I listened to a compilation album of the Drifters this morning, including King and Goffin’s “Some Kind of Wonderful.” As soon as the introduction started, it reminded me of Colin Blunstone’s “Wonderful” from his Journey album. The beginning of “Some Kind of Wonderful” is almost an a capella singing of wonderful, which is the same as the very end of Colin Blunstone’s “Wonderful.”
Wonderful is a fairly common word, especially considering that most pop songs are love songs, and a capella singing isn’t too uncommon, but I do think there’s some connection between these two songs. Blunstone’s “Wonderful” was written by Rod Argent and Chris White, and all three were in the Zombies to-gether. In 1964, the Zombies played a Murray the K show where the Drifters were also billed. In the liner notes to Zombie Heaven, Paul Atkinson (the Zombies’ guitarist) recalls, “We hung out in Ben E King and the Drifters’ dressing room, and we’d play poker and sing and play guitar.”
I wouldn’t say that that’s absolute proof of direct influence, but I do think it’s more than just a coincidence.
