|
Post by Shireblogger on Sept 30, 2010 12:04:31 GMT 1
As I was reading the post about "Eye Level", I was thinking "I know it's an instrumental, because I've got the single buried in the garage, but how come I can sing words to it ? I was far too young to actually watch Van der Valk on tv, so there must have been an alternative version on the radio at the time. I must ask vas if he can resolve this mystery".
And then, the postscript. Matt Monro ? Well I'm blowed.
Matt Monro is shockingly unknown these days given how famous some of his songs are. "Born Free" - that was Matt. So was the first hit version of "Yesterday". And "From Russia With Love". Plus a Eurovision runner-up.
I remember "Crown Court". In the days of Southern ITV, it used to follow "Houseparty", which was a bunch of middle-aged women talking about cakes, knitting and tupperware. When "Crown Court" came on, it was the signal that I'd sat still for long enough to let my lunch "go down", and I could leap up and run around outside for the rest of the afternoon.
|
|
vastar iner
Member
I am the poster on your wall
Posts: 17,431
|
Post by vastar iner on Sept 30, 2010 21:24:24 GMT 1
Unlucky you, those programmes were the wrong way around. Anyway, whilst I'm on a seventies vibe: Blackfoot Sue"Standing In The Road", no. 4, August 1972 "Sing, Don't Speak", no. 36, December 1972 "How many of yous lot know That song by Blackfoot Sue "I'm Standing In The Road" Was penned by The burly physio Of non-league Farnborough Town?" -Half Man Half Biscuit, "Improv Workshop Mimeshow Gobshites" I will yield to nobody in my admiration of Nigel Blackwell. But occasionally the laureate of the Wirral could be misleading in his songs. He did not leave his heart in Papworth General, the Romany bint in the field with her paint did not have Dickie Davies eyes, and that song by Blackfoot Sue was not written by any physio, but by the band members themselves. Indeed I am not aware of any physio of any club, be it league or non-league, having had any musical pedigree, although Crewe Alexandra's a few years ago was sufficiently silver of hair and beard to warrant a chant of "there's only one Kenny Rogers" from the Tilton when he attended one of his charges. Judging by his appearance, there were actually two. The bandmembers of Blackfoot Sue were not even from Farnborough, but Birmingham, which made their entry into the chart the second best thing to happen to the city that sultry August week (the first being my birth, naturally). Annoyingly the football-inspiring Chicory Tip (with Girgio Moroder's breakthrough hit) managed two follow-up singles, so we look to the Sue for the glam influence in this thread; you can see the Slade influence in the visuals and hear it in the sound, and even the spelling, although they resisted the temptation to go the whole hog and be Blakfut Soo or something. The group was formed around the core of the Farmer twins (Tom on bass and lead vox and David on drums) and Eddie Golga on guitar, Alan Jones eventually becoming the semi-permanent backing guitarist. The band had gone through a number of names and sounds in the late sixties - even having a pre-Zep Robert Plant guest with them for some gigs - whilst still at school; eventually they settled on the name The Gift. That lasted until they decided to play a gig under a pseudonym. Stuck as a covers band, they had written some more exploratory stuff and to showcase it named themselves Blackfoot Sioux, after their pet cat...they were scouted by United Artists, eager to get on the glamwagon, and kept gigging under their previous name so that BS could be launched as a brand-new, fully-formed act. It worked; debut single on the UA imprint Jam entered the chart at number 44 and within a month was top five. Despite - because of? - the slightly harder edge to their sound, they were promoted as a teenygirl band, which was unfortunate; it turned off a potential audience... An album followed, but glam bands had a curious relationship with the album charts. T Rex and Slade were seen as proper, serious musicians (quite rightly) and had significant success; Glitter, the Rubettes and the Sweet were seen as teenage rampagers and never quite made the breakthrough. Blackfoot Sue, despite their sound being more like the former, were considered part of the latter, and their management - Dick James, behind Elton John amongst others - lost interest very quickly. The album, "Nothing To Hide", missed the chart, as did follow-up singles. Follow-up album "Strangers" was even more unsuccessful, and third album "Gun Running" never got released - partly because the harpsichord backing track that was to run throughout was accidentally erased...with punk taking over, BS called it a day in 1977. And then re-formed. Alan Jones went to Australia with his girlfriend, BS dropped the Sue, and then became a blue-eyed soul outfit called Liner. They had a couple of hits, "You And Me" being the bigger, reaching number 44, which I suppose ought to take them out of this thread for being three-hit wonders, but if you listen to it you wouldn't think it the same band. (Besides which, it's abysmal and I prefer to expunge the existence of Liner from what's left of my mind.) They soon grew out of that and became new-wavers The Spoilers, and then beyond that into cock-rockers Outside Edge (it gets a bit Spinal Tap). When third OE album "In Concert" was shelved when Virgin wound up its 10 subsidiary (to which they were signed), it marked the near-end of the act; in 1987 Golga left to join Little Wing and that was it for the artists formerly known as, well, whatever you think of, they were probably it. The three main members all stuck around in music, the Farmers playing with ELO Part II and Skeleton Crew with Paul King, and in the early 1990s the Farmers revived the Blackfoot Sue name with younger brother Gary and Steve Turner, who had both played in Brian Connolly's touring version of the Sweet with Tom Farmer, and released fresh material until 1998. They still play off and on, in 2004 with Eddie Golga back in the fold, and in 2007 with Alan Jones back to reunite the original BS.
|
|
vastar iner
Member
I am the poster on your wall
Posts: 17,431
|
Post by vastar iner on Oct 2, 2010 12:01:57 GMT 1
At this time 30 years ago I would be watching this lot... The Four Bucketeers"The Bucket Of Water Song", no. 26, May 1980 "Raspberry Rock", dnc, September 1980 The best children's TV show ever, Tiswas had an understated beginning in 1974, being basically a series of links between the usual Saturday morning cartoons, fronted by Chris Tarrant, then the ATV "and finally" reporter, and reputedly who agreed to host it for a tenner. Co-host was Peter Tomlinson and the programme gradually grew to overshadow the programmes it ostensibly linked. It took some time to reach the country at large. Indeed it never made it to Tyne Tees, so just remember that when thinking of the gruesome twosome Ant & Dec claiming they were avid fans on the Tiswas Reunited broadcast. Many regions were somewhat concerned about the anarchic nature of the show - how many kids' TV programmes could boast of having Bernard Manning, Motorhead and The Who as guests? - and offered such fare as the Saturday Banana instead. By 1980 it had reached its definitive form. Tarrant, the very lovely Sally James (who used to present Garter of the Week on the show), the rapidly evolving Lenny Henry (often as outrageous rasta character Algernon Winston Spencer Churchill Razzmatazz), ex-policeman Bob Carolgees (real name Johnson, allegedly getting his stage name from a secretary Carol Gee) with his "ventriloquism" (consisting mainly of a dog called Spit, which, like a death metal band, lived up to its name), and the musical talent; Mersey poet John Gorman, ex-of The Scaffold, Christmas number one hitmakers of the past (with Roger McGough and Mike McGear, whose brother Paul was a bit more successful with his foursome). In those pre-video days a record was the obvious spin-off for commercial success. Owing to a fear of offending ITV's lawyers, they called themselves The Four Bucketeers for their big hit, a tribute to the show's trademark brutality (if you want to see Sally in beans, and who wouldn't, see here). At the time the BBC's rival was the Noel Edmonds Swap Shop. Tiswas had Bernard Manning, Swap Shop had John Craven. Tiswas had the Cage with Rainbow smoking marijuana, Swap Shop had bookmark collectors. Needless to say, when the Bucketeers made their Top Of The Pops appearance, the Beeb's technicians refused to allow them to use water, so the buckets were pointlessly filled with confetti... There was an entire album following, and a few other spin-off singles (the one posted above was an AA-side with "Water Is Wonderful"), including one by Henry as Razzmatazz (based around his "Oooooo-kaaaaaaaay" catchphrase, believe me many kids at my school nearly scalded their vocal chords trying to break the record for saying that), but none was successful. Within a couple of years Tarrant and co had decamped to "proper" television with O.T.T., just as anarchic as Tiswas, but without the knowing innuendo of having to stay within the kids' TV format; like the Carry On films, the more adult it got, the less interesting it became. By 1983 it was over and kids' TV has never been the same. All members continued in entertainment, Tarrant of course you know, James as a quiz show host and then taking time off to raise a family before coming back to radio, Gorman as presenter of "How Dare You" and Carolgees also quiz hosting before retiring to run an arts and crafts shop. Surprisingly few kids' TV shows have had successful themes or spin-offs. Swap Shop tried it with the then-married Maggie and Keith Chegwin, under the name Brown Sauce (Edmonds was not on the record); Ministry Of Mayhem, in the Tiswas spirit, saw its theme by Busted triplet wannabes Noise Next Door hit the chart as a double A side, but otherwise the anaemic offerings from things like Gimme 5 and Motormouth were deservedly ignored.
