''Higher Than High'' is a 1979 album released by British pop group

Brotherhood of Man Brotherhood of Man are a British pop group who achieved success in the 1970s. They won the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest with "Save Your Kisses for Me". Created in 1969 by songwriter and record producer Tony Hiller, Brotherhood of Man was initia ...

. It was released in June and contained four singles.

Background

The album was released in June 1979 on

Pye Records Pye Records was a British record label. Its best known artists were Lonnie Donegan (1956–1969), Petula Clark (1957–1971), the Searchers (1963–1967), the Kinks (1964–1971), Sandie Shaw (1964–1971), Status Quo (1968–1971) and Brotherho ...

. It featured four singles, "Middle of the Night", "Goodbye Goodbye", "Papa Louis" and "Taxi" but failed to chart. "Middle of the Night" had already appeared on the group's

Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

compilation released some months earlier and was the only single to chart. At the time the group had a regular spot on the

Rolf Harris Rolf Harris (born 30 March 1930) is an Australian entertainer whose career has encompassed work as a musician, singer-songwriter, composer, comedian, actor, painter and television personality. He often used unusual instruments in his performan ...

show, ''Rolf on Saturday, OK?'', where they sang several songs from the album (namely "Papa Louis", "Middle of the Night", "Taxi", "Sleeping Beauty" and "Olé Olé"). The style of the album was in the group's familiar pop mould, but with a shift towards more lightweight themes. The single "Goodbye Goodbye" was a more sombre affair and its failure in the charts led to the next two singles being aimed more at the children's market. "Papa Louis" was about a circus, while "Taxi" was a tale of a man and woman meeting in a

taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choic ...

. The album, like the group's others was produced by manager

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 ...

, it continued his trend for short songs, with many of the tracks being less than three minutes, a largely outdated concept at the time given the rise of disco music which was at its peak at the time, which favoured longer-length songs. According to member

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 ...

, the group had undertaken many photo shoots for the album cover, but ultimately, a painting of the group (in a

hot air balloon A hot air balloon is a lighter-than-air aircraft consisting of a bag, called an envelope, which contains heated air. Suspended beneath is a gondola or wicker basket (in some long-distance or high-altitude balloons, a capsule), which carries ...

) was used. The artwork was by Dawson Thomas. The album has never been released on Compact disc, but was released as a digital download in July 2019. It was released along with the previous album ''

B for Brotherhood ''B for Brotherhood'' is the fifth album by pop group Brotherhood of Man. It was released in June 1978 and released on Pye Records. The album featured the UK No.1 single " Figaro" and top 20 hit "Beautiful Lover". On the UK albums chart it reached ...

'' and several bonus tracks.

Track listing

All tracks composed by Hiller, Sheriden and Lee Side One # "Papa Louis" – 2:27 # "Sleeping Beauty" – 2:29 # "Light from Your Window" – 2:57 # "Tell Me How" – 3:01 # "Taxi" – 2:33 # "Middle of the Night" – 3:07 Side Two # "Olé Olé" – 2:32 # "Higher Than High" – 3:06 # "Part of My Life" – 3:00 # "Lonely One" – 2:42 # "Gypsy" – 2:36 # "Goodbye Goodbye" – 3:25

Personnel

Martin Lee Martin Lee Chu-ming, SC, JP (; born 8 June 1938) is a Hong Kong politician and barrister. He is the founding chairman of the United Democrats of Hong Kong and its successor, the Democratic Party, Hong Kong's flagship pro-democracy party. He ...

– Vocals (no lead vocals) *

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 ...

– Musical Director, Vocals (no lead vocals) *

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 ...

– Joint lead vocals on "Light from Your Window", "Taxi", "Middle of the Night" *

– Lead vocals on "Gypsy" and joint lead vocals on "Light from Your Window", "Taxi", "Middle of the Night" *

- Producer

Singles

* September 1978 — "Middle of the Night" / "When Summer's Gone" * January 1979 — "Goodbye Goodbye" / "Better to Have Loved" * April 1979 — "Papa Louis" / "For You" * July 1979 — "Taxi" / "Hi Ho (Together We Go)" None of the B-sides were featured on the album. "When Summer's Gone" had featured on the group's previous studio album, ''

''. An alternate recording of "Hi Ho (Together We Go)" was released in countries outside the UK.

References

{{Authority control 1979 albums Brotherhood of Man albums Albums produced by Tony Hiller Pye Records albums