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

[gilbertharding]

BORING!!

And the New Seekers. Sorry.


New page New Seekers.

[daf]

Well, that's 12 weeks-worth of posts done - and just so that I don't "jinx" the thread, I'll be taking the 13th week off . . .

(This is purely for "superstitious" reasons, you understand - and not in any way because I've got bogged down attempting to write 7 (seven) Slade posts all at once - like a crackpot - and have thus exhausted my cushion of lovingly pre-prepared posts I had tucked away behind the loose brick in the cellar)

. . . "Unlucky" 13, remember - ALL perfectly logical!

[daf]

304.  The Tams – Hey Girl Don't Bother Me



From : 12 September – 2 October 1971
Weeks : 3
B-side : Take Away
Bonus 1 : Stereo Version
Bonus 2 : Top of The Pops [featuring the strange case of the disappearing 5th Tam!]

The Story So Far : 

The Tams were formed in Atlanta, Georgia in 1960 by Joseph Pope, Horace Key, Floyd Ashton, and Charles Pope.

Charles Pope : "We sang everything, that's how we got started. Every club in Atlanta, we sang with Gladys Knight and the Pips before they got big. We were real popular in Atlanta."

They took their name from the Tam o'shanter hats they wore on stage.

Charles Pope : "The way it happened is we had a show to do, and we didn't have costumes, so this guy, Willy James Rutherford, went and bought us some red sweaters and blue Tams, and after that the name just stuck."

Their first single, "Untie Me" (b/w "Disillusioned"), was released in August 1962 on Arlen Records. A Joe South composition, it reached #60 on the Billboard Pop chart, and #12 on the R&B chart.

Charles Pope : "After we had done so many of the Tams songs we were recording, we had one song left to do, and Joe South said 'well I've got one little song that we could do it real quickly', and it was 'Untie Me'. And he says 'who wants to sing it?', and we were all looking at each other like . . I didn't want it, Floyd didn't want to sing it, so Joe, my brother, said 'I'll try'. So Joe South said 'Come on in here and I'll teach you', so joe started singing it, and he said 'Yeah I think you can do it'. We knew when they played it back at the recording it was a hit."

Further singles included : "Deep Inside Me" (b/w "If You're So Smart (Why Do You Have A Broken Heart)"), released in December 1962; "You'll Never Know" (b/w "Blue Shadows") in March 1963; and "Find Another Love" (b/w "Don't Ever Go") in June 1963.

Switching record labels to ABC-Paramount, they got back in the chart with their next single, "What Kind Of Fool (Do You Think I Am)" (b/w "Laugh It Off") which peaked at #9 on the Billboard Pop chart, and spent three weeks at number one on the R&B chart.

 

Charles Pope : "My brother had a kind of unusual voice, a raspy hoarse voice. People loved him, they loved his sound."

Due to the crackpot method of having radio plays contribute to chart positions in the US, both sides of their next single, released in May 1964, appeared in down amongst the wines and spirits of the Billboard Pop chart - the A side, "You Lied To Your Daddy" at #70, and the B-side "It's All Right (You're Just In Love)" languishing at #79.

The single featured on their their first album 'Presenting The Tams', released in 1964.



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Originally released in June 1964, "Hey Girl Don't Bother Me" reached #41 in the Billboard Pop charts, and #10 on the R&B chart.



The follow-up, "Silly Little Girl" (b/w "Weep Little Girl"), released in October 1964, reached #87 in the Pop charts.

Both singles featured on their second album, 'Hey Girl Don't Bother Me!' released in 1964



Their 1965 singles all failed to chart, and included : "Why Did My Little Girl Cry" (b/w "The Truth Hurts") released in January 1965; "Unlove You" (b/w "What Do You Do (When Your Lover Leaves You)") in March 1965; "Concrete Jungle" (b/w "Till The End Of Time") in July 1965; and "I've Been Hurt" (b/w "Carryin' On") in October 1965.

Written by Ray Whitley, a 1966 cover of "I've Been Hurt" performed by Guy Darrell later became a favourite on the Northern Soul scene in the UK, and reached #12 on the UK Singles Chart in August 1973.

Their 1966 singles all failed to chart, and included : "Got To Get Used To A Broken Heart" (b/w "Riding For A Fall"), released in March 1966; "Holding On" (b/w "It Is Better To Have Loved A Little"), in July 1966; and "Shelter" (b/w "Get Away (Leave Me Alone)"), in December 1966.

Further flops included : "Breaking Up" (b/w "How 'Bout It"), released in April 1967; "Mary, Mary Row Your Boat" (b/w "Everything Else Is Gone") in July 1967; and "A Little More Soul" (b/w "All My Hard Times") in December 1967.

"Breaking Up" was included on their third album, 'Time For The Tams', released in 1967.



They finally got back in the charts with "Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy" (b/w "That Same Old Song") which peaked at #61 in the Billboard pop chart, and #32 on the R&B chart. Originally released in April 1968, it became their first UK hit - reaching #32 in January 1970.

The single was featured on their fourth album, 'A Little More Soul', released in 1968, and the UK-only album 'Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy' released in 1970.



Their final chart entry in the US was "Trouble Maker" (b/w "Laugh At The World"), which reached #118 in the Billboard pop chart in September 1968.

Further singles included : "Sunshine, Rainbow, Blue Sky, Brown Eyed Girl" (b/w "There's A Great Big Change In Me") released in March 1969; and "Love, Love, Love" (b/w "Love Maker") in August 1969 - which was their last single for the ABC label.

"Sunshine, Rainbow, Blue Sky, Brown Eyed Girl" was included on the album, 'A Portrait Of The Tams', released in 1969.



"Too Much Foolin' Around" (b/w "How Long Love") was released in June 1970 on the 123 label. The single, along with 'The Tams Medley', was featured on the album 'Best Of The Tams', released in 1970.



The group reached the Number one slot in the UK Singles Chart in September 1971, with the re-issue of "Hey Girl Don't Bother Me", thanks to its initial support from the then thriving UK Northern Soul scene.

 

Charles Pope : "When we went over to England that song was seven years old. It went to number one in England. Somebody picked it up over there and started playing it in the clubs, and the song exploded, and we could not believe it. We toured over there to support the record."

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The group did not chart again until 1987, when their song "There Ain't Nothing Like Shaggin'" reached #21 in UK, propelled by a regionally-popular dance known as the Carolina Shag, which featured heavily in the subsequent 1989 film, Shag. However, the track was banned by humourless killjoys at the BBC because, in the UK, the word "shag" also means to have sex!! The follow-up, "My Baby Sure Can Shag", flopped at #91 in January 1988.



Unfortunately for The Tams, all of the songs released in the UK were under their original contract with Bill Lowrey; this meant that they never received a penny of royalties for the millions of records they sold in the UK and Europe.

Still quite popular in the Southeastern United States, they continue to record new music and perform at well-attended concerts. In 1999, they were featured performers with Jimmy Buffett on his CD, 'Beach House on the Moon', and also toured with him around the country.

Two separate lineups of the group continue to perform and record. One lineup, called 'The Original Tams with R. L. Smith', features original member Robert Lee Smith, and the other lineup was under the leadership of Charles Pope, the brother of co-founder Joe Pope, until his death from Alzheimer's disease in 2013, at the age of 76.

The Single :

"Hey Girl Don't Bother Me" was written by Ray Whitley, and recorded by The Tams.



Originally released in June 1964, it reached number 41 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 10 on the R&B chart, but failed to chart in the UK.

Its later success in the UK was due to it's popularity on the Northern Soul scene. Re-released in July 1971, the single climbed to the top of the UK Singles Chart in September 1971, remaining there for three weeks. The single was also number one on the Irish Singles Chart, for one week, the same month, making them the first black soul group to top the Irish Charts.



Other Versions include :  The Delltones (1964)  /  The Gentrys (1965)  /  Ray Whitley (1970)  /  The Marvels (1971)  /  Top of the Poppers (1971)  /  "No me molestes más" by Control (1971)  /  Delroy Wilson (1975)  /  Showaddywaddy (2006)  /  Danny McEvoy (2012)

On This Day :

12 September : The Sigma experimental glider flew for the first time at Cranfield, UK
13 September : The Attica Prison uprising ended with the deaths of 37 people— nine hostages and 28 prison inmates
13 September : Goran Ivanišević, Croatian tennis player, born in Split, Croatia, Yugoslavia
13 September : Nikita Khrushchev, Soviet premier, buried in Moscow
13 September : 2 Northern Ireland Loyalists are mortally injured when the bomb they were preparing exploded prematurely
13 September : Stella McCartney, fashion designer, born Stella Nina McCartney in Camberwell, London
14 September : Transmission from the Soviet Union's unmanned lunar rover Lunokhod 1 ceased permanently
15 September : 1st broadcast of "Columbo" starring Peter Falk on NBC
16 September : Amy Poehler, comedian, born in Newton, Massachusetts
17 September : ITV and ABC aired the first episode of The Persuaders!, starring Roger Moore and Tony Curtis.
18 September : Lance Armstrong, Tour De France drug cheat, born in Richardson, Texas
18 September : Jada Pinkett Smith, actress, born Jada Koren Pinkett in Baltimore, Maryland
22 September : Chesney Hawkes, musician, born Chesney Lee Hawkes in Windsor, Berkshire, England
23 September : Jan Vermeer's painting "The Love Letter" is stolen from The Centre for Fine Arts, Brussels by a 21 year old thief
23 September : 2 members of the Official Irish Republican Army are killed in a premature bomb explosion
23 September : Billy Gilbert, American actor, dies aged 77
24 September : 90 Russian diplomats expelled from Britain for spying
26 September : "Freetown Christiania", a commune, was founded in Copenhagen by squatters
27 September : Hirohito became the first reigning Emperor of Japan to go outside of that nation for his flight to the Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, Alaska.
27 September : UK Prime Minister Edward Heath hosted a closed meeting with Irish Republic Prime Minister Jack Lynch and with Brian Faulkner, Prime Minister of the Northern Ireland to attempt to resolve the crisis in Northern Ireland.
29 September : OSO 7, the seventh Orbiting Solar Observatory satellite, was launched
29 September : Parking meters were ordered installed in the city of Paris for the first time
29 September : Mackenzie Crook, Comic actor, born Paul James Crook in Maidstone, England
30 September : Ian Paisley and Desmond Boal launch the Democratic Unionist Party
30 September : Lovely CaB poster kalowski born in the nude at the age of 0 directly above the centre of the Earth
1 October : Walt Disney World opens in Bay Lake, Florida
1 October : The first CAT scan on a human being was performed
2 October : The Soviet unmanned probe Luna 19 went into orbit around the Moon
2 October : Dr. Marie Lebour, British marine biologist, died aged 95
2 October : Jim Root, guitarist (Slipknot), born James Donald Root in Las Vegas, Nevada
2 October : Tiffany, pop singer, born Tiffany Renee Darwish in Norwalk, California

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! :

[Satchmo Distel]

Tams packed.

Morrissey picked 'Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy' on My Top 10 in 1984

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b096sb3y

[daf]

As noted in the Bonus links, the Top of the Pops performance has produced some speculation on what exactly happened to the nervous looking 5th Tam (Horace Keys) who disappears half way through. Here's a selection from the Soul Source forum :

Thfcliam : Probally a question asked before but does anyone know what happens to the guy in the middle who disappears half way through the song???
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Soulfinger : He'd been on the ale and was feeling sicker and sicker as the song progressed, leading to his disappearance to go and throw up.
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Gene-R : As this was the 1971 Christmas edition of TOTP, I think he was definitely the worse for wear due to the BBC's Christmas drinks hospitality, and had to leave the stage either to throw up, or because he was making a twat of himself.  If you look at the clip of Ashton Gardner & Dyke performing "The Resurrection Shuffle" later on in the same edition, Ashton is so p*ssed that he fluffs most of the words (yes, a live singer on TOTP)!
- - - - - - - - -
maslar : It was the Xmas show  but was a recording of their only TOTP appearance earlier in the year. Coincidentally HGDBM/the Tams appearance  has a unique distinction with regards to TOPT history (it is quite well known fact within totp trivia) in that its one of the very few (probably the only) time a group was featured when their single was going down the chart. It had been number one but had slipped to number two the week they appeared. As for the singer, Horace Keys, the most common explanation put forward is that he fell off the stage, or maybe was leaving and stumbled. I've seen a couple of Tams performance from the late 60s where he looks out of synch. Like he's struggling. Maybe he suffered from stage fright. It's a real condition that can affect performance and lead to panic attacks. Just a thought.
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Roburt : At the time the group were 'cold as ice' back in the US, after having been a big live draw 4 to 6 years earlier. So they couldn't get many decent US bookings (you needed a hot new release to get high paying live gigs back across the pond). So they saw their UK visit as a way of regenerating their careers. The TOTP appearance was the biggest gig of their time in the UK and as I understand it they learnt a full stage performance (choreography) but this particular guy couldn't remember the moves and was cocking up their wanted 'smooth professional display'. So he was pulled from the stage when the camera was off the group.   
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wiganpotter : Roburt is spot on . the day after at school , it was the main topic of us 14/15 year old`s about the guy cocking up his performance  on T O T P who had fook all rhythm , the main consensus was he left the stage through embarrassment , I seem to remember  some folks having trouble dancing to it at school Disco`s due to the  unusual off~beat . Funnily enough I was talking about this at the weekend and me and my mate said it was the "bald " one who left the stage !!!!!!!!!! memories ain`t what they used to be .
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Mr Fred : I remember the first time I saw them on totp's and thought he's deffo worse for wear. Leading on from this did anyone see the Tymes, again on totp's 1974 singing Ms grace where the front row four singers had microphones and the one at the back singing his heart out with no microphone!

https://www.soul-source.co.uk/forums/topic/348592-missing-singer-in-the-tams-hey-girl-dont-bother-me-video-on-totp/

[The Culture Bunker]

I'd never seen that before, but from the start I had a good idea which one of the lads was the one who would go AWOL. He didn't look comfortable at all from the off - whether that was due to over-refreshment or just not being comfortable with the routine, I couldn't say for sure, but I recognise the terror of a man on stage deeply out of his element from my own brief appearances in junior school Christmas plays

[Satchmo Distel]

It's fear not drink, although The Tams had performed live that year so ought to have been stage savvy if not TV savvy.

[daf]

305.  Rod Stewart – Maggie May



From : 3 October – 6 November 1971
Weeks : 5
A-side : Reason to Believe
Bonus 1 : Early Version
Bonus 2 : Album Version
Bonus 3 : Faces 28 Sept 1971 Peel Session
Bonus 4 : Live 1972
Bonus 5 : Kenny Everett 1979
Bonus 6 : Unplugged 1993

The Story So Far : 

Culturally confused Scottish Cockney singer Roderick David Stewart was born and raised in London. His father was Scottish and had been a master builder in Leith, Edinburgh, while his mother was English and had grown up in Upper Holloway in North London. As a young sprout, he worked in the family shop and as a newspaper delivery boy. He then worked briefly as a labourer for Highgate Cemetery, in a North Finchley funeral parlour, and as a fence erector and sign writer. In 1961 he went to Denmark Street with The Raiders and got a singing audition with oddball genius record producer Joe Meek, but Meek stopped the session with a "rude sound".

In 1962, Stewart began hanging around folk singer Wizz Jones, busking at Leicester Square and other London spots. Stewart took up playing the then-fashionable harmonica. On several trips over the next 18 months Jones and Stewart took their act to Brighton and then to Paris, sleeping under bridges over the River Seine, and then finally to Barcelona. Eventually, this resulted in Stewart being rounded up and deported from Spain for vagrancy during 1963.

In 1963, Stewart adopted the Mod lifestyle and look, and began fashioning the spiky hairstyle that would become his trademark. Disillusioned by rock and roll, he saw Otis Redding perform in concert and began listening to Sam Cooke records; he became fascinated by rhythm and blues and soul music.

In October 1963, after returning to London, Stewart joined the rhythm and blues group The Dimensions as a harmonica player and part-time vocalist. A somewhat more established singer from Birmingham, Jimmy Powell, then hired the group a few weeks later, and it became known as Jimmy Powell & the Five Dimensions, with Stewart being relegated to harmonica player. Relations soon broke down between Powell and Stewart over roles within the group and Stewart departed.



