09.03.1974 : New Seekers - I Get A Little Sentimental Over You (1 week # 1)

 

http://www.lynpaulwebsite.org/Resources/NS-IGetALittleSentimental.jpg

In 1976, New Seekers reformed with Kathy Ann Rae and Danny Finn replacing Lyn Paul and Peter Oliver. Although they never replicated their earlier success, the group did manage to score a few hits with "It's So Nice (To Have You Home)" (1976), "I Wanna Go Back" (1977) and "Anthem (One Day in Every Week)" (1978). This line up remained intact until 1979, when Danny Finn and Eve Graham left the group to marry. In 1980, the group attempted to represent the UK again in the Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Tell Me", but it was disqualified shortly before the British heats were televised due to the fact the group had already been promoting the single. Had they appeared in the 1980 UK contest, the group would have been up against former member Danny Finn, who was the lead singer of the winning group Prima Donna. In addition, Mick Flynn and Donna Jones of the current New Seekers line-up (2009) were also in the contest, placing fourth under the group name Pussyfoot. Marty Kristian entered a song in the 1983 UK Eurovision finals, performed by a trio called 'Audio', which included Kathy Ann Rae in the line up. Since then, there have been personnel changes which included Caitriona Walsh, Nicola Kerr and Vikki James. Paul Layton remained with the band throughout this time. Kathy Ann Rae died from cancer on 11 January 2011.

 

ah I loved this one, Alex, one of my fave new seekers tunes. And Abba. and I liked all of the others from 1974 too....:)

ah I loved this one, Alex, one of my fave new seekers tunes. And Abba. and I liked all of the others from 1974 too....:)

It's sad, but 2 amazing ABBA singles "Honey Honey" (my favourite ABBA song) and "Nina Pretty Ballerina" (It was issued on 7" vinyl record in Austria and France to promote the band's debut album "Ring Ring". It reached #8 on the singles chart in Austria) weren't released in United Kingdom and illegal for this thread. Both could be the next # 1 singles for ABBA. :(

 

Edited August 4, 201410 yr by AlexRange

All my personal # 1 singles (1974):

01. Kiki Dee - Amoureuse (1 week # 1)

02. Marie Osmond - Paper Roses (1 week # 1)

03. Cilla Black - Baby We Can't Go Wrong (4 weeks # 1)

04. New Seekers - I Get A Little Sentimental Over You (1 week # 1)

05. Olivia Newton-John - Long Live Love (5 weeks # 1)

06. ABBA - Waterloo (9 weeks # 1)

07. (4 weeks)

08. Stephanie de Sykes - Born With A Smile On My Face (7 weeks # 1)

09. Sylvia Vrethammar - Y Viva Espana (1 week # 1)

10. Polly Brown - Up In A Puff Of Smoke (7 weeks # 1)

11. Lynsey De Paul - No Honestly (6 weeks # 1)

12. Olivia Newton-John - I Honestly Love You (3 weeks # 1)

 

My # 1 singles in official UK chart:

# 1 : ABBA - Waterloo

# 2 : Marie Osmond - Paper Roses

# 2 : Stephanie de Sykes - Born With A Smile On My Face

# 4 : Sylvia Vrethammar - Y Viva Espana

# 5 : New Seekers - I Get A Little Sentimental Over You

# 7 : Lynsey De Paul - No Honestly

# 11 : Olivia Newton-John - Long Live Love

# 13 : Kiki Dee - Amoureuse

# 22 : Olivia Newton-John - I Honestly Love You

# 32 : Carpenters - I Won't Last A Day Without You

# 36 : Cilla Black - Baby We Can't Go Wrong

# 43 : Polly Brown - Up In A Puff Of Smoke

 

Personal Awards:

Best single, which was not my personal # 1 : Peters And Lee - Don't Stay Away Too Long

Most # 1 singles : Olivia Newton-John (2)

Most # 1 weeks : ABBA (9)

Singer of the Year : Olivia Newton-John

Group of the Year : ABBA

Favourite Eurovision song : ABBA - Waterloo

Favourite official UK # 1 single : ABBA - Waterloo

Song of the Year : ABBA - Waterloo

Edited January 21, 20169 yr by Yours # 1Enemy

It's sad, but 2 amazing ABBA singles "Honey Honey" (my favourite ABBA song) and "Nina Pretty Ballerina" (It was issued on 7" vinyl record in Austria and France to promote the band's debut album Ring Ring. It reached #8 on the singles chart in Austria) weren't realised in United Kingdom and illegal for this thread. Both could be the next # 1 singles for ABBA. :(

 

Sweet Dreams version was in top 5.