|
|
vastar iner
Member
I am the poster on your wall
Posts: 17,431
|
Post by vastar iner on Oct 3, 2010 15:39:48 GMT 1
Just seen an advert for something (involving fruit?) that used the Belle Stars' cover of "Iko Iko" as its soundtrack. It was later used in Rain Man and became a somewhat unexpected US top 20 hit, seven years after it was originally released. It had not been a huge hit in England; it stalled at number 35 on 19 June 1982. Problem was, eleven places higher was this young lady... Natasha"Iko Iko", no. 10, June 1982 "The Boom Boom Room", no. 44, September 1982 Throwback to the 1950s when a load of cover versions of the same song would compete for chart supremacy. Fittingly "Iko Iko" was a fifties song; written in 1953 as "Jockamo" by New Orleans singer-songwriter James "Sugar Boy" Crawford, the whole bit about vexillogical vandalism is based on Nyorleans parades with rival groups dissing each other's banners. Nobody really knows what the words mean, some suggesting they come from local Amerindian languages, others that they are from West Africa, and Sugar Boy ain't tellin'. It launched onto the US consciousness when the Dixie Cups (who had had a US number one with the gorgeous "Chapel Of Love") a capella-ed it in the Red Bird studio as a warm-up, and songwriters Lieber and Stoller were so taken with it they had them record it with the sparsest of backings. Made number 20 in the US, 23 in Britain. Fast forward to the 1980s. Two different acts, two different routes to stardom. The Belle Stars were a seven-piece ska-fused outfit, five of whom had been with The Bodysnatchers, who were a very ska band - so ska they had even signed up to that most iconic of labels 2Tone (and Stella Barker on rhythm guitar ended up walking out with Neville Staple of The Specials*). Their biggest hit had been "Let's Do Rock Steady" which had peaked at 22 in 1980, but as the ska revival died down Barker, lead guitarist SJ Owen, keyboardist Pennie Leyton, drummer Judy Parsons and alto sax Miranda Joyce brought in a new bassist (Lesley Shore), tenor sax (Clare Hurst) and vocalist Jennie McKeown, the latter in place of the Snatchers' Rhoda Dakar, who went on to guest with the revived Special AKA; McKeown's moment of glory had been as backing vocalist on The Jam's under-rated masterpiece "The Bitterest Pill". The Stars generated a good deal of publicity, and were signed to iconic indie Stiff, but their first three self-written singles all missed the charts. Fourth time lucky; a cover of "Iko Iko" saw them make the chart for the first time. The same week as another cover entered the charts twenty places higher. Dorothy Sherratt had been slogging around the industry for nearly ten years, fronting her own low-key band The Flirts and doing a day-job as a secretary to David Bowie's manager, gradually rising through the back-office to become something of an A&R rep. A fortuitous encounter with a member of sixties outfit The Love Affair brought her a husband and a business partner, as Bob England and Natasha - using her middle name for her artistic career - formed both a promotional company (which launched Darts**, and also employed Jon Moss of Culture Club), and two lables; Rockney, aimed at promoting Chas & Dave, and Towerbell, which gave England an outlet to release her own stuff, especially useful as her one single with The Flirts had bombed after Magnet Records couldn't ship copies out to coincide with Radio 1 airplay... Like the Belle Stars, her self-penned material bombed; Rita Ray of Darts suggested that England cover "Iko Iko" instead, and in the battle with the Belles, Natasha's eye for promotion won out. Poisoned chalice though. Having had success with a cover version, husband Bob wanted to position Natasha as a cover artiste, which Natasha did not want; although her debut album made the charts, the tensions broke out over her second, and the couple split, their label dying with the marriage and Natasha's recordings unreleased on CD due to the contractual complications. Natasha quit the record industry pro tempore to breed horses. After a brief frontage of Canadian band Why, she eventually started recording and has this past month released "Deeper Into Reality", 11 songs she has written over the last 20 or so years (have a listen here. The Belle Stars are still occasionally around, at least some of them, on eighties revival tours. They ended up with the biggest hit, though, with the transcendent "Sign Of The Times". Battle lost, war won? * Everything is linked 1: Barker and Staple went into the Tiswas cage together ** Everything is linked 2: the madly-besuited Darts bassman Den Hegarty was a presenter of the last series of Tiswas
|
|
vastar iner
Member
I am the poster on your wall
Posts: 17,431
|
Post by vastar iner on Oct 4, 2010 21:10:48 GMT 1
Toni Basil"Mickey", no. 2, February 1982 "Nobody", no. 52, May 1982 Britain has generally been ahead of the United States when it comes to music videos. Which in some ways is curious. If an act needed to promote their single for a television audience, Britain is sufficiently small enough for anyone to get to the television studio in a few hours – even in the sad seventies. The US does not have the same geographical advantage. Add to that Top Of The Pops, which guaranteed a national audience for chart hits, being so regular, which meant a weekly appointment could easily be pencilled into a tour diary. Yet it was in Britain that the idea of a promotional film for the sole purpose of promoting a single was invented. There had been lots of “videos” in the 1960s, think of “Help!” or “Subterranean Homesick Blues”, or even “Dead End Street”, let alone the Monkees, but these were more for promoting a programme or film rather than a single; a sort of side-effect of the limited media in which a band could be promoted. Indeed there were even films in the 1960s consisting of nothing but strung-together band performances. The first video that was shot for the sole purpose of promoting a single was perhaps that progenitor of gangsta, Benny Hill, for his 1971 Christmas number one “Ernie”. Hill refused to go on Top Of The Pops, and unlike other songs which could be terpsichorally interpreted via the good offices of Pan’s People or the dancing audience, the dastard deeds of Two Tone Ted from Teddington did not lend themselves to such frivolity. So familiar sidekick Henry McGee donned the twirling tache to accompany the Benster for a promo that was shown on the Pops instead. The medium was given a boost by Queen, and then Madness, 10cc/Godley & Creme and Adam & The Ants honed it to a fine pitch. At a time when American acts had barely got started. Yet the first channel playing nothing but music videos started in the States. Michael Nesmith – yes, the Monkee – had the idea and after a couple of years of pitching got it started in the cable market. The first video was British, of course; Buggles’ “Video Killed The Radio Star” (and to little Lord Vas this video was the spookiest, and greatest, thing he had seen to that date). But American acts had not produced sufficient material of broadcast quality, a situation that continues to this day. There were two immediate effects. One, British acts got an unexpected shot in the arm. With a new audience being exposed to music, as opposed to the ghettoized radio stations, acts like Genesis, Wang Chung, Peter Gabriel, Yes (featuring Downes and Horn of Buggles), Dexy's, even John Waite had huge hits in the US. Tears For Fears ended up with the biggest hit single in the US in 1984. And 1985. Two, rap artists got their big chance. Rap had been ignored by the radio; Britain again was in the forefront, with the rap supergroup The Sugarhill Gang