The Ivy League

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The Ivy League was a 1960s British pop band formed in 1964 by the songwriting duo John Carter and Ken Lewis.

Band history

They had already founded the band "Carter-Lewis and the Southerners" at the end of the 1950s , to which Vivian Prince belonged (later among others with Pretty Things and Jeff Beck ) and Jimmy Page (later among others Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin ). From this group appeared from 1961 to 1963 a total of seven singles on the labels Ember, Piccadilly and Oriole. In November 1963, the group had a hit called Your Momma's Out Of Town .

At that time John Carter was already very successful as a songwriter for Brenda Lee , Herman's Hermits , the Nashville Teens and P. J. Proby .

In late 1964, John Carter and Ken Lewis founded The Ivy League and brought in guitarist Perry Ford, an experienced musician who had played in many backing bands and had written the hit single Someone Else's Baby for Adam Faith in 1960 .

The group called themselves "The Ivy League" after their performance clothes (striped jackets and dark gray trousers), which were very similar to the school suits worn by American college students at the time.

Like the Rockin 'Berries , the Ivy League had a penchant for heavy productions and falsetto singing like the Four Freshmen or the Four Seasons . They only used such material.

The group quickly got into the British and American charts with ballads similar to tokens , with three titles sometimes appearing in the English charts at the same time. Her second single, Funny How Love Can Be , was a top 10 hit. Her biggest hit, Tossin 'and Turnin' (No. 3), was the cover version of a US number one hit by Bobby Lewis . This title was the only one that could place itself in the US charts, it reached number 83.

The singer Tony Burrows (previously with the Kestrels , later with the Flower Pot Men , Edison Lighthouse or Brotherhood of Man , among others ) replaced the retiring John Carter at the end of 1965, while Neil Landon also joined the Ivy League at the same time.

They continued to make records in 1966 and in the summer of 1967, but by then The Ivy League had become the Flowerpot Men - also compiled by John Carter and Ken Lewis.

Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Singles
Funny How Love Can Be
  UK 8th 02/10/1965 (9 weeks)
That's why I'm crying
  UK 22nd 05/12/1965 (8 weeks)
Tossin 'and turnin'
  UK 3 06/30/1965 (13 weeks)
  US 83 10/09/1965 (5 weeks)
Willow Tree
  UK 50 07/20/1966 (1 week)

Discography

Albums

  • 1965 This Is The Ivy League (Piccadilly 38015)

After the group broke up, numerous samplers were released, e. B.

  • 1967 Sounds Of The Ivy League (Marble Arch MAL 741)
  • 1968 Tomorrow Is Another Day (Marble Arch MAL 821)

EPs

  • 1965 Funny How Love Can Be: Funny How Love Can Be / What More Do You Want // Lonbely Room / Wait A Minute (Piccadilly 34038)
  • 1965 Tossin 'And Turnin': Tossin 'And Turnin' / That's Why I'm Crying // A Girl Like You / Graduation Day (Piccadilly 34042)
  • 1965 The Holly And The Ivy League: The Holly And The Ivy League / Once In Royal David's City // Good King Wenceslas / Silent Night (Piccadilly 34046)
  • 1965 Our Love Is Slipping Away: Our Love Is Slipping Away / Don't Think Twice It's Alright // Don't Worry Baby / Make Love (Piccadilly 34048)

Singles

All of the group's singles released in Great Britain are listed. Information in the following order: year of publication, A-Page / B-Page, (UK catalog number), UK # = placement in the UK charts, US # = placement in the US Billboard charts

  • 1964 What More Do You Want / Wait A Minute (Piccadilly 35200)
  • 1965 Funny How Love Can be / Lonely Room (Piccadilly 35222) UK # 6
  • 1965 That's Why I'm Crying / A Girl Like You (Piccadilly 35228) UK # 19
  • 1965 Tossin 'And Turnin' / Graduation Day (Piccadilly 35251) UK # 3, US # 83; US catalog number: Cameo 377
  • 1965 Our Love Is Slipping Away / I Could Make You Fall In Love (Piccadilly 35267) UK # 24
  • 1966 Running Around In Circles / Rain Rain Go Away (Piccadilly 35294)
  • 1966 Willow Tree / One Day (Piccadilly 35326)
  • 1966 My World Fell Down / When You're Young (Piccadilly 35349)
  • 1967 Four And Twenty Hours / Arrivederci Baby (Piccadilly 35365)
  • 1967 Thank You For Loving Me / In The Not Too Distant Future (Piccadilly 35386)
  • 1967 Suddenly Things / Tomorrow Is Another Day (Piccadilly 35397)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Greg Shaw (ed.): The British are coming. From the childhood days of English rock music . From the American by Walle Bengs. Rowohlt, Reinbek near Hamburg 1983, p. 122.
  2. ↑ B-side: Somebody Told My Girl , UK catalog number Oriole CB 1868; In the charts of the New Musical Express the title reached number 20, compare Günter Ehnert (Ed.): Hit Records. British Chart Singles 1950–1965 . Taurus Press, Hamburg 1988, p. 25.
  3. ↑ Stephen Nugent, Anne Fowler, Pete Fowler: Chart Log of American / British Top 20 Hits, 1955–1974 . In: Charlie Gillett, Simon Frith (Eds.): Rock File 4 . Panther Books, Frogmore / St. Albans: 1976, p. 203.
  4. ^ Joel Whitburn: Top Pop Singles 1955-1993 . Record Research, Menomonee Falls WI 1994, p. 295.
  5. ↑ UK US .
  6. ↑ For more information and track list see KD Tilch : Rock LPs 1955–1970. Vol. 2: F-L . 3rd extended edition, Taurus Press, Hamburg 1990, p. 789f.
  7. ^ Placements according to Günter Ehnert (Ed.): Hit Records. British Chart Singles 1950–1965 . Taurus Press, Hamburg 1988, p. 60.