The Pied Piper (song)

The Pied Piper was a British pop song written by the duo of Steve Duboff and Artie Kornfeld, who first recorded the song in 1965 as The Changin' Times. However, it was British pop singer Crispian St. Peters, who scored a major hit with the song during the summer of 1966, when his single went to #4 in the United States and #5 in the United Kingdom and even reached #1 in Canada.^[1][2]

In the Netherlands, the beatgroup The Jets from Utrecht recorded their version a few months before Chrispian did. Rumors had it that this version inspired the Crispian St. Peters version. The similarities are striking indeed. It referenced The Pied Piper of Hamelin, which gave it its name. In Italy, there was well-known a cover version, with the title Bandiera gialla (Yellow flag), sung by local artist Gianni Pettenati, but there was also a version, sung in English, by Patty Pravo. The song is noted for its use of the Penny Whistle, to represent the pipes of the Pied Piper.

Del Shannon also did a cover of the song in the 60s and The Ventures released a version in 1966. Jamaican reggae duo Bob and Marcia had a Top 20 hit with their version, taking the song to UK #11 in July 1971.

In 1999, the song was used in an advertisement for the first-generation Toyota Echo in New Zealand.

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