All the UK #1 Singles of 1976 (and some of 1977) Poll. Pick Your Favourites & Discuss.

Eddie Amoo died a few weeks ago. He was 74. Thought he was much younger than that.

 

Only got to #7.

Great single though.

 

Not surprising - it´s not that memorable! In Scandinavia, we have these awful dance bands - like Vikingarna, Thorleifs etc - that record "pleasant" songs that never seems to go anywhere, and has about 0 passion. But lots of saxophone... (Think ABBA´s "I DO, I DO, I DO, I DO, I DO" without the personality, charm and musical talent.) Some of Pussycat´s songs belong firmly to this genre, but I can tolerate even a fluffy song like "SMILE" from them. They have charm, and I like the voices.

 

...I was wondering which version this would be, but the beatbox opening makes me purt' sure it's the '93 version, yo, knowhatimsayin'.
This remix kept the synth breaks, the best part of it!!!!!
Has anyone else run into the " story-behind-the-song ' that the "Night ' in the song was, originally, meant to be 1933..the first night after Prohibition ended! Perhaps that was a little too S-P-I-C-Y a detail for Casey K. And Co. to broadcast back in the day... After all, there were probably some stations in Baptist counties that picked him up!!!!!





the chase, post: 19094482, member: 87832"]Besides the 4 ABBA songs, my favourite one is 'December 1963', what a fantastic tune!
I discovered the song through the remix that was released in 1993 (I wasn't alive in 1976).

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...Speaking of musical legends, apparently there's a story that Tina Charles, Milli Vanilli et al-like. did not sing on her records?

 

..The original 45 of " Night...1963 " apparently had a phasing effect not on any other release of it.

 

No, dont believe that one. Where does that story come from??

 

Is Mississippi representative of their usual style?

 

In no particular order, I picked:

Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen
Mamma Mia - ABBA
December, 1963 (Oh, What A Night) - The Four Seasons
Fernando - ABBA
Don’t Go Breaking My Heart - Elton John & Kiki Dee
Dancing Queen - ABBA
If You Leave Me Now - Chicago
When I Need You - Leo Sayer (1977)
Knowing You Knowing Me - ABBA (1977)

Some great ABBA tunes.

I voted for Chicago's If You Leave Me Now, because while I don't particularly care for the song, it IS a good song that can easily get stuck in one's head if you're not careful lol.

And of course, Bohemian Rhapsody is epic.

My favorite song of the ones I voted for is probably Leo Sayer's When I Need You. Not really familiar with the majority of his catalog, but man, this is a good song. And, where I'm from, this song is almost never played on the radio anymore, so it's not a song that has been played so much I'm burned out on it.

 

I tend to get laughed at when I say it, but I reckon Leo Sayer is a real talent. Two main strings to his bow: straight ahead singer/songwriter and also soul. I prefer the former but he does them both well. All his albums are worth a listen but if you're interested in having a dig through his catalogue, start with the first couple, Silverbird and Just A Boy and move forward from there.

Honestly, there are loads of great songs to be discovered.

 

More or less, yes. The vocal arangement is typical of their close harmonies, often focusing on Toni´s voice. Elements of country, easy listening, disco, funk, schläger, standards - in style, not actual standards, mind you! - and several other genres can be found in their music. Most of the songs are as simple, lyrically and musically, as "MISSISSIPPI". Not "challenging", by any means. But if you´re looking for easy-going, already familiar music, Pussycat has what you want. I don´t want to apologise for liking them - I don´t believe in the concept of guilty pleasures. And I love the sisters´ voices, and there is a sense of joy in many of their songs. Listen to the song below. It´s simple, almost crude, and the lyrics can hardly be seen as a threat for Bob Dylan, Janis Ian, Leonard Cohen or Joni Mitchell. So what? It´s a joy to sing along to. Sometimes that´s all you need.



This is about as country/dance band they ever got.

 

I agree with you. His best songs are great, and though he´s a very good songwriter, I love his 1978 eponymous album called... Eh... "LEO SAYER". The ballads are generally the best tracks - and his cover of Jackson Browne´s "SOMETHING FINE" may not better the original, but it comes pretty close. Lovely album.

 

Many thanks for the info.

I certainly like Mississippi. First time I heard Hey Joe. Another decent track.

 

Agreed!

 

My, no wonder Punk came along, a list of total horror.

 

Tina did sing on that record
In the early/mid 70's bands often started as just studio musicians, if they had an unexpected hit they might build a band or artist around that hit.
eg Alvin Stardust didn't sing on My Coo Ca Choo, Paul Da Vinci the vocalist on The Rubettes Sugar Baby Love had left the band before it became a hit, so the new lead singer mimed it.
Tina Charles was an in demand session singer, she sang on the infamous Top Of The Pops LP's. She sang the lead vocals on the huge 5000 Volts hit I'm On Fire but wasn't credited due to contractual reasons I think, so the band used another singer for TV appearances.

Also bands like The Sweet, The Bay City Rollers, Mud etc etc didn't play on their early singles, it was all session musicians.

 

...When I was 16 or so, I came up with alternate lyrics to "Night...'63 " which were, in their final form, saluting the WWII event that gave us Godzilla and all other Kaiju...
"Oh, what a night, back in '45 that was the day/bombing out of the ENOLA GAY...". Hey, it's not OMD, but I was there first!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I actually think the Pistols deserve their rightful number one spot. I always consider the record to have gone to no.1. Politics prevented it at the time. It’s about time the Official Charts came clean, and revised the chart for that week.

 

I always liked Moonlighting.

 

Lovely song!

 

Never liked the Pistols. My loss, I'm sure.

However, one of my favourite records is Andy Taylor's album Thunder and Steve Jones is all over that.

 

One of the many lies surrounding the Sex Pistols, is that they couldn't play. Steve Jones, Paul Cook and Glen Matlock certainly could.

Not sure if not liking them is your loss, but if you ever want to give them a try, and I think it's a great album, the most recent remaster of NMTBHTSP is all you need, and yes, it has the four singles!

At one stage The Enid were playing Pretty Vacant live.....

 

Appreciate the advice!

The Pistols could certainly play. Saw Glen Matlock as part of Dead Men Walking a few years ago & he was fab. And as mentioned above, Steve Jones' playing and writing on the Andy Taylor record is marvellous. Could never get over the terrible vocals on the Pistols stuff I've heard though.

I would love to hear The Enid's take on Pretty Vacant. That would be awesome!

 

I have a theory that we are at our most receptive to music when we are twelve and that the music you liked then stays with you for the rest of your life. I was twelve in 1976 and many of my all time favourite records were released that year. Unfortunately that is not reflected in this list. Just Abba (in spades), Queen, Four Seasons and Elton & Kiki for me.

 

I believe there's a lot of truth in that, though most stay receptive to new music for many years.

I'm still receptive to new music to me, but a very large percentage happens to have come from 72-77.

I've certainly got a very large soft spot for the music I heard when I was 12, and these days a lot of my pocket money goes on buying it!