There really was nothing to report in this month (nor for that matter in the following month). School and school play rehearsals chundered on as normal, but of memorable moments I can recall few. Tony Palmer’s All You Need Is Love history of “popular music” series was broadcast on STV on Saturday late evenings and was extensive if slightly defensive and reactionary. That definitely had its moments.
Notes on Text
“Sweet Memories,” the B-side of “Red Light Spells Danger,” was written by Geoff Downes, later of Buggles, Yes and Asia. The bass playing on “Red Light” itself may very possibly have been the work of Trevor Horn but is far more likely to have been performed by Billy Ocean’s very good friend and then labelmate, Scott Walker, who was always happy to help out where needed.
As every school pupil knows, “Knowing Me, Knowing You” did eventually succeed in making it to number one and remaining there for five weeks and David Soul had to be content with second place, as did Billy Ocean – although both of those gentlemen would enjoy further number ones in good time.
5 March
BARBARA DICKSON: Another Suitcase In Another Hall/THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC CHOIR AND ORCHESTRA: Requiem For Evita (MCA 266)
I now have the Evita double album and it is quite a dark and gothic portrait of someone who tried her best to come across as sunny and light, although I’m not sure she ever managed to convince herself of that and I think Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice would agree with me. A very strange blend of cabaret MoR, West End showstoppers and tricky progressive rock, as if King Crimson had written a musical with Stephen Sondheim (Rice’s lyrics in places are so bitter they’re worthy of Pete Sinfield). It isn’t what anybody might call “commercial” but look how well “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina” did and you can see there’s no guessing public taste sometimes (although I guess Julie Covington being in Rock Follies helped). The album also includes this one quiet melodic folk-rock moment with Barbara Dickson making her sole appearance as “The Other Woman” who’s about to be thrown out of Juan Peron’s life. “Don’t ask any more,” instructs a mysterious male voice at the end of this song, and for the rest of the musical no one does. The B-side is a bad dream, its voiceless voices mourning more for themselves than for Eva Peron.
WINGS: Maybe I’m Amazed/Solly (MPL R 6017)
From a triple live album (!), Wings Over America. I would have imagined a triple live album by Wings is about the last thing anybody would want to listen to in this impending age of punk rock but this is actually really good and arguably better than the original studio recording, possibly because it’s being played by a band rather than innumerable multitracked McCartneys. What a wonderful love song with that instinctive gift for melody that only McCartney could possess. Won’t be a big hit because as a rule of thumb nobody buys live albums – then again, recent number ones by Dr Feelgood and Led Zeppelin suggest the opposite!
ABBA: Knowing Me, Knowing You/Happy Hawaii (Epic EPC 4955)
This is rather a strange song, filled with Nordic winds that are cold and very bitter. The music filters in and out of focus as though the singer is attempting to retain a grip on consciousness. The environment is empty, sad and angry. Like Slik, however, the song vacillates between portentous doom (in the verses) and jolly singalongs (in the choruses), capped by a somewhat anticlimactic MoR rock guitar melody. Arrival is already selling very well so most Abba fans are going to have this already, but it may well penetrate the dampened curtains of the disillusioned housewives still missing Engelbert Humperdinck. Romantic curtailment for grown-ups who discover that really they are still children.
12 March
BROTHERHOOD OF MAN: Oh Boy (The Mood I’m In)/Closer, Closer (Pye 7N 45656)
The “Save Your Kisses” formula was clearly shortlived, and here it sounds as though the group are trying to gain some Abba territory with female-dominant vocals; however, this song is very nondescript and lacks the crucial factor that Abba can lend even to some of their album tracks. Might do well with people slightly intimidated by “Knowing Me, Knowing You” but the latter looks to be sending Abba back to number one so maybe they’re not so intimidated.
ELTON JOHN: Crazy Water/Chameleon (The Rocket Record Company ROKN 521)
Pretty standard Elton boogie and definitely an album track rather than a single. He seems to be relaxing a bit more now that he isn’t obliged to put out so many records on DJM, and presumably he’s happy just to be doing what he likes when he likes to do it. Paul Buckmaster makes more substantial use of his string section than he did with the Real Thing, however.
ELVIS PRESLEY: Moody Blue/She Thinks I Still Care (RCA Victor PB 0857)
Well at least it isn’t an oldie for a change. That having been said, this is also pretty standard seventies Presley stuff, fluffy and insubstantial. He sings the song well enough but the song itself redefines the noun “banality.” The B-side in contrast is a magical performance. If only he had the courage to make more records like this, and if RCA and Colonel Parker had the courage not to bury them in albums or on B-sides.
