Pop tops

Pop tops
General information
Genre (s)	pop
founding	1967
resolution	1974
Members
singing	Phil Trim
Guitar , vocals	Julián Luis Angulo
Saxophone , clarinet , vocals	Alberto Vega
Bass , trumpet	Enrique Gomez
Organ , piano	Ignacio Perez
Drums	José Lipiani
guitar	Ray Gomez
Drums	Francisco Urbano Romero
Keyboard , piano	Rafael Guillermo Gertrudis

The Pop Tops - actually Los Pop-Tops - were a Spanish pop music group that was founded in Madrid in 1967 and also had international hit parade successes in the early 1970s .

history

The musical core of the Pop Tops goes back to an instrumental group that has performed as Los Tifones since 1961. In 1966 she won first place in the live radio broadcast of the Festival de Conjuntos Musicales de León , which made French producer Alain Milhaud aware of the group. Milhaud had already made a name for himself as the manager of the rock group Los Bravos and later produced it. He finally took over the fate of the combo, procured a lead singer for it with the African American Phil Trim , who came from Trinidad and Tobago , and gave his new protégés the name Los Pop-Tops.

In addition to Trim, the original line-up included ex-Tifones Julián Luis Angulo (also Luis Fierro, guitar , vocals ), Alberto Vega ( saxophone , clarinet ), Enrique Gómez ( bass , trumpet ), Ignacio Pérez ( organ , piano ) and José Lipiani ( drums ). The band was additionally strengthened with the guitarist Ray Gómez . However, there were staff changes early on; Pérez and Lipiani left the group. Francisco Urbano Romero took the place on drums. In 1969 Rafael Guillermo (also Rafael Guillermo Gertrudis) joined them as keyboardist and pianist.

Their music style was a mixture of contemporary pop music, soul and gospel , sometimes mixed with themes from classical music . Their first release on Barclay / Sonoplay in Spain was the song Con su blanca palidez in 1967 , a Spanish version of the classic A Whiter Shade of Pale by Procol Harum . The single Somewhere in 1968 was based on a composition by Johann Sebastian Bach , its B-side The Voice of the Dying Man ( La voz del hombre caido ) was an homage to Martin Luther King . The gospel-like dirge Oh Lord, Why Lord contained elements of Canon in D of the Baroque - composer Johann Pachelbel . With this song, the pop tops gained attention outside of Spain for the first time. In the following single releases in 1969 and 1970, however, the group was musically disoriented and tried to find their way somewhere between bubblegum pop, psychedelic rock and flower power party music.

In early 1971 they switched to the record label Explosion and had a number 1 hit in Spain in September 1971 with Road to Freedom ( Dios a todos hizo libres ). The group gained international fame at the end of 1971 when their English language version of Mamy Blue reached the top positions in the charts in many European countries. The music and the original French text was written by Hubert Giraud, the English version was written by Phil Trim. In Germany the song was number 1 for ten weeks, as well as in Switzerland . In the US and Canada, Mammy Blue [sic] was also a minor hit for the pop tops.

In Great Britain , in addition to their version (number 35), a recording by Roger Whittaker was also in the charts (number 31). A German version by Ricky Shayne also became a hit in Germany (7th place) and achieved gold status. Records of the "Pop Tops" were published in Germany without a leading article in the group name. In English-speaking countries, most of the time "The Pop Tops" was stated. Some publications also contained the addition "featuring Phil Trim".

The successor singles Suzanne, Suzanne and Hideaway came in 1972 in Germany in the top 30. Later recordings of the group were no longer successful there, in Spain, on the other hand, Los Pop-Tops were popular for a little longer. From 1973 the cohesion within the group began to crumble and some members increasingly turned to other projects. The declining success of the Pop Tops eventually led to the band breaking up in 1974.

After the pop tops split up, guitarist Ray Gómez played as a studio musician a. a. on albums by Stanley Clarke , Roy Buchanan , Chaka Khan , Deodato , Jack Bruce and Aretha Franklin . Singer Phil Trim started a solo career. The pianist Rafael Guillermo was a successful composer.