 

Waterloo hit my number one for 2 weeks in 1974, Honey Honey (Sweet Dreams) went top 10, Ring Ring Top 20 and So Long number 5. I think I must have been the only person to buy So Long!:) I didnt get to hear the album tracks until 1976 as I couldnt afford many albums when I was a teenager, but I liked all of the tracks I ever heard by Abba, probably my fave album tracks up to 1974 are those you mention, plus Hasta Manana, and My Mama Said:)

 

 

04.01.1975 : Donny And Marie Osmond - Morning Side Of The Mountain (2 weeks # 1)

 

http://images.uulyrics.com/cover/d/donny-marie-osmond/album-love-songs.jpg

 

 

Donny & Marie is an American variety show which aired on ABC from January 1976 to January 1979. The show stars brother and sister pop duo Donny Osmond and Marie Osmond. Donny had first become popular singing in a music group with his brothers, The Osmonds, and Marie was one of the youngest singers to reach #1 on the Billboard Country Music charts (with "Paper Roses", in 1973).

 

The siblings were offered a weekly show by ABC-TV President Fred Silverman after he saw the duo co-host a week on The Mike Douglas Show which followed their series of popular remakes of oldies, such as "I'm Leaving It (All) Up To You", "Morning Side Of The Mountain", "Deep Purple" and "Make The World Go Away". Donny and Marie (18 and 16 years old, respectively, when the program premiered) were the youngest entertainers in TV history to host their own variety show. A year later, The Keane Brothers would break this record.

 

Donny & Marie was a Friday night show that consisted mainly of an ice skating number intro, comedy skits, followed by songs performed by the duo. The most famous song performed on the show was "I'm A Little Bit Country, I'm a Little Bit Rock and Roll", which formed the basis of a weekly segment (the "Concert Spot") in which Marie ("a little bit country") would trade off singing a country music song with Donny ("I'm a little bit rock and roll") singing a rock and roll song. Each episode concluded with a musical finale and a cascade of balloons from the ceiling, matched to the colors of the sets and costumes. Donny and Marie would then sing their trademark closing song which was written by Alan Osmond, "May Tomorrow Be a Perfect Day".

 

The variety show genre as a whole, at the time, was in steep decline, and the success of Donny & Marie was somewhat of an aberration compared to the trends of television in the late 1970s (two of the last successful variety shows, The Sonny & Cher Show and The Carol Burnett Show, both left the air in 1977 and 1978 respectively).

 

 

 

(1 week # 1)

Edited January 21, 20169 yr by Yours # 1Enemy

 

25.01.1975 : Dana - Please Tell Him That I Said Hello (5 weeks # 1)

 

http://images.paroly.com/photos/dana_.jpg

 

 

Dana debuted on GTO with "Please Tell Him That I Said Hello" a song written by Mike Shepstone and Peter Dibbens. Released in October 1974, the song reached the Irish charts that November rising to a #7 peak. In the UK, the track spent ten weeks registering below the UK Top 50 before making its chart debut on 25 January 1975. Boosted by Top of the Pops performances on 6 February and 13 March 1975, "Please Tell Him That I Said Hello" rose to a #8 peak on the UK chart. This UK success gave the track a resurgence of popularity in Ireland where a chart re-entry saw the track again peak at #7 in February 1975. Dana also recorded a German version of the song; "Spiel nicht mit mir und meinem Glück", which reached #27 in Germany over a fourteen week chart run in the spring and summer of 1975.

