Sad Sweet Dreamer Explained

Sad Sweet Dreamer
Cover:Sad_Sweet_Dreamer_-_Sweet_Sensation.jpg
Type:single
Artist:Sweet Sensation
Album:Sad Sweet Dreamer
B-Side:Surething, Yes I Do
Released:1974
Recorded:1974
Length:3:10
Label:Pye
Next Title:Hide Away from the Sun
Next Year:1975

"Sad Sweet Dreamer" is a song by Sweet Sensation, which was a number-one single on the UK Singles Chart for one week in October 1974.[1]

The second single from the British soul group, a soaring soul ballad heavily influenced by the Stylistics (and led by lead vocalist Marcel King's falsetto), "Sad Sweet Dreamer" became their first hit. It was written by David Parton and co-produced by Tony Hatch and Parton.[2] The song reached No. 14 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 the following spring. It charted similarly in Canada.[3] [4] Both Hatch and Jackie Trent sang on the track to augment Sweet Sensation. Hatch wanted to work with them after they were discovered on New Faces whilst he was on the judging panel. The song was covered by French singer Joe Dassin as "Carolina (Sad Sweet Dreamer)" in 1975.

The song can be heard in the 2009 UK television series Red Riding. It is also featured in the 2013 film Rush.[5]

Chart history

Weekly charts

Chart (1974–75)Peak
position
Australia KMR[6] 24
Canada RPM Top Singles10
Canada RPM Adult Contemporary19
South Africa[7] 8
UK Singles Chart1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[8] 14
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary[9] 18
U.S. Cash Box Top 100[10] 17

Year-end charts

Chart (1975)Rank
Canada [12] 149
US (Joel Whitburn's Pop Annual)[13] 132

Notes and References

  1. Book: Roberts , David . 2006. British Hit Singles & Albums. 19th. Guinness World Records Limited . London. 1-904994-10-5. 306.
  2. Web site: Sad Sweet Dreamer Brief Biography. Allmusic. 2012-07-09.
  3. Web site: Image : RPM Weekly. Library and Archives. Canada. July 17, 2013. www.bac-lac.gc.ca.
  4. Web site: Image : RPM Weekly. Library and Archives. Canada. July 17, 2013. www.bac-lac.gc.ca.
  5. Web site: Rush (2013) . Soundtrack.net . 2013-09-22.
  6. Web site: Forum - 1970 (ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts) . Australian-charts.com . 2017-05-07 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160602084720/http://australian-charts.com/forum.asp?todo=viewthread&id=35092 . 2016-06-02.
  7. Web site: South African Rock Lists Website - SA Charts 1965 - 1989 Acts (S). www.rock.co.za.
  8. Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 -
  9. Book: Whitburn, Joel . Joel Whitburn . 1993 . Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993 . Record Research . 235.
  10. Web site: Cash Box Top 100 3/29/75. tropicalglen.com.
  11. Top Selling Singles for 1974 . . Spotlight Publications . London, England . 20 . 4 January 1975.
  12. Web site: Image : RPM Weekly. Library and Archives. Canada. July 17, 2013. www.bac-lac.gc.ca.
  13. Book: Whitburn, Joel . 1999 . Pop Annual . Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin . Record Research Inc. . 0-89820-142-X.