Middle of the Road (band)

For other uses of the term, see Middle of the road.

Middle of the Road (band)
Origin	Scotland
Genres	Pop
Years active	1970–present
Labels	RCA, Ariola
Website	middleoftheroadpopgroup.com
Members
Sally Carr, Ken Andrew, Ian McCredie, Neil Henderson
Past members
Eric McCredie

Middle of the Road are a Scottish pop group who enjoyed success across Europe and Latin America in the early 1970s. Three of their singles sold over one million copies each, and received a gold disc.^[1] The tracks were "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep" (which went on to sell over 10 million), "Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum" and "Soley Soley".^[1] By early 1972 alone the group had sold over five million records.^[1]

History

Lead singer Sally Carr, drummer Ken Andrew, guitarist Ian McCredie and his bassist brother Eric McCredie, founded the band on 1 April 1970. They already played together under the name Part Four since 1967 and later in Latin American style under the name Los Caracas.

Under the name Los Caracas they won the UK TV talent show Opportunity Knocks.

They moved to Italy in 1970 because they had not found success in the United Kingdom. There they met the Italian music producer Giacomo Tosti, who gave the band their distinctive sound and gave them their international break.

The band had their first and biggest hit record in the United Kingdom with debut UK single, "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep" to reach #1 in the UK Singles Chart in June 1971 and keep it for four more weeks. In all, Middle of the Road had five hit singles in the UK during 1971-1972. The band had enduring success only in Germany, where they achieved eleven Top 40 hits in 1971-1974.

In 1974 early Bay City Rollers member Neil Henderson joined the band on guitar. He wrote and co-wrote songs for Middle of the Road (including the singles "Rockin' Soul" and "Everybody Loves A Winner" and 1974 albums, You Pays Yer Money And You Takes Yer Chance and Postcard, all released in Germany via Ariola like their first German LP, Music Music), but their commercial success could not keep pace with that of earlier songs.

Members

• Sally Carr (born Sarah Cecilia Carr, 28 March 1945, Muirhead, Lanarkshire)
• Ken Andrew (born Kenneth Ballentyne Andrew, 28 August 1942, Bearsden, Glasgow)
• Ian McCredie (born Ian C McCredie, 15 July 1947, Partick, Glasgow)
• Eric McCredie (born 17 July 1945, Partick, Glasgow; died 6 October 2007)
• Neil Henderson (born 11 February 1953, Glasgow)

Discography

Singles

Year	Title	Chart positions							Album
		US	UK[2]	DE	AT	CH	NO	NL
1971	"Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep"	−	1	2	2	1	1	2	Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep
	"Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum"	−	2	15	−	−	6	7
	"Soley Soley"	−	5	2	−	1	1	1	Acceleration
1972	"Sacramento (A Wonderful Town)"	−	23	1	−	1	1	1
	"Samson and Delilah"	−	26	2	−	3	11	1
	"Bottoms Up"	−	−	2	−	−	8	5	Drive On
1973	"Yellow Boomerang"	−	−	6	14	2	8	2
	"Kailakee Kailako"	−	−	29	−	5	−	19
	"Samba D'Amour"	−	−	35	−	−	−	−	Music Music
	"Honey No"	−	−	31	−	5	−	−	Drive On
1974	"Rockin' Soul"	−	−	31	−	−	−	−	You Pays Yer Money And You Takes Yer Chance
1976	"Everybody Loves A Winner"	−	−	43	−	−	−	−	−

Albums

Year	Album title	Chart positions
		US	UK	DE	AT	CH	NO
1971	Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep	−	−	−	−	−	3
	Acceleration	−	−	13	−	−	2
1973	Drive On	−	−	48	−	−	−
	Music Music	−	−	45	−	−	−

All album releases were on RCA except Music Music, which was released on Ariola.^{[citation needed]}

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p. 298/299. ISBN 0-214-20512-6. 
2. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. pp. 363. ISBN 1-904994-10-5. 

External links

• Official website
• http://www.middleoftheroad.oldiemusic.de/ fan site
• Middle of the Road discography at Discogs