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Edwin Hawkins

John Abbey, Blues & Soul, 20 November 1970

EVERY NOW and then, a true phenomenon occurs in the world of popular music. The 60's was a period when at least one unusual occurrence turned up every year. Usually, the artist immediately faded into obscurity aware that his, her or their hit was merely a fluke. However, the last decade threw up one exception to that rule, the Edwin Hawkins Singers, who exploded on to the unsuspecting record-buying public the world over with the best selling gospel record of all time, 'Oh Happy Day', a traditional hymn that is so old that it was out of copyright, thus allowing Edwin to claim credit for writing it!

Total word count of piece: 1031

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