So here is my record of the year for 1966. I was quite reluctant to make this my record of the year as this is not my favourite Lou Christie single, my favourite is "I'm Gonna Make You Mine" which was released in 1969, but the competition is a lot more fierce that year.
Born Lugee Sacco, he was already an established act in his native America by the time this was released and this would be his only US number one. It was his debut hit in the UK and reached number 11 in the charts.
This to me sums up the 60s pop record nicely, I like the concept of the falsetto voice with female backing singers on the track.
Lou Christie would have a further 3 hits in the 60s, but has remained active in the music scene ever since and is still making new music.
So this years Christmas number one has now been revealed. It's "Rockabye" by Clean Bandit. It makes a change from recent years as its not from the X Factor and its not a charity record or part of any X Factor campaign. In fact it was probably never intended to compete for Christmas number one given it was released at the beginning of November and has been number one for 7 weeks. The last time a Christmas number one had already been at number one for 7 weeks by Christmas was 60 years ago back in 1956 with Johnnie Rays "Walking In the Rain". I first encountered Clean Bandit a couple of years ago as I quite liked the music on the M&S advert, so I went to Google to find out what it was. Unfortunately the actual tune that charted had some awful vocals added to it, but an instrumental version does exist on YouTube which is far better. As for this record, again some awful vocals on it by a singer called Anne-Marie and some ok vocals from Sean Paul, someone I used to listen to back in 2003. Can't really say its my cup of tea, but its better than most Christmas number ones we've had in recent years.
As for the X Factor winner, well he is a man called Matt Terry and he has actually released a Christmas record called "When Christmas Comes Around" which also surprisingly for the X Factor isn't a cover.
The highest charting Christmas song this year is "All I Want For Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey, which has reached number 5. Then there is the annual outing of "Fairytale Of New York" by the Pogues at number 15. One place below is "Last Christmas" by Wham. At number 22 we have "Merry Christmas Everyone" by Shakin Stevens. Then back at number 26 is "Driving Home For Christmas" by Chris Rea, which is actually an improvement on the number 53 it reached when it first charted in 1988. One place below is "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday" by Wizzard. Then we have "Do They Know Its Christmas?" by Band aid at number 35, then at 38 we have a Michael Buble cover of "Its Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" which it turns out was first released in 2011. Finally we have "Merry Xmas Everybody" by Slade at number 19.
So basically, the only new Christmas song this year comes from the X Factor, which would be considered a flop for not reaching number one and nearly a quarter of the top 40 are Christmas songs from yesteryear re-entering the charts. Given that people have had 29 years to get their copy of "Fairytale Of New York", you would think that everyone who wanted to own it would own it by now. However, streaming counts towards the charts these days and given the number of Christmas parties etc you get with Christmas playlists being played, it looks very much like these songs will continue to chart in years to come. Merry Christmas!
So today the Christmas number one for 2016 was revealed, more about that tomorrow. I thought I would decide my top 5 Christmas number ones of all time, it's quite difficult really given there are very few that I really like. Once you eliminate the X Factor, novelty records, Band Aid, Spice Girls, Cliff Richard and Bohemian Rhapsody you're not left with a great deal to choose from. But I managed it, so here we go.
5. Human League - Don't You Want Me (1981)
I was quite reluctant to include this because as far as Human League songs go, this is amongst the worst. Further to that, the 1995 remix of this which charted is far better in my opinion, but wasn't a Christmas number one. However, it's not a bad tune and would probably sound a lot better if I hadn't heard it so many times in my life. I do like my electronic music after all.
4. Jackie Wilson - Reet Petite (1986)
This is the last Christmas number one which I was too young to actually remember it being Christmas number one. I've also never known this song not to exist, but then it was originally recorded in 1957 so that would be true of many people living today. Jackie Wilson himself wouldn't have known this was a Christmas number one as he had already died by this point. It's one of these records I could just keep on listening to and never get tired of, which is probably one of the reasons why we still hear it at Christmas now despite it having nothing to do with Christmas.
3. Rage Against the Machine - Killing In the Name (2009)
The Christmas number one which stopped the run of Simon Cowell and co. To me though, this wasn't just about getting one up on Simon Cowell, its showing the youth who have never known any different to all this X Factor/Pop Idol/Pop Stars etc nonsense what we would listen to when we were their age. I first heard this on somebodies Walkman at scouts when it first came out and was impressed straight away. I have fond memories of singing and playing this on the guitar on the school bus and getting a bollocking from the bus driver for the expletives I was shouting out. I also remember the last day of term at school where it was a bit of a free for all, we had a tape player in the classroom and had been playing different tunes off different tapes. We then decided to listen to Rage Against the Machines album the whole way through, this was the second track and the teacher came in when this was playing and he confiscated the tape player as a result. Sure beats watching an arrogant prick and his disciples judging a glorified karaoke contest.
2. East 17 - Stay Another Day (1994)
Some of you may be thinking, how can you say an East 17 song is better than a Rage Against the Machine one? Well we all have our guilty pleasures, and East 17 is very much one of mine. A number of years ago, I used to go to a karaoke night on an almost weekly basis and more often than not I would sing this. The DJ would question why I was singing a Christmas song in the middle of summer. This is something which often bugs me, because it is not a Christmas song. It was written about Tony Mortimer's brother who committed suicide, nothing to do with Christmas at all. I will concede that the bells at the end sound quite Christmassy but that does not make it a Christmas song.
1. Pet Shop Boys - Always On My Mind (1987)
Well there was only ever one candidate for my favourite really. One of my favourite tunes of one of my favourite bands of all time. This was the first Christmas number one I do remember being Christmas number one and also the first version of the song I heard. Now I've heard the original I realise just how genius this cover actually is. The fact that I've not been able to go and see the Pet Shop Boys in concert in London this year or next year because they have sold out before I've been able to buy tickets shows that many will agree.
By 2006 we had reached the era of the X Factor number one. This year was the turn of Leona Lewis with "A Moment Like This". Unsurprisingly this was a cover, with the original being by Kelly Clarkson, the winner of American Idol which was basically the American equivalent of the X Factor before it existed over there and also featured Simon Cowell. What is quite surprising though is that one of the writers of the song is John Reid of Nightcrawlers fame. Have to say I much prefer "Push the Feeling On".
Being denied yet another Christmas number one by Simon Cowell and co was Cliff Richard with "21st Century Christmas". I must admit, I have no recollection of this song ever existing despite it reaching number 2.
Also in the charts this year was "December Brings Me Back To You" by Andy Abraham and Michael Underwood. Andy had been a contestant on the previous years X Factor and this would be his only top 40 hit. Michael was a kids TV presenter. Again, I have no recollection of this ever existing.
A song I do remember though was "Christmas My Arse" by Ricky Tomlinson. The novelty record at Christmas time still very much alive. It wasn't alone though, Crazy Frog did a version of "Last Christmas" this year, seemingly not enough people were fed up with Crazy Frog by this point.
This would be the final Christmas before downloads without a physical copy being released became eligible for the charts. However, we did have "Fairytale Of New York" rereleased this year, which has made an appearance in the top 40 every year since. We also had "Merry Xmas Everybody" by Slade rereleased, which has appeared in the top 100 every year since but not the top 40.
So that just leaves this years Christmas top 40 which gets announced tomorrow and will write my piece on it Christmas eve.
In 1996 the Christmas number one was just as predictable as the X Factor ones which came in later years. It was "2 Become 1" by the Spice Girls. By this point we had established they weren't going to be a one hit wonder and that getting to number one was just a formality. This was helped to number one by somebody I knew at the time buying it simply because you could see Geri's legs on the cover.
It would seem by this point, the Christmas record was being pushed aside for the novelty record. Novelty acts who were on the charts this year included The Woolpackers,Robson & Jerome, and Mike Flowers Pops.
There was however one novelty song which was also a Christmas song. This was "Your Christmas Wish" by The Smurfs. This was actually the second Christmas hit from the Smurfs, the last one being back in 1978 with "Christmas In Smurfland". It was also the fifth and final single from The Smurfs, not a bad number for a novelty act.
Away from the charts though, back in 1996 I was listening to this.
Once again in 1966, we begin the year with a chart debutant at number one. This was Spencer Davis Group with "Keep On Running". They followed this up with another number one with "Somebody Help Me" and had a further two hits this year with "When I Come Home" and "Gimme Some Loving".
The second number one also came from a chart debutant. This was the Lennon/McCartney penned "Michelle" by the Overlanders, who would be a one hit wonder. The same week chart debutants "David & Jonathan" also released a version of this record. They would have one more hit in July with "Lovers Of The World Unite", though both members of the group would return in some capacity as they were the famous songwriters Roger Cook and Roger Greenway.
