Country

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.

445. Lena Martell – One Day at a Time (1979)

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The Intro

As we reach the end of 1979’s number 1s, we’ve been really spoiled by some true classics – the most in any one year since the 60s. New wave had made a real impact and pop was changing once more. This dreary country track sticks out like a sore thumb and takes us back to the MOR of mid-70s.

Before

Lena Martell, born Helen Thomson on 15 May 1940 in Possilpark, Glasgow, was a cabaret singer and BBC TV star. She was singing with her big brother’s band aged only 11. She then became a vocalist for the Jimmie McGregor Band at the Barrowland Ballroom. When her bandleader died, Martell decided to go it alone. Her debut single, Love Can Be was released in 1961. The rest of the decade passed with plenty of singles and one album, but nothing charted.

By 1971 Martell had her own series on BBC One. Presenting Lena Martell was your standard 70s Saturday night TV variety show, in which she would sing and introduce light entertainment, comedy and musical guests. Viewing figures topped 12 million, and her TV fame resulted in a contract with Pye Records the year after. Martell’s debut LP for them was named after her show.

One Day at a Time was a country gospel tune written by Marijohn Wilkin, with help from her protégé Kris Kristofferson, who was at that time a huge star. It was first recorded by Marilyn Sellars in 1974, and was a US top 40 hit. Three years later the Irish singer Gloria had a top 5 hit in her home country, before it was re-released a year later. It became number 1 in her home country, and still holds the record for the longest chart run of any song in Ireland. Martell’s cover was originally released in 1977. It didn’t chart.

Review

So, the burning question is, how did Martell, who had never had a single in the hit parade beforehand, find herself at number 1 with the re-release two years later, when the charts were full of exciting and idiosyncratic talent like Gary Numan, Ian Dury and Blondie?

I’m totally at a loss. In the years leading up to 1979, I could see why the likes of Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree were popular. Tacky, middle of the road and old-fashioned, yes, but at least they had memorable choruses. One Day at a Time is earnest and boring. I can only imagine Martell had covered it on her show, impersonating an American singer rather than singing in Scottish, and it had gone down well, so Pye re-released it to cash in. The older generation of churchgoers went out in their droves and it hung about in the upper reaches of the chart. As The Buggles, with their number 1 that looked to the future slipped, Martell took over. But for three weeks? Baffling.

After

This was the peak of Martell’s career in both TV and music. In 1980 her final TV show, Lena’s Music, was transmitted. She released a cover of a former number 1, Don’t Cry for Me Argentina, which got nowhere. Like many others of her ilk, Martell moved into theatre, and became a big star in West End musicals. She has sporadically released music ever since, with her last album to date, The Rose, released in 2007.

The Info

Written by

Marijohn Wilkin & Kris Kristofferson

Producer

George Elrick

Weeks at number 1

3 (27 October-16 November)

Trivia

Births

8 November: Footballer Aaron Hughes

Deaths

10 November: Engineer Sir Barnes Wallis

Meanwhile…

27 October: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines gains independence.

28 October: Chairman Hua Guofeng becomes the first Chinese leader to visit Great Britain.

30 October: Martin Webster of the National Front is found guilty of inciting racial hatred.

1 November: The government announces £3.5 billion in public spending cuts and increases of prescription charges.

5 November Thomas McMahon and Francis McGirl, the two men accused of murdering Lord Mountbatten and three others, go on trial in Dublin.

9 November: Four men are found guilty over the killing of the paperboy Carl Bridgewater, who was shot dead at a Staffordshire farmhouse 14 months previously. James Robinson and Vincent Hickey receive life sentences with a recommended minimum of 25 years for murder, 18-year-old Michael Hickey (also guilty of murder) receives an indefinite custodial sentence, and Patrick Molloy is guilty of manslaughter and jailed for 12 years.

11 November: The last episode of the first series of the BBC One sitcom To the Manor Born, starring Penelope Keith and Peter Bowles, was watched by 23.95 million viewers, the all-time highest figure for a recorded programme in the UK at that point.

13 November: The Times newspaper was published for the first time in nearly a year after a long dispute between management and unions.
But tensions between the miners and the government rise again when the former reject a 20% pay increase. They threaten to strike until they get a pay rise of 65%.

15 November: Art historian Anthony Blunt’s role as the ‘fourth man’ of the ‘Cambridge Five’ double agents for the Soviet Union during the Second World War is revealed by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the House of Commons.

406. Kenny Rogers – Lucille (1977)

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The Intro

US singer-songwriter Kenny Rogers was one of the most popular country-pop crossover artists of all time. This first of two UK number 1s was the song that made him a solo star.

Before

Kenneth Ray Rogers was born the fourth of eight children in Houston, Texas on 21 August 1938. His mother’s name was Lucille – now there’s a coincidence. He was said to be of Irish and Native American ancestry. Rogers grew up in the San Felipe Courts housing project, forming his first band while at Jefferson Davis high school. The Scholars were a doo-wop group, and Rogers sang and played guitar.

Graduating in 1956, he released his debut single That Crazy Feeling a year later and it was a minor hit. He made an appearance on American Bandstand, but a few poor-selling singles later he took to playing bass in jazz group the Bobby Doyle Three instead. They recorded for Columbia but got nowhere, disbanding in 1965. He tried to capture a jazz sound on his next solo single Here’s That Rainy Day in 1966, but again, no luck. So Rogers took to working as a writer, producer and session musician instead.

He moved to Los Angeles later that year and joined folk group the New Christy Minstrels as a singer and double bass player. However, Rogers and other members Mike Settle, Terry Williams, and Thelma Camacho decided to seek their fortune elsewhere. They formed The First Edition in 1967. Fusing rock, psychedelia, folk and country, they featured Rogers on lead vocals and bass, Settle on guitar and backing vocals and Camacho on lead vocals. Drummer Mickey Jones and guitarist and vocalist Terry Williams also joined the line-up.

