1966.....#6 U.S. Billboard Hot 100, #16 UK Singles Chart, #1 Canada, #1 Australia
"Lady Godiva" is a popular song originally recorded and released in 1966 as a single by British pop duo Peter and Gordon.
The track was a drastic stylistic shift for Peter and Gordon, who had specialized in melancholy love songs. The music hall style of "Lady Godiva" matched several Herman's Hermits' hits, as well as "Winchester Cathedral" by the New Vaudeville Band, which was rising up the UK charts when Peter and Gordon recorded "Lady Godiva". Eventually "Winchester Cathedral" and "Lady Godiva" would share the US Top Ten, with the former succeeding the latter at #1 in Canada.
Peter and Gordon's producer, John Burgess, brought "Lady Godiva" to the duo after he produced the Paul Jones album My Way, which included the track. Peter Asher, who with Gordon Waller comprised Peter and Gordon, recalls that he [Asher] objected to recording the song but Waller retorted: "It'll be funny [so] shut up". The single was recorded at Abbey Road Studios and reunited Peter and Gordon with Geoff Love who, after arranging and conducting the duo's first six singles, had sat out their last three A-sides. "Lady Godiva" would be Love's final Peter and Gordon A-side collaboration.
Released in September 1966, "Lady Godiva" afforded Peter and Gordon a comeback in both the UK and, especially, the US. In the UK, the single peaked at #16, returning Peter and Gordon to the Top 20 after their previous two singles "Woman" and "To Show I Love You" had fallen short, the latter not having reached the Top 50. In the US, "Lady Godiva" rose as high as #6 in December 1966, the duo's first Top Ten showing since "I Go to Pieces" in February 1965. The single sold over a million copies and was awarded a gold disc. Billboard described the song as a "hilarious novelty number with easy dance beat."
It has been said that the mayor of Coventry attempted to suppress local airplay of the single. Peter Asher recalled hearing that the mayor felt the song "was insulting to his city or something", although Asher said of the reported boycott: "I don't know if some record company press hack dreamed that one up or if it was real. I [just] read [about] it".
In Australia, "Lady Godiva" reached #1 on the chart dated 29 October 1966, remaining at #1 for three weeks. The song also afforded Peter and Gordon a #1 hit in Canada and a moderate hit in the Netherlands (#30), South Africa (#18) and Sweden (#19).
Peter and Gordon returned to the US Top 40 with two subsequent singles: "Knight In Rusty Armour" and "Sunday for Tea", but "Lady Godiva" would be the duo's final UK hit.
