'Ob La Di Ob La Da,' The Beatles

[tpj1965]

Doris Day may have gotten to the phrase "que sera sera" first, but Paul McCartney found an equally family-friendly way to convey the notion that s*** happens -- by "borrowing" it from Nigerian percussionist Jimmy Scott. Macca snagged the title phrase, which means "life goes on" in the Yoruba dialect, and got (unsuccessfully) sued by Scott in the process. The Cute Beatle would later repay his karmic -- if not financial -- debt by posting bail when Scott was jailed for missing alimony payments.

Marmalade were a successful Scottish pop/rock group, originally fronted by the vocalist Dean Ford. Unusually, Marmalade had two bass players, and were originally called Dean Ford & The Gaylords; they released several unsuccessful singles between 1964 and 1966, before changing their name. Their next few singles also failed to chart in the UK, although one, "I See The Rain," was highly praised by Jimi Hendrix and became a Top 40 hit in the Netherlands in 1967. Marmalade enjoyed their greatest success with their cover of The Beatles' "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da", which topped the UK chart in January 1969. As the first Scottish group to ever top the UK chart, the week it went to the top spot, they celebrated by appearing on BBC1's music programme Top Of The Pops, dressed in kilts.

[DudeAsInCool]

Not a bad cover - but I'm surprised it went to number one near the same time The Beatle's version was out