Music

455. The Detroit Spinners – Working My Way Back to You (1980)

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The Intro

After the state-of-the-nation address of Going Underground by The Jam, we’re back onto more familiar fare at the top of the hit parade. 26 years after their formation, soul group The Detroit Spinners were at number 1 with their cover of a Four Seasons hit from 1966.

Before

R’n’B outfit The Detroit Spinners, so-called in the UK to avoid confusion with the folk group The Spinners, were formed in the suburb of Ferndale, Michigan in 1954. Back then, the quintet, known as The Domingoes, consisted of tenor/baritone Billy Henderson, baritone Henry Fambrough, bass Pervis Jackson, lead tenor CP Spencer and co-lead tenor James Edwards. All five were friends who lived in Detroit’s Herman Gardens public housing project.

There quickly followed a number of line-up changes, as Edwards left after a few weeks to be replaced by Bobby Smith. Soon after, Spencer departed and George Dixon filled the gap. They renamed themselves The Spinners in 1961, which is when they released their debut single, That’s What Girls Are Made For on Harvey Fuqua’s Tri-Phi Records. It performed respectably for a first shot at the charts, reaching 27 on the Billboard Hot 100. Some sources suggest it was Fuqua on lead vocal.

Change was afoot in 1963, when Dixon was replaced by Edwards’ brother, James – known as Chico. Tri-Phi was then bought out by Fuqua’s brother-in-law, Berry Gordy, and The Spinners joined Motown Records, where they became billed as The Detroit Spinners here in the UK. I’ll Always Love You reached 35 in the US in 1965, but they were struggling, releasing one single per year for the rest of the 60s, while Gordy used the group as road managers and even chauffeurs for other, more successful Motown acts. GC Cameron joined The Detroit Spinners when Chico left in 1967.

After spending most of the last decade in the doldrums, Stevie Wonder, Syreeta Wright and Lee Garrett saved The Detroit Spinners with the classic It’s a Shame. Returning them to the Hot 100, where it peaked at 14, it was also their first UK hit, climbing to 20.

Finally, The Detroit Spinners were succeeding at Motown, but their contract was coming to a close. Aretha Franklin told them to sign with Atlantic, but Wonder was producing an LP for them as their contract winded up. It was never released, as The Detroit Spinners jumped ship. Due to contractual obligations, Cameron remained with Motown, and yet another line-up change occurred as he persuaded his cousin, Phillipé Wynne, to sign up in his place.

Franklin’s advice was spot on. Teamed up with Philly soul songwriter/producer Thom Bell, The Spinners became one of the biggest soul groups of the decade. In 1972 they reached 11 in the UK with Could It Be I’m Falling in Love? and a year later Ghetto Child peaked at seven. In 1974 Dionne Warwick joined them on Then Came You, which finished up at 29.

With fame came ego clashes. Wynne believed his lead vocals were why the group were now doing well, and wanted to change the name to Phillipé Wynne and the Spinners. The others refused, and so The Rubberband Man was their last hit with Wynne on board, who went solo and then teamed up with George Clinton. You can hear him on the Funkadelic classic (Not Just) Knee Deep. John Edwards filled his spot in The Detroit Spinners.

Following two years of dwindling chart positions, The Detroit Spinners and Bell parted ways, and they set their sights on a disco sound, with help from Michael Zager, who’s Michael Zager Band had a hit in 1978 with Let’s All Chant. Coming several years after the genre had been considered new and exciting, this might have seemed desperate and out of touch. But not for long, because in 1980, their cover of Working My Way Back to You (written by Sandy Linzer and Denny Randell) was combined with a new bridge by Zager. In some countries this hit single was billed as Working My Way Back to You/Forgive Me, Girl (medley).

Working My Way Back to You details a serial cheater’s attempt to get back with his girl after too much time having his cake and eating it. In 1966 and 1980, this character might have gained more sympathy than he’ll get from listening in 2023. Particularly the cheater’s confession that he used to get off on making his ex cry.

Review

The Detroit Spinners’ UK number 1 is an average dose of dated disco. The tune is an earworm, working its way into your head and staying there a fair while, but not in a very welcome way. The disco element seems tacked on in an attempt to update their sound. It’s no Rock Your Baby, where it’s at the heart of the song. The bass vocal line from Jackson is laughably old-fashioned. ‘Work’ is the operative word here, as workmanlike sums up this single. In a year of great chart-toppers, this is… well, it’s OK. It’ll do.

After

The next single by The Detroit Spinners nearly gained them two chart-toppers in a row, when Cupid/I’ve Loved You for a Long Time (medley) peaked at four. But from there it was downhill all the way, with no further charting singles here or in the US top 40s. Wynne died of a heart attack in 1984 aged 43, the same year that the group and Atlantic parted ways. Three years later the group released Spaceballs on the Mel Brooks’ film soundtrack of the same name.

The Detroit Spinners became regulars on the nostalgia circuit, and old age took its toll. Dixon died in 1994. Edwards left after a stroke in 2000, and Cameron rejoined as lead vocalist for a while, but jumped ship to The Temptations in 2003.

In 2003 The Detroit Spinners sort-of returned to the top of the charts, thanks to an old collaboration with Elton John. In 1977 the group recorded backing vocals for two versions of John’s Are You Ready for Love – one featuring them all, the other, just Wynne. The latter version was released as a single in 1979 but it bombed. 24 years later the track was remixed by Ashley Beedle and thanks in part to its use on a Sky Sports advert, it gave John his sixth number 1. It’s functional, pleasant enough 70s soul, so good enough to stand out in the charts of 03.

Further line-up changes ensued, and Henderson was dismissed in 2004 over a legal battle. That same year Spencer died of a heart attack at the age of 66. Henderson died from diabetes three years later, aged 67. Jackson, who was still touring with the group, died at the age of 70 from cancer in 2008. Smith died of complications from pneumonia and flu in 2013, aged 76.

