''Twenty Greatest'' is the sixth 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 initi ...

and their first compilation. It was released in 1978 and became their biggest selling album, peaking at No.6 in the UK and being certified gold. As the title suggests, it is a collection of twenty songs, including their three number one hits, "

Save Your Kisses for Me "Save Your Kisses for Me" was the winning song of the Eurovision Song Contest 1976, performed for the by Brotherhood of Man in The Hague, Netherlands. The lyrics and music were written by Tony Hiller, Lee Sheriden, and Martin Lee, the latter two ...

", " Angelo" and " Figaro" alongside their current single release, "Middle of the Night".

Background

This album was a Greatest Hits compilation featuring all their hit singles up to this point as well as selected album tracks and new recordings. The album was released on

K-Tel K-tel International Ltd is a Canadian company which formerly specialized in selling consumer products through infomercials and live demonstration. Its products include compilation music albums, including ''The Super Hits'' series, ''The Dynamic ...

records (in association with their regular label Pye) in late September 1978 and reached No.6 in the UK album charts. It remained on the charts for 15 weeks and was certified

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

by the BPI, becoming the most successful album of their career. The singles included are: "Lady", "Lady Lady Lay", "Kiss Me Kiss Your Baby", "

", " My Sweet Rosalie", "

Oh Boy (The Mood I'm In) "Oh Boy (The Mood I'm In)" is a popular song written by Tony Romeo. It has been recorded by Diana Trask and Brotherhood of Man, among others. The song is about a woman whose partner/husband is no longer with her and she sadly walks the streets in ...

", " Angelo", "Highwayman", " Figaro", "Beautiful Lover" and "Middle of the Night". The early hits " United We Stand" and "Where are You Going to My Love" by the previous incarnation of the group, are included here as new recordings by this version of Brotherhood Of Man. Two other new recordings for this album are cover versions of " How Deep Is Your Love" and " Send in the Clowns", which is largely an a cappella piece, with piano accompaniment by member

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 ...

. Magazine ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the '' NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in '' ...

'' called current single "Middle of the Night" "positively dreadful". This album is sometimes referred to simply as ''Brotherhood of Man'' - as this was the name (erroneously) accredited to it in the UK Chart listings. Early pressings of the album gave the group's name as The'' Brotherhood of Man' (a name they hadn't been known as since the first incarnation of the group in the early 1970s) (see illustration), but later pressings had rectified this to simply 'Brotherhood of Man'. The Soviet record company

Melodiya Melodiya ( rus, links=no, Мелодия, t=Melody) is a Russian (formerly Soviet) record label. It was the state-owned major record company of the Soviet Union. History Melodiya was established in 1964 as the "All-Union Gramophone Record Firm ...

released this album in 1981 as a 12-track collection: Side A: "Save Your Kisses for Me", "Angelo", "Oh Boy (The Mood I'm In)", "My Sweet Rosalie", "Kiss Me Kiss Your Baby", "Beautiful Lover"; Side B: "Middle of the Night" , "Figaro", "Highwayman" , "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother", "Lady Lady Lady Lay", "United We Stand".Music Stack - Russian edition
/ref> This compilation was very popular in the USSR and sold 500,000 copies.

Track listing

Side One # "

" (

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

) – 3:04 # " Angelo" (Hiller, Sheriden, Lee) – 3:18 # "

" (

Tony Romeo Tony Romeo (December 25, 1938 – June 23, 1995) was an American songwriter.
(obituary), ''The New York Times'', June 26 ...

) – 3:16 # "Where are You Going to My Love" (Hiller, Goodison, Day) – 3:24 # "Images" (Hiller, Sheriden, Lee) – 2:25 # " Send in the Clowns" ( Stephen Sondheim) – 3:50 # "In Love" (Hiller, Sheriden, Lee) – 3:53 # " My Sweet Rosalie" (Hiller, Sheriden, Lee) – 2:37 # "Kiss Me Kiss Your Baby" (

Barry Blue Barry Blue (born Barry Ian Green, 4 December 1950) is an English singer, producer, and songwriter. As an artist, he is best known for his hit songs " Dancin' (on a Saturday Night)" and "Do You Wanna Dance" (both 1973). Blue has also been a pr ...

) – 3:05 # "Beautiful Lover" (Hiller, Sheriden, Lee) – 3:21 Side Two # "Middle of the Night" (Hiller, Sheriden, Lee) – 3:05 # " Figaro" (Hiller, Sheriden, Lee) – 2:51 # "Highwayman" (Hiller, Sheriden, Lee) – 2:32 # "People Over the World" (Hiller, Sheriden, Lee) – 3:05 # "

He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" is a ballad written by Bobby Scott and Bob Russell. Originally recorded by Kelly Gordon in 1969, the song became a worldwide hit for the Hollies later that year and also a hit for Neil Diamond in 1970. It h ...

" ( Bob Russell, Bobby Scott) – 4:23 # "To-night's the Night" (Hiller, Sheriden, Lee) – 2:40 # "Lady Lady Lady Lay" (Hiller, Groscolas, Jordan) – 2:58 # " How Deep Is Your Love" (

Barry Gibb Sir Barry Alan Crompton Gibb (born 1 September 1946) is a British musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He rose to worldwide fame as a member of the Bee Gees, one of the most commercially successful groups in the history of popula ...

Maurice Gibb Maurice Ernest Gibb (; 22 December 1949 – 12 January 2003) was a British musician. He achieved fame as a member of the pop group Bee Gees. Although his elder brother Barry Gibb and fraternal twin brother Robin Gibb were the group's main lea ...

, Robin Gibb) – 4:08 # "Lady" (Hiller, Sheriden, Lee) – 3:27 # " United We Stand" (Hiller, Simons) – 2:57

Personnel

- vocals *

- vocals, piano on "Send in the Clowns" *

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 ...

- vocals *

- producer * Lee Sheriden - arranger (tracks 1,2,3,5,7,8,10,11,12,13,16,18) * Colin Frechter - arranger (tracks 6,14,15,17,19) * Cy Payne - arranger (tracks 4,20) * Graham Prescott - arranger (track 9) *John Constable Design Company - Sleeve design

Chart performance

References

{{Brotherhood of Man Brotherhood of Man albums 1978 greatest hits albums Albums produced by Tony Hiller