New Vaudeville Band - Winchester Cathedral - 1966 |
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"Winchester Cathedral" is a song released in late 1966 by Fontana Records, whereupon it shot to the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was released by The New Vaudeville Band, a novelty group established by the song's composer, Geoff Stephens. Stephens was a big fan of tunes from the British music hall era (or what Americans would call "Vaudeville"), so he wrote "Winchester Cathedral" in that vein, complete with a Rudy Vallée sound-a-like (John Carter) singing through a megaphone. Although recorded entirely by session musicians, when the song became an international hit, an actual band had to be assembled, which toured extensively under the tutelage of Peter Grant, who later went on to manage The Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin. While very British in sound and style, the tune only went to number four in the UK Singles Chart. It went all the way to the top in the U.S., however, displacing "You Keep Me Hangin' On" by the Supremes on December 3, 1966. After a one-week run at #1, "Winchester Cathedral" was knocked off the summit by the Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations", only to rebound to number one the following week. After two additional weeks, it was knocked off the top for good by "I'm a Believer" by The Monkees. "Winchester Cathedral" topped the Billboard "Easy Listening" chart (later re-named the Adult Contemporary chart) for four weeks. Cover records by Dana Rollin and The New Happiness reached no higher than number 70. The song won the 1966 Grammy Award for 'Best Contemporary Rock & Roll Recording'. [1] |
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