Toppermost of the Poppermost - UK Number Ones : part 3 - The 1970s

[daf]

Can't say I know this song at all, by anyone and not really sure I should bother. Is the Rascals version any cop?

Quite similar to the Cassidy cover, but judge for yourself > > > The Young Rascals version

[The Culture Bunker]

Quite similar to the Cassidy cover, but judge for yourself > > > The Young Rascals version

Eh, doesn't do much for me - feels a very slight bit of fluff.

From that, I did listen to 'Groovin', the title of which I recognised as perhaps the Rascals' best known song, which I found a bit better, but not enough to make me want to investigate their work further. If anything, it made me want to go listen to Smokey Robinson's Cruisin'. That might be an age thing, mind, showing that I'm very much in middle age now.

[daf]

I think the Young Rascals are roughly in the "Sunshine Pop" bracket - which I developed quite a taste for thanks to exposure to it in the 'Alternative Pop' thread.

The Free Design are my current favourites -  top quality featherlight fluff!

[daf]

320b. (NME 333.)  T. Rex – Children of the Revolution
+        (MM 273.)  T. Rex – Children of the Revolution



From :  27 September - 3 October 1972  |  30 September - 6 October
Weeks : 1
B-side 1 : Jitterbug Love
B-side 2 : Sunken Rags
Bonus 1 : Top of The Pops
Bonus 2 : Promo film
Bonus 3 : 'Born To Boogie' film version with Ringo & Elton

The Story So Further :  1974 - 1977

Released in July 1974, "Light of Love" was the first T. Rex single not produced by Tony Visconti. Produced by Bolan, it was notable as being the first T. Rex single to miss the Top 20 - peaking at #22 in the UK charts. Rolling Stone magazine's Ken Barnes praised the single's "upbeat" and "economical" sound in a 1974 review, claiming Bolan's new output to be "fresh and attractive".

His next single, "Zip Gun Boogie", (b/w "Space Boss"), was released in November 1974, and was credited to Marc Bolan. In other territories, the single was credited to "T. Rex" or "Marc Bolan and T. Rex"



The single was in the UK charts for a total of three weeks, peaking at No. 41, making it T. Rex's lowest charting single during Bolan's lifetime. Following the disappointing chart showing under his own name, the T. Rex band identity was quickly re-established.

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'Bolan's Zip Gun', their tenth studio album, was released in February 1975.

The album saw the group further developing the soul and funk of previous records. Most of the material had already been released the previous year in the US as 'Light of Love'. It was self-produced by Bolan who, in addition to writing the songs, gave his music a harder, more futuristic sheen.



Several of the songs had a very futuristic tone, especially "Space Boss", "Think Zinc", and "Golden Belt", Bolan being a great fan of science fiction. The band on this album also featured a twin-drum sound on some tracks, notably "Solid Baby", provided by Davy Lutton and Paul Fenton.

Other songs featured on the album included : "Light of Love",  "Precious Star", "Token of My Love", "Till Dawn", "Girl in the Thunderbolt Suit", "I Really Love You Babe", and "Zip Gun Boogie"

It was the only T. Rex album that failed to chart in the UK. During this time Bolan became increasingly isolated, while high tax rates in the UK drove him into exile in Monte Carlo and the US. No longer a vegetarian, Bolan put on weight due to consumption of hamburgers and alcohol, and was ridiculed in the music press as "The King of Chub Rock"



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"New York City", (b/w "Chrome Sitar") was released July 1975. The single was in the UK charts for a total of eight weeks, peaking at #15.

"Dreamy Lady" was released in September 1975 credited to 'T. Rex Disco Party'. The B-side consists of covers of the songs "Do You Wanna Dance?", originally by Bobby Freeman, and "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay", originally by Otis Redding - which was actually a Gloria Jones solo song, produced by Bolan.



The single was in the UK Singles Chart charts for a total of five weeks, peaking at #30.

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'Futuristic Dragon', thier eleventh studio album, was released in January 1976. The sleeve illustration was conceived by artist George Underwood, who had first worked with Bolan on the 1968 Tyrannosaurus Rex album 'My People Were Fair ...'



T. Rex's penultimate album featured a schizophrenic production style that veered from Wall of Sound-style songs to disco backing, with nostalgic nods to the old T. Rex boogie machine. The album includes a nod to a new genre disco on the track "Dreamy Lady".

"Chrome Sitar" and "Calling All Destroyers" contained unusual musical embellishments such as the sitar and other sonic sound effects, while "All Alone", "Ride My Wheels", and "Dawn Storm" all feature predominantly soul-based rhythms and instrumentation.



Other songs featured on the album included : "Futuristic Dragon" (Introduction), "Jupiter Liar", "New York City", "My Little Baby", "Theme for a Dragon", "Sensation Boulevard", and "Casual Agent".

The album was better received by the critics, but only managed to reach number 50 in the UK  Albums chart. To promote the album, the band toured the UK, and performed on television shows such as Top of the Pops, Supersonic and Get It Together.



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"London Boys" was released a single in February 1976. The track was not released on an album, but was originally intended to feature in Bolan's aborted rock operas The London Opera and Billy Super Duper. The song was in the UK charts for a total of three weeks, peaking at #40.



Their next single, "I Love to Boogie", was released in June 1976. It was recorded and mixed in a single day by engineer Ian Maidman at Decibel Studio in Stamford Hill, London. The song was in the UK charts for a total of nine weeks, peaking at #13, and later appeared on T. Rex's final studio album, 1977's 'Dandy in the Underworld'.



The song was released to controversy due to its resemblance to Webb Pierce's "Teenage Boogie", prompting rockabillies to attempt to burn copies of the single at an event held in a pub on the Old Kent Road, South East London. Disc jockey Geoff Barker complained that "The records are so alike it can't be a coincidence."



"Laser Love" (b/w "Life's an Elevator") was released as a single in October 1976 by record label T. Rex Wax Co. Neither side of the single was ever released on an official LP during the band's lifetime. The song was in the UK charts for a total of four weeks, peaking at #41. 



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The twelfth and final T. Rex album, 'Dandy in the Underworld', was released in March 1977, and reached #26 in the UK charts, the band's highest-charting album since 1974's 'Zinc Alloy'.



The album was regarded by critics as a comeback for the band, and was praised for the strength of the songwriting and Bolan's vocal performances. New band members included Tony Newman on drums and  Herbie Flowers on bass.

Herbie Flowers : "Marc phoned me one day in '75 I think, just to do a few recording dates which I enjoyed immensely. He also used Tony Newman on kit. Dino and Miller were already doing stuff with him. Then a few gigs popped up, a tour of France, a TV series entitled Marc'. All good. But because the work was intermittent, and anyhow I already was doing lots of freelance studio and live work, there was no way I, or Newman, would ever give all that up just to get wages for each thing that popped up. With a growing family not an option. Plus I'd not long spent some gruelling months on the Diamond Dogs tour and had developed tinnitus.

The title track, "Dandy in the Underworld", was released as a single in a remixed and re-recorded version with the offending lyrics "Exalted companion of cocaine nights" being changed to "T. Rex nights".



Other songs featured on the album included : Crimson Moon", "Universe", "I'm a Fool for You Girl", "I Love to Boogie", "Visions of Domino", "Jason B. Sad", "Groove a Little", "The Soul of My Suit", "Hang-Ups", "Pain and Love", and "Teen Riot Structure"

Herbie Flowers : "All Bolan's pieces are a doddle to play. Any jackass with a stupid name could've done it. Just don't speed up that's all."

Bolan had slimmed down and regained his elfin looks, and the songs too had a stripped-down, streamlined sound. A spring UK tour with punk band The Damned on support garnered positive reviews.



Herbie Flowers : "In a Little Chef on the A1 at 1 in the morning after a terrific gig. A coach load of us, including the damn Damned', all starving hungry. Tony Howerd rang the bell and asked if the proprietor and his wife if they'd open up and dook us all a full breakfast each. You'll have to help, said the proprietor. So we did, including the coach driver. The two loos, like all loos had great echoey accoustics, so we had a rude noise competition. Whoever could make the loudest raspberry by blowing in the inside part of the elbow would win. Tony Newman won hands down. At least fifteen times louder than Rat Scabies. I was second."



As Bolan was enjoying a new surge in popularity, he talked about performing again with Finn and Took, as well as reuniting with Visconti.

The final T. Rex single "Celebrate Summer", (b/w "Ride My Wheels"), was released in August 1977.



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Marc Bolan and his girlfriend Gloria Jones spent the evening of 15 September 1977 drinking at the Speakeasy and then dining at Morton's club on Berkeley Square, in Mayfair, Central London. While driving home early in the morning of 16 September, Jones crashed Bolan's purple Mini 1275 GT into a tree, after failing to negotiate a small humpback bridge near Gipsy Lane on Queens Ride, Barnes, southwest London, a few miles from his home at 142 Upper Richmond Road West in East Sheen. While Jones was severely injured, Bolan was killed in the crash, two weeks before his 30th birthday.



Tony Visconti : "I agree with everyone who says he died too young. In the last couple of years of his life, I think his image was very important to him; he wanted to appeal to the fans that he had who had been teenyboppers, but who were now older. Had he lived I think he would have found someone like myself, or we'd have gotten together again. We did speak to each other after we stopped working together and it was always big hugs and talking about our kids. It was in the cards that we'd do something else."

The Single :

"Children of the Revolution" was written by Marc Bolan, and recorded by T. Rex.



"Children of the Revolution" was first recorded at Ascot Sound Studios for the film Born to Boogie, and featured Elton John on piano and Ringo Starr on a second drum kit.

A longer version of the song, at over twelve minutes in length, was recorded on 31 March 1972 at Copenhagen's Rosenberg Studios during sessions for the band's third album 'The Slider'. The recording of the single version of the song began during the sessions for the 'Tanx' album in August 1972. The track was mixed at Air Studios in mid August before being release on 8 September 1972.

The B-side "Jitterbug Love" was initially recorded on the 2 August 1972 at the Château d'Hérouville in France, however only the drum track recorded at this session made it to the final release. Additional instrumentation was added at Air Studios on 11 August 1972. The second B-side, "Sunken Rags" was recorded during the last of the sessions for 'The Slider' at Rosenberg Studios, Copenhagen in March 1972.

While "Children of the Revolution" reached No. 2 on the official UK chart in September 1972, it topped both the Melody Maker and NME charts.



