Every UK #1 Single Of 1973 Discussion Thread

Whilst we are still in the glam years and talking about crap b-sides and lack of picture sleeves, we really need to doff our cap to Marc Bolan.
T.Rex had excellent songs on their b-sides and usually two of them, so their singles were more like an EP. Also all singles came in the special T.Rex sleeve with the matching label and the Electric Warrior and Tanx albums had a free poster inside.
Marc Bolan gave real value for money during his peak period. When the quality very quickly slipped I often wondered if he regretted using such great songs as B-sides....

 

I have just this minute ordered a second copy of this for my summer house. I added it to my Amazon basket the other day but forgot to check out. I paid £7 Inc delivery for a very good condition copy.
In Greece they don't know who Gary Glitter is so I can play it nice and loud, as all glam rock should be played

 

Summer house, eh? Hoity toity.

 

Although I slightly prefer his earlier #1, I Love You Love Me Love is the perfect follow-up to I'm the Leader of the Gang (I Am). Plenty of artists stick very closely to the formula of their first number one hit, and given Glitter's popularity in 1973, he could have easily done that and topped the charts. Instead, he and Leander came up with something that was still unmistakably Glitter but quite different to what had gone before it.

On paper, I could almost imagine Donny Osmond, David Cassidy or any of the other popular teen idols of the time doing this in a really schmaltzy way. The lyrics and nursery-rhyme-like chorus are saved by Glitter's overzealous vocals and that distinctive glam stomp. The combination of that primitive stomp and the bombastic instrumentation and vocal delivery make for something quite unique. I like the comparison to McCartney's Let Me Roll It; both tracks give the impression that they're being played just slightly too slow. I'm sure there's a more apt musical description, but I really like the dragging 'quaalude' effect!

Again, I think this track benefits from a lack of airplay over at least the last two decades. The chorus may well have grated by the time the song spent its fourth week at #1 but it sounds fun and fresh today. While it's incredibly disappointing that some of the greatest glam tunes have been airbrushed out of history, at least they haven't been diminished by overplay and limp cover versions.

 

I always brought a 12" single if one was available.

 

I must say I’m pleased that everyone here has concentrated on Glitter’s music rather than his personal life when discussing his singles. Whether they liked them or not.. It’s the way it should be. Having received complaints on the Glam singles thread that Glitter “shouldn’t be included”, I expected a few similar remarks on this one...

 

I didn’t like the fact that the majority of 12” singles were extended versions which ruined them for me. I liked the 7”/radio mixes far better.

 

On yet another bizarrely hot day, it seems odd to be talking about Christmas. However, as our final #1 of 1973 is Slade’s Merry Xmas Everybody which was at the top for 5 weeks (well into 1974) from 15th December, we’re going to have to.



“Merry Xmas Everybody" (stylised as MERRY X'MAƧ EVERYBODY on contemporary vinyl pressings) is a song by the British rock band Slade, released as a non-album single in 1973. The song was written by lead vocalist Noddy Holder and bassist Jim Lea, and produced by Chas Chandler. It was the band's sixth and final number-one single in the UK. Earning the UK Christmas Number One slot in December 1973, the song beat another Christmas-themed song, Wizzard's "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday", which reached fourth place. It remained in the charts for nine weeks until February 1974.

"Merry Xmas Everybody" was Slade's best-selling single, released at the peak of their popularity, and sold over a million copies upon its first release. It is Slade's last number-one single, and by far their most successful. It has been released during every decade since 1973, and has been covered by numerous artists. The single was certified UK Platinum by BPI in December 1980. Since 2007 and the advent of downloads counting towards the UK Singles Chart, it has re-entered the charts each December. As of December 2012, it has sold 1.21 million copies in the UK.

According to the Fan Club Newsletter for January and February 1974, the song was rewarded a Silver Disc for pre-order sales. Within the first week of release, the single had sold 500,000 copies. Also, according to the same newsletter, "Merry Xmas Everybody" was in such big demand that Polydor records had to make special arrangements to have 250,000 discs sent from Los Angeles, as well as 30,000 copies a day they were receiving from Germany.

By 1973, Slade were one of the most popular bands in Britain, having achieved two number one singles—"Cum On Feel The Noize" and "Skweeze Me Pleeze Me"—in three months. These singles had both entered the charts straight at number one, a rare feat at the time as this was the first occurrence since The Beatles with "Get Back" in 1969. During the year, manager Chas Chandler suggested that Slade write and record a Christmas song. Although the other band members were initially against the idea, Lea came up with the basis of the song while taking a shower. After coming up the verse melody, Lea recalled a song Holder had discarded in 1967, which he had written when the band were named the 'N Betweens. Entitled "Buy Me a Rocking Chair", it was Holder's first solo work. "Merry Xmas Everybody" used the melody of this song for the chorus, with Lea's melody as the verse.

Before its release, "Merry Xmas Everybody" received about half a million advance orders. 350,000 copies were bought upon its release. It became the third song by Slade to enter the UK Singles Chart at number one in its first eligible week on 15 December 1973, the sixth number one of their career, and the fastest selling single in the UK. Polydor, Slade's record label, were forced to use their French pressing plant to keep up with the demand, and the song eventually went on to sell over one million copies, becoming the Christmas number one of 1973, beating another Christmas-themed song, "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday" by Wizzard. “Merry Xmas Everybody" remained number one until mid-January, and stayed in the Top 50 for nine weeks. That it remained in the charts after Christmas caused confusion for Holder, who wondered why people continued to buy it.

The single's original B-side was "Don't Blame Me", which later appeared as an album track on their 1974 album Old New Borrowed and Blue. In a 1979 fan club interview, Lea said: ""Don't Blame Me" was a time-filler, I think that it was created as that. When it was used as a b-side, we didn't even know it was being used, it was chosen by the offices. We were in America recording the Christmas single, there was a rush to choose what to put on the back of it, and that track happened to be used."

 

The B-side, Don’t Blame Me.

 

It was Christmas and Polydor UK still didn’t give us a picture sleeve. The miserable swines.





France PS.



Netherlands PS.

 

Jackson was 100% straight. He also suffered from a rare skin disease which made him look like a white Diana Ross.
Michael Jackson 'kept photos of naked children and pornography stash'

 

My thoughts.

If ever there was a single that’s been overplayed in the UK....

Going back to 1973, this was another single I loved but never bought. I actually preferred the Wizzard Xmas song but didn’t buy that either! My brother was born just before Christmas and I associate both songs with that and it being a happy time in general. Despite him being a month premature and having to remain in hospital over the holiday...

The Slade record was a massive hit of course. It’s a pretty simple song with the usual rousing chorus that you’d remember after one play. The lyrics are quite funny and sum up the 70s festive season in the UK perfectly. For better or worse!

I know people who really loathe it. It’s no surprise as from November every year it’s played on the radio for another month and this has been happening for 45 years.

Despite this, I’ve managed to retain some affection for the song and honestly enjoy hearing it every year. The first few times anyway. It’s simply one of the best Christmas songs of all time although it would be a record, success wise, Slade would never top.

It’s hard to believe that some people on here might hear the song for the first time today..

Belgium PS.



Germany PS.



Spain PS.

 

Nena 99 Red Baloons is one I recall as liking less than the single version. Alongside 99 Luftballons, they should have had the single mix of 99 Red Baloons on one sude, and the extended mix on the other.

Mostly I really liked 12" singles, and of course Soft Cell Tainted Love / Where Did Our Love Go, is excellent. Jack And Diane, sounds incredible!

 

Love it!

 

Now, that is the moment I really wanted to happen.

Christmas 1973 is the pinnacle of Glam, and the moment when Christmas began being serious for the charts. In 1972 there were a few hints of Xmas hits (Little Drummer Boy by the Drums and Pipes and Happy Xmas by John Lennon and Yoko Ono), but 1973 was the real deal. Let's analyze the 4 contenders for the Christmas top spot:

First, it was Elton John Step Into Christmas. I don't know why this had such a low chart position. Maybe it was very Elton John-ish and wasn't very appreciated by the public. But I like it!

In the Top 20, perhaps the strangest of the lot. Steeleye Span's Gaudete. Yes, this is a Christmas song. Sung in "anglo-Latin", it sounds very depressing (Christmas 1973 was very depressing, indeed) and talks the joy of the people to see Jesus Christ born.

But the two song who went head to head were Slade's and Wizzard's I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday. Roy Wood threw everything for this: kids from a school, another Spectoresque production and a masterpiece of Christmas. Unfortunately, it only went to Number 4. But he had another hit solo in the Top 10: the Beach Boys-esque Forever.

Slade had to be number one. The British quintaessential Christmas hit. Sold millions of copies every Christmas. It is faultless, it is essential listening in every party, it is Slade sound. This is the moment Glam touched the sky. From then on, it was downhill for them.

 

Merry Xmas Everybody
Overplayed to death, but a great Xmas tune.
I've heard Noddy say its the best retirement fund ever!!
Am sure I've read it makes Lee/Holder £100k a year.
5/5

 

That's a great Christmas tune. Especially for 1973, a stomping, rock n roll Christmas song must have sounded revolutionary. I have heard this track before, and have it on a Christmas compilation somewhere. I just forgot it was done by Slade!

I don't think I was aware of the 'Christmas Single' phenomenon in England until I saw the movie "Love Actually". Is it really that big of a deal? We have our own Christmas tunes over here in the USA, but it seemed like having the #1 song around the Christmas time was a VERY BIG DEAL in the UK.

 

I love Gaudete. I put it on a comp one year that I gave to some friends and one of them responded with "what the heck was that?" It's amazing that it was a top 20 hit in the UK. In the USA, Steeleye Span never gained anything more than cult status.

 

I thought so, the backwards s and n.

What more can be said about Merry Xmas Everybody? A great Christmas single in a great year for Christmas singles, until it's first airing on the radio, I don't believe the countdown to Christmas has arrived.

I love the song and can remember the end of term school party where they played Wizzard and then Slade. The arrangement and playing on Merry Xmas is outstanding.

 

Step Into Christmas did get a bit lost. Perhaps it was overshadowed by the Slade and Wizzard records, or maybe people were Elton-ed out as he was releasing singles from GYBR around this time as well.

Step Into Christmas should have made the top 5 though.

 

Review from Disc.

 

As colourful as ever, Slade on TOTP in 1973.

 

The last Top Of The Pops of the year (barring Xmas editions). Uncut, with Out-takes. Introduced by Great Uncle Bulgaria... sorry, Jimmy Savile (two ToTP in 1973 including The Wombles... nah, they won't last!).

Songs who are notable and new in this chart: Robert Knight's northern soul (he had another hit in '74 with his famous Everlasting Love), Leo Sayer's circus tribute (with a cover of a song from Three Dog Night), Golden Earring's Radar Love (including the drummer jumping from his drum set) and... the lowest point for T. Rex (hardly a hit, hardly a song Truck On).

Edited to mention Dance With The Devil. Perhaps one of the best instrumental songs of the 70s. Cozy Powell was a genius. Gone too soon. Oh, and Clifford T. Ward with a small hit called Scullery.

 

Love how it was now New Seekers featuring Lyn Paul....

Someone getting a bit big for their boots and eyeing a solo career in the not too distant future.

 

She oughta sell a million! (Actually, she didn't)