"Knock, Knock Who's There?" is a song written and composed by John Carter and

Geoff Stephens Geoffrey Stephens (1 October 1934 – 24 December 2020) was an English songwriter and record producer, most prolific in the United Kingdom in the 1960s and 1970s. He wrote a long series of hit records, often in conjunction with other British so ...

, released on Apple Records. It was originally sung and recorded by the

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

singer

Mary Hopkin Mary Hopkin (born 3 May 1950), credited on some recordings as Mary Visconti from her marriage to Tony Visconti, is a Welsh singer-songwriter best known for her 1968 UK number 1 single "Those Were the Days". She was one of the first artists ...

and was the 's entry at the

Eurovision Song Contest 1970 The Eurovision Song Contest 1970 was the 15th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest and took place in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS), the ...

, where it came second. The single version was produced by

Mickie Most Michael Peter Hayes (20 June 1938 – 30 May 2003), known as Mickie Most, was an English record producer behind scores of hit singles for acts such as the Animals, Herman's Hermits, the Nashville Teens, Donovan, Lulu, Suzi Quatro, Hot Chocolate ...

and reached No. 2 on the UK charts.

Overview

On 7 March 1970, Mary Hopkin sang six songs at the UK National Final, ''

A Song for Europe A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...

'', which was aired on the television series '' It's Cliff Richard!''. Hopkin was chosen by the BBC to be the United Kingdom's representative for that year, and the winner of a postal vote would determine which of the six songs would progress with her to the finals in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

. "Knock, Knock Who's There?", the sixth and final song performed that evening, won the postal vote with over 120,000 supporters. At Amsterdam, the song was performed seventh on the night, after 's

Guy Bonnet Guy Bonnet is an author, composer, and singer, born in Avignon, France in 1945. He wrote the lyrics and composed the music for the French entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1968 (performed by Isabelle Aubret). In 1970 he participated in the Eu ...

with "

Marie-Blanche France participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 1970 with the song "Marie-Blanche" performed by Guy Bonnet. The song was chosen through a seven-week televised show titled ''Musicolor''. "Marie-Blanche" came in fourth place out of twelve, and rec ...

", and before 's

David Alexandre Winter David Alexandre Winter (born Lion Kleerekoper; 4 April 1943) is a Dutch-born international pop singer. Winter found fame in Luxembourg and France. Early life Winter was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands into a Jewish family. Both he and his parent ...

with " Je suis tombé du ciel". At the end of judging that evening, "Knock, Knock Who's There?" took the second-place slot with 26 points after 's "

All Kinds of Everything "All Kinds of Everything" is a song written by Derry Lindsay and Jackie Smith; as performed by Dana Rosemary Scallon, Dana, it won the Eurovision Song Contest 1970 representing . "All Kinds of Everything" marked a return to the ballad (music), ...

", performed by Dana. The UK received points from nine out of a possible eleven voting juries. The singer expresses a long-held optimism at the prospect of love finally finding her. At the exact point that said optimism has faded, and she has resigned herself to not finding love and companionship, she hears a "knock, knock", which signifies love finally becoming attainable for her. Excited, she beckons love to "come inside" and into her life. The single was released in March 1970, backed by "I'm Going to Fall in Love Again" (the runner-up in the ''Song for Europe'' final) on the B-side. On 28 March 1970, "Knock, Knock Who's There?" entered the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

at No. 7, the highest new entry of the week.Official UK Charts, 28 March 1970
It peaked at No. 2 and remained on the chart for 14 weeks. It wasn't released in the United States as a single until November 1972, where it floundered for four weeks on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, only reaching a peak of No.92. In the Netherlands it peaked at No. 3 on the

Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 ( nl, Nederlandse Top 40) is a weekly music chart compiled by ''Stichting Nederlandse Top 40''. It started as a radio program titled "Veronica Top 40", on the offshore station Radio Veronica in 1965. It remained "The Veronica ...

as well as on the

Single Top 100 The Dutch Single Top 100 or Single Top 100 is a Dutch chart, based on official physical single sales, legal downloads and since July 2013 streaming and composed by Dutch Charts. It is one of the three official charts, the other two being the Du ...

. Rather different from her usual material, Hopkin rarely performed the song after the Eurovision due to her distaste for it. She later commented: "I was so embarrassed about it. Standing on stage singing a song you hate is awful." She also referred to it as humiliating.''Songs for Europe Volume Two'', Gordon Roxburgh. Telos Publishing, 2014. pp. 29–30. At the time, she conceded victory gracefully saying that "the best song won" and wished Dana well. In 1970, a sound-alike cover appeared on the album '' Top of the Pops, Volume 10''.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Liv Maessen cover

In Australia, a cover version by

Liv Maessen Liv Maessen is an Australian pop singer who had hits in the early 1970s with " The Love Moth", " Knock, Knock Who's There?" and " Snowbird". In 1969, Maessen had finished second in the ''New Faces'' talent show. Her prize included a recording c ...

co-charted into the top 10. Maessen's version reached No. 2 on the Australian charts, after her debut single " The Love Moth" only made it to No. 40.

Charts

;Weekly charts ;Year-end charts

References

External links

* {{authority control Eurovision songs of the United Kingdom Eurovision songs of 1970 1970 in British music 1970 singles Songs written by Geoff Stephens Song recordings produced by Mickie Most Songs written by John Carter (musician) Mary Hopkin songs Apple Records singles Number-one singles in New Zealand 1970 songs