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My 1970 charts, and ramblings on my life then, media and the world

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Popchartfreak View member profile	May 4 2015, 06:23 PM Post #21
BuzzJack Legend Joined: 18 July 2012 Posts: 22,812 User: 17,376	7th April 1970 It’s a first Eurovision song chart-topper for Dana, All Kinds Of Everything won the first of many victories for Ireland and the pretty teenager with the pretty voice and pretty song. Everybody say aaaahh! I did love it at the time, less so these days though. The UK’s entry has to make do with 4, as Knock Knock Who’s There shockingly fails to go on top after 3 singles in a row to hit my number one. Not so shocking, actually, as it got very little airplay in Singapore, and Dana was always on 2-way Family Favourites. The classic Bridge Over Troubled Water is at 3, and the also classic Spirit In The Sky is up to 8. New at 17, Blue Mink are back with another good single, Good Morning Freedom, I loved Madeleine Bell and happily caught her on TV the other day talking about her days as Dusty Springfield’s backing vocalist during Dusty’s classic period. The single is SO catchy! At 18, and Stevie is really on a roll, Never Had A Dream Come True is a great single towards the tail-end of his early Motown soul-crooner days, and before he became a serious album’s artist on top of hitmaker of singles. Creedence were also on a roll, Travelling Band being one of their big UK hits, but one I like less than some of their minor UK hits which hit it big in the USA around 1970 and 1971. Always good though. xqUr8t9aMLY 1 ( 2 ) ALL KINDS OF EVERYTHING Dana 2 ( 1 ) LET IT BE The Beatles 3 ( 4 ) BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER Simon And Garfunkel 4 ( 9 ) KNOCK KNOCK WHO’S THERE Mary Hopkin 5 ( 3 ) RAINDROPS KEEP FALLIN’ ON MY HEAD B.J. Thomas 6 ( 8 ) (TO BE) YOUNG GIFTED AND BLACK Bob And Marcia 7 ( 5 ) WAND’RIN’ STAR Lee Marvin 8 ( 16 ) SPIRIT IN THE SKY Norman Greenbaum 9 ( 6 ) NA NA HEY HEY KISS HIM GOODBYE Steam 10 ( 7 ) TRY A LITTLE KINDNESS Glen Campbell nV-ni04N854 11 ( 13 ) FAREWELL IS A LONELY SOUND Jimmy Ruffin 12 ( 12 ) I WANT YOU BACK The Jackson 5 13 ( 17 ) GIMME DAT DING The Pipkins 14 ( 20 ) I CAN’T HELP MYSELF The Four Tops 15 ( 15 ) AUGUST OCTOBER Robin Gibb BfcTw8tYFao 16 ( 14 ) EVERYBODY GET TOGETHER The Dave Clark 5 17 ( NEW ) GOOD MORNING FREEDOM Blue Mink 18 ( NEW ) NEVER HAD A DREAM COME TRUE Stevie Wonder 19 ( 18 ) I TALK TO THE TREES Clint Eastwood 20 ( NEW ) TRAVELLIN' BAND Creedence Clearwater Revival WWolUsgO_to In Singapore, I had a new friend from an adjacent bungalow to the rear of the house, Robert Gough, who went to the Grammar School at Changi, had a warrant officer dad (all my dad’s mates were low-ranking so this was virtual hob-nobbing with the elite!) and he got sent home to private school in the UK for a while. When it was his birthday I got a real treat in a Katong upstairs restaurant, my first-ever banana split, and some money to spend in the big Robinson’s store in the city - where I got a brand new copy of Action Comics 386, which featured an ageing immortal Superman in a continuing story set in the far future, and a legion Of Super-Heroes back Zap Goes The Legion! which had a fave minor villainess Uli Algor, who plotted to turn their super-powers against the featured legionnaires - she got beaten by a punch. Always poor planners, villains! It was a great evening out though, and of course I still have that comic, still precious to me and in good condition, with the 55 cents Singapore price-tag stamped on it. These things matter when you’re 12 (or 57)! At the Oscars, it was Midnight Cowboy, John Wayne (in True Grit, which I loved), and Maggie Smith - sadly, not for Sister Act, that was still nearly 20 years away! On TV I was watching reruns of The Ice Warriors Doctor Who (well re-runs to me, having watched them 2 years earlier in the UK), while the UK was stuck with Jon Pertwee episodes - he just wasn’t the Doctor! I was also watching The Banana Splits which aired just before it, I loved the cool Drooper, the animated cartoons, the crap gags, and especially the theme tune and funky songs. Oldies on TV? Gilligan’s Island, My Favorite Martian, The Many Loves Of Dobie Gillis, Car 54 Where Are You? and other US 60’s sitcoms. My pop culture is pretty much American pop culture, British sitcoms were dull in comparison. All of ‘em. The first sitcom that appealed to me was just out in the UK - Up Pompeii - and that was very much in the Carry On tradition. Carry On films still came out regularly and played at the RAF Changi cinema - I remember going to see Carry On Loving in 1971 and not getting the “cooking fat” gag for a cat’s name. Cos he spits, I thought, naively!


Coral5 View member profile	May 4 2015, 06:44 PM Post #22
PTTP Joined: 30 April 2012 Posts: 4,806 User: 16,865	I thought "Knock Knock" will be # 1 here, not Dana. Still adore both songs Dana was the first Irish singer with # 1 in my charts. The chain will continue with another Irish ESC participants, Corrs, BWitched and Imelda May. This post has been edited by Sword of Justice*: May 4 2015, 06:46 PM


Popchartfreak View member profile	May 4 2015, 07:09 PM Post #23
BuzzJack Legend Joined: 18 July 2012 Posts: 22,812 User: 17,376	QUOTE(Sword of Justice @ May 4 2015, 07:44 PM) I thought "Knock Knock" will be # 1 here, not Dana. Still adore both songs Dana was the first Irish singer with # 1 in my charts. The chain will continue with another Irish ESC participants, Corrs, B*Witched and Imelda May. Sadly, Mary never got another new number one - though Those Were The days returned to the top 20 years on She still has my first-ever hat-trick though, even my beloved Beatles didn't do that (despite writing one of them for her)


Popchartfreak View member profile	May 4 2015, 08:01 PM Post #24
BuzzJack Legend Joined: 18 July 2012 Posts: 22,812 User: 17,376	14th April 1970 2 weeks for Dana on top, and Spirit In The Sky hits 5, but a quiet week overall, just The Band’s Rag Mama Rag at 20 (not even their best single) and The Archies EP at 9: this was an EP mum and dad bought with my own pocket money. I’d asked them to get me The Partridge Family EP - EP’s were quite pricey, but you got 4 good quality tracks as I was mad on the new TV show and songs, but they knew I was also mad on The Archies songs from TV shows, too - I even took to recording them direct from the TV with a hand-held microphone on our reel-to-reel recorder, tinny quality but they also happened to be generally pretty good, and many of them remain unreleased to this day, to my ongoing annoyance. Anyhoo, Sugar Sugar had already topped, but the other tracks were also good, I already knew the theme tune (which was fun) and Bang Shang A Lang was jolly bubblegum pop that had hit the US charts before Sugar Sugar. Of course, I also bought the comics if I had spare cash after grabbing every DC superhero comic I could find from second-hand bookstalls and shops. The cover of the EP (the first I ever bought) is also the one used by the youtube link 1 ( 1 ) ALL KINDS OF EVERYTHING Dana 2 ( 2 ) LET IT BE The Beatles 3 ( 3 ) BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER Simon And Garfunkel 4 ( 4 ) KNOCK KNOCK WHO’S THERE Mary Hopkin 5 ( 8 ) SPIRIT IN THE SKY Norman Greenbaum 6 ( 7 ) WAND’RIN’ STAR Lee Marvin 7 ( 5 ) RAINDROPS KEEP FALLIN’ ON MY HEAD B.J. Thomas 8 ( 6 ) (TO BE) YOUNG GIFTED AND BLACK Bob And Marcia 9 ( NEW ) THE ARCHIES EP (Sugar Sugar/Bang Shang A Lang/ Everything’s Archie (Archie's Theme)/Over And Over) The Archies 10 ( 10 ) TRY A LITTLE KINDNESS Glen Campbell KahQ9436WU8 11 ( 9 ) NA NA HEY HEY KISS HIM GOODBYE Steam 12 ( 13 ) GIMME DAT DING The Pipkins 13 ( 12 ) I WANT YOU BACK The Jackson 5 14 ( 11 ) FAREWELL IS A LONELY SOUND Jimmy Ruffin 15 ( 17 ) GOOD MORNING FREEDOM Blue Mink vWhfOQBZZFs 16 ( 18 ) NEVER HAD A DREAM COME TRUE Stevie Wonder 17 ( 14 ) I CAN’T HELP MYSELF The Four Tops 18 ( 16 ) EVERYBODY GET TOGETHER The Dave Clark 5 19 ( 20 ) TRAVELLIN' BAND Creedence Clearwater Revival 20 ( NEW ) RAG MAMA RAG The Band hp8ZtWELzm4 In the news world, there were 2 major stories around the world, and very much in Singapore too: The Beatles split up! Paul McCartney announced the unthinkable, the fab four were no more, they were an ex-world-conquering-megastar-act. These days we are used to seeing bands fold, even big ones, and even at the height of their success, but back then there had never been a band as big as The Beatles (and never would be again), and they really were rewriting all of the rule books, including ending at the top of their game. For me personally, it all seemed a bit distant (quite literally), and as I’d already loved Give Peace A Chance the prospect of solo Beatles singles seemed to still be a very good thing, and to be honest I’m not sure I (or the media, or anyone else) thought that it would be forever. I just seemed so unlikely that the biggest pop group in the world as far back as I could remember would not be back. Good thing I didn’t know the reality! The other event was Apollo 13. It gripped the world media over the next 2 weeks, as it lifted-off on it’s doomed (but ultimately heroic) voyage to the moon. Apollo 11 had been Earth-shattering, Apollo 12 was a bit like watching a repeat, only without a camera - the lack of images was a major PR disaster and was the start of the grumbling backlash from critics and taxpayers. Apollo 13 was different. We honestly had no idea what would happen, and I recall one of mum’s friend’s soberly offering an opinion that she thought they would die, which kind of brought it all home how serious the situation was. I can’t do better than suggest watching the Tom Hanks movie Apollo13, that pretty much tells the whole story of Jim Lovell and co, and perfectly captures what 1970 looked like and sounded like, the fashions, the media. My mum was 30-ish and wore mini-skirts, so did her friends. I was mad on the space missions and was gutted when they cancelled them. I cut out colour splash photos of Apollo 14 on the moon, as it got a temporary boost and subsequent missions had the cool Lunar Rover to motor about as well as proper decent colour video pictures. Awesome then, awesome now, and as part of history now taken for granted. I suggest taking a look at the recent high-def images of the moon’s surface, taken from satellite, they are incredible, you can make out every rover trail, footprints and every bit of equipment left on the surface of the moon. They will stay there, barring return visits which look less likely with every passing decade, for centuries, long after all of the crackpot “Moon-landing hoax” money-making charlatans have been forgotten. For every event there is a conspiracy theorist jumping out of the woodwork to get rich on other people’s paranoia and naivety.


