| "On Broadway" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byThe Drifters | ||||
| from the album Under the Boardwalk | ||||
| B-side | "Let the Music Play" | |||
| Released | March 1963 | |||
| Genre | Soul | |||
| Length | 3:05 | |||
| Label | Atlantic | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Barry Mann,Cynthia Weil,Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller | |||
| The Drifters singles chronology | ||||
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| "On Broadway" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byGeorge Benson | ||||
| from the albumWeekend in L.A. | ||||
| B-side | "We As Love" | |||
| Released | March 1978 (1978) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 5:15 (single version) 10:06 (album version) | |||
| Label | Warner Bros. | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) | Tommy LiPuma | |||
| George Benson singles chronology | ||||
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"On Broadway" is a song written byBarry Mann andCynthia Weil in collaboration with the team ofJerry Leiber and Mike Stoller.
Weil and Mann were based at Aldon Music, located at 1650 Broadway,New York City, and the song as written by Mann/Weil was originally recorded bythe Cookies (althoughthe Crystals' version beat them to release) and featured an upbeat lyric in which the protagonist is still on her way to Broadway and sings "I got to get there soon, or I'll just die". The song was played as a shuffle.
When Leiber/Stoller let it be known thatthe Drifters had booked studio time for the following day and were a song short, Mann/Weil forwarded "On Broadway". Leiber and Stoller liked the song but felt that it was not quite right; the four held an overnight brainstorming session that culminated in the better-known version, now with arock-oriented groove and with a more bluesy feel, which matched the new lyric in which the singer was now actually on Broadway and having a hard time.
A youngPhil Spector played the distinctive lead guitar solo on the Drifters' recording.[2] The personnel for the Drifters recording wereRudy Lewis – lead vocals;Joe Newman,Ernie Royal – trumpets;Billy Butler, Bill Suyker,Everett Barksdale – guitars;Russ Savakus – bass;Gary Chester – drums; and Phil Kraus, Nick Rodriguez, Martin Grupp – percussion. The arranger wasGarry Sherman.
The recording by the Drifters was a hit, reaching No. 9 on theBillboard Hot 100 in 1963.Cash Box described it as "a haunting, slow beat cha cha opus...that sports a first rateGarry Shermanarrangement."[3]
The Drifters' version was featured in a 1971 television public service announcement forRadio Free Europe (RFE). The Hungarian expatriate announcer is shown entering the RFE studio announcing "On Broadway", after which young Hungarians are shown listening to the "In sound from Outside".[4]
In 2013, the 1963 recording of the song by the Drifters onAtlantic Records was inducted into theGrammy Hall of Fame.[5]
George Benson's version of "On Broadway", from his 1978 albumWeekend in L.A., hit No. 7 on theBillboard Hot 100 and No. 2 on the Soul chart.[6] Benson's take also has had substantialadult contemporary andsmooth jazz radio airplay ever since. It won aGrammy Award forBest R&B Vocal Performance.
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