Harold Wilson

475. Joe Dolce Music Theatre – Shaddap You Face (1981)

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The Intro

The UK singles chart of early 1981 was in a strange state of flux. John Lennon’s murder had understandably turned much of the top 10 into a shrine, with three posthumous chart-toppers. At the same time, Lennon’s fans suffered the indignation of seeing his records be overtaken in the hit parade not once (There’s No One Quite Like Grandma), but twice, by novelty songs. And the type of novelty songs that are retrograde, screaming ’70s or earlier’, rather than displaying any sign of the new, youthful pop of the 80s that was (thankfully) right around the corner. This time around, it was one-hit wonder Joe Dolce Music Theatre’s Shaddap You Face. Yep. That one.

Before

Joseph Dolce was born 13 October 1947 in Painesville, Ohio. He was the eldest of three children to Italian-American parents. In his senior year at Thomas W Harvey High School, Dolce got the acting bug, playing the lead role of Mascarille in Molière’s Les Précieuses Ridicules, and he also created a song based on material in the script. One of his co-stars, the Canadian Carol Dunlop, introduced Dolce to folk music and poetry.

From 1965 to 1967, Dolce majored in architecture at Ohio University. While there he formed several bands, including country rock act Headstone Circus, who released the album Please Tell a Friend in 1968. One member, Jonathan Edwards, had a US hit with Sunshine in 1971.

By 1974, Dolce was performing a mix of poetry and rock along the US east coast. Four years later he relocated to Melbourne, Victoria in Australia. His first single, in 1979, was Boat People, a protest song about the poor treatment of the growing community of Vietnamese refugees in the city.

That same year saw the formation of Joe Dolce Music Theatre. This revue toured cabarets and pubs with various line-ups, including Dolce playing a character he called Guiseppe. Among the songs he performed was Shaddap You Face, based on his memories of childhood (‘Just about the eighth grade’), where parents and grandparents would often speak in broken English. Audiences loved the story of Guiseppe and his dreams of stardom, answering his bossy mum back with the song’s title. So much so in fact, that drunken crowds began cheering ‘Heh” inbetween each chorus line.

Shaddap You Face was recorded and released in late 1980 by Australian musician Mike Brady’s label Full Moon Records, who correctly predicted a monster hit.

Review

My opinion on Shaddap You Face is divided. Clearly, we’re not talking about high art here. Dolce’s one-hit wonder is catchy to the point of extreme irritation. The over-the-top Italian-American accent is annoying and highly cliched, annoyingly shifting between spoken word and singing, and the tune is simplistic in the extreme, never shifting a gear. In a pop climate that was about to erupt with Adam and the Ants and the New Romantics, Shaddap You Face belongs in the 70s along with other novelty number 1s like Kung Fu Fighting (which is highly superior). It’s also a good example of the UK’s obsession with distilling an entire country and its culture into a silly song. So no wonder it was huge here.

However, Dolce is rather charming, so it’s also simultaneously hard to dislike, too. The accordion adds a nice touch of authenticity, and the story the song tells is rather sweet. Grown-ups doubt loved the breezy, infectious tune, while children relished the chance of shouting ‘Ah, shaddap you face’ to their parents. As novelty number 1s go, there’s much worse out there – and how many feature an accordion solo?

The official video is filmed in a smoky club full of nonplussed people, until the end, when Dolce successfully urges the audience to shout ‘Heh’, until a weird guy in sunglasses brings proceedings to a sudden halt by throwing a pizza at the singer.

After

Shaddap You Face was massive, becoming number 1 in the UK and 11 other countries – though, perhaps surprisingly, not in the US. Whether deliberate or not, beloved DJ Terry Wogan played a part in the UK success by spinning the record on his show, proclaiming it to be the worst thing he’d ever heard. Bit rich, when you consider The Floral Dance. It kept Ultravox’s Vienna from number 1 in the UK, and became Australia’s best-selling single ever, ironically usurping Up There Cazaly by Brady.