Discography

Studio albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1971	Mamy Blue	DE30 (1 week) DE	-	-	-	-	First published: 1971

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

more publishments

• 1968: Canarios
• 1976: Top Pops of Pop Tops

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1968	Oh Lord, Why Lord Canarios	-	-	-	-	US78 (4 weeks) US	First published: September 1968
1971	Mamy Blue Mamy Blue	DE1 (22 weeks) DE	-	CH1 (19 weeks) CH	UK35 (6 weeks) UK	US57 (10 weeks) US	First published: September 1971
1972	Suzanne Suzanne Top Pops Of Pop Tops	DE16 (13 weeks) DE	-	-	-	-	First published: March 1972
	Hideaway Top Pops Of Pop Tops	DE22 (17 weeks) DE	-	-	-	-	First published: June 1972

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

Barclay, Spain

• Con su blanca palidez / I Can't Go On - Barclay Sonoplay SN-20037, 1967
• Viento to otoño (Autumn Winds) / Cry - Barclay Sonoplay SN-20049, 1967
• Somewhere / The Voice of the Dying Man (La voz del hombre caido) - Barclay Sonoplay SN-20079, 1968
• Oh Lord, Why Lord / Beyond the Sea (El mar) - Barclay Sonoplay SN-20124, 1968
• Oh Lord, Why Lord (span.) / El mar - Barclay Sonoplay SN-20125, 1968
• Esa mujer (That Woman) / Adagio cardenal - Barclay Sonoplay SN-20166, 1968
• That Woman / The Man I Am Today - Barclay Sonoplay SN-20166, 1968
• Pepa / Junto a ti - Barclay Sonoplay SN-20210, 1968
• Dzim-dzim-dzas (Love and Care) / Young and Foolish - Barclay Sonoplay SN-20254, 1969
• Soñar, bailar y cantar (She's Coming Back) / Anytime - Barclay Movieplay SN-20478, 1970

Explosion, Spain

• Dios a todos hizo libres (Road to Freedom) / Movimento de amor - Explosion 14.961-A, 1971
• Road to Freedom / Who Will Believe - Explosion 14.961-A, 1971
• Mamy Blue (span.) / Love Motion - Explosion, 14.994-A, 1971
• Mamy Blue / Grief and Torture - Explosion, 14.995-A, 1971
• Suzanne Suzanne / Happiness Ville - Explosion 10.551-A, 1972
• Suzanne Suzanne (span.) / Walk along by the Riverside - Explosion 10.627-A, 1972
• Hideaway / What a Place to Live In - Explosion 10.679-A, 1972
• My Little Woman / Girl, What's on Your Mind? - E-34500 explosion, 1973
• Happy, Hippy, Youppy Song / Where Can I Go - Explosion E-34510, 1973
• Happy, Hippy, Youppy Song (span.) / Angeline - Explosion E-34513, 1973
• What a Way to Go / Baby I Will Cry - Explosion E-34522, 1974

Bellaphon, Germany

• Mamy Blue / Road to Freedom - Bellaphon Finger BF 18049, 1971
• Oh Lord, Why Lord / Walk Along by the Riverside - Bellaphon Finger BF 18070, 1971 (Remake)
• Suzanne Suzanne / Happiness Ville - Bellaphon Finger BF 18077, 1972
• Hideaway / What a Place to Live In - Bellaphon BF 18105, 1972
• My Little Woman / Girl, What's on Your Mind? - Bellaphon BF 18154, 1973
• Happy, Hippy, Youppy Song / Where Can I Go - Bellaphon BF 18189, 1973
• What a Way to Go / Baby I Will Cry - Bellaphon BF 18222, 1973

Individual evidence

1. ↑ AMG, Review of the Los Bravos album Bring a Little Lovin '  (1968)
2. ↑ ^{a b} recursos.cnice.mec.es, biography of the composer Rafael Guillermo Gertrudis (Spanish)
3. ↑ nicolasramospintado.wordpress.com, Lot nº 1 en España en listas de exitos musicales 1950 - 2007. 06/09/1971, Road to Freedom Pop Tops ( Memento of the original from June 20, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet tested. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
4. ↑ ^{a b} Günter Ehnert (Ed.): Hit-Bilanz, Deutsche Chart Singles 1956-1980 . Taurus-Press, Hamburg 1990, ISBN 3-922542-24-7 , p. 162.
5. ↑ hitparade.ch, Pop Tops, Mamy Blue
6. ↑ Günter Ehnert (Ed.): Hit Guide, US Chart Singles 1971-1980 . Taurus-Press, Hamburg 1989, ISBN 3-922542-36-0 , p. 150.
7. ↑ RPM, Canada's only national 100 single survey, Top Singles - Vol. 16, No. 14, November 20 1971 (place 42) ( Memento of the original from September 8, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Graphic in gif format) 
8. ↑ everyhit.com, search mask: "Pop Tops"
9. ↑ everyhit.com, search mask: "Roger Whittaker"
10. ↑ Günter Ehnert (Ed.): Hit-Bilanz, Deutsche Chart Singles 1956-1980 . Taurus-Press, Hamburg 1990, ISBN 3-922542-24-7 , p. 185.
11. ↑ Ray Goméz website, Discography (Engl.)
12. ↑ ^{a b} Chart sources: DE CH UK US1 US1

Web links

• German fanpage "Los Pop Tops And Phil Trim