''Circles'' is a 1972 album by UK pop group
The New Seekers. It was the group's sixth album and released at the peak of their success. In the UK the album was notably released in a cut-out circular sleeve.
The album ''Circles'' released by Elektra (EKS 75034) has different artwork and quite different track listing.
Overview
Released in September 1972, The New Seekers were riding the peak of their career following three recent top two singles and #2 album in the UK. ''Circles'' also saw success in its title track single, which reached #4 in the UK singles chart, becoming one of their biggest-selling releases and remaining on the chart for 16 weeks. It is also popularly seen as their finest song according to the group's fans.
The album was released soon after and featured a number of notable cover versions, such as "
Morning Has Broken
"Morning Has Broken" is a Christian hymn first published in 1931. It has words by English author Eleanor Farjeon and was inspired by the village of Alfriston in East Sussex, then set to a traditional Scottish Gaelic tune, "Bunessan". It is often ...
" by
Cat Stevens
Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou; ), commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens, Yusuf, and Yusuf / Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His musical style consists of folk, pop, rock, and, later in ...
, "
Blowin' in the Wind" by
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
and "
Song Sung Blue
"Song Sung Blue" is a 1972 in music, 1972 hit song written and recorded by Neil Diamond, inspired by the second movement of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 (Mozart), Piano Concerto #21. It was released on Diamond's album ''Moods (Neil Diamond alb ...
" by
Neil Diamond
Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold more than 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. He has had ten No. 1 singles on the Hot 100 and Adul ...
. Original songs were written by group members
Marty Kristian
Marty Kristian (born Martins Vanags on 27 May 1947) is a German-born, British-based musician. He grew up, and started his musical career, in Australia, as a solo artist. He is a singer-song writer-guitarist and, in the 1970s, he became a heartt ...
,
Peter Doyle and
Paul Layton
Paul Martin Layton (born 4 August 1947) is an English musician and former child actor. He is the bassist and vocalist of the group The New Seekers.
Biography
Acting
Layton studied acting, leaving school at fourteen to train at the Aida ...
but no further singles were issued from the album. The album itself peaked at #23 in the UK album charts and remained on the top 50 for five weeks.
While the album was released in the UK in a special circular sleeve, in the US it was issued in a standard square sleeve featuring alternative artwork. The track listing also differed in that many songs were taken from the previous UK album ''
We'd Like to Teach the World to Sing
''We'd Like to Teach the World to Sing'' is the name given to two albums by UK pop group The New Seekers. The first of these, released in late 1971, was a repackaging of their previous album ''New Colours'' and was released in the US. The second ...
''.
Three singles were released from the album; "Beg, Steal or Borrow", "Circles" and "Dance Dance Dance" which reached #81, #87 and #84 respectively in the
''Billboard'' Hot 100. The album reached US #166, a drop from their top 40-charting last album.
Track listing (UK)
Side One
# "Circles" (
Harry Chapin
Harold Forster Chapin (; December 7, 1942 – July 16, 1981) was an American singer-songwriter, philanthropist, and hunger activist best known for his folk rock and pop rock songs. He achieved worldwide success in the 1970s. Chapin, a Grammy ...
) 4.30
# "
I Saw the Light" (
Todd Rundgren
Todd Harry Rundgren (born June 22, 1948) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, multimedia artist, sound engineer and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the band Ut ...
) 3.03
# "Day by Day" (
Stephen Schwartz
Stephen Lawrence Schwartz (born March 6, 1948) is an American musical theatre lyricist and composer. In a career spanning over five decades, Schwartz has written such hit musicals as ''Godspell'' (1971), ''Pippin'' (1972), and ''Wicked'' (20 ...
) 4.12
# "
Morning Has Broken
"Morning Has Broken" is a Christian hymn first published in 1931. It has words by English author Eleanor Farjeon and was inspired by the village of Alfriston in East Sussex, then set to a traditional Scottish Gaelic tune, "Bunessan". It is often ...
" (
Cat Stevens
Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou; ), commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens, Yusuf, and Yusuf / Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His musical style consists of folk, pop, rock, and, later in ...
