Middle of the road

Middle of the Road was a Scottish pop group who enjoyed great success across Europe in the early 1970s.

Career

They had three major hits in the UK Singles Chart, all of them bubblegum pop classics: "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep" (Number 1), "Tweedle Dee Tweedle Dum" (Number 2) and "Soley Soley" (Number 5), all in 1971. But in other European countries, their success continued well into 1972 and 1973, with songs like "Sacramento (A Wonderful Town)", "Samson and Delilah", "Bottom's Up" and "The Talk of All the USA".

Band members

• Their enigmatic percussionist / lead vocalist was: Sally Carr (born Sarah Cecilia Carr, 28 March 1945, in Muirhead, Lanarkshire)
• Drummer Ken Andrews (born Kenneth Andrew Ballentyne, 28 August 1946, in Bearsden, Glasgow, Strathclyde)

Drummer for Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep was Bob Hamilton

• Guitarist / flautist Ian Campbell-Lewis (born Ian McCreadie, 15 July 1947, in Partick, Glasgow,Strathclyde)
• Bassist / vocalist Eric Campbell-Lewis (born Eric McCreadle, 17 June 1949, in Partick, Glasgow, Strathclyde)

All band members were ex Part Four, Los Caracas.

Songs

Some notable songs by Middle of the Road include:

• "Soley Soley" - December 1971
• "Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum" - September 1971
• "Kailakee Kailakoo"
• "I Can't Tell the Bottom from the Top"
• "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep" - June 1971
• "Louise (My Little Ship)"
• "The Talk of All the USA"
• "Sacramento (A Wonderful Town)" - March 1972
• "Yellow River" (not to be confused with the Christie single, released at a similar time)
• "Yellow Boomerang"
• "Try A Little Understanding"
• "Samson and Delilah" - July 1972
• "Queen Bee"
• "Medicine Woman"
• "Love Sweet Love"
• "Honey No"
• "Bottom's Up"
• "Union Silver"

Album

• Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep - (1972) - RCA Records

References

• Guinness Book of British Hit Singles - 19th Edition - ISBN 1-904994-10-5
• Official Band Website - http://www.middleoftheroadpopgroup.com/
• The Complete Book of the British Charts Singles And Albums ISBN 0.7119. 7670.8