"the song was first released in Europe, where it has become much more popular than in the composers' native country, with a big-band/orchestral pop arrangement sung by Tony Christie. Christie's version was a major hit in Europe and a modest success in his native United Kingdom upon its release, then became even more popular in the mid-2000s when the song was reissued. As Christie's version failed to make a major impact in the U.S., Sedaka released his own recording of the song in 1977, which narrowly missed the top 40 but was an easy listening hit in the U.S. and"
"Tony Christie Tony Christie (born 25 April 1943) is an English musician, singer and actor. He is best known for his recording of ""(Is This The Way To) Amarillo"", a double UK chart success. He lived for many years in Sheffield where his wife, Sue, was born. He used to be a frequent artist on the stage at many working men's clubs like his contemporary, Joe Cocker. Discovered and managed by Harvey Lisberg, he had three hits in 1971, beginning with ""Las Vegas"" which reached number 21 in the UK, and went on to have two Top Twenty hits in"
"the King. Tony Christie Tony Christie (born 25 April 1943) is an English musician, singer and actor. He is best known for his recording of ""(Is This The Way To) Amarillo"", a double UK chart success. He lived for many years in Sheffield where his wife, Sue, was born. He used to be a frequent artist on the stage at many working men's clubs like his contemporary, Joe Cocker. Discovered and managed by Harvey Lisberg, he had three hits in 1971, beginning with ""Las Vegas"" which reached number 21 in the UK, and went on to have two Top Twenty"
"media appearances to ""Tony Christie featuring Peter Kay"". However, Kay does not appear on the record, since it is a re-issue of the original version and not a re-recording. Having sold 1.2 million copies by the end of 2009, ""(Is This the Way to) Amarillo"" was the third best-selling single of the 2000s in the UK, behind ""Anything Is Possible""/""Evergreen"" by Will Young and ""Unchained Melody"" by Gareth Gates. As of March 2017, it has sold 1.28 million copies. The Dutch singer Albert West covered the song in 1988. After the successful re-release of the song in the UK, Tony"
"Avenues and Alleyways ""Avenues and Alleyways"" is a 1972 single recorded by Tony Christie as the theme song for the television series ""The Protectors"". It was written and produced by Mitch Murray and Peter Callander, who were also responsible for Christie's ""Las Vegas"" and ""I Did What I Did for Maria"". Following the chart-topping success of the re-release of ""Is This the Way to Amarillo"" in 2005, this song was also re-released and peaked at No. 26 on the UK Singles Chart. On its original release, it had only reached No. 37. It is included in the soundtrack of the"
"The following week it reached its peak of 8 in the charts before dropping three consecutive weeks after to 11, 24 and 30 before exiting the charts after five weeks. (Is This the Way to) The World Cup ""(Is This the Way to) The World Cup"" is a 2006 single by Tony Christie with lyrics written by Ian Stringer and George Webley and published by Tug Records. It was released as a version of Christie's successful ""Is This the Way to Amarillo"" single and created as a version to support the England national football team at the 2006 FIFA World"
"(Is This the Way to) The World Cup ""(Is This the Way to) The World Cup"" is a 2006 single by Tony Christie with lyrics written by Ian Stringer and George Webley and published by Tug Records. It was released as a version of Christie's successful ""Is This the Way to Amarillo"" single and created as a version to support the England national football team at the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The song reached a peak of 8 in the UK Singles Charts, remaining in the charts for 5 weeks. In 2005, Christie had a hit with a Comic Relief"
"Blackpool. Lisberg secured a record deal with MCA Records and introduced Christie to Mitch Murray and Peter Callander, the successful songwriting and production duo. Christie's first two hits were the Murray and Callander compositions ""Las Vegas"" and ""I Did What I Did for Maria"", which respectively peaked at numbers 21 and 2 in the UK singles chart, but a follow-up third single was lacking. On a business trip to New York in mid-1971, Lisberg approached Neil Sedaka's publisher Don Kirshner in search of a new gem, and when Sedaka tapped out ""(Is This the Way to) Amarillo?"" on piano, Lisberg"
"2000 film ""Love, Honour and Obey"", starring Ray Winstone and Jude Law. Avenues and Alleyways ""Avenues and Alleyways"" is a 1972 single recorded by Tony Christie as the theme song for the television series ""The Protectors"". It was written and produced by Mitch Murray and Peter Callander, who were also responsible for Christie's ""Las Vegas"" and ""I Did What I Did for Maria"". Following the chart-topping success of the re-release of ""Is This the Way to Amarillo"" in 2005, this song was also re-released and peaked at No. 26 on the UK Singles Chart. On its original release, it had"
"""The Flying Nun"" and ""Hazel"". In 2005, ""Is This The Way To Amarillo"", a song Greenfield had written with Sedaka in the early 1970s, reached #1 on the UK charts in the original 1971 version by Tony Christie. The video featured an all-star celebrity line-up lip-synching the track, and the proceeds went to charity. The record stayed at #1 for 7 weeks, and became the UK's best-selling record of the millennium to that time. Born in Brooklyn, New York City, by his late teens Greenfield formed a songwriting partnership with Neil Sedaka, a friend whom he had first met as"
