On another nostalgia trip today, back half a century to the UK singles Top 20 on 27th July 1972. Largely ignoring the first five, that's a pretty great run of singles
1) Puppy Love: Donny Osmond
2) Sylvia’s Mother: Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show
3) Rock And Roll Parts 1 & 2: Gary Glitter
4) Breaking Up Is Hard To Do: The Partridge Family
5) Sea Side Shuffle: Terry Dactyl & The Dinosaurs
6) School’s Out: Alice Cooper
7) I Can See Clearly Now: Johnny Nash
8) Circles: The New Seekers
9) Mad About You: Bruce Ruffin
10) Starman: David Bowie
11) Little Willy: The Sweet
12) Silver Machine: Hawkwind
13) Join Together: The Who
14) Walkin’ In The Rain With The One I Love: Love Unlimited
1) The lead singer, songwriter and accordion player would subsequently always be found in the kitchen at parties, trying to come up with a ubiquitous Christmas hit (which wasn't about Christmas and, incredibly, didn't actually make it to #1 in the UK);
2) One might assume that Roy Dorset and his legal team were listening with interest, given the resemblance to his summer-themed hit with Mungo Jerry a couple of years previously. Surely he sued? Or did we live in a less litigious society back then?
YouTube, as ever, is a treasure trove of clips, especially from Top Of The Pops, so here's a select few. Lady K's just finished for the summer - oh, how I wish I had six weeks off work to do what I like! Sadly, Alice Cooper wasn't blasting from the school PA as the masses ran from the building, whooping and hollering. Surprising, as I thought that this was a legal requirement from 1977 onwards...?
Here's Alice on TOTP in 1972. Health & Safety would never let him wave and throw a sabre around these days.
Johnny Nash next, rocking those studded leathers with what remains my favourite version of this song. The original and never bettered.
You would not believe how hard it is to find a decent clip of Starman that isn't the June 1972 TOTP performance that is used on every David Bowie, 1970s, Glam, classic rock, you-name-it TV show going. I tried, honestly, but I had to admit defeat after a while. So here it is. Bloody great, though.
The next video is dedicated to middle aged man, who reminded me what a truly great band The Sweet are, with an excellent Imaginary Compilation Album over at The Vinyl Villain a couple of months ago. If you haven't heard it, run don't walk over there now, you really need it in your life.
Love Unlimited next. Much is made of Barry White's role but it was nothing without the wonderful vocal performances by the Taylor sisters -Diane, Linda and Glodean. This is music in glorious Technicolour.
How else to finish but with The King? An American Trilogy was a cover version, originally written and recorded by Mickey Newbury in 1971, stitching together Dixie (a folk song), The Battle Hymn Of The Republic (a Civil War marching song used by the Union army) and All My Trials (a popular lullaby from The Bahamas). Elvis Presley recorded it at the start of 1972 and, interestingly, his version was bigger success in the UK (peaking at #8) than the USA (#66). This version is from his Aloho From Hawaii show in January 1973.
As a post-script, at one place below Elvis is Popcorn by Hot Butter, a song that always reminds me of a much-loved TV show which had a similar sounding theme tune. Ah, the days of TV shows presented by wonderfully bonkers professors, nylon and polyester attire, minuscule budgets and little or no special effects, not to mention protracted moments of silence...like this.
That is a great chart - I even have time for the top 5. (Although Gary must be airbrushed from all our memories now.)
I think they were far less litigious back then. Everybody was ripping everybody else off all over the place. That said, it was a couple of years later that George Harrison got sued for My Sweet Lord, so maybe that's what kicked it all off.
I was being a little unfair about the Top 5 although I don't feel a strong urge to seek out Terry Dactyl & The Dinosaurs, if I'm honest.
As for Rock And Roll, I confess to listening to The Undertones' John Peel Session and The Timelords' Doctorin' The Tardis, both of which I picked up on secondhand 12"/vinyl, so no royalties for Glitter.
