The Pied Piper (song)

For other uses, see Pied Piper (disambiguation).

"The Pied Piper"
Single by Crispian St. Peters
from the album Follow Me...
B-side	"Sweet Dawn My True Love"
Released	April 1966 [1]
Genre	Pop rock
Length	2:30
Label	Decca 12359 (UK) Jamie 1320 (US) London 2512 (Canada)
Songwriters	Steve Duboff, Artie Kornfeld
Producer	David Nicolson
Crispian St. Peters singles chronology
"You Were on My Mind" (1965) "The Pied Piper" (1966) "Changes" (1966)

"The Pied Piper" is a pop song written by the American song-writing and performing duo The Changin' Times, consisting of Steve Duboff and Artie Kornfeld, who first recorded it in 1965. Their version reached #87 on the Billboard Hot 100. ^[2] However, when British pop singer Crispian St. Peters recorded it, he scored a major hit during the summer of 1966. It went to #4 in the United States, #5 in the United Kingdom, and #1 in Canada. ^{[3] [4]}

The song's title refers to a fairy tale from German folklore, the titular character of which is The Pied Piper of Hamelin.

Chart history

Weekly charts Chart (1966) Peak position Australia (Kent Music Report) [5] 5 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) [6] 2 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia) [7] 18 Canada (RPM) [8] 1 Ireland (RTÉ) [9] 9 Malaysia (Radio Malaysia) [10] 2 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) [11] 2 Netherlands (Single Top 100) [12] 4 New Zealand ( Listener ) [13] 2 Singapore (Radio Singapore) [14] 8 South Africa (Springbok Radio) [15] 1 Rhodesia (Lyons Maid) [16] 1 UK (Disc and Music Echo) [17] 5 UK ( Melody Maker ) [18] 5 UK ( New Musical Express ) [19] 5 UK ( Record Retailer ) [20] 5 US (Billboard Hot 100) [21] 4 US (Cash Box Top 100) [22] 4 US (Record World 100 Top Pops) [23] 2 West Germany (Media Control) [24] 11

Year-end charts Chart (1966) Peak position Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) [25] 25 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) [26] 21 UK ( Record Retailer ) [27] 60 US (Billboard Hot 100) [28] 63 US (Cash Box Top 100) [29] 68

Later uses

An advertisement for the first-generation Toyota Echo in Australia and New Zealand. ^{[30] [31] [32]}

The song has been used in three episodes of the HBO series Silicon Valley , where it is sung karaoke by Dinesh.

Other versions

• In Italy a well-known cover version was made, with the title "Bandiera gialla" ("Yellow Flag"), sung by Gianni Pettenati and becoming the theme song of a popular radio program of that era targeted to young people. ^[33]
• Cher covered the song on her 1966 self-titled album.
• French singer Sheila covered the song in French, with the title "Le pipeau", in 1966.
• Rita Marley covered the song in 1967.
• Jamaican reggae duo Bob and Marcia had a Top 20 hit with their version, taking the song to UK #11 in July 1971. ^[34]
• Yugoslav rock band S.T.R.A.H. released a Serbo-Croatian language garage rock cover entitled "Vođa" ("The Leader") on their 1988 EP Mesec (The Moon). ^[35]