The third number one also came from a chart debutant, Nancy Sinatra with "These Boots Are Made For Walkin". We also saw her father Frank Sinatra return to the charts this year with a number one record "Strangers In The Night".
It was business as usual for the Beatles who reached number one with both singles this year, "Paperback Writer" and "Yellow Submarine/Eleanor Rigby". This would bring their total number ones to 11.
Elvis Presley was still in the lead in terms of both number of hits and number of number ones. Although he didn't top the charts this year, he did have 5 singles bring his total to 60. In second place, someway back, was Cliff Richard with 39. In third place was Lonnie Donegan with 30, 4 years after his final hit. In fourth was Nat 'King' Cole with 29, also 4 years after his last hit but he wasn't quite finished yet. In fifth was Everly Brothers with 28, though this was the first year they failed to chart since their debut in 1957. Then there were four acts tied in sixth place on 26. Despite it being 7 years since his last hit, Frankie Laine was one of these acts. Another act who's chart career had now ended was also in third place, Pat Boone. Then there was Frankie Vaughan who was currently on hiatus from the charts. The final act in sixth place was Billy Fury who would bid farewell to the top 40 this year with his final 2 hits, "I'll Never Quite Get Over You" and "Give Me Your Word".
Another act from the 50s bidding farewell to the Top 40 this year after a 3 year absence was Bobby Darin with his cover of "If I Were A Carpenter". Meanwhile 1954 debutant Petula Clark was still active in the charts and would be back.
From Motown we have the Temptations make their chart debut with "Ain't Too Proud To Beg". Also from Motown we see the debut of Stevie Wonder with "Uptight (Everything's Alright)". We also have a Motown number one at the end of October with "Reach Out I'll Be There" by the Four Tops.
Percy Sledge had both his UK singles this year, "When A Man Loves A Woman" and "Warm And Tender Love". There was also the debut of Ike & Tina Turner with "River Deep Mountain High" and followed up with "A Love Like Yours". It would however be another 7 years until they chart with a new record again.
The folk world was still going strong in 1966, with the likes of Bob Dylan and Donovan continuing to have hits. We also saw the debut of Simon & Garfunkel in March with "Homeward Bound", whilst Irish group the Bachelors would have a hit with a cover of Simon & Garfunkel's "The Sound Of Silence". Also debuting was Mamas and the Papas with "California Dreamin" in April. From the UK we see Cat Stevens debuting in October with "I Love My Dog".
Aside from the Beatles, we see the last of the Merseybeat bands bid farewell to the charts this year. First up was Swinging Blue Jeans in January with "Don't Make Me Over" reaching number 33. Also in January was The Merseybeats who reached 38 with "I Stand Accused". Tony Crane and Billy Kinsley of the band would then form a duo called The Merseys who had their only hit in April reaching number 4 with "Sorrow". Also in April came the last hit for the Searchers reaching number 31 with "Take It Or Leave It". That was it for the Merseybeat scene which had dominated the charts just a couple of years earlier.
Just over a year after making their chart debut, Eric Claptons former band the Yardbirds would have their final top 40 hit in June with "Over Under Sideways Down". Eric Claptons new band Cream would make their debut in October with "Wrapping Paper".
This was the year that the Animals became Eric Burden & The Animals, mainly because Eric Burden was the only original member in the band left. Former keyboard player Alan Price made his debut with "I Put a Spell On You", meanwhile future Animals keyboard player Zoot Money would have his only top 40 hit "Big Time Operator".
We also see the first Spanish act in the top 40. This was Los Bravos with "Black Is Black" and followed up with their only other hit "I Don't Care".
So 1966 basically saw the progression of the music from the previous year, with folk, soul and blues being the major sounds. Will 1967 continue in the same fashion? We'll see next year!
Ever wondered why "Caravan Of Love" by the Housemartins is played every Christmas time despite having nothing to do with Christmas? Well the reason is because it was a Christmas number 2. Not that every Christmas number 2 gets played every Christmas, in fact this is the only Christmas number 2 which isn't a Christmas song I can think of that we do hear every Christmas. One advantage it has over other Christmas number 2s for its longevity is that it was number 1 the week before Christmas.
So what was Christmas number 1 in 1986? It was a rerelease of "Reet Petite" by Jackie Wilson, which was also tend to hear every Christmas. It does raise the question though, why rerelease a song that's around 30 years old that has nothing to do with Christmas at Christmas? Well it turns out that the clay animation video had been made on a BBC show called "Arena" which prompted the rerelease.
Still, it is quite unusual for a Christmas number 1 and number 2 which aren't Christmas songs to continue being played every Christmas some 30 years later. If you look at the Christmas number ones of 1956 and 1966, they don't tend to be played at Christmas anymore.
However if you look at the Christmas charts of 1986, it starts to make sense. Basically there was a lack of Christmas records in the charts that year. In fact there was just one. That was "Santa Claus Is On The Doll" by Spitting Image. Having made number one with "The Chicken Song" earlier on in the year, they didn't quite hit the same heights with this Christmas effort which reached number 22 and has since been long forgotten by many.
So I began the year going to Fatboy Slims smile high club without actually seeing Fatboy Slim. I end the year going to see the man himself at the O2.
To give you the best idea of how the gig was, at the time of writing you can still watch the set here
If you read my review on the Four Tops and Temptations gig at the O2 a couple of months back, you will see me saying how the price of beer at the O2 has gone up, and the quality has gone down, therefore the best thing to do when going to the O2 is to drink as much beer as you need beforehand. That is exactly what I did. On arrival at the O2 I was greeted by a huge queue waiting to get through the airport style security. Despite stepping off the tube some 30 minutes prior to Fatboy Slim being due on stage, the set had just began when I finally got in.
He was playing "Eat Sleep Rave Repeat" as I entered the arena, a tune that is very much one to hear out loud rather than at home. Instead of being on the usual stage, he was in the middle of the arena with the crowd surrounding him, which worked as despite being near the back I could properly see him.
Being stood not far from the bar I discovered that a pint of beer there has now gone up to £6 and if you want Stella it's a whopping £6.50.
A lot of his famous tune were played in some way or another, some of them just being the vocal sample being mixed with other tunes. The about 30 minutes in the sound went for around 5 minutes and the boos started ringing out, not that you can blame Fatboy Slim for that.
As with all Fatboy Slim sets I've ever seen, there was the inevitable sing a long to "Star 69" which is always good fun.
Going back to 1976, we have a Christmas number one which is actually a Christmas record. It was "When A Child Is Born" by Johnny Mathis. Released in November, this would gradually climb the charts before finally getting to number one Christmas week.
The next highest charting Christmas record was "Bionic Santa" by Chris Hill. This was basically short clips of a number of records at the time incorporated into a story about a bionic Santa being created. Chris Hill was a DJ who had done a similar thing the year before with "Renta Santa". Both records reached number 10 and spent 7 weeks in the charts, and that was the chart career of Chris Hill.
The other Christmas record that year was "Ring Out Solstice Bells" by Jethro Tull. This was their first hit for 5 years and would be their final new top 40 hit. Their career was far from over though, being more successful with their albums than their singles.
A surprisingly low number of Christmas hits given it was the 70s. However, to give you an idea of what was going on at the time, the week before Christmas a new entry to the top 40 was "Anarchy In The UK" by the Sex Pistols. Like with a lot of other music that came before punk, Christmas records were no longer in, at least until two of the Sex Pistols members would collaborate with Thin Lizzy 3 years later.
One of the many criticisms the X Factor gets for the songs they take to Christmas number one is that they are quite depressing and that just isn't the spirit of Christmas.
This is nothing new though, 50 years ago we had a song about somebody on death row at Christmas number one. That song being "The Green Green Grass Of Home" by Tom Jones. After hitting the ground running which his debut reaching number one just under 2 years prior to this, Tom Jones failed to reach the top 10 with his following 6 singles, but he succeeded once again with this number one. Although he wouldn't score another number one, it gave his chart career a boost for the rest of the decade with only 1 further single in the 60s failing to reach the top 10. One thing Tom Jones is often credited for with this song is preventing the Beatles continuing their run of Christmas number ones having had them the previous 3 years and also the following year. A slight detail that gets missed out with this though is that the Beatles didn't even attempt to get a Christmas number one this year with their most recent single being released in August.
