{"id":2131,"date":"2020-05-09T05:15:17","date_gmt":"2020-05-09T05:15:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.alexbattles.com\/?p=2131"},"modified":"2020-10-09T05:22:41","modified_gmt":"2020-10-09T05:22:41","slug":"songwriters-on-the-hilltop-or-when-a-jingle-hits-the-charts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alexbattles.com\/?p=2131","title":{"rendered":"Songwriters on the &#8220;Hilltop&#8221;, or, when a jingle hits the charts."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In 1971, Coca Cola released their iconic <a href=\"http:\/\/memory.loc.gov\/ammem\/ccmphtml\/colaadv.html\">&#8220;Hilltop&#8221; TV commercial<\/a>. The underlying jingle &#8220;I&#8217;d Like To Teach the World To Sing&#8221; proved so popular that radio station listeners started requesting it. Two separate versions of the song reached the Billboard Top 20 in 1972. (Hillside Singers, #13; The New Seekers, #7)<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/1VM2eLhvsSM\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight:bold;\">&#8220;I&#8217;d Like to Teach The World to Sing&#8221;<br \/>\n(Spot name: &#8220;Hilltop&#8221;, McCann-Erickson, 1971)<br \/>\nMusic by Bill Backer, Billy Davis, Roger Greenaway and Roger Cook<br \/>\nPerformed by The New Seekers<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;d Like to Teach The World To Sing&#8221; was written by four interesting characters, Bill Backer, Billy Davis, Roger Greenaway and Roger Cook. <\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight:bold;\">Bill Backer<\/span> (1926- ) was an executive at the McCann-Erickson advertising agency, the Charleston, S.C., native created some of the most successful ad campaigns in history. Backer contributed his songwriting skills to the jingles on more than one of the spots he created. <\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3oUBaCyXWNk\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight:bold;\">&#8220;Here&#8217;s to Good Friends&#8221;<br \/>\nWords and Music by Bill Backer<br \/>\nPerformed by Arthur Prysock<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight:bold;\"><br \/>\nRoquel Billy Davis<\/span> (July 11, 1932 &#8211; September 2, 2004) of Detroit was an American songwriter, record producer, and singer. <\/p>\n<p><object width=\"425\" height=\"344\"><param name=\"movie\" value=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/xJ3-NnNx6Zs&#038;hl=en&#038;fs=1&#038;rel=0\"><\/param><param name=\"allowFullScreen\" value=\"true\"><\/param><param name=\"allowscriptaccess\" value=\"always\"><\/param><embed src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/xJ3-NnNx6Zs&#038;hl=en&#038;fs=1&#038;rel=0\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" allowscriptaccess=\"always\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" width=\"425\" height=\"344\"><\/embed><\/object><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight:bold;\">&#8220;Reet Petite&#8221;<br \/>\nWords and Music by Billy Davis &#038; Berry Gordy, Jr.<br \/>\nPerformed by Jackie Wilson<\/span><\/p>\n<p><object width=\"425\" height=\"344\"><param name=\"movie\" value=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/2nEfuE8Pw4U&#038;hl=en&#038;fs=1&#038;rel=0\"><\/param><param name=\"allowFullScreen\" value=\"true\"><\/param><param name=\"allowscriptaccess\" value=\"always\"><\/param><embed src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/2nEfuE8Pw4U&#038;hl=en&#038;fs=1&#038;rel=0\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" allowscriptaccess=\"always\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" width=\"425\" height=\"344\"><\/embed><\/object><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight:bold;\">&#8220;Lonely Teardrops&#8221;<br \/>\nWords and Music by Billy Davis, Gwen Fuqua &#038; Berry Gordy, Jr.<br \/>\nPerformed by Jackie Wilson<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight:bold;\"><br \/>\nRoger Frederick Cook<\/span> (born 19 August 1940, in Fishponds, Bristol, England) is a well-known songwriter who has written many hits for other recording artists. He has also had a successful recording career in his own right. Most of the hits he has written have been in collaboration with Roger Greenaway, whom he originally met while they were members of a close harmony group, The Kestrels.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight:bold;\">Roger Greenaway<\/span> (born Roger John Greenaway, 23 August 1938, [1] Fishponds, Bristol), is a popular English songwriter, best remembered for his collaborations with Roger Cook.<\/p>\n<p><object width=\"425\" height=\"344\"><param name=\"movie\" value=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/0oXymWz6i6I&#038;hl=en&#038;fs=1&#038;rel=0\"><\/param><param name=\"allowFullScreen\" value=\"true\"><\/param><param name=\"allowscriptaccess\" value=\"always\"><\/param><embed src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/0oXymWz6i6I&#038;hl=en&#038;fs=1&#038;rel=0\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" allowscriptaccess=\"always\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" width=\"425\" height=\"344\"><\/embed><\/object><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight:bold;\">&#8220;Talking In Your Sleep&#8221;<br \/>\nWords &#038; Music by Roger Cook &#038; Bobby Wood<br \/>\nPerformed by Crystal Gayle<\/span><\/p>\n<p><object width=\"425\" height=\"344\"><param name=\"movie\" value=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/lP94PlEtsEQ&#038;hl=en&#038;fs=1&#038;rel=0\"><\/param><param name=\"allowFullScreen\" value=\"true\"><\/param><param name=\"allowscriptaccess\" value=\"always\"><\/param><embed src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/lP94PlEtsEQ&#038;hl=en&#038;fs=1&#038;rel=0\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" allowscriptaccess=\"always\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" width=\"425\" height=\"344\"><\/embed><\/object><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight:bold;\">&#8220;Long, Cool Woman in a Black Dress&#8221;<br \/>\nWords &#038; Music by Roger Cook &#038; Roger Greenaway<br \/>\nPerformed by The Hollies<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/rQjxpKqnuRs\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-weight:bold;\">&#8220;You&#8217;ve Got Your Troubles&#8221;<br \/>\nWords &#038; Music by Roger Cook &#038; Roger Greenaway<br \/>\nPerformed by The Fortunes<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In 1971, Coca Cola released their iconic &#8220;Hilltop&#8221; TV commercial. The underlying jingle &#8220;I&#8217;d Like To Teach the World To Sing&#8221; proved so popular that radio station listeners started requesting it. Two separate versions of the song reached the Billboard Top 20 in 1972. (Hillside Singers, #13; The New Seekers,[&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alexbattles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alexbattles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alexbattles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alexbattles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alexbattles.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2131"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.alexbattles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2131\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2134,"href":"https:\/\/www.alexbattles.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2131\/revisions\/2134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alexbattles.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alexbattles.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alexbattles.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}