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

[daf]

Huge thanks from me too, daf - I rarely comment here but it's always a joy when I see this thread has been updated.

Aw, youse guys!

(Now for an afternoon ploughing into the Bay City Rollers - groo!)

[daf]

367.  Telly Savalas – If



From : 4 – 17 March 1975
Weeks : 2
B-side : You And Me Against The World
Bonus : Official Video
Bonus : Top Pop March 1975
Bonus : Top of the Pops Christmas 1975

The Story So Far : 

Aristotelis Savalas was born in Garden City, New York, in January 1922, the second of five children born to Greek parents Christina Kapsalis, an artist who was a native of Sparta, and Nick Savalas, a restaurant owner. Savalas and his brother, Gus, sold newspapers and polished shoes to help support the family. Savalas initially spoke only Greek when he entered grade school, but later learned English. A renowned swimmer, he worked as a beach lifeguard after graduation from high school. On one occasion, though, he was unsuccessful in saving a father from drowning; as he attempted resuscitation, the man's two children stood nearby crying for their father to wake up. This affected Savalas so much that he spent the rest of his life promoting water safety.

In 1941, Savalas was drafted into the United States Army. From 1941 to 1943, Savalas served in Company C, 12th Medical Training Battalion, 4th Medical Training Regiment at Camp Pickett, Virginia. In 1943, he was discharged from the Army with the rank of corporal after being severely injured in a car accident. Savalas spent more than a year recuperating in hospital with a broken pelvis, sprained ankle, and concussion. He then attended the Armed Forces Institute, where he studied radio and television production. After the war, he worked for the U.S. State Department as host of the Your Voice of America series, then at ABC News.

In 1950, he hosted a radio show called "The Coffeehouse in New York City". Savalas began as an executive director and then as senior director of the news special events at ABC. He then became an executive producer for the Gillette Cavalcade of Sports. Savalas did not consider acting as a career until asked if he could recommend an actor who could do a European accent. He did, but as the friend in question could not go, Savalas himself went to cover for his friend and ended up being cast on "And Bring Home a Baby", an episode of Armstrong Circle Theatre in January 1958. He appeared on two more episodes of the series in 1959 and 1960, one, acting alongside a young Sydney Pollack. Savalas quickly became in much demand as a guest star on TV shows.

In 1961, Savalas made his film debut in Mad Dog Coll, playing a cop. His work had impressed fellow actor Burt Lancaster, who arranged for Savalas to be cast in the John Frankenheimer-directed The Young Savages. Savalas reunited with Lancaster and Frankenheimer for Birdman of Alcatraz in 1962, where he was nominated for the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor. The same year, he appeared as a private detective in Cape Fear. Already starting to go bald, in 1965 he shaved his head to play Pontius Pilate in The Greatest Story Ever Told, and kept his head shaven for the rest of his life.



In 1967, he was part of an all-star cast in The Dirty Dozen, playing Archer Maggott (the worst of the dozen). In 1968, he reunited with Burt Lancaster and Sydney Pollack in the Western The Scalphunters, and also featured in the comedy Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell. Savalas' first leading role in film was in the 1969 British crime comedy Crooks and Coronets. The same year, he appeared in the James Bond movie On Her Majesty's Secret Service, playing Blofeld. He continued to appear in films during the 1970s including Kelly's Heroes in 1970; the brilliantly titled A Town Called Bastard in 1971; and Horror Express (with Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee) in 1972.



Telly Savalas : "I had worked my way up to star billing. When the bottom dropped out of the movie business,  I could have stayed in Europe and made Italian movies, but I discovered the big difference between an Italian and American movie is that in the American movie, you get paid."

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He released his debut album, 'This is Telly Savalas...' in 1972.



"We All End Up The Same" (b/w "We Both Knew It Was Over") was released as a single in the UK in April 1972. Other songs featured on the album included : "Look Around You", "Try To Remember", "I Walk The Line", "The Last Time I Saw Her", "Yesterday When I Was Young", "I Shall Be Released", "Sunday Morning Comin' Down", "I Don't Want To Know", "Looking Back At Thirty", and "Promises To Keep".

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Savalas first played Lt. Theodopolus "Theo" Kojak in the 1973 CBS TV movie The Marcus–Nelson Murders, which was based on the real-life "Career Girls" murder case. Kojak aired on CBS for five seasons from October 24, 1973, until March 18, 1978, with 118 episodes produced. The role won Savalas an Emmy and two Golden Globes for Best Actor in a Drama Series.

Kojak was a bald New York City detective with a fondness for lollipops, whose tagline was "Who loves ya, baby?". Although the lollipop gimmick was added to indulge his sweet tooth, Savalas also smoked heavily onscreen—cigarettes, cigarillos, and cigars—throughout the first season's episodes. The lollipops had apparently given him three cavities, and were part of an (unsuccessful) effort by Kojak (and Savalas himself) to curb his smoking.



Clive James : "Telly Savalas can make bad slang sound like good slang and good slang sound like lyric poetry. It isn't what he is, so much as the way he talks, that gets you tuning in."

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He released his second album, 'Telly', in 1974.



The first single from the album, "Rubber Bands And Bits Of String" (b/w "Help Me Make It Through The Night") was released in September 1974.


 
The second single, a spoken word version of Bread's "If", produced by Snuff Garrett, reached number one in both the UK and Ireland in March 1975.



The follow-up, "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'", released as a single in April 1975, reached #47 in the UK charts.



Other songs featured on the album included : "A Song For You", "How Insensitive", "You're A Lady", "You And Me Against The World", "Something", "Without Her".



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His third album, 'Telly Savalas', was released in 1975. Rushed out to cash-in on his recent chart success, the album was was a bit of a mess - with half the tracks recycled from his 1972 debut album.



The first single from the album, "Try To Remember" originally featured on his debut 1972 album, as did : "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", "Yesterday When I Was Young", "Look Around You", and "We Both Knew It Was Over". New songs featured on the album included : "I Think Of You", "But Beautiful", "What's New", "Last Time I Saw Her", and "Didn't We".



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His fourth album, 'Who Loves Ya Baby' was released in 1976.



The first single from the album, "Who Loves Ya Baby", was released as a single in the UK in November 1975.



Other songs featured on the album included : "This Is All I Ask", "Nevertheless (I'm In Love With You)", "Gentle On My Mind", "Love Is Just A Word", "(Ah The Apple Trees) When The World Was Young", "A Good Time Man Like Me Ain't Got No Business Singing The Blues", "The Men In My Little Girl's Life", and "Time".



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In the late 1970s, Savalas narrated three UK travelogues titled Telly Savalas Looks at Portsmouth, Telly Savalas Looks at Aberdeen, and Telly Savalas Looks at Birmingham. They were produced by Harold Baim and were examples of "quota quickies", which were then part of a requirement that cinemas in the United Kingdom show a set percentage of British-produced films.



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His final album, 'Sweet Surprise' was released in 1980.



"Some Broken Hearts Never Mend" (b/w "Look What You've Done To Me") was released as a single in October 1980.



Other songs featured on the album included : "Love Is Such A Sweet Surprise", "Don't Turn Your Back On Love", "Mem'ries", "Oh, What A Night For Love", "You're The Closest Thing I've Found To Love", "For All The Right Reasons", "Honey", "You're Always There", and "My Song For You".

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Savalas died on January 22, 1994, of complications of prostate and bladder cancer at the Sheraton-Universal Hotel in Universal City, California, the day after his 72nd birthday. He was interred at the George Washington section of Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles, California. The funeral, held in the Saint Sophia Greek Orthodox Church, was attended by his third wife, Julie, and his brother Gus. His first two wives, Katherine and Marilyn, also attended with their own children.

The Single :

"If" was written by David Gates and performed by Telly Savalas.



Originally popularized by his group Bread, "If" charted at #4 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 when released as a single in 1971 and #6 in Canada.

David Gates : "I wrote that one night at the dining room table, after my kids and my wife had gone to bed. It took me about an hour and a half, with an extra verse left over. If you look at it, there's a few bizarre lines in there, like 'you and I would simply fly away' - that's kind of an unusual thought. When I was done, I said, 'That's the best song I've ever written and probably will be the best song I'll ever write.' For me it's really held up over time, more than any of the others."



Telly Savalas' mostly-spoken interpretation of "If" reached Number 1 on the UK Singles Chart for two weeks in March 1975. The single also reached #1 in Ireland, #12 in Australia, #12 on the US Billboard "Easy Listening" chart, and #88 in Canada.



A parody take on Savalas' rendition, by voice over artists Chris Sandford and Bill Mitchell performing as Yin and Yan, reached #25 in the UK in March 1975.



Other Versions include :  Bread (1971)  /  Perry Como (1971)  /  Eydie Gormé (1971)  /  Johnny Mathis (1971)  /  Andy Williams (1971)  /  Olivia Newton-John (1971)  /  The Supremes & Four Tops (1971)  /  Petula Clark (1971)  /  Herbie Mann (1971)  /  Tom Jones (1972)  /  Lena Martell (1973)  /  Peters & Lee (1973)  /  Bruce Forsyth (1973)  /  Frank Sinatra (1974)  /  Edward Woodward (1974)  /  Freddie Starr (1974)  /  Dickie Rock (1974)  /  Cleo Laine & John Williams (1976)  /  Shirley Bassey (1977)  /  Nana Mouskouri (1980)  /  Howard Keel (1984)  /  Shane Richie (1998) [The Master!]  /  Dingledonk Bumbleshoe (2001)  /  Dolly Parton (2002)  /  Westlife (2002)  /  Donny Osmond (2007)  /  Barry Manilow (2007)  /  Aled Jones (2007)  /  Danny McEvoy (2012)  /  Marti Pellow the Grinning Fellow (2015)  /  Shane Ericks (2017)  /  Andrew Liles (2018)  /  The Darzis (2021)

On This Day :

4 March : Charlie Chaplin knighted by Elizabeth II
7 March : RCA releases "Young Americans", Dave Bowie's 9th studio album.
8 March : George Stevens, American film director, dies of a heart attack aged 70
9 March : The Golden Hinde II arrived in San Francisco Bay, re-enacting the voyage of Sir Francis Drake, which sailed in the bay in 1579.
9 March : "Lieutenant" opens at Lyceum Theater NYC.
10 March : "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" opens at Belasco Theater NYC for 45 performances
10 March : John Lennon releases the single "Stand By Me"
11 March : Military coup in Portugal under General António de Spínola fails
11 March : USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
12 March : Kéllé Bryan, pop singer (Eternal), born in Plaistow, England
12 March : The seventh and last "draft lottery", for conscription of 18-year-old American men into military service.
13 March : Comedy "Same Time, Next Year" opens at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre, NYC
14 March : Susan Hayward, American actress, dies of brain cancer aged 56
15 March : Wales trounce Ireland, 32-4 at the National Stadium, Cardiff to clinch their 18th Five Nations Rugby Championship
15 March : Eva Longoria, actress, born Eva Jacqueline Longoria in Corpus Christi, Texas
15 March : will.i.am, musician (Black Eyed Peas), born William James Adams Jr. in East Los Angeles, California
15 March : Aristotle Onassis, Greek shipping moneybags and partner of Maria Callas and Jacqueline Kennedy dies aged 69
16 March : "Lieutenant" closes after 9 performances
16 March : US Mariner 10 makes 3rd & final fly-by of Mercury
16 March : T-Bone Walker, American blues guitarist, dies of bronchial pneumonia aged 64
17 March : Justin Hawkins, musician (The Darkness), born Justin David Hawkins in Chertsey, Surrey

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! :

Spoiler alert

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telly_Savalas
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_(Bread_song)
https://www.songfacts.com/facts/bread/if
https://www.discogs.com/artist/270260-Telly-Savalas
https://www.45cat.com/artist/telly-savalas/uk
https://secondhandsongs.com/performance/706/versions#nav-entity

[close]

[Johnboy]

been watching some Kojack recently, the real life locations are endlessly fascinating.

