Puppet Man (song)

Last updated
"Puppet Man"
Puppet Man - The 5th Dimension.jpg
Single by The 5th Dimension
from the album Portrait
B-side "A Love Like Ours"
ReleasedMarch 1970
Genre Soul
Length2:58
Label Bell Records
Songwriter(s) Sedaka-Greenfield
Producer(s) Bones Howe
The 5th Dimension singles chronology
"The Girls' Song"
(1970)
"Puppet Man"
(1970)
"Save the Country"
(1970)

"Puppet Man" is a song written by Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield. It was originally recorded by Sedaka on his 1969 Workin' on a Groovy Thing LP. The first hit version was by The Fifth Dimension in 1970. The following year it was also a hit for Tom Jones.

Contents

The Fifth Dimension's original of "Puppet Man" reached #24 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in the spring of 1970.

Charts

Chart (1970)Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)19
Canada RPM Top Singles [1] 31
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 [2] 24
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary 31
U.S. Cash Box Top 100 [3] 22

Tom Jones version

"Puppet Man"
Puppet Man - Tom Jones.jpg
Single by Tom Jones
from the album Tom Jones Sings She's a Lady
B-side "Every Mile"
"Resurrection Shuffle"
ReleasedMay 1971
Recorded1970
Genre Pop
Length2:53
Label Decca (UK), Parrot (US and Canada)
Songwriter(s) Sedaka-Greenfield
Producer(s) Gordon Mills
Tom Jones UKsingles chronology
"She's a Lady"
(1971)
"Puppet Man"
(1971)
"Till"
(1971)

Tom Jones' version was released the following spring. It reached No. 26 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, spending 10 weeks on the chart. For the first six weeks the single was backed with "Every Mile," then was changed to "Resurrection Shuffle", which also became a U.S. top 40 hit, reaching No. 38 and keeping the record on the charts an additional five weeks.

Charts

Chart (1971)Peak
position
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) [4] 22
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia) [5] 27
Canada RPM Top Singles [6] 9
UK Singles (OCC) [7] 49
US Billboard Hot 100 [2] 26
US Cash Box Top 100 [8] 14
West Germany (Official German Charts) [9] 36

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">You're All I Need to Get By</span> 1968 single by Tammi Terrell and Marvin Gaye

"You're All I Need to Get By" is a song recorded by the American R&B/soul duo Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell and released on Motown Records' Tamla label in 1968. It was the basis for the 1995 single "I'll Be There for You/You're All I Need to Get By" from Method Man and Mary J. Blige.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laughter in the Rain</span> 1974 single by Neil Sedaka

"Laughter in the Rain" is a song composed and recorded by Neil Sedaka, with lyrics by Phil Cody. It includes a 20-second saxophone solo by Jim Horn. The song hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1975.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Breaking Up Is Hard to Do</span> 1962 single by Neil Sedaka

"Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" is a song recorded by Neil Sedaka, co-written by Sedaka and Howard Greenfield. Sedaka recorded this song twice, in 1962 and 1975, in two significantly different arrangements, and it is considered to be his signature song. Between 1970 and 1975, it was a top-40 hit three separate times for three separate artists: Lenny Welch, The Partridge Family and Sedaka's second version. The song was also adapted into multiple languages, most notably in Italian and French.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oh Girl</span> 1972 single by the Chi-Lites

"Oh Girl" is a song written by Eugene Record and recorded by American soul vocal group the Chi-Lites, with Record on vocals and also producing. It was released as a single on Brunswick Records in 1972. Included on the group's 1972 album A Lonely Man, "Oh Girl" centers on a relationship on the verge of break-up.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Love's Theme</span> 1973 single by the Love Unlimited Orchestra

"Love's Theme" is an instrumental piece written by Barry White around 1965. Recorded and released as a single by White's Love Unlimited Orchestra in 1973, it was one of the few instrumental and purely orchestral singles to reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States, which it did in early 1974. Billboard ranked it as #3 on the Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1974.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bad Blood (Neil Sedaka song)</span> 1975 single by Neil Sedaka

"Bad Blood" is a popular song written by Neil Sedaka and Phil Cody. The song, with uncredited backing vocals by Elton John, reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1975, remaining at the top position for three weeks. It was certified Gold by the RIAA and was the most successful individual commercial release in Sedaka's career. "Bad Blood" was replaced at the number one spot by John's single "Island Girl".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Montego Bay (song)</span> 1970 single by Bobby Bloom

"Montego Bay" is a song co-written and performed by Bobby Bloom about the city in Jamaica of the same name. The song was a top ten hit for Bloom in the Fall of 1970 on both sides of the Atlantic. It reached No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart, No. 5 on the Canadian RPM 100 Singles Chart, No. 7 on the Australian Go-Set Singles Chart and No. 8 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The song was co-written and produced by Jeff Barry. In the master tape of the song, Bloom breaks into a chorus of "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" at the end of the recording. The song features a whistler, as well as Jamaican instruments in a calypso style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hot Child in the City</span> 1978 single by Nick Gilder

