Blondie’s last number 1 before their 1999 reformation was The Tide Is High, a cover of the 1967 rocksteady tune by Jamaican ska group The Paragons.
Before
The original was written by John Holt, tenor singer in The Paragons, who were a vocal trio from Kingston, Jamaica. Instrumental backing came from Tommy McCook and the Supersonic Band, with production by Duke Reid. This amiable slice of gentle ska was originally tucked away as a B-side, then released as a dub version with vocal from U-Roy in the UK in 1971.
One of the reasons Blondie were so cool was their willingness to dabble in other genres. Heart of Glass, one of the best disco and rock tracks of 1979, had been tried as a reggae song beforehand. It was singer Deborah Harry and guitarist Chris Stein’s idea to cover The Tide Is High, after they heard the original on a compilation tape they picked up in London.
Perhaps in an effort to dissolve rising tensions among the band, producer Mike Chapman insisted the band record their fifth album in Los Angeles. Autoamerican took Blondie’s eclecticism to whole new levels. There was Rapture, their attempt at rap, the orchestral and electronica of opening track Europa, and their stab at The Tide Is High. Rumour has it that Harry and Stein were such fans of The Specials, they asked the Coventry ska collective to be the backing group for this cover, but they declined. Considering how some of Blondie reacted to not featuring on Call Me, that might be just as well.
Review
The late 70s and early 80s saw Blondie amass quite the collection of chart-toppers. One of the best, in fact, particularly Heart of Glass and Call Me. Keeping up that standard would be a tall order for even the greatest bands. So it is perhaps inevitable – especially as they approached the twilight of their original run – that Blondie eventually came up short.
It’s not that The Tide Is High is bad – it most certainly is not. It’s just, OK. Fair play to the band for taking a different tack, dropping down a gear or two and covering a bright and breezy forgotten ska tune, and incorporating horns and strings into their arsenal. But the song wasn’t a classic to begin with, and there’s little that Blondie and Chapman can add to it to make it any better. They change the sex around in the lyrics, casting Harry in an unlikely role – the girl who’s struggling to get the man she wants. Other than that, it’s pretty much, well, a nice enough track, I guess. Harry’s voice suits it well, as she manages to sing sweetly without putting in much effort. Nonetheless, it’s the weakest their number 1s.
The most interesting element of The Tide Is High is the frankly bizarre video. The male members of the band are stood on a sidewalk watching Harry from below. Suddenly the outside of the building is supposed to look like it’s underwater. And Darth Vader seems to be watching on too? There’s also footage of a rocket about to be launched. As the song ends, Blondie and a load of revellers meet up with Vader, but when Vader turns around, his face mask resembles a duck… the fact that Harry still looks cool and sexy while singing to Duck Vader as the video ends shows what an amazing woman she is.
After
The Tide Is High was the first single from Autoamerican, but just as it was looking like every single they released would be a number 1, their fortunes changed. Even the follow-up, and one of their most famous tunes, Rapture, stalled at five on these shores. Only one more album, The Hunter in 1982, was released before the band split for 17 years.
The Outro
Electronic duo Coldcut remixed The Tide Is High for the 1988 compilation Once More into the Bleach. Seven years later it was remixed by Pete Arden and Vinny Vero for Beautiful: The Remix Album. In 2014 Blondie re-recorded the track needlessly for Blondie 4(0) Ever.
The Tide Is High (Get the Feeling), a remake with a new bridge, became girl group Atomic Kitten’s second number 1 in 2002. Again, serviceable enough, but less so than Blondie’s version.
The Info
Written by
John Holt
Producer
Mike Chapman
Weeks at number 1
2 (15-28 November)
Trivia
Births
18 November: Actor Mathew Baynton 19 November: Businessman Andrew Copson/Actress Adele Silva
Deaths
15 November: Novelist Joan Fleming/Conservative MP Richard Law, 1st Baron Coleraine/Scottish painter Agnes Miller Parker 16 November: Actress Imogen Hassall 17 November: Neuroscientist David Marr 18 November: Artist Richard Carline 19 November: Chemist EJ Bowen/Northern Irish footballer Laurie Cumming 22 November: Painter Norah McGuinness 25 November: Trade unionist Dorothy Elliott/Crystallographer Mary Winearls Porter 26 November: Actress Rachel Roberts/Actor Hector Ross 27 November: Physicist John Hubbard 28 November: Peer Antony Lyttelton, 2nd Viscount Chandos/Filmmaker Tom Stobart
Meanwhile…
17 November: 20-year-old university student Jacqueline Hill is murdered in Headingley, Leeds. She is the final known victim of The Yorkshire Ripper.
23 November: With the UK in recession, the government announces further public spending cuts and taxation rises.
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 Countyspoiled 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.
Blondie’s third album Parallel Lines is understandably regarded as their best. It’s certainly the most successful, selling more than 20 million and containing some of their best-known songs, including first number 1 Heart of Glass and their next chart-topper, Sunday Girl.
