This song has become known as one of the quintessential "Now Sound" numbers, and I go a LONG way back with it as far as memories go! As a kid in the sixties I used to love the Benson and Hedges cigarette commercials-although I was very much anti-smoking even then! But the cool theme music and humorous content of these commercials was a hit with us kids. Well, flash forward to the mid-1980's...I was doing my usual record collector thing in a local thrift store and came across an album called "The Dis-Advantages of You" by the Brass Ring, a group that I had several 45s by already. It looked interesting, so I picked it up...and was blown away by the first track, which was that wonderful Benson and Hedges theme that I remembered from childhood. I
couldn't believe my luck in stumbling across it, and
it immediately became one of my all time favorite tracks. The cool, wordless female vocals, whimsical melody, and smooth saxophone playing never fail to transport me back to the 1960's of my youth! I did some research on the song at the time and was surprised to find that it had been a chart hit in the spring of 1967. I was listening to the radio a lot back then and didn't recall hearing it. But rediscovering this recording really was a highlight of my musical development.