"Good Tradition" is a song, written and originally recorded by Tanita Tikaram

Tanita Tikaram

Tanita Tikaram is a British pop/folk singer-songwriter, best known for the hits "Twist in My Sobriety" and "Good Tradition" from her 1988 debut album, Ancient Heart...

 and released as the first single in 1988 from the album Ancient Heart

Ancient Heart

Ancient Heart is a 1988 album by Tanita Tikaram. The album had huge success and was a hit globally, launching Tanita's mainstream career. Guest musicians included Rod Argent, Mark Isham, Peter Van Hooke, Paul Brady and Brendan Croker...

.

Story

Released in 1988, Good Tradition is Tanita Tikaram's debut song. When it was released, it went largely unnoticed and attracted little media attention. The song therefore did not get much airplay, but weeks after its release, the single started climbing up the charts and finally reached #10 at the UK Singles Chart

UK Singles Chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

 in August 1988.

To celebrate, Wea records released a limited edition hand design by Tikaram herself in which she tells the brief story of the song, the song's success on the charts, and thanks everyone that supported the song. In the design Tikaram notes each Sunday week ending date from the first week of single release, alongside its chart position for that week in question. The positions noted are 149-163-80-67-36-23-15-10, all up to the point the single made the top 10. Tikaram however made a mistake on only the fifth week, in which the actual chart position was #39. The full top 75 chart run before and after the peak position was attained went 67-39-23-15-{10}-11-17-32-46-67.

The Video

The video for "Good Tradition" features Tikaram playing in some kind of audition, which is never really self explained for what. The audience just takes it as being an audition for a musician part in a theater. At first shy, Tikaram strikes a couple of notes and the song begins, and as it develops the judges, as well the crew form the theater start dancing to the tune. At the end Tikaram can be seen with a big smile on her lips.

Cover versions

With lyrics in Swedish

Swedish language

Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...

 by Keith Almgren

Keith Almgren

Keith Almgren, born 8 November 1957 in Järfälla, Sweden, is a Swedish songwriter and music publisher.Keith Almgren has a solid background and has written over 1400 titles in the register of Stim....

, the song was covered

Cover version

In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...

 by Kikki Danielsson

Kikki Danielsson

Ann-Kristin "Kikki" Danielsson is a Swedish country, dansband and pop singer. Sometimes, she also plays the accordion and she has also written some lyrics. She is also famous for yodeling in some songs. Kikki Danielsson gained her largest popularity in the Nordic region from the late 1970s until...

 & Roosarna

Kjell Roos band

Kjell Roos Band is a dansband in Vallsta, Sweden. The band was formed in 1969 by the brothers Kjell, Anders and Sven-Åke as Bröderna Roos . In the mid 1970s they changed their name to Roosarna. Since 1975, it is a full-time playing band...

 on the 1990 album På lugnare vatten

På lugnare vatten

På lugnare vatten is a 1990 studio album from Kikki Danielsson & Roosarna. "Vägg i vägg" is a text in Swedish of the song "Eitt lag enn", which when performed by Stjórnin finished 4th for Iceland at the Eurovision Song Contest 1990. "Cliff medley" is a combination of Cliff Richard hits...

as I god tradition ("In good tradition") .