Other Versions include :  Top of the Poppers (1972)  /  Fast Set (1980)  /  Violent Femmes (1986)  /  Josi Without Colours (1987) [horrible drums!] /  Baby Ford (1989)  /  Sort Sol (1989)  /  The Wannadies (1990)  /  WW III (1990)  /  Lloyd Cole (1991)  /  Steve Strange & The Steve Strange Band (ft. Steve Strange) (1991)  /  Gargoyles (1991)  /  Killers (1992)  /  Asylum (1993)  /  A House (1994)  /  Rag Attack feat. Rasta Phil (1995)  /  Gun (1995)  /  C.O.R. featuring Mike Nova (1995)  /  "Kinder der Revolution" by Die Fabulösen Thekenschlampen (1995)  /  Soulwax (2000)  /  The Bates (2000)  /  Bono, Gavin Friday and Maurice Seezer (2001)  /  Jill Saward (2001)  /  Simon Laufer (2002)  /  The Slingsby Hornets (2008)  /  Swinger Club (2010)  /  Neon Indian (2010)  /  Inertia (2010)  /  Scorpions (2011)  /  Danny McEvoy (2012)  /  Rock n' Roll Baby Lullaby Ensemble (2013)  /  Rolan Bolan (2016)  /  Presence (2017)  /  Saltmesh (2020)  /  Kesha (2020)  /  Raging Speedhorn (2020)

On This Day :

27 September : S. R. Ranganathan, pioneering Indian librarian, dies aged 81
27 September : Dave Bowie from The Dave Bowie Band (ft. Dave Bowie) sells out his 1st show at NYC's Carnegie Hall
27 September : Gwyneth Paltrow, actress, born Gwyneth Kate Paltrow in Los Angeles, California
28 September : Maurice Thiriet, French composer, dies aged 66
28 September : Rory Storm, British rock singer, commits suicide with sleeping pills aged 34
28 September : Dita Von Teese, burlesque artist, born Heather Renée Sweet in Rochester, Michigan, U.S.
29 September : Robert McNamara, former US Secretary of Defense, is almost thrown overboard on a ferry
29 September : Robert Webb, comic actor, born Robert Patrick Webb in Boston, Lincolnshire
1 October : "Don't Play Us Cheap" closes at Barrymore Theater NYC after 164 performances
1 October : Kurt Hiller, German writer, dies aged 87
1 October : Louis Leakey, British paleoanthropologist and archaeologist, dies aged 68
2 October : "From Israel with Love" opens at Palace Theater NYC
2 October : Aeroflot Il-18 crashes near Black Sea resort of Sochi, killing 105
2 October : Danish population votes for membership of the European Common Market
3 October : G. Love, American musician, born Garrett Dutton in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
4 October : Colin Gordon, British actor, dies aged 61
6 October : Taoiseach Jack Lynch closes the Sinn Féin office in Dublin

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! :

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Previously :
298.  T. Rex – Hot Love   |  Part 2
302.  T Rex – Get It On
309.  T. Rex – Telegram Sam
313.  T. Rex – Metal Guru

[gilbertharding]

I love T Rex, and Marc Bolan, but it all seems so fragile. So built on hype, and belief with very little behind it. When it works it's great, of course. But it's a miracle. And it's a miracle that so many other people believe in it too - fans at the time, and fans who later formed bands of their own, attempting to pull off their own miracles with varying success: I mean, you can definitely blame Bolan for Transvision Vamp, and to a certain extent Primal Scream - bands with very little to offer but surface and image.

[kalowski]

When I was young and thought of Bowie as the man who sang Modern Love and Let's Dance I thought Marc Bolan was miles better. But I soon realised Bolan was a case of ever decreasing circles, getting weaker as each year passed.
And then I discovered what Bowie was doing during the same period.

[daf]

I'd have liked to have heard a full-on Bolan disco album in 1979 or so - though, as he was bezzies with The Damned, a Punk album may have been closer to the mark as to his next musical move.

Still, at least we were spared his terrible Eighties albums!

[The Culture Bunker]

Aye, he had the likes of the Jam and Generation X on his TV show, didn't he? Presumably the simplicity and energy of that scene appealed to him - that's what the best T-Rex stuff worked on, rather than Bolan's songwriting chops.

[daf]

321.  Lieutenant Pigeon – Mouldy Old Dough



From : 10 October – 6 November 1972
Weeks : 4
B-side : The Villain
Bonus 1 : Top of The Pops
Bonus 2 : Top Pop
Bonus 3 : 2008 Re-recording
Bonus 4 : Disco Version

The Story So Far : 

Lieutenant Pigeon was formed in Coventry by Rob Woodward (piano, guitar, tin whistle, vocals), Nigel Fletcher (drums), Stephen Johnson (bass guitar), and featured Rob's mum, Hilda, on honky-tonk piano.

Woodward made his recording debut in November 1963 under the name of Shel Naylor with "How Deep Is the Ocean" (b/w "La Bamba"). The follow up, "One Fine Day" (b/w "It's Gonna Happen Soon"), released in March 1964, was written by Dave Davies from The Kinks.



Woodward converted his mother's front room into a makeshift recording studio, and formed the band Stavely Makepeace with his friend Nigel Fletcher on drums. They got together a group of musicians including Don Ker and Pete Fisher to try out several songs they'd written together. The music they created was a form of eccentric pop that reflected their obsession with odd-ball genius producer Joe Meek.

Their debut single "(I Wanna Love You Like a) Mad Dog" (b/w "Greasy Haired Woman") was released on Pyramid Records in August 1969. "Reggae Denny", (b/w "Tarzan Harvey") was scheduled for release in December 1969. Six test pressings were made, but then the release was pulled, and only one copy is known to survive.

By the summer of 1970 the group had signed to Concord Records, and despite not coming within a hundred miles of the chart, found themselves performing on Top of the Pops with their single, "Edna (Let Me Sing My Beautiful Song)". The record received an enormous amount of Radio One airplay but failed to chart due to being on a small label with poor distribution to the shops. Radio 1 DJ Noel Edmonds told Nigel that people were sending in 10/6d postal orders to Radio One because they couldn't find "Edna" in the shops. By this time Steve Johnson had replaced Pete Fisher and Steve Tayton had also joined the band.



Their next single, "Smokey Mountain Rhythm Revue" (b/w "Rampant On The Rage") was released in October 1970, which also failed to chart. Further singles included : "Give Me That Pistol" (b/w "The Sundance") released in April 1971; and "Walking Through The Blue Grass" (b/w "Swings And Roundabouts") in March 1972.
 


"Slippery Rock 70's'" (b/w "Don't Ride A Paula Pillion") was released in October 1972. Slippery Rock was the name of a small college town in Western Pennsylvania where Nigel stayed early in 1972.



Meanwhile Rob and Nigel had written some novelty and instrumental songs which didn't fit the 'Stavely' image so they formed an offshoot band, "Lieutenant Pigeon", with Steve Johnson and Rob's mother Hilda to record this more 'fun' type of music.



Their first single, "Mouldy Old Dough" was released in February 1972, and topped the UK chart for four weeks in October and November 1972.



Luke Haines : "Mouldy Old Dough by Lieutenant Pigeon was the street punk of the early 70s."



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Stavely Makepeace's next single, "Prima Donna" was released in January 1973



The follow-up, "Cajun Band" (b/w "Memories Of Your Love"), was released in April 1973.



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Lieutenant Pigeon's next single, Desperate Dan, (b/w "Opus 300"), Reached #17 in the UK chart in December 1972. As with their previous hit, the track was largely instrumental, with the title providing virtually the only lyrics.



They released their debut album, 'Mouldy Old Music', in 1973.



Both "Mouldy Old Dough" and "Desperate Dan" were featured on the  album, along with a cover of the Beatles' "Yellow Submarine".



Other songs featured on the album included : "Jumping Jack", "The Monkey Song", "Pigeon Rendezvous", "Red River Rock", "Scarecrow", "Know Now I Was Better Off When I Was At School", "I'm A Window Cleaner", "If Julia Sees Her", "Dirty Old Man", and "Auntie May".



Their next single, "... And The Fun Goes On" (b/w "Opus 302") was released in May 1973 . . .



The follow-up, "Creativity", released in August 1973, dipped a toe into the world of Reggae.



Five weeks or so after the original release, in October 1973, Decca flipped the single and re-promoted it with "Oxford Bags" stickered as the A-side.



"And The Fun Goes On", "Creativity" and "Oxford Bags" were included on their second album, 'Pigeon Pie', released in late 1973.



Other songs featured on the album included : "Happy Days Are Here Again", "Hurdy Gurdy", "Meet Me Off The Royal Scot", "The Bed", "You're Getting Too Old For Toys", "Yu Da Nu Nayba", "Hilda's Tonic", and "Aggravation"



Their next single, "I'll Take You Home Again Kathleen" (b/w "Big Butch Baby") was released in February 1974.



Though the single failed to chart in the UK, it peaked at number 3 in the Australian charts in the Autumn of 1974 - making them officially a three-hit wonder!!



Hoping for a quick cash-in, the single was included as the title-track of the 1974 Australian-only album 'I'll Take You Home Again Kathleen'. Aside from the title track, and the addition of "Mouldy Old Dough", the rest of the songs were all taken from the 'Pigeon Pie' album.



Their next single, "You Are My Heart's Delight" (b/w "Love Inflation") was released in August 1974.



A different version of "You Are My Heart's Delight", along with "I'll Take You Home Again Kathleen", were featured on their third UK album, 'Pigeon Party', released in 1974.



Other songs featured on the album included : "Pigeon Party", "Brahms' Lullaby", "So Deep Is The Night", "The Midnight Swim", "After The Discotheque Is Over", "In The Mood", "Those Were The Days", "Great Balls Of Fire", and "Goodnight To You All".



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Stavely Makepeace's next single, "Runaround Sue" (b/w "There's A Wall Between Us"), was released in October 1974, and despite promotion on ATV's pop show 'Lift off With Ayshea', it failed to dent the charts.



Being big train fans, in 1975 they somehow persuaded the Argo label to release the album, 'Westerns: Diesel Hydraulics on the Western Region in 1974' - which featured field recordings of British diesel locomotives.



Highlights included :
• "1029 Western Legionaire Races Through Warwick Station Fiften Minutes Late On September 10th With The 9:05am Paddington To Birmingham New Street Express"
• "From Inside The First Coach Of The 12.25pm Birmingham To Paddington On October 17th"
•  "7:40pm Near The Summit Of Hemerdon Bank, South Devon On December 2nd"
• ""What The Driver Hears""
• "September 18th At 1:05pm Just South Of Leamington Spa Station"
• "A Class '52' Heading A Paddington-bound Passenger Train Up Hemerdon Bank On The Evening Of December 2nd"
• "Inside The Cab Of 1049 Western Monarch Arriving At Birmingham New Street Station On October 18th The With 9:05am From Paddington"
• "1016 Western Gladiator Arrives At Platform 1 Taunton On August 13th, At Nine Minutes Past Three, With A 5880 Head Code And A Relief Train To Newton Abbot"
• "A Motorail Train Storms Through Teignmouth Station At 4:20pm Behind 1033 Western Trooper Taking Some Late Holidaymakers Home From The West Country On September 28th"
• "A D.M.U. Is Quickly Overtaken By 1029 Western Legionnaire As They Both Leave Reading For Paddington Station On August 24th"
• "With Engines At Full Throttle 1037 Western Empress Pulls Away From Solihull Station On October 17th With The 9:05am Paddington To Birmingham"
• "Western Ruler (1050) Grinds To A Halt At Taunton Station With China Clay Empties Bound For The West Country, Then Gets The All Clear, Acknowledges It And Moves Slowly Away"

. . . plus the immortal classic, later covered by Frank Sinatra :
• "The Westbound Milk Empties Behind 1046 Western Marquis Slow Down For A Signal Check East Of Reading Station"



Following the flops "Rockabilly Hot Pot" (b/w "Gosford Street Rag") in September 1975, and "Good-Bye (From The White Horse Inn)" (b/w "I'll Sail My Ship Alone") in April 1976, Lieutenant Pigeon were dropped from Decca.

