I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony) explained

I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)
Type:single
Artist:The Hillside Singers
Album:I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing
B-Side:I Believed It All
Released:November 1971
Length:2:15
Label:Metromedia
Producer:Al Ham
I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing
Cover:I'd Like to Teach.jpg
Type:single
Artist:The New Seekers
Album:We'd Like to Teach the World to Sing
B-Side:Boom Town
Released:November 1971
Genre:Pop[1] [2]
Length:2:20
Label:Philips (Germany)
Polydor (UK)
Elektra (USA/Canada)
Producer:David Mackay
Prev Title:Never Ending Song of Love
Prev Year:1971
Next Title:Beg, Steal or Borrow
Next Year:1972

"I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)" is a pop song (originally known as "True Love and Apple Pie") by British hit songwriters Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway, and sung by Susan Shirley.[3]

The lyrics were rewritten by the songwriters—together with US advertising executive Bill Backer and US songwriter Billy Davis—as a jingle for The Coca-Cola Company's advertising agency, McCann Erickson, to become "Buy the World a Coke" in the 1971 "Hilltop" television commercial for Coca-Cola and sung by the Hillside Singers. "Buy the World a Coke" was produced by Billy Davis and portrayed a positive message of hope and love, featuring a multicultural collection of teenagers on top of a hill appearing to sing the song.

The popularity of the jingle led to its being re-recorded in two versions: one by The New Seekers and another by The Hillside Singers (as a full-length song) that dropped references to Coca-Cola. The song became a hit record in the US and the UK.

Origins

The idea originally came to Bill Backer, an advertising executive working for McCann Erickson, the agency responsible for Coca-Cola. Backer, Roger Cook and Billy Davis were delayed at Shannon Airport in Ireland. After a forced layover with many hot tempers, they noticed their fellow travelers the next morning were talking and joking while drinking Coca-Cola. Backer wrote the line "I'd like to buy the world a Coke" on a napkin and shared it with Cook and Roger Greenaway.

The melody was derived from a previous song by Cook and Greenaway, originally called "True Love and Apple Pie," that was recorded in 1971 by Susan Shirley.[3] Cook, Greenaway, Backer and Billy Davis reworked the song into a Coca-Cola radio jingle, which was performed by British pop group The New Seekers and recorded at Trident Studios in London. The radio jingle made its debut in February 1971 before being adapted for the Coca-Cola "Hilltop" television commercial later that year.

The commercial ended with the statement:

The song became so popular that its creators revised it, adding three verses and removing product references to create a full-length song appropriate for commercial release. The full-length song was re-recorded by both The Hillside Singers and The New Seekers and both versions became huge hits.[4]

TV commercial

Lyrics

"Buy the World a Coke" contains the line "I'd like to buy the world a Coke" and repeats "It's the real thing", which was Coca-Cola's marketing slogan. The Coca-Cola Company introduced that slogan in October 1969.

Versions as an ad

Several versions of the ad have been made.

Significance and reception

In 2007, Campaign magazine called it "one of the best-loved and most influential ads in TV history".[17] It served as a milestone—the first instance of the recording industry's involvement with advertising.[18]

Marketing analysts have noted Coca-Cola's strategy of marrying the idea of happiness and universal love of the product illustrated by the song.[19] [20]

The commercial has continued receiving accolades; in 2000, Channel 4 and The Sunday Times ranked the song 16th in the 100 Greatest TV Ads while in 2005, ITV ranked the advertisement 10th in its list of the greatest advertisements.[21] [22]

Singles

The Hillside Singers

After the TV commercial aired, radio stations began to get calls from people who liked it. Billy Davis' friends in radio suggested he record the song, but not as an advertising jingle.[7] It became so popular that the song was rewritten without brand name references and expanded to three verses. Davis recruited a group of studio singers to take it on because The New Seekers did not have time to record it. The studio group named themselves The Hillside Singers to identify with the ad, and within two weeks the song was on the national charts. The Hillside Singers' version reached #13 on the Billboard Hot 100, #5 on Billboard's Easy Listening chart and #58 on the RPM charts in Canada.[23] Billboard ranked this version as the No. 97 song for 1972.