[gilbertharding]

Telly Savalas, Yul Brynner, and Errol Brown were the only completely bald men you'd ever see on TV. Later on, of course, there was Duncan Goodhew.

[daf]

368.  Bay City Rollers – Bye Bye Baby (Baby Goodbye)



From : 18 March – 26 April 1975
Weeks : 6
B-side : It's For You
Bonus 1 : Top of the Pops 13 March 1975
Bonus 2 : Supersonic March 1975
Bonus 3 : Top of the Pops 10 April 1975
Bonus 4 : Top Pop 25 April 1975
Bonus 5 : Mystery TV performance (Germany?) 1975
Bonus 6 : Top of the Pops Christmas 1975
Bonus 7 : T in the Park 2016

The Story So Far : 

The Ambassadors were formed in Edinburgh in 1964 by 16-year-old Alan Longmuir on acoustic guitar, his younger brother Derek Longmuir on drums, and their older cousin Neil Porteous on acoustic guitar. The group never performed publicly under this name, just a family wedding where they covered "Wake Up Little Susie".

They changed their name to The Saxons, and Derek invited a friend from school, Gordon "Nobby" Clark, to be the lead singer. Porteous moved from acoustic to electric guitar, and Alan followed suit by changing to electric bass. The Saxons played occasional dance hall concerts while the band members completed their schooling or worked during the day (Alan apprenticed as a plumber). Porteous left the band in July 1965, with new guitarist Dave Pettigrew filling the spot after answering an advertisement placed by the band in an Edinburgh newspaper. Pettigrew was more advanced musically than the others, and pushed the band to improve.

While taking a technical class at Napier College, Alan met fellow plumbing student Gregory Ellison, who joined the Saxons on electric guitar, with Pettigrew shifting to keyboards. Gregory's older brother Mike Ellison joined as a second lead singer, allowing more complex harmonies, especially useful for the Motown songs they liked to perform. The band convinced Tam Paton, a former big band leader and influential local band and club manager, to audition them at the Longmuirs' house.

Tam Paton : "I had played in bands all my life. I played piano and I sang with the bands. With a band called the Crusaders, I backed people like Dusty Springfield and Billy Fury. We also traveled up and down the country, as an opening act, with bands like The Hollies. We were the type of band that if a record came out by a certain act, we could make it sound like that particular record. This was all in the sixties, you know. We also won lots of contests all over Britain, but we never were able to make it, but we were a very musical band. But we eventually broke up, the band Crusaders, and I formed a dance band and I moved into Palais de Danse in Edinburgh, which was the biggest dance hall there. I got offered the job as a band leader there, to lead an orchestra. But I changed it into a showband, a big band, you know the type with the saxophones swinging back and forth and everything, and we drew big crowds in there."

Paton booked The Saxons for a Thursday night at his club, The Palais de Danse.

Tam Paton : "On Thursdays there were teenage nights. So the manager at the Palais de Danse asked me if I could put on some young bands then. So I started to take on young bands and put them into the Palais on Thursday nights. And that was my first sight of the Bay City Rollers; that's when the Bay City Rollers and I met. They also used to come along and watch the big band and they had always wanted to speak to me; Alan and Derek had wanted to speak to me for ages, you know. And that was basically it: they spoke to me and I got them some work in the Palais de Danse - and they were popular. And I realized the popularity was how they looked and how tight they wore their trouser. And that was basically the start of the band."

The Saxons moved out of the Longmuirs' back room to practice in Hermiston at a church. Desiring a better name for the band, they settled on "Rollers", but needed a more powerful American-sounding term in front of that. Derek Longmuir threw a dart at a map of the United States, landing first on Arkansas. This did not meet anyone's approval, so a second dart was thrown. It landed near Bay City, Michigan. The band agreed on the name, the Bay City Rollers.

Members from this period included bassist David Paton (from 1969 to 1970) and keyboardist Billy Lyall (from 1969 to 1971), who went on to be founding members of the band Pilot.

David Paton : "If someone left the band, Tam would just appear with a new band member who we knew nothing about. That's what happened with Billy. One day he just appeared at rehearsals. Tam said, 'This is your new keyboard player.' I thought, 'Who is this guy?' So I said, 'Let's have a wee jam...' Billy didn't know how to. He had a classical training and had come straight out of the Marines where he'd been in a military band. But boy he could play the piano. He played some classical pieces and just blew me away. He was a real talent."



David Paton : "They had a huge following at that time in Scotland. Long before they had their first hit in 1971, bus loads of girls would go to their gigs no matter where they played. I never wanted that. Music was my top priority, not the way I looked, or any of that stuff. But I thought, 'Well, I can do it for a wee while and see how it goes.' So I did, and for a year I had a great time."

In 1971, they signed with Bell Records. Pop star and aspiring music mogul Jonathan King was hired to produce their first single.

Alan Longmuir : "Eventually, after a six-year apprenticeship Tam got us a record deal with Bell Records. We were overjoyed. When he turned up at the Bell Records office in London we all stood up as if a school teacher had entered the room. I recall he asked us to say our names and what instruments we played. As we did he said, "Very good" and nodded for the next one to speak. He was tall and gangly and carried himself slightly awkwardly. But, with his lop-sided grin, he put us at ease and invited us back to his mews house home to listen to some records. As we left Bell's offices that first day, we were told we could help ourselves to any albums that were laying around. We were like kids in a candy shop. I noticed the office girls look at us like: 'Aah, aren't they cute' and the men: 'Are they really old enough for this game?'. Jonathan King was a show-off, self-publicist and that became apparent within the first hour of meeting him. We were practically falling over the names he dropped onto the shag pile carpet."

Their first single, "Keep On Dancing", (b/w "Alright"), was released in July 1971, and reached #9 in the UK charts. Nobby Clark was the only member of the group to feature on this record, with King providing all the backing vocals.



Alan Longmuir : "Back in Scotland, at the tatty shed, Tam had been getting phone calls from Jonathan King. He assured us things were moving. Insiders told him that the record was selling. He had contacts in record shops. People were coming in and asking for it. The excitement was immense. Then one evening the phone rang he asked if we were near a radio. He told us to get close to a set and put on the Radio Luxembourg Chart Show. We ran out of the shed and piled into the back of Tam's potato lorry and switched on the radio. Soon we heard the words "...and a new entrant at number 20 is Keep on Dancing from the Bay City Rollers". We went mad jumping up and down and punching the air. God knows what any passers-by may have thought when they saw this driverless, stationary lorry bouncing and shaking one dark September 1971 evening in deep Prestonpans."

A second King-produced single, "We Can Make Music", (b/w "Jenny"), was released in March 1972, but flopped. Like their first single, King cannily made sure one of his own self-penned songs was featured as the B-side - earning him extra money from the sales of the single!



Breaking away from King, their third single, "Mañana", (b/w "Because I Love You"), released in September 1972, was written by their new producers Ken Howard and Alan Blaikley.



They narrowly missed the UK Singles Chart with their fourth single, "Saturday Night", (b/w "Hey! C.B"), released in June 1973.

Tam Paton : "I thought we had really had it then. I went to see Dick Leahy at Bell and to this day I believe he was going to tell me that as far as they were concerned, it was all over. And I was scared. We were deep in debt and I couldn't think what other company would be interested."



This period saw the addition of guitarist Eric Faulkner. His father was a trade unionist, a shop steward and a member of the Communist Party. At thirteen years old Faulkner formed his first high school band, The Witness, which became Sugar and then KIP, whose lineup included future actor Ken Stott.

Eric Faulkner : "It all started when I was six. At school we were given a test to see if we had any rhythm. But you're only six years old and so, you know, they can't tell very much. Then I started having violin lessons for about an hour every day. And then I got into the Edinburgh Schools Orchestra when I was 14. There was a time when I was trying to do that and be in a pop group. I was in Kip and we were bumming around in transits and all. But being at school, playing the violin and the orchestra and everything started getting a bit much. There were gigs at night and everything. So eventually I jacked in the orchestra, I couldn't do both. I've always been into pop music. I was always lurking in music shops trying out guitars. But when you're 12 you don't think in terms of a career. You just do it."

Their next single, "Remember", (b/w "Bye Bye Barbara"), was released in January 1974, and reached #6 in the UK chart.



While the single was climbing the chart, Nobby Clark, who had become disillusioned with the band's musical direction, decided to leave the group. He was replaced as lead singer by Les McKeown. McKeown was born in Broomhouse, a suburb close to the south-western city limit of Edinburgh. His father, Francis, worked as a tailor and was deaf. He left school at 15 and became a member of the band Threshold. He was employed at a paper mill in between the group's gigs, which earned them £20 per show.

A couple of months later, in early 1974, guitarist John Devine also left the group, and was replaced by Stuart "Woody" Wood - who completed the "classic five" line-up alongside Alan Longmuir, Derek Longmuir, Eric Faulkner and Les McKeown.



Their next single, "Shang-A-Lang", (b/w "Are You Ready For That Rock And Roll"), was released in April 1974, and peaked at #2 in the UK, #10 in Norway, and #16 in Ireland.



Eric Faulkner : "We see the mania side of it at concerts but most of the time we're in hotel bedrooms and we have our farm which is miles away from anywhere and so we're out of sight of the whole thing. We don't realise what's happening. None of us have friends outside the group. The six of us are stuck together. We're inside and IT'S outside. The only time you realise the extent of it is when something happens like – well, I went up to Tam's house recently for tea. He made it and I began to drink and then I looked at the mug and my face was on it. That's when you begin to think. It's amazing."



"Summerlove Sensation", (b/w "Bringing Back The Good Times"), was released in July 1974, and reached #3 in the UK, and #5 in Ireland.



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Their debut album, 'Rollin'', produced by Phil Coulter and Bill Martin, was released in October 1974.



Though the earlier singles had all featured Nobby Clark, McKeown recorded new lead-vocals for the album versions including "Saturday Night" which became a Number 1 hit when it was released as a single in America in August 1975.

Les McKeown : "Funny thing about Saturday Night – it was a bit of a flop in 1973 when they released it, and then that, of course, was chosen as our debut single for America, and when it was released it went straight to number one! So a quite bizarre run of events."

Other songs featured on the album included : "Shang-a-Lang", "Give It To Me Now", "Angel Angel", "Be My Baby", "Just A Little Love", "Remember (Sha-La-La-La)", "Ain't It Strange", "Please Stay", "Jenny Gotta Dance", "There Goes My Baby", and "Summerlove Sensation".

Les McKeown : "I had just turned eighteen, in 1974, when I was asked to join the band, and at the time they were already considered to be a one-hit wonder band, because the only hit they'd had was in 1971. But I was young and I wanted to join up with a professional outfit, so I joined up with the Bay City Rollers and they had these – what I think – were brilliant songwriters, Phil Coulter and Bill Martin. And our first song was called Remember, and I had to re-voice that because their old singer was on the original song, but they hadn't released that. So I re-voiced that, and Keep On Dancing, Saturday Night, all those kind of songs that those guys wrote."