The First Edition notched up seven top 40 hits in the US, including their excellent cover of Mickey Newbury’s Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In), used to great effect in The Big Lebowski (1998). In 1969, then known as Kenny Rogers and The First Edition, they scored a number two hit in the UK with a version of Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town. Something’s Burning reached eight on these shores in 1970. But as the 70s went on their sales dwindled. Rogers saw the writing on the wall and decided to go it alone once more, splitting up the band in 1976.

He signed with United Artists and released his debut LP Love Lifted Me that May. It was only a modest success but five months later he followed it up with Kenny Rogers. Its second single, Lucille, was a smash hit.

Review

Lucille was a slow, unassuming country tale by Roger Bowling and Hal Bynum. I’m no country fan (I may have said this once or 20 times on this blog) and musically, this leaves little impact with me. Compared to what could have been the 406th number 1 (see First Cut Is the Deepest/I Don’t Want to Talk About It), this is rather boring. However, what it does have going for it is the riveting lyrics. Rogers tells the story of a man in a bar in Toledo, Ohio. He gets to talking a disillusioned married woman named Lucille. She’s drunkenly longing for ‘whatever the other life brings’, when her giant of a husband enters the bar. Rogers thinks he’s in big trouble, but rather than attack the narrator, the husband is close to breaking down and says:

‘You’ve picked a fine time to leave me, Lucille
With four hungry children
And a crop in the field’

He says his piece and leaves but the words have a profound effect on the narrator. When it comes to getting it on with Lucille, he can’t forget what her husband said and he decides not to go any further.

Not your average pop lyrics it has to be said. And they are gripping, but the tune is so one-note it does its best to stop me enjoying it and Rogers sounds so weary he’s barely awake. A decent song but not a memorable number 1.

The Outro

Nonetheless, it set Rogers on the way to the fame he craved and he went on to be a true country icon.

The Info

Written by

Roger Bowling & Hal Bynum

Producer

Larry Butler

Weeks at number 1

1 (18-24 June)

Trivia

Births

24 June: TV presenter Kristian Digby

Deaths

19 June: Chief Girl Guide Lady Olave Baden-Powell

395. Pussycat – Mississippi (1976)

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The Intro

The narrative of 70s pop is well-known. Punk came along and changed everything, sweeping away a stale music scene. What brought it home to me more than anything was the start of BBC Four’s repeats of Top of the Pops in 2011. As 1976 was the first year in which they could amass a complete year’s run, they started there. Week after week, the young audience look downbeat, bored and even depressed in that dark, grim studio. It’s like they’re stood in the rain waiting for a bus that’s late. Another world, when compared to the glitz and glamour of the 80s editions.

Reviewing the number 1s of 1976 has mostly backed up those forlorn expressions, and none more so than this one. Some chart-toppers get forgotten. This one fully deserves that fate.

Before

Pussycat were a trio of Dutch sisters – Toni (lead singer), Betty and Marianne Kowalczyk. The Kowalczyks came from Brunssum, Limberg in the Netherlands. After school they all worked as telephone operators before they became known as Zingende Zusjes (Singing Sisters), performing German language songs. A big beat movement was sweeping the Netherlands, so Zingende Zusjes soon changed their sound to follow suit and added a female drummer to the mix, changing their name to The BGs from Holland. Fast forward to 1973 and the Kowalczyks were signed to Telstar as Sweet Reaction. They recorded a single, Tell Alain, but made little impression.

By early 1975 they were working with guitarist Lou Willé, who had married Toni, and they then joined forces with bassist Theo Wetzels, drummer Theo Coumans and guitarist John Theunissen. This trio had previously been in a lovely named group called Scum. Now a seven-piece, they became a country and pop outfit called Pussycat.

Pussycat signed with EMI on the strength of demo tape which included Mississippi, and it was released as their debut single that year from first LP, the aptly named First of All. It was a huge hit in Europe, reaching number 1 in their own country among others. It had been penned by Werner Theunissen, who had been in early-60s group The Rocking Apaches. His association with the Kowalczyks went back years. He had taught them to play guitar before they were in their teens and he wrote his first song for them. Theunissen also came up with the idea for Sweet Reaction. He wrote Mississippi back in 1969 as a response to The Bee Gees’ first UK number 1, Massachusetts (The Lights Went Out in).

Review

I’d be hard-pressed to work out how any song could topple ABBA’s Dancing Queen after six weeks, let alone Mississippi. It’s four minutes long but feels a lot longer. It starts off OK, a nicely produced country ballad, which isn’t normally my bag, but there are always exceptions. But not with this one.

For one thing, the lyrics are bemoaning the fact rock’n’roll replaced country, which isn’t true. It trundles along, sounding like something you’d hear some nobodies singing as guest stars on a 70s repeat of The Two Ronnies. Boring, but inoffensive. But then the chorus comes, and I don’t know if it’s just me, but the sisters’ combined vocal quality is like fingernails down a blackboard. Just awful. The way they sing the song’s title makes me feel like I’m being pushed too fast on a roundabout and I’m about to throw up and again when they sing ‘Whenever I shall go away’, it’s as though I’ve been punched in the gut.

Maybe I’m alone in having this reaction, I don’t know, but to me it’s very real. Mississippi on a loop would be torture to me. And yet there it was on those Top of the Pops repeats, week after week, the video above featuring Pussycat on a fairground ride showboat, looking like they’re in an outtake from a 70s porn film. Any good points? Well, Eddy Hilberts production tries to polish a turd, as I mentioned. The little guitar fill that represents country becoming rock’n’roll is a nice little touch, and Wim Jongbloed’s strings work well. But those voices… especially when you consider the song is built around them.

