"That Same Old Feeling" is the title of a pop song composed by John Macleod and

Tony Macaulay Tony Macaulay (born Anthony Gordon Instone; 21 April 1944) is an English author, composer for musical theatre, and songwriter. He has won the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors Award twice as 'Songwriter of the Year' (1970 an ...

which in 1970 was a Top Ten UK hit for

Pickettywitch Pickettywitch was a British pop group. Fronted by singer Polly Brown (also billed as Polly Browne), the group became best known for its hit single, "That Same Old Feeling", which was written by Tony Macaulay and John Macleod. It reached numbe ...

, an English band fronted by

Polly Brown Polly Brown (born 18 April 1947), also known as Polly Browne, is an English singer from Birmingham. A member of Pickettywitch and Sweet Dreams - and with each group lead singer on a Top Ten hit, respectively "That Same Old Feeling" and "Honey H ...

. In the US the Pickettywitch single vied with a rival version by

The Fortunes The Fortunes are an English harmony beat group. Formed in Birmingham, the Fortunes first came to prominence and international acclaim in 1965, when "You've Got Your Troubles" broke into the US, Canadian, and UK Top 10s. Afterwards, they had ...

, with both versions scoring well-enough regionally to reach the Top 70 of the

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

, the national

hit parade A hit parade is a ranked list of the most popular recordings at a given point in time, usually determined either by sales or airplay. The term originated in the 1930s; ''Billboard'' magazine published its first music hit parade on January 4, 1936 ...

maintained by ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' magazine.

The Foundations version

The original recording of the song was by

The Foundations The Foundations were a British soul band (m. 1967–1970). The group's background was: West Indian, White British, and Sri Lankan. Their 1967 debut single "Baby Now That I've Found You" reached number one in the UK and Canada, and number ele ...

being featured on the group's final album ''Digging the Foundations'' issued in May 1969: like the group's previous three albums ''Digging the Foundations'' was produced by John Macleod and Tony Macaulay, consisting largely of their compositions. The Foundations' original version of the song introduced the song's standard chorus but its verses were radically different - musically and lyrically - from those of the later better-known versions.

The Fortunes' version: background

The first evident version of the song in its standard format was that cut by The Fortunes, best known for their hit "

You've Got Your Troubles "You've Got Your Troubles" became the inaugural composition by the prolific songwriting team of Roger Cook (songwriter), Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway in 1964. "You've Got Your Troubles" became a number 2 UK hit for the Fortunes in the United K ...

", #2 UK in August 1965: although their hitmaking career had evidently ended by mid-1966 the group had returned to prominence in 1969 via their recording the iconic "It's the Real Thing"

jingle A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meaning that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually t ...

for

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...

at the behest of Billy Davis, former

Chess Records Chess Records was an American record company established in 1950 in Chicago, specializing in blues and rhythm and blues. It was the successor to Aristocrat Records, founded in 1947. It expanded into soul music, gospel music, early rock and roll ...

a&r man turned ad executive, and The Fortunes made their recording of "That Same Old Feeling" - as "Same Old Feeling" - for a 1969 album entitled ''It's the Real Thing''. Produced by Noel Walker - who had overseen The Fortunes' three mid-60s UK chart hits - and Billy Davis, ''It's the Real Thing'' was not made available for public purchase or radio airplay, rather being distributed to the Coca-Cola employees who attended a company convention held in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

. The album reunited The Fortunes' original three vocalists: Rod Allen, Glen Dale, and Barry Pritchard, for the first time since the summer of 1966, when Dale had departed the band.

Pickettywitch version: background and early success

The song's co-writer John Macleod had begun to record Pickettywitch for

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 Brotherhoo ...

in the summer of 1969, the band's debut single "You Got Me So I Don't Know" being released 25 July 1969: for their second release Macleod had the band record "That Same Old Feeling" with a resultant #5 hit spending five weeks in the Top Ten in March and April 1970: the track also afforded Pickettywitch a hit in Ireland, New Zealand and South Africa with respective chart peaks of #6, #7 and #17.Flavour of New Zealand, 22 June 1970
/ref> In 2002, Robin Carmody of ''

Freaky Trigger ''Freaky Trigger'' is an Internet publication and e-zine that focuses on popular culture with topics varying from music to cinema. It was founded by the music critic Tom Ewing in 1999 and features Pete Baran and Mark Sinker as editors. From 2000 ...

'' named it in his list of ten British

bubblegum pop Bubblegum (also called bubblegum pop) is pop music in a catchy and upbeat style that is considered disposable, contrived, or marketed for children and adolescents. The term also refers to a rock and pop subgenre, originating in the United States i ...

"classics", writing that "Like so much Britgum, the imagery here – oak trees, cottages etc. – couldn't be further away from everything pop music is now, and will continue to be." He also described it as "wistful, a kind of bubblegum equivalent of folk-rock if such a thing can be conceived."