 

 

Edited February 2, 201312 yr by AlexRange

 

01.03.1975 : Guys And Dolls - There's A Whole Lot Of Loving (3 weeks # 1)

 

http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_250/MI0001/730/MI0001730145.jpg

 

 

Guys 'n' Dolls were formed in 1974, after Ammo Productions held auditions for three girls and three boys to start the band. The six members of the group Paul Griggs, David Van Day, Thereza Bazar, Dominic Grant, Martine Howard, and Julie Forsyth (daughter of Sir Bruce Forsyth), first met in November 1974. They released their first hit single, "There's a Whole Lot of Loving" in January 1975 (this was actually recorded by session singers, and the group were later discovered not to have actually recorded the original). In the six years that followed, the group released several more hits, including "Here I Go Again" (1975) and "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" (1976). In 1977 the group had a record chart No.1 in both the Netherlands and Flanders with "You're My World", formerly made famous by Cilla Black.

 

The members of Irish pop group Six released their first single, "Whole Lotta Lovin'" a cover of the 1975 Guys 'n' Dolls UK #2, in February 2002. The single did very well, selling over 160,000 copies in its first week of sale. The song was then the 3rd best selling single in Irish chart history.

 

 

 

22.03.1975 : Lynsey De Paul - My Man And Me (5 weeks # 1)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/13/Lynsey_De_Paul_-_TopPop_1974_3.png/220px-Lynsey_De_Paul_-_TopPop_1974_3.png

 

 

"My Man & Me" was 6th consecutive UK top 40 hit for Lynsey de Paul, this charted in March 1975 (# 40).

Written by Lynsey de Paul for her album "Taste Me...Don't Waste Me"

Edited January 25, 201312 yr by AlexRange

 

19.04.1975 : Stephanie De Sykes - We'll Find Our Day (4 weeks # 1)

 

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/qq85/cornershop15/Documents/StephanieDeSykes1TVTimes11thOctober1975.jpg

 

 

De Sykes returned to the UK Top 20 a year later as a solo artist with the song "We'll Find Our Day" from Crossroads, which was featured at Meg Mortimer's wedding in the UK TV soap opera in 1975. De Sykes appeared in the show as singer 'Holly Brown'. She also had a starring role in the comedy Side by Side.

 

De Sykes and her husband Stuart Slater wrote two UK Eurovision Song Contest entries, Co-Co's "The Bad Old Days" and Prima Donna's "Love Enough for Two" in 1978 and 1980 respectively. In 1981, she teamed up with Angus Deayton to record a parody of that year's Eurovision winner "Making Your Mind Up" by Bucks Fizz. The song "We're Doing A Send Up" by 'Brown Ale' did not make the UK Singles Chart. De Sykes and Slater had one other song in the UK final, "All Around The World" in 1983, which was performed by Slater, ostensibly as a soloist, but with five musicians, including De Sykes on keyboards and vocals. The song placed fifth of the eight submissions. Notably, they were introduced by Terry Wogan in all of the broadcasts as "...the husband and wife team of..."

Edited January 25, 201312 yr by AlexRange

 

24.05.1975 : Tammy Jones - Let Me Try Again (2 weeks # 1)

 

http://www.tammyjones.co.nz/lmtamus.jpg

 

 

Tammy Jones starred in her own series on Welsh TV simply called, Tammy. Guest spots followed on English television with Benny Hill, Tom Jones, The Bachelors, Dick Emery and Morecambe and Wise, as well as appearances at the London Palladium and the Royal Variety Performance in front of HRH The Princess Anne. Cabaret appearances were both national and international with visits to Poland, Israel, Zimbabwe, America, Canada, Africa, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Argentina.

 

In the 1960s, Jones became a top rated cabaret artiste performing ballads such as "No Regrets", "My Way" and "The Day That the Rains Came Down". With a voice trained for opera at the Guildhall School of Music, London, this was her forte for many years.

 

She was ‘discovered’ through the popular ITV talent show, Opportunity Knocks, which she won for six consecutive weeks in 1975. Her participation resulted in the most recorded votes ever on the show. This produced her biggest hit, "Let Me Try Again", which reached #5 in the UK Singles Chart. In 1975, Jones was the best selling UK female artist of the year based on her international record sales.