In terms of Christmas songs, we had just the one in the charts this year. This was "If Everyday Was Like Christmas" by Elvis Presley. When people think of Christmas songs by Elvis, most think of "Blue Christmas" whilst some incorrectly think of "Lonely This Christmas" which was actually by Mud. However in chart terms this was actually the more successful single reaching number 9 whereas "Blue Christmas" reached number 11. It wasn't his highest charting Christmas single though, that was back in 1957 with "Santa Bring My Baby Back To Me" reaching number 7. He did have a fourth UK Christmas hit with "It Won't Seem Like Christmas (Without You)" which posthumously reach number 13 in 1979. If you want to look beyond the top 40, he had a fifth Christmas single in 1980 with "Santa Claus Is Back In Town" which reached number 41 in 1980.
As Christmas is just around the corner, I thought I would take a look at the charts each decade ago to see what they looked like at Christmas time. I begin with 1956 and will jump a decade each post up to 2016.
The Christmas number one of 1956 was "Just Walkin In The Rain" by Johnnie Ray. Although not a Christmas song, one could argue that its more relevant to Christmas than songs about snowmen etc given its more likely to rain at Christmas than snow. Johnnie Ray wouldn't have had Christmas number one in mind when he released it though given it was released in early October and had been at number one since mid November.
In terms of actual Christmas songs, there were two of them in Christmas week.
First up was "Christmas Island" by Dickie Valentine. Having already had a fairly successful chart career, Dickie Valentine reached the peak the previous year with the first Christmas number one which was actually about Christmas, "Christmas Alphabet". This was actually his first hit since that previous Christmas and whilst not as successful, it still reached a respectable number 8. He would wait another year until his next hit which was yet another Christmas song, "Snowbound For Christmas" . This didn't do so well, peaking at number 28 and spending just one week on the charts.
The other Christmas record was "Christmas and You" by Dave King. This only peaked at number 23 and would be the lowest charting of his four singles.
It's probably fair to say both records haven't stood the test of time and had probably already been forgotten by 1957, fortunately we now have the internet to revive them.
A number of rock music fans have always criticised dance music because its made on the computer instead of using real instruments, therefore it isn't proper music. My view has always been that as long as it sounds good, I don't really care how its made. Last week though, Pete Tong brought along an orchestra to the O2 to play many well known dance tunes from years gone by using actual instruments.
Having done the same thing at the proms last year, I had already seen footage of this to get an idea of what to expect. The set did not differ too much, but its all about hearing it out loud.
The set began with "Right Here Right Now" by Fatboy Slim, as soon as the beat kicked in I was out of my seat dancing and never sat down the rest of the night.
At times, you wouldn't know there was an orchestra there without looking at the stage, that show just how good they managed to replicate the tracks on their instruments.
Whilst they did get the instruments pretty much bang on, there was something they didn't do so well, the vocals. Obviously they can't get the original singers of every track played to come and perform, but they did highlight which vocalists would be present.
First up was Ella Eyre who came on to sing "Good Life" by Inner City. With a lot of dance music, the vocals are a bit of an after thought, but this was a track that originally had genuinely good vocals on it. To be honest, I had no idea who Ella Eyre was, but she did an absolutely dreadful job of singing "Good Life".
A bit later we did actually have the original vocalist for a track there on stage. Unfortunately that was Ella Eyre who sang a Rudimental track, can't say I'm a fan of Rudimental either, but was a good time to take a toilet break.
Then came the inevitable encore where Candi Staton came on to sing "You've Got The Love". At 76, her voice isn't what it was but was still a big improvement on the dreadful Ella Eyre.
Then the absolute final track was a Rudimental one, this time featuring vocalist John Newman who sounded like he was trying to be Mark Morrison. Not a great way to finish, but awful vocalists and Rudimental tracks aside it was an excellent night.
We are getting to the stage where there are many candidates for the record of the year each year, but for me "Eve of Destruction" slightly edges the rest of the candidates.
I can't say I know a great deal about Barry McGuire, I always got the impression from his singing voice that he was Irish, but he is actually American.
As many people point out in the YouTube comments, a lot of what is being said in this song is still relevant today some 50 years later. But it isn't just the lyrical content, it is also the delivery of the song which makes it stand out to me.
This would be his only top 40 hit in the UK, or anywhere else in the world according to his Wikipedia page. He did however do many albums and would later go on to do contemporary Christian music.
As far as one hit wonders go, this is up there amongst the best.
Now we reach the mid point of the 60s and the charts are still being dominated by the Beatles who reach number one with all three of their single releases this year, "Ticket To Ride", "Help!" and "Daytripper/ We Can Work It Out". Other bands from the Mersey Beat scene wouldn't fare so well this year, with the Searchers being the only other group from Liverpool to score a top 10 this year with "Goodbye My Love" reaching number 4. The Searchers would last one more year in charts, but this year would spell the end for most of the Mersey Beat bands, most notably Gerry & the Pacemakers whose final hit "Walk Hand In Hand" would reach number 29.
There was however another Liverpudlian who would enjoy a successful year in the charts. This was comedian Ken Dodd who had the highest selling record of the year with "Tears". He also had a number 3 with "The River".
Matching the Beatles achievement of a clean sweep of number ones this year was the Rolling Stones with "The Last Time", "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" and "Get Off Of My Cloud". These were also the first Rolling Stones number ones composed by Jagger/Richards. It would make them the fifth act to score 5 of more number ones equalling the Shadows.
Both Elvis Presley and Cliff Richard would score a number one this year, Elvis with "Crying in the Chapel" and Cliff with "The Minute You're Gone". The Shadows, whilst not reaching the top, were still having hits this year including their first two vocal hits, "Mary Anne" and "Don't Make My Baby Blue".
So by this point, the five acts with the most number ones were Elvis Presley(15), Beatles(9), Cliff Richard(8), Rolling Stones(5), and the Shadows(5). Elvis three hits this year bringing his total number of hits to 55.
Of the 24 number one hits of the year, a remarkable 10 of them were acts making their chart debuts. First up was Georgie Fame with "Yeh Yeh" which was released late 1964 but reached number one at the start of 1965. Then also released in late 1964 was the Moody Blues knocking this off number one with "Go Now".
In February we have the song "You've Lost That Lovin Feeling" at number one and number two in the charts. The number two version was Cilla Black and the number one version was debutants the Righteous Brothers. The latter also released Unchained Melody this year which surprisingly only reached number 14.
The Seekers became the first Australian act to top the charts with their debut "I'll Never Find Another You" and would score another number one later in the year with "The Carnival Is Over".
We then see Tom Jones make his chart debut at number one with "It's Not Unusual". He would have a further three hits this year, but none of them would reach the top ten.
The number ones "Concrete & Clay" by Unit 4+2, "King Of the Road" by Roger Miller and "Where Are You Now" are also number ones from chart debutants. Whilst all three acts had further hits, none of them would have another hit reach the top 10.
The Byrds would reach number one with their debut, the Bob Dylan penned "Mr Tambourine Man". This was leading the way for the folk rock scene which was making its presence in the charts this year.
As well as the Byrds, the year saw the chart debut of Bob Dylan himself with "Times They Are a Changin" and we would also see "Subterranean Homesick Blues", "Maggies Farm", "Like a Rolling Stone" and "Positively 4th Street".
We also see the debut of Johnny Cash with his cover of the Dylan song "It Ain't Me Babe". Also making their debut was Joan Baez with "We Shall Overcome". She herself would do Dylan covers with "It's All Over Now Baby Blue" and "Farwell Angelina".
From the UK we see the debut of Donovan with "Catch The Wind". There is also the only chart hit for the Silkie with the Lennon/McCartney penned "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away", a song John Lennon said he wrote during his Bob Dylan phase.
Representing the pop side of the folk scene we have Sonny & Cher reaching number one with their debut "I Got You Babe". A week after this was released, both singers released their debut solo hits, Sonny with "Laugh At Me" and Cher with "All I Really Wanna Do" with both songs reaching number 9, and all three songs being in the top 10 at one point.
This was also the year what's described as the mod revival. First we have the Who making their debut with "I Can't Explain" and also the year they released "My Generation". Also making their debut was the Small Faces with "Whatcha Gonna Do About It".
There is also the debut of the Yardbirds who had a trio of hits penned by future 10cc member Graham Gouldman. These were "For Your Love", "Heart Full Of Soul" and "Evil Hearted You".
We also see the rise of soul music from America in the charts. Having made its official debut the previous year, Motown added the Four Tops to the list of acts having a UK hit, with "I Can't Help Myself".
