225 Goodbye Jim Reeves - You're Free To Go

Chart  entered :  19  February  1972

Chart  peak : 48

Jim  Reeves  died  on  July  31  1964  after  deciding  he  knew  better  than  the  air  traffic  controllers  who  were  trying  to  direct  him  away  from  a  storm  over  Tennessee  and  lost  control  of  his  plane. It  crashed  into  a  wood  killing  him  and  his  business  partner. Since  his  death  his  widow  Mary  masterminded  a  posthumous  release  programme  that lasted  far  longer  than  those  for  Buddy  Holly  and  Eddie  Cochran  by  mixing  previously  released  material  with  what  was  in  the  vaults  to produce  a  string  of  "new"  albums. And  it  worked. The  1966  single  "Distant  Drums"  was  a  monster which topped  the  UK  chart  and  hung  around  for  half  the  year.

Self-evidently  this  post- mortem  career  could  not  be  sustained  indefinitely  and  in  the  UK  at least   his  audience  was  turning  away  by  the  start  of  the  new  decade. I  don't  know  when  "You're  Free  To  Go"  was  recorded  but  it  sounds  so  similar  to  his  first  hit  "He'll  Have  To  Go"  that  it  hardly  matters.  It's  an  utterly  generic  country  ballad  about  calling  time  on  a  broken  marriage  with  Jim  doing  his  usual  close-miked  caress  of  the  lyric. At  least  it's  brief at  two  minutes  flat.

The  follow-up  in  September  1972  was  "Missing  You"  written  by  Red  Sovine  who also  had  his  biggest  hit  posthumously. "I'd  Fight  The  World"  came  out  in  June  1974   and  "You  Belong  To  Me "  in  August  1975  before  RCA  called  time  on  the  programme  in  the  UK. There  are  no  surprises  with  any  of  them, just  typical  examples  of  Jim  doing  his  thing.

 In  the  USA  the  programme  carried  on  with  Jim  having  country  hits  right  up  until  1984  though  there  was  some  real  barrel-scraping  towards  the  end  including  a  medley  and  two "duets"  with  the  even  longer  deceased  Patsy  Cline stitched  together  from  separate  recordings , the  two  having  never  evinced  any  inclination  to  work  with  each  other  in  life.

Jim  remains  a  reliable  seller  of  albums  in  the  UK. No  less  than  seven  compilations  have  charted  between  1975  and  2009, the  first  one  "40  Golden  Greats"  actually  topping  the  chart .

224 Hello Michael Jackson ( solo ) - Got To Be There

Chart  entered : 12  February  1972

Chart  peak : 5

Number  of  hits : 57  ( not  including  hits  with  The  Jackson  Five  or  The Jacksons )

When  The  Jackson  5  broke  through  it  didn't  take  anyone  long  to  determine  who  was  the  star. Less  than  eighteen  months  later  he  was  in  the  studio  recording  material  for  a  solo  album, the  start  of  a  career  that  would  leave  his  brothers  permanently  in  the  shade.

"Got  To  Be  There"  was  the  title  track  of , and  the  first  single  from,  his  album. It  was  written  by  American  songwriter Elliott  Wilensky  ( who  actually  wrote  little  else  of  note ). It's  a  little  dubious  to  have  a  twelve  -year  old  singing  of  waking  up  next  to  a  woman  ( something  of  which  the  adult  MJ  would  have  little  experience  of  course )  but  these  were  more  innocent  times   and   young  Michael's  voice  was  unbroken, obviously  so  on  the  frequent  high  notes.  If  the  group's  records  hadn't  made  it  obvious  that  he  was  a  prodigiously  gifted  singer  there  was  no  missing  it  now.

Dave  Blumberg's  arrangement  is  sugary, perhaps  influenced  by  Carpenters, which  does  make  it sound  a  bit  twee  today. Michael  had  brother  Marlon  to  keep  him  company  at  the  sessions and  he  does  some  of  the  backing  vocals. In a  British  context  it's   worth  noting  that  this   single  followed  hot  on  the  heels  of  home -grown  Opportunity  Knocks  winner  Neil  Reid's   big hit  Mother  Of  Mine  helping  to  make  1972  probably  the  peak  year  for  pre-pubescent  pop.

223 Goodbye Barry Ryan - Can't Let You Go

Chart   entered :  15  January  1972

Chart  peak : 32

The  third  departee  of  the  week  was  the  former  teen  idol, perhaps  no  longer  needed  with  the  advent  of  Cassidy  though  he  wasn't  much  older  than  the  American.

When  we  first  met  Barry  of  course  he  was  part  of  a  duo  with  his  twin  brother  Paul  but   half  way  through  1967  Paul  had  some  sort  of  breakdown  and  couldn't  handle  being  in  the   public  eye  anymore. Instead  he  would  write  the  songs  for  Barry  to  perform  as  a  solo  act. His first  solo  single  "Goodbye "  wasn't  written  by  Paul  and  flopped  but  the  next  one  was  Paul's "Eloise"  which  far  outstripped  anything  they'd  recorded  as  a  duo   by  reaching  number  2  in  October  1968. After  that  the  previous  pattern  reasserted  itself  with  the  singles  toiling  in  the  lower  half  of  the  charts  and  the  previous  one  "It  Is  Written"  had  missed  out  altogether.

"Can't  Let  You  Go"  was  written  by  Russ  Ballard  and  is  a  pleasant  enough  ditty  on  the  lighter  side  of  glam,  sounding  like  Alvin  Stardust  a  couple  of  years  early  except   for  Barry's  lightweight  vocal  which  doesn't  do  much  to  sell  the  song. It's  passable  but  there  were  much  better  singles  around  than  this.

Barry  stuck  with  Ballard  for  the  next  one  "From  My  Head  To  My  Toe"  in  June  1972, produced  by  future  Rubettes  mastermind  Wayne  Bickerton. This  one  has  more  of  a  Northern  Soul  feel  and   Bickerton  teases  out  a  much  better  vocal  performance  from  Barry  but  it  wasn't  enough  to  do  the  trick.

Paul  wrote  his  next  one  "I'm  Sorry  Susan"  which  is  a  nice  breezy  Albert  Hammond  -style  pop  song  with  some  lovely  string  parts  from  Bickerton. It  was  accompanied  by  a  promo  film  of  Barry  riding  a  motorbike  around  the  motorways  near  London   which  is  now  a  wonderful  evocation  of  the  period  but  might  just  have  been  perceived  as  slightly  boring  at  the  time.

