Is This the Way to Amarillo

"Is This The Way to Amarillo"
Single by Tony Christie
B-side	"Love Is a Friend of Mine"
Released	November 1971
Recorded	1971
Genre	Pop
Length	3:10
Label	MCA (UK and Europe); Kapp (US)
Writer(s)	Neil Sedaka, Howard Greenfield
Producer(s)	Tony Christie

"Is This the Way to Amarillo" is a song written by Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield, referring to Amarillo, Texas. It is about a man traveling to Amarillo to find his girlfriend. The reason that Amarillo was chosen for the song was because it was the only place name that Sedaka could think of that rhymed with "willow" and "pillow". The song was originally to be titled, "Is This the Way to Pensacola" referring to Pensacola, Florida, but Sedaka felt that Amarillo worked better than Pensacola.^[1]

Written by two Americans about a United States city, the song was first released in Europe, where it has become much more famous than it has ever been in the composers' native country.

The song was recorded by Tony Christie and released in the UK in November 1971, initially reaching number 18 in the UK Singles Chart. However, it was a substantially bigger hit at that time across Continental Europe, notably in Germany and Spain, where it made number one. In the U.S., however, the record charted no higher than #121. Following its re-issue in 2005, promoted with a video featuring Peter Kay, the song gained even greater prominence.

In 2006, the song was played at the World Cup Final in Berlin and was also played by the Central Band of the Royal British Legion on Centre Court at Wimbledon before the start of the Men's Singles final.

Neil Sedaka version

"Amarillo"
Single by Neil Sedaka
from the album A Song
B-side	"The Leaving Game"
Released	May 1977
Recorded	1977
Genre	Pop
Label	Elektra (US); Polydor (Europe)
Writer(s)	Sedaka/Greenfield

In the United States, a version by Neil Sedaka, the writer of the song, got to number 44 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and number four on the Adult Contemporary chart in 1977, and the title was shortened to "Amarillo".

Tony Christie featuring Peter Kay version

"Is This the Way to Amarillo"
Single by Tony Christie featuring Peter Kay
from the album Is This the Way to Amarillo
Released	March 14, 2005
Format	Digital download, CD single, DVD single
Genre	Pop
Length	3:40
Writer(s)	Neil Sedaka, Howard Greenfield
Producer(s)	Tony Christie
Peter Kay singles chronology
"(Is This the Way to) Amarillo" (2005) "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" (2007)

In 2002, Tony Christie's version was used in the Channel 4 sitcom Phoenix Nights. The song was then re-released on March 14, 2005 to raise money for Comic Relief.

Music video

In the accompanying video, Peter Kay mimed the song accompanied by various celebrities including Brian May, Roger Taylor, Shakin' Stevens, Shaun Ryder, Bez, Paddy McGuinness, Michael Parkinson, Heather Mills, Danny Baker, Ronnie Corbett, Mr Blobby, Jimmy Savile, Jim Bowen, look-alikes of Mahatma Gandhi and Cliff Richard (the same lookalike is used in the Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights spin off), Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere), William Roache, Anne Kirkbride, Sally Lindsay, Bernie Clifton, Keith Harris and Orville the Duck, Sooty, Sweep, Geoffrey Hayes and Bungle, as well as Tony Christie himself.

Within the first few cameos, Max and Paddy from Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights and its spin-off appear together, arguing and eventually fighting in the Granada studios' corridor. This is one of many appearances of characters from Kay's TV series, including Paddy's tennis playing cell mate Cliff from Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere, and both a midget football team and Brian Potter from Phoenix Nights. The video consists almost entirely of Kay walking towards the camera flanked by different pairings of the celebrities, in front of increasingly bizarre and unlikely backgrounds.

Chart performance

This time around, the song peaked at number one on the UK Singles Chart,^[2] and remained there for seven weeks^[3] before finally being knocked off by "Lonely" by Akon.^[4] It went on to become the UK's best-selling single of 2005.^[5] During its success, the song was credited in chart rundowns and other 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.^[6] It had sold 1.32 million copies as of June 2013.^[7]

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts Chart (2005) Peak position Scotland (Official Charts Company)[8] 1 UK Download (Official Charts Company)[9] 1 UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[10] 1 Year-end charts Chart (2005) Position UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[11] 1

Decade-end charts Chart (2000–09) Position UK Singles (Official Charts Company) 3 Certifications Region Certification Sales/shipments United Kingdom (BPI)[12] 2× Platinum 1,320,000[7] ^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone ^xunspecified figures based on certification alone

