Back I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing Spanish I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (in Perfect Harmony) ID I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony) Italian I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing (in Perfect Harmony) NB I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (in Perfect Harmony) SH
| "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)" | |
|---|---|
| Single by the Hillside Singers | |
| from the album I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing | |
| B-side | "I Believed It All" |
| Released | November 1971 |
| Length | 2:15 |
| Label | Metromedia |
| Songwriter(s) | |
| Producer(s) | Al Ham |
| "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by the New Seekers | ||||
| from the album We'd Like to Teach the World to Sing | ||||
| B-side | "Boom Town" | |||
| Released | November 1971 | |||
| Genre | Pop[1][2] | |||
| Length | 2:20 | |||
| Label | Philips (Germany) Polydor (UK) Elektra (USA/Canada) | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Roger Cook, Roger Greenaway, Bill Backer and Billy Davis | |||
| Producer(s) | David Mackay | |||
| The New Seekers singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)" is a pop song that originated as "True Love and Apple Pie", by British hit songwriters Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway, and sung by Susan Shirley.[3]
The lyrics were rewritten by the songwriters, together with US advertising executive Bill Backer and US songwriter Billy Davis, as a jingle for The Coca-Cola Company's advertising agency, McCann Erickson, to become "Buy the World a Coke" in the 1971 "Hilltop" television commercial for Coca-Cola and sung by the Hillside Singers.[4] "Buy the World a Coke" was produced by Billy Davis and portrayed a positive message of hope and love, featuring a multicultural collection of teenagers on top of a hill appearing to sing the song.
The popularity of the jingle led to its being re-recorded in two versions: one by the New Seekers and another by the Hillside Singers, as a full-length song, dropping references to Coca-Cola. The song became a hit record in the US and the UK.
- ^ Stanley, Bob (September 13, 2013). "The Golden Road: San Francisco and Psychedelia". Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Story of Modern Pop. Faber & Faber. p. 236. ISBN 978-0-571-28198-5.
- ^ Breithaupt, Don; Breithaupt, Jeff (October 15, 1996). "What's So Funny 'Bout Peace, Love, and Understanding?: Utopian Pop". Precious and Few - Pop Music in the Early '70s. St. Martin's Griffin. p. 75. ISBN 031214704X.
- ^ Ryan, Ted (January 1, 2012). "The Making of Coca-Cola's "I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke" Ad". The Coca-Cola Company. Archived from the original on October 26, 2016. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
- ^ The New Seekers: Buy The World a Coke (single release) at Discogs