In January 1964, while Stewart was waiting at Twickenham railway station after having seen Long John Baldry and the All Stars at Eel Pie Island, Baldry heard him playing "Smokestack Lightnin'" on his harmonica, and invited him to sit in with the group.

Rod Stewart : "Long John Baldry launched me on my musical career. I was 18 and playing harmonica and singing a Muddy Waters song in a railway station, when Long John Baldry ran over to me from the other side of the tracks. I had just been to see him play at a club; he was one of the top Bluesmen in England. But John didn't sing Muddy Waters songs – he knew Muddy Waters, had performed with him and with Ramblin' Jack Elliott too."

When Baldry discovered Stewart was a singer as well, he offered him a job for £35 a week, after securing the approval of Stewart's mother.

Rod Stewart : "At the time I hadn't thought much about performing except as a way to meet girls. John put me on an amazing wage, close to $100 a week, which in the early '60s was an astronomical amount. I remember thinking, "If this lasts for 6 months I'll be able to buy a little sports car which I'd been saving for. Of course, that would help me get some girls". We didn't rehearse before my first performance with John's band and I was very nervous so I had a few drinks. John introduced me as an 'up-and-coming' new singer and I sang John Lee Hooker's classic 'Dimples', which died a death! There was a horrible silence after my performance. But John was great. He's one of the kindest guys, reassuring and positive. He just said, "Well come away, don't worry about it." Then he had me come to his apartment the next day and go through some songs on the guitar to get the keys worked out."

Quitting his day job at the age of nineteen, Stewart gradually overcame his shyness and nerves and became a visible enough part of the act that he was sometimes added to the billing as "Rod the Mod" Stewart.

Rod Stewart : "In those days the only music we fell in love with was the Blues, and John was the first white guy singing it, in his wonderful voice. It was the true Blues and everyone looked up to him. I wasn't very good on the harmonica, but my gravelly voice caught his attention. He was the first person of any stature to tell me, "You really have the gift. You have what it takes"."

In June 1964, Stewart made his recording début on "Up Above My Head", the B-side to the Long John Baldry And The Hoochie Coochie Men single "You'll Be Mine". While still with Baldry, Stewart was scouted by Decca Records at the Marquee Club, and signed to a solo contract in August 1964.



Turning down Decca's recommended material as too commercial, Stewart insisted that the experienced session musicians he was given, including John Paul Jones, learn a couple of Sonny Boy Williamson songs he had just heard. The resulting single, "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl" (b/w "I'm Gonna Move To The Outskirts Of Town"), was recorded and released in October 1964. Despite a performance on the TV show Ready Steady Go!, it failed to enter the charts, and Stewart left the Hoochie Coochie Men after having a row with Baldry.



Stewart played some dates on his own in late 1964 and early 1965, sometimes backed by the Southampton R & B outfit The Soul Agents.



The Hoochie Coochie Men broke up, Baldry and Stewart patched up their differences, and legendary impresario Giorgio Gomelsky put together Steampacket, which featured Baldry, Stewart, Brian Auger, Julie Driscoll, Micky Waller, Vic Briggs and Ricky Fenson. The group was unable to enter the studio to record any material due to its members all belonging to different labels and managers.

In November 1965 he released his second single, "The Day Will Come" (b/w "Why Does It Go On"), followed in April 1966 by his take on Sam Cooke's "Shake", (b/w "I Just Got Some"), with the Brian Auger Trinity.



Stewart departed from Steampacket in March 1966, with Stewart saying he had been sacked and Auger saying he had quit. Stewart then joined a somewhat similar outfit, Shotgun Express, in May 1966 as co-lead vocalist with Beryl Marsden. The other members included Mick Fleetwood, Peter Green, and Peter Bardens. Shotgun Express released one unsuccessful single in October 1966, the orchestra-heavy "I Could Feel The Whole World Turn Round" (b/w "Curtains"), before disbanding.



Rod Stewart : "I was still getting this terrible feeling of doing other people's music. I think you can only start finding yourself when you write your own material."



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Guitarist Jeff Beck recruited Stewart for his new post-Yardbirds venture, and in February 1967, Stewart joined The Jeff Beck Group as vocalist and sometime songwriter. This would become the big break of his early career. There he first played with Ronnie Wood whom he had first met in a London pub in 1964; the two soon became fast friends. During its first year, the group experienced frequent changes of drummers and conflicts involving manager Mickie Most wanting to reduce Stewart's role; they toured the UK, and released a couple of singles that featured Stewart on their B-sides.

Stewart's solo career also continued, with the March 1968 release of "Little Miss Understood" (b/w "So Much To Say"). Released on Immediate Records, the single failed to chart.



Stewart, on his first trip to America in June 1968 with The Jeff Beck Group, suffered terrible stage fright during the opening show at the Fillmore East in New York, and hid behind the amplifier banks while singing; only a quick shot of brandy brought him out front. Nevertheless, the show and the tour were a big success.



In August 1968, their first album 'Truth' was released; by October it had risen to number 15 on the US albums chart but failed to chart in the UK.



Stewart co-wrote three of the songs with Beck, including : "Let Me Love You", "Rock My Plimsoul", and "Blues Deluxe", and and credited the record for helping to develop his vocal abilities and the raspy quality in his voice.



The group's second album, 'Beck-Ola', was released in June 1969 in the US and September 1969 in the UK; it also made number 15 in the US albums chart and placed to number 39 in the UK albums chart. Stewart co wrote the songs "Spanish Boots", "Plynth (Water Down the Drain)", and "The Hangman's Knee".



In July 1969, Stewart left, following his friend Ronnie Wood's departure.

Rod Stewart : "It was a great band to sing with but I couldn't take all the aggravation and unfriendliness that developed.... In the two and a half years I was with Beck I never once looked him in the eye – I always looked at his shirt or something like that."



In May 1969, guitarist and singer Steve Marriott left The Small Faces. Ronnie Wood was announced as the replacement guitarist in June and on 18 October 1969, Stewart followed his friend and was announced as their new singer. The two joined existing members Ronnie Lane, Ian McLagan, and Kenney Jones, along with Art Wood and Kim Gardner to form Quiet Melon. A few songs were recorded including "Diamond Joe"  and "Engine 4444" before the lineup, minus Art and Kim, became The Faces.

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Mercury Records A&R man Lou Reizner had seen Stewart perform with Beck, and on 8 October 1968 signed him to a solo contract; but contractual complexities delayed Stewart's recording for him until July 1969.

In November 1969, he released his debut solo album, 'The Rod Stewart Album' in the US.



It established the template for his solo sound: a heartfelt mixture of folk, rock, and country blues, with both covers and original material, including : "Blind Prayer", "An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down", "I Wouldn't Ever Change a Thing", "Cindy's Lament".



Cover versions included the Rolling Stones' "Street Fighting Man", Ewan MacColl's "Dirty Old Town", Mike d'Abo's "Handbags and Gladrags"), and the trad. arr. "Man of Constant Sorrow".

In the UK, the album was released as 'An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down' in February 1970.



The backing band on the album included Stewart's Faces bandmates Ronnie Wood and Ian McLagan, along with Keith Emerson, Jeff Beck Group drummer Micky Waller and guitarists Martin Pugh and Martin Quittenton from Steamhammer.



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The Faces first single, "Flying" (b/w "Three Button Hand Me Down"), was released in February 1970. Both sides were included on their debut album, 'First Step', released in March 1970.



Other songs featured on the album included the Bob Dylan cover "Wicked Messenger", the original songs "Devotion", "Shake, Shudder, Shiver", "Stone", "Around The Plynth", "Nobody Knows", plus instrumentals "Pineapple and the Monkey" and "Looking Out the Window"



With a rock and roll style similar to the Rolling Stones, the album did better in the UK than in the US, and the Faces quickly earned a strong live following.

John Peel : "I met the Faces backstage at a gig in Newcastle City Hall. They had a dressing room and I was sitting in that thinking beautiful thoughts, and they came and flung the door open and said, "Hello, John, mate, how's it going, squire?" You know, "Come on, let's have a drink." And I didn't drink at the time at all. And as they went away, my first reaction was, "Dear, oh dear, what dreadful rowdy people." And then I saw them disappear into their dressing room that was full of scantily clad women and so forth and the sound of breaking glass and curries being flung against walls and so on, and I thought to myself, "Actually, these people are having a much better time than I am," you know."

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In June 1970, Stewart released 'Gasoline Alley', his second solo studio album. Like many of Stewart's solo albums from the period, it featured significant musical contributions from the other members of his band Faces.



Songs featured on the album included the original songs "Gasoline Alley", "My Way of Giving", and "Lady Day". Covers included: Bob Dylan's "Only a Hobo", Elton John & Bernie Taupin's "Country Comfort", "Cut Across Shorty", and "You're My Girl (I Don't Want to Discuss It)".



The Bobby Womack cover "It's All Over Now", backed by the Stewart-penned original "Jo's Lament", was released as a single in September 1970



Stewart's approach was similar to his first album and mandolin was introduced into the sound. He then launched a US tour with the Faces.

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In April 1969, Stewart sang guest vocals for the Australian group Python Lee Jackson on "In a Broken Dream".



Stewart had been roped in to the recording session by DJ John Peel when the song's composer and keyboard player David Bentley had cold feet about his singing abilities.

David Bentley : "I was walking past a record shop and I heard Joe Cocker singing 'With A little Help From My Friends' and decided that I wasn't the right guy to sing my song. When I told the other members of the group that I wouldn't be singing, they were very pissed off. Next thing I remember, I'm in [drummer] David Montgomery's Chelsea flat teaching the lyrics to Rod Stewart."

John Peel : "We tried various singers on the song and one of them happened to be Rod. I didn't particularly want to release anything with a session singer because it wouldn't have been representative of what the group were truly like. So when Miki Dallon came along and offered to buy the tapes, I was more than willing to sell."

Rod Stewart : "He said: 'Come down and teach this guy how to sing this tune'. So me, being very naïve and in no particular group at the time, I went and showed him how to sing."

David Bentley : "The band hadn't done much playing in London. Everyone was feeling uptight and the first run-throughs of In A Broken Dream were less than promising. Radio presenter John Peel, who was producing the track for his Dandelion label, sent out for beer – and we drank quite a lot of this stuff in the interests of heightened relaxation. Rod, as always, sang well but, because the lights had been doused, he missed the last verse, repeating the first one instead, filling in at one point with a hummed mmm mmm mmm which subsequent cover versions have faithfully copied."



Off the back of Rod Stewart's success with Maggie May, "In a Broken Dream" was re-released and reached #3 in the UK chart in September 1972.

Rod Stewart : "I am very proud of the record and in no way am I dissatisfied by its re-release or my performance. If it isn't clear to anyone, I did the session for which I was paid handsomely and the question of my wanting a royalty has never arisen."

His payment was a set of seat covers for his car.

[guitarist] Mick Liber : "We had this manager who had a sports car shop in Hampstead. We all sort of knew Rod vaguely but Rod Stewart was a sports car fanatic and I think he offered some spare parts for Rod's car in exchange for doing the session."

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In February 1971, the Faces released their second album, 'Long Player'.



Among the highlights are the wistful ballads "Richmond" and "Sweet Lady Mary", the rollicking party tune "Had Me a Real Good Time", and uptempo saloon bar rocker "Bad 'n' Ruin". A soulful cover version of Paul McCartney's "Maybe I'm Amazed" and "I Feel So Good" were recorded live at the Fillmore East, New York, on 10 November 1970.



Other songs featured on the album included the Ronnie Lane songs "Tell Everyone" and "On the Beach", plus the bluesy instrumental "Jerusalem".

A unique early mix of "Had Me A Real Good Time", (b/w "Rear Wheel Skid"), appeared as a single ahead of the album in November 1970, and distinctive studio recording of "Maybe I'm Amazed" (b/w "Oh Lord, I'm Browned Off") also appeared as a single in the USA just ahead of the album release.



Also recorded during this period was the band's blistering take on Motown classic "(I Know) I'm Losing You" which later appeared on lead singer Rod Stewart's solo album 'Every Picture Tells a Story' rather than on a Faces release. This practice led to increased murmurings of discontent in some quarters that Stewart's management was keeping the best Faces studio performances for Stewart's solo projects, to the detriment of the band as a unit.

While the sessions for both albums did unquestionably overlap, Stewart's dual recording contracts with different labels, as both a solo artist and as a member of the Faces, complicated matters greatly. This led to the odd situation where his Faces colleagues could only be credited individually and not explicitly as 'Faces' for their efforts on his solo albums at the time. As it was, their performance on the track was heavily implied, with a 'thank-you' from Stewart in the LP's liner notes. To further confuse matters, however, the track was then released as a single credited to 'Rod Stewart and the Faces' in the USA.

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

'Every Picture Tells a Story', the third studio album by Rod Stewart, was released on 28 May 1971. It went to number one on both the UK and US charts.



Incorporating hard rock, folk, and blues styles, the album included a version of Arthur Crudup's "That's All Right (Mama)", and Bob Dylan's "Tomorrow Is a Long Time".

All five members of the Faces appeared on the album, with guitarist/bassist Ronnie Wood and keyboardist Ian McLagan on Hammond B3 organ being employed most. Other contributors included Ray Jackson from Lindisfarne who played mandolin on "Maggie May" and "Mandolin Wind", Maggie Bell on backing vocals on "Every Picture Tells a Story", and Madeline Bell who sang backup on "Seems Like A Long Time". Pete Sears played all the piano on the album except for one track, "I'm Losing You".

The opening track of side 2, "Henry", written by Martin Quittenton, was only printed on the label of the original British and international releases, not on the sleeve.

In his original Rolling Stone review, John Mendelsohn wrote: "Boring as half of it may be, there's enough that is unqualifiedly magnificent on the other half." However, Village Voice critic Robert Christgau gave the album a glowing review, writing: "Rod the Wordslinger is a lot more literate than the typical English bloozeman, Rod the Singer can make words flesh, and though Rod the Bandleader's music is literally electric it's the mandolin and pedal steel that come through sharpest."



A song from Tim Hardin's debut album, "Reason to Believe", was released as the first single from the album, with an edited version of "Maggie May" as the B-side; however, it became more popular than the A-side, and was a No. 1 hit in the UK, US, Australia and Canada . . .

The Single :

"Maggie May" was written by Rod Stewart and Martin Quittenton, and performed by Rod Stewart.



"Maggie May" expresses the ambivalence and contradictory emotions of a boy involved in a relationship with an older woman and was written from Stewart's own experience. The woman's name was not Maggie May; Stewart has stated that the name was taken from "an old Liverpudlian song about a prostitute."

Rod Stewart : "Maggie May was more or less a true story, about the first woman I had sex with, at the 1961 Beaulieu Jazz Festival."

The song was recorded in just two takes in one session. Drummer Micky Waller had to overdub the cymbal crashes separately some days later, as they were missing from his drum kit during the original session.

The song was released as the B-side of the single "Reason to Believe", but soon radio stations began playing the B-side, and "Maggie May" became the more popular side. The song was Stewart's first substantial hit as a solo performer and launched his solo career. It remains one of his best-known songs.



A 1971 performance of the song on Top of the Pops saw the Faces joined onstage by DJ John Peel, who pretended to play the mandolin. The mandolin player on the actual recording was Ray Jackson of Lindisfarne.

In October 1971, the song went to number one in the UK Singles Chart, remaining there for five weeks. It also topped the charts the United States for six weeks, Australia for four weeks, and Canada for a week.



Rod Stewart : "At first, I didn't think much of "Maggie May." I guess that's because the record company didn't believe in the song. I didn't have much confidence then. I figured it was best to listen to the guys who knew better. What I learned is sometimes they do and sometimes they don't."



