Atlantis (instrumental) explained

Atlantis
Cover:Atlantis_EP.jpg
Type:single
Artist:The Shadows
B-Side:I Want You to Want Me
Recorded:13 December 1962[1]
Studio:EMI Studios, London
Genre:Instrumental rock
Length:2:47
Label:Columbia
Producer:Norrie Paramor
Prev Title:Foot Tapper
Prev Year:1963
Next Title:Shindig
Next Year:1963

"Atlantis" is a rock music instrumental by British group the Shadows, released as a single in May 1963. It spent 17 weeks on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number two for two weeks.

Background and reception

"Atlantis" was written by Jerry Lordan, who had previously written two chart-topping songs for the Shadows, "Apache" and "Wonderful Land". It was released with the B-side "I Want You to Want Me", written by Hank Marvin. Whilst the Shadows had included vocals on some of their album tracks, "I Want You to Want Me" was the first single by the Shadows to feature vocals since "Saturday Dance", released as the B-side to "Lonesome Fella" in 1959.[2] "Atlantis" was recorded on 13 December 1962 at EMI Studios in London; "I Want You to Want Me", on the other hand, was recorded on 1 May 1963 whilst the group were in Barcelona.[1] The Shadows came up with the title "Atlantis" whilst on a bus in Barcelona, saying it was "a follow-on to the Telstar, Polaris idea".

Reviewed in New Record Mirror, "Atlantis" was described as having "a medium tempo beat with some strings in the background. Rather like all the rest of their stuff but still with a lot of commercial appeal. There's also a femme chorus on the backing. Nice stuff for the younger teens". Reviewing for Disc, Don Nicholl described it as an "attractive Latin beat instrumental" and "a deceptive little item – by no means so simple as it sounds".[3]

Track listing

7": Columbia / DB 7047

  1. "Atlantis" – 2:47
  2. "I Want You to Want Me" – 2:34

Personnel

Charts

Chart (1963)Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[4] 3
Denmark (Danmarks Radio)[5] 7
Hong Kong[6] 2
Israel (Kol Israel)[7] 5
New Zealand (Lever Hit Parade)[8] 4
South Africa (SARMDA)[9] 3
Spain (Promusicae)[10] 18
Sweden (Kvällstoppen)[11] 4

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Koers. Ivo. Instrumentation On Shadows Recordings II: The Primary Singles. live. 27 November 2021. malcolmcampbell.me.uk. 14. https://web.archive.org/web/20210830221022/http://www.malcolmcampbell.me.uk/instrumentation-update2/instrumentation-update2-file02.pdf . 30 August 2021 .
  2. 1 June 1963. New Record Mirror. New Record Mirror. 5, 8. 27 November 2021.
  3. 1 June 1963. Disc Date. Disc. 8. 28 November 2021.
  4. Book: Kent, David. Australian Chart Book 1940–1969. David Kent (historian). Australian Chart Book Pty Ltd, Turramurra, N.S.W. . 2005. 0-646-44439-5. Kent Music Report.
  5. Web site: 2016-03-13. danskehitlister.dk. 2021-11-27. https://web.archive.org/web/20160313001726/http://danskehitlister.dk/?hitlist_id=12&y=1963&hitlist_item_id=1006. 13 March 2016.
  6. 24 August 1963. Hits of the World. Billboard. 42. 27 November 2021.
  7. Hits of the World. Billboard. 32. 7 September 1963. 27 November 2021.
  8. Web site: Lever Hit Parade. flavourofnz.co.nz. 2021-11-27. 26 November 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211126172105/http://www.flavourofnz.co.nz/index.php?qpageID=search%20lever&qartistid=12#n_view_location. dead.
  9. 14 September 1963. Hits of the World. Billboard. 24. 27 November 2021.
  10. Book: Salaverri, Fernando. Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002. September 1971. Fundación Autor-SGAE. 84-8048-639-2. 1st. Spain.
  11. Web site: Shadows. 2021-11-27. NostalgiListan. sv.