Before
It didn’t get off to the best of starts in June 1978. Producer Mike Chapman, one of the songwriters and producers of some of the biggest glam rock hits of the decade, found them difficult to work with. He had high praise for guitarist Frank Infante and keyboardist Jimmy Destri, but in general found them lazy and juvenile. Guitarist Chris Stein was often stoned and unable to play well, so was advised to concentrate on songwriting rather than playing.
Singer Debbie Harry was a particular problem. Chapman quickly took note of her moodiness but could see she was a great, unique talent. Patience was a virtue, and despite some stormy moments, he was able to work on her vocal phrasing and general attitude.
Despite these issues, Parallel Lines was completed in six weeks – after being given six months. This is even more remarkable when you consider many of the songs were unfinished when recording started. On several occasions, instrumental tracks were laid down and Chapman would ask Harry to step into the recording booth, only to find her still penning lyrics.
Chrysalis Records were also sceptical and asked Blondie to go back and start again, but Chapman assured them the singles would prove popular. He was right. Picture This reached 12 and Hanging on the Telephone soared to five in 1978. Then Heart of Glass, one of the finest new wave number 1s, cemented their status as mainstream stars.
Sunday Girl was the eagerly awaited follow-up and the final single from the LP. Written by Stein, it was inspired by Harry’s cat, Sunday Man, who had recently ran away, which accounts for its plaintive, melancholy nature. Stein was nervous to be writing alone, and asked Harry if she’d be credited too, but in the end the idea was dropped. The original demo featured a Latin-influenced arrangement that impressed Chapman.
Review
As we know, this was transformed into effortlessly bright and breezy pop akin to the girl groups of the 50s – a regression back to the style of song Blondie made over their first two LPs. And like many Blondie songs, the upbeat tune masks downbeat lyrics. I’m not sure entirely, but I think it’s from the perspective of a woman remembering her lovelorn youth – she is the Sunday Girl of the title. She’s recalling her man running off with another woman:
‘Hey, I saw your guy with a different girl, Looks like he’s in another world, Run and hide, Sunday Girl’.
The archetypal bored teenager waiting for the weekend, Harry also sings:
‘She can’t catch up with the working crowd, The weekend mood and she’s feeling proud, Live in dreams Sunday girl’.
It’s a slight single, and I find it one of their weakest number 1s. But that’s when compared to classics like Heart of Glass or Atomic. It’ll stick in your head, and the chorus when Harry pleads for her love/ex-love to ‘Hurry up’ adds a welcome shot of speed to proceedings. However, in a year of classic chart-toppers, Sunday Girl is lost among the crowd.
After
Sunday Girl also reached number 1 elsewhere in Europe, but didn’t get a release in their home country. The US had One Way or Another instead, which is superior. But while the band enjoyed their second UK number 1, they were already working on the fourth Blondie album, Eat to the Beat.
The Info
Written by
Chris Stein
Producer
Mike Chapman
Weeks at number 1
3 (26 May-15 June)
Trivia
Births
12 June: Lawn bowler Ellen Falkner/Actor Jamie Harding
Deaths
8 June: Fashion designer Norman Hartnell
Meanwhile…
30 May: Nottingham Forest defeated Swedish football league champions Malmö FF 1-0 in the European Cup final at Olympiastadion, Munich.
7 June: The first direct election to the European Parliament results in a low turnout in Britain – only 32%. The Conservatives, riding high from Margaret Thatcher’s General Election victory, won 60 seats, while James Callaghan’s Labour only managed 17.
12 June: The new Tory government’s first budget saw chancellor Geoffrey Howe cut the standard tax rate by 3p and slash the top rate from 83% to 60%.
Simultaneously one of the hottest and coolest new wave bands, US six-piece Blondie were also one of the most successful, notching up five UK number 1s in under two years (and another in 1999). Heart of Glass melded new wave, rock, disco and pop with a slither of punk attitude, and it’s their best single.
Before
Blondie’s beginnings start back in New York in 1973. Guitarist Chris Stein joined rock band the Stilettoes. He began a romantic relationship with one of their vocalists – Debbie Harry. She had been a waitress, a Playboy Bunny and a member of folk-rock group the Wind in the Willows in the late-60s. Harry and Stein decided to leave the Stilettoes and start a new band in 1974. Together with former bandmates Billy O’Connor on drums and Fred Smith on bass, they became Angel and the Snake that August.
Two months later and with only two gigs under their belts, they changed their name to Blondie. As the whole world knows, Harry was one of the most beautiful women in the world, and would turn heads wherever she went. Among no doubt filthier shouts, lorry drivers would bark ‘Hey, blondie!’ at her as they drove by her walking down the street.
Fast forward to spring 1975 and Blondie’s line-up had changed several times – including experimenting with female backing singers. Drummer Clem Burke then joined them, along with Gary Valentine on bass. They became regular performers at hip joints CBGB and Max’s Kansas City, wowing crowds with power-pop and Harry’s stage presence. A few months later they recruited keyboardist Jimmy Destri to fill out their sound.
Signing with Private Stock Records, their eponymous debut LP was released in December 1976. It made little of an impression, and first single X Offender sank without trace, despite them supporting Iggy Pop on tour. However, the follow-up In the Flesh became a number two hit in Australia after being played by accident on TV (they were supposed to be showing X Offender).