Other Versions include :  Richard Anthony (1971)  /  Top of the Poppers (1971)  /  Kirka (1972)  /  Nolo et Rähjä (1978)  /  The Pogues (1989)  /  Wet Wet Wet (1989)  /  Blur (1992)  /  Melissa Etheridge (1994)  /  Razamanaz (1999)  /  "Lazzie Lay' by ApologetiX (1999)  /  Wayne Armond (2001)  /  Love Hunters (2002)  /  Travis Collins (2005)  /  Grayson Manor (2006)  /  Steve Overland (2008)  /  Mathilde Santing (2008)  /  Aslan (2009)  /  Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs (2009)  /  Hypnomusic (2010)  /  Déjà vu (2011)  /  Imperial State Electric (2011)  /  Dozi (2012)  /  Danny McEvoy (2012)  /  con leche 8-bit (2012)  /  The Piddletown Brothers (2013)  /  Paulinho Loureiro (2015)  /  The Wrinkle Rockers (2016)  /  Larkin Poe (2018)  /  Ray Jackson from Lindisfarne (2018)  /  The Moon Loungers (2019)  /  Andrew Smith (2020)

On This Day :

3 October : Jackie Stewart finishes 5th in the season ending US Grand Prix at Watkins Glen to claim his second Formula 1 World Drivers Championship
3 October : Kevin Richardson, singer (Backstreet Boys), born Kevin Scott Richardson in Lexington, Kentucky
5 October : A new sitting of the Northern Ireland parliament at Stormont begins, though the Social Democratic and Labour Party remain absent due to its continuing protest against Internment
5 October : A meteorite fell in Brazil within the city limits of Marília in São Paulo state, breaking into at least seven fragments weighing 2.5 kilograms
7 October : Polygamy became illegal in Hong Kong
7 October : Terence McNally's play "Where has Tommy Flowers gone?" premieres in NYC
7 October : Northern Ireland Prime Minister Brian Faulkner meets with British Prime Minister Edward Heath; they agree to send an additional 1,500 British Army troops to Northern Ireland
8 October : John Lennon releases the single "Imagine"
9 October : In Vietnam, Sergeant John C. Sexton Jr. was freed by the Communist North Vietnam Army after more than two years as a POW.
9 October : Japanese Emperor Hirohito visits the Netherlands
10 October : TV drama series Upstairs, Downstairs was shown for the first time, premiering on ITV.
10 October : Walking like a woman, and wearing a bra, "Jesus Christ Superstar" premieres in NYC
10 October : London Bridge, transported in pieces from England and rebuilt in the United States, reopened in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.
11 October : Petra Haden, musician (The Rentals), born in Manhattan, New York
11 October : Salyut 1, the first manned space station in human history, burned up upon re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere
11 October : Chester Conklin, American silent film star, died aged 85
12 October : Gene Vincent, Rock & Roll singer, dies of bleeding ulcers [Language Timothy!] aged 36
13 October : Sacha Baron Cohen, comic actor (Ali G, Borat), born Sacha Noam Baron Cohen in London, England
15 October : World's first arcade video game Computer Space developed by Syzygy first demonstrated at the Music Operators of America Show in the US
15 October : Sylvester Magee, last living American slave and allegedly the oldest person who ever lived, dies aged 130!!!!!
15 October : 'The Rock 'n Roll Revival' was staged at Madison Square Garden in New York City featuring hit singers from the 1950s
17 October : Chris Kirkpatrick, singer ('N Sync), born Christopher Alan Kirkpatrick in Clarion, Pennsylvania on
19 October : A group of Northern Ireland Members of Parliament begin a 48 hour hunger strike against the policy of Internment
20 October : Dannii Minogue, singer, born Danielle Jane Minogue in Melbourne, Victoria
20 October : "Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death" musical by Melvin Van Peebles opens at Barrymore for 325 performances
20 October : West German Chancellor Willy Brandt is awarded Nobel Peace Prize
20 October : Snoop Doggy Dogg, rapper, born Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. in Long Beach, California
21 October : "To Live Another Summer" opens at Helen Hayes NYC for 173 performances
23 October : Two female members of the IRA are shot dead by the British Army in the Lower Falls area of Belfast
23 October : Three Catholic civilians are shot dead by the British Army during an attempted robbery in Newry, County Down
24 October : Dervla Kirwan, actress, born in Dublin
26 October : An Assembly, attended only by Nationalist politicians, and acting as an alternative to Stormont, meet in Dungiven Castle
27 October : The Republic of the Congo, formerly the Belgian Congo, was renamed Zaire
28 October : United Kingdom becomes the 6th nation to have a satellite in orbit with the launch of Prospero
28 October : The British House of Commons voted 356–244 in favour of joining the European Economic Community.
29 October : Winona Ryder, actress, born Winona Laura Horowitz in Winona, Minnesota
19 October : Duane Allman, rock guitarist (The Allman Brothers), dies in a motorcycle accident aged 24
31 October : "On the Town" opens at Imperial Theater NYC for 65 performances
31 October : Women voted in Switzerland for the first time
31 October : The IRA explode a bomb at the Post Office Tower in London
2 November : "The Grass Harp" opens at Martin Beck Theater NYC
3 November : Dylan Moran, comedian, born Dylan William Moran in Navan, County Meath, Ireland
3 November : Dwight Yorke, footballer, born Dwight Eversley York in Canaan, Trinidad and Tobago
4 November : Ann Pennington, American stage and film actress noted for her spectacular "Black Bottom", dies aged 77
5 November : Jonny Greenwood, musician (Radiohead), born Jonathan Richard Guy Greenwood in Oxford, England
5 November : The first, and only launch of the Europa-2 rocket by the European Launcher Development Organisation (ELDO) failed when the missile exploded
6 November : "The Grass Harp" closes after 7 performances

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! :

[kalowski]

Thanks for the shout-out with The Tams, daf.
Anyway, I love this period of Rod the Mod and have considered starting a thread about his first four albums many a time. Will write more when 8 have the time.

[The Culture Bunker]

Never been that taken with Stewart - just not my style of music, I guess. 'In a Broken Dream' was fine and if I had to pick one of his own songs to listen to, it would be 'Maggie May'*, though I suspect Rod himself is the aspect of the song I like least.

*well, that, and his 1978 World Cup song for Scotland, obviously.

[daf]

As mentioned in the notes, this was actually the B-side!

(I've got a vague feeling that we've covered another B-side that became the official number 1, but I'm buggered if I can remember what it was!)

[Satchmo Distel]

"Rock Around The Clock" was originally a B-Side in the US until it was chosen for 'Blackboard Jungle'.

"Rock Island Line" was an album track sung by Donegan for Chris Barber's Band

"Hound Dog" was the b-side of "Don't Be Cruel" until they were flipped

"Unchained Melody", b-side of "Hung On You" http://www.45cat.com/record/hl9975

On 'Maggie May', I personally prefer Rod's next No. 1 to this one (no spoilers).

[daf]

Cheers - looking back at my original (dead skimpy!) post, I see that 'Rock around the Clock' was up and down the charts like a blooming Yo-Yo :

In the UK, Haley's "Rock Around the Clock" was released on Brunswick Records, reaching number 17 on the UK Singles Chart in January 1955, four months before it first entered the US pop charts. The song re-entered the UK chart to reach number one in November 1955 for three weeks, and after a three-week break returned there for a further two weeks in January 1956. It re-entered the charts again in September 1956, reaching number 5. The song's original release saw it become the UK's first million selling single and it went on to sell over 1.4 million copies in total.

On 'Maggie May', I personally prefer Rod's next No. 1 to this one (no spoilers).

Yes, I like that one too - another Quittenton Qlassic Qo-write, I think.

[Satchmo Distel]

'The curse of Maggie May' https://www.iol.co.za/entertainment/the-curse-of-maggie-may-1181598

Ray Jackson forced to drop legal case for royalties (2005). The quote in the last paragraph is cuntish.

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/maggie-no-way-1568996

[daf]

It's a shit business! :(

[daf]

306.  Slade – Coz I Luv You



From : 7 November – 4 December 1971
Weeks : 4
B-side : My Life is Natural
Bonus 1 : Top of the Pops 1
Bonus 2 : Top of the Pops 2
Bonus 3 : Beat Club

The Story So Far : 1966 - 1969

Donald George Powell was born in Bilston, Staffordshire. As a child, Powell joined the Boy Scouts where he became interested in the drums after being asked to join the band on a Sunday morning parade.

Don Powell : "I couldn't afford to buy my own kit but when I was fourteen I had a mate called Dave Bowdley and his dad bought him an Olympic drum kit. He couldn't get into playing so rather than let the drum kit go to waste Dave said I could borrow it whenever I wanted to."

After attending Etheridge Secondary Modern School he studied Metallurgy at Wednesbury Technical College. Powell then worked as a metallurgist in a small foundry before turning professional as a drummer. He was athletic and a keen amateur boxer, although an easy going personality. It was he who was sent around with the money collection hat amongst early audiences.

Powell became a member of The Vendors, along with singer John Howells, guitarist Mick Marson and guitarist Johnny Shane. The music performed by the group was songs by Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran, and Gene Vincent along with Chuck Berry style rock 'n' roll. Before a reliable bass guitarist could be found, Shane left, and was replaced by Dave Hill . . .



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

David John Hill was born in Flete House, Holbeton, Devon. The son of a mechanic, he moved with his parents to Penn, Wolverhampton when he was a year old. There he attended Springdale Junior school and Highfields Secondary school. Dave's interest was sparked by one of his friends who had a plastic "Elvis Presley Guitar".

Dave Hill : "It had a special box on the fretboard with buttons to push to get chords easily. I persuaded him to take the box off and we learned some chords from a guitar manual."

He bought his first guitar from a mail order catalogue and took lessons from local jazz guitarist Brian Close and soon formed a band with his friends called The Young Ones. They lasted until its members left school to start jobs with Dave finding a position as an office boy for Tarmac Limited for over two years after leaving school.

Dave Hill : "I used to come out of Tarmac dressed in a suit then this J2 van comes round to pick me up to take me to a show, and I've got my change of costume in there. So I've suddenly become Superman. I've suddenly become an extrovert. When I had short hair, my ears used to stick out like Spock. I had a complex about the size of my ears. So when the Beatles made it, I felt confident that I could grow my hair, and suddenly you felt more attractive. Girls noticed you. I didn't get girlfriends before that. I was a little bit odd at school. I was shy, believe it or not. My sister said I was a loner."

The Vendors were impressed by Dave's raunchy guitar style. After he joined, they concentrated more on blues and R&B type material. In 1964, The Vendors recorded four songs that were pressed onto an extremely limited number of disks at Domino Sound Studios in Wolverhampton. One of the numbers titled 'Don't Leave Me Now' was an original composition by Howells and Hill.

By the end of 1964, the group name was changed to "The 'N Betweens" and they had signed to the Wolverhampton based Astra Agency who secured them bookings throughout the Midlands. They had also acquired a good bass guitarist in Dave "Cass" Jones and adopted a smart image by wearing velvet jackets and cuban heels.



When The 'N Betweens shared some bookings with another well-known local group, "Steve Brett and The Mavericks", Don Powell became friendly with their guitarist, Noddy Holder . . .

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

Neville John Holder was born in Walsall, Staffordshire. As a child he moved with his family to the Beechdale Estate, a council estate in the north of the town. The son of a window cleaner, Holder passed the Eleven plus exam and attended a grammar school for a year until it closed.

His father liked to sing in the local pubs and his mother played the violin. An early significant influence was American singer/performer Al Jolson whom he imitated from an early age. When Noddy was twelve years old, his father bought him an old spanish guitar. With the advent of rock 'n' roll, Noddy took some lessons from local jazz guitarist Freddy Degville before forming The Phantoms who would play 1950s style rock 'n' roll and Shadows numbers, performing mainly at youth clubs.

After passing six 'O' Levels, Holder took a job in a car parts firm to the dismay of his teachers and parents who wanted him to stay on at school for 'A' levels.

Noddy Holder : "When they saw how determined I was, they gave in, although I don't think they ever believed I could make music my profession."

Terry Taylor joined on saxophone and the group secured regular bookings playing three or four shows per week. Noddy's day job enabled him to purchase a better guitar and amplifier. He also picked up additional guitar technique from Roy Brown who played with a well known local group called The Redcaps. By 1964, the group, now known as The Memphis Cutouts, were earning about 8 pounds a week each which Noddy felt was enough to give up his regular job. In late 1964, singer Steve Brett asked the Cutouts to become his backing group - "The Mavericks".

Noddy Holder : "Joining the Mavericks gave me my first real taste of the music industry. We were featured in the local papers a lot, usually in 'The Express and Star' in Wolverhampton and occasionally in 'The Birmingham Mail'. I could tell my mum was impressed!"

Steve Brett's vocal style and preference for ballads contrasted with The Maverick's rock 'n' roll and rhythm & blues leanings so The Mavericks were usually allowed to do their own set first and to be joined later on-stage by Steve Brett and act as his backing group.

Noddy Holder : "Our job was to basically warm up the crowd before Steve appeared so we played a good-time party set. I did all the singing and could chose our own songs which included a lot of R & B, Motown, Little Richard, and Fats Domino covers. We always went down well although at some gigs in the beginning it was really just Steve people wanted to see."

Brett obtained a recording contract with Columbia Records in 1965 resulting in The Mavericks recording several tracks at the Hollick & Taylor Studios in Handsworth, Birmingham.

Noddy Holder : "None of us had ever been in a studio before. We went in for half a day and recorded three or four tracks. All the songs were from our live set and we played exactly as we did every night on stage. The only difference was there were mics set up between the amps."

Columbia issued three singles by Steve Brett and The Mavericks in 1965, including : "Wishing" (b/w "Anything That's Part Of You") in January; 'Sad Lonely And Blue' (b/w "Candy") in May; and "Chains On My Heart" (b/w "Sugar Shack") in December of 1965. An unreleased song, "Hurting Inside", featured Noddy singing back-up, possibly his earliest recorded vocal track.



The group also went down to London to meet with legendary oddball genius producer Joe Meek with whom Brett had arranged a recording session.

Noddy Holder : "When we got there it was all a bit of a let down. He lived in a rented flat above a shop with just one shoddy little bathroom where all the amps were set up. I remember thinking how on earth has this guy ever produced a hit record in this place? I couldn't even say what songs we recorded with him but none of them were ever released."

The Mavericks and the 'N Betweens often shared the same billing and Noddy Holder got along well with Don Powell. The two groups were selected at the same time by the agency to undertake some bookings in Germany. The Mavericks played shows in Cologne and Frankfurt with the group members being paid 25 pounds per week each - which was a lot of money in those days!

Noddy Holder : "Musically, every band that went to Germany improved ten-fold. We already had quite a wide repertoire, but we still had to add dozens of new songs to our set every week. Those gigs were a great lesson in learning how to entertain an audience. You couldn't go on, stand there and just slum it all night. The Germans expected a proper show. The madder you were, the better their reaction."

Every night, The Mavericks played five or six sets of 45 minutes each with a fifteen minute break in-between. On weekends, they played from two in the afternoon until four in the morning. The audience included many Americans from the local air bases.

Noddy Holder : "We played a lot of requests. Whenever I sang a song one of the Americans asked for, they would buy us beer and cognac. We could only drink in the fifteen minute breaks so when we came off stage there was a table of drinks waiting for us. Often, we had to knock back six or seven beers and brandy chasers in a row as if you didn't finish them, the waiters would clear them away. You can imagine the worsening state I was in as the show went on!"

It was on this trip that Dave Hill and Don Powell first talked to Noddy Holder about forming their own group.

Noddy Holder : "I had a drink with Don and Dave on the ferry and they told me they weren't happy with their band and wanted to split from the rest. They asked me if I was interested in joining them and I said I'd think about it."

At the end of 1965, The 'N Betweens bass guitarist Cass Jones decided to leave the band for a career in the wholesale fruit business. For his replacement, the Astra Agency placed advertisements for auditions that were held at The Blue Flame Club in Wolverhampton. Because the 'N Betweens were very popular locally, there was no shortage of applicants. One of them was 16 year old Jim Lea . . .

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

James Whild Lea was born in Wolverhampton, England. Influenced by French jazz-violinist Stéphane Grappelli, Lea's first musical love was the violin, which he began playing aged 10. His parents owned The Grange pub in Bilbrook where he grew up. He joined the Staffordshire Youth Orchestra in 1961, and gained first class honours in a London music-school practical exam, before moving on to piano, guitar and finally bass guitar. He first played guitar, and then bass, in the schoolboy group 'Nick and The Axemen'.

Aged 16, Lea went for auditions for a local band, The 'N Betweens. He had to borrow an electric bass guitar and amplifier but his talent stood out amongst the other applicants.

Dave Hill : "Don and I wanted to form a band that was more like The Beatles. At the auditions this very young lad arrived carrying a Paul McCartney bass. He looked about fifteen years old. He said his name was Jim Lea."