"a big band version of ""Is This the Way to Amarillo"" and a live recording of ""If It Feels Good, Do It"" plus videos of the first two tracks. However, it only reached Number 49 on the UK chart. To coincide with the 2006 World Cup, a new version of ""Amarillo"" was released on the novelty single ""(Is This The Way To) The World Cup?"" on 29 May 2006, reaching Number 8 in the UK. On 6 November 2006, Christie issued the album ""Simply in Love"". In 2008 Christie recorded the album ""Made in Sheffield"", with production from Richard Hawley"
"With his public profile raised, in 2000, he co-wrote and starred in ""That Peter Kay Thing"" for Channel 4. This resulted in a spin-off sitcom, ""Phoenix Nights"", which ran for two series from 2001-02, and in turn generated another spin-off, ""Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere"", in 2004. In 2005, he recorded a promotional video in which he mimed to Tony Christie's 1971 hit ""Is This the Way to Amarillo"", which was re-released in aid of the Children In Need charity and credited to ""Tony Christie featuring Peter Kay"". The song reached #1 in the UK Singles Chart, remained at"
"This the Way to Amarillo"", with 1.28 million copies sold. Westlife's 2001 cover of Billy Joel's ""Uptown Girl"" is the second biggest-seller, followed by 1986's ""Living Dolls"" and the Spice Girls' 1997 double-A side single ""Mama""/""Who Do You Think You Are"", with Boyzone's 1999 cover of ""When the Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going"" rounding up the top five. In addition, the first Red Nose Day Schools' song ('Make Someone Happy') was published in 2007. A CD of the song, together with backing tracks and fundraising ideas was sent free of charge to all primary schools in the UK"
"Murray and Callander produced tune, ""Is This the Way to Amarillo"". In an interview in ""The Times"" in which he described another Murray-Callander penned tune, ""Las Vegas"", Christie noted that the two ""were the star songwriters of the day"". Also in 2005, Swedish pop singer Agnetha Fältskog recorded the tune, ""A Fool Am I"", which had been a hit in the UK for Cilla Black in 1966, for Fältskog's successful comeback album, ""My Colouring Book"", a collection of covers of classic 1960s pop tunes. Callendar provided the English language lyrics to what had originally been an Italian language song. He"
"the UK Singles Chart with ""I Did What I Did for Maria"", which reached number two, and ""Is This the Way to Amarillo"", which peaked at number 18, all in 1971. Subsequently he had a minor hit with ""Avenues and Alleyways"" which reached number 37, and was the theme to the television series ""The Protectors"". In addition he also charted with 'Drive Safely Darlin' in early 1976 which was recorded on the MCA label and reached 35 in the UK chart. ""Is This the Way to Amarillo"" had sold more than one million copies by September 1972, and was awarded"
"the German charts and having several TV performances. Following the song's success, Christie was awarded the freedom of Amarillo, Texas, and made a guest appearance on the Yorkshire-based TV soap opera ""Emmerdale"". A few months later he re-released another single, ""Avenues & Alleyways"", as a follow-up to the success of ""Amarillo"". Although this only reached Number 26 on the UK Singles Chart, it once again out-performed the original release, which reached Number 37 in 1973. Following on from this success, Christie released a single on 5 December 2005, a big band cover of Slade's ""Merry Xmas Everybody"". The B-side contained"
"a gold disc. His early songs were dramatic big-voiced numbers, many of which were written by Mitch Murray and Peter Callander. He recorded albums regularly throughout the 1970s and made infrequent appearances on the charts. His album ""With Loving Feeling"" sold well boosted by the hit single ""Is This The Way to Amarillo"". He recorded an album in the United States in 1973 with the record producer Snuff Garrett, which did little to stop his commercial slide. A live album followed which sold relatively better. But by the mid-1970s recorded work became rarer and stage work took preference. In June"
"the album chart two weeks later. The Comic Relief single of the year, the double A-side of ""All About You"" and ""You've Got a Friend"" by McFly, reached the top of the chart on 13 March. It was knocked off by a second Comic Relief single – a reissue of Tony Christie's ""Is This the Way to Amarillo"" with the associated video seeing comedian Peter Kay mime alongside various guest stars. Tony Christie topped the singles, album and download chart. The song spent seven weeks at the top of the singles charts, the longest stay at number 1 since Cher's"
"to the charts in the United Kingdom with his greatest hits album ""The Collection"", which reached the UK top 5. That year, he also appeared in the video to Tony Christie and Peter Kay's No. 1 hit single ""Is This the Way to Amarillo"", alongside many other UK stars, including Ronnie Corbett, Jim Bowen and Michael Parkinson. Stevens was the winner on the reality television show, ""Hit Me Baby One More Time"". This was quickly followed by a re-release of his cover and his own biggest hit sung in the show, ""Trouble"" (covering Pink's version)/""This Ole House"", which reached No."
