Australian singles chart:
The Legend of Xanadu entered the Kent charts on 16 March 1968 and peaked at #6. The song was #43 on the Top 100 of 1968.
Songwriters:
Ken Howard, Alan Blaikley
Producer:
Steve Rowland
Record label of Australian release:
Philips
Wikipedia:
The Legend of Xanadu by Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich was the group’s biggest hit. As with many of their singles, it was written by songwriters Ken Howard and Alan Blaikley, and like many of the group’s recordings, it features novelty elements – in this case a trumpet section and the distinctive sound of a whip cracking in the chorus.
Read more: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Legend_of_Xanadu
The Guardian:
Every songwriting team has an act that brings out the best in them. For lifelong pals Ken Howard and Alan Blaikley, that act was a cumbersomely named Wiltshire five piece fronted by Dave Dee – who, in his previous job as a young policeman, was called to the scene of the car crash that claimed the life of Eddie Cochran. The Legend Of Xanadu was the quintet’s only number one, a magnificent moment of mariachi melodrama.
It’s a perfect reminder that pop can be silly and life-affirming in equal measure. Moving, too – after all, what was it to her that a man laid down his life in Xanadu?
Read more: www.theguardian.com/music/2012/may/31/dave-dee-legend-of-xanadu
This song is also on our Spotify playlist Bang a Gong – the 60s
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