Mississippi (song)

For other songs with the title Mississippi, see Mississippi (disambiguation).
"Mississippi"
Black and white photograph of the members of Pussycat band with blue border on top and below
Single by Pussycat
from the album First of All
B-side "Do It"
Released November 29, 1975
Format 7" single
Recorded 1975 at EMI-Bovema Studios, Heemstede, Netherlands
Length 4:33
Label EMI (Europe)
Sonet (UK)
Private Stock (US)
Writer(s) Werner Theunissen
Producer(s) Eddy Hilberts
Certification Gold (BPI)
Pussycat singles chronology
"Mississippi"
(1975)		 "Georgie"
(1976)

"Mississippi" was a popular single by Dutch group Pussycat which consisted of three sisters Betty, Marianne and Toni Kowalczyk of which Toni (now Toni Willé) was the lead vocalist. They were accompanied by Lou Willé (g), Theo Wetzels (b), John Theunissen (g), Henk Hochstenbach, Hans Lutjens ('til 1973), Theo Coumans (from 1973) and again Hans Lutjens. Written by Werner Theunissen and produced by Eddy Hilberts, the song "Mississippi" was the sole number one single for Pussycat.

History

Werner Theunissen wrote "Mississippi" in 1969 being inspired by the Bee Gees song "Massachusetts". The song grabbed EMI Bovema's attention, and they decided to sign the band. By December 1975, the song became a massive hit seller at the number one position in the Dutch charts,[1] followed by its international success in 1976 pushing the song into the charts across Europe and the United Kingdom as far as Africa and Australia, where it reached number one in August 1976. It spent four weeks at number one on the UK Singles Chart in October 1976.[2] In South America, it charted for 129 weeks. It is estimated to have sold five million copies worldwide.[3]

The song was promoted by John Saunders Hughes in the UK through a Liverpool radio station. The lyrics are about the history of music, how rock music became more popular than country music.

Another version of this song was recorded by Barbara Fairchild. There is also a version in Spanish called "Te Necesito" by the Colombian singer Fernando Calle. Another notable cover version was recorded by Swedish dansband Vikingarna, that released the song in Swedish, with lyrics by Margot Borgström in April 1976, less than six months after the original release. The Swedish song title was also "Mississippi", and it appeared on the band's album Kramgoa Låtar 3 the same year.[4]

There was also a Czech version of this song performed by singer and actress Petra Černocká.

Charts and certifications

Peak positions

Chart (1975–76) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[5] 2
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[6] 4
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[7] 1
Germany (Media Control Charts)[8] 1
Ireland (IRMA)[9] 1
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[10] 1
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[11] 1
Norway (VG-lista)[12] 1
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[13] 6
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[14] 1
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[15] 1

Year-end charts

Chart (1976) Position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[16] 13
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[17] 3
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[18] 3

Sales and certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Germany (BVMI)[19] Gold 250,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[20] Gold 500,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

  1. ↑ Dutch Charts. "Werner Theunissen".
  2. ↑ Roberts, David, ed. (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London, England: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 332. ISBN 978-1-90499-410-7.
  3. ↑ Kutner, Jon; Leigh, Spencer (2005). 100 UK Number One Hits. London, England: Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-360-2.
  4. ↑ "Svensk mediedatabas". Retrieved 25 May 2011.
  5. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, New South Wales, Australia: Australian Chart Book. p. 242. ISBN 978-0-64611-917-5.
  6. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Pussycat – Mississippi" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  7. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Pussycat – Mississippi" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  8. ↑ "Chartverfulgong > Pussycat > Mississippi – musicline.de" (in German). Media Control Charts. PhonoNet GmbH.
  9. ↑ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Mississippi". Irish Singles Chart.
  10. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Pussycat search results" (in Dutch) Dutch Top 40.
  11. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Pussycat – Mississippi". Top 40 Singles.
  12. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Pussycat – Mississippi". VG-lista.
  13. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Pussycat – Mississippi". Singles Top 60.
  14. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Pussycat – Mississippi". Swiss Singles Chart.
  15. ↑ "Archive Chart: 1976-10-16" UK Singles Chart.
  16. ↑ Kent (1993). "1976 Top 25 Singles". p. 428.
  17. ↑ Scapolo, Dean (1997). New Zealand Music Charts 1966 to 1996 – Singles. IPL Publications Services. p. 356. ISBN 978-0-90887-600-6.
  18. ↑ "Top 50 Singles of 1976". Music Week (London, England: Spotlight Publications): 25. 25 December 1976.
  19. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Pussycat; 'Mississippi')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  20. ↑ "British single certifications – Pussycat – Mississippi". British Phonographic Industry. Enter Mississippi in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select single in the field By Format. Select Gold in the field By Award. Click Search
Preceded by
"Dancing Queen" by ABBA		 UK number one single
12 October 1976 for four weeks 		Succeeded by
"If You Leave Me Now" by Chicago