Dolce turned his back on comedy songs, forming several performance groups with Lin Van Hek, including Skin the Wig and Difficult Women. In 1984 the duo wrote Intimacy, which became the final track on the original soundtrack to The Terminator. Dolce also became an actor, starring in the Australian comedy Blowing Hot and Cold (1988). Since 2009 he has been a successful, award-winning poet.

The Outro

I’m very happy to report that writing this blog helped me become reacquainted with a bastardised version of Shaddap You Face, used in a 1990 advert for McCain Pizza Slices.

The Info

Written by

Joe Dolce

Producers

Joe Dolce & Ian McKenzie

Weeks at number 1

3 (21 February-13 March)

Trivia

Deaths

22 February: Olympic athlete Guy Butler
25 February: Labour politician Mary Sykes
26 February: Conservationist Robert Aickman/Actor Gerald Cross/Actor Robert Tonge
28 February: Carry On screenwriter Talbot Rothwell
1 March: Welsh Congregationalist Minister Martin Lloyd-Jones
4 March: Chess player Nancy Elder/TV producer Ian Engelmann/Actor Torin Thatcher
5 March: Artist Winifred Nicholson/Actress Totti Truman Taylor
6 March: Cricketer George Geary/Actor Garry Marsh/Motorcycle racer Roland Stobbart
8 March: Conservative MP Nigel Birch, Baron Rhyl/Biologist Joseph Henry Woodger
10 March: Composer Bill Hopkins
11 March: Intelligence chief Sir Maurice Oldfield
12 March: Newspaper proprietor William Denholm Barnetson
13 March: Writer Wrey Gardiner/Industrialist Sir Patrick Hennessy/Author Robin Maugham, 2nd Viscount Maugham

Meanwhile…

21 February: 30,000 people in Glasgow march in an unemployment protest.

24 February: The engagement of Charles, Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer is announced. 

26 February: The England cricket team withdraws from the Second Test when the Guyanese government serves a deportation order on Robin Jackman.

27 February: Two-time former Labour Prime Minister Sir Harold Wilson announces he is to retire from Parliament at the next general election.
Also on this day, The Archbishop of Canterbury to view homosexuality as a handicap, not a sin. Jesus.

3 March: The first Homebase DIY and garden centre superstore opens in Croydon, Surrey.

5 March: The ZX81 (my first ever computer) is launched by Sinclair Research.

9 March: Lorry driver John Lambe is sentenced to life imprisonment for the rape of 12 women.
Also on the day, thousands of civil servants hold a one-day strike over pay.

465. The Jam – Start! (1980)

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The Intro

Love The Beatles’ Taxman but find the whining about paying HMRC when you’re in the biggest band in the world a bit annoying? Simple, listen to The Jam’s second number 1, Start! instead.

Before

Following the success of Going Underground/The Dreams of Children, The Jam set to work on their fifth LP. Vic Coppersmith-Heaven was back to produce Sound Affects, but for the first time, Paul Weller, Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler received a co-credit too – albeit as ‘The Jam’. As signposted with The Dreams of Children, The Jam were widening their sonic palette, and after its release, Weller described his favourite Jam album as a cross between Michael Jackson’s Off the Wall and The Beatles’ Revolver.

The influence of the latter is certainly evident on Start!, which was released in August while work continued on Sound Affects. Weller’s guitar and Foxton’s bass riffs were pretty much identical to the opening track of Revolver. George Harrison’s Taxman was an excellent opener to one of the greatest albums of all time, and showcased Harrison’s burgeoning talent. But as great as Taxman is, there’s no escaping the fact it also makes very evident how much of a moaner he could be. I’m sure paying an admittedly ridiculously high rate (95%!) of income tax to Harold Wilson’s new Labour government must have stung… and the Fab Four had been warned that despite their unprecedented fame, they were in danger of bankruptcy. But starting a new album complaining about money, when the average record buyer could only dream of their lifestyle? It’s certainly a bold move, and another sign that The Beatles were now charting their own path. But you can’t deny the musical brilliance of Taxman, particularly McCartney’s powerful rhythmic bass and blistering Indian-style guitar solo.

