Angelo (Brotherhood of Man song) explained

Angelo
Cover:Angelo - BOM.jpg
Type:single
Artist:Brotherhood of Man
Album:Images
B-Side:All Night
Released:21 June 1977
Genre:Pop
Length:3.15
Label:Pye Records
Producer:Tony Hiller
Prev Title:Oh Boy (The Mood I'm In)
Prev Year:1977
Next Title:Highwayman
Next Year:1977

"Angelo" is a song by British pop group Brotherhood of Man. Released as a single in June 1977, it became the group's second UK number one hit.

Background

Written by Tony Hiller, Lee Sheriden and Martin Lee and produced by Hiller, it was the band's second UK number one single (after their Eurovision winner, "Save Your Kisses for Me" the previous year), spending a single week at the top in August 1977. The song remained on the UK Chart for 12 weeks - 10 of them in the Top Ten - and was the 9th biggest selling single of the year.[1] It was awarded a gold disc in August 1977 by the BPI.[2] The song also was a number one hit in Ireland, Japan and South Africa (for two weeks).[3] [4] [5] [6] It featured on the group's album Images, which was released later in the year.

The song tells of a shepherd in Mexico who falls in love with a rich girl, but he is met with resistance from her family. Both aware that her family would never allow the union, they run away together and end their lives by suicide.[7] According to co-writer Hiller, the lyrics were based on "Romeo and Juliet - the great love story. The idea was to create a modern day Romeo and Juliet romance".[8] The song is a moderate 117 beats per minute, and played in C Minor with the vocal range: G3-C5.[9]

The song is sung by the two female members of the group, Sandra Stevens and Nicky Stevens, although Sandra sings the opening lines alone. "Angelo" was performed by the group at the Silver Jubilee Royal Variety Gala in November 1977 in front of Queen Elizabeth II.[10]

UK comedy group The Barron Knights parodied this song on their "Live in Trouble" single, a top ten hit in 1977, as "Ann and Joe".[11] [1]

Track listing

  1. "Angelo" (3:15)
  2. "All Night" (2:59)

French and German version:

  1. "Angelo" (3:15)
  2. "Circus" (3:20)

All tracks written by Tony Hiller, Lee Sheriden and Martin Lee

Chart performance

CountryPeak
position
Belgium2
France[12] 70
Germany14
Ireland1
Japan1
Netherlands[13] 4
New Zealand[14] 27
Rhodesia[15] 1
South Africa1
United Kingdom1

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Brotherhood of Man - Full Official Chart History. Official Charts Company. 19 January 2016.
  2. Web site: Statistics - Certified Awards - Brotherhood of Man . BPI . 2009-02-05 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090924015932/http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/Search.aspx . 2009-09-24 .
  3. Web site: "Angelo" Irish Chart details . Irish charts.ie . 2008-11-14 . https://web.archive.org/web/20081209030833/http://www.irishcharts.ie/search/placement . 9 December 2008 . live .
  4. Web site: Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. Inc. 15 October 1977. Nielsen Business Media, Inc.. 28 August 2018. Google Books.
  5. Web site: "Angelo" South African chart details . Rock.co.za. 2008-11-14 .
  6. Web site: South African Number Ones . Rate your Music. 2009-02-23 .
  7. Web site: "Angelo" song lyrics . Gary Hart . 2008-12-05 . https://web.archive.org/web/20081202030011/http://homepage.ntlworld.com/gary.hart/lyricsb/brotherhood.html . 2 December 2008 . dead .
  8. Tony Hiller interview with Michael Heatley, 1995
  9. Web site: Brotherhood Of Man "Angelo" Sheet Music in C Minor (transposable) - Download & Print. Hiller. Tony. Musicnotes.com. 2 November 2009 . 28 August 2018.
  10. Web site: Silver Jubilee Royal Variety Gala . https://web.archive.org/web/20080419084157/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/729915?view=cast . dead . 2008-04-19 . BFI. 2008-10-01 .
  11. Web site: Barron Knights parody . Listology. 2009-01-21 .
  12. Web site: "Angelo" French Chart details . Infodisc . 2009-01-21 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090122015754/http://infodisc.fr/Artistes.php . 22 January 2009 . dead .
  13. Web site: "Angelo" Dutch Chart details . https://archive.today/20110608120658/http://www.radio538.nl/web/show/id=44685/chartid=6718 . dead . 2011-06-08 . Radio 538, Netherlands . 2008-12-12 .
  14. Web site: "Angelo" New Zealand Chart details . Charts.org. 17 September 2011 .
  15. Web site: UKMIX • View topic - Number one hits in Zimbabwe. www.ukmix.org. 2018-06-10.