In 2021 The Detroit Spinners released a brand new album – Round the Block and Back Again. Two years later, Fambrough, the sole surviving member from 1954, retired. The classic line-up, consisting of Fambrough, Smith, Jackson, Henderson, Edwards and Wynne, were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The Spinners name continues, albeit without anyone from before 2009.

The Outro

Working My Way Back to You became Boyzone’s debut single in 1994. I could only manage about a minute of it, because it sounds exactly as you’d expect it to.

The Info

Written by

Sandy Linzer & Denny Randell

Producer

Michael Zager

Weeks at number 1

2 (12-25 April)

Trivia

Births

15 April: Actress Natalie Casey
25 April: Snooker player Lee Spick

Deaths

13 April: Physician Sir Arthur Massey
15 April: Actress Catherine Salkeld
16 April: Plant pathologist Lawrence Ogilvie 
17 April: Physicist John Saxton
19 April: Actor Tony Beckley
20 April: Diplomat Sir Stephen Holmes
23 April: Businessman Sir John Methven/Politician David Cleghorn Thomson

Meanwhile…

18 April: Zimbabwe becomes independent of the UK.

22 April: Unemployment is at 1.5million – a two-year high.

454. The Jam – Going Underground/The Dreams of Children (1980)

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The Intro

The Specials weren’t the only group successfully reviving a 60s musical movement as the 80s began. Mod power trio The Jam had been around several years before achieving this first of four number 1s. And yet, had it not been for an error at the pressing plant, Going Underground/The Dreams of Children might not have shot to the top spot.

Before

The Jam go back a fair few years than many realise, as singer and bassist Paul Weller began the band aged 14 in 1972, while still at Sheerwater Secondary School in Woking, Surrey. He was joined by Steve Brookes on lead guitar and vocals, Dave Waller on rhythm guitar and Rick Buckler on drums. But this was before the frontman discovered Mod, so The Jam’s setlist mostly consisted of early US rock’n’roll covers. Waller left in 1973 and was replaced by Bruce Foxton.

When Weller heard The Who’s debut album, My Generation, everything changed. He fell totally in love with becoming a Mod. He bought a Lambretta, made the band dress in sharp suits and they started covering Motown, Atlantic and Stax soul music.

In 1975, Brookes also left. Although The Jam advertised for a new lead guitarist (and among those auditioning was apparently a young Gary Numan), Weller decided to ape The Who’s line-up. He persuaded Foxton to switch to bass and he took over full guitar duties.

In 1975, rock music was often moribund. Punk had yet to arrive, so The Jam stood out on the London scene, capturing the imagination and perhaps reminding older gig-goers of happier times. When punk did appear, Weller, Foxton and Buckler were even more distinct – their smart appearance was totally different to the ripped, scruffy clothes of the Sex Pistols and co, and they were in thrall to the 60s. But like the Sex Pistols, The Jam were angry, energetic and distinctive.

They were signed to Polydor in 1977, and that April released their debut single In the City, which peaked at 40. But they struck a chord and their album with the same name was a number 20 hit. When second single All Around the World climbed to 13, Polydor asked for more material ASAP. They completed another LP that year, This Is the Modern World, but the (almost) title track Modern World only reached 36.

In 1978 News of the World (that’s right, three singles in row with ‘world’ in the name) fared better when it peaked at 27. This was the only single to be written and sung by Foxton, and later became the theme tune to BBC Two’s Mock the Week. A third LP was quickly planned, but Weller was struggling for inspiration and their producers dismissed Foxton’s material as poor. Weller became the principle songwriter from here on in.

The influence of The Kinks on The Jam, if it wasn’t already noticeable, certainly was when they released a soundalike cover of David Watts as a double-A-side with ‘A’ Bomb in Wardour Street. These first fruits of their third album All Mod Cons climbed to 25. The next single, Down in the Tube Station at Midnight, is highly regarded as a return to form both critically and commercially, and shot to 15. It also placed a large question mark over The Jam’s early reputation as Conservative poster boys. Where previously they sang about the decline of the British Empire and disparagingly about ‘Uncle Jimmy’ Callaghan, now Weller was talking about being mugged by thugs who had been to ‘too many right wing meetings’.

In 1979 two non-album singles, Strange Town and When You’re Young, peaked at 15 and 17 respectively. Then came the first song from the next LP, Setting Sons. The Eton Rifles was rightfully their biggest yet, soaring all the way to three. In 2008, future Conservative Prime Minister, the Etonian David Cameron, called himself a fan of the song back in the day, causing a furious Weller to state ‘it wasn’t a fucking jolly drinking song for the cadet corps’.

The Dreams of Children, recorded during the Setting Sons sessions but not on the LP, was to be their first single of the new decade. It wasn’t on the album, but considering the LP was originally a concept album about three childhood friends, perhaps it was intended to feature originally. It saw the trio broadening their sonic palette with producer Vic Coppersmith-Heaven, while the intended B-side was an angry tirade at the people in power.

However, there was a mix-up at the pressing plant, and this single became a double A-side. Because of this, radio DJs mostly preferred to spin the snappier, catchier, more immediate fare intended for side B.

Reviews

It seems obvious in retrospect that Going Underground deserved to be the A-side. And what a number 1 as the Thatcher era was just getting started. In just a few minutes, Weller succinctly wipes away any doubt of whose side he’s on. And he does it with no small measure of belligerence and fire in his belly. Over jagged guitar strikes, this reads like the manifesto of a man who is so sickened with the state of his country and its politics, he’s retreating from modern life. The only negative to this song is how it resonates even more now than it did in 1980, particularly ‘Some people might get some pleasure out of hate.’

The beauty of Going Underground is how The Jam make such a bleak message so uplifting. We shouldn’t be celebrating the need to opt out of society, but doesn’t it sound so good? And there is a small glint of hope as the song ends ‘Well, let the boys all sing and let the boys all shout for tomorrow’. Not that there’s much hope in 2023 – the other side aren’t offering much to get excited about as another election looms.

There have already been some classic number 1s in the first quarter of 1980. This is the best of the bunch, ahead even of Atomic.

