WALKIN’ IN THE SUNSHINE – PETER LOTIS

Chart performance:

Week	Position	Movement	Comments
21-Jul-67	19	New
28-Jul-67	16	+3
04-Aug-67	12	+4	Star rater
11-Aug-67	10	+2	Peak
18-Aug-67	16	-6	Biggest faller
25-Aug-67	16	0
01-Sep-67	19	-3
08-Sep-67	18	+1

Written by: Roger Miller
Produced by: Not listed
South African record label (unless otherwise stated): Continental

Hit number for artist	1
Peak position	10
Weeks	8
Biggest climber awards	0
Star rater climbs	1
Biggest faller awards	1
Top 20 points	42
Overall Top 20 points ranking	=1700
Top 20 points ranking for the artist	4
Top 30 Points	122
Overall Top 30 points ranking	=1676
Top 30 points ranking for the artist	4

Annual ranking:

1967

=80

Roger Miller, who wrote the song, was best known for his hit ‘King Of The Road’ (which didn’t make our charts). He would release his version of ‘Walking In The Sunshine’ in 1967 and see it get to 37 in the US and 7 on the US Country Singles charts. The Statler Brothers, Slim Whitman and Sammi Smith are amongst the various artists who have also recorded versions.

Video:

Artist link: Peter Lotis

SUNDAY GIRL – PETER LOTIS

Chart performance:

Week	Position	Movement	Comments
22-Jun-73	20	New
29-Jun-73	20	0
06-Jul-73	18	+2
13-Jul-73	17	+1
20-Jul-73	14	+3
27-Jul-73	12	+2	Biggest climber
03-Aug-73	9	+3
10-Aug-73	10	-1
17-Aug-73	7	+3	Peak
24-Aug-73	7	0	Peak
31-Aug-73	10	-3
07-Sep-73	14	-4	Biggest faller
14-Sep-73	14	0
21-Sep-73	18	-4	Biggest faller
28-Sep-73	17	+1

Written by: Gerd Gudera, Pepe Ederer & Terry Dempsey
Produced by: Terry Dempsey
South African record label (unless otherwise stated): Map

Hit number for artist	3
Peak position	7
Weeks	15
Biggest climber awards	1
Star rater climbs	0
Biggest faller awards	2
Top 20 points	108
Overall Top 20 points ranking	=1030
Top 20 points ranking for the artist	2
Top 30 Points	258
Overall Top 30 points ranking	=860
Top 30 points ranking for the artist	2

Annual ranking:

1973

=39

SA Radio charts:

LM Radio

7

The song was an English cover of a German language song called ‘Ich Fange Nie Mehr Wan Einem Sonntag An’ which was a number 1 hit in Switzerland and a number 14 hit in Germany in 1972 for a Swiss singer called Monica Morell. Morell would record an English version of the track which went under the title ‘My Love Please Talk To Me’. This would only be first released over 10 years after it was recorded. Terry Dempsey would supply the English lyrics for Lotis’ version and it would rank 12^th out of the 28 hits that Tery Dempsey had a song writing credit on.

Video:

Artist link: Peter Lotis

HONEY – PETER LOTIS

Chart performance:

Week	Position	Movement	Comments
24-May-68	15	New
31-May-68	15	0
07-Jun-68	13	+2
14-Jun-68	12	+1
21-Jun-68	9	+3	Peak
28-Jun-68	14	-5	Biggest faller
05-Jul-68	13	+1
12-Jul-68	13	0

Written by: Bobby Russell
Produced by: Not listed
South African record label (unless otherwise stated): Continental

Hit number for artist	2
Peak position	9
Weeks	8
Biggest climber awards	0
Star rater climbs	0
Biggest faller awards	1
Top 20 points	64
Overall Top 20 points ranking	=1440
Top 20 points ranking for the artist	3
Top 30 Points	144
Overall Top 30 points ranking	=1518
Top 30 points ranking for the artist	3

Annual ranking:

1968

65

The song was first recorded by Kingston Trio member, Bob Shane, but became a big hit when it was recorded by Bobby Goldsboro. The latter version would spend 5 weeks at number 1 in the US and would peak at 2 in the UK for 1 week, stuck behind Union Gap’s ‘Young Girl’. It would be his only US chart topper.

