Pop Tops (or Los Pop-Tops) were a vocal/

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...

band, formed in 1967 in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, Spain, with Phil Trim from Trinidad and Tobago as lead singer. Their sound was a blend of

baroque pop Baroque pop (sometimes called baroque rock) is a fusion genre that combines rock music with particular elements of classical music. It emerged in the mid 1960s as artists pursued a majestic, orchestral sound and is identifiable for its appropria ...

with the soulful vocals of Trim.

Members

Original set-up included *Phil Trim (born January 5, 1940, in

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

) - lead singer *Julián Luis Angulo - guitar, vocals *Alberto Vega - saxophone, clarinet, vocals *Enrique Gómez - bass, trumpet *Ignacio Pérez - organ, piano *José Lipiani - drums *Ray Gómez - guitar Some changes occurred in members: *Francisco Urbano Romero - drums (replacing José Lipani) *Rafael Guillermo Gertrudis - keyboards, piano (replacing Ignacio Pérez)

Hits

Their first release to gain attention was "Oh Lord, Why Lord" (1968), written by Jean Marcel Bouchety and Phil Trim. It was the first pop song to incorporate the

melody A melody (from Greek language, Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a Linearity#Music, linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most liter ...

Pachelbel Johann Pachelbel (baptised – buried 9 March 1706; also Bachelbel) was a German composer, organist, and teacher who brought the south German organ schools to their peak. He composed a large body of sacred and secular music, and his contribut ...

Canon in D Pachelbel's Canon (also known as the Canon in D, P 37) is an accompanied canon by the German Baroque composer Johann Pachelbel. The canon was originally scored for three violins and basso continuo and paired with a gigue, known as ''Canon and G ...

. That single's

b-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

, "The Voice of the Dying Man" (based on a

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

composition) was also recorded in Spanish as "La Voz del Hombre Caido". They are best known for their 1971

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from ''Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization in ...

Mamy Blue "Mamy Blue" is a 1970 song by French songwriter Hubert Giraud. Originally written with French lyrics, the song was rendered in English in 1971 to become an international hit for the Pop-Tops, Joël Daydé ( fr) and Roger Whittaker. A hit in It ...

", referring to a son's poignant song addressed to his departed mother about his childhood memories and life in general, sometimes spelled "Mommy Blue", "Mammy Blue" or "Mummy Blue", which was a Top 10 hit throughout much of Europe, Japan (#2), and Canada (#42), and a minor ''Billboard'' Hot 100

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...

hit in the United States (#57). It was covered in the US by the Stories peaking at No. 50 in 1973. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a

platinum record Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

. The composer and lyricist of the French song "Mamy Blue" was Hubert Giraud. English lyrics were written by Phil Trim. The Pop Tops also recorded Italian and Spanish versions, with lyrics by Gefingal. As follow-up singles they released "Suzanne Suzanne" (early 1972) and "Hideaway" (mid 1972), which were only minor hits in some European countries.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Spanish releases

Barclay, Spain *1967: Con su blanca palidez / I Can't Go On *1967: Viento to otoño (Autumn Winds) / Cry *1968: Somewhere / The Voice of the Dying Man (La voz del hombre caido) *1968: Oh Lord, Why Lord / Beyond the Sea (El mar) *1968: Oh Lord, Why Lord (in Spanish) / El mar *1968: Esa mujer (That Woman) / Adagio cardenal *1968: That Woman / The Man I Am Today *1968: Pepa / Junto a ti *1969: Dzim-dzim-dzas (Love and Care) / Young and Foolish *1969: Soñar, bailar y cantar (She's Coming Back) / Anytime Explosion, Spain *1971: Dios a todos hizo libres (Road to Freedom) / Movimento de amor *1971: Road to Freedom / Who Will Believe *1971: Mamy Blue (span.) / Love Motion *1971: Mamy Blue / Grief and Torture *1972: Suzanne Suzanne / Happiness Ville *1972: Suzanne Suzanne (in Spanish) / Walk along by the Riverside *1972: Hideaway / What a Place to Live In *1973: My Little Woman / Girl, What's on Your Mind? *1973: Happy, Hippy, Youppy Song / Where Can I Go *1973: Happy, Hippy, Youppy Song (in Spanish) / Angeline *1974: What a Way to Go / Baby I Will Cry

German releases

Bellaphon, West Germany *1971: Mamy Blue / Road to Freedom *1971: Oh Lord, Why Lord / Walk Along by the Riverside (Remake) *1972: Suzanne Suzanne / Happiness Ville *1972: Hideaway / What a Place to Live In *1973: My Little Woman / Girl, What's on Your Mind? *1973: Happy, Hippy, Youppy Song / Where Can I Go *1973: What a Way to Go / Baby I Will Cry

References

Spanish musical groups Musical groups established in 1967 {{Spain-band-stub