) 3.22
# "Idaho" (
Marty Kristian
Marty Kristian (born Martins Vanags on 27 May 1947) is a German-born, British-based musician. He grew up, and started his musical career, in Australia, as a solo artist. He is a singer-song writer-guitarist and, in the 1970s, he became a heartt ...
,
Paul Layton
Paul Martin Layton (born 4 August 1947) is an English musician and former child actor. He is the bassist and vocalist of the group The New Seekers.
Biography
Acting
Layton studied acting, leaving school at fourteen to train at the Aida ...
) 1.46
# "Unwithered Rose" (
Peter Doyle) 4.30
Side Two
# "Holy Rollin'" (
Cynthia Weil
Cynthia Weil (born October 18, 1940) is an American songwriter who wrote many songs together with her husband Barry Mann.
Life and career
Weil was born in New York City, and was raised in a Conservative Jewish family. Her father was Morris Wei ...
,
Barry Mann
Barry Mann (born Barry Imberman; February 9, 1939) is an American songwriter and musician, and part of a successful songwriting partnership with his wife, Cynthia Weil.
He has written or co-written 53 hits in the UK and 98 in the US.
Early li ...
) 2.30
# "Beautiful" (
Carole King
Carole King Klein (born Carol Joan Klein; February 9, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who has been active since 1958, initially as one of the staff songwriters at 1650 Broadway and later as a solo artist. Regarded as one ...
) 2.34
# "
Blowin' in the Wind" (
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
) 4.16
# "
Song Sung Blue
"Song Sung Blue" is a 1972 in music, 1972 hit song written and recorded by Neil Diamond, inspired by the second movement of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 (Mozart), Piano Concerto #21. It was released on Diamond's album ''Moods (Neil Diamond alb ...
" (
Neil Diamond
Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold more than 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. He has had ten No. 1 singles on the Hot 100 and Adul ...
) 2.30
# "I Don't Want to Lose You" (
Hans Poulsen
Hans Sven Poulsen (born Bruce Gordon Poulsen, 7 March 1945 – 17 February 2023) was an Australian singer-songwriter and musician of Danish descent who was popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and known for his eccentric hippie style.McFa ...
) 2.33
# "Reap What You Sow" (Marty Kristian) 4.29
# "I'll Be Your Song" (Peter Doyle) 1.20
Track listing (US)
Side One
# "
Dance Dance Dance" (
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay ...
) 2.02
# "Changes IV" (
Cat Stevens
Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou; ), commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens, Yusuf, and Yusuf / Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His musical style consists of folk, pop, rock, and, later in ...
) 2.45
# "I Can Say You're Beautiful" (
Peter Doyle) 3.42
# "Holy Rollin'" (
Barry Mann
Barry Mann (born Barry Imberman; February 9, 1939) is an American songwriter and musician, and part of a successful songwriting partnership with his wife, Cynthia Weil.
He has written or co-written 53 hits in the UK and 98 in the US.
Early li ...
) 2.30
# "Just an Old Fashioned Love Song" (
Paul Williams) 2.47
# "Mystic Queen" (
Marty Kristian
Marty Kristian (born Martins Vanags on 27 May 1947) is a German-born, British-based musician. He grew up, and started his musical career, in Australia, as a solo artist. He is a singer-song writer-guitarist and, in the 1970s, he became a heartt ...
) 4.00
Side Two
# "
Beg, Steal or Borrow" (Hall, Wolfe, Cole) 2.48
# "A Perfect Love" (Williams) 2.28
# "The World I Wish for You" (Cook, Greenaway, Backer, Davis) 2.18
# "Out on the Edge of Beyond" (Bendall,
Mike Sammes
Mike may refer to:
Animals
* Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum
* Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off
* Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and docume ...
) 2.18
# "Jean's Little Street Cafe" (Fugain, Aufray, Buggy, Best) 2.48
# "Circles" (
Harry Chapin
Harold Forster Chapin (; December 7, 1942 – July 16, 1981) was an American singer-songwriter, philanthropist, and hunger activist best known for his folk rock and pop rock songs. He achieved worldwide success in the 1970s. Chapin, a Grammy ...
) 4.30
References
{{Authority control
1972 albums
The New Seekers albums
Albums produced by David Mackay (producer)
Polydor Records albums