After  that  there  was  a  long  silence  as  Barry  recovered  from  a  publicity  stunt  gone  wrong  in  Germany  where  he  received  facial  burns  and  was  hospitalised  for  three  months. In  the  meantime   he  was  dropped  by  Polydor  and  found  it  difficult  to  find  a  new  label. In  March  1975  he  re-emerged  with "Do That", a  glam  stomper  somewhere  between  Mott  the  Hoople  and  Quo   with  a  wispy insinuating  vocal  that  reminds  me  of  Alessi   and  some  loud  early  synthesiser  parts. It  sounds like  a  potential  hit  but  was  only  on  the  small  Dawn  label.

Barry  wrote  his  last  few   singles  himself  .  "Judy"  was  released  on  Bell  in  February  1976   and  sounds  like  an  exercise  in  how  to  cram  as  many  Beatles  references  into  one  song  as possible. Barry  does  a  credible  John  Lennon  impersonation  but  it's  impossible  to  concentrate on  the  song  while  you're  trying  to  identify  the  source  of  each  sound  or  phrase. By  August he'd  moved  on  to  Private  Stock  for  "Where  Were You" . Also  written  by  Barry  it  begins  with  a  wobbly  pyschedelic  verse  before  mutating  into  a  disco  workout  so  vacuous  it  makes  KC  and  the  Sunshine  Band  sound  like  the  Beatles.

His  last  single  "Brother " came  out  in  February  1977  produced  by  former  Marmalade  man  Junior  Campbell. It's  a  pretty  hopeless  attempt  at  a  soul/gospel  epic  with  Barry  sounding  desperately  amateurish  among  the  wailing  backing  vocalists  and   ( presumably )  Campbell's  portentous  Hammond  chords. It  was  quite  a  relief  when  it  finished.

In  1978  he  married  the  youngest  daughter  of  the  Sultan  of  Johor  ( Malaysia )   and   started  a  new  career  as  a  fashion  photographer . He dropped  out  of  the  public  eye  until  1986  when  The  Damned  scored  their  biggest  hit  with  a  not  particularly  imaginative  cover  of  "Eloise"  and  he  appeared  on  Good  Morning  Britain  with  Dave  Vanian  to  promote  it.

Three  years  later  Paul  wrote  a  follow-up  song  to  "Eloise"  called  "Turn  Away"  and  persuaded  Barry to  sing  it.  It  sounds  like  Lou  Gramm  of  Foreigner  singing  with  the  Pet  Shop  Boys  but  it's  overblown  and  tuneless. I'm  not  sure  it  was  even  released  in  the  UK. In  1990  came "Light  In  Your  Heart "  which  sounds  like  a  charity  single  because  Barry  seems  to  be  trying  a  different  voice  on  every  line. The  song  itself  sounds  like  a  Mike  and  the  Mechanics  B-side.

In  1992  Paul  Ryan  died  of  cancer  which  I  think  means  Barry  won't  be  returning  to  the  studio  again. He  has  occasionally  gone  on  the  road  since  then  taking  part  in  the  Solid  Silver  60s  Tour  in  2003  but  his  bread  and  butter  is  still  photography.  

 

222 Goodbye Petula Clark - I Don't Know How To Love Him

Chart  entered  : 15  January  1972

Chart  peak : 47

Petula   is  still  active  so  it's  perhaps  a  surprise  that  she  last  scored  a  new  hit  single  so  long  ago. On  the  other  hand  she  was  approaching  40  when  this  was  a  hit. I  think  I'm  right  in  saying  that  she's  still  the  most  consistently  successful  British  female  in  chart  terms.   Nevertheless  her  chart  career  had  been  in  decline  since  "This  Is  My  Song"  hit  number  one  in  1967  and  she  had  two  completely  blank  years  in  1969  and  1970.

The  song  of  course  is  from  Jesus  Christ  Superstar  and  is  sung  by  the  actress  playing  Mary Magdalene. Petula  never  played  the  role ; she  was  probably  alerted  to  it  by  her  friend  Jackie Trent  recording  it  a  little  earlier. It's  also  notable  for  marking  the  first  time  its  composer Andrew Lloyd-Webber  was  accused  of  plaigarising  a  classical  composer  for  his  melody , in  this  case  Mendelssohn's  violin  concerto  in  E  minor. Tim  Rice's  lyrics  delicately skate  on  the  thin  ice  of  the  exact  nature  of   the  connection  between  Magdalene  and  Jesus  ( still  hotly  debated  by  Da  Vinci  Code  devotees )  by  merely  posing  a  series  of  questions  emanating  from  the  woman's  own  confusions.

Petula's  version  is  book  ended  by  blasts  of  that  familiar  chorus   ( well  to  people  of  my  age who  can't  hear  it  without  remembering  its  adoption  by  supporters  and  detractors  of  a  certain Irish  footballer  of  the  time )  as  if  to  remind  people  where  it  comes  from. I'm  not  sure  it  does  the  record  any  favours.  It  was  up  against  Yvonne  Elliman's  original  version  which  most  people  regard  as  definitive  and  I  wouldn't  dissent  from  that  opinion. Petula  was  old  enough  to  be  Yvonne's  mother  and  it's  certainly  valid  to  do  an  older  woman's  version  but  she  doesn't  have  the  same  purity  of  tone  and  I  prefer  the  folk-tinged  arrangement  on  the  original  to  Johnny  Harris's   orchestrations. Sadly  the  two  versions  cancelled  each  other  out, each  peaking  at  47  a  couple  of  weeks  apart. I  say  sadly  because  while  Yvonne  had  her  moment  in  the  disco  era  a  few  years  hence, it  wasn't  substantial  enough  to  get  her  on  here   and  Petula's  partly  responsible  for  that.

Not  only  was  this  Petula's  last  new  hit  it  was  her  last  single  for  Pye; she  moved  over  to  Polydor  for  her  next  single  "The  Wedding  Song ( There  Is  Love)"  in  October  1972  which  had  been  written  by  Peter  Paul  and  Mary's  Paul  Stookey  for  his  bandmate  Peter  Yarrow's  wedding  in  1970. It  certainly  sounds  like  the  work  of  an  American  folkie  in  its  declamatory  wordiness  but  Petula's  vocal  is  faultless  despite  her  unfamiliarity  with  the  style. It  reached  65  in  the  U.S.  and  was  a  Top  10  hit  in  Australia.  

Petula  was   busy   with  her  own  TV  show,  The  Sound  Of  Petula  which  ran  from  1972  to  1974.  A   year  passed  before  her  next  single, "Lead  Me  On" , a  duet  with  Sacha  Distel  which  sounds  like  a  good  Eurovision  entry  but  was  actually  a  dud  everywhere. Another  year  passed  by  before  "Let's  Sing  A  Love  Song"  which  was  written  by  two-hit  wonder  Lobo. It's  a  peerless  piece  of  Olivia  Newton-John  style  country  pop  and  you  get  the  feeling  that  it  was  Petula's  very  longevity  that  was  counting  against  her.

