Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um Explained

Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um
Cover:	Major Lance Um.jpg
Type:	single
Artist:	Major Lance
Album:	Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um
B-Side:	Sweet Music
Released:	December 1963
Recorded:	1963
Label:	Okeh
Producer:	Carl Davis
Prev Title:	Hey Little Girl
Prev Year:	1963
Next Title:	The Matador
Next Year:	1964

"Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um" is a song, written by Curtis Mayfield.^[1]

Overview

The first recording to be released was by Major Lance, as a single in December 1963, produced by Okeh label president Carl Davis.^[2]

Chart performance

The song was Major Lance's third release to make the Billboard Hot 100 and his most successful hit with a #5 peak on the Billboard Hot 100 on 8 February 1964 with a #1 peak on the Cash Box R&B chart (Billboard did not run an R&B chart November 1963-January 1965).^[3] In Canada it reached #6.^[4] In the UK it reached #40, Lance's only UK chart appearance.^[5]

Other versions

• The song became a major hit in the UK during the autumn of 1964 with a rendition by Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders reaching No. 5.^[6]
• Johnny Rivers covered the song for his 1977 album Outside Help from which it was issued as the follow-up single to the top ten hit "Swayin' to the Music (Slow Dancing)". Rivers' version was renamed "Curious Mind" after a lyric in the second verse; the full title of the Rivers' version being "Curious Mind (Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um)". "Curious Mind..." was heavily supported by easy-listening radio, peaking at No. 4 on the Easy Listening chart in Billboard in February 1978; it reached No. 41 on the Billboard Hot 100 where it was Rivers' final charting song.^[7]

Notes and References

1. Web site: discogs.com. discogs.com. December 1963 . March 17, 2021.
2. http://www.legacyrecordings.com/Major-Lance/Biography.aspx Legacy Recordings - Major Lance Biography
3. Book: Whitburn, Joel . Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Joel Whitburn . 2004 . Record Research . 339.
4. Web site: CHUM Hit Parade - February 24, 1964.
5. Web site: MAJOR LANCE | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company. .
6. Web site: Mindbenders. Official Charts Company. 2020-03-07.
7. Book: Whitburn, Joel . Joel Whitburn

   . Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Joel Whitburn . 2002 . Record Research . 205.