September 15Sep 15 Even after all that’s happened in the 50+ years since, Mouldy Old Dough still manages to sound weird. And very British.With its pub Winnie Atwell like piano, odd whistling refrain and growling vocals it sounds like pretty much nothing else. Still not sure if it’s brilliant or awful… or bothYMCA is obviously ubiquitous, some good some not so (Trump) good, but I still manage to enjoy its enthusiasm.
September 16Sep 16 Author 12. AMAZING GRACE- The Pipes And Drums Of The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (880,200) 197227 weeks on chartPeak position: 1 Dating back to 1779 this was obviously a Christian hymn, this version seemed to connect with the UK public who sent it to No 1 for 5 weeks in 1972 becoming the best seller of the year! Combining pipes with a military band caused some minor rancor with the pipe major being summoned to Edinburgh castle to be chastised for demeaning the pipes! In truth the song had seen a significant revival thanks to the Vietnam War in the late 60s and inspired a cappella version by Judy Collins which had been a long running hit here In 1971 spending 67 weeks in the top 50 somewhat softening the pubic for this new version. By the way the full name of the band meant that (at that time) they were the longest act to ever reach No 1.
September 16Sep 16 Author 11. EYE LEVEL- Simon Park Orchestra (896,800) 197224 Weeks on chartPeak position: 1 Originally intended as mere library music, the tune is based on a German Nursery Rhyme which is in turn partly based on Mozart’s “Le Nozze Di Figaro”, and in the early 70s it was selected as the tune to crime series “Van Der Valk” on ITV which gave it prime time exposure. By the time the second series ended the track was at No 1 as the show got a larger audience after making No 41 the previous year after season 1 aired. It became the first track to be No 1 off the use as a theme of a TV show but the final truly instrumental track (to feature no vocals at all) ever, odd given their prevalence in the 50s and 60s.
September 16Sep 16 A few oddities cropping up but I do admire that instrumentals could thrive to this extent!Shame about the Trump association these days but 'YMCA' is my favourite musically since I last commented.
September 16Sep 16 3 classics just outside the 20, Heart Of Glass an anthem even if Atomic is the ultimate Blondie single. Topped my charts and I bought it as I did Cliff, a career best to that point (and beyond) for me. Classic. Without You remains an epic tortured committed sonbg and vocal. I bought it second time round in 1976. The two songwriters from Badfinger both sadly committed suicide young, and the band should have been on the rundown with No Matter What in their own right. Fabuylous record.Top 20, err, novelty and MOR dominating. Boney M surprisingly low given they generally are listed as top 10 of all-time on All-time-sales charts of the 80's amd 90's, certainly one I bought too, though it peaked at 2 for me, YMCA hogging the top spot. a record I have more than got fed up with hearing. Fun at the time though. Puppy Love, I rated, then hated, then came back to in more recent years. Donny's best single may have been his USA chart-topper though, Go Away Little Girl. At least until 80's George-Michael-influenced hits like Soldier Of Love.Eye Level, nice tune, but it stopped Ballroom Blitz getting to number one so not forgiven. Amazing Grace another monster I grew to hate at the time, then learned to love in later years, but Judy Collins' version is the definitive. I still think Little Drummer Boy is the pipers' christmas goodie though. 1972 big at the top end with Lt Pigeon, but it was follow-up Desperate Dan that topped my charts oddly. It's still fun though I wouldnt call it a major fave!Brotherhood Of Man arrived during peak ABBA and sounded a bit naff in comparison, though Angelo was the better song and record when they upped their game. My fave though is their Tony Romeo cover, Oh Boy (The Mood I'm In). The Coomodores, Three Times A Lady is nice enough, Easy is better, Sail On is their best ballad, full-on Soul-Country vibes, and Richie's later ballads are pretty dire. The Smurf Song was a kiddie thing and tolerable for what it was for a while. Welcome Home another one that got on my nerves at the time after it hung around so long, but I find it kinda sweet these days and can happily singalong to it...!
September 16Sep 16 Two massive instrumental hits. I don’t particularly like Amazing Grace, though the Judy Collins version is good.Eye Level is pleasant enough.There’s been some, let’s say, less good songs in places 20-10. Hope the top 10 is better, I do think there’ll be some songs I like there!
September 16Sep 16 'Eye Level' sounds like a throwback to the 50s charts which had quite a few songs with orchestral instrumentation.
