The Gentle Power Of Song

The Gentle Power of Song has its origins in the chapel choir of Caius College, Cambridge, and a vocal cabaret group Fab Cab in the period 1966 to 1969. The Gentle Power of Song went on to record to LPs and a single for Polydor and was on the artists on the first ever pop music show broadcast in colour nationwide across Britain. in June 1967 that Richard Hill saw Fab Cab and relayed his excitement to Clive Woods at Polydor. Richard Hill and John Hawkins were the composers and impresarios which made the Gabrieli Brass so well known and the stage show Canterbury Tales so successful). Richard could see the value of choral harmonies in a pop setting and he set about creating the concept of the Gentle Power of Song and booking recording studios in the summer for the six singers and the Gabrieli Brass as backing. The single and an album of carols (Peace, Polydor 583017) were both completed before the new term started in September. On November 17 1967 the single (Cat No 56211) was released, Constant Penelope, “based on a medieval poem with a full rhythm backing and swinging harp and brass” reported the Cambridge News. In the spring of 1968 Richard Hill had completed his arrangements of well known vocal pops songs and the boys were back into Chappells recording studio in London’s Mayfair (where Paul McCartney and John Lennon were in the neighbouring mixing studio and listened to the gentle Power of Song pop songs). The result was Circus, also on Polydor, catalogue number 583 034, featuring songs like Rag Doll, This is Dedicated to the One I Love, Till There Was You and a couple of originals by Hill and Hawkins (Jonathan Mortimer Brown and She’s a Lady). Pre-promotion for the June 1968 release included another nationwide TV appearance, on BBC 2 Late Night Line Up on February 22 1968, the first pop music show to be shown in colour.