British Music

Let’s take a trip back to November/December 1971 when John Kongos was rocking the UK Top 10 with the superb Tokoloshe Man. Kongos was born in South Africa, but for the purposes of this post, he has become British. Mainly because the majority of his work was created in the UK, and well, I just love listening to his two hit songs from this period. Tokoloshe Man was not his first excursion into the British charts. Earlier in 1971, his first hit He’s Gonna Step On You Again peaked at Number 4 and...

The time around Christmas is often referred to as the ’silly season’, particularly when it comes to Christmas songs. Chris Hill’s contributions to Yuletide mirth certainly prove the rule. Over the Christmases of both 1975 and 1976, this British DJ released two novelty records which both entered the UK Top 10. Both discs were what was known as “break-in” records. With Hill acting as narrator, he interspersed his words with small sections of other well-known hits of the era. Firstly in 1975, h…

Maybe it’s just nostalgia (or age), but when it comes to bands like CCS and songs like Tap Turns on the Water, then there truly must be a category called “they don’t make good music like that any more. Listening, as I did, to the funk and soul coming out of America during the early 70s, it was refreshing to hear a British outfit turning out a similar feel to its music. CCS (an acronym for Collective Consciousness Society) was a blues, funk, rock fusion with heavy doses of brass thrown in. Add...

This is what could quite easily be described as a lost hit from a time when the glam rock boom was in full flight in the UK in 1972. This is the sublime Journey by the much underrated singer, Duncan Browne.It was the only hit by Browne of any substance: his only other foray into the UK chart was in 1984 with Travelling Man, a track used for a British TV programme of the same name. However, that one failed to breach The Top 40.By contrast, Journey reached Number 23 and, in my opinion, should really have gone higher. Many have called it a timeless track and there is no doubting that statement.Although ...</!-- end shareaholic likebuttonsettop --></!-- start shareaholic likebuttonsettop -->

The long, hot summer of 1976 in the UK brought forth one of the best soul/pop songs of the decade: You to Me Are Everything by The Real Thing. A cross between a love song and a dance track, this single was the biggest song of the quartet’s career, reaching Number 1 towards the end of that June and staying there for three weeks. Chris and Eddie Amoo, Ray Lake and Dave Smith became the UK’s most successful black act of the 1970s, scoring another eight Top 40 hits during the decade. Proof that...

In a career that saw the British funk and soul group Hot Chocolate score more than twenty UK Top 40 hits, So You Win Again was their only song to hit Number 1 on the British music charts. The band had come close to the top of the charts with such songs as Emma, You Sexy Thing and No Doubt About It, but it was this one that finally ascended to the summit in July, 1977. Led by vocalist Errol Brown, here’s the song many of us were dancing to that summer: So You Win Again. [There is a video that...

Was it really 32 years ago that Pop Muzik was a hit record? Yes, it was back in May, 1979 that Robin Scott reinvented himself as pop group M and had a chart hit both in the UK (N0.2) and later, in Canada and the USA. Scott had actually tried for success previously with the song Moderne Man, again under the pseudonym M, but this had failed to take off. However, Pop Muzik appealed to the masses, becoming one of the first synth-pop hits predating the 1980s onslaught of this style of recording. M...

She was more like a beauty queen from a movie sceneI said don&#8217;t mind, but what do you mean I am the oneWho will dance on the floor in the roundShe said I am the one who will dance on the floor in the round She told me her name was Billie Jean, as she caused a sceneThen every head turned with eyes that dreamed of being the oneWho will dance on the floor in the round People always told me be careful of what you doAnd don&#8217;t go around breaking young girls&#8217; heartsAnd mother always told me be careful of who you loveAnd be careful of what you do &#8217;cause the lie becomes the truth

via squidlog.net [There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.] 41 Years Ago: The first brand new Number One song of the 1970s was by studio band, Edison Lighthouse. The group was put together quickly for TV appearances, once Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes) started to climb the UK music charts rapidly. Tony Burrows provided the lead vocals, finding himself appearing on Britain’s Top of the Pops programme three times in one show. As a session vocalist, he also sang on discs by White Plains and Brotherhood of Man. Love Grows remained as the

A track that was never intended to be a Christmas song sailed up the UK music charts in December, 1980. Stop the Cavalry by Jona Lewie was, in fact, a protest song against the stupidity of war. However, a line from the song and its Yuletide sounding arrangement instantly turned it into a Christmas hit. The track is now a regular on the radio each December, and deservedly so. [There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.] © 2010, Richard. All...

Competition for a good Christmas chart placing was intense in 1973, with several major artists releasing Christmas songs. Step Into Christmas by Elton John was one of them. With such a big name attached to the track, it was expected to rise into the UK Top 10, but possibly suffered from a late release date and the hype surrounding other Christmas songs of the time. History shows that Elton’s effort did not even make the Top 20, eventually peaking at a lowly Number 23. In America, Billboard...

As we travel through December towards Christmas, I thought it would be cool to step back to the 1970s when there was a proliferation of popular Christmas songs released in the UK, many of which have become standards and are still played on the radio today. Some will be instantly recognisable, while others have been lost in the annals of time. Perhaps some are best forgotten, but be warned, I’ll be reaching into the vault picking out the good, the bad and the ugly! Today’s Christmas song is...

Rummaging around looking for another long forgotten November hit from the 1970s, I happened upon this one from Frankie Miller called Darlin’. Miller hails from Scotland and possesses one of those gravelly voices that one associates with Rod Stewart or Dan McCafferty of Nazareth. In chart terms, his only Top 10 entry was Darlin’ in 1978. He, however, found greater success as a songwriter, penning songs which have been covered by many big names, such as Bob Seger, Roy Orbison, Bonnie Tyler and...

The biggest British band (in terms of singles sales) of the 1970s was Slade. This week in November 1971, the group was celebrating the first of its six UK Number Ones with the stomping, sing-along track, Coz I Luv You. Sandwiched between Number One songs by Rod Stewart and then Benny Hill (two names not usually put together in the same sentence), Coz I Luv You saw Slade transition from the bovver boy image of earlier performances into its more recognisable appearance as the premier glam rock...

At the beginning of Sepember 1972, seventy per cent of the UK Top 10 consisted of British acts. Leading the pack was Rod Stewart who was enjoying his only week at Number One with the track You Wear It Well. Shortly to replace Rod at the top was probably the most successful British band of the 1970s, Slade. Mama Weer All Crazee Now was to be the third of an impressive six Number Ones during the decade. The video to the track can be enjoyed at Slade Songs. Two places below Slade at Number Four...