After

Pussycat’s fame continued in Europe and elsewhere, where they scored number 1s in the Netherlands with Georgie and Smile in South Africa, both also in 1976. The latter was their only other UK hit though, and it reached 24 here. By 1978 they were only still doing well in their homeland and Belgium. Coumans left and Hans Lutjens took his place behind the drumkit. They continued to tour into the early-80s, but they were running out of money and so the Kowalczyks ditched the band and would perform to backing tapes. Lovers of a Kind from another aptly named album, After All, was their last single in 1983. Toni, who had already released solo material in 1973 as Sally Lane, went on to be a prolific country singer.

The Outro

So we’re coming to the end of one of the worst years for number 1s I’ve reviewed, perhaps the worst. But on 22 October, while Mississippi was ruling the roost, The Damned released New Rose, considered the first ever punk rock single. It would be a few more years before its influence was felt at number 1 but the times were slowly changing.

The Info

Written by

Werner Theunissen

Producer

Eddy Hilberts

Weeks at number 1

4 (16 October-12 November)

Trivia

Births

23 October: TV presenter Cat Deeley
25 October: Footballer Steve Jones
29 October: Footballer Stephen Craigan
7 November: Cricketer Andrew Davies – 7 November

Meanwhile…

24 October: James Hunt became Formula One world champion.  

25 October: The Royal National Theatre opened on the South Bank in London.

27 October: Conservative MP Keith Joseph and close Margaret Thatcher ally delivered the influential policy speech ‘Monetarism is Not Enough’, published by the Centre for Policy Studies.

29 October: Selby Coalfield opened.

389. J.J. Barrie – No Charge (1976)

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The Intro

In a year with a distinct lack of quality number 1s so far, Canadian one-hit wonder JJ Barrie’s cover of the song No Charge is exceptionally awful. It is dreck. It is mawkish. It is the drizzling shits.

Before

Research on Barrie, born Barry Authors on 7 July 1933 in Oshawa, Ontario, doesn’t bring up a great deal. He must have lived in the UK as in the 60s he became the manager of legendary comedian Norman Wisdom and then later Blue Mink, the pop group behind 1969 hit Melting Pot. He also dabbled in stand-up comedy too. Then in 1976 he decided to turn his hand to songwriting, penning Where’s the Reason with Terry Britten for Glen Campbell.

Barrie and Britten sent a demo to Campbell’s producer but he turned it down and suggested Barrie perform it himself. This he did, but it made no impact. However, with his own label Power Station to release records on, Barrie decided to try again and this time he went with a tried and tested country hit, No Charge.

Written by veteran country songwriter Harlan Howard, No Charge is a slushy ballad in which a boy hands his mother a list of charges for completed chores. He’s mowed the lawn, made his bed, gone to the store, played with his little brother while she went shopping, took out the trash, had a good report card from school and raked the yard. After being asked to give him $14.75 she takes the receipt, turns it over and writes a list of things she has done for him. She lays it on very thick, pointing out how she carried him for nine months, has worried through sleepless nights, prayed, cried, imparted wisdom, bought toys, food and clothes, and wiped snot from his nose. And, like every mother, all done for nothing, because it was all done for love, so no charge. The boy learns his lesson and with tears in his eyes, he takes the pen and receipt and adds PAID IN FULL. Awwwwww. Pass me a bucket.

The original version was performed by Melba Montgomery, who was known in the 60s for her duets with George Jones, Gene Pitney and Charlie Louvin. She went solo in the 70s but wasn’t faring too well until Howard suggested No Charge. Country music fans loved this sentimental life lesson and took it to number 1 on the Billboard country chart in the US and Canada.

Review

It is well documented on this site that I’m not much of a fan of country music and I’m not a fan of spoken word moments in songs. There are of course exceptions to these rules, but definitely not in this case, which combines the two to disgusting effect. Barrie drawls his way through the song, playing the father watching the soppy scene unfold before him. He does so over a standard MOR country backing produced by Canadian philanthropist, singer-songwriter and film-maker Bill (later Barbra) Amesbury, with Clem Cattini playing the drums on one of his 45 chart-toppers.

Wailing away in the background is an uncredited Vicki Brown, wife of 60s cockney pop star Joe Brown. It’s mixed strangely, with Barrie way too high in the mix, and Brown too low. Although in this case it’s actually a blessing, as, no offence to the late singer, as she was only doing a job, but my God her performance is laid on thick.

Why? Just why? I cannot get my head around this being a hit, let alone a number 1. Barrie wasn’t a celebrity, which is what I assumed when I first saw this on Top of the Pops. I noticed while researching that Mother’s Day was a month before it topped the charts, so perhaps dads were buying it for their wives in a gesture of solidarity, or were the mums buying it to lord it over their kids and save money on paying them for doing jobs? Whatever the reason, ‘when you add it all up’, to quote the song, No Charge is really, really bad. I can’t criticise it enough.

After

Billy Connolly saw something worth spoofing and later that year his version, No Chance (No Charge) was a hit. Though considering how poor his number 1, D.I.V.O.R.C.E. was, it’s a bit rich. Barrie released a handful of further singles that all bombed and in late 1977 Power Station closed down. He returned to Canada to get involved with music publishing and management once more. Then in 1980 he came back to the UK to make a football-themed single, You Can’t Win ‘Em All. This is strange and unnecessary in itself, but it gets weirder. For some reason controversial Nottingham Forest manager Brian Clough was roped in to occasionally interject, at times sounding like he’s about to hit someone. Very odd. And his career got even weirder. In 1984 he released the LP Sings Songs from Fraggle Rock. On which he did exactly what it says on the tin. No idea why, other than to cash in on a popular children’s show at the time.

The Outro

Barrie lives in Canada, working as film writer and producer. Only two more albums have been released since 1984 – No Charge in 1999 and My Canada in 2017.

