Our friends Carole King and Gerry Goffin were writing for them and Gerry was producing and they were short one song. We originally wrote "ON BROADWAY" for a group called The Cookies. Cengiz from Istanbul, TurkeyA Note From Barry Mann / Cynthia Weil site () :.Ken from Louisville, KyWhen jazz guitarist George Benson would sing this song in concert, the audience would almost always cheer loudly after the line "'Cause I can play this here guitar".Incidentally, the value of my opinions recently has increased to the point that, if I add an extra U.S.$2.00 to them, I can get a ride on the NY Subway System. John from Jersey City, NjIMHO, the best version of this song was recorded by the Dave Clark Five (I believe it appeared on the LP, "The Dave Clark Five Return").Songwriting and producing team but I consider Phil Spector the best. Teresa from Mechelen, BelgiumPhil Spector was surely a very good apprentice Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller are a very talented.King does NOT sing on Genesis' "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway." Peter Gabriel sings the quote from "On Broadway." Wayne from Crockett, TxNeil Young does a nice cover of this song on Freedom.Benson will celebrate his 71st birthday in seventeen days on March 22nd (2014). It reached #2 on Billboard's R&B Singles chart.īetween 19 he had fifteen records on the Top 100 with five making the Top 10, and "Give Me The Night" was his biggest hit, it reached #4 in 1980. Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn March 5th 1978, "On Broadway" by George Benson entered Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart at position #82 and on June 4th it peaked at #7 (for 1 week) and spent 17 weeks on the Top 100.Cookies version eventually released on CD Complete Cookies in 1994. Roy Clough from UkThe Cystals did release it on a album in 1962.This hit, "Under The Boardwalk," and "Up On The Roof" are my favorites from The Drifters. I recently got a Drifters' Greatest Hits CD compilation and this hit wasn't included, but I had to have the CD anyway. Still, I've loved the song & The Drifters all these years.
Then some of my younger brothers kidded me & told me that Broadway was full of sin & hookers. I loved hearing it & envisioning life on Broadway in New York City. Moanin' Lisa from Chillicothe Mo.When "On Broadway" was riding high on the charts in '63, my oldest brother had this 45 rpm single in his collection.* Between "Save the Last Dance for Me"'s 1st and 2nd week at #1, "I Want to Be Wanted" by Brenda Lee, was in the top spot. It reached #7 on Billboard's R&B Singles chart.īetween 19 the super group had thirty-six Top 100 records five made the Top 10 and one reaching #1, "Save the Last Dance for Me" for 3 non-consecutive* weeks on October 11th, 1960. Barry from Sauquoit, NyA little addition to the post below, on April 23th, 1978 George Benson' "On Broadway" peaked at #2 and it stayed on the chart for 10 weeks.Your Comment send your comment Comments: 18 But Leiber turned him down, telling him, "You don't need me. Explaining that he wanted to make R&B more appealing to whites by softening the sound, he played some demo tapes for Leiber. It's no surprise, then, that Berry Gordy came to see Jerry Leiber at his Brill Building office right before this song came out. Others have told us that our productions for the Drifters began it all. Some say soul didn't come about until later, in the sixties, with the advent of Otis Redding and Aretha Franklin. At this time, Motown was just firing up with its new soul sound, and Mike Stoller reports in Hound Dog: The Leiber & Stoller Autobiography, "Some say Sam Cooke invented soul music in the fifties, and some say Ray Charles. The music has a hint of soul with a large production number, and that intrusive guitar kicking in towards the end gives a nod to rockabilly. The Drifters were a cross-over from doo-wop to R&B, with the vocals striking a balance here. Pay attention to the instrumentals and vocals here.