Song: (All My Life’s a) Circle
Artists: New Seekers
Original artist: Harry Chapin
Harry Chapin has been a personal favourite ever since I heard his song W.O.L.D.,
which was a minor hit (No 34) in the UK and in the US (No 36). I liked it enough to dig a
bit deeper and have never been sorry that I did.
If you get the chance to latch onto his Gold Medal Collection double-album I would
commend you to take it. It comprises 32 tracks and nearly all of them are designed to
make you think. The last one – and the one he used to end most of his live shows with –
is Circle.
I had the great privilege to see Chapin in concert at the Fairfield Halls in Croydon (to the
south of London) back in the late 1970s. Sadly, he was killed in an automobile accident
a short time later in mid-1981.
As mentioned, Circle was the song he liked to end a concert on. He treated it as a sing-
along and would get members of his band and roadies to sing verses of it with him as
you will see below. One of the lyrics “and so far, no dead ends” seems especially
poignant.
The song was covered in 1972 by British group the New Seekers (not to be confused
with the 1960s Aussie group The Seekers which had Judith Durham as lead singer).
Circle reached No 4 in the UK charts, but did not score so well in the States, only hitting
No 87.
The New Seekers was put together by former (old) Seekers member Keith Potger after
the break-up of band that had hits such as Georgy Girl, I’ll Never Find Another You and
the Carnival is Over among others.
The New Seekers had hits with the likes of I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing which
piggy-backed an advertisement for cola – I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke. They also
recorded You Won’t Find Another Fool Like Me and Beg, Steal or Borrow. Although
World to Sing hit No 1 in the UK many of the group’s fans regard Circle as their best
work.
