Make Your Own Kind of Music (song)


"Make Your Own Kind of Music" is a pop song written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, first recorded in 1968 by the New York City-based trio the Will-O-Bees, who regularly performed Mann/Weil compositions. After Cass Elliot had a hit in the summer of 1969 with Mann/Weil's "It's Getting Better", she recorded "Make Your Own Kind of Music" as the follow-up single, and her album Bubblegum, Lemonade, and... Something for Mama was re-released as "Make Your Own Kind Of Music/It's Getting Better," the title cut having been added to the original track listing. However, Elliot's "Make Your Own Kind of Music" single only reached No. 36. The similar chart impact of the follow-up single, another Mann/Weil composition entitled "New World Coming," which reached No. 42, signaled Elliot's challenges in maintaining a profile as a current hitmaker, as the 1960s turned into the 1970s. The Cass Elliot track is in the key of E major.
The song was used prominently in the television show Lost, first appearing in the episode "Man of Science, Man of Faith," and rated as one of Spin magazine's "Best Musical Moments From TV's Latest Golden Age". It was also used as the theme for Swedish documentary show I en annan del av Köping.
The song was also used to great effect in the episode of the television show The Middle entitled The Graduate, used as a score to a flashback montage of Sue during her high school graduation ceremony. Additionally, the song was also used multiple times in the TV show, Dexter, including an episode under the same title as the song. The song also appears on the soundtrack to the film Beautiful Thing.

Chart performance

Remixes

A remixed version of the Cass Elliot track was featured in the 1997 Dance compilation Dance Across The Universe , which was released by Universal Records, along with a separate club-only promo which featured four different mixes.

Paloma Faith version

In March 2018, Paloma Faith released a cover of the song, which was also featured in a TV commercial for Škoda, promoting the Karoq crossover vehicle. It made it to No. 28 on the UK Singles Chart. It was later confirmed in April 2018 that the song would be included on the digital track listing of her fourth studio album The Architect as one of the album's singles. It was included in the tracklist of the album on sites like Spotify and Apple Music on 20 April 2018.

Charts

Certifications

Other versions

In 1972, Barbra Streisand released "Make Your Own Kind of Music" as a single in a medley with "Sing", which became an Easy Listening hit but only reached No. 94 on the Billboard Hot 100. Streisand also recorded parts of the song as a medley with The World is a Concerto for Barbra Streisand...And Other Musical Instruments.
Other versions were recorded by Bobby Sherman and Paloma Faith.
A happy hardcore cover of the track was released in 1997 by DJ Daydream.