Middle of the Road (band)

Middle of the Road

Middle of the Road in 1972

Middle of the Road in 1972
Background information
Also known as Part 4 (1967)
Los Caraca (1968-1970)
Origin Glasgow, Scotland
Genres Pop
Years active 1967–1976
Labels RCA (1970-1973)
Ariola (1973-1976)
Website middleoftheroad-popgroup.com
Members Lorna Osborne
Ian McCredie
Stuart McCredie
Stephan Ebn
Past members Sally Carr
Ken Andrew
Eric McCredie
Linda Carroll
Lorraine Felberg

Middle of the Road was a Scottish pop group who enjoyed success across Europe and Latin America in the early 1970s. Four of their singles sold over one million copies each, and received a gold disc.[1] The tracks were "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep" (which went on to sell over 10 million), "Sacramento", "Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum" and "Soley Soley".[1] By early 1972 the group had sold over five million records.[1]

History

Lead singer Sally Carr, drummer Ken Andrew, guitarist Ian McCredie and his bassist brother Eric McCredie, founded the band on 1 April 1970 in Glasgow, Scotland. They had already played together under the name Part Four since 1967 and later in Latin American style under the name Los Caracas.

Under the name Los Caracas they won the UK TV talent show Opportunity Knocks.

They moved to Italy in 1970 because they had not found success in the United Kingdom. There they met the Italian music producer Giacomo Tosti, who gave the band their distinctive sound and gave them their international break.

The band had their first and biggest hit record in the United Kingdom with debut UK single, "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep" to reach #1 in the UK Singles Chart in June 1971 and keep it for four more weeks. In all, Middle of the Road had five hit singles in the UK during 1971-1972. The band had especially strong success in Germany, where they achieved eleven Top 40 hits in 1971-1974. As an example of this, Frank Valdor was fast to adapt Sacramento as his "party records". Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep and Sacramento were played a lot on Scandinavian radio.

In 1974 early Bay City Rollers member Neil Henderson joined the band on guitar. He wrote and co-wrote songs for Middle of the Road (including the singles "Rockin' Soul" and "Everybody Loves a Winner" and 1974 albums, You Pays Yer Money and You Takes Yer Chance and Postcard, all released in Germany via Ariola like their first German LP, Music Music), but their commercial success could not keep pace with that of earlier songs.

Members

Original Members

Current Members


Discography

Albums

Albums
Year Album title Chart positions
GER NOR
1971 Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep − 3
Acceleration 13 2
1972 The Best of Middle of the Road - −
1973 Drive On 48 −
Music Music 45 −
1974 Postcard − −

All album releases were on RCA except Music Music, which was released on Ariola and Postcard.

Singles

Singles
Year Title Chart positions Album
UK[2] GER AUT SWI NOR NLD
1971 "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep" 1 2 2 1 1 2 Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep
"Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum" 2 15 − − 6 5
"Soley Soley" 5 2 − 1 1 1 Acceleration
1972 "Sacramento (A Wonderful Town)" 23 1 − 1 1 1
"Samson and Delilah"/"Talk of All the USA" 26 2 − 3 11 1
"Bottoms Up" − 2 − − 8 5 Drive On
1973 "Yellow Boomerang" − 6 14 2 8 2
"Kailakee Kailako" − 29 − 5 − 21
"Samba D'Amour" − 35 − − − − Music Music
"Honey No" − 31 − 5 − − Drive On
1974 "Rockin' Soul" − 31 − − − − You Pays Yer Money and You Takes Yer Chance
1976 "Everybody Loves a Winner" − 43 − − − −

References

  1. 1 2 3 Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p. 298/299. ISBN 0-214-20512-6.
  2. ↑ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 363. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
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