Popchartfreak View member profile	May 6 2015, 06:20 PM Post #25
BuzzJack Legend Joined: 18 July 2012 Posts: 22,812 User: 17,376	21st April 1970 3 weeks for Dana, summertime, wintertime, spring and autumn too, nothing is shifting her, not even The Archies at 3, or Stevie Wonder up to 8. Highest new entry, though, is a personal obscure fave of mine written by blue-eyed soul/gospel singer-songwriter Laura Nyro. She was a fantastic songwriter but never made it as an artist, but her songs were often covered successfully by acts of the time, and especially by The Fifth Dimension, the ultimate sweet soul harmony band. Like contemporaries The Carpenters, considered a bit too MOR and uncool, I think they are long overdue a critical re-appraisal. Save The Country was a social-conscience gospel song with lyrical sentiments that still apply. I’d like to see it covered, modern-stylee, and not just because it evokes strong feel-good nostalgic memories of 1970 Singapore (which it does, the group were often on US variety shows broadcast) or the general music-scene vibes of 1970 (which it should, not being a million miles away from Hair - and their hit version of Aquarius). Tom Jones is back, 2 years of popchartfreak-hit-making (pah! 2 years! Currently on about 46 years...) and Daughter Of Darkness was one of his more sombre darker-story-songs, and it packed a punch enough. Arguably his last record to do that for, ooh, 18 years. The Hollies meanwhile can’t tell the bottom from the top, not a problem I generally have, and it’s a decent enough pop song (as always). Finally House Of The Rising Sun is back, very famous, one of those songs that always seemed to have existed in pop culture, but not The Animals! No, it’s a hippie prog rock version from Frijid Pink. Alecia Moore might have something to say about that, I’d hazard a guess! 1 ( 1 ) ALL KINDS OF EVERYTHING Dana 2 ( 2 ) LET IT BE The Beatles 3 ( 9 ) THE ARCHIES EP (Sugar Sugar/Bang Shang A Lang/ Everything’s Archie (Archie's Theme)/Over And Over) The Archies 4 ( 3 ) BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER Simon And Garfunkel 5 ( 5 ) SPIRIT IN THE SKY Norman Greenbaum 6 ( 4 ) KNOCK KNOCK WHO’S THERE Mary Hopkin 7 ( 6 ) WAND’RIN’ STAR Lee Marvin 8 ( 16 ) NEVER HAD A DREAM COME TRUE Stevie Wonder 9 ( 8 ) (TO BE) YOUNG GIFTED AND BLACK Bob And Marcia 10 ( NEW ) SAVE THE COUNTRY The Fifth Dimension pTuwAo5sUik 11 ( 12 ) GIMME DAT DING The Pipkins 12 ( 7 ) RAINDROPS KEEP FALLIN’ ON MY HEAD B.J. Thomas 13 ( 15 ) GOOD MORNING FREEDOM Blue Mink 14 ( 10 ) TRY A LITTLE KINDNESS Glen Campbell 15 ( 14 ) FAREWELL IS A LONELY SOUND Jimmy Ruffin NROxfuwBXvs 16 ( 19 ) TRAVELLIN' BAND Creedence Clearwater Revival 17 ( NEW ) DAUGHTER OF DARKNESS Tom Jones 18 ( 17 ) I CAN’T HELP MYSELF The Four Tops 19 ( NEW ) I CAN’T TELL THE BOTTOM FROM THE TOP The Hollies 20 ( NEW ) HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN Frijid Pink t40INnb6DnY Back in home-life anecdote vogue, we had local gardeners come round to cut the lawn - not exactly grass in the European sense, the plants had broader leaves and were quite tough under-foot as they needed to be to avoid getting washed away in monsoon rains. The main gardener was usually a Malay man with a couple of kids tagged on, and they planted a few decorative shrubs with pink and white flowers around, one they called the poo-poo tree. Maybe they were having us on, it was quite nice! The garden was quite exposed to the sun at this time, little natural shade, so I was fascinated to see them stick a twig in the ground by the fence and monsoon drain behind it in the front garden facing our fold-out door - the front room had no windows at all, basically the whole frontage just folded into wooden doors that folded inward and opened up the room to the garden (and insects and chit-chat geckos). More fascinating was the twig actually growing rapidly, sprouting leaves, and within a year or 18 months it was shady tree big enough to climb into (at least for me and my brother). I also became interested in growing exotic fast-growing plant-pot plants and seeds outside. Still am. Still do. The late great Laura Nyro, just her voice and piano and song... mwn97weAxa0


Popchartfreak View member profile	May 6 2015, 07:52 PM Post #26
BuzzJack Legend Joined: 18 July 2012 Posts: 22,812 User: 17,376	28th April 1970 It’s a new entry, the only act that can stop The Archies from topping my chart - yes it’s The Beatles getting a 3rd Number One, all of them Paul McCartney songs, and the Fabs replace themselves in the chart as Let It Be prematurely vacates the UK singles chart but The Long And Winding Road heads to the top of the US chart, and gets plenty of Singapore exposure. Paul wasn’t that keen on the Phil Spector strings arrangement, but I was a huge 12-year-old fan of it, and the climactic emotional build. Sentimental? Absolutely. Mushy? A bit. Brilliant? Too right! It was the end of the Long And Winding Road for The Beatles, and a good one to go out on as much as Let It Be was. Not a UK single of course, like so many classic Beatles tracks, though it did eventually top the UK charts, err for Gareth Gates and Will Young. Better late than never. The World Cup was apparently a thing in 1970. I say that as I had no inkling about anything to do with it, other than the song Back Home which was listed in the Daily Mirror Top 30 charts when we got a massive bundle of newspapers all glued and packaged together like a telephone book every month or so. At least I got to hear about some of the hits even if not actually hear them. So, in at 18 an actual decent World Cup song, and it’s from the England squad on their way in the summer to not actually winning for a second time in a row. Ne’er mind, sure there’ll be another victory soon, lads.... No? In at 19, a folk singer often on UK TV, Julie Felix does a quick cover of the Simon And Garfunkel album track. I liked Julie, but let’s be honest, not as good as the S&G version. Which leaves The Move returning after a number one in 1969 with Blackberry Way, but with a difference - Roy Wood had inducted his Brummie mate in the band, name of Jeff Lynne, and The Brontosaurus was a monster combo. A bit heavy, not one of my fave Move tracks, but it was essentially the seeds of The Electric Light Orchestra being sown before our eyes. Nobody remembers the Move anymore (sadly), but ELO and Roy Wood are still a bit famous! WA6HE_5Uhrs 1 ( NEW ) THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD The Beatles 2 ( 3 ) THE ARCHIES EP (Sugar Sugar/Bang Shang A Lang/ Everything’s Archie (Archie's Theme)/Over And Over) The Archies 3 ( 1 ) ALL KINDS OF EVERYTHING Dana 4 ( 5 ) SPIRIT IN THE SKY Norman Greenbaum 5 ( 4 ) BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER Simon And Garfunkel 6 ( 6 ) KNOCK KNOCK WHO’S THERE Mary Hopkin 7 ( 10 ) SAVE THE COUNTRY The Fifth Dimension 8 ( 7 ) WAND’RIN’ STAR Lee Marvin 9 ( 9 ) (TO BE) YOUNG GIFTED AND BLACK Bob And Marcia 10 ( 8 ) NEVER HAD A DREAM COME TRUE Stevie Wonder CzdcFEHre4Y 11 ( 17 ) DAUGHTER OF DARKNESS Tom Jones 12 ( 11 ) GIMME DAT DING The Pipkins 13 ( 12 ) RAINDROPS KEEP FALLIN’ ON MY HEAD B.J. Thomas 14 ( 19 ) I CAN’T TELL THE BOTTOM FROM THE TOP The Hollies 15 ( 13 ) GOOD MORNING FREEDOM Blue Mink 6IU4Zmg7CPY 16 ( 14 ) TRY A LITTLE KINDNESS Glen Campbell 17 ( 15 ) FAREWELL IS A LONELY SOUND Jimmy Ruffin 18 ( NEW ) BACK HOME England World Cup Squad 19 ( NEW ) IF I COULD Julie Felix 20 ( NEW ) BRONTOSAURUS The Move RVaqMCUMkN8