 

In 1976 Jones released a single entitled "Love's A Carousel", a song that she performed in BBC TV's A Song for Europe at the Royal Albert Hall, a competition to select the UK's representative for the Eurovision Song Contest. Competing against Frank Ifield and Tony Christie, Jones finished in sixth place out of the twelve contestants. The winners were Brotherhood of Man, who went on to win the Eurovision title in the final at The Hague with "Save Your Kisses for Me". Jones released an album of the same name soon after, but neither the single nor album made the UK charts.

 

This was followed up by Jones winning the first Opportunity Knocks satellite show via a TV link up with Australia. She had albums released in the UK with 30 piece orchestral backing and, in 1976, was voted the second best female vocalist in Britain.

 

 

07.06.1975 : Guys And Dolls - Here I Go Again (2 weeks # 1)

 

http://chartarchive.org/artwork/4245-300.jpg

 

 

# 47 in UK Singles Chart. Second # 1 hit for Guys And Dolls.

 

By 1977, Van Day and Bazar had left the band, but went on to have success as Dollar. In 1979, the group took part in the A Song For Europe contest, hoping to represent the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest with the song "How Do You Mend A Broken Heart?" Although the show was abandoned due to a BBC strike, the song finished in tenth place of the 12 entries when the judges cast votes on the audio recordings of the songs.

 

In 1980, Forsyth and Grant had their first child together, plus Howard and the Guys 'n' Dolls record producer Gerard Stellaard got married and moved to the Netherlands. After marrying, Howard left the group and was replaced by Forsyth's younger sister, Laura early in 1981. The change was short-lived, when she was replaced by Rosie Hetherington. She had previously been a part of the group Legs & Co. In 1983, Griggs released a solo recording of Beatles' song "You Won’t See Me", with the help of a Dutch recording studio and record company, Dureco in Weesp.

 

Guys 'n' Dolls finished as a unit in December 1985, having spent eleven years together. Grant and Forsyth, performed as the duo Grant & Forsyth, and had another five hits in the Netherlands. In 1988, Forsyth wrote the UK's Eurovision Song Contest entry "Go" performed by Scott Fitzgerald. Both Forsyth and Grant, together with ex-Jigsaw member Des Dyer, sang backing vocals for the song's performance at the contest in Dublin, Ireland. The song finished second by a margin of one point behind Celine Dion's song for Switzerland, making it the closest ever run contest.

 

The original line up of Guys 'n' Dolls, (Grant, Forsyth, Griggs, Howard, Van Day and Bazar) reunited for the first time in thirty one years for a major television show in the Netherlands on 22 March 2008. This was preceded on Friday 21 March by a day of press and TV interviews.

 

Griggs has published a book called Diary of a Musician, based on diaries he kept from 1960. This includes a large in depth section on the story of Guys 'n' Dolls.

Edited January 26, 201312 yr by AlexRange

 

21.06.1975 : Donny And Marie Osmond - Make The World Go Away (1 week # 1)

 

http://static.rateyourmusic.com/album_images/4695b5802dd2474de19ead94c492acf5/155069.jpg

 

 

In the early 1980s, Osmond's music career went into a brief hiatus while she pursued a career in acting. She turned down the lead role as Sandy in Grease because she didn't approve of the script's moral content, and the role went to Olivia Newton-John. She appeared in some TV movies and did voice-over work for children's cartoons. Prior to the comeback success of her brother Donny in the late 1980s, Marie made a comeback in country music as a solo artist by signing a deal with Curb Records in Nashville. In 1985, Marie and Dan Seals sang a duet called "Meet Me in Montana" which became a No. 1 country hit that year.

 

Her follow-up to "Meet Me in Montana" was a solo hit called "There's No Stopping Your Heart," which reached No. 1 in early 1986 for Marie. Her singles mainly focused on the more-popular Countrypolitan style. In late 1985, she released the "There's No Stopping Your Heart" album of the same name. In 1986, the single "Read My Lips" became a Top-20 country hit. She hit No. 1 again with a duet with Paul Davis with the song "You're Still New to Me." The Top-10 hit "I Only Wanted You," became her last major hit on the Country charts, to date. Osmond continued to release singles throughout much of the '80s, including "I'm In Love And He's In Dallas". In 1984, Marie had a single on RCA Records called, "Whos Counting." The single charted to only No. 82 on Billboard's Hot Country Singles. The single did receive a significant amount of airplay for a couple of weeks.

