From my website's front page series about lesser known artists who performed the original versions of Australian or NZ records.
See also: the full collection of 32 Obscure Originators features.
Johnny Farnham's cover version of Friday Kind Of Monday (1968) was a hit in Australia (#6) and New Zealand (#11).
The original version from 1967 was by The Meantime, a group that came out of nowhere, released this one single that failed to chart Top 100, and that was it.
This looks like a clear case of obscurity until you follow the lead in the writer credits. Friday Kind Of Monday was written by Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich, one of the most successful songwriting teams of the 1960s, and a married couple from 1962 to 1965.
As Billboard announced, the lead singer on the Meantime single is
They had previously written and recorded as The Raindrops whose seven singles 1963-65 included He's The Kind Of Boy You Can't Forget (1963 #17 Bb, #15 CB) and What A Guy (1963 #34 CB). They charted moderately in most Australian cities, but in Adelaide they had hits with Kind Of Boy (#4), and That Boy John (1963, #12).
When you listen to a Raindrops record, you are most likely hearing Greenwich's voice double-tracked, with Barry's bass vocals and prominent drumming. For live appearances and for photos of a trio, other personnel were recruited.
This reminds me of Leiber and Stoller's view that We don't write songs. We write records
The Meantime was a similar project, a Raindrops for the late 60s, created in the studio by Barry and Greenwich. There is a cryptic clue in the group's name: think Greenwich Mean Time.
____________________
For more about the song and The Meantime see Johnny Farnham - Friday Kind Of Monday.
No comments:
Post a Comment