going top five with the groundbreaking “Rapper’s Delight”, yet only scraping the US top 40, and Grandmaster Flash having big British hits. The biggest rap hit in the States in the early eighties was by Blondie…but MTV ended up HAVING to play rap, because there simply wasn’t much else to play. Which is where Antonia Basilotta comes in. Basil had been around in the industry for a while as a dancer and choreographer. She had had an abortive attempt at singing fame in the 1960s, recording the Graham Gouldman (of 10cc, see above, everything is linked…) written “I’m 28”, which was quite a stormer (the only song ever to rhyme “unguent” with “pungent”?), but had then gone back to Broadway shows, Hollywood (amongst others, she choreographed "American Graffiti") and music shows such as Saturday Night Live (she fronted streetdance troupe The Lockers in the 1970s on the show, well ahead of their time) and Soul Train, as well as having bit parts in films like Easy Rider. But her choreographic skills would fit in with the MTV era perfectly. She had already created David Byrne's dance for "Once In A Lifetime", and had a chance meeting with Simon Lait, head of British independent label Radialchoice (home to Toto Coelo), in a Chinese restaurant on Sunset Boulevard, which led to a deal. Lait approached Nicky Chinn for a suitable song, and he suggested one he had written with Mike Chapman for Racey (of women’s libbing “Some Girls” fame) called “Kitty”. On a low budget Basil created a memorable and striking video for the newly-christened “Mickey” and added a cheerleader chant from the Dorsey High School cheerleaders, much to Lait's discomfort, who also appeared in the video (Basil herself wearing her old Las Vegas High jumper). Yet again, Britain was ahead of the States; “Mickey” bombed at home, but got noticed by Jonathan King and from his USA dispatches had it played on Top Of The Pops, turning it into a top five here, and on the back of that being reissued in the States and reaching number one… The groundbreaking nature of the video – and it looks innocently simple to our eyes, but created a stir in America then – was enhanced by Basil directing and choreographing videos for all the songs from her album “Word Of Mouth”. The world’s first video album, and now an exhibit in the New York Museum of Modern Art... The big boys had however caught up and the small budgets could not compete with zombie line-dancing backed by a gigantic promotional machine. Basil had an eponymous follow-up album, but it missed the chart, and the singles missed the top 40 on both sides of the Atlantic, but she did return to the world of choreography, where she has been hugely successful. Still highly active in the world of choreography for stage and screens both big and small, a judge on the US show "So You Think You Can Dance?" and in 2009 was awarded a Living Legend Of Hip Hop award from Hip Hop Magazine.
|
|
|
Post by Shireblogger on Oct 6, 2010 17:32:02 GMT 1
Having had success with a cover version, husband Bob wanted to position Natasha as a cover artiste, which Natasha did not want; although her debut album made the charts, the tensions broke out over her second, and the couple split, their label dying with the marriage and Natasha's recordings unreleased on CD due to the contractual complications. Until 2008. Then came "Back From The Mists Of Time" on Platform Records, a 42 track double CD featuring all of the albums "Captured" and "Don't Walk Away", plus 3 Flirts tracks and a plethora of other Natasha-penned material from the 1980s, much of it previously unreleased. I bought this partly for "Boom Boom Room", but mostly for the brilliant 3rd single "The Strangest Feeling", which was written by Natasha, and knocks spots off "Iko Iko". I even considered entering "The Strangest Feeling" in Havenvision, until I released that "Iko Iko" had been successful enough to disqualify Natasha from the competition.
|
|
vastar iner
Member
I am the poster on your wall
Posts: 17,431
|
Post by vastar iner on Oct 6, 2010 20:41:49 GMT 1
It's funny how many of these have a rather more compelling story behind them than an X Factor hopeless. The big surprise for me re Natasha was that she was behind Rockney Records. I remember her at the time for "Iko Iko", but nothing else, and IIRC on TOTP2 the little chyron suggested they knew nothing else about her either. Meantime, given the sad, yet expected, recent event, here's a couple of rather well-known artists... Norman Wisdom"Don't Laugh At Me", no. 3, February 1954 "The Wisdom Of A Fool", no. 13, March 1957 Morris Minor & The Majors"Stutter Rap", no. 4, December 1987 "This Is The Chorus", dnc, August 1988 Obviously Sir Norman needs no introduction, his first hit single being a serenade from the film "Trouble In Store", his first film (and one which brought him a BAFTA award), his second being an obvious cash-in after Ronnie Carroll had a minor hit with it. You may be surprised that these were not comedy records, but in those days you had to have talent...Ken Dodd famously had gigantic hits with straight songs. Wisdom's discography was more extensive, but then again lots of celebrities ended up with budget albums in those days; even hated wrestler Brian "Goldbelt" Maxine tonsilled a few tunes. And Morris Minor And The Majors should not need much introduction either. Morris Minor, Phil Errup and Rusty Wing got together as a Beastie Boys, er, tribute act. But instead of nicking VW badges they ended up with something a bit more prosaic. Morris Minor was, as you probably know, comedian Tony Hawks, with a couple of comedian mates (Paul Boross and Phil Judge) who decided to poke fun at rap; I remember there was quite a correspondence on the late and lamended Blue Suede Views (Channel 4 teletext page 540, sniff) about whether it was right to take the mickey out of stutterers, and the song gained a huge amount of exposure thanks to being shown ONCE on No Limits (18 year old Jenny Powell, mmm) and having such a postbag they had to show it again. After a follow-up parody failed, the Minors split, Boross going back to stand-up, becoming a jingle writer and developing a business advising media companies; he had a second stab at success as one half of the Calypso Twins, with, er, Ainsley Harriott. No idea what happened to Judge. The link between the two is that the failure of "This Is The Chorus" to dent the chart meant Hawks was a one-hit wonder, and he entered into a bet that he could have a second hit. Eschewing the John Otway route - after all, that wouldn't make a decent book - he went around the world exploring different styles of music, until he decided on a cheap way of doubling his hit singles. Enver Hoxha was one of the nastier dictators of the 20th century, keeping a paranoid Albanian population under an imperialist yoke, gun turrets everywhere in the country in case of invasion, and even demanding buses into Albania stop a mile short of the border so that the hapless Shqiperians could not see that other countries had better vehicles. His only ally was Kim Il-Sung, which gives you some idea. But he promoted the Little Man doctrine to the hilt, and who better to embody that than Norman Pitkin, Wisdom's character from "Trouble In Store" and innumerable follow-ups? So Hawks reckoned that teaming up with Wisdom would be a surefire hit in Albania, especially with Tim Rice writing it. A bewildered Wisdom was persuaded to record "Big In Albania" and perform it in Tirana, where it became a top twenty hit in the Albanian charts (based on phone votes a la Eurovision). Strangely it doesn't seem to have been released in Britain, one would have thought it would have been a decent-sized hit...ah well. RIP, Sir Norman.