We also see the song "My Girl" enter the charts for the first time, but not by the Temptations. They didn't manage to reach the top 40 when they released it this year, but it would give Otis Redding his chart debut with his version.
Although he had been going for a long time, James Brown would make his debut this year with "Papas Got a Brand New Bag". Wilson Pickett also made his debut with "In the Midnight Hour".
For the first time since 1954 we have no Frankie Vaughan in the charts. The act now holding the longest streak of hits every year is Elvis Presley, who made his debut in 1956 and had a hit every year since.
From the early 50s acts, we have Petula Clark still active and also Ronnie Hilton who would have his final hit this year with "A Windmill In Old Amsterdam". Other acts from the 50s making their final chart appearances this year were Peter Seller, Connie Francis and Adam Faith.
So 1965 was the year where music was evolving and branching out into different areas, where music got both heavier and more mellow. What would survive into 1966 and what new things will 1966 bring? Find out in a couple of weeks.
This week I went to see Deacon Blue for the second time in my life. Having seen them before and knowing they have a new album out, I knew this wouldn't strictly be a novelty trip back to the 80s. However, I along with most others were there mainly for the 80s and early 90s hits.
Beginning the gig with a couple of newer songs, they got the crowd standing up on the third song "Your Town". The crowd really got going though when they played "Chocolate Girl" but with a bit of a difference, they incorporated the Human Leagues "Human" in the middle and it worked quite seamlessly.
The highlight came when they played "Real Gone Kid" which is my personal favourite which they did an extended version of, and quite frankly they could have carried it on even longer and I wouldn't tire of it. This was followed by their debut non charting single "Loaded" where the crowd was all singing along.
There was a bit of a lull after this, Ricky Ross started talking about the refugees, something which will always divide opinion. A few songs later he started telling a story about beggars in Glasgow which he did take some time to tell. Everyone was sat down at this point, but then he concluded the story by saying Glasgow is different on a Friday as its wages day. This inevitable got the whole crowd stood up as they started to play "Wages Day".
When encore time came, they played a new track followed by "When Will You (Make My Telephone Ring)". Then they did "Dignity" but got the crowd to sing the bulk of it. This was then followed by a questionable medley of cover songs, some people were starting to leave at this point. the medley though led to "Twist and Shout" which is one of my favourites of theirs.
Encore number 2 followed where they finished with an acoustic version of Roy Orbison's "Dream Baby".
They now have more albums since they reformed in 1999 than they did prior to their split in 1994, but ultimately its the old ones which get the crowd going.
Even if you have closely followed Elton Johns chart career, you may find that question difficult to answer.
A few years ago, I was at a music quiz in a bar in Corfu. The quizmaster would play something on the piano and ask a related question afterwards. For one particular question he said that when he asked it the previous year, nobody got the correct answer. The question was what was the first number 1 for the person who did the following song he was about to play on the piano, that person being Elton John.
The answer I gave was "Don't Go Breaking My Heart", but this according to the quizmaster was incorrect because it was a duet with Kiki Dee so therefore didn't count. Had I finished 1 point behind the winner I would have been very unhappy, but fortunately I didn't. The answer was "Sacrifice", and nobody got it that year either, in my opinion because he didn't ask the question properly, had he said solo I would have got it correct. But then again, is "Sacrifice" actually the correct answer? this was a double a side with "Healing Hands" so really the correct answer would be "Sacrifice/Healing Hands". Whether he would have accepted "Healing Hands" as an answer I do not know.
What is quite interesting is that "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" was re released as a duet with RuPaul in 1994, and the rest of his number ones were basically re releases of older tracks.
He first released "Healing Hands" and "Sacrifice" separately in 1989, both of which didn't make the top 40 reaching 45 and 55 respectively. In 1990 he made number 1 by releasing both tracks as a double a side.
Then in 1991 he reached number 1 with George Michael with "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" which was originally released as a solo record in 1974 reaching number 16.
Next up was "Candle In The Wind 1997" which had been released twice before reaching number 11 in 1974 and number 5 in 1988. As we all know though, the original was about Marilyn Monroe and he changed the lyrics in 1997 for Princess Diana. It was a double a side with "Something About The Way You Look Tonight".
In 2002, boy band of the moment Blue covered "Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word" which originally reached number 11 in 1976. They had Elton John do guest vocals on the track therefore giving him his 5th number one.
The next number 1 came in 2003 with "Are You Ready For Love". This was originally released in 1979 and missed the top 40 reaching number 42. The 2003 re release was a remixed version by Ashley Beedle and released on Fatboy Slims Southern Fried Records.
His 7th and final number 1 came in 2005 when his song "Indian Sunset" was sampled on 2Pacs "Ghetto Gospel". Elton John probably didn't have much involvement in that release, but still its credited as an Elton John number one, plus 2Pac had been dead for 9 years by this point therefore not having input to the actual release himself.
Think of The Ronettes, you'd probably think "Be My Baby" or to a lesser extent "Baby I Love You". Both good songs, but not as good as the lesser know "Do I Love You".
This would be the final and lowest charting top 40 singles from The Ronettes, reaching number 5. The two hits mentioned above were their only other two top 40 singles.
Yet their brief chart career is quite reflective of their actual career. Despite being together from 1959-1967, they only released one studio album which contained all 3 of their UK hits.
Its quite appropriate to keep this post short as well and let you listen to the tune.
So after a long break, the year by year chart analysis is back.
By 1964 Beatlemania was in full swing. The Beatles would release three singles this year, "Can't Buy Me Love", "A Hard Days Night" and "I Feel Fine" which all reached number 1. Polydor records also cashed in by releasing "Ain't She Sweet" which reached number 29.
More bands from the Mersey beat scene also came around this year. There was the Mojos who debuted with "Everything's Alright" in March. They would have a further two hits before the end of the year and would not return to the charts again. Then there was the Dennisons who had their only top 40 hit with "Walking the Dog" in May. The bands drummer Clive Hornby would later on become best known for playing Jack Sugden in Emmerdale. Then in October after Tony Jackson left the Searchers, he would form a new band called Tony Jackson and the Vibrations who would have their only hit with "Bye Bye Baby".
Outside of Liverpool there were several other notable debutants. In January we saw the debut of Manfred Mann with "5-4-3-2-1". They would reach number one with their third release "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" in August.
March saw the debut of the Applejacks with "Tell Me When". They would have a further two hits before the end of the year and would not return to the charts again. Also in March was the debut of Peter and Gordon who debuted with the Lennon/McCartney penned "A World Without Love" which would reach number one the following month. This was followed up in June with "Nobody I Know", also by Lennon/McCartney which reached number 10.
April saw the debut of the Animals with "Baby Can I Take You Home" and would reach number one with their follow up "House of the Rising Sun" in July. May saw the debut of Lulu with her cover of the Isley Brothers "Shout". Also in May came the debut of Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders with "Stop Look and Listen". The band featured Eric Stewart who would later go on to form 10CC.
July saw the Honeycombs debut with "Have I the Right" which would reach number one in August. That same month saw the Zombie score their only top 40 hit with "She's Not There" which surprisingly only reached number 12. There was also the debut of the Kinks with "You Really Got Me" which would reach number one in September. Then there was the debut of Herman's Hermits with "I'm Into Something Good" which would knock the Kinks of number one.
October saw the debut of Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers with "One Way Love". The same month saw the Pretty Things debut with "Don't Bring Me Down". We also saw Sandie Shaw reach number one with her debut "(There's) Always Something There To Remind Me".
From America we see the first official Motown release in the UK Top 40 which was "My Guy" by Mary Wells in May. This would be the only UK hit for Mary Wells. We see the Supremes debut in September with "Where Did Our Love Go". Then November sees Martha & The Vandellas debut with "Dancing In the Street". November sees the first Motown number one with "Baby Love" by the Supremes.
In total there were 23 number ones in 1964, 9 of which came from chart debutants of the year and 9 of which came from chart debutants of the previous year. The remaining number ones came from the Beatles and Roy Orbison, so none of the acts who reached number one this year had any hits in the 50s.
Despite the top of the charts being out with the old in with the new, some of the old guard were still around. From the first year of the charts and after an absence of 5 years we welcome back Louis Armstrong who reached number 4 with "Hello Dolly". Also from the first year of the charts and after a 6 year absence we welcome back Doris Day with "Move Over Darling" reaching number 8. This would be the last we see of Doris Day in the charts, but Louis Armstrong would be back.
We also see the return after a 6 year absence from a 1953 debutant, Dean Martin, who reached number 11 with "Everybody Loves Somebody".
