Combine
Harvester (Brand New Key) / The Blackbird
The Wurzels
EMI 2450
Release
Date: April/May 1976
Side
1
- The Combine Harvester (Brand New Key)
Side
2
- The Blackbird
Producer:
Bob Barratt
This
was the release that rocketed The Wurzels into international
stardom. The 1975 album The Wurzels Are Scrumptious
had not spawned any singles, but in the spring of 1976,
the band continue a trend started with one track on
that album, by "wurzelling-up" some other
well-known songs. One of those was Melanie Safka's hit
Brand New Key. The result was The
Combine Harvester, and its success as
a single must have surprised everyone associated with
the band.
The
song hit the charts in 15 May 1976, shot up to #14 the
following week; a climb that earned them a slot of Top
Of The Pops. On the back of that, it reached
#3; a week later it was at #2, then on 12
June 1976 it reached the top of the UK Singles Charts
(in an era where that meant something!), and stayed
there for two weeks. Proper stuff!
The
single sold nearly 400,000 copies in the UK alone -
and was UK's 16th top-selling single of the 1976. It
was released across the world, and we are still tracking
down how well it did overseas. It did chart
in Canada - although was not a major hit.
Combine
Harvester was re-issued
in 1980 on the HMV label.
|
a-side
of the single in sleeve
7XCA
27839 - Front label
7XCA
27840 - Back label
The
American version of the single released on the ABC
Dot Label. This is a promo copy.
|