Rob Woodward : "If we tried to make our records too sophisticated they'd say that it wasn't Lieutenant Pigeon. Yet if we stuck to fun  music, they'd moan that it was the same old thing."

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In September 1977, in response to the burgeoning Punk Scene, Stavely Makepeace released the blistering broadside "Baby Blue Eyes", (b/w "Big Bad Baby Blondie"), which addressed head-on the crumbing state of the nation and the plight of the troubled kids. The follow up, the Edith Piaf cover "No Regrets" (b/w "You're Talking Out Of Your Head") was released in January 1978.



Having failed to topple the government, they reactivated Lieutenant Pigeon for the single "Spangles" (b/w "Opus 304") which was released on the Comet label in September 1977. The follow-up, "Disco Bells" (b/w "Steam Train Stag"), was released on the SMA label in April 1978.



The novelty of having Hilda in the line up meant that they were always in great demand as a live act, but by the late 70s the toll was beginning to tell on Rob's mum, who was then approaching the age of 70. An appearance in Luxembourg in late 1978 proved to be the very last time they would play together as a unit.

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In May 1979, Stavely Makepeace released the single "Coconut Shuffle", (b/w "Napoleon Brandy"), which was followed by "Songs Of Yesterday" (b/w "Storm") in April 1980.

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The final Lieutenant Pigeon single, "Bobbing Up And Down Like This" was released in May 1981. Due to having a commercial brand-name in the title, Mercia Sound dropped the B-side "Gordon's Rainbow Wranglers" from their playlist. Though it may have all have been a load of cobblers cooked up for publicity!



Stavely Makepeace released one further single, "Just Tell Her Fred Said Goodbye" (b/w "Opus 306") in November 1983.

The line-up of Lieutenant Pigeon went through a number of changes. By the late 1980s Stephen Johnson was the only original member of the live band. Nigel Fletcher joined the bands Tasty (which also featured Johnson) and Oakie. Johnson subsequently set up a documentary video production company.

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Hilda Woodward died, aged 85, on 22 February 1999. She was aged 58 at the time of "Mouldy Old Dough" topping the charts, which made her one of the oldest piano-playing mums to feature on a UK number one single.

In 2001 Rob and Nigel were back in the studio recording for the first time for nearly a decade when they devoted nearly nine months to the production of "Opus 400", a 35 minute long Lieutenant Pigeon CD single depicting many of their musical whims which had lay dormant for such a long time.

Rob & Nigel continue to release new music on their own website as both Lieutenant Pigeon and Stavely Makepeace.

Nigel Fletcher : "How I wish the internet was invented twenty years earlier, our fan base would have been much bigger then. We may not make money these days, but we certainly make a lot of new friends and it's great to share our music with them. Besides, we both lead very private lives these days, I don't think either of us could handle fame again!"

The Single :

"Mouldy Old Dough" was written by Nigel Fletcher and Rob Woodward and performed by Lieutenant Pigeon.



Recorded in the front room of Woodward's Coventry semi-detached house, it featured his mother Hilda Woodward on piano, in a boogie-woogie, honky-tonk, ragtime style. The only lyrics are the growled title "Mouldy Old Dough" and "Dirty Old Man" by Fletcher.

Nigel Fletcher : "Hilda's front room in Coventry was the scene of the crime. We didn't use the best equipment - it was recorded on a domestic machine. We find we get a better sound using the front room."

Despite initial disapproval from their long-term manager and friend, David Whitehouse, they went ahead with its release. It is the only British number one single to feature a mother and son.



Originally released in February 1972, it flopped on its first release. It was picked up in Belgium and used on a current affairs programme, and became a hit there, reaching number 1 in the Belgian singles chart.



Encouraged by this success, Decca re-released it, and with the backing of the Radio 1 DJ Noel Edmonds, it finally became a hit in the UK, spending four weeks at the top of the UK Singles Chart in October 1972.



It sold 790,000 copies becoming the highest selling UK pop single of 1972, earning them an Ivor Novello Award.



In New Zealand, the song was number one for five weeks. The song also reached number one in Ireland and reached the Top 10 in Canada and Australia.



In April 2005, the single was chosen as one of his Desert Island Discs by willowy Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker.

Jarvis Cocker : "Lieutenant Pigeon, Mouldy Old Dough, this, I mean this is, I guess it's a novelty record but it's one of those records that for some reason I find quite moving, there's something about it, even though it is silly, there's something quite touching about it. Just before I left Sheffield to go to London there was an all-night cafe and they had a jukebox there: this record was on it and I often used to amuse myself by playing it."



Other Versions include :  Top of the Poppers (1972)  /  Lt. Parrot (1972)  /  The Mike Morton Sounds (1972)  /  Werner Müller (1973)  /  Günter Noris (1973)  /  Elektrik Cokernut (1973)  /  DJ Friso (2010)  /  MrClitheroe (2011)  /  Ian Ian Burke (2011)  /  Danny McEvoy (2012)  /  Van Helduh featuring Tammi (2014)  /  Verbeeck 115 Key Centenary Organ (2017)  /  Kenny and Paul (2018)  /  Tom Goss (2020)

On This Day :

10 October : 3 members of the IRA die in a premature explosion in a house in Balkan Street, Lower Falls, Belfast
12 October : Billy Williams, American pop singer, dies aged 61
12 October : "Hurry, Harry" opens at Ritz Theater NYC
12 October : Mariner 9 takes pictures of the Martian north pole
13 October : Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crashes in Andes Mountains. Passengers were forced to eat crash victims to survive, 16 of 45 were rescued 2 months later.
13 October : Aeroflot Il-62 crashes in large pond outside Moscow, 176 die
13 October : "Hurry, Harry" closes after 2 performances
15 October : A cow was killed by a meteorite on a farm near Trujillo, Venezuela.
16 October : First episode of Emmerdale Farm broadcast on ITV
16 October : Leo G. Carroll, British actor, dies at 85
16 October : "Pacific Paradise" opens at Palace Theater NYC
16 October : Creedence Clearwater Revival break up
16 October :  2 members of the Official IRA are shot dead by the British Army in County Tyrone
17 October : Bob Randall's "6 Rooms Riv Vu" premieres in NYC
17 October : Eminem, rapper, born Marshall Bruce Mathers III in St. Joseph, Missouri
18 October : Esma Cannon, Australian-born actress, dies aged 66
18 October : The Soviet Union agreed to pay the United States $722,000,000 over a period of 30 years as repayment for American assistance made to the Soviets during World War II under the Lend-Lease Act.
19 October : Pras, rapper (The Fugees), born Prakazrel Samuel Michel in Brooklyn, New York
19 October : "Mother Earth" opens at Belasco Theater NYC
20 October : John Betjeman is appointed Poet Laureate by Queen Elizabeth II
21 October : "Dude" closes at Broadway Theater NYC after 16 performances
21 October : "Man of La Mancha" closes at Beaumont Theater NYC after 140 performances
21 October : "Pacific Paradise" closes after 5 performances
23 October : Richard McNamara, musician (Embrace), born in Mytholmroyd, West Yorkshire, England
23 October : Stephen Schwartz' musical "Pippin", directed by Bob Fosse, opens at Imperial Theater, NYC
23 October : Access credit cards introduced in Great Britain
24 October : Jackie Robinson, 1st African American baseball player, dies aged 53
24 October : Claire Windsor, American silent film actress, dies aged 80
26 October : Igor Sikorsky, aviation pioneer who developed the helicopter, dies aged 83
26 October : Edwin Land introduces the Polaroid SX-70 instant camera at an event in Miami, Florida
28 October : "Mother Earth" closes after 12 performances
29 October : Lufthansa Flight 615 was hijacked, in order to extort the release of the three surviving perpetrators of the Munich massacre.
31 October : 2 Catholic children are killed in a UFF car bomb attack on a bar in Ship Street, Belfast
1 November : Toni Collette, actress, born in Sydney, New South Wales
1 November : Ezra Pound, American poet, dies aged 87
2 November : Samantha Janus, singer and actress, born Samantha Zoe Janus in Brighton, Sussex
2 November : Government of the Republic of Ireland introduce a bill to remove the special position of the Catholic Church from the Irish Constitution
4 November : Bangladesh adopts constitution
4 November : Yuri Galanskov, Soviet dissident poet, dies in a labour camp aged 33
5 November : Vice-President of Sinn Féin Maire Drumm is arrested in the Republic of Ireland
5 November : Reginald Owen, British actor, dies aged 85
6 November : The first intercollegiate game of ultimate frisbee was played between Rutgers University and Princeton University in New Brunswick, New Jersey
6 November : Thandiwe Newton, actress, born Melanie Thandiwe Newton in Westminster, London

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! :

[gilbertharding]

Protracted discussion of this on the most recent Chart Music You know it makes sense

I don't think (from memory) they covered the Type 52 loco recordings though.

[bigfatheart]

I believe that got mentioned in passing at some point on a previous episode, during a discussion of the Bay City Rollers: the Pidge appeared on the Rollers' telly show to discuss the record, to the bemusement of all concerned. Not sure which Chart Music ep but gut instinct tells me it's #51, Guys 'N' Dolls Get Ready To Bomb Iraq.

[gilbertharding]

I believe that got mentioned in passing at some point on a previous episode, during a discussion of the Bay City Rollers: the Pidge appeared on the Rollers' telly show to discuss the record, to the bemusement of all concerned. Not sure which Chart Music ep but gut instinct tells me it's #51, Guys 'N' Dolls Get Ready To Bomb Iraq.

Cheers - I'm in the middle of re-listening to all the ChartMusics but in chronological order of the episode covered - but I'm up to 1982 at the moment and I don't want to go backwards (Incidentally, did you know that the England World Cup song that year was written by Smokey?).

[xxxx xxx x xxx]

What a weird, weird band(s).  I urge everyone to click on Coconut Shuffle and Just Tell Her Fred Said Goodbye, at the very least.