The Info

Written by

Harlan Howard

Producer

Bill Amesbury

Weeks at number 1

1 (5-11 June)

Trivia

Births

6 June: Comedian Ross Noble/Skateboarder Geoff Rowley

Deaths

6 June: Athlete David Jacobs
9 June: Actress Sybil Thorndike
11 June: Rower Amy Gentry

370 Tammy Wynette – Stand by Your Man (1975)

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The Intro

One of America’s biggest-selling singers, Tammy Wynette was known as the ‘First Lady of Country Music’. However, her most famous hit, Stand by Your Man, has long been derided by feminists for its slavish devotion to men, and it takes on new meaning when her stormy marriage to singer-songwriter George Jones is considered.

Before

Virginia Wynette Pugh was born near Tremont, Mississippi on 5 May 1942. Her father, a local musician, died of a brain tumour when she was only nine months old. Her mother left her in the care of her grandparents and moved away. Pugh taught herself music with the instruments her father had left behind.

A month before graduating, Pugh married Euple Byrd. They moved around and Pugh took on a number of jobs to make ends meet, including working in a shoe factory and as a barmaid. She began performing at night, but Byrd didn’t support her ambitions in country music. When she left him, she claimed he said ‘Dream on, baby’ as she drove away. Years later at one of her concerts he asked her for her autograph and she signed it ‘Dream on, baby’.

In 1966 Pugh and her three daughters moved to Nashville, Tennessee in the hope of a record deal. She was turned down repeatedly, but her luck changed when she met Epic Records producer Billy Sherrill. He got her signed and it was he that suggested the name change to Tammy Wynette when he noted she reminded him of Debbie Reynolds in the film Tammy and the Bachelor (1957).

Wynette’s first single Apartment No. 9 failed to chart but Your Good Girl’s Gonna Go Bad went to three on the Billboard country chart, and several hits followed. In 1967 her duet with David Houston, My Elusive Dreams, was a country number 1, and she won a Grammy for I Don’t Wanna Play House. Further country number 1s followed, notably D-I-V-O-R-C-E (a number 1 for Billy Connolly later this year) in 1968. For a time, Wynette and Sherrill thought this would become her signature song, but it was followed by the original release of Stand by Your Man.

The song that elevated Wynette to superstar status came very quickly, written in 15 minutes at Columbia Recording Studios in Nashville. It was the first time Wynette had written with Sherrill, and she had little faith in her ability. She wasn’t keen this song and felt it stretched her voice too far. When she went home and played it to Jones, who she married a year later. He wasn’t a fan either and that could well be due to perhaps feeling it was a comment on their rocky relationship.

Review

Stand by Your Man may have made Wynette a legend in country music, but in a way it haunted her for the rest of her life. To its critics it made Wynette seem weak, that no matter her man’s flaws, she would stay by their side and thinks others should too, because you need a companion ‘When nights are cold and lonely’. And she had more than her fair share of troubled times with men, which makes the song seem even more autobiographical. She had already been married twice by the time she was with Jones, and after their divorce she claimed that he would beat her and even threaten her with a shotgun.

This information can’t help but cloud your opinion of the meaning behind this song, yet Wynette always maintained that the message she was trying to send to women is that if they truly love a man they should forgive him his shortcomings, ‘Cos after all he’s just a man’. Sorry Tammy, but considering what you went through, I’m going to side on the feminists on this one.

Another problem I have with Stand by Your Man is – and I know to some this may be sacrilege – but I really do not enjoy Wynette’s voice here. That faux-emotional way of wringing out every word gets my back up, as does the way she sings the title. I prefer Dan Akroyd and John Belushi’s rendition in The Blues Brothers (1980). And yet she won a Grammy in 1969 for Best Female Country Vocal Performance for it, so what do I know? Worth noting that it’s Elvis Presley’s favourite backing singers, The Jordanaires, on this single and many of Wynette’s others.

After

Stand by Your Man was her highest-charting single in the US, reaching 19 in the Billboard Hot 100. It was also used in the drama Five Easy Pieces in 1970. The 70s saw Wynette and Loretta Lynn rule over the country charts. Between 1970 and 1975 she scored eight country number 1s.

It is unclear why Stand by Your Man went to number 1 in the UK in 1975, but the most likely reason was the high-profile divorce of Wynette and Jones, which was finalised that March. The split inspired Til I Can Make It On My Own, one of her biggest hits, in 1976. Despite the divorce, they continued to work together until 1980, and her final country number 1 was a duet with him, Near You, in 1977.

She rounded up the decade with her 1979 autobiography Stand by Your Man, by which point she was on her fifth and final marriage, to singer-songwriter George Richey. A year previous she had claimed she was kidnapped and assaulted by a masked man, resulting in a broken cheekbone and bruising. One of her children, Jackie Daly, claimed in her 2000 memoir that the claim was in fact made to cover up domestic violence from Richey, which he denied.

Like so many stars of the 60s and 70s, the 80s were difficult for Wynette. Her iconic status slipped along with her sales. Plagued by illness since the 70s, with a chronic bile duct problem, she became addicted to painkillers, resulting in a stay at the Betty Ford Center in 1986, the same year she joined the cast of CBS soap opera Capitol. She enjoyed a minor comeback with 1987 album Higher Ground and collaborated with Emmylou Harris, but in 1988 she filed for bankruptcy.

In 1991 Wynette suddenly found she was a pop star once again thanks to The KLF. Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty asked her to record vocals for a new version of Justified and Ancient (Stand by the JAMs). Wynette didn’t have a clue where or what Mu Mu Land was and must have found the video particularly baffling, but did it anyway and the single went to number 1 in 18 countries, though not in the UK sadly, where it stayed at two.

She then found herself involved in a very public argument with future First Lady Hillary Clinton, when she said in a 60 Minutes TV interview ‘I’m not sitting here as some little woman standing by my man like Tammy Wynette’. The singer was furious and penned a letter to her, saying ‘With all that is in me, I resent your caustic remark. I believe you have offended every true country-music fan and every person who has made it on their own with no one to take them to the White House’. Clinton later apologised when she saw the negative press she was getting.

