"United We Stand" | ||||
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Single by Brotherhood of Man | ||||
from the album United We Stand | ||||
B-side | "Say a Prayer" | |||
Released | 23 January 1970 | |||
Genre | Bubblegum pop [1] | |||
Length | 2:52 | |||
Label | Deram Records | |||
Songwriter(s) | Tony Hiller / Peter Simons | |||
Producer(s) | Tony Hiller | |||
Brotherhood of Man singles chronology | ||||
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"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. [2] It became the band's first hit, peaking at #13 in the U.S., #9 in Canada, and #10 in the U.K. [3] The song spent 15 weeks on the charts, and is ranked as the 64th biggest U.S. hit of 1970. [4] It also reached #8 in Australia. [5]
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. [6] Hiller knew he could sing and had him record the original demo for "United We Stand." [7]
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". [8]
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The song has often been used to promote unity and has been used as a football chant and by LGBTQ+ rights movements. [9] [10]
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. [11]
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
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It has been recorded by over 100 different artists, [9] including:
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Brotherhood of Man are a British pop group who achieved success in the 1970s. They won the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest with "Save Your Kisses for Me".
"Copacabana", also known as "Copacabana (At the Copa)", is a song recorded by Barry Manilow. Written by Manilow, Jack Feldman, and Bruce Sussman, it was released in 1978 as the third single from Manilow's fifth studio album, Even Now (1978). The same year, "Copacabana" appeared in the soundtrack album of the film Foul Play.
Anthony Burrows is an English pop singer and recording artist. As a prolific session musician, Burrows was involved in several transatlantic hit singles throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, most of which were one-hit wonders, including "Love Grows " by Edison Lighthouse, "United We Stand" by Brotherhood of Man, "My Baby Loves Lovin'" by White Plains, "Gimme Dat Ding" by the Pipkins and "Beach Baby" by the First Class.
"You're Sixteen" is a song written by the Sherman Brothers. It was first performed by American rockabilly singer Johnny Burnette, whose version peaked at number eight on the US Billboard Hot 100 in December 1960 and number 3 in the UK in 1961. The song was covered by Ringo Starr in 1973 and this version reached number one in the US.
"Misty Blue" is a song written by Bob Montgomery that has been recorded and made commercially successful by several music artists. Although Montgomery wrote the song for a different artist in mind, it was brought first to the attention of Wilma Burgess in 1966. It was recorded by Eddy Arnold the following year, both versions were top 5 Country Hits. A decade later, blues artist Dorothy Moore released the highest-charting version of the song and it reached the top ten in several different radio formats. Following Moore's revival of the track, numerous artists re-covered the tune, including country artist Billie Jo Spears. Spears's version would also go on to become a successful single release. Numerous other artists and musicians of different genres have recorded their own versions of "Misty Blue". The song is now considered both a country music and blues standard.
"She's Not There" is the debut single by the English rock band the Zombies, written by keyboardist Rod Argent. It reached No. 12 in the UK Singles Chart in September 1964, and No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States at the beginning of December 1964. In Canada, it reached No. 2.
"Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" is the debut single by Edison Lighthouse. The song reached the number one spot on the UK Singles Chart on the week ending 31 January 1970, where it remained for a total of five weeks. It also became the first number one single of the 1970s (not counting Rolf Harris's "Two Little Boys" which was a holdover from 1969).
"Save the Last Dance for Me" is a song written by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, first recorded in 1960 by American musical group the Drifters with Ben E. King on lead vocals. It has since been covered by several artists, including Dalida, the DeFranco Family, Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton, and Michael Bublé.
"Border Song" is a song by Elton John with music by John and lyrics by Bernie Taupin. The song initially appeared on the 1970 album Elton John, and was released in the spring of 1970 as the LP's first single. After failing to chart in the UK, it was released in North America a few months later. It met with more success there, especially in Canada, where it peaked at No. 34. The appearance of "Border Song" on the Canadian charts was John's first chart appearance in any country.
"Get It On" is a song by the English rock band T. Rex, featured on their 1971 album Electric Warrior. Written by frontman Marc Bolan, "Get It On" was the second chart-topper for T. Rex on the UK Singles Chart. In the United States, it was retitled "Bang a Gong (Get It On)" to avoid confusion with a song of the same name by the group Chase.
"Help Me Make It Through the Night" is a country ballad written and composed by Kris Kristofferson and released on his 1970 album Kristofferson. It was covered later in 1970 by Sammi Smith, on the album Help Me Make It Through the Night. It has been covered since by many other artists from Tammy Wynette and Johnny Cash to Elvis Presley and Joan Baez.
"(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me" is a song written by American songwriting duo Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Originally recorded as a demo by Dionne Warwick in 1963, "(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me" first charted for Lou Johnson, whose version reached No. 49 on the Billboard Hot 100 in mid-1964. Sandie Shaw took the song to No. 1 in the UK that same year, while the duo Naked Eyes had a No. 8 hit with the song in the US two decades later in 1983.
"You've Got Your Troubles" was the inaugural composition by the prolific songwriting team of Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway in 1964. "You've Got Your Troubles" became a number 2 UK hit for the Fortunes in the United Kingdom in August 1965, affording the group international success including a Top Ten ranking in the US. The track was included on the Fortunes' self-titled 1965 debut album release, the group's only album release of the 1960s.
Anthony Toby Hiller was an English songwriter and record producer. He was best known for writing and/or producing hits for Brotherhood of Man, including "United We Stand" (1970) and "Save Your Kisses for Me" (1976).
"Rock On" is a song written by English singer David Essex. Recorded in 1973 and released as a single by Essex, it became an international hit. In 1989, American actor and singer Michael Damian recorded a cover version that went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song has been recorded many times, including a 2006 version by the English hard rock group Def Leppard.
This is a discography of the singles and albums of British pop group Brotherhood of Man.
United We Stand is the debut album by The Brotherhood of Man. It was released in 1970 on Deram.
"Oh Boy " is a popular song written by Tony Romeo. It has been recorded by Diana Trask and Brotherhood of Man, among others. The song is about a woman whose partner/husband is no longer with her and she sadly walks the streets in an attempt to find him. Tony Romeo who wrote the song is best known for his 1970 hit "I Think I Love You" by The Partridge Family, which became a US No.1.
"Gimme Dat Ding" is a 1970 popular UK song, of the novelty type, sung by "one-hit wonder" The Pipkins, and written and composed by Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood. Released as a single, it is the title selection of an album which The Pipkins recorded and released on the EMI Columbia Records label. It also appeared on a compilation album of the same name, which The Pipkins shared with another up-and-coming UK group, The Sweet. It has also been included on many other compilation albums. "Gimme Dat Ding" was arranged by Big Jim Sullivan.
"Java" is an instrumental adaptation from a 1958 LP of piano compositions, The Wild Sounds of New Orleans, by Tousan, also known as New Orleans producer/songwriter Allen Toussaint. As was the case of the rest of Toussaint's LP, "Java" was composed in studio, primarily by Toussaint.
Brotherhood of Man ("United We Stand," No. 13, 1970)
Then I started doing all those cover-job dates. However, I did the original demo for The Brotherhood of Man's 'United We Stand' and then the cover-version for those Pye Marble Arch budget albums.