By  April  1975  she  was  back  with  Tony  Hatch  to  record  his  and  Jackie  Trent's   "I  Am  Your  Song"  a  high  class  MOR  pop  song  that  sounds  a  bit  like  early  Abba. I'm  guessing  it  made  the  Radio  Two   playlist  rather  than  Radio  One's. She  then  returned  to  Pye  for   "The  Wind  Of  Change "  in  May 1975,  a  Rod  McKuen  song  set  to  a classical  guitar  melody  that  I  recognise  but  can't  name. It's  got  an  extraordinary  arrangement  by  Johnny  Harris. Petula  caresses  McKuen's  poetry  with  cut  glass  clarity  with  just  the  guitar  for  company  in  the  first  verse ,  then  is    joined   by  soft  strings  in  the  second. Then  two minutes  in,  a  disco beat  kicks  in   for  the  middle  eight  and  I  was  just  jotting  down  "he's  ruined  it"  when  Petula   comes  back  in   with  a  wordless  cry  that's  just  spellbinding. I'm  struggling  to  think  of  a  better  vocal  performance  in  any  genre. I  have  to  say  the  close  of  the  record  is a  bit  drawn-out   but  it  remains  a  stunning  piece  of  work. Alas, it  didn't  get  heard  and  it's  the  last  single  of  her's  for  a  long  time  that's  worth  another  listen.

Two  month  later  she  took  on  "What  I  Did  For  Love"  from  A  Chorus  Line . It  has  the  customary  classy  vocal  performance  and  contemporary  funky  guitar  albeit  low  in  the  mix  but  it's  still  a  bit  bland. She  then  recorded  a  regrettable  disco  version  of  "Downtown"  which  was  almost  immediately  withdrawn  presumably  due  to  a  negative  reaction  from  her  fans   though  it  remained  available  in  Germany  where  it  got  to  number  45.

In  1977  she  got  a  welcome  boost  when  her  French-language  recording  of  "Don't  Cry  For  Me  Argentina "  as  "La  Chanson d'Evita"  got  to  number  8  in  France. That  might  have  been  what  persuaded  CBS  to  take  her  on  and  she  released  her  discofied  version  of  "I'm  Not  In  Love"  in  February 1978. There's  a   clip  on  youtube  from  French  TV  of  her  performing  it  in  a  skimpy  outfit  and  she's  in  great  shape  for  46  but   it's  more  enjoyable   if  you  mute  the  sound.  Two  months  later  she  had  to  change  the  title  of  her  next  single  "Put  A  Little  Sunbeam  In  Your  Life"  substituting  "Sunshine"  because  she  was  advertising  the  Chrysler  Sunbeam  at  the  time.   It  has  that  late  seventies  cod-sophisticated  sound  that  was  common  to  expensive  advertising  campaigns  at  the  time - you  expect  Petula  to  sing  "That's  Martini"  at  the  end  of  each  line  -  but  actually  sounds  rather  uncomfortable  as  the  tempo  is  too  fast  for  her  to  get  the  words  out  smoothly.

In  November  1978  she  did  the  theme  for  The  Greek  Tycoon  , a  ghastly  turkey  starring Anthony Quinn  and  Jacqueline  Bisset. The  song  , written  by  another  two-hit  wonder  John Kongos  "Just  A  Dance With  Time"  isn't  much  better, starting  out  as  a  Streisand-esque  ballad  then  going  into  a  Greek-flavoured  disco  chorus. It's  a  real  dog's  dinner.

Petula  seemed  to  realise  she  wasn't  getting  anywhere  and  it  would  be  nearly  four  years before  her  next  single . During  this  period  she  made  her  last  forays  into  straight  acting  in film  with  Never  Never  Land   in  1980   and  on  TV   with  Sans  Famille  in  1981. That  year, at  the  urging  of  her  children, she  returned  to  musical  theatre  with  a  triumphant  run  in  The  Sound  Of  Music  despite  being  at  least  20  years  too  old  for  the  role. Nevertheless  the  real  Maria  von  Trapp  acclaimed  her  the  best  ever,

 She  made  her  recording  comeback  with  "Natural  Love"  in  1982 , a  pleasant  but  forgettable  slice  of  country  pop  that  got  to  number  66  in  the  U.S. I  haven't  heard  the  follow-up  "Dreamin  With  My  Eyes  Wide  Open "  but  I'm  guessing  it  was  in  the  same  vein.

Another  hiatus  ensued  before  "Mr  Orwell"  in  February  1985 , a  horrible  Europop  ditty celebrating  the passing  of  1984  written  by a  Quebecois  songwriting  partnership  who'd  go  on   to  work  with  Celine  Dion. Whether  Petula  wasn't  really  trying  on  such  crap  or  her  53  years   were  starting  to  take  their  toll  but  her  voice  seems  to  have  lost  something  of  its  magic  on  it.

Her  next  single  was  the  awful  "Downtown  88". This  wasn't  another  re-recording  but  the  1964 version  re-mixed  by  Peter  Slaghuis  which  effectively  meant  bolting  it  on  to  a  backing  track that's  very  derivative  of  Blue  Monday.  Petula  got  behind  it , though  not  without  some trepidation,  and  did  a  live  off-key  vocal  for  it  on  Top  Of  The  Pops  which  helped  it  to number  10, her  last  appearance  in  the  UK  singles  chart. The  same  trick  didn't  work  for  "I Couldn't  Live  Without  Your  Love"  the  following  year  

By  that  time  she  was  working  on  the  musical  "Someone  like  You"  for  which  she  wrote  the  music . It  opened  in   November  1989  in  Cambridge  and  moved  to  the  West  End  the  following  March  to  mixed  reviews. The  title  track , a  duet  with  Dave  Willetts  was  released  as  a  single  but  doesn't  work  at  all  out  of  context. In  April  1990  it  was  suddenly  shut  down  by  bailiffs  due  to  producer  Harold  Fielding's  financial  difficulties  and  hasn't  been  revived.

In  1992  she  came  up  with  a  single  "Oxygen"  which  was  written  by  Nik  Kershaw   but  sounds  like  The  Pet  Shop  Boys. The  near-60  year  old  Petula  sensibly  does  it  all  in  a  low  register  and  it's  OK, nothing  special.

The  following  year  she  made  her  Broadway  debut  in  Blood  Brothers  working  with  David  Cassidy  then  two  years  later  started  performing  in  the  role  she  made  her  own  , Norma  Desmond  in  Sunset  Boulevard  which  made  her  a  star  in  America  all  over  again. She  was  in  it  more  or  less  continuously  from  1995  to  2000. In  1998  she  received  an  OBE.

