Eric McCredie; Singer with Middle of the Road (Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep)
Hyfler/Rosner
Singer with Middle of the Road
The Independent
18 October 2007
Spencer Leigh
Eric McCredie, singer and guitarist: born Glasgow 17 July
1945; married; died Glasgow 6 October 2007.
Every year, there is a record that is so annoyingly catchy
that everybody plays it constantly. Then, within a few
months, they never want to hear it again. The breed includes
"Y Viva España", "Agadoo", "The Birdie Song", "Sugar Sugar"
and, naturally, Middle of the Road's 1971 chart-topper,
"Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep", on which Eric McCredie sang and
played the bass guitar.
McCredie and his brother, Ian, came from Partick, Glasgow,
where Eric started out as a salesman and Ian a trainee
surveyor. They played beat music in local dance halls as
part of the Electrons, but by 1967, they had teamed up with
the vocalist Sally Carr and drummer Ken Andrew to become
Part Four. They learnt some Latin-American songs and renamed
themselves Los Caracas for an appearance on Hughie Green's
ITV talent show, Opportunity Knocks! They won three heats,
but lost in the grand final.
Two croupiers from South America offered to find the group
work in Argentina, so they decided to change their name from
Los Caracas to Middle of the Road. They accompanied the
singer Kathie Kay on a Mediterranean cruise ship and were
set to join another line in Italy. Instead they ended up in
Rome, with no money and without management. They did some
local bookings and quite by chance were spotted by an
executive from RCA Records in Italy.
The song "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep" had previously been
recorded by its Liverpudlian composer, Lally Stott, as well
as Mac and Katie Kissoon, without making any headway. It had
an insidious chorus and an eccentric lyric: was it social
comment or simply about a bird which had been abandoned?
Only Sally Carr thought that the song had potential, but
Middle of the Road recorded it nevertheless. It became a hit
first in Spain and Belgium and then, with support from Tony
Blackburn on BBC Radio 1, soared up the UK charts and went
to number one in June 1971.
The group's follow-up, "Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum", also
written by Stott and about warring Scottish clans, went to
number two and was used in a cinema ad for Fiat cars. Middle
of the Road had further hits with the Spanish song "Soley
Soley" (which went to number five), "Sacramento" (number 23)
and "Samson and Delilah" (number 26), before disbanding in
1976.
Ken Andrew reformed the band with its original line-up in
1991, but Eric McCredie dropped out due to ill-health.
--
Visit www.aodeadpool.com
R H Draney
>
>The song "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep" had previously been
>recorded by its Liverpudlian composer, Lally Stott, as well
>as Mac and Katie Kissoon, without making any headway.
Maybe in the UK, but over here it's the Kissoon version that people my age
remember...(years later I found out that Katie had some prior credentials as
"Peanut")....r
--
Lindsay Lohan died for your sins.
Chef Juke
<t_del...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>On 17 Oct 2007 23:06:29 -0700, R H Draney <dado...@spamcop.net>
>wrote:
>
>>Maybe in the UK, but over here it's the Kissoon version that people my age
>>remember...(years later I found out that Katie had some prior credentials as
>>"Peanut")....r
>
>I don't remember either, but in one of those "You've gotta be kidding"
>deals, Katie Kissoon has been performing with Roger Waters off and on
>for several years now.
I remember the song very well. For years I told tales of listening
to, and singing along with this song on WABC for weeks when I was
about 7 or 8....later when I mentioned it (and sang a few bars)
nobody seemed to know the song.... was glad with this internet thingy
came along and I could find it WAS a song and not just some bizarre
created memory brain-fart.
;-)
Here's a vintage video of Middle of the Road singing the song in 1971:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWgh2LRTMYo
-Chef Juke
"EVERYbody Eats When They Come To MY House!"
www.chefjuke.com
amelia...@gmail.com
> ;-)
>
> Here's a vintage video of Middle of the Road singing the song in 1971:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWgh2LRTMYo
>
> -Chef Juke
> "EVERYbody Eats When They Come To MY House!"www.chefjuke.com
Thanks so much for posting this link. I was certainly around for this
and have absolutely no memory of it.
KingDaevid
> Here's a vintage video of Middle of the Road singing ["Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep"] in 1971: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWgh2LRTMYo
...at http://youtube.com/watch?v=kTO7DtTggio you can see a video clip
for their follow-up single "Soley Soley." Oddly, this one appears to
have been a local hit in Hawaii but did nothing in the rest of the
U.S. (it reached #5 on the British charts)...
kdm
peace 'n oranges...