Keeping his run of having hits every year since 1954 is Frankie Vaughan who reached number 18 with "Hello Dolly". This would mark the end of this particular run, but he would return 3 years later. Other 1954 debutants still in the charts this year are Petula Clark and Ronnie Hilton.
Debutants from the 1950s who would bid farewell to the charts this year are Little Richard with "Bama Lama Bama Loo", Buddy Holly with "Love's Made A Fool Of You", The Crickets with "(They Call Her) La Bamba", Ricky Nelson with "For You" and Ella Fitzgerald with her cover of "Can't Buy Me Love".
We see the first official act in the chart from Germany, composer Helmut Zacharias who had his only hit with "Tokyo Melody". We also see the first act from Jamaica, Millie, who had her only two top 40 hits this year with "My Boy Lollypop" and "Sweet William".
Elvis Presley failed to add to his number ones this year, but managed to add 5 to his total number of top 40 hits bring him up to 52. The highest he would reach this year would be number 10, seemingly his popularity was starting to fade with the emergence of the beat scene.
This brings us to the halfway point in the 60s with the charts very much looking like what the 60s are known for after a slow start. Will this continue into 1965? and what else will we see emerge? Find out in a couple of weeks (hopefully!).
Several years ago, before I lived in London, I was living in a part of the country where you didn't get much in the way of gigs. I found out the Temptations were playing in town, but knowing that the only original member still alive was Otis Williams, the member known for not singing, I initially wasn't interested. However, as it wasn't very often I had bands playing just down the road I decided to give it a go. I was pleasantly surprised, it was a very good gig, so much so that I went to see them again a few years later at the O2 with the Four Tops and last week was my third time going to the O2 to see the Four Tops and Temptations.
Support came from the Tavares. I arrived at the O2 around 19:40 to be greeted by airport style security to get in. Once inside, after buying a ludicrously price £5.50 pint of beer which tasted like socks and going some roundabout way to get into the arena itself, I got to my seat around 20:00, just in time to see the Tavares finishing their set. I don't think I can ever recall a support act finishing so early.
After what seemed quite a long wait, the Four Tops came on stage. Given the number of hits they've had, there was never going to be time to hear them all, but I was glad to hear them play "Loco in Acapulco" which was a song I remember coming out as a new song in 1988 and liking it. This was followed up by the excellent "Simple Game", this was definitely the highlight of the evening. They finished with a medley of hits starting with "Reach Out" and ending with "I Can't Help Myself". My only complaint was that the set seemed far too short, it couldn't have lasted any more than 45 minutes.
After another lengthy wait, on came the Temptations. The hit the ground running with "Get Ready" but then went to play some of their lesser known songs and gradually the crowd would start to sit down, clearly this wasn't going down very well. They never really recovered from that despite starting to play some of the hits everyone wanted to hear. What didn't help was that there was too much talking to the audience and not enough singing. We found out that new lead singer Larry Braggs had fell of the stage at a gig in Manchester a couple of days earlier and banged his head, so fair play to him for continuing. They did start to find their stride again, but it wasn't long before they played "My Girl" which you know marks the end of the gig. Again it probably lasted 45 minutes and I was on the tube by 22:30.
So Four Tops were excellent, Temptations a bit disappointing but overall it seemed to be over before you knew it. I'm sure the previous gigs lasted longer.
Now Bros have added themselves to the ever growing list of boy bands to reunite, the question is who will be next?
Here are some boy bands who have never reunited. I haven't included some of the newer ones as they haven't been split up for long enough for a reunion to be on the cards yet:
Big Fun
Back in 1988 after producing Brother Beyonds only 2 top 10 hits, Stock Aitken and Waterman came up with their own boy band, Big Fun. Their first hit was a cover of "Blame It On The Boogie" in 1989. I remember my young self reading the lyrics to this in Smash Hits magazine and reading in the footnotes that it was written by Michael Jackson, unaware he originally sang it too. It reached a respectable number 4, but despite this very few people I speak to remember it.
They followed it up with another top 10 the same year with "Can't Shake The Feeling". However third single "Handful Of Promises" failed to make the top 20 in 1990. They teamed up with Sonia for their fourth and final top 40 hit with "You've Got A Friend" (no not that one) which did slightly better reaching number 14, but that was it for their chart career less than a year after it started.
When they finished they found themselves with a large bill to pay to Stock Aitken and Waterman making a reunion seem highly unlikely as they money they make will go straight to their former employers.
Yell!
Signed by Simon Cowell long before anyone knew who he was, Yell! had just one top 40 hit in 1990 with a cover of "Instant Replay". Their career came to an abrupt end shortly after when it was discovered that member Daniel James was really called Colin Heywood and was 32 instead of 23 which he claimed to be. By my calculation that would now make him 58, so would guess that if the reunion hasn't happened by now it probably never will.
Bad Boys Inc
The success of Take That in the early 90s was not instant. Their were given one last chance to score a big hit, and followed the advice of Ian Levine to cover "It Only Takes A Minute" in 1992. Ian Levine would then produce their following three hits and Take That had become a household name by the end of the year.
In 1993 Ian Levine decided to form a boy band of his own, Bad Boys Inc. If Take That and East 17 were the Coca Cola and Pepsi of the boy band world in the early 90s (you decide which is which), then Bad Boys Inc were very much the Virgin Cola. Their debut hit "Don't Talk About Love" only just made the top 20 and their following two singles didn't make it that far.
In 1994 they finally scored a top ten with "More To This World". This would be as good as it would get, two singles later their time was up. They did become the first band to appear on the National Lottery but this would be the last meaningful contribution they would make to the music world.
EYC
At the end of 1993 I was watching the Smash Hits Poll Winners Party. With the music being as mainstream as you could get and being quite clued up about all things music, I was surprised to come across a band there I'd never heard of before, EYC.
I've since found out that they were there in place of New Kids On The Block whose comeback single "Dirty Dawg" was deemed inappropriate for the awards. They were also an American group, but were virtually unknown in their homeland.
They were a lot more in your face than your average boy band at the time, but that didn't seem to bring them a great deal of success. They released five hits in the space of a year which brought them no top tens. The best they did was reach number 13 with "Black Book" which was more mellow than their other hits. They made a last ditch attempt late on in 1995 with "Ooh-Ah-Aa (I Feel It)" which bombed at number 33 and that was that.
As I recall they had just one fan from my school. Still that's one more than Bad Boys Inc.
Gemini
By 1995, Bad Boys Inc were finished, but Ian Levine seemingly was not. Enter Gemini, called that because they were twins. Their first hit "Even Though You Broke My Heart" only reached number 40. Then came their most successful hit, "Steal Your Love Away" which reached number 37. Final hit "Could It Be Forever" reached 38, but they never attempted to complete the sequence by getting to 39 with a follow up. Of course when people think of Gemini these days they think of their namesakes (spelt Jemini) scoring nul points at Eurovision. Compared to what they could have been remembered for, it may not be such a bad thing.
Upside Down
Upside down were formed on a BBC documentary called "Making Of The Boyband" which I've posted above. After selecting four members from photographs followed by some karaoke, the management started to look for some actual music for them to sing.
After much exploring they decided to bring in none other than Ian Levine. Their first hit "Change Your Mind" was a blatant rip off of "Careless Whisper". By the end of the documentary it had reached 35, but possibly helped by the documentary it ended up reaching 11. Follow up "Everytime I Fall In Love" only managed 18 and then came "Never Found A Love Like This Before" which was clearly a rip off of Take That's "Pray" with an almost identical video. It reached number 19. Their final hit was an actually cover of "If You Leave Me Now", but this would only reach 27.
Following this, their record label World Records went bankrupt and that was the end of the band. They did comeback as a rock band called Orange Orange but with no success.
The documentary above was said to be the inspiration for Channel 4 comedy "Boyz Unlimited" a few years later.
The One
Very little can be found on boy band The One. They had their own mini series on GMTV before releasing their only top 40 hit "One More Chance". Member Billy Worth would reappear in the Channel 4 comedy "Boyz Unlimited" a few years later. According to his IMDb profile he passed away in 2008, but he was also working as a publican in Melbourne in 2010. Make of that what you can.
North and South
Another boy band with their own TV series, North and South had a show called "No Sweat" on CBBC. In 1997, after that infamous interview with Brian Harvey which brought East 17 to an abrupt end, their manager Tom Watkins put this band together via adverts on teletext.
Their debut "I'm A Man Not A Boy" reached number 7, but their three follow ups, included the theme tune to the show, didn't do so well. Once the TV series ended, so did the band.