Popchartfreak View member profile	Jun 8 2015, 06:07 PM Post #27
BuzzJack Legend Joined: 18 July 2012 Posts: 22,812 User: 17,376	5th May 1970 2 weeks for The Beatles on top as The Long And Winding Road winds on, but in at 2 it’s an instant fave from Christie, Yellow River being a sort of poppier version of Creedence Clearwater Revival, and a very catchy song indeed and often played on Singapore radio. Once upon a time it was very well-known, these days it’s fallen a bit out of favour, but for me it has such strong nostalgia associating with great Singapore days that I still have great fondness for it. Julie Felix, If I Could, goes top 10, and there is only one more new entry, The Moody Blues have a Question at 18. My question is, why I never rated it enormously when I finally got to hear it once or twice (not a radio fave in Singapore), but it’s grown on me over the years as I got more familiar with it's Alone Again Or vibe, like most of the Moody’s songs having finally got to see them in concert recently. Still good! 1 ( 1 ) THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD The Beatles 2 ( NEW ) YELLOW RIVER Christie 3 ( 3 ) ALL KINDS OF EVERYTHING Dana 4 ( 2 ) THE ARCHIES EP (Sugar Sugar/Bang Shang A Lang/ Everything’s Archie (Archie's Theme)/Over And Over) The Archies 5 ( 5 ) BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER Simon And Garfunkel 6 ( 4 ) SPIRIT IN THE SKY Norman Greenbaum 7 ( 7 ) SAVE THE COUNTRY The Fifth Dimension 8 ( 19 ) IF I COULD Julie Felix 9 ( 6 ) KNOCK KNOCK WHO’S THERE Mary Hopkin 10 ( 11 ) DAUGHTER OF DARKNESS Tom Jones 11 ( 9 ) (TO BE) YOUNG GIFTED AND BLACK Bob And Marcia 12 ( 10 ) NEVER HAD A DREAM COME TRUE Stevie Wonder 13 ( 14 ) I CAN’T TELL THE BOTTOM FROM THE TOP The Hollies 14 ( 13 ) RAINDROPS KEEP FALLIN’ ON MY HEAD B.J. Thomas 15 ( 18 ) BACK HOME England World Cup Squad 16 ( 12 ) GIMME DAT DING The Pipkins 17 ( 16 ) TRY A LITTLE KINDNESS Glen Campbell 18 ( NEW ) QUESTION The Moody Blues 19 ( 17 ) FAREWELL IS A LONELY SOUND Jimmy Ruffin 20 ( 15 ) GOOD MORNING FREEDOM Blue Mink 6Jp3b-GMHxI In world events the Kent University, Ohio shooting of students by troopers shocked the world. The Vietnam War and other such student protests, such as environmentalism, were not looked on kindly by the establishment. The very famous photo of a victim with a woman kneeling over his body affected me, and if anything made me even more anti-violence, pro-peace, and pro-environment, pro-equal-rights and many other pro’s. It all seemed very simple and logical to this 12-year-old that some things were just plain wrong, and using deadly force against students was one of them. Vietnam was a lot closer to home in Singapore, and always loomed large on the news. At the RAF cinema, which was always a bit behind the times, we weren’t yet watching the big movies A Man Called Horse, but mum and dad went to see when they got hold of a copy, very much in line with the mood of the times as Native Americans were no longer just baddie injuns for cowboys to shoot dead at every opportunity in the movies. The Aristocats also came out, but for some reason we never got to see that one, leaving a Disney hole in my childhood experiences, ditto Bedknobs And Broomsticks. After that, there was only really the next animated movie (Robin Hood) before I stopped altogether until Robin Williams voiced Aladdin 20 years later.


Popchartfreak View member profile	Jun 8 2015, 06:47 PM Post #28
BuzzJack Legend Joined: 18 July 2012 Posts: 22,812 User: 17,376	12th May 1970 Yellow River gets it’s first week at number one, fab! Tom Jones is up to 9, keeping his run of top 10 singles of at least one a year intact, and it’s the dramatic Daughter Of Darkness. New at 3, though, it’s a record I was insanely mad on, Honey Come Back was a huge hit for Glen Campbell and even though in retrospect it’s not his best single by any means, it was sweetly touching, tuneful and popular, and I just became obsessed by the hook and by Glen Campbell. Some of mum and dad’s friends had an album by Glen with it on, so I got to hear it when we went round, and this became the album I most wanted for Christmas, so I could get my own copy of the single. When they bought me an Australian mash-up of tracks from his previous two albums I was disappointed to say the least (they couldn’t find a copy), though I’m glad they did as This Is Glen Campbell had Wichita Lineman, Galveston, By The Time I Get To Phoenix and was a bloody timelessly brilliant album - even if I’m probably one of few to own an existing copy of those track-listings. In at 18, Up The Ladder To The Roof, and The Supremes return without Diana Ross. I’ll be honest, I saw the split as a good thing, Diana Ross solo records were fantastic, and the new Supremes line-up was also fantastic, both were releasing terrific singles throughout the early 70’s. Sadly, public perception is that the Supremes dies without Diana Ross, but that’s not true, they had some classic singles to come, easily among the best, and the new girls (along with Mary Wilson) were great singers - Jean Terrell and Cindy Birdsong. This again was a single I barely heard at all at the time, and didn’t pick up on properly until 1975 on “5 Years Ago” charts on the radio in the UK. I won’t mention the host DJ. He’s already poisoned enough childhood memories for a generation. qJ5-FoiBuVc 1 ( 2 ) YELLOW RIVER Christie 2 ( 1 ) THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD The Beatles 3 ( NEW ) HONEY COME BACK Glen Campbell 4 ( 3 ) ALL KINDS OF EVERYTHING Dana 5 ( 5 ) BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER Simon And Garfunkel 6 ( 8 ) IF I COULD Julie Felix 7 ( 6 ) SPIRIT IN THE SKY Norman Greenbaum 8 ( 4 ) THE ARCHIES EP (Sugar Sugar/Bang Shang A Lang/ Everything’s Archie (Archie's Theme)/Over And Over) The Archies 9 ( 10 ) DAUGHTER OF DARKNESS Tom Jones 10 ( 7 ) SAVE THE COUNTRY The Fifth Dimension 11 ( 9 ) KNOCK KNOCK WHO’S THERE Mary Hopkin 12 ( 15 ) BACK HOME England World Cup Squad 13 ( 11 ) (TO BE) YOUNG GIFTED AND BLACK Bob And Marcia 14 ( 18 ) QUESTION The Moody Blues 15 ( 12 ) NEVER HAD A DREAM COME TRUE Stevie Wonder 16 ( 13 ) I CAN’T TELL THE BOTTOM FROM THE TOP The Hollies 17 ( 14 ) RAINDROPS KEEP FALLIN’ ON MY HEAD B.J. Thomas 18 ( NEW ) UP THE LADDER TO THE ROOF The Supremes 19 ( 16 ) GIMME DAT DING The Pipkins 20 ( 19 ) FAREWELL IS A LONELY SOUND Jimmy Ruffin 7X20KB0FAdw


