The first recording to be released was by Major Lance, as a single in December 1963, produced by Okeh label president Carl Davis.[2]
Chart performance
The song was Major Lance's third release to make the Billboard Hot 100 and his most successful hit with a #5 peak on the Billboard Hot 100 on 8 February 1964 with a #1 peak on the Cash Box R&B chart (Billboard did not run an R&B chart November 1963-January 1965).[3] In Canada it reached #6.[4] In the UK it reached #40, Lance's only UK chart appearance.[5]
Other versions
The song became a major hit in the UK during the autumn of 1964 with a rendition by Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders reaching No. 5.[6]
Johnny Rivers covered the song for his 1977 album Outside Help from which it was issued as the follow-up single to the top ten hit "Swayin' to the Music (Slow Dancing)". Rivers' version was renamed "Curious Mind" after a lyric in the second verse; the full title of the Rivers' version being "Curious Mind (Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um)". "Curious Mind..." was heavily supported by easy-listening radio, peaking at No. 4 on the Easy Listening chart in Billboard in February 1978; it reached No. 41 on the Billboard Hot 100 where it was Rivers' final charting song.[7]
References
^"discogs.com". discogs.com. December 1963. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
