Sonny & Cher were an American pop duo of entertainers made up of husband-and-wife Sonny Bono and Cher in the 1960s and 1970s. The couple started their career in the mid-1960s as R&B backing singers for record producer Phil Spector.
The pair first achieved fame with two hit songs in 1965, "Baby Don't Go" and "I Got You Babe". Signing with Atco/Atlantic Records, they released three studio albums in the late 1960s, as well as the soundtrack recordings for two unsuccessful movies, Good Times and Chastity, with Cher contributing vocals to one cut, "Chastity's Song (Band of Thieves)". In 1972, after three years of silence, the couple returned to the studio and released two other albums under the MCA/Kapp Records label.
In the 1970s, they also positioned themselves as media personalities with two top ten TV shows in the US, The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour and The Sonny & Cher Show. The couple's career as a duo ended in 1975 following their divorce. In the decade they spent together, Sonny and Cher were nominated for two Grammy Awards and sold over 40 million records worldwide. Rolling Stone ranked them No. 18 on its list of the 20 Greatest Duos of All Time.
Performing under her first name, Cher went on to a highly successful career as a solo singer and actress, while Sonny Bono was eventually elected to Congress as a Republican U.S. Representative from California. The two performers were inducted to the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1998, following Sonny's death in a skiing accident.
Links to Peel[]
Peel more likely would have played material from Sonny & Cher, whilst he was working for commercial radio stations in America during the mid 60's, when the duo were at their prime. In fact between April and May 1966, Cher's Bang Bang track appeared on KMEN British Pop Top Ten, which Peel was hosting.
After returning back to the UK from America in the late 60's, Peel started to play more of his own choice of music on his shows and when reviewing Cher's Living In A House Divided single for the Singles section of the Disc & Music Echo music paper, published on 10th June 1972, he described it as repetitive, dull, to a degree beyond previous human experience.
Peel would often sometimes briefly play Sonny & Cher's go back to school adverts between some songs on his shows in the 90's and 00's. Although he wasn't a fan of the duo, Peel did play Sonny & Cher's Beat Goes On song on his 20th January 1998 show after playing All Seeing I's Beat Goes On track, which had the same song title, but different music composition.
On his 03 December 2003 show, Peel described having a TV monitor in the studio showing a concert from Cher, where he described his thoughts of her:
"She's my age... She looks very well on it, obviously. Looks rather better than I do, facts have to be faced. But... it's in a stadium somewhere and people are going berserk. Most of them seem to be 16, 17. I mean, what is that all about? Utterly mystifying. Nothing against the woman, but if she was on in our village hall and there was nothing else on, I might go and see her. But otherwise... I don't think so."
Despite Peel not liking much of their music, some musicians that were played by him did cover versions of Sonny & Cher's songs.
Sonny and Cher- The beat goes on (HQ Version)
Shows Played[]
- Sonny & Cher
- 20 January 1998: The Beat Goes On (album - The Beat Goes On) ATCO
- Cher
- 29 Apr 1966: Bang Bang (9)
- 06 May 1966: Bang Bang (4)
- 13 May 1966: Bang Bang (2)
Top Of The Pops[]
- 05 May 1983 (TOTP): I Got You Babe
Covered[]
Listing taken only from the Cover Versions page of this site. Please add more information if known.
Performing Artist | Song | First Known Play
- Dictators: I Got You Babe J P D18 (1975)
- Terri Hooley: Laugh At Me 23 October 1979
- Mott The Hoople: Laugh At Me (session) 21 February 1970
- Terry Reid: Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) 22 December 1968
- Transmitters: The Beat Goes On 01 April 1981