Northern Line
Several years ago I was working at a place where many of my colleagues were fans of Big Brother and would discuss the show on a daily basis. Not watching the show myself, I could not contribute to these conversations until one day somebody said "apparently Ziggy used to be in a boy band called Northern Line, does anyone remember them?" to which I said "I do". I was the only one.
Although not the first group to name themselves after a line on the tube (Central Line anyone?), you can almost sense how awful they would be based on the name alone. They didn't disappoint, with their debut "Run For Your Life". It didn't end there, they followed up with hilariously awful "Love On The Northern Line". One further hit followed and that was that.
Member Dan Corsi did actually appear on the Big Reunion when he auditioned to become a member of 5ive. However, he refused to sing at his audition and unsurprisingly didn't get the part.
This week saw the announcement that Bros are to reunite next year for a gig at the O2. This sold out in 7 seconds so they've turned it into a full tour. So I thought it would be appropriate for them to be the next subject of my Nothing Lasts Forever series.
Bros first hit the charts at the beginning of 1988 with "When Will I Be Famous". At that time, it had been 18 months or so since Wham! had called it a day and there hadn't really been a boy band to fill that void since. Though singer Matt Goss has said since that Bros were not a boy band because Luke played the drums and Craig played the bass whereas the boy band concept is to all be vocalists. My argument is that several other boy bands had instrumentalists including arguably their nearest rivals Brother Beyond, but also future boy bands Take That and East 17 would occasionally play instruments too. Also, clearly not all the music of a Bros song was made just by a bass guitar and drums.
The follow up was "Drop the Boy" which could be seen as and early indication that Matt didn't want to be seen as a boy band. Then came their only number one hit "I Owe You Nothing", a sure sign that Bros mania was now in full swing. Their fourth single was called "I Quit" which is exactly what bass player Craig would do several months later. Just before Craig did quit they released their own version of "Silent Night" at Christmas time in 1988 which was a double A side with "Cat Among The Pigeons". This entered the charts at number 2, but fell to number 4 the following week with Cliff Richard taking the top spot with "Mistletoe and Wine" and Kylie and Jason taking number 2 with "Especially For You" and Kylie and Jason's wedding song on Neighbours "Suddenly" by Angry Anderson taking number 3. So as popular as Bros were, they couldn't compete with Neighbours. Still the first five singles all reaching to top 5 was a decent record.
So the beginning of 1989 saw Bros being reduced to just a singer and a drummer. They returned in the summer with the first single of their upcoming album "Too Much". My recollection of hearing this for the first time was that Matt appeared to be angrier in his vocals. This reached number 2 keeping up their record of top 5 hits and a couple of weeks later they played what turned out to be their last gig, at Wembley Stadium to 77,000 fans.
However, their next single "Chocolate Box" was their first not to reach the top 5, though it still reached a respectable 9. Then their Christmas time ballad "Sister" got to number 10. By this point, the UK had now been introduced to American boy band New Kids On The Block who were ready to steal their crown. The next single "Madly In Love" failed to reach the top 10 in early 1990.
Bros then seemed to disappear off the face of the earth until the summer of 1991. By this point they had parted ways with songwriter Nicky Graham and had written their own songs for their third album. They returned with single "Are You Mine" which I managed to listen to a few seconds of on the top 40 countdown until my uncle turned the radio off because it was Bros. Everyone else seemed to agree with my uncle with the song failing to reach the top 10. Their final single "Try" only managed number 27 and their final album spent just 2 weeks in the album chart. So they called it a day.
The mid 90s saw Matt Goss attempt a solo career. I recall seeing the video to his cover of Alexander O'Neal's "If You Were Her Tonight" and if it wasn't for his voice I wouldn't think it was the same person. He eventually made it as a solo artist though, performing regularly in Las Vegas and popular enough to do a solo gig at Wembley Arena. Luke has made a name for himself as an actor whilst Craig has now made the move into music management and will not be part of the Bros reunion.
So the glory days of Bros lasted just 2 years, from the beginning of 1988 to the end of 1989. Despite this, Bros fans will need to wait almost a year to see them in concert.
Several years ago I learnt that Saint Etienne had done a gig in London where they played their debut album Foxbase Alpha in full. Unfortunately the gig had already happened when I found out about it.
This year marks 25 years since its release so I had been hoping they would do another gig in London where they play the album in full. Upon returning from holiday earlier this year I found they had announced a date at Heaven, but this had already sold out. Fortunately they added another date which I bought tickets for.
The support act where a female trio called Stealing Sheep. Its true to say they are rather different to anything I've heard before. All dressed in identical outfits and stood in line at the front consisting of a synth player, electronic drummer and the other member rotating between the guitar and bass, they all shared vocal duties.
Then onto the main piece, the band arrived on stage to the album intro along with one time collaborator Debsy Wykes doing backing vocals and playing various instruments throughout the night including the recorder.
During "Wilson" (the "would you like some sweets willy?" one), Sarah picked up a tub of Haribo and offered sweets to the audience, I was one of the lucky ones to get a sweet! Then during "Stoned To Say The Least" which is an instrumental track, Sarah and Debsy sat at a table and had a drink and game of cards.
Next up was "Nothing Can Stop Us Now", the first track Sarah sang for the band and she missed her cue to start singing, taking until the chorus to find her place, the beauty of live music I guess.
Once the album finished they took a 10 minute break, the music during this was in the background now and someone behind me kept shouting "Come On!" every 10 seconds during the break which was rather annoying.
Of course there was an encore, and they appeared back on stage minus Pete and Bob to do an acoustic version of "Hobart Paving" which was very good. They rounded off the night with "Kiss and Make Up" which was a non album track from the Foxbase Alpha era. The ironic thing to me was that Sarah began and ended the gig singing songs she wasn't the original vocalist on.
All in all a top night and definitely worth the wait. On the way out they were giving out what looked to be goody bags, on closer inspection they were simply carrier bags with the bands logos on it. Still its a souvenir from a memorable night.
Given I was a young child back in 1988, its quite possible the 1988 version of every charted song would have been the first version I have heard.
There are several songs from that year that are well known to be covers such as "With a Little Help From My Friends" by Wet Wet Wet or "A Groovy Kind of Love" by Phil Collins.
However, there are four number ones of that year that you may not know were covers. Here are the originals with the artist who did the cover in brackets:
Tommy James & The Shondells - I Think We're Alone Now (Tiffany)
Yes the only song most people remember Tiffany for was a cover of a 60s song. This was a top ten in America but failed to chart in the UK. Tommy James & The Shondells are best known for their UK number one "Mony Mony" and had one more top 40 hit with "Hanky Panky". As for Tiffany, she actually had three further top 40s hits, "Could've Been", "I Saw Him Standing There" (cover of "I Saw Her Standing There" by the Beatles) and "Radio Romance".
Tina Turner - Don't Turn Around (Aswad)
UK reggae band Aswad scored their first top 40 hit and only number one after 13 years together with "Don't Turn Around". However not only was this not originally by Aswad, it wasn't originally a reggae song either with the original being by Tina Turner. This was the B-side to the Tina Turner single "Typical Male". Despite being songwriters, 6 out of Aswads 9 top 40 hits were covers. The other song Aswad were most famous for, "Shine", was an original.
George Benson - Nothings Gonna Change My Love For You (Glenn Medeiros)
The only song Glenn Medeiros is remembered before was a cover of an album track by George Benson. The two versions don't really sound that much different to each other, it turns out Glenn Medeiros got his break singing this in a radio talent contest in his native Hawaii. He looked on course to be a one hit wonder until two years later he scored his only other hit "She Ain't Worth It" with Bobby Brown. That same year he was the special guest on Jukebox Jury when the panel were reviewing his new song "All I'm Missing Is You" which got a complete slating prior to him appearing. They were right though, it was a miss.
Otis Clay - The Only Way Is Up (Yazz)
Yes that's right, the song Yazz is best remembered for was a cover. Otis Clay never had any hits in the UK but had a long successful career in his native America where he released many albums right up until his death earlier this year. Yazz had 7 top 40 singles which included one further cover which was of Ace's "How Long" with Aswad which would be her last top 40 hit.
You may have read recently that B*witched will be headlining a tour of pop groups from the 90s and 00s in Australia. They are most likely billed as the headline act because they are the only group to have all its original members there. Joining them is Atomic Kitten (the Kerry Katona version with Michelle from Liberty X taking the place of Liz), East 17 (without Brian or Tony but with one time UK Garage singer Robbie Craig) and S Club 3 (no that is not a typo, it really is S Club 3).