In  the  21st  century  Petula  has  shown  few  signs  of  slowing  down  with  frequent  tours  and  some  CDs  of  new  material. In  2011  she  guested  on  The  Saw  Doctors'  version  of  "Downtown"  which  made  number  2  in  the  Irish  charts. In  2012  she   performed  on  Jools  Holland's  Hootenanny  programme  having  not  long  turned  80  and  2013  saw  the  release  of  a  new  album  "Lost  In  You". The  single  "Cut  Copy  Me" is  a  La Roux-ish  electro  ballad  on  which  her  voice  is  Autotuned  into  Gaga-esque  inhumanity  but  I  quite  like  it. It  was  reportedly  a  big  hit  in  Belgium  . A  second  single  "Never  Enough"  is  a  country  knees-up  where  the  Autotuning  is  less  obvious  but  still  there  if  you  listen  closely. Long  may  she  continue !




    

221 Goodbye Sonny* - All I Ever Need Is You

(* ...and  Cher )

Chart  entered : 15  January  1972

Chart  peak : 8

We  move  into  1972  now , at  the  end  of  which  I  was  an  avid  pop  music  fan. It's  the  last  year  of  my  life  which  is  somewhat  murky ; after  this  I  generally  know  when  events  happened  and  calendar  years  take  on  an  individual  character  in  my  memory.

In  chart  terms  it  was  great  because  glam  rock  established  itself  as  the  dominant  genre  and some  brilliant, exciting  records  were  big  hits. There  are  seven  goodbyes  and  three  acts   checked  in  with  their  final  hit  in  this  same  week. We  will  start  with  Mr  Bono.

This  was  a  comeback  hit  for  the  duo  - although   the  solo  Cher  had  recently  had  a  big  hit  with  the  brilliant  "Gypsies, Tramps  And  Thieves" - as  their  last  hit  was  back  in  February  1967. They  reacted  to  their  declining  sales  by  becoming  a  variety  act  working  mainly  in  the  Las  Vegas  clubs  and  hotels  with  Sonny  as  the  fall  guy  ( though  he  actually  scripted  it  all ). Eventually  their  hard  work  paid  off  and  in  1971  they  got  their  own  TV  show  The  Sonny  And  Cher  Comedy  Hour . This  prompted  a  return  to  the  recording  studio  and  this   song  was  the  title  track  of  their  new  album.

The  song  was  written  by  Jimmy  Holiday  and  Eddie  Reeves  and  first  recorded  by  Ray Charles  on  his  album The  Volcanic  Action  Of  My  Soul. Ray  Sanders  made  it  a  country  hit  and  that's  the  version  that  more  likely  influenced  the  duo. The  song  has  a  lush  country  rock  arrangement  with  piano  and  mandolin  prominent. The  duo  do  alternate  verses,  Cher  staying  in  her  wobbly  lower  register   throughout  and  Sonny  sounding  like  a  slightly  drunk  crow. Despite  the  pair's  obvious  vocal  imperfections  it  works  quite  well  as  middle  of  the  road  corn  for  their  new  audience  of  older  TV  viewers  and  turned  out  to be  one  of  the  biggest  hits  of  their  career  as  a  duo.

In  the  US  there  was  another  big  hit  from  the  album, "A  Cowboy's  Work  Is  Never  Done" which  was  Sonny's  own  composition. I  much  prefer  it  actually. The  unusual   arrangement  with an  electric  sitar  wailing  and  teasing  horns  suits  Cher's  ability  to  sell  a  melodramatic  lyric  (  although  on  close  inspection  it's  actually  about  a  boy  playing  at  being  a  hero ) and  Sonny  has  the  sense  to  give  her  the  bulk  of  the  song. Bafflingly  we  turned  our  noses  up  at  it  while  it  reached  number  8  in  the  US.  

"When  You  Say  Love"  from  August  1972  was  a  quick  cover  of  another  big  country  hit,  for  Bob  Luman  which  they  attack  with  their  usual  mix  of  gusto  and  big  production.  It  reached  number  32 in  the  US. The  following  year  they  came  out  with  Sonny's "Mama  Was  A  Rock And  Roll  Singer, Papa  Used  To  Write  All  Her  Songs" an  extraordinary,  sprawling  pyschodrama  of  a  song  spread  over  both  sides  of  the  single. Clearly  intended  to  be  Sonny's  last  word  on  their  partnership  ( the  rest  of  the  songs  on  the  LP  it  headed  were  covers ) , the  lyrics  are  pure  poison  spat  out  -and  it's  his  voice  mixed  higher - without  the  slightest  regard  for  melody. The  horrible  squelchy  synth  sounds  make  it  even  more  difficult  to  like. Amazingly  it  was  their  last  US  hit  reaching  77. "Good  God  !" screeches  Sonny  at  one  point. Quite.

That  should  have  been  the  last  word  but  the  record  company  released  their  version  of  Bob  Stone's  "The  Greatest  Show  On  Earth", itself  a  break-up  song. It's  a  good  song  with  both  of  them  in  restrained  form  although  its  big  production  sounds  a  bit  dated  for  1973.

The  show  had  to  come  to  an  end  in  1974  as  the  pair's  personal  relationship  fell  apart. Rumours  of  massive  rows  offstage  started  to  leak  out  from  1973  onwards  and  they  had  separate  quarters  in  their  Bel  Air  mansion  , kept  together  by  CBS  threatening  to  pull  the  show  if  one  moved  out. It  was  Sonny  who  brought  things  to  a  close  by  filing  for  divorce  which  was  granted  in  1975, the  pair  actually  making  a  well-oiled  appearance  together  on  The  Tonight  Show  to  celebrate.  In  august  1974  he  released  his  final  solo  single  "Our  Last  Show" , a  big  band  ballad  which  reflects  wryly  on  the   end  of  their  partnership  and  is  quite  touching  despite  his  unlovely  singing.  people  weren't  inclined  to  buy  it  though.  

Both  of  them  got  separate  TV  shows. Sonny  took  most  of  the  team  with  him  for  The  Sonny  Comedy  Revue  but  it  lasted  barely  two  months. He  struggled  for  quality  guest  stars  and  the  scripts  were  patchy  at  best.  When  it  was  cancelled  - before  Cher's  show  had  even  aired - he  went  out  on  a  tour  with  Darlene  Love  but  that  wasn't  well  received  either. He  turned  to  guest  star  roles  as  an  actor  in  TV  series.

