Where did they get that song?

Sources of Australian Pop Records from the 50s, 60s and 70s plus some Aussie originals and some New Zealanders

Originals / Covers / Remakes / Songwriters / Chart Positions

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What have they done to my song?

Melanie Safka

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Obscure Originator Dept: The Meantime

Johnny Farnham's cover version of Friday Kind Of Monday (1968) was a hit in Australia (#6) and New Zealand (#11).

The original version from 1967 was by The Meantime, a group that came out of nowhere, released this one single that failed to chart Top 100, and that was it.

This looks like a clear case of obscurity until you follow the lead in the writer credits. Friday Kind Of Monday was written by Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich, one of the most successful songwriting teams of the 1960s, and a married couple from 1962 to 1965.

As Billboard announced, the lead singer on the Meantime single is Ellie Greenwich but, more than that, the whole recording is a studio project by Greenwich and Barry.

They had previously written and recorded as The Raindrops whose seven singles 1963-65 included He's The Kind Of Boy You Can't Forget (1963 #17 Bb, #15 CB) and What A Guy (1963 #34 CB). They charted moderately in most Australian cities, but in Adelaide they had hits with Kind Of Boy (#4), and That Boy John (1963, #12).

When you listen to a Raindrops record, you are most likely hearing Greenwich's voice double-tracked, with Barry's bass vocals and prominent drumming. For live appearances and for photos of a trio, other personnel were recruited.

This reminds me of Leiber and Stoller's view that We don't write songs. We write records.

The Meantime was a similar project, a Raindrops for the late 60s, created in the studio by Barry and Greenwich. There is a cryptic clue in the group's name: think Greenwich Mean Time.

Find out more...

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