The New Seekers

The New Seekers later recorded the song[3] and sold 96,000 copies of their record in one day, eventually selling 12 million total. "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)" climbed to #1 in the UK, #3 in Canada and #7 in the US in 1971 and 1972. The song became a gold record in the US and has also sold over a million copies in the UK.[24] The Coca-Cola Company waived royalties to the song and instead donated $80,000 in payments to UNICEF.[3] Billboard ranked this version as the No. 93 song for 1972.

Chart performance

Year-end charts

New Seekers version

Chart (1971–1972)Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[25] 7
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[26] 6
France (IFOP)[27] 21
Iceland[28] 5
Japan (Oricon Singles Chart)[29] 1
Malaysia (Rediffusion)[30] 1
New Zealand[31] 1
Singapore (Rediffusion)[32] 2
South Africa (Springbok)[33] 10
Sweden (Kvällstoppen)[34] 3
Chart (1972)Rank
Australia[35] 66
Canada29
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[36] 29
UK [37] 5
US Billboard Hot 100[38] 93

Hillside Singers version

Certifications

Covers and inspiration for other music

In popular culture

The commercial was used as the final scene (minus the "It's the real thing" statement at the end) in the Mad Men series finale "Person to Person", which was set in November 1970 at an oceanside spiritual retreat in California. It is implied that the show's fictional protagonist, Don Draper, was behind the commercial's creation.[44]

A version of the song was used in the trailer for the Netflix series Resident Evil (adapted from the video game series of the same name).[45]

The song was also featured in The Golden Girls episode "Vacation".

