THE NIGHT CHICAGO DIED
Written by: Peter Callander & Mitch Murray Buy Night Chicago Died Died.THEDIED Buy on: on: Amazon MP3, iTunes
Performed by: Paper Lace2-19743
Appears on: Paper Lace-1974, Back to the '70s, Vol. III-1989*, Rock'n'Roll
Fever of the '60s & '70s-1994*, AM Gold: Radio Hits of the '70s
(1969-1974)-1999*, One Hit Wonders-2004*, AM Radio: One Hit Wonders-2005*4,
Remember the Golden '70s-2008*, et al. (*Compilation of various artists.)
Covered by: The Countdown Singers, No Empanthy, The Recliners & Ricky Lee
Robinson.
2This song is unfairly lumped in with the likes of \"Afternoon Delight\" and
\"Billy Don't Be A Hero\" as one of the icons of the '70s \"bubblegum\" genre.
The song is factually inaccurate there is no East Side of Chicago, and Al
Capone never engineered a police massacre. The arrangement is wildly
overactive, throwing in some sound effects and ear-grabbing noises like the
very odd and prominent, clipped, overprocessed cymbal sound that shows up
once a verse for about four bars at a time and then disappears again. However
in the '70s this song had been an inescapable AM radio hit.
3Paper Lace was a classic one-hit wonder band. In America, anyway. (In the
U.K. they were a classic two-hit wonder.) Formed in 1969 in Nottingham,
England, by Michael Vaughn, Chris Morris, Carlo Santanna (not to be confused
with Carlos Santana, of Latin music fame), Cliff Fish, and Phillip Wright.
They were one of hundreds of pop bands in England looking for the big time
while slogging their way through small club gigs and brief television
appearances. Their big break came in 1974 when their version of the
tear-jerking, \"bubblegum\" tune \"Billy, Don't Be a Hero,\" went all the way to
the top of the U.K. charts. Their next single,\"The Night Chicago Died,\" did
manage to hit the number one slot on the U.S. charts (number three in the
U.K.) and then that was it.