Jim Lea : "I was still at school. I looked like a boy and I was a boy, but I played like a man. I was self-taught on bass. At the audition I was so intimidated. I had turned up with my bass in a carrier bag. They asked: "This is a professional group, where's your equipment?" I lied and said I had some but couldn't bring it on the bus. The first song I played was 'Mr Pitiful' by Otis Reading and then a Don Covey number called 'See-Saw'. I played very fast and then told them I could play violin too and even a bit of cello and that I could sight-read. I think they were impressed but they didn't tell me I had the job."

Dave Hill : "When he started playing I'd never seen anything like it – it was like Jimi Hendrix had got hold of a bass guitar."

Soon after the auditions, Dave Hill and Don Powell met Noddy Holder by chance in Beatties cafe in Wolverhampton.

Dave Hill : "Just after we found Jim, I bumped into Nod in Wolverhampton. He'd left the Mavericks. I said I was looking to form a band with three lead guitarists, including Jim who played like a guitarist."

They told him they were leaving The N Betweens to start their own group and asked Noddy, who was no longer with Steve Brett and The Mavericks, to join them. Noddy agreed so the three then went over to Jim Lea's house and enlisted him to play bass guitar.

Noddy Holder : "They'd already auditioned Jim and got him in to the band. He was still at school at the time. Don and Dave were thinking of breaking away from the blues that they had been playing with the original N' Betweens."

Jim Lea : "When I was first introduced to Noddy at the door I misheard his name. I was calling him 'Nob' for the first three months."

Dave Hill : "Nod lived opposite a pub called the Three Men In A Boat, and he suggested a 'secret rehearsal' there because the 'N Betweens already had a singer, Johnny Howells. At his front door Jim was holding a violin. I thought: "Blimmin' hell, he plays bass like Hendrix and violin too!"



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

In March 1966, Noddy, Dave, Don and Jim played together for the first time at the Three Men In A Boat pub near Noddy's house in Walsall.

Dave Hill : "We just played together, the four of us, for the first time and it was really exciting. We played some soul numbers and it worked out great with Nod on vocals and two lead guitars. It was a secret rehearsal without Johnny Howells. We never told him."

Noddy Holder : "For a short time we had two vocalists. There was the original N' Betweens vocalist, who was a great vocalist, but he was a blues man. He carried on doing that material in the band and I came in fresh to do the other half of the show. The was some friction because they'd split the original band up so the vocalist was just there to see out the contracts they'd already got booked in. Once that was over, after about the first three or four months or so, he left and I took over all the vocal duties then."

Along with a new vocalist, the band went shopping for a new image.

Noddy Holder : "The first thing we did was shop for new outfits. We didn't want people to think we were the old band and we needed a new look. The N' Betweens had always worn the blues uniform of checked shirts and waist coats but we ditched those and went for something no one else was wearing. We wanted to shock people. Jimmy was flabbergasted when he saw what Dave and I bought. He thought we were joking. We egged each other on choosing the most garish, far out clothes we could find, the most colourful. I of chose some sort of a long tartan jacket thing and I think Dave got this purple coat made of velvet with a turned up collar."

A big break for the 'N Betweens came when they were performing at The Tiles club in London and were spotted by the eccentric American record producer Kim Fowley.

Noddy Holder : "He was a typical show biz guy. He was a great guy. We'd only been together six months and we went and played this club in Oxford Street called Tiles. It was an all nighter. And we were opening at that time for Crispian St Peters who'd had a hit. Again, we were doing two or three sets. In the middle of the hall, which was a long narrow ballroom type place, we see this tall skinny guy freaking around, doing freaky dancing and wearing freaking clothes. And we thought, who is this guy, showing off in the middle of the club? Anyway he came back to the dressing room after the set to meet us and we got chatting and it was then that we realised it was Kim Fowley. He introduced himself and he was saying: "You guys are fantastic. I love what you do. You're so unusual to any other band that's around. You project." That was his thing "project". He wanted to make us big stars. He wanted to take us to America."

After proclaiming The 'N Betweens as "The next big thing!", Fowley arranged to have them record some songs at Regent Sound studios. The result of this was their single titled "You Better Run" backed with "Evil Witchman", released in August 1966.

Noddy Holder : "He'd got all the chat and everything and he took us down to Regent Sound in Denmark Street for a day to cut some tracks, one of which was our very first single as the N' Betweens. It was a song called 'Called You Better Run', which was a Young Rascals record which had been a monster hit in America but never was a hit the UK. We got on like a house on fire. He was our sort of guy. He as flamboyant, he was go getting and he got us a deal for the single to come out on EMI. The single made it to number one in the Midlands charts but we had no idea. We hoped it would make us famous. We were very green but we were pleased just to have record out on a label after such a short time together."



Fowley had initially travelled to the UK in hopes of managing the Irish pop group Them, but they had just broken up when their singer, Van 'Ringworm' Morrison, went solo.

Noddy Holder : "Kim said to us: "I'm gonna take you to America and you're gonna be Them!" And we said: "Oh no we're not!" It was a thing people did at the time. It wasn't unusual for bands to go over, if the original band had broken up and new band would come in their place. So it wasn't unusual, but we said no way. We're gonna do what we are gonna do. We're not going to go out and be somebody else. But we got on great with him and he thought like a pop guy who thought in terms of record sales and mass radio play."

Promotional copies of another song titled "Security, originally recorded by Otis Reading were issued in the USA only.

Noddy Holder : "We rarely saw him after our day in the studio and he was back in States before the single came out but we met him lots of times afterwards over the years. In a hotel in Munich once and the lift doors opened and there was Kim. At the time he was producing Nana Mouskouri and he come out and he'd got a suit on and everything. Nothing like we knew him as. He come out and he went: "You guys! I told you you'd make it. You project!"."

In April 1967, The 'N Betweens recorded a psychedelic-sounding track titled "Delighted To See You" at EMI Studios in London under direction of Pink Floyd producer Norman Smith, while The Beatles were busy at work on Sgt Pepper.

Noddy Holder : "We didn't see them, but we could hear all this weird stuff coming out of the control room next door. They were experimenting with tapes. It just sounded really bizarre to us, but we were thrilled to be in the same studio as them."



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

At the end of 1967, The 'N Betweens were sent over to Germany for a month booking at the legendary 'Star-Club' in Hamburg but returned after a few weeks because of disagreements they had with the club management. The band's booking agent, Maurice Jones from The Astra Agency next sent them to the Bahamas during the summer of 1968 to play a six week booking at the luxury Tropicana Club.

Noddy Holder : "I was at home, at my mum's, in the Midlands, when I got a call from Maurice. He had an offer of work. When he told me where, I thought I hadn't heard him right. Someone wanted us to go out to the Bahamas. The Bahamas! We were taken out there by a guy from the West Midlands who was living there and he knew the band from before. We arrived and it was fantastic. All our food and accommodation was paid as well as a fee for playing there. We checked into this hotel. We'd never been in a place like this in our lives, we were four lads from the Midlands and we'd never stayed in such a posh hotel. You can imagine what it was like, right on the marina and Frank Sinatras yacht was parked outside the window and we had two big suites there with two of us sharing each suite. On the night we arrived we went to the local disco and there was an English band playing there and we thought that it was fantastic. The chicks at the disco were fantastic looking, great looking girls and it looked a great place to play. Including in the band on stage was Andy Scott who was later in Sweet. We thought we were going to playing in that sort of venue but come the next day they took us to the other end of the island where the local black people lived and where the black clubs were. This was where we were playing and it was literally a massive shack in the middle of a field. But it was popular venue where everybody went. We did long hours there again."

While there, the band had been exposed to and learned a lot of American rock music that hadn't yet been released in Britain such as Steppenwolf's 'Born To Be Wild' which they started using to close their show.

Noddy Holder : "Early on in the night up until about 11pm we'd play to the white American kids and tourists. So you'd be playing the pops of the day and few light R&B type songs. We'd be backing the limbo dancers and local singers and there was guy who painted himself silver. It was like a cabaret. Then at 12pm there was a curfew and all the white people would have to go back to their hotels and where they lived in the white section of the island and then the black audience would come in. In this club there was a jukebox in the corner full of James Brown, Otis Reading, Aretha Franklin. The black men and women in the Bahamas had never seen a band play this stuff live. Well this had been our bread and butter stuff for years. We knew all this material on the jukebox and of course they were flabbergasted walking in this club and a) seeing this band of white and b) the way we were dressed and c) we were playing this R&B material which they loved. James Brown was god on this island and we were doing James Brown stuff. So, we went a storm. We were learning so much. The American kids would bring us American records that they wanted us to learn to play. I mean we picked up Steppenwolfs Born To Be Wild and eventually brought that back to Britain. I hadn't been out in Britain then. People thought it was one of our songs. A lot of stuff. There was Amboy Dukes songs. And we'd be bringing back some black stuff that hadn't been released in the UK either. We came back with tons of new material."

Unfortunately, the promoter disappeared from the island, leaving the N' Between's large hotel bill unpaid. The band had to stay for a further three months, paying down their debt from the money they earned gigging and living in one small room in the staff quarters of the hotel. On their return to the UK, however, they had amassed a catalogue of new material, as yet unheard by the home audience, that would play an important role in the next phase of the bands development.

Noddy Holder : "Previously we had been playing mainly Motown, R&B and a bit of pop. Now we were hearing everything from Moby Grape to Reggae! After the Bahamas, our repertoire totally changed."

After returning home, local promoter, Roger Allen spotted the group in 1969 and alerted the head of A&R at Philips Records, Jack Baverstock. The group spent a week in the Philips studio at Stanhope Place recording an album, after which Baverstock offered to sign the group to Fontana Records if they changed their name. The band were initially hesitant because of the reputation gained as the 'N Betweens' but eventually, after a brief flirtation with the crackpot idea of calling themselves The Nicky Nacky Noo, they finally agreed to "Ambrose Slade".

Jim Lea : "Baverstock thought that The 'N Betweens was a crappy name, and he said that he wanted us to be called a name that we had said in the studio. Well, we'd been talking about hotels, something about us having said in the poshest place since the Nicky Nacky Noo. And he thought that Nicky Nacky Noo would've been a good name for us! I said that I was going to leave if we were going to be called that. Anyway, sometime later he rang up Roger AlIen and said that he'd come up with the name Ambrose Slade. I thought it was a crappy name, but as we didn't want to lose his recording deal we decided to call ourselves that."



The name was inspired by Baverstock's secretary, who had named her handbag Ambrose and her shoes Slade. Baverstock also found the group an agent, John Gunnel, who had previously worked with the entertainment entrepreneur Robert Stigwood.

The Single :

"Coz I Luv You" was written by lead vocalist Noddy Holder and bassist Jim Lea, and performed by Slade.



One evening, Lea turned up Holder's home with his violin and an idea for a song after hearing "Nine By Nine" by the John Dummer Famous Music Band. Lea suggested that he and Holder write a song which had a Django Reinhardt / Stephan Grapelli "Hot Club"-influence.

Jim Lea : "One afternoon I went over to Nod's and I said "Hey Nod, why don't we write a song?". I took my violin with me and said why don't we do a Stephan Grappelli thing. "Hot Love" was in the charts at the time - Marc Bolan, and I said something like that, dead simple and we wrote the song in half an hour. We got the structure of the tune and Nod just filled in the gaps. That's the only song we've ever written like that."

The pair wrote the song in half an hour and began the successful songwriting partnership of Holder/Lea, which would go on to write the bulk of Slade's material. The following day, the band played the song acoustically to manager Chas Chandler, who responded: "I think you've written your first hit record. In fact, I think you've written your first No. 1."

Immediately booking the band into Olympic Studios in Barnes, the song was recorded in two days. Although Chandler liked the song, the band were less enthusiastic as they believed it to be too poppy and weak-sounding in comparison to their previous single "Get Down and Get with It". In the effort to make the record more Slade-like, the band added foot-stomping and hand-clapping to it. Furthermore, the band thought the original title, "Because I Love You", did not suit the band's image or sound. Holder then suggested spelling the title to reflect their Black County dialect. The title then became "Coz I Luv You", which marked the beginning of Slade's misspelling trademark.

Noddy Holder : "I had scribbled down the lyrics in Black Country phonetic spelling, and that became a gimmick. Before we knew it we had this treadmill of hits. Chas was constantly on Jim's back for the next single. But we'd go on Top Of The Pops, and the following day the whole country would be talking about us."

Released in October 1971 as a non-album single, it reached No. 1 in the UK, giving the band their first number one single, and remained in the charts for fifteen weeks.



Don Powell : "We were just four scumbags from Wolverhampton but we made it on to Top Of The Pops, and it stampeded to Number One. After that, Jim and Nod just rattled them off."

Upon release, Record Mirror felt the song was a "natural born successor" to "Get Down and Get With It". They described the song as a "sturdy foot-pounding sort of build up" and a "really persistent ear-bender".

The New Musical Express said the song "should satisfy both the mainstream pop and the heavy brigade", describing it as a "rousing hard-hitting number, generating bags of electricity and urgency, but nevertheless blessed with a strong melody line and a chorus".



Jim Lea : "I didn't even like some of those old ones. "Coz I Luv You" was namby-pamby to us, a throwaway for an album. It shot to number one in two weeks and we thought, "What a pile of shit!" It was so wet."

Other Versions include :  Top of the Poppers (1971)  /  "En syytä nää" by Arto Sotavalta (1972)  /  "Виолета" by Щурците (1973)  /  "To je davno" by Miluše Voborníková (1973)  /  The Wonder Stuff (1992)  /  The X Specials (1994)  /  "Painilaulu" by Pate Mustajärvi (1995)  /  Noddy Holder (2000)  /  Böhse Onkelz (2002)  /  Danny McEvoy (with Lee!) (2012)  /  James Blunt (2014)  /  Vice Squad (2015)  /  Frankie Roma Novak (2020)  /  Sounds Incarcerated (feat. Allan Crockford) (2021)

On This Day :

7 November : Robin Finck, guitarist (Nine Inch Nails), born Robert John Finck in Park Ridge, New Jersey
7 November : Elections were held in Belgium for the 212 seats in the Kamer van Volksvertegenwoordigers and the 106 seats of the Belgian Senate.
8 November : Led Zeppelin IV released in the United States, four days before its release in the UK
8 November : Elections were held for the Philippine Senate, the Nacionalista Party of President Ferdinand Marcos retained control of 16 of the 24 seats
9 November : David Storey's "Changing Room" premieres in London
10 November : Khmer Rouge forces attacked the Phnom Penh international airport, killing 44 people
10 November : Big Pun, rapper, born Christopher Lee Rios in The Bronx, New York City
11 November : Neil Simon's "Prisoner of Second Avenue" premieres in NYC
11 November : Sylvia Brett, Lady Brooke and Ranee of Sarawak, dies aged 86
11 November : A. P. Herbert, English journalist and writer, dies aged 81
13 November : Mariner 9, 1st to orbit another planet (Mars)
14 November : Enthronment of Pope Shenouda III as Pope of Alexandria
15 November : Intel released the world's first microprocessor, the Intel 4004.
16 November : Waqar Younis, cricketer, born Waqar Younis Maitla in Burewala, Punjab province.
16 November : Edie Sedgwick, American actress and socialite, dies aged 28
17 November : Gladys Cooper, actress (Now, Voyager), died aged 86
18 November : A British soldier is shot dead by the Irish Republican Army in Belfast
18 November : Junior Parker, blues musician, died aged 39 during brain surgery
21 November : Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian Smith signed an accord with British Foreign Secretary Alec Douglas-Home, to gradually end white-minority rule
22 November : A member of the IRA is killed in a premature bomb explosion in Lurgan, County Armagh
22 November : "Only Fools Are Sad" opens at Edison Theater NYC for 144 performances
22 November : Six climbers died while attempting to scale Cairn Gorm in Scotland.
24 November : American "Dan Cooper" hijacks plane, extorts $200,000 ransom before jumping out of plane over Washington State, and is never seen again.
24 November : A woman is killed after the IRA carry out an attack on British soldiers in Strabane, County Tyrone
24 November : A British Army bomb-disposal specialist is killed by a bomb in Lurgan, County Armagh
25 November : Labour Party leader Harold Wilson proposes Britain should work towards a withdrawal from Northern Ireland
25 November : Dominic Cummings, political strategist, born in Durham, England
26 November : East Germany's Volkskammer, unanimously re-elected Walter Ulbricht as the nation's head of state, and Willi Stoph as the head of government
26 November : Bengt Ekerot, Swedish actor, ('Death' in The Seventh Seal'), dies aged 51
27 November : Soviet Mars 2 becomes 1st spacecraft to crash land on Mars
27 November : Two Customs officials are shot by an IRA sniper firing upon a British Army patrol investigating a bomb attack on a Customs Post near Newry, County Armagh
28 November : Pakistan launched its first direct assault against India, killing at least 20 people and injuring 70 in the city of Balurghat in the West Bengal state
28 November : "Me Nobody Knows" closes at Helen Hayes Theater NYC after 587 performances
29 November : The Soviet Union launched the satellites Kosmos 458 and Kosmos 459.
29 November : Heinz Tiessen, German composer, dies aged 84
1 December : John Lennon and Yoko Ono release "Happy Xmas (War is Over)" in the US
1 December : Khmer Rouge rebels intensify assaults on Cambodian government positions, forcing their retreat from Kompong Thmar and nearby Ba Ray.
2 December : Soviet space probe Mars 3 is first to soft land on Mars
2 December : The Trucial States declare independence from UK to form United Arab Emirates
3 December : India invades West Pakistan starting the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
3 December : Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu was installed as eighth monarch of the Zulus at a traditional ceremony at Nongoma in South Africa
4 December : UVF explode bomb at Patrick McGurk's Bar in Belfast killing 15 people and injuring 17 others

[The Culture Bunker]

I generally prefer Slade when they're more up-tempo and rocking, but it's a good single. The violin makes it more interesting than the actual song probably is - that and Nod's contributions. Always thought him a very underrated rock singer.

