Sunday, October 19, 2014

The 2 Charting Versions of "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing"

Coca-Cola's "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing" is the standard bearer of what I call "jingle singles," charting hits tied to the music from a TV/radio ad for another product. This Coke campaign debuted in 1971, shortly after Budweiser's "You've Said It All" (see previous post). The TV commercial that spawned it had a similar sequence as the Budweiser one, spotlighting a lone female singer who is joined by a growing chorus. The difference: Coca-Cola's singers are multicultural young adults while Budweiser's are American middle-aged nine-to-fivers. The song had a special quality of sounding at once like a commercial, a pop hit, a Christmas song, and a church hymn.

Composed by ad men Bill Backer and Billy Davis along with the British hit songwriting team of Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway, "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing" hit it big as a 45 released by the Hillside Singers. According to the Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders, this was a group assembled by veteran producer Al Ham specifically to generate a record out of the Coke commercial, an idea he'd hatched along with Metromedia president Jack Wiedenman. That version hit #13 on Billboard, while a version by Australia's New Seekers climbed up to #7 in early '72. According to an article on the Coca-Cola website, the New Seekers were who the writers always had in mind to record it, but the group had scheduling conflicts, which they were able to resolve easily enough when they saw the Hillside Singers' version taking off. Hence the claims of Billboard ad from Nov. 20, 1971, claiming the New Seekers' version to be the "original."

Note the early seventies tendency toward child imagery being put to use for the Hillside Singers' album cover above.

(Bonus info: The British rock band Oasis were successfully sued for using the opening melody of "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing" for their 1994 #11 UK hit "Shakermaker.")

The Hillside Singers - "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)" (Billboard #13, entered 11/27/71). Written by Bill Backer, Billy Davis, Roger Cook, and Roger Greenaway. Produced by Al Ham. 45: "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)"/"I Believed It All" (Metromedia 1971). LP: I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (Metromedia 1971).

The New Seekers - "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)" (Billboard #7, entered 12/4/71). Written by Bill Backer, Billy Davis, Roger Cook, and Roger Greenaway. Produced by David MacKay. 45: "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)"/"Boom-Town" (Elektra 1971). LP: We'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (Elektra 1971).

Side B is surprisingly palatable glam pop written and sung by New Seeker Peter Doyle, a former solo hit-maker in Australia.

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