[DrGreggles]

Any song titled 'Greasy Haired Woman' is deserving of its own post.

Hence.

[Jockice]

I've wasted years thinking 'Dreadlock Holiday' was my birthday no 1 but it turns out to be 'Three Times A Lady' which is way sexier. Cheers daf!

Dreadlock Holiday is of course the worst chart-topper of all time. But not far behind is is Tears by Ken Dodd, which for years I thought was my birthday song. Turns out it was actually Satisfaction by the Rolling Stones. A genuine unarguable classic. You can't believe the sense of relief I felt on finding that out.

[Jockice]

The Pigeon were of course punk pioneers, swearing on TV years before the Sex Pistols managed it. Check out that TOTP performance 1.12 in, when the drummer gets his hat pushed down. Does he or does he not say: "Fuck you."? I'm sure I'm not just imagining it, but it's not mentioned at all in the comments.

[gilbertharding]

Dreadlock Holiday is of course the worst chart-topper of all time. But not far behind is is Tears by Ken Dodd, which for years I thought was my birthday song. Turns out it was actually Satisfaction by the Rolling Stones. A genuine unarguable classic. You can't believe the sense of relief I felt on finding that out.

Dreadlock Holiday's a banger, what are you on about?

Worst? My brother was born during the reign of Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep mate.

[Jockice]

Dreadlock Holiday's a banger, what are you on about?

Worst? My brother was born during the reign of Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep mate.

I'm not having that. It's horrible. Plus 1978 10CC brings back very bad memories in my mind. Didn't mind them up until then but..you really don't want to know.

I like Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep. Denim were right. You will find me in the middle of the road.

[The Culture Bunker]

I guess we can talk about 10cc (or more like 5cc by that time, amirite?) and their excursions into cod-reggae when we get to it. I certainly agree it's a not the best bit of work Gouldman and Stewart put their name to, but I can think of at least 20 worse #1s off the top of my head.

[gilbertharding]

I guess we can talk about 10cc (or more like 5cc by that time, amirite?) and their excursions into cod-reggae when we get to it. I certainly agree it's a not the best bit of work Gouldman and Stewart put their name to, but I can think of at least 20 worse #1s off the top of my head.

Sure.

But I liked it even before it featured here (at 29:54 - apparently you can't embed timestamps):

[daf]

Nice!

(I do have a spot spot for 'Dreadlock Holiday' - and to be honest, much prefer it to 'I'm Not in Love' - which I find a teeny bit boring!)

Anyway, hold on to your hats - Part 1 of the 10CC story will be coming up in 1973!

[DrGreggles]

Dreadlock Holiday is of course the worst chart-topper of all time.

Actually we scientifically proved what it was last week and it's this:
https://youtu.be/khW5leL19SA

[Jockice]

Actually we scientifically proved what it was last week and it's this:
https://youtu.be/khW5leL19SA

Oh, that's okay. Comparatively I mean.

[daf]

322.  Gilbert O'Sullivan – Clair



From : 7 – 20 November 1972
Weeks : 2
B-side : What Could Be Nicer
Bonus 1 : Top of the Pops 1972
Bonus 2 : Top Pop

The Story So Far : 

Raymond Edward O'Sullivan was born one of six children in Waterford, Ireland. His mother May ran a sweet shop and his father was a butcher with Clover Meats. The O'Sullivans emigrated due to a job offer in England, first to Battersea, London when Raymond was seven, before settling in Swindon, Wiltshire a year later, where young Raymond began playing the piano. A period of going to piano lessons was short-lived, as O'Sullivan was not enamoured of music theory and played the pieces by ear instead.

Gilbert O'Sullivan : "I come from a working class background, but we always had a piano, the thinking of my parents was that if one of your kids could play it, you could make some money at it."

He attended St Joseph's Catholic College before studying at Swindon College, specialising in graphic design. Here, he played with several semi-professional bands including The Doodles, The Prefects and was most notably drummer in a band called Rick's Blues, along with Rick Davies, who later founded Supertramp, and taught O'Sullivan how to play both drums and piano. O'Sullivan's drumming informed his style of piano-playing, which often utilises a distinct, percussive piano pattern.

Gilbert O'Sullivan : "My left hand is hitting the high hat and the right hand is the snare."

He started writing songs, heavily influenced by The Beatles as writers and Bob Dylan as a performer, and in 1967, moved from Swindon to London in pursuit of a career in music. Determined to get a record deal and looking to stand out, he created an eye-catching visual image comprised a pudding basin haircut, cloth cap and short trousers, inspired by his love of silent film.



He scored a five-year contract with April Music, after coming to the attention of the professional manager Stephen Shane, who also suggested changing his name from Ray to Gilbert as a rib-tickling play on the name of the operetta composers Gilbert & Sullivan. He was paid an advance of £12, with which he bought a piano.



He was signed to CBS Records by the A&R manager Mike Smith, who produced his first single, "Disappear" (b/w "You"), credited to just 'Gilbert'. Released in November 1967, it failed to chart, as did his second single "What Can I Do", released in April 1968.



A switch to the Irish record label Major Minor yielded a third single, "Mr. Moody's Garden" (b/w "I Wish I Could Cry"), released in May 1969, which also failed to chart.



At this point, O'Sullivan sent some demo tapes to Gordon Mills, the manager of Tom Jones and Dingledonk Bumbleshoe, and O'Sullivan was signed to Mills' newly founded label, MAM Records. Mills reportedly hated O'Sullivan's self-created image, but O'Sullivan insisted on using it initially. O'Sullivan's unique signature look garnered much attention, and often saw him compared to the Bisto Kids.

Gilbert O'Sullivan : "My mother probably doesn't like Neil Young because she hates the way he looks, his hair and everything. If you can get them interested in the way you look then they tend to like the music. The thing which I'm trying to create is of the thirties; Keaton and Chaplin."

In October 1970, O'Sullivan released the single "Nothing Rhymed" (b/w "Everybody Knows"), which became his first hit, peaking at #8 in the UK. It also topped the chart in the Netherlands, where it earned O'Sullivan his first gold disc. O'Sullivan has said seeing film of starving children in Africa (during the Nigerian Civil War) on television for the first time prompted him to write the song. Renowned session bassist Herbie Flowers also features on the recording.



This was followed in February 1971 by the uptempo "Underneath The Blanket Go" which became his second Number 1 in the Netherlands, but charted at a disappointing #40 in the UK.



"We Will" (b/w "I Didn't Know What To Do"), released in July 1971, reached #16 on the UK chart.



Upon release, Peter Jones of Record Mirror considered the song "less infectious" than O'Sullivan's first hit "Nothing Rhymed", but described it as "unmistakeably Gilbert, with that mixture of naivety and power."



- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

In August 1971, he released his debut album, 'Himself', which was produced by Gordon Mills, engineered by  Peter Rynston, and featured arrangements by Johnnie Spence. The cover was designed by Don Bax.



O'Sullivan's original intention was to record the album with just piano and voice, but Mills persuaded him to use full instrumentation and string arrangements.

Gilbert O'Sullivan : "Gordon says work up to it gradually so probably by the time of my third album it will be done like that. If I'd done it with piano and voice it wouldn't have been successful. It's a question of what fits the songs and I think the backings are appropriate."

Mills had a strong influence on the structure of the songs, as O'Sullivan would write "three middle eights and three times as many verses" and Mills would pick out which lyrics he found best.

The album begins with a short "Intro" in which O'Sullivan introduces "this, my first LP debut". This is followed by "January Git", which features a show tune-style horn arrangement by Spence, and "Bye-Bye". The next song, "Permissive Twit", was recorded solo in a spare half-hour at the end of a recording session. It tells the story of "Our Linda" and her unwanted pregnancy. Following naturally on, "Matrimony", concerning a couple getting wed at the registrar's, garnered much airplay. Independent Air" was one of two songs recorded in the first session for the album, the other being "Nothing Rhymed", the album's hit single, which spent four weeks at #8 on the UK chart at the end of 1970 and the beginning of 1971.

Gilbert O'Sullivan : "It was not a common-sounding song though people liked it, the feeling was that it could make it, or it might not."



Side 2 opens with "Too Much Attention", which O'Sullivan named as among his favourite songs he had written in a 1972 interview. Further songs included "Thunder and Lightning", "Houdini Said", and "Doing The Best I Can", written from the perspective of an impoverished father. The album ends with "Outro", identical to the intro but this time with lyrics thanking listeners who have bought the album.

Gilbert O'Sullivan : "Five years ago, when it was Beatlemania and all the rest of it, you'd never be able to make an album with all your own songs. In those days, if it didn't have that hook chorus and it wasn't going to be a Top Ten hit, forget it. Now people get the opportunity to do their own albums and that's a very good thing."

The gatefold features a collage showing O'Sullivan at a wheel of an elongated Hispano Suiza with Charlie Chaplin, Jackie Coogan and Clara Bow among the passengers.



The album entered the UK Albums Chart at #44 on 25 September, and climbed steadily, reaching a peak position of #5 in March 1972.

Michael Watts of Melody Maker considered O'Sullivan to be totally unlike his stablemates Tom Jones and Engelbert Humperdinck, adding: "He's got talent, for a start, which reaches beyond their superficialities of glam and glossy presentation." Watts compared O'Sullivan to Paul McCartney but noted he lacked "the cloying sentimentality to which the ex-Beatle has occasionally been prone." He also felt O'Sullivan's "satirical view of life" was similar to that of Randy Newman, and noted a "total feeling of Englishness about his songs and him" that mirrored Newman's "quintessentially American insights."

Andrew Tyler of Disc felt that "the songs, like the man, are 100 per cent originals," but was less taken by the production style, adding that "to coat the music he offers with a stale, sticky candy covering is a giant boob".

The NME's Tony Norman considered Gilbert's melodies to be "among the strongest you can hear today," and praised his ability to get inside a real situation and "capture the whole mood of the moment in his jumping selection of words."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

His next single, "No Matter How I Try" (b/w "If I Don't Get You (Back Again)"), reached #5 on the UK chart in November 1971.



O'Sullivan achieved major international stardom with "Alone Again (Naturally)", (b/w "Save It"), which reached No. 1 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, selling nearly two million copies. Released in February 1972, it also topped the charts in Canada and Japan, #2 in New Zealand, and reached #3 in the UK.

Gilbert O'Sullivan : "Neil Diamond covered "Alone Again (Naturally)" and said he couldn't believe a 21-year-old wrote it, but for me it was just one song I had written."



This international success coincided with O'Sullivan discarding the appearance he'd used since 1967. He unveiled a more modern 'college-like' look in which he often wore a sweater bearing a large letter 'G'.



