TGIF Rock-n-Roll Oldies: Vanity Fare 1970

Vanity Fare (often misspelled due to the similarity of the novel and magazine title as Vanity Fair) were a UK pop/rock group formed in 1966, best remembered for the hit Hitchin' a Ride, which found worldwide success in the Summer of 1970. 

The school friends formed the band in Kent, England in 1966, originally calling themselves The Avengers. They played local clubs until they were spotted by entrepreneur Roger Easterby who became their manager and producer, and who then facilitated obtaining their first recording contract. 

 As Vanity Fare, they achieved a UK hit single with their very first release, a cover of I Live For The Sun (originally recorded by The Sunrays in 1965) in the summer of '68. 

Following two more singles, Summer Morning and Highway Of Dreams, both of which failed to make the UK Singles Chart, they then released their biggest UK hit: Early in the Morning. It reached #8 in that country in August 1969 and #12 in the US in early 1970. In the end, the record sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. 

For their next release Hitchin' A Ride (below) they added a keyboardist- and to great effect: the song was an instant success, providing a second million-selling hit. It reached #5 in the US Billboard Hot 100 and #16 in the UK in January 1970, as well as selling briskly in quite a number of other countries. 

And I've liked it since I first heard it -when just 8 years old- as an early 70s AM radio standard on my Panasonic ball-and-chain radio...

Vanity Fare: Hitchin' a Ride 1970

Wikipedia 

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