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3 unusual facts about Outside of a Small Circle of Friends


Circle of Friends

"Outside of a Small Circle of Friends", a 1966 song on the Phil Ochs album Pleasures of the Harbor

Outside of a Small Circle of Friends

Billboard wrote that the record "should put folkster Ochs high on the Hot 100" and the Cleveland Press said that if radio stations "give it a chance, this will be a giant record".

"Outside of a Small Circle of Friends", which was originally released on Ochs' 1967 album Pleasures of the Harbor, became one of Ochs' most popular songs.


Pleasures of the Harbor

The best known track is "Outside of a Small Circle of Friends", a sarcastic jab at the apathetic nature of people in certain situations, at its base the story of the Murder of Kitty Genovese in New York City (which numerous people witnessed, doing nothing to help), set to a Dixieland backing.


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