In a 2012 interview with Music Radar, Foxton said:

‘It wasn’t intentional, but Taxman subconsciously went in and when we came up with the idea for Start! that’s what went in. It isn’t exactly the same thankfully, otherwise I’m sure Paul McCartney would have thought about suing us!’

It’s not exactly the same, but you can’t get much closer. And considering the deluxe edition of Sound Affects also contains covers of Rain and And Your Bird Can Sing, recorded at the same sessions, it’s more likely that they jammed Taxman and enjoyed it so much, they reworked it. And they got lucky that Harrison, who had been to court over his 1971 number 1 My Sweet Lord in 1976 and lost more than a million in damages due to its likeness to He’s So Fine. He apparently considered Start! a compliment, but he probably didn’t relish going back to court over his music, this time as prosecution.

There are two main differences, and the main one is the lyrics. In Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh’s 2005 book 1000 UK #1 Hits, Weller said he had been reading George Orwell’s Homage to Catalonia (1938), detailing the author’s experience of the Spanish Civil War:

‘There is a lot of talk of an egalitarian society where all people are equal but this was it, actually in existence, which, for me, is something that is very hard to imagine.’

With this in mind, it seems Start! may have been written from the point of view of a Republican soldier, who briefly meets a fellow believer in their cause. Knowing that they’re at risk of dying for their beliefs means they could only know each other for a few minutes, so they don’t need to know much about each other, apart from that they feel so strongly for their cause, ‘with a passion called hate’ against the Nationalists. The Republicans consisted of socialists, communists and anarchists, so there was as much infighting as seen within the Labour Party during Jeremy Corbyn’s time as leader.

‘And what you give is what you get’ can be seen as a rallying cry for the Republicans, and in line with Weller’s increasingly left-wing tendencies, perhaps a call for solidarity among Labour in 1980, as their left-wing leader Michael Foot wasn’t popular among the right of the party. Same as it ever was.

Or, it could just have been about a one-night stand, lasting all of two minutes. Take your pick.

Review

Another great 1980 number 1 from Weller and co here. It’s short, sweet and doesn’t outstay its welcome, just like Going Underground. And it also shows a growing versatility. Yes, it’s not very original, but the soul bounce of Start! proves there’s more to The Jam than their rockier material, and it really shows off how effective that rhythm section was. In a way they come out of this better than Weller, as his guitar solo doesn’t compare to McCartney’s on Taxman – even with that added backwards section. Great track though and a breath of fresh air, particularly the way it reverts back to the punch of the main tune after the last ‘If I never ever see you…’ section.

The video to Start! was a typically low-budget, straightforward affair focusing on the trio doing what they did best – playing music.

After

Polydor wanted album opener Pretty Green to be the first single, but The Jam pushed for Start! and were proved right when it spent a week at number 1. Sound Affects was released in November, featuring added (and unnecessary) trumpets as the song draws to a close. No other official singles were released from the LP, but The Jam were so popular, That’s Entertainment peaked at 21 as an import. However, it would be 1982 before they topped the charts again.

The Outro

The psychedelic pop of Sound Affects was soon abandoned with a focus on 60s R’n’B, later to be explored on their final album, The Gift.

The Info

Written by

Paul Weller

Producers

Vic Coppersmith-Heaven & The Jam

Weeks at number 1

1 (6-12 September)

Trivia

Births

6 September: Atomic Kitten singer Kerry Katona
11 September: Academic Anthony Carrigan
12 September: Rugby league player Kevin Sinfield

Deaths

6 September: Art curator Philip Hendy
7 September: Conservative Party MP Reginald Manningham-Buller, 1st Viscount Dilhorne
8 September: Northern Irish singer Eddie Butcher/Liberal Party MP Sir Geoffrey Shakespeare, 1st Baronet
10 September: Academic TE Jessop
11 September: Conservative Party MP Sir Harwood Harrison, 1st Baronet
12 September: Legal scholar Sir Rupert Cross

Meanwhile…

11 September: Chicago mobster Joseph Scalise and his colleague Arthur Rachel committed the Marlborough diamond robbery in London. The following day, the duo were arrested in Chicago, but the 45-carat stone has never been found.