September 17Sep 17 I did like Eye Level at the time as a seven year old and retain a fondness for it. I wasn't so keen on the bagpipes of Amazing Grace. Mouldy Old Dough is lovingly eccentric and YMCA still sounds good.
September 17Sep 17 Author 10. MY SWEET LORD- George Harrison (952,500) 197117 weeks on chartPeak position: 1 Harrison’s first single after the break up of the Beatles was a plea for religious freedom, peace and praise of the Hindu god Krishna. He originally handed the track to Billy Preston to record and indeed the song first surfaced on Preston’s 1970 album “Encouraging Words”, Harrison himself was reluctant to record the track himself given its overtly religious theme. He needn’t have worried as the song soared to the top and became the biggest seller of 1971, it was also the first solo Beatle chart topper and made No 1 again in 2002 shortly after Harrison’s death. Famously the song was involved in a massive court case over plagiarism later in the 70’s when it was claimed the track sailed too close to The Chiffons “She’s So Fine”- that ended up with an award of £587,000 in damages being awarded against Harrison with the finer points of the case not resolved until 1993! It set new case law on the laws of copyright.
September 17Sep 17 Author 09. TIE A YELLOW RIBBON ROUND THE OAK TREE- Dawn (966,000) 197340 weeks in the chartPeak position: 1 The best seller of 1973 told the tie of an ex-convict returning to his home to see if his partner still wanted him, that would be displayed by tying the aforementioned round the tree outside their house. The song had it’s route in a story dating back to the US Civil war where woman would wear a yellow ribbon in their hair to denote devotion to their partner who was away fighting, yellow being the branch colour of the cavalry. In any eventuality the sentimental tale proved just the ticket for their second chart topper.
September 17Sep 17 Yellow Ribbon is awful, always hated itMy Sweet Lord is excellent, one of the very best solo Beatles songs, emotional and uplifting, love it!
September 18Sep 18 Also wow at how big My Sweet Lord was at the time 😮 He was the Beatle that was a bit overlooked imo, but he was a great songwriter and singer.
September 18Sep 18 My Sweet Lord is epic, adored it as a kid and still do. I've never seen it listed as a million seller, but surely the re-issue and downloads would have put it over the top, or at least close? I'm not religious but that doesn't take away from the spiritual optimism. Dawn's was a story song, and story songs about prison had always been surprisingly popular up to this point. I still had residual fondness for Dawn from their 1970/71 hits that carried over into this track (which wasnt quite as good) - but it hung around all year in the charts or just outside and is undemanding to sing along to, so that might work for me if I'm ever forced to sing public karaoke, and that sweet final line is a guaranteed "awww" moment 😄(my singing ability, to paraphrase the great Eric Morecambe, is to sing all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order)
September 18Sep 18 'My Sweet Lord' is more like it... wonderful start to the top 10! I can hear the similarity to 'She's So Fine' but that doesn't take away from my enjoyment of it. The accompanying album All Things Must Pass is my favourite solo Beatles project for sure.
September 18Sep 18 Author 08. BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY- Queen (1,014,500)* 197517 weeks on chartPeak position: 1 Welded together from three different tracks and credited with advancing the medium of music promo. Mercury refused over the years to say what the song was about, other than about relationships, its length (just under 6 minutes) caused concern at the label over whether the song would get any airplay or promotion. They got round it by offering DJ Kenny Everett an exclusive if he promised to play it- Everett teased the audience with parts of the track and in the end playing it 14 times in just 2 days. It of course ended up spending 9 weeks at the top over Christmas 1975 (the longest stint at the top in 20 years) and again at Christmas 1991 in the wake of Mercury’s death.
September 18Sep 18 Author 07. I’D LIKE TO TEACH THE WORLD TO SING- New Seekers (1,031,400) 197121 weeks on chartPeak position: 1 Formed from the ashes of the successful 60s group The Seekers, Seekers member Keith Potger formed the New Seekers as a new group for the 70s, Scottish TV gave the group their own TV series on prime time. The show wasn’t huge hit and a line up change plus some flops were soon forgotten when the hits started in 1971 and later that year they recorded a version of a song called “True Love & Apple Pie” which got re-written lyrics for the purpose of use in a US Coca-Cola advert entitled “Buy The World a Coke”. It proved popular spawning two versions of the track by the Hillsiders (who performed the track on the advert) and the New Seekers which both omitted the brand references, The Hillsiders made US#13 but missed here where we took the New Seekers version sending it to No 1.
Create an account or sign in to comment