A revised version of "Himself" was released in the United States in 1972, adding the non-album singles "Alone Again (Naturally)" and "We Will" and omitting "Susan Van Heusen" and "Doing the Best I Can". This version featured a new sleeve, showing O'Sullivan in his second, more conventional signature look.



Robert Christgau, writing for Creem, characterised O'Sullivan as "uneven" but "a complete original."

John Mendelsohn of Rolling Stone was more critical, writing that O'Sullivan's singing "wears rather poorly" and commenting: "I doubt anyone could characterize him as a great melodist with a straight face."



Following the US success of "Alone Again (Naturally)", the album was reviewed again in Rolling Stone, this time by James Isaacs, who said that although Sullivan "had a proclivity for becoming mired in the overbearing scores and especially in his own verbosity and Gaelic sentimentality," the hit single had "brought a tear to my eye on more than one occasion."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

His next single, "Ooh-Wakka-Doo-Wakka-Day", was released in June 1972, peaking at #8 on the UK chart, and became the first of three number 1's in Ireland.



The success O'Sullivan enjoyed allowed him to reside in a bungalow on his producer Gordon Mills' estate, and the singer became characterised by journalists who observed him in the estate throughout 1972 as a 'pipe-smoking artefact collector'. O'Sullivan began writing songs for his second album by sitting at the piano without specific ideas, instead "[doing] a few Fats Dominoes and just [having] a good time. The melodies just come out while I'm playing around."

He would compose songs for the album from late at night until around 5 am, and was unwilling to adjust his creative habits to accommodate personal relationships.

Gilbert O'Sullivan : "I'd be writing, practising, trying to come up with melodies, buying records, listening to music, having a great time musically. Walk up to Gordon's house for dinner offered to me by Jo, his wife, do a bit of babysitting, help out around the house, walk back home. Life was really good for me."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

His second album, 'Back to Front', was released in October 1972.



The album is bookended by short intro and outro songs. The "Intro" invites listeners to "join the hunt," and seamlessly segues into "I Hope You Stay", which concerns romance and unemployment, which is then followed by "In My Hole", an orchestral pop song with a Johnnie Spence-scored trumpet part and lyrics concerning an introverted 'hermit' who refuses to engage with the world around him. Other songs featured on Side 1 included : "That's Love", "Can I Go with You", and "But I'm Not" which includes an "Outro" to side one. Mills decided to double-track most of O'Sullivan's vocals on the album, just as he had on the 1971 single "No Matter How Hard I Try".

Gilbert O'Sullivan : "The interesting thing about double-tracking is, the less mature your voice, the better it sounds. The better your voice gets, the less it works. So at this point, I wasn't too mad about all the double-tracking on Back to Front."

Side two opens with the bluesy shuffle of "I'm in Love with You" featuring the distinctive slide guitar of Big Jim Sullivan. It is followed by the darkly humorous "Who Was It?", "What Could Be Nicer (Mum, the Kettle's Boiling)",  and "Out of the Question", which was released as a single in February 1973, peaking at #9 in Canada and #17 in the US.



"The Golden Rule" comes next, and the album closes with "I'm Leaving", which opens with an octave synthesiser and features lyrics of urban claustrophobia that O'Sullivan has described as perhaps chronicling his childhood town Swindon failing to achieve city status. The song cross-fades into "Outro", where O'Sullivan bids listeners farewell with an amusing "I'm almost finished now" refrain.

The album spent 64 weeks on the UK Albums Chart, debuting at No. 2 and peaking at No. 1 during its ninth week of charting in January 1973. It was less successful in the United States, where it peaked at No. 48 on the Billboard LP chart in March 1973.

Writing for Creem, Robert Christgau wrote that O'Sullivan "certainly hasn't turned into a major annoyance yet," in reference to his earlier review of Himself where he speculated O'Sullivan "may turn into a major annoyance." He concluded that Back to Front is "the best more-or-less easy-listening record" since Helen Reddy's eponymous 1971 album, and rated the album a "B+" score.



"Clair", the album's best known song, was released as a single in October 1972, reaching Number 1 on the UK chart . . .

The Single :

"Clair" was written and performed by Gilbert O'Sullivan.



The song is a love song from the point of view of a close family friend who babysits a young girl, though for the first part of the song, the ambiguous words lead one to think that it is a romantic song from one adult to another.

The real Clair was the three-year-old daughter of O'Sullivan's producer-manager, Gordon Mills, who performed the harmonica instrumental break in the song, and his wife, the model Jo Waring. Clair Mills's giggling is heard at the end of this song. The "Uncle Ray" mentioned in the song is O'Sullivan himself, a reference to his real name of Raymond O'Sullivan.



"Clair" was the number one single on the UK Singles Chart for two weeks in November 1972, and number 1 in Canada. In late December, it peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US, held off the top by "Me and Mrs. Jones" by Billy Paul and "You're So Vain" by Carly Simon.

O'Sullivan's disc sales exceeded ten million in 1972 and made him the top star of the year. He was ranked by Record Mirror as the number 1 male singer of 1972, and in May 1973 he won an Ivor Novello award for "British Songwriter of the Year."



Other Versions include :  Four Jets (1972)  /  Johnny Dorelli (1972)  /  Günter Noris (1973)  /  Ray Conniff Singers (1973)  /  Springbok (1973)  /  Robert Demontigny (1973)  /  Nicola Di Bari (1973)  /  Piet Noordijk (1974)  /  The Singers Unlimited (1975)  /  Schytts (1995)  /  Space Kelly (2006)  /  fluttergirl827 (2010)  /  Laurent Voulzy (2006)  /  Danny McEvoy (2012)  /  Jean Le Fort (2013)  /  Eddie Vuittonet and The Time Travelers (2016)  /  China Romero (2016)  /  Yvan Jacques (2017) [Nice!] /  a robot (2019)  /  Jerry Velberg (2021)  /  Dave Monk (2021)

On This Day :

7 November : Attorney Joe Biden is elected to the US Senate, representing the state of Delaware
7 November : Blue-chinned ghoul and paranoid crackpot, President Richard Nixon is re-elected, defeating Democrat candidate George McGovern in a landslide by winning 49 states
7 November : Tod Andrews, American actor, dies of a heart attack aged 55
8 November : HBO, the first "pay cable" television channel, was launched in the United States
9 November : Canada's first geostationary communications satellite, Anik-1 was launched from Florida.
10 November : Southern Airways Flight 49 from Birmingham, Alabama, to Montgomery was seized by three hijackers, who threatened to crash the plane into the nuclear plant at Oak Ridge, before flying to Chattanooga, where $2 million ransom was collected, and then to to Cuba. FBI snipers shot out four of the aeroplane's tires in an unsuccessful attempt to hinder takeoff.
11 November : Berry Oakley, bass player (The Allman Brothers Band), dies in motorcycle crash aged 24
11 November : Barbara Daly Baekeland, American socialite, was stabbed to death by her 25-year-old son, Antony, in London.
12 November : Rudolf Friml, Czech-American concert pianist and composer, dies at 92
12 November : Hijacked Flight 49 ended after 29 hours as the DC-9 made an emergency landing in Havana. The three hijackers – Henry Jackson, Lewis Moore and Melvin Cale – were arrested by Cuban authorities.
14 November : Douglas Payne, bass guitarist (Travis), born in Glasgow, Scotland
15 November : Small Astronomy Satellite Explorer 48 launched to study gamma rays
15 November : Circle-in the-Square Theater opens at 1633 Broadway NYC
15 November : Jonny Lee Miller, actor, born Jonathan Lee Miller in Kingston upon Thames, London
16 November : "Dear Oscar" opens at Playhouse Theater NYC
16 November : Andrei Pashchenko, Russian composer, dies aged 87
17 November : After 17 years in exile, Juan Perón returned to Argentina, where he had been President from 1946 to 1955.
18 November : Danny Whitten, American rock guitarist, dies of a methaqualone overdose aged 29
19 November : Following a controversial radio interview, leader of the IRA Seán MacStiofáin is arrested in Dublin
19 November : Willy Brandt's SPD wins West German election
19 November : "Ambassador" opens at Lunt-Fontanne Theater NYC
19 November : "Dear Oscar" closes after 5 performances
20 November : 2 British soldiers are killed in a booby trap bomb in Cullyhanna, County Armagh

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! :

[gilbertharding]

True story:

Aged about 8, maybe 9, I was sent by my mum into one of the many record shops there used to be in my hometown, to see if they had any Gilbert and Sullivan records (my dad had just joined the local choral society, my mum was in a wheelchair, and the record shop had a step to the front door).
Bloke behind the counter: "Do you mean Gilbert O'Sullivan?"
Me: "Ermmm... I suppose I must do..."

I can't remember *all* the back and forth I had to do between the shop counter and the door before it emerged that, no - he didn't have any Gilbert and Sullivan OR any Gilbert O'Sullivan.

[The Culture Bunker]

My dad regarded him as a bit of a joke figure (words to the effect of "fourth division Elton John") so I've never really been familiar with any of O'Sullivan's work. Even his big hits, while I might recognise them if I heard them, I'm not sure I can hum any of the melodies.

And having just listened to 'Clair', I know why. It's pretty unremarkable - in one ear, out the other. It plods along totally inoffensively, but I've zero inclination to bother with it again. That it all seems to splutter to an end without any resolution seems fitting.

[daf]

I love his 'tonking' piano playing technique - (basically doing a Karate chop on the bass notes with his left hand) - once you know he was originally a drummer it all makes sense!

[The Culture Bunker]

I will say his 'original' image, the 1930s-style get up as seen in that video, is a lot better than all the preppy jumpers, big hair and whatnot from later on.

[daf]

323.  Chuck Berry – My Ding-a-Ling



From : 21 November – 18 December 1972
Weeks : 4
B-side : Johnny B. Goode
Bonus 1 : Studio Version
Bonus 2 : 1967 live version
Bonus 3 : Unedited 1972 album version
Bonus 4 : BBC 'Sounds for Saturday' March 1972

The Story So Far : Part 1

Charles Edward Anderson Berry was born in St. Louis. He gave his first public performance in 1941 while still a student at Sumner High School; he was still a student there in 1944, when he was arrested for armed robbery after robbing three shops in Kansas City, Missouri, and then stealing a car at gunpoint with some friends. He was convicted and sent to the Intermediate Reformatory for Young Men at Algoa, Missouri, where he formed a singing quartet and did some boxing. Berry was released from the reformatory on his 21st birthday in 1947.

On 28 October, 1948, Berry married Themetta "Toddy" Suggs, who gave birth to Darlin Ingrid Berry on 3 October, 1950. Berry supported his family by taking various jobs in St. Louis, working briefly as a factory worker at two automobile assembly plants and as a janitor in the apartment building where he and his wife lived. Afterwards he trained as a beautician at the Poro College of Cosmetology.

