Winchester Cathedral (song)

Common card · No. 367660

"Winchester Cathedral" is a song by the New Vaudeville Band, a British novelty group established by the song's composer, Geoff Stephens. It was released in late 1966 by Fontana Records. The song reached number 1 in Canada on the RPM 100 chart, co-charting with the Dana Rollin version, and shortly thereafter in the US on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Stephens was a fan of tunes from the British music hall era (or what Americans would call "vaudeville"), so he wrote "Winchester Cathedral" in that vein, complete with a Rudy Vallée soundalike vocalist, John Carter, singing through his cupped hands to imitate singing through a megaphone as Vallée did. Although the song was recorded entirely by session musicians, when it became an international hit, an actual band had to be assembled, with Fontana trying unsuccessfully to recruit the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band. The recording is one of the few charting songs to feature a bassoon. The band toured extensively under the guidance of Peter Grant, who later...

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