There's A Kind Of Hush
Encyclopedia
"There's a Kind of Hush" is a popular song written by Les Reed
and Geoff Stephens
which was a hit in 1967 for Herman's Hermits
and again in 1976 for the Carpenters
.
; like that group's hit "Winchester Cathedral
", "There's a Kind of Hush" was conceived as a neo-British music hall
number although it is a less overt proponent of that style. The first single version of "There's a Kind of Hush" was recorded in 1966 by Gary and the Hornets
, a teen/pre-teen male band from Franklin, Ohio whose version - entitled "A Kind of Hush" produced by Lou Reizner
- became a regional success and showed signs of breaking nationally in January 1967; the single would reach #4 in Cincinnati and #3 in Erie PA. However an expedient cover
by Herman's Hermits
was released in the US in February 1967 to reach the Top 30 of the Billboard Hot 100
in three weeks and proceed to a peak of #4 - affording the group their final US Top Ten hit - with Gold certification for US sales of one million units awarded that April. In the UK Herman's Hermits' "There's a Kind of Hush" would reach #7. The success of the Herman's Hermits version led to the release of the original New Vaudeville Band track as a single in some territories with both of these versions charting in Australia with peaks of #3 (Herman's Hermits) and #15 (New Vaudeville Band) and also in South Africa where the New Vaudeville Band bested the Herman's Hermits' #9 peak by reaching #4.
International chart peaks/ Herman's Hermits version
album release A Kind of Hush
for which it served as lead single, reaching #12 on the Billboard Hot 100
chart and affording the Carpenters' their thirteenth #1 on the easy listening chart .
The single's success indicated a drop in the Carpenters' popularity, it being the first lead single from a mainstream Carpenters' album release to fall short of the Top 5 since "Ticket to Ride
" from the group's pre-stardom 1969 debut album Offering
while the #33 chart peak of the A Kind of Hush album afforded the Carpenters' their first Top 20 shortfall since Offering. "There's a Kind of Hush" would remain the Carpenters' final Top Twenty hit until 1981 when "Touch Me When We're Dancing
" reached #16 becoming the group's final Top 40 hit.
Richard Carpenter
explained in the liner notes to the Carpenters' 2004 best-of compilation, Gold, that although he and Karen Carpenter
loved the song, he was not particularly pleased with how their remake turned out:
s of "There's a Kind of Hush" appeared on 1967 album releases (indicated in parenthesis) by Engelbert Humperdinck
(Release Me), the Lennon Sisters
(Somethin' Stupid), Susan Maughan
(Hey Look Me Over), Matt Monro
(These Years) and Margaret Whiting
(Maggie Isn't Margaret Anymore).
In the summer of 1968 Karel Gott
reached #7 in Czechoslovakia with his rendition of "There's a Kind of Hush" (sung in English); a Czech rendering of the song entitled "Požehnej, Bože Můj" would be featured on Gott's 1970 album Poslouchejte! Karel Gott Zpívá Lásku Bláznivou A Další Hity.
Jo Stafford
recorded "There's a Kind of Hush" as her contribution to the 1969 album Big Bands/Big Hits.
As "There's a Kind of Hush (All Over the World)" the song made a C&W chart
appearance with a #42 peak in 1972 via a recording by Brian Collins
.
Dana
recorded "There's a Kind of Hush" for her 1976 album release Love Songs & Fairytales which was produced by the song's composer Geoff Stephens.
Perry Como
recorded "There's a Kind of Hush" for his 1977 album, The Best of British
; this version also appears on Como's 1978 album, Where You're Concerned
.
b-flower
, a Japanese indie band, covered this song in English on their 1999 album, "Paint My Soul".
Johnny Mathis
recorded "There's a Kind of Hush" for his 2005 album Isn't It Romantic.
In 2006, the experimental rock band Deerhoof
covered the song on their self-released, internet-only untitled EP
.
Barry Manilow
recorded the song for his 2006 album, The Greatest Songs of the Sixties
.
Clay Aiken
recorded the song on his 2010 album Tried and True
.
"There's a Kind of Hush" has been rendered in Dutch as "'K voel me goed vandaag" recorded by Dana Winner, in Finnish as "Hetki Tää" recorded by Taiska, in French as "Qu'est-ce que tu deviens?" recorded by Claude François
, and in Swedish as "Det Är Lugnt Och Tyst" recorded by Towa Carson
and also by Anne-Lie Rydé
.