The fact there’s a video for Going Underground is puzzling. If this was always intended as a B-side, why is there one at all? However, the fact both mostly feature the band performing in front of a white background wearing very similar clothes suggests it could have been filmed in the same session. The Going Underground film is one of the most enduring images of the young, angry Weller, resplendent in a scarf, interspersed with images of Uncle Sam, atomic explosions and photos of Conservative Prime Ministers (plus, interestingly, Labour’s Harold Wilson), pushed to one side.

The Dreams of Children is a decent track too, but I doubt it would have become their first chart-topper on its own. Opening with backmasking from Setting Sons track Thick as Thieves, it’s an early sign of Weller’s love of psychedelic rock, and the lyric is akin to songs from that era about loss of innocence, like Pink Floyd’s Remember a Day.

Like Going Underground, The Dreams of Children paints a bleak picture – bleaker in fact. And very true, because Weller explains how he had a glimpse of optimism in his dreams, before waking up ‘sweating from this modern nightmare’. The closing refrain of ‘You will choke on your dreams tonight’ paints a very bleak picture. Interesting stuff, with some nice bass playing from Foxton.

The video is less simple than Going Underground, cutting between the band playing outdoors, hanging out near somewhere derelict and performing once more against a simple white background but with added camera and lighting equipment.

After

The Jam were touring the US to small crowds when they heard Going Underground/The Dreams of Children had made it to number 1. They immediately returned home and prepared for a triumphant Top of the Pops appearance.

The Outro

A version of Going Underground by US rock band Buffalo Tom climbed to number six in 1999, as a double A-side with a version of Carnation by Liam Gallagher and Steve Cradock.

The Info

Written by

Paul Weller

Producer

Vic Coppersmith-Heaven

Weeks at number 1

3 (22 March-11 April)

Trivia

Births

23 March: Comedian Russell Howard
24 March: Sports presenter Amanda Davies
28 March: Labour MP Angela Rayner
3 April: Fascist Conservative MP Suella Braverman
8 April: Actor Ben Freeman/Scottish field hockey midfielder Cheryl Valentine

Deaths

22 March: Historian Evelyn Procter
23 March: Journalist SW Alexander/Royal Navy admiral Sir Henry McCall/Labour MP Charles Pannell, Baron Pannell/Red Cross aid worker Joan Whittington/Racehorse trainer Norah Wilmot
24 March: Actor John Barrie
26 March: Army major-general Basil Coad/Botanist Lily Newton
30 March: Labour MP Francis Douglas, 1st Baron Douglas of Barloch/Trade union leader Jim Hammond
22 March: Historian Evelyn Procter
23 March: Journalist SW Alexander/Royal Navy admiral Sir Henry McCall/Labour MP Charles Pannell, Baron Pannell/Red Cross aid worker Joan Whittington/Racehorse trainer Norah Wilmot – Evelyn Procter, historian (born 1897)
24 March: Actor John Barrie
26 March: Botanist Lily Newton
30 March: Labour MP Francis Douglas, 1st Baron Douglas of Barloch/Trade union leader Jim Hammond
31 March: Actor John Nightingale
1 April: Actress Cicely Courtneidge/Director Alfred Hitchcock/Actress Joyce Heron
2 April: Long distance runner George Wallach
3 April: Geophysicist Sir Edward Bullard/Actress Isla Cameron/Army major-general Sir Alexander Douglas Campbell/Chemist Ulick Richardson Evans
5 April: Scottish composer Hector MacAndrew
6 April: Film director Antony Balch/Writer John Collier/Philosopher Sir Thomas Malcolm Knox
8 April: Horticulturalist Beatrix Havergal
10 April: Writer Antonia White
11 April: Legal historian Norman Hargreaves-Mawdsley/Actor Nicholas Phipps

Meanwhile…

25 March: The British Olympic Association votes to send athletes to the Olympic Games in Moscow, USSR, in the summer, in defiance of the government’s boycott.
Also on this day, Robert Runcie becomes the Archbishop of Canterbury.

26 March: On Budget Day, Chancellor Geoffrey Howe announces raises in tax allowances and duties on petrol, alcohol and tobacco.

31 March: British Leyland agrees to sell its MG factory in Abingdon to Aston Martin-Lagonda in the autumn.

1 April: The steelworkers’ strike is called off, and Britain’s first official naturist beach is opened in Brighton.

2 April: 130 people were arrested after rioting in St Pauls, Bristol.

3 April: The Assisted Places Scheme introduces free or subsidised places for children at fee-paying independent schools, based on examination performances. It also gives parents more powers on governing bodies and admisssions, and removes the obligation for local education authorities to provide school meals and milk. Thatcher, Thatcher, milk snatcher.

4 April: Alton Towers Resort was opened as a theme park.

10 April: The UK and Spain come to an agreement, and the latter reopens its border with Gibraltar.

It’s Chrisssssssstmas!

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There’s only a couple of weeks left to buy a chunky stocking filler or two for fans of 50s and 60s music, nostalgia, social history and pop culture.

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Every UK Number 1: The 50s is also available the same way, with prices from £3.99 to £10.

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453. Fern Kinney – Together We Are Beautiful (1980)

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The Intro

Disco may have been starting to wane by 1980 but there were still plenty of hits for the genre, including this one, by former session singer Fern Kinney. Despite failing to chart in her home country, it’s one of the more obscure UK number 1s of 1980 – a year packed with legendary chart-toppers.

Before

Fern Kinney-Lewis was born in Jackson, Mississippi on 11 July 1949. In 1966 she became a member of girl group The Poppies, who split only a year later after little success. She recorded a solo single in 1968, but Your Love Is Not Reliable also failed to chart.

Kinney moved into session singing, performing backing vocals on King Floyd’s 1970 hit Groove Me. Six years later she did the same for Dorothy Moore – former bandmate in The Poppies – on her hit Misty Blue, which peaked at five in the UK. She eventually left the music business and decided to concentrate on being a housewife.

However, in 1979 she decided to try her luck with a comeback. She recorded her own version of Groove Me, and it was a runaway success in the US, reaching six on the Billboard dance chart.