[Satchmo Distel]

I first heard this in 1981, when I was getting into Slade, and I couldn't believe such a plodding, mundane track got to No. 1 when bangers like Gudbuy T'Jane stalled at 2. OTOH looking at the competition in those weeks, the charts were definitely in a lull. Only the Al Green track stands out as top notch:

https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/singles-chart/19711114/7501/

[daf]

307.  Benny Hill – Ernie (The Fastest Milkman In The West)



From : 5 December 1971 – 1 January 1972
Weeks : 4
B-side : Ting-A-Ling-A-Loo
Bonus 1 : Original TV version
Bonus 2 : Promo film
Bonus 3 : Unigate TV Ad

The Story So Far : 

Alfred Hawthorne Hill was born in 1924 in Southampton. After leaving school, Hill worked at as a milkman, a bridge operator, a driver, and a drummer before becoming assistant stage manager with a touring revue.

He was called up in 1942 and served as a mechanic, truck driver, and searchlight operator in Normandy after September 1944, and later transferred to the Combined Services Entertainment division before the end of the war.

After the Second World War, Hill struggled on stage and had uneven success in radio, but in television he found a forum that played to his strengths. The Benny Hill Show had a music hall-derived format combining live on-stage comedy and filmed segments, and its humour relied on slapstick, innuendo, and parody.



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He released his first single, "I Can't Tell A Waltz From A Tango" (b/w "Teach Me Tonight"), in January 1955. The Follow up "Memories Are Made Of This" (b/w "Who Done It") was released in 1956.

His first chart entry 'Gather In The Mushrooms' reached #12 in February 1961, and was featured on the 4 track EP 'Hit Parade Volume 1' along with "Pepys' Diary", "Gypsy Rock" and "Transistor Radio" - which was written by Benny Hill and producer Tony Hatch, and released as a single in May 1961, reaching #24 in the UK Singles Chart.

The song revolves around the story of a man whose attempts at intimacy with his girlfriend are constantly thwarted by music played from the girl's transistor radio. The song spoofs The Chipmunks, Elvis Presley's "Wooden Heart", the BBC Shipping Forecast and Jimmy Jones' "Handy Man".



Released in May 1963, the single, "The Harvest Of Love", again co-written by Hill and Tony Hatch, reached #20 in the UK Singles Chart. The song is sung from the point of view of a farmhand who has fallen in love with a young lady. Hill's vocals were accompanied by The Kestrels - featuring Roger Greenaway, Tony Burrows, Jeff Williams, and Roger Gullane - who instead of singing, provided a vocal back-up of farmyard impressions - the mad bastards!!

The single was also featured on a four track EP along with the B-side "BAMba 3688" and both sides of his December 1961 single : "The Piccolo Song" and "Lonely Boy".



Further singles included the Bob Dylan spoof  "What A World" (b/w "I'll Never Know") released in November 1965, and "My Garden Of Love" (b/w "The Andalucian Gypsies"), in January 1966.

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His first album, 'Benny Hill Sings  ?' was released in 1965.



Songs included : "Moving On Again" / "In The Papers" / "Golden Days" / "Flying South" /  "Wild Women" / "Jose's Cantina" / "Rose" / "The Egg Marketing Board Tango" / "Those Days" / and "The Old Fiddler[/b]".

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Also released in 1965, comedy sketches from his radio series "Benny Hill Time", broadcast on BBC Radio's Light Programme from 1964 to 1966, were featured on the album 'Benny At The BBC'. The shows featured various original comedy characters played by Hill, including Fred Scuttle, and topical parodies including James Bond and The Beatles.



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His next album, 'Words And Music', was released in 1971, and featured songs and sketches including : "Anna Marie" / "Broken-Hearted Lovers' Stew" / "Colleen" / "Rachel" / "The Beach At San Tropez" / "Suzy" /  "Ted" / "Making A Commercial" / and "The Birds And The Bees".



A single taken from the album, "Ernie (The Fastest Milkman In The West)", topped the charts in November 1971. The album was swiftly re-issued with a new cover as : 'Benny Hill Sings Ernie, The Fastest Milkman In The West'.



The follow-up, "Fad Eyed Fal" (b/w "The Dustbins Of Your Mind") was released in October 1972, but failed to chart.

The Single :

"Ernie (The Fastest Milkman in the West)" was written and performed by Benny Hill.



The lyric's storyline was inspired by Hill's early experience as a milkman for Hann's Dairies in Eastleigh, Hampshire. Market Street, mentioned in the lyrics, is a real-life street in Eastleigh. The song tells the fictional exploits of Ernie Price, a milkman who drives a horse–drawn milk cart. It relates his feud with the bread delivery man and their efforts to win the heart of Sue, a widow who lives alone at No. 22, Linley Lane.



"Ernie" was originally written in 1955 as the introduction to an unfilmed screenplay about Hill's milkman experiences. The song was first performed on television in 1970. The following year, it was included with minor lyrical revisions on Hill's album Words and Music.

When it was released as a single on EMI's Columbia label, it became a surprise number-one hit, topping the UK Singles Chart for four weeks at Christmas 1971. The song also peaked at number 1 in Australia in December 1971. A promotional film was shot starring Hill as Ernie, Henry McGee as Ted, and Jan Butlin as Sue.



Other Versions include :  Top of the Poppers (1971)  /  Beerzone (1997)  /  Brotherhood of Man (2002)  /  Danny McEvoy & Keith Johnson (2012)  /  Simon Taylor (2020)  /  Accy Ukulele (2020)  /  The Everly Others (2021)

On This Day :

5 December : Hugh Wakefield, British actor, dies aged 83
6 December : Richard Krajicek, tennis player, born Richard Peter Stanislav Krajicek in Rotterdam, Netherlands
7 December : "Wild & Wonderful" opens at Lyceum Theater NYC
7 December : "Wild & Wonderful" closes after 1 performance
7 December : Wings release their 1st album "Wild Life"
8 December : An off duty member of the Ulster Defence Regiment is shot dead by members of the IRA in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland
10 December : West German Chancellor Willy Brandt receives the Nobel Peace Prize
11 December : The Libertarian Party of the United States is formed
11 December : A bomb explodes outside a furniture showroom on the Shankill Road, Belfast, killing four civilians
13 December : John Sinclair is freed from jail
14 December : Pakistan Army executes an estimated 1,111 of East Pakistan's intellectuals during the Bangladesh Liberation War
15 December : Paul Lévy, French mathematician dies aged 85
16 December : Paul van Dyk, DJ and record producer, born Matthias Pau in Eisenhüttenstadt, Bezirk Frankfurt, East Germany
16 December : Michael McCary, singer (Boyz II Men), born Michael Sean McCary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
16 December : East Pakistan's independence (as Bangladesh) from Pakistan is recognized internationally
17 December : Cease fire between India & Pakistan in Kashmir
17 December : "Diamonds are Forever", 7th James Bond film, is first released in West Germany
18 December : Bobby Jones Jr., American golfer, dies of syringomyelia aged 69
18 December : Three members of the IRA die when the bomb they were transporting explodes prematurely in King Street, Magherafelt, County Derry.
19 December : "Inner City" opens at Barrymore Theater NYC for 97 performances
19 December : Stanley Kubrick's X-rated film "A Clockwork Orange" premieres
20 December : Roy O. Disney, co-founder of the Walt Disney Company, dies aged 78
20 December : Pakistan president Yahya Khan resigns
21 December : UN Security Council chooses ex-Nazi Kurt Waldheim as 4th Secretary-General
22 December : Fred Guy, American jazz banjo player, dies aged 74
23 December : Corey Haim, actor, born Corey Ian Haim in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
23 December : Edward Heath visits Northern Ireland and expresses his determination to end the violence
23 December : Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, British socialite, born Tara Claire Palmer-Tomkinson  in Basingstoke, Hampshire
24 December : Ricky Martin, singer, born Enrique Martín Morales in San Juan, Puerto Rico
25 December : Operation PUSH (People United to Save Humanity) formed by Jesse Jackson
25 December : Noel Hogan, musician (Cranberries), born Noel Anthony Hogan in Moyross, Ireland
25 December : Dido, singer, born Florian Cloud de Bounevialle O'Malley Armstrong in Kensington, London
25 December : Justin Trudeau, 23rd Prime Minister of Canada, born Justin Pierre James Trudeau in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
26 December : Jared Leto, actor, born Jared Joseph Leto in Bossier City, Louisiana
26 December : Muhammad Ali knocks out German Jürgen Blin in a non-title heavyweight boxing contest in Zurich, Switzerland
28 December : "The Dæmons" became the very first Doctor Who serial to be rebroadcast by the BBC complete in omnibus form.
28 December : Max Steiner, Austrian composer (Gone With The Wind), dies at 83
28 December : Ajax forward Johan Cruyff wins Ballon d'Or award for best European football player
30 December : A member of the IRA is killed in a premature bomb explosion in Santry, Dublin.
1 January : "Company" closes at Alvin Theater NYC after 690 performances
1 January : "On the Town" closes at Imperial Theater NYC after 65 performances
1 January : "Promises Promises" closes at Shubert Theater NYC after 1281 performances
1 January : DJ Shadow, American DJ and songwriter, born Joshua Paul Davis in San Jose, California, U.S.
1 January : Jane Morgan, American singer & actress, dies aged 91
1 January : Maurice Chevalier, French actor & singer, dies aged 83

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! :

[The Culture Bunker]

I find the song to be novelty hit shite of the highest order - no wish at all to hear it again. Thing about Hill himself is that I have no recollection of seeing him on TV in his lifetime - he died when I was 11, maybe he hadn't been on the box much in his final years, or his stuff was on past my bedtime or whatever. About all I can remember from what I have seen since (bar lasses wearing only their kecks) is the double-time saxophone tune and slapping the bald guy in the bonce.

[daf]

Ah, I quite like Benny - he's harmless.

If you can find them cheap, I recommend the two "Annuals" DVD Box sets which collect all his ITV shows from the 70's and 80's. The 70's one is particularly strong - with the lovely Nicholas Parsons (as straight man) trying to hold it together while Hill's Fred Scuttle wanders off script.

Another bonus for the pop nerd is you often get to see Top of The Pops' regular 1970's backing singers 'The Ladybirds' on screen during his musical sections.

[The Culture Bunker]

It's just more a surprise of how little he registered with my youthful self at the time - Les Dawson and Frankie Howard died around that period too, and I certainly remember their deaths and seeing them on TV when they were alive, but not Hill.

[daf]

Yes, I think he'd disappeared off the TV a few years before he died. I'm 50 and can't remember watching any of his stuff on TV at the time - partly because I suspect he'd have been considered too rude for us young shavers, but mostly as we were a "BBC family" and the TV was never tuned to ITV * #crazyparents!

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* Huge thrill in the early 80's when we finally got a tiny second set, and me and my brother were able to watch 'Quincy' - thought I'd died and gone to heaven!

[Mike Upchat]

Partly, also I suspect, is that, in one of the many similarities between himself and Ronnie Barker, Benny Hill never liked to appear as himself. So unlike Frankie Howerd and Les Dawson who would do guest slots on chat shows, panel games and variety shows on a regular basis, Benny Hill, aside I think, from one appearance on Des O'Connor's ITV show, you would not have seen on TV outside his own ITV shows and not at all during the last few years of his life after they were cancelled.

As 'Harvest of Love', mentioned by the wonderful Daf above appeared on the Adrian Juste comedy compilation album of the early eighties 'We are most amused', I grew to rather like it for both its catchiness and perfect example of how, in a comedy song, to combine both the final phrase of the melody with the keyword in the punchline to drive it home.

[gilbertharding]

Les Dawson and Frankie Howerd (to take the specific pair you mentioned) were also fortunate enough to have been 'reclaimed' before they died - by both serious comedy critics (!) and by ironic student wankers.

Benny Hill would, I think, have had to have lived about five more years for his tits-and-bums stuff to be considered fine.

[The Culture Bunker]

Les Dawson and Frankie Howerd (to take the specific pair you mentioned) were also fortunate enough to have been 'reclaimed' before they died - by both serious comedy critics (!) and by ironic student wankers.

Benny Hill would, I think, have had to have lived about five more years for his tits-and-bums stuff to be considered fine.

That does make sense - and like daf mentions, Dawson was doing mainstream TV right up to the end. I certainly remember watching Blankety Blank with my grandmother, who was a big fan of his.

Worth adding that I did see this morning the picture of Hill with Michael Jackson, which has now taken top spot in my "pics of Michael Jackson with people you wouldn't expect" list from the one of him with Lene Lovich and Graham Parker.

[Lisa Jesusandmarychain]

Benny Hill would, I think, have had to have lived about five more years for his tits-and-bums stuff to be considered fine.

Even if he'd just stuck around for another two or three years, he would have found himself being interviewed by " Loaded" magazine, I would imagine.

Just a shame his shows were a load of sleazy HA HA RAPE shite, really. Plus, that song is fucking awful.

[daf]

308.  The New Seekers – I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)



From : 2 – 29 January 1972
Weeks : 4
B-side : Boom Town
Bonus 1 : Susan Shirley - True Love And Apple Pie
Bonus 2 : 1971 Coca Cola Hilltop Commercial
Bonus 3 : Coca Cola Christmas Ad
Bonus 4 : Top of the Pops
Bonus 5 : Live 1972
Bonus 6 : German TV
Bonus 7 : The Mike Douglas Show 1973
Bonus 8 : Eve Graham Interview 2019

The Story So Far : 

Towards the end of 1971, the group recorded an adaptation of the Coca-Cola jingle, "I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke", which had gained much interest.

Eve Graham : "I think we did about a dozen jingles for Coca-Cola. We did thirty and sixty second radio commercials. There were all different melodies and it was just this one that seemed to catch the public's imagination. Everyone seemed to like this one that said, "I'd like to build the world a home and furnish it with love.""

Expanded into a full song, and re-titled "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)", The group scored their second number 1, topping the charts for four weeks in January 1972.



Lyn Paul : "We recorded the advert first for Coca Cola and then everybody said, "wow, that's a fantastic song" although the five of us just looked at each other and said, "what? (laughs). But everybody turned out to be right and we went into the studio and recorded the single and the rest is history."

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Although the group had achieved success in America with their debut single, "Look What They've Done to My Song Ma", the group's following singles failed to fare as well, with the 1971 album 'New Colours' missing the Billboard 200 completely. With the success in late 1971 of their single "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing", however, this album was repackaged with the single included and retitled.

'We'd Like To Teach The World To Sing' became their highest charting album, peaking at #37. Of the earlier album's 12 tracks, "Move Me Lord" was omitted from this version.



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

Thanks to their recent chart topper, the group were chosen to represent the United Kingdom in the 1972 Eurovision Song Contest.



