"Hello Stranger
" was a 1963 hit single by Barbara Lewis who also wrote the song. Produced by Ollie McLaughlin, the track features backing vocals by The Dells. A top-five hit on the Billboard Hot 100, "Hello Stranger" spent two weeks at number one on the R&B singles chart. [1].
"Hello Stranger" was remade in 1966 by the Capitols again with Ollie McLaughlin producing (McLaughlin recorded the Capitols on his Karen label after hearing the group perform at a local dance headlined by Barbara Lewis). "Hello Stranger" was also a 1969 single release by before returning to the charts in 1973 when made it a regional hit.
The most successful incarnation of the song since the Lewis original has been the 1977 Yvonne Elliman version produced by Freddie Perren; both Elliman and Perren deliberately sought to capture the sound of the original and the resultant track reached the US Top 20 and the UK Singles Chart Top 30. Elliman's version also charted R&B at #57 and was most successful on the Easy Listening chart where it was #1 for four weeks.
Elliman's version also reached the Top 30 in the UK where it remains the only version to chart. Elkie Brooks' first single, released in 1964, had featured a version of "Hello Stranger" but the A-side had been Brooks' cover of another US R&B hit: Etta James' "Something's Got a Hold on Me" which had not proven to be a chart item for Brooks. Brooks' single was produced by Ian Samwell.
In 1985 Carrie Lucas' remake of "Hello Stranger" - which featured the Whispers - was a Top 20 R&B hit and in 2004 Queen Latifah remade "Hello Stranger" for her The Dana Owens Album
.
Other versions of the song have been recorded by Martha Reeves and the Vandellas and the Supremes with the Four Tops.
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HELLO STRANGER TICKETS
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