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Stanley, Bob . Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Story of Modern Pop. The Golden Road: San Francisco and Psychedelia. https://books.google.com/books?id=9emZAAAAQBAJ&pg=PT7. September 13, 2013. Faber & Faber. 978-0-571-28198-5. 236.
  2. Book: Precious and Few - Pop Music in the Early '70s. Don. Breithaupt. Jeff. Breithaupt. October 15, 1996. What's So Funny 'Bout Peace, Love, and Understanding?: Utopian Pop. 75. St. Martin's Griffin. 031214704X.
  3. Web site: Ryan . Ted . The Making of Coca-Cola's "I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke" Ad . The Coca-Cola Company . January 1, 2012 . October 3, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161026161436/http://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/coke-lore-hilltop-story . October 26, 2016.
  4. Web site: Zanger . Doug . Coca-Cola: Behind the scenes of its most celebrated advert 'Hill Top' . The Drum . Carnyx Group Limited . December 27, 2018.
  5. Web site: Coca Cola "Hilltop". Coloribus .
  6. News: Mad Men's Series Finale: Don Draper's Moment of Zen and the Betrayal of Peggy . The Daily Beast . Marlow Stern . May 18, 2015.
  7. Web site: Moving Image Research Center (Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division, Library of Congress) . Lcweb2.loc.gov . July 14, 2016 . October 3, 2016.
  8. Web site: A Short History Of The Coka Cola Company: 125-years . https://web.archive.org/web/20240511082248/https://www.coca-colacompany.com/content/dam/company/us/en/about-us/history/coca-cola-a-short-history-125-years-booklet.pdf . June 5, 2024 . The Coca Cola Company . 2024-05-11.
  9. News: Dale, Arden . December 22, 1989 . 'Hilltop Reunion' has McCann and Coke Humming . Backstage.
  10. News: G. Love, Coke Zero take '71's 'Hilltop' to another level . Williams, Damon C. . . June 16, 2005 . March 29, 2015.
  11. Web site: Berget Lewis, Biografie . Berget Lewis Music . January 25, 2017.
  12. Web site: Coke Nascar Harmony Ad . https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/EcnyX73iTY0 . December 11, 2021 . live . YouTube . February 14, 2010.
  13. Web site: Coca-Cola – I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke (the story of Hilltop) . This is Not Advertising . January 25, 2017.
  14. News: Google's 'Project Re:Brief': Rethinking web advertising. Maura. Judkis. . March 15, 2012.
  15. Web site: Change the Tune. YouTube. June 23, 2015 .
  16. Web site: Health Advocates Remake Famous "Hilltop" Ad Center for Science in the Public Interest. September 16, 2020. cspinet.org.
  17. News: Hamilton, James . Tylee, John . May 18, 2007 . Ten ads that changed advertising . Campaign . 20 .
  18. News: All about ... Advertiser-funded music . Campaign . February 8, 2008 . 15.
  19. News: Gieryn, Thomas F. . Spring 1987 . Science and Coca-Cola . Science & Technology Studies . 5 . 1 . 12–31.
  20. News: Holbrook, Morris . July 1987 . Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall, What's Unfair in the Reflections on Advertising? . . 51 . 3 . 95–103.
  21. Web site: 100 Greatest TV Ads . UK TV Adverts . 2000 . January 15, 2015 . April 2, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150402090819/http://www.uktvadverts.com/facts/?list=ch4 . dead .
  22. Web site: thinkbox.TV . Greatest advertisements of all time . 2005 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090305130459/http://thinkbox.tv/server/show/nav.943 . March 5, 2009 .
  23. Web site: RPM Top 100 Singles - December 18, 1971.
  24. Web site: The UK's biggest selling singles of all time . Myers . Justin . June 14, 2018 . . June 21, 2018.
  25. Book: Kent, David . Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 . David Kent (historian) . illustrated . Australian Chart Book . St Ives, N.S.W. . 1993 . 0-646-11917-6.
  26. Web site: SINGLET TOUKOKUU 1972 MAY . Suomen virallinen lista. February 23, 2024.
  27. Web site: InfoDisc : Tous les Titres de l'Artiste choisi > Choisir Un Artiste Dans la Liste . fr . PHP . infodisc.fr . February 23, 2024.
  28. January 14, 1972. Top Ten of the Week. The White Falcon. 5.
  29. Web site: Japan #1 IMPORT DISKS by Oricon Hot Singles . Hbr3.sakura.ne.jp . January 24, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100911211711/http://www18.ocn.ne.jp/~hbr/JPP1_e.htm. September 11, 2010.
  30. Hits of the World. Billboard. 46. April 1, 1972. February 23, 2024.
  31. Web site: flavour of new zealand – search listener . Flavourofnz.co.nz . October 3, 2016.
  32. Hits of the World. Billboard. 45. March 4, 1972. February 23, 2024.
  33. Web site: SA Charts 1965 – March 1989. September 5, 2018.
  34. Book: Hallberg, Eric. Eric Hallberg presenterar Kvällstoppen i P 3: Sveriges radios topplista över veckans 20 mest sålda skivor 10. 7. 1962 - 19. 8. 1975. Drift Musik. 1993. 130. 9163021404.
  35. Web site: Australian Chart Book . Austchartbook.com.au . October 3, 2016 . dead . https://archive.today/20160305064644/http://www.austchartbook.com.au/ . March 5, 2016 .
  36. Web site: Suurimmat hitit 1972. Suomen virallinen lista. February 23, 2024.
  37. [1972 in British music#Best-selling singles]
  38. Web site: Top 100 Hits of 1972/Top 100 Songs of 1972 . Musicoutfitters.com . October 3, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170427223218/http://musicoutfitters.com/topsongs/1972.htm . April 27, 2017 . dead .
  39. Book: Kent, David. David Kent (historian). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. illustrated. Australian Chart Book. St Ives, N.S.W.. 1993. 0-646-11917-6. 139.
  40. Mundy . Chris . May 2, 1996 . Ruling Asses: Oasis Have Conquered America, and They Won't Shut Up About It . December 4, 2023 . Rolling Stone . en-US.
  41. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is1HrsAfJIc Lucy Layton ‘I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing’ (Official Video)
  42. Web site: 'I'd Like to Build the World a Road' - China Pitches Trade Initiative with Cover of Iconic Coke Ad. September 10, 2018.
  43. Web site: Steger . Isabella . September 7, 2018 . China ripped off an iconic Coke ad for its Belt and Road theme song . March 8, 2024 . Quartz . en.
  44. Web site: 'Mad Men' Creator Matthew Weiner Explains Series Finale, Character Surprises and What's Next . Hollywood Reporter . May 20, 2015 . September 9, 2020.
  45. Web site: Resident Evil | Official Teaser | Netflix - YouTube . . May 12, 2022 .

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