405. Rod Stewart – First Cut Is the Deepest/I Don’t Want to Talk About It (1977)

‘There is no future in England’s dreaming’

Sorry, but it’s very difficult to talk about the 405th number 1 single and not mention the rumours of a fix preventing what would have been the 406th…

Rod Stewart’s 1975 LP Atlantic Crossing, his first for Warner Bros. was a huge global success. And Sailing, the first single from it, his biggest-selling song ever. The next single it spawned, a cover of The Isley Brothers’ This Old Heart of Mine, went to four. His next album, also considered among his finest, was A Night on the Town in 1976. Once more produced by Tom Dowd at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Alabama, its first single, Tonight’s the Night (Gonna Be Alright) was huge in the US. Reigning at the top of the Billboard chart for eight weeks, it was the longest-running number 1 there since Hey Jude in 1968. And this was in spite of its risky lyrics in which Stewart is basically deflowering a ‘virgin child’. Perhaps because of that it only climbed to five in the UK. The next release ranks among his finest. The Killing of Georgie (Part II and II) is a beautiful true story about a gay friend of his former band Faces, who was murdered in 1974. The lyrics are Stewart at his best. The second part is basically Don’t Let Me Down by The Beatles, but that’s no bad thing either. Far removed from his laddish image, the US didn’t take to it, but it reached two in the UK. Good old UK.

Another Beatles connection came next when Rod the Mod covered Get Back for the music documentary All This and World War II. This took him to 11. On the back of The Best of Rod Stewart and its use as the theme to BBC documentary series Sailor, Sailing was re-released and went to 31. OK, it’s a low position, but bear in mind it was number 1 only two years previous.

And while Stewart was selling millions globally, a new movement was growing. The Sex Pistols became notorious in December 1976 for their sweary appearance on Bill Grundy’s Today. Goaded by a drunken Grundy, the host was sacked. EMI ended their record deal with the punk pioneers after one single, Anarchy in the U.K. But they grew ever more infamous while they recorded their album Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols. They signed with A&M and announced they were to release God Save the Queen in Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee year. Following a riotous press conference and fight with a label executive a few days later, A&M sacked them and virtually all the singles were destroyed.

You may well know why I’m talking about Sex Pistols so much, but if not, it’s fascinating and one of pop’s greatest controversies. Johnny Rotten and co (including new member Sid Vicious) soon signed with Virgin Records, who were more than happy to release God Save the Queen to tie in with the height of the Jubilee celebrations. Punk was quickly gaining traction with a disaffected youth, bored of progressive rock albums and dull light entertainment pop. Malcolm McLaren’s group may have been hated, but any publicity was good publicity for a band that thrived on being loathed.

Allegedly, a panicked music industry may face decided the Sex Pistols needed to be stopped from embarrassing the nation by taking the number 1 spot in Jubilee week. So Warner Bros. released a budget double A-side by a much safer UK pop star.

The First Cut Is the Deepest had been the second track on A Night on the Town. Originally one of Cat Stevens’ earliest songs, the most famous version was recorded by US soul singer PP Arnold in 1967. He had sold it to her for £30. Stewart’s version is a decent retread. Not up there with his greatest work, but I prefer it to some of his more famous number 1s like Sailing. It showcases the sensitive side of Stewart, in the role of wounded ex-lover. Dowd’s production is, as always, very slick, and Stewart’s gravelly voice suits it well.

I Don’t Want to Talk About It dates back to Atlantic Crossing. Unusual to pick a song from an earlier album as a double A-side, but it complements the flip very well. The original version by Danny Whitten featured on his band Crazy Horse’s eponymous debut LP in 1971. Best known as Neil Young’s backing band, Whitten was sacked from Crazy Horse soon after and died of an alcohol/diazepam overdose a year later. This is a great song and I prefer it to the better known flip side. Once again Stewart is all broken up over a relationship. It’s another tender, heartfelt performance, and he captures Whitten’s anguish very well. Very similar to First Cut Is the Deepest, you could be forgiven for thinking they were recorded at the same time.

First Cut Is the Deepest/I Don’t Want to Talk About It became Stewart’s fourth number 1 on 21 May. The following week, God Save the Queen was released. On the Jubilee holiday of 7 June the Sex Pistols tried to play their song from a boat named Queen Elizabeth on the River Thames. Following a scuffle between Jah Wobble and a cameraman, 11 of the entourage including McLaren and fashion designer Vivienne Westwood were arrested when the boat docked.

The official chart for Jubilee week was to be released a few days later, and the Daily Mirror were predicting a number 1 for God Save the Queen, despite its ban by the BBC. On 15 June it became number 1 on the NME chart, but peaked at two in the BBC and Record Retailer ‘official’ chart.

So, conspiracy theory or not? Nothing has ever been officially proven either way, but there is compelling evidence to suggest it may be the case. According to a 2011 article by The Independent, the British Phonographic Institute decreed that for one week only – Jubilee week, sales from record-company operated shops were excluded from sales figures. Of course, that would have meant excluding Virgin. Pretty bad behaviour, if true. McLaren also claimed that someone at CBS Records, which was distributing both singles, told him the Sex Pistols were outselling Stewart two to one that week. But McLaren was an expert bullshitter, so don’t assume this to be the truth.

We’ll never know for sure, it seems. But if it’s true, it’s shocking, and a crying shame. God Save the Queen, a vibrant, angry anti-establishment song, urging the working class to wake up and consider their lot, would have been an incredible number 1, and the only punk song to get there. To achieve it in Jubilee week would have been such a statement. Instead, it was two (admittedly decent) Stewart ballad covers.

‘Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?’

Written by:
First Cut Is the Deepest: Cat Stevens/I Don’t Want to Talk About It: Danny Whitten

Producer: Tom Dowd

Weeks at number 1: 4 (21 May-17 June)

Births:

Actress Rachael Stirling – 30 May
Welsh chef Bryn Williams – 6 June

Deaths:

Actor Stephen Boyd – 2 June
Physiologist Archibald Vivian Hill – 3 June

Meanwhile…

21 May: Manchester United won the FA Cup for the fourth time, beating Liverpool 2-1 at Wembley Stadium. 

25 May: Liverpool made up for the loss by winning the UEFA European Cup. They defeated West German league champions Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-1 in Rome.

27 May: Prime Minister James Callaghan officially opened the M5 motorway, 15 years after the first stretch near Birmingham was opened. 

6-9 June: Silver Jubilee celebrations were held to celebrate 25 years of the Queen’s reign, with a public holiday on 7 June.

403. ABBA – Knowing Me, Knowing You (1977)

‘Aha!’Following the rightful success of one of the greatest singles of all time – namely Dancing Queen, ABBA were becoming superstars. They followed it up with another of their most famous songs. But Money, Money, Money didn’t become their fifth UK number 1, narrowly missing out by peaking at two. Their fourth album Arrival was chock full of hits though and was mined further.

Knowing Me, Knowing You was recorded on 23 March 1976 at Metronome Studios. It marked a turning point in the band’s career. Gone was the jollity and Europop stylings of Waterloo. This was where things got interesting. Although we’re not at the point in which the two couples were getting divorced, relations in the band had become strained. As Björn Ulvaeus wrote the lyrics, you would imagine he and Agnetha Fältskog were already having problems. Originally the song had the working title Ring It In and then the prophetic Number 1, Number 1. As with most tracks on Arrival, it featured Rutger Gunnarsson on bass (he also looked after the string arrangement) and Ola Brunkert on drums.

I’ve always been more interested in the soap opera-style drama behind ABBA than the majority of the songs I’ve heard by them. It’s fascinating that a superstar group of two couples could end up cataloguing their breakups so poignantly. Give me that over the cheesiness of their early years anytime. So I’m a big fan of Knowing Me, Knowing You.

