Smorgasbord Music Column – William Price King with The Duets – #1960s – 1969 – Zager & Evans – In The Year 2525 (Exordium & Terminus), Diana Ross and The Supremes & The Temptations – I’m Gonna Make You Love Me

In this series for 2024, William will be sharing some of the iconic duets from the 1960s onwards. Collaborations between artists that were hits around the world and are still enjoyed today.

Thanks for joining me today and I hope you will enjoy this trip down memory lane with me in coming months. William

1969 – Zager & Evans – In The Year 2525 (Exordium & Terminus)

“In The Year 2525 (Exordium & Terminus)” was composed by Rick Evans in 1964. It gave warnings of the dangers of technology, portraying a future in which the human race would be destroyed by its own technological and medical innovations. The last verses of the song suggest mankind would undergo a continuing cycle of birth, death, and rebirth.

“In The Year 2525 (Exordium & Terminus)” reached the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1969 and remained for six consecutive weeks. It peaked at #1 in the UK and #2 in Australia, selling over four million copies worldwide.

Zager and Evans are considered to be the archetypal one-hit artists. In spite of they had with “2525,” the follow-up single, “Mr. Turnkey”, failed to chart in the US and UK, as did subsequent releases. As of 2019, the duo remains the only act to have had a chart-topping hit on both sides of the Atlantic but never having another chart single in Billboard nor the UK.

1969 – Diana Ross and The Supremes & The Temptations – I’m Gonna Make You Love Me

“I’m Gonna Make You Love Me” was penned by Gamble and Huff and Jerry Ross and originally recorded by Dee Dee Warwick (Dionne Warwick’s sister and Whitney Houston’s first cousin) in 1966, peaking at #13 on the Billboard R&B chart and #88 on its Pop Chart.

In December of 1968 Diana Ross & the Supremes and the Temptations performed “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me” together on their joint TV Special “TCB.” Radio stations across the country began playing the track compelling Motown to release the song as a single.

The song reached #2 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and its R&B charts in January 1969: the Record World 100 Top Pops ranked it at #1 for three weeks while Cash Box ranked the single #1. In the UK, the single peaked at #3, and spent six weeks in the Top 10.

Thanks for joining me today and look forward to hearing from you… William.

William Price King is an American jazz singer, crooner, and composer.

His interest in music began at an early age when he studied piano and clarinet in high school. At Morehouse College in Atlanta where he grew up, he sang in the Glee Club and studied classical music. After graduation he went off to the Yale School of Music where he earned a Masters degree. From there he journeyed to New York where he created a jazz trio ‘Au Naturel’ which performed in some of the hottest venues in Manhattan including gigs on Broadway and the famous ‘Rainbow Room.’ These gigs opened doors for performances in Montreal and a European tour.

While touring Europe he met a lovely French lady, Jeanne Maïstre, who, a year later became his wife. King left the group ‘Au Naturel’ and settled in the south of France where he started a new life on the French Riviera, opening his own music school – the “Price King Ecole Internationale de Chant.” He has had the pleasure over the years of seeing many of his students excel as singers on a professional level, and some going on to become national celebrities. He continues to coach young singers today, in his spare time.

Website: William Price King – Blog– IMPROVISATION – William Price King on Tumblr – Buy William’s music: William Price King iTunes – Facebook – William Price King – Twitter – @wpkofficial – Regular Venue – Cave Wilson