|
|
vastar iner
Member
I am the poster on your wall
Posts: 17,431
|
Post by vastar iner on Oct 7, 2010 21:07:29 GMT 1
Pussycat"Mississippi", no. 1, August 1976 "Smile", no. 24, December 1976 1974 should have seen the Netherlands produce its first global pop stars via the Eurovision Song Contest. Its entry, "I See A Star" by Mouth & Macneal, was a crowd-pleaser, and sung in English. Indeed it became one of the biggest-ever Eurovision hits from outside Britain, reaching number 8 in the wake of the contest. If only it hadn't been for the Abba group. The Netherlands shrugged its collective shoulders and decided to produce someone who would gain revenge. And they did. On 16 October 1976, Pussycat knocked Abba off number one in the chart. First Dutch at the top of the pops. Well, I suppose Abba won that particular war. Perhaps because Pussycat were anomalous. Country rock from Limburg? And a group founded and populated by women? The Dutch may be permissive, but, jeez... Pussycat was a merger of bands. One was formed by the Kowalczyk sisters, daughters of a Polish miner, who got their music teacher Werner Theunissen to write songs for them, then they added a female drummer and called themselves The BGs From Holland (BG referring to Beat Group rather than the Gibbs). Then marriage intervened. Lead singer Tonni got married to Lou Wille, the guitarist in another band, Ricky Rendall and His Centurions, who decided to work with his sisters-in-law. He recruited musicians from a band charmingly called Scum, and the new ensemble was renamed Sweet Reaction. One unsuccessful single followed. Then Theunissen came up with something a bit different. It was released in 1975 and became a big, big hit in northern Europe. Except the UK, naturally; we had to wait a year for a re-issue on EMI's Scandinavian subsidiary Sonet and massive success. As far as Britain was concerned, the timing was slightly awkward. The follow-up was released to catch the Christmas market, but it served to promote the original more, which stopped its otherwise precipitous descent down the chart to hover in the top thirty over Christmas, and even have the audacity to return to the top forty just as "Smile" was reaching its peak. The band never successfully followed that one here. In Europe though Pussycat went from strength to strength. They released five albums in the next six years, plus enjoyed a few compilations, having a further Dutch number one with "My Broken Souvenirs" and 14 top 40 singles. But everything got a bit expensive, shipping a septet around Europe, and by 1982 the group had broken up. Tonni had a moderately successful solo career, with a number of albums, and still performs, mainly in Germany; she reunited with her sisters in 2005 to provide backing vocals for Dutch band Major Dundee, with whom she had previously performed, wheras the other girls retired from music, Betty to raise her family, Marianne to run a bar. Werner Theunissen continued to songwrite for a while and his son is a successful bassist with his own band (WTB).
|
|
vastar iner
Member
I am the poster on your wall
Posts: 17,431
|
Post by vastar iner on Oct 8, 2010 22:18:44 GMT 1
Twinkle"Terry", no. 4, November 1964 "Golden Lights", no. 21, February 1965 Hey, here's a great idea. Christmas is coming up, so let's release something that will grab the Christmas market. What will work? Novelty record like Dickie Valentine? Something about little donkeys or something upliftingly calypso Christian? No, let's do a gruesome tale about a girl having to live with the memory of breaking up with her boyfriend and then watching him die die die in an horrific accident. And watch as it gets banned by the BBC like every other death disc. Yet somehow it worked. And what's perhaps more amazing is that it was written by its 16 year old singer, Marilynn Ripley. In the macho environment of pop music where women were still largely helpless bits of fluff and only a select few could graduate to co-writing (Ellie Greenwich being a conspicuous example), the idea that a tiny blonde could write a big hit was somewhat novel. It helped that Twinkle had an "in" in the industry. Or maybe vice-versa. Twinkle had been singing with the group The Trekkers from her 14th birthday, and a couple of years into her stint was introduced (by her music journo sister - her family did have some influence, her printing-mogul father was an alderman in London and the family lived in a mansion, and a classmate of Twinkle's was the current Duchess of Cornwall) to Declan Cluskey, of the ill-named Bachelors, who had had a number one hit at the start of 1964 with "Diane" (I know someone named after this song). The two started walking out, so to speak, and her father passed a demo of "Terry" (one of three different songs of that title on the Vaspod) that Twinkle had written - and banged out on the family piano - to him, suggesting the Bachelors record it. Instead Declan took it along to his industry mates, Twinkle was invited into the studio to perform it with some session musicians (including Jimmy Page, not yet a Yardbird), pressed it up under a childhood nickname and voom, she had a hit single. She also wrote her follow-up, a true-to-life tale about falling in love with someone who let the pop world go to their head - by this time she and Cluskey had, of course, split. But after those two singles the world moved on from the girl group type sound into something a bit harder. Twinkle tried to compete with a Eurovision cover but like her other four singles for Decca it missed the charts. Disillusioned with her singing doll image, Twinkle retired from the industry. She was not yet 18... She did make periodic comebacks; she bumped into Andrew Loog Oldham in 1969, who said she needed to return, and so she recorded "Micky" (not the Toni Basil song, of course) for his Immediate label. It promptly went bust. She remained in the industry writing jingles (amazing how many did that) and recorded the odd single under the name Twinkle Ripley in the 1970s (Mike D'Abo of Manfred Mann produced her unreleased album "Michael Hannah"), before recording a cover of "I'm A Believer" with her father under the name Bill & Coo (Sidney Ripley was a head of the Tories in the GLC at that time). There are a couple of odd stochastic facts about Twinkle that may be worth knowing; one, she has a portrait in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery; two, she is the aunt of actress Fay Ripley. Still occasionally recording - "Michael Hannah" saw a belated release in 2003 - Ripley is also earning royalties from the Smiths' cover version of "Golden Lights".
|
|
vastar iner
Member
I am the poster on your wall
Posts: 17,431
|
Post by vastar iner on Oct 10, 2010 18:55:22 GMT 1
Couple of things coming together which fit nicely with the entry I had planned for the weekend. Firstly, we find that Simon Cowell has been employing an illegal immigrant (well, via the puppet that is Cheryl Cole anyway). Secondly, I went to Bute, to see Mount Stuart, which involved me passing through Rothesay (a town where everything since 1974 is a rumour), where I saw this: So, in the words of Aeneas, accipio omen, and include a couple of theme inductees. X Factor is nothing new. Talent shows were a staple of the sixties and seventies. Cheap television. And with more music on television, there was less need to rely on musical talent; the talent shows included escapologists and acrobats and suchlike. There were two that stood out above the rest. New Faces on ITV, presented by Tony Hobson, with the acts voted on by a panel of experts; a near-permanent member of the ever-changing panel was Tony Hatch, who wrote the Neighbours theme with his wife Jackie Trent and who together wrote her number one hit “Where Are You Now (My Love)”, and who was known as the Hatchet Man for his brutality to contestants. The other was Opportunity Knocks, originally on ITV, but which transferred to the Beeb after a falling-out between its developer and presenter, Hughie Green – a man with a towering ego and the sexual appetite of a gorilla on heat (one of his illegitimate offspring was Paula Yates), but one who knew his showbiz and who would do whatever it took to make sure the acts on his show were presented in the best possible light. Nothing is new under the sun. The two were generally fairly similar. Green tended to cater more for pure populism and was the more natural outlet for novelty acts. But one big difference separating them from X Factor was the level of professionalism of the participants. The aim of Faces and Knocks was not to create stars de novo, but to show off those who had already got their Equity cards and needed a bit of a break. The ones who had put in the miles up and down the clubs. And many stars were broken through. Les Dawson, Victoria Wood, Marti Caine, Lenny Henry (Henry’s act was primarily that of an impersonator back then, almost Uncle Tom-ish, thankfully Tiswas broke him out of that), Showaddywaddy, Su Pollard, Chubby Brown, Little & Large, the Chuckle Brothers, Bob Blackman (ask your dads…or granddads…), Les Dennis, Roy Walker, Dave Allen, Gerry Monroe (he’s in the charts on the Sakkarin video on the Theme 1 thread), Max Boyce, Malandra Burrows, Pam Ayres…generally the hit rate was far, far greater than X Factor. Says a lot for the