I thought this would be a good opportunity to look back on the very brief career of B*witched which follows on nicely from the post I did on the Spice Girls a few weeks ago.
When the Spice Girls said Goodbye at the end of 1998, they seemed top have a ready made replacement to lead the world of girl groups in B*witched who had already hit number one with their first three hits. Whilst the Spice Girls were all in their early 20s when they started out 2 years earlier, B*witched consisted of 3 teenagers, Lindsay (17) and twins Keavy and Edele (18), whilst the other member had already hit her mid 20s, Sinead (25). Their unique selling point was that the twins were sisters with Shane from Boyzone and their love of denim.
The start of their chart success did pretty much mirror that of the Spice Girls. It began in the summer of 1998 with the annoyingly catchy debut everyone remembers, "C'est La Vie", followed up by the you had to be there to remember "Rollercoaster" and then the Christmastime ballad "Too You I Belong" which was knocked off the top spot Christmas week by the Spice Girls. They also managed to get to number one with their fourth hit "Blame it on the Weatherman" which unlike the Spice Girls fourth hit, didn't have the comic relief single tag helping it to number one, instead it knocked off the comic relief single "When the Going Gets Tough" by brother Shanes group Boyzone.
By this point B*witched had set the record for the first act to have their first four singles go straight in at number one and were all now old enough to have a celebratory drink. With the Spice Girls now out of the picture, this was the opportunity to truly dominate the world of girl groups.
They recorded their second album which was said to have a more mature sound. In October 1999 the first single from the new album was released, "Jesse Hold On", which didn't really sound too different to "Rollercoaster". This would be their first single (excluding the Abba tribute thing they did with other groups) that didn't reach number one, it reached number four. Then in December 1999 they had the Christmastime ballad "I Shall be There" which failed to even make the top 10. With the twins turning 20 that same month, maybe they were now seen as being too old. Another blow came the following week when Westlife equalled their record of first four singles going straight in at number one.
At a last ditch attempt to get back to the top, they ditched the denims and tried to sex things up with a FHM photoshoot. Along came the single "Jump Down" which only made number 16 and that spelled the end. That same week, Westlife went straight in at number one with their 5th single therefore beating the record set by B*witched a year earlier.
They didn't split up until 2002 and afterwards the twins attempted a comeback as Ms Lynch and Barbarella without any success. Then in 2013 they reunited for the Big Reunion, so their reunion has now lasted longer than their glory days did.
So their chart career including their flop singles towards the end lasted less than two years and one of them was still a teenager when they were finished.
In terms of girl groups, the next big thing created by Simon Cowell was waiting in the wings in early 2000. Much hype was made about them, they were going to dominate the world of pop music and be even bigger than the Spice Girls. The band was called Girl Thing. Who are they? I hear you ask and many people asked when they appeared on the Big Reunion. Well when they finally released their single, "Last One Standing", it failed to make number one, reaching number eight. The follow up, "Girls on Top" was an even bigger flop and that was the end of them. Sadly as we all know,it wasn't the end of Simon Cowell.
At the start of last year, Fenech Soler announced on their social media they were working on a new album. After numerous updates throughout last year saying it was nearly done, they went pretty quiet this year.
A couple of weeks ago they announced the album was complete and they were going to be playing some gigs in the near future. The new promo photos only had Ben and Ross on them though which raised the question, have Dan and Andrew left the band?
It was confirmed a couple of days ago that they have both left the band and Ben and Ross would carry on as a duo, with additional musicians for the live shows.
Ironically the band named themselves after Dan's surname, which is Fenech Soler. They are keeping the name though, Ben and Ross's surname is Duffy and that names already taken.
Aside from festivals, I believe the last time they played a gig in the UK was in 2013 when I went to see them at Shepherds Bush Empire. I would highly recommend going to see them, they are very good live and sound better than they do on the albums. They are also a band who don't do encores which is a good thing in my opinion.
For those in London, they will be playing at Oslo in Hackney on October 27th. Sadly I won't be able to go myself, but if you're free that night then get yourself down there.
So I've blogged a fair bit so far about the singles chart, but it would be fair to say my contribution to the charts (i.e. the number of singles I've bought) is quite minimal.
I've never bought a download and own considerably more albums on CD than I do singles. As a rule, I would buy singles if I didn't think an album would follow, I like the tune but don't like the artist enough to buy their album, it cost me pennies to buy second hand, because of the CD Rom video (remember them?) or it was by Alisha's Attic/ The Honeyz when I was a big fan.
So it got me thinking, maybe I could do a series of posts about my CD singles which contributed towards the outcome of the charts. So this will exclude the cheap second hand ones.
I'm beginning with the last CD single I bought, 3rd Wish - I Am.
I first came across 3rd Wish towards the end of 2004 when I saw "Obsession" on the music channels which featured rapper Baby Bash. I'd always watch the video when it was on without really knowing what it was, but I liked it. A few months later I heard the same record by Frankie J which also featured Baby Bash. I had already heard of Frankie J so was easy for me to remember who this was, but had forgotten who had done the other version by this point.
Then whilst watching the music channels in the summer of 2005 "I Am" appears, I now know who did the first version I heard of "Obsession". I wondered which one was the original, turns out neither of them were, the original was by a group called Aventura.
Back to "I Am" though, I liked this song just as much and it appeared plenty of times on the music channels. Then one day I go to HMV and see it under the new releases and find that "Obsession" is also on the CD. Not really knowing anything about 3rd Wish and conscious of the fact they will soon disappear from the music channels, it seemed a no brainer to buy it.
As it turned out, that was the last I heard of 3rd Wish. Some internet research has shown that they had a decent following in Germany but not much elsewhere.
Its probably no coincidence that the last time I bought a CD single was the same year YouTube was invented, so knowing that once a tune has its day on a music channel it will still be there on YouTube making paying for a CD single somewhat pointless.
As for this records chart performance, well it actually failed to even reach the top 100. So that rules it out of being my record of the year for 2005.
People have recently acknowledged the fact its now 20 years since the Spice Girls debuted, so I thought it would be a good idea to write about them in the next instalment of my Nothing Lasts Forever series.
Early on in 1996 many young females were devastated at the news that Take That had decided to call it a day. At the same time, many young males including myself were very happy to see the end of Take That. In July of that year though it became apparent that whilst Take That had finished as a group, their members hadn't finished and Gary Barlow went straight in at number one with his debut "Forever Love". What was yet to become apparent was that it wasn't the number one of that week I should be worried about, it was the new entry at number three which you've probably guessed was "Wannabe" by the Spice Girls.
The following week the Spice Girls knocked Gary Barlow off number one and remained there for what seemed like an eternity. I thought this was bound to be a one hit wonder, or at the very least they'd follow it up with a couple of flops before disappearing. Even when I saw the TV debut of their follow up "Say You'll Be There" on The Noise (short lived music show presented by Andi Peters on ITV before The Chart Show) I thought it would flop, but no it went straight it at number one. After that I conceded they weren't going away any time soon.
They were a prime example of how marketing a band in the right way can bring great success. They were clearly there to fill the void left by Take That for the teenage girl audience, but gained a lot of attention from the male audience too which had nothing to do with the music. In those days, when you bought albums you'd often have a mail order card for additional merchandise, and the Spice Girls were no exception to this. One thing you could order was a poster of them in Baywatch swimsuits, when word of this got out many males would buy the album just to order that poster, I knew people who did that, no Google image search in those days. I even knew one person who bought the "2 Become 1" single purely because you could see Geris legs on the cover.
In 1997 the hype surrounding the Spice Girls just got ridiculous, it seemed anything which could be Spice Girls branded was. Then there was the movie which I happy to say that to this very day I've never seen. Music wise though, they only had three singles this year which all got to number one. This was the year they were at the peak of their success.
By 1998, although still hugely popular, the downward spiral would begin. First of all they had their first single that didn't reach number one which was "Stop" which got to number two being denied by Run DMC with "Its Like That". Then Geri Halliwell left the group, which musically wouldn't have made the slightest bit of difference, but it made people questioning whether the whole girl power concept was real or just a marketing campaign.
They finished the year with a Christmas number one with the appropriately titled "Goodbye". Whilst they weren't completely finished as a group, this really was the end of the Spice Girls era. Geri had gone, Mel B and Mel C had already begun their solo careers and both Mel B and Victoria were pregnant by this point.
In 2000 they did make a comeback and had a number one with "Holler", but I don't think too many people remember that. They also came back seven years later with a very forgettable song that failed to reach the top 10. There is also talk of a reunion to mark 20 years, but not all members will be part of it.