12 September: Consett Steelworks in Consett, County Durham closed down, costing the town some 4,500 jobs.

388. ABBA – Fernando (1976)

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The Intro

It may have seemed a little bold for ABBA to release a Greatest Hits in March 1976. However, their label Polar decided to due to the many cash-in compilations labels scattered around the globe were releasing in an attempt to cash-in on the fact that they were becoming huge. And with two UK number 1 singles to their name and plenty of hits elsewhere featured, it proved a wise move. It became their first number 1 album on these shores.

Before

As well as a mix of their early hits and lesser-known tracks in the UK, there was a new song, released as a single. Although it wasn’t strictly speaking, ‘new’. Fernando had first featured on band member Anni-Frid Lyngstad’s debut solo LP Frida ensam in 1975. Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus had originally called it Tango but at the last minute they renamed it Fernando after a bartender working at a club in Stockholm, Sweden, allegedly.

This Swedish version had lyrics penned by ABBA’s manager Stig Anderson and Lyngstad is singing to a heartbroken Fernando, attempting to console him after he has lost the love of his life. The chorus translated as:

‘Long live love, our best friend, Fernando.
Raise your glass and propose a toast to it; to love, Fernando.
Play the melody and sing a song of happiness.
Long live love, Fernando’

When it came to ABBA recording the song, Ulvaeus decided to take a different tack. He was lying outside one summer night and gazing at the stars when he hit upon a brainwave. Fernando became about two old freedom fighters who fought in the Texas Revolution of 1836, who reminisced about days of old one night in Mexico.

Review

Fernando is one of ABBA’s best-known and biggest-selling singles, but it’s my least favourite of their number 1s. I find it leaden and overwrought and I’m not really interested in hearing about what two 19th-century soldiers have to say. Give me their relationship drama and we’ve something to work with. It also suffers coming straight after Save Your Kisses For Me, which meant 10 weeks of tedium at number 1 on repeats of Top of the Pops and again, it makes me relieved I wasn’t a pop fan in 1976. Having said all this, I’d be a liar if I didn’t say the chorus was very memorable.

ABBA starred in a memorable, suitably dramatic video for Fernando, sat around a campfire looking very serious and gazing into each other’s eyes, as you can see above. ABBA made lots of videos – I’m not sure if they ever actually promoted on Top of the Pops in person? As well as a month as UK number 1, Fernando topped the charts across the globe. It became the longest-running number 1 in Australian history (14 weeks) for more than 40 years until Ed Sheeran’s Shape of You went one better in 2017.

After

ABBA made a Spanish-language album, Gracias Por La Música, in 1980 and Fernando was a natural choice for an LP aimed at Latin American countries.

The Outro

So, ABBA had scored two number 1s before we even reach the half-way mark of 1976, and the best was yet to come.

The Info

Written by

Benny Andersson, Stig Anderson & Björn Ulvaeus

Producers

Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus

Weeks at number 1

4 (8 May-4 June)

Trivia

Births

8 May: Steps singer Ian ‘H’ Watkins
14 May: Actress Martine McCutcheon

Deaths

14 May: Yardbirds singer Keith Relf

Meanwhile…

9 May: 20-year-old prostitute Marcella Claxton is badly injured in a hammer attack in Leeds.

10 May: Following months of rumours of his involvement in a plot to murder his ex-lover Norman Scott, Jeremy Thorpe resigns as leader of the Liberal Party.

19 May: Liverpool win the UEFA Cup for the second time by completing a 4-3 aggregate win over Belgian side Club Brugge KV at the Olympiastadion in Brugge.

27 May: Harold Wilson’s Resignation Honours List is published. It becomes known satirically as the ‘Lavender List’ due to the number of wealthy businessmen awarded honours.

1 June: UK and Iceland end the third and final Cod War. The UK abandoned the ‘open seas’ international fisheries policy it had previously promoted.