‘No more carefree laughter’, the opening line, is a very effective signpost that ABBA were in trouble, despite years of success still to come. Anni-Frid Lyngstad takes the lead here and she commits a great performance, documenting her walk through a silent, empty house alone, remembering the good times. Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson’s production fits the glacially cold mood perfectly (as does the opening of the video, the sun beaming down in the winter snow) and then the chorus is ABBA at their best. Somehow, despite years of association with Steve Coogan’s immortal comic character Alan Partridge, you can still hear it and be impressed, not amused at the fact the chat show host adopted such an inappropriate song as his catchphrase. It stands apart and it stands head and shoulders above any of the other 1977 number 1s so far. It also captures the sadness of the inevitability of the split. They know each other so well, she can see there is no going back this time – ‘this time we’re through’.

Great backing vocals from Ulvaeus too, echoing Frida’s sentiment well. Just to remind us ABBA haven’t totally given up on glam, there’s a very memorable solo after the choruses, with Ulvaeus coming over all Mick Ronson. Fältskog interjects in verse two with some sexy whispering. To be fair Fältskog could make anything sexy, even divorce. I realise that, speaking as someone who likes to point out how he doesn’t generally get all the fuss about ABBA, I’ve had nothing but high praise indeed for the last two singles I’ve covered. Andersson also looked back in 2004 and called them some of ABBA’s greatest work.

One thing that doesn’t get mentioned about ABBA is how iconic their videos are. Knowing Me, Knowing You was, like most, directed by future Academy Award nominee Lasse Hallström. Simple, yet effective, those shots of the members confronting each other face-to-face or back-to-back are as memorable as the song itself.

Knowing Me, Knowing You was rightly one of the biggest-selling songs in the UK of 1977 and began a second run of three consecutive chart-toppers in a row for Benny, Björn, Frida and Agnetha. It’s been covered by a diverse range of acts including Cilla Black, A-Teens and Right Said Fred. And as already mentioned, it took on a whole new life as the theme tune to Knowing Me, Knowing You… with Alan Partridge the radio and TV series that introduced us to one of the greatest comedy characters of all time.

Written by: Benny Andersson, Stig Anderson & Björn Ulvaeus

Producers: Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus

Weeks at number 1: 5 (2 April-6 May)

Meanwhile…

2 April: The legendary horse Red Rum wins the Aintree Grand National for the third time. 

11 April: London Transport’s Silver Jubilee AEC Routemaster buses are launched. 

18–30 April: The Embassy World Snooker Championship moves to Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre, where it attracts TV coverage for the first time. 

23 April: National Front marchers clash with anti-Nazi protesters in London.
Also on this day, prostitute Patricia Atkinson is murdered in Bradford. Police believe she is the fourth woman to be killed by the Yorkshire Ripper.

29 April: British Aerospace is formed to run the nationalised aviation industry.

5 May: The Conservatives make gains at local council elections, including winning the Greater London Council from Labour.

401. Leo Sayer – When I Need You (1977)

Diminutive singer-songwriter Leo Sayer may be short in stature, but he was a big star in the 70s. From 1973 onwards he was a regular in the top 10 but it took four years to finally reach the pinnacle of the charts with the soft rock ballad When I Need You.

Gerard Hugh Sayer was born on 21 May 1948 in Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex, where he attended St Peter’s Catholic Primary School. Then he moved on to Blessed Robert Southwell in Goring-by-Sea and then West Sussex College of Art and Design, where he studied commercial art and graphic design. When he was 18, Sayer was working as a hall porter at the King’s Hotel in Hove. He became a hero when a serious fire broke out on the first floor and he assisted with saving elderly guests. Sayer ended up in danger himself but was rescued by builders working on nearby flats.

By the late-60s he was frontman in Terraplane Blues Band, before forming the group Patches in 1971 with drummer David Courtney, who had previously played with former number 1 singer Adam Faith. Patches were hoping the connection would pay dividends as Faith was moving into music management. Although Faith wasn’t that impressed with the group, he did think Sayer had potential and agreed to work with him.

Sayer began recording songs he co-wrote with Courtney at the studio of Roger Daltrey. The Who’s lead singer was impressed with what he heard, and was trying to kickstart a solo career. His debut, Giving It All Away, was written by Sayer and Courtney and produced by Faith. Peaking at five in the charts, Daltrey never surpassed this achievement again. Sayer’s debut single followed that same year but Why Is Everybody Going Home failed to chart. It became the closing track on his first LP, Silverbird.

Sayer’s second single, however, made him a star. The Show Must Go On was a music-hall-style song about making the wrong choices in life. He memorably promoted the single appearing on TV dressed and made-up as a pierrot clown. It took him all the way to number two. Second album Just a Boy (1974) spawned One Man Band, which reached six and Long Tall Glasses (I Can Dance), which climbed to four. The latter became his first US hit when it went all the way to four. With a canny knack in catchy pop, a lot of charisma and energy and that unmistakable 70s afro, Sayer became a frequent presence on Top of the Pops.

His third album Another Year continued his winning ways in 1975 with Moonlighting, narrowly giving him his first number 1 but stalling at two. He and Courtney had gone their separate ways and Sayer wrote this LP with Supertramp bassist Frank Farrell. He and Faith also stopped working together after this album and he went to the US to record Endless Flight. With a bigger production budget and Richard Perry at the helm, it was his most commercial work yet and the first single from it, the ultra-catchy disco pop tune You Make Me Feel Like Dancing gave him a number 1 in the US, Canada and New Zealand. Despite being his signature song, it was his third single to not make it past the runner-up spot. Finally, Sayer cracked it with When I Need You.

This love song was penned by Albert Hammond and Carole Bayer Sager. Hammond, father of Albert Hammond Jr from The Strokes, was a singer and has been very successful for decades in writing hits for Glenn Campbell, Aretha Franklin, Celine Dion, Ace of Base and Westlife, to name a few. Singer-songwriter Bayer Sager has an Academy Award, a Grammy and two Golden Globes to her name and later married and worked with Burt Bacharach. Together, these pedigree songsmiths were bound to strike gold. This track actually first appeared as the title track to Hammond’s 1976 LP.

I’m not sure what to make of Sayer to be honest. I used to think he seemed a nice unassuming guy, happy to play the fool (literally in the case of The Show Must Go On). I formed this opinion after seeing him fall off a running machine on the Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer ill-fated game show Families at War. You can see the clip here. It starts with him sat on someone’s back performing this very number 1. So surely he has a good sense of humour. But then my opinion fell rapidly after seeing him take part in Celebrity Big Brother in 2007. He came across as a childish prima donna, eventually storming out because he couldn’t be provided with clean underwear. And during one of his hissy fits, he accidentally gave a thumbs up to the camera rather than the finger. Look. Silly sod.

But let’s give him the benefit of the doubt as that series did strange things to people and let’s get back to 1977. And I think When I Need You is a decent single if you like 70s torch songs. Perry’s production is slick and top-notch, capturing that soft rock FM sound so well. Sayer portrays the sensitive pop star separated from his loved one well. Though they’re miles apart, it’s OK as he can picture her when he closes his eyes. Sounds cliched now (and the video above in which he wanders forlornly along a beach is definitely cheesy) but it captures the mood better than other songs of this type. I prefer the falsetto-sung happy-go-lucky You Make Me Feel Like Dancing personally but When I Need You is better than, say If You Leave Me Now or Don’t Give Up on Us. The song works because you could imagine it as a love letter not to just one person, but all Sayer’s fans. And ‘It’s cold out, but hold out, and do like I do’ is a nice little punching-the-air moment.