Les Reed
Les Reed O.B.E. is an English songwriter, musician and light orchestra leader.-Career:...
and Geoff Stephens
Geoff Stephens
Geoffrey 'Geoff' Stephens , was one of the top British songwriters of the 1960s and 1970s.-Career:...
which was a hit in 1967 for Herman's Hermits
Herman's Hermits
Herman's Hermits are an English beat band, formed in Manchester in 1963 as Herman & The Hermits. The group's record producer, Mickie Most , emphasized a simple, non-threatening, clean-cut image, although the band originally played R&B numbers...
and again in 1976 for the Carpenters
The Carpenters
Carpenters were an American vocal and instrumental duo, consisting of sister Karen and brother Richard Carpenter. The Carpenters were the #1 selling American music act of the 1970s. Though often referred to by the public as "The Carpenters", the duo's official name on authorized recordings and...
.
First recordings
The song was introduced on the 1966 album Winchester Cathedral by Geoff Stephens' group the New Vaudeville BandThe New Vaudeville Band
The New Vaudeville Band was a group created by songwriter Geoff Stephens in 1966 to record his novelty composition "Winchester Cathedral", a song inspired by the dance bands of the 1920s and a Rudy Vallee megaphone style vocal...
; like that group's hit "Winchester Cathedral
Winchester Cathedral (song)
"Winchester Cathedral" is a song released in late 1966 by Fontana Records, whereupon it shot to the No. 1 spot in Canada on the RPM 100 national singles charts and shortly thereafter in the U.S. on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was released by The New Vaudeville Band, a novelty group established...
", "There's a Kind of Hush" was conceived as a neo-British music hall
Music hall
Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...
number although it is a less overt proponent of that style. The first single version of "There's a Kind of Hush" was recorded in 1966 by Gary and the Hornets
Gary and the Hornets
Gary and the Hornets was a Franklin, Ohio based band that consisted of three brothers: Gary Calvert , Greg Calvert and Steve Calvert...
, a teen/pre-teen male band from Franklin, Ohio whose version - entitled "A Kind of Hush" produced by Lou Reizner
Lou Reizner
Lou Reizner was a record producer, A&R executive and head of Mercury Records European operations. As a producer, he is perhaps best known for Rod Stewart's first two solo albums, for the orchestral version of The Who's rock opera Tommy, and Rick Wakeman's Journey to the Centre of the Earth...
- became a regional success and showed signs of breaking nationally in January 1967; the single would reach #4 in Cincinnati and #3 in Erie PA. However an expedient cover
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
by Herman's Hermits
Herman's Hermits
Herman's Hermits are an English beat band, formed in Manchester in 1963 as Herman & The Hermits. The group's record producer, Mickie Most , emphasized a simple, non-threatening, clean-cut image, although the band originally played R&B numbers...
was released in the US in February 1967 to reach the Top 30 of the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
in three weeks and proceed to a peak of #4 - affording the group their final US Top Ten hit - with Gold certification for US sales of one million units awarded that April. In the UK Herman's Hermits' "There's a Kind of Hush" would reach #7. The success of the Herman's Hermits version led to the release of the original New Vaudeville Band track as a single in some territories with both of these versions charting in Australia with peaks of #3 (Herman's Hermits) and #15 (New Vaudeville Band) and also in South Africa where the New Vaudeville Band bested the Herman's Hermits' #9 peak by reaching #4.
International chart peaks/ Herman's Hermits version
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FRANCE France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... |
GERMANY Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate... |
IRELAND Republic of Ireland Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,... |
MALAY- SIA |
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NEW ZEALAND New Zealand New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga... |
SINGA- PORE Singapore Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the... |
SOUTH AFRICA South Africa The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans... |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #3 | #19 | #16 | #2 | #21 | #26 | #7 | #2 | #15 | #10 | #2 | #9 | #7 | #4 |
The Carpenters version
The Carpenters remade "There's a Kind of Hush" - as "There's a Kind of Hush (All Over the World)" - for their 19761976 in music
-January–February:*January 5 – Former Beatles road manager Mal Evans is shot dead by Los Angeles police after refusing to drop what police only later determine is an air rifle....
album release A Kind of Hush
A Kind of Hush (album)
A Kind of Hush is the seventh studio album by American popular music duo The Carpenters. It was released in May 1976.Of its three excerpted singles only the title track, "There's a Kind of Hush ," a cover of a 1960s song by Herman's Hermits, gave the pair a hit single - both the US Top Ten, and UK...
for which it served as lead single, reaching #12 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
chart and affording the Carpenters' their thirteenth #1 on the easy listening chart .
The single's success indicated a drop in the Carpenters' popularity, it being the first lead single from a mainstream Carpenters' album release to fall short of the Top 5 since "Ticket to Ride
Ticket to Ride
"Ticket to Ride" is a song by The Beatles from their 1965 album, Help!. It was recorded 15 February 1965 and released two months later. -Composition:...