Blondie decided to buy back their contract and switched to the British label Chrysalis Records. Blondie was re-released on Chrysalis in October 1977 and the critics began to take note. Nevertheless Valentine left the group and they recorded second album Plastic Letters as a four-piece, released in 1978.
The first single from the album Denis (a cover of a 1963 song by Randy and the Rainbows) finally saw their commercial stock rise – all the way to number two in the UK, where the music papers made a story out of Harry battling it out for the top spot with another strong female pop star, namely Kate Bush, who won out with WutheringHeights. Denis did reach the top spot in the Netherlands and Belgium though, and when the next 7-inch, (I’m AlwaysTouched by Your)Presence, Dear peaked at 10 in the UK, it seemed Blondie were here to stay. They were.
Hiring Frank Infante on guitar and British bassist Nigel Harrison, the six-strong Blondie toured the UK and became one of the first new wave acts to hit the mainstream. Here at last was a rock group in which the men stayed out of the spotlight. It shone fully on Harry, who had star power like few others at the time.
In a clear attempt to really leave their mark on the pop scene, Blondie worked with a big-name producer. Australian Mike Chapman had been half of ‘Chinnichap’ with Nicky Chinn. Together they wrote and produced glam rock number 1 classics by The Sweet, Mud and Suzi Quatro. The latter proved particularly appropriate, as Chapman had experience in helping female rock stars climb the charts with catchy commercial pop songs.
Blondie’s Chapman-produced third album Parallel Lines was released in September 1978. first single Picture This climbed to 12 and Hanging on the Telephone peaked at five. Their first number 1 was next.
Heart of Glass was one of Blondie’s earliest tracks. Originally known as Once I Had a Love, it was written by Harry and Stein and 1974 and demoed a year later. Although slower and funkier than the released version, It had a disco influence right from the start, having been influenced by one of the genre’s earliest hits – The Hues Corporation’s Rock the Boat (1974). Harry later recounted that the lyrics to Heart of Glass weren’t directed personally to a former love of hers, it was written as a ‘plaintive moan about lost love’. They tried it as a ballad and even reggae over the years, but it never quite worked.
Blondie remained in thrall to disco, to the consternation of some rock die-hards, over the years, occasionally adding dance floor hits to their setlists. Harry expressed her love of the work of producer Giorgio Moroder in the NME early in 1978, and the band surprised a CBGB crowd with a cover of Donna Summer’s I Feel Love later that year.
When it came to meeting Chapman to start work on Parallel Lines, the producer asked Blondie to show him what they could record. At the end he asked if there was anything else, and the band sheepishly decided to perform Heart of Glass. Despite their reticence, Chapman loved it and saw a potential hit. Blondie began to agree, but having also become fans of Kraftwerk, wanted to recreate the futuristic sounds of the German innovators as well as Moroder’s hits.
The six-piece assembled at the Record Plant in New York in June 1978 to record Heart of Glass. Unusually at the time, a rock band chose to build the song around a drum machine. The Roland CR-78 had only been released earlier that year, and it was Stein and Destri who introduced it to the studio, having bought one from a store in Manhattan. Destri in particular had a lot to do with the sound of Heart of Glass and brought in some synthesisers. Other technology used in the production included the Roland SH-5 and Minimoog.
Review
Heart of Glass is one of my favourite number 1s of the 70s and one I’ll never tire of. It never dates either. You could argue the 80s began right here and it certainly had an influence on music over the next few years. It’s icy, cool as fuck and one of the greatest disco tracks of all time – despite not actually being that easy to dance to. I love the lyrics, which suit Harry’s ‘not arsed mate’ attitude. Yes, she was once in love. She’s not any more, and you only have to listen to the first few lines to know she’s totally over it.
The lyrics to Heart of Glass are fascinating. What actually is a heart of glass? Does she have a heart of glass or does he? If it’s him, does she mean she’s cut herself because of him? Or does she mean she’s discovered her heart is fragile and he broke it into pieces? Hard to tell, because although she’s given the impression she’s moved on, the choruses suggest otherwise. In the second one Harry suggests he’s cheated on her, and she sings ‘I’m the one you’re using, please don’t push me aside’. ‘Mucho mistrust’ also suggests infidelity.
It’s worth noting that, as far as I can tell, Heart of Glass is the first chart-topper to contain a swear word of sorts. Blondie decided to try and get away with one instance of ‘Soon turned out, it was a pain in the ass’ in both the single and album mixes. It soon got replaced on the radio with another ‘heart of glass’, but good on them for trying! The song then ends on that catchy-as-hell, resigned ‘Ooh ooh ooh, ah-ah’, which comes across as another ‘ah, fuck it’.
With Heart of Glass, Blondie and Chapman really melded those influences of Moroder and Kraftwerk together to create something unique. Like I Feel Love, it feels like it could go on forever and that wouldn’t be a bad thing. I listened to 45 minutes of different versions of this in one go and I only began to tire towards the end. And like Kraftwerk, its machine-like, but scratch the surface and there’s human emotions underneath.
