Pickettywitch

Last updated

Pickettywitch
Origin United Kingdom
Genres Pop music
Years active1969–1973
Labels Pye Records
Past members Polly Brown
Chris Warren
Bob Brittain
Martin Bridges
Mike Tomich
Keith Hall
Peter Hawkins
Brian Stuart
Mel Harris
Paul Risi
Paul Riordan

Pickettywitch was a British pop group. Fronted by singer Polly Brown (also billed as Polly Browne), with Chris Warren as the secondary lead singer. The group became best known for its hit single, "That Same Old Feeling", which was written by Tony Macaulay and John Macleod. It reached number five in the UK Singles Chart in 1970. [1]

Contents

Origins

The original members were Polly Brown (vocals), Chris Warren (vocals), Bob Brittain (organ), Martin Bridges (guitar), Mike Tomich (bass guitar) and Keith Hall (drums). [2] Bridges and Tomich were replaced later in 1970 by Peter Hawkins (died 18 October 2014) (guitar) and Brian Stuart (bass), who would later be replaced by Paul Risi (guitar) and Paul Riordan (bass). The name Pickettywitch is often said to have been taken from a Cornish village through which their eventual lead singer, Polly Brown, had passed with her sister; [2] in fact, there is no such village, though there was a pub of that name at Yeovil in Somerset. [3]

History

Pickettywitch was signed by record producer John Macleod to Pye Records and released their debut single, "You Got Me So I Don't Know" b/w "Solomon Grundy" in July 1969. [2] [4] Their U.K. chart breakthrough came in early 1970 when the single "That Same Old Feeling" hit the top 5. That single also made the top 40 [5] on the Cashbox pop chart in the US a few months later and remains their only hit single there.

Two further singles also made the UK chart in that year - these were "(It's Like A) Sad Old Kinda Movie" (again written by Macaulay and Macleod) (number 16), and "Baby I Won't Let You Down" (written by Les Reed and Geoff Stephens) (number 27). [1] [6]

In 1970, "Days I Remember" received radio airplay. The single did not appear on record charts, [2] but "That Same Old Feeling" reached No. 67 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 40 on the Cashbox pop chart in the summer of that same year. Brown left for a solo career in late 1972. [2] [5]

Subsequent careers

Brown went on to a form a duo called Sweet Dreams, in partnership with Tony Jackson, recording a cover of the ABBA song "Honey, Honey". [2] Brown then launched a solo career, with minor hits in the UK and the United States. [2] Hall joined Gerry & the Pacemakers for five years, and has an active international career as a jazz drummer.

Brown continues to write and record music including blues material. There is a misconception that she died in 2006, due to the death that year of Sheila Rossall, [7] who had been the lead singer of a latter-day edition of Pickettywitch who worked the club circuit. Rossall had attracted some publicity in 1981 because she suffered from total allergy syndrome, and Brown often faced questions about the illness as a result.[ citation needed ]

Albums

Singles

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stoned Love</span> 1970 single by The Supremes

"Stoned Love" is a 1970 hit single recorded by The Supremes for the Motown label. It was the last Billboard Pop Top Ten hit for the group, peaking at number seven, and their last Billboard number-one R&B hit as well, although the trio continued to score top ten hits in the UK into 1972. In the UK, it was the post-Ross Supremes' biggest hit, reaching number 3 in the singles chart. The single spent six weeks in the UK top ten and five weeks in the US top ten. The BBC ranked "Stoned Love" at number 99 on The Top 100 Digital Motown Chart, which ranks Motown releases solely on their all time UK downloads and streams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Foundations</span> UK soul band

The Foundations were a British soul band who were primarily active between 1967 and 1970. The group's background was: West Indian, White British and Sri Lankan. Their 1967 debut single "Baby Now That I've Found You" reached number one in the UK and Canada, and number eleven in the US. Their 1968 single "Build Me Up Buttercup" reached number two in the UK and number three on the US Billboard Hot 100. The group was the first multi-racial group to have a number one hit in the UK in the 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Up the Ladder to the Roof</span> 1970 single by The Supremes

"Up the Ladder to the Roof" is a 1970 hit single recorded by The Supremes for the Motown label. It was the first Supremes single to feature new lead singer Jean Terrell in place of Diana Ross, who officially left the group for a solo career two weeks before the recording of this song in January 1970. This song also marks a number of other firsts: it is the first Supremes single since "The Happening" in 1967 to be released under the name "The Supremes" instead of "Diana Ross & The Supremes", the first Supremes single solely produced by Norman Whitfield associate Frank Wilson, and the first Supremes single to make the United Kingdom Top 10 since "Reflections" in 1967.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ooo Baby Baby</span> 1965 song by The Miracles

"Ooo Baby Baby" is a song written by Smokey Robinson and Pete Moore. It was a 1965 hit single by The Miracles for the Tamla (Motown) label.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Three Times a Lady</span> 1978 single by Commodores

"Three Times a Lady" is a 1978 song by American soul group Commodores for their album Natural High, written by lead singer Lionel Richie. It was produced by James Anthony Carmichael and Commodores.

"For All We Know" is a soft rock song written for the 1970 film Lovers and Other Strangers, with music by Fred Karlin and lyrics by Robb Wilson and Arthur James. Both Royer and Griffin were founding members of the soft rock group Bread. It was originally performed, for the film's soundtrack, by Larry Meredith. The best known version of the song is by American pop duo the Carpenters which reached No. 3 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and No. 1 on the US Billboard Easy Listening chart in 1971. The song was also a hit for Shirley Bassey at the same time in the United Kingdom. It has since been covered by various artists, including Petula Clark.