Her 1993 and 1994 albums, Honky Tonk Angels and Without Walls respectively, featured duets with big names including Dolly Parton, Elton John, Smokey Robinson and Sting. A duets album with Jones also followed in 1995, called One. There was one more UK number 1, sort of, when she was among the stars on the Children in Need version of Lou Reed’s Perfect Day in 1997.

The Outro

Wynette was only 55 when she died on 6 April 1998 of a blood clot in her lung, but so bad had her health been over the years, it’s a wonder she lived as long as she did. Much like her most famous song, her life divides opinion. You may see her as a strong role model for women or a domestic violence victim who couldn’t help being attracted to horrible men. The truth is likely somewhere inbetween, and whatever her private life, she was a much-loved entertainer.

The Info

Written by

Billy Sherrill & Tammy Wynette

Produced by

Billy Sherrill

Weeks at number 1

3 (17 May-6 June)

Trivia

Births

18 May: Scottish snooker player John Higgins
22 May: Badminton player Kelly Morgan
27 May: Chef Jamie Oliver
29 May: Spice Girl Melanie Brown/Comedian Sarah Millican
4 June: Comedian Russell Brand

Deaths

20 May: Sculptor Barbara Hepworth
21 May: Historian AH Dodd
3 June: Admiral Sir Christopher Bonham-Carter
5 June: Actor Lester Matthews

Meanwhile…

27 May: The Dibbles Bridge coach crash becomes the worst accident ever on UK roads when a coach runs away following brake failure and falls off a bridge near Hebden in North Yorkshire, killing the driver and 31 female pensioners.

28 May: Bayern Munich defeat Leeds United 2-0 in the European Cup final in Paris, France. When Leeds player Peter Lorimer has a goal disallowed, angry supporters invade the pitch and tear seats away from the stands.

31 May: The European Space Agency is established, with the UK being one of the 10 founding members.
Also on this day, vile depraved Jimmy Savile began his long-running family show Jim’ll Fix It on BBC One.

2 June: Freak snow showers occur across the country, even as far south as London, which hadn’t happened since 1761.

5 June: In the EEC referendum, 67% of voters support continuing membership. There weren’t buses travelling round with lies emblazoned on them back then, you see.

357. John Denver – Annie’s Song (1974)

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The Intro

The unassuming US singer-songwriter and activist John Denver wrote some of folk and country’s biggest hits, but was a one-hit wonder in the UK, where he scored the number 1 spot with this tender tribute to his first wife.

Before

Born Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. on New Year’s Eve 1943 in Roswell, New Mexico, his father was a stern US Army Air Forces pilot who had difficulty showing his children emotion, and it made his eldest son introverted, as did the constant moving around due to his father’s job. Deutschendorf Jr. was shy to mix with others, but loved music and became a member of Tuscon Arizona Boys Chorus. However, that was cut short when forced to move once more and he disliked ending up in a segregated school in Montgomery, Alabama.

At college he began playing the guitar at local clubs, having been bought one by his grandmother when he was 11. When it was pointed out to him that his surname was rather unwieldy for showbiz purposes, he became John Denver, paying tribute the capital of Colorado, his favourite state. Denver joined a folk group called The Alpine Trio but dropped out of the Texas Tech School of Engineering in 1963 and moved to Los Angeles. In 1965 he joined The Mitchell Trio when founder Chad Mitchell left. A year later he recorded a demo tape of his own material for friends as a Christmas present called John Denver Sings. Among the songs was Babe, I Hate to Go. Producer Milt Okun was impressed and took it to Peter, Paul and Mary, who recorded it for an album but changed the name to Leaving on a Jet Plane.

In 1969 Denver signed with RCA Records and recorded his debut solo LP, Rhymes & Reasons. Peter, Paul and Mary’s cover of Leaving on a Jet Plane was released as a single and it topped the Billboard Hot 100 and reached number two in the UK in 1970. That year he released two albums, Take Me to Tomorrow and Whose Garden Was This.

1971 brought Denver’s breakthrough when his album Poems, Prayers & Promises contained the track Take Me Home, Country Roads. This country classic narrowly missed out on the US top spot, but Denver was on the road to fame, and the hits increased in America. Rocky Mountain High reached the top 10 in 1973, and between 1974-75 Denver had four number 1s there – Sunshine on My Shoulders, Annie’s Song, Thank God I’m a Country Boy and I’m Sorry. Despite his shyness, the image of his embroidered shirts, long hair and granny glasses stood out, making him resemble a more polite, American version of John Lennon.

Annie’s Song was written, according to Denver himself, in 10-and-a-half minutes one day on a ski lift to the top of Ajax Mountain in Aspen, Colorado in July 1973. Exhilarated after skiing a difficult run, Denver’s senses came alive with the immersion of the colours and sounds around him, and they inspired him to think of his then-wife, Annie. He got home and wrote it all down, then later presented it to Okun, who pointed out the tune was similar to Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony. An hour later all that remained the same were the first five notes.

Review

Sure, Annie’s Song is a very pretty melody, and Denver’s voice has a charm, but it’s never done much for me. Rather like Don McLean’s Vincent, the intro is very strong, but it’s downhill from there. ‘You fill up my senses’ is a great lyric, but the subsequent outpouring of comparisons doesn’t hold the attention. Denver would have been better off spending more time on the words – they’re cliched and ultimately lack a personal touch, but such Hallmark-style writing was popular among the more conservative, old-fashioned singles buyers of the mid-70s, so it was perhaps inevitable this would reach number 1 in the same year as She.