For the single, Chapman beefed up the sound and accentuated the double-tracked bass drum. For me, the best version is the 5:50 ‘Disco Version’ released as a 12-inch. Unlike a lot of 12-inch mixes of the time, it doesn’t sound like bits have been unnecessarily tacked on. It sounds like the natural version, just for letting the rhythm stretch out that bit longer.
The promo video to Heart of Glass was directed by Stanley Dorfman, a British director who did just that on the very first edition of Top of the Pops. The film begins with aerial shots of New York, slowly revolving like a mirrorball, before showing the streets of the city and landmarks including the Ed Sullivan Theatre and Studio 54. Although we’re meant to get the suggestion the latter is where this is filmed, it was actually made in a long-forgotten, short-lived club.
The rest of the video alternates between close-ups of Harry miming and mid-distance shots of the rest of the band ‘performing’. Harry looks particularly drop-dead gorgeous here, her hair slightly dishevelled, in a silver dress with one shoulder strap. Her bored, slightly pissed-off performance really suits the song and apparently came about through a genuine sulk. Harry wanted to dance but she was told to stay still. She wasn’t keen on Dorfman after that and didn’t appreciate all the close-ups. Nonetheless, it’s an iconic performance.
After
Heart of Glass was a deserved global smash and number 1 in most countries, including the US. Harry became a pin-up and hero to millions of teens and were a breath of fresh air. With this song toppling Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick, 1979 was shaping up to be a hell of a year for pop.
The Info
Written by
Debbie Harry & Chris Stein
Producer
Mike Chapman
Weeks at number 1
4 (3 February-2 March)
Trivia
Births
13 February:Labour MP Rachel Reeves
2 March:ComedianJocelyn Jee Esien
Deaths
14 February:Conservative MP Reginald Maudling– 14 February
19 February:Comedian Wee Georgie Wood
Meanwhile…
9 February: Trevor Francis signed for Nottingham Forest. He was the first player to sign a deal worth £1 million.
12 February: The Winter of Discontent continued, with more than 1,000 schools closed due to the heating oil shortage caused by the lorry drivers’ strike.
14 February: Talks between unions and the government, known as the ‘Saint Valentine’s Day Concordat’ marked the end to the Winter of Discontent.
15 February: However, the damage was done. Opinion polls showed the Tories up to 20 points ahead of Labour.
22 February: Saint Lucia became independent of the UK.
1 March: Scotland voted for a Scottish Assembly in the devolution referendum. However this was less than 40% of the electorate, which meant it wasn’t followed through. Also on this day, Wales voted against devolution.
Mud were always too in thrall with the 50s, and clowning around far too much, to go down in history as glam rock lynchpins, which is a shame as Tiger Feet is one of my favourite number 1s of the 70s, and Lonely This Christmas is one of the more memorable festive number 1s. But this third and final number 1 shows how stale they, and the movement that made them famous, was becoming.
Before
Fresh from the success of their Christmas number 1, Mud tried to gain a Valentine’s Day chart-topper with The Secrets That You Keep. They nearly managed it too, reaching three. Their next single was a cover of Oh Boy! by The Crickets, which had reached three in 1958 and came from their debut album The ‘Chirping’ Crickets. Meaning Chinnichap were only involved with production this time around, and soon, their partnership with the band was over.
Review
I can’t work out why Chapman and Chinn, who had proven time and time again how to get the best out of pop for several years by this point, chose to suck this rock’n’roll classic of all its energy and turn it into a stately stadium rock-style stompalong. It does the song and Mud a disservice, and although smothering the production with harmonies perhaps masks its weakness to an extent, it also means there’s barely any sign of singer Les Gray. In the original, Buddy Holly puts across brilliantly the excitement of waiting to meet a lover that night. You get none of that feeling here.
There’s also a strange section where a mystery woman sings too, which is even weirder when you watch it being performed in the video above. If you don’t, Mud briefly pretend to hang a cleaner who mimes this part…
After
Further Mud releases came thick and fast throughout 1975, but the band parted ways with Chinnichap and they left RAK. Moonshine Sally, L-L-Lucy and Show Me You’re a Woman all went top 10, and they were briefly joined by keyboardist Andy Ball. They also appeared in a bizarre musical comedy called Never Too Young to Rock. In 1976 they moved away from glam, and the number 12 hit Shake It Down was a decent stab at disco. A cover of Bill Withers’ classic Lean on Me was their final hit, reaching seven that December. That year, Gray was part of the Green Cross Code public information campaign Children’s Heroes.
By 1978 they were signed to RCA Records, and Brian Tatum had joined as keyboardist, but Gray decided to try a solo career and quit. Mud tried to carry on, and hired Margo Buchanan as their new singer, but they couldn’t recapture the spark, and they split in 1979. The original incarnation of the band performed one final time, at drummer Dave Mount’s wedding, in 1990.
In 1980 Gray began a new incarnation, dubbed Les Gray’s Mud, that he toured with in various incarnations for the rest of his life. While fighting throat cancer, he died in the Algarve, Portugal in 2004. Les Gray’s Mud continued as Mud II with the rest of the original band’s blessing. Mount died in 2006. Bassist Ray Stiles joined The Hollies in 1986 and is still with them now. Guitarist Rob Davis, known for dressing up as a woman on stage, had the most prominent career post-Mud. Following a chance meeting with dance producer Paul Oakenfold in the late-80s, he began writing lyrics to club tunes. In 2000 he had two number 1 smashes – Toca’s Miracle by Fragma and then Groovejet (If This Ain’t Love) by Spiller. Most famously, he co-wrote Kylie Minogue’s classic Can’t Get You Out of My Head with Cathy Dennis in 2001.
