Here’s another of those songs that’s been lodged in my ears and brain for half a century – the first hit for squeaky-clean boy-girl harmony group The New Seekers.
The New Seekers sprang out of nowhere in 1971 – a five-part harmony group of three boys and two girls in long hippy dresses who looked like the house band for Abigail’s Party.
This song was a cover of a tune by Delaney & Bonnie, a rootsy American husband-and-wife duo who were famous mostly for performing with their famous friends, Eric Clapton and George Harrison.
It loitered around at No.2 for five weeks, kept off top spot by T. Rex and Diana Ross, though they did better with their next single, I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing and went on to represent the UK in Eurovision (where they came second).
They were formed in London from the ashes of an Australian group called – you guessed – The Seekers, who had enjoyed hits in the mid-Sixties with MoR pop-folk songs like Georgy Girl and The Carnival Is Over.
The only real connection was that the new version was put together by Keith Potger from the old one, though he soon stepped aside to leave the limelight to Eve Graham and Lyn Paul (who replaced Sally ‘no relation’ Graham), and Marty Kristian, Paul Layton and Peter Doyle.
After the hits dried up they introduced an open-door policy and their members number more than 20 over the years.