success of the latter show – especially given its budget and its monopoly (Tony Monopoly, another winner) of the entertainment scene. What's more, many of the acts had the sort of longevity a Leon Jackson can only dream of. Knock knock. Who's there? Leon. Leon who? Told you so. There are however a couple of acts who made it via these shows that fit this thread remarkably well. Both child stars. And sadly showing the different sides of fame. Neil Reid"Mother Of Mine", no. 2, January 1972 "That's What I Want To Be", no. 41, April 1972 Lena Zavaroni"Ma, He's Making Eyes At Me", no. 10, February 1974 "Personality", no. 33, June 1974 Both similar. Both Scots, both not in their teens, both discovered by chance singing for superannuated audiences, both sprung by Hughie Green on an unsuspecting public. And both hold records in the album charts. Zavaroni's debut album "Ma" made her the youngest soloist, aged 10 and a half years, to have a top ten; Reid's eponymous debut album made him the youngest soloist, aged 12 and three quarters, to have a number one. And that's where the similarity ends. Reid's top-line musical career only lasted a couple more years. His voice broke, so Decca dropped him. Even so they managed to milk two albums out of him, and he had worked with some interesting people; Roy Wood produced a couple of singles, and "Mother Of Mine" was written by Bill Parkinson, former guitarist with The Fourmost, and who even played on a couple of Beatles tracks ("Across The Universe" and "The Long And Winding Road"). Reid tried to keep going; he had dropped out of the local comp to go to a stage school, and built himself back up from the bottom, appearing on tour in "Godspell" and doing the working men's clubs he had done before, this time as a "proper" singer rather than a novelty. Then he got together with one of his fans, one thing led to another, they got married, had children and he gave it up to become a financial adviser. Reid is also heavily involved with the church, setting up a parish outreach in the godforsakenly heathen hellhole of Blackpool, and as a member of counselling group Christians For Entertainers. Lena Zavaroni's life sadly took a very different path. Her grandfather had emigrated to Scotland from Genoa years before and ran a chippy on Bute, and her parents were both enthusiastic amateur performers. Zavaroni often accompanied them as a special attraction and she was spotted by an agent who placed on the Knocks. She ended up winning it for five weeks running, earning her a record deal, and seeing her agent place her with the Italia Conti school. Unlike Reid's faltering career she ended up a more rounded entertainer, singing and dancing, and far more in the showbiz spotlight. Indeed almost stratospherically so, performing with Sinatra, for President Ford and presenting her own television show in the late seventies. But it was a huge whirlwind change for the island girl, she later commented that London was the first place where she had ever seen an escalator. Add to that the searing eye of fame. For her television shows she would be poured into costumes, criticized for her weight and told to slim down. She was diagnosed as anorexic when barely starting her teens. In 1982 she retired. And came back. But low-key again. Some television work, a summer season in Blackpool, and her health collapsed once more. She retired more permanently in 1987 and got married. But that did not help. Her mother committed suicide not long after the wedding, Zavaroni sunk into depression, the marriage ended in divorce, and ended up living on disability allowance. In 1998 a fire at her home destroyed all her showbiz memorabilia. In March 1999 she was arrested for shoplifting, and even though the charges were dropped it deepened her depression. Her weight dropped to three stone and she took herself to a Cardiff hospital for an experimental treatment, threatening suicide if they did not treat her. On 1 October 1999, still in hospital, she contracted the bronchial pneumonia that killed her. She was 35. There is a third act I would have included, had I been able to find any footage of their follow-up single. Neil Reid provided the positive, Zavaroni the negative, sides of child stardom. But there's the tragi-comic side as well. Our Kid, five likely lads from Liverpool who were going to be Britain’s answer to the Jacksons. Albeit whiter. They had stormed New Faces, impressing even the stony-hearted Hatch, and looked as if they were going to make it huge. With television stardom behind them, they were signed up to Polydor and the A&R rep there had big plans. Debut single "You Just Might See Me Cry" (written by Roger Greenaway - everything is linked...) hit number 2 in July 1976 which cemented Polydor's faith in them. Once the single dropped from the charts, the plan was laid out. A television show that they could present, a la Bay City Rollers’ “Shang A Lang”. It was perfect; cheap television as acts would queue up to get on it, a light workload for the group themselves, and at the end of each of the 12 episodes they would sing a song from an album that would be released on the back of it. What’s more, the light workload meant they could do their bit in school holidays. Well within the 30 day annual work limit allotted to schoolchildren in the seventies. There was just one problem. Their manager sheepishly informed their label that they had reached the limit. Off the back of the hit single, he had booked them to do the 1976 summer season in Great Yarmouth. Instead of broadcasting to 10 million every night, they had performed to a grand total of five thousand… …and that is why you have heard of the Jacksons but not of Our Kid.
|
|
vastar iner
Member
I am the poster on your wall
Posts: 17,431
|
Post by vastar iner on Oct 11, 2010 23:03:58 GMT 1
Fiction Factory"(Feels Like) Heaven", no. 6, January 1984 "Ghost Of Love", no. 64, March 1984 How ironic. A band named after two record labels has its follow-up video removed at the insistence of another record label. Well, when I say "ironic", I mean "moronic". Step forward, Sony, yet another label that's not actually interested in promoting its own bands. Thankfully I can link to it via a Dutch site. Fiction Factory was a group from Perth (Scotland, of course) at whose core were ex-members of a ska band called The Rude Boys[. Original. Two of the band - Kevin Patterson (vocals) and Eddie Jordan (no, not that one) (keyboards) - had been working together in music for some time; they had both been in a punk band called Street People before they formed the RBs. Despite near-constant touring and a live show considered incendiary, they never had chart success; victims of bad timing, the song [url= "Uruguay" came out just before the Falklands War kicked off, and so was buried on the playlists. After the ska scene faded stayed together to write songs; RBs trumpeter Grant Taylor and guitarist-cum-trombonist Chic Medley stayed on to play on the demos. The first song Patterson and Jordan wrote was "(Feels Like) Heaven", CBS heard it on the demo and signed them up instantly. There was a slight problem. They took the name Fiction Factory, not so much as a label nod, but also because, in those synthy corporate 1980s, they wanted to emulate the Heaven 17 model of being a mock business. The business of faking music. Having done the ska tour grind (and anyone who remembers the days of ska will also remember the electric live performances from many of the leading bands) they were not going to appear. They were going to be the eminences grises behind prettyboys (think Milli Vanilli) . And the factory? They felt they were churning out songs like on a production line. Only that idea didn't last long. CBS insisted that they perform the single and tour it. Therefore, needing a live band, the foursome recruited a mate of Patterson and Jordan's - Graham McGregor on bass and auditioned for drummers, choosing Michael Ogletree (ex-Simple Minds; he had drummed on New Gold Dream) in the end. They turned out to be somewhat unlikely one hit wonders; one would have thought the group would have had more mileage in them. Indeed they nearly missed out on their moment; "Ghost Of Love" was the first release, and it missed the chart, before CBS saw sense and put the strongest track out in the post-Christmas market. But the re-issued "Ghost" - released against the band's wishes, and probably too quickly - was only marginally more successful second time around, the album from which both came ("Throw The Warped Wheel Out") missed the chart and although they made it to a follow-up album ("Another Story", on a Virgin imprint, and really aimed at the German market as "(Feels Like) Heaven" had been a number one in Svizzera and top ten in Deutschland) that marked the end of that. Patterson and Jordan, the key forces behind FF, reunited in 2007 to play a few fan-only gigs and even be the entertainment at Jordan's wedding. Patterson is now an IT engineer at the University of Dundee. Jordan became a barman. Only Ogletree seems to have made a continuous living in the industry, as a session drummer now based in New York, although MacGregor formed a covers band called Kick that performs occasionally. The song lived on - it was butchered by Dario G in 2003. Why can't people leave genius well alone?