After  a  good  start  Cher's  show  struggled  and  she  found  the  workload  too  much.  At  the  end  of  1975  she  announced  that  she  and  Sonny  would  reunite  professionally.  Contractual  commitments  meant  this  would  also  entail  another  album  and  a  tour  together  but  in  February  1976  The  Sonny  And  Cher  Show  aired. It  was  beset  with  problems. Sonny  couldn't  pull  back  a  lot  of  the  features  he'd  taken  over  to  a  different  TV  company  when  they  split. Cher  was  criticised  for  her  immodest  clothing; her  response  was  "Hell, Sonny  didn't  die !"  and  when  she  divorced  new  husband  Greg  Allman   three  months  after  the  birth  of  their  child  , the  ratings  sank  like  a  stone. The  show  was  pulled  in  August  1977.

Sonny  returned  to  acting  appearing  in  Airplane  II , Troll  and  Hairspray. He  occasionally  crossed  paths  with  his  ex  and  they  appeared  on  Letterman  in  1988. He  also  diversified  into  the   restaurant  business. When  the  bureaucrats  of  Palm  Springs  frustrated  his  attempts  to  open  a  restaurant  there  he  followed  Clint  Eastwood's  recent  example  and  got  himself  elected  Mayor. He  served  four  years  from  1988  to  1992.  He  started  the  Palm  Springs  International  Film  Festival  which  has  since  been  renamed  in  his  honour. In  1993  "I  Got  You  Babe"  made  a  brief  return  to  the  UK  chart  after  its  prominent  role  in  Groundhog  Day.   As  a  Repblican  he  tried  for  the  Senate  nomination  in  1992  but  was  defeated  and  had  to  settle  for  becoming  a  Congressman  in  1994. He  is  best  known  for  his  work  on  copyright  term  extension  although  he  was  not  the  actual  author  of  the  Act  that  bears  his  name. He  also  advised   Newt  Gingrich  on  how  to  improve  his  PR.

On  January  5th  1998 ,  whilst  still  in  office, he  died  after ski-ing  into  a  tree  at  a  Californian  holiday  resort -  a  curiously  fitting  end  for  a  man  who'd  spent  most  of  his  professional  life  pretending  to  be  a  bit  of  a  clown. With  his  wife  Mary's  blessing  Cher  gave  a  eulogy  at  his  funeral. Mary  herself   was  elected  to  replace  him  and  served  until  defeated  two  years  ago.  

220 Goodbye John Barry - Theme From The Persuaders

Chart  entered  : 11  December 1971

Chart peak : 13

Another  survivor  from  the  pre-Beatles  era  scored  his  final  hit. John  beat  Al  Martino's comeback  record, this  being  his  first  hit  for  just  over  eight  years. The  week  this  entered  the charts , Benny  Hill's  Ernie   went  to  number  one  and  by  virtue  of  the  promo  film  being featured  a  couple  of  times  "through  the  windows"  on  Play  School - Biddy  Baxter  presumably judging  that  the  innuendos  would  go  over  the  under-10s'  heads - became  the  first  hit  that  I directly  heard  ( and  enjoyed ; far  more  interesting  than  a  short  film  about  bottles  being  made which  was  the  usual  fare ) . It  would  also  be  around  this  time  that  my  mum  called  me  down  from  bed  to  watch  the  execrable  Neil Reid  performing  on  Opportunity  Knocks  though  I  can't  recall  which  song  he  was  singing.

I  have  a  vague  memory  of  The  Persuaders  being  on  TV , a  glossy  international  crime  series set  in  the  sort  of  locations  that  featured  on  jig-saws. Nowadays  it's  mostly  remembered  as  the bridge  between  Roger  Moore's  stints  as  Simon  Templar  and  James  Bond  and  the  last  thing Tony  Curtis  did  before  becoming  Hollywood's  Peter  Stringfellow  - the  textbook  example  of not  growing  old  gracefully. It  only  lasted  one  series  before  Roger  went  off  to  do  Bond  and   was  a  big  hit  in  Europe  rather  than  America  where  it  bombed  badly.

John's  theme  tune  was  one  of  the  first  to  use  synthesisers.  It's  a  multi-layered  composition  with  the  grinding  bass  synthesiser  sounding  an  ominous  note  that's  not  quite  in  keeping  with  the  generally  light  tone  of  the  series  where  the  banter  between  the  stars  seemed  more  important  than  the  plotlines. On  top  of  that  you  have  brief  melody  lines  played  on  a  synth  that  sounds  rather  like  a  balalaika  to  give  it  that  Greek  feel  in  line  with  the  mainly  Mediterranean  locations  in  the  series. You  certainly  don't  come  away  humming  it  after  one  listen  so  it  probably  needed  the  repeat  exposure  to  become  a  hit.

In  many  ways  this  is  a  somewhat  artificial  "goodbye". John  already  had  three  of  his  five  Oscars  in  the  bag  by  this  point  and  UK  hit  singles  were  small  beer  set  against  being  at  or  near  the  top  of  the  list  of  Hollywood's  soundtrack  maestros. He  was  a  considerable  presence  on  all  the  Bond  theme  hits  down  to  1987  even  though  he  wasn't  a  credited  artist  on  any  of  them.

He  did  release  some  sporadic  singles  under  his  own  name. March 1972's  "This  Way  Mary"  from  the Oscar-nominated  score  to  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  marries  synths  to  medieval  chamber  music  in  a  way  that  anticipates  Rick  Wakeman  though  the  uptempo pop  beat  seems  rather  incongruous . In  September  that  year  he  did  another  theme  to  another  Lew  Grade  series, the  less-celebrated  The  Adventurer  starring Gene  Barry  ( no  relation )  and  Barry  Morse  which  sounds  like  Theme  From  The  Persuaders  Part  2.

He  next  popped  up  on  the  B-side  of  Donna  Summer's  "Deep  Down  Inside"  in  1977 which  he  co-wrote  with  her  and  produced  for  the  film  The  Deep .  What  he  made  of  Donna's  post-coital vocal  isn't  recorded   but  as  the  flip  was  an  instrumental  version  he  had  to  be  credited  as  the  artist. It  too  got  an  Oscar  nomination.

In   September  1980  his  harmonica-heavy   theme  from  Midnight  Cowboy  was  released  as  a  single  after  repeated  plays  on  Noel  Edmunds'  Sunday  morning  show  but  it  didn't  manage  to  follow  Theme  From  M.A.S.H  into  the  charts. Three  years  later , for  some  reason  Cherry  Red  released  "The  Lolly  Theme"  which  went  right  back  to  the  John  Barry  Seven  days  and  was  written  for  a  long  forgotten  British  comedy  film  The  Amorous  Prawn  in  1962. In  1987  A-ha's  "The  Living  Daylights"  was  the  last  Bond  theme  he  worked  on. A-ha  have  been    complimentary  about  his  involvement  but  John  didn't  enjoy  the  experience  very  much. He  was  due  to  work  on  Licence  To  Kill  but  a  ruptured  oesophagus  intervened  and  Michael  Kamen  did  it  instead, after  which  there  was  a  six-year  hiatus  in  the  franchise.