By the early 1950s, Berry was working with local bands in clubs in St. Louis as an extra source of income. He had been playing blues since his teens, and he borrowed both guitar riffs and showmanship techniques from the blues musician T-Bone Walker. He also took guitar lessons from his friend Ira Harris, which laid the foundation for his guitar style. By early 1953 Berry was performing with Johnnie Johnson's trio, starting a long-time collaboration with the pianist. The band played blues and ballads as well as country.

Chuck Berry : "Curiosity provoked me to lay a lot of our country stuff on our predominantly black audience and some of our black audience began whispering 'who is that black hillbilly at the Cosmo?' After they laughed at me a few times they began requesting the hillbilly stuff and enjoyed dancing to it."

In 1954, Berry recorded the tracks "I Hope These Words Will Find You Well" and "Oh, Maria!" with the group Joe Alexander & the Cubans. The songs were released as a single on the Ballad label.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

In May 1955, Berry traveled to Chicago, where he met Muddy Waters who suggested he contact Leonard Chess, of Chess Records.

On 21 May 1955, Berry recorded an adaptation of the song "Ida Red", under the title "Maybellene", with Johnnie Johnson on the piano, Jerome Green (from Bo Diddley's band) on the maracas, Ebby Hardy on the drums and Willie Dixon on the bass.

"Maybellene" was a major hit with both black and white audiences, reaching #1 on Billboard's Rhythm and Blues chart and #5 on the Hot 100, selling over a million copies. This fusion of a rhythm-and-blues beat with a rural country style was the catalyst for the emergence of rock and roll in the mid-1950s.

Chuck Berry : "It came out at the right time when Afro-American music was spilling over into the mainstream pop."

When Berry first saw a copy of the record, he was surprised that two other individuals, DJ Alan Freed and Russ Fratto, who had loaned money to Chess, had been given writing credit. After a court battle, Berry was able to regain full writing credit.

Chuck Berry : "[Alan Freed] didn't sit down with me at all and write anything. He got that money solely for doing us some favors in those days."



His next single, "Thirty Days (To Come Back Home)" (b/w "Together (We Will Always Be)"), was released in October 1955, and reached #2 on the R&B chart. The follow-up, "No Money Down" (b/w "The Downbound Train"), released in January 1956, reached #8 on the R&B chart.



At the end of June 1956, "Roll Over Beethoven" (b/w "Drifting Heart"), reached #2 on the R&B chart, and #29 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart.

Berry wrote the song in response to his sister Lucy always using the family piano to play classical music when Berry wanted to play pop music. In addition to the classical composers Ludwig van Beethoven and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, the lyrics mention or allude to several popular artists: "Early in the Mornin'" is the title of a Louis Jordan song; "Blue Suede Shoes" refers to the Carl Perkins song; and "hey diddle diddle", from the nursery rhyme "The Cat and the Fiddle", is an indirect reference to the Chess recording artist Bo Diddley.



"Roll Over Beethoven", "Maybellene", "Thirty Days" and his next single, "You Can't Catch Me" were included on the album 'Rock, Rock, Rock'. While it was promoted as the soundtrack of the film of the same name, only four of the 12 songs on the album were used in the film.

Released in September 1956, his next single, "Too Much Monkey Business" (b/w "Brown Eyed Handsome Man"), peaked at #4 on the R&B chart. He toured as one of the "Top Acts of '56", where he and Carl Perkins became friends.

Carl Perkins : "I knew when I first heard Chuck that he'd been affected by country music. I respected his writing; his records were very, very great."



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His debut album, 'After School Session', was released in May 1957.  With the exception of two tracks, all selections had been previously appeared on his previous singles.



The songs on the album were taken from Berry's first five sessions for Leonard and Phil Chess, which took place at Universal Recording Corporation in Chicago. "Wee Wee Hours" was the first to be recorded, on 21 May 1955. "Together (We'll Always Be)" was recorded in September 1955. At the next session, on 20 December 1955, Berry recorded "Roly Poly", "No Money Down", "Berry Pickin'", and "Down Bound Train". The third session was on 16 April 1956, when he recorded "Too Much Monkey Business", "Brown Eyed Handsome Man", and "Drifting Heart". "Havana Moon" was recorded on 29 October 1956.

The last session took place on 21 January 1957, when he recorded "School Day". Released as a single in March 1957, and backed by "Deep Feeling" recorded at the same session, it peaked at number 1 on the R&B Singles chart and number 3 on the Hot 100.



It was also his first UK chart entry, reaching #24 in June 1957.



Further singles included : "Oh Baby Doll" (b/w "La Jaunda"), released in June 1957, which reached #12 on the R&B chart, and #57 on the Billboard Hot 100; and "Rock And Roll Music" (b/w "Blue Feeling"), released in October 1957, which reached #6 on the R&B chart, and 8 on the Hot 100.



In late 1957, Berry took part in Alan Freed's "Biggest Show of Stars for 1957", touring the United States with the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran, Frankie Lymon, Clyde McPhatter, and last and probably least, The Spaniels!

"Sweet Little Sixteen" (b/w "Reelin And Rocking"), released in January 1958, topped the R&B chart, and peaked at #2 on the Hot 100. It became his second UK hit, peaking at #16 in May 1958.



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His second album, 'One Dozen Berrys' was released in March 1958 on Chess Records. Half the album featured tracks previously released on his recent singles, including "Oh Baby Doll", "Rock And Roll Music", and "Sweet Little Sixteen"



New songs featured on the album included : "Rockin' at the Philharmonic," "Guitar Boogie", "In-Go", "How You've Changed", "It Don't Take but a Few Minutes" and one alternate take, "Low Feeling" - which was the same recording as the B-side "Blue Feeling", but with the tape playback slowed down - the crafty cheapskate!

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"Johnny B. Goode" (b/w "Around And Around") was released in April 1958, and peaked at #2 on the R&B chart and #8 on the Hot 100.

The opening guitar riff is surprisingly similar to the one used by Louis Jordan in his 1946 song "Ain't That Just Like a Woman". Berry acknowledged the debt to Jordan and several sources have indicated that his work was influenced by Jordan in general.



His next single, "Beautiful Delilah" (b/w "Vacation Time"), was released in July 1958, and reached a modest #81 on the Hot 100. "Carol" (b/w "Hey Pedro"), released in August 1958, peaked at #9 on the R&B chart, and #18 on the Hot 100.



"Sweet Little Rock And Roll" released in October 1958 reached #9 on the R&B chart, and #18 on the Hot 100. Due to including radio plays, the B-side "Joe Joe Gun" also charted - bagging the coveted #83 position!



His next single, "Merry Christmas Baby", was released in November 1958, and reached #71 on the Billboard Hot 100. Due to getting more radio plays, the B-side, "Run Rudolph Run", charted higher - peaking at #10.

He kicked off the new year with "Anthony Boy" (b/w "That's My Desire"), which reached #60. The follow-up, "Almost Grown" (b/w "Little Queenie"), released in March 1959, reached #3 on the R&B chart and #32 on the Hot 100.

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His third album, 'Chuck Berry Is on Top' was released in July 1959 on Chess Records.



With the exception of the fianl track, "Blues for Hawaiians" all selections had been previously released on 45 rpm singles, including : "Almost Grown", "Carol", "Maybellene", "Sweet Little Rock & Roller", "Anthony Boy", "Johnny B. Goode", "Little Queenie", "Jo Jo Gunne", "Roll Over Beethoven", "Around and Around", and "Hey Pedro".

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"Back In The U.S.A." (b/w "Memphis, Tennessee"), released in May 1959, reached #16 on the R&B chart, and #37 on the Hot 100; and "Broken Arrow" (b/w "Childhood Sweetheart"), released in September 1959, tanked at #108!

Following his film debut in 'Rock Rock Rock', his performance of "Sweet Little Sixteen" at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1958 was captured in the 1959 motion picture 'Jazz on a Summer's Day', and he had a speaking role as himself in the 1959 film 'Go, Johnny, Go!', and performed "Johnny B. Goode", "Memphis, Tennessee", and "Little Queenie".



By the end of the 1950s, Berry was a high-profile established star with several hit records and film appearances and a lucrative touring career. He had opened a racially integrated St. Louis nightclub, Berry's Club Bandstand, and invested in real estate. Now nothing could possibly go wrong . . .

In December 1959, he was arrested under the Mann Act after allegations that he had had sexual intercourse with a 14-year-old waitress, Janice Escalanti, whom he had transported across state lines to work as a hatcheck girl at his club. After a two-week trial in March 1960, he was convicted, fined $5,000, and sentenced to five years in prison. He appealed the decision, arguing that the judge's comments and attitude were racist and prejudiced the jury against him. The appeal was upheld, and a second trial was heard in May and June 1961, resulting in another conviction and a three-year prison sentence.



He had continued recording and performing throughout this turbulent period, but his output had slowed as his popularity declined. His fourth album 'Rockin' at the Hops' was released in July 1960 on Chess Records.



With the exception of four tracks, "Down the Road a Piece", "Confessin' the Blues", "Betty Jean", and "Driftin' Blues" all selections had been previously released on singles : "Childhood Sweetheart", backed with "Broken Arrow", was released in September 1959; "Let It Rock" released in January 1960. The A-side reached number 64 on the Billboard Hot 100, and the B-side, "Too Pooped To Pop", reached #42 on the Hot 100 and #18 on the R&B Singles chart.

The last two singles : "Bye Bye Johnny" backed with "Worried Life Blues", released in May 1960 and "I Got to Find My Baby" backed with "Mad Lad, released in August 1960 did not chart.



His next single, "Jaguar And Thunderbird" (b/w "Our Little Rendezvous") was released in October 1960; and "I'm Talking About You" (b/w "Little Star"), was released in February 1961 - neither charted.

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His fifth album, 'New Juke Box Hits' was released in March 1961 by Chess Records.



The album was recorded and released while Berry was in the midst of legal difficulties. The adverse publicity from these legal problems affected sales of his records, and Berry did not release another album of songs for over three years.

Unlike his previous four LPs, only two songs, "Little Star" backed with "I'm Talking About You", had been previously released as singles. Other songs featured on the album included : "Diploma for Two", "Thirteen Question Method", "Away from You", "Don't You Lie to Me", "The Way It Was Before", "Route 66", "Sweet Sixteen", "Run Around", "Stop and Listen", and "Rip It Up".

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After another appeal failed, Berry served one and one-half years in prison, from February 1962 to October 1963.



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In February 1962, with Berry banged up inside, Chess bunged out the compilation 'Chuck Berry Twist'. The title was an attempt to capitalize on a new dance craze, introduced by Chubby Checker in 1960, even though none of the songs musically conformed to the Twist style!