So the Spice Girls era may have felt like an eternity, but it only lasted 2 and a half years. Still, it's allowed them all to forge a lucrative career out of doing bugger all ever since so I don't think they'll be complaining.
It goes without saying that music with the right marketing behind it will succeed most of the time irrespective of the music itself. There have been many examples of this happening, even if the X Factor winner doesn't make Christmas number one it still makes a good payday for a certain Mr Cowell.
On the flipside, there is the music that doesn't succeed because it hasn't had the right promotion. The question is how much is lack of promotion and how much is because simply not enough people like it?
I always had the ambition to be a successful musician. When I was younger I had a band, I wrote plenty of songs, I played some gigs. We never made it as musicians, clearly there weren't many people who heard our music, but even if they had it may still not have guaranteed success. For the record, I personally thought we were good and still listen to our music all these years later.
When we did play, there were people who liked us. There were people who complimented us on our music, I even saw some people sing along which to me was quite something. Some of my friends who knew my songs would tell me I was a talented musician.
However, there were also people who weren't so complimentary. A work colleague of mine at the time told me there was no way my band could be better than Blink 182 because they are playing arenas all over the world and selling lots of records, whereas we would play the occasional gig at small venues where most people had gone for a drink rather than to see me and we had sold precisely zero records. Sadly there are a lot of people who have this attitude. Admittedly I do enjoy a few Blink 182 songs and the drummer is decent, but we are talking about a band who can only play the basics on guitar and bass, often mess up when playing live and are quite dreadful at singing. They also have a song which is a basic chord sequence and the lyrics are simply "It would be nice to have a blow job" repeated over and over, not exactly genius song writing. The point is just because they are popular doesn't make them superior in every respect to those who aren't popular, give me the choice of listening to my old band or Blink 182, I'd choose my old band.
I also had somebody tell me to forget any aspirations of being a musician. He said I'm not the talented musician I think I am and I should stop kidding myself. This person and the person in the example above have one thing in common, both of them never heard any of my music. That's half the battle really, if your an unknown entity then many people will automatically assume you're crap.
I'll leave it at that with my old band, I am a little biased in that respect after all. There was a pub I used to go to most Sunday nights which would always have a live band on. There was one particular band who I saw 2 or 3 times that would mostly play covers. Admittedly a lot of the covers they did were of songs I didn't like, but they also played a couple of their own songs which I found to be so much better than the other songs they would play, but people went to that pub to hear songs they know and love, not to discover new music.
You do however get music that does not succeed which simply isn't good enough.
When UK Hardcore rose from the ashes of Happy Hardcore and gained in popularity, the major events would have line ups consisting of just the big name DJs, some of whom had gone away and come back again now it was more popular. People on the internet forums would complain left, right and centre about the big names keeping out the more talented up and coming DJs, and there were many of them. However, I heard quite a few of the up and coming DJs and to be honest I didn't think any of them were better than the big name DJs.
Another example of a group who many fans said were under promoted was Alisha's Attic. Around the time their final album came out there was a forum on the official website and many people said the reason why the second album didn't succeed was because the record label didn't promote it enough and they seemed to be making the same mistake with this album. However, the reality was that most people I knew were aware of Alisha's Attic, but most of them didn't like them. When they set a date for the first single release of the new album, "Push it All Aside" a TV schedule was given on their website. They went on Top of the Pops, Popworld, GMTV and several other shows promoting it. It was also heavily promoted on The Box music channel and I remember a lot of people telling me they had seen the video because they knew I was a fan. The single flopped though, but it was because people didn't like it enough to buy it rather than lack of promotion.
Ultimately there will be music out there that only a handful of people will ever hear, but would be popular if everybody got to hear it. There will also be music that would never be popular no matter how many people will hear it. How much of it falls into which category is probably something we'll never know.
A final thought on the subject of popularity, the biggest selling album of all time is "Thriller" by Michael Jackson. I remember reading a few years ago that around 1 in 5 American households own it. Sounds impressive, but at the same time it means 4 in 5 American households don't own it. So even if your music is extremely popular, you'll still find at least 80% of people won't like it enough to buy it.
When looking back on different eras of music, whether its genres, certain bands or different music scenes, one thing that is noticeable is just how short that era was.
This gave me the idea to start a series of posts about these things. To be clear, I'm not suggesting that music starts and ends in a defined period, indeed most scenes continue in a small way indefinitely not to mention big revivals you have of some too.
I'm beginning with one that's close to home, Happy Hardcore. When I first started showing interest in rave in 1994 I was told that there were two types of rave, Happy Hardcore and Jungle. This is the moment in rave history defined as being the scene split. At the time, the difference wasn't as obvious as you would think. For example, there was "Breaking Free" by Slipmatt, who would become a Happy Hardcore DJ, but that record spanned both Happy Hardcore and Jungle in reality. Then there were tunes like "Above the Clouds" by Sunshine Productions and "Positive" by Love Nation, perhaps both remembered as being Happy Hardcore tunes but they are both on a Jungle compilation I have from that time.
In 1995 the difference started to become more obvious and Jungle had evolved into Drum & Bass, though you'd still find Helter Skelter and Dreamscape tape packs having both genres mixed together. It wasn't until new years eve 1996 when Helter Skelter first completely separated their Happy Hardcore and Drum & Bass tape packs and they would still keep a mixture of the two genres in the same room until the end of the decade.
1996 saw the start of Hardcore Heaven which was a Hardcore only rave which also released compilations. It also saw the start of the Bonkers compilation series. Although never commercially successful in the UK, this was probably the year Happy Hardcore was at its most popular. Around the same time, Dutch acts such as Charly Lownoise & Mental Theo and Paul Elstak were enjoying chart success in Holland.
For me personally, 1996 and 1997 were the years I was most active in my tape pack buying. I have fond memories of waiting for the new Helter Skelter newsletter and flyer for next event which would give details of how to order the latest tape pack. On receiving the tape pack I would always play the DJ Vibes tape first.
By 1998 I stopped buying new tape packs and started back filling my tape pack collection with Helter Skelter offering discounts on older packs, but also buying second hand packs from people who had now gone off the music. I still followed the scene though through compilations, but the two main magazines covering the scene, Dream and Eternity, had now ceased to exist. I'd also opened up to other genres of music too particularly house music which I'd previously written off for being too slow.
At this point, Happy Hardcore had fully established itself as being a genre that was seen as a bit of a joke. I remember at the time going into a record shop in Leicester which had sections for pretty much every dance music genre you could think of apart from Happy Hardcore. When I asked at the counter whether they stocked any Happy Hardcore, they laughed and said no. When I listened to Bonkers 4 that year, I could see where people were coming from and it was getting a bit too cheesy for my liking as well.
However, I would always leap to the defence of Happy Hardcore. I hated the snobbery of some house music fans about it and was determined to stick to Happy Hardcore and give the 2 fingers up to house, even though I was starting to prefer it purely from a musical perspective.
After the first Helter Skelter of 1999 I bought a new tape pack for the first time since 1997. I played the Vibes tape first as usual, the first track was "Forever Autumn" by Supreme and UFO which I first heard in 1996. I enjoyed the set, but very little of it was new material. Next up I listened to Force and Styles, the first track was "Pacific Sun" which I first heard in 1997 and again hardly any new material. The tape pack also featured some hard trance from Mark EG & M Zone, old skool from Ratpack and a DJ Seduction classics set, so really the whole pack didn't contain a great deal of up front Happy Hardcore, a sure sign the music was on its way out.
DJ Seduction officially retired later on that year and many of the other DJs had moved onto other genres shortly afterwards, most notably Hard House. The only big rave that still had Happy Hardcore in its main room was Slammin Vinyl, but even then they started to mix Hardcore and Hard House in the same room at one point.
So in summary Happy Hardcore grew out the original rave sound in 1994, established itself in 1995, enjoyed its glory years in 1996 and 1997, declined in 1998 before slowly grinding to a halt 1999 onwards.
Some of you may be thinking what about the 00s with the return of Bonkers, the start of Hardcore Till I Die and the Radio 1 show?
Well, basically that is a different era. It became UK Hardcore as opposed to Happy Hardcore and many of the 90s fans did not like the 00s stuff. I bought the comeback Bonkers album and didn't think much to it. Though admittedly I still hadn't become one of those people who would say "Yeah I used to listen to Hardcore", I was adamant that I still listened to it. My realisation that I was a raver of yesteryear in denial was when somebody said "Yeah I used to listen to hardcore" and I found out the beginning for him was the Bonkers comeback album, so after I stopped liking the new stuff.