Also  in  1987  his  melancholic  theme  to  the  Christopher  Reeve  film  Somewhere  In  Time   was  released  as  a  single  although  the  film  came  out  in  1980.  perhaps  it  had  just  been  shown  on  TV.

In  1990  he  collected  his  final  Oscar  for  the  score  to  Dances  With  Wolves.  John's  single  "The  John  Dunbar  Theme"  was   actually  a  re-arrangement  of  the  theme  tune  set  to  a  horrible  tinny  drum  sound  and  is  as  boring  and  overblown  as  the  film  itself  so  would  have  been  eminently  suitable. It  was  his  last  new  single  although  a 1963   recording  "Monkey  Feathers"  was  released  in  1999  by  TKO.

John's  last  Oscar  nomination  was  the  score  for  Chaplin  in  1992. He  was  still  active  after that,  completing  three  film  scores  in  1993  for  example,  but  his  best  work  was  behind  him. I  don't  suppose  working  on  two  infamous  turkeys  The  Specialist   and  The  Scarlet  Letter   helped  his  reputation. John  endorsed  David  Arnold's  re-workings  of   the  Bond  themes  in  1997  and  recommended  him  to  Barbara  Broccoli  for  the  series  but  whether  Arnold  needed  his  endorsement  to  get  the  gig  is  questionable.  He  received  an  OBE  in  1999.

In  2001  he  went  to  the  High  Court  as  a  defence  witness  for  The  Sunday  Times  who  had  written  that  he,  not  Monty  Norman,  was  the  true  composer  of  the  James  Bond  theme  and  were  sued  by  Norman. The  Court  found  for  Norman. That  same  year  John  did  his  last  film  score  for  the  Kate  Winslet  WWII  film  Enigma.

He  spent  the  last  decade  of  his  life  in  semi-retirement  though  he  was  credited  as  executive  producer  on  an  album  by  Australian  ensemble  The  Ten  Tenors  in  2006  and  wrote  a  song  with  long  time  collaborator  Don  Black  for  Shirley  Bassey's  2009  album  The  Performance.
He  died  of  a  heart  attack in  January  2011.

219 Goodbye Vince Hill - Look Around ( And You'll Find Me There )

Chart  entered :  25  September  1971

Chart  peak : 12

This  was  actually  Vince's  second  biggest  hit  behind  "Edelweiss"  ( which  reached  number  2  in  Februrary  1967 )  so  at  least  he  went  out  on  a  high. Vince  had  far  more  misses  than  hits  on  his  c.v. so  probably  had  little  sense  that  this  was  the  end.

This  single  owes  much  of  its  success  to  its  inclusion  on  the  soundtrack  to  the  blockbuster  film  Love  Story. An  instrumental  version  played  while  Ryan O' Neal  and  Ali McGraw  frolicked in  the  snow.   The  words  are  standard  chocolate  box  fare. Alyn  Ainsworth's  arrangement  moves  the  song  along  quickly  enough  for  a  seventies  audience  and   Vince  croons  the  song  warmly  enough  but  given  the  context  I  think  Bobby  Goldsboro  or  Glen  Campbell  would  have  given  it  more  emotional  heft.

The  same  problem  I  encountered  with  Frankie  Vaughan  recurs  here. Vince's  post  -fame  singles  haven't  been  compiled  comprehensively  and  his  fans  haven't  been  very  active  on  youtube . First  there  was  "Maybe  This  Time"  in  May  1972  then  in  October  his  version  of  "And  I  Love  You  So"  the  Don  McLean  song  irresistible  to  MOR  crooners. Even  compared  to  the  Perry  Como  hit  version  six  months  later  Vince's  understated  reading  is  a  bit  soporific.

There's  now  a  long  list  of  unheard  singles : "Glory Hallelujah", "Brother  Sun And  Sister Moon" , "Sad And  Lonely  Man", "Among  My  Souvenirs" , "My  World  Keeps  Getting  Smaller  Every  Day"  ( for  EMI  1973-74) ; "Bad  To  Me","Wish You Were  Here", "I  Got  Love For  Ya  Ruby", "I  Honestly  Love  You", "When I  Fall In  Love", "This  Song's  For  You" (  for  CBS  1975-77 ) and  "Miracles" ( for  Precision  1979 ).   I  have  heard  "When  You  Walk  Through  Life ( Cavatina ) "   which,  as  the  title  suggests,  puts  another  set  of  words  to  the  Deerhunter  Theme  and  is  a  great  cure  for  insomnia. This  was  apparently  the  last  release  on  the  Ember  record  label. Then  came  two  singles  in  the  early  eighties , "Thief  In  The  Night"  ( Celebrity 1981 ) and  "Pray  For  Time"  on  MMT  in  1982 , a  quasi-religious  chest  beater  with  naff  eighties  production.

Of  course  non-selling  singles  don't  pay  the  rent  and  Vince  worked  in  cabaret  and  musical  theatre  throughout  this  period. He  was  also  a  staple  of  variety  shows  on  TV. In  the  eighties  he  spent  a  lot  of  time  working  on  cruise  ships  In  1993  he   dipped  a  toe  back  in  the  singles  market  with  a  version  of  "Swing  Low  Sweet  Chariot"  which  doesn't  rise  above  the  level  of  bad  karaoke. In  recent  years  he's  put  out  the  odd  album  mixing  more  contemporary  covers  with  re-recordings  of  his  back  catalogue.  He's  still  out  on  the  road  in  his  late  seventies; a  recent  tour  was  promoted  as  the  "I'm  Still  Standing"  tour  after  a  brush  with  cancer. He  was  back  in  the  news  earlier  this  year  when  his  son  died  after walking  away,  apparently  unharmed , from  a  car  crash  on  black  ice.  His  wife  is  also  seriously  ill. Recently, he  bravely  put  his  head  over  the  parapet  to  stick  up  for  his  best  friend  Rolf  Harris.

218 Hello Bay City Rollers - Keep On Dancing

Chart  entered : 18  September  1971

Chart  peak : 9

Number  of  hits : 12

An  early  outlier  hit  for  the  then-six  piece  Rollers   and  the  start  of  one  of  the  most  pathetic stories  in  pop  although  it's  hedged  around  with  such  seediness  that  it's  hard  to  feel  much sympathy  for  the  hapless  Scots.

