My Sweet Rosalie

"My Sweet Rosalie"
Single by Brotherhood of Man
from the album Oh Boy!
B-side	"Sugar Honey Love"
Released	June 1976
Genre	Pop
Length	2:36
Label	Pye Records
Songwriter(s)	Lee Sheriden / Martin Lee / Tony Hiller
Producer(s)	Tony Hiller
Brotherhood of Man singles chronology
"Save Your Kisses for Me" (1976) "My Sweet Rosalie" (1976) "Oh Boy (The Mood I'm In)" (1977)

"My Sweet Rosalie" is a 1976 song by British pop group Brotherhood of Man. It was released as the follow-up single to the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest winner, "Save Your Kisses for Me". The song was written by band members Martin Lee and Lee Sheriden with producer Tony Hiller.

Background

Having won the Eurovision Song Contest in April 1976, the group were catapulted to success with the song selling over a million copies in the UK alone. Although they had also just released their second album ( Love and Kisses from Brotherhood of Man ), the group decided not to release a follow-up single from the album. Instead, they devised a song very similar to the Eurovision winner called "My Sweet Rosalie". Its similarities were heightened by the fact that it included a twist at the end of the song, as did "Save Your Kisses for Me". Member and co-writer Martin Lee admitted to the similarities in an interview at the time, saying "The people have told us exactly where our bag is and what they want to hear. Easy listening has sold us over a million in this country, which is unbelievable and we moulded the follow-up in respect of that". ^[1] The single was released in early June 1976 with Pye Records issuing it in a picture sleeve, which was a rarity at the time in the UK (although commonplace in the rest of Europe). ^[1] The single however failed expectations in the UK by only reaching No.30, although it charted much better in Europe, reaching No.2 in Belgium and No.5 in the Netherlands for example. ^{[2] [3] [4]}

The song features member Martin Lee on lead vocals and tells of his love for his "sweet Rosalie". The twist at the end of the song is that the object of his affections is a puppy dog. ^[5] For TV appearances at the time, the group appeared with a live puppy at the end. Member Nicky Stevens had recently got married at the time of promotion and had to delay her honeymoon to perform the song with the group on Top of the Pops .

"My Sweet Rosalie" was backed by a non-album track "Sugar Honey Love" on the B-side and was later issued on the group's third album Oh Boy! . The group re-recorded the song many years later as a medley with later single "Oh Boy (The Mood I'm In)" and appeared on their albums Greenhouse and The Seventies Story .

Track listing

1. "My Sweet Rosalie" (2:36)
2. "Sugar Honey Love" (2:55)

Both tracks written by Martin Lee, Lee Sheriden and Tony Hiller

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1976) Peak position Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) [6] 3 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia) [7] 12 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) [8] 5 Netherlands (Single Top 100) [9] 5 France (SNEP) [10] 12 UK Singles (OCC) [11] 30 West Germany (Official German Charts) [12] 31

Year-end charts Chart (1976) Position Belgium (Ultratop Flanders) [13] 22 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) [14] 50 Netherlands (Single Top 100) [15] 89

References

1. Oh Boy! CD-issue sleevenotes, Phil Hendricks, December 2008
2. Official Charts Brotherhood of Man "My Sweet Rosalie" (UK Charts)
3. Brotherhood of Man Dutch website - Belgian Chart positions Archived 4 August 2001 at the Wayback Machine
4. Netherlands Chart - July 1976 (week 30)
5. Lyrics Keeper "My Sweet Rosalie" Archived 13 July 2012 at archive.today
6. "Brotherhood of Man – My Sweet Rosalie" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
7. "Brotherhood of Man – My Sweet Rosalie" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
8. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 29, 1976" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
9. "Brotherhood of Man – My Sweet Rosalie" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
10. "Charts singles Top 50 en France: 15 Aout 1976". 2017.
11. "Brotherhood of Man: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
12. "Offiziellecharts.de – Brotherhood of Man – My Sweet Rosalie" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
13. "Jaaroverzichten 1976". Ultratop. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
14. "Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 1976". Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
15. "Jaaroverzichten – Single 1976". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 23 February 2022.