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Swingin' Tight
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Wikipedia article
"'Swingin Tight'" is an American pop/rock song, written by Mark Barkan and Robert "Bob" Barash.
The song was first recorded by the British duo Keith & Billie in 1966, but it was not until Bill Deal and the Rhondels released the song as a single in 1969 that it found widespread acclaim, making the US Billboard Hot 100[http://billboard.com/charts/hot-100/1969-12-13 Billboard Hot 100 Chart, Dec. 13, 1969] and Cashbox Magazine Top 100 charts.[http://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/60s_files/19691213.html Cashbox Top 100 Singles Chart, Dec. 13, 1969]
Versions
'Keith & Billie'
In 1966, the song "Swingin' Tight" found its way into the hands of the London-based music producer John Schroeder, who was working for Pye Records and oversaw their Piccadilly label. Piccadilly had signed Keith Powell and Billie Davis to partner on a number of songs, including "Swingin' Tight".
While the song was well-received, with one review lauding its "smoky, smouldering, almost Spectorish sort of production",[https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-UK/Music/Archive-Record-Mirror-IDX/IDX/60s/66/Record-Mirror-1966-08-08-S-OCR-OCR-Page-0009.pdf Record Mirror, Oct. 8, 1966 pg 9] it failed to make the UK charts and was never released in the United States.
'Bill Deal and the Rhondels'
In 1969, Jerry Ross was producing the 'Vintage Rock' (HTS 35,003) album for Bill Deal and the Rhondels in New York at Bell StudiosBill Deal and the Rhondels under his label, Heritage Records.
On March 10, 1969, the band recorded the song as a slower ballad that ran 2:56, and included it as the second track on the B side of the LP.
On October 3, 1969, a new version of the song was produced by Ross, who hired studio musicians to record the instrumentation, to which Bill Deal and the Rhondels laid down the vocals.[http://www.downtowneronline.com/archives/DT082019.pdf The Downtowner online. Vol. 31, No. 8, Mid-August, 2019. pg. 18] This version had a more upbeat tempo and ran for only 2:18. It was released as a 7" single under the Heritage label (HE818) in November 1969. The record had "Swingin Tight" on the A-side and "Tucks Theme" on the B side.
This version made it to the US Billboard Hot 100, where it charted for five weeks, peaking at number 85 in December 1969. It also landed on the Cashbox Top 100 singles chart for six weeks, where it reached number 52.
It also charted for 6 weeks on the Canadian RPM 100 , peaking at #57 on December 13, 1969.[https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.6053&URLjpg=http%3a%2f%2fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2fobj%2f028020%2ff4%2fnlc008388.6053.gif&Ecopy=nlc008388.6053 RPM 100 Dec. 13, 1969]
The single received an achievement award from BMI as one of the most performed rhythm and blues songs in its repertoire for 19691970.[https://books.google.com/books?id=SUUEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA21&lpg=PA21&dq=%22swingin+tight%22&source=bl&ots=aCcY_-4piX&sig=ACfU3U0ys5KkCTvRXsqEeXym1y5vkuwoeA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiXifaQwajqAhWEo54KHaUPDWsQ6AEwLHoECG4QAQ#v=onepage&q=%22swingin%20tight%22&f=false Billboard Magazine Apr. 3, 1971 pg 21]
'Os Selvagens'
In 1970, the Brazilian group Os Selvagens incorporated the song on their self titled 'Os Selvagens' album (Epic-44057). The song was recorded in Portuguese under the title "Deixa Pra L" and was the sixth track on the A-side.[http://discogs.com/Os-Selvagens/Os-Selvagens/release/5477051 Discogs]
References
Category: Songs written by Mark Barkan
Category:1969 songs
Category:American pop rock songs
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