Tuesday 22 September 2020

UK Number 40s: Rubettes - Under One Roof (1976)


The Rubettes are a band that seem to have a lot of popmaster questions about them. Apart from that they aren't a band you hear too much about these days.

They were a band put together in 1973 by Wayne Bickerton and Tony Waddington. Their debut hit came in 1974 with "Sugar Baby Love" which gave them their first and only number one. Although there were songwriters in the band, their first 6 Top 40 hits were all written by Wayne Bickerton and Tony Waddington.

Their final 3 hits though were written by members of the band after they decided make more serious music. This was their penultimate hit which was written by John Richardson and Alan Williams.

Although their popularity was perhaps in decline by this point, another factor as to why this only made number 40 was because it got banned. The reason it got banned is because it tells the story of a gay man who was disowned and murdered by his father.

Whilst sales of this particular record may have suffered as a result of it's ban, it may have helped the band score a Top 10 with their final hit "Baby I Know" a few months later.

The band continue to play these days, though there are 3 different versions at the time of writing, The Rubettes featuring Alan Williams, The Rubettes featuring Bill Hurd and The Rubettes featuring John, Mick & Steve.

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