The non-album single "All Of Me Loves All Of You", (b/w "The Bump"), was released in October 1974, peaking at #4 in the UK chart.



This was their last single written and produced by Bill Martin and Phil Coulter.

Stuart "Woody" Wood : "Everybody thinks the split with him was a big aggro thing but he wrote four hit songs for us and we're very grateful. They wanted to do their own songs and we really wanted to do ours. We were caught in a big showbiz thing and the record company couldn't see any reason to break a running winning streak. But then the whole thing gets impersonal and it gets down to money. And we found ourselves inside that."



Released in February 1975, their next single, "Bye Bye Baby", (b/w "It's For You"), became their first Number 1 in the UK.



Bay City Rollers fans had a distinctive style of dress, featuring wide bottomed calf-length trousers decorated with strips of tartan, tartan caps and tartan scarves.



Les McKeown : "That was a kind of brilliant accident, actually. It was the fans who wrote to the fan magazines. They had a passion for drawing pictures. One time, we got this huge, ginormous card that you couldn't put through a letterbox, and inside there were pictures of the Bay City Rollers in these tartan suits. First time we'd imagined ourselves in them. So that's really how it started. My father was a tailor and my mother was a seamstress. My dad made the first Bay City Rollers outfits. I actually still have that original outfit! It's made up of bits of old jeans, all sewn together, with tartan down the sides. It's amazing how all that caught on all around the world."



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Their second album, 'Once Upon a Star', produced by Phil Wainman, was released in May 1975.



Songs featured on the album included the recent Number 1 single, "Bye Bye Baby", plus "The Disco Kid", "La Belle Jean", "When Will You Be Mine", "Angel Baby", "Keep on Dancing", "Once Upon a Star", "Let's Go (A Huggin' and a Kissin' in the Moonlight)", "Marlina", "My Teenage Heart", "Rock & Roll Honeymoon", and "Hey! Beautiful Dreamer".

The album featured a novel die-cut booklet cover that allowed each member to 'star' on their own separate page.




Shortly after the release of the album, on 29 May 1975, following the cancellation of a gig in Bristol, 19 year old Les McKeown was out driving his turbo charged Ford Mustang around Edinburgh, when he knocked down an elderly woman. Euphemia Clunie had walked across a four-lane road in the dark and McKeown slammed right into her. She was killed instantly.

Les McKeown : "She only lived across the road from me, and I wanted to knock on her family's door and say, 'I'm really, really sorry', but I wasn't allowed to do that. I wasn't allowed to go to her funeral."

Found guilty of driving recklessly, McKeown was fined £150 and banned for a year. McKeown was never really the same again. He was told to try to put the death to the back of his mind and forget about killing his neighbour.

Les McKeown : "They didn't see it from a helpful, human way. It wasn't like, 'We're going to get through this together', it was more like, 'We need you on stage tomorrow, you wee cunt, so you better stop fucking crying."



A struggling McKeown broke down at a gig in Oxford later that year.

Les McKeown : "I was singing some song and I just lost the plot. I burst into tears, couldn't handle it anymore. There were all these fans and when I started crying they came forward wanting to mother me. And then my attention suddenly focused on the orchestra pit. There were girls coming over and getting hurt and all these photographers were taking pictures of them, and for some reason in my twisted little mind I thought that was out of order so I jumped into the orchestra pit and started beating up a photographer. Promptly got arrested and got a two-year suspended jail sentence for that as well."

The Single :

"Bye Bye Baby" was written by Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio, and performed by the Bay City Rollers



Originally recorded by The Four Seasons, the song was in guitarist Stuart Wood's record collection, as a cover version by the British band The Symbols, which had reached #44 in the UK Singles Chart in 1967.

This was the first hit single for the Rollers not written by Bill Martin and Phil Coulter. It was also the first single release on which they played the instruments themselves. Martin and Coulter had previously refused to allow them to play on their recordings.



"Bye, Bye, Baby" stayed at No. 1 in the UK for six weeks in March and April 1975, selling nearly a million copies and becoming the biggest seller of the year. The single also reached Number 1 in Ireland and Australia, #6 in South Africa, #7 in Norway, #10 in West Germany, #11 in the Netherlands, #13 in Austria, #15 in Belgium, and #32 in New Zealand.



Other Versions include :  The 4 Seasons featuring The "Sound" of Frankie Valli (1964)  /  Reparata and The Delrons (1965)  /  The Chellows (1965)  /  The Symbols (1967)  /  Red Squares (1968)  /  Top of the Poppers (1975)  /  Springbok (1975)  /  Buttercup (1975)  /  Michael Jung (1975)  /  Hiromi Go (1975)  /  The Plunderers (1985)  /  The Popguns (1990)  /  The MacDonald Bros (2007)  /  The Midtown Men (2011)  /  Tom Urie with Stuart (Woody) Wood (2011)  /  Danny McEvoy ft. Jazzy (2012)  /  Steve Michaels (2019)

On This Day :

19 March : "Dr Jazz" opens at Winter Garden Theater NYC
21 March : Tammy Wynette divorces country singer George Jones, after 6 years of marriage
21 March : Mark Williams, Welsh snooker player, born Mark James Williams in Cwm, Blaenau Gwent, Wales
21 March : Ethiopia abolishes its monarchy after 3,000 years
22 March : "Dr Jazz" closes after 5 performances
22 March : 20th Eurovision Song Contest: Teach-In for Netherlands wins singing "Ding-a-dong" in Stockholm
24 March : Big ol' butterball Chuck Wepner goes 15 rounds with Muhammad Ali
25 March : Faisal of Saudi Arabia, King of Saudi Arabia, shot by nephew aged 68
25 March : Mel Blatt, singer (All Saints), born Melanie Ruth Blatt in London
26 March : Ken Russell's film "Tommy", based on the rock opera by The Who, premieres in London
27 March : Fergie, pop singer (The Black Eyed Peas), born Stacy Ann Ferguson in Hacienda Heights, California
29 March : "Lady Marmalade" by Labelle reaches #1 on US singles chart
3 April : Bobby Fischer stripped of world chess title for refusing to defend it, title awarded to Russian Anatoly Karpov
4 April : Sitcom "The Good Life" debuts on BBC One
4 April : Microsoft is founded as a partnership between Bill Gates and Paul Allen to develop and sell BASIC interpreters for the Altair 8800
5 April : Caitlin Moran, journalist, born Catherine Elizabeth Moran in Brighton, England
5 April : John Hartson, Welsh footballer, born in Swansea Wales
5 April : 129th Grand National: L'Escargot wins by 15 lengths
6 April : "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" closes at Belasco Theater NYC after 45 performances
6 April : "The Night That Made America Famous" closes at Barrymore Theatre, NYC, after 75 performances
6 April : Zach Braff, actor, born Zachary Israel Braff in South Orange, New Jersey
6 April : Chiang Kai-shek, Chinese political and military leader, dies aged 87
9 April : "Lieutenant" opens at Lyceum Theater NYC
9 April : Robbie Fowler, Footballer, born Robert Bernard Fowler in Toxteth, Liverpool
10 April : Marjorie Main, American vaudeville and screen actress, dies of lung cancer aged 85
12 April : Josephine Baker, dancer, actress, and civil rights activist, dies of a cerebral hemorrhage aged 68
12 April : Six Catholic civilians are killed in a UVF gun and grenade attack on Strand Bar in Belfast, North Ireland
13 April : Christian Falange kills 27 Palestinians, begins Lebanese civil war
13 April : Lou Bega, mambo musician, born David Lubega Balemezi in Munich, Germany
13 April : François Tombalbaye, Dictator and 1st President of Chad, dies aged 56
13 April : Larry Parks, American actor, dies of a heart attack aged 60
14 April : Fredric March, American actor, dies of prostate cancer aged 77
14 April : A Chorus Line, first performed, at the New York Shakespeare Festival
15 April : Richard Conte, American actor, dies from a heart attack aged 65
17 April : The Khmer Rouge captures Phnom Penh, Cambodia marking the end of the Cambodian Civil war
17 April : Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Second President of India, dies aged 86
18 April : John Lennon gives his final live performance at a gala for Lew Grade at the Hilton Hotel, NYC
21 April : Jack Westrup, English composer, dies aged 70
22 April : Mary Philips, American actress, dies aged 75
23 April : Harold Pinter's play "No Man's Land" premieres in London
23 April : William Hartnell, English actor (Dr Who), found his old body wearing a bit thin aged 67
24 April : Pete Ham, Welsh musician (Badfinger), takes his own life aged 27
25 April : Mário Soares' Socialist Party wins Portugal's first free election since 1925 following the Carnation Revolution of 1974
25 April : West German embassy blown up in Stockholm, Sweden
26 April : Nerina Pallot, singer-songwriter, born Nerina Natasha Georgina Pallot in London
26 April : Joey Jordison, drummer (Slipknot), born Nathan Jonas Jordison in Des Moines, Iowa

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! :

Spoiler alert

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay_City_Rollers
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay_City_Rollers_discography
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bye,_Bye,_Baby_(Baby_Goodbye)
https://www.songfacts.com/facts/the-four-seasons/bye-bye-baby-baby-goodbye
https://secondhandsongs.com/performance/3507/versions#nav-entity
https://www.45cat.com/artist/bay-city-rollers/uk
https://www.discogs.com/artist/180924-Bay-City-Rollers
https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/17062/bay-city-rollers/
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/bay-city-rollers-gordon-clark-9059841
https://www.nobbyclark.com/bio.html
https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/whats-on/arts-and-entertainment/david-patons-year-with-the-bay-city-rollers-602551
https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/whats-on/alan-longmuir-the-bay-city-rollers-get-their-first-top-10-hit-204372
http://www.theuncool.com/journalism/bay-city-rollers-creem-magazine/
https://creammagazine.com/2021/04/27/interview-with-bay-city-rollers-frontman-les-mckeown-rip/
https://maximumvolumes.wordpress.com/2018/10/09/interview-yesterdays-hero-bay-city-rollers-singer-les-mckeown-still-going-strong/
https://www.thesoundcheck.org/post/lightning-round-interview-les-mckeown-bay-city-rollers
https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/inside-the-bay-city-rollers-camp
https://flashbak.com/the-rise-and-fall-of-les-mckeown-and-the-bay-city-rollers-1952/
https://bilbomusic.co.uk/articles/Tam/spilledbeans.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tam_Paton
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/apr/10/tam-paton-obituary
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3249760/Bay-City-Codgers-gig-ended-punch-Forty-years-heart-attack-stroke-stint-rehab-original-boy-band-back.html
https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/14609395.bye-bye-baby-woody-leaves-bay-city-rollers/
https://ffanzeen.blogspot.com/2022/09/king-of-skeptics-interview-with.html
https://louderthanwar.com/bay-city-rollers-power-pop-genius-or-goofy-buffoons/

[close]

[The Culture Bunker]

Isn't that three Valli/Four Seasons songs that have hit #1 here with cover versions?

I know Frankie gets his moment not far down the line, but shame none of those 60s classics got there.

[daf]

I wonder if the Bay City Rollers had even heard the Four Seasons original when they recorded it!

As mentioned, the legend is that it was the Symbols 1967 cover version that was in Woody's collection - and listening to both, that's clearly the one the Rollers were covering. The Four Seasons original features a slightly laidback shufflebeat - compared to the Symbols more propulsive hi-hat driven drum-pattern. Got to give them credit for that guitar solo and key-change towards the end - for me, Clive, that makes it the definitive version!

Also, Les was only 19 when this was number 1 (and 18 on the cover of their first album) - he looks about 35!

