March 1972. Britain. Ummm...a big tax cut was announced, and the last trolleybus service in Britain ended in Bradford. Let’s roll on to see what the big cuts were in the chart.
40 - “Horse with No Name,” America
The sons of U.S airmen who met in London just missed a Triple Crown with their first single. Britain held them two spots short. Maybe because this song has a clear anti-rain bias, I don’t know.
39 - “Day by Day,” Holly Sherwood
An American singer who began acting in commercials and on stage as a child, Sherwood had her only hit when this version of the signature song from Godspell (which also incorporates another number, “Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord”) snuck into the Top 30 here. It’s okay, but to compare her to another singer who broke through with a song from a musical about Jesus, she’s not quite Yvonne Elliman. But she did do a lot of work with Jim Steinman in the 80s, so I can give her props for that.
38 - “Jesus,” Cliff Richard
Speaking of our Lord and Saviour, Sir Cliff picked up a minor Top 40 with this gospel-rock plea for the Second Coming to arrive sooner rather than later. Pretty bland, but passionately sung. And given that he had been openly devout for years when he put this out, he can’t be accused of insincere opportunism.
37 - “Theme from The Persuaders,” John Barry Orchestra
Our second meeting with this TV theme from Bond scorer Barry. Still quality gothic intrigue. I’m easily convinced of its quality.
36 - “Lovin’ You Ain’t Easy,” Pagliaro
Montreal singer-guitarist Michel Pagliaro was a rare phenomenon in the 70s, a Canadian artist who scored mulitple hits on both the French and English-language charts. His biggest of the latter also made its way across the pond. This is a very good pop-rocker about being okay with a lover’s difficult manner as long as she’ll “just be mine in your way.” It’s yet another song I’ve come across while doing this that I didn’t know I knew, i.e. I’ve heard it several times before but had no idea what it was called or who did it. I’m glad that has been corrected. It’s a gem.
35 - “Theme from The Onedin Line,” Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
It’s still an instrumental opera piece repurposed for a TV show about the 19th century shipping business, and it’s still every bit as exciting as that sounds.
34 - “What is Life,” Olivia Newton-John
ONJ’s third hit was this cover of a track from George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass that was the B side to “My Sweet Lord” here but a separate single in many other countries. She seems a little overwhelmed by the rock arrangement here. Just a bad fit.
33 - “Heart of Gold,” Neil Young
Neil got the North American Triple Crown jewels and his only U.K. Top Ten with this classic rock cornerstone. It’s been played to death, but it still resonates, because we all never stop searching.
32 - “Brother,” CCS
Short for Collective Consciousness Society, this band was formed by Alexis Korner, a British blues guitarist who influenced and inspired future members of The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, Cream, and others. Their fourth hit was this this sublime funk track. I’m not sure what the lyrics are about, but they sound great. And bonus points for it now being the theme to my favourite current podcast, the Top of the Pops-dissecting Chart Music. I look forward to the next time I will get to hear this leading into Al Needham giving a boisterous “Ayyyyyyyup!” to me and the multitude of pop-crazed youngsters like me.
31 - “Let’s Stay Together,” All Green
The king of all soul love jams. #1 in the States, Top Ten here. But only #14 in Canada. A blight on our record.
30 - “Sleepy Shores,” The Johnny Pearson Orchestra
Our third revisit to a TV theme this entry. I probably won’t listen to it all again, because I want to stay awake to finish this.
29 - “My World,” Bee Gees
Their penultimate pre-disco Top Five was this cloying ballad. This runs on the fumes of “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart,” and you can hear the engine sputtering. They’d find a little more at the bottom of the tank for next single “Run to Me,” but the time was getting ripe for a completed overhaul.
28 - “All I Ever Need is You,” Sonny and Cher
Surprisingly, this country love duet was the Bono’s only other Triple Top Ten besides “I Got You Babe.” They sound very sincere about the sentiment here. No prizes for guessing that the feeling wouldn’t last.
27 - “The Baby,” Hollies
Their 25th hit was their first without singer Allan Clarke and with new Swedish vocalist Mikael Rickfors. It’s a an drama-rocker about the child of an unwed mother. I think that’s it. It’s interesting, but it’s clear why Clarke was quickly and enthusiastically welcomed back.
26 - “Too Beautiful to Last,” Englebert Humperdinck
The Indian-born schlockster is here with a version of the theme from Nicholas and Alexandra, a film about the last monarchs of Russia. It doesn’t evoke that at all. Stick with Boney M and “Rasputin.”
25 - “Telegram Sam,” T. Rex
Their third of four #1s was this chugging rocker that codedly refers to people who were around Marc Bolan at the time. Apparently, the title refers to band manager Tony Secunda, who was Bolan’s main man allegedly because he supplied the singer with drugs, More proof that the Rex was the sun the rest of glam merely revolved around.
24 - “Have You Seen Her,” The Chi-Lites
The soul classic was #3 in the U’s, but only #47 in Canada? The fuck? Our musical taste, have you seen it?
23 - “Flirt,” Jonathan King
The creep’s cover of a French song. Time has revealed it to be quite rapey. Ew.
22 - “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing,” The New Seekers
The first of two #1s for these looky-loos was this rewritten commercial jingle. Funny how decaffeinated a song meant to promote Coke sounded.
21 - “Hold Your Head Up,” Argent
The only pop hit for ex-Zombie Rod’s band is hereby bestowed with an award I call the Hollywood Phone Number, because it was a triple #5. Nothing to be ashamed of, boys. This is classic rock at its classic rockiest.
In Part Two: birds, footballers, and family.
No comments:
Post a Comment