|
|
|
Post by Earl Purple on Oct 11, 2010 23:48:11 GMT 1
I'm probably more familiar with Golden Lights than I am with Terry thanks to the Smiths cover...
|
|
vastar iner
Member
I am the poster on your wall
Posts: 17,431
|
Post by vastar iner on Oct 13, 2010 19:58:28 GMT 1
Ricky Valance"Tell Laura I Love Her", no. 1, August 1960 "Movin' Away", dnc, November 1960 Asinine behaviour from record labels is not new. Decca Records famously turned down the Beatles, stating “guitar bands are on their way out” (although curiously they signed up Brian Poole & The Tremeloes on the same day as they turned the Fab Four down); in the late seventies Decca signed up, and then dropped, Adam & The Ants before they hit it ginormous. They even turned down electronics genius Delia Derbyshire because they didn’t want to employ a woman. Nevertheless, Decca did pick up the Rolling Stones (reportedly on George Harrison’s recommendation) and for a long time was one of the largest labels in the world. As per, a takeover (by Polygram) saw the death of the brand in the pop world, although it flourishes as a classical label. But the Beatles’ decision could at least be explained as being a mistake for business reasons; the audition the Beatles did consisted of cover versions, so Decca cannot be blame for not spotting the potential there, and if they wanted a covers band why not choose a local one and save on the travelling expenses. And the early Ants were very different from the commercial behemoth they became under CBS. No, the real asinine behaviour is refusing to release something that is going to be a hit because of moral objections. EMI did it repeatedly, getting rid of the Sex Pistols, a decision which ultimately cost it billions (because the Pistols ended up “making” the out-of-touch hippyish Virgin Records, which EMI later had to buy to squish the competition); Decca did it in 1960. That was when Ray Peterson had a top ten hit in the States with the teenage melodrama “Tell Laura I Love Her”, a death disc about a stock car crash. Decca had the rights to release it in the UK and pressed up 20,000 copies, anticipating a smash of their own. Then some bright spark within the label decided that the record was too tasteless to release. And had them pulped. So EMI stepped in. It offered the song to a young recently demobbed Welsh singer who had been discovered singing in the local clubs. A chap called David Spencer who had turned to song to avoid having to go down t'pit. He adopted the stage surname Valance after seeing a Colonel Valance listed as a racehorse owner, and thought "Ricky" went well with it; rather than as an homage to the less-well-known-at-the-time Ritchie Valens. Spencer recorded a straight copy, it was rush-released before anyone else could compete, and Valance had his only number one; indeed his only chart hit. Valance could never follow it up; it was just before rock and roll really kicked in and the softer Johnnie Ray-type sound was dying on its feet, and none of the half-a-dozen singles that followed over the next half-decade hit the UK chart (he did have success on the less-musically-advanced Continent, and has also charted on the US country listings, having recorded a couple of albums in Nashville). Although the success of the song ensured Valance retained a cabaret career for the next 50 years, and indeed, although in his seventies, Valance still performs; he has just completed a UK summer tour, and is now back in his Costa Blanca home. One thing that this record did spawn however was an answer song; “Tell Tommy I Miss Him”, recorded in the US by Skeeter Davis and in the UK by Laura Lee. Neither was a hit. But this leads me to another answer song…
|
|
|
Post by Earl Purple on Oct 13, 2010 20:21:28 GMT 1
You mentioned Opportunity Knocks and you might have therefore put Berni Flint on that list. He had a #3 hit with "I Don't Want To Put A Hold On You" in 1977. He was originally a milkman (I think) and won the show a record 15 (I think) weeks in a row. You would have thought enough material for several albums. He did release an album called Southern Comfort, also the title of his 2nd single but it wasn't a major success and he disappeared back to obscurity.
IDWTPAHOY was an NM #1 though for 6 weeks. And he replaced Showaddywaddy at #1 in my chart. So I have had #1 artists from talent shows...
|
|
vastar iner
Member
I am the poster on your wall
Posts: 17,431
|
Post by vastar iner on Oct 13, 2010 21:08:03 GMT 1
^ TV talent show stars together... The singing milkman was Craig Douglas, of borderline morality song "Only Sixteen" fame. (The whistling on the original was by Mike Sammes - see "Whistling Jack Smith" for further Sammes warbling.) Flint was a former Navy man. First single got to number 3, follow-up "Southern Comfort" peaked at 48, and that was it, so he would indeed qualify. Didn't deal with him in the Knocks bit as he's not exactly a child star. Although he did present a kids' TV programme; the last series of "Mooncat & Co" (originally called "Get Up And Go" with fantastically 80s titles). And for another thread link...click here.
|
|
vastar iner
Member
I am the poster on your wall
Posts: 17,431
|
Post by vastar iner on Oct 14, 2010 21:22:07 GMT 1
OK, now for the answer song. Not had much hip-hop on here, it’s not a genre about which I know much, and all the various collaborations seem to make one- or two-hit wonders quite rare, but here’s one that’s a bit interesting. The Real Roxanne"Bang Zoom Let's Go Go", no. 11, June 1986 "Respect", no. 71, November 1988 Remember Frankee’s “FURB”? An answer record to Eamon. (She would incidentally be a candidate for this thread were it not for me not wanting to give her any more publicity than necessary, given the whole Eamon/Frankee bolsheviks was one of the most odious marketing campaigns of recent years, only suitable for flushing out a section of the population who should not be allowed to breed, or, indeed, breathe.) The answer record is not a new phenomenon, as you can see from the Ricky Valance entry; Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land”, from 1940, was a response to Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America”, which Guthrie thought unrealistic. More directly, a prominent early pair came from Neil Sedaka, who wrote “Oh Carol” in honour of Carole King, and King, who reciprocated with “Oh Neil”. Well, The Real Roxanne’s origins lie in something rarer than an answer song – a rejoinder song. The answer to an answer song. Hie yourself back to 1984. Prince-mania, Electric Simon, the A-Team and all the other thankfully gone trashy flashy electro-blingery. And the start of some ever-Guinness-book-confusing collaborations. Including Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam with Full Force. Some big hits, especially in the States. Full Force were a production team slash vocal group from Brooklyn who went on to work with the Backstreet Boys. Amongst their less successful work was a fairly obscure single for breakdance group UTFO (Untouchable Force Organization) in 1984, which featured a b-side that gained some attention; the song “Roxanne, Roxanne”. The titular Roxanne was a young lady who eschewed the advances of the heroes of the song. Fairly mundane stuff, one would think. But there was a consequence. Because UTFO was due to participate at a show being promoted by old-skool legends Marley Marl and Tyrone Williams. A teenage tyro called Shanté Gooden heard them talking about how UTFO had cancelled, so she butted in and suggested that Marl produce a record attacking UTFO. She would be the Roxanne that rebutted their advances. Marl, impressed by her moxie, agreed, Shanté showed that she was an accomplished freestyler in laying down some verses, and using the original track from “Roxanne, Roxanne”, the track “Roxanne’s Revenge” (this is the original audio, as Full Force complained the sample was too close to their original) became a surprise hit. Obviously Shanté could not use her real name; she had to be Roxanne. And so Roxanne Shanté was born. So Full Force decided to get THEIR revenge in turn. Another teenager and budding rapper, Adelaida Martinez, had met one of UTFO in a club in early 1984 and was asked to audition for a UTFO video; she passed, and was then called up to answer Shanté. Because Shanté was not the REAL Roxanne. She teamed up with UTFO to perform “The Real Roxanne” (and appeared as Roxanne in the retcon UTFO video for the original b-side) (Bizarrely, the belated release of "Roxanne, Roxanne" as a single in its own right, albeit as an AA with "Roxanne's Revenge", made the UK ALBUM charts in 1985 - extensive remixes took it over the limit for singles...) Which in turn sparked another riposte from Shanté ( “Queen Of Rox”) and UTFO (“Roxanne, Roxanne Part 2”), and then everyone else piled in; by one estimate there were over 100 answer records, including those by the parents of both Roxannes (Gigolo Tony and Lacey Lace), Roxanne’s brothers ( Crush Groove) , Roxanne’s sister ( DW And The Party Crew) and someone who claimed Roxanne was a transsexual ( Ralph Rolle). It was getting a bit farcical. So in 1988 Shanté temporarily dropped the Roxanne; The Real Roxanne therefore temporarily dropped the The Real. It was almost unnoticed that The Real Roxanne had ended up with a faltering separate hip-hop career of her own, nearly making the UK top ten in collaboration with the Hitman Howie Tee (more famous for his work with Color Me [Very] Badd), but her follow-ups were not successful. Shanté had more success on the hip-hop scene over the next few years before practically quitting the business in 1990, then making various fitful returns with the Roxanne restored. There was a bizarre coda to Shanté’s story when it was reported that she had taken a PhD at Cornell University, funded by Sony, using a clause in her contract stating that the label would pay for her education; unfortunately this seems to be fiction, Shanté only having spent a term at a minor college in New York. As for Martinez, her album came out after the whole Roxanne thing had blown over, and it was not successful. Her second album was pretty much ignored and she was dropped by her label Select. Martinez gained a degree in nursing and became a senior patient assistant, and, rather frighteningly for me, is now a grandmother...