The Fortunes and Pickettywitch versions: North American chart history

The UK success of "That Same Old Feeling" by Pickettywitch had prompted The Fortunes to press for the release of their own version as a single for the US market: Coca-Cola and The Fortunes' label

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studi ...

were unable to come to terms on a US single release - although United Artists would give single release to the track in other territories - and by the time the US single release of The Fortunes' "That Same Old Feeling" by

World Pacific Records Pacific Jazz Records was a Los Angeles-based record company and label best known for cool jazz or West coast jazz West Coast jazz refers to styles of jazz that developed in Los Angeles and San Francisco during the 1950s. West Coast jazz is o ...

had been negotiated,

Janus Records Janus Records was a record label owned by GRT Records, also known as General Recorded Tape. The label was in operation from 1969 to 1979. History Janus was founded in July 1969 as a joint venture of GRT and British label Pye Records. In its ea ...

had picked up the Pickettywitch version for US release, with the US singles of "That Same Old Feeling" by both The Fortunes and Pickettywitch being issued in April 1970. Both versions debuted on the

in ''

'' magazine dated 23 May 1970, The Fortunes' at #93 and Pickettywitch at #98, and neither version would become a major national hit, respective peaks being #62 for The Fortunes and #67 for Pickettywitch, with the Pickettywitch version having a longer chart tenure than The Fortunes': twelve weeks as opposed to eight. Pickettywitch's single also crossed to the

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

singles chart (then known as Easy Listening), reaching #34 there, while the Fortunes' single did not. Both versions of "That Same Old Feeling" fared better on the Top 100 Singles chart in '' Cashbox'' magazine, The Fortunes there peaking at #59 while Pickettywitch was there afforded a

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...

hit as their version peaked at #40 in the issue of ''Cashbox'' dated 25 July 1970.
In Canada both the version of "That Same Old Feeling" by Pickettywitch - released there by Pye - and that by The Fortunes - Canadian release on United Artists - charted concurrently on the RPM (magazine), RPM100 national hit parade, with respective peaks of #36 and #40.

Chart history

;The Fortunes ;Pickettywitch

On albums

The Fortunes' version was utilized as the title cut of the group's second US album release, following their self-titled debut album in 1965; issued in 1970 ''That Same Old Feeling'' featured twelve tracks all from the Fortune's Coca-Cola specialty release ''It's the Real Thing'' except that the album ''That Same Old Feeling'' replaced the Coca-Cola jingle with the new track "Clowns Exit Laughing". The Pickettywitch version made its album debut in the spring of 1971 with the release of ''Pickettywitch'', the group's sole album release.

Other versions

*The German rendering "Kann ich dich denn nie vergessen" was recorded by

Tanja Berg Tanja ( sr, Тања) is a feminine given name. It may refer to: Mononyms *''Tanja'' (born 1983), Russian-Estonian singer, also known as Tanja Mihhailova Given name *Tanja Andrejeva (born 1978), Macedonian handball player * Tanja Bogosavljević ...

( de) and issued as a single on 30 May 1970. *In Australia a local

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

of "That Same Old Feeling" by session group Candy Apple reached a #25 chart peak in the ''

Go-Set ''Go-Set'' was the first Australian pop music newspaper, published weekly from 2 February 1966 to 24 August 1974, and was founded in Melbourne by Phillip Frazer, Peter Raphael and Tony Schauble. NOTE: This PDF is 282 pages. Widely described as ...

'' National Top 60 Singles chart in the autumn of 1970: the single was released by

Astor Records Astor Records was an Australian recorded music manufacturer and distributor that operated from the early 1960s to the early 1980s. Astor was the trade name of the consumer electronics manufacturer Radio Corporation Pty. Ltd, a division of Electron ...

who were also the label of release for the Pickettywitch version in Australia, where neither the Pickettywitch version nor that by The Fortunes - released by United Artists - charted. *"That Same Old Feeling" has also been recorded by the Flying Machine (album ''Down to Earth''/ 1970),

Liz Damon's Orient Express Liz Damon's Orient Express was a 1970s soft rock band from Hawaii, USA, featuring lead singer Liz Damon, two female backup singers and a rotating backup band. The name apparently derived from the original backup band being entirely Asian. Their on ...

(album ''Liz Damon's Orient Express''/ 1970) * The Red Birds ( ja) (album ''Fly With the Red Birds''/ 1970) *

Viola Wills Viola Mae Wilkerson (December 30, 1939 – May 6, 2009), better known professionally as Viola Wills was an American pop and R&B singer, best known for her disco/dance/Hi-NRG covers of classics and other standards such as Patience and Prud ...

(album ''If You Could Read My Mind''/ 1980). *In November 2019 Australian recording studio artist Fantasy World recorded a new version of “That Same Old Feeling“ (John Macleod/Tony Macaulay) produced by David Wilks, released on DWP Records and available on Apple Music & iTunes. The Fantasy World version features vocals by Vocaloid Cyber Diva, Vocaloid Cyber Songman, Vocaloid Dex.

References

{{The Foundations 1969 songs 1970 singles The Fortunes songs The Foundations songs Pickettywitch songs Songs written by Tony Macaulay Songs written by John Macleod (songwriter) Pye Records singles Bubblegum pop songs