The New Seekers

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The New Seekers
The New Seekers in 1972
The New Seekers in 1972
Background information
OriginLondon, England
Genres
Years active1969–1974
1976–2010
Labels
Past members

The New Seekers were a British pop group, formed in

I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing", "You Won't Find Another Fool Like Me" and "Beg, Steal or Borrow
."

Formation

The group were formed after the disbanding of the successful 1960s Australian group the Seekers. Keith Potger, a member of the Seekers, put together the New Seekers in 1969, featuring Laurie Heath, Chris Barrington, Marty Kristian, and Eve Graham and Sally Graham (no relation), the latter of whom was a member of The Young Generation. Potger himself also performed and recorded with the group.[1]

Despite their having only released one album with no commercial success, ITV's Scottish Television gave the group their own TV series Finders, Seekers. The line-up for this version of the group hosting the series was Keith Potger, Eve Graham, Sally Graham, Laurie Heath, Marty Kristian and Chris Barrington. Produced in colour the show was given a prime-time slot, starting on March 27, 1970 (Good Friday) and continuing for seven shows. The public did not take to the show, with several complaints seemingly targeted at the band. Despite the complaints, the series was shown on several ITV channels, sold to Canada, Australia and Sweden with interest from other countries as a result of being shown at the international television market in Cannes.

Following the series failure, later in 1970, after one album release, the line-up was reworked to comprise Graham, Kristian,

Melanie Safka's "What Have They Done to My Song, Ma" (titled in the U.S. as "Look What They've Done to My Song, Ma"[3]), which became a top 20 hit in the US, No. 3 in Canada, and a minor one in the UK.[4]

Mainstream success

Over the next year, the group released a number of singles to little recognition, but it was in June 1971 that they released their breakthrough hit, "

I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing", the song became a worldwide success.[8] It made No. 1 in the UK for four weeks and sold just under a million copies.[6]
In the US, the song was also a hit, reaching No. 7, and in Canada it reached No. 3. It became a No. 1 hit in many other countries and is the most recognised song by the group.

The group were chosen to represent the

Fifty Years Of Music
.

The following year the group saw a slight dip, although they did score a top 20 hit with an adaptation of "Pinball Wizard".[11] Member Peter Doyle left the group this year and was replaced by Peter Oliver. The New Seekers had enjoyed a number of hits in the US by this time and toured there with Liza Minnelli in 1973.[12] While there, they recorded the title track of the American Marlo Thomas's 1972 album Free to Be... You and Me. In 1974, the album was made into a landmark television programme designed to teach children how to express themselves and be independent through a series of vignettes.[13] Since the special was first broadcast, the song became a cult classic.

Up to now, the group's biggest success had been as a five-piece harmony, but it was around this time that they began to favour lead singers for their songs with title credits given to Marty Kristian for "Come Softly to Me" and Eve Graham for "Nevertheless", but it was in late 1973 that this formula found its biggest success when Lyn Paul took the lead on the new single, "You Won't Find Another Fool Like Me". The song became a big hit over Christmas and eventually peaked at No. 1 in January 1974, becoming their second biggest hit.[14] This formula continued with the next single, "I Get a Little Sentimental Over You", which also became a big hit, peaking at No. 5. However, despite this revival, the group announced their split amid much publicity. With allegations that the members were receiving little financial reward for their success, The New Seekers officially disbanded in May 1974.[15]

The group's two UK number one singles are listed as being in the top 30 best selling singles for the 1970s, with "I'd Like To Teach The World To sing" at No. 17 and "You Won't Find Another Fool Like Me" at No. 27.

littering. [17]

Reformation

In 1976, the New Seekers reformed with Kathy Ann Rae and Danny Finn replacing Lyn Paul and Peter Oliver.[18] Although they never replicated their earlier success, signed to CBS (Columbia in the US) the group did manage to score a few hits with "It's So Nice (To Have You Home)" (1976), "I Wanna Go Back" (1977) and "Anthem (One Day in Every Week)" (1978).[6][19] This line up remained intact until 1978, when Danny Finn and Eve Graham left the group to marry. Their final single for CBS was "Don't Stop The Music" in 1979, with Kathy Ann Rae on lead vocal, but after it failed to chart, she left the band and the group signed their final contract with EMI.

