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Let's Have Another Party

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"Let's Have Another Party"
Single by Winifred Atwell
B-side"Let's Have Another Party (Part 2)"
Released1954
Genre
Length2:48 (Part 1)
LabelPhilips

"Let's Have Another Party" is a 1954 ragtime medley which became a number one hit in the UK Singles Chart for the pianist Winifred Atwell. It is a composite of several pieces of music, and was a follow-up to Atwell's successful hit "Let's Have a Party" of the previous year.

The music was written by Nat D. Ayer, Clifford Grey, James W. Tate, Ray Henderson, Mort Dixon and others. It was produced by Johnny Franz and first entered the UK chart on 26 November 1954 for an eight-week run, spending five of those weeks at number one.[1][2] The medley included parts of the following tunes:[1]

With this song, Atwell had the first piano instrumental to reach number one in the UK Singles Chart and was the first black artist to have a number-one hit in the UK Singles Chart, and as of 2023, remains the only female instrumentalist to do so.[3][4][5]

Tom Ewing of Freaky Trigger describes "Let's Have Another Party" as a megamix of music hall hits which Atwell instrumentalises, mashes together and plays sped-up on the piano. He noted that the second part of the track on the B-side contains a momentary, arbitrary guitar overdub that plays for a few notes halfway through, calling this an early instance of British pop incorporating a new noise for its own sake.[6]

References

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  1. ^ a b Rice, Jo (1982). The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits (1st ed.). Enfield, Middlesex: Guinness Superlatives Ltd. p. 17. ISBN 0-85112-250-7.
  2. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. pp. 37–8. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  3. ^ Rice, Jo (1982). The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits (1st ed.). Enfield, Middlesex: Guinness Superlatives Ltd. p. 17. ISBN 0-85112-250-7.
  4. ^ George McKay, 2014. '"Winifred Atwell and her 'other' piano: 16 hit singles and a 'blanket of silence', sounding the limits of jazz'". Black British Jazz: Routes, Ownership and Performance.
  5. ^ "Five UK number one hits that you can't sing along to". BBC Bitesize. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  6. ^ Ewing, Tomg (28 September 2003). "Winifired Atwell - "Let's Have Another Party"". Freaky Trigger. Retrieved 30 May 2023.