It’s a great tracklist. Very representative of the U.K. 1979 charts. One surprising (and disappointing) omission is Up The Junction. I know Cool For Cats is on there, but UTJ just screams 1979 to me.
Sadly, but predictably, this is fast becoming an obituary column. It's so easy for us youngsters to forget (or want to forget!), that our musical heroes had a quarter of a century on us, half a century ago! Andy, the only place I've seen it confirmed, is Dead or dead hoax, yesterday...
Me neither. The only thing with all these comps, is most of have all the tracks except maybe two, or three. It is however a cracking comp for a tenner.
It seems really strange, but check the Facebook page; there is a comment there, which wasn't yesterday, but still nothing official...
More in its own thread but it is proof there was more going on in '79 than just disco (not that I minded that in the slightest) with Power Pop and New Wave present plus a good number of classic songs and performances.
Still nothing official announced, but as ex-band members have commented here: Ray Major One of Andy's favourite guitarist was Ray Major (Majors, Smith). Ray was wanted by Mott The Hoople to replace Mick Ralphs, but finally joined MOTT, after firstly Ariel Bender and then both Mick Ronson and Ian Hunter had left MTH. Ray's passing came shortly after that of his wife Sandy Dillon, a talented musician in her own right. There are very few videos of MOTT, but here is the title track from their second and final album, before splitting, Ray joining British Lions. Ray, stage right with that beloved white, Gibson SG:
I was thinking of doing a favourite top twenty of sings that didn't worry the charts, one of my favourites featured the excellent Ray Major. Again from MOTT, I adore this song, and Ray is shredding away with immaculate taste on the outro: MOTT - Monte Carlo If anyone doesn't have the Mott The Hoople three essential albums and the two MOTT, then this set could (should?) be your next purchase! Mott The Hoople - Original Album Classics
My favourite band The Enid totally failed to trouble the charts, but did put out some cracking, weird and indifferent singles. One that got them into trouble with Elgar's publishers, was The Enid - Dambusters March / Land Of Hope & Glory This is obviously not from The Marquee and had a different line up!! Go to around 1:17 for the encore, or better still watch the whole concert - awesome!!
If you remember Tim, the inner sleeve of 'Drive On' came with a lyric sheet and - more importantly - a 'What a bloke!' list. One of the many heroes mentioned was Olive, Newt & John. It's a circular world.
Bob, this is the email that Tim & I received the other night from a friend. It was a cut & paste from one of the Mott sites. No name attached. Didn't feel right showing it until some sort of confirmation was had, making it official. However, even Morgan Fisher has been online to heap praise so I guess that's that then. Another marvellous evocative player gone. "Where do I start? So saddened to hear the news today about the passing of Ray Majors and Sandy Dillon. I considered both Ray and Sandy to be very dear friends and at the moment I am in shock and completely at a loss to comprehend what may have happened. I first met Ray in the mid 1990's when he was playing with the Yardbirds and I contacted him for an interview for Sven Gusevik's "The Outsider" fanzine. I met him in Richmond and we spent a very pleasant afternoon talking about his career with Ray treating me to many stories about MOTT and British Lions. Ray also informed me that he was also working with Sandy Dillon and her then husband Stephen Bywater. Ray and I kept in touch and I went to him play with the Yardbirds a couple of times and a solo gig at the 100 Club. It was at that gig that I met Sandy Dillon and we had a nice chat about her time working with Mick Ronson. Sandy was amazed that I had been to one of their gigs! I also interviewed Sandy for Sven's fanzine. I have so many great memories of spending time with Ray and Sandy over the years. I tried to see them live as often as I could in the London area and I can remember gigs at the Scala, Blues West 14, Spitz Club among others. I remember going with Ray to the Fairfield Halls to see Sandy supporting Richard Thompson. I'll never forget standing next to Ray and Sandy with our arms round each other at one of MTH's 2009 reunion gigs at Hammersmith. Most of all I remember visiting Ray and Sandy in Wapping (where I was raised) and having a few drinks together in the local boozers by the river where we'd laugh and talk about music. For those of you that have seen the British Lions DVD, my interview of Ray took place in Wapping Park. The last time I saw Ray and Sandy was in Wapping just before COVID broke. I brought Ray a copy of Jeff Beck's "Loudhailer" CD and Sandy, the Tom Waits "Orphans" collection of rarities. As usual we had a great time and Sandy asked me to help her put an autobiography together. Ray had been working on his own book too and he asked if I could tidy it up for him. I agreed to help out, but unfortunately we never got any further than talking about it. Sadly I never got to see Ray and Sandy again. We messaged and e-mailed, promising to meet up, but life, COVID and their ongoing health issues always seemed to get in the way. I regret this very much and wish I had made more of an effort. Sadly now it is too late. I am proud to have known Ray and Sandy and to have spent time in their company. They gave their time willingly and generously and they were true musicians and artists who lived their life the way they wanted to. I will play their music tonight and raise a glass to two beautiful souls. RIP my friends. xxx"
It really didn't seem right to post anything without any confirmation. Wikipedia is now showing this for Sandy Dillon
Another great tune that I couldn't put in your favourite top 40 tunes is The Only Ones - Another Girl Another Planet. I don't know if @alf bought this back in '78, but not enough people did, as shockingly it failed to chart. It did reach the dizzy heights of 57 when re-released in '92, BUT, sales may have increased as another awesome song came with it. The Only Ones / Psychedelic Furs - Another Girl - Another Planet / Lovers Of Today / Pretty In Pink Here's an outtake from Revolver: Edit. John Peel amongst others was a big fan.