After

Denver’s manager Jerry Weintraub insisted the singer appear on as many TV shows as possible, despite his reticence, particularly in the UK, where he was much less well-known. Back home though, he won an Emmy for a live concert special in 1975. That December, Rocky Mountain Christmas became ABC’s highest-rated programme up to that point, with an astounding 60 million viewers. He is also remembered fondly for his appearance on The Muppet Show, even here in the UK. He also acted, starring in the film Oh, Boy! (1977) alongside comedian George Burns, hosted the Grammy Awards five times and appeared on The Tonight Show numerous times.

Denver’s music may not have been to everyone’s tastes, but his political leanings were sound. In the mid-70s he supported Jimmy Carter and they became close friends when he became president, even appointing Denver to serve on the President’s Commission on World Hunger. He founded the Windstar Foundation in 1976 to promote sustainable living, and did work for the poor, the homeless and African AIDS charities over the years.

As the hits dried up towards the end of the 70s, Denver spent much of the next decade becoming more heavily involved in politics. Despite being a critic of Ronald Reagan’s administration, Reagan awarded him the Presidential World Without Hunger Award in 1987. Five years earlier, he had finally had enough of Weintrauub’s interference and sacked him. His ex-manager accused him of being a Nazi. Little bit over-the-top and very wrong by all accounts. Despite all his charity work, he was turned down when he asked to appear on 1985 chart-topper on both sides of the Atlantic, We Are the World. According to its producer Ken Kragen, this was because many involved, but not he, believed Denver’s image would harm the song’s credibility.

In the mid-70s Dever reconciled with his father, and he helped him learn to fly, beginning his obsession that would ultimately be the death of him. Spookily, he would have potentially died even sooner had he got his wish of being the first citizen to go into space courtesy of the Space Shuttle Challenger. Despite the tragic explosion, Denver continued to support NASA and obsessed about space, even reportedly entering discussions with the Soviet Union (where he had been the first US musician to perform in more than 10 years) with the hope of buying a place on one of their flights. Once the talks reached a possible $20 million price tag, Denver backed down.

Denver released his autobiography, Take Me Home, in 1994, in which he revealed some facts that went totally against his nice guy image, including drug use, drunk driving and domestic violence. After divorcing Annie in 1982, the woman who had filled up his senses, he found out she’d cut down some trees he liked. As revenge, he showed up at her place, shredded her furniture with a power saw, then proceeded to choke her. Pretty terrible stuff. His second marriage only lasted five years, ending in 1993.

The Outro

On 12 October 1997 Denver died from multiple blunt force trauma when his experimental Rutan Long-EZ plane crashed into Monterey Bay near Pacific Grove, California. He wasn’t legally allowed to fly due to his drunk driving arrests, but his autopsy found no drugs or drink in his body. Denver was 53.

In 1978, four years after Denver had his only UK number 1, the Belfast-born flute player James Galway scored his only chart hit with his cover of Annie’s Song.

The Info

Written by

John Denver

Producer

Milt Okun

Weeks at number 1

1 (12-18 October)

Trivia

Births

17 October: Actor Matthew Macfadyen

Meanwhile…

16 October: Rioting prisoners set fire to Belfast’s Maze Prison.

350. Ray Stevens – The Streak (1974)

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The Intro

Think of the fads of the 70s and you’ll likely think of spacehoppers, rollerskates and lava lamps. But what about all the naked men and women that made the headlines for streaking at sporting events? This was still popular during my childhood in the 80s, and I just assumed it was something that happened every now and then because, well, people are silly and it’s funny to take all your clothes off and run around until you’re caught (I imagine). I didn’t realise until now it became a ‘thing’ in the 70s.

There were examples going back way further though. In the 15th century, the Adamites protested the Holy Roman Empire’s morality by running naked through their Bohemian village. Apparently, the Quakers revived the pastime in the 17th century. Modern streaking started up in the free and easy 60s at US universities, and peaked in 1974, with a streaker at the Oscars and ever more elaborate and organised stunts taking place.

That February, one of the most famous sporting streaks happened at the England v France rugby match at Twickenham Stadium, when an Australian named Michael O’Brien decided to take to the field with his genitals flapping in the breeze. The subsequent photo of the police covering his bits with a helmet became iconic, and kickstarted all the UK sport streaks that followed. So novelty song and country singer-songwriter Ray Stevens’ opportunism paid off when he decided to immortalise streaking in song.

Before

Ray Stevens was born Harold Ray Ragsdale on 24 January 1939 in Clarkdale, Georgia. His love of music began with his first piano lessons, aged six. At 15 he formed an R’n’B band called The Barons, and three years later he enrolled in Georgia State University as a music major. That same year he released his first material as Ray Stevens on Capitol Records’ Prep Records, but his cover of Rang Tang Ding Dong sank without trace. Further material was released sporadically over the next few years.

In 1961, Stevens signed with Mercury Records and began to get noticed for his novelty songs. With titles like Jeremiah Peabody’s Polyunsaturated Quick-Dissolving Fast-Acting Pleasant-Tasting Green and Purple Pills, that was always likely. The politically incorrect Ahab the Arab was a number five hit in the US in 1962, and Harry the Hairy Ape reached number 17 the following year.

But Stevens also wanted to release serious country material too, and so he signed with Monument Records in 1968 and Mr Businessman followed, giving him his first US hit in five years. He also released the first version of Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down by Kris Kristofferson (later a hit for Johnny Cash). Novelty songs still could do well for him though, and Gitarzan reached number eight in 1969.

It was in 1970 that Stevens’ career went up a notch. He was working in Nashville when his gospel-tinged ballad Everything Is Beautiful, preaching against racism and extolling tolerance of others, became huge, topping the US charts and reaching number six in the UK – his chart debut over here. He kept on dabbling in novelty songs though, notably Bridget the Midget (The Queen of the Blues), a UK number two in 1971. Interesting to see how Stevens could preach about a better world in his country material, and then make cheap jokes in his comedy material… a sign of the times, perhaps.