 

28.06.1975 : Lyn Paul - It Oughta Sell A Million (6 weeks # 1)

 

http://www.lynpaulwebsite.org/Resources/Lyn-GiveMeLoveadvert.jpg

 

 

Lyn Paul is an English pop singer and actress. She came to fame as a member of the international chart-topping pop group New Seekers in the early 1970s.

 

After she left the group in 1974, Paul performed as a solo artist for many years and became a television personality, appearing on many television programmes including: Emergency Ward 10, Skyport, Give Us a Clue, Celebrity Squares, 3-2-1 as well as countless variety programmes. Her first solo single, which spent a frustrating seventeen weeks hovering outside the UK Top 50 was the Golden Globe nominated "Sail the Summer Winds", a John Barry and Don Black composition; which was the theme to the first film produced by Gregory Peck, 1974's The Dove. She had a UK Top 40 hit in 1975 with a song that was originally recorded at the same sessions as I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing. The track was used as the jingle for Coca Cola in the summer of 1975; and subsequently recorded as a single by Paul with backing vocals from ex-New Seekers singer Peter Doyle and released as "It Oughta Sell A Million".

 

During her solo career, she has worked with Andy Williams, Jack Jones, Dionne Warwick and Liza Minnelli, and has won various accolades including the Carl-Alan Award several times. Her other Polydor singles include "Who's Sorry Now", "Love", "Here Comes That Wonderful Feeling" and "Mama Don't Wait For Me". She also released her first solo album Give Me Love in 1975. In 1977, Paul sang "If Everybody Loved The Same As You" in the Song for Europe UK selection, coming joint sixth. She went on to record "I Don't Believe You Ever Loved Me", a cover of the Doobie Brothers' "Echoes Of Love", and a 1980s power-ballad "Make The Night". She released a single "Hold Me" under the name of Future Primitive with her brother Paul (whose name she took as her stage surname) in 1984.

Edited January 31, 201312 yr by AlexRange

 

09.08.1975 : Abba - I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do (3 weeks # 1)

 

http://english73.ru/songs-ABBA/Money.jpg

 

 

"I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" was a hit single for Swedish pop group ABBA, and was their next major worldwide hit after "Waterloo". It was the second single to be released from their ABBA album, and one of the last songs to be recorded for the album. The song was written by Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and their manager Stig Anderson, and was released in April 1975 with "Rock Me" as the B-side.

 

The song was recorded on 21 February 1975 at Glen Studio, and was inspired by the European "schlager" music of the 1950s, and also by the saxophone sound of American 1950s orchestra leader Billy Vaughn.

 

This song was a sizeable hit in a number of countries. "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" was the song that sparked "ABBA-mania" in Australia, becoming ABBA's first chart-topper there. With "Mamma Mia" and "SOS" to follow, this gave the group a run of 14 consecutive weeks at the top of the Australian charts. "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" also topped the charts in France, New Zealand, Switzerland and South Africa and hit the Top 5 in Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria and Rhodesia (all in 1975). The song also reached No.15 in the United States in early 1976. A notable exception to the song's success was in the UK, a market that ABBA was aiming to conquer, where the single stalled at No.38. Thus, the musical direction taken in the song was not used again for some time. This marked the only time that an ABBA song had more success in the United States than in Britain. Later in 1975, ABBA would find success in the UK with SOS, which would cement the group's success in Australia and elsewhere. On 5 December 2010 on a British poll of The Nations Favourite ABBA song, the song was placed at #23.

 

Third # 1 single for ABBA and # 26 in my personal ABBA songs ranking.

Edited October 22, 201311 yr by AlexRange

 

30.08.1975 : Lynsey De Paul ‎– Rhythm And Blue Jean Baby (6 weeks # 1)

 

http://rymimg.com/lk/f/l/4abd23c6c4a6615044444403be075cf1/3582520.jpg

 

 

This uptempo number is about as commercial as they come, unusually so for Lynsey de Paul. She gives no indication as to the identity of the subject of the song, or even if he is a real person, but this is basically a feel good dance track. The opening bars bear a striking resemblance to "Judy In Disguise (with Glasses)," though it is not clear if this is deliberate, subconscious plagiarism or merely coincidence. "Rhythm And Blue Jean Baby" was released as a single backed by "Into My Music."