Popchartfreak View member profile	Jun 11 2015, 09:09 PM Post #29
BuzzJack Legend Joined: 18 July 2012 Posts: 22,812 User: 17,376	19th May 1970 Glen Campbell gets his first number one, Honey Come Back, the only record in the summer of ’70 that I was more mad on is in at 3, Ray Stevens Everything Is Beautiful. Ray up to this point was largely known for novelty hits in the States, but was little-known in the UK even though some of them were rather amusing, such as Gitarzan. He also had dabbled with some straight songs though, like Mr. Businessman, but this gospel-flavoured kiddie-chorused, religious-tinted ballad propelled him into the big league. These days it’s seen as too saccharine to get much airplay, but I care not a jot - for some years into the late 70’s this was my all-time favourite record: the kids chorus start gave me goosebumps, the positive sentiment registered strongly with me, and the big choir finish was music to my ears. Plus it was a big family fave in Singapore, and I just hear it blaring out from the house one exotic sunny tropical morning into the street and garden as dad turned it up loud on the radio. Bliss! In at 8 another Singapore fave, but one that left me frustrated: Butterscotch and Don’t You Know, one of those White Plains soundalike pop bands featuring songwriters Arnold, Martin and Morrow - who went on to write for Guys And Dolls, Barry Manilow, and others. It had a great tune, but I woke up one morning while dreaming of this song I’d never heard in my life before, as far as I was aware, only to go into the living room and switch the radio on and hear it suddenly coming out of the speakers. Now either I am psychic (nah, just perceptive) or I guess someone in a neighbouring house must have put the radio on accidentally loudly which interrupted my dream enough to wake me up, and I just managed to catch half of it on the radio. Or did I, doo doo doo doo Twilight Zone! Anyway, I sang the tune to myself for weeks and months afterwards but I never did get to hear it again, despite loving it, until I found a copy of the single in 1975, second-hand. Hooray! OK it was dated by then, but still pleasant. At 15, The Jackson 5 have a soundalike, much-less-good, follow-up to I Want You Back, my least-fave of all their early singles, but hey-ho, still good and marvel at young Michael. In at 18, an instrumental novelty (sort of) the fab Groovin’ With Mr. Bloe, a cover of a Wind featuring Tony Orlando B side (without Tony Orlando), Elton John was involved, Dick James music was involved, and Elton John band musicians were involved. You might say it was Elton John’s breakthrough (on the other tracks which he wrote - his piano was re-recorded for the A side). You might not. I say yes, as Reg was busy singing Top Of The Pops cover album tracks of current hits at the time. Anyway it still sounds great fun and quirky. Finally, at 20, Marvin Gaye is back with a cover of Dion’s recent US hit Abraham Martin And John, done in a soul-style rather than folk-style, a tribute of course to Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr and John Kennedy, violently murdered American political leaders. ORUXIp6X1k4 1 ( 3 ) HONEY COME BACK Glen Campbell 2 ( 2 ) THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD The Beatles 3 ( NEW ) EVERYTHING IS BEAUTIFUL Ray Stevens 4 ( 1 ) YELLOW RIVER Christie 5 ( 4 ) ALL KINDS OF EVERYTHING Dana 6 ( 6 ) IF I COULD Julie Felix 7 ( 5 ) BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER Simon And Garfunkel 8 ( NEW ) DON’T YOU KNOW Butterscotch 9 ( 9 ) DAUGHTER OF DARKNESS Tom Jones 10 ( 7 ) SPIRIT IN THE SKY Norman Greenbaum SO2SJSDyVO8 11 ( 8 ) THE ARCHIES EP (Sugar Sugar/Bang Shang A Lang/ Everything’s Archie (Archie's Theme)/Over And Over) The Archies 12 ( 12 ) BACK HOME England World Cup Squad 13 ( 14 ) QUESTION The Moody Blues 14 ( 10 ) SAVE THE COUNTRY The Fifth Dimension 15 ( NEW ) ABC The Jackson 5 ho7796-au8U 16 ( 18 ) UP THE LADDER TO THE ROOF The Supremes 17 ( 15 ) NEVER HAD A DREAM COME TRUE Stevie Wonder 18 ( NEW ) GROOVIN’ WITH MR. BLOE Mr. Bloe 19 ( 16 ) I CAN’T TELL THE BOTTOM FROM THE TOP The Hollies 20 ( NEW ) ABRAHAM MARTIN AND JOHN Marvin Gaye aaQWOne1sfo


Popchartfreak View member profile	Jun 17 2015, 01:56 PM Post #30
BuzzJack Legend Joined: 18 July 2012 Posts: 22,812 User: 17,376	26th May 1970 2 weeks for Glen and his Honey on top. Sweet! The Jackson 5 make it 2 consecutive top 10’s, Mr Bloe grooves his way to 10, and The Beach Boys enter at 15 with an old Lead Belly blues song from 1940, Cottonfields being a rather different harmony version and pretty much drawing to a close the Beach Boys classic Capitol years and the hits after an awesome 8 year run. Ahead lay a succession of comebacks over nearly 45 years, some better than others, some solo, some collaborations, some new stuff, some covers, and even after the deaths of 2 of the Wilson Brothers. Not quite as great as the 60’s classics, but never bad. 1 ( 1 ) HONEY COME BACK Glen Campbell 2 ( 3 ) EVERYTHING IS BEAUTIFUL Ray Stevens 3 ( 2 ) THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD The Beatles 4 ( 4 ) YELLOW RIVER Christie 5 ( 8 ) DON’T YOU KNOW Butterscotch 6 ( 5 ) ALL KINDS OF EVERYTHING Dana 7 ( 7 ) BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER Simon And Garfunkel 8 ( 15 ) ABC The Jackson 5 9 ( 6 ) IF I COULD Julie Felix 10 ( 18 ) GROOVIN’ WITH MR. BLOE Mr. Bloe o3bKEp919RU 11 ( 9 ) DAUGHTER OF DARKNESS Tom Jones 12 ( 10 ) SPIRIT IN THE SKY Norman Greenbaum 13 ( 13 ) QUESTION The Moody Blues 14 ( 11 ) THE ARCHIES EP (Sugar Sugar/Bang Shang A Lang/ Everything’s Archie (Archie's Theme)/Over And Over) The Archies 15 ( NEW ) COTTONFIELDS The Beach Boys 16 ( 12 ) BACK HOME England World Cup Squad 17 ( 20 ) ABRAHAM MARTIN AND JOHN Marvin Gaye 18 ( 14 ) SAVE THE COUNTRY The Fifth Dimension 19 ( 16 ) UP THE LADDER TO THE ROOF The Supremes 20 ( 17 ) NEVER HAD A DREAM COME TRUE Stevie Wonder nbnaaz75M4g In Singapore, the end of term wasn’t far off and English was all about preparing for the end of term play. Mum had to get involved in making a middle-eastern Sinbad-type-frock-smock for me to stand on stage looking and feeling stupid, chanting some lines as part of a chorus, and a couple on my own. Mum and dad travelled over to RAF Seletar one evening to watch it, and I’m sure mum was proud as punch she never criticised only encouraged school stuff I did. It was my first taste of being on stage in front of an audience, a very shy boy, and I made sure it was the last time for another 16 years! My next audience of adoring fans was on national Radio One on the Roadshow in Bournemouth. May as well look an idiot in front of as many folk as possible if you’re going to do it...!


Popchartfreak View member profile	Jul 23 2015, 07:21 PM Post #31
BuzzJack Legend Joined: 18 July 2012 Posts: 22,812 User: 17,376	2nd June 1970 3 weeks on top for Glen Campbell’s fab Honey Come Back, as Ray Stevens holds at 2, and the highest new entry is another total Singapore summertime pop gem, the chugging shuffling very very famous In The Summertime from Mungo Jerry. It was a monster hit, instantly catchy, with across-the board appeal and I loved it for many years until over-familiarity gradually eroded it’s charm. I’m still fond of it though, as it reminds me of Singapore so much. The Beach Boys’ Cottonfields sounded like an ancient song, though it was a mere 30 years old, in contrast with Gerry Monroe’s energetic, falsetto-stomping update of Gracie Field’s 1931 once-famous signature tune Sally, which was a whoppingly ancient 39 years old. Time’s a funny ol’ thing, covers of songs from the 70’s wouldn’t seem that ancient in these X Factor and The Voice days, but they sounded like they were from a century ago in those days. Whatever, it’s a fun record in at 12. Marvin Gaye gets his 2nd top 10 hit, as Abraham Marvin And John goes where his Grapevine had been before, and Status Quo return with a very different blues boogie sound, Down The Dustpipe at 20, no more shiny psychedelic pop sadly. Or happily, in the long run. At 17, Fleetwood Mac are also back with some blues, slowed-down and disturbingly haunting, The Green Manalishi was very much Peter Green’s final mental-illness-laid-bare work with the Mac, and the end of this phase of their career, seemingly with finality as the principal songwriter left to deal with drug-induced and long-term mental problems. The song, with it’s eerie whooping, took me back to childhood horror television soundtracks (I got to stay up to watch them occasionally, like Tales Of Mystery And Imagination in 1966, which featured an old-woman ghost and scared the bejeezers out of me for years afterwards, and lost me a lot of sleep hiding under the bed-covers). Anyways, the record disturbed me then, and it still has that effect on me now. 1 ( 1 ) HONEY COME BACK Glen Campbell 2 ( 2 ) EVERYTHING IS BEAUTIFUL Ray Stevens 3 ( 3 ) THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD The Beatles 4 ( 5 ) DON’T YOU KNOW Butterscotch 5 ( 4 ) YELLOW RIVER Christie 6 ( NEW ) IN THE SUMMERTIME Mungo Jerry 7 ( 8 ) ABC The Jackson 5 8 ( 15 ) COTTONFIELDS The Beach Boys 9 ( 10 ) GROOVIN’ WITH MR. BLOE Mr. Bloe 10 ( 17 ) ABRAHAM MARTIN AND JOHN Marvin Gaye NiR0Ni72L2I 11 ( 11 ) DAUGHTER OF DARKNESS Tom Jones 12 ( NEW ) SALLY Gerry Monroe 13 ( 13 ) QUESTION The Moody Blues 14 ( 12 ) SPIRIT IN THE SKY Norman Greenbaum 15 ( 14 ) THE ARCHIES EP (Sugar Sugar/Bang Shang A Lang/ Everything’s Archie (Archie's Theme)/Over And Over) The Archies 16 ( 16 ) BACK HOME England World Cup Squad 17 ( NEW ) THE GREEN MANALISHI Fleetwood Mac 18 ( 18 ) SAVE THE COUNTRY The Fifth Dimension 19 ( 19 ) UP THE LADDER TO THE ROOF The Supremes 20 ( NEW ) DOWN THE DUSTPIPE Status Quo kTvKaLW5bu8 Meanwhile, in Singapore, I was a lot happier in my tropical wonderland than I’d been in the UK. School was also very sadly winding down for me, I felt bad about having to leave somewhere I was very happy, with lots of friends and lots of fun at RAF Seletar Secondary Modern, in order to take up a new role as a boy with educational potential at RAF Changi Grammar. I’d seen one of my acquaintances make the trip the previous term, and after my mum had been a bit disappointed I failed my 11plus exams first-time round, and seemed proud I’d got in to the Grammar School (dad also got into Grammar in his youth but didn’t like it and bailed), I really had no get-out clause handy without causing disappointment, even though I felt a bit sick about leaving, and about joining another new school yet again - this would be my, let’s see, ooh, 8th school in 7 years. Always the new boy intruding on others’ established social circles, me. Probably why I still see myself outside of gangs and groups and organisations - not that I don’t have, and didn’t have, friends (Im very fortunate to have loads) but having seen what groups of human beings are capable of, and been on the receiving end of it, I don’t trust human nature and it’s herd instincts and it’s tendency to do what the leading biggest bully thicko wants them to do. We see this in the playground, and we see it now in politics and supposed religious movements (which are the opposite of what they pretend to be) as lost and weak-minded look to others to give their life some meaning. Plus, I got to know people from other cultures and had a wider perspective on life and human nature than people growing up in one area their whole life.... ZUOAtDU5yFY


