''Singing a Song'' is a 1979 album 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 initi ...

. It was released in December and was their final album 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 Brotherho ...

after several years with the label.

Background

The album was released on Pye Records in December 1979 and was their final album with the label. Pye Records was about to fold at this point, and this album was released to finish their contract and was made up of previously unreleased and rare material. With minimal promotion and the group not having had a hit single for over a year, the album failed to chart. The album featured no singles in the UK, but track "Singing a Song" was released as a single in Spain. Tracks "The Circus Came to Town" and "Got a Funny Feeling" had been released in Europe as B-Sides in 1977 and 1976 respectively. The former had been available as "Circus" and was later released on CD compilations as "The Night the Circus Came to Town". Track "Caravan" was referred to on the label as "Our Caravan". According to member

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 ...

, female members

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 ...

and

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 ...

were unhappy with the song "Andy McDougal" claiming the lyrics to be sexist and requested the record company not to release it. Sheriden as the co-writer defended the song as an innocent children's pop song. Member

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 ...

has stated that "The Circus Came to Town" is his favourite of their own songs. The album received a favourable review in the now defunct music paper ''Superpop'', stating: "The group are at their best on the bouncier numbers and "Willie", "Got a Funny Feeling" and "Andy McDougal" are the pick of this platter. The only criticism I have of ''Singing a Song'' is that on several numbers the group sound stilted - a fault that is not evident in their very entertaining live show or any of their past single smashes". The album has never been released on Compact disc, but was released as a digital download in August 2019. It was released along with the following album '' Good Fortune'' and several bonus tracks.

Track listing

Side One # "Tomorrow" (3.00) # "The Circus Came to Town" (3.20) # "Singing a Song" (2.59) # "Only Love" (3.20) # "I Saw Yesterday Today" (3.01) # "Gold" (3.06) Side Two # "Willie" (3.05) # "I'll Take You Higher Than High" (2.59) # "Got a Funny Feeling" (2.30) # "Caravan" (2.40) # "Vanishing Lady" (2.39) # "Andy McDougal" (2.20) *All tracks written by Hiller / Sheriden / Lee *Published by Tony Hiller Music / ATV Music

Personnel

: Lead vocals on "The Circus Came to Town", "Gold", "Vanishing Lady", Joint lead vocals on "Tomorrow" *

: Musical Director, Lead vocals on "Got a Funny Feeling", Joint lead vocals on "Tomorrow" *

: Lead vocals on "I'll Take You Higher Than High", Joint lead vocals on "I Saw Yesterday Today", "Willie", "Caravan" *

: Joint lead vocals on "I Saw Yesterday Today", "Willie", "Caravan" *

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 ...

- Producer * Terry Evennett, Chris Dibble, Simaen Skolfield - Engineers *Anthony Watling-Darrell - Sleeve design

References

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