"knew he had found Christie's third hit record. Neil Sedaka explained in a 2009 interview: In late 1971, ""Amarillo"" was a huge European hit and soon became Christie's signature tune, but it rose no higher than number 18 in the UK. It lay dormant for more than three decades until it was lip synced as a video by UK comedian Peter Kay, and some celebrity friends for the 2005 Comic Relief charity drive. The original Tony Christie single was the biggest hit in the UK in 2005 holding on to the No. 1 spot for seven weeks and still remains"
"Tony Camillo Tony Camillo (died August 28, 2018) was an American record producer, orchestrator and arranger. He worked on many soul, pop and disco recordings of the 1960s and 1970s, including recordings by Dionne Warwick, Eric Carmen, The Stylistics, Dazz Band, Millie Jackson, Chambers Brothers, Peaches & Herb, Sha Na Na, Grand Funk Railroad, Stevie Wonder, The 5th Dimension, Martha Reeves, The Supremes, Parliament, and Tommy James. He co-produced and arranged Gladys Knight and The Pips's 1973 number one hit, ""Midnight Train to Georgia"", which was awarded a Grammy Award. He co-wrote and produced the group's 1974 hit, ""I Feel"
"went back to the US for his next projects. In 2004, Harris and Orville performed at Bolton's Albert Hall in the pantomime ""Goldilocks and the Three Bears"". Harris starred in a children's programme called ""The Slammer"", set in a prison on CBBC, where contestants perform to an audience of children. In 2005, Harris was among the all-star line up in Peter Kay and Tony Christie's music video, ""Is This the Way to Amarillo"". Fellow children's entertainer Geoffrey Hayes, who also had financial troubles after his own show failed to be re-commissioned, also appeared in the video. In 2005, he and"
"Mann), ""Hitchin' a Ride"" (Vanity Fare), ""Turn on the Sun"" (Nana Mouskouri) plus ""Avenues and Alleyways"", ""Las Vegas"", and ""I Did What I Did for Maria"" for Tony Christie. In 1972, his joint composition with Geoff Stephens of ""Daddy Don't You Walk So Fast"", was recorded by Wayne Newton. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the R.I.A.A. in July 1972. Whilst Callander was especially prolific during the 1960s and 1970s, his influence continued throughout his life. In 2005, Tony Christie spent seven weeks at number one on the UK Singles Chart with the"
"Tony Romeo Tony Romeo (December 25, 1938 – June 23, 1995) was an American songwriter. He is famous for writing the No.1 hit ""I Think I Love You"" by The Partridge Family as well as many other hit records, mostly during the 1960s and 1970s. Other hits written by Romeo include ""Oh Boy (The Mood I'm In)"" by both Diana Trask and Brotherhood of Man; ""Walking in the Sand,"" sung by Al Martino, which reached #9 on the Adult Contemporary charts in 1970; ""Indian Lake"" for The Cowsills; and ""I'm Gonna Make You Mine"" by Lou Christie. He wrote songs"
"""Avenues & Alleyways"" in March 2004. In 2002, ""Is This the Way to Amarillo"" was used in the TV comedy series ""Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights"", leading to a resurgence in his popularity. The song was re-released on 14 March 2005 to raise money for the Comic Relief charity, and reached Number 1 in the UK Singles Chart (outselling all the first release's chart run put together). This led to the biggest sales for a Number 1 single for the whole year, with seven weeks at the chart pinnacle. It also became the longest running chart-topper since Cher's ""Believe"", almost seven"
"like it"" and the BBC commissioned him to review other 2006 World Cup songs competing with him. The ""Manchester Evening News"" said about ""Is This the Way to The World Cup"" that: ""It's that cheesy, it's a classic"". Like with """"Amarillo"""" the year before, the profits for the single went to charity, specifically SportsAid. Christie later came to regret performing the song, stating in a 2010 interview that it was ""dreadful"" and said he would ""...never ever do it again because it was crap"". ""(Is This the Way to) The World Cup"" entered the UK singles charts at number 11."