Popchartfreak View member profile	Jul 24 2015, 06:47 PM Post #32
BuzzJack Legend Joined: 18 July 2012 Posts: 22,812 User: 17,376	9th June 1970 Ray Stevens sings to me that Everything Is Beautiful in it’s own way - well, that’s a very rose-tinted and wildly inaccurate viewpoint if taken literally, but the equality sentiment (red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight) struck a chord with me even if the more overtly religious elements didn’t have the same power to lil 12-year-old John. Now I’m much more cynical, but it’s nice to hark back to a time when one had bursting optimism that anything good was possible. The record, of course, is not held up with esteem these days, but it was hugely popular at the time, and made me a fan of Ray Stevens, both his serious and his comedy tracks. Just as well, cos his Greatest Hits is a very schizophrenic experience! My fave record for nearly a decade, in part for the sledgehammer nostalgia for Singapore it brought out in me when times were less fun. Butterscotch at 2, don’t cha know, while the ever-present Cliff is highest new entry at 8, with his biggest UK hit in 2 years, Goodbye Sam Hello Samantha, a good ol’ pop record about growing up and taking an interest in girls. Pity, cos Goodbye Samantha Hello Sam would have caused a sensation. Cliff was 12 years into his career, and already was just SO famous, non-stop hits, TV shows, films, very much an institution with everyone but the rock critics. This one did nothing to improve that situation, but I loved it anyway, cos, frankly, I pretty much loved everything Cliff did till I hit my teens and I couldn’t remember a time when there was no Cliff. 45 years on, I still can’t (fairly obviously). At 14, Free, All Right Now, rock classic. Still famous, and a hit many times, it’s easy to forget how young Free were at the time, but oh that riff is timeless. Not, however, a riff that made it’s way over to Singapore radio, rock was not approved of, so from my point of view there’s a bit of retro charting going on here because I DID become aware of it soon after Singapore days were over, but for me it was the third Free song to get to love, after Little Bit Of Love and Wishing Well both of which I (gasp!) prefer. Wishing Well especially is vastly under-rated in comparison. Hey ho. In at 19, The Four Tops are back with a cover, It’s All In The Game, one Cliff covered in the early 60’s, but I’d say the Tops is the definitive version. That’s pretty much a golden rule of mine: With Levi Stubbs on lead vocal, any Four Tops cover is ALWAYS the definitive version. Well, nearly always! 9rMW6Le56XI 1 ( 2 ) EVERYTHING IS BEAUTIFUL Ray Stevens 2 ( 4 ) DON’T YOU KNOW Butterscotch 3 ( 1 ) HONEY COME BACK Glen Campbell 4 ( 3 ) THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD The Beatles 5 ( 6 ) IN THE SUMMERTIME Mungo Jerry 6 ( 5 ) YELLOW RIVER Christie 7 ( 8 ) COTTONFIELDS The Beach Boys 8 ( NEW ) GOODBY SAM HELLO SAMANTHA Cliff Richard 9 ( 12 ) SALLY Gerry Monroe 10 ( 7 ) ABC The Jackson 5 mg2Nc178JIo 11 ( 10 ) ABRAHAM MARTIN AND JOHN Marvin Gaye 12 ( 9 ) GROOVIN’ WITH MR. BLOE Mr. Bloe 13 ( 11 ) DAUGHTER OF DARKNESS Tom Jones 14 ( NEW ) ALL RIGHT NOW Free 15 ( 15 ) THE ARCHIES EP (Sugar Sugar/Bang Shang A Lang/ Everything’s Archie (Archie's Theme)/Over And Over) The Archies 16 ( 13 ) QUESTION The Moody Blues 17 ( 17 ) THE GREEN MANALISHI Fleetwood Mac 18 ( 14 ) SPIRIT IN THE SKY Norman Greenbaum 19 ( NEW ) IT’S ALL IN THE GAME The Four Tops 20 ( 16 ) BACK HOME England World Cup Squad Mj7jMYQT2ow So, what was I watching on TV? This month Sesame Street debuted in the USA, and it found it’s way over to Singapore pretty rapidly - although strictly speaking far too old to watch the show, it was pretty revolutionary in style, and soooo cool for kids, so I enjoyed it anyway. Of the new shows on local TV from the 1969/70 USA schedule (there were very few UK TV shows of note, in comparison, other than Doctor Who, so my TV world was American): My World And Welcome To It, Rowan and Martin’s laugh-In, The Carol Burnett Show, The Mod Squad, Marcus Welby MD, Julia (the first black female-starring sitcom), Nanny And The Professor, The Courtship Of Eddie’s Father, The Smothers Brothers Show, The Flying Nun, The Dean Martin Show, The Andy Williams Show, and from Australia low-budget sci-fi series Phoenix Five: Space ships, that was enough for me. Sold!


Popchartfreak View member profile	Jul 26 2015, 09:00 PM Post #33
BuzzJack Legend Joined: 18 July 2012 Posts: 22,812 User: 17,376	16th June 1970 2 weeks on top for Ray Stevens, as Mungo Jerry hit 3 in the summertime, as Simon & Garfunkel follow-up Bridge Over Troubled Water with the rousing brilliance of Cecilia. For some inexplicable reason it wasn’t a hit in the UK, but was huge everywhere else. Just to rub salt in the wound the song has been a big hit in cover versions in the UK since, most notably Suggs in the 90’s. I can only assume that the BBC didn’t playlist it, and most people who liked it bought the all-time classic album, which popped to the top of the chart again and again for 2 years. It’s rare you get an album that works as a complete whole, and where every track is great, but this was my first exposure to one as our next-door-neighbours loaned us the album, and I became enthusiastic for Cecilia in particular. 1 ( 1 ) EVERYTHING IS BEAUTIFUL Ray Stevens 2 ( 3 ) HONEY COME BACK Glen Campbell 3 ( 5 ) IN THE SUMMERTIME Mungo Jerry 4 ( 4 ) THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD The Beatles 5 ( 2 ) DON’T YOU KNOW Butterscotch 6 ( 8 ) GOODBY SAM HELLO SAMANTHA Cliff Richard 7 ( 6 ) YELLOW RIVER Christie 8 ( 9 ) SALLY Gerry Monroe 9 ( NEW ) CECILIA Simon And Garfunkel 10 ( 7 ) COTTONFIELDS The Beach Boys a5_QV97eYqM 11 ( 14 ) ALL RIGHT NOW Free 12 ( 10 ) ABC The Jackson 5 13 ( 12 ) GROOVIN’ WITH MR. BLOE Mr. Bloe 14 ( 19 ) IT’S ALL IN THE GAME The Four Tops 15 ( 11 ) ABRAHAM MARTIN AND JOHN Marvin Gaye 16 ( 13 ) DAUGHTER OF DARKNESS Tom Jones 17 ( 17 ) THE GREEN MANALISHI Fleetwood Mac 18 ( 15 ) THE ARCHIES EP (Sugar Sugar/Bang Shang A Lang/ Everything’s Archie (Archie's Theme)/Over And Over) The Archies 19 ( 16 ) QUESTION The Moody Blues 20 ( 18 ) SPIRIT IN THE SKY Norman Greenbaum