Stevens was on a plane flicking through a magazine when he came across an article on streaking. He thought it would make a good idea for a comedy song and made some notes. Some time later, he woke up one morning and streaking was all over the news – 1973 and 74 were peak years in the US for the phenomenon. He quickly finished The Streak and recorded it ASAP for maximum topicality.

Review

The naked truth is, The Streak is dross. Over a hoedown-style backing, Stevens plays a news reporter interviewing a redneck (also Stevens) at various disturbances caused by ‘The Streak’. Despite the redneck shouting ‘Don’t look Ethel!’ every time the naked guy appears, Ethel has a gander, and by the end, she’s joined in the streaking. Do you think that sounds like a bad record? Try listening to it.

So many things annoy me about The Streak. The tacky production, the ‘boogity boogity’ backing vocal on the chorus, the kazoo, Stevens’ cliched characters, the childishness, the canned laughter. If you have to add canned laughter to point out where the jokes are on a comedy record, there’s something wrong. This makes Ernie (The Fastest Milkman in the West) and even My Ding-a-Ling look like high art by comparison. I can’t think of a single positive thing to say about it.

After

To be fair to Stevens, at least he wasn’t a one-trick pony. In 1975 he just missed out on another UK number 1 with a country cover of jazz standard Misty. Two years later, his final UK chart entry saw him cover Glenn Miller’s In the Mood in the style of a clucking chicken under the pseudonym Henhouse Five Plus Two. I listened to five seconds here and had to stop.

But I can just about forgive Stevens all this because in 1981 he sang Cannonball, the opening song to the celebrity-packed car chase film The Cannonball Run. It’s not just for nostalgia reasons either, this is a great song!

Stevens’ last serious album Me, was released in 1983. He’s concentrated on novelty material ever since. He opened his own theatre in Branson, Missouri in 1991 , which lasted two years, and he began selling videos to his old songs, The Streak among them (guess what, it’s awful). In 1996 he received thousands of sympathy cards after online news of the wrestler Ray ‘The Crippler’ Stevens confused fans. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1999, but he beat it and received a clean bill of health.

The Outro

Stevens’ love of comedy and videos found its natural home online on YouTube, where he posts cheap novelty songs with equally cheap videos declaring his outspoken political views. One I found, Obama Nation from 2012, slates the then-President. Abomination/Obama nation, get it? Hmm.

The Info

Written & produced by

Ray Stevens

Weeks at number 1

1 (15-21 June)

Trivia

Births

21 June: Radio presenter Natasha Desborough

Meanwhile…

15 June: The National Front clash with counter-protestors in London’s West End. The Red Lion Square disorders resulted in the death of 21-year-old Kevin Gateley, a university student.

17 June: A bomb explodes at London’s houses of Parliament, damaging Westminster Hall. The IRA claimed responsibility. 

287. Christie – Yellow River (1970)

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The Intro

Here’s a number 1 with an unusual story. Yellow River, Christie’s sole chart-topper, could in a sense also be classed as The Tremeloes’ third number 1, if they hadn’t thrown it away.

Before

Leeds-born singer-songwriter Jeff Christie, born Jeffrey Christie on 12 July 1946, had been a member of rock band The Outer Limits, who had released singles in the late 60s. He had been inspired to write Yellow River after imagining a soldier looking forward to returning home to Yellow River (probably a mythical place) after the American Civil War, and probably thought it would work well with the anti-Vietnam War sentiment of the time. As far as I know, it’s got nothing to do with the Yellow River in China, one of the longest rivers in the world.

Christie offered the song to The Tremeloes, who liked it, and recorded it ready to release as a single, but then they went to number two with, ironically, Call Me Number One, and they decided to steer away from pop towards a more progressive sound.

Tremeloes guitarist Alan Blakley’s brother Mike was in a struggling band called The Epics, which also included guitarist Vic Elmes. The story gets muddy here, but someone, possibly Alan, to help Mike, and maybe feeling guilty about ditching Yellow River, suggested its songwriter travel to London to record a new vocal over the track himself, and he did so, forming a new band for its release, called Christie and featuring Elmes and Mike. Their debut single was released on 23 April.

Review

The chorus to Yellow River has existed in my subconscious for years, after I heard a snatch of it on some advert for a compilation album, but also due to the jingle being used in adverts for phone book Yellow Pages when I was a child, before the days of JR Hartley. Bad move by The Tremeloes – it’s a good tune, and way better than their previous number 1s Do You Love Me? and Silence Is Golden.

After

Apparently, Christie were keen to be considered the British answer to US country rock trio Creedence Clearwater Revival, and they do a great job of living up to that here, except of course, it’s not them behind that speedy finger-picked guitar, effervescent rhythm and top drumming – it’s The Tremeloes. Okay, there’s a fair few number 1s better than this in 1970, but that chorus in particular is a real ear worm. It’s easy to see why it topped the charts, even if it was for only a week. Steer clear of the later remake as it’s leaden by comparison.

Follow-up single San Bernadino, also from their eponymous debut album, was released in October, and reached number seven in the UK, and number 1 in Germany. But the success proved short-lived, and Blakely left before the release of 1971 album For All Mankind. Elmes’s departure in 1973 left Christie as the only remaining original member. No amount of line-up changes (and there were more) could capture that initial momentum though, and in 1976, after Navajo reached number 1 in Mexico, they split up.

The Outro

Jeff Christie went solo in 1980 for a couple of singles, and then probably did quite well out of the Yellow Pages campaign. He reformed Christie in 1990 with backing from members of the band Tubeless Hearts, and they bid to represent the UK in the 1991 Eurovision Song Contest with Safe in Your Arms, but failed. They have toured and recorded intermittently ever since.

