Posted in 1970s, Music, Reelin' In The Years at 12:00 on 9 September 2016
Superb piece of satire from Randy Newman.
Astonishing to think this was the B-side of Sail Away. Even more astonishing it didn’t dent the UK charts.
Randy Newman: Political Science
Posted in 1970s, Music, Reelin' In The Years at 12:00 on 3 June 2016
Released in the interregnum between Stills’s time in Crosby, Stills and Nash and Manassas before he took up with C, N (and Y) again, my elder brother took exception to the apparent incitement to free love in this song’s lyric and title. Myself I took it to mean be nice to the people you encounter.
I note Love the One You’re With‘s abrupt ending echoes that of Suite: Judy Blue Eyes.
Posted in 1970s, Glasgow, Music, Reelin' In The Years at 12:00 on 20 May 2016
The song was written by Gavin Sutherland and Rod Stewart later had a big hit with his version but this is the original.
I actually saw The Sutherland Brothers and Quiver playing live in Glasgow just after they’d had a couple of hits.
The Sutherland Brothers Band: Sailing
Posted in 1960s, 1970s, Events dear boy. Events, Music, Reelin' In The Years at 12:00 on 26 February 2016
I’ve come to this late. Stevie Wright, lead singer of Australian band The Easybeats, whose Friday on my Mind I chose as the first song in my 1960s music category of the same name, died in December. I only saw his obituary in The Guardian earlier this week.
Evie was a solo no 1 hit for him in Australia, possibly the first 11 minute song to reach no 1 anywhere in the world.
The song manages to encompass the three main themes of the love song as a form. Its first two parts are reminiscent of Fleetwood Mac’s Oh Well or Derek and the Dominos’ Layla in that it starts in an up tempo rocking style and then segues into quieter mode. Like Evie both those were split over two sides of the corresponding single release. Evie, however, returns to a higher tempo for its third part.
Stevie Wright: Evie
Stephen Carlton “Stevie” Wright: 20/12/1947 – 27/12/2015. So it goes.
Posted in 1970s, Lyrics, Music, Reelin' In The Years at 12:00 on 25 September 2015
From the sublime (Al Stewart, last two weeks) to the gorblimey.
I’d almost forgotten about this till the good lady said she’d heard it on the radio this week
The Wurzels were a band from Somerset – a traditional rural farming county – who dubbed their style Scrumpy and Western after the name for a type of cider and a USian music genre.
A parody of Melanie (Safka)’s Brand New Key from 1971 with lyrics more appropriate to agriculture this, believe it or not, was actually a number one hit in the UK in 1976. For three weeks!
Bits of it are still funny, though. I especially like the spoken, “I just can’t wait till I get me ‘ands on your laaaaand,” towards the end.
The Wurzels: The Combine Harvester
Another Wurzels parody, this time of Una Paloma Blanca, got to number three in 1976.
The Wurzels: I am a Cider Drinker
There are clips on You Tube of the Wurzels performing this on TV but on one of them they are introduced by a paedophile and the other is incomplete.
Posted in 1970s, Music, Reelin' In The Years, The Sweet at 17:09 on 21 August 2015
I’ve not done one of these for a while.
The Sweet: Teenage Rampage
Posted in 1970s, Music at 12:00 on 19 June 2015
For some reason last week’s featured song always merges into my head into this one by Elton John (from his Honky Chateau LP.)
The mandolin on this is great.
Elton John: Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters
Posted in 1970s, Music, Reelin' In The Years at 12:00 on 7 May 2015
I was sad to hear the news yesterday of the death of Errol Brown.
His band, Hot Chocolate, first came to my attention with this song in 1970.
Love is Life: Hot Chocolate
They were notable for being one of only three acts to have at least one (UK) hit in every year of the 1970s with Brown writing (or co-writing) most of them. In fact that run of chart success continued till 1984.
Perhaps their bravest release was Brother Louie, with a spoken word part which was voiced by British blues legend Alexis Korner.
Brother Louie: Hot Chocolate
Lester Errol Brown: 12/11/1943 – 6/5/2015. So it goes.
Posted in 1960s, 1970s, Events dear boy. Events, Music, Reelin' In The Years at 12:00 on 16 January 2015
Another member of the most idiosyncratically named band of the 60s, Dozy, bassist of Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich fame, has died.
This isn’t one of Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich’s big hits. It doesn’t feature Dave Dee at all and was recorded and released in 1970 after he left the group when the band had shortened its name to the remaining members initials. This track apparently has the first use of a Moog Modular Synthesiser.
D B M & T: Mr President
Trevor Leonard Ward-Davies (Dozy): 27/11/1944 – 13/1/2015. So it goes.
Posted in 1970s, Music, Reelin' In The Years, The Moody Blues at 12:00 on 20 June 2014
I’ve already mentioned the odd decision to release Watching and Waiting rather than Gypsy as the single from To Our Children’s Children’s Children. The former was an ideal coda to the album but not really single material.
The single that came after, Question, was the Moodies most successful in the new era, only being kept off the No. 1 slot by the England World Cup squad’s Back Home. (Oh tempora!) Despite being described as, “One of the world’s most advanced groups,” while promoting the song on Top of the Pops, the LP it prefaced, A Question of Balance, gave the first indication that collectively the band was going off the boil.
Their next single didn’t even make the UK charts despite being a belter. First below is not the album version from Every Good Boy Deserves Favour. This one has a different vocal performance and a more lush mellotron sound. The more familiar album edition follows.
The Moody Blues: The Story In Your Eyes
