| "Those Were the Days" | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
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| Single by
Mary Hopkin from the album Post Card |
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| B-side | "Turn, Turn, Turn" | ||||
| Released | August 30 1968 | ||||
| Format | 7" single | ||||
| Genre | Pop | ||||
| Length | 5:05 | ||||
| Label | Apple | ||||
| Writer | Gene Raskin | ||||
| Producer | Paul McCartney | ||||
| Mary Hopkin singles chronology | |||||
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| "Those Were The Days" | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
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| Single by Sandie Shaw | |||||
| B-side | "Make It Go" | ||||
| Released | 1968 | ||||
| Genre | Pop | ||||
| Label | Pye | ||||
| Writer | Gene Raskin | ||||
| Sandie Shaw singles chronology | |||||
|
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- For other uses, see Those Were the Days (disambiguation).
"Those Were the Days" is Mary Hopkin's debut single.[1] It is credited to Gene Raskin, who put
English lyrics to the Russian song Дорогой длинною ("Dorogoi dlinnoyu"), written by
Boris Fomin (1900-1948) with words by the poet Konstantin
Podrevskii.[2] It deals with reminiscence upon youth and
History
Gene Raskin frequented The White Horse Tavern in the 1960s and the song lamented the passing of the golden folk days of Dylan, Paxton, Ochs, and The Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem. The song was the final recording by the Clancys.
Although the song was popularized in the early 1960s by The Limelighters, Mary Hopkin still did the best known recording. It was released on August 30, 1968. Hopkin's recording was produced by Paul McCartney (catalogue number "APPLE 2") and became a #1 hit in the UK singles chart, and reached #2 in the US.
Paul McCartney, who produced the session, also recorded Mary singing "Those Were The Days" in 4 other languages for release in their respective countries: In Spain, Que Tempo Tan Feliz. In Germany, An jenem Tag. In Italy, Quelli Erano Giorni In France, Le temps Des Fleurs
The UK and the USA had the B-side, "Turn! Turn! Turn!" which was written by Pete Seeger (but largely taken from the book of Ecclesiastes), which had been a U.S. #1 hit for The Byrds.
The catalogue number APPLE 2 of "Those Were the Days" was in fact the lowest catalogue number that Apple Records would use on a single release. The APPLE 1 designation had been intended for the Beatles single "Hey Jude". However, the Beatles remained under EMI contractual terms at the time, and although the "Hey Jude" single had an Apple label it was released as "R 5722" in line with the Parlophone numbering scheme.
Hopkins' version was released on the back of her success on the television show Opportunity Knocks and around the time of its release popular singer Sandie Shaw was also asked to record the song by her management, feeling that it should be done by a "real" singer and not the new star of a reality TV show. Shaw's version was released as a single but did not beat the success of Hopkins' version.
In the mid 1970s, after Hopkins' contract with Apple ended, "Those Were the Days" and "Goodbye" were re-recorded with producer Tony Visconti. These re-recorded versions can be found on any music compilation disc because Apple never allows its original recordings to be used.
The second-best known recording should be the one in 2005, produced by Dolly Parton. She released a cover of "Those Were the Days," which featured backing vocals by Mary Hopkin.
Cover versions
1968 The French Version of the song, "Le Temps Des Fleurs," was popularized by International Recording Star, Dalida. She also recorded the song in Italian.
1968 - the International Recording Star Vicky Leandros recorded the French Version "Le Temps Des Fleurs" and had a huge hit in Japan, Canada, and Greece with this song.
Mary Hopkin and Sandie Shaw also sang the song in French, as well as in Italian, Spanish and German. Both Shaw and Hopkin's versions were released roughly around the same time, as a sort of competition between the two to see who's single would fair better with the public. When Hopkin's album, "Postcard" was re-released on CD, the Spanish and Italian versions of the songs appear as bonus tracks. Sandie Shaw has had all of her versions re-released on separate CDs, split up by language.
1968 - Gigliola Cinquetti covered the song in Italian and Spanish.
196? - Alexandra (Germany)
1990 - Demon Kogure covered Those Were the Days on his first solo album "Koshoku yorozu goe otoko".
1991 - Leningrad Cowboys covered Those Were the Days for the Aki Kaurismäki short film of the same name. The song was later released on their 1992 album "We Cum From Brooklyn".
1994 - Cara Jones covered Those Were the Days on her debut album Different Skies. Also, Ground Zero (band) covered Those Were the Days on their album Plays Standards.
1998 The German Version of the song, An jenem Tag was popularized by International Top Star, Karel Gott on his best of triple album Einmal um die ganze Welt
2001 - Turisas covered Those Were the Days on their EP The Heart of Turisas.
2004 - Dayna Kurtz covered Those Were the Days on her album Beautiful Yesterday. Also, New York cabaret artists Kiki & Herb included the song in their Carnegie Hall debut concert Kiki & Herb Will Die for You (released on CD in 2005), in which their were joined by special guests Sandra Bernhard, Rufus Wainwright, and Isaac Mizrahi, among others.
2005 - although not exactly a cover, 50 Cent used an electric guitar version of the melody of "Those Were the Days" in his "When It Rains, It Pours". Also, Dolly Parton covered Those Were the Days. Parton's recording featured guest vocals by Hopkin.
2006 - Il Folklorista covered "Those Were the Days." Il Folklorista is a project by Gigi D'Agostino and Luca Noise.
2007 - Swedish-born Greek Singer Elena Paparizou covered the French version of the song, "Le Temps Des Fleurs," which was released on her CD-single Fos and was featured on the Bonus CD on her Yparhi Logos: Platinum Edition album.
2007 - Jamaican Dancehall-Artist Shaggy covers the refrain of Those Were The Days in his album Intoxication.
Trivia
The melody of the song is instantly recognizable to tens of millions of Brazilians, although most of them are probably wholly unaware of its origins or original lyrics and title; it was used for years by Brazilian TV host Silvio Santos in his Show de Calouros, a Gong Show-like talent show, with the lyrics changed to introduce the judges and host of the show.
On Christmas 1975, the President of Equatorial Guinea, Francisco Macías Nguema, had 150 alleged coup plotters executed to the sound of a band playing Mary Hopkin's tune Those Were the Days in a national stadium.[3]
References
- ^ http://homepage.ntlworld.com/pat.richmonds/mhfs.htm Detailed description of the history of the song
- ^ http://www.jsmusic.org.uk/blog/archives/000111.html
See also
- Apple Records discography
- Several Russian songs, including Дорогой длинною
- Vietnamese version on Youtube
| Preceded by "Hey Jude" by The Beatles |
UK number one
single September 25 - October 30 1968 (6 weeks) (Mary Hopkin version) |
Succeeded by "With a Little Help from My Friends" by Joe Cocker |
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