"The Legend of Xanadu" is a single

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

 by Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich

Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich

Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich , were a British pop/rock group of the 1960s. Two of their single releases sold in excess of one million copies each, and they reached Number One in the UK with the second of them, "The Legend of Xanadu".-Biography:Five friends from Wiltshire, David John Harman,...

 that reached number one in 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 1968

1968 in music

-Events:*January 4 – Guitarist Jimi Hendrix is jailed by Stockholm police, after trashing a hotel room during a drunken fist fight with bassist Noel Redding.*January 6 – Gibson Guitar Corporation patents its Gibson Flying V electric guitar design....

, and was the group's biggest hit

Hit record

A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...

. As with many of their singles, it was written by songwriter

Songwriter

A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

s Ken Howard

Ken Howard (composer)

Ken Howard is an English songwriter, lyricist, author and television director.-International hits in the 1960s and 1970s:...

 and Alan Blaikley

Alan Blaikley

-Early life and career:Born in London, where he survived the Blitz, Alan Blaikley was educated at University College School , Hampstead, and Wadham College, Oxford, where he read Classical Moderations and English, and was Reviews Editor of the university newspaper Cherwell.After coming down from...

, and like many of the group's recordings

Sound recording and reproduction

Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...

, it features a novelty element — in this case a trumpet

Trumpet

The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...

 section, and the distinctive sound of a whip

Whip

A whip is a tool traditionally used by humans to exert control over animals or other people, through pain compliance or fear of pain, although in some activities whips can be used without use of pain, such as an additional pressure aid in dressage...

 cracking in the chorus. The musical accompaniment was directed by John Gregory.

7" vinyl single

Side one

1. "The Legend of Xanadu" (Ken Howard
   Ken Howard (composer)
   Ken Howard is an English songwriter, lyricist, author and television director.-International hits in the 1960s and 1970s:...
   
   , Alan Blaikley
   Alan Blaikley
   -Early life and career:Born in London, where he survived the Blitz, Alan Blaikley was educated at University College School , Hampstead, and Wadham College, Oxford, where he read Classical Moderations and English, and was Reviews Editor of the university newspaper Cherwell.After coming down from...
   
   ) – 3:35

Side two

1. "Please" (Dave Harman, John Dymond, Trevor Davies) – 3:20

Chart performance

Chart (1968)	Peak position
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 ...	1
Australian (NSW) Singles Chart	3
Austrian Singles Chart	6
Belgian Singles Chart	6
Dutch Top 40 Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting...	5
Finnish Singles Chart	20
German Singles Chart	5
Irish Singles Chart Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured...	1
Japanese Singles Chart	11
Norwegian Singles Chart	3
Swedish Singles Chart	1

Cover versions

The song was recorded by The Fall for an NME

NME

The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...

 Various Artists compilation, Ruby Trax