The  band  dates  back  to  1966  and  was  formed  around  the  core  of  fraternal  rhythm  section   Alan  and  Derek  Longmuir  ( bass  and  drums  respectively )  and  their  school  friend  Gordon "Nobby"  Clark   in  Edinburgh .  They  were  briefly  The  Saxons  before  picking  the  name  Bay  City  Rollers  after  throwing  a  dart  at  a  world  map. By  1968  they  had  acquired  a  manager,  Tam  Paton, the  first  of  three  very  dodgy  characters  associated  with  the  band. Tam  was  a  former  big  band  leader  but  more  importantly  had  a  truck  to  drive  their  gear  around. As  an  openly  gay  man  his  interest  in  the  band  was  probably  more  sexual  than  musical  but  at  least  in  the  early  days  he  worked  hard  for  them. In  1969  a  major  overhaul  of  the  line  up  saw  David  Paton ( no  relation )  and  Billy  Lyall  join,  on  guitar  and  keyboads  respectively, who  would  actually  beat  the  Rollers  to  the  number  one  spot  as  part  of  Pilot.  A  new  guitarist  Eric  Manclark  joined  in  1970  bringing  them  up  to  a  six  piece. They  approached  Bell  Records  but  before  their  audition  David  pulled  out  of  the  line  up  and  was  replaced  by  Neil  Henderson. They  were  signed  up  in  October  1970  but  before  they  recorded  anything  Billy  left  too  and  Archie  Marr  joined.

Bell  assigned  their  new  A & R  man  Chris  Denning  to   work  with   the  group. Denning  was  one  of  the  original  line-up  of  DJs on  Radio  One. There  are  two  explanations  of  his  departure  from  the  station  in  1969. One  is  that  bosses  thought  his  new  job  in  promotions  at  Decca  created  a  conflict  of  interest. The  more  colourful  was  given  by  John  Peel  in  the  book  The  Nation's  Favourite  who  said  he  lost  his  job  because  of  the  on-air  remark  "God, I  felt  great  this  morning, I woke  up  feeling  like  a  sixteen  year  old  boy.But  where  do  you  find  a  sixteen  year  old  boy ? " A  great  story  but  I  suspect  in  1969  Denning's  remark  went  over  most  people's  heads  though  not  that  of  Peel  ( I'm  sure  there's  a  story  on  him  ready  to  go, just  waiting  for  the  green  light ). Denning  was  openly  gay  ( he  claims  to  have  been  a  teenage  rent  boy  ) but  at  Decca  he'd  been  working  with  Jonathan  King  who  was  firmly  in  the  closet.

Though  a  competent  producer  himself,  Denning  brought  in  King  to  produce  the  Rollers'  first  single  and  to  most  intents  and  purposes  "Keep  On  Dancing" is  a  Jonathan  King  single. He  chose  the  song, a  1965  US  hit   for  The  Gentrys  notable  for  a  false  fade  in  the  middle  of  the  song, followed  by  an  exact  repeat  of  what  had  gone  before.  I  suspect  it  was  this  gimmick  that  appealed  to  King. He  had  session  musicians  record  the  song  and  he  himself  supplied  the  multi-tracked  backing  vocals  so  only  Nobby  Clark  is  actually  on  the  record. At  barely  two  minutes  long  it's  over  before  it's  really  begun  and  apart  from  the  drum  fill  just  after  the  false  fade  there's  little  in  this  light  bubblegum  track  to  enthuse  over. Clark  sounds  a  bit  like  Mike  Love  of  the  Beach  Boys , King  hammers  the  title  at  you  throughout   and  then  it's  gone.

217 Hello Rod Stewart - Reason To Believe / Maggie May

Chart  entered  : 4  September  1971

Chart  peak : 1 ( "Reason  To  Believe"  had  reached  19  before  the  disc  was  flipped ) Both  songs  have  been  hits  on  reissue; "Maggie  May"  got  to  31  in  1976  and "Reason  To  Believe"  reached  number  51  in  1993

Number  of  hits : 60  ( including  3  credited  to  The  Faces )

A  similar  problem  to  Elton  here  as  we  have  a  national  treasure , of  proven  staying  power , but  I  only  have  time  for  a  relatively  small  proportion  of  his  work.

As  you  may  have  gathered  from  his  intersections  with  the  stories  of  people  we've  covered  previously , Rod  served  a  lengthy  apprenticeship  though  not  with  Brentford  FC, Rod  finally  admitting  in  his  2012  autobiography  that  the  association  amounted  to  no  more  than  an  unsuccessful  trial. I'm  sure  one  of  the  League's  most  anonymous  clubs  would  prefer  their  most  famous  scion  to  be  someone  who  actually  played  for  them !

Rod  was  born  in  London  in  1945. He's  "Scottish"  through  his  father  , a  builder  in  Leith  who  later  in  life  became  a  newsagent. His twin  passions  growing  up  were  football  and  music  and  he  was  in  a  skiffle  group  at  school. After  Brentford  failed  to  offer  him  terms,  Rod   worked  in  a  variety  of  manual  jobs  or  in  the  family  shop. He  first  got  a  singing  chance  with  a  group  called  The  Raiders  but  when  they  went  to  audition  for  Joe  Meek he  hated  Rod's  voice  and  persuaded  them  to  become  an  instrumental  group,  the  Moontrekkers  instead. Rod  drifted  into  being  arrested  at  CND  marches, busking  with  folk  singer  Wuzz  Jones  and  getting  himself  deported  from  Spain  for  vagrancy  in  1963.  Later  that  year  his  friend  Gary  Leport  who'd  quit  the  Moontrekkers  invited  him  into  The  Dimensions  as  a  harmonica  player  and  occasional  vocalist  where  he  got  some  useful  experience  of  stage  performance  though  he  was  soon  ejected  by  singer  Jimmy  Powell.

In  1964  he  was  invited  into  the  Hoochie  Coochie  Men  by  their  singer  Long  John  Baldry. It  was  now  that  he  picked  up  the  nickname  "Rod  the  Mod"  for  his  dress  sense. He  also  started  making  demos  in  pursuit  of  a  solo  contract   and  got  himself  one  from  Decca. He  released  his  first  single  , a   sparse  cover  of  Sonny  Boy  Williamson's  "Good  Morning  Little  Schoolgirl"  which  is  OK  but  nowhere  near  as  good  as  The  Yardbird's , in  October  1964. John  Paul  Jones  was  on  the  session.Rod  performed  it  on  Ready  Steady  Go  but  it  didn't  chart.