Together We Are Beautiful was originally recorded as a sweet, tender piano ballad by its songwriter, Ken Leray. The original is better than the next version, released in 1979 by Steve Allan, which lays on some thick syrupy strings. Lyrically it’s an odd beast, as it’s sung from the point of view of a man celebrating both he and his partner have had more attractive lovers before, but never mind because together, they are beautiful! Wonder if his partner agrees with this sentiment?

Review

Kinney’s version, in which she purrs over a slinky light disco groove, is easily the best of the three versions. She swaps the roles around but the conceit remains, so it’s still a weird one to enjoy. But it’s nice in a very early 80s way. Still, it’s understandable that this isn’t up there with some of the other chart-toppers of 1980.

After

Finally striking lucky, in the UK at least, Kinney continued to strut down the disco route, but couldn’t even claim a chart position with singles such as Let the Good Times Roll (1981) and Beautiful Love Song (1983). After the release of the latter, she returned to a career as a backing vocalist, and has disappeared into obscurity.

The Outro

Kinney’s version of Together We Are Beautiful has appeared in several adverts over the years, including Physio Sport in 1999 and EDF Energy in 2013.

The Info

Written by

Ken Leray

Producers

Carson Whitsett, Wolf Stephenson & Tommy Couch

Weeks at number 1

1 (15-21 March)

Trivia

Births

21 March: Northern Irish motorcycle race doctor John Hinds

Deaths

15 March: Chess player Gerald Abrahams/Businessman Sir Cyril Harrison
17 March: Journalist Cyril Hamnett, Baron Hamnett/Novelist PM Hubbard
18 March: Paralympic Games pioneer Ludwig Guttmann
19 March: Conservative MP Charles Wood, 2nd Earl of Halifax/Physicist Reginald Smith-Rose
20 March: Historian Alun Davies

452. Blondie – Atomic (1980)

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The Intro

Blondie were one of the best bands around in the late-70s and rightfully continued to storm the charts in the early 80s. Their last number 1, Sunday Girl, was a nice tune, but they were at their best when they combined disco and rock. Atomic does this extremely well.

Before

Blondie’s third album, Parallel Lines had been a huge success, despite some critics referring to them as sell-outs for supposedly jumping on the disco bandwagon with Heart of Glass. Which is nonsense, as the band had dabbled in disco from its early days.

However, tensions were high. Drug use was increasing among the six-piece, and there was understandable jealousy over the fact Blondie were fast becoming known as ‘Debbie Harry and some men’. There was no wonder of course – Harry was the singer, and an incredibly cool and beautiful one at that, so the spotlight was always on her. And Harry used this momentum to increasingly decide on future material, which coincided with the making of their fourth album, Eat to the Beat. Their new wave stylings were on the way out in favour of a more pop-oriented approach.

The first fruits of Eat to the Beat to be released – opening track Dreaming – peaked at two. When the follow-up, Union City Blue, stalled at 13, Blondie must have been worried their fortunes were waning. Fortunately they had Atomic up their sleeves, which after two singles of plaintive melancholy, was a return to a more fiery sound.

Atomic came from Harry and keyboardist Jimmy Destri, who was trying to find a sound akin to Heart of Glass. From there the track was transformed by the twangy guitar sound, which simultaneously gave the tune a Spaghetti Western and surf sound. Harry has described that her songwriting approach with Blondie would often involve working out the lyrics while the rest of the band were rehearsing. She would scat ideas, often as placeholders. She came up with ‘Ooooh, your hair is beautiful’ first. The song transformed into an erotically charged pop-rock anthem. The song title most likely came from Harry trying to find a word that matched the guitar hook. It was perfect. Although some think the title has no fixed meaning, to me, it’s describing the potentially explosive level of attraction she’s feeling for the person she’s singing about.

Review

Coward of the County spoiled a very impressive run of number 1 singles but Atomic puts us firmly back on track. What a single. It doesn’t matter that the lyrics are somewhat basic because they fit the mood and get the message across perfectly. It’s a night out, and a girl wants a man to ‘make it magnificent’. The tense, edgy sound here is a million miles away from the sedate bounce of Rogers’ song. It’s Blondie at their best, and is expertly produced by Mike Chapman, as you’d expect from such a prolific pop and rock hitmaker. For me, although Heart of Glass edges it as their best chart-topper, Atomic does a better job of combining disco, rock and pop naturally. However, the album mix, with its intro based on Three Blind Mice, features a bass guitar solo, which makes the disco element more obvious. This is the essential version and is nearly a minute longer than the single edit.

It’s worth nothing that singing backing vocals is Ellie Greenwich. The singer, songwriter and producer wrote or co-wrote some of the most famous pop music of the 60s, including Da Doo Ron Ron, River Deep – Mountain High and Do Wah Diddy Diddy, number 1 for Manfred Mann in 1968.

Eat to the Beat was the first full LP to have a video made for every song, by director David Mallet. The video for Atomic has a very literal premise but is a charming product of its time. The band are seen performing in a post-apocalyptic nightclub as the crowd do some freaky dancing. Harry is one of the only people in the world who could manage to look cool while dancing badly in a binbag. The video also features Gia Carangi – considered the world’s first supermodel. You can see similarities in Mallet’s video for Ashes to Ashes later in the year, as both feature solarising effects. Strangely, the version of the song in the full video is the album version, minus the intro.

After

Released in February, Atomic quickly rocketed up the charts to number 1 on 1 March. It was followed only two months later by Call Me, which had already been a US chart-topper and soon repeated the feat here.

The Outro

Atomic is a song that stands outside of time, sounding as hip now as it did 43 years ago. Attempts to update it only end up sounding more dated. In 1994 the ‘Diddy’s Edit’ (not P Diddy) gave the song a backing ideal for clubbing in the 90s, but it’s not aged well. It performed respectably though, reaching 19. To mark the 40th anniversary of Blondie, the band re-recorded Atomic for Greatest Hits Deluxe Redux. It’s better than the 1994 remix but only because it’s so similar to the original – the only real difference is the understandably inferior new vocal performance from Harry.