Popchartfreak View member profile	Jul 29 2015, 04:28 PM Post #34
BuzzJack Legend Joined: 18 July 2012 Posts: 22,812 User: 17,376	23rd June 1970 3 weeks for Ray, Cliff goes top 5, Free top 10 and not much else other than 2 new entries: Creedence are back with Up Around The Bend, more southern blues rock and one of their bigger UK hits but not one of my faves of theirs, in at 17, and in at 18, also not one of my faves of The Archies, Who’s Your Baby? It was a very odd choice for single, and following on from the huge Sugar Sugar they had a wealth of great bubblegum tracks they could have gone with to get a UK follow-up hit but they went with this lacklustre effort, I guess because it featured joint female vocals again, as per Sugar Sugar and was also written by Jeff Barry and Andy Kim. That’s a shame because the regular album tracks (and they were 3 albums in by this time) featured many far more interesting tracks that only had Ron Dante on lead vocal and flipped in and out of a few pop genres bubblegum stylee, and there were far better songs that only ever featured on the TV shows and never had an official release - and still don’t..... 1 ( 1 ) EVERYTHING IS BEAUTIFUL Ray Stevens 2 ( 3 ) IN THE SUMMERTIME Mungo Jerry 3 ( 2 ) HONEY COME BACK Glen Campbell 4 ( 6 ) GOODBY SAM HELLO SAMANTHA Cliff Richard 5 ( 4 ) THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD The Beatles 6 ( 8 ) SALLY Gerry Monroe 7 ( 9 ) CECILIA Simon And Garfunkel 8 ( 7 ) YELLOW RIVER Christie 9 ( 5 ) DON’T YOU KNOW Butterscotch 10 ( 11 ) ALL RIGHT NOW Free BnRsaHXHznQ 11 ( 14 ) IT’S ALL IN THE GAME The Four Tops 12 ( 10 ) COTTONFIELDS The Beach Boys 13 ( 12 ) ABC The Jackson 5 14 ( 13 ) GROOVIN’ WITH MR. BLOE Mr. Bloe 15 ( 16 ) DAUGHTER OF DARKNESS Tom Jones 16 ( 15 ) ABRAHAM MARTIN AND JOHN Marvin Gaye 17 ( NEW ) UP AROUND THE BEND Creedence Clearwater Revival 18 ( NEW ) WHO’S YOUR BABY? The Archies 19 ( 17 ) THE GREEN MANALISHI Fleetwood Mac 20 ( 19 ) QUESTION The Moody Blues flkE2pWcM30 The Archie Show was a 30-minute one-season show that ran 1968/69 and was shown in Singapore in 1970, but the music-heavy show was Archie’s Fun-house which was an hour-long 1970/71 series, having already shared the spotlight with Sabrina The Teenage Witch in 1969/70. The Funhouse was the series where I was squatting holding a microphone in front of the TV to record as many tracks off the TV, complete with cartoon noises, kids cheering, family talking, and microphone hand-changing bangs and clicks. I was pretty keen on the bubblegum pop, to say the least, and some of the tracks I recorded are now downloadable (along with 20 or 30 that I didn’t know), but some long-forgotten gems (by everyone but me, seemingly) which feature in future charts, aren’t. Among those which were released by 1970 and which I’ll link to instead are: Get On The Line, Love Light, Bicycles Roller-Skates And You, and Catching Up On Fun. The album cover featured on the tracks, is the very first album I bought with my own pocket money, so I’m totally and completely biased of course, Singapore City shopping expedition and a record store with more than one Archies album, me only enough cash for one.... 3kulT1ZAgWs


Popchartfreak View member profile	Jul 29 2015, 08:50 PM Post #35
BuzzJack Legend Joined: 18 July 2012 Posts: 22,812 User: 17,376	30th June 1970 4 weeks and everything is still beautiful for me in tropical Singapore. Simon & Garfunkel get a 4th top 5, and The Four Tops go top 10, while there are 4 spiffy new entries, led by Cat Stevens making his chart debut at 10 - I say debut, but Lady D’Arbanville should really be viewed as his big 3-years-overdue belated follow-up to Matthew And Son, which I was SO mad on from 1967 onwards to the present-day. I loved that record so much, friends of my parents and relations who had the single had to put up with me playing it and singing along to it. Needless to say it would have been number one for weeks, had I been charting then. Lady D’Arbanville shows Cat entering into his post-TB singer-songwriter phase, after he’d been a teenage pop star and songwriter of great pop songs like Here Comes My Baby and First Cut Is The Deepest. It’s a fantastic, if slightly macabre, song, terrific melody and lyrically I guess based on having to watch people die while in hospital, a life-changing experience for him. At 13, another new entry, also a belated debut for a long-time fave (for a 12-year-old) The Kinks. Lola, of course, was a revelation lyrically with it’s gender-confusing woman-is-a-man story theme, and a genuine classic, but again, strictly speaking it would really be following up on many previous hits (had I been charting pre-1968) as I was mad on Autumn Almanac in ’67, so presumably it would have hit the top spot as I sang along to it on the radio, with the lyrics handily printed in Weekend Magazine when I lived at RAF Valley, Isle Of Anglesey. Mum wondered how I knew all the words, so I showed her. Then there’s Sunny Afternoon, another top fave, Dedicated Follower Of Fashion, Death Of A Clown (Dave Davies’ solo hit), Waterloo Sunset (another classic!), and the main one which just a little too early for me to know well, You Really Got Me. I got mad on that one in 1973 after buying 20 Flashback Greats of the 60’s. At 18, Diana Ross’ solo career starts off properly with the charting of Reach Out And Touch, very much of the time mood-wise, 1970 was all about songs of peace harmony and love, and they all had a huge affect on my future attitude to life and politics. This one was a lovely one to start off with - though again, not really a debut - already Diana had a credit on 2 number 2’s (Love Child and I’m Gonna Make You Love Me), both of which should been number one’s, and she was pretty huge in Singapore 1970 for me as we borrowed the neighbours’ double album of Supremes hits which reminded me just how many fantastic singles they had had, most notably for me those I already knew and loved (Baby Love, Stop In The Name Of Love, You Keep Me Hangin On, You Can’t Hurry Love) any of which could have topped a hypothetical mid-60’s personal chart. Finally, at 19 it’s Shirley Bassey debuting with a decent cover of recent George Harrison Beatles hit Something. I say debut (is this getting repetitive?) but Shirl was a big fave of dad, and so I knew her 50’s stuff well (Kiss Me Honey Honey Kiss Me springs to mind) and she had show-stoppers like As Long As He Needs Me, the immortal Goldfinger, and Big Spender which were variety show fodder galore, and radio standards, and would all have done very well in my theoretical charts. 1 ( 1 ) EVERYTHING IS BEAUTIFUL Ray Stevens 2 ( 2 ) IN THE SUMMERTIME Mungo Jerry 3 ( 4 ) GOODBY SAM HELLO SAMANTHA Cliff Richard 4 ( 3 ) HONEY COME BACK Glen Campbell 5 ( 7 ) CECILIA Simon And Garfunkel 6 ( 5 ) THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD The Beatles 7 ( 8 ) YELLOW RIVER Christie 8 ( 6 ) SALLY Gerry Monroe 9 ( 11 ) IT’S ALL IN THE GAME The Four Tops 10 ( NEW ) LADY D’ARBANVILLE Cat Stevens vjfI3uSN8DQ 11 ( 9 ) DON’T YOU KNOW Butterscotch 12 ( 10 ) ALL RIGHT NOW Free 13 ( NEW ) LOLA The Kinks 14 ( 12 ) COTTONFIELDS The Beach Boys 15 ( 14 ) GROOVIN’ WITH MR. BLOE Mr. Bloe LemG0cvc4oU 16 ( 18 ) WHO’S YOUR BABY?/SENORITA RITA The Archies 17 ( 17 ) UP AROUND THE BEND Creedence Clearwater Revival 18 ( NEW ) REACH OUT AND TOUCH (SOMEBODY’S HAND) Diana Ross 19 ( NEW ) SOMETHING Shirley Bassey 20 ( 16 ) ABRAHAM MARTIN AND JOHN Marvin Gaye 629_vLbgv7g So as I bid June farewell, I was also doing very well in my ongoing series of swimming badges, pretty had all the simple ones, and distance ones, and swimming-style ones, so only the bigger complicated ones were left, and they took a lot more effort, knowledge of human biology, and more complicated tasks and stamina - the one I was starting to work towards was the Bronze Medallion Life-Saving badge, but that meant a lot of time being tutored one evening a week before it got too dark at RAF Changi swimming pool. I probably swallowed several gallons of kids pee, I know they used to pee in the pool cos it was a topic of conversation in the kids changing rooms and at school. Did I get the badge? Stay tuned.. At school, end of year sports events were all the rage, and I had to compete in the crawl, one length of the RAF Seletar swimming pool - I was embarrassed to be seen doing my own version of crawl, head high out of the water at all times, so I made the last nervous decision to try and do it properly, head down, breathing every other stroke. The only problem is the fresh water was harder to swim in (Changi was salt water) and the chlorine blinded my sight. Net result? I came last and veered off towards the sides of the swimming pool before I realised I wasn't going straight. I'm sure I was hilarious! Felt like a t*t though! rgOGYWOKx2s


