Most famous for their hit cover of
the Beatles' "Michelle" in early 1966,
David & Jonathan were a harmonizing duo from Bristol, England, with more ties to the MOR vocal sound than the British Invasion. Actually named
Roger Greenaway and
Roger Cook, the pair were primarily songwriters rather than performers, penning "This Golden Ring" and "You've Got Your Troubles" for another British vocal group,
the Fortunes.
Beatles producer
George Martin worked with the renamed
David & Jonathan in the mid-'60s, and their soft ballad treatment of "Michelle" made the Top 20 in both the U.K. and U.S. Their smooth dual leads were in the vein of
Chad & Jeremy, but even more pop-oriented.
David & Jonathan had another big hit in Britain in 1966, "Lovers of the World Unite." But
Greenaway in particular would experience his greatest success as a composer. Sometimes in collaboration with
Cook, and sometimes not, his songs were a fixture of the British pop scene in the '60s and '70s. The quality of these hits was variable indeed, ranging from the excellent (
the Hollies' "Long Cool Woman" and
Gene Pitney's "Something Gotten Hold of My Heart") to the banal (
the Pipkins' "Gimme Dat Ding" and Whistling Jack Smith's "I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman"), as well as smashes for
Blue Mink,
Engelbert Humperdinck,
White Plains, and others. ~ Richie Unterberger