"Winchester Cathedral" is a song released in late 1966 by
Fontana Records, whereupon it shot to the #1 spot on the
Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was released by The New Vaudeville
Band, a novelty group established by the song's composer, Geoff
Stephens. Stephens was a big fan of tunes from the British
music hall era (or what Americans would call "Vaudeville"), so
he wrote "Winchester Cathedral" in that vein, complete with a
Rudy Vallée sound-a-like (John Carter) singing through a
megaphone. Although recorded entirely by session musicians,
when the song became an international hit, an actual band had
to be assembled, which toured extensively under the tutelage of
Peter Grant, who later went on to manage The Yardbirds and Led
Zeppelin.
The tune went to number four in the UK Singles Chart. It
went all the way to the top in the U.S., however, displacing
"You Keep Me Hangin' On" by the Supremes on December 3, 1966.
After a one-week run at #1, "Winchester Cathedral" was knocked
off the summit by the Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations", only to
rebound to number one the following week. After two additional
weeks, it was knocked off the top for good by "I'm a Believer"
by The Monkees.
"Winchester Cathedral" topped the
Billboard"Easy Listening" chart (later re-named the
Adult Contemporary chart) for four weeks. Cover records by Dana
Rollin and The New Happiness reached no higher than number
70.
The song won the 1966 Grammy Award for 'Best Contemporary
Rock & Roll Recording'.