 

This song should have been a hit but was let down by a last minute "Top of the Pops" appearance where half of the backing track was missing. Lynsey was invited to perform it at very short notice but the sound engineer butchered it.

 

Edited October 22, 201311 yr by AlexRange

 

11.10.1975 : ABBA - SOS (1 week # 1)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/42/SOS_-_Man_In_The_Middle.jpg

 

 

"SOS", originally titled "Turn Me On", was the 3rd single from Swedish pop group ABBA's self-titled 1975 album, their 3rd for Polar Music and their second for Epic and Atlantic. It was released with "Man in the Middle" as the B-side. Agnetha Fältskog, who sang lead, recorded the song in Swedish on her 1975 solo album Elva kvinnor i ett hus. "SOS" was ABBA's first major worldwide hit since "Waterloo" and, to date, is the only Hot 100 single (or #1 single in Australia) in which both the title and the credited act are palindromes.

 

"SOS" was written by Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Stig Anderson and recorded at Glen Studio on 22–23 August 1974. The title itself was coined by Stig, though the lyrics he provided were re-written by Björn Ulvaeus. "SOS" was among the first 3 songs recorded for the group's 1975 album, ABBA.

 

Despite the song's catchiness, it was passed over as the lead single from the album; the track "So Long" was chosen instead. "So Long" was chosen primarily because it had the same uptempo beat as their 1974 hit single, "Waterloo".

 

The descending chords and ominous Minimoog synthesizer melody line of the introduction set the tone for Fältskog’s vocals, sounding almost as if she were breaking down in tears.

 

"SOS" was ABBA's British comeback single, reaching No. 6 (their first big hit there since Waterloo) and also became the group's third U.S. Top 20 hit. It reached No. 1 in Australia, Belgium, West Germany (where it spent 7 weeks at the top), New Zealand and South Africa, while reaching the Top 5 in Austria, Republic of Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, Rhodesia and also in Italy, where it reached No. 2 being ABBA most successful song there.

 

"SOS" has a number of musical fans: John Lennon had declared that it was one of his favourite pop songs, and Pete Townshend in particular said it is probably his favourite pop song.

Edited October 22, 201311 yr by AlexRange

 

18.10.1975 : Reparata - Shoes (6 weeks # 1)

 

http://www.spectropop.com/recommends/Reparata/300%20Reparata%20CD.jpg

 

 

Reparata was the stage name of Mary O'Leary, nee Aiese. Born in Brooklyn in 1945, O'Leary formed Reparata and the Delrons as a high-school student in 1962, using her confimation name as her stage name. O'Leary stopped performing live with the group in 1969 to pursue a teaching career. The group continued without O'Leary as a live act until 1973, and during these years, lead singer Lorraine Mazzola adopted the name Reparata. Mary O'Leary continued a sporadic solo career throughout the 1970s, including "Shoes". Mary O'Leary reformed Reparata and the Delrons in 1978, and they continued to perform until 2000.

 

"Shoes" was described by one critic as a "bizarre wedding song". The lyrics tell the story of Johnny and Louise's wedding day, and the contributions of various relatives and friends to the wedding. The song is not about shoes, although it does include the line "Mother didn't give her abuse / she didn't forget her shoes". A family wedding is an unusual subject for a pop song, although not unique: the 10,000 Maniacs' song "My Sister Rose" on their In My Tribe album has a similar subject and similar bittersweet mood.

 

In its musical style, "Shoes" has what one commentator calls "a Middle Eastern feel". The recording uses an eclectic range of instruments including harpsichord, Jew's harp, bouzouki (which is namechecked in the line "Tom brings his band / bouzouki in his hand") and tambourine and adds some vocal shouts and cheers. There is also an electric guitar solo, and some children's backing vocals, which have been wrongly (and perhaps facetiously) credited to Mary O'Leary's sixth grade students. One blogger describes the song as "Boney M meets Dusty Springfield". Another blogger comments that "This is one weird '70s song. It sounds like “Gypsy Wine” meets “Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves” meets “Bohemian Rhapsody” meets “Hair” meets “Another Brick in the Wall” ... meets some dude playing the harmonica/harpsichord meets a bunch of frogs on helium.".