They entered with the song "Beg, Steal or Borrow", which was chosen by viewers of BBC1's 'It's Cliff Richard!' show from six shortlisted songs performed by the group on a weekly basis.



Lyn Paul : "With so many countries taking part, there were a lot of green rooms. You just wanted to finish the rehearsals to get to the parties. It was pretty wild and such good fun."

They went on to finish in second place at the Eurovision final in Edinburgh, where the group received the biggest cheer of the night from the partisan audience. The song reached #2 in the UK, and sold well in Europe.



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The UK version of the album 'We'd Like to Teach the World to Sing' was released in March 1972.



As well as featuring the single "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing", which had reached #1 in the UK, it also featured their then current single, "Beg, Steal or Borrow", their entry into the 1972 Eurovision Song Contest, as well as two other songs, which they had performed in the heats : "One by One" and "Songs of Praise".



Other songs featured on the album included : "Dance Dance Dance", the medley "Georgy Girl /  Ticket to Ride", Cat Stevens' "Changes IV", "I Can Say You're Beautiful", "The World I Wish for You", "Wanderer's Song", "Just an Old Fashioned Love Song", and "Mystic Queen".

Like its US counterpart, this album became their highest charting album, peaking at #2 in the UK album charts, and remaining in the top 50 for 25 weeks.



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

Eager to cash in on their recent chart success, the group's new record company, Polydor, licensed the tracks from their third Philips album 'Beautiful People' and re-released the album in May 1972 under the new title 'Never Ending Song of Love'. Where the original album had failed to chart in the UK, this time the album entered the charts in August, peaking at #35 and remaining in the top 50 for four weeks.



One reviewer at the time made mention of the fact that it was a re-release and said of the album : "It could rate as one of the best things they have ever done - there's a fine choice of songs...and they can sing well."

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

Their next single, "Circles", released in June 1972, reached #4 in the UK chart, becoming one of their biggest-selling releases and remaining on the chart for 16 weeks. It is also popularly seen as their finest song according to the group's fans.



Released in September 1972, 'Circles' was the group's sixth album and released at the peak of their success. In the UK the album was released in a circular sleeve.



The album featured a number of notable cover versions, such as "Morning Has Broken" by Cat Stevens, "Blowin' in the Wind" by Bob Dylan, "Song Sung Blue" by Neil Diamond, "I Saw the Light" by Todd Rundgren, and "Beautiful" by Carole King.

Other songs featured on the album included : "Day by Day", "Holy Rollin'", "Unwithered Rose", "I Don't Want to Lose You", "Reap What You Sow", and "I'll Be Your Song".

The album itself peaked at #23 in the UK album charts and remained on the top 50 for five weeks. While the album was released in the UK in a special circular sleeve, in the US it was issued in a standard square sleeve featuring alternative artwork. The track listing also differed in that many songs were taken from the previous UK album 'We'd Like to Teach the World to Sing'.



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

Their next album, 'Live at the Royal Albert Hall', was released in November 1972, having been recorded some months earlier. The live double-album failed to chart in the UK, their first album for two years not to do so.



The album was released in a gatefold sleeve and included a cardboard 3D model of the group on stage.



In the US, the album, re-titled 'The History of the New Seekers', was released on MGM Records in 1973 as a single-disc compilation, reducing the number of tracks from 22 to 11.



No singles were released from the album, although a new studio single, "Come Softly To Me" (b/w "Idaho"), was also released in the UK in November 1972, which reached #20 on the UK charts.



The single was included on the US-only album 'Come Softly To Me', released in December 1972.



One of the songs, "How Love Them Old Songs" had previously been released as the opening track of their 1971 'New Colours' album under the Title "Doggone My Soul". Four of the tracks, including "Blowin' In The Wind", "Morning Has Broken", "Day By Day" and "Unwithered Rose" had been included on the UK album 'Circles'. Two further tracks, "Goin' Back" and "Rain" were later included on the 1973 UK album "Now"

Songs unique to this album included : "Captain Stormy", "Why Can't We All Get Together", "Down By The River" and "For You We Sing" featuring lead vocals by Marty Kristian. A second version of "For You We Sing", featuring Peter Doyle was later released as a single in Europe and Asia.

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

On 17 December 1972, the group played a Christmas concert at the Hammersmith Palais for their Fan Club. The show was hosted by DJ Ed "Stewpot" Stewart. 8000 people turn up, and the group are mobbed by their fans.

Lyn Paul : "Normally the groups that were being screamed at were all male. But we were the very first mixed group with two females in it that had all this adulation. It was something to behold, I tell you, all these thousands of people outside hotels, actually breaking doors down to try and get to you. It was quite frightening at times, but it was still a great thing to go through."



At the end of the year, the group flew to the US for a season at Disneyland, and on 18 January 1973, performed at President Nixon's inauguration Ball at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC.



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

The following year the group saw a slight dip, although they did score a hit with a version of The Who's "Pinball Wizard / See Me, Feel Me", (b/w "Time Limit"), which reached #16 in the UK chart in February 1973.



This single was a medley of two songs taken from the rock opera Tommy and employed a harder-edged sound for the group, with heavy use of electric guitars and sung in a rockier style. The Who's Pete Townshend congratulated the group on their version of the song.

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

Their next album, 'Now' was released in March 1973, the album coincided with the release of their latest hit single "Pinball Wizard/See Me Feel Me", however, no other singles were issued from the album which reached #47 in the UK album charts.



Other songs featured on the album included : "A Brand New Song", "Look Look", "That's My Guy", "Feeling", "Utah", "Reaching Out for Someone", "Everything Changing", and "Somebody Somewhere"

The New Musical Express reviewed the album on its release, and while criticising the group for their middle of the road nature, it did go on to state: "Nobody denies their natural vocal ability, and I'll go so far as to say the harmonies are excellent".



In the US, the album was released under the title 'Pinball Wizards' with alternate artwork and a slightly different track listing. The title track single had become one of the group's biggest hits there, peaking at #29. This would also be the group's final single to chart in the US. The album itself reached #190.



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

Their next single, "Nevertheless (I'm In Love With You)" (b/w "All Right My Love"), reached #34 in the UK in April 1973.



In May 1973 Peter Doyle dropped the bombshell that he had decided to leave the group.

Peter Doyle : "It was a very hard decision but something I feel was neccessary for the development of myself and the group. I want to develop my ideas in a way that would not have been possible within the confines of the New Seekers. My own personal tastes are perhaps different from the band and I want to reach out for something I cannot grab at the moment. I hope to write and record my own material, if that doesn't work out I will probably try to form a new group."



Dolyle's first solo single, "Rusty Hands Of Time" (b/w "And So In Life") was released in July 1973, followed by "Friday On My Mind" (b/w "We Believe In Lovin'") in 1976, and the album 'Skin Deep' in 1977.



Doyle's final single with the New Seekers, "Goodbye Is Just Another Word" (b/w "Me And My Guitar"), reached #36 in June 1973.

Doyle's replacement was Peter Oliver, who's first appearance on record was in September 1973 with the single "We've Got To Do It Now" (b/w "Look Look"), which was written to promote the 'Keep Britain Tidy' campaign.



The song failed to chart, and it seemed for the moment that The New Seekers were swiftly heading down the dumper . . .

The Single :

"I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)" was written by Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway, and recorded by The New Seekers.



The idea for the commercial originally came to Bill Backer, an advertising executive working for McCann Erickson - who were responsible for Coca-Cola, while he, Roger Cook and producer Billy Davis were delayed at Shannon Airport in Ireland. After a forced layover with many hot tempers, they noticed their fellow travellers the next morning were talking and joking while drinking Coca-Cola. Backer wrote the line "I'd like to buy the world a Coke" on a napkin and shared it with British hit songwriters Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway.

The melody was derived from a previous jingle by Cook and Greenaway, originally called "True Love and Apple Pie" that was recorded in 1971 by Susan Shirley. Cook, Greenaway, Backer, and Billy Davis reworked the song into a Coca-Cola radio jingle, which was performed by British pop group The New Seekers and recorded at Trident Studios in London.



The radio jingle made its debut in February 1971 before being adapted for the Coca-Cola "Hilltop" television commercial later that year. The first attempt at shooting was ruined by rain and other location problems. The finished product, first aired in July 1971, featured a multicultural group of young people lip synching the song on a hill in Manziana, outside Rome, Italy. The global unity of the singers is emphasized by showing that the bottles of Coke they are holding are labelled in a variety of languages. The South African government asked for a version of the commercial without the black actors. Coca-Cola refused its request.

Eve Graham : "The filming of the commercial was supposed to be done in England at the Cliffs of Dover, but the weather was too bad. They couldn't get the helicopter right with the aerial shot so then they moved it to Italy, but they couldn't get the children to run down the hill at the right time. They were supposed to run down the side of the hill toward the Coca-Cola but as soon as they all saw the bottles of Coke that were being delivered, the kids ran down the hill and the helicopter hadn't got there yet, so that didn't work. Then they got the students from the university, who were more adult, at which time they realized they could have had us on screen as well because, at first, they said that we couldn't do the visual because we were too old."

After the TV commercial aired, radio stations began to get calls from people who liked it. Billy Davis' friends in radio suggested he record the song, but not as an advertising jingle. It became so popular that the song was rewritten without brand name references and expanded to three verses. Davis recruited a group of studio singers to take it on because The New Seekers did not have time to record it. The studio group named themselves The Hillside Singers to identify with the ad, and within two weeks the song was on the national charts, reaching #13 on the Billboard Hot 100.



Eve Graham : "The Hillside Singers were the first ones off the mark. They recognized the fact that our commercial was so popular that it was worthwhile making it into a commercial record. They were just session singers, calling themselves The Hillside Singers and jumped on it. Our manager heard that they had this out and it was starting to go up the charts and said, "Quick. We've got to catch up here." So, we dashed in the studio and I think our record company had it on the street in ten days."

The New Seekers later recorded "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)", and their version climbed to #1 in the UK, selling over a million copies. The Coca-Cola Company waived royalties to the song, and instead donated $80,000 in payments to UNICEF. In the US, the song was also a hit, reaching No. 7, and in No. 3 Canada. It also topped the charts in Ireland, Japan, and New Zealand.

Lyn Paul : "We thought it was a silly, soppy song. So it was hilarious when they decided to make it into a single. I suppose it was a nice feel-good song, but seven million records! Even now I think, how did this very ordinary song ever do it?"



The British rock band Oasis were sued after their recording "Shakermaker" borrowed its melody and some lyrics directly; they were forced to change their composition. In 1997, the rock band Smash Mouth put a reference of the song in early lines of their first major single "Walkin' on the Sun".

Other Versions include :  "Ten můj mě hladí líp" by Helena Vondráčková a Jezinky (1971)  /  Jan Howard (1972)  /  Saori Minami (1972)  /  Willis "Gator Tail" Jackson (1972)  /  The Jordanaires (1972)  /  The Congregation (1972)  /  Jim Nabors (1972)  /  "Mä tahdon teidän oppivan" by Eija Merilä (1972)  /  "Wir Singen Mit Der Ganzen Welt" by Peter Alexander (1972)  /  "Me gustaría enseñar al mundo a cantar" by La Pandilla (1972)  /  "Om hela världen sjöng en sång" by Marianne Kock (1972)  /  Mrs Mills (1972)  /  James Last (1972)  /  Chet Atkins (1972)  /  Max Bygraves (1973)  /  The Nolan Sisters (1978)  /  No Way Sis (1996)  /  Jeffrey Foskett (2003)  /  Eve Graham (2005)  /  Danny McEvoy & Clare (2012)  /  Morristown Uke Jam (2015)  /  Lucy Layton (2016)  /  Emily and Morgan (2016)  /  a robot (2019)  /  Anne Reburn (2020)

On This Day :

2 January : "Rothschilds" closes at Lunt-Fontanne Theater NYC after 505 performances
2 January : Mariner 9 begins mapping Mars
2 January : Australian Open Women's Tennis: Virginia Wade of England wins her first Grand Slam title, beating Evonne Goolagong 6-4, 6-4
3 January : The Irish Republican Army explodes a bomb in Callender Street, Belfast, injuring over 60 people
4 January : The first scientific electronic pocket calculator, the HP-35 was introduced by Hewlett-Packard, priced at $395
4 January : Rose Heilbron becomes the first female judge to sit at the Old Bailey in London.
5 January : US President Nixon signs a bill for NASA to begin research on a manned space shuttle
7 January : Iberian Airlines 'plane crashes into 800ft peak on island of Ibiza, killing 104 people
8 January : Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, announced his "World Plan" of establishing 3,600 centres, each with 1,000 teachers apiece.
8 January : Dmitri Shostakovich' 15th Symphony premieres in Moscow
9 January : Sarah Beeny, property developer & TV presenter, born Sarah Lucinda Beeny in Reading, United Kingdom
9 January : British coal miners begin a national strike, the first for half a century
10 January : Geoge Harrison and Friends' triple live album "The Concert for Bangladesh" released in UK
12 January : Abu Sayeed Chudhury becomes President of Bangladesh and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Prime Minister
13 January : An army commander stages a bloodless coup in Ghana, while the prime minister is in London
14 January : Margrethe II of Denmark becomes the first Queen of Denmark since 1412
15 January : Claudia Winkleman, TV presenter (Strictly Come Dancing), born Claudia Anne Irena Winkleman in London, United Kingdom
15 January : Daisy Ashford, British child author who wrote "The Young Visiters", dies aged 90
18 January : Prime Minister of Northern Ireland Brian Faulkner bans all parades and marches in Northern Ireland until the end of the year
20 January : Number of people claiming unemployment benefit in UK rises to over 1 million
21 January : Cat Power, musician, born Charlyn Marie Marshall in Atlanta, Georgia
22 January : An anti-internment march is held at Magilligan strand, County Derry
23 January : Entire population of Istanbul under 24 hour house arrest
23 January : Ewen Bremner, actor, born in Portobello, Edinburgh, Scotland
24 January : After hiding for more than 27 years, Japanese World War II soldier Sergeant Shoichi Yokoi was discovered on Guam.
26 January : Serbian air stewardess Vesna Vulovic survives 10,160m fall without parachute - world's highest fall without a parachute
27 January : The first home video game system, Odyssey, was introduced by Magnavox.
27 January : Mark Owen, singer (Take That), born in Oldham
27 January : Two Royal Ulster Constabulary officers shot dead by IRA in an attack on their patrol car in the Creggan Road, Derry
27 January : Mahalia Jackson, gospel singer, dies aged 60
28 January : Tunde Jegede, musician, born in London

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! :

[gilbertharding]

BORING!!

And the New Seekers. Sorry.


New page New Seekers.

Fucking Hell. Grandad. Benny Hill. Middle of the Road. New Seekers. Dawn.

Is this the worst year of Number 1 hit singles there's ever been? Suppose we had Christy and Dana last year. And there'll be Little Jimmy Osmond and the Pipes and Drums of the Royal Scots Guards next year...

[daf]

308b. (NME 320.)  America – A Horse with No Name



From :  2 - 8 February 1972
Weeks : 1
B-side 1 : Everyone I Meet Is From California
B-side 2 : Sandman
Bonus 1 : Long Version
Bonus 2 : promo film
Bonus 3 : German TV Musikladen

The Story So Far : 

America were formed in London in 1970 by Dewey Bunnell, Dan Peek, and Gerry Beckley. While their fathers were stationed at the United States Air Force base at RAF South Ruislip near London in the mid-1960s, Beckley, Bunnell and Peek attended London Central High School at Bushey Hall, where they met while playing in two different bands.

Dewey Bunnell was born in Harrogate, Yorkshire, England, to an American serviceman father, stationed at the United States Air Force base at RAF South Ruislip, and his English wife. As a young musician, Bunnell was inspired by the Beatles and the Beach Boys.

Dewey Bunnell : "Gerry, Dan and I were American teenagers going to school in England, and I graduated from an American high school there in 1969. Our fathers were stationed at the U.S. Air Force Base near London. As with most Air Force kids or military families, we moved around a lot. Anyway, we all played guitars, and we had a band there in high school in '68 and '69."

Dan Peek was born in Panama City, Florida, while his father was in the U.S. Air Force. Beginning in 1963, Peek was educated at London Central Elementary High School at Bushey Hall in North London. For the 1965–66 school year, Peek attended San Angelo Central High School after his family relocated from Pakistan earlier that year. He moved again to England in 1968 with his family when his father was assigned to a base in London. It is there that he met Bunnell and Beckley at London Central High School.