The Outro
Oh Boy was, I think, Chinnichap’s last number 1, after several years of chart domination.
The Info
Written by
Sonny West, Bill Tighman & Norman Petty
Producers
Mike Chapman & Nicky Chinn
Weeks at number 1
2 (3-16 May)
Meanwhile…
3 May: West Ham United won the FA Cup for the second time, by beating Fulham 2-0 in the final at Wembley Stadium. Alan Taylor scored both goals.
Here’s an unexpected number 1 for a soul group who had a US chart-topper in 1963 and had struggled to get near that level of fame again. The Tymes kept on trying though, and were rewarded 12 years later with their one and only stint at pole position in the UK.
Before
The Tymes, hailing from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, had nearly 20 years under their belts when M/s Grace was released, having formed in 1956 as The Latineers. The line-up featured Donald Banks as bass, Albert Barry as first tenor, Norman Burnett as baritone and George Hilliard as second tenor. Learning the ropes on the local circuit, they became a quintet when George Williams became their lead vocalist in 1960.
They were signed to Cameo-Parkway in 1963 and were an instant US success, when debut single So Much in Love, written by Williams, topped the Billboard chart. It also reached 21 in the UK. Their debut LP, named after the single, also featured a popular cover of Wonderful! Wonderful!, previously a hit for Johnny Mathis. But after the title track of the follow-up, Somewhere, The Tymes couldn’t maintain their popularity. They tried releasing records on their own Winchester label, but it folded after two singles. Then they were dropped by MGM after another two releases. There was a brief comeback on Colombia in 1968 with a cover of People from the musical Funny Girl, which only scraped into the US chart but reached 16 in the UK. They were soon dropped again.
Longtime producer Billy Jackson bought them time at Gamble & Huff’s Sigma Sound studio in an attempt to get them signed, but to no avail. However, RCA decided to sign them. Meanwhile, John Hall of the band Orleans and his wife Johnanna had written a doo wop-style love song about a sophisticated lady called Miss Grace that wasn’t really suitable for his band, so they asked their publisher to pitch it elsewhere. She went to The Tymes, who were happy to oblige, though they did cleverly suggest making ‘Miss’ a ‘Ms’, a term growing in popularity in the mid-70s, which suggested a rather hip, progressive woman. It was the second single released from the album Trustmaker, and fingers crossed it would do well after You Little Trustmaker was a top 20 hit.
Review
M/s Grace has an elaborate opening, bringing to mind Gamble and Huff’s slick work. But it then turns into a more old-school, upbeat soul number, which is difficult to dislike. But I’m not sure there’s enough there to really love. It’s one of the more minor number 1s of the decade, but nonetheless, it would have been a welcome blast of sunny optimism, always needed in the post-Christmas malaise of January. There’s bags of energy, and it’s nice to hear of veterans who’ve struggled for years coming good. This nation does love the underdog.
The Outro
Weirdly, M/s Grace had the opposite effect to So Much in Love. While it was a number 1 in the UK, it tanked in the US. The UK revival of their fortunes didn’t last long either, as they never had another top 40 entry. After decades of the same line-up, by 1976 Berry and Hilliard had been replaced by Terri Gonzales and Melanie Moore. The former later recorded a solo album with Chic’s Nile Rodgers, and the latter worked with Chaka Khan. Williams died in 2004, aged 69, Banks in 2011, aged 72, and Hilliard in 2014, aged 73. Berry and Burnett remain, and still tour with a new line-up.
The Info
Written by
John & Johanna Hall
Producers
Billy Jackson & Mike Chapman
Weeks at number 1
1 (25-31 January)
Trivia
Deaths
16th Duke of Norfolk, Bernard Fitzalan-Howard – 31 January
Christmas 1974, and anyone refuting the claim glam had become too in thrall of the past would have been hard pushed to defend Mud’s second number 1 of the year. Rushing together an Elvis Presley spoof for the festive market, they took Slade’s Christmas crown with Lonely This Christmas.
Before
To say the preceding 12 months had been good for Mud would be an understatement. They started the year with 1974’s biggest seller, and one of my favourite chart-toppers, Tiger Feet, then a number two with the inferior soundalike The Cat Crept In, and a respectable number six with Rocket. They also released a cover of In the Mood under the name ‘Dum’, which failed to chart.
The well was perhaps starting to run dry for Chinnichap’s songwriting, but they’d had a very impressive run over the last few years, and seeing the excitement the chart battle between Slade and Wizzard caused in 1973, they no doubt thought one of their acts could be in with a shout. If they could pull it off, it would be their third number 1 of the year.
There was some strong competition though. Mike Batt’s Wombles had enjoyed a good year and Wombling Merry Christmas was bound to do well, plus there was Bachman-Turner Overdrive’s You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet close to the top spot. Elvis too.
