The U.K. 70s Singles & Albums Chart General Discussion Thread.

He was big for a year, then - nothing. My grandmother had one of his records...

#Sitting in the sun waiting for a señorita to show
Guitars playing melodies from Spain and Mexico...#

 

It only sold here due to the popularity of a TV show. I can't see any reason to have put it out in America.

 

Happy To Be On An Island In The Sun.

 

That's the one! I've got it on one of my 70s comps. Always reminds me of Nana.

 

Glam occurred just as I got into my record buying phase. Mostly singles-orientated, I loved the whole darn thing.

My Favourite Dozen (Charting) Glam 45s. One per artist. No particular order. (Don't forget glam was as broad a musical church as punk.):

Sweet - Hell Raiser
Alice Cooper - Elected
Suzi Quatro - Can The Can
T Rex - Children Of The Revolution
Mott The Hoople - Roll Away The Stone
Glitter - I Didn't Know I Loved You
Slade - Gudbuy T' Jane
Bowie - Rebel Rebel
Roxy Music - Do The Strand
Elton - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (token glam ballad)
Sparks - Amateur Hour
Hello - Back In the New York Groove

I never liked Wizzard - Roy Wood always seemed to be slumming it. Mud were more Working Men's Club. Lou Reed was glam for all of five minutes in '72, so doesn't count. I suppose early Queen would count. As for Glitter, I just think of it as a Mike Leander song with a bacofoil puppet singing.

Sweet, raising hell:

 

As far as "Rebel Rebel" goes, for me it's the short and heavily remixed version:

 

The One Direction of 1974.

 

He had a number of charting albums, the sort of stuff you see often at Charity Shops.

 

I will never understand that they stole a number one from Sparks. But Jukebox Jive is one of the best hits of late 74. A band that kept doing great hits even when Glam died (Under One Roof should have charted higher, like Rod's Killing of Georgie) and their late hits are quite nice.

 

Another great song of the glam rock era with a Greek influence.



Co-written with Lynsey dePaul apparently

 

Although I think I prefer this one of Barry's hits (danced by Pans People on TOTP in 1973)

 

And another Melody Maker-only #1.

 

The guy at left could have passed as a doppelganger for Mud's Les Gray . . .

 

Anyone remember the hat that came with their 'Wears It's 'At' debut album? - The Rubettes Wear It's 'At + Card Hat UK vinyl LP album (LP record) (610067)

 

I always thought that the 50's rock and roll influence on the 1970's charts was a but odd as it was missing from the 1960's . All the way from Chuck Berry's in 1972, though the likes of the latter day Elvis-influenced Mud hits, to Showwaddywaddy, the Rubettes, then Darts and Racey in 1979 even through to Shakin'Stevens in the early 80's. I could never quite fathom out the prediction for 1950's rock and roll and doo top at the time.

 

I liked The Rubettes. Although they looked, at first, as though they were straight out of Butlins via On The Buses, they were no manufactured pop puppets. The singles were, mostly, well-crafted, and it was a courageous move to release Under One Roof. Plus, although their albums are very patchy they contain a few hidden gems. They were big in Britain, but absolutely huge in Germany and France, where they had several extra non-UK hits.

Under One Roof live on Supersonic (#40 1976)

 

Good on you, Bobby! I bought the DVDs and the CDs for one reason - I love Julie Covington´s voice, and she showed a wonderful sense of humour on one of the Secret Policeman´s Ball shows. I really liked her attitude.

That did not prepare me for "Rock Follies". So well named... It´s inane, silly and completely unengaging. The songs are very much by the numbers. Two a penny, I vaguely remember...

No, avoid it if you can. Even Julie Covington could not save this mess.

 

Sadly, I agree with you. They were fun - funky, catchy - and often with a tongue or two planted firmly in their cheeks. (Ooh - that sounds painful!)

"So You Win Again" was my first Hot Chocolate song, and I loved the somewhat minimalist arrangement, at least compared to other funk or disco acts. They kept a sparser sound than most of their contemporaries, and I found that sound charming. And "So You Win Again" is such a catchy song. Not their best remembered song, I am sure, but I loved it then and still love it now.

 

"You Can Say That Again". (Though I sincerely hope your wish won´t come true, to be honest.)

 

Yes, after "conquering" UK he attempted a career in the US, but without much success.
What I find amusing about his UK EP is that it was an EP topping the singles chart (don't know how common this was an why there's an EP in the singles chart at all), and also that the most influential European (if not worldwide) chart, that traditionally set the trends, was topped by 3 years old tracks, with a status of already overplayed oldies everywhere else.

 

Yeah, compared to him ABBA was a massive success in the U.S., no?

 

I agree, the songs are pretty weak. The best one is 'Street Signs' by... Can't remember his name now. The guy from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Like you, I bought it for Julie Covington, because there's not much of her around. And it wasn't cheap! I do enjoy it, though. It's quite tawdry in places. I'm surprised I was allowed to watch it when it was first broadcast, but the tawdry stuff went right over my head at the time.

 

That's a whole can of worms in itself. There had previously been a separate EP chart but it had been abolished by this point and even when it existed, The Beatles EPs regularly sold in sufficient quantities to register on the singles chart. EPs continued to appear on the UK singles chart at least until the end of the 80s. The punk/new wave era was a particularly fruitful period for this with the likes of The Clash and Splogenessabounds charting EPs. Much later I remember Simple Minds' Street Fighting Years EP being a big hit. All of this was further complicated by 12 inch singles and CD singles. Eventually the chart compilers tried to rationalise it by putting a limit on the total length of music that could be contained on a singles chart eligible release (just under 20 minutes if I remember rightly, otherwise it would be forced into the album charts). But by that criteria, many EPs from previous years would still qualify as singles including, no doubt, Demis.

 

Richard O´Brien?

He, he... I bought it as an adult - sort of - and I got the tawdry stuff. I didn´t mind that bit. Or those bits... But the songs were not much to sing hallelujah about, and the plots were... Shall we say, minimal?

And yes, I am saddened by the demise of Julie Covington. Unlike many posters, I love "Don´t Cry for Me, Argentina", and Julie´s version is it for me. (Just like Barbra Streisand´s version of "Memory" is "it" for me.) She had two solo albums, "Evita", she made a strong contribution to "Jeff Wayne´s Musical Version of The War of the Worlds" in 1978... And then she disappeared. I read somewhere that she took up farming, but I have no idea whether that is actually true.

Sadly missed, though I think she is still alive. I wouldn´t mind seeing her return, either as an actress or a singer.

 

Thanks, that's interesting information!