It’s a class line-up performing the track, featuring award-winning composer James Newton Howard on synth, occasional Rolling Stones saxophonist Bobby Keys, Michael Omartian on electric piano, session guitarist Dean Parks on electric guitar, Jeff Porcaro (soon to join Toto) on drums and legendary session bassist Willie Weeks.

When I Need You finally got Sayer the number 1 he craved, and became his second US chart-topper too. It was a worldwide hit and also the first of two Perry-produced number 1s in a row. It’s somewhat of a standard, having been covered by Perry Como, Rod Stewart, Celine Dion, Cliff Richard and, erm, Will Mellor. But Sayer’s is the one everyone remembers.

Normally at this point I’d run through the rest of Sayer’s career, but as he unexpectedly featured on a number 29 years later, you’ll have to wait. It’s cold out, but hold out.

Written by: Albert Hammond & Carole Bayer Sager

Producer: Richard Perry

Weeks at number 1: 3 (19 February-11 March)

Births:

Coldplay singer Chris Martin – 2 March
Actress Rita Simons – 9 March
Radio DJ Colin Murray – 10 March

Deaths:

Anthony Crosland – 19 February

Meanwhile…

22 February: Labour MP David Owen replaces Anthony Crosland as Foreign Secretary after his death three days earlier (see Don’t Cry for Me Argentina)

1 March: Prime Minister James Callaghan threatens to withdraw state assistance to British Leyland, insisting they put an end to strike action.

399. David Soul – Don’t Give Up on Us (1977)

US actor David Soul had for many years been a frustrated singer, until his role in the 70s cop drama Starsky & Hutch enabled him to achieve his dream. Thanks to his fame, he was able to bag two UK number 1s in 1977.

David Richard Solberg was born in Chicago, Illinois on 28 August 1943. Of Norwegian extraction, his father was a Lutheran minister and his mother a teacher. The Solbergs moved regularly when he was growing up. While studying at the University of the Americas in Mexico City (rather than accept an offer from the Chicago White Sox to play baseball), he was inspired to learn the guitar, and so began his love for music, playing Mexican folk songs.

At some point in the mid-60s Solberg began going by the name David Soul and would perform in New York without making much impact. He hit upon the idea of concealing his identity and became The Covered Man. The gimmick worked and he was hired by The William Morris Agency and he garnered TV appearances, most notably on The Merv Griffin Show in 1966. Unfortunately when he unmasked on the same show the year later, proclaiming ‘My name is David Soul, and I want to be known for my music’, the bookings dried up.

It did however get him noticed and he began to get work as an actor instead, making his TV debut in an episode of Flipper, then an episode of Star Trek. In 1968 he became a regular on comedy series Here Comes the Brides, which ran for another two years. Clint Eastwood cast him for a role in Dirty Harry sequel Magnum Force, released in 1973.

Then came the big one. In 1975 he landed the part of Detective Ken ‘Hutch’ Hutchinson in ABC’s Starsky & Hutch along with Paul Michael Glaser as David Michael Starsky. This action drama series became huge and perhaps made Soul decide the time was right to try his hand at music once more, or someone at the label Private Stock Records could smell opportunity.

Soul was teamed with Tony Macaulay, a proven hitmaker with a considerable track record, having written and produced number 1s for The Foundations, Edison Lighthouse and The New Seekers. He had been tied up for much of the 70s in a legal dispute with his publishers. His win on appeal proved a landmark case for artists to challenge the terms of their contracts.

Soul’s first number 1 is a very typical 70s slushy ballad, and very similar to If You Leave Me Now. Unfortunately the hook isn’t as catchy as Chicago’s, but the song as a whole is perhaps stronger, as it doesn’t tail away into nothingness. It’s lyrically similar too. Soul and his love have had a bust-up. Sounds quite serious too, as in the middle-eight he says ‘I really lost my head last night’. But he’s now full of regret and, not blessed with the strongest of voices, his meekness fits the theme of the song quite well. But if Soul hadn’t been starring in one of the most successful TV imports of the decade at the time, I doubt this would have topped the charts.

Don’t Give Up on Us went to number 1 in the US too, and Australia, Canada and New Zealand. Soul would be back at the top before the year was out.

Written & produced by: Tony Macaulay

Arranged by: Tony King

Weeks at number 1: 4 (15 January-12 February)

Births:

Actress Hayley Tamaddon – 24 January
Sailor Ben Ainslie – 5 February
Footballer Jason Euell – 6 February

Deaths:

Chief of the Air Staff Sir Andrew Humphrey – 24 January

Meanwhile…

29 January: Seven Provisional IRA bombs explode in London’s West End but there are no fatalities or serious injuries.

4 February: Police find an IRA bomb factory in Liverpool.

5 February: 28-year-old homeless woman Irene Richardson is murdered in Leeds, at nearly the exact location where prostitute Marcella Claxton was injured in an attack nine months earlier. Police believe that this murder and attempted murder may be connected, along with the murders of Wilma McCann, Emily Jackson and the attempted murders of at least three other women.

10 February: The three IRA terrorists involved in the 1975 Balcombe Street Siege in London are sentenced to life imprisonment on six charges of murder.

398. Johnny Mathis – When a Child is Born (Soleado) (1976)

After 20 years in the music business, US pop crooner Johnny Mathis finally scored a UK number 1, and the all-important Christmas spot too, with a timely ballad many associated with the festive season. It’s a throwback to the stately Christmas songs of old.

John Royce Mathis was born in Gilmer, Texas on 30 September 1935, of African-American and Native American heritage. The family soon moved to San Franciso, California, which is where he grew up. His father Clem was a singer and pianist, and could see his fourth of seven sons had musical talent. He bought him an old piano for the princely sum of $25. In years to come his parents would run his fan club. Soon, Mathis was singing and dancing for visitors, at school and church. From the ages 13 to 18 he was given singing lessons.

But Mathis had other interests in his youth too. He was a star athlete at George Washington High School, excelling at the high jump, hurdles and basketball. At San Francisco State College in 1954 he set a high jump record that was only 7cm short of the 1952 Olympic record.

Around this time Mathis got to know Helen Noga, co-owner of The Black Hawk Club where he often performed. She became his manager in 1955 and was offered a contract with Columbia Records. He had to decide whether to sign or try out for the Olympics. On his father’s advice he chose the former and released his eponymous jazz-flavoured debut LP in 1956. His first single, Wonderful! Wonderful! followed in 1957 and was a number 14 hit in the US. It was only the start, as It’s Not for Me to Say peaked at five and then Chances Are topped the US chart. It was followed by The Twelfth of Never, reaching nine. It became a number 1 for Donny Osmond in 1973. A hugely successful year was rounded off with Wild is the Wind, later covered beautifully by David Bowie on Station to Station. It was the theme to a film of the same name and earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song in 1958. He repeated this achievement with A Certain Smile the following year, which peaked at four in the UK.

Mathis also released Johnny’s Greatest Hits in 1958, which is considered the first of its kind and it held the record for most consecutive weeks in the Billboard album chart until The Dark Side of the Moon overtook it in 1983. Mathis rounded off the year with his first Christmas single, Winter Wonderland, a number 17 hit on these shores. Someone was a number six UK smash in 1959. When My Love for You climbed to nine, it became his last UK chart entry for 15 years.

Relations between Mathis and Noja soured and in 1964 they fought in court. He bought a mansion in Hollywood Hills that had been built by Howard Hughes, and he still owns it to this day. In 1967 Mathis established Jon Mat Records but the 60s were a lean time for his career thanks to the British Invasion. He was no longer fashionable, though he did try to appear more hip by covering Simon & Garfunkel’s The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy) and the theme from Midnight Cowboy, both in 1969.

