"Angelo" is a song by British pop group Brotherhood of Man. Released as a single in June 1977, it became the group's second UK number one hit.

Background

Written by

Tony Hiller Anthony Toby Hiller (30 July 1927 – 26 August 2018) was an English songwriter and record producer. He was best known for writing and/or producing hits for Brotherhood of Man, including " United We Stand" (1970) and "Save Your Kisses for Me" (19 ...

Lee Sheriden Lee Sheriden (born Roger Pritchard; 11 April 1944 in Horfield, Bristol) is an English singer/songwriter and musical director, best known as a member of pop group Brotherhood of Man. Early career As a child, Roger Pritchard learned the piano and ...

and Martin Lee and produced by Hiller, it was the band's second UK number one single (after their

Eurovision The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

winner, " Save Your Kisses for Me" the previous year), spending a single week at the top in August 1977. The song remained on the UK Chart for 12 weeks - 10 of them in the Top Ten - and was the 9th biggest selling single of the year. It was awarded a gold disc in August 1977 by the BPI. The song also was a number one hit in Ireland, Japan and South Africa (for two weeks). It featured on the group's album '' Images,'' which was released later in the year. The song tells of a

shepherd A shepherd or sheepherder is a person who tends, herds, feeds, or guards flocks of sheep. ''Shepherd'' derives from Old English ''sceaphierde (''sceap'' 'sheep' + ''hierde'' 'herder'). ''Shepherding is one of the world's oldest occupations, i ...

in Mexico who falls in love with a rich girl, but he is met with resistance from her family. Both aware that her family would never allow the union, they run away together and end their lives by

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

. According to co-writer Hiller, the lyrics were based on "''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...

'' - the great love story. The idea was to create a modern day Romeo and Juliet romance". The song is a moderate 117 beats per minute, and played in C Minor with the vocal range: G3-C5. The song is sung by the two female members of the group,

Sandra Stevens Sandra Stevens (born 23 November 1944, Leeds, Yorkshire) is an English singer and member of pop group Brotherhood of Man. Early career Sandra Stevens first entered into a singing career in the 1960s when she joined the club band, The Track (w ...

and

Nicky Stevens Nicky Stevens (born Helen Maria Thomas in Carmarthen, Wales, 3 December 1949) is a singer, famous as a member of pop group Brotherhood of Man. She is the only Welsh person to have won the Eurovision Song Contest. Early career Nicky Stevens be ...

, although Sandra sings the opening lines alone. "Angelo" was performed by the group at the '' Silver Jubilee Royal Variety Gala'' in November 1977 in front of

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

. UK comedy group

The Barron Knights The Barron Knights are a British humorous pop rock group, originally formed in 1959 in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire,Colin Larkin, ''Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music'', (Muze UK Ltd, 1997), ), p. 32 as the Knights of the Round Table. C ...

parodied this song on their "Live in Trouble" single, a top ten hit in 1977, as "Ann and Joe".

Track listing

#"Angelo" (3:15) #"All Night" (2:59) French and German version: #"Angelo" (3:15) #"Circus" (3:20) All tracks written by

and Martin Lee

Chart performance

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Angelo (song) 1977 singles 1977 songs Brotherhood of Man songs Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Pye Records singles Songs about Mexico Songs about suicide Songs involved in plagiarism controversies Songs written by Lee Sheriden Songs written by Martin Lee (singer) Songs written by Tony Hiller UK Singles Chart number-one singles