Speaking of which, how can you talk about Lonely This Christmas without comparing it to the work of ‘the King’? Although you could point out it’s more akin to his early-60s work than 50s material – Are You Lonesome Tonight?is the obvious song to note – there’s also his cover of Blue Christmas to consider, which he recorded in 1957. And of course, singer Les Gray’s voice was similar to Presley’s in general and it gave him an excuse to be the country’s best-selling Elvis impersonator over the holidays.
Review
Now Lonely This Christmas is no Tiger Feet, nor is it of the same class as Merry Xmaƨ Everybody, but I’ve always been fond of it, and the sheer nerve of releasing it amuses me. The clip below, from Top of the Pops, of Gray miming sincerely to a sinister-looking (aren’t they all?) ventriloquist puppet is a classic, bizarre TV moment. Mud have always struck me as charming chancers who somehow lucked into being in the right place and the right time, and the sight of them struggling to keep a straight face when performing this proves it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAZjiLeDWlc
It’s not for everyone. It certainly doesn’t have the universal appeal of Slade or Wizzard’s festive classics, and the only way you could get emotionally attached to it would be if you really were unlucky enough to be going through a break-up with someone, and even then, you can’t, because the whole song is a joke, and you’d feel like you were being laughed at. But come on, it’s Christmas, a time for taste to go out the window. Embrace the tackiness, like a nation exhausted from elections and terrorism did at the time. It’s also quite a funny way for Chinnichap’s chart dominance and number 1s together to come to an end, although there was Mud’s final number 1, produced by them, to come.
The Outro
So that’s 1974. An eclectic mix of pop, late glam, with a welcome return of some reggae and soul into the mix. Things were about to steadily slide downhill as the 70s progressed further. It seems the more the country slid into the economic doldrums, the worse the singles chart became.
The Info
Written & produced by
Nicky Chinn & Mike Chapman
Weeks at number 1
4 (21 December 1974-17 January 1975)
Trivia
Births
6 January 1975:Radio DJ Jason King
Deaths
21 December 1974:Artist James Henry Govier
Meanwhile…
22 December 1974: A rotten year for Conservative Party leader Edward Heath ends with his London home bombed by the Provisional IRA. Fortunately he wasn’t in but only cheated death by 10 minutes.
24 December: Former Labour government minister John Stonehouse is discovered living in Australia after having faked his own death. He is quickly arrested by Australian police, who initially believe that he is Lord Lucan.
6 January 1975: Brian Clough, the recently sacked former manager of Leeds United, is appointed manager of Second Division strugglers Nottingham Forest.
14 January: 17-year-old heiress Lesley Whittle is kidnapped from her home near Bridgnorth in Shropshire.
1973 had been a great year for the songwriting/production duo ‘Chinnichap’, but 1974 was even better.Tiger Feet became the year’s biggest-selling single, then after four weeks it was usurped by another Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman single. US singer and bassist Suzi Quatro was back at the top of the charts with another glam-pop-rock showcase for her skills. And there was certainly more stability in the charts than there was in Downing Street (see ‘Meanwhile…’).
Before
Quatro had remained a presence in the UK charts since her first number 1, Can the Can, a year previous. 48 Crash, the opening song on her eponymous debut album, climbed to number three, and Daytona Demon, a standalone single, number 14. She also played on Cozy Powell’s Dance With the Devil, a number three hit in January 1974, written by their record label owner Mickie Most of Rak Records. Devil Gate Drive was the first fruits of her second album Quatro, although it didn’t appear on that LP’s original UK tracklisting. Like Can the Can, it featured Len Tuckey on guitar (he and Quatro were married between 1976 and 1992) and Alastair McKenzie on keyboards, but Dave Neal replaced Keith Hodge on drums.
Review
Devil Gate Drive is Quatro’s most famous song, very similar in style to Can the Can, but more pop-friendly. It’s more overtly indebted to rock’n’roll – Chinnichap’s favourite era, clearly. The Devil Gate Drive in question seems to be the actual gates to hell, and Quatro points out how humans start sinning as young as the age of five. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying this is an insightful look at the human condition, but it’s cleverer than it appears, as Quatro knows that sinning can make us ‘come alive’. Quatro, you leather catsuit-wearing temptress. It makes a very nice change to hear her imploring everyone to get behind her, and hearing a load of burly male voices shouting back, rather than the screaming girls you’d have heard in pop most of the time. There’s some nice piano work from McKenzie too. It’s no Tiger Feet, but not bad at all.
After
A couple more hits followed for Quatro in 1974 – Too Big reached number 14 and The Wild One went to number seven, and then the law of diminishing returns began to apply. Critics of Quatro argue she was a mere novelty rather than a female role model, and was given substandard material by Chinnichap all along and her own material wasn’t good enough either. However in 1977 she not only had her first top 30 hit in three years with Tear Me Apart, she finally got noticed in the US thanks to her role as Leather Tuscadero in hugely popular nostalgic sitcom Happy Days. She appeared several times and was even offered a spin-off, such was the popularity of her character, but Quatro declined for fear of being typecast. The following year, If You Can’t Give Me Love showcased a more mellow sound and was her biggest hit since Devil Gate Drive (number four), and She’s In Love With You reached number 11 in 1979.
In 1980 Quatro’s contract with Most expired and she moved to Chapman’s Dreamland Records, but it marked a decline in her fortunes. It folded a year later, and she was without a label.
For much of the 80s Quatro could be found in more acting roles as well as releasing music. She starred in ITV comedy drama Minder in 1982, and crime drama Dempsey and Makepeace in 1985. The following year she featured alongside Bronski Beat and members of The Kinks on a cover of David Bowie’s “Heroes” for the BBC’s Children In Need. Then in 1987 she (sort of) returned to number 1 thanks to her appearance on the Ferry Aid cover of The Beatles’ Let It Be, which raised money for the charity set up in the aftermath of the Zeebrugge ferry disaster.
The Outro
Since then, Quatro has continued to release albums, which continue to sell to the fans who grew up in those heady glam rock days. Back to the Drive in 2006 saw her return to her heavier rock roots, and was her first charting album since Rock Hard in 1980. Andy Scott from The Sweet was the producer, and the title track was written by Chapman. Her autobiography, Unzipped, was released in 2007, and the most recent Quatro album, No Control, was released in 2019.
Trivia
Written & produced by
Nicky Chinn&Mike Chapman
Weeks at number 1
2 (23 February-8 March)
Trivia
Deaths
23 February:Radio sports commentator Raymond Glendenning
Meanwhile…
27 February: As the country went to the polls, controversial Conservative MP Enoch Powell announced his resignation from the party in protest against Edward Heath’s decision to take Britain into the EEC.
28 February: Heath’s plan backfired badly. The General Election results in the first hung parliament since 1929. The Tory government held 297 seats, Labour, 301, and the largest number of votes. Heath made plans to form a coalition with Jeremy Thorpe’s Liberal Party in order to cling on to power.
4 March: Heath failed to convince the Liberals to form a coalition and therefore announced his resignation as Prime Minister, paving the way for Harold Wilson to become Prime Minister for the second time with Labour forming a minority government.[5]
6 March: An improved pay offer by the new Labour government results in the end of the latest miners’ strike.
7 March: The Three-Day Week came to an end. For now, with Labour back in power, things began to stabilise and improve with the unions.
Early 1974 was peak ‘Chinnichap’, with the writers/producers responsible for two number 1s in a row. This first one took Mud out of the minor leagues and made them one of the biggest names in glam rock. And rightly so, because Tiger Feet is a classic pop anthem and one of my favourite number 1s of the 70s. If you don’t love Tiger Feet, you are dead already.
Before
The origins of the Surrey quartet begin with singer Thomas Leslie ‘Les’ Gray, born in Carshalton on 9 April 1946. Gray was a self-taught musician who originally played trumpet in a jazz band while still at school, before forming a skiffle group called The Mourners. When he left education he wrote commercials for cinema advertising legends Pearl & Dean, and then worked for Moss Bros.
By 1966, The Mourners featured guitarist Rob Davis, who had joined with drummer Dave Mounts, his companion in several previous bands. Along with bassist Ray Stiles, they became Mud that February. The following year they released their debut single on CBS Records, the very 1967-sounding Flower Power. It failed to make an impression, and nor did their next few singles, released on Phillips, over the next three years.
With psychedelia largely over, Mud were sinking (sorry) until they met impresario Mickie Most, whose Rak Records were fast becoming the hippest label around when they joined. Much like The Sweet before them, as soon as they began working with their new writers and producers Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman (despite being on different labels), things swiftly improved.
In 1973 they scored three top 20 singles – Crazy (number 12), Hypnosis (number 16) and best of the three, Dyna-Mite, which climbed to number four. With the Chinnichap template of pop-rock, Gray’s sideburns and deep Elvis-style vocal and Davis’s increasingly outlandish get-up, Mud became a fully fledged glam band with this single, which had originally been rejected by labelmates The Sweet. And then came Tiger Feet.
But what the hell is it actually about, if anything? Much like Can the Can, it’s likely they just stumbled upon a phrase they liked and worked it into a song. Clearly, in general though, Tiger Feet is a come-on to some ‘dance hall cutie’, and Gray sees her as a kind-of sexual predator in the way she cuts a rug (I’m lost at ‘tiger lights’ though). Which is ironic, considering the dance that Mud and their crew made up to this song – which may be the least sexy ever witnessed in pop.
Review
It may look ridiculous, but let me say in all seriousness that watching Mud performing the Tiger Feet dance is for me one of the most uplifting moments in pop music. It encapsulates the power of pop, and glam in particular, to make grown men act and look as stupid as possible, with all worries abandoned, totally lost in the moment. At the music night I used to DJ at with friends, I would, without shame, perform said dance time and time again, and I am proud of the fact. Everyone should try it.
So, yes, I am a huge fan of Mud’s first number 1. Ignore the words and any notion of being cool and feel the rip-roaring, childlike glee running wild throughout, from the manic rhythm guitar at the start to the ‘t-t-t-t-t-t-t-tiger feet’ at the song’s fade. It’s very difficult to analyse something so stupid and brilliant too much, so just enjoy it.
The Outro
Just like Slade, Mud gave the country some much-needed light relief in particularly trying times. This is 70s pop at its best.
The Info
Written & produced by
Nicky Chinn&Mike Chapman
Weeks at number 1
4 (26 January-22 February) *BEST-SELLING SINGLE OF THE YEAR*
Trivia
Births
30 January:Actor Christian Bale 6 February:Sports presenter Ed Chamberlin 11 February:Footballer Nick Barmby 13 February:Singer Robbie Williams 22 February:Singer-songwriter James Blunt/Radio DJ Chris Moyles
Deaths
29 January:Novelist HE Bates
Meanwhile…
4 February: One of the Provisional IRA’s most shocking attacks took place when 11 people, three of whom were civilians, were killed in the M62 coach bombing.
7 February: In the midst of the Three-Day Week, Prime Minister Edward Heath, called a General Election for 28 February, asking who governed, he or the unions. During the campaign, the Labour Party and Trades Union Congress agreed a ‘Social Contract’ intended to produce wage restraint. Also this day, Grenada became independent of the UK.
8 February: The death toll from the M62 coach bombing reaches 12 with the death in hospital of a seriously injured 18-year-old soldier.
12 February: BBC One first aired the classic children’s series Bagpuss, made by Peter Firmin and Oliver Postgate’s Smallfilms in stop-motion animation.
14 February: Birmingham City centre forward Bob Latchford becomes Britain’s most expensive footballer in a £350,000 move to Everton. Also this day, opinion polls showed the Conservative government in the lead for the forthcoming election.
Finally, a woman! The early-70s weren’t a great time for female-fronted number 1s. Most were either relegated to providing sweet harmonies in male-dominated groups or performing sickly solo ballads. US singer and bassist Suzi Quatro proved women could be rock stars too.
Before
Susan Kay Quatro, born 3 June 1950, was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. Her family name was actually ‘Quattrocchi’ (four eyes) but was shortened by immigration authorities (her paternal grandfather was an Italian immigrant). Quatro’s father Art was a semi-professional musician inbetween his job at General Motors. Her mother, Helen, was Hungarian. She was born into a large family, with foster children also thrown into the mix. One of Quatro’s sisters, Arlene, is the mother of Twin Peaks star Sherilyn Finn, and another sister, Patti, later joined one of the first all-female rock bands in the US, Fanny.
Quatro’s eureka moment for her love of music came when, aged six, she saw Elvis Presley performing on TV. She later said she had no direct female role models in music, although she did admire Billie Holiday and thought Mary Weiss of the pop group The Shangri-Las looked hot in tight trousers.
Quatro had formal training in playing classical piano and percussion, and she was still under 10-years-old when she joined her father’s jazz band, The Art Quatro Trio. She went on to teach herself the guitar and bass.
In 1964, inspired by The Beatles, Patti formed an all-female garage rock group called The Pleasure Seekers. She became Patti Pleasure, and Suzi joined too, as Suzi Soul. Arlene was later part of the group, and another sister, Nancy. Bedecked in miniskirts and wigs, they initially attracted attention purely on their looks, but people stayed for the music. By 1969 they had changed their name to Cradle.
The following year, Cradle were performing to an audience that included Mickie Most, who had been invited to attend by Suzi’s brother Michael, who was their manager. Most had founded RAK Records in 1969 and was on the lookout for acts to sign, particularly a strong woman who could fill the void left by Janis Joplin’s death. She left Cradle and moved to London in 1971.
Her debut single, Rolling Stone, was co-written by Quatro with future Hot Chocolate singer Errol Brown, and Phil Dennys. It failed to chart anywhere apart from Portugal, where it went to number 1. Most decided that to achieve UK success, Quatro needed the help of one of the hottest songwriting teams in the country – Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn. They became the perfect match, with Chinnichap’s marriage of bubblegum pop and glam rock fitting Quatro to a tee. She also got herself a proper backing band at this time – Len Tuckey on guitar, Alastair MacKenzie on keyboards and Dave Neal on drums. They all wore dark vests and had matching long dark hair, looking like grumpy labourers next to Quatro, squeezed into a leather catsuit and rightly getting all the attention.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYoogY-UGio
Review
Can the Can is a fiery, rocking pop stomp set to a pounding beat. Quatro shrieks the words so high you can barely understand the verses, but that’s fine, because this song is a showcase for Quatro’s energy and personality, and the lyrics don’t stand up to much scrutiny anyway.
It makes slightly more sense when you learn that Chinn once stated the chorus and song title refers to the impossible. That is, you can’t put a can inside another can if they’re the same size, just as you can’t make a man commit if he has no intention of doing so. Hmm, it sort of works. But it never pays to pay much attention to Chinnichap lyrics, just enjoy the sound. Can the Can does slightly outstay its welcome though, and would have been more effective had it ended before becoming too repetitive.
The Outro
Nonetheless, Quatro was established as a star in the UK, if not her own country (it took her Happy Days role to make it in the US), Chinnichap notched up their second number 1 of 1973, and there was a female rock star for young girls to aspire to be, at last.