" from the group's pre-stardom 1969 debut album Offering
Ticket to Ride (album)
-Charts:-Credits:*Producer: Jack Daugherty*Engineer: Ray Gerhardt*Guest Artist: Herb Alpert *Bass: Joe Osborn and Bob Messenger*Guitar: Gary Sims*Art Director: Tom Wilkes*Photographer: Jim McCrary-"Ticket To Ride":...
while the #33 chart peak of the A Kind of Hush album afforded the Carpenters' their first Top 20 shortfall since Offering. "There's a Kind of Hush" would remain the Carpenters' final Top Twenty hit until 1981 when "Touch Me When We're Dancing
Touch Me When We're Dancing
"Touch Me When We're Dancing" is a song written by Terry Skinner, J. L. Wallace and Ken Bell. Skinner and Wallace headed the Muscle Shoals, Alabama session group Bama, who first recorded this song and released it as a single in 1979 reaching the Billboard Easy Listening chart at #42 and ranking on...
" reached #16 becoming the group's final Top 40 hit.
Richard Carpenter
Richard Carpenter (musician)
Richard Lynn Carpenter is an American pop musician, best known as one half of the brother/sister duo The Carpenters, along with his sister Karen Carpenter. He was a producer, arranger, pianist and keyboardist, and occasional lyricist, as well as joining with Karen on harmony...
explained in the liner notes to the Carpenters' 2004 best-of compilation, Gold, that although he and Karen Carpenter
Karen Carpenter
Karen Anne Carpenter was an American singer and drummer. She and her brother, Richard, formed the 1970s duo The Carpenters. She was a drummer of exceptional skill, but she is best remembered for her vocal performances of idealistic romantic ballads of true love...
loved the song, he was not particularly pleased with how their remake turned out:
"...one of Karen's and my favorite songs from the '60s. In hindsight, however, even though our version was a hit, I wish we'd never recorded it. Here are three reasons why: (1) The original was, and is, perfectly fine. (2) Our foray into the oldies should have ended with the medley featured on side 2 of [the duo's hit LP] Now & Then, 1973. (3) The use of a synthesizer in some of our recordings has not worn well with me, on this track, or just about any other track on which I used it."
| Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 12 |
| U.S. Billboard Easy Listening | 1 |
| Canadian Singles Chart | 11 |
| Oricon (Japanese) Singles Chart | 27 |
| UK Singles Chart | 22 |
| Australian Singles Chart | 33 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart | 5 |
Other versions
Contemporary cover versionCover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
s of "There's a Kind of Hush" appeared on 1967 album releases (indicated in parenthesis) by Engelbert Humperdinck
Engelbert Humperdinck (singer)
Engelbert Humperdinck is a British pop singer, best known for his hits including "Release Me " and "After the Lovin'" as well as "The Last Waltz" .-Early life:...
(Release Me), the Lennon Sisters
The Lennon Sisters
The Lennon Sisters are a singing group consisting of four siblings: Dianne , Peggy , Kathy , and Janet . They were all born in Los Angeles, California of German/Irish and Mexican ancestry. The original quartet were the eldest four in a family of twelve siblings...
(Somethin' Stupid), Susan Maughan
Susan Maughan
Susan Maughan is an English singer who released successful singles in the 1960s.-Career:...
(Hey Look Me Over), Matt Monro
Matt Monro
Matt Monro was an English singer who became one of the most popular entertainers on the international music scene during the 1960s...
(These Years) and Margaret Whiting
Margaret Whiting
Margaret Whiting was a singer of American popular music and country music who first made her reputation during the 1940s and 1950s.-Youth:...
(Maggie Isn't Margaret Anymore).
In the summer of 1968 Karel Gott
Karel Gott
Karel Gott is a Czech Schlager singer, and an amateur painter. He is considered as the most successful male singer in former Czechoslovakia and currently in the Czech Republic; he has being voted the Most Favorite Male Singer in the annual national pool Český slavík in total thirty-six times...
reached #7 in Czechoslovakia with his rendition of "There's a Kind of Hush" (sung in English); a Czech rendering of the song entitled "Požehnej, Bože Můj" would be featured on Gott's 1970 album Poslouchejte! Karel Gott Zpívá Lásku Bláznivou A Další Hity.
Jo Stafford
Jo Stafford
Jo Elizabeth Stafford was an American singer of traditional pop music and jazz standards and occasional actress whose career ran from the late 1930s to the early 1960s...
recorded "There's a Kind of Hush" as her contribution to the 1969 album Big Bands/Big Hits.