"Hot Child in the City" is a song by English-Canadian musician Nick Gilder. It was released in June 1978 as a single from the album City Nights. It went to No. 1 both in Canada and in the United States. It was not his first No. 1 single: as the lead singer of Sweeney Todd, he had hit No. 1 in Canada on June 26, 1976 with the single "Roxy Roller", which remained at the top for three weeks. He won 2 Juno Awards in Canada and a People's Choice Award in the US. According to The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits, it held the record for taking the longest amount of weeks to reach No. 1 at the time, taking 21 weeks to reach the summit. The song became a platinum record.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">More Love (Smokey Robinson and the Miracles song)</span>

"More Love" is a 1967 hit single recorded by the American soul group The Miracles for Motown Records' Tamla label. The single, included on the group's 1967 album Make It Happen, later reissued in 1970 as The Tears of a Clown. Kim Carnes's 1980 cover of the song reached the Top 10 of Billboard's Adult Contemporary and Hot 100 charts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Show and Tell (song)</span> 1973 single by Al Wilson

"Show and Tell" is a popular song written by Jerry Fuller and first recorded by Johnny Mathis in 1972. This original version made it to #36 on the Easy Listening chart.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keep On Singing</span> Early 1970s hit song

"Keep on Singing" is a 1973 song composed by Danny Janssen and Bobby Hart, and was originally recorded by Austin Roberts from the album Austin Roberts. It was released as a single on Chelsea Records and reached No. 50 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and No. 39 on the Cash Box Top 100. In Canada it reached # 79. "Keep on Singing" was best known as a hit single by Helen Reddy in 1974.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lonely Night (Angel Face)</span> 1976 single by Captain & Tennille

"Lonely Night (Angel Face)" is a song written by Neil Sedaka. The song was first recorded by Sedaka and appeared as a track on his 1975 studio album, The Hungry Years. The following year the song was made popular when covered by the pop music duo Captain & Tennille, who took their version to number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">She's a Lady</span> 1971 single by Tom Jones

"She's a Lady" is a song written by Paul Anka and released on his album Paul Anka '70s. The most successful recording was performed by Tom Jones and released at the beginning of 1971. It is Jones's highest-charting single in the U.S..

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A Little More Love (Olivia Newton-John song)</span> 1978 single by Olivia Newton-John

"A Little More Love" is a song recorded by British-Australian singer Olivia Newton-John for her tenth studio album, Totally Hot (1978). Written and produced by Newton-John's long-time record producer John Farrar, the song was released as the lead single from Totally Hot in November 1978 and became a worldwide hit single.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">If You Know What I Mean</span> 1976 single by Neil Diamond

"If You Know What I Mean" is a song written and recorded by Neil Diamond. It is a track from Diamond's 1976 album, Beautiful Noise, and was his third number 1 on the Easy Listening chart, where it spent two weeks. "If You Know What I Mean" went to number 1 for two nonconsecutive weeks and peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100. In Canada, the song reached number 19 on the pop singles chart and hit number 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart.

"Workin' On a Groovy Thing" is a song written by Neil Sedaka and Roger Atkins which had its highest profile as a 1969 hit single by the 5th Dimension.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Love in the Shadows (Neil Sedaka song)</span> 1976 single by Neil Sedaka

"Love in the Shadows" is an uptempo pop song co-written and recorded by Neil Sedaka. The song became an international Top 20 hit in 1976.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I Like Dreamin'</span> 1976 single by Kenny Nolan

"I Like Dreamin'" is the debut single by Kenny Nolan, taken from his eponymous debut album. The recording was issued as the album's lead single in October 1976, spending 27 weeks on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stand Tall (Burton Cummings song)</span> 1976 single by Burton Cummings

"Stand Tall" is the title of an international hit single by Burton Cummings, taken from his eponymous debut album. The song was released less than two years after "Dancin' Fool", the final hit single by the group for which Cummings had been lead singer, The Guess Who.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rainy Jane</span>

"Rainy Jane" is a song written and originally recorded by Neil Sedaka in 1969, covered two years later by Davy Jones. Sedaka's rendition became a minor hit in the U.S., Canada and Australia.

References

  1. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1970-05-31. Retrieved 2020-07-16.
  2. 1 2 Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - ISBN   0-89820-089-X
  3. Cash Box Top 100 Singles, May 31, 1970
  4. "Tom Jones – Puppet Man" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  5. "Tom Jones – Puppet Man" (in French). Ultratop 50.
  6. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1971-07-10. Retrieved 2020-07-16.
  7. "Tom Jones: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company.
  8. Cash Box Top 100 Singles, July 3, 1971
  9. "Offiziellecharts.de – Tom Jones – Puppet Man" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts.