Lyn Paul
pictured backstage
at the
recording of
The Weakest Link:
Eurovision
Special.
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| 2004 |
The Radio Times highlighted Lyn Paul's appearance on a special Eurovision edition of The Weakest Link.
The New Seekers were remembered in obituaries for their manager Hal Carter and for Billy Davis, who had a hand in writing the group's hit I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing. The commercial in which the song was featured (as I'd Like To Buy The World A Coke) was also remembered in a number of articles.
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| Carry On Film Collection, Issue 3, 21st January 2004, page 9. |
The Carry On years... 1972
The real thing!
The Carry On Film Collection magazine (Issue 3) included a snippet about the New Seekers, remembering their biggest hits from 1972 - I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing and Beg, Steal Or Borrow. The text was accompanied by a small photo of the group (including Lyn Paul).
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| Billboard, Vol. 116, No. 10, 6th March 2004, page 61. |
OL' 'BLUE EYES' IS BACK
Billboard reported that Limp Bizkit's version of The Who's Behind Blue Eyes had entered the Hot 100 at No. 72.
"The charting of Limp Bizkit's Behind Blue Eyes marks only the second time a cover of a Who song that appeared on the Hot 100 has returned to the chart. The other Who remake to chart was the New Seekers' medley of Pinball Wizard / See Me, Feel Me, which went to No. 29 in 1973..."
Read the item in full at Google Books.
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| Uncut, April 2004, page 61. |
WORLD EXCLUSIVE: See Me Feel Me
by Simon Goddard
The story of Tommy featuring an interview with Pete Townshend. As you'd expect from Uncut, the mention made of the New Seekers is less than flattering.
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| Express On Sunday, 11th April 2004. |
Our principles are blowin' in the wind
by Danny Buckland
When Bob Dylan provided the music for a TV ad for Victoria's Secret lingerie, Danny Buckland threw up his hands in horror.
"You'd expect it of Chas 'n' Dave, Right Said Fred and the New Seekers, who taught the world to sing and drink Coke at the same time; but Bob Dylan becoming snagged in the jaws of the corporate machine simply does not have a parallel."
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| Radio Times, 15th - 21st May 2004 (published 11th May), page 56. |
Today's Choices: The Eurovision Song Contest 2004
Lyn Paul's appearance on The Weakest Link: Eurovision Special is mentioned in the Radio Times preview of the Eurovision Song Contest:
"To help you get into the mood, the evening starts with a Weakest link: Eurovision Special featuring famous Eurovision faces, including Lyn Paul from the New Seekers..."
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| TV Times, 15th - 21st May 2004 (published 11th May), page 13. |
Making Your Mind Up
Question 9 in the TV Times Eurovision quiz: "Who was pipped at the post by a Greek singer representing Luxembourg in 1972?" Bit of a tough one, that!
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| Independent On Sunday, 11th July 2004, page 23. |
Standing room among the gods (and town criers); The Polyphonic Spree / Har Mar Superstar, Shepherds Bush Empire, London
review by Simon Price
Reviewing a concert by the Polyphonic Spree, Simon Price wrote: "But what the Polyphonic Spree offer is rapture for the godless. They've created something akin to an amped-up version of one of those late Sixties / early Seventies utopian bands (The Fifth Dimension, even the New Seekers) which can touch the devout and the irreligious alike."
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| The Independent, 17th July 2004, page 45. |
Obituary: Hal Carter; Manager and agent for Sixties and Seventies musicians
by Spencer Leigh
The New Seekers' manager, Hal Carter, died on 13th July. The group was mentioned in the last paragraph of his obituary.
"Hal Carter in 1968 established the very successful entertainment agency Hal Carter Organisation, concentrating on Sixties and Seventies music. Surprisingly for a manager and agent, he was much loved by his artists and offered guidance on every aspect of their work - choosing songs, producing records, determining promotion and, most of all, arranging tours."
"In later years Carter acted for Marty Wilde, Eden Kane and John Leyton and also set up touring versions of well-known bands with rather suspect line-ups including The Tornados, The Equals, Middle of the Road and the New Seekers. Carter was made for tribute bands and he managed Rumours of Fleetwood Mac, T. Rextasy and his particular favourites, the Illegal Eagles."
