RAY DORSET of MUNGO JERRY
Alright Alright Alright for Ray Dorset. Everything really seems to be alright.
Ever since 1970, when he released the most successful summer anthem of all time via “In The Summertime”. Ever since then, he has been able to concentrate on the very thing that spells fun for him: the music. Whoever who has had the pleasure of making his acquaintance knows how he does it. Full of panache; joy of life and with an unlimited zest.
Raymond Edward Dorset a.k.a. Mr. Mungo Jerry was born in Ashford in the British county of Middlesex on March 21st, 1946 . Ray with his fellow band members stole the show at the legendary 1970 “Hollywood Music Festival” held at Newcastle –under-Lyme. Stole it two-fold in fact, by upstaging competitors like the Grateful Dead, Black Sabbath, Free and Traffic and simultaneously on the airwaves with the most frequently played –and sold- summer single of the universe: “In The Summertime”.
The ignition for Ray's career has been his natural feeling for a good groove and a good vibe.
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TEN FACTS ABOUT MUNGO JERRY
- In The Summertime was a #1 in 26 countries worldwide and sold ten million copies. As of today, an estimated 100 million units of the song sold worldwide in all imaginable sorts of versions.
- In one single morning in May of 1970, the band sold 72,500 records in Great Britain . That's ‘til the lunch break.
- Baby Jump was the second maxi and the second UK No. 1 hit for Mungo Jerry.
- Alright Alright Alright peaked at No. 3 in the charts. In order to promote the single, the band started the longest tour of Northern Ireland which an English group had ever attempted during the time of the upheavals.
- Lady Rose rose to No. 5 in the British charts in spite of Have A Whiff On Me, one of the accompanying songs on the maxi single having been banned by the BBC due to some problematic lyric content.
- Mungo Jerry was the first Western rock band to play behind the Iron Curtain. They appeared at the “Golden Orpheus Song Festival” in Bulgaria , which their TV network transmitted it across the entire Eastern Block as it was known in the Cold War era.
- Mungo Jerry achieved seven world wide hits which were not issued in Great Britain . But they enjoyed nine hit single successes back home. With over 100 weeks in the charts documented over the years.
- Shaggy spent nine weeks in the UK hit lists with his own version of In The Summertime which used samples of Ray Dorset's guitar and mouth percussion. It went No. 1 in the US R n B charts.
- Mungo Jerry placed two albums in the Top 20: “Mungo Jerry” and “Electronically Tested”.
- In The Summertime was the first maxi-single in the world.
Well done, Ray. “Cheers!” from Dean Guitars.
Dean Electric Guitars
mungojerry.com
ukrockfestivals.com/hollymungoj.html