SHOWADDYWADDY: When/Superstar (Arista ARISTA 91)
I doubt Elvis has even heard of Showaddywaddy, let alone heard them, but he would despair and shiver if he did. Is this why he did what he did in Sun Studios more than twenty years ago, so that cabaret acts would wipe rock’s dirty slate clean? It’s as if Pat Boone had won the war with his milky Fats Domino and Little Richard cover versions. To be fair this song was gimmicky rubbish to begin with – always being played on the Double Top Ten Show – but Showaddywaddy’s bright Blackpool bulldozer (I think they actually come from Leicester, but if you’ve been to Blackpool you’ll know what I mean – top of the bill on Central Pier. Out of season) repeats the “Under The Moon Of Love” formula. I actually hope “Knowing Me, Knowing You” does make it to number one, because this reaching the top would inspire punks to smash up the charts and everybody in it FOREVER. Rock ‘n’ roll – I love it, but wouldn’t want to live next door to it. That’s how Showaddywaddy fans think, if they’re even capable of thought.
19 March
SUZI QUATRO: Tear Me Apart/Same As I Do (RAK 248)
We haven’t seen Suzi Quatro in the charts since the autumn of 1974 and terrible singles are the main reason for that. Chinn and Chapman still don’t know what to do with her, except here they try to turn her into a female Smokie with a very silly, boring and plodding song which talks about Louisiana and Texas when they probably haven’t been west of Heathrow. Maybe she needs to work with the Runaways, who currently run concentric circles around this with their own records.
BERNI FLINT: I Don’t Want To Put A Hold On You/First Love, Best Love (EMI 2599)
The Southport folk singer-songwriter who’s broken winning records on Opportunity Knocks. Perhaps the show’s trying to become more credible and get away from dancing dogs and musclemen, or at least get as far away as possible from “Stand Up And Be Counted.” This song is about six years out of date but quite pleasant and fans of the show will obviously send it high up in the charts. Not sure if he’ll ever get another hit, though; whatever did become of Neil Reid?
MAXINE NIGHTINGALE: Love Hit Me/Life Has Just Begun (United Artists UP 36215)
The “Right Back Where We Started From” singer returns with another uptempo Motown tribute which should do pretty well.
BONEY M: Sunny/New York City (Atlantic K 10892)
In 1966 two versions of “Sunny” – the original by Bobby Hebb and a cover by Georgie Fame – effectively cancelled each other out in the Top 20 and neither made it to the top ten. Since then the song has been covered by everybody but Boney M’s icily efficient disco interpretation looks set to give them their second big hit. They are, I think, going to become really popular, but will they ever be loved?
CLIFF RICHARD: My Kinda Life/Nothing Left For Me To Say (EMI 2584)
With his credibility restored, Cliff suddenly sounds free and easy, and on this song ready to rock in a way he hasn’t really managed, or possibly wanted to manage, since the fifties. He sounds like he had a really good time recording this (he throws away “play-hey-hey” like a lottery winter dispensing with his laundry lists), and the spirit is obviously infectious. Other veteran performers may wish to take careful note.
26 March
MARILYN McCOO & BILLY DAVIS JR: You Don’t Have To Be A Star (To Be In My Show)/We’ve Got To Get It On Again (ABC 4147)
Number one on Billboard at the beginning of this year and finally a hit here for the former Fifth Dimension singers – and actual married couple – this good-natured romantic Hustler should prove big with all discerning dancers.
BRENDON: Gimme Some/Changing My Life Won’t Do (Magnet/UK MAG 80)
Not terribly sure who Brendon is, but the credits on the label seem to suggest that this is another Jonathan King production with a typically and deliberately sparse arrangement of a K.C. and the Sunshine Band track that missed in Britain. May well prove another, if less compelling, “It Only Takes A Minute” but this time King leaves the singing to somebody else.
SMOKIE: Lay Back In The Arms Of Someone/Here Lies A Man (RAK 251)
Never any danger of excitement or thrills with Smokie, which presumably explains why their records typically scale the bottom two-thirds of the chart (only three top tens so far). People seem to like and agree with the records’ inherent boredom. If you laid back in the arms of Smokie singer Chris Norman you’d be in imminent danger of falling asleep.
GRAHAM PARKER AND THE RUMOUR: The Pink Parker (E.P.) (Vertigo PARK 001)
Track listing: Hold Back The Night/(Let Me Get) Sweet On You/White Honey (Live)/Soul Shoes (Live)
Released on pink vinyl, no less, which is probably why it’s gone into the chart; Phonogram are really trying to push this excellent band and quite rightly so. Definitely far more pub rock than punk rock but this is music designed to kick you out of Smokie’s bed and about time too. Blunt but spirited reading of the Trammps hit, and the live tracks confirm they remain better on stage than on record.
BILLY OCEAN: Red Light Spells Danger/Sweet Memories (GTO GT 85)
His strongest single since “Love Really Hurts Without You,” this time coming at Motown from a “Gotta See Jane” angle of paranoia with some really fantastic bass playing. If he can get past Manhattan Transfer or Abba – can anybody, right now? – this will be his biggest hit in a year.
DAVID SOUL: Going In With My Eyes Open/Topanga (Private Stock PVT 99)
Straight in at number five – even Donny Osmond and David Cassidy never managed that! In much the same introspective romantic ballad mood as “Don’t Give Up On Us,” if not quite as catchy. Will Abba end up getting stuck at number two this time, or can Manhattan Transfer continue to hold out against all comers?
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