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| Record Collector, Issue 300, August 2004, page 43. |
Music to watch ads by
by Chas de Whalley
In an article about the music used in TV advertisements, Chas de Whalley wrote:
"Of course, TV ads have always been behind chart hits. Honeybus' 1968 hit I Can't Let Maggie Go rode to No. 8 on the back of an ad for Nimble... while the New Seekers topped the charts when they taught the world to drink Coke in December 1971."
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| Liverpool Echo, 28th August 2004, page 21. |
Top treat for TV ad addicts; The 100 Greatest TV Ads
The Liverpool Echo previewed the Channel 4 show The 100 Greatest TV Ads, hosted by Graham Norton.
The article highlighted the difference made by the arrival of colour television, heralding in a "golden age of ads" in the 1970s.
"One particularly notable example was Coca-Cola's 'I'd Like To Buy The World A Coke', an epic production which premiered in 1971 and featured 500 young people on a hilltop in Rome miming along to the music of the New Seekers."
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| The Times, 9th September 2004, page 33. |
Billy Davis; Obituary
Following his death on 2nd September, the songwriter Billy Davis, who co-wrote the New Seekers' biggest hit I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing, was remembered in The Times. The obituary described how the hit came about:
"In 1968 Davis moved to New York... Two years later, in partnership with the British writers Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway, he helped to come up with a jingle originally given the working title Mom, True Love And Apple Pie but which was soon reworked into I'd Like To Buy The World A Coke. Davis produced the New Seekers singing the jingle, and when it began airing on American radio stations in early 1971, there were immediate requests for a full version of the song."
"Davis swiftly reworked it as I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing (In Perfect Harmony), and then assembled a group of New York session singers who recorded the song under the name The Hillside Singers. The New Seekers also rerecorded it and enjoyed a huge international hit."
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| New York Times, 10th September 2004, Section C, page 10. |
Billy Davis Is Dead at 72; Developed Iconic TV Ads
by Margalit Fox
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| The Guardian, 13th September 2004, page 21. |
Obituaries: Billy Davis: Creative force behind the soul music revolution
by Dave Laing
David Laing's obituary for the songwriter and record producer Billy Davis described him as "an important figure in the development of soul music" but noted that "his most widely known composition is probably I'd Like To Buy The World A Coke, a jingle written during his later career as a Madison Avenue advertising executive."
Towards the end of the obituary, Laing described how this "most widely known composition" came about: "Davis also created radio commercials for Coca-Cola with [Fontella] Bass, Little Milton and others. These were so successful that McCann-Erickson, Coke's advertising agency, offered him a fulltime post. There, he wrote and produced jingles for Nabisco, Sony, Miller beers and others, in addition to I'd Like To Buy The World A Coke. This collaboration with the English song- writers Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway was later rewritten to become the 1971 New Seekers' hit, I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing."
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| The Times, 14th September 2004, page 34. |
Billy Davis; Lives Remembered
by Francis Harvey
Oh no, not again! In an adjunct to the Billy Davis obituary of 9th September, The Times revived the 'Teach The World / Shakermaker' debate: "As well as penning... the New Seekers' hit I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing (In Perfect Harmony), songwriter Billy Davis... may have helped the 1990s Britpop scene to gain momentum. Although the band's leader Noel Gallagher denies any awareness of it, the melody of I'd Like To Teach... does seem similar to Oasis's second hit single, Shakermaker."
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| The Guardian, 20th September 2004, page 21. |
Obituaries: Hal Carter
by Alan Clayson
The New Seekers were mentioned in The Guardian's belated obituary for their manager, Hal Carter.
"The agent, manager and record producer Hal Carter, who has died of liver cancer aged 69, was respected and liked by his clients, partly because he had once aspired to be an entertainer himself. But since the Hal Carter Five's 1962 single, Twistin' Time Is Here, sold poorly, he accepted that cash was preferable to acclaim."