"A Groovy Kind of Love" is a song written by Toni Wine and Carole Bayer Sager based on a melody by the classical composer Muzio Clementi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baby Now That I've Found You</span> 1967 single by The Foundations

"Baby, Now That I've Found You" is a song written by Tony Macaulay and John Macleod, and performed by the Foundations. Part of the song was written in the same bar of a Soho tavern where Karl Marx is supposed to have written Das Kapital. The lyrics are a plea that an unnamed subject not break up with the singer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woman in Love</span> 1980 single by Barbra Streisand

"Woman in Love" is a song performed by Barbra Streisand and taken from her 1980 album Guilty. The song was written by Barry and Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees, who received the 1980 Ivor Novello award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically. It is her fourth of four Platinum records, and is considered her greatest international hit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Too Much, Too Little, Too Late</span> 1978 single by Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams

"Too Much, Too Little, Too Late" is a song performed by singers Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams. Lyrics and music were arranged by Nat Kipner and John Vallins. The single was a comeback of sorts for Mathis as his last U.S. top 10 hit was 1963’s "What Will Mary Say" and his last U.S. #1 hit was 1957's "Chances Are."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don't Give Up on Us (song)</span> 1976 single by David Soul

"Don't Give Up on Us" is a hit song recorded by American-British singer David Soul, and written by Tony Macaulay.

<i>Let Me Be There</i> (album) 1973 studio album by Olivia Newton-John

Let Me Be There is the third studio album by British-Australian singer Olivia Newton-John. It was originally released in November 1973 as Music Makes My Day in the United Kingdom, by Pye International Records, and shortly after in Australia as Let Me Be There, which became its most recognisable name. In the United States and Canada, Let Me Be There was released with an alternative tracklist, combining songs from the original release with other tracks from Newton-John's previous albums If Not for You and Olivia.

Polly Brown is an English singer from Birmingham. A member of Pickettywitch and Sweet Dreams - and with each group lead singer on a Top Ten hit, respectively "That Same Old Feeling" and "Honey Honey" - Brown had an international solo hit in 1975 with "Up in a Puff of Smoke".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Everybody's Got the Right to Love</span> 1970 single by The Supremes

"Everybody's Got the Right to Love" is a socially conscious–inspired pop song written by Lou Stallman, produced by Frank Wilson and released as a single in 1970 by Motown group The Supremes, who took the song into the top forty in mid-1970 following the release of "Up the Ladder to the Roof".

"Back on My Feet Again" is the second single released by the Foundations. It was the follow-up to their hit single "Baby, Now That I've Found You". It was written by Tony Macaulay and John MacLeod and produced by Tony Macaulay. It charted at number 18 in the UK and also in Ireland. It reached No. 59 in the U.S. and number 29 in Canada.

"In The Bad Bad Old Days" was a hit for The Foundations in 1969. It was the fourth hit single for the group. It was written by Tony Macaulay and John McLeod. It went to #8 in the UK Singles Chart, #7 in Ireland, and #23 in Canada. It was also covered by Edison Lighthouse, and appeared on Johnny Johnson and the Bandwagon's Soul Survivor album.

John Macleod is a Canadian-born English songwriter and musician. he co-wrote the hits "Baby, Now That I've Found You" for The Foundations, "Let the Heartaches Begin for Long John Baldry, "Heaven Knows I'm Missing Him Now" and many more.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">That Same Old Feeling</span>

"That Same Old Feeling" is the title of a pop song composed by John Macleod and Tony Macaulay which in 1970 was a Top Ten UK hit for Pickettywitch, an English band fronted by Polly Brown. In the US the Pickettywitch single vied with a rival version by The Fortunes, with both versions scoring well-enough regionally to reach the Top 70 of the Hot 100, the national hit parade maintained by Billboard magazine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again</span> 1971 single by The Fortunes

"Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again" is a pop song composed by Tony Macaulay, Roger Cook, and Roger Greenaway. In 1971, it became the third U.S. top 40 hit for the Fortunes and their fifth in Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Up in a Puff of Smoke</span> 1974 single by Polly Brown

"Up in a Puff of Smoke" is a song recorded in 1974 by Polly Brown, released as a non-album single to become an international Top 40 hit in 1975.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 426. ISBN   1-904994-10-5.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Pickettywitch | Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
  3. ↑ "Picketty Witch, Yeovil, Somerset, BA21 3BG - pub details#". Beerintheevening.com. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
  4. ↑ Archived September 2, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  5. 1 2 Archived June 8, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
  6. ↑ "Pickettywitch | Songs". AllMusic. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
  7. ↑ "Tributes to tragic former chart star". Blackpool Gazette . 8 November 2006. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
  8. ↑ Jaclyn Ward. "The Irish Charts - All there is to know". Irishcharts.ie. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  9. ↑ "flavour of new zealand - search listener". Flavourofnz.co.nz. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  10. ↑ "Billboard - Hits Of The World" (PDF). worldradiohistory.com. Billboard. 14 November 1970. p. 121.
  11. ↑ Brian Currin. "South African Rock Lists Website - SA Charts 1965 - 1989 Acts (P)". Rock.co.za. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  12. ↑ "RPM Top 100 Singles - August 1, 1970" (PDF).
  13. ↑ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 - ISBN   0-89820-089-X
  14. ↑ "Image : RPM Weekly - Library and Archives Canada : RPM Top Singles, May 8, 1971". Bac-lac.gc.ca. 22 July 2014. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.