"Washington Square"is a popularinstrumentalfrom1963by theNew York City-basedjazzgroupThe Village Stompers.The composition was written byBobb GoldsteinnandDavid Shire.[2]
| "Washington Square" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| SinglebyThe Village Stompers | ||||
| from the albumThe Original Washington Square | ||||
| B-side | "Turkish Delight" | |||
| Released | 23 August 1963[1] | |||
| Recorded | 1963 | |||
| Genre | Pop,Dixieland jazz,instrumental | |||
| Length | 2:42 | |||
| Label | Epic | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Bobb Goldsteinn,David Shire | |||
| Producer(s) | Joe Sherman | |||
| The Village Stomperssingles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Background
editThe composition is named after the famouspark in New York City.[3]
Chart performance
edit"Washington Square" was a hitsingle,reaching No. 2 on theBillboardHot 100chart in the week ending 23 November 1963,[4]kept from the summit of theBillboardHot 100 byDale and Grace's hit song "I'm Leaving It Up to You".[5]"Washington Square" did, however, top theBillboardEasy Listening chartfor three weeks that November[3]and made the top 30 on theBillboardR&B chart.[6]InCanadait was No. 5 for 2 weeks.[7]
Accolades
editIn addition, the instrumental was nominated for aGrammy Awardin the categoryBest Instrumental Theme.
Other recordings
editOther artists have recorded the tune, sometimes with song lyrics. Among these acts are:
- The Ames Brothers1963 (withoutEd Ames;their last national chart record)
- TheKirby Stone Four1963
- Lawrence Welk1963
- Kenny Ball1963
- Spike Jones1963
- Kai Winding1963
- Sammy Kaye& His Orchestra 1964
- Andre Kostelanetz1964
- Billy Vaughn1964
- Glenn Miller Orchestra1965
- Marilyn Maye1965
- The Dukes of Dixieland1968
- James Last1970
- Percy Faith1974
- The Ventures1980
- Nightmares on Wax1999
- Chinese Man2006.[3][8]
In Asia:
- TheSouth Koreanfemale vocalist band Lee Sisters released a recording of this tune.[9]
- Another South Korean group, named Key Boys, also released a recording of this tune under the title "미소 ( vi tiếu ) (Washington Square)" in 1964.
- The Hong Kong Cantopop artistSamuel Huialso released a recording of the tune in Cantonese, titledHọc sinh ca(hok6 saang1 go1) for the filmThe Contract,with new lyrics exhorting boys to be studious.[10]
Popular culture
edit- The tune was also featured as a very important plot piece in the 2020 Stephen King HBO dramaThe Outsider.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^"The Village Stompers: Washington Square".www.45cat.com.Retrieved19 July2020.
- ^"Song: Washington Square written by Bobb Goldstein, David Shire | SecondHandSongs".SecondHandSongs.
- ^abcHyatt, Wesley (1999).The Billboard Book of #1 Adult Contemporary Hits(Billboard Publications)
- ^Whitburn, Joel(1996).The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits,6th Edition (Billboard Publications)
- ^"Billboard Hot 100(Week of November 23rd, 1963)".Billboard.2013-01-02.Retrieved2023-06-22.
- ^Whitburn, Joel(2004).Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004.Record Research. p. 604.
- ^"CHUM Hit Parade - November 18, 1963".
- ^ASCAP. "ACE Title Search."http://www.ascap.com/index.aspxNote: must enter song info @ ASCAP site
- ^"정시스터즈 워싱턴광장 1965".YouTube.[dead YouTube link]
- ^"【 nhất nhật nhất kinh điển 】 quảng đông thoại ca thần hứa quan kiệt: Mệnh lí hữu thời chung tu hữu - minh chu ngu nhạc".Minh chu ngu nhạc(in Chinese). 2017-09-06.Retrieved2018-06-02.[dead link]
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