On Broadway (song)
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- This article deals with the song "On Broadway". For the 2006 film, see On Broadway (film). For the Diana Ross & the Supremes and The Temptations album, see G.I.T. on Broadway. For the King Crimson live album, see King Crimson on Broadway
| “On Broadway” | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by The Drifters | |||||
| B-side | "Let the Music Play" | ||||
| Released | 1963 | ||||
| Writer(s) | Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller | ||||
| The Drifters singles chronology | |||||
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"On Broadway" is a song written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil (this duo also wrote James Ingram's signature song "Just Once") in collaboration with the team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller.
[edit] Composition
Weil and Mann were based at Aldon Music, located at 1650 Broadway, New York City, and the song as written by Mann/Weil was originally recorded by The Cookies (although The Crystals' version beat them to release) and featured an upbeat lyric in which the protagonist is still on her way to Broadway and sings "I got to get there soon, or I'll just die." Additionally the melody was in compound time and the backing riff modulated between the root and the 2nd minor.
When Leiber/Stoller let it be known that The Drifters had booked studio time for the following day and were a song short, Mann/Weil forwarded "On Broadway". Leiber and Stoller liked the song but felt that it was not quite right and the four held an overnight brainstorming session which culminated in the better-known version of the song, now in simple time and with a backing riff that modulated down to the flattened 7th, giving it a more bluesey feel which matched the new lyric in which the singer was now actually on Broadway and having a hard time. A young Phil Spector played the distinctive lead guitar solo on The Drifters' recording.[1]
[edit] Versions
The song was a hit for The Drifters in 1963, reaching #9 on the Billboard Hot 100, and has been covered by many artists such as the Dave Clark 5, 1964, George Benson, Eric Carmen, Bobby Darin, Percy Faith, Tom Jones, Johnny Mathis, Gary Numan, Tito Puente, Lou Rawls, Buddy Rich, Paul Rodgers with Jeff Beck, Frank Sinatra, Sly & the Family Stone, Livingston Taylor, and Neil Young. David Bowie quoted from the song in his 1973 track "Aladdin Sane (1913-1938-197?)". The song was covered jazz-style by Ray Brown, Jr. on the album Stand by Me. The lyrics of the song also make a brief appearance at the end of the song "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" by Genesis from their album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.
George Benson's version of "On Broadway", from his 1978 album Weekend in L.A., was an even bigger hit than The Drifters' original, hitting #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and getting substantial adult contemporary and smooth jazz radio airplay ever since. It won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal Performance. The song appeared in the films Big Business and American Beauty. George Benson's performance of the song was used during the opening credits of the 1979 film All That Jazz, which featured dancers on stage auditioning for a musical similar to A Chorus Line.
[edit] References
- ^ Mick Brown. Tearing Down the Wall of Sound, p.96