The Info

Written by

Debbie Harry & Jimmy Destri

Producer

Mike Chapman

Number of weeks

2 (1-14 March)

Trivia

Births

2 March: Footballer Chris Barker 
13 March: Scottish field hockey player Linda Clement

Deaths

1 March: Footballer Dixie Dean/Motorcycle racer Eric Oliver
3 March: Socialite Sir Michael Duff, 3rd Baronet
4 March: Football manager Alan Hardaker
5 March: Historian Jack Gallagher/John Raven/John Skeaping
6 March: Conservative MP Harry Becker/Philanthropist Noel Croucher/Cricket journalist Norman Preston/Physician EA Underwood
7 March: Yacht designer John Illingworth
14 March: Chemical engineer Dudley Maurice Newitt/Artist Vere Temple

Meanwhile…

10 March: An opinion poll in the Evening Standard suggests six out of 10 Britons are unhappy with the Conservative government, who are trailing Labour in the opinion polls. 

451. Kenny Rogers – Coward of the County (1980)

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The Intro

Three years after his first chart-topper, Lucille, country superstar Kenny Rogers returned to the summit of the hit parade with this tale about a pacifist that is pushed too far.

Before

Lucille was quickly followed up with a new album, Daytime Friends, but its singles couldn’t get near the crossover success of the popular single. The title track only just scraped into the top 40 at 39. Even The Gambler, one of his best-known tracks, only made it to 22 in 1978.

Coward of the County was written by Roger Bowling (who co-wrote Lucille) and Billy Edd Wheeler and was the second single from Rogers’ 1979 LP Kenny. Rogers tells the story of his fictional nephew Tommy, who has a reputation for being a coward. But he has his reasons. When he was 10, his father died in prison. On his last visit there, Tommy’s father told him not to repeat his mistakes, that turning the other cheek is not a sign of weakness, and being a fighter doesn’t make you a man. Not often you get a man’s dying words as a chorus, but then, this is country music.

The narration fast forwards 20 years to Tommy as an adult with a girlfriend called Becky. While Tommy is at work one day, Becky is sexually assaulted by three brothers – the Gatlins. When he finds her crying, Tommy has to decide whether to heed the words of his father and risk being called ‘Yellow’ for the rest of his life, or avenging Becky. He chooses the latter and issues some southern justice after meeting the Gatlin boys in a bar. Tommy is coward of the county no longer.

Review

Much like Lucille, Coward of the County is a gripping story for a number 1 song. So it’s a shame that, also like that single, the actual tune is so mediocre, I stop listening and look forward to it ending. If anything it’s of lower standard than his first number 1, the edge of the lyrics obscured by tedious strumming. But as longtime readers will know, country is usually a turn-off for me anyway. First poor number 1 of the 80s.

After

There was some controversy over the name of the villains after the song’s release. The Gatlin Brothers are a real-life country trio, and were understandably unhappy at the reference. Rogers and Wheeler denied it was deliberate, but Bowling had an argument with Larry Gatlin at the 1977 CMA awards, when Lucille won song of the year. Sounds like a very deliberate reference to me.

Rogers went on to release a duet with Kim Carnes in 1980, who was a year away from her own hit, Bette Davis Eyes. Then, he had a number 12 hit with Lady, written by Lionel Richie. In 1983 Rogers returned the favour by singing backing vocals on his single My Love. That year he also had two hit duets – the first, with Sheena Easton – We’ve Got Tonight – reached 28 in the UK.

More successful and memorable was the much-loved Islands in the Stream, with Dolly Parton, which came from his album Eyes That See in the Dark, written and produced by Bee Gee Barry Gibb. Although it became number 1 in the US, it peaked at seven on these shores. Gibb originally co-wrote this song with brothers Maurice and Robin for Marvin Gaye. 26 years later, as (Barry) Islands in the Stream, this Comic Relief version performed by Ruth Jones, Rob Brydon, Tom Jones and Robin Gibb became number 1. In 1985 Rogers sort of achieved his third UK number 1, by joining fellow US musicians under the umbrella name US for Africa on We Are the World.

Rogers’ UK hits dried up, but he continued to have singles success in the US, and also branched out into acting, starring in a series based on The Gambler and a TV movie called Coward of the County. He also reunited with his friend Parton several times – on the 1984 festive album Once Upon a Christmas, 1985 single Real Love and the 2013 song You Can’t Make Old Friends.

In 2015, Rogers announced his farewell tour – ‘The Gambler’s Last Deal’. His final performance, an all-star concert featuring Parton, Richie, the Flaming Lips and more, took place in Nashville, Tennessee in 2017.

The Outro

Rogers had wound his career down early due to a bladder cancer diagnosis in 2017, but the country legend passed away of natural causes on 20 March 2020, aged 81.

The Info

Written by

Roger Bowling & Billy Edd Wheeler

Producer

Larry Butler

Weeks at number 1

2 (16-29 February)

Trivia

Births

22 February: Footballer Martin Garratt

Deaths

16 February: First World War pilot Geoffrey Hornblower Cock/Mathematician Edward Copson/Athlete Percy Legard/Biologist Arthur Loveridge
17 February: Artist Graham Sutherland
18 February: Opera singer Muriel Brunskill
19 February: First World War pilot Bruce Digby-Worsley
21 February: Mycologist Kathleen Simpson
24 February: Engineer Paul Wilson, Baron Wilson of High Wray
25 February: Manchester United chairman Louis Edwards (see ‘Meanwhile…‘)/Welsh poet Caradog Prichard
28 February: Conservative MP Michael Astor/Scottish cricketer Ian Peebles
29 February: Dancer Margaret Morris

Meanwhile…

17 February: British Steel Corporation announced more than 11,000 jobs would be axed at its Welsh plants by the end of March.

25 February: The first episode of political sitcom Yes Minister is broadcast on BBC Two.
Also on this day, Manchester United chairman Louis Edwards died of a heart attack, aged 65. His death came only weeks after allegations about his dealings in connection with the football club and the retail outlet chain he owned.