References

1. Rodriguez, Robert (2012). Revolver: How the Beatles Re-Imagined Rock 'n' Roll . Montclair: Backbeat Books. p. 242. ISBN   978-1-61713-009-0.
2. The Changin' Times, "Pied Piper" chart position Retrieved June 18, 2015.
3. Songs from the Year 1966
4. Library and Archives Canada. RPM 100 Week of July 18, 1966 Retrieved March 13, 2012.
5. Kent, David (2005). Australian Chart Book 1940–1969. Australia: Australian Chart Book. p. 107. ISBN   0-646-44439-5. OCLC   62561852.
6. "Crispian St. Peters – The Pied Piper" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Archived from the original on 1 August 2024. Retrieved 20 December 2025.
7. "Crispian St. Peters – The Pied Piper" (in French). Ultratop 50. Archived from the original on 14 June 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2025.
8. Anon. (18 July 1966). "RPM 100" (PDF). RPM . p. 13. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 August 2025. Retrieved 20 December 2025– via WorldRadioHistory.
9. Gogan, Larry. "Pied Piper". Irish Singles Chart. Archived from the original on 20 December 2025. Retrieved 20 December 2025.
10. Anon. (20 August 1966). "Hits Of The World" (PDF). Billboard . p. 57. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 June 2025. Retrieved 20 December 2025– via WorldRadioHistory.
11. "Pied Piper / The Pied Piper - The Jets / Crispian St. Peters" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Archived from the original on 22 June 2025. Retrieved 20 December 2025.
12. "Crispian St. Peters - The Pied Piper" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Archived from the original on 2 March 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2025.
13. Kohler, Steve (1 July 1966). "The N.Z. Hit Parade". Flavour of New Zealand. New Zealand Listener. Archived from the original on 9 February 2021. Retrieved 20 December 2025.
14. Anon. (18 June 1966). "Hits Of The World" (PDF). Billboard . p. 36. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 September 2025. Retrieved 20 December 2025– via WorldRadioHistory.
15. "SA Charts 1965 – 1989: Acts S". The South African Rock Encyclopedia. Springbok Radio. 2000. Archived from the original on 24 July 2018. Retrieved 20 December 2025.
16. Kimberley, C (2000). Zimbabwe: Singles Chart Book. Zimbabwe. p. 72. OCLC   499262382.
17. Anon. (7 May 1966). "Top 50". Disc and Music Echo . p. 3.
18. Anon. (7 May 1966). "Pop 50". Melody Maker . p. 2.
19. Anon. (14 May 1966). "NME Top Thirty". New Musical Express . p. 5.
20. "Pied Piper by Crispian St. Peters". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 22 April 2024. Retrieved 20 December 2025.
21. Anon. (23 July 1966). "Hot 100" (PDF). Billboard . p. 30. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 October 2025. Retrieved 20 December 2025– via WorldRadioHistory.
22. Anon. (30 July 1966). "Cash Box Top 100" (PDF). Cash Box . p. 4. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 October 2025. Retrieved 20 December 2025– via WorldRadioHistory.
23. Anon. (30 July 1966). "100 Top Pops" (PDF). Record World . p. 19. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 June 2025. Retrieved 20 December 2025– via WorldRadioHistory.
24. "The Pied Piper" (in German). Offizielle Deutsche Charts. Archived from the original on 20 December 2025. Retrieved 20 December 2025.
25. "Jaaroverzichten 1966" [Year Overview 1966] (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Archived from the original on 20 December 2025. Retrieved 20 December 2025.
26. "Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 1966" [Top 100 Year-End Review of 1966] (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Archived from the original on 23 August 2025. Retrieved 20 December 2025.
27. Anon. (5 January 1967). "Top 100 best-selling singles of 1966". Record Retailer . p. 11.
28. Anon. (24 December 1966). "Top Singles of 1966" (PDF). Billboard . p. 34. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 May 2025. Retrieved 20 December 2025– via WorldRadioHistory.
29. "Top 100 Chart Hits of 1966" (PDF). Cash Box . 24 December 1966. p. 30. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 August 2025. Retrieved 20 December 2025– via WorldRadioHistory.
30. "The Good Oil: Road safety in school". New Zealand Herald. 2000-06-30.
31. YouTube - Toyota Echo Australian TV ad (2000) - "Follow me, I'm the pied piper..."
32. Four Donkey Films - production company for the advertisement
33. L'almanacco di Radioscrigno Retrieved March 13, 2012.
34. Bob and Marcia, "Pied Piper" chart position Retrieved June 18, 2015.
35. Janjatović, Petar (2024). Ex YU rock enciklopedija 1960-2023. Belgrade: self-released. p. 288.