Tracks included  : "Maybellene", "Roll Over Beethoven", "Oh Baby Doll", "Around and Around", "Come On", "Let It Rock", "Reelin' and Rockin'", "School Days", "Almost Grown", "Sweet Little Sixteen", "Thirty Days", "Johnny B. Goode", "Rock and Roll Music", and "Back in the U.S.A.".

The album was reissued a year later with a new title, 'More Chuck Berry'. An album with that title was released in the UK by Pye International Records in 1964, featuring the same cover but a completely different track listing.



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His next album, 'Chuck Berry on Stage', was released in 1963 by Chess Records.



Although promoted as a live album, except for "All Aboard", "Trick or Treat", "I Just Want To Make Love To You", "Still Got The Blues", and a previously unreleased alternate take of "Brown-Eyed Handsome Man", it is a collection of previously released studio recordings with overdubbed audience sounds to simulate a live recording.

Other songs include : "Maybellene", "Memphis, Tennessee", "Surfin' Steel", "Rockin' on the Railroad", "Go, Go, Go", "Jaguar and Thunderbird", and "The Man and the Donkey".

 

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When Berry was released from prison, his return to recording and performing was made easier because British invasion bands had sustained interest in his music by releasing cover versions of his songs.

His final single released before he was imprisoned was "Come On", released in September 1961. Covered by the Rolling Stones as their first single, the disc was flipped in the UK, with "Go-Go-Go" becoming his third UK hit, peaking at #38 in July 1963.



Caught up in the second-wind slipstream of 'Berry-mania', few of his old singles finally dented the UK charts, including the double-A-side "Let It Rock" / "Memphis, Tennessee", which reached #6 . . .



. . . and "Run Rudolph Run", which peaked at #36 in December 1963.



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"Nadine (Is It You?)" (b/w "O Rangutang"), released in February 1964, reached #23 on both the R&B and Hot 100 chart in the US, and #27 in the UK.



Further singles included : "Dear Dad" (b/w "Lonely School Days"), released in March 1964, which reached #95 on the Billboard Hot 100, and "No Particular Place To Go" (b/w "You Two"), released in May 1964, which reached #10 in the US, and was a Top 3 smash in the UK.



In May 1964 he toured the UK along with Carl Perkins.



Support act The Swinging Blue Jeans got a stormy reaction from booing Berry-fans, impatient at having to sit through "rubbish".



"You Never Can Tell" (b/w "Brenda Lee") released in July 1964, reached #14 in the US, and peaked at #23 in the UK in August 1964.

 

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In August 1964, 'Two Great Guitars', a studio album by Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry, was released by Checker Records, a subsidiary of Chess Records. It was the first studio album issued by Berry after his release from prison. The album cover shows a Gibson ES-350T owned by Berry and a guitar created by Diddley.



The album consists of two lengthy spontaneous instrumental jams : "Chuck's Beat" and "Bo's Beat", plus a couple of recently recorded instrumentals : "Liverpool Drive" and "When the Saints Go Marching In".

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"Little Marie" (b/w "Go, Bobby Soxer"), released in October 1964, reached #30 on the R&B chart, and #54 on the US Hot 100; and "Promised Land" (b/w "Things I Used To Do") released in November 1964 reached #41 in the US, and #26 in the UK.



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In November 1964, he released his seventh studio album, 'St. Louis to Liverpool'.



Wishing to capitalize on his popularity during the British Invasion, Berry and Chess Records fashioned this album to appeal to young buyers. 'St. Louis to Liverpool' includes four of the five charting singles he enjoyed in 1964 : "No Particular Place to Go", "You Never Can Tell", "Promised Land", and "Little Marie" - which was a sequel to "Memphis, Tennessee".

The other eight tracks included the four B-sides of those singles, plus "Our Little Rendezvous" a B-side from 1960; a previously unreleased alternate take of his 1958 Christmas single "Merry Christmas Baby"; and the  recent instrumental "Liverpool Drive".

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In May 1964, he had made a successful tour of the UK, but when he returned in January 1965 his behaviour was erratic and moody, and his touring style of using unrehearsed local backing bands and a strict nonnegotiable contract was earning him a reputation as an unexciting performer and a difficult bugger.



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His eighth studio album, 'Chuck Berry in London' was released in April 1965 by Chess Records.



Songs featured on the album included : "My Little Love-Light", "She Once Was Mine", "After It's Over", "I Got a Booking", "His Daughter Caroline", "You Came a Long Way from St Louis", "St. Louis Blues", "Jamaica Farewell", "Dear Dad", "Butterscotch", "The Song of My Love", "Why Should We End This Way", and "I Want to Be Your Driver".

Only eight of the tracks were actually recorded in London with the UK R&B group The 5 Dimensions, in January, 1965. Five other tracks were recorded in Chicago in December, 1964 with the Jules Blattner Group. The remaining track, "Night Beat" was left over from a 1957 session.



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His ninth studio album, 'Fresh Berry's' was released by Chess Records in the United Kingdom in November 1965 and in the United States in April 1966.



Songs featured on the album included : "It Wasn't Me", "Run Joe", "Everyday We Rock & Roll", "One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)", "It's My Own Business", "Right Off Rampart Street", "Vaya Con Dios", "Merrily We Rock & Roll", "Wee Hour Blues", "My Mustang Ford", and "Ain't That Just Like a Woman" - which sounds like the exact same backing track, but with different lyrics!

The US and UK versions of the album have different track listings : "Welcome Back Pretty Baby" is replaced by "Sad Day – Long Night" - which seems to be an instrumental version of the same track.



Further singles included : "It Wasn't Me" released in October 1965, and his final single on Chess, "Ramona, Say Yes", released in May 1966.

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! :

[daf]

The Story So Far : Part 2

'Chuck Berry's Golden Hits', his tenth studio album, and first album for Mercury Records, was released in March 1967.



It consists of new recordings of songs he had recorded for Chess Records and one new song, "Club Nitty Gritty", which, backed by "Laugh And Cry", had been released as a single in December 1966.



The re-recordings, performed with faster tempos and recorded in stereo, included : "Sweet Little Sixteen", "Memphis", "School Days (Ring Ring Goes the Bell)", "Maybellene", "Back in the U.S.A.", "Johnny B. Goode", "Rock and Roll Music" [Hillariously ruined by some of the worst bass playing EVER!], "Roll Over Beethoven", "Thirty Days", and "Carol".

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His next single,"Back To Memphis" (b/w "I Do Really Love You"), was  released in April 1967.



Both tracks were included on his eleventh studio album, 'Chuck Berry in Memphis', which was released in August 1967 by Mercury Records.



The album featured re-recordings of two of his old songs : "Sweet Little Rock and Roller", and "Oh Baby Doll"



Other songs featured on the album included : "Ramblin' Rose", "My Heart Will Always Belong to You", "Check Me Out", "It Hurts Me Too", "Bring Another Drink", "So Long", and "Goodnight, Well It's Time to Go".

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His second live album, 'Live at the Fillmore Auditorium' was released in September 1967.



Backed by the Steve Miller Blues Band, the album fetured the October 1967 single "Feelin' It", along with it's B-side "It Hurts Me Too".

Other songs featured on the album included the medley "Rockin' at the Fillmore / Every Day I Have the Blues", "C.C. Rider", "Driftin' Blues", "Flying Home", "(I'm Your) Hoochie Coochie Man", "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl", "Fillmore Blues", "Wee Baby Blues", and "My Ding-a-Ling".



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His twelfth studio album, 'From St. Louie to Frisco' was released in November 1968. The Sir Douglas Quintet backed Berry on parts of this album.



The single "Louie To Frisco" (b/w "Ma Dear") was released ahead of the album in August 1968. Other songs featured on the album included : "The Love I Lost", "I Love Her, I Love Her", "Little Fox", "Rock Cradle Rock", "Soul Rockin'", "I Can't Believe", "Misery", "Oh Captain", and "Mum's the Word".

The track "My Tambourine" is the same tune as Berry's later hit for Chess Records, "My Ding-a-Ling", but with less risque lyrics.



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His thirteenth studio album, 'Concerto in "B Goode"' was released in June 1969.



Songs featured on the album included : "Good Looking Woman", "My Woman", "It's Too Dark In There", and "Put Her Down".

The title song, "Concerto in B Goode", is an extended instrumental interpolation of a wide range of themes pioneered in Berry's classic 1957-62 period, running approximately 18 minutes and taking up the entire second side of the record.

In his Rolling Stone review, Lester Bangs hailed this as a real return to form: "The Master is back again, and this time he has come up with a record worthy of his reputation."



This was the last album from Berry's brief association with Mercury. The next year, he moved back to Chess Records, for which his earlier recordings had been made.



In the late 60's he played at various large events in North America, such as the Schaefer Music Festival, in New York City's Central Park in July 1969, and the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival festival in October 1969.



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His fourteenth studio album, 'Back Home' was released in November 1970 by Chess Records. The album title refers to his return to Chess after several years with Mercury Records.



The first two tracks, "Tulane" and "Have Mercy Judge" were released as a single ahead of the album in April 1970.



Other songs featured on the album included : "Instrumental", "Christmas", "I'm a Rocker", "Flyin' Home", "Fish and Chips", and "Some People".

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His fifteenth studio album, 'San Francisco Dues' was released in September 1971 by Chess Records.



The album contains a poem, "My Dream", and two songs, "Lonely School Days" and "Viva Rock and Roll", from his previous Chess recordings. Other songs featured on the album included : "Oh Louisiana", "Let's Do Our Thing Together", "Your Lick", "Festival", "Bound to Lose", "Bordeaux in My Pirough", and "San Francisco Dues".



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His sixteenth studio album, 'The London Chuck Berry Sessions' was released in October 1972. The album consists of studio and live recordings.



Side one of the album consists of studio recordings, engineered by Geoff Calver, including : "Let's Boogie", "Mean Old World", "I Will Not Let You Go", "London Berry Blues", and "I Love You".

Side two features three live performances - "Reelin' and Rockin'", "My Ding-a-Ling", and "Johnny B. Goode" – recorded by the Pye Mobile Unit, engineered by Alan Perkins, on 3 February, 1972, at the Lanchester Arts Festival in Coventry, England.



At the end of the live section, the recording includes the sounds of festival management trying in vain to get the audience to leave so that the next performers, Pink Floyd, can take the stage; the crowd begins chanting "We want Chuck!". His backing band were Onnie McIntyre (guitar), Robbie McIntosh (drums), Nic Potter of Van der Graaf Generator on bass, and Dave Kaffinetti on piano. Both McIntosh and McIntyre would later form The Average White Band.



Release as a single in June 1972, "My Ding-a-Ling", from the live side of the album, was edited down from 11 minutes to approximately 4 minutes. It was Berry's first and only single to reach number 1 in both the US and the UK . . .

The Single :

"My Ding-a-Ling" was written by Dave Bartholomew, and covered by Chuck Berry in 1972.