Dan Peek : "I started playing semi-professionally when I was twelve. I was in a band. By the time my dad was stationed in England and I met Dewey and Gerry; Gerry was a very accomplished musician. Well, not so accomplished, but he really had a gift for writing. So, the three of us just began to gel as an entity. It doesn't sound like that long now, but seven years, it takes you that long to become a doctor or lawyer. I had been really honing my craft and just playing four and five hours a day, every day for seven years and playing in bands everywhere that I lived, Pakistan, Missouri, Texas and ultimately England."

Gerry Beckley was born in Fort Worth, Texas, to an American father and an English mother. He began playing the piano at the age of three and the guitar a few years later. By 1962, Beckley was playing guitar in The Vanguards, an instrumental surf music band in Virginia. In 1967, Beckley's father became the commander at the United States Air Force base at West Ruislip, near London. Gerry attended London Central High School in Bushey Hall in north west London, where he played in various school bands and met his soon-to-be bandmates, Dewey Bunnell and Dan Peek

Peek left for the United States for a failed attempt at college during 1969. Soon after his return to the UK the following year, the three began making music together. Starting out with borrowed acoustic guitars, they developed a style that incorporated three-part vocal harmony with the style of contemporary folk-rock acts.

Dan Peek : "I did one year at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. That was decided quickly then that I'd had enough of school, did not want to do school. I'd left England for a year. When I went back, I got back together with Dewey and Gerry who had been in a band together. I think I mentioned earlier, Gerry and I were in a band called The Days. I left, went to school. Dewey took my place. Then they had a falling out. The band broke up. They were really on the outs. They weren't speaking to each other. I got together with Dewey just as a friend. He was playing me some stuff he'd been writing. "Man...I didn't even know you wrote." I played him some songs I'd written. He was kind of blown away. Talked to Gerry and he played me some songs he'd written. I went, "These are great!" I played him some songs. "You gotta hear what Dewey's been doing. The three of us need to get together and join forces and make something happen." We did and everything just went like clockwork."

Originally, the group played on Friday nights at the local American teen club, mostly doing acoustic covers of Crosby, Stills, and Nash tunes.

Dewey Bunnell : "We played Top 40 stuff, but we quickly got into changing the arrangements a little to suit our voices and do some little tricky things. And that led us into writing original music. We all sort of did it organically by ourselves, because after we graduated from high school, we worked together for a while to make a living at the base facility. Then Dan went off to college in Virginia, and Gerry started to make inroads at a small studio in London. But within six months, Dan came back. He'd written some songs, I'd written a couple songs, and Gerry wrote a couple songs...all of which were ultimately used for the first America album."



Dewey Bunnell : "We would write our own songs, and bring the songs or the seed of the song, to the other two, and then we'd hash them out. So it really just happened without a whole lot of planning or foresight—we were channeling the music we loved. We also started to perform at a couple of pubs at a college, and some places in London and around England, and it just snowballed from there."

Eventually, the trio dubbed itself America, inspired by the Americana jukebox in their local mess hall and chose it because they did not want anyone to think they were British musicians trying to sound American. They played their first gigs in the London area, including some highlights at the Roundhouse in London's Chalk Farm district. They were eventually taken on by producer Ian Samwell, best known for writing Cliff Richard's 1958 breakthrough hit "Move It", and his partner Jeff Dexter, and through their efforts, they were eventually contracted to Kinney Records in March 1971 by Ian Ralfini.

Dewey Bunnell : "A key moment was meeting a guy named Jeff Dexter who was the MC at a place called The Roundhouse, which put on big, multi-act shows. Jeff introduced the bands onstage—he was a real savvy, plugged-in London trendsetter. And he lived with a guy named Ian Samwell who was a Warner Bros. executive & producer, and the two of them took us under their wing. Consequently, we ended up with a record deal at Warner Bros. and we did more shows. And before we knew it, Jeff was able to get us on the bill with some pretty heavyweight artists, including The Who and Elton John."

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Their first album, America, was recorded at Trident Studios in London in March 1971, and was produced by Samwell and Dexter, who became the trio's manager.



Songs featured on the album included : "Three Roses", "Children", "Here", "Rainy Day", "Never Found the Time", "Clarice", "Donkey Jaw", "Pigeon Song", and "Sandman".

Dan Peek : "I think in some ways we had very distinct styles; we found some common ground in the bands that we liked — CSNY, James Taylor... but there were acts that Gerry liked that I didn't care for and acts that I liked that he didn't care for, but we tried to find a common ground. And, to be quite honest, I think Dewey probably learned the most from the both of us in terms of writing, because originally, Dewey had never written a song. He wrote what we call snippets or pieces, and Gerry and I would take them and arrange them into songs. Before the end of the first album, he was writing fully formed songs. "Sandman" is a good example. We helped him out with some of the lyrics, but that was a song."

Samwell and Dexter subsequently brought the trio to Morgan Studios to record several additional songs. One of them was a Bunnell composition called "Desert Song".

Dewey Bunnell : "We also worked very hard producing those records, especially the first album which was the key to everything. We recorded the 10 or 12 songs for the first album, and Warners was keying in on "I Need You" as the first single. And then at the last minute, they said, "Have you guys got any more songs?" So we went back in the studio and we recorded four songs, one of which was "A Horse With No Name." It was released as a single, and it took off—we were on Top of The Pops and we were suddenly on the map."

"A Horse With No Name" was produced by Ian Samwell on the day of final recording at Morgan Studios, when at first the group thought it was too corny and took some convincing to actually play it. Gerry Beckley revealed that the correct tuning for the guitar is D E D G B D, low to high. The tuning is unique to this song.

The song became a major worldwide hit in early 1972. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA in March 1972. America's debut album was released in the U.S. that same month with the hit song added and quickly went platinum.

Dan Peek : "When we got to England, it was just like the right place, the right time, the right sound, the right songs, met the right people, got in the right doors. They picked the right song for the single, "A Horse With No Name" and the rest is history as they say."

The second single, "I Need You" (b/w "Riverside", was released in August 1972, and reached #9 in the US, but did not chart in the UK

Gerry Beckley : "It was one of the first songs that I had written. It wasn't the first song, but it was very early on. One of the things I like to mention about "I Need You," was that early on we met Harry Nilsson in London. Harry was a dear friend of Derek Taylor who was a mentor to us. And Harry was going to record "I Need You" as his follow-up single to his hit, "Without You." At the time, we had no plans for it—our single was "Horse" and everybody was excited about promoting it. Then of course, we ended up using "I Need You" as the follow-up single. Many years later, Harry did record the song."



After their initial success, the trio played a series of North American club and college dates in early 1972 and decided to dismiss Samwell and Dexter and relocate to Los Angeles, California, signing with the David Geffen/Elliot Roberts stable at Lookout Management. By 1973, the band had left Lookout to go with John Hartmann and Harlan Goodman after the latter two had broken away from Geffen/Roberts to set up their own management firm.

The recording of a second album was delayed by the relocation, as well as by an injury to Peek's arm. Deciding not to replace Samwell, the group opted to produce the album themselves. The trio began their move away from a mainly acoustic style to a more rock music-oriented style with the help of Hal Blaine on drums and Joe Osborn on bass.

With Peek playing lead electric guitar on more tracks, the group expanded from an acoustic trio to embrace a fuller live sound, adding Dave Atwood (who had played as a session musician on their debut album) on drums and David Dickey (formerly of the group Captain) on bass in late 1972.

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

America's second album, 'Homecoming', was released in November 1972. For this album and the next six throughout the next five years, the group traditionally chose titles beginning with the letter "H".



Songs featured on the album included : "Till the Sun Comes Up Again", "Cornwall Blank", "Head and Heart", and "California Revisited".

The first single from the album, "Ventura Highway" (b/w "Saturn Nights"), was released in January 1973, and reached #8 in the US, and #43 in the UK.



Dan Peek : "By the second album, "Ventura Highway"...I still hear it on the radio and it's my favorite song — I was just as proud as I could be of Dewey as a songwriter."

Dewey Bunnell : "Well, as a family we were stationed at Vandenberg Air Force Base in Central California. There were a lot of beaches near there, and our family would drive down to L.A. a lot. One time when we were driving on the highway, my dad had a flat tire. We were right there by the beach, and we hung out while my dad changed the tire. And we were under the freeway sign that said "Ventura." Later on when I was back in England, I remembered how much I loved that California coastline, and basically the sun and surf. In my mind, I could see that sign Ventura, and I put together some chords. Then I hummed a melody line over the top. And so that's the way "Ventura Highway" worked. The writing process was the same formula that I still use today—first, the chord progression, then the melody, and then I start working hard on lyrics."

The song has a "Go West, young man" motif in the structure of a conversation between an old man named Joe and a young and hopeful kid. Joe was modeled after a "grumpy" old man Bunnell had met while his dad was stationed in Biloxi, Mississippi at Keesler Air Force Base.

Dewey Bunnell : "I think in the song I'm talking to myself, frankly: 'How long you gonna stay here, Joe?' I really believe that 'Ventura Highway' has the most lasting power of all my songs. It's not just the words — the song and the track have a certain fresh, vibrant, optimistic quality that I can still respond to. That's Gerry and Dan doing a harmony on two guitars on the intro. I remember us sitting in a hotel room, and I was playing the chords, and Gerry got that guitar line, and he and Dan worked out that harmony part. That's really the hook of the song."

The second single, "Don't Cross The River" (b/w "To Each His Own"), was released in November 1972, and reached #35 in the US. The third single from the album, "Only In Your Heart" (b/w "Moon Song"), was released in March 1973, and reached #62 on the US charts.



Gerry Beckley : "We were all writing independently. Fortunately, we were all writing pretty good material. Very early on, we kind of established that [our band] was going to be this combination of different writers and different singers. You can hear how different "I Need You" is from "A Horse With No Name." And then Dan on the second album wrote "Don't Cross The River," which was a very country-flavored song. It doesn't always work out that way, but in this case, we were all prolific at the time and contributing."

Their next tour was delayed until January 1973 after Peek fell ill with hepatitis. In March 1973, drummer Dave Atwood was replaced by Dickey's former Captain bandmate, Willie Leacox.

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

Their third album, 'Hat Trick', was released in October 1973, following several months of recording at the Record Plant Studios in Los Angeles.



Again self-produced, the album featured strings, harmonicas, an eight-minute title track, and tap dancing. Beckley, Bunnell and Peek were once again joined by Blaine on drums, while Osborn was replaced by their touring bassist, David Dickey.

Songs featured on the album included : "Wind Wave", "Submarine Ladies", "It's Life", "Hat Trick", "Molten Love", and "Goodbye".

The album was not as successful as 'Homecoming', featuring only one modestly successful single, "Muskrat Love". Released in June 1973 it peaked at #67 in the US charts.



The second single from the album, "Rainbow Song" (b/w "Willow Tree Lullaby"), was released in November 1973, and reached #102 on the US Cashbox chart. The final single from the album, "Green Monkey" (b/w "She's Gonna Let You Down"), was released in March 1974, but failed to chart.



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

After the disappointing commercial performance of 'Hat Trick', America chose to enlist an outside producer for their next album. They were able to secure the services of producer George Martin and recording engineer Geoff Emerick, who played a major role in shaping the sound of the Beatles. Sessions took place at AIR Studios in London.

Gerry Beckley : "Well, he brought focus back to the process. There's so much that's been said and written about George, and his incredible body of work. His work with the Beatles was a wonderful inspiration to us. We had been producing ourselves for the first three albums, and it was becoming a bigger and bigger job. We were starting to use arrangements and outside arrangers for strings and things. So we had a discussion, and we thought it was probably best to turn this over to somebody that we all agree would be the right guy, which of course was George. He was really great at keeping us focused and moving forward."

Their fourth album, 'Holiday', was released on the Warner Bros. Records label in June 1974. The album was also released on Quadrophonic reel-to-reel tape for 4-channel enthusiasts. It was the recording debut of America's longtime drummer Willie Leacox, who is in the car in the cover photo.



With Martin's guidance, the album's style was very different from America's first three efforts, as he enhanced America's acoustic sound with strings and brass.

Dewey Bunnell : "He had a steady hand. He and his engineer, Geoff Emerick, had a lot of stored experience and knowledge about the studio and drum sounds, and how to get them. And then in the arrangement process, George became another element in that. And above all, he had the orchestrations that we began using a lot more of. He would write beautiful pieces for specific songs. George made the process really fun—we had a great history with him."

Songs featured on the album included : "Miniature", "Another Try", "Glad to See You", "Hollywood", "Baby It's Up to You", "You", "Old Man Took", and "What Does It Matter".

They got back in the Top 5 with "Tin Man" (b/w "In The Country"), released in July 1974 - which peaked at #4 in the US pop chart. The song was partially inspired by the character from The Wizard of Oz.

Dewey Bunnell : "That's still my favorite movie of all time. It embedded itself in my psyche as a young kid, and I just can't ever shake that. It was an inspiring film, and of course it had all the messages...that we all have our brain and our heart and our courage if we look inside. It was a beautifully made film, and I loved the film's fantastic transition from black & white to color. Life can be that way; it's either black & white, and you can turn it into color if you work in that direction. "Tin Man" was really the first song we did with George Martin. So it has a special place in our history. Also, George played the key piano hook on that song."

The follow-up, "Lonely People" (b/w "Mad Dog") was released in November 1974 and reached #5 in the US.



Dan Peek : "We got to work with George Martin. He produced five of our albums. Of course, he's now Sir George, the producer of virtually all The Beatles' music and worked at several different studios, but mostly as his studio in London. Some of the guys would come by and hang out there, smoke a cigarette and shoot the breeze. Paul used to come to L.A. every year and throw a party. We would be invited to these parties that he had, which would be maybe five hundred of his closest friends. (laughs)"

In January 1975 they released the non-album single "Simple Life" in Japan, where it reached #7 in the charts.



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Their fifth studio album, 'Hearts' was released in March 1975, and was, again, produced by George Martin. The cover was designed by Phil Hartman, who eventually left graphic design to pursue an acting career, which included providing the voices for several characters on The Simpsons.



In March they released the single "Sister Golden Hair" (b/w "Midnight"), which peaked at Number 1 in the US pop charts, and #3 in France. The song featured a memorable opening guitar riff inspired by George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord" and frank lyrics inspired by Jackson Browne.

Gerry Beckley : "One of the things about "Sister Golden Hair," apart from the nod to George Harrison—the 12-string acoustic and the slide guitar—is that I had that song written and demoed before the Holiday album, which was our fourth album. But we didn't use it on Holiday...I'm not sure I even submitted it. I was very happy with the songs I contributed to Holiday, and Holiday went on to be a big hit record for us, with "Tin Man" and "Lonely People" on it. But it does show that sometimes songs can kind of sit in a holding pattern, and "Sister Golden Hair" was recorded for the next album, Hearts, and was a number one record for us. So it all worked out fine."

Other songs featured on the album included : "Half a Man", "Old Virginia", "People in the Valley", "Company", "The Story of a Teenager", and "Seasons".



The second single from the album, "Daisy Jane" (b/w "Tomorrow"), was released in July 1975, and reached #20 in the US and #9 in France. Released in October 1975, the third single taken from the album, "Woman Tonight" (b/w "Bell Tree"), only reached #44 in the US, but
topped the charts in France.

Dan Peek : "I would say that we each had our strengths and weaknesses. And I think we probably learned from each other to a great extent, and every dog has his day. There were times when Dewey was just a hit-writing machine and then Gerry kinda picked up the slack, and then I had my moments with "Lonely People," "Don't Cross The River," "Today's The Day" and "Woman Tonight," which I found out the other day was a No. 1 record in France."

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In December 1975, Warner Bros. released a compilation of America's best-known tracks : 'History: America's Greatest Hits', which went platinum. The cover artwork, again designed by Phil Hartman, partly draws from artwork on America's previous albums. The drawings of Dan Peek and Dewey Bunnell are taken from photos on a poster included with the 'Hat Trick' album. The image of the car and the trees behind it come from the cover of the 'Holiday' album. The Golden Gate Bridge and pine trees are adapted from the cover of 'Hearts'. Although images of Big Ben and the double-decker bus are not found on any other America album, their inclusion symbolizes the group's origins in England.