Video:

Artist link: Peter Lotis

HEIDI – PETER LOTIS

Chart performance:

Week	Position	Movement	Comments
16-Jun-78	9	New
23-Jun-78	5	+4	Star rater
30-Jun-78	2	+3	Peak
07-Jul-78	2	0	Peak
14-Jul-78	2	0	Peak
21-Jul-78	2	0	Peak
28-Jul-78	3	-1
04-Aug-78	4	-1
11-Aug-78	7	-3	Biggest faller
18-Aug-78	8	-1
25-Aug-78	13	-5	Biggest faller
01-Sep-78	14	-1
08-Sep-78	18	-4	Biggest faller

Written by: Christian Bruhn & Andrea Wagner
Produced by: Not listed
South African record label (unless otherwise stated): Gallo

Hit number for artist	4
Peak position	2
Weeks	13
Biggest climber awards	0
Star rater climbs	1
Biggest faller awards	3
Top 20 points	184
Overall Top 20 points ranking	=468
Top 20 points ranking for the artist	1
Top 30 Points	314
Overall Top 30 points ranking	=567
Top 30 points ranking for the artist	1

Annual ranking:

1978

19

The song was an English cover of the theme to the animated children’s TV series ‘Heidi’. The series was dubbed into Afrikaans and the theme used for the show was in Afrikaans. The Peter Lotis single was backed with an Afrikaans version which is credited to The Alpen Susters. I have not been able to confirm this, but it was probably the Alpen Susters’ version which was used for the TV show. Herbie & Spence would also chart with an Afrikaans version of the song, but that version would not fare as well, scoring only 40 top 20 points versus the 184 that Lotis’ version would manage. Lotis’ version was kept off the top spot by Boney M’s ‘Rivers Of Babylon’.

Video:

Artist link: Peter Lotis

PETER LOTIS (SA)

Lotis was born in the Vredendorp suburb of Johannesburg in 1931. His father was a Greek café owner. His mother hailed from England and worked for the Johannesburg Operatic and Dramatic Society. She encouraged Peter to enter singing competitions. In the mid 50’s he went to England with his eldest brother, Dennis, and got experience working with the Ted Heath Orchestra. Dennis would record with Ted Heath as well as working with acts such as Dorothy Squires and The Stargazers while Peter returned to South Africa. After hearing an advert on Springbok Radio that they were looking for presenters, Peter auditioned on a whim. He landed the job and would work in radio and later television for the rest of his life doing shows such as ‘Juke Box Jury’ and ‘The Money Or The Box Show’. His recording career goes back to 1966 and one of his early released (if not his first) was a version of ‘Edelweiss’ from ‘The Sound Of Music’ which he recorded with Judy Page as Judy & Peter. He would also work with Stevie van Kerken (aka Stevie Vann, one time wife of Robert John “Mutt” Lange) and Dan Hill amongst others. Apart from his singing, he also produced a number of SA chart hits.

Date of entry	Song	Peak (weeks at 1)	Weeks
21-Jul-1967	Walking In The Sunshine	10	8
24-May-1968	Honey	9	8
22-Jun-1973	Sunday Girl	7	15
16-Jun-1978	Heidi	2	13
		Total hits	4
		Total weeks	44

Biggest climber awards	1
Star rater climbs	2
Biggest fallers	7
Weeks with oldest in the charts	0
Longest run in the charts (weeks)	15
Weeks with more than 1 in the charts	0
Biggest gap between hits (weeks)	257
Top 30 points ranking	=162
Top 20 points ranking	178
Top 30 points	838
Top 20 points	398

Peter Lotis had the 7^th longest chart career of any local act (calculated from the date of his first chart entry to the last date he appeared on the charts) with his career lasting 581 weeks.

Songs produced by Peter Lotis:

Song	Act	Peak (weeks at 1)	Weeks
Look Out Here Comes Tomorrow	The Dealians	1 (3)	15
Sailing	Fuzz	9	6
Put Your Hand In The Hand	Alan Garrity	1 (4)	13
When Love Comes Knocking At Your Door	The Dealians	3	11
Get Me Some Help	Neville Whitmill	2	18
All Of The Time Girl	The Dealians	13	6
I Need Someone	Alan Garrity	2	33
Home Isn’t Home Anymore	Alan Garrity	5	16
Harmony	Neville Whitmill	18	3
Good-Bye Mama	Alan Garrity	15	7
Give Me Back My Woman	Alan Garrity	9	10
She’s My Woman	Alan Garrity	15	5
		Total hits	12
		Total weeks	143

Total chart involvement:

Number of hits	16
Weeks	187
No of No. 1’s	2
Weeks at 1	7