The Info

Written by

Jeff Christie

Producer

Mike Smith

Weeks at number 1

1 (6-12 June)

Trivia

Deaths

7 June: Novelist EM Forster

Meanwhile…

10 June: Earlier in 1970 the Tories were enjoying a few months after the Conservatives had enjoyed opinion poll leads of more than 20 points, and looked likely to form the next government, but the tide had turned. Labour were now several points ahead of the Conservatives, with eight days to go before the general election. Labour’s win would be a record third-in-a-row, if it happened.

282. Lee Marvin (Orchestra Conducted by Nelson Riddle) – Wand’rin’ Star (From the Soundtrack Album of the Paramount Picture “Paint Your Wagon”) (1970)

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The Intro

Here’s a strange one. Taking up the top spot for most of March was Academy Award-winning Hollywood actor Lee Marvin – definitely not a professional singer – and Wand’rin’ Star, from the 1969 western musical film Paint Your Wagon, based on the 1951 stage show.

Set in a mining camp during the Gold Rush in California, the film also starred Clint Eastwood in a singing role. Despite its notoriety now, it was panned upon its release. Not much of a fan of westerns or musicals, I’ve never seen it, and likely never will.

The song Wand’rin’ Star, like the rest of the music in the film/show, came from Frederick Loewe, with the lyrics by Alan J Lerner. Together, the duo wrote some of the most famous musicals of all time, including My Fair Lady (Vic Damone had a UK number 1 in 1958 with On the Street Where You Live).

The makers of the movie had a problem when it cames to filming. Prematurely white-haired, gruff-voiced Marvin, one of the top actors of the era, was no singer, yet he had top billing in his role as prospector Ben Rumson. And he refused to mime.

Before

Marvin was born 19 February 1924 in New York City. The son of an advertising executive and fashion editor, he struggled from authority from an early age – running away from home for two days at the age of four, and expelled from a succession of boarding schools. However when he was 18 he dropped out of a Florida prep school to join the Marines in 1942, determined to prove how tough he was. Marvin was wounded in action in 1944 and spent a year in hospital.

Upon his discharge he took up various menial jobs and stumbled upon acting almost by accident. Soon, he was in a Broadway production of Billy Budd, before the 50s beckoned, and he garnered many small TV roles.

Next, came Hollywood, and a role as a murderer in an episode of crime drama Dragnet got him noticed, leading to him being typecast as the bad guy in films. Two such roles came in The Big Heat and The Wild One (both 1953) – the latter of which may be where The Beatles got their name from (Marvin’s gang were called The Beetles). He finally got to be leading man in the TV crime drama The M Squad, which ran from 1957-60.

Once the series ended, he went up a notch in film roles, starring in The Comancheros (1961), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) and Donovan’s Reef (1963). But it was 1965 surprise-hit comedy Cat Ballou that really shot him to the big time, and he won the Best Actor Oscar that year.

The Dirty Dozen (also starring Charles Bronson) as a commercial success, and Point Blank adored by critics, both in 1967. Hell in the Pacific was also acclaimed a year later, and in 1969 Marvin was set to star in The Wild Bunch, but he fell out with director Sam Peckinpah and opted for Paint Your Wagon instead.

Wand’rin’ Star finds Marvin’s character fending for himself and contemplating his hobo lifestyle. The song was orchestrated and arranged by Nelson Riddle, who had been working with some of the most legendary singers since the 40s – including Frank Sinatra on his first number 1, Three Coins in the Fountain.

Review

The first time I listened to this, I thought Siri had accidentally picked an instrumental version, perhaps used as incidental music in the film. It’s quite some time before Marvin’s gravelly vocal begins. And you know what, yes, it’s out of tune and his timing is also off at times, but I’d take his voice over the dated backing singers.

It’s all about the mood, and Marvin’s baritone fits perfectly. His off-key rasp puts across that this is someone that’s been damaged, that’s gone through some shit, but is proud of the lifestyle he has.

Also, there’s some really great lyrics here, particularly:
I’ve never seen a sight that didn’t look better looking back
And especially:
Do I know where hell is?
Hell is in hello
Heaven is goodbye for ever, it’s time for me to go

No wonder this was played at Joe Strummer’s funeral, and covered by Shane MacGowan and the Popes. There’s real depth here. I can do without the backing singers taking over at one point, and I probably won’t be listening to it much in the future, but it’s surprisingly good. And the public clearly thought so too. This even kept Let It Be off the top spot!

After

Marvin remained active in films throughout the 70s, but despite his roles becoming diverse, nothing matched the 60s for him, commercially or critically. He was offered the role of Quint in Jaws (1975) but turned it down.

He was embroiled in a high-profile lawsuit in 1979 when his old live-in girlfriend, Michelle Triola, who had changed her surname to Marvin, claimed he had promised her half his income while they were still together. This was the first time the US Supreme Court has allowed such a case between unmarried couples. The judge only awarded her enough money to get back on her feet.

Marvin claimed to spend much of the remainder of his years living in the desert, which makes him sound very similar to the character Ben – no wonder he sang it with such conviction. He starred in Gorky Park in 1983, and his final film was The Delta Force alongside Chuck Norris in 1986.

The Outro

Marvin fell ill that December, and after a number of issues he died of a heart attack on 29 August 1987, aged 63.

The Info

Written by

Alan J Lerner & Frederick Loewe

Producer

Tom Mack

Weeks at number 1

3 (7-27 March)

Meanwhile…

12 March: The government’s anti-rabies measures following an outbreak in Newmarket, Suffolk meant that the quarantine period for cats and dogs was increased to one year.

13 March: The Bridgwater by-election became the first in which 18-year-olds could vote. Tom King of the Conservatives was the victor.

17 March: Martin Peters, who scored for England in the 1966 World Cup final, became the first footballer in the country worth £200,000 after transferring from West Ham United to Tottenham Hotspur.

23 March: 18 victims of the thalidomide scandal were awarded nearly £370,000 in compensation.