The first seven tracks of the album, having been recorded prior to producer George Martin's involvement with the group, were remixed by Martin for this release, with several notable differences from the original mixes : A voice, not on the original recording, can briefly be heard in the background of "A Horse with No Name" about two minutes into the track; the pitch on "I Need You" is slowed a quarter tone from the original version. Both songs also feature more prominent bass. "Sandman" runs about one minute shorter than the original mix. On "Ventura Highway", Dewey Bunnell's lead vocal is double-tracked and the guitars have significantly more reverb. "Don't Cross the River" adds a fiddle not heard in the original recording. In addition, several of the tracks are crossfaded to eliminate the breaks between songs.

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Their sixth studio album, 'Hideaway', was released in April 1976. Produced by George Martin, it was recorded at Caribou Ranch in Colorado in February 1976, with the album cover and inner sleeve photos reflecting the wintry environment.



The first single from the album, "Today's The Day" (b/w "Hideaway Part II"), was released in April 1976 and reached #23 in the US charts.

Dan Peek : "That was our last hit as a trio. In fact, Gerry plays the piano on that song. I wrote it originally as a guitar song, and he plays the most beautiful piano part on there, and I just think if nothing else, to showcase his chops and what he added to the recording of the song."



The follow up, "Amber Cascades" (b/w "Who Loves You"), released in July 1976, tanked at #75 in the US chart. The third single from the album, "She's A Liar" (b/w "She's Beside You"), was released in November 1976 but failed to chart.

Other songs featured on the album included : "Lovely Night", "Don't Let It Get You Down", "Can't You See", "Watership Down", "Hideaway Part I", and "Jet Boy Blue".



Martin's implementation of more complex instrumentation on America's albums proved somewhat overwhelming to the band on stage, often compelling them to switch from instrument to instrument during songs. For their 1976 tour, the group expanded their stage line-up to include Jim Calire on keyboards and sax and Tom Walsh on percussion, so they could more comfortably perform Martin's arrangements.

Dewey Bunnell : "He's credited for seven albums, five which were studio albums of original material, and he remixed our greatest hits project and then we did a live album. We had a long, beautiful relationship with George, and all of the projects were great. He liked to record in different places, so we made an album at the Caribou Ranch in Colorado, in Hawaii, in London, in San Francisco & Los Angeles, and in the Caribbean in Montserrat. It was a wonderful time; we really look back at the George Martin years as very special."

Martin and the trio went to Hawaii during late 1976 to work on the group's seventh studio album, which was recorded in a beach house on the island of Kauai.

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Their seventh studio album, 'Harbor', was released by Warner Bros. Records in February 1977. It was the last to feature Dan Peek, who embarked on a solo career shortly after the album's release. The album was, again, produced by George Martin. Despite the serene tone of the title and artwork, Harbor is more brooding and pessimistic than most of America's previous albums.



Though a major commercial disappointment compared to America's six previous albums, the album did reach number 21 on the Billboard album chart.

Three singles were released from the album but all failed to chart : "God Of The Sun" (b/w "Down To The Water") in April 1977 in the US, and "Slow Down" (b/w "Sarah") released the same month in the UK; and "Don't Cry Baby" (b/w "Monster") released in June 1977.



Other songs featured on the album included : "Now She's Gone", "Political Poachers", "Sergeant Darkness", "Are You There", "These Brown Eyes", and "Hurricane".



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In May 1977, Dan Peek left the band. Peek states that he was voted out after missing a tour rehearsal but Bunnell later countered, saying that the decision to leave had been Peek's, after he recently had renewed his Christian faith following years of recreational drug use and had begun to seek a different artistic direction from Beckley or Bunnell.

Peek issued his first solo album, 'All Things Are Possible', in 1978. The album, produced by Chris Christian, was successful and Peek became a pioneering artist in the emerging Christian popular music genre. The title track entered the Billboard pop charts in early 1979, peaking at No. 78.



Meanwhile, Beckley and Bunnell decided to continue as America, ending their contract with Warner Bros. with the release of their first concert LP, 'Live', during October 1977.



Recorded at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles, the performance featured a backing orchestra conducted by Elmer Bernstein. The concert was recorded shortly after Peek left the group. The album was only mildly successful on the popular charts, peaking at No. 129.



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America's first studio album without Peek, 'Silent Letter', was released in June 1979 on their new label, Capitol Records. The album, once again produced by George Martin, was recorded in Montserrat in the West Indies. The album scored no higher than number 110 on the charts, leading Bunnell sarcastically to dub the album 'Silent Record'.



America continued to evolve as the 1980s began. For their next album, 'Alibi', released in August 1980, Beckley and Bunnell sought fresh personnel in the form of producers Matthew McCauley and Fred Mollin.



The album eschewed [bless you!] the strings and brass of a typical George Martin project in favour of a more popular-rock style. It also became the third studio album in a row without a successful single in the United States, although Beckley's "Survival" topped the charts in Italy. The album's sales peaked at number 142.



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Dan Peek emerged from several years of musical obscurity during May 1984, releasing his second solo Christian album, 'Doer of the Word', on Home Sweet Home Records. The album's title track featured Beckley on backing vocals.

Dan Peek : "Gerry came and sang on "Doer Of The Word" and played the acoustic lead. And it was just a real snappy, great, Christian pop song, basically. I made one album, and then I didn't make another album for, like, two or three years. And part of that was because I was building a house and doing some other stuff, but mainly, the reason was I couldn't stand working with the guy who was the producer. He ran me up the wall. But he was one of these people that you either love him or hate him, and a lot of people loved him and they always thought he was "Mr. Nice Guy." But for whatever reasons, we just did not get along. Part of it was because he kept trying to cram all of his songs onto the records. It was just a little overly ambitious of him. And I'd come out of this band where it was like, suddenly, I'm free, I'm a solo artist, and I will finally have the freedom to express myself. And even with George Martin... he was a great producer who had a very light touch. Good producers usually filter out the crap, and they're not heavy handed. And George wasn't constantly shoving songs at us going, "Here, I just wrote this in the toilet, and I think it would be great for you!"(Laughs)."

When asked about the prospects for a reunion in the early 1980s, Beckley and Bunnell stated that they were happy for Peek in that he had found a new life and a new direction, but that it was unlikely there would be a reunion.

Dan Peek : "The guys won't even sit down to have lunch with me for whatever their reasons... I mean, they gave a reason, but it was just so bogus it just didn't fly with me as an excuse. But I went to great pains, and a lot of people were very upset with some of the things I wrote about the nasty nature of the breakup. But my point in sort of bare-knuckling it with these issues was, look, a reunion is not gonna happen. I know, all things are possible and "never say never," but really, it's almost hard to imagine a scenario where there would be a reunion. We came very close to doing one... in fact, that was in some ways what precipitated me writing the book and certainly precipitated some of the things that I then wrote on the blog site about the America "thing," explaining why it just doesn't seem like its in the cards for it to happen..."

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Beckley and Bunnell spent the latter half of the 1980s focusing on their live show, performing well over 100 times a year around the world. While America remained a hot ticket on the touring circuit, they were unable to land a recording contract in the years after they left the Capitol label.

In the 2000s, the group remained very much active and popular on the nostalgia concert circuit, and though the group had occasionally issued new material on minor labels, their offerings had been largely ignored by the greater commercial music industry and record-buying public.

Gerry Beckley : "This is our 47th year; we still do between 90 and 100 shows a year. That takes us all over the world. It's been a fascinating life. The travel aspect becomes more fatiguing, but ironically, the shows seem to be more and more rewarding. If you sell out and you see these people up on their feet, you know, you'd be missing something if it didn't really hit you where it counts. It's a wonderful thing to do this. I always say that it's our part of the bargain. These people [at our shows] are the people who bought our records, who made them the hits that they are. These people are responsible for getting our kids through colleges and stuff, if you want to look at it that way. And I think our part of the bargain is, we go around and we present this music in the best possible light, and I think that's a pretty cool arrangement."



Dan Peek : "I think there was something about the trio that was tough for a lot of people to accept that it was no longer a trio. And then there are those who could care less. It's like the band is the two guys now. That was then, this is now. Let's just enjoy what they're doing. Of course when they tour now, they play all the old hits. They play their new stuff too. They play everything. When I was touring, I played America stuff. I played all the old hits. I played my new stuff. You give the people what they want basically. On some level that was our motto from the beginning; we tried to do music that people wanted to hear. If there's somebody missing onstage, you just do the best you can anyway. There were times when we were all there that in some ways we weren't all there. There were nights that somebody would lose their voice and you were more or less up there occupying space. There's no question in my mind there's a segment of people who really could care less who's up there. They're there for the songs. But there is a very hard-core base of the fans that know all the guys and they really are loyal to the old threesome. There's a longing and a yearning and a continuing effort to try and inspire a reunion. There have been many, many, many rumors of would be reunions and people who've tried to put together things. John Hartman, who was managing us when I was last with the band, is no longer managing them, but he put together a deal I think with Gary Katz who is the producer for Steely Dan and some of the other big acts of the '70s. They had gotten together a seven figure deal. They had everything lined up. Dewey and Gerry said yeah, they'd do it. They'd make a record. They called me. I was living in the Caribbean at the time. If anything, it would've been a hassle for me to get out of my hammock and put my shoes on and get on a plane and go somewhere. But they said yeah, they want to do it and was I up for it? I said OK. Then I got a call two weeks later and they changed their minds. It's been like that for more years than I want to remember. (laughs)"

Continuous speculations of Peek reuniting with America finally came to an end when Dan Peek died in his home in Farmington, Missouri of fibrinous pericarditis on 24 July 2011, at the age of 60.

The Single :

"A Horse with No Name" was written by Dewey Bunnell, and performed by America.



Trying to find a song that would be popular in both the United States and Europe, Warner Brothers was reluctant to release Gerry Beckley's "I Need You" ballad as the first single from America. The label asked the band if it had any other material, then arranged for America to record four more songs at Morgan Studios, Willesden in London.

Originally called "Desert Song", the song was written while the band was staying at the home studio of musician Arthur Brown, near Puddletown, Dorset. The first two demos were recorded there, by Jeff Dexter and Dennis Elliott, and were intended to capture the feel of the hot, dry desert that had been depicted at the studio from a Salvador Dalí painting, and the strange horse that had ridden out of an M. C. Escher picture.

Dewey Bunnell : "At first, I called it "Desert Song." I had spent time in the States with my family traveling in the desert, in New Mexico and in Southern California. I had always been drawn to the desert. My brother and I had spent a lot of our time with the family, exploring the wilderness of whatever state we lived in. We lived in Mississippi, Florida, Nebraska, Massachusetts and California, and we loved animals and fishing. We were always outdoors. When I got to England in 1967 with my family, you know, it was a rainy place. And there wasn't a lot of wild wilderness like there is in the U.S. So I wanted to write a song about the desert, and I called it "Desert Song." In the chorus were the words, "a horse with no name." And I had used that as sort of a vehicle to get out into the desert."

The song had its public debut at the Harrogate Festival, four days later, to great audience response. After several performances and a TV show, it was retitled "A Horse with No Name".

Dewey Bunnell : "With songwriting, you're channeling something...you're trying to get something out there. You have three minutes to create, in my mind, some imagery. My songs tend to be more visual and with a lot of imagery. You know, "the heat was hot and the ground was dry," and "there were plants and birds and rocks and things." That's what I like to write about. And the aspect of the horse with no name was just a way to get out there in the desert. Then it was our manager Ian Samwell, who co-produced the album...he was the one who suggested, "Oh, you must use the line 'horse with no name' as the title. It's a much more gripping title." And I said, "Sure." I didn't even flinch on that one. He also pointed out that there was an opera called Desert Song and it [might be] confusing. So that's how that worked out."



The song's resemblance to some of Neil Young's work aroused some controversy.

Dewey Bunnell : "I know that virtually everyone, on first hearing, assumed it was Neil. I never fully shied away from the fact that I was inspired by him. I think it's in the structure of the song as much as in the tone of his voice. It did hurt a little, because we got some pretty bad backlash. I've always attributed it more to people protecting their own heroes more than attacking me."

Dan Peek : "We had a lot of controversy which in many ways I think actually helped us in the beginning because we literally heard DJs back-announce the song as being by Neil Young. When "A Horse With No Name" first came out, we were in Philadelphia and the song was in the Top 20 at that point. It was late one night and we were coming back from a show we had done. They played the song and at the end of it the guy said "that was Neil Young with his new song, A Horse With No Name." We just flipped out. In many, many interviews people were asking "What's the deal here? You guys have a very, very similar sound." Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery I suppose. On some level we denied to our last breath that we were copying anybody, but everything's derivative. Certainly they (Crobsy, Stills, Nash and Young) were an influence on us. I had been influenced by vocal harmony from my earliest memories from people that you never heard of that sang Barbershop Quartet kind of stuff to Southern Gospel four part harmony to The Beach Boys. The Beatles were a band that relied heavily on harmony. They're kind of, if you will excuse the pun, an unsung hero of the harmony genre. Let's fact it, CSNY particularly CSN put vocal harmony up front and center. Of course with acoustic backing it just makes the vocals that much more apparent. We wanted to eat, so we did the best job we could, if you want to call it imitating or copying their sound. We denied it, but we were certainly influenced by it. There's no question."



Despite the song being banned by some U.S. radio stations, in Kansas City and elsewhere, because of supposed drug references to heroin use, the song ascended to number 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. The song also topped the chart in Canada and Finland, and reached #3 in Ireland, and #11 in the Netherlands. Though it only reached #3 on the "official" UK chart, it soared to Number 1 on the mint and skill NME chart.

Dan Peek : "I think we had the same kind of aspirations as most people who start in music and really who are just hoping to make a living. That was my goal. I can't do anything else. I don't want to do anything else. I feel like music is my life. If I can just put some food on my table and a roof over my head, I don't care if I'm playing at the Holiday Inn. I don't care if I'm playing at clubs. When the thing took off the way it did, I think we were all just stunned and really in some ways didn't really understand the import of it until years later. It was just such a tremendous rocket ride."

Other Versions include :   Günter Noris (1972)  /  Top of the Poppers (1972)  /  Springbok (1972)  /  Ray Conniff and The Singers (1972)  /  "Päättömällä pollella" by Petri & Pettersson Brass (1972)  /  "Ein Mensch ohne Namen" by Bernd P. (1972)  /  "En häst utan namn" by Family Four (1972)  /  The King's Singers (1975)  /  Eon (1978)  /  First Light (1982)  /  The Jack Rubies (1987)  /  D.A.D. (1987)  /  Gruppo Sportivo (1990)  / Colors in Motion (1991)  /  David Essex (1993)  /  The Loud Family (1995)  /  Streetnoise (1996)  /  Horace Andy (2002)  /  Emmerson Nogueira (2002)  /  Eduardo Braga (2005)  /  Arcoiris (2006)  /  Larrikin Love (2006)  /  Antena (2006)  /  Rick Devin (2007)  /  Seelenluft (2007)  /  A.Human (2007)  /  "Päättömällä pollella" by Siiri Nordin (2008)  /  Bobby Bare Jr. (2009)  /  Peter Jöback (2009)  /  Roch Voisine (2010)  /  Sylvain Cossette (2010)  /  Dennis and Christy Soares (2011)  /  Danny McEvoy and Clare Sexton (2012)  /  The Piddletown Brothers (2013)  /  Pub Dog (2013)  /  "A Place with No Name" by Michael Jackson (2014)  /  Night Bird (2014)  /  Loretta Heywood (2014)  /  Fletan Power (2014)  /  "A Source with No Name" by ApologetiX (2015)  /  6-Zylinder (2016)  /  The LSB Experience (2018)  /  Paul Hardcastle (2018)  /  Renaud Hantson's Furious Zoo (2018)  /  8-Bit Universe (2018)  /  The Cat and Owl (2018)  /  a robot (2019)  / Sweet Little Band (2020)

On This Day :

2 February : Tom Stoppard's play "Jumpers" premieres in London
2 February : Angry demonstrators burn the British Embassy in Dublin to the ground in protest at 'Bloody Sunday'
2 February : Dana International, Eurovision singer, born Yaron Cohen in Tel Aviv, Israel
3 February : XI Winter Olympic Games opens in Sapporo, Japan
4 February : Senator Strom Thurmond suggests John Lennon be deported from USA

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! :