|
|
|
Post by Shireblogger on Oct 14, 2010 23:05:31 GMT 1
The answer record is not a new phenomenon, as you can see from the Ricky Valance entry; Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land”, from 1940, was a response to Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America”, which Guthrie thought unrealistic. More directly, a prominent early pair came from Neil Sedaka, who wrote “Oh Carol” in honour of Carole King, and King, who reciprocated with “Oh Neil”. And, of course, the answer album. David Bowie's "Low" followed by Nick Lowe's "Bowi". Thanks for including the beautiful Fiction Factory - New Romantic's greatest might-have-beens.
|
|
vastar iner
Member
I am the poster on your wall
Posts: 17,431
|
Post by vastar iner on Oct 17, 2010 12:15:16 GMT 1
One of the best answer duos came from Feargal Sharkey - he covered Maria McKee's "A Good Heart", written about Benmont Tench (of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - that's another theme coming, incidentally), and then covered "You Little Thief", written by Tench about McKee. Now for a question that is very simples. Who has had the most number one hits? Elvis? Pah. He has had 18. Yes, there were some reissues, but they do not count. Same songs, same recordings, same everything. The last, desperate, pathetic attempt to squeeze a few cheap quid out of the legacy of the man who changed music forever before he fell out of copyright is not worthy of consideration. The Beatles? They had 17, but most of them have had others since. George Harrison has a genuine 18. John Lennon can add three – arguably four – posthumous ones. Whereas Sir Macca of the Two Thumbs can uniquely add a solo, duo and trio number one to the Fab Four (and, on one occasion, five). As well as his work with Ferry Aid and the Hillsborough record. Plus for Lennon/McCartney add a few as songwriters. All told McCartney can boast 24. Norrie Paramor? Now we’re thinking laterally. As a producer he has had 26. He has now been beaten by George Martin, who has 27 to his name. But one man can cast sneering glances down at these lesser mortals. Offer to have him swap number ones with Paul McCartney and he would dismiss such imprudence with the merest, most contemptuous gesture. The Beatles and Elvis combined are a mere bagatelle to him. No, the artist who has had most number one singles is Clem Cattini. Who? No, that’s a different band. Clem Cattini has had 45, yes, forty-five number one hits. And I bet you’ve never heard of him. His real, acknowledged chart performances are as part of Billy Fury's backing band The Tornados, for whom he was the drummer, and after they split the drummer of The Ivy League. Ironic, given that Cattini was never meant to be a drummer; with his father being in the catering trade, Cattini hung around the cafes of Soho where British rock & roll was born, a mate of his (Terry Kennedy) was inspired to start a band and told Cattini that he could play drums if he wanted. It was an inspired suggestion as Cattini had a metronomic appreciation of time, and because of his reliability, he became one of the best session drummers of the sixties and seventies. It is in that capacity that he has had 45 number one hits – and a surprising number of links to acts in these random theme threads. I’ve already dealt with a couple directly above; Windsor Davies & Don Estelle and Clive Dunn. Comedy records, but that’s to be expected, they’re difficult to follow up. But Cattini drummed on a couple of other thread-qualifiers, both of which really plumb the depths of popular music. Esther & Abi Ofarim"Cinderella Rockefella", no. 1, February 1968 "One More Dance", no. 13, June 1968 Ah yes, the Swinging Sixties, where everything was hip, hop and happening. Sort of. The Israeli answer to Sonny & Cher, Abraham Reichstadt and Esther Zaied were both musicians who married in 1959 and started to make music together; Frank Sinatra was an early fan and had Esther come to the States for some television performances. The newly renamed Esther Ofarim represented Switzerland in the Eurovision in 1963 (she came second), and following on that their first international success as a duo came in 1966 in Germany (with "Noch Einen Tanz", which became their UK follow-up single) and "Cinderella Rockefella", written by Mason Williams (of "Classical Gas" fame), became their first UK hit. It was not the start of greater things, as the strains of a world tour in 1969 split the marriage apart and they divorced. Abi spent years in an drug and alcohol dependent wilderness before returning to the industry as a writer/performer/arranger with his own company PROM; Esther has never been away, although she has reduced performances gradually over the years to look after her property empire, but still performs in Israel and Germany annually. If you thought THAT was bad, though... JJ Barrie"No Charge", no. 1, April 1976 "You Can't Win 'Em All", dnc, May 1980Dante Alighieri lived in difficult times. Turmoil spreading throughout the Italian city states, corruption and hypocrisy spreading their venom throughout, war, exile, the Plague, suffering and terror wherever he turned. Perhaps inspired by this he wrote the Divine Comedy (although there aren't any jokes in it). The first part, the Inferno, sees him being guided through the nine circles of Hell, passing the eternal torments being dished out to the venal, the adulterous, the slothful, down, down, through the warmongers and murderers, and down to the lowest depths, the final circle, where the traitors are encased in ice, until he reaches the very centre, where Satan is buried up to his waist, looking upwards at every sinner above him, save for the three ultimate traitors, Brutus, Cassius and Judas, all of them being chewed eternally in his Satanic maw. If Dante were writing today, that desperate, ne plus ultra place of punishment would be subject to a JJ Barrie soundtrack. Not much I can really say about him. His real name was Barrie Authors, he is a Canadian pop impresario (he was involved in the bubblegum pop of the likes of Blue Mink - see above), who submitted a song ("Where's The Reason") to Glen Campbell, who suggested Barrie record it. He did, setting up the Power Exchange label to do so, it bombed, then he recorded another country track and had a UK hit with it. Unfathomably. Even worse, what little artistic integrity the track had was eroded by the credit; the female vocalist who was a major part of the track, the Seal to Barrie's Adamski, went uncredited. So Vicki Brown, , sadly deceased wife of Joe and mother of Sam, and member of minor chart-scrapers The Seashells never got her name on a number one hit. It was knocked off the top of the chart by The Wurzels, which was actually an improvement. Power Exchange wound up after a hit from the now Little Anthony-less Imperials ( "Who's Gonna Love Me"). For some reason Barrie returned to the UK to record a single with Brian Clough which deservedly bombed; no idea what he's doing now, if there's any justice it would be hard labour for crimes against music. And the full list of Cattini number ones? 1. Johnny Kidd & The Pirates - “Shaking All Over” 2. Eden Kane - “Well I Ask You” 3. Mike Sarne - “Come Outside” 4. The Tornados - “Telstar” 5. The Bachelors - “Diane” 6. The Kinks - “You Really Got Me” 7. Tom Jones - “Its Not Unusual” Tom Jones 8. The Walker Brothers - “Make It Easy On Yourself” 9. Ken Dodd - “Tears” Ken