# Who Made "Hold Your Head Up" a hit? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 10, 2004, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-made-hold-your-head-up-a-hit/279084 "2004-12-10T06:03:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fritz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c57346/32.png) [@Fritz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fritz)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-made-hold-your-head-up-a-hit/279084/1 "2004-12-10T06:03:04Z")
Hello All, “Hold Your Head Up” - originally (right?) performed by Argent - I believe this is the one most often heard on the radio, but searching the web, I see references to Uriah Heep and Steppenwolf. Can’t nail it down - Argent wrote this tune and made it famous - and the other groups covered? IIRC - 1972? Also, if it was Argent, how big (number of regulars) was the group when the tune was recorded? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Fritz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c57346/32.png) [@Fritz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fritz)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-made-hold-your-head-up-a-hit/279084/2 "2004-12-10T06:17:31Z")
Sorry, Google is less than informative for this… ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-made-hold-your-head-up-a-hit/279084/3 "2004-12-10T06:42:39Z")
Yeah I would say it was **Argent** and I do not know of anyone else covering it. I believe the group got its name from Ron Argent an ex-member of the Zombies. I don’t know how big the group was - five maybe? ---
**Author:** ![bleach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bleach/32/3106_2.png) [@bleach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bleach)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-made-hold-your-head-up-a-hit/279084/4 "2004-12-10T07:28:55Z")
Yes, “Hold Your Head Up” was definitely originally by Argent in 1972. I don’t know of any covers either, although it’s possible that the song was misattributed to the other bands that **Fritz** mentioned. There were 4 musicians: [ul] [li]Rod Argent (keyboards)[/li][li]Jim Rodford (bass guitar)[/li][li]Russ Ballard (lead guitar)[/li][li]Robert Henrit (drums)[/li][/ul] They broke up around ~1976. ---
**Author:** ![ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chockfullofheadygoodness/32/511_2.png) [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-made-hold-your-head-up-a-hit/279084/5 "2004-12-10T08:48:00Z")
[allmusic.com](http://allmusic.com) shows that Uriah Heep did indeed cover the song in 1989. Not only was I unaware of the cover, I didn’t know Uriah Heep was still together in 1989. Both Jim Rodford (bass) and Bob Henrit (drums) ended up in The Kinks. (Rodford in 1979 or so, Henrit in 1984). ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-made-hold-your-head-up-a-hit/279084/6 "2004-12-10T14:10:02Z")
There was a Christian rock band in the mid-80’s called 20/20 that did a cover of that song. I think Kerry Livgren (of Kansas fame) may have been involved in 20/20 in one way or another (member, producer, something), but my memory on this is less than clear. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-made-hold-your-head-up-a-hit/279084/7 "2004-12-10T17:41:00Z")
Former Marillion singer Fish also did a cover of the song in the early '90s. But the Argent original is **the** one. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2004, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-made-hold-your-head-up-a-hit/279084/8 "2004-12-10T22:24:13Z")
The song went to #5 in both the US and the UK.