Western Union (song)

"Western Union" is a 1967 song by the American rock band the Five Americans.

"Western Union"
Single by the Five Americans
from the album Western Union/Sound of Love
B-side	"Now That It's Over"
Released	January 1967[1]
Genre	Pop rock[2]
Length	2:20
Label	Abnak
Songwriter(s)	John Durrill Michael Rabon Norm Ezell[3]
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.'"[4]

Chart performance

Weekly charts 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. Chart (1967) Peak position Australia Go-Set[5] 19 Canada Top Singles (RPM)[6] 3 New Zealand (Listener)[7] 4 US Billboard Hot 100[8] 5 US Cash Box Top 100[9] 7

Year-end charts Chart (1967) Rank Canada [10] 81 US Billboard Hot 100[11] 58 US Cash Box Top 100[12] 82

Cover versions

• "Western Union" was covered by The Strangers in 1967. Their version reached number 30 in Australia.[5]
• The Ventures also released a version of the song on their 1967 album Super Psychedelics.[13]
• The Searchers released a version of the song as a single on Pye Records in 1967.

References

1. "Record Details". 45cat.com. 45cat. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
2. Western Union at AllMusic. Retrieved September 7, 2017.
3. "secondhandsongs.com". secondhandsongs.com. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
4. Pore-Lee-Dunn Productions. "Five Americans". Classicbands.com. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
5. "Go-Set National Top 40, 31 May 1967". poparchives.com.au. Go-Set. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
6. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 10059." RPM. Library and Archives Canada.
7. Flavour of New Zealand, 7 July 1967
8. "The Five Americans Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
9. "Cash Box Top 100 Singles, 22 April 1967". tropicalglen.com. Cash Box. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
10. "RPM Top Singles of 1967". bac-lac.gc.ca. RPM. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
11. "Top 100 Songs of 1967 - Billboard Year End Charts". bobborst.com. Billboard. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
12. "The Cash Box Year-End Charts: 1967". tropicalglen.com. Cash Box. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
13. Super Psychedelics at AllMusic. Retrieved September 10, 2017.