[Johnboy]

Bye Bye Baby - ah, this is my ground zero

There's no other Proustian rush like it

performed it standing on the kitchen table at my sister's birthday party '77 direction

[daf]

369.  Mud – Oh Boy



From : 29 April – 12 May 1975
Weeks : 2
B-side : Watching The Clock
Bonus 1 : Disco August 1975
Bonus 2 : Top Pop 1975
Bonus 3 : Top of the Pops December 1975
Bonus 4 : Live 1985
Bonus 5 : 2004 Re-recording

The Story So Far : 

Mud's fourth and final Number 1 single, "Oh Boy" was released in April 1975, at about the time their split with songwriters Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman became common knowledge.



Their next single, "Moonshine Sally", (b/w "Bye Bye Johnny"), was released in June 1975. The song had been recorded several years earlier but kept 'in the can'. It peaked at #4 in Belgium, #8 in both Germany and the Netherlands, #9 in Ireland, and #10 in the UK.



Their final RAK single, "One Night", (b/w "Shake Rattle And Roll / See You Later Alligator"), was released in July 1975, and peaked at #7 in Belgium, #27 in the Netherlands, and #32 in the UK.



They went into the studio in July 1975 to start work on their own songs for their new label Private Stock, and announced that ex-Candlewick Green keyboard player Andy Ball was to join the band on stage and in the studio. The first single for their new label, "L' L' Lucy", (b/w "My Love Is Your Love"), was released in September 1975.



The single was written by Rob Davis and Ray Stiles and did well, reaching #1 in Belgium and the Netherlands, #6 in Finland, #9 in Ireland and #10 in the UK charts - proving that the boys could make it on their own!



The follow-up, "Show Me You're A Woman", (b/w "Don't You Know"), was released in November 1975. The single peaked at #2 in Ireland, and reached #8 in the UK, #16 in Belgium, and #26 in the Netherlands.



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

Their third album, 'Use Your Imagination', was released in December 1975, their first on the Private Stock label. The album peaked at #8 in Finland, and reached #17 in the Netherlands, and #33 in the UK.



Songs featured on the album included : "R. U. Man Enough?", "She's Got The Devil In Her Eyes", "Don't Knock It", "Maybe Tomorrow", "43792 (I'm Bustin' You)", "Hair Of The Dog", "L'L'Lucy", "Show Me You're A Woman", "Bird Dog", and "Under The Moon Of Love". "Use Your Imagination" was released as a single in Italy, but failed to chart.



By 1976, like many of their Glam-Rock contemporaries, Mud found themselves out of favour with the pop crazed youngsters, who were by now more interested in Disco or the upcoming new sound - 'orrible punk rock.

Ray Stiles: "The Mud era was fun. We took our chances and although people knocked us at times, we just got on with enjoying ourselves."

They continued to have minor chart successes during 1976 with the disco inspired "Shake It Down", (b/w "Laugh, Live, Love"), released in May 1976, reached #12 in the UK and the Netherlands, #13 in Belgium, and #45 in Germany.



"Nite On The Tiles", (b/w "Time And Again"), was released in September 1976, and peaked at #28 in the Netherlands, #30 in Belgium, and #55 on the UK 'Breakers List'.



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

Their fourth album, 'It's Better Than Working', was released in November 1976 on the Private Stock label. The album failed to chart - yes, even in Finland!



Produced by Pip Williams, the album contained all new songs and introduced a very different sound from any of their previous recordings. The album also featured Ray Stiles on lead vocal for two of the tracks.



Songs featured on the album included : "It Don't Mean A Thing", "Beating Round The Bush", "I've Got A Song", "Sweet And Sour Lady", "All I've Got To Give", "Nite On The Tiles", "How Many Times?", "Don't Talk To Me", "Blagging Boogie Blues", "Vambo Rools", and "Moving On".



Their biggest hit of the year - and their last top ten single - was a cover of the Bill Withers song "Lean On Me". Released in November 1976, it peaked at #6 in Ireland and #7 in the UK.



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

In 1977 Les Gray signed to Warner Brothers as a solo artist, releasing his own version of the Mindbenders' hit "Groovy Kind Of Love".



Originally written by Carol Bayer Sager and Tony Wine, with music by Muzio Clementi, the song featured an early use of the slang word "groovy".

Tony Wine : "Carole came up with 'Groovy kinda... groovy kinda... groovy...' and we're all just saying, 'Kinda groovy, kinda groovy, kinda...' and I don't exactly know who came up with "Love", but it was 'Groovy kind of love'. And we did it. We wrote it in 20 minutes. It was amazing. Just flew out of our mouths, and at the piano, it was a real quick and easy song to write."

Gray's version reached #32 in the UK chart in February 1977.



The follow up, "What Do You Want To Make Those Eyes At Me For", was released in September 1977.



1977 also saw Mud change labels again, this time signing to RCA. Their first single for the new label, "Slow Talking Boy", (b/w "Let Me Out"), was released in April 1977 and reached #58 on the UK 'Breakers List'.



"Just Try (A Little Tenderness)", (b/w "Gives You The Good Times Now"), was released in July 1977, and reached #98 in Australia.



In September 1977, their old record label, Private Stock, released the single "Beating Round the Bush", (b/w "Under the Moon of Love"), to promote the best of album 'Mud Pack'.



"Cut Across Shorty", (b/w "We've Got To Know"), was released in March 1978. "Drift Away", (b/w "Let Me Get (Close To You)"), was released in May 1978. Although it failed to chart, it did get a lot of airplay and secured the band some of their last TV appearances. Andy Ball left the band in 1978 and was replaced by Brian Tatum.



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

Their fifth album, 'Rock On', was released in November 1978 on the RCA Victor label.



Songs featured on the album included : "Burn On Marlon", "Let Me Get (Close To You)", "Walk Right Back", "Who You Gonna Love", "Slow Talking Boy", "Careless Love", "Drift Away", "Gotta Good Reason", "Too Much Of Nothing", and "Cut Across Shorty". "Why Do Fools Fall In Love"/"Book of Love", (b/w "Run Don't Walk"), was released in November 1978.

When their contract with RCA ended in 1978, Les left the band, and Rob and Ray worked together under the name of Roly, releasing two singles for Logo Records - "Don't Ever Change" (b/w "Yes I Do") in February 1978, and "Car Friends" (b/w "Roly Pin") in September 1978.



"Drop Everything And Run", (b/w "Taking The Easy Way Out"), was released in July 1979 on Carrere Records, and featured female vocalist Margo Buchanan.



A further single, "Rico", (b/w "Make A Buck"), was released in March 1980 with Margo on vocals, but this time under the name Ring.

Rob Davis : "The band's break up started in the late '70s when Les left to play Elvis in a stage show. The rest of us kept going for a while with a girl fronting the band but it didn't work. Although Les returned for a couple of years, we started to fragment."

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

Their sixth album, 'As You Like It', was released in October 1979 by RCA.



Other songs featured on the album included : "Dream Lover", "It's A Show", "1-2-Love", "Heaven Was Meant For You", "As You Like It", "So Fine", "Right Between The Eyes", "Touchdown", and "Why Do Fools Fall In Love / Book Of Love".

The single "You'll Like It", (b/w "Can't Stop"), was released in December 1979. In 1980, the band split up, and Rob Davis left to join Darts.

Rob Davis : "Mud's recording career wasn't happening too much in the late '70s, and I joined Darts because they were going to the States for two tours. I thought 'I've got to do this, because I'll never go otherwise!'"

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

After releasing several solo singles, including a tribute to Elvis Preseley under the name Tulsa McLean, Les Gray assembled a new version of Mud in the early 1980s. Their seventh album,'Mud Featuring Les Gray' was released in 1982 on the Runaway Records label in Germany.



Songs featured on the album included : "The Night Has A Thousand Eyes", "Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear", "(Til) I Kissed You", "Save The Last Dance For Me", "Only Sixteen", "Sealed With A Kiss", "Lipstick On Your Collar", "From A Jack To A King", "Lollipop", "Ain't That A Shame", "Don't Ever Change", "Let's Dance", "Under The Boardwalk", "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini", "Dream Lover", "She Wears Red Feathers (And A Huly-Huly Skirt)", "Poetry In Motion", "Blueberry Hill", "Shakin' All Over", and "Lucille".

The band continued to tour throughout Europe until Les' illness forced them off the road in 2003.

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

Ray Stiles went on to release the single "Bamboo Curtain" with a group called Foton in 1983 before joining The Hollies, who he continues to record and tour with.

Ray Stiles: "I didn't do much for a few years and was then asked to join The Hollies. I've been with them ever since. About three months of my year are spent with The Hollies, the rest with my son's band, Vambo. It's great fun."

Rob Davis continues to play, write and produce dance records.
 
Rob Davis : "I'm a songwriter now and have written for many artists. I look back on the Mud days with fondness."

Ray Stiles: "Yes, they were great times. Fortunately, we live near each other so catch up often. As we both enjoy playing, we perform gigs locally. Our band is called Taboo and my wife, Anne, sings. It's something we all enjoy."

Les Gray died on Saturday 21st February 2004 in hospital in Portugal, after suffering two heart attacks.

Dave Mount left the music business entirely in the early 1980s. He continued to live and work in London with his family until his untimely death in December 2006.

The Single :

"Oh, Boy!" was written by Sonny West, Bill Tilghman and Norman Petty, and performed by Mud.



The song was originally recorded as a demo by Sonny West at Norman Petty Studios in Clovis, New Mexico in early 1957. Petty presented West's demo to Buddy Holly with the intention of Holly recording the song.

Sonny West : "I had a decision to make whether to say I want to do it myself and I said 'No, I want Buddy to do it', it can't hurt anything and if it didn't work I could go back and do it myself someday."

It was subsequently recorded by Buddy Holly and the Crickets between June 29 and July 1, 1957, with Holly singing lead vocals and The Picks providing backing vocals.

Mud's cover of "Oh Boy!" reached number 1 for two weeks on the UK Singles Chart in May 1975.



The single was also a Number 1 in Ireland, and reached #2 in Germany, #3 in Belgium, #5 in Austria, and #6 in the Netherlands.



Other Versions include :  Paul Rich (1958)  /  Colin Hicks and His Cabin Boys (1959)  /  Bobby Vee (1963)  /  Jackie De Shannon (1964)  /  The Gaylords (1964)  /  Johnny Kongos & The G-Men (1964)  /  The Everly Brothers (1967)  /  Skeeter Davis (1967)  /  D'Lynn and La Dona Crist (1971)  /  The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (1974)  /  Glenda Griffith (1978)  /  Silicon Teens (1980)  /  Wanda Jackson (1982)  /  Sir Douglas Quintet (1983)  /  Stray Cats (1993)  /  MxPx (1995)  /  The Beatlesøns (1995)  /  Connie Francis (1996)  /  Hank Marvin (1996)  /  Daniel O'Donnell (2004)  /  She & Him (2011)  /  Danny McEvoy (2012)  /  The Marvelous Wonderettes (2012)  /  Jazzbanjorex (2015)  /  Joe Brown (2016)  /  a robot (2019)

On This Day :

29 April : US begins to evacuate its citizens from Saigon in Operation Frequent Wind
30 April : North Vietnamese troops capture Saigon, ending the Vietnam War
30 April : Johnny Galecki, American actor, born John Mark Galecki in Bree, Belgium
2 May : Apple Records closes down
2 May : David Beckham, footballer, born David Robert Joseph Beckham in London, England
4 May : Moe Howard, American actor (The 3 Stooges), dies aged 77
7 May : US President Gerald Ford declares an end to "Vietnam Era"
7 May : Small Astronomy Satellite Explorer 53 launched to study X-rays
8 May : Enrique Iglesias, singer, born Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler in Madrid, Spain
10 May : Betamax home videotaping system introduced in Japan
11 May : Israel signs an agreement with European Economic Market
12 May : Jonah Lomu, rugby player, born Jonah Tali Lomu in Auckland, New Zealand

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! :

[The Culture Bunker]

BBC4 had a few shows on about Buddy Holly the other week, as it was the anniversary of his end inspiring a future phrase of Ron Atkinson's - his take on the song has plenty of energy and helps understand why he was such a big deal. Mud decide the best way to put their own take on it is to get rid of all that stuff and make it a lifeless dirge.

