Reception
The single was released on 12 May 1967 by Deram Records and entered the UK charts on 25 May. In two weeks it reached number one where it stayed for six weeks, and on the UK chart for a total of 15 weeks. A May 1972 re-release on Fly Records stayed in the UK charts for a total of 12 weeks, and reached number 13 as highest. In the US, it reached No. 5 and sold over one million copies. In the Netherlands it entered the chart at number one in June 1967 and again reached number one in July 1972.
Chart positions: No. 1 (UK), No. 1 (the Netherlands), No. 1 (Germany), No. 1 (Ireland), No. 1 (Australia), # 1 (World), No. 3 (Norway VG-lista), No. 5 (USA Hot 100). "A Whiter Shade of Pale" also managed to peak at number twenty-two on the soul charts in the U.S.
Over time, "A Whiter Shade of Pale" has earned extensive critical acclaim:
- John Lennon was a great fan of the song and was known to have played it repeatedly in his Rolls Royce. When it was released in England, Lennon (and friends in his circle) reportedly confused Brooker's soulful vocals with Steve Winwood, who had popularity at the time with The Spencer Davis Group.
- It was named joint winner (along with Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody", which also uses the word "fandango") of the Best British Pop Single 1952–1977 at the BRIT Awards, part of Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee.
- In 1998 the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
- No. 57 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2004.
- British TV station Channel 4 placed the song at No. 19 in its chart of the 100 greatest number one singles.
Read more about this topic: A Whiter Shade Of Pale
Famous quotes containing the word reception:
“I gave a speech in Omaha. After the speech I went to a reception elsewhere in town. A sweet old lady came up to me, put her gloved hand in mine, and said, “I hear you spoke here tonight.” “Oh, it was nothing,” I replied modestly. “Yes,” the little old lady nodded, “that’s what I heard.””
—Gerald R. Ford (b. 1913)
“To the United States the Third World often takes the form of a black woman who has been made pregnant in a moment of passion and who shows up one day in the reception room on the forty-ninth floor threatening to make a scene. The lawyers pay the woman off; sometimes uniformed guards accompany her to the elevators.”
—Lewis H. Lapham (b. 1935)
“He’s leaving Germany by special request of the Nazi government. First he sends a dispatch about Danzig and how 10,000 German tourists are pouring into the city every day with butterfly nets in their hands and submachine guns in their knapsacks. They warn him right then. What does he do next? Goes to a reception at von Ribbentropf’s and keeps yelling for gefilte fish!”
—Billy Wilder (b. 1906)