386. Tina Charles – I Love to Love (But My Baby Loves to Dance) (1976)

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The Intro

Tina Charles holds the unusual honour of being a backing singer on a number 1 before reaching the top spot in her own right. A year after she featured on Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel’s Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me), I Love to Love (But My Baby Loves to Dance) became the first homegrown disco tune to conquer the UK charts.

Before

Charles was born Tina Hoskins in Whitechapel, London on 10 March 1954. As well as being a backing singer she also worked as a session musician. She was only 15 when she recorded her debut single, Nothing in the World, and it featured Elton John, then unknown, on piano. Charles released one or two singles a year from then until 1974, but didn’t make a mark. In the meantime she sang on the Top of the Pops album series, in which anonymous session singers and musicians performed covers of hits. In 1971 she guested on The Two Ronnies, performing The Rolling Stones’s Ruby Tuesday, among other famous hits.

1975 was where Charles’s career took off. In addition to providing the famous ‘Oooh la la la’ backing vocals on Make Me Smile with her friend Linda Lewis, she sang on 5000 Volts’s disco hit I’m on Fire. Due to contractual issues her name was not given publicly and singer/actress Luan Peters stood in for Charles on Top of the Pops. Then she met Biddu, the Indian/British producer responsible for making Kung Fu Fighting. They recorded the album I Love to Love, but it wasn’t the first single to be released. You Set My Heart on Fire preceded it but despite going top 10 in Belgium, the Netherlands and Sweden, she still couldn’t crack the UK top 40. She and Biddu must have known they were on to something with I Love to Love (But My Baby Loves to Dance) however, to name the LP after it.

Review

I Love to Love (But My Baby Loves to Dance) starts very promisingly, bouncing along to a nifty disco groove played by Manchester musicians Richie Close (keyboard), Clive Allen (guitar), Des Browne (bass) and Tom Daley (percussion). The conceit appears to be, Charles wants to make love, but her partner is too busy dancing. This rather suggests there is a problem in the relationship and Charles should start asking him a few awkward questions really, but she doesn’t sound too upset about her situation and ends the night danced out but still hoping to ‘have my way’.

Unfortunately, the song doesn’t really go anywhere and is too lightweight to get much out of. Charles certainly has a powerful voice, but what at first sounds appealing gets a bit annoying. This song is probably as frustrating as wanting a good time with a partner who goes off to dance as soon as he hears music. If it came on at a club on a drunken night out (remember those?) you could probably enjoy yourself but that’s about it.

After

I Love to Love (But My Baby Loves to Dance) was a massive hit all over Europe. Charles’s follow-up LP, Dance Little Lady, was also produced by Biddu and spawned two top 10 hits in 1976 – Dance Little Lady Dance (reached six) and Dr Love (four). At the time her then-boyfriend, future genius producer Trevor Horn, featured in her backing band for live shows.

Only a year later, her hit rate was decreasing, and in 1978 I’ll Go Where Your Music Takes Me was the last time she charted (at 27). Charles tried to move with the times in 1980 with the harder sound of her album Just One Smile but interest was low. She concentrated on family life for the next few years. In 1987 there was a brief resurgence when I Love to Love and Dance Little Lady were remixed by Sanny-X. Both songs did well in Europe.

The Outro

Since then she has resurfaced from time to time, touring in Europe since 2000, performing on stage as a guest with The Producers, Horn’s supergroup of, yes, you guessed it, producers.

The Info

Written by

Jack Robinson & James Bolden

Producer

Biddu

Weeks at number 1

3 (6-22 March)

Trivia

Deaths

19 March: Free guitarist Paul Kossoff

Meanwhile…

16 March: Labour leader Harold Wilson shocked the nation by announcing his resignation as Prime Minister, to take effect on 5 April. Since returning to Downing Street in 1974, he had admitted in private that he had lost his enthusiasm for the role. Publicly, he claimed he had always intended to retire at 60, and said he was physically and mentally exhausted. He may have also been aware of the first stages of early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.

19 March: Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon announce they are to separate after 16 years of marriage.