Pickettywitch was a British
pop group
A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together.
Groups of people
* Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity
* Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic iden ...
. Fronted by
singer
Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...
Polly Brown
Polly Brown ( Polly Browne; born 18 April 1947) is an English singer from Birmingham. A member of Pickettywitch and Sweet Dreams - and with each group lead singer on a Top Ten hit, respectively " That Same Old Feeling" and " Honey Honey" - Br ...
(also billed as Polly Browne), with Chris Warren as the secondary lead singer. The group became best known for its
hit single
A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single, or simply hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record'' ...
, "
That Same Old Feeling", which was
written
Writing is the act of creating a persistent representation of language. A writing system includes a particular set of symbols called a ''script'', as well as the rules by which they encode a particular spoken language. Every written language ...
by
Tony Macaulay
Tony Macaulay (born Anthony Gordon Instone; 21 April 1944) is an English author, composer for musical theatre, and songwriter. He has won the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors Award twice as 'Songwriter of the Year' (1970 an ...
and
John Macleod. It reached number five in the
UK Singles Chart in 1970.
Origins
The original members were Polly Brown (
vocals
Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...
), Chris Warren (vocals), Bob Brittain (
organ
Organ and organs may refer to:
Biology
* Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function
* Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body.
Musical instruments
...
), Martin Bridges (
guitar
The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...
), Mike Tomich (
bass guitar
The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...
) and Keith Hall (
drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a ...
s).
Bridges and Tomich were replaced later in 1970 by Peter Hawkins (died 18 October 2014) (guitar) and Brian Stuart (bass), who would later be replaced by Paul Risi (guitar) and Paul Riordan (bass). The name Pickettywitch is often said to have been taken from a
Cornish village
A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...
through which their eventual lead singer, Polly Brown, had passed with her sister;
in fact, there is no such village, though there was a
pub
A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...
of that name at
Yeovil
Yeovil () is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Somerset, England. It is close to Somerset's southern border with Dorset, west of London, south of Bristol, west of Sherborne and east of Taunton. The population of the bui ...
in
Somerset
Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...
.
History
Pickettywitch was signed by
record producer
A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...
John Macleod to
Pye Records
PYE or Pye Records is an independent British record label. It was first established in 1955 and played a major role in shaping rock 'n' roll and pop music history. The Pye name was dropped in 1980 due to trademark issues, after which it produced ...
and released their debut single, "You Got Me So I Don't Know" b/w "
Solomon Grundy" in July 1969.
Their U.K. chart breakthrough came in early 1970 when the single "
That Same Old Feeling" hit the top 5. That single also made the top 40
on the Cashbox pop chart in the US a few months later and remains their only hit single there.
Two further
singles also made the
UK chart
A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphics, graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can repres ...
in that year - these were "(It's Like A) Sad Old Kinda Movie" (again written by Macaulay and Macleod) (number 16), and "Baby I Won't Let You Down" (written by
Les Reed and
Geoff Stephens
Geoffrey Stephens (1 October 1934 – 24 December 2020) was an English songwriter and record producer, most prolific in the United Kingdom in the 1960s and 1970s. He wrote a long series of hit records, often in conjunction with other British so ...
) (number 27).
In 1970, "Days I Remember" received radio
airplay
Airplay is how frequently a song is being played through broadcasting on radio stations. A song which is being played several times every day (spins) would have a significant amount of airplay. Music which became very popular on jukeboxes, in n ...
. The single did not appear on record charts,
but "That Same Old Feeling" reached No. 67 on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 and No. 40 on the Cashbox pop chart in the summer of that same year. Brown left for a solo career in late 1972.
Subsequent careers
Brown went on to a form a
duo called Sweet Dreams, in partnership with Tony Jackson, recording a cover of the
ABBA
ABBA ( ) were a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. They are one of the most popular and successful musical groups of all time, and are one of the List ...
song "
Honey, Honey".
Brown then launched a
solo
Solo or SOLO may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Characters
* Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character
* Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''Star Wars Legends'' continuity
* Kylo Ren (Ben Solo), a ''Star Wars'' character
* Napoleon Solo, fr ...
career, with minor hits in the UK and the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
.
Hall joined
Gerry & the Pacemakers
Gerry and the Pacemakers were an English beat music, beat group prominent in the 1960s Beat music, Merseybeat scene. In common with the Beatles, they came from Liverpool, were managed by Brian Epstein and recorded by George Martin. Their early ...
for five years, and has an active international career as a
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
drummer.
Brown continues to
write
Writing is the act of creating a persistent representation of language. A writing system includes a particular set of symbols called a ''script'', as well as the rules by which they encode a particular spoken language. Every written language ...
and
record music including
blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...
material. There is a misconception that she died in 2006, due to the death that year of Sheila Rossall, who had been the lead singer of a latter-day edition of Pickettywitch who worked the club circuit. Rossall had attracted some publicity in 1981 because she suffered from
total allergy syndrome, and Brown often faced questions about the illness as a result.
Albums
* ''Pickettywitch'' (Janus Records, 1970, LP)
* ''That Same Old Feeling: The Complete Recordings'' (Castle Records, 2001, CD)
Singles
* "
That Same Old Feeling" (1970) - UK No. 5,
Ireland No. 6, NZ No. 7, Argentina No. 8 South Africa No. 17, Canada No. 36, US No. 67
* "(It's Like a) Sad Old Kinda Movie" (1970) - UK No. 16
* "Baby I Won't Let You Down" (1970) - UK No. 27
* "Waldo P. Emerson Jones" (1971) - Canada No. 83
References
External links
AllMusic*
*
{{Authority control
English pop music groups