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"Shape of Things to Come" | ||||
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Single by Max Frost and the Troopers | ||||
from the album Shape of Things to Come | ||||
B-side | "Free Lovin'" | |||
Released | May 1968 | |||
Length | 1:57 | |||
Label | Tower | |||
Songwriter(s) | Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil | |||
Producer(s) | Mike Curb | |||
Max Frost and the Troopers singles chronology | ||||
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"Shape of Things to Come" | ||||
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Single by Slade | ||||
from the album Play It Loud | ||||
B-side | "C'mon C'mon" | |||
Released | March 6, 1970 | |||
Length | 2:19 | |||
Label | Fontana | |||
Songwriter(s) | Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil | |||
Producer(s) | Chas Chandler | |||
Slade singles chronology | ||||
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"Shape of Things to Come" is a song written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil from the film Wild in the Streets , performed by the fictional band Max Frost and the Troopers on their 1968 album Shape of Things to Come , featuring a lead vocal by Harley Hatcher. [1] The song was also released without vocals by Davie Allan and the Arrows. The song was a mere 1 minute 55 seconds in length. The song came some 35 years after H. G. Wells' The Shape of Things to Come .
The song was produced by Mike Curb for the exploitation film Wild in the Streets , where actor Christopher Jones lip syncs to Hatcher's vocal. [2] A young Richard Pryor portrayed the drummer in Jones's band. The film was released on May 29, 1968.
Concurrent with the film's release, the song appeared as a single on Tower 419; it was backed by another song from the film, "Free Lovin'" (written by Guy Hemric and Paul Wibier). [3] The single peaked at #22 on the Billboard Hot 100 in September 1968, [4] [5] and peaked at #2 on the Canadian CHUM Charts for two consecutive weeks during the second and third week of October, 1968. [6] and #9 on the Canadian RPM Top 100. [7] The song remained on the US Billboard charts for a total of 12 weeks and on the RPM charts for 12 weeks.
The song subsequently appeared as the first track on the A side of the Shape of Things to Come LP, released in the wake of the single's chart success.
Others who have performed the song include:
More recently, the song has been released by: