Top of the Pops

387. Brotherhood of Man – Save Your Kisses for Me (1976)

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The Intro

My, my – 70s record buyers really were partial to cheese, weren’t they? In the week a new band called the Sex Pistols performed at the 100 Club for the first time, family-friendly pop quartet Brotherhood of Man started a six-week stint at number 1 with Save Your Kisses for Me, which not only became the biggest seller of the year, it also won the Eurovision Song Contest.

Before

Brotherhood of Man originally sprung from the mind of songwriter and producer Tony Hiller. Formed in 1969, he intended on a revolving door of session singers and the first line-up featured Tony Burrows (later the singer on Edison Lighthouse’s Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)), John Goodison (who also wrote early material for Brotherhood of Man), Roger Greenaway (later the co-writer of The New Seekers’ I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)) and Sue Glover and Sunny Lee. As Sue and Sunny they were backing singers on Joe Cocker’s version of With a Little Help from My Friends.

Debut single Love One Another didn’t dent the charts but United We Stand (written by Goodison and Hiller) was a number 10 smash in 1970. Burrows left soon after and Where Are You Going to My Love, which peaked at 22, was their last hit in six years. Goodison left in early 1971 and was replaced by US singer Hal Atkinson, then Greenaway followed soon after and was replaced by Russell Stone. They split when their record label Deram dropped them in 1972.

Undeterred, Hiller decided to install another line-up. He opted for singers Martin Lee, Nicky Stevens and Lee Sheriden. Lee and Sheriden were already writers for Hiller but displayed singing abilities, and Stevens was a session singer and had been searching for solo stardom. Their first single was scheduled for the end of the year but when they found out David Cassidy was releasing his version, it was pulled. First two singles Happy Ever After and Our World of Love bombed in 1973. Soon after Sandra Stevens joined Brotherhood of Man. She had been a big-band singer and performed with Eve Graham of The New Seekers in the group The Nocturnes.

They signed to Pye offshoot Dawn and their first single for them, When Love Catches Up on You in 1974, didn’t chart. Bar some European success with Lady the same year and Kiss Me Kiss Your Baby in 1975, this incarnation of the group looked to be going the same way as the first. Hiller wanted to harness and maintain that success abroad and bring it on home, so entering the Eurovision Song Contest was the perfect solution.

Save Your Kisses for Me had been written by Sheriden back in 1974 originally. When presented to the others, they found the title a little clumsy and it was changed to Oceans of Love. Sheriden wasn’t best pleased and it was shelved but when it came to recording the album Love and Kisses from Brotherhood of Man, they needed one more track. Come recording day it was decided it would work better if Lee sang lead instead.

Review

Save Your Kisses for Me draws up immediate comparisons with Dawn’s Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree. Lightweight, slushy and catchy as hell. I prefer Brotherhood of Man, if I had to pick, because the chorus really gets under my skin. It’s impossible to hear without the image of the foursome standing in line doing that ridiculous dance, hands on waists, raising their feet. It’s certainly no Tiger Feet.

And then of course there’s the twist in the lyric, which makes any enjoyment of this song even more of a guilty pleasure. Throughout you’re given the impression Lee is splitting up with someone, and seemingly couldn’t give a fuck as he’s happy as can be. But then at the end, the killer blow, right after the final chorus: ‘Won’t you save them for me/Even though you’re only three.’

What?! Wait, don’t panic. Though it’s easy, considering the decade, to take a cheap shot and imagine Lee is yet another 70s pop star paedophile, he’s talking about his child! Very sweet – but way too sickly. The way it wraps up is horrible, and reminds me of Gilbert O’Sullivan’s Clair. Seeing it at number 1 week after week on repeats of Top of the Pops was bad enough, so I consider myself lucky I wasn’t around at the time.

After

Save Your Kisses for Me went to number 1 a fortnight before Eurovision. Brotherhood of Man were first up on that fateful night, 3 April at The Hague in the Netherlands. I was going to make a jokey link about the fact it’s where war crimes are judged so it seems appropriate but it doesn’t quite work.

To say it went well is an understatement. According to John Kennedy O’Connor’s The Eurovision Song Contest – The Official History, it is the biggest selling single for a winning entry in the contest’s history. It also holds the record for the highest relative score under the voting system introduced in 1975 (which has been used in every contest since), with an average of 9.65 points per jury. Mindboggling.

The Outro

Brotherhood of Man would return to number 1 a year later with, ironically, a complete rip-off of the song that would finally topple Save Your Kisses For Me.

The Info

Written by

Tony Hiller, Lee Sheriden & Martin Lee

Producer

Tony Hiller

Weeks at number 1

6 (27 March-7 May) *BEST-SELLING SINGLE OF THE YEAR*

Trivia

Births

10 April: Actress Clare Buckfield
15 April: Olympic rower Steve Williams
18 April: Actor Sean Maguire

Deaths

22 April: Novelist Colin MacInnnes/Comedian Sid James (see below)
28 April: Novelist Richard Hughes
7 May: Writer Alison Uttley

Meanwhile…

5 April: Labour MPs voted Foreign Secretary James Callaghan as their new leader and the Prime Minister. He defeated Roy Jenkins and Michael Foot in the leadership contest. Callaghan had been endorsed by outgoing leader Harold Wilson.

9 April: Young Liberals president Peter Hain is cleared of stealing £490 from a branch of Barclays Bank.

26 April: Much-loved comedy actor and Carry On actor Sid James dies of a heart attack on stage at the Sunderland Empire Theatre while performing in The Mating Season. Many in the audience initially mistake it as being part of the show.

1 May: Second division team Southampton FC win their first major trophy in their 91-year history when a goal from Bobby Stokes gives them a surprise 1–0 win over Manchester United in the FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium.

4 May: Liverpool FC win the Football League title for the ninth time with a 3–1 away win over relegated Wolverhampton Wanderers.

6 May: Local council elections produce disappointing results for the Labour Party, who win 15 seats and lose 829, compared to the Conservatives who win 1,044 new seats and lose 22. This setback comes despite the party enjoying a narrow lead in the opinion polls under new leader Callaghan.

384. Slik – Forever and Ever (1976)

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The Intro

Here is surely one of the strangest and most obscure number 1s of the 70s, perhaps of all time. Before his solo career, before Band Aid, before Ultravox, Midge Ure was in a group called Slik, who briefly lorded it over the charts with a bizarre mix of Gothic horror and Bay City Rollers-style pop.

Before

Slik started out as Glasgow-based heavy-rock band Salvation in 1970. The original line-up featured the McGinlay brothers, Kevin and Jim, Nod Kerr, Mario Tortolano, and Ian Kenny. The line-up changed several times but stabilised in 1972 with Kevin on vocals, Jim on bass, Kenny Hyslop on drums, Billy McIsaac on keyboards and Jim Ure on guitar. In a bid to avoid the confusion of having two Jims in the band, their bassist suggested Ure say his backwards, and he became ‘Mij’, which in time became ‘Midge’, and stuck for the rest of his life. They became the house band at Glasgow discothèque Clouds, where they would perform cover versions.

In April 1974 Kevin McGinlay left Salvation to pursue a solo career. Ure assumed singing duties while remaining as guitarist. That November they became Slik. They signed with Polydor and adopted pseudonyms – Ure was already Midge, Hyslop became Oil Slik, McGinlay was Jim Slik and McIsaac was now Lord Slik. Slik suited up to live up to their name, and ditched glam rock to work with pop songwriters Bill Martin and Phil Coulter. Together the duo had scored three number 1s over the years with Sandie Shaw, Cliff Richard and the England 1970 World Cup squad. Their most recent group to benefit from their skills was the Bay City Rollers, and very well they were doing too.

Slik didn’t initially have the same success. Debut single Boogiest Band in Town on Polydor in 1975 got nowhere. So they ditched the suits and, for some reason, swapped them for baseball shirts, probably to try and break the US. They also signed with Bell Records. Interestingly, Ure has claimed in the past that he was approached by Malcolm McClaren to be the singer of the Sex Pistols.

This isn’t Demis Roussos’ Forever and Ever, which would come later in the year. Slik’s song had originally been released by the pop group Kenny earlier that year on their album The Sound of Super K. It’s worth noting that their version is almost as odd as Slik’s, it just isn’t as well produced and is lacking bounce. Unlike their hit The Bump.

Review

I can still recall the first time I saw this on a BBC Four repeat of Top of the Pops. It blew my mind. Who the hell decided the opening section should insinuate we were about to hear some proggy, concept single or Black sabbath style metal obscurity? Considering Kenny and Slik’s version starts the same way, it must have been Martin and Coulter’s idea. It had me on the edge of my seat. I thought I was about to be treated to a forgotten surreal masterpiece. How the hell did this get to number 1? And is that really Midge Ure singing it? Thinking about it though, did this idea of an atmospheric opening help inspire Vienna?

Once the verses switch to the chorus, it becomes apparent how it got to number 1. It sounds like a Bay City Rollers reject, and it was. I’m all for schizophrenic singles, but the transition here is far from seamless, and although the chorus is catchy, as soon as it begins, my interest dissipates until the next verse. But I am an awkward sod. If I was whoever Ure is singing to here, I’d stay well away. He’s clearly assumed the role of a schizophrenic.

After

Slik, Martin and Coulter tried to repeat their surprise success with the follow-up Requiem, but only got to 24. This wasn’t helped by Ure being injured in a car accident which forced the band to cancel promotional appearances. Their eponymous LP soon followed, but didn’t even dent the top 40. In March 1977 Jim McGinlay left to be replaced by Russell Webb for Slik’s final tour dates. Desperate to ride the next musical wave, they changed their name to PVC2 and became a punk band. Only one single was released though, Ure’s Put You in the Picture, and it didn’t chart. They split up that September, with Ure joining The Rich Kids, former Sex Pistol Glen Matlock’s new band. More on them when we get to Ultravox.

As for the rest of Slik, Webb, Hyslop and McIsaac added Alex Harvey’s cousin Willie Gardner to their group and became Zones. They made one album, Under Influence, released in 1979, but they then split. Webb and Hyslop joined The Skids. McIsaac left the music business but made a return in the 90s with the Billy McIsaac Band.

The Outro

Weirdly, this is the first of two songs called Forever and Ever to reach number 1 in 1976, as Demi Roussos achieved the same accolade when an EP featuring his song topped the charts that summer.

The Info

Written & produced by

Bill Martin & Phil Coulter

Weeks at number 1

1 (14-20 February)

Trivia

Births

20 February: The Darkness drummer Ed Graham

Meanwhile…

19 February: Iceland breaks off diplomatic relations with the UK over the Cod War.

369. Mud – Oh Boy (1975)

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The Intro

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.

351. Gary Glitter – Always Yours (1974)

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The Intro

Thankfully, this is the last time I’ll have to write about Gary Glitter as I’ve reached the last of his three number 1s. After his previous, I Love You Love Me Love, Glitter began 1974 with the sentimental ballad Remember Me This Way. It was his first move away from the template he and Leander had set with Rock and Roll, Parts 1 and 2, towards a more ‘classic’ rock’n’roll sound, and it stalled at number three.

Review

Always Yours is more upbeat, but also features an overtly retro sound, akin to a low-budget Wizzard (I assume by this point The Glitter Band were playing on Glitter’s recordings). The only reason any respectable person could have for listening to Glitter’s songs these days is that those early Leander productions were pretty unique. This isn’t, and it’s sorely lacking that distinctive Leander guitar drone. It’s another sign that glam was leaning too heavily on the past. Sure, it was always an important element, but Bowie, Wizzard and T. Rex had more going for them. Out of all Glitter’s bestselling songs, this is one I had never heard, or perhaps I had but it made as much of an impression on me then as now – very little. At least the lyrics aren’t too seedy.

After

If you were in any doubt as to where the talent was in the Glitter and Leander partnership, consider that after Always Yours, ‘The Leader’ had only three more top 10 hits in the 70s – Oh Yes! You’re Beautiful (number two) in 1974 and Love Like You and Me (number 10) and Doing Alright with the Boys (number six) in 1975. All three were co-written and produced by Leander. Glitter worked with Mark Munro instead on his third album G. G. (1975), and sales dwindled.

Glitter announced his retirement in 1976 to spend more time with his new partner, though his financial problems probably played a large part in the decision too. Less than two years later he made the first of approximately 217 comebacks, back with Leander. But A Little Boogie Woogie in the Back of My Mind (later covered by Shakin’ Stevens) only reached number 31 upon his return. He declared himself bankrupt in 1977, and would do so again in the 90s.

From the early-80s, Glitter settled into his role as a niche performer reminding everyone of the glam years, and would reappear every so often, usually around Christmas. It was in 1984 that he enjoyed his first top 10 hit in nine years when Another Rock and Roll Christmas reached number seven. He recorded a new version of his first number 1, I’m the Leader of the Gang (I Am!) with female metal band Girlschool in 1986. He probably liked their name and would have been disappointed to find out they were grown women.

Then in 1988 Glitter found himself back on Top of the Pops courtesy of arch pranksters Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty. The duo were taking a break from their Justified Ancients of Mu Mu project to create a house version of the Doctor Who theme. Realising the ‘Glitter beat’ worked better, they instead made a mash-up of the theme with Rock and Roll, Part 2 and The Sweet’s Block Buster !. As The Timelords, they had their first number 1 with Doctorin’ the Tardis, and later released Gary in the Tardis, in which Glitter sang lines from his hits here and there. It’s quite a performance. He also (sort of) went to number 1 the following December thanks to Jive Bunny and the Mastermixers using Another Rock and Roll Christmas on Let’s Party.

By the 90s Glitter was firmly established as a national treasure. He opened a restaurant called Gary’s Glitter Bar “Leader of the Snack”. He also launched his own record label, and continued to release new and old material that would always be bought by his die-hard fans. In 1995 he started making money out of Oasis’s use of Hello, Hello, I’m Back Again on the opening track of (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?, Hello. A year later he nearly cost Roger Daltrey an eye while swinging a mic around during rehearsals for the revival tour of Quadrophenia.

And then he was found out. On 18 November 1999, Glitter took his computer to a PC World in Bristol for repair. He asked the technician not to look at his files. The technician did, and found indecent images and videos of children. When Glitter went to collect the computer the following day he was arrested and his houses raided, where further sordid material was found. ‘The Leader’ found himself cancelled pretty swiftly, with his scene in the forthcoming Spice Girls film Spice World severely cut. In March 1998 he was charged with over 50 offences including downloading indecent images, child sex and indecency. In November 1999 Glitter was cleared of sexual assault but he pleaded guilty to 54 charges of making indecent photographs of children under 16 and was sentenced to four months in jail and placed on the sex offender register. Nobody wanted to be in that gang apart from, incredibly, his hardcore followers, seemingly in a state of denial.

Afterwards, Glitter fled to Spain, then Cuba, then Cambodia after the press uncovered his wherabouts. In late 2002 he was detained over allegations against young boys and was deported. In 2005 he was living in Vietnam and further allegations followed, resulting in his arrest in November. He managed to avoid execution by firing squad when the child rape charge was dropped a month later, but in March 2006 he was sentenced to three years in prison. Glitter claimed UK tabloids had set him up. He suffered a heart attack while behind bars and was released in 2008. 19 countries refused to allow him in, and he agreed to return to the UK, where he was placed on the Sex Offenders Register for life.

ITV’s Exposure documentary on Jimmy Savile in October 2012, threw Glitter in the spotlight once more, when it was alleged he raped an underage girl in Savile’s dressing room. So it wasn’t a huge shock when he became the first person to be arrested as part of Operation Yewtree. Glitter went to prison once again, in February 2015, convicted for 16 years for attempted rape, four counts of indecent assault and one of having sex with a girl under 13. Glitter will be 87 when he’s released if he serves the full term. That’s if he makes it that far, as he’s suffered heart problems for years.

The Outro

Glitter was one of the first modern examples of cancel culture. As I’ve said several times in this blog, he’s a rare example of a musician whose misdemeanours have been considered impossible to separate from the artist. His appearances on Top of the Pops repeats on BBC Four have been removed, along with those of his partner in crime, Savile, who inadvertently sent him to prison for probably the last time. The controversy of the use of Rock and Roll Part 2 in Joker (2019) brought him back in the public eye, and despite the fact it’s been proven he won’t make any money from royalties, I get the feeling he’ll have got off on making the news again.

His erasure is deserved, as research for this blog has proved he did nothing to make his music worth listening to again. The talent all lay with Leander, and his production skills in those early years remains different and interesting. Glitter was an opportunist, from lucking his way into working with a great producer at the right time, to his terrible crimes.

The Info

Written by

Gary Glitter & Mike Leander

Producer

Mike Leander

Weeks at number 1

1 (22-28 June)

Trivia

Births

22 June: Labour MP Jo Cox

349. The Rubettes (Arranged by Gerry Shury) – Sugar Baby Love (1974)

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The Intro

The Rubettes’ retro 50s and 60s vibe fitted right in with the tail end of the glam years, yet the best element of their sole number 1, Sugar Baby Love – that soaring, Frankie Valli-style falsetto, wasn’t from a member of the band. Somehow, a demo became a number 1 single for a month.

Before

The idea of the band originated in 1973 from the head of A&R at Polydor Records, Wayne Bickerton and Tony Waddington. Together, they had been in The Pete Best Four and went on to write songs, including soul favourite Nothing but a Heartache in 1969. Bickerton and Waddington were considering writing a rock’n’roll musical and had come up with four retro bubblegum pop songs – Sugar Baby Love, Tonight, Juke Box Jive and Sugar Candy Kisses (which became a hit for Mac and Katie Kissoon). In October 1973 they arranged for demos of the tracks to be recorded, with the possibility of putting the first in the running for a shot at the Eurovision Song Contest. They assembled, among others singer Paul Da Vinci for the lead, backed by keyboardist Pete Arnesen and drummer John Richardson, among others.

With the song demos finished, they offered the material to Leicester-based rock’n’roll revivalists Showaddywaddy (which would have been highly appropriate) who turned them down, as did former vocalist with The Move, Carl Wayne. Bickerton and Waddington decided to clean up Sugar Baby Love but in essence release the original demo, under a random 50s-sounding name, hence The Rubettes. What they didn’t expect was to then have to quickly assemble a real group to promote the song when it started to gain momentum. And it posed a problem, as Da Vinci wasn’t able to join them as he was under a solo contract elsewhere. Richardson and Arnsesen returned, and joining them were Alan Williams as singer, Tony Thorpe on guitar, Mick Clarke on bass and Bill Hurd on keyboards. The Rubettes were bedecked in white suits and cloth caps to help them stand out in these days of frequently outlandish outfits.

Review

But it’s Da Vinci’s stunning falsetto that stands out on Sugar Baby Love, both uplifting and sad at the same time and conjuring up the hits of The Four Seasons. Unfortunately, as good as it is, that’s really all the song has going for it. It could be that I’m not a fan of doo-wop and Valli in general, but I’ve never enjoyed Sugar Baby Love. Perhaps because it was only ever meant as a demo, it strikes me as being an empty, soulless pastiche, and a warning that glam was running out of ideas, if you can even really call it glam.

The idea of the song is better than the reality. Da Vinci is urging the listener not to make the same mistake as him. He clearly regrets hurting his love, and implores them to ‘Love her anyway, love her everyday’, which is a good lyric, to be fair.

After

Nobody was any the wiser as Williams mimed along to the demo on Top of the Pops, which they only lucked their way on to after Sparks had problems with work permits. This must have been pretty annoying for the Mael Brothers, as Sugar Baby Love kept This Town Ain’t Big Enough for Both of Us from the top spot. I wonder how Da Vinci felt, too?

The next two singles, Tonight and Juke Box Jive, came from the original demos too, and the latter in particular did well, reaching number three at the end of the year. I Can Do It reached number seven in 1975, but then they started to lose their ground, and they ditched the doo-wop. Arnsesen left later that year, followed by Hurd in 1976. They reached number 10 with the country-styled Baby I Know, sang by Thorpe, and never had another top 40 entry. He departed the band in 1979 following arguments.

The Rubettes dissolved in 1980. Since then, they have followed the well-trodden path of reforming, splitting into several different versions, and going to court over the use of the band’s original name, which lets face it, is what gets the punters flocking to see these bands of yesteryear. Currently, there’s The Rubettes featuring Alan Williams, The Rubettes featuring John, Mick, & Steve (February 2019) and The Rubettes featuring Bill Hurd.

As for Da Vinci, he reached number 19 with solo hit Your Baby Ain’t Your Baby Anymore in 1974. Further failed attempts followed, so in 1977 he went back to session work. He wrote Any Way You Do It, the first single by disco group Liquid Gold in 1978, and in 1981 he sang on Tight Fit’s Back to the 60’s Part II medley.

The Outro

Luke Haines’s indie rock band The Auteurs released a song called The Rubettes in 1999, which referenced their number 1.

The Info

Written by

Wayne Bickerton & Tony Waddington

Producer

Wayne Bickerton

Weeks at number 1

4 (18 May-14 June)

Trivia

Births

27 May: Presenter Denise van Outen
5 June: Ventriloquist Nina Conti

Deaths

10 June: Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester

Meanwhile…

20 May: The first meeting was held by The Centre for Policy Studies, a Conservative social market think tank established by Keith Joseph, Margaret Thatcher and Alfred Sherman.

28 May: Following a strike by unionists, power-sharing in the Northern Ireland Assembly collapses.

1 June: An explosion at Flixborough chemical plant kills 28 people and seriously injures 36. Had it happened on a weekday the numbers would have been much higher.

5 June: Snow Knight, ridden by Brian Taylor, was victorious in the Epsom Derby. The odds were 50/1.

8 June: Jon Pertwee became the third actor to relinquish the role of The Doctor in Doctor Who, citing the death of his friend and TV enemy Roger Delgado in 1973. The final episode of ‘Planet of the Spiders’ saw Pertwee regenerate into Tom Baker.

10 June: The Queen’s last surviving royal uncle, Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, dies at his home in Northamptonshire, seven years after his last public appearance. His funeral is held at Windsor Castle on 14 June.

346. Paper Lace – Billy – Don’t Be a Hero (1974)

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The Intro

Death discs! Remember them? No? Don’t worry, it’s been a while. They hadn’t been in fashion since the mid-60s, and the last proper one to top the charts was Johnny Remember Me in 1961. Yet here we are in 1974, with two in a row. First, thanks to their success on Opportunity Knocks, Nottingham-based pop group Paper Lace were at number 1 with Billy – Don’t Be a Hero.

Before

Paper Lace formed in 1967 as Music Box, consisting of Cliff Fish, Dave Manders, Roy White and Phil Wright. They performed contemporary covers by bands including The Beach Boys. In 1969 they became Paper Lace, named after their city’s long history with lace. While working their way through club gigs a year later they auditioned for Opportunity Knocks, the ITV talent show presented by Hughie Green. Nothing came of it at first, but they signed with Philips and released the album First Edition in 1972. The following year they were finally called up to appear on Opportunity Knocks, and they went down a storm, winning five weeks on the trot. By this point, the band consisted of Philip Wright on drums and lead vocals (very unusual, especially in these days), Mick Vaughan on guitar, Fish was still there on bass, and Chris Morris on guitar and vocals.

Meanwhile, hitmaking duo Mitch Murray and Peter Callander, last seen on this blog having written 1968 number 1 The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde for Georgie Fame, had written Billy – Don’t Be a Hero and were looking for someone to record it. Murray, the man behind Gerry and the Pacemakers’ three number 1s in 1963, wanted an established group to record it, but Callander’s wife saw Paper Lace on TV and suggested them to her husband.

Review

Opening to a chirpy military drumbeat and whistling, Paper Lace’s solo number 1 is the weakest chart-topper of 1974 thus far. It sounds more like a single from the golden era of death discs and it’s too cheesy and naff to get much enjoyment out of. As an anti-war song, some suspect it was a brave move for Billy – Don’t Be a Hero to be released during the Vietnam War and that it was a comment on the situation, but clearly it wasn’t. There are references to ‘soldier-blues’ and ‘riding out’, and on publicity photos and one Top of the Pops appearance, the band (now bolstered by new member Carlo Santanna – not Carlos Santana – on guitar and mandolin), they’re wearing Union outfits. It’s a song about the American Civil War.

But yes, whichever war it’s about, the message is a good one. Don’t be a hero Billy, stay and marry your fiancée. But alas, no. Come the final verse, Billy has indeed died a hero, and his girlfriend throws the letter away. There’s no denying Callander and Murray in particular know how to write a tune, but their songs sound so stale in a year where disco is right around the corner. Having said that, it is unfortunately perhaps a sign of things to come, because there are some truly awful pop songs to come throughout the rest of the decade too.

Considering the subject matter, you’d think Paper Lace might have had a chance with a hit in the US. So it must have been pretty annoying when Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods got in there first and went to number 1 with their rushed cover. The Nottingham boys had more luck second time around though, when Murray and Callander gave them Prohibition-set tune The Night Chicago Died as a follow-up. It climbed to number three on these shores, but they scored a number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Third collaboration, The Black-Eyed Boys, just missed out on the top 10, also in 1974. With their second album, Paper Lace and Other Bits of Material released too, it was a busy year. It didn’t take long for Paper Lace to unravel though, and by 1976 the ‘classic’ line-up was no more.

Paper Lace resurfaced with different members in 1978 and scored a top 30 hit when they teamed up with Nottingham Forest FC to record a version of We’ve Got the Whole World in Our Hands. They split up in 1980 but by 1983 another version had formed. In 1990 Wright, Vaughan and Morris re-recorded Billy – Don’t Be a Hero but it was never released due to the Gulf War. The original was on a list of songs banned by the BBC at the time.

The Outro

These days there are two versions of Paper Lace, each containing different members from their hitmaking days. Why can’t everyone just learn to get along?

The Info

Written & produced by

Mitch Murray & Pete Callander

Weeks at number 1

3 (16 March-5 April)

Trivia

Births

28 March: Snooker player Mark King/Radio DJ Scott Mills
1 April: Conservative MP John Glen

Meanwhile…

18 March: Most OPEC nations end a five-month oil embargo against the US, Europe and Japan.

20 March: After wounding four people, crazed gunman Ian Ball fails in his attempt to kidnap Princess Anne and her husband Captain Mark Phillips in The Mall, outside Buckingham Palace. When he wrestled her to the floor of the Rolls-Royce and commanded her to get out, the princess’s response was ‘Not bloody likely!’. Passing heavyweight boxer Ronnie Russell came to the rescue, punching Ball twice in the head. Princess Anne’s parting words were ‘Just go away and don’t be such a silly man.’ Ball is still ‘away’, in Broadmoor Hospital.

29 March: The new Labour government re-establishes direct rule over Northern Ireland after declaring a state of emergency. 

1 April: The Local Government Act 1972 comes into effect in England and Wales, creating six new metropolitan counties and redrawing the administrative map. Newport and Monmouthshire are legally transferred from England to Wales.

328. Gilbert O’Sullivan (Music Director: Laurie Holliday) – Get Down (1973)

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The Intro

Despite being one of the UK’s biggest stars of the early-70s, Irish singer-songwriter Gilbert O’Sullivan is probably most famous these days for this song, in which Top of the Pops dancers Pan’s People took the lyrics literally and paraded around in front of a load of dogs (see the clip below). But to be fair, the alternative interpretation wouldn’t have been great either…

Before

Get Down was the first single from O’Sullivan’s third album I’m a Writer, Not a Fighter. Keen for another image change, this LP saw O’Sullivan dabbling his toes in rock and funk and using keyboards rather than the piano. The track had originally been a warm-up tune before he decided to flesh it out for his new album.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFVueJSJuEM

Review

Get Down is a very different beast to O’Sullivan’s previous best-seller and ode to a little girl, Clair, but is problematic for a different reason. Either we take Get Down literally and it’s a bit of froth about his dog, or he’s talking down to a woman in a very derogatory way:

‘Told you once before
And I won’t tell you no more
Get down, get down, get down
You’re a bad dog, baby
But I still want you around’

So what were Pan’s People to do with this, to be fair? Dress up as an sexist-at-best, abusive-at-worst husband who treats his wife like crap? That would have made for an interesting dance.

And then the middle eight, other than a cat reference, seems to come from another song, where O’Sullivan mentions how he once said some wine and felt happy. Well, great, Gilbert.

Get Down is certainly better than Clair, and can get under your skin if you’re not careful, but it’s nothing more than a throwaway really. I do struggle to get the appeal of O’Sullivan’s whimsy, based on what I’ve heard.

After

O’Sullivan continued to have hits, though not to the same degree, scraping into the top 20 with follow-up Ooh Baby. Most successful was Why, Oh Why, Oh Why, released in November 1973, which went on to reach number six. His shot at the festive number 1 spot, Christmas Song, performed respectably too, reaching 12 in 1974. But I Don’t Love You But I Think I Love You the following May was his last hit of the 70s.

The main reason for this was the fact O’Sullivan became embroiled in a long and painful court case with his producer and manager Gordon Mills over royalties. Which must have made performing Clair a bit awkward (the girl in question was Mills’s daughter) to say the least. He left MAM Records after 1977 album Southpaw and returned to CBS

The 80s began promisingly, with What’s In a Kiss? returning him to the top 20. More importantly, in 1982 the court finally ruled in O’Sullivan’s favour, awarding him £7 million in damages. He mostly kept a low profile for the rest of the decade, releasing little in the way of new material.

He was back in court again in 1991, and was the victor once more, in a case against rapper Biz Markie over sampling rights for the song that shot him to fame in the 70s, Alone Again (Naturally). This case was partly responsible for sampling becoming so expensive afterwards.

The Outro

O’Sullivan became more prolific as the 90s progressed and into the 21st century, releasing albums and compilations with witty names like Singer Sowing Machine (1997) and The Berry Vest of Gilbert O’Sullivan (2004). In 2008 he performed at Glastonbury festival, and in 2011 BBC Four showed Out On His Own, a documentary devoted to him. His 19th, eponymous album released in 2018 is his latest to date.

The Info

Written by

Gilbert O’Sullivan

Producer

Gordon Mills

Weeks at number 1

2 (7-20 April)

Meanwhile…

17 April: British Leyland launched the Austin Allegro.

326. Slade – Cum On Feel the Noize (1973)

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The Intro

‘BABY BABY BAAAAAABY!’. From one glam classic to another, The Sweet’s Block Buster ! was toppled after five weeks in pole position by another 1973 anthem. Slade finally achieved their goal with their fourth number 1 – Cum On Feel the Noize was the first chart-topper since Get Back to enter the charts in the top spot. There was no stopping the Wolverhampton wonders now.

Before

Slade had recently suffered a slight dip in fortunes however. For the first time since 1971, they released a single that didn’t climb to number 1. Gudbuy T’Jane was kept from the top by Chuck Berry’s My Ding-a-Ling, of all things – although Noddy Holder is in the crowd of that actual performance.

This single was originally called Cum On Hear the Noize, but, recalling a 1972 concert by his band, Holder described being able to feel the sound of the crowd pounding in his chest. A wise move, as it makes the song that much more visceral. As Stuart Braithwaite of Scottish post-rockers Mogwai once said, music should be felt, not heard.

It was another tailor-made anthem by Holder and bassist Jim Lea, building upon their last number 1, Mama Weer All Crazee Now, in which the band describe the atmosphere of performing for their ever-growing army of fans. The initial ‘Baby, baby, baby’ was intended as a mic test, but it worked as a great intro to such an exciting song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qu_ozjAu_vM

Review

This brilliant call-to-arms stomp is Slade firing on all cylinders. Were it not for Merry Xmaƨ Everybody, it would probably be even better recognised, but this is a Slade single that’s for life, not just for Christmas.

The lyrics, as always with Slade, are pretty simple, but there’s some wit displayed here, as Holder winds up his detractors, most notably with ‘So you think my singing’s out of time, well it makes me money’. As with their previous single, it’s a masterstroke to add audience-style backing vocals chanting the chorus, creating another easy chant for maximum audience interaction. Everyone involved is having the time of their lives here, knowing that this was their time. I particularly like Lea’s busy bass throughout. This song remains a total joy from start to finish, and must have been immense at live shows of the time. A welcome distraction from continuous IRA-related terrible news in the early spring of 1973.

The Outro

In 1983, US heavy metal act Quiet Riot had a big US hit with their cover, with slightly different lyrics and a very hair-metal sound. Then in 1996 at the height of their fame, Oasis made it an extra track of their single Don’t Look Back In Anger, memorably performing both tracks on one edition of Top of the Pops. While it may have made sense for a band like Oasis to cover this (both acts had large followings, distinctive lead singers, were at the height of their powers), neither of these covers match the original.

The Info

Written by

Noddy Holder & Jim Lea

Producer

Chas Chandler

Weeks at number 1

4 (3-30 March)

Trivia

Births

4 March: Conservative MP Penny Mordaunt

Deaths

12 March: Ornithologist David Lack
26 March: Playwright Noël Coward
30 March: Conservative MP Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 14th Duke of Hamilton

Meanwhile…

3 March: Two IRA bombs exploded in London, killing one person and injuring 250 others. 10 people were arrested later that day at Heathrow Airport.

8 March: In the Northern Ireland sovereignty referendum, 98.9% of voters in the province wanted Northern Ireland to remain part of the UK. This was the first referendum on regional government in the UK.

Also that day, more IRA bombs exploded in Whitehall and the Old Bailey in London. 

10 March: Richard Sharples, the governor of Bermuda, and his aide-de-camp were assasinated.

17 March: The new London Bridge, replacing a 19th-century stone-arched bridge, was opened by Queen Elizabeth II. 

21 March: Seven men are killed in flooding at the Lofthouse Colliery disaster in West Riding, Yorkshire.

26 March: Women were admitted into the London Stock Exchange for the first time. 

321. Lieutenant Pigeon – Mouldy Old Dough (1972)

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The Intro

1972 was a particularly strange year in the singles chart. Glam rock was yet to totally take over the charts, and some real oddities not only did well, they became huge. The year’s biggest seller was a bagpipe cover of Amazing Grace, and the second was this dirty knees-up from experimental musicians recorded in a living room, featuring the tuneless growling singer’s mum playing honky tonk piano. Mouldy Old Dough would rank highly in any chart of the oddest number 1s of all time. It’s also the only one to feature a mother and her son. It’s also the sound of a nation having a nervous breakdown.

Before

Singer Rob Woodford and drummer Nigel Fletcher had been playing in bands since 1963. Woodward, under the name Shel Naylor, recorded for Decca in 1963 and 64, and one of his singles was One Fine Day by Dave Davies of The Kinks.

By 1969 the duo, obsessed with mad genius producer Joe Meek’s productions, were making recordings in the front room of Rob’s mother Hilda’s house, under the strange name Stavely Makepeace. Their first single was (I Wanna Love You Like a) Mad Dog. Their 1972 single Slippery Rock 70s found its way into the Edgar Wright 2007 comedy Hot Fuzz.

Deciding that things weren’t weird enough, they teamed up with bassist Steve Johnson and Hilda to create an outlet for their tendencies to create novelty tunes. Why Lieutenant Pigeon? Why not?

This debut single sank without trace on its first release at the start of the year, as their manager said it would, but somehow it was picked up for use as the theme to a Belgian TV current affairs show, and it went to number 1 there. Decca decided to give it another go, then Radio 1 DJ Noel Edmonds loved it, and it’s thanks to him in part that it did so well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdNW9xLEH3k

Review

Opening with woodwind from Johnson, Lieutenant Pigeon’s debut Mouldy Old Dough initially sounds like a children’s TV or sitcom theme, until Hilda’s relentless piano takes over. One of the most unlikely number 1 band members ever sounds like a stoned version of Winifred Atwell. So far, so bizarre. But then it gets really messed up when Rob starts singing the song’s title. I say ‘singing’… he sounds like a tramp on turps. Apparently ‘mouldy old dough’ was a play on the 1920s jazz phrase ‘vo-de-o-do’, but it fits the feel of the song totally. The whole thing conjures up what many imagine when they think of the 70s in the UK. A rotting, brown, smelly, seedy old mess. You know how Pet Shop Boys’ Opportunities is always used as a soundtrack to 80s montages on TV? This should be used for the 70s.

But this is no bad thing. How incredible that this was a number 1?! That the Top of the Pops crowd of kids can actually be seen getting down to this swamp song in the clip above? We’ll never see its like again, that’s for sure. The group look like they can’t believe their luck, especially Rob as he growls ‘Dirty old man’.

After

Lieutenant Pigeon even managed another hit when they reached number 17 with Desperate Dan, also in 1972. It’s almost exactly the same, but not as good. They reached number three in Australia in 1974 with a cover of I’ll Take You Home Again, Kathleen.

The Outro

The original incarnation decided to stop touring in 1978. Johnson reformed Lieutenant Pigeon with a new line-up in the 80s. These days the original duo still record as Lieutenant Pigeon and Stavely Makepeace, creating jingles and releasing music on their website. Hilda, who looked very old in 1972, was actually only 56 at the time (everyone looked older than they should have in the 70s). She died in 1999, aged 85.

The Info

Written by

Nigel Fletcher & Rob Woodward

Producer

Stavely Makepeace

Weeks at number 1

4 (14 October-10 November)

Trivia

Births

2 November: Actress Samantha Janus
6 November: Actress Thandie Newton
7 November: Rugby player Danny Grewcock

Deaths

15 October: Broadcaster Douglas Smith

Meanwhile…

16 October: The first episode of Yorkshire Television’s rural soap Emmerdale Farm was broadcast on ITV. Before they shortened the title, it was a much more gentle drama, like a bleaker version of The Archers.

19 October: Royce Ryton’s play Crown Matrimonial premiered at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, London. Concerning the abdication of Edward VIII, it was the first time a living member of the Royal family (Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother) had been represented on stage.

22 October: England football team goalkeeping legend Gordon Banks suffered a serious eye injury in a car crash in Staffordshire.

23 October: Access credit cards were first introduced as a rival to Barclaycard.

6 November: The Government introduces price and pay freezes to counter inflation.

315. Slade – Take Me Bak ‘Ome (1972)

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The Intro

By the dry, dull summer of 1972, glam rock was on the rise. T. Rex had already peaked with their four number 1s, but other acts were now breaking through. The Sweet had scored several hits with Co-Co and Little Willy and two landmark albums were released in June – Roxy Music’s eponymous debut LP, and most importantly, David Bowie’s The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. In the first week of July he made his famous appearance on Top of the Pops for Starman, putting his arm around guitarist Mick Ronson and making rock history.

Before

That same week, Slade were celebrating their second number 1. Since 1971’s Coz I Luv You, the Wolverhampton glam-rockers had turned down a multi-million-dollar campaign in the US to star in their own TV series and tour. But while the chance to become the next Monkees must have been appealing, singer Noddy Holder reportedly told the NME that they didn’t want to cancel commitments and let down their UK fans.

In January 1972 they released follow-up single Look Wot You Dun, written mostly by bassist Jim Lea and drummer Don Powell, with some help from Holder. The song reached number four, and Record Mirror reported they were annoying teachers by setting a bad example and releasing two misspelt singles in a row. Look Wot You Dun wasn’t as good as their number 1, but it proved Slade were no one-hit wonders. In March came Slade Alive!, recorded in front of 300 fan club members and featuring a storming version of Get Down and Get With It.

Take Me Bak ‘Ome, like their previous number 1, was written by Holder and Lea but according to Lea in the group’s 1984 biography Feel the Noize! it originated from an old tune he had made, with a bit of revamping and a phrase or two from The Beatles’ Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey.

Review

Of Slade’s six number 1s, this ranks as the least memorable. It’s only really worth hearing to get a better insight into how the band were striving and struggling to find the winning formula that they achieved from their next number 1 onwards. It’s meat-and-potatoes rock without the unique element of danger in Coz I Luv You and no anthemic chorus to latch on to, which they later excelled at. Lyrically, it’s a laddish story of boy-meets-drunken-girl-who-stinks-of-brandy. He tries it on, only to flee in fear of her boyfriend a ‘Superman’ who’s twice his size. And it was ‘alright’, apparently.

After

Take Me Bak ‘Ome climbed to number 13, and Slade were booked to perform at the Great Western Festival in Lincoln. The field of rock fans booed when Slade were announced to be performing imminently. They were worried they were considered too ‘pop’ and had blown it before even starting, but they won over the crowd with their heavy material, and it helped propel them to their second number 1.

The Outro

Interestingly, Holder had ad-libbed over the riff in the middle of the song’s recording but Lea suggested he change what he came up with as it had given him an idea for their next single…

The Info

Written by

Noddy Holder & Jim Lea

Producer

Chas Chandler

Weeks at number 1

1 (1-7 July)

Meanwhile…

1 July: The first official UK Gay Pride Rally was held in London, with approximately 2,000 participants.