"My Ding-a-Ling" was originally recorded by Dave Bartholomew in 1952 for King Records. The song is based on the melody of the 19th century folk song "Little Brown Jug". When Bartholomew moved to Imperial Records, he re-recorded the song under the new title, "Little Girl Sing Ting-a-Ling".

In 1954, The Bees on Imperial released a version entitled "Toy Bell". Doug Clark and the Hot Nuts recorded it in 1961, and it was part of their live act for many years.

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Chuck Berry's first recording of "My Ding-a-Ling" appeared in September 1967 on his live album 'Live at the Fillmore Auditorium'.

A version called "My Tambourine" appeared on his next album 'From St. Louie to Frisco', released in November 1968.

The version which topped the charts was recorded live during the Lanchester Arts Festival at the Locarno ballroom in Coventry, England, on 3 February 1972, where Berry – backed by the Roy Young Band – topped a bill that also included Slade, George Carlin, Billy Preston and Pink Floyd. The single was edited down from the version included on his album 'The London Chuck Berry Sessions', released in October 1972, which was over 11 rib-tickling minutes long.



The song tells of how the singer received a toy consisting of "silver bells hanging on a string" from his grandmother, who calls them his "ding-a-ling". From the second verse onward, to the delight of his live audience, the lyrics make it sound like Berry is actually singing about his cock and balls!!

The lyrics with their sly tone and ribald innuendo caused many radio stations to refuse to play it. In Britain, house-proud town-mouse, Mary Whitehouse, founder of the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association of Curtain-twitchers and Keyhole-peepers, wrote to the BBC's Director General, quoting a letter she claimed to have received, in an attempt to get the song banned.

Mary Whitehouse : "One teacher told us of how she found a class of small boys with their trousers undone, singing the song and giving it the indecent interpretation which—in spite of all the hullabaloo—is so obvious ... We trust you will agree with us that it is no part of the function of the BBC to be the vehicle of songs which stimulate this kind of behaviour—indeed quite the reverse."



The BBC Director General, Charles Curran, replied : "'My Ding-a-ling' begins with such a clear account of the contraption in question including bells, that although the possibility of a double entendre was recognised, we decided that it could be broadcast ... We did not think it would disturb or emotionally agitate its listeners and we believe that the innuendo is, at worst, on the level of seaside postcards or music hall humour."

Despite dirty-minded Mary's efforts to stem the evil tide, in November 1972, the song shot to the top of the UK charts, and remained there for a month. The single also topped the chart in the US, Canada and Ireland.



Other Versions include :  "Heel and Toe" by W. T. Narmour and S. W. Smith (1928)  /  "The Little Brown Jug" by Glen Miller (1939)  /  Dave Bartholomew (1952)  /  "Toy Bell" by The Bees (1954)  /  "Little Black Bag" by Gene Moss (1964)  /  "My Tambourine" by Chuck Berry (1968)  /  "My Pussycat" by Miss Chuckle Cherry (1972)  /  Top of the Poppers (1972)  /  Johnny Chester (1974)  /  Judge Dread (1976)  /  "Hej dinge ding" by Bröderna Djup (1980)  /  Square One (2011)  /  Danny McEvoy (2012)  /  Skafunderz (2012)  /  Cool Sensation  (2014)  /  Mike Zito with Kid Andersen (2019)

On This Day :

21 November : Rain Phoenix, American singer/actress, born Rain Joan of Arc Phoenix in Crockett, Texas
21 November :  British daredevil Stephen Ladd dies after riding his motorcycle through a 50-yard-long tunnel of fire created by blazing bales of hay.
22 November : Belgium government of Gaston Eyskens resigns
22 November : US ends 22 year travel ban to China
24 November : Hall Overton, American jazz pianist and composer, dies from cirrhosis of the liver aged 52
25 November : "Ambassador" closes at Lunt-Fontanne Theater NYC after 9 performances
27 November : "The Count" (officially Count von Count) was introduced in the first episode of the fourth season of Sesame Street 
27 November : Pierre Trudeau forms Canadian government
28 November : Havergal Brian, British composer, dies aged 96
28 November : Rock musical "Via Galactica" opens at Uris Theater NYC
28 November : 2 members of the IRA are killed in a premature bomb explosion in the Bogside area of Derry
29 November : Carl W. Stalling, American film composer, dies at 81
29 November : Atari releases Pong, the 1st commercially successful video game, in Andy Capp's Tavern in Sunnyvale, California
30 November : Sir Compton Mackenzie, Scottish writer, dies aged 89
30 November : BBC bans Wings' "Hi, Hi, Hi"
1 December : 2 people killed and 127 injured when 2 car bombs explode in the centre of Dublin
2 December : "December Giant" largest sinkhole in US collapses (Alabama)
2 December : "Via Galactica" closes after 7 performances
3 December : Bill Johnson, American jazz musician, dies ages 100
6 December : Janet Munro, British actress, dies aged 38
7 December : Apollo 17 launched, the final manned lunar landing mission.
7 December : The last draft call for induction of American adult males into the U.S. Armed Forces was made.
9 December : Tré Cool, drummer (Green Day), born Frank Edwin Wright III in Frankfurt, Germany
9 December : Louella Parsons, American gossip columnist, dies aged 91
10 December : Brian Molko, musician (Placebo), born in Brussels, Belgium
10 December : Amnesty International launched its first worldwide Campaign for the Abolition of Torture.
11 December : American Astronauts Eugene Cernan & Harrison 'Jack" Schmitt, a become 11th & 12th people on the Moon
14 December : Willy Brandt was re-elected as Chancellor of West Germany
14 December : Miranda Hart, comic actress, born Miranda Katherine Hart Dyke in Torquay, Devon
15 December : Herbert Eimert, German composer, dies aged 75
16 December : Over 300 civilians were massacred by Portuguese troops in the east African village of Wiriamu in Mozambique
17 December : Erwin Dressel, German composer, dies aged 63
18 December : Neilia Biden, Joe Biden's first wife and their 13-month-old daughter Naomi, are killed in an automobile accident a few days before he takes office as the newly elected Senator for Delaware
18 December : DJ Lethal, DJ (House of Pain, Limp Bizkit), born Leor Dimant in Riga, Latvia
18 December : US launches Operation Linebacker II, its heaviest bombing of North Vietnam, as negotiations to end the Vietnam War collapse.

The Story So Far & Further : Part 3

Following his Number 1 single, "Reelin' And Rockin'" (b/w "Let's Boogie") reached #18 in the UK in February 1973.



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His seventeenth studio album, 'Bio' was released in August 1973 by Chess Records.



The backing musicians were Elephants Memory, except on "Rain Eyes" and "Got It and Gone".



"Bio", (b/w "Roll 'Em Pete"), was released as a single in September 1973. Other songs featured on the album included : "Hello Little Girl, Goodbye", "Woodpecker", "Aimlessly Driftin'", and "Talkin' About My Buddy".



In the 1970s Chuck Berry toured on the strength of his earlier successes. He was on the road for many years, carrying only his Gibson guitar, confident that he could hire a band that already knew his music no matter where he went. Unsurprisingly, working with terrible backup bands, live performances became increasingly erratic, and he often turned in sloppy, out-of-tune performances which tarnished his reputation.



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His eighteenth studio album, 'Chuck Berry', was released in 1975. Berry's daughter, Ingrid, contributed backing vocals.



This was Berry's final new album release for Chess Records, ending his off-and-on association with the label dating back 21 years.

Songs featured on the album included : "Swanee River", "I Just Want to Make Love to You", "Too Late", "South of the Border", "Hi Heel Sneakers", "You Are My Sunshine", "My Babe", "Baby What You Want Me to Do", "A Deuce", "Shake, Rattle and Roll", "Sue Answer", and "Don't You Lie to Me".



Berry's touring style, traveling the "oldies" circuit in the 1970s, often being paid in cash by local promoters, added ammunition to the Internal Revenue Service's accusations that Berry had evaded paying income taxes. Facing criminal sanction for the third time, Berry pleaded guilty to evading nearly $110,000 in federal income tax owed on his 1973 earnings. He was sentenced to four months in prison and 1,000 hours of community service—performing benefit concerts—in 1979.

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His nineteenth studio album, 'Rockit' was released in 1979 by Atco Records. His only release for the label, it was Berry's last studio album for 38 years. The album cover depicted Berry's guitar in the image of the Millennium Falcon starship, from the 1977 film Star Wars.



Two songs from the album, "Oh What A Thrill", and "California" were released as a single in July 1979.

Other songs featured on the album included : "Move It", "I Need You Baby", "If I Were", "House Lights", "I Never Thought", "Havana Moon", "Wuden't Me", and "Pass Away".

Reviewing the album in 1979 for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau gave the album a B-plus grade and was surprised by its quality : "The inventor of rock and roll hasn't made an album this listenable in fifteen years--no great new songs, but he's never written better throwaways (or covered 'Ozymandias,' either). Both Berry and Johnny Johnson--the piano half of his sound for a quarter of a century--have tricked up their styles without vitiating or cheapening them, and the result is a groove for all decades. Minor for sure, but what a surprise."



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In 1990, he was sued by several women who claimed that he had installed a video camera in the bathroom of his restaurant. Berry claimed that he had had the camera installed to catch a worker who was suspected of stealing from the restaurant. Although his guilt was never proven in court, Berry opted to settle out of court with 59 women,costing him over $1.2 million plus legal fees.

A police raid on his house found intimate videotapes of women, and 62 grams of marijuana. He was given a six-month suspended jail sentence, placed on two years unsupervised probation and was ordered to donate $5,000 to a local hospital. Later, videos Berry recorded of himself urinating on a woman and another of her defecating on him would surface.

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His twentieth, and final, studio album, 'Chuck' was released in June 2017. Berry died between the announcement of its recording on his 90th birthday in October 2016 and its release. It posthumously became his first UK Top 10 chart entry since 1977, debuting at No. 9.



The album features 10 new recordings, including a sequel to his 1958 track "Johnny B. Goode" entitled "Lady B. Goode", and a re-recording of his 1956 song "Havana Moon", retitled and revised lyrically to become "Jamaica Moon".

On 21 March 2017, a song from the album, "Big Boys", was released - his first new single in 40 years.

Other songs featured on the album included : "Wonderful Woman", "You Go to My Head", "3/4 Time (Enchiladas)", "Darlin", "She Still Loves You", "Dutchman", and "Eyes of Man".



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On March 18, 2017, Berry was found unresponsive at his home near Wentzville, Missouri. Emergency workers called to the scene were unable to revive him, and he was pronounced dead by his personal physician.

Berry's funeral was held on April 9, 2017, at The Pageant, in Berry's hometown of St. Louis. He was remembered with a public viewing with his cherry-red Gibson ES-335 guitar bolted to the inside lid of the coffin.

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