As "There's a Kind of Hush (All Over the World)" the song made a C&W chart
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...
appearance with a #42 peak in 1972 via a recording by Brian Collins
Brian Collins (singer)
Brian Collins is an American country music artist. Between 1973 and 1974, he recorded two albums for Dot Records. In that same time span, he charted three Top 40 singles on the Billboard country charts. His highest-charting single was a #10 cover of Jack Greene's "Statue of a...
.
Dana
Dana Rosemary Scallon
Dana Rosemary Scallon , known in her singing career simply as Dana, is an Irish singer and former Member of the European Parliament ....
recorded "There's a Kind of Hush" for her 1976 album release Love Songs & Fairytales which was produced by the song's composer Geoff Stephens.
Perry Como
Perry Como
Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with them in 1943. "Mr...
recorded "There's a Kind of Hush" for his 1977 album, The Best of British
The Best of British
Best Of British was Perry Como's 24th RCA Victor 12" long-play album and the 22nd recorded in full "living" stereophonic sound. This album was released in the UK and Canada only...
; this version also appears on Como's 1978 album, Where You're Concerned
Where You're Concerned
This is Perry Como's 25th RCA Victor album. Recorded in the United Kingdom and the United States , it shares most of its tracks with Perry's album, The Best of British...
.
b-flower
B-flower
b-flower are a Japanese indie pop band formed in Kyoto, Japan, in the late 1980s. The band would be put under such banners as ネオアコースティック in Japan , which refers to the sound heavily influenced by the British independent music scene of the 1980s, most notably alternative rock...
, a Japanese indie band, covered this song in English on their 1999 album, "Paint My Soul".
Johnny Mathis
Johnny Mathis
John Royce "Johnny" Mathis is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standards, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum status, and 73 making the Billboard charts...
recorded "There's a Kind of Hush" for his 2005 album Isn't It Romantic.
In 2006, the experimental rock band Deerhoof
Deerhoof
Deerhoof is a musical group consisting of Satomi Matsuzaki, John Dieterich, Ed Rodriguez and Greg Saunier.-Origins:In 1992, Greg Saunier, having recently graduated with a degree in music composition from Oberlin Conservatory of Music, joined a short-lived San Francisco quartet called Nitre Pit, on...
covered the song on their self-released, internet-only untitled EP
Untitled Deerhoof EP
-Track listing:All songs written by Deerhoof, unless otherwise noted.#"The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill" – 2:07#"Desaparaceré" [Live] – 3:27#"Wrong Time Capsule" [Live] – 3:25...
.
Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow is an American singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, producer, conductor, and performer, best known for such recordings as "Could It Be Magic", "Mandy", "Can't Smile Without You", and "Copacabana ."...
recorded the song for his 2006 album, The Greatest Songs of the Sixties
The Greatest Songs of the Sixties
The Greatest Songs of the Sixties is Barry Manilow's sequel album for The Greatest Songs of the Fifties. The album was another major hit for Manilow in the United States, selling nearly 50% more than his previous album in its opening week. As with its predecessor, this album was produced by Clive...
.
Clay Aiken
Clay Aiken
Clayton Holmes "Clay" Aiken is an American singer, songwriter, actor, producer and author who began his rise to fame on the second season of the television program American Idol in 2003. RCA Records offered him a recording contract, and his multi-platinum debut album Measure of a Man was released...
recorded the song on his 2010 album Tried and True
Tried and True
Tried and True is the fifth full length studio album released by Clay Aiken on June 1, 2010. This album is Aiken's first release on the Decca label. The deluxe edition includes two additional tracks plus a second disk with behind the scenes video and a live performance.-Background:The songs on...
.
"There's a Kind of Hush" has been rendered in Dutch as "'K voel me goed vandaag" recorded by Dana Winner, in Finnish as "Hetki Tää" recorded by Taiska, in French as "Qu'est-ce que tu deviens?" recorded by Claude François
Claude François
Claude François was a French pop singer, songwriter and dancer. He wrote "Comme d'habitude," the original version of "My Way."-Early life:...
, and in Swedish as "Det Är Lugnt Och Tyst" recorded by Towa Carson
Towa Carson
Towa Carson , born on 31 March 1936 in Eskilstuna, Sweden, is a Swedish schlager singer. She debuted in 1954 and had the most success in the 1950s and 1960s, when she recorded many duets with Lasse Lönndahl...
and also by Anne-Lie Rydé
Anne-Lie Rydé
Anne-Lie Rydé is a Swedish pop and rock singer.Rydé grew up on Lidingö, but moved to Gothenburg in 1976. There she played with the Gothenburg-based band Extra from 1978 to 1983...
.