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Is This the Way to Amarillo?

"(Is This The Way To) Amarillo"
Is This the Way to Amarillo.jpg
Single by Tony Christie
B-side "Love Is a Friend of Mine"
Released November 1971
Recorded 1971
Genre Pop, schlager
Length 3:35
Label MCA (UK and Europe); Kapp (US)
Writer(s) Neil Sedaka, Howard Greenfield
Producer(s) Tony Christie
"Amarillo"
Amarillo - Neil Sedaka.jpg
Single by Neil Sedaka
from the album A Song
B-side "The Leaving Game"
Released May 1977
Recorded 1977
Genre Pop
Label Elektra (US); Polydor (Europe)
Writer(s) Sedaka/Greenfield
"(Is This the Way to) Amarillo"
(Is This the Way to) Amarillo.jpg
Single by Tony Christie featuring Peter Kay
from the album Is This the Way to Amarillo
Released March 14, 2005
Format Digital download, CD, DVD
Genre Pop, schlager
Length 3:40
Writer(s) Neil Sedaka, Howard Greenfield
Producer(s) Tony Christie
Peter Kay singles chronology
"(Is This the Way to) Amarillo"
(2005)
"I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)"
(2007)

"(Is This The Way To) Amarillo" is a song written by Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield. It is about a man traveling to Amarillo, Texas to find his girlfriend Marie. The reason that Amarillo was chosen for the song was because it was the only place name that Sedaka could think of that rhymed with "willow" and "pillow". The song was originally to be titled "Is This the Way to Pensacola" referring to Pensacola, Florida, but Sedaka felt that Amarillo worked better than Pensacola.

Written by two Americans with a strong country-western lyrical theme, the song was first released in Europe, where it has become much more popular than in the composers' native country, with a big-band/orchestral pop arrangement sung by Tony Christie. Christie's version was a major hit in Europe and a modest success in his native United Kingdom upon its release, then became even more popular in the early 2000s when the song was reissued. As Christie's version failed to make a major impact in the U.S., Sedaka released his own recording of the song in 1977, which narrowly missed the top 40 but was an easy listening hit in the U.S. and Canada.

The song was recorded by Tony Christie and released in the UK in November 1971, initially reaching number 18 in the UK Singles Chart. However, it was a substantially bigger hit at that time across Continental Europe, notably in Germany and Spain, where it made number one. In the U.S., however, Christie's record stalled at #121 on the Bubbling Under the Hot 100. Following the re-issue of Christie's version in 2005, promoted with a video featuring Peter Kay, the song gained even greater prominence, reaching number 1 in the UK.


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