(1974 Albums) Mott the Hoople – The Hoople

1974 was quite the year for Mott the Hoople.
Flush from the band’s single success in 1972 with the Bowie-penned “All the Young Dudes“, Mott had already enjoyed follow-up hits with songs like “Honaloochie Boogie” and “All the Way from Memphis“.
(Not before Mott had turned down another offered song from Bowie though… a certain little ditty entitled “Drive-In Saturday“)
Late [...]

January 7th 1974

“Berfday. Got lamp, pygamas, £2 from Mormor – bought Stranded – Roxy – Smart!”
So the wild and crazy out-of-control teenager turns 16 and celebrates with … erm… some pyjamas (mis-spelled), a lamp (a lamp??) and a couple of quid from his Danish grandmother.
However, it seems like I made up for it a little later in the [...]

Number One Singles of 1973 (Part 1)

Let’s do a little bit of pop remininscing about the UK’s Number One singles in 1973 shall we?…
Starting off with January to March…
• Little Jimmy Osmond – Long Haired Lover from Liverpool
I dismissed talked briefly about Little Jimmy’s novelty hit a year or so ago, it being a spill-over from enjoying “Number One at Xmas” status [...]

November 25th 1973

“Recorded Ziggy + Man”
Phew!
Those last couple of posts have been quite the mammoth writing tasks so it’s nice to return to a semblance of ‘mundanity’ here and let the diary entry speak for itself…

November 21st 1973

“Borrowed Ziggy Stardust”
Reading and realising the significance of this diary entry staggered me.

What it means is that DESPITE having seen Bowie on tour a few months earlier, I had STILL NOT actually bought  his “The Rise & Fall of Ziggy Stardust & the Spiders from Mars” album.
I borrowed it to commit it, merely, to tape. How considerably [...]

Telly in 1973 (Part IV)

[...continued from Part III]
Nowadays it seems as if every successful TV detective has to have a quirk or a habit to separate them from the ‘ordinary’… Veronica Mars is a teenager, House is (essentially) a medical detective, in Lie to Me Tim Roth plays a ‘mannerism specialist’, Dexter is a serial killer, Monk suffers from O.C.D. and [...]

Telly in 1973 (Part II)

[...continued from Part I]
Another show I got into in 1973 was the Sci-Fi ‘classic” The Tomorrow People“.
The Tomorrow People were a bunch of teenagers – all with special powers – who operated out of a secret laboratory hidden in an abandoned London Underground station. The team spent their days watching out for for “new Tomorrow [...]

September 4th 1973

“BAK TO SCHOOL! Went up Nigs, went over park, Mart P also came. Bought Hotel”
Ha-ha-ha. My entry makes it sound as though, that night, I simply “bought a hotel”!
“Hello, is that the Savoy?”
“Yes, how can we help you?”
“I’d like to buy your hotel please”
“Why certainly sir, just bring your collection of Emerson, Lake & Palmer LP’s, [...]

July 23rd 1973

“Stuck project into folder” / “Went into ELeigh and got Life on Mars + Pyjamarama” /”Neil came up later”
This purchase of two singles – probably both snagged at Jack Hobbs Records in their clearance bins  – would seem to solidify my teenage passion for all things musically “glam”
David Bowie’s “Life on Mars?” single was released [...]

An Aside – My “History of Music” Project: Part IX

My fascination for Dutch yodelling/guitar/hammond organ combos knows no bounds, stating that Focus were the first continental group to make a lasting impact. If only Holland was a ‘continent’ eh?
Having recently listed to a Mahavishnu Orchestra album again, I have NO CLUE as to why I would have referred to them as “magic”… unless it [...]

June 19th 1973 (II)

“david Bowie – Guildhall”
If there was ANY concert I really wish I could remember anything about, it would be this Bowie concert at the Guildhall.
This was his infamous Ziggy Stardust & the Spiders from Mars tour, to promote the classic album of the same name.
Bowie would mean SO much more to me later on, but [...]

April 14th 1973

“Work all day. Broke bottles. Went up Nigs in evng – listened to For Your Pleasure – Brilliant!”
Broke bottles? What does that mean? Does it mean that I maybe knocked some bottles off a shelf and broke them, or did my work today involve breaking down bottles, maybe to recycle them? (Unlikely it’s the latter [...]

Number Ones of 1972 (Part 5)

…[continued from Part 4]
You know when you write about a year in these terms – all the number ones – you wonder whether it gives a realistic representation of the music everyone listened to.
In terms of sheer public popularity I guess it does, but in my own personal world I feel there were many different songs [...]

Number Ones of 1972 (Part 2)

… [continued from Part 1]
When the UK had ’suffered’ enough Chicory Tip at Number One, it then propelled a peculiar love song to the top of the charts. 
“Without You” was written and originally recorded by Badfinger, a band from Wales who were (somewhat inexplicably IMHO) signed to The Beatles‘ Apple Records. 
The song was heard by John Lennon’s pal Harry Nilsson – who [...]

An Aside (X)

Part 3…

Comments:
1] There’s something both funny and courageous about Shirley Bassey’s name appearing amongst those other female singers!
2] OK, so I had to google the name “Jacqui McShee”. Singer in Pentangle apparently. That’ll be why I didn’t know the name – some old 70’s folk rubbish.
3] Hold on, Hold ON…. wooooaaaaah!…… Number 6 Best TV Show [...]