In 1980, the group attempted to represent the UK again in the

Grammy Winner Victoria Horn).[22] Paul Layton remained with the band throughout this time.[23]
The final tour was 2010.

Recent career

Today's New Seekers toured from 2006 with the latest line up of Paul Layton, Donna Jones, Francine Rees, Mick Flinn and Mark Hankins. A CD of the 2006 tour was released which includes all of the group's hits along with some cover versions. With a Royal Variety performance at

The Tower of London and a return batch of concerts in British theatres. The 40th anniversary of the group in 2009 was celebrated by a 35-date UK concert tour, which began at London's Shaw Theatre on 31 January and continued throughout the year.[25] In July 2009, an album was released; It's Been Too Long – Greatest Hits and More, comprising the group's hits and some new recordings. It became a success by entering the UK Albums Chart at No. 17 – their first album to enter that chart for 35 years.[6]
In 2011 and 2012 Marty Kristian released two albums of demo recordings from the 1970s and 1980s.

Peter Doyle died on 13 October 2001, from throat cancer, aged 52.[citation needed] Kathy Ann Rae died on 11 January 2011, from cancer, aged 53.[citation needed] Danny (Kevin) Finn died on 24 February 2016 of pulmonary embolism at the age of 71.[citation needed]

Timeline

Discography

Main article: The New Seekers discography

References

  1. ^ "Official site – First group line-up, 1969". Thenewseekers.com. Retrieved 25 May 2011.
  2. ^ "Official site – 1970 line-up". Thenewseekers.com. Retrieved 25 May 2011.
  3. ^ US Elektra Records release, #45699
  4. ^ "Official site – Single releases, 1969–1970". Thenewseekers.com. 26 June 1970. Retrieved 25 May 2011.
  5. ^ "Official site – "Never Ending Song of Love"". Thenewseekers.com. 18 June 1971. Retrieved 25 May 2011.
  6. ^ a b c d e f "New Seekers - Full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  7. ^ "Top selling singles on 1971". Everyhit.com. Retrieved 25 May 2011.
  8. ^ "Official site – "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing"". Thenewseekers.com. Retrieved 25 May 2011.
  9. ISBN 978-1-84442-994-3
  10. ^ "Official site – "Beg, Steal or Borrow"". Thenewseekers.com. Retrieved 25 May 2011.
  11. ^ "Official site – "Pinball Wizard"". Thenewseekers.com. Retrieved 25 May 2011.
  12. ^ "Official site – "We've Got to Do it Now"". Thenewseekers.com. 16 November 1973. Retrieved 25 May 2011.
  13. ^ "Free to Be... You & Me (TV Movie 1974) - IMDb". imdb.com. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  14. ^ "Official site – "You Won't Find Another Fool Like Me"". Thenewseekers.com. 16 November 1973. Retrieved 25 May 2011.
  15. ^ "Official site – "I Get a Little Sentimental Over You"". Thenewseekers.com. Retrieved 25 May 2011.
  16. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Best Selling Singles of the 1970s in the UK - YouTube". youtube.com. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  17. ^ "Keep Britain Tidy - Old Keep Britain Tidy Advert". Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  18. ^ "Official site – Reunion, 1976". Thenewseekers.com. Retrieved 25 May 2011.
  19. ^ "Official site – "It's so Nice"". Thenewseekers.com. 18 November 1976. Retrieved 25 May 2011.
  20. ^ "Official site – "Tell Me"". Thenewseekers.com. 21 March 1980. Retrieved 25 May 2011.
  21. ^ "National Finals – 'A Song for Europe', 1980". 26 October 2009. Archived from the original on 26 October 2009. Retrieved 25 May 2011.
  22. ^ Steven Liddle. "Lyn Paul website: New Seekers - Vikki James". lynpaulwebsite.org. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  23. ^ "Official site – Group line-up chronology". Thenewseekers.com. Retrieved 25 May 2011.
  24. ^ "The New Seekers at Buckingham Palace". Thenewseekers.com. Retrieved 25 May 2011.
  25. ^ "2009 40th anniversary tour". Thenewseekers.com. Retrieved 25 May 2011.

External links

Awards and achievements
Preceded by
UK in the Eurovision Song Contest

1972 		Succeeded by
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