450. The Special A.K.A. Featuring Rico – Too Much Too Young – The Special A.K.A. Live! (EP) (1980)

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The Intro

The Specials/The Special AKA quickly grew into one of the most beloved bands of the early 80s. Their state-of-the-nation address Ghost Town is one of the greatest singles of the decade, but before that, the Coventry-based ska revival legends became the first act since Demis Roussos in 1976 to reach number 1 with an EP. It was also the first ska number 1 since Double Barrel in 1971, and the first live recording to be a chart-topper since Billy Connolly’s D.I.V.O.R.C.E. in 1975. And The Specials are among my earliest memories – I can remember being struck by the 2-Tone record label, watching the black and white man in the suit spinning on our record player, as my big brother was a huge fan.

Before

The Special AKA formed in 1977 and were known as The Automatics, then The Coventry Automatics. They consisted of songwriter and keyboardist Jerry Dammers, vocalist Tim Strickland, drummer Silverton Hutchinson and bassist/vocalist Horace Panter, aka Sir Horace Gentleman. Terry Hall replaced Strickland very soon after. They were joined in 1978 by vocalist Neville Staple and guitarist Roddy Byers, aka Roddy Radiation. Dammers hoped his band could unite black and white music lovers, coinciding with the Rock Against Racism movement. And they were given a huge leg-up in exposure when Joe Strummer invited the band to support The Clash.

As 1979 rolled around, Hutchinson left and was replaced behind the drumkit by John Bradbury. Dammers launched the 2 Tone Records label and released The Special AKA’s debut single, Gangsters, which was a reworking of Jamaican singer-songwriter Prince Buster’s Al Capone, which shot to number six – impressive for a debut. They changed their name to The Specials and began recording their eponymous debut album, produced by hip new wave star Elvis Costello and also featuring horn players Dick Cuthell and Rico Rodriguez.

The ska seven-piece stood out thanks to their Mod stylings and two-tone suits, but the material they released was as strong as their image. The Specials, released that October, featured a heady mix of original material and covers of ska classics. The first fruits of this, A Message to You, Rudy, was a cover of Dandy Livingstone’s Rudy, a Message to You, and it peaked at 10.

As great as the album was, it didn’t capture the energy of their live shows. So it was a very wise move to release a live EP in January 1980. As we know through this blog, the first month of the year can bring up many surprising chart-toppers. Credited to The Special AKA Featuring Rico (although the vinyl also, confusingly, billed them as The Specials), Too Much Too Young – The Special A.K.A. Live! EP was a five-track showcase of the group on stage in 1979. Side A featured two tracks from the Lyceum in London, and Side B was a three-track medley – billed as Skinhead Symphony – from Tiffany’s, in their hometown.

Review

The title track is of course one of the most beloved by The Special AKA. Loosely based on the 1969 song Birth Control by reggae singer and producer Lloyd Charmers, Too Much Too Young was originally recorded and released on The Specials.

Inspired by Dammers considering a relationship with a married woman who had a child, Too Much Too Young may be a great tune, but it’s lyrics are somewhat divisive. You could argue the band are railing against wasted youth caused by teenage pregnancies, and are calling for better sex education and knowledge of contraception. This is most likely, considering The Specials’ usual left-wing leanings. But critics have a point when they say Dammers and co come across as preachy and patronising – even somewhat right-wing – by criticising a poor young mum, just because the narrator wants a good time with her, ultimately.

Far more clearcut is just how good this live cut is. It’s the definitive version, and much better than the Costello-produced album version, which is overlong and plodding by comparison. At 2:04, this incendiary version of Too Much Too Young is the shortest number 1 track of the 80s. But it packs in so much in such a short time, it’s easily the best song on this EP, which is no mean feat when it’s up against four classics of the genre. Most noteworthy are Hall’s passionate performance, Gentleman’s bass and Golding and Radiation’s guitar.

Guns of Navarone, the other Lyceum track, is a straightforward cover of The Skatalite’s skanking 1965 version of the theme tune to the 1961 film of the same name. Staple provides great toasting, accompanying expert trombone skills by Rico.

Skinhead Symphony on Side B is a jubilant, celebratory six-minute-plus medley of more 60s ska greats. Opening with a bugle call by Rico, Longshot Kick the Bucket is a faithful rendition of Longshot Kick de Bucket by The Pioneers, originally recorded in 1969. Long Shot was a real horse, that dropped dead mid-race, who the Jamaican group had sung about before. The Liquidator is the only track that doesn’t really live up to the original. Part of The Harry J All Stars 1969 original’s charm is the wonky feel of the primitive recording, which disappears in this sprightly run-through. The symphony closes with a version of 1969 rude boy anthem Skinhead Moonstomp by British ska band Symarip. This was based on Moon Hop, released earlier that year by rocksteady great Derrick Morgan, in honour of the Moon landing that July. It’s the perfect way to cap off a collection of great live recordings. In spite of the rather basic production, the atmosphere is palpable and you can only listen in envy at the fans chanting ‘Specials’ at the end.

In true ska fashion, it’s worth noting there are many credit errors on the original EP. Guns of Navarone songwriter Dimitri Tiomkin’s surname was spelled ‘Thompkin’. The mysterious ‘Gordon’ credited on Longshot Kick the Bucket was George Agard, and Sydney Cook, should be ‘Crooks’. And Symarip’s Monty Naismith should say ‘Naysmith’. Things like this matter!

After

The Special AKA reverted to calling themselves The Specials and continued to score hits throughout 1980 and 81, leading up to their masterpiece, Ghost Town.

The Outro

It’s worth noting that this EP knocked the Pretenders’ Brass in Pocket off the top spot. Singer Chrissie Hynde had provided backing vocals on The Specials, and the video to their number 1 had two band members miming ‘Special!’ in the video. Tenuous, perhaps, but I’m pointing it out anyway.

