Billboard #1 Hits: #175: “Winchester Cathedral”- The New Vaudeville Band. December 3, 1966. #1 for 3 weeks.
- Single: “Winchester Cathedral”- The New Vaudeville Band
- Record Company- Fontana
- Genre: Pop
- Written by Geoff Stephens
- Time: 2:20
- B-side: “Wait For Me Baby”
- Album- Winchester Cathedral
- Grade: D-
- Peaked at #1 3 weeks in the Billboard Hot 100. #4 in the UK Singles Chart.
The New Vaudeville Band were truly and thankfully one hit wonders in the United States. Other than this they had a single which peaked at #72 and that was all their Hot 100 action. The New Vaudeville Band were a novelty act from the United Kingdom. The band was formed by and the song written by songwriter/ producer Geoff Stephens. “Winchester Cathedral” of course won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Recording. If you study the Grammy Awards in the 60’s and 70’s you have to wonder who was voting for these awards- a bunch of squares? Stephens was- I imagine he still is-he’s 85 now- a fan of the old British music hall era- and this song has it’s Rudy Vallee soundalike [now there is a name you don’t hear much anymore} The song is just annoying- to get the megaphone sound the singer sings through his hands. About the only interesting note I came across about The New Vaudeville Band – they were managed by Peter Grant who later went on to manage an outfit called Led Zeppelin.
slicethelife 
Honestly, I find this song utterly charming as a novelty piece.
A lot of people liked it- #1 hit!
Geoff Stephens also wrote “The Crying Game”, which as you know I wrote about a few days ago.
When I saw that name I was thinking where did I see this from lately– “The Crying Game”- thanks!
Ah, I’ve always had a soft spot for this song.