[gilbertharding]

[daf]

The gap between this and the original would have seemed MASSIVE at the time - part of the whole seventies 50's rock and roll revival - (inc. Grease, Showaddywaddy, Happy Days etc). The musical landscape had mutated so much in those 18 years, that this was like blowing the dust off Tutankhamen's tomb.

In 2024, the same gap would be the equivalent of someone now covering "Red Dress" by the Sugababes, "Valerie" by The Zutons or "It's Chico Time"  (which, in fairness, DOES feel like it was about 100 years ago!)

[daf]

369b. (NME 393.)  Bobby Goldsboro – Honey
+         (MM 335.)  Bobby Goldsboro – Honey



From :  30 April - 6 May 1975  |  3-9 May 1975
Weeks : 1
B-side : Danny
Bonus 1 : 1968 Promo Film
Bonus 2 : Spanish TV (1968)
Bonus 3 : US TV (1975)
Bonus 4 : Live From Windy Hawaii (1983) (wig?)
Bonus 5 : Live on CabaRay Nashville (wig!!)
Bonus 6 : Pointless "Re-recorded in Stereo" version

The Story So Far : 

Robert Charles Goldsboro was born in Marianna, Florida.

Bobby Goldsboro : "It was a fantastic place to grow up in. It was a little town. I played Little League ball. It was a great place to grow up because there wasn't any pressure on kids at that time. I had a great childhood. I had an older brother and we just had a great time. To this day, I look back, it was one of the happiest times in my life living in Marianna."

During his teen years, his family moved 35 miles north from Marianna to Dothan, Alabama. He learned to play the ukelele when he was around 12 years old before learning to play the guitar. He was interested in becoming a professional baseball player before turning his interest to music.

Bobby Goldsboro : "I moved away in the ninth grade to Alabama. That's where my parents and brother and his family are right now. My parents were florists. My Aunt had a flower shop in Dothan, Alabama and she passed away. They moved to Dothan to take over that flower shop, because Dothan was a bigger area, a bigger town. So we moved to Dothan and I graduated from high school there."

Goldsboro attended Dothan High School. In his senior year in high school he joined a band called Spider and The Webbs which featured Amos "Mugsby" on bass, Dave Robinson on drums, "Flying Fingers" John Rainey on lead guitar, and "Rockin'" Steve Murphree on rhythm guitar. After graduating from high school in 1959, he enrolled at Auburn University, majoring in business administration, while also performing semi-professionally with The Webs.

Bobby Goldsboro : "We had a little band from down in Dothan, Alabama called The Webs. We had a big spider web on the drum. We were just a local band and we would back up different singers that came into the area. We were really the only rock 'n' roll band in the area. We played college fraternities, sororities and we played anywhere we could get work. We played a lot of bars. In fact, during the summer we'd go down to Panama City, Florida and play a couple of the clubs down there. They were really just some glorified beer joints, but it was a great experience in getting to play in front of all kinds of crowds and everything else. You pay your dues when you do that."



At the end of his second year in college Buddy Buie, the manager of The Webbs, arranged for the band to play for Roy Orbison, who was without a backing band in a show he had organized.

Bobby Goldsboro : "The Summer of my second year we got with Orbison. Orbison had just fired his band because they were drinking or doing something they weren't supposed to do, he was looking for a new band. When he heard us play he asked us if we'd like to go on the road with him. We said you better believe it! We went on the road and I never went back to school. I'm very glad I went to college for two years because it was the first time I had every really been away from home and on my own, so I was thankful for that. I think the next two years on the road with Orbison I learned a lot more than I would have in college."

The arrangement worked well, and The Webbs then became the permanent backing band for Orbison for two-and-a-half years until 1964, touring with Orbison in the US and Europe.

Bobby Goldsboro : "We worked The Beatles Tour. It was Orbison and The Beatles. In fact, Orbison was supposed to headline. He had never been to England and was second only to Presley in record sales over there. By the time we got over there to tour, The Beatles had become the biggest thing in the world and they really didn't know who should close the show, so finally the promoter decided that Roy close the first half of the show and The Beatles would close the second half. As much pandemonium as there was with The Beatles, they still wouldn't let Roy get off the stage until two or three encores every night. It was amazing. We were there for two weeks. I traveled with 'em on a bus everyday and got to know 'em and they were all good guys. I couldn't wait to get back because what we would do when Roy took time off to write or record, our band would go play some clubs somewhere. We started doing a lot of Beatles songs and Elvis songs at the time. The Beatles were just catching on over here. So we would kind of help introduce some of the songs that people had never heard."

When they were not touring with 'The Big Orbison', The Webbs played in local gigs, recorded songs written by Goldsboro and had some local success. They came to the attention of an independent producer Jack Gold, who was interested in working with Goldsboro. His first single, the self-penned "You Better Go Home", backed with "Lonely Traveler", was released in April 1962. His second single, "Molly", (b/w "Honey Baby"), was released in November 1962, and became his first chart entry - peaking at #70 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #60 on the Cash Box Top 100 in early 1963.

His third single, "The Runaround" (b/w "The Letter") was released in the US in March 1963 and in the UK two months later - his first UK release. The A-side was one of four songs that Goldsboro co-wrote with Roy Orbison.



Bobby Goldsboro : "We started about 9 AM and by noon we'd written four songs. He said "We're gonna write a thousand songs together." The following week I got a call from my publishing company and they told us we couldn't write together anymore. He was with a different publishing company than I was and his publishing company said "if they write together we have to have 100% of the publishing or nothing." So, they wouldn't split publishing with my publishing company, so they told us we couldn't write together anymore. That just shows you how dumb some of these business executives can be. I think we could've written a ton of hit songs together. At the time you were writing on one and couldn't wait to finish it so you could start another one."

His next single, "That's What Love Will Do", (b/w "Light The Candles (Throw The Rice)"), was released in May 1963.

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

His first album, the enigmatically titled, 'The Bobby Goldsboro Album', was released in May 1964.



The album featured the single "See The Funny Little Clown", released in November 1963, which spent 13 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at #9, and #10 on the Cash Box Top 100.



Other songs featured on the album included : "Hi Lili, Hi Lo", "Go Away Little Girl", "Hello Loser", "He Sits At My Table", "Roses Are Red", "Why Don't They Understand", "Too Young", "Cry Me A River", "It's All In The Game", and "The End Of The World".

"Whenever He Holds You", (b/w "If She Was Mine"), was released in March 1964. The song spent eight weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at #39, #41 on the Cash Box Top 100, and #28 on Canada's CHUM Hit Parade.



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

His second album, 'I Can't Stop Loving You', was released in November 1964.



Songs featured on the album included : "I Can't Stop Loving You", "Grass Looks So Much Greener", "You Don't Know Me", "I Can't Go On Pretending", "Born To Lose", "Lonely Street", "Abilene", "Let It Be Me", "Worried Mind", "Everyone But Me", "It Keeps Right On A Hurtin'", "(Now And Then There's A) Fool Such As I".

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

His third album, 'Little Things', was released in April 1965.



"Me Japanese Boy I Love You", (b/w "Everyone But Me"), was released as a single in July 1964, and peaked at #39 in Canada, and #74 on the Billboard Hot 100. "I Don't Know You Anymore", (b/w "Little Drops Of Water"), was released in October 1964, and stiffed at #105 in the US.



Other songs featured on the album included : "The Time For Us", "Good-bye To Hillside High", "You'll Never Know", "Happy With Him", "If You Got A Heart", "World Without Love", "If She Was Mine", and "Pity The Fool".

The title track, "Little Things", (b/w "I Can't Go On Pretending"), was released as a single in January 1965, and peaked at #4 in Canada, and #13 in the US.



Bobby Goldsboro : "'Little Things' I wrote very quickly. I had the little riff and I started coming up with a little answer thing. It probably took about an hour, that's all. Then I started adding little things to it, little answers, little horns, things like that. But, the basic song lyrics and melody took me about an hour. I had written the song and was just about to record it when "Pretty Woman" came out. I'd been with Orbison for years. He was like a brother to me. When I heard 'Pretty Woman', I had a 2-4 beat to 'Little Things' and I put a 4-4 beat because I heard 'Pretty Woman', which to me made it even better. So again, had I not heard Roy's song I might have had a whole different beat on the song."

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His fourth album, 'Broomstick Cowboy', was released in December 1965.



"Voodoo Woman", (b/w "It Breaks My Heart"), was released as a single in March 1965, and peaked at #6 in Canada and #27 in the US. "If You've Got A Heart", (b/w "If You Wait For Love"), was released in July 1965, and reached #60 in the US.



Other songs featured on the album included : "I'm Goin' Home", "Blue On White", "Let It Be Me", "Where Did All The Rainbows Go", "You Don't Know Me", and "A Long Way To Be Happy".

The title track, "Broomstick Cowboy", (b/w "Ain't Got Time For Happy"), was released as a single in November 1965, and peaked at #20 in Canada and #53 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US.



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His fifth album, 'It's Too Late', was released in March 1966.



The title track, "It's Too Late", (b/w "I'm Goin' Home"), was released as a single in January 1966.



Other songs featured on the album included : "As Tears Go By", "Don't Think Twice It's All Right", "Baby's Gone", "When Your Love Has Gone", "Nothin's Bad As Bein' Lonely", "Yesterday", "Blue Autumn", "Michelle", and "I Just Don't Love You Anymore".

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

His sixth album, 'Blue Autumn', was released in November 1966.



"I Know You Better Than That" was released as a single in April 1966. "Take Your Love", (b/w "Longer Than Forever"), was released in July 1966, and reached #114 in the US. "It Hurts Me", (b/w "Pity The Fool"), was released in August 1966.



Other songs featured on the album included : "She Chased Me", "Too Many People", "Pledge Of Love", "Love Is", "Talk Talk Talk", and "Blue Autumn" which was released as a single in October 1966, and reached #20 in Canada and #35 in the US.



Bobby Goldsboro : "I was in Pittsburgh years ago doing a TV show and I wrote "Blue Autumn" in the hotel room because it was like a blizzard outside and I couldn't get outside. So, I was kind of stuck in the room and I missed my plane and I just had to stay in the room. So, I got the guitar out and ended up writing "Blue Autumn", which had nothing to do with the snow out there, but again had it not been for the snowstorm, I wouldn't have written that one. You're just in the right place at the right time to write 'em."

"Goodbye To All You Women" was released in March 1967, and reached #102 in the US.

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His seventh studio album, 'The Romantic, Wacky, Soulful, Rockin', Country, Bobby Goldsboro' was released in August 1967.



