sweet Rosalie" (Hiller / Sheriden / Lee) 2.37
9. "Kiss Me Kiss Your Baby" (Barry Blue) 3.05
10. "Beautiful Lover" (Hiller / Sheriden / Lee) 3.21

Side Two

1. "Middle of the Night" (Hiller / Sheriden / Lee) 3.05
2. "Figaro" (Hiller / Sheriden / Lee) 2.51
3. "Highwayman" (Hiller / Sheriden / Lee) 2.32
4. "People Over the World" (Hiller / Sheriden / Lee) 3.05
5. "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" (Bob Russell / Bobby Scott) 4.23
6. "To-night's the Night" (Hiller / Sheriden / Lee) 2.40
7. "Lady Lady Lady Lay" (Hiller / Groscolas / Jordan) 2.58
8. "How Deep Is Your Love" (Barry Gibb / Maurice Gibb / Robin Gibb) 4.08
9. "Lady" (Hiller / Sheriden / Lee) 3.27
10. "United We Stand" (Hiller / Simons) 2.57

Personnel

• Martin Lee - vocals
• Lee Sheriden - vocals
• Nicky Stevens - vocals, piano on "Send in the Clowns"
• Sandra Stevens - vocals
• Tony Hiller - producer
• Lee Sheriden - arranger (tracks 1,2,3,5,7,8,10,11,12,13,16,18)
• Colin Frechter - arranger (tracks 6,14,15,17,19)
• Cy Payne - arranger (tracks 4,20)
• Graham Prescott - arranger (track 9)
• John Constable Design Company - Sleeve design

Chart performance

Release date	Single title	UK Chart position
September 1978	"Middle of the Night"	41
Release date	Album title	UK Chart position
September 1978	Twenty Greatest	6