The Info

Written by

Too Much Too Young: Jerry Dammers & Lloyd Chambers/Guns of Navarone: Dimitri Thompkin & Paul Francis Webster/Longshot Kick the Bucket: Gordon, Sidney Cook & Jackie Robinson/The Liquidator: Harry Johnson/Skinhead Moonstomp: Roy Ellis & Monty Naismith

Producers

Jerry Dammers & Dave Jordan

Weeks at number 1

2 (2-15 February)

Trivia

Births

5 February: Scottish Liberal Democrats leader Jo Swinson
10 February: Photographer Matt Irwin/Actor Ralf Little/Footballer Steve Tully

Deaths

4 February: Labour MP Edith Summerskill
9 February: Journalist Tom Macdonald

Meanwhile…

14 February: The ever-loving Margaret Thatcher celebrates Valentine’s Day by halving state benefit to strikers.

14-23 February: Great Britain and Northern Ireland take part in the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. But they only win one gold medal, thanks to figure skater Robin Cousins.

449. Pretenders – Brass in Pocket (1980)

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The Intro

Welcome, welcome, welcome home to Every UK Number 1! Don’t worry, it’s a very niche reference…

Back on we go, with the decade that truly shaped my musical tastes – the 80s (I was born in April 1979). Yet another weird and wonderful 10 years of pop, that started out extremely positively thanks to the foundations set in the late 70s… before, perhaps, the rot begins to set in during the mid-point.

But before we find out if that’s true, let’s go back to January 1980, with the sole number one by new wave outfit Pretenders. Brass in Pocket was by a strong, ballsy woman. But, contrary to popular belief, it’s not about one.

Before

In fact, let’s go further back – to 7 September 1951, when Christine Ellen Hynde was born, in Akron, Ohio. The daughter of a part-time secretary and a Yellow Pages manager, Hynde rebelled from an early age. She recalled in Rolling Stone how she wasn’t interested in high school, or dates either. But she was interested in bands, the counterculture and vegetarianism.

While at Kent State University’s Art School, she joined her first group – Sat. Sun. Mat. – which also featured Mark Mothersbaugh, later of Devo. She was also there during the infamous Kent State Massacre of 1970, in which four Vietnam protestors were killed, including the boyfriend of a friend of Hynde’s.

Hynde moved to London three years later, and within nine months was in a relationship with famed music journalist Nick Kent. She even worked at the NME alongside him, but not for long. Soon after, she was working at Sex, the famed boutique run by Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood.

This was just the start of her connection to the early punk movement. Returning from time in France and back in Cleveland, she asked both Steve Jones and then Johnny Rotten to marry her in order to gain a work permit. Rotten was initially up for it but after pulling out, Sid Vicious offered. Fortunately, the big day clashed with a court appearance for the eventual Sex Pistols bassist. A narrow escape.

Hynde briefly appeared in several bands, including Masters of the Backside – soon to be known as The Damned, and The Moors Murderers, featuring Steve Strange, later of Visage.

In 1978 she gave a demo tape to Dave Hill (not the Slade guitarist), owner of Real Records and subsequently manager to the Pretenders after he suggested she get a band together. The original line-up of Pretenders (named after Sam Cooke’s version of The Great Pretender) consisted of Hynde and bassist Pete Farndon. They soon added James Honeyman-Scott (guitar, vocals and keyboard) and Martin Chambers (drums, vocals and percussion) to the mix.

Pretenders recorded a demo tape and Hynde handed it to her friend, singer-songwriter Nick Lowe. He was impressed and produced their debut single – a cover of The Kinks’ Stop Your Sobbing, which scraped into the charts at 34 in 1979. Lowe stepped away from further sessions and was succeeded by Chris Thomas. Second single Kid did one better than the first single.

As the Pretenders worked on their eponymous debut LP in 1978-79, one song that had hit potential was Brass in Pocket. Originating from a guitar lick by Honeyman-Scott, Hynde had intended to turn it into a Motown-style tune but that changed during recording. The title was inspired by the first-ever Pretenders gig. After the show, Hynde asked whose trousers were sprawled over a chair in their dressing room, shared with support act The Strangeways. One member of the band, Ada Wilson, ‘I’ll have them if there’s any brass in the pockets’. In this instance, ‘brass’ is Northern slang for money, and it’s not the only bit of colourful language here. Hynde also included other slang such as ‘reet’ and ‘got bottle’.

Review

Thinking back to 1980, anyone who knew of Hynde’s background but hadn’t heard any Pretenders before Brass in Pocket must have been surprised. There’s no punk element to be found, and hardly even any rock. What Brass in Pocket has embodied to most listeners through the years, is that confident swagger Hynde has always had. She’s smart, sexy and confident, but actually more in the mould of a Suzy Quatro than a Johnny Rotten. But of course, the actual music here is tamer even than Quatro’s glam bluster. It’s a soft, catchy, almost plaintive tune. The attitude is all in the words and Hynde’s performance.

If you thought Brass in Pocket was sung from a female perspective, so did I, but we were wrong. In a 1980 Sounds interview, Hynde explained it’s basically about an insecure guy down the pub, geeing himself up to put up a front down the pub with his mates and be ‘one of the lads’. I’m sure you can add to that that he’s hoping to pull, too.

All in all, the image of this guy, ‘Detroit leaning’ (driving around with one hand on the wheel) and skanking, conjures up the image of a bit of a twerp. Discovering this simultaneously makes you view the song differently, and kind of tarnishes it a little. It might partially explain Hynde’s ambivalence towards her biggest hit. Initially she had told Thomas she could release it over her dead body as she hated her vocal, and for a long time she hated performing Brass in Pocket, but age seems to have mellowed her.

Hynde wasn’t a fan of the video either, and again, you can’t blame her. She played a waitress in a rundown cafe, while the rest of the band turn up in a large pink car, with Farndon doing some Detroit leaning of his own. Highlight/lowlights include Honeyman-Scott/Chambers miming terribly the ‘Special!’ backing vocals while holding up the selection of specials on the cafe menu. Bit literal, lads. Farndon and Hynde seem to have a thing going, but the tension is interrupted by three girls who enter the cafe and immediately begin snogging the men. They all leave the cafe and Hynde remains alone and upset. Her initial plan was to have the band arrive on motorbikes and rescue her from her drab life.