Popchartfreak View member profile	Sep 2 2015, 06:51 PM Post #36
BuzzJack Legend Joined: 18 July 2012 Posts: 22,812 User: 17,376	7th July 1970 5 weeks and Everything Is still Beautiful for Ray Stevens. Simon & Garfunkel go up to 4 with Cecilia up in my bedroom, Lady D’Arbanville gives Cat Stevens a royal climb to 6, and Lola gives The Kinks a manly leg-up into the top 10. New at 10, and The King is back, fresh from a run of classic 1969 singles, including chart-topper In The Ghetto, but this time it’s not cool soulful gospel Elvis, it’s the start of Las Vegas live cabaret Elvis who covers other people’s records for a living. This one is 1959 Ray Peterson hit The Wonder Of You, and is still his best cabaret period track, well OTT but a bit of fun, and Elvis had yet to become a caricature of himself. In at 14, and back in the chart groove, Jimmy Ruffin keeps those Motown soul-sounds going with I’ll Say Forever My Love, a terrific record in a run of great singles from Jimmy. In at 19, Joni Mitchell finally charts in her own right, having been covered by others prior to Big Yellow Taxi. It’s a great song, still popular, but not by any means my favourite Joni song, not even close. 5 years on she took a re-recorded version into my charts, and it would be 4 years before she actually got a follow-up chart track enter my charts. 1 ( 1 ) EVERYTHING IS BEAUTIFUL Ray Stevens 2 ( 2 ) IN THE SUMMERTIME Mungo Jerry 3 ( 3 ) GOODBY SAM HELLO SAMANTHA Cliff Richard 4 ( 5 ) CECILIA Simon And Garfunkel 5 ( 4 ) HONEY COME BACK Glen Campbell 6 ( 10 ) LADY D’ARBANVILLE Cat Stevens 7 ( 6 ) THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD The Beatles 8 ( 13 ) LOLA The Kinks 9 ( 7 ) YELLOW RIVER Christie 10 ( NEW ) THE WONDER OF YOU Elvis Presley NQH_Wj5lj5g 11 ( 8 ) SALLY Gerry Monroe 12 ( 9 ) IT’S ALL IN THE GAME The Four Tops 13 ( 12 ) ALL RIGHT NOW Free 14 ( NEW ) I’LL SAY FOREVER MY LOVE Jimmy Ruffin 15 ( 14 ) COTTONFIELDS The Beach Boys 16 ( 18 ) REACH OUT AND TOUCH (SOMEBODY’S HAND) Diana Ross 17 ( 15 ) GROOVIN’ WITH MR. BLOE Mr. Bloe 18 ( 19 ) SOMETHING Shirley Bassey 19 ( NEW ) BIG YELLOW TAXI Joni Mitchell 20 ( 16 ) WHO’S YOUR BABY?/SENORITA RITA The Archies ZgMEPk6fvpg So, as they like to start sentences with these days, Singapore lazy hazy days of summer. My school popcorn transfer collection was becoming pretty comprehensive - I’d covered my cardboard hardboard suitcase-style school bag (everyone had them) in them, inside and out, and I’d decided to save them for posterity in a DIY mini-album made from A4 sheets cut in half and folded over, and stapled together. I still have it of course, and I am right now gazing at my gorgeous Neal Adams figures of Superman, Batman, Batgirl and Robin, still the best DC Comics artist of all time. I also had my el cheapo Far east rip-off versions of Batman/ Superman which had the hair the wrong colour, the costumes the wrong colour, and other hilarity I guess was intentionally done to avoid copyright prosecution. Either that or the artist was colour-blind. Then there’s my 2001: A Space Odyssey transfers, still sexy and still futuristic even though it’s 14-years beyond 2001 now. Not to mention my “Monkey” animation transfers (I’m sure I have already mentioned these, but y’know, whatever!) as Far East culture was just as much fair game as American to kids like me. Think of it as an early version of Kung Fu Panda! Then there’s the Cowboy transfers (think Toy Story’s Woody), the Daktari TV show transfers (Clarence The Cross-Eyed Lion was a hit long before The Lion King), and loads of Anime superheroes in the style of hit Japanese TV show Marine Boy. Anime was big news in Singapore for kids, and I have vague memories of an obscure series called Phantoma so I googled and I youtubed and he looks nothing like I recall (see link) so I’m thinking it may have been a local TV station rename for Space Ghost who does look like I recall (a Hanna Barbera cartoon) so here’s the Japanese language version. Anyways, all in all, a big yah-boo-sucks to later trends and cults for kids, beat ya all to it, so there hah (raspberry!). DEFxejz3g18


Popchartfreak View member profile	Sep 4 2015, 07:23 PM Post #37
BuzzJack Legend Joined: 18 July 2012 Posts: 22,812 User: 17,376	14th July 1970 Mungo Jerry finally get on top in the summertime, or in Singapore where it’s perpetually summer, summer sounds seemed doubly appropriate. Once upon a time it was fresh and new and unusual, before a plethora of adverts, TV spots, film slots and a cover by Shaggy rendered it all a bit old hat, but I retain affection for it as long as I don’t hear it too often! Highest new entry at 12 is Hotlegs with the insistent plodding beat of Neanderthal Man. It seemed like a novelty record, which is not quite right as the band went on to become 75% of 10CC, who also started off with what seemed to be a novelty record, before it became quite clear that they specialised in musical pastiches, witty lyrics and versatility of sound. Prior to Hotlegs, Eric Stewart was in and sang lead vocal on the Mindbenders gorgeous Groovy Kind Of Love, another of many childhood faves of mine. After leaving the chart, Graham Gouldman joined Lol Creme, Kevin Godley and Eric (joint owner of Strawberry Studios, where they recorded, along with Graham) and that was essentially 10CC formed. wvUQcnfwUUM 1 ( 2 ) IN THE SUMMERTIME Mungo Jerry 2 ( 1 ) EVERYTHING IS BEAUTIFUL Ray Stevens 3 ( 3 ) GOODBY SAM HELLO SAMANTHA Cliff Richard 4 ( 4 ) CECILIA Simon And Garfunkel 5 ( 8 ) LOLA The Kinks 6 ( 6 ) LADY D’ARBANVILLE Cat Stevens 7 ( 5 ) HONEY COME BACK Glen Campbell 8 ( 10 ) THE WONDER OF YOU Elvis Presley 9 ( 7 ) THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD The Beatles 10 ( 9 ) YELLOW RIVER Christie wiWu7Csn2HY 11 ( 14 ) I’LL SAY FOREVER MY LOVE Jimmy Ruffin 12 ( NEW ) NEANDERTHAL MAN Hotlegs 13 ( 11 ) SALLY Gerry Monroe 14 ( 12 ) IT’S ALL IN THE GAME The Four Tops 15 ( 13 ) ALL RIGHT NOW Free 16 ( 18 ) SOMETHING Shirley Bassey 17 ( 15 ) COTTONFIELDS The Beach Boys 18 ( 19 ) BIG YELLOW TAXI Joni Mitchell 19 ( 16 ) REACH OUT AND TOUCH (SOMEBODY’S HAND) Diana Ross 20 ( 17 ) GROOVIN’ WITH MR. BLOE Mr. Bloe Around about this time dad started buying colour slide films for the new half-frame camera - this was quite a revelation, as once he’d got a screen and slide projector we had the multicolour 60’s experience recorded for posterity at 72 shots a roll of film, and shown in glorious multicolour afterwards as big as you wanted. This was amazing, as it just captured everything about a largely-disappearing period-piece, our youth, and in the years (and decades) afterwards it kept the whole tropical Singapore world fresh and vivid. I still have boxes and boxes of slides (now sometimes looking worse for wear as time starts to let fungus and the like creep in) and no way of transferring to digital which does them justice - the focus is not quite right, the colours too pastel, the bits of dust and stuff on them stands out too much. What I need is time and expensive kit to have them back to life and saved. Here’s one of mum, dad, brother and life then ins Singapore city: mum’s crocheted handbag (arts and crafts were big with the housewives), the bottle of fanta (you needed lotsa bottles of fizzy drinks on a day out), the umbrella (when it rained it poured), the cool fashions: I’m sorry, for me fashion peaked in 1970 and it has been at it’s best since when it’s returning to similar styles of the late 60’s and very early 70’s. Call me old-fashioned...! https://popchartfreak.files.wordpress.com/2...ecity70crop.jpg


Popchartfreak View member profile	Sep 5 2015, 01:04 PM Post #38
BuzzJack Legend Joined: 18 July 2012 Posts: 22,812 User: 17,376	21st July 1970 Cliff gets his first chart-topper after a couple of number 2’s. I say first, actually Cliff’s career was the same age as me (still is, obviously!) and he’d moved over into family pop fairly early into his career and pretty much stayed there, but with an increasingly bubblegum tendency that didn’t go down well with music critics. Goodbye Sam Hello Samantha was melodic pop that appealed well enough to 12 year-old’s, about a boy dumping his mates for girls, not about tomboys blossoming into women, or boys going the Lola route (sadly, as that would have been quite a media sensation). In a hypothetical world where I started my pop charts at age 5, not 10, Cliff would have had Summer Holiday, Bacholer Boy, All My Love, The Day I Met Marie and maybe Congratulations hit the top spot, cos I loved them all. The Day I Met Marie eventually did top my chart, and there’s still time for The Next Time (double A with Bacholer Boy) to do the same, though the others have all passed that point now. Simon & Garfunkel get yet another single fall just short of the top spot, the fab Cecilia at 2, as Elvis and Cat go top 5, Hotlegs go top 10, and the highest new entry at 13 is one I was mad on, recorded direct off the TV with a hand microphone from The Archies Fun House show. Love Vibrations inexpicably remains unreleased 45 years later, and of course is therefore the record I most want to be available on download, or CD, or vinyl. It’s just a great tune, and much better than a number of their rather odd singles choices following the monster that was Sugar Sugar. Pretty sure it never appeared in any chart, therefore, on the whole Planet Earth, so I’m singing it’s praises a lone voice in the wilderness, albeit through childhood rose-tinted specs. At 18, and much better-known, it’s Stevie Wonder again, Signed, Sealed, Delivered he’s yours. Even covered by Stevie himself in 2003 with Blue (it wasn’t an improvement on the original) it gave him a 21st century UK chart hit that wasn’t Superstition (it usually is). The youtube clip is a gem, cool Stevie and spot missus Syreeta on backing vocals. At 20, Pickettywich sneak in briefly again with a sad old movie, kinda. S’OK. Po1ffbk5JA0 1 ( 3 ) GOODBY SAM HELLO SAMANTHA Cliff Richard 2 ( 4 ) CECILIA Simon And Garfunkel 3 ( 1 ) IN THE SUMMERTIME Mungo Jerry 4 ( 6 ) LADY D’ARBANVILLE Cat Stevens 5 ( 8 ) THE WONDER OF YOU Elvis Presley 6 ( 5 ) LOLA The Kinks 7 ( 7 ) HONEY COME BACK Glen Campbell 8 ( 12 ) NEANDERTHAL MAN Hotlegs 9 ( 9 ) THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD The Beatles 10 ( 10 ) YELLOW RIVER Christie zxexKLsLpw0 11 ( 11 ) I’LL SAY FOREVER MY LOVE Jimmy Ruffin 12 ( 18 ) BIG YELLOW TAXI Joni Mitchell 13 ( NEW ) LOVE VIBRATIONS The Archies 14 ( 14 ) IT’S ALL IN THE GAME The Four Tops 15 ( 15 ) ALL RIGHT NOW Free 16 ( 13 ) SALLY Gerry Monroe 17 ( 17 ) COTTONFIELDS The Beach Boys 18 ( NEW ) SIGNED SEALED DELIVERED I’M YOURS Stevie Wonder 19 ( 16 ) SOMETHING Shirley Bassey 20 ( NEW ) (IT’S LIKE A) SAD OLD KINDA MOVIE Pickettywich cbKVfq49tII What was reading at this time, apart from comics? Just William books (very British), The Bobbsey Twins books (very American), Enid Blyton books (still) though I’d moved more into the “Secret” and “Adventure” books and away from The Famous Five and The Secret Seven (very Dorset). I’d already dipped into Arthur C. Clarke (Dolphin Island, a long-forgotten pro-dolphin sci-fi yarn aimed at kids) which whetted my appetite for science-fiction, without actually being aware that was what it was, or that more was available in that genre. My fave books of all-time, though were The Secret Island (Blyton) and Dolphin Island (Clarke) and the 1858 R. M. Ballantyne novel The Coral Island. Hmmm, I seem to have a thing for being marooned on/or living on isolated islands, particularly tropical ones, and ones with animals I can love (as opposed to eat). It all seemed so glamorous being able to do exactly what you want, in co-operation, on a marvellous adventure. Or maybe I just liked living in my own world cos the real one is quite cruel. No change there then....