"Trusty Little Herbert", (b/w "Three In The Morning"), was released as a single in July 1967. Other songs featured on the album included : "Danny", "Mojo Hand", "Ruby Tuesday", "Waitin' In Your Welfare Line", "You're Entertainment For Me", "Hard Luck Joe", "I'm A Little Mixed Up", "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love To Town", "No Fun At The Fair", and "My Cup Runneth Over".

The non-album track, "Jo-Jo's Place", was released in October 1967.

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In November 1967 released the album, 'Our Way of Life' with country singer Del Reeves. The album reached #28 on the US Country chart.



"I Just Wasted the Rest", (b/w "Our Way of Life"), released as a single in February 1968, and reached #56 on the US Country chart. A second single from the album, "Take A Little Good Will Home", (b/w "She Thinks I Still Care"), was released in September 1969, and reached #31 on the US Country chart.

Other songs featured on the album included : "Under Your Spell Again", "Walking On New Grass", "Here We Go Again", "Heartaches By The Number", "A Dime At A Time", "Crazy Arms", and "I Ain't Broke But I'm Badly Bent".

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His next single, "Honey", (b/w "Danny"), was released in February 1968.

 

The song was written by Bobby Russell, who got the idea for the song when he noticed how much a tree in his front yard had grown in four years. In the song, the narrator mourns his absent wife, and the song begins with him looking at a tree in their garden, remembering how "it was just a twig" on the day she planted it. Only in the third verse is it finally revealed that "one day...the angels came," and that his wife had passed away.

Bobby Goldsboro : "I think 'Honey' is a very emotional song, but it's not like what I call a sick song, a death song. Actually what it is, very simply, is just a guy remembering little things that happened while his wife was alive and to me that's not sick at all."

It peaked at #1 in the US, Canada, and Ireland. It reached #2 in the UK.



The single was also featured on the album 'Honey', released in March 1968, which peaked at #1 in the US Country chart, and #5 on the US Pop chart.



Other songs featured on the album included : "Run To Me", "Pardon Me Miss", "Why Don't You Believe Me", "Pledge Of Love", "Little Green Apples", "Love Arrestor", "By The Time I Get To Phoenix", "Beautiful People", "Woman", and "With Pen In Hand", which was released as a single in August 1972, peaking at #28 on the US Acoustic chart.

Bobby Goldsboro : "I look back on a lot of successful songs I've had and it seems like the most successful ones were the ones that took the least amount of time to write. "With Pen In Hand" has been the most recorded song I ever wrote. I wrote that...I was driving from Alabama back to Nashville, Tennessee and I got caught in a rain storm. It was raining so hard I just pulled over on the side of the road. I had this idea in my head for a song. So I got in the back seat and got the guitar out and waited 'til the rain stopped and wrote "With Pen In Hand". Again, had it not been raining I may not have written that song."



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His tenth studio album, 'Word Pictures', was released in August 1968.



"Autumn Of My Life", (b/w "She Chased Me"), was released as a single in May 1968, reaching #11 in Canada and #19 in the US.



Other songs featured on the album included : "World Beyond", "Dissatisfied Man", "I Am A Rock", "If You Go Away", "Hard Luck Joe", "Letter To Emily", "Maggie (I Wish We'd Never Met)".



Further singles from the album included : "The Straight Life", (b/w "Tomorrow Is Forgotten"), released in September 1968, peaking at #19 in Canada and #36 in the US, and "Look Around You (It's Christmas Time)", (b/w "A Christmas Wish"), released in November 1968.



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His eleventh album, 'Today' was released in May 1969, and reached #34 on the US Country chart.



"Glad She's A Woman" was released as a single in January 1969, reaching #44 in Canada and #49 in the US. "I'm A Drifter", (b/w "Hoboes And Kings"), was released in April 1969, reaching #36 in Canada and #46 in the US.



Other songs featured on the album included : "Richer Man Than I", "The World I Used To Know", "Tomorrow Is Forgotten", "You're Here", "What A Wonderful World", "Woman Without Love", "Today", "Ain't That Livin'", and "Say It's Not Over".



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His twelfth album, 'Muddy Mississippi Line', was released in December 1969.



"Muddy Mississippi Line", (b/w "Richer Man Than I"), was released in July 1969, and peaked at Number 1 on the Canadian country chart, #37 on the Canadian pop chart and #53 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. "Mornin' Mornin'", (b/w "Requiem"), was released in November 1969, and reached #64 in Canada and #78 in the US.



Other songs featured on the album included : "Lodi", "Jean", "Don't It Make You Want To Go Home", "Everybody's Talkin'", "Proud Mary", "Time Good Time Bad", "Lisa Was", "Graveyard Of My Mind", "Sweet Caroline", and "Broomstick Cowboy".

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"Can You Feel It", (b/w "Time Good, Time Bad"), was released in March 1970, and reached #75 in the US. The A-side was included on the compilation album 'Bobby Goldsboro's Greatest Hits', released on May 1970.


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His thirteenth studio album, 'We Gotta Start Lovin'', was released in January 1971, and reached #20 on the US Country chart.



"It's Gonna Change", (b/w "Down On The Bayou"), was released in June 1970, and reached #108 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. "My God And I", (b/w "The World Beyond"), released in September 1970, and reached #116 on the Cashbox chart. "Water Color Days", (b/w "We Gotta Start Lovin'"), released in October 1970. Other songs featured on the album included : "For The Very First Time", "Heaven Here On Earth", "Mary Jackson", "About Time", "He Ain't Heavy He's My Brother", and "Requiem". "Watching Scotty Grow" was released as a single in November 1970, and peaked at Number 1 on the US and Canadian Acoustic charts, #5 on the Canadian pop chart, and #11 on the Billboard Hot 100.



Bobby Goldsboro : "I was in a clothing store in L.A. and a friend of mine came in, Jerry Fuller, who was a record producer and he was producing Andy Williams at the time. He said "Do you know Mac Davis?" I said "I know who he is. I've never met him." He said "well Mac played me a song for Andy Williams the other day and I didn't think it was right for Andy, but I think it would be a good song for Bobby Goldsboro. You otta call Mac and ask him to play it for you. It's called "Watching Scotty Grow." So that afternoon I got back to the hotel, called Mac and he came over to the hotel and brought his guitar and we sat and played songs for about four hours. He played "Watching Scotty Grow" and I said great. So then I went back to Nashville and recorded it. So, had I not been buying a shirt that day, I might not have gotten "Watching Scotty Grow" I guess."

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His fourteenth album, 'Come Back Home' was released in May 1971.



"And I Love You So", (b/w "The Gentle Of A Man"), was released in May 1971, and reached #7 on the Canadian Acoustic chart, and #8 on the US Acoustic chart. Other songs featured on the album included : "Saturdays Only", "Throwback", "It's Up To You", "Gold Hill Hotel", "Your Song", "Next Girl That I Marry".



"Come Back Home", (b/w "I'll Remember You"), released in July 1971, and reached #15 on the US Acoustic chart, and #17 on the Canadian Acoustic chart. "Poem For My Little Lady", (b/w "Danny Is A Mirror To Me"), was released in October 1971, and reached #27 on the US Acoustic chart.

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His fifteenth album, 'California Wine', was released in August 1972.



The single "California Wine", (b/w "To Be With You"), was released ahead of the album in February 1972, reaching #36 on the US Acoustic chart. Other songs featured on the album included : "Lizzie And The Rainman", "Southern Fried Singin' Sunday Mornin'", "Love The One You're With", "Back That Way You Came", "Nights Of Your Life", "Born To Make You Happy", "Country Feelin's", "Somebody Loves Me", "Why Don't We Go Somewhere And Love", and "My Lady Friend".

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His sixteenth album, 'Brand New Kind of Love', was released in February 1973.



The single "Brand New Kind Of Love", was released ahead of the album in January 1973. Other songs featured on the album included : "Let Me Love You For Tonight", "I Believe In Music", "Childhood 1949", "Guitar Man", "Song For Children", "I Can See Clearly Now", "By Your Side", "Fever", and "Birmingham Lucy".

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His seventeenth album, 'Summer (The First Time)', was released in August 1973, and reached #10 on the US Country chart.



"Summer (The First Time)" was released as a single in May 1973, and peaked at #9 in the UK. It also reached #19 on the Canadian pop charts, and #21 on the Billboard Hot 100.



Other songs featured on the album included : "He's Part Of Us", "L And N Don't Stop Here Anymore", "Sing Me A Smile", "Mississippi Delta Queen", "She", "Killing Me Softly With Her Song" (one time!), "Like A Bird (Spread My Wings And Fly)", "If'n I Was God", and "Marlena", which was released as a single in December 1973, reaching #52 on the US Country chart.

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"Honey" was re-released in April 1974 in the UK. A 1968 #2, it eventually peaked again in the silver medal position in the Official UK chart over a year later in May 1975, but this time it soared to the top of both the NME and Melody Maker chart.



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His eighteenth album, 'Through the Eyes of a Man', was released in August 1975.



The first single from the album, "I Believe The South Is Gonna Rise Again", was released over a year earlier in April 1974, reaching #62 on the US Country chart. A second single, "Quicksand", was released in June 1974, but failed to chart.

Other songs featured on the album included : "All The Women I've Wanted", "Reunion", "Kids Are People Too", "Cuddle Up", "You Pull Me Down (Into Sweet Sweet Love)", "Behind Closed Doors", "Hello Summertime" which was released as a single in August 1974, peaking at #8 on the US Acoustic chart, #14 in the UK and #18 in Ireland, and "And Then There Was Gina", was released in April 1975, and peaked at #15 on both the Canadian and US Acoustic charts.



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His nineteenth album, 'A Butterfly for Bucky', was released in August 1976, peaking at #37 on the US Country chart.



"I Wrote A Song (Sing Along)", was released in August 1975, and reached #16 on the US Acoustic chart, and #17 on the Canadian Acoustic chart. "A Butterfly For Bucky", (b/w "Another Night Alone"), was released in April 1976, and reached #7 on both the US Acoustic chart, and the Canadian Country chart. "She Taught Me How To Live Again" was released in September 1976. Other songs featured on the album included : "Best To Be Free", "Chippin' Away", "Love Me The American Way". For unknown reasons, three songs : "Reunion", "Kids Are People Too", and "Cuddle Up" were repeated from his previous album.



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His twentieth album, 'Goldsboro', was released in May 1977.



The first single from the album, "Me And The Elephants", was released in February 1977, peaking at #6 on the US Acoustic chart, and #10 on the Canadian Acoustic chart. "The Cowboy And The Lady", was released in June 1977, peaking at #85 on the US Country chart. "He'll Have To Go" was released in October 1977. "Black Fool's Gold" was released in April 1978. Other songs featured on the album included : "I Think You're Losing The Feeling", "Life Gets Hard On Easy Street", "Me And Millie", "I Can't Help It (If I'm Still In Love With You)", "I Love Music", and "Mary Lou (Has Finally Made It To Broadway)".

Following three years off, while he grew a moustache and bought a cowboy hat, he released 'Bobby Goldsboro' in October 1980, followed by 'The Round-Up Saloon' in February 1982, and his final album, 'Happy Holidays', was released in December 1986.



Bobby Goldsboro : "Singing talent I think is a God given gift. It's something I think you can either do or you can't. People are born with a voice and they can either sing or they can't sing. When it comes to songwriting, I don't think it's something you can teach. You can teach better songwriting. You can critique somebody's songs...somebody says "what do you think of this song?" You can say, well, honestly I think it's a little too wordy. You need to shorten it. You got a five minute song. You need to cut it down to 2 1/2 - 3 minutes. Things like that."