Thanks for the name check- you can't go wrong with the Sweet ( singles not albums), I would have been eleven in July '72 for this chart rundown and would have been sitting in front of the TV with my sister cheering and booing each song has it came on depending on personal taste , Donny and David Cassidy were everywhere back in '72 and it felt as though there wasn't a girl in the country that didn't swoon over them. Based upon your previous post I thought it would be fun to see what the top 20 looked like in July 1981 which if my maths is correct is when you would have been 11. It is certainly varied with one or two classics especially Ghost Town and obviously the NWOHM was in full bloom juding by the last 2 tracks 1 GREEN DOOR: SHAKIN' STEVENS 2 GHOST TOWN: THE SPECIALS 3 CHANT NO.1 (I DON'T NEED THIS PRESSURE ON): SPANDAU BALLET 4 HAPPY BIRTHDAY: STEVIE WONDER 5 STARS ON 45 (VOLUME 2); STARSOUND 6 CAN CAN: BAD MANNERS 7 HOOKED ON CLASSICS: ROYAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRARCA 8 BODY TALK : IMAGINATION 9 LAY ALL YOUR LOVE ON ME : ABBA 10 DANCING ON THE FLOOR (HOOKED ON LOVE): THIRD WORLD 11 FOR YOUR EYES ONLY: SHEENA EASTON 12 NEW LIFE: DEPECHE MODE 13 SAT IN YOUR LAP: KATE BUSH 14 BACK TO THE SIXTIES : TIGHT FIT 15 WALK RIGHT NOW: THE JACKSONS 16 WORDY RAPPINGHOOD: TOM TOM CLUB 17 YOU MIGHT NEED SOMEBODY: RANDY CRAWFORD 18 NO WOMAN NO CRY {1981} : BOB MARLEY & THE WAILERS 19 MOTORHEAD (LIVE): MOTORHEAD 20 NEVER SURRENDER : SAXON
Wow, middle aged man, that's above and beyond the call of duty, thank you! In fact, I remember this period very well. I was a December baby so I was 10 in July 1981 and used to walk to primary school with my friends Peggy and Luke. I must have said at some point that I thought Green Door by Shakin' Stevens was rubbish and from there on, on each walk to school, they would try to get me to admit that really, I liked it. I think this went on most mornings and (shudder) Shaky was at #1 for what seemed like an eternity. I'm glad to say that I didn't break and, forty years on, I still think it's shit.
I'd forgotten how obsessed the late 70s/early 80s were with soundalike medleys, Starsound, Hooked On... and bloody Tight Fit. It was The Specials, Depeche Mode, Kate Bush and Tom Tom Club for me. I will confess to loving Imagination too but I may not have admitted this in the school playground to my Harrington jacket & DM-wearing friends.
You are sending me down a memory lane wormhole, back in September 1981 I went to a two day festival called ' Daze of Future' in Leeds which was a later version of 'futurama', on the bill were The Cramps, most in the audience including myself were not very familiar with their set, but the band were shocked when their version of Green Door' received the biggest reception and their only mass singalong, clearly the band were not aware that only a couple of months earlier 'Shakin'' had made it to number one, and although I would bet no one in the audience bought the single, everyone knew all the the words
Brilliant! In fairness, The Cramps got in first with Green Door and it is much, much better than Shakin' Bloody Stevens. In my dream world, it was The Cramps that spent 4 weeks at #1.
I was in the midst of producing something very similar myself - a 50 year retrospective kind of thing but you've beaten me to it. A fine bunch of songs and three of the top ten I've written about at my place already. Feel disloyal about Donny now as I've never admitted to being a fan before, but I was, with bells on. In my defence I was only 12, his key demographic.
Found out that Circles by the New Seekers was written by 'Cats In The Cradle' Harry Chapin. Makes sense. For some reason it was only Marty Christian that ended up on bedroom walls (along with Donny) - a quirk of genetics that he ended up with the most beautiful face of the three guys in the band.
I always wonder what came first for Terry/Jona - the Dactyl part or the Dinosaurs? A chicken and egg kind of thing. Great post for me - lots of nostalgia. Thanks.
Oh, sorry, Alyson though I think that your similarly-themed post would be a treat to read. I enjoy your blog very much and I really need to comment more: I usually find myself so absorbed in the writing, the enjoyable comments from others and the rabbit holes of music and video links that I run out of online time to add anything myself...! I will rectify that.
Your comment about The New Seekers reminded how many 'New' bands there were in the early 70s and that as a kid I didn't find that at all odd. I never had the urge to look up the 'Old\ version of The Seekers...or Pickettywitch, for that matter. Of course, I can't think of this without being reminded of the hilarious reference to The New Originals in This Is Spinal Tap.
No need to apologise - I ran out of time anyway. As it turns out I've actually written about 7 of the songs in that chart anyway, as from a time when I was immersed in all things chart-related. I've loved rediscovering music from the 60s since I started my blog and The Seekers were one of those groups (they weren't called bands back then were they - even the Beatles) - none of the original members ended up in the classic New Seeker line-up though.
That's why I love music blogs, posts and comments so often open up a door into another room that I've previously passed by or not noticed. I've discovered so much 'new' music from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s (and arguably, before and after) that I've enjoyed reading about and listening to. Time to give the original Seekers a listen, methinks. Thanks, Alyson!
That is a great chart - I even have time for the top 5. (Although Gary must be airbrushed from all our memories now.)
ReplyDeleteI think they were far less litigious back then. Everybody was ripping everybody else off all over the place. That said, it was a couple of years later that George Harrison got sued for My Sweet Lord, so maybe that's what kicked it all off.
I was being a little unfair about the Top 5 although I don't feel a strong urge to seek out Terry Dactyl & The Dinosaurs, if I'm honest.
DeleteAs for Rock And Roll, I confess to listening to The Undertones' John Peel Session and The Timelords' Doctorin' The Tardis, both of which I picked up on secondhand 12"/vinyl, so no royalties for Glitter.
