Western Union (song)

"Western Union" is a 1967 song by the American rock band the Five Americans. The single peaked at number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 1967. It also reached number 7 on the Cash Box Top 100 Singles chart that same month.

"Western Union"
Single by the Five Americans
from the album Western Union/Sound of Love
B-side"Now That It's Over"
ReleasedJanuary 1967
GenrePop rock[1]
Length2:20
LabelAbnak
Songwriter(s)
  • John Durrill
  • Michael Rabon
  • Norm Ezell
Producer(s)Dale Hawkins
The Five Americans singles chronology
"If I Could"
(1966)		 "Western Union"
(1967)		 "Sound of Love"
(1967)

Origins

In a March 1967 interview that appeared in Michael Oberman's "Top Tunes" column in the Evening Star newspaper (Washington, D.C.), Norman Ezell, guitarist for the group, explained how they came up with "Western Union." "Mike Rabon, our lead guitar player, was just fooling around with his guitar when he came up with a unique sound," Norman said. "It sort of reminded us of a telegraph key. That's when we decided to write 'Western Union.'"[2]

The song tells of a Dear John letter being communicated by telegram, a service of Western Union. The lyrics "Western Union man, bad news in his hand" were reminiscent of death notification telegrams hand-delivered to the families of soldiers killed in war, still in use at the time of this song's release.[3]

Chart performance

Cover versions

In 1967, the Strangers' recording reached number 30 in Australia.[4]

References
  1. Western Union at AllMusic. Retrieved September 7, 2017.
  2. Pore-Lee-Dunn Productions. "Five Americans". Classicbands.com. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  3. "Beyond "I Regret to Inform You"". 23 February 2015. Retrieved 7 April 2022.>
  4. "Go-Set National Top 40, 31 May 1967". poparchives.com.au. Go-Set. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  5. "The Five Americans – Western Union" (in French). Ultratop 50.
  6. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 100229." RPM. Library and Archives Canada.
  7. "InfoDisc : Les Tubes de chaque Artiste commençant par F". infodisc.fr. Retrieved 2022-05-06.
  8. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 23, 1967" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  9. Flavour of New Zealand, 7 July 1967
  10. Kimberley, C (2000). Zimbabwe: Singles Chart Book. p. 76.
  11. "SA Charts 1965 – March 1989". Archived from the original on 25 March 2019. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  12. Brown, Tony (2000). The Complete Book of the British Charts. Omnibus Press. p. 453. ISBN 0-7119-7670-8.
  13. "The Five Americans Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  14. "Cash Box Top 100 Singles, 22 April 1967". tropicalglen.com. Cash Box. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  15. "100 Top Pops" (PDF). Record World (April 22, 1967).
  16. "Offiziellecharts.de – The Five Americans – Western Union" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts.
  17. "RPM 100 Top Singles of 1967 - January 6, 1968" (PDF).
  18. "Top 100 Songs of 1967 - Billboard Year End Charts". bobborst.com. Billboard. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  19. "The Cash Box Year-End Charts: 1967". tropicalglen.com. Cash Box. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
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