Dodd 10. The Walker Brothers “The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore” 11. Dusty Springfield - “You Don't Have To Say You Love Me” 12. Chris Farlowe - “Out Of Time” 13. Tom Jones - “Green Green Grass Of Home” 14. Engelbert Humperdinck - “Release Me” 15. Engelbert Humperdinck - “The Last Waltz” 16. Georgie Fame - “Ballad Of Bonnie & Clyde” 17. The Love Affair - “Everlasting Love” 18. “Esther & Abi Ofarim - Cinderella Rockefella” 19. Des O'Connor - “I Pretend” 20. Peter Sarstedt - - “Where Do You Go To My Lovely” 21. Thunderclap Newman - “Something In The Air” 22. Rolf Harris - “Two Little Boys” 23. Edison Lighthouse - “Love Grows” 24. Christie - “Yellow River” 25. T. Rex - “Hot Love” 26. Clive Dunn - “Grandad” 27. Middle Of The Road - “Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep” 28. T. Rex - “Get It On” 29. Benny Hill - “Ernie” 30. New Seekers – “I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing” 31. T.Rex - “Telegram Sam” 32. Chicory Tip - “Son Of My Father” 33. Peters & Lee - “Welcome Home” 34. Alvin Stardust - “Jealous Mind” 35. Carl Douglas - “Kung Fu Fighting” 36. Three Degrees - “When Will I See You Again” 37. Windsor Davies & Don Estelle - “Whispering Grass” 38. Bay City Rollers - “Give A Little Love” 39. Typically Tropical - “Barbados” 40. J.J Barrie - “No Charge” 41. Hot Chocolate - “So You Win Again” 42. Brotherhood Of Man - “Angelo” 43. Brotherhood Of Man - “Figaro” 44. “Renee & Renato - Save Your Love” 45. Tony Christie ft Peter Kaye - “(Is This The Way To) Amarillo” I would have included entry number 39 in here as well, only the follow-up singles "Rocket Now" and "Ghost Story" have left no trace on teh internets. Typically Tropical though were a sort of poor man's supergroup, as the line-up on "Barbados" included Chris Spedding (very well known for all sorts of work, including producing the Pistols and co-Wombling with Cattini), Vic Flick (who played the immortal James Bond guitar riff) and the motive force behind TT, Jeff Calvert and Hughes Geraint Wyn [aka Max West], who wrote a song they thought would be a winter hit after sessionista Jeff had done some reggae work in Barbados and came back raving about it. After their three-song deal with Gull ended, the pair continued as songwriters, their next biggest hit being Hot Gossip's "I Lost My Heart To A Starship Trooper" (Sarah Brightman's first). Calvert has his own studio and a la Bruce Dickinson is a pilot; West is a library music composer.
|
|
vastar iner
Member
I am the poster on your wall
Posts: 17,431
|
Post by vastar iner on Oct 18, 2010 22:52:22 GMT 1
The Floaters"Float On", no. 1, June 1977 "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me", dnc, October 1977 Cancer! And my name is Larry! Sometimes you can make your own petard. The Floaters were typical of those soft-soul groups of the 1970s, all technically excellent vocalists with a lounge-smooth backing; think Commodores or Detroit Spinners. Or Detroit Emeralds, of which The Floaters were a spin-off. James Mitchell and Marvin Willis were members of both, Mitchell brought in his brother Paul, another (unrelated) Mitchell called Ralph, Larry Cunningham and Charles Clark. The idea behind "Float On" was that it was to run in between the songs of their debut album, as a way of introducing themselves to the lay-deez, with one singer for each "gap". But in the end they released a cut-down version of the mammoth 11 minute album track as a stand-alone. James Mitchell did not appear, he just co-wrote with Marvin, probably a lucky escape. It would ordinarily have vanished without trace, like most other releases on small labels, but one New York DJ made the mistake of - gosh! - PLAYING a song that was not playlisted, the station was inundated with requests, and it took off. The problem was it was too much of a novelty. They followed it up with the far more serious "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me", a cover of the Dusty Springfield song (co-written by Simon Napier-Bell, incidentally) and did not make anything like the same impact. As did the follow-up singles; hits in the US R&B charts, but no crossover either Stateside or Britainside. Instead their hit became a target for parodies by Sesame Street and Cheech & Chong ("Bloat On", laugh, I nearly started), or even Cadbury's Creme Egg. The other problem for The Floaters was that their record label was sold from under them. This stymied their second album as new bugs MCA were not interested in promoting the prog-length songs The Floaters came out with. By the time of the fourth album, they had gone through Drifters-esque line-up changes, and even had a female singer (no idea if she liked her freedom or could hold her own, or if she was quiet and carried herself like Miss Universe), but "Get Ready For The Floaters And Shu Ga" proved that the world was not ready for the Floaters and/or Shu Ga. By 1990 the original line-up was back together, although Clark has since moved into gospel singing and Paul Mitchell into production. The remaining trio still performs in retro shows and released an EP in 2005.
|
|
vastar iner
Member
I am the poster on your wall
Posts: 17,431
|
Post by vastar iner on Oct 20, 2010 20:56:25 GMT 1
Zager & Evans
"In The Year 2525 (Exordium And Terminus)", no. 1, August 1969
"Cary Lynn Javes", dnc, October 1969
Something unique. Not only were Zager & Evans one hit wonders in the UK, they were in the US as well. Nobody else is 1-for-1 in terms of number one hits on both sides of the Atlantic.
It's probably not surprising that they were one hit wonders given the circumstances of their success. Because they had peaked long before. Denny Zager and Rick Evans had met up at university in Lincoln, Nebraska, and recorded together as part of the group The Eccentrics from 1962. In 1965 the band split but Zager and Evans stayed together, performing songs written by Evans; he wrote his dystopian vision in 1964 and finally borrowed $500 to record it in 1968. It became a regional hit.
But then in 1969 came the moon landings. Life was all optimism. Except amongst those who thought it might presage disaster. War in space, planetary destruction and so on. A radio station in Texas remembered the single that the duo had sent to them the previous year as part of their global pitch gave it a spin. Like the Floaters, the record caught on, and RCA quickly signed up a distribution deal. It then went nationwide and in July 1969, as Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin flew back from Selene, the song hit the top of the US charts.
It was promoted as such in Britain, and was quirky enough in that confused year to hit the top of the charts within a month of release; it displaced "Honky Tonk Women" by The Rolling Stones from number one, a position the Stones have never regained...
And neither did Zager & Evans. Their other songs were not particularly protest-y, and second US single - "Mr Turnkey", about a rapist - proved too hot for airplay, it merely bubbled under. The UK didn't even get that far, with a rather milder and more whimsical release; but too much of a conventional pop song to make a second impact. Their last album was released in 1971, and that was it as far as the duo was concerned.
Denny Zager though remained closely involved in music. Indeed he still is, as a guitar manufacturer and tutor. Evans did the thing that others seem to have done - moved into library music.
|
|