"Terry Stafford Terry LaVerne Stafford (November 22, 1941 – March 17, 1996) was an American singer and songwriter, best known for his 1964 U.S. Top 10 hit, ""Suspicion"", and the 1973 country music hit, ""Amarillo by Morning"". Stafford was also known for his Elvis Presley sound-alike voice. Stafford was the only son of William Nathan ""Bill"" Stafford (1921–2011), a United States Navy veteran of World War II and a construction worker, and the former Juanita J. Roach (1919–2001). He had two sisters, Linda Williams of Amarillo and Judy Snead of Hendersonville, Tennessee. He, like his mother, was born in rural"
"release, ""Tried and True"". Sedaka continued to be seen in the ""American Idol"" studio audience—most recently on May 19, 2011, when Seacrest had Sedaka stand and greet the audience on-camera during Season 10's ""Top 3"" results show. On a business trip to New York in mid-1971, Harvey Lisberg, who was a longtime fan of Sedaka, asked Don Kirshner if he'd written anything new. Kirshner took Lisberg to a small room with a piano where Sedaka was already seated, and he tapped out a few songs. One of these was the Sedaka/Greenfield composition ""(Is This the Way to) Amarillo?"" which Lisberg"
"album, ""Definitive Collection"", which reached number 1 in the UK Albums Chart in 2005. Paper Lace included this song on their 1974 album, ""Paper Lace"". I Did What I Did for Maria ""I Did What I Did for Maria"" is a song recorded by English singer Tony Christie. It was written and produced by Mitch Murray and Peter Callander, who were also responsible for Christie's ""Las Vegas"" and ""Avenues and Alleyways"". The song is about a widower who, on the eve of his execution, recalls how he remorselessly avenged his dead wife, hence the title. It was a number 2"
"I Did What I Did for Maria ""I Did What I Did for Maria"" is a song recorded by English singer Tony Christie. It was written and produced by Mitch Murray and Peter Callander, who were also responsible for Christie's ""Las Vegas"" and ""Avenues and Alleyways"". The song is about a widower who, on the eve of his execution, recalls how he remorselessly avenged his dead wife, hence the title. It was a number 2 UK hit in June 1971, and was also a hit in Ireland, where it also reached number 2. The track later appeared on Christie's compilation"
"and stepfather Lawrence J. Stiglbauer (1913-1994). Terry Stafford Terry LaVerne Stafford (November 22, 1941 – March 17, 1996) was an American singer and songwriter, best known for his 1964 U.S. Top 10 hit, ""Suspicion"", and the 1973 country music hit, ""Amarillo by Morning"". Stafford was also known for his Elvis Presley sound-alike voice. Stafford was the only son of William Nathan ""Bill"" Stafford (1921–2011), a United States Navy veteran of World War II and a construction worker, and the former Juanita J. Roach (1919–2001). He had two sisters, Linda Williams of Amarillo and Judy Snead of Hendersonville, Tennessee. He, like"
"Stevie Aiello Stephen ""Stevie"" Aiello (born April 30, 1983) is an American songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is best known for touring and recording with American rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars. He was one of the founding members of Monty Are I, a band he formed in 1998 with some friends. Aiello has also worked with artists such as Mumford & Sons, Cheyenne Jackson, Lana Del Rey, Junkie XL, Young Guns, Cobra Starship, Every Avenue, and The Knocks, among others. Aiello was nominated for two GMA Dove Awards for his work with Rapture Ruckus on the album ""Invader"""
"Charity singles ""500 Miles"" and ""Is this the way to Amarillo"", and has cameo appearances in both videos. Lucas has written scripts, story lines, additional material, sketches and provided material for ""Peter Kay's Britain's Got the Pop Factor... and Possibly a New Celebrity Jesus Christ Soapstar Superstar Strictly on Ice"", ""The Coronation Street Panto"", ""Coronation Street"", You've Been Framed, ""Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway"", ""A Question of TV"", ""Soap Fever"", ""Loose Women"", ""Max and Paddy's Power of Two"", and ""Osbournes Reloaded"" in the U.S. In 2011 he wrote and directed ""This Morning""s first ever live Pantomime. Cinderella featured the"