In The 1970s Middle Of The Road

Originating from Scotland this group sold millions of real good bubble gum pop on both sides of the Atlantic. The band consisted of twins Eric (died in 2007) and Ian McCeadie and Ken Andrew. The leady singer was the famous blond lady Sally Carr, and they all formed the band in April 1970.

The group had been together before under the name of Los Coracus and won the British TV talent show called Opportunity Knocks in the late 1960s. The group actually moved to Italy in 1970 and met Giacomo Tosti who was a record producer, and under his direction the group started to have chart topping hits.

In 1971 Lally Stott wrote Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep and it went to No. 11 in the UK Incidentally other versions of the song were released by other singers. Lally himself had the song at No. 1 in Austria and Mac and Katie Kisson had a top twenty hit with it in the States. Stott was killed in a motorbike accident in 1977.

Stott also wrote Tweedle Dee Tweedle Dum another 1971 hit which got to No. 2 in the UK The third hit that year was Soley Soley. A gold disc here for the Scottish group.

In their heyday,  Middle Of The Road recorded soundtracks for movies, sang backing vocals for Sophia Loren, appeared alongside artists as diverse as Nana Mouskouri and the Bee Gees,  performed in front of Kirk Douglas and Danny Kaye and Princesses Margaret and Anne, and at the 1972 Olympics in Munich.

Sally was even asked to pose for Playboy - an offer which she declined.

By the late 1970s, the hits had dried up and when her mum Cecilia died, Sally could not face singing the lines "Where's Your Mama Gone?" and "Woke Up This Morning And My Mama Was Gone" from Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep.

Interview Sally Carr from "Middle of the Road" 29.03.2019