The Single :

"Honey"was written by Bobby Russell and performed by Bobby Goldsboro.



Russell first produced it with former Kingston Trio member Bob Shane, who was the first to release the song. Goldsboro and his producer Bob Montgomery, in need of songs to record for his album, invited Russell over to play a few of his songs, which included "Honey".

Bobby Goldsboro : "Bobby Russell was a good friend and he had written several hits already. He wrote "Little Green Apples" also. He wrote "Honey" and produced it with Bob Shane of The Kingston Trio. Larry Henley was the lead singer for The Newbeats, who was one of the co-writers of "Wind Beneath My Wings", Larry called me one day and said "I want you to come across the street and hear this song Bobby Russell just produced with Bob Shane." So, I went over and listened and it was "Honey". I'll be honest with you, it didn't really thrill me all that much because it was so over done, over produced, lots of drums and things. So, about a week later Bobby came up to the studio to play some songs for me and my co-producer. Everything he played was kind of like more of a teeny-bopper song and I said "Don't you have something a little more adult, more of a ballad kind of like the thing you did with Bob Shane? Play that." He said "Well, it's called "Honey", but, it's coming out next week by Bob Shane, but I'll play it for you." He played it with just a guitar and it was like a totally different song. Me and my co-producer just both flipped out and said "man, we gotta cut that."."

The song was recorded on January 30, 1968. According to Goldsboro, the recording session for the song went so well that they got it right in one go. They then recorded it again just to see if anything was wrong, and it came out just as well, so they went with the first take.

Bobby Goldsboro : "So, we went in and cut it for the album and it just came off like a monster the very first take. Even the musicians, the violin players came into the control room to listen to the playback. So, we said "man that was the first take, let's go do it again." And the second take sounded exactly like it. We couldn't really improve on it, so we called Bobby from the studio and said "we have cut a monster with this song." Of course I never dreamed it was gonna be as big as it was, but we knew we had a hit with it."

Russell was initially reluctant for Goldsboro to record the song as Shane's version was due to be released, but he eventually agreed that Goldsboro could record it as long as his single did not compete with Shane's record. They agreed to delay it by four weeks. 

Bobby Goldsboro : "He said "Well, I'll tell you what. Give us four weeks with the Bob Shane (single) and if nothing happens, you can come out with yours." We waited actually four weeks to the day to release our record and luckily for me it became a hit. This is not trying to be modest, but if I had sung on Bob Shane's record and he had sung on mine, he would have had the hit. Mine was so much the arrangement Don Tweedy wrote, the high voice on there, the violins, everything he wrote in there. Don Tweedy's arrangement was as important as anything."

"Honey" was released as a single in the U.S. in February 1968. While Shane's recording stiffed at #104, Goldsboro's version quickly reached the top of the chart in April. It sold a million copies in its first three weeks, and spent five weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart (the 200th song to reach No. 1 on that chart), from April 7 to May 11. It also reached #1 in Canada, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand and #2 on the Official UK Singles Chart.



A re-release of the single in the United Kingdom in February 1974, over a year later it again peaked at #2 on the Official UK charts. However THIS time, it also topped both the mint NME and the skill Melody Maker charts.



Other Versions include :   Bob Shane  (1968), Andy Williams (1968)  /  The Ray Charles Singers (1968)  /  Tammy Wynette (1968)  /  Frankie Laine (1968)  /  Jim Nabors (1968)  /  Patti Page (1968)  /  Vikki Carr (1968)  /  Robert Goulet (1968)  /  Dean Martin (1968)  /  Wayne Newton (1968)  /  Liberace (1968)  /  Gary Puckett & The Union Gap (1968)  /  Floyd Cramer (1968)  /  "Tous les arbres sont en fleurs" by Nana Mouskouri (1968)  /  "Amore mi manchi" by Bobby Goldsboro (1968)  /  "Raring" by Björn Ulvaeus (1968)  /  Gene Chandler (1969)  /  Four Tops (1969)  /  Orion (1979)  /  Roger Whittaker (1986)  /  Daniel O'Donnell (1988)  /  John Otway (1992)  /  Danny McEvoy (2011)  /  Dave Monk (2016)  /  a robot (2019)  /  Jonathan Gabriel (2021)  /  Jo Karamazov (2022)  /  Jogo (2023)

On This Day :

30 April : North Vietnamese troops capture Saigon, ending the Vietnam War
30 April : Johnny Galecki, American actor, born John Mark Galecki in Bree, Belgium
2 May : Apple Records closes down
2 May : David Beckham, footballer, born David Robert Joseph Beckham in London, England
4 May : Moe Howard, American actor (The 3 Stooges), dies aged 77
7 May : US President Gerald Ford declares an end to "Vietnam Era"
7 May : Small Astronomy Satellite Explorer 53 launched to study X-rays
8 May : Enrique Iglesias, singer, born Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler in Madrid, Spain

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! :

Spoiler alert

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey_(Bobby_Goldsboro_song)
https://www.45cat.com/artist/bobby-goldsboro
https://www.45cat.com/artist/bobby-goldsboro/uk
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Goldsboro
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Goldsboro_discography
https://www.songfacts.com/facts/bobby-goldsboro/honey
https://www.discogs.com/artist/104732-Bobby-Goldsboro
https://www.lpdiscography.com/?page=discography&interpret=769
http://www.classicbands.com/BobbyGoldsboroInterview.html

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369c. (NME 394.)  Minnie Riperton – Lovin' You
+         (MM 336.)  Minnie Riperton – Lovin' You



From :  7-13 May 1975  |  10-23 May 1975
Weeks : 2
B-side : The Edge Of A Dream
Bonus 1 : Official Video
Bonus 2 : Single version with countdown
Bonus 3 : Alternate Band Version
Bonus 4 : Mike Douglas Show 1974
Bonus 5 : Soul Train 1975
Bonus 6 : Midnight Special Live 1975
Bonus 7 : The Dinah Shore Show 1975
Bonus 8 : Live 1979

The Story So Far : 

Minnie Julia Riperton was born in Chicago. The youngest of eight children in a musical family, she embraced the arts early. Although she began with ballet and modern dance, her parents recognized her vocal and musical abilities and encouraged her to pursue music and voice training. At Chicago's Abraham Lincoln Center, she received operatic vocal training from Marion Jeffery. While studying under Jeffery, she sang operettas and show tunes, in preparation for a career in opera. Jeffery was so convinced of her pupil's abilities that she strongly pushed her to further study the classics at Chicago's Junior Lyric Opera. The young Riperton was, however, becoming interested in soul, rhythm and blues, and rock. After graduating from Hyde Park High School, she enrolled at Loop College, but dropped out of college to pursue her music career.

Riperton's first professional singing engagement was with The Gems, when she was 15. Raynard Miner, a blind pianist, heard her singing during her stint with Hyde Park's A Cappella Choir and became her musical patron. The Gems had relatively limited commercial success, but proved to be a good outlet for Riperton's talent. The Gems first single : "Let Your Hair Down" (b/w "One More Year") was released in August 1963, followed by "A Girl's Impression" (b/w "If It's The Last Thing I Do") in October 1963. Their 1964 singles included : "That's What They Put Erasers On Pencils For" (b/w "A Love Of Mine") in February, "I Can't Help Myself" (b/w "Can't You Take A Hint") in September, and "Love For Christmas" (b/w "All Of It") in December 1964.



Eventually the group became a session group known as Studio Three and it was during this period that they provided the backing vocals on the classic 1965 Fontella Bass hit "Rescue Me". Further singles included : "He Makes Me Feel So Good" (b/w "Happy New Love") in May 1965, "Baby I Want You" (b/w "That's How It Is") as by the The Girls Three - Jess, Dot And Me in April 1966. Under the name The Starlets", they released My Baby's Real" (b/w "Loving You Is Something New"), a Motown-style song reminiscent of Tammi Terrell which later became a favourite on the UK Northern Soul scene.

While a part of Studio Three, Riperton met her mentor, producer Billy Davis, who wrote her first local hit, "Lonely Girl", as well as its B-side, "You Gave Me Soul", released in October 1966 under the pseudonym Andrea Davis.

Riperton also sang lead for the psychedelic soul band Rotary Connection, from 1967 to 1971. The highly experimental band was the idea of Marshall Chess, son of Chess Records founder Leonard Chess. Wanting to focus on music outside of the blues and rock genres, Marshall turned his attention to the burgeoning psychedelic movement. He recruited Charles Stepney, a vibraphonist and classically trained arranger and producer. Marshall then recruited Bobby Simms, Mitch Aliotta, and Ken Venegas  from an obscure rock band, the Proper Strangers. Sidney Barnes, a songwriter within the Chess organization, also joined, as did Judy Hauff and Minnie Riperton, who was working as a receptionist for Chess at the time.



The band released their debut album, Rotary Connection, in February 1968.



As well as borrowing heavily from pop, rock, and soul, the album also featured an Indian influence on several tracks including : "Turn Me On" and "Memory Band", which featured vocals by Riperton. Other songs featured on the album included : "Amen", "Rapid Transit", "Pink Noise", "Lady Jane", "Like A Rolling Stone", "Soul Man", "Sursum Mentes", "Didn't Want To Have To Do It", "Black Noise", "Ruby Tuesday", and "Rotary Connection".

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Riperton's debut solo album, 'Come to My Garden', was produced, arranged, as well as orchestrated by her Rotary Connection band mate Charles Stepney and released in September 1970 by GRT Records. Several of the songs were co-written by Stepney and Richard Rudolph, who married Riperton in August 1970.



The album's opening track, 'Les Fleur', following several appearances in films and TV shows, would eventually reach #34 in the UK singles charts in 2020.



Other songs featured on the album included "Completeness", "Come To My Garden", "Memory Band", "Rainy Day In Centerville", "Close Your Eyes And Remember", "Oh, By The Way", "Expecting", "Only When I'm Dreaming", and "Whenever, Wherever".



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By 1973 Riperton had retired from the music business, and was busy being a homemaker and a mother of two in Gainesville, Florida. After a college intern for Epic Records heard a demo of the song "Seeing You This Way", which found it's way to A&R Vice President Don Ellis, Riperton signed with Epic, and the family moved to Los Angeles, California.

Her second album, 'Perfect Angel' was released in August 1974.



Riperton's husband, Richard Rudolph, said that shortly after she was signed to Epic, Ellis asked them who they wanted to produce the album. Riperton requested Stevie Wonder, who was very busy at the time with his band Wonderlove. As Wonder was signed to Motown and concerned that they would not allow him to work on the project, he agreed to produce the album under the pseudonym 'El Toro Negro', as Wonder's astrological sign is Taurus, with Rudolph as co-producer.

Minnie Riperton : "It's a great feeling to work with people because the creativity flows when you're both in tune. Like with Stevie, we've always had a very special friendship – and we dug each other before he discovered my peach cobbler and lemon chicken! Maybe that proves that the way to a man's heart is still through his stomach. But seriously, it's a joy to work with someone like Stevie and I think we'll be doing some duet things real soon."



The first single taken from the album, "Reasons", was released in May 1974. "Seeing You This Way" followed in August 1974. Other songs featured on the album included : It's So Nice (To See Old Friends)", "Take a Little Trip", "The Edge of a Dream", "Perfect Angel", "Every Time He Comes Around", and "Our Lives".