Popchartfreak View member profile	Sep 5 2015, 07:33 PM Post #39
BuzzJack Legend Joined: 18 July 2012 Posts: 22,812 User: 17,376	28th July 1970 2 weeks for Cliff and Samantha, Cat hits 3 with his lady, and Jimmy Ruffin gets a 2nd top 10 in a row. In at 12 it’s another country-flavoured melodic ballad from the under-rated Scottish band Marmalade, Rainbow is another sweet-sad pop song in the style of The Hollies or Crosby Stills & Nash, and follows-up my chart-topper Reflections Of My Life. Like The Monkees they generally (against their wishes) were forced to record songs by professional songwriters, (good records all the same) but in 1969 switched to Decca and produced their own songs. Their line-up had Junior Campbell, later of solo gospel-tinged singles success, and they rather sensibly changed the band name from The Gaylords. Pity they didn’t choose The Jam rather than The Marmalade though! Hendrix was an early supporter, little-known fact. At 14, it’s an oldie, and a classic. Yes, shockingly, Tears Of A Clown was an obscure 1967 Smokey Robinson & The Miracles album track which Motown bizarrely failed to recognise as a smash hit classic. The UK was a big supporter of 60’s Motown tracks well into the 70’s, and this one actually topped the UK singles chart before happening in the USA - it also stopped Smokey leaving the band for another 2 years! The record? It’s perfect. The circus-themed riffs, the clever lyrics, the great vocal, and the tune, all perfect. No cover version, including the hit ska cover by The Beat, comes close to matching the sheer beauty of the original. Smokey is a much-admired songwriter by other professional songwriters, and he even had a song all about him: ABC’s When Smokey Sings. Nuff said. In at 19, Chicago are back with 25 Or 6 To 4 - no I still have no idea what it means either. It’s a great jazz-tinged rock groove though, with some mighty riffs. The future held decades of tedious ballads (mostly) but in 1970 they were still cool. 1 ( 1 ) GOODBY SAM HELLO SAMANTHA Cliff Richard 2 ( 2 ) CECILIA Simon And Garfunkel 3 ( 4 ) LADY D’ARBANVILLE Cat Stevens 4 ( 5 ) THE WONDER OF YOU Elvis Presley 5 ( 3 ) IN THE SUMMERTIME Mungo Jerry 6 ( 8 ) NEANDERTHAL MAN Hotlegs 7 ( 7 ) HONEY COME BACK Glen Campbell 8 ( 6 ) LOLA The Kinks 9 ( 11 ) I’LL SAY FOREVER MY LOVE Jimmy Ruffin 10 ( 9 ) THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD The Beatles MeMS8SuHPs0 11 ( 10 ) YELLOW RIVER Christie 12 ( NEW ) RAINBOW Marmalade 13 ( 13 ) LOVE VIBRATIONS The Archies 14 ( NEW ) TEARS OF A CLOWN Smokey Robinson & The Miracles 15 ( 14 ) IT’S ALL IN THE GAME The Four Tops HsI-DB-25e8 16 ( 12 ) BIG YELLOW TAXI Joni Mitchell 17 ( 18 ) SIGNED SEALED DELIVERED I’M YOURS Stevie Wonder 18 ( 15 ) ALL RIGHT NOW Free 19 ( NEW ) 25 OR 6 TO 4 Chicago 20 ( 17 ) COTTONFIELDS The Beach Boys WLiuMkGCOC4 The youtube clip of Tears Of A Clown is taken from The Andy Williams Show, Andy was coolest of the crooners and a family fave, his variety show had his extended family on it (actual wife Claudine Longet, and unrelated regulars The Osmond Brothers) and big big Hollywood and TV superstars, and big singers and up and coming upstarts like Elton John and The Jackson 5. The Cookie Bear was a running gag beloved of kids like me, and in this clip you have Ray Stevens doing his novelty hit Along Came Jones with Andy doing the female role, comic Danny Thomas joining in, and 7-year-old Jimmy Osmond as cowboy hero Jones. Cute! 0d4ahG7kh-Y


Popchartfreak View member profile	Mar 15 2016, 07:43 PM Post #40
BuzzJack Legend Joined: 18 July 2012 Posts: 22,812 User: 17,376	4th August 1970 3 weeks for Cliff on top, and Elvis is on his heels at 2, how appropriate since Cliff modeled himself on early Elvis! Marmalade go for a 4th top 5, a melancholy Rainbow, and The Archies get a 5th Top 10 with a record that still has never been officially released in either the UK or the USA. Smokey Robinson gets a top ten song about tears, no not The Tracks Of My, this time it’s the equally classic Of A Clown. Motown labelmates The Jackson 5, the hottest pop group around, enter at 13 with a third hit The Love You Save, a big improvement on ABC for me. They were the darlings of US variety shows of the time, not least the Ed Sullivan Show, which we had on TV in Singapore, albeit a while later. Look at the clip and marvel at Michael’s precociousness as performer. Fab. The other new record is at 20, Fairweather’s Natural Sinner. I’ve added it in retroactively as I didn’t hear it until 1975 while Andy Fairweather-Low was undergoing a solo career revival, having already had the hit pop group success with Amen Corner, including topping my charts in 1969 with Half As Nice. Not his finest hour, in all honesty. 1 ( 1 ) GOODBY SAM HELLO SAMANTHA Cliff Richard 2 ( 4 ) THE WONDER OF YOU Elvis Presley 3 ( 3 ) LADY D’ARBANVILLE Cat Stevens 4 ( 2 ) CECILIA Simon And Garfunkel 5 ( 12 ) RAINBOW Marmalade 6 ( 5 ) IN THE SUMMERTIME Mungo Jerry 7 ( 13 ) LOVE VIBRATIONS The Archies 8 ( 14 ) TEARS OF A CLOWN Smokey Robinson & The Miracles 9 ( 8 ) LOLA The Kinks 10 ( 10 ) THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD The Beatles k4BwSIYPhUo 11 ( 9 ) I’LL SAY FOREVER MY LOVE Jimmy Ruffin 12 ( 6 ) NEANDERTHAL MAN Hotlegs 13 ( NEW ) THE LOVE YOU SAVE The Jackson 5 14 ( 17 ) SIGNED SEALED DELIVERED I’M YOURS Stevie Wonder 15 ( 16 ) BIG YELLOW TAXI Joni Mitchell 16 ( 15 ) IT’S ALL IN THE GAME The Four Tops 17 ( 19 ) 25 OR 6 TO 4 Chicago 18 ( 18 ) ALL RIGHT NOW Free 19 ( 20 ) COTTONFIELDS The Beach Boys 20 ( NEW ) NATURAL SINNER Fairweather Talking of Ed Sullivan. As I’ve said before, in many ways my TV world of the 60’s and early 70’s was much more American than British, and that held true especially in Singapore - there were UK shows but they tended to be the sci-fi shows like Doctor Who and UFO, which was the latest, most exciting. mind-blowing show for me to get hooked on. Gerry Anderson had gone into live action TV, keeping the model-making for the space-age vehicles and flying saucers, as we called them in those days. I loved it. I also loved American variety shows like Ed Sullivan, though he was very, very dull. He also regularly had an awful cute mime mouse on far too often (once was more than enough, never mind 50 times in 8 years) Topo Gigio. If I’ve repeated myself here, apologies, just take it as a warning as it’s still on youtube! Avoid!