The 70s looked to be going the same way with covers of The Bee Gees’ How Can You Mend a Broken Heart? in 1971 and The Walker Brothers’ former number 1 Make It Easy on Yourself in 1972 making little impression. But then in 1975 he made a surprise return to the hit parade with a cover of I’m Stone in Love with You by The Stylistics and When a Child is Born (Soleado) topped them all on Christmas Day 1976.

The bracketed part of the title is where the tune originated. Soleado was a mainly instrumental song composed in 1974 by Ciro Dammico, aka Zacar, and Dario Baldan Bembo. Soleado was adapted and transformed into various different songs depending on the country, including in the UK, where Vera Lynn sang a version called There Comes a Day in 1975. Fred Jay, who later co-wrote hits for Boney M, was responsible for the English lyrics that Mathis made famous.

So is When a Child is Born (Soleado) a Christmas song or not? Strictly speaking, no. You can easily take the lyrics and say they’re a retelling of the Nativity, with a child’s birth bringing about a ‘brand new morn’ and talk of ‘walls of doubt, crumble tossed and torn’. It all sounds very much like the miraculous birth of Jesus, particularly the reference to ‘A tiny star lights up way up high.’ As it was on my cash-in The Best Christmas Album in the World… Ever!, I’ve considered it for the season for well over 20 years. But upon re-reading the words, it seems to me it’s telling us we’re still waiting for someone to be born that can make the world a better place. It becomes clearer when Mathis recites the spoken word section:

‘And all of this happens because the world is waiting,
Waiting for one child
Black, white, yellow, no-one knows
But a child that will grow up and turn tears to laughter,
Hate to love, war to peace and everyone to everyone’s neighbour
And misery and suffering will be words to be forgotten, forever’

Ouch, that ‘yellow’ bit has aged badly hasn’t it? But the intention was well-meant I’m sure. So yes, Mathis is waiting expectantly for someone to come along and save us all. Personally, the child this song reminds me of is my eldest daughter Emmie. My wife Joy was heavily pregnant during Christmas 2011 and, with my fondness for Christmas songs in general, this would get played a lot. I love a good croon when the moment and song is right, and used to love belting out ‘You’re on solid ground’ triumphantly.

When a Child is Born (Soleado) is a step back to the east listening of the past, and you can bet the older generation were glad to have a Christmas number 1 that wasn’t by those glam rock upstarts for a change. While I prefer the festive classics of Slade and Mud, I’ve room in my heart for this. Mathis is a class performer. Just ignore, as usual, the spoken word section.

Although 1977 was another sparse year for hits, Mathis enjoyed another comeback a year later thanks to a duet with Deniece Williams (herself a number 1 artist in 1977 with Free) when Too Much, Too Little, Too Late became a US chart-topper. Mathis was encouraged by this to record many more duets, with, among others, Dionne Warwick and Natalie Cole. 1979 saw Mathis nominated for a third Oscar, this time for The Last Time I Felt Like This, recorded with Jane Olivor.

In 1981 Mathis tried to update his sound and recorded an LP with Chic’s Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards, but I Love My Lady remained unreleased until the mammoth 68-disc box set The Voice of Romance: The Columbia Original Album Collection in 2017. His last hit was Friends in Love with Warwick, released in 1982.

Despite the sales dwindling, he did release material sporadically over the next few decades. Mathis has, along with Bob Dylan, Barbra Streisand, Tony Bennett, Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen, the longest tenure on the Columbia label. He reduced his number of live performances in 2000 but still gets out there, now aged 85. In 2003 he was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and has been entered into its Hall of Fame three times. Proving it’s never too late to change course, Mathis released a country album, Let It Be Me: Mathis in Nashville. A Christmas album, Sending You a Little Christmas followed in 2013, and his last collection so far is Johnny Mathis Sings the Great New American Songbook (2017), where he tried his hand at modern hits by Adele and Pharrel Williams. After years of rumours, Mathis came out the year of its release. A survivor of alcohol and prescription drug problems, he’s done lots of commendable work for charity.

Well, 1976 was a slog wasn’t it? Glam rock is no more and disco isn’t hitting the upper reaches as much as I’d like yet. Unfortunately 1977 is similar, but I can see at least one classic to come… perhaps the greatest number 1 of all time…

Written by: Zacar & Dario Baldan Bembo/Fred Jay (English lyrics)

Producer: Jack Gold

Weeks at number 1: 3 (25 December 1976-14 January 1977)

Births:

Labour MP Rosena Allin-Khan -1 January 1977
Sinn Féin leader Michelle O’Neill – 10 January
Cricketer Billy Taylor – 11 January
Actor Orlando Bloom – 13 January

Deaths:

Conservative Prime Minister Anthony Eden – 14 January 1977

Meanwhile…

3 January 1977: Home Secretary Roy Jenkins announces he is leaving the House of Commons to become President of the European Commission. 

6 January: EMI terminates its contract with the Sex Pistols after only one single, Anarchy in the U.K. This was in response to the band’s infamous appearance on Bill Grundy’s Today in December and two days ago at London Heathrow Airport.

396. Chicago – If You Leave Me Now (1976)

US rock band Chicago are one of the longest-running and most successful acts of all time in America. They’ve dabbled in jazz, classical and pop and sold millions in the process. Yet they haven’t achieved anywhere near the same level of success in the UK, and their only chart-topper is this soft-rock ballad.

They formed in 1967 in, well, Chicago, Illinois. Known then as The Big Thing, they consisted of saxophonist Walter Parazaider, guitarist/singer Terry Kath, drummer Danny Seraphine, trombonist James Pankow, trumpeter Lee Loughnane and keyboardist/singer Robert Lamm. All had previous band experience. Chicago toured local nightclubs and played covers of the hits of the era. With a need for a bassist and a tenor to complement the vocals of Lamm and Kath, they hired Peter Cetera towards the end of the year.

The Big Thing were ambitious and began working on their own material. In 1968 they moved to LA, signed with Columbia Records and changed their name to Chicago Transit Authority. They became regular performers at the legendary Whiskey a Go Go, supporting Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix. In 1969 their eponymous debut album was released. Unusually for a first LP, it was a double. The seven-piece were lined up to play at Woodstock, but were replaced by Santana.

Less than a year later they had shortened their name to simply Chicago to avoid legal action, and another double LP, Chicago, followed. It spawned 25 or 6 to 4, which reached four in the US and seven in the UK. In 1971 they released Chicago III and began a trend for naming their albums after the group with a roman numeral to denote the order, bar a few exceptions here and there. These earlier, more experimental collections usually found their way into the top 10 of the UK album charts, where the more mature listeners had no quarrel with lengthy rock symphonies. Chicago V in 1972 was their first single album and contained the US number three hit Saturday in the Park. Chicago VI (1973) saw Cetera become established as their main singer. Chicago were so popular in the States, in 1974 their entire catalogue of seven albums was in the Billboard 200.

Close to collective exhaustion from their heavy workload, Chicago took a two-year break inbetween recording Chicago VIII and Chicago X (Chicago IX was a greatest hits compilation). Some of the band were reportedly unhappy with the number of ballads featured on their latest work. Among the last to be recorded and nearly left off was Cetera’s If You Leave Me Now, which he’d originally written in 1973. The singer also performed backing vocals, with Lamm was on electric piano, longtime collaborator Brazilian percussionist Laudir de Olivera provided congas, shakers, finger cymbals and wind chimes, Parazaider swapped saxophone for woodwinds, producer James William Guercio contributed lead and rhythm acoustic guitar (Kath sat this one out) and veteran arranger Jimmie Haskell looked after the strings and French horn orchestrations, played by Gene Sherry and George Hyde.

The first 40 seconds of If You Leave Me Now are great. Opening with that memorable horn hook, Cetera pleads with his love not to go. OK, this is hardly a new subject matter in pop, but it’s a very slick production and ‘If you leave me now, you’ll take away the biggest part of me/Ooohh no, baby please don’t go’ is a very effective earworm. Unfortunately it all goes a bit aimless after that. It’s as though Cetera plays his ace too soon, stopping his partner in her tracks but is then unable to really give a good reason to persuade her to change her mind. He has a great voice that lends itself well to a song full of pleading, but there’s not enough meat to keep me interested. Dance act Lemon Jelly had the right idea when they used the intro as the basis for their track Soft, released in 2001. It made for a great grand finale to Jarvis Cocker’s Domestic Discos, which he broadcast on Instagram during the first national COVID-19 lockdown.

If You Leave Me Now spent three weeks on top and went to number 1 in the US and several other countries. It also earned the group the Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus at the 1977 Grammy Awards. Tragedy hit Chicago when in early 1978, Kath died after shooting himself with a gun he thought was unloaded. Singer-songwriter Donnie Dacus was his replacement.

Chicago’s sound continued to evolve, with the horns being used less often and power ballads their bread and butter. The line-up changed too, and the core members of Toto helped out on 1982’s Chicago 16, which spawned the US number 1 Hard to Say I’m Sorry. It was their second biggest UK hit, peaking at four. Chicago 17 in 1984 featured their last UK hits, Hard Habit to Break (eight) and You’re the Inspiration (14). Cetera left in 1985 to pursue a solo career, reaching number three with yet another power ballad, Glory of Love, which was used in The Karate Kid Part II.

Chicago continued to score hits in the US despite the loss of Cetera, including Will You Still Love Me? in 1986 and I Don’t Wanna Live Without Your Love in 1988. That same year they topped the US chart for the last time with Look Away. Seraphine was sacked in 1990, and the decade saw their recorded output decrease greatly. They returned to experimenting with jazz and classical covers on 1995’s Night & Day: Big Band. Chicago XXX in 2006 was their first album of new material since Twenty 1 in 1991. Their last album to date, released in 2019, is their third collection of festive songs, Chicago XXXVII: Chicago Christmas. Lamm, Loughnane, and Pankow are the only remaining original band members, with Parazaider playing the occasional special event.

If You Leave Me Now was used to great effect in an advert for mobile phone network 3 in 2006.

Written by: Peter Cetera

Producer: James William Guercio

Strings & French Horns orchestrated by: Jimmie Haskell

Weeks at number 1: 3 (13 November-3 December)

Deaths:

Catholic intellectual Martin D’Arcy – 20 November

Meanwhile…

16 November: The seven perpetrators of the £8,000,000 van robbery at the Bank of America in Mayfair were sentenced to a total of 100 years in jail.

1 December: The Sex Pistols achieved notoriety with an expletive-ridden TV debut on Bill Grundy’s regional news show Today for Thames Television. The punk rockers were drafted in at short notice when Queen pulled out, and went on to promote debut single Anarchy in the UK, which had been released on 26 November. Grundy, who was noticeably drunk, was suspended for inciting them.

395. Pussycat – Mississippi (1976)

I’ve always understood the narrative of 70s pop. That punk came along and changed everything, sweeping away a stale music scene. What brought it home to me more than anything was the start of BBC Four’s repeats of Top of the Pops in 2011. As 1976 was the first year in which they could amass a complete year’s run, they started there. Week after week, the young audience look downbeat, bored and even depressed at the fare they had in that dark, grim studio. It’s far removed from the glitz and glamour of the 80s editions. Reviewing the number 1s of 1976 has mostly backed up those forlorn expressions, and none more so than this one. Some chart-toppers get forgotten. This one fully deserves that fate.

Pussycat were a trio of Dutch sisters – Toni (lead singer), Betty and Marianne Kowalczyk. The Kowalczyks came from Brunssum, Limberg in the Netherlands. After school they all worked as telephone operators before they became known as Zingende Zusjes (Singing Sisters), performing German language songs. A big beat movement was sweeping the Netherlands, so Zingende Zusjes soon changed their sound to follow suit and added a female drummer to the mix, changing their name to The BGs from Holland. Fast forward to 1973 and the Kowalczyks were signed to Telstar as Sweet Reaction. They recorded a single, Tell Alain, but made little impression. By early 1975 they were working with guitarist Lou Willé, who had married Toni, and they then joined forces with bassist Theo Wetzels, drummer Theo Coumans and guitarist John Theunissen. This trio had previously been in a lovely named group called Scum. Now a seven-piece, they became a country and pop outfit called Pussycat.

Pussycat signed with EMI on the strength of demo tape which included Mississippi, and it was released as their debut single that year from first LP, the aptly named First of All. It was a huge hit in Europe, reaching number 1 in their own country among others. It had been penned by Werner Theunissen, who had been in early-60s group The Rocking Apaches. His association with the Kowalczyks went back years. He had taught them to play guitar before they were in their teens and he wrote his first song for them. He also came up with the idea for Sweet Reaction. Theunissen wrote Mississippi back in 1969 as a response to The Bee Gees’ first UK number 1, Massachusetts (The Lights Went Out in).

I’d be hard-pressed to work out how any song could topple ABBA’s Dancing Queen after six weeks, let alone Mississippi. It’s four minutes long but feels a lot longer. It starts off OK, a nicely produced country ballad, which isn’t normally my bag, but there are always exceptions. But not with this one. For one thing, the lyrics are bemoaning the fact rock’n’roll replaced country, which isn’t true. It trundles along, sounding like something you’d hear some nobodies singing as guest stars on a 70s repeat of The Two Ronnies. Boring, but inoffensive. But then the chorus comes, and I don’t know if it’s just me, but the sisters’ combined vocal quality is like fingernails down a blackboard. Just awful. The way they sing the song’s title makes me feel like I’m being pushed too fast on a roundabout and I’m about to throw up and again when they sing ‘Whenever I shall go away’, it’s as though I’ve been punched in the gut. Maybe I’m alone in having this reaction, I don’t know, but to me it’s very real. Mississippi on a loop would be torture to me. And yet there it was on those Top of the Pops repeats, week after week, the video above featuring Pussycat on a fairground ride showboat, looking like they’re in an outtake from a 70s porn film. Any good points? Well, Eddy Hilberts production tries to polish a turd, as I mentioned. The little guitar fill that represents country becoming rock’n’roll is a nice little touch, and Wim Jongbloed’s strings work well. But those voices… especially when you consider the song is built around them.

Pussycat’s fame continued in Europe and elsewhere, where they scored number 1s in the Netherlands with Georgie and Smile in South Africa, both also in 1976. The latter was their only other UK hit though, and it reached 24 here. By 1978 they were only still doing well in their homeland and Belgium. Coumans left and Hans Lutjens took his place behind the drumkit. They continued to tour into the early-80s, but they were running out of money and so the Kowalczyks ditched the band and would perform to backing tapes. Lovers of a Kind from another aptly named album, After All, was their last single in 1983. Toni, who had already released solo material in 1973 as Sally Lane, went on to be a prolific country singer.

So we’re coming to the end of one of the worst years for number 1s I’ve reviewed, perhaps the worst. But on 22 October, while Mississippi was ruling the roost, The Damned released New Rose, considered the first ever punk rock single. It would be a few more years before its influence was felt at number 1 but the times were slowly changing.

Written by: Werner Theunissen

Producer: Eddy Hilberts

Arranged by: Wim Jongbloed

Weeks at number 1: 4 (16 October-12 November)

Births:

TV presenter Cat Deeley – 23 October
Footballer Steve Jones – 25 October
Footballer Stephen Craigan – 29 October
Cricketer Andrew Davies – 7 November

Meanwhile…

24 October: Legendary and charismatic racing driver James Hunt became Formula One world champion.  

25 October: The Royal National Theatre opened on the South Bank in London.

27 October: Conservative MP Keith Joseph and close Margaret Thatcher ally delivered the influential policy speech ‘Monetarism is Not Enough’, published by the Centre for Policy Studies.

29 October: Selby Coalfield opened.

394. ABBA – Dancing Queen (1976)

Simply magnificent. Right that’s Dancing Queen covered.

I’m joking, but really, what can be said about Dancing Queen that hasn’t already been said, or how does one analyse the ecstasy contained within those three minutes and 52 seconds? In a moribund year of number 1s, this stands out not only as the best, it’s one of the greatest pop songs of all time, up there with She Loves You.

Dancing Queen had been the first song ABBA recorded in the sessions for the album Arrival, beginning on 4 August 1975. The demo was known as Boogaloo and as sessions progressed, Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus became inspired by another disco classic – George McCrae’s Rock Your Baby and the drum sound from Dr John’s 1972 LP Dr John’s Gumbo. It’s slightly blown my mind to discover that the intro sounds very similar to Delaney & Bonnie’s Sing My Way Home from 1971. It was manager and co-writer Stig Anderson that gave the song its title.

Once the backing track was complete, with session musicians Rutger Gunnarsson on bass and Roger Palm on drums, Andersson took a tape home and played it to Anni-Frid Lyngstad. She was so moved she burst into tears and later recalled ‘I found the song so beautiful. It’s one of those songs that goes straight to your heart.’. Fellow ABBA vocalist Agnetha Fältskog agreed, reminiscing that ‘It’s often difficult to know what will be a hit. The exception was Dancing Queen. We all knew it was going to be massive.’ Andersson, Anderson and Ulvaeus worked on the missing piece of the puzzle, coming up with lyrics that capture how it feels to be young, on a night out, and feeling the music and eyes of adorers upon you.

Dancing Queen is a masterclass in pop on every level. Just like the Beatles with She Loves You, they know they have a killer chorus on their hands and go straight into it after a triumphant piano roll. It’s euphoric and ecstatic, and before turning the spotlight (or should that be Super Troupers?) on the 17-year-old girl in the disco, it’s pointing at the listener. You can dance. You can jive. Having the time of your life. The combination of this message and the beautiful music is so inviting, I don’t see how can anyone can turn it down. And then the verses. It’s Friday night, the lights are low and the Dancing Queen is on the prowl.

The only real complaint I’ve heard about Dancing Queen is that the lyrics are politically incorrect, that the girl is a prick tease. I don’t agree. I think the lyrics are empowering, particularly considering the era they were written in. To read ‘Anybody can be that guy’ as a sign of her not being fussy who she pulls, needs to pay attention to the preceding line: ‘You come to look for a king’. Although this is obviously considered a disco anthem, the lyrics note she’s dancing to rock music. Andersson and Ulvaeus wisely ditched a verse that was here originally and has survived via footage from a recording session:

‘Baby, baby, you’re out of sight
Hey, you’re looking all right tonight
When you come to the party
Listen to the guys
They’ve got the look in their eyes’

You could still argue with me, and it’s a strong argument, that the final verse really does prove this girl is bad news:

‘You’re a teaser, you turn ’em on
Leave them burning and then you’re gone
Looking out for another, anyone will do’

ABBA somehow manage to make all this sound kind of innocent though, and I’d still say it’s refreshing to see the girl in charge. And it’s true. It’s the girls that hold all the power in the nightclub discos. And if you listen to this wonderful music, you can feel that way again. It’s a song that doesn’t age thanks to the heavenly production. Lyngstad and Fältskog sing like angels and Andersson’s piano is the highlight – I love the way his pieces seem to tumble from ear to ear with earphones on. Nice synth too, adding texture here and there. As the song fades away, you can almost cry at the sheer beauty of it all. Ah to be young again. There’s none of the Europop cheese ABBA often indulge in here. If there is a higher power up there, I think ABBA somehow channeled it with this song. It’s perfect.

Recorded in two days flat, ABBA knew they were on to a winner, but Anderson suggested Fernando should be released before it as it was broader. This seems like madness to me, but both were massive hits so there you go. Dancing Queen went global. A very respectful six weeks here, 14 weeks in their native Sweden and topping the charts in more than 10 countries, including their only number 1 in the US. It became the second track on Arrival, which was a smash.

In 1980 they recorded a Spanish version for their Latin LP Gracias Por La Música, where it was renamed Reina Danzante. Over the years Dancing Queen has only grown in stature and is often referenced by critics who want to get over the simple beauty of pop at its best. It returned to the UK charts in 1992, reaching 16 off the back of Erasure’s number 1 Abba-esque EP. it’s perhaps here that the ABBA revival really began.

So, with three number 1s, all huge sellers and this one ruling the roost, 1976 really was ABBA’s year. They weren’t one-hit wonders anymore. They were one of the UK’s favourite groups. In the video to Dancing Queen above, they are performing in a small, packed venue to bopping fans. The band look to be on top of the world. They were.

Written by: Benny Andersson, Stig Anderson & Björn Ulvaeus

Producers: Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus

Weeks at number 1: 6 (4 September-15 October)

Births:

Footballer Ian Ashbee – 6 September
Actress Naomie Harris – 6 September
Model Abi Titmuss – 8 September
Swimmer Neil Willey – 11 September
S Club 7 singer Tina Barrett – 16 September
Field hockey player Jennie Bimson – 13 October

Deaths:

Royal Air Force officer George Stacey Hodson – 1 October
Actress Edith Evans – 14 October

Meanwhile…

4 September: 25,000 people attend the Peace March in Derry and call for an end to violence in Northern Ireland.

9 September: The Royal Shakespeare Company opens a production of Macbeth at The Other Place, Stratford-upon-Avon. Directed by Trevor Nunn, it stars Ian McKellen and Judi Dench in the lead roles.

12 September: Portsmouth football club are reported to be on the brink of bankruptcy due to huge debts.

23 September: Eight men are killed when a fire breaks out on the destroyer HMS Glasgow while being fitted out at Swan Hunter at Wallsend on Tyne.

29 September: Ford launch the Cortina Mark IV.

4 October: The famous InterCity 125 high-speed train is introduced into passenger service on British Rail, initially between London Paddington, Bristol and South Wales.

15 October: Two members of the Ulster Defence Regiment are ailed for 35 years for murder of the members of the Republic of Ireland cabaret performers Miami Showband.

393. Elton John & Kiki Dee – Don’t Go Breaking My Heart (1976)

Sir Elton Hercules John is a pop and rock icon and one of the biggest-selling stars of all time. Over 300 million records sold. More than 50 top 40 singles and seven UK number ones, among them Candle in the Wind 1997, the best-selling of all time in both the UK and US, which sold over 33 million worldwide. And yet he didn’t achieve a solo number 1 until Sacrifice in 1990, by which point he was way past his peak. But this first number 1, a duet with friend Kiki Dee, came 14 years beforehand.

A lot of the following info will be familiar to anyone who’s seen the 2019 biopic Rocketman, but John was born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on 25 March 1947 in Pinner, Middlesex. The unassuming Dwight had a rocky relationship with his parents, particularly his straight-laced father, a Royal Air Force flight lieutenant. But they were both keen on music, and passed that down to Dwight, particularly his mother, who loved the rock’n’roll stars of the 50s. Dwight took particular notice of the pianists Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard, and it was his beloved grandmother’s piano that he took to from a young age. His mother would get him to play at family gatherings. At seven he started formal piano lessons, and four years later he won a junior scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music. Dwight had lessons each weekend but left at 16 before his final exams.

His parents, who had never really got on, divorced when their son was 14. He did like his new stepfather though, and John loved being in their new apartment so much, he remained until he had four albums simultaneously in the US top 40. They encouraged his musical development, and at 15 he was hired as a pianist at a local pub, where, known as simply Reggie, he would perform standards and throw some of his own material in for good measure. He also performed briefly with a group called The Corvettes, and around this time he began wearing glasses on stage. He didn’t need to – it was a tribute to Buddy Holly.

In 1962 formed Bluesology with friends and inbetween solo shows, within a few years the group were backing touring US soul and R’n’B musicians including The Isley Brothers and would also work as Long John Baldry’s backing band in a new line-up. Dwight and Baldry would become close friends, and Baldry, who was openly homosexual, helped Dwight come to terms with his own sexuality and the fact he did not love his fiancée.

Dwight answered a New Musical Express ad placed by Ray Williams, A&R manager of Liberty Records. Williams was looking for songwriters, and at their first meeting he handed Dwight an unopened envelope of lyrics written by Bernie Taupin, who had also answered the ad. Dwight wrote a song around the words and sent it to Taupin, beginning one of pop’s most enduring and successful partnerships. Six months later Dwight renamed himself Elton John in honour of Bluesology’s saxophonist Elton Dean and Baldry and by the end of the year he had left Bluesology. He legally became Elton Hercules John in 1972.

John and Taupin joined Dick James’s DJM Records in 1968 as staff writers and over the next two years they penned songs for acts including Lulu. They were a two-man factory, Taupin would write the lyrics in under an hour and John would set them to music in half an hour. On the advice of music publisher Steve Brown, John began composing for himself and released his debut single, the John/Taupin composition I’ve Been Loving You in 1968. His first album, Empty Sky, followed in 1969 but it was Elton John in 1970 that really got the ball rolling. Gus Dudgeon was on board as producer and the beautiful second single Your Song reached seven in the charts here and eight in the US. John was finally a star.

The next few albums, country and western concept LP Tumbleweed Connection, live album 17-11-70 and soundtrack to the film Friends all sold well, and John’s US tour also went down very well. 1971 album Madman Across the Water contained the classic Tiny Dancer. Honky Château, recorded in France and released in 1972, saw John take a more rocky approach and Rocket Man became his biggest hit to date, shooting to two.

In 1973 John’s flamboyance made him a natural to join the glam rock movement, and Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player spawned the hits Crocodile Rock (five, and his first US number 1) and Daniel (four). Goodbye Yellow Brick Road was his best album yet, featuring Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting (seven) and the moving title track (six). He topped the year off with the festive Step Into Christmas (eight).

John formed his own music label in 1974. Calling it The Rocket Record Company, he signed Neil Sedaka and Dee, who he took a close interest in. Dee, born Pauline Matthews on 6 March 1947 in Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire, had always wanted to be a pop star. She won a talent contest aged 10 and at 16 she was singing with a dance band in Leeds while working in Boots by day. She became a session singer and worked with Dusty Springfield among others, and soon she was signed to Fontana Records.

In 1963 she released her debut single, Early Night, from her first album I’m Kiki Dee (songwriter Mitch Murray came up with her stage name). Despite becoming the first British white artist to be signed by Motown in the States, Dee wasn’t really going anywhere until John took her under her wing after two failed singles on the legendary Detroit label. Her fortunes improved with her cover of Amoureuse, which climbed to 13 in 1973. I’ve Got the Music in Me, credited to The Kiki Dee Band, went to 19 in 1974.

That year was another hugely successful one for John. The original Candle in the Wind, from Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, was a smash, peaking at 11. Then came the album Caribou, allegedly recorded in a fortnight and featuring two of his best-known hits Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me (16) and The Bitch Is Back (15). He also collaborated with John Lennon on a cover of Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds and then sang harmonies and played piano on Lennon’s Whatever Gets You Thru the Night. when it became the former Beatles’ only solo number 1 in the US. When they recorded it, John made a bet with Lennon that the song would top the charts. Lennon was so skeptical he promised John he would perform at one of his shows if it happened. He fulfilled the promise with a rare appearance at a Madison Square Garden gig. They performed their two collaborations and a rendition of The Beatles’ I Saw Her Standing There. It would be Lennon’s final major show.

In 1975 John released the autobiographical account of John and Taupin’s early years together. Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy contained only one single, Someone Saved My Life Tonight, in which he paid tribute to Baldry helping to stop him wanting to commit suicide. The album was the first to go straight to number 1 in the US, and the last to feature the Elton John Band, who had been an important part of his rise to fame. John dismissed drummer Nigel Olsson and bassist Dee Murray. Guitarist Dave Johnstone was retained. That year John starred in Ken Russell’s adaptation of The Who’s rock opera Tommy as the ‘Local Lad’ and recorded a storming version of Pinball Wizard, which was a number seven smash in 1976. By the time that year rolled around, John was heavily into drugs and dressing ever more flamboyantly for his stage appearances. Critically and commercially adored, nobody could see how unhappy he was behind the facade.

He and Taupin originally wrote Don’t Go Breaking My Heart as a duet for John to record with Dusty Springfield. Using the pseudonyms Ann Orson (John) and Carte Blanche (Taupin), they planned a disco-flecked affectionate tribute to Motown duets of the likes of Marvin Gaye and Tami Terrell. When Springfield turned it down due to illness, John decided to give it to Dee, who in addition to being on his label would perform backing vocals on Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and most recent LP Rock of the Westies. Also on the track were James Newton Howard on acoustic piano and orchestral arrangements, Johnstone and Caleb Quaye on electric guitars, new rhythm section Kenny Passarelli on bass and Roger Pope, plus Cindy Bullens, Ken Gold and Jon Joyce on backing vocals, uncredited.

While I don’t deny John’s talent, and a few of the songs I’ve mentioned above are undeniable classics, I’m not always a fan, particularly of his 80s output onwards. So it’s a shame some of his more deserving tracks didn’t top the charts but the later material did. So it goes. Don’t Go Breaking My Heart isn’t a classic, but it is pretty good. It’s slick and well-produced and does a good job of copying that Motown duet sound. It’s plain to see, from the pseudonyms used and the fluffy lyrics that John and Taupin aren’t taking themselves seriously, but are such talented songwriters, when they do go for a commercial pop sound, they nail it. Dee duets well with John but I’d have loved to hear Springfield’s take. Having said that, John and Dee clearly have a genuine friendship, as you can see in the video above. The sleeve of the single is another matter – it looks like John is giving her a dirty look behind her back for some reason. This is one of the better number 1s of the year – not that that’s saying much, and I think John and Taupin winning the Ivor Novello award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically is a bit much but there you go.

1976 was a very memorable summer for Dee. As well as holding the number 1 spot for a very impressive six weeks, she went on to support Queen at Hyde Park, performing for more than 150,000 people. The Kiki Dee EP went to 13 later that year. She had a couple more hits in 1977 – First Thing in the Morning (32) and Chicago (28). Things went quiet for a few years but she made a successful comeback in 1981 with Star, which later became the theme tune to BBC One’s Opportunity Knocks. Also on the album it came from, Perfect Timing, was another duet with John, Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever. Two years later she was singing backing vocals on John’s album Too Low for Zero.

She released music sporadically in the 80s but duetted with John at Live Aid on their number 1. She moved into theatre, and was acclaimed for her performance in Blood Brothers, even receiving an Olivier Award nomination in 1989. She returned to the singles chart with John when True Love nearly garnered another number 1, but it stalled at two in 1993. Her last album to date is A Place Where I Can Go, released in 2013. Rachel Muldoon played her in Rocketman.

As for John, well, we know we’ll hear much more from him, but not for a fair while. But I will point you to the 1994 remake of this number 1 in which drag queen RuPaul took the place of Dee. It was a number seven hit and it’s good fun.

Written by: Ann Orson & Carte Blanche

Producer: Gus Dudgeon

Strings arranged by: James Newton-Howard

Weeks at number 1: 6 (24 July-3 September)

Births:

AI researcher Demis Hassabis – 27 July
Radio producer Aled Haydn-Jones – 9 August
Actress Rhona Mitra – 9 August
Conservative MP Sam Gyimah – 9 August
Idlewild singer Roddy Woomble – 13 August
Cricketer Clare Connor – 1 September

Deaths:

Actor Alastair Sim – 19 August
Labour MP David Rees-Williams, 1st Baron Ogmore – 30 August

Meanwhile…

27 July: The UK breaks diplomatic relations with Uganda. 

29 July: A fire destroys the head of Southend Pier.

5 August: The Great Clock of Westminster, aka Big Ben suffers internal damage and stops running for over nine months.

6 August: John Stonehouse, the last person to serve as Postmaster General, is sentenced to seven years in jail for fraud.

14 August: 10,000 Protestant and Catholic women demonstrate for peace in Northern Ireland. 

30 August: 100 police officers and 60 carnival-goers are injured during riots at the Notting Hall Carnival.

1 September: The summer heat takes its toll, as drought measures are introduced in Yorkshire.

August 31-3 September: Riots ensue at Hull Prison.

392. Demis Roussos – Excerpts From ‘The Roussos Phenomenon’ (EP)

As is well documented, the summer of 1976 in the UK was full of long, lingering days of seemingly endless sunshine. And this was perhaps a factor in pushing Greek singer and unlikely sex symbol Demis Roussos to number 1 for a week that July. And with not one, or two, but four songs! For the first time in my blog, I’m reviewing an EP, rather than a single. A very rare occurrence in the singles chart.

Artemios Ventouris-Roussos came from a Greek family but was actually born in Alexandria, Egypt on 15 June 1946. His father was a classical guitarist and both his parents were amateur actors. Roussos was raised in Alexandria and as a child he studied music and joined the Greek Church Byzantine choir. He was heavily influenced by jazz and traditional Arab and Greek Orthodox music. When his parents lost their possessions in the Suez crisis they moved to Greece, where his mother came from.

Roussos joined a band known as The Idols when he was 17. It was around this time he first got to know Evángelos Papathanassíou and Loukas Sideras, his future bandmates in Aphrodite’s Child. The former was better known as Vangelis. He then joined a covers band called We Five, based in Athens.

In 1967 Roussos, Papathanassíou, Sideras and Silver Koulouris became Aphrodite’s Child, a progressive, psychedelic rock band who released three LPs over five years. Their final release, 666 (1972) was a mammoth, mad double album opus based on the Book of Revelation, featuring the excellent, sprawling The Four Horsemen. Vangelis and Roussos remained friends after the split and would occasionally record together before and after Aphrodite’s Child, including the film score to Sex Power in 1970 and Magic in 1977.

With his impressive, distinctive tenor, Roussos was groomed for solo stardom before the band had split. His debut album On the Greek Side of My Mind (Fire and Ice) spawned the single We Shall Dance in 1971, which became a hit in Belgium and the Netherlands. Over the next few years he grew increasingly popular across Europe (and in size) but not in the UK. It took until 1975 for him to crack the chart here, with Happy to Be on an Island in the Sun, which reached five.

BBC TV producer John King became fascinated by the singer and so he made the documentary The Roussos Phenomenon. In 1976, Roussos’ UK label Philips decided to make the most of this interest and released Excerpts from ‘The Roussos Phenomenon’ EP, rounding up some of his best-known European hits that featured in the documentary. It became the first ever extended play record to reach number 1. Fans of Aphrodite’s Child be warned, you’ll find precious little that sounds like The Four Horsemen…

First up is the most well-known Roussos track. Forever and Ever, sharing its title with a number 1 by Slik earlier this year, was originally released in 1973 as the title track to an album. It reached number 1 in Belgium and Mexico. It’s the highlight of the EP and despite being considered somewhat laughable by many, I have a soft spot for it. Yes the production, by Roussos himself, is a bit tacky but the backing vocalists in the opening create an earworm and Roussos’ voice, though not for everyone, is impressive. There are three reasons I like this opener. 1: My dad is known to burst into it with no warning, and only now do I know what the song is. 2: It’s famously used in Mike Leigh’s 1977 TV play Abigail’s Party (replacing José Feliciano’s Light My Fire from the theatre version. 3. One of my favourite folk singers King Creosote performs a hauntingly lovely cover. He has a similar vocal quality and it works great here.

Sing an Ode to Love is a keyboard-led ballad, originally the opener of his 1975 album Souvenirs. The proggy phasing sound in the first half is pretty interesting but once the military drums and choir kick in, it all sounds a bit too Eurovision for my liking.

So Dreamy was his most recent track, originating on 1976 album Happy to Be… It’s very very similar to Forever and Ever, and inferior. The backing vocals are way too much and already I’m starting to tire of Roussos’ voice.

My Friend the Wind was released as a single in 1973, where it went to number 1 in Belgium and the Netherlands. The second best song here, it’s also the most traditionally Greek sounding of the four. It’s perhaps overlong but a nice tune.

In spite of, or maybe thanks in part to, Roussos’ flamboyant/ridiculous image, as seen above, the Greek giant had a few more UK hits, most notably the follow-up to this EP, When Forever Has Gone, which peaked at two. Actually, while on the subject of his image, if you ask me he looks pretty damn cool on the front of the EP at the top of the page. Anyway, Kyrila, released in 1977, was his last chart entry here, at 33. He continued to do well in Europe though, particularly Belgium and the Netherlands.

Roussos struggled with his weight throughout his life, particularly during the early-80s. In 1980 he weighed over 23 stone. He began a diet that enabled him to lose over eight stone in under a year and in 1982 documented his issues by co-authoring the book A Question of Weight. In 1985 he spent his 39th birthday held hostage as he was among the passengers on TWA Flight 847 from Athens to Rome that was held by alleged Hezbollah terrorists. However Roussos and four other Greeks were released after five days while most of the others remained for 17 days. He was unharmed and even thanked his captors for a birthday cake at a press conference afterwards.

Roussos continued releasing music and touring throughout the rest of the 80s and the 90s, even though his hits tailed off everywhere. He returned to the UK for a tour on the back of Forever and Ever – Definitive Collection in 2002. It was noted that his voice was no longer the powerful force it once was. Roussos’ final album, Demi, was released in 2009. Greece mourned when one of their most famous exports died on 25 January 2015 from stomach, pancreatic and liver cancer.

Written by:
Forever and Ever/Sing an Ode to Love/My Friend the Wind: Stélios Vlavianós & Alec R Costandinos/So Dreamy: Robert Rupen & Stélios Vlavianós

Producer: Demis Roussos

Weeks at number 1: 1 (17-23 July)

Births:

Actor Benedict Cumberbatch – 19 July

Deaths:

Diplomat Christopher Ewart-Biggs – 21 July (see below)

Meanwhile…

17 July–1 August: Great Britain and Northern Ireland compete at the Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They take home three gold, five silver and five bronze medals.

21 July: Christopher Ewart-Biggs, UK ambassador to Ireland and civil servant Judith Cooke are killed by a Provisional IRA landmine at Sandyford, Co. Dublin.