Thanks for the name check- you can't go wrong with the Sweet ( singles not albums), I would have been eleven in July '72 for this chart rundown and would have been sitting in front of the TV with my sister cheering and booing each song has it came on depending on personal taste , Donny and David Cassidy were everywhere back in '72 and it felt as though there wasn't a girl in the country that didn't swoon over them. Based upon your previous post I thought it would be fun to see what the top 20 looked like in July 1981 which if my maths is correct is when you would have been 11. It is certainly varied with one or two classics especially Ghost Town and obviously the NWOHM was in full bloom juding by the last 2 tracks
ReplyDelete1 GREEN DOOR: SHAKIN' STEVENS
2 GHOST TOWN: THE SPECIALS
3 CHANT NO.1 (I DON'T NEED THIS PRESSURE ON): SPANDAU BALLET
4 HAPPY BIRTHDAY: STEVIE WONDER
5 STARS ON 45 (VOLUME 2); STARSOUND
6 CAN CAN: BAD MANNERS
7 HOOKED ON CLASSICS: ROYAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRARCA
8 BODY TALK : IMAGINATION
9 LAY ALL YOUR LOVE ON ME : ABBA
10 DANCING ON THE FLOOR (HOOKED ON LOVE): THIRD WORLD
11 FOR YOUR EYES ONLY: SHEENA EASTON
12 NEW LIFE: DEPECHE MODE
13 SAT IN YOUR LAP: KATE BUSH
14 BACK TO THE SIXTIES : TIGHT FIT
15 WALK RIGHT NOW: THE JACKSONS
16 WORDY RAPPINGHOOD: TOM TOM CLUB
17 YOU MIGHT NEED SOMEBODY: RANDY CRAWFORD
18 NO WOMAN NO CRY {1981} : BOB MARLEY & THE WAILERS
19 MOTORHEAD (LIVE): MOTORHEAD
20 NEVER SURRENDER : SAXON
Wow, middle aged man, that's above and beyond the call of duty, thank you! In fact, I remember this period very well. I was a December baby so I was 10 in July 1981 and used to walk to primary school with my friends Peggy and Luke. I must have said at some point that I thought Green Door by Shakin' Stevens was rubbish and from there on, on each walk to school, they would try to get me to admit that really, I liked it. I think this went on most mornings and (shudder) Shaky was at #1 for what seemed like an eternity. I'm glad to say that I didn't break and, forty years on, I still think it's shit.
DeleteI'd forgotten how obsessed the late 70s/early 80s were with soundalike medleys, Starsound, Hooked On... and bloody Tight Fit. It was The Specials, Depeche Mode, Kate Bush and Tom Tom Club for me. I will confess to loving Imagination too but I may not have admitted this in the school playground to my Harrington jacket & DM-wearing friends.
You are sending me down a memory lane wormhole, back in September 1981 I went to a two day festival called ' Daze of Future' in Leeds which was a later version of 'futurama', on the bill were The Cramps, most in the audience including myself were not very familiar with their set, but the band were shocked when their version of Green Door' received the biggest reception and their only mass singalong, clearly the band were not aware that only a couple of months earlier 'Shakin'' had made it to number one, and although I would bet no one in the audience bought the single, everyone knew all the the words
DeleteBrilliant! In fairness, The Cramps got in first with Green Door and it is much, much better than Shakin' Bloody Stevens. In my dream world, it was The Cramps that spent 4 weeks at #1.
DeleteI was in the midst of producing something very similar myself - a 50 year retrospective kind of thing but you've beaten me to it. A fine bunch of songs and three of the top ten I've written about at my place already. Feel disloyal about Donny now as I've never admitted to being a fan before, but I was, with bells on. In my defence I was only 12, his key demographic.
ReplyDeleteFound out that Circles by the New Seekers was written by 'Cats In The Cradle' Harry Chapin. Makes sense. For some reason it was only Marty Christian that ended up on bedroom walls (along with Donny) - a quirk of genetics that he ended up with the most beautiful face of the three guys in the band.
I always wonder what came first for Terry/Jona - the Dactyl part or the Dinosaurs? A chicken and egg kind of thing. Great post for me - lots of nostalgia. Thanks.
Oh, sorry, Alyson though I think that your similarly-themed post would be a treat to read. I enjoy your blog very much and I really need to comment more: I usually find myself so absorbed in the writing, the enjoyable comments from others and the rabbit holes of music and video links that I run out of online time to add anything myself...! I will rectify that.
DeleteYour comment about The New Seekers reminded how many 'New' bands there were in the early 70s and that as a kid I didn't find that at all odd. I never had the urge to look up the 'Old\ version of The Seekers...or Pickettywitch, for that matter. Of course, I can't think of this without being reminded of the hilarious reference to The New Originals in This Is Spinal Tap.
No need to apologise - I ran out of time anyway. As it turns out I've actually written about 7 of the songs in that chart anyway, as from a time when I was immersed in all things chart-related. I've loved rediscovering music from the 60s since I started my blog and The Seekers were one of those groups (they weren't called bands back then were they - even the Beatles) - none of the original members ended up in the classic New Seeker line-up though.
DeleteThat's why I love music blogs, posts and comments so often open up a door into another room that I've previously passed by or not noticed. I've discovered so much 'new' music from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s (and arguably, before and after) that I've enjoyed reading about and listening to. Time to give the original Seekers a listen, methinks. Thanks, Alyson!
Delete