The stuff that now passes as "music", particularly rock 'n roll, leaves me cold. So, to start off the week, here's a video of a classic rock artist.
This week's spotlight is on a song that I haven't heard in ages, probably not since the early 1970s when it came out: "Softly Whispering I Love You" by The Congregation (known here as The English Congregation). I happened to stumble on it on YouTube.
Interestingly, although I hadn't heard it in ages, the familiarity hadn't diminished. I was in my senior year in high school when this song came out in December 1971.
From Wikipedia:
The Congregation was a British pop ensemble, formed by Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway in England. In the United States it was credited as The English Congregation.
The band's biggest hit was a cover version of "Softly Whispering I Love You" (originally recorded by Cook and Greenaway's previous group, David and Jonathan), which peaked at No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart in 1971, No. 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the US, No. 1 in South Africa, No. 12 in Australia and New Zealand and No. 10 in Germany. The group's lead singer was the former Plastic Penny vocalist, Brian Keith, who later became a session musician. With no further top 40 hits, The Congregation was a transatlantic one-hit wonder.
The band changed its name on releases in the United States to avoid confusion with the Mike Curb Congregation, which also recorded "Softly Whispering I Love You".
The following three videos are of The Congregation's version. The first is with lyrics. The second is their appearance on Top of The Pops with the song dubbed in. The third is the same as the second, only with the original sound.
No comments:
Post a Comment