The Congregation was a British pop ensemble, formed by Roger Cook and

Roger Greenaway Roger John Reginald Greenaway (born 23 August 1938) is an English singer, songwriter and record producer, best known for his collaborations with Roger Cook and Tony Burrows. His compositions have included " You've Got Your Troubles" and the ...

in England. In the United States it was credited as The English Congregation. The band's biggest

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from ''Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust or HIT, a fictional organization i ...

was a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of "

Softly Whispering I Love You "Softly Whispering I Love You" is a song written by Roger Greenaway and Roger Cook originally recorded by the duo under the name of David and Jonathan. This version peaked at No. 23 in Australia on ''Go-Set''s National Top 40 Singles ...

" (originally recorded by Cook and Greenaway's previous group,

David and Jonathan David and Jonathan were, according to the Hebrew Bible's Books of Samuel, heroic figures of the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), Kingdom of Israel, who formed a Covenant (historical), covenant, taking a mutual oath. Jonathan (1 Samuel), Jona ...

), which peaked at No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart in 1971, No. 29 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100

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 the US, No. 1 in South Africa, No. 12 in Australia and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and No. 10 in Germany. The group's lead singer was the former

Plastic Penny Plastic Penny were a British 1960s pop band, formed in November 1967 before splitting up in August 1969. The group had one hit single early in 1968: "Everything I Am". Most of the members went on to greater fame with other bands or in session w ...

vocalist, Brian Keith, who later became a

session musician A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a reco ...

. With no further top 40 hits, The Congregation was a

transatlantic Transatlantic, Trans-Atlantic or TransAtlantic may refer to: Film * Transatlantic Pictures, a film production company from 1948 to 1950 * Transatlantic Enterprises, an American production company in the late 1970s * ''Transatlantic'' (1931 film) ...

one-hit wonder A one-hit wonder is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music performers with ...

. The band changed its name on releases in the United States to avoid confusion with the

Mike Curb Michael Curb (born December 24, 1944) is an American politician, record executive, and philanthropist who served as the 42nd Lieutenant Governor of California, lieutenant governor of California from 1979 to 1983. He is the founder of Curb Recor ...

Congregation, which also recorded "Softly Whispering I Love You".

Discography

(All UK releases on Columbia of Columbia Graphophone Co./EMI; US releases leased to

Atco Atco or ATCO may refer to: Businesses * ATCO, a Canadian diversified company involved in manufacturing, utilities, energy and technologies ** ATCO Electric, a subsidiary of the above company * Atco (British mower company), a mower manufacturing com ...

and Signpost) ;Singles *"

"/"When Susie Takes the Plane" (Columbia DB 8830 & Atco 6865, 1971) *"Lovers of the World Unite"/"Love Is the Sweetest Thing I Know" (Columbia DB 8894 & Signpost 70002, 1972) *"Jesahel"/"Sing Me a Love Song" (Columbia DB 8906 & Signpost 70004,B-side: "If I Could Have My Way" 1972) *"I Will Survive"/"If I Could Have My Way" (Columbia 006-05 170, Germany, 1972) *"It Didn't Matter"/"Loving Your Neighbour" (Columbia DB 8980, 1973) *"Jubilation"/"Love Is the Sweetest Thing I Know" (Columbia DB 9006, 1973) ;Albums *''Softly Whispering I Love You'' (Columbia SCX 6490 & Signpost 7217, 1972) *''Jesahel'' (Signpost 8405, 1972) *''Greatest Hits'' (EMIdisc 1 C 048-51 828, Germany, 1972) *''The Congregation'' (Columbia SCX 6517, 1973)

References

External links

* English pop music groups Musical groups established in 1971 {{UK-pop-band-stub

Discography

See also

References

External links