United We Stand (song)

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"United We Stand"
United We Stand single- Brotherhood Of Man.jpg
Single by Brotherhood of Man
from the album United We Stand
B-side "Say a Prayer"
Released23 January 1970
Genre
Length2:52
Label Deram Records
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s) Tony Hiller
Brotherhood of Man singles chronology
"Love One Another"
(1969)
"United We Stand"
(1970)
"Where Are You Going to My Love"
(1970)

"United We Stand" is a song written by Tony Hiller and Peter Simons (writer's pseudonym for group member Johnny Goodison). It was first released in 1970 by the Brotherhood of Man in their original, pre-Eurovision line-up, consisting of Goodison, Tony Burrows, Roger Greenaway, Sue Glover and Sunny Leslie. [3] It became the band's first hit, peaking at #13 in the U.S., #9 in Canada, and #10 in the U.K. [4] The song spent 15 weeks on the charts, and is ranked as the 64th biggest U.S. hit of 1970. [5] It also reached #8 in Australia. [6]

Contents

Background

Reg Dwight, who would later become famous as Elton John, was an office boy at Mills Music, a Denmark Street music publishing house where Hiller worked. [7] Hiller knew he could sing and had him record the original demo for "United We Stand." [8]

The song was later included on an album of the same name and was followed by another hit "Where are You Going to My Love". [9]

Reception

The song has often been used to promote unity and has been used as a football chant and by LGBTQ+ rights movements. [10] [11]

Billboard gave the song a favourable review on 14 March 1970 calling it a "strong production" and (correctly) predicting it would become a top 20 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. [12]

Chart history

Cover versions

It has been recorded by over 100 different artists, [10] including:

Related Research Articles

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"Save Your Kisses for Me" is a song recorded by British group Brotherhood of Man, written by Tony Hiller with band members Lee Sheriden and Martin Lee. It represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1976 held in The Hague, winning the contest.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brotherhood of Man discography</span>

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<i>United We Stand</i> (Brotherhood of Man album) 1970 studio album by The Brotherhood of Man

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