Sunday, March 30, 2008

The Undisputed Truth

Poor smiling face.

You got left out of last weekend's smiling faces fest because nobody has bothered to deck your window out with red paint.

But as a consolation prize, you can help me reveal the answer to the trivia question embedded in that blog post:

"Who made the song "Smiling Faces Sometimes" a hit?"

In asking that question I was, of course, confronted with the fact that a lot of my readers are too young to remember that song. Never mind. If you had your transistor radio turned on every night in your room in 1971, you know it. So I'm talking to you. Can you dig it?

Originally recorded by The Temptations, the song became a number 3 pop chart hit in 1971 re-recorded by the little-known "psychadelic soul" act "The Undisputed Truth."

Despite the veracity of their name, The Undisputed Truth never made it back into the Top 4O. In a strange twist of fate, they were the ones who first recorded "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" in 1972. Their recording of the song hit a modest #62, but it was re-recorded shortly thereafter by guess who: The Temptations. That version reached number one on the pop charts and is considered an all-time soul music classic.

One of my commenters mentioned that "Smiling Faces Sometimes" used to scare her when she was a kid. She may get scared even now if she watches this:



6 comments:

Tanya Breese said...

Yes, that smiling face window definately needs a nice coat of red paint! Maybe we should pitch in and buy a gallon and you can leave it on the doorstep,lol

Faça a Diferença !!! said...

Blog est merveilleux.

Félicitations,
Ricardo Sergio
Faça la Différence!
http://facaadiferenca.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

Sorry, Have no ideas - a great vid though - thanks for sharing!

Btw; Thanks for your visit and comments on my Easter Egg post.

Wishing you a great week ahead!

tut-tut said...

Well, I had my little ol' transistor on, but I honestly don't remember the name of that group! What a blast from the past, as I certainly remember the song.

Tinsie said...

Well, what can I say... fashion was different in those days ;-)

B said...

Poor, neglected smiling face. Maybe, like the Mona Lisa, her quiet and often overlooked smile hides some great secret. :)