On Broadway (song)
{{short description|1963 single by The Drifters}}
{{Other uses|On Broadway (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox song
| name = On Broadway
| cover = Drifters On Broadway.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = The Drifters
| album = Under the Boardwalk
| B-side = Let the Music Play
| released = March 1963
| recorded =
| studio =
| venue =
| genre = Soul
| length = {{Duration|m=3|s=05}}
| label = Atlantic
| writer = Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller
| producer =
| prev_title = Up on the Roof
| prev_year = 1962
| next_title = Rat Race
| next_year = 1963
}}
{{Infobox song
| name = On Broadway
| cover = On_Broadway_-_George_Benson.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = George Benson
| album = Weekend in L.A.
| B-side = We As Love
| released = March {{Start date|1978}}
| recorded =
| studio =
| venue =
| genre =
- Jazz{{cite book|title= Night Moves - Pop Music in the Late 70s|first1=Don|last1=Breithaupt|first2= Jeff|last2= Breithaupt|date= July 17, 2000|chapter=
Movin' On Up: Corporate Soul|page= 103-104|publisher=St. Martin's Griffin|isbn=978-0-312-19821-3|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kh04AwAAQBAJ&pg=PT95}}
| length = 5:15 (single version) 10:06 (album version)
| label = Warner Bros.
| writer =
| producer = Tommy LiPuma
| prev_title = The Greatest Love of All
| prev_year = 1977
| next_title = Lady Blue
| next_year = 1978
}}
"On Broadway" is a song written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil in collaboration with the team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller.
Composition
Weil and Mann were based at Aldon Music, located at 1650 Broadway, New York City, and the song as written by Mann/Weil was originally recorded by the Cookies (although the Crystals' version beat them to release) and featured an upbeat lyric in which the protagonist is still on her way to Broadway and sings "I got to get there soon, or I'll just die". The song was played as a shuffle.
When Leiber/Stoller let it be known that the Drifters had booked studio time for the following day and were a song short, Mann/Weil forwarded "On Broadway". Leiber and Stoller liked the song but felt that it was not quite right; the four held an overnight brainstorming session that culminated in the better-known version, now with a rock-oriented groove and with a more bluesy feel, which matched the new lyric in which the singer was now actually on Broadway and having a hard time.
The Drifters version
A young Phil Spector played the distinctive lead guitar solo on the Drifters' recording.Mick Brown. Tearing Down the Wall of Sound, p. 96 The personnel for the Drifters recording were Rudy Lewis – lead vocals; Joe Newman, Ernie Royal – trumpets; Billy Butler, Bill Suyker, Everett Barksdale – guitars; Russ Savakus – bass; Gary Chester – drums; and Phil Kraus, Nick Rodriguez, Martin Grupp – percussion. The arranger was Garry Sherman.
The recording by the Drifters was a hit, reaching No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1963. Cash Box described it as "a haunting, slow beat cha cha opus...that sports a first rate Garry Sherman arrangement."{{cite magazine |title=CashBox Record Reviews |date=March 9, 1963 |page=48 |access-date=2022-01-12 |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/60s/1963/CB-1963-03-09.pdf |magazine=Cash Box}}
The Drifters' version was featured in a 1971 television public service announcement for Radio Free Europe (RFE). The Hungarian expatriate announcer is shown entering the RFE studio announcing "On Broadway", after which young Hungarians are shown listening to the "In sound from Outside".Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211205/x_vwAYIi8wg Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20110714105643/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_vwAYIi8wg Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_vwAYIi8wg| title = Radio Free Europe PSA - 1971 | website=YouTube| date = 3 February 2007 }}{{cbignore}}
In 2013, the 1963 recording of the song by the Drifters on Atlantic Records was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.https://www.grammy.com/awards/hall-of-fame-award#o {{Bare URL inline|date=August 2024}}
George Benson version
George Benson's version of "On Broadway", from his 1978 album Weekend in L.A., hit No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 2 on the Soul chart.{{cite book |title=Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004 |last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |year=2004 |publisher=Record Research |page=53}} Benson's take also has had substantial adult contemporary and smooth jazz radio airplay ever since. It won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal Performance.
Other notable versions
- Clem Curtis & the Foundations recorded a version that was released on the IDM label. Charting in the UK, it debuted in the IPA Airplay Top 10 on September 1, 1984 at No. 3 and was at No. 5 on the 29th later the same month.Music Week, September 1, 1984 - [https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1984/Music-Week-1984-09-01.pdf Page 40 ILA AIRPLAY GUIDE, (Independent Airplay Action in UK) TOP 12]Music Week, September 29, 1984 - [https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1984/Music-Week-1984-09-29.pdf ILA AIRPLAY GUIDE, (Independent Airplay Action in UK) TOP 10 . . .]
- The The Living Ornaments %2779 by British electro pioneer Gary Numan includes a version of this song, notable for Billy Currie's Arp Odyssey solo.https://www.matrixsynth.com/2017/05/billy-currie-of-ultravoxs-arp-odyssey.html?m=1
References
{{Reflist}}
{{George Benson}}
{{The Drifters (American band)}}
{{The Coasters}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Clem Curtis & The Foundations songs
Category:Songs written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller
Category:Songs written by Barry Mann
Category:Songs with lyrics by Cynthia Weil
Category:Atlantic Records singles