 

This mixture of styles creates an "absurdly catchy" and unique record, which has been variously described as "discoish" and "Spooky bouzouki" and as sounding like it was written by the maverick US pop and rock group Sparks.

 

The celebratory lyrics of "Shoes" are undercut by Reparata's understated vocal delivery. She sings in a much lower register than she had used on previous recordings as lead singer of the Reparata and the Delrons, and some listeners have believed they were listening to a male vocal. This ambiguity of the singer's gender adds to the strange mood of the record.

 

Summarising the sound and mood of "Shoes", one blogger comments that :

"... despite the surface bonhomie, the music's thrust is slightly threatening and more than slightly unreal, particularly in the middle section when the beat cuts out to let through an ethereal cloud of dishevelled angel choirs ... [While] Reparata's voice strolls as serenely as Carole Bayer Sager's, [it] cannot dispel the feeling that something isn't quite right with the scenario".

 

Polydor pressed and distributed two identical versions of "Shoes" in August 1975: one had a Dart label (although in the Polydor format), and the other had a regular Polydor label. Both releases had the same catalogue number, 2066 652, and the same picture sleeve, which used the logos of both labels. Sales were combined for chart purposes, and despite the record's legal troubles, "Shoes" did have some success, especially in South Africa, where it reached #6 in January 1976 "Shoes" was on the playlist of BBC Radio 1 and reached #43 in the UK in October 1975. That same month, in the US it reached #92 on the Hot 100.

Edited October 22, 201311 yr by AlexRange

 

29.11.1975 : Steeleye Span - All Around My Hat (2 weeks # 1)

 

http://content.bandzoogle.com/users/SteveWinick/images/content/SteeleyeSpanSteeleye7.jpg

 

 

The song "All Around my Hat" is of nineteenth century English origin. In an early version, dating from the 1820s, a Cockney costermonger vowed to be true to his fiancée, who had been sentenced to seven years' transportation to Australia for theft and to mourn his loss of her by wearing green willow sprigs in his hatband for "a twelve-month and a day," in a traditional symbol of mourning. The song has become famous by Steeleye Span in 1976.

 

This electric folk group Steeleye Span took it to number 5 on the charts, with the original version interpolated with lyrics from another early 19th Century song - "Farewell He" - which turned the song into a conversation, with the original words of constancy alternating with a sermon to young girls on the inconstancy of young men. The song has the distinction of being the only Steeleye Span song covered by a later mainstream band (viz. Status Quo).

 

 

 

 

13.12.1975 : Dana - It's Gonna Be A Cold Cold Christmas (5 weeks # 1)

 

http://www.christmas-songs.net/media/1569327/dana_-_it_s_going_to_be_a_cold_cold_christmas.jpg

 

 

Dana's previous single was "Are You Still Mad at Me" failed to chart but Dana returned to the Top Ten with a Stephens/Greenaway composition: "It's Gonna be a Cold Cold Christmas". Released four weeks prior to Christmas 1975 the single gave her her second highest chart peak, reaching #4. In Ireland, the track reached #3 and went on to re-enter the charts the following year, peaking at #12. At the end of 1975, Dana collected two awards – Best Female Singer in Britain from the NME and Best Female Singer from the TV Times. The success continued into 1976 with "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again" entering the UK Top 40. In September however, while promoting her next single, "Fairytale", she lost her voice. Her left vocal cord, which had been cauterized the year before, required urgent surgery to remove a growth (non-malignant) as well as a small part of the cord itself. This caused many tabloid reports on the possibility that she may never sing again. Despite her inability to fully promote "Fairytale" - an upbeat pop song produced by Barry Blue - the single reached #13 in the UK and was also Dana's biggest international success since "All Kinds of Everything".

Edited February 4, 201312 yr by AlexRange