So who was right about Brass in Pocket – Hynde or the public? I’m going to side with the latter. It’s a rather low-key start to the decade, but then, every decade up to this point had similar, so no change there. It’s stood the test of time as a memorable enough tune. However, it’s not even Pretenders’ best (I prefer Don’t Get Me Wrong and 2000 Miles). And how did it happen, after two previous relative flops?

Well, the excellent, insightful and blisteringly funny folks at the Chart Music podcast uncovered an edition of World in Action from 1980, called The Chart Busters. Brass in Pocket was among the songs which the programme claimed did so well because of underhanded tactics from the music industry. I’m not aware of how much the Pretenders knew about this.

After

Whatever the controversy over the performance of Brass in Pocket, debut album Pretenders was a critical and commercial success. And the follow-up Pretenders II contained the hits Talk of the Town (number eight in 1980), Message of Love (11 in 1981) and other Ray Davies track, I Go to Sleep (seven, also in 1981). But there was trouble ahead. Farndon was sacked by the others for drug abuse that June, and two days later, Honeyman-Scott died of heart failure due to cocaine intolerance.

Hynde assembled a new line-up with Chambers, featuring members of Rockpile and Big Country, for comeback single Back on the Chain Gang, which went to 17 in 1982. Farndon, who was trying to form a new band, was found dead in the bath after overdosing on heroin in April 1983,

That November, a new line-up featuring Hynde and Chambers with Robbie McIntosh on guitar and Malcolm Foster on bass released the lovely seasonal ballad 2000 Miles, which went on to feature on many a Christmas compilation. This first single from 1984 album Learning to Crawl peaked at 15. Pretenders performed at Live Aid in 1985, but soon after Hynde sacked Chambers, making her the sole original member. Foster quit in protest.

1985 was also the year that Hynde had the first of two number 1s with other artists. Sadly it was the awful reggae-lite cover of Sonny & Cher’s 1965 chart-topper I Got You Babe with UB40.

The next Pretenders album, Get Close, was recorded with various session musicians. Released in 1986, Hynde must have felt vindicated when Don’t Get Me Wrong soared to 10 and Hymn to Her outdoing it at eight. But the latter was their last top 10 hit for eight years, and there were yet more line-up changes. Parliament/Funkadelic’s Bernie Worrell briefly featured on keyboards while they toured, and Johnny Marr, post-Smiths, joined the band in 1987 for a year. That same year they recorded two tracks for the soundtrack to James Bond movie The Living Daylights.

The 90s didn’t begin too well, with Hynde the only official Pretender on unsuccessful LP Packed! in 1990. Three years later Hynde teamed up with guitarist Adam Seymour to form a new version of the group with a revolving door of bassists (including Andy Rourke from The Smiths) and drummers. By the time the next album Last of the Independents was finished and released in 1994, Chambers had returned and was joined by Andy Hobson of The Primitives. And they struck gold, with power ballad I’ll Stand by You, a number 10 smash and a number 1 in 2004 for Girls Aloud. But it was the last time they made a serious impact on the charts.

In 1995 Hynde had another rubbish chart-topping cover outside of the Pretenders name. This time, the tedious power ballad Love Can Build a Bridge with (ironically) Cher, plus Neneh Cherry and Eric Clapton. It was that year’s official Comic Relief single. No laughing matter.

The Pretenders settled into the career of a band who will always have faithful support, but no longer trouble the charts. They collaborated with Tom Jones on his 1999 album Reload, and Human was their last song to enter the top 40, making it to 33 in the same year.

Since the new millennium, the Pretenders line-up has continued to change as five albums came and went. Loose Screw in 2003, Break Up the Concrete in 2008, Alone in 2016, Hate for Sale in 2020 and most recently, Relentless in 2023. In 2005 they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, where Hynde paid tribute to Honeyman-Scott and Farndon.

Brass in Pocket features in a memorable scene in the 2004 film Lost in Translation, in which Scarlett Johansson performs the song at karaoke to Bill Murray.

The Outro

Brass in Pocket continued the trend for edgy, new wave pop that would continue to chart well in the late-70s and early 80s. But it was only the start of a bumper year of a diverse range of number 1s, which would end with the death of an icon.

The Info

Written by

Chrissie Hynde & James Honeyman-Scott

Producer

Chris Thomas

Weeks at number 1

2 (19 January-1 February)

Trivia

Births

19 January: Grime MC D Double E
20 January: Racing driver Jenson Button/Welsh Bullet for My Valentine singer Matthew Tuck
21 January: Boxer Nicky Booth
30 January: Model Leilani Dowding
31 January: Journalist Clarissa Ward

Deaths

27 January: Economist Sir Eric Wyndham White

Meanwhile…

19 January: The first UK Indie Chart was published in trade weekly Record Business. The first number 1 was Where’s Captain Kirk by Spizzenergi.

20 January: The record for largest TV audience for a film in the UK is set when 23,500,000 viewers watch the James Bond film Live and Let Die (1973).

21 January: MS Athing B is beached in Brighton.

28 January: A controversial edition of Granada Television’s current affairs series World in Action is broadcast on ITV. It alleged that Manchester United chairman Louis Edwards made unauthorised payments to the parents of young players in the club, as well as dodgy deals to try and win the local council meat contracts for his chain of retail outlets.

Every UK Number 1: The 60s paperback now available

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The paperback version of Every UK Number 1: The 60s is now available. More than 660 pages chronicling arguably the greatest era in pop. Available for £15.99 on Amazon – link in bio.

‘I cannot stress enough how well researched this book is (god knows how much Rob Barker had to leave out) and yet this isn’t written like an encyclopaedic entry for a reference library. It’s fascinating, captivating and downright funny at times.

Would highly recommend this book to anyone with even a passing interest in music.’