At the end of production, there were eight completed songs; Wonder wanted one additional song to bring the album closer to the industry standard of a 40-minute run time. He asked Riperton and Rudolph to come up with a tune that they considered to be their "most embarrassing song". With hesitation, Riperton mentioned a lullaby she sang to her daughter Maya to put her to sleep at night so that she and Rudolph could spend "grown-up time". With Rudolph's help, Riperton eventually created "Lovin' You" from that lullaby, and the song was quickly recorded with Wonder on electric piano and synthesizers. Rudolph supplied the chirping birds from a sound effects reel.

Richard Rudolph : "We found ourselves performing in Portland one night during a huge blizzard. We look around and see that people are putting their arms around each other and having a great time as we're playing 'Lovin' You.'"

Sales of the album started out slow, and Epic was ready to move on to the next record, but Rudolph convinced them to release another single. "Lovin' You", was released in November 1974, and by April 1975 the song had topped the charts in the U.S. and reached #2 in the UK Singles Chart. The single sold more than one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA in April 1975.



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Her third studio album, 'Adventures in Paradise', was released in May 1975 by Epic Records.



On the album cover, Minnie is seen sitting serenely next to a lion. Though the actual album photo session was calm, things spiraled out of control on a promotional photo shoot with a different lion. The animal lunged at Minnie without any provocation. Fortunately, the animal's tamer was on the set and the lion was quickly subdued.

With previous co-producer Stevie Wonder busy recording his 'Songs in the Key of Life', Minnie and husband Richard Rudolph hired Stewart Levine to co-produce the album. Guitarist Larry Carlton was brought in as an arranger, as a result, the album took on a mellow soul-jazz tone.



The first single from the album, "Inside My Love", was released in July 1975. Riperton made it quite clear during the track's initial release that the song wasn't about a woman asking a man to have sex with her - it was about going deeper than that, attaining true intimacy. The single reached #26 on the R&B chart, but stalled at #76 on the Billoard Hot 100. Much of pop radio balked at playing the single due to the fruity lyrical content.

Minnie Riperton : "Take "Inside My Love" from the Epic album we did. Taken out of context, people put all kind of things on that tune which goes to show that most people are still pretty uptight about sex regardless of how much of a 'permissive' society we live in. People just have a problem freeing themselves"



Other songs featured on the album included : "Baby, This Love I Have", "Feelin' That Your Feelin's Right", "When It Comes Down To It", "Minnie's Lament", "Love And Its Glory", "Adventures In Paradise", "Alone In Brewster Bay", "Simple Things", and "Don't Let Anyone Bring You Down".



On 24 August 1976, Riperton revealed on The Tonight Show that she had undergone a mastectomy due to breast cancer. At the time of her diagnosis, Riperton found out her cancer had already spread to the lymphatic system, and she was given about six months to live. She continued touring in 1977 and 1978, and she became the national spokeswoman for the American Cancer Society's 1978–1979 campaign.

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Her fourth studio album, 'Stay in Love: A Romantic Fantasy Set to Music', was released in February 1977.



Unlike her previous works, the soft soul elements were mostly replaced by a more upbeat disco sound which was the musical trend at the time.



The first single, "Stick Together", co-written by Stevie Wonder, was released in February 1977. Other songs featured on the album included : "Young Willing And Able", "Could It Be I'm In Love", "Oh Darlin'...Life Goes On", "Can You Feel What I'm Saying?", "Gettin' Ready For Your Love", "Wouldn't Matter Where You Are", "How Could I Love You More", and "Stay In Love".



This was Riperton's first album, since her debut, that didn't feature her husband Richard Rudolph as a producer or co-producer, although Rudolph still co-wrote the songs. In his place as producer was Motown veteran Freddie Perren in his only collaboration with Riperton.



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Her fifth studio album, 'Minnie', was released in May 1979, her first album for Capitol Records.



The album was co-produced by Henry Lewy.

Minnie Riperton : "When it came time to sit down with the people at Capitol about the album, I already knew what I wanted basically. I've always admited the work of Henry Lewy because I dug the way he recorded music and especially the way he captured the female voice. I'd also heard he was a real nice guy and sure enough, when we met, he turned out to be real mellow and open-minded. He was a joy to work with because he doesn't demand, he gives as well."

The first single from the album, "Memory Lane" was released in April 1979. "Lover And Friend" was released in August 1979.



Minnie Riperton : "I don't see how disco per se can affect artists and their music because if you're into your artistry, you don't do music for fads or write songs for a particular mode of music. To me, simplicity is the key to music, I never try to be 'futuristic' even though some of the things we've done before have tended to be a little ahead of their time."

Other songs featured on the album included : "Return To Forever", "Dancin' & Actin' Crazy", "Love Hurts", "Never Existed Before", "I'm A Woman", and "Light My Fire".

Minnie Riperton : "We knew what we wanted because Dick and I had worked on pre-production on tunes at home, so when we were with Henry it was more like he was a movie 'director' than a producer per se. He spent a lot of time just looking for the right technical equipment to use for instance – we ended up using some old mikes instead of the brand new kind and you wouldn't believe the difference that made in itself."

During the recording of this album, her cancer progressed to the point that she was in a great deal of pain. Extreme lymphedema immobilized her right arm in early 1979. By mid-June, Riperton was confined to bed. She entered Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on July 10.

On Thursday, 12 July 1979, at 10:00 am, Minnie Riperton died in the arms of her husband. That Sunday, following a funeral service attended by more than five hundred mourners, Riperton was interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.



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Her sixth studio album, 'Love Lives Forever', was released posthumously in August 1980.



Co-produced by her husband Richard Rudolph and released on Capitol Records, the album consists of tracks that Riperton recorded in 1978 during vocal sessions before her death. All of Riperton's vocals were stripped from earlier, original, music tracks and the backing tracks were completely redone. It was completed with new musicians, vocalists and arrangements. The producer, Quincy Jones, described the project as "keeping the bridge, but moving the water".

"Island in the Sun" was released as a single in December 1980.



Other songs featured on the album included : "Here We Go" (ft. Peabo Bryson and Roberta Flack), "I'm in Love Again" (ft. Michael Jackson), "Strange Affair", "Give Me Time" (ft. Stevie Wonder), "You Take My Breath Away" (ft. George Benson), and "The Song of Life (La-La-La)" (ft. Patrice Rushen).



Minnie Riperton : "I remember back in the '60s, my husband and I were considered hippies, with our blue jeans and stuff and now it's considered no big deal. And I wore an Afro so back then it made me a militant!" There are always barriers that people create and that's why I feel it's real important in my music to let people see my life because more than anything I've learned it's just as easy to be happy as it is to be unhappy – so we should all try and make that attempt to be happy, right?"

The Single :

"Lovin' You" was written by Minnie Riperton and Richard Rudolph and performed by Minnie Riperton.



Richard Rudolph began composing "Lovin' You" in 1971, while he and Riperton were living in Chicago. The couple later moved to Florida, where work on the song continued after their daughter was born in 1972. Riperton developed the final melody, while Rudolph wrote the lyrics and the bridge.

The melody for "Lovin' You" was created as a distraction for her baby daughter, Maya, so that Minnie and her husband Richard could hang out. Maya was in the studio with Riperton on the day it was recorded and Riperton can be heard singing her daughter's name at the end in the album version.

The original single version released to radio contained only Riperton's vocals, accompanied by acoustic guitar, played by Rudolph, and electric piano, played by producer Stevie Wonder. After the single became popular, an alternative single version of "Lovin' You" was created which added effects from an Arp string synth, likely in an effort to increase the complexity and depth of the otherwise simple-sounding song.



The song is especially known for Riperton's use of the high whistle register in the song's bridge, and for the chirping songbirds heard throughout. During the recording of the song's demo, the bird chirping was recorded accidentally. It was included on the song's final version since, according to Riperton, it "seemed to work".

In the US, "Lovin' You" made its debut on the Billboard Hot 100 on January 18, 1975; twelve weeks later, on April 5, 1975, it peaked at number one. The song remained on the Hot 100 for a total of eighteen weeks.

While it reached #2 on the Official UK chart, it topped both the NME and Melody Maker charts, staying there for two weeks. The song also reached #3 in Canada, #5 in Australia, #6 in the Netherlands, #7 in Belgium, and #11 in New Zealand.



Other Versions include :  Ray Conniff (1975)  /  "Älska dig" by Zandra (1975)  /  SuZanna Teo (1975)  /  Lloyd Parks (1976)  /  Janet Kay (1978)  /  Massivo featuring Tracy (1990)  /  Shanice (1991)  /  Julia Fordham (1991)  /  The Stylistics (2004)  /  Olivia Newton-John (2004)  /  Shifty (2004)  /  Iman Prabowo (2009)  /  Danny McEvoy (2012)  /  IU (2012)  /  Leah McFall (2013)  /  Twinnie (2014)  /  Yenne Lee (2017)  /  Samantha Dorrance (2017)  /  Her's (2017)  /  Jerald Portugal (2019)  /  a robot (2019)  /  Rex Orange County (2022)  /  Chechi Sarai (2022)  /  Amazonics (2023)

On This Day :

7 May : US President Gerald Ford declares an end to "Vietnam Era"
7 May : Small Astronomy Satellite Explorer 53 launched to study X-rays
8 May : Enrique Iglesias, singer, born Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler in Madrid, Spain
10 May : Betamax home videotaping system introduced in Japan
11 May : Israel signs an agreement with European Economic Market
12 May : Jonah Lomu, rugby player, born Jonah Tali Lomu in Auckland, New Zealand
13 May : "Rodgers & Hart" opens at Helen Hayes Theater NYC, running for 108 performances
13 May :  Bob Wills, 'King of Western Swing', dies from bronchial pneumonia aged 69
14 May : French press reports massive deportation from Cambodia
16 May : Muhammad Ali biffs Ron Lyle's noggin' in the 11th round to win heavyweight noggin' biffing title
17 May : Mick Jagger punches a restaurant window, requiring 20 stitches in his "wanking hand".
18 May : Jem, singer-songwriter, born Jemma Gwynne Griffiths in Penarth, Wales
18 May : John Higgins, snooker player, born in Wishaw, Scotland
18 May : Leroy Anderson, American composer, dies aged 66
20 May : Barbara Hepworth, English abstract sculptor, dies in an accidental fire at her Trewyn studios aged 72
21 May : Lee Gaze, guitarist (Lost Prophets), born Lee James Gaze in Pontypridd, Wales
21 May : Trial against Baader-Meinhof-group begins in Stuttgart
23 May : "Chronicle of the Years of Fire" directed by Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina wins the Palme d'Or at 28th Cannes Film Festival

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! :

 

Spoiler alert

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnie_Riperton
https://www.45cat.com/artist/gems-60s
https://www.45cat.com/artist/minnie-riperton
https://www.discogs.com/artist/61686-Minnie-Riperton
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotary_Connection
https://minnieriperton.wordpress.com/2009/11/01/minnie-interview-june-1979/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovin%27_You
https://www.songfacts.com/facts/minnie-riperton/lovin-you
https://secondhandsongs.com/performance/20511/versions#nav-entity

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[famethrowa]

Stevie Wonder on piano?? Well I never knew that.

May I also submit a cover version, "Richard Stamos" on South Park:

[Johnboy]

great work, daf :-D

[daf]

Cheers!

Anyone heard that "full band" version of Lovin' You before? It was certainly new to me!

[famethrowa]

Anyone heard that "full band" version of Lovin' You before? It was certainly new to me!

Certainly never heard that before, and I don't like it! Everyone's throwing in jazzy stuff that's not needed, and the drumbeat ties it down too much, I'm too used to the free-flowing suggestiveness of the perfect original.