Anyone remember British Psychedelic Rock group Doctor and the Medics?  Their 1986 cover of Norman Greenbaum's "Spirit in the Sky" hit #1 in 32 countries.  Unfortunately, it only made #69 in America

From their album "Laughing at the Pieces", they also had a UK top 40 follow-up with the song "Burn", before fading away into obscurity

http://www.geocities.jp/yama_ksr1010/music/m-phot/damlau.jpg


Some "Spirit in the Sky" trivia:  The 1970 Norman Greenbaum Version, the 1986 Medics version and the 2003 version by Gareth Gates were all #1 hits in the UK

I've seen them three times in concert.  Once was just after Spirit in the Sky came out at Leicester University Students Union.  I saw them the following year when they were one of the supporting acts for The Damned's 10th anniversary concert in London.  Then I saw them a few years later at Loughborough Students Union.  At the time of The Damned's concert they seemed embarrassed to have had that chart success and rattled through the song at great speed. 

I remember these guys... Man, they had some awesome hair! Their version of Norman Greenbaum's "Spirit in the Sky" is one of the most faithful remakes of all time! :)

[quote author=whis

I certainly remember "Spirit In The Sky", a very catchy version, think it made #2 in Australia. They also made a cover of ABBA's "Waterloo", which I saw only once on a local music video show. After that, I never heard from them again.

For some obscure reason, Spirit In The Sky did absolutely NOTHING in the Netherlands - not even bubbling under.... :\'(

So in a way, you guys were fortunate with it hitting #69. ;)


Actually, here in Canada, it was #1.  It seems we always get more of the British music than America does  :-\\