After describing Carter's successes with Marty Wilde and Billy Fury and the 1970s bands Liverpool Express and Coast To Coast, Alan Clayson concluded his obituary by noting that: "He later devoted himself to the nostalgia market with reconstituted versions of The Tornados, New Seekers and tribute bands."
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| The Herald, 27th September 2004, page 14. |
Roquel 'Billy' Davis
by Noel Dolan
Noel Dolan's obituary highlighted how Billy Davis transformed that Coke commercial into a huge international hit.
"The jingle was recorded in London by the New Seekers and started being played on US radio stations in February 1971. Davis realised he had a potential hit on his hands when DJ friends told him that listeners were phoning in requesting the commercial be played as if it were a regular song. He reworked the tune as I'd like To Teach The World To Sing (In Perfect Harmony) and it was released in the US by The Hillside Singers, and in Europe by the New Seekers."
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| New York Times, 3rd October 2004, Section 2, page 24. |
TELEVISION: COMMERCIAL; In Perfect Harmony and Now in High-Def
by Virginia Heffernan
The New York Times reported that the I'd Like To Buy The World A Coke television commercial had been re-mastered for high-definition TV.
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| Financial Times, 26th October 2004, page 9. |
Noteworthy response
Consumers are being influenced, even when advertisers do not say a thing
by Steve Hemsley
In his article for the Financial Times Steve Hemsley issued a warning to advertisers and pop stars alike:
"Marketers wanting to use music to influence consumer behaviour enter this emotional minefield. Get it right and you can join the advertising hall of fame: Hamlet cigars (Bach), Levi 501s (1960s soul), Coca-Cola (the New Seekers). Get it wrong and you can end up with Missy Elliott, Madonna and the Gap or The Rolling Stones and Microsoft - combinations which are criticised by the act's fans and end up generating negative, or at least distracting, coverage for the brand."
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| Daily Mirror, 12th November 2004, page 6. |
THE TUNES VIEWERS COULDN'T GET OUT OF THEIR HEADS:
We ad to buy those songs
The Daily Mirror reviewed "the best of the TV-made hits." First on the list is I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing (In Perfect Harmony) by the New Seekers.
"The song, the theme for a Coca-Cola commercial, was originally a flop when the ad was used on radio only.
However its composer convinced record bosses to put it on TV after audiences started bombarding radio stations to request the track. Overnight it became a hit. The ad had children from various countries singing it on a hilltop.
Coke put together a group called The Hillside Singers to record a full version and replaced the original lyrics "I'd like to buy the world a Coke, and keep it company," so radio stations would play it. Another version by the New Seekers was also released, and it topped the UK singles chart in December 1971."
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| The Independent, 30th November 2004, pages 12-13. |
Best-sellers: the art of screen advertising;
an archive of 100 years of film and TV advertising shows how much our tastes have changed
by Louise Jury
Following the announcement that the National Film and Television Archive (NFTVA), part of the British Film Institute, was about to start work on cataloguing its vast collection of 70,000 - 80,000 adverts, Louise Jury delved amongst the ageing film reels. Given that the project was sponsored by Coca-Cola UK, it was little surprise that she should unearth that famous hilltop commercial:
"The commercial was dreamt up in London and its famous song, "I'd Like To Buy The World A Coke / Teach The World To Sing", was written in a suite at Claridge's hotel by Bill Baker, Billy Davis and Roger Cook and recorded a few days later by the New Seekers. The company was originally going to film the song being sung on the white cliffs of Dover by several thousand British school children, but the shoot was moved to Rome after it rained for three days.
It received a tepid reception when the ad was released in Europe but the response in America was dramatic. By November that year, Coca-Cola had received more than 100,000 letters about the commercial and people were calling radio stations asking them to play the music. Despite the original plans, Great Britain was the last country in the world to air the advert."
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| Evening Chronicle (Newcastle-Upon-Tyne), 8th December 2004, page 22. |
We Love 1972
Nostalgia was in the air at the Evening Chronicle as they remembered 1972.
"The New Seekers wanted to Teach the World to Sing with the theme from the Coca-Cola advert. They came second in the Eurovision Song Contest this year with Beg Steal Or Borrow which got to number two."
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