Spoofs and live performances

• BBC One's This Week used a parody of Kay's video, starring presenter Andrew Neil, for its opening titles in the run-up to the 2005 election.^[13] On May 13, 2005, another spoof video of the song made by the Royal Dragoon Guards stationed in Iraq was emailed so frequently it crashed a server at the Ministry of Defence. The spoof was entitled "Is This the Way to Armadillo".^[14]
• Bob the Builder performs a parody of this song called "This is the Way to Sunflower Valley" that is featured on his album "Never Mind the Breeze Blocks"
• On July 2, 2005, Peter Kay, joined by the crowd, sang an excerpt of this song a cappella, before introducing The Who at Live 8's London concert.^[15] Before this, on May 4, 2005, Kay performed at a concert by Queen + Paul Rodgers at the Manchester Evening News Arena, Kay and his regular co-star Paddy McGuinness led the crowd in an impromptu rendition while they introduced the band's encore.^[16]
• A Christmas parody titled "Is This the Way to Santa's Grotto" was released in 2005.

Track listing

• CD single

1. "Is This the Way to Amarillo" - 3:40
2. "Is This the Way to Amarillo" (All Around the World Mix) - 3:45
3. "Is This the Way to Amarillo" (music video) - 3:49
4. "Is This the Way to Amarillo" (making of the video) - 5:14

• DVD single

1. "Is This the Way to Amarillo" (music video) - 3:49
2. "Is This the Way to Amarillo" (Club Mix) - 6:14
3. "Is This the Way to Amarillo" (Instrumental w/Photo Gallery) - 3:40

Chart succession

Other cover versions

The Dutch singer Albert West covered the song in 1988. After the successful re-release of the song in the UK, Tony Christie re-recorded it with the Hermes House Band; this version charted in Germany in 2005. There is also a version by The Les Humphries Singers and a version in German by Roberto Blanco. There was also a 1971 version on the MGM label (K 14360) by a band called English House. It was produced by Terry Slater. The A-side was "Music Is The Voice Of Love" composed by Terry Slater and Phil Everly.

The song has also been covered in Czech as "Kvitek Mandragory" by Helena Vondráčková.^[17] and as "Napis Na Dverich" by Jiri Hromadka.

Others

• Other artists to have recorded the song include Daniel O'Donnell, Albert West,^[18] and James Last.

References

1. "Is This the way to Pensacola? Record columnist Tam Cowan finds it could all have been so different when he meets his lifelong idol Neil Sedaka at his New York apartment". Thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
2. Press Association (21 March 2005). "Comic Relief gets 70s star to the top". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
3. "Christie holds on to chart reign". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
4. "Akon topples Christie chart reign". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
5. "Amarillo tops 2005 single sales". BBC News. BBC.
6. Bassett, Jordan (December 31, 2009). "Will Young and James Blunt win biggest selling single and album of the noughties". NME (Time Inc. UK). Retrieved August 14, 2015.
7. Lane, Dan (27 June 2013). "Daft Punk's Get Lucky becomes one of the UK's biggest selling singles of all-time!". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
8. "Archive Chart: 2005-03-26". Scottish Singles Top 40. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
9. "Archive Chart: 2005-04-02" UK Download Chart. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
10. "Archive Chart: 2005-03-26" UK Singles Chart. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
11. "2005 UK Singles Chart" (PDF). UKChartsPlus. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
12. "British single certifications – Tony Christie featuring Peter Kay – (Is This the Way to) Amarillo". British Phonographic Industry. Enter (Is This the Way to) Amarillo in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select single in the field By Format. Select Platinum in the field By Award. Click Search
13. "Amarillo becomes poll soundtrack". BBC News. April 13, 2005. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
14. "'Amarillo' soldiers hail response". bbc.co.uk.
15. Hale, Jo (July 2, 2005). "Live 8 London - Stage". The Guardian (Guardian Media Group). Retrieved October 8, 2015.
16. "04.05.2005 - Concert: Queen + Paul Rodgers live at the MEN Arena, Manchester, UK". queenconcerts.com. Retrieved October 8, 2015.
17. "Kvitek Mandragory on Helena Vondráčková's website". Retrieved August 15, 2014.
18. "Welkom op de website van Albert West". Albertwest.nl. Retrieved April 2, 2014.

External links

• Revealed: The Road to Amarillo Manchester Evening News, March 21, 2005
• 'Amarillo' video crashes MoD PCs BBC News, May 17, 2005
• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics