September 13th 1975

Went to work hungover. Got Alice Cooper posters for Niles. In the evening “wrapped” Nobby’s ‘present’

There was DRINKING at the school party?

Where all the students would have been under the age of 18?

How could this happen? I blame the teachers! I blame the Coffee Club committee!

I blame the pub round the corner from the college and its lackadaisical attitude to underage drinking.

No wonder I ‘got off with Holly C’ yesterday?!! I was full of dutch courage!

In other news it looks like I was able to snaffle some promo Alice Cooper posters for my friend Niles. If I was a betting man I’d say they were promos for Alice’s then-just-released “Welcome to my Nightmare” LP, his contribution to the whole “concept album” genre that was rife at the time. It dealt with the nightmares of a child named Steven (no relation), a grim tale which later turned into a stage show that was ahead of its time in terms of theatrics, lighting and special effects.

I never really cared that much for the album. It didn’t seem to have the same catchy punches that Alice’s previous albums had and felt a little too ‘macabre’ for my personal tastes. Yes, I felt there were levels of ‘macabre’ in Alice Cooper’s music. I was evidently a deeply troubled child.

Only two tracks really stood out to me and they were the very two that stood the test of time.

The title track “Welcome to my Nightmare” is a brooding masterpiece, the slow start leading to a funky rhythm even Steely Dan would be proud of. In one of TV’s weirdest moments Alice would later perform the track with The Muppets.

The other ‘killer cut’ is “Only Women Bleed” a song which really only came into its own a few years later. Whilst Alice’s own version of this ballad (about a woman in an abusive relationship) was indeed admirable, it took actress Julie Covington to really set the song alight in 1978.

Julie Covington was a minor National Theatre and Opera performer before she got her big break as one of “The Little Ladies” in TV’s 1976 bizarre musical drama “Rock Follies“… about which I know I will write much more later.

That led to her being invited to sing the lead role in Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd-Webber‘s extravagant musical “Evita“. She contributed to the soundtrack but refused to perform the role of  Eva Perón on stage, leaving assured stardom to beckon for her replacement Elaine Page.

Her performance on “Evita” led to a proper recording contract with Virgin Records and her titular debut album came out in 1978, preceded by her stellar version of Alice’s “Only Women Bleed”. I don’t think she ever had a finer recorded moment?!

I have no memory of what the present was I seem to be preparing for Nobby’s imminent 18th birthday. As I know he is a regular reader of, and comment contributor to, EFA70sTRO  I will leave him to reveal the secret… as I am sure his brain cells are somewhat less addled than mine?!

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Number One Singles of 1974 (Part 4)

[…”Number One Singles of 1974″ continued from Part 3]

• Country singer John Denver ‘s first marriage was to Annie Martell from Minnesota.

In 1974 he purloined the main theme from the 2nd Movement of Tchaikovsky’s “Symphony No. 5“, and wrote a set of words to go with it, the sum expressing his love for his wife. 

The subsequent “Annie’s Song” became a Number One hit single on both sides of the Atlantic. It is now regarded as a classic love song, and doubtless the scourge of many a wedding DJ.

John Denver’s popularity in the 70’s should never be underestimated, certainly in America where he is a considered more than just a pop culture icon. His song “Rocky Mountain High” is now one of the two official state songs of Colorado, whilst there are moves afoot to try to bestow “Take Me Home, Country Roads” with a similar honour for the state of West Virginia.

I’m not sure I was really ever aware of this song back in 1974. I think my first proper exposure to John Denver would have been his appearances on “The Muppet Show” which used to air on British TV at Sunday tea-time. Much later I was one of few who critically praised his performance as the ‘chosen one’ in Director Carl Reiner’s religious comedy “Oh God!“, even if he was acted off the screen by the superb George Burns!

Denver died in 1997, crashing his self-piloted (home-built, and experimentally-designed) plane on the Californian coast. In a rare tribute to a singer, the then Colorado governor ordered all state flags be half-staffed in Denver’s honour.

Trivia fans may wish to hang onto the notion that Denver was a fully trained astronaut. In 1986 he was lined up to become “the first civilian in space” on the Space Shuttle Challenger, a twist of fate keeping him out of the eventual crew of that tragic flight.

• Sweet Sensation were an 8-piece British soul group from Manchester who first caught the public’s eye on the ITV talent show “New Faces“.

Their first single flopped but the follow-up, “Sad Sweet Dreamer“, reached Number 1 in the UK and Number 14 in the USA.

The band enjoyed one more minor hit single – “Purely by Coincidence” – in 1975 before disappearing into obscurity.

Somewhat bizarrely, lead singer Marcel King attempted a belated solo career – in 1985 – with the help of New Order‘s Bernie Sumner and A Certain Ratio‘s Donald Johnson. The resultant “Reach for Love” was a failure.

• Ken Boothe ‘s “Everything I Own” was British reggae label Trojan‘s second Number One hit single. (The first was the superb “Double Barrel” by Dave & Ansel Collins)

Boothe had already enjoyed success in his home country of Jamaica, working with such reggae luminaries as Clement “Coxsone” Dodd, the Wailers, Keith Hudson and Alton Ellis, as well as releasing songs on the legendary Studio One label.

“Everything I Own” was a shift away from his regular sound, and far more poppier and mainstream than he was known for. The song itself had already been a minor hit in the UK – in 1972 – for its writer David Gates who released it with his band, Bread.

Trivia fans may care to note that
a) Boothe sings the lyrics incorrectly throughout, crooning “Anything I Own” instead of “Everything I Own“, and
b) he is namechecked in the Clash song “(White Man) in Hammersmith Palais”

• Given his popularity in the 70’s its a little surprising to realise that this is only the first mention of David Essex in this diary blog.

“Gonna Make You a Star” was his first Number One, but he had already enjoyed chart success with “America“, “Lamplight” and the (yes, it’s another secret guilty pleasure) surreal but stunning “Rock On”

With his boyish good looks, Essex was also enjoying stardom as a film actor, “That’ll be the Day” proving to have been a cinema hit in 1973, with “Stardust” – reprising his role as troubled rock star Jim Maclain – also becoming box office gold in 1974.

His apparent laid back and affable nature has continued to serve him well and, unlike many of his seventies peers, he has remained successful to the present day, still acting and recording albums for an appreciative and demographically diverse fan base.

• Barry White (aka “The Sultan of Soul”, or rather less generously “The Walrus of Love”) was born in Texas but grew up in crime-ridden South L.A.

After a brief flirtation with crime, he got into songwriting, penning tunes for acts as diverse as Bobby Fuller and TV’s comedy act The Banana Splits

In 1963, he helped arranged Bob & Earl’s classic R&B hit “Harlem Shuffle” then worked as an A&R manager for Mustang/Bronco Records, to whom he signed (eventual) disco act Viola Wills.

1972 saw his first big commercial success, writing and producing the sexy soul classic “Walking in the Rain (With the One I Love)” for a girl group he had discovered called Love Unlimited. It would prove to be the first of many hits for the band and really kickstarted White’s career.

Whilst working on some demos White was persuaded to sing some vocals himself. The rest, as they say, is history. “I’m Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby” was a debut smash hit, quickly followed by many others, establishing him as a crossover soul artist and ‘housewives favourite’ for years after. He would go on to sell over 100 million records worldwide. He died from complications following a stroke in 2003.

“You’re the First, the Last, My Everything” was his pre-Christmas 1974 Number 1 hit. Somewhat astonishingly it was written some 21 years earlier as a country tune before Barry White souled it up with his distinctive deep voice and orchestral arrangement.

• Back in Part 1 of this 4-piece diatribe I mentioned that although Mud had the biggest-selling UK single of 1974, they would have a much “bigger” single.  

“Lonely this Christmas” would end up being their primary long-term contribution to British culture… mainly because it is trotted out every December for a whole new set of unwilling fans to enjoy. It has become, like a handful of other songs, an “annual fixture” of the pop firmament.

It’s OK, but I’ve never really cared for it that much if truth be told. It’s a terrible Elvis pastiche and WAY too maudlin for my liking.

All in all I think 1974 was a good year for songwriters Nicky Chinn & Mike Chapman.  Three Number 1 hit singles (bringing their total to five) plus seven other high charting songs probably made them FAR from lonely at Christmas. If I sound jealous, it’s because I am.

January 16th 1973

“2nd Maths Mock o’level – BLOODY hard” / “After two weeks of solid revision, had to do piles of copying up” / “Got Quid for Focus ticket” / “Got Tarkus tape back from Precision”

A diary entry that has made me both remember AND forget things in equal quantities.

Firstly, conveniently forgetting that my Maths mock was BLOODY hard (please note swearing, spelled correctly, for absolute emphasis), my brain is somehow farting over the phrase “copying up”

Don’t get me wrong, I recognise the phrase “copying up” from the days at school, I just cannot – for the life of me – remember what it relates to exactly. As several of my old schoolchums might be reading this… maybe they can shed a little light on it?

The thing I CAN remember – perhaps surprisingly – is with regards to that comment about getting ELP’s Tarkus tape back from Precision. (I must have had a faulty one or something?)

The compact cassette began life in the mid-60’s, designed by Philips, primarily/initially for dictation and personal recording use. It was introduced to replace the unwieldy, huge and non-portable reel-to-reel tape recorders which had been popular for some time. The cassette was therefore an early example of product miniaturisation as a result of consumer demand, something which still exists to this day. People only have to notice how small their mobile/cell phones have become in the the past 5 or 6 years.

In 1971 three things happened almost simultaneously that propelled the cassette into the forefront of commercial recordings and allow it to take on the LP’s dominance.

The first was that the 3M company rejigged the transport mechanism inside the tape shells, making the tape run cleaner and with less flutter.

The second thing was the introduction of chromium dioxide (Cr02)tapes, giving much improved and longer-lasting quality.

The third, however, was the most revolutionary.

Tapes invariably gave off a hissing sound when played back, the result of the tape moving across the machine’s heads. In 1966 an American scientist named Ray Dolby invented a professional noise reduction system for recording studios that all but eliminated that tape hiss. That system was known as “Dolby A”. Several years later he perfected a second version – Dolby B – that made high fidelity (hi-fi) a reality on home tape machines and cassettes.

The combination of all these factors – together with the sheer portability of the format – made the cassette market take off like a proverbial rocket. (However, it would be 1979, and the advent of the Sony Walkman that would take the format all the way to the moon)

I am digressing to tell the story of the cassette, but here’s the thing I CAN remember from this period in the seventies.

Lord, then Sir, Lew Grade

Record labels did NOT release their own tapes in th UK. Instead of manufacturing the cassette versions of their best selling albums, many licensed them out to Precision Tapes, a subsidiary of Sir Lew Grade’s massive ITC Entertainment Group. (Digressing a little:- Lew Grade was the man wholly responsible for bringing  shows like The Prisoner, The Saint, Thunderbirds and The Muppets to our TV screens!)

So, although the cassettes would carry the same artwork, credits and content, the sales and distribution of those tapes would be handled by Precision.

At least until the record manufacturers had tooled up their plants to churn out tapes alongside vinyl LP’s.

So, my “Tarkus” cassette was a duffer and I obviously had to return it to Precision – rather than Manticore/Island Records – for a replacement. The date being prior to the whole “sale of goods act” – which came into force in 1979 – that meant I could have merely returned the tape to the retailer for a new non-faulty one.

You know, when I actually remember something as intrinsic as this, I get genuinely excited.

(What’s the betting I have it all wrong?)

In one of life’s “chaos theories”, I would later work for the video offshoot of Precision Tapes – for a period of about two months in 1980. Worst job ever.

Hmmmn…. have I written anything about ELP’s “Tarkus”? ….. checks EFA70’sTRO search facility…. Oh…. I see I haven’t…..