At  the  same  time  he  left  the  Hoochie  Coochie  Men  after  an  argument  with  Baldry. Rod  did  some  solo  gigs  around  the  turn  of  the  year  then  patched  up  his  differences  with  Baldry  and  both  joined  Steampacket  an  R &B  revue  ensemble  that  couldn't  record  because  its  members  were  already  signed  to  different  labels. He  got  a  new  solo   deal  with   Columbia  and  released  "The  Day  Will  Come" in  November  1965 , an  apocalyptic  song  by  Barry  Mason. Rod's   let  down  by  a  lousy  production  by  Reg  Guest  which  buries  him  beneath  the  sledgehammer  drums  in  his  Spector-esque  arrangement. "Shake"  from  April  1966  is  a  version  of  a  song  by  his  hero  Sam  Cooke  and  features  Steampacket  colleagues  Brian  Auger  on  organ  and  Mickey  Waller  on  drums. It's  not  very  good; Rod's  voice  isn't  really  suited  to  uptempo  R &  B  and  it  just  sounds  like  an  amateur  racket.

Rod  departed  Steampacket  just  as  the  single  came  out  and  two  months  later  joined  Shotgun Express  who  were  covered  in  the  Fleetwood  Mac  post. In  February  1967  he  was  invited  to join  The  Jeff  Beck  Group  where  he  met  up  with  Ron  Wood.  Though  an  integral  part  of  the live  band  Rod  was  not  appreciated  by  Beck's  producer  Mickie  Most  and  only  features  on  the B-sides  of  Jeff's  singles  ( which  were  all  credited  to  Jeff  alone  while  he  was  with  Most ) which  is  why  they're  not  included  in  the  hit  total  above. He  had  to  make  a  single  himself   on  Immediate  in  March  1968  to  be  heard. He  recorded  "Little  Miss  Understood"  with  Mike D'Abo  the  composer  and  producer. It  is  very  much  in  the  Handbags  And  Gladrags  mould   with  a  slow  ornate  first  verse  and  then  a  lift  off  towards  Joe  Cocker  territory  without  quite getting  there.

Rod  then  went  to  America  with  Beck  where, after  Rod  got   over  a  bad  case  of  stage  fright,  they  attracted  positive  notices.  On  returning  they  went  in  the  studio  to  record  the  album  "Truth" which  is  in  effect  a  covers  album ; even  the  songs  credited  to  "Jeffrey  Rod"  are  barely  disguised  re-writes  of  old  blues  songs. For  the  first  time  Rod  sounds  comfortable  with  his  material; blues  rock  sometimes  verging  on  metal. It  was  well  received  by  rock  fans  in  America  and  reached  number  15  prompting  another  US  tour.  They  quickly  followed  it  up  with  the  album  Beck-Ola  which  took  them  into  heavier  Led  Zeppelin  territory. Most  unsurprisingly  was  more  interested   this  time  round  and  it's  better  produced  although  a  bit  short  at  half  an  hour. This  album  too  got  to  15  in  the  States  and  39  in  Britain. The  hard-rocking  "Plynth"  was  released  as  a  single  in  America.

The  band  went  back  to  the  US  before  it  was  released  but  were  breaking  up. Rod  said  later that  he  had  no  personal  relationship  with  Beck  at  all  and  when  his  friend  Ron  was  let  go  in June  1969  he  decided  to  follow  him  out  of  the  door. The  band  therefore  missed  out  on  their scheduled  Woodstock  appearance. Ron  went  straight  into  the  Small  Faces  as   Steve Marriott's replacement  on  guitar  while  Rod  started  recording  a  solo  album  that  became  "An  Old Raincoat  Won't  Ever  Let  You  Down". Ron  was  the  bassist   on  the  sessions  and  played  most of  the  guitar. He  also  brought  in  Ian  McLagan   to  do  most  of  the  keyboard  work  on  the album. As  a  result  he  too  was  invited  in  to  what  became  The  Faces  as  announced  in October 1969. Rod  went  straight  from  sessions  for  his  solo  LP  to  those  for  the  first  Faces  LP.

"An  Old  Raincoat  Won't  Let  You  Down"  is  half  covers / half  original  material.  Rod's  songs  are  uncomfortable  affairs  with  some  thoughtful  lyrics  obscured  by  hard  rock  arrangements    brought  over  from  his  previous  band. " I  Wouldn't  Ever  Change  A  Thing"  is  full  on  prog,  no  doubt  encouraged  by  guest  player  Keith  Emerson. The  covers  are  a  mixed  bag  with  his  version  of  "Handbags  And  Gladrags"   the  undoubted  highlight. It  was  released  in  the  US ( re-titled  "The  Rod  Stewart  Album" )  in  November  1969  and  reached  number  139.

It  didn't  chart  in  Britain  when  released  in  February  1970. At  the  same  time  the  first  Faces  single  "Flying"  was  released. A  co-composition  between  the  three  creative  poles  Rod  and  the  two  Ronnies  it's  a  hard-rocking  ballad  about  returning  home  on  which  Rod  seemingly  tries  to  sound  as  much  like  Steve  Marriott  as  possible. It's  quite  impressive  if  you  like  that  sort  of  thing  but  not  really  a  single. The  album  "First  Step"  quickly  followed. Unsurprisingly  Rod's  only  got  three  writing  credits  on  the  album  which  is  generally  a  premature  effort with  the  band  yet  to  gel, the  highlight  being  Lane's  roots rocker  "Stone"  the  only  song  which  seems  fully  formed. It  reached  119  in  the  States and 45 in the UK.

The boys went  straight  back  into  the  studio  to  record  Rod's  next  solo  album  "Gasoline  Alley"  on  which  they  all  played. Its  predominantly  a  covers  album  with  Rod  only  writing three  of  its  songs  , one  of  them,  the  title  track, in  tandem  with  Ron  Wood.  The  proggy elements  have  gone  ; the  rockier  tracks  are  straight  ahead  blues  rock.  There's  a  rocked-up  six minute  version  of  "It's  All  Over  Now"  which  was  edited  for  a  single  in  September  1970. Rod's  other  compositions  "Lady  Day"  and  "Jo's  Lament"  , the  latter  an  apologetic    lament  for a  girl  and  child  left  behind,  are  country  blues  ballads  that  hint  at  what  was  to  come  but  the best  track  is  his  version  of  Elton's  "Country  Comfort"  where  tellingly  Ronnie  Lane  joins  in to  sing   Taupin's  ode  to  simple  living. The  album  did  significantly  better  than  its  predecessor  reaching  27  in  the  US  and  62  in  the  UK.

Then  it  was  time  to  record  the  second  Faces  album  "Long  Player". The  single  "Had  Me  A  Real  Good  Time"  preceded  it  in  November  1970.  Written  by  the  core  trio  it's  the  tale  of  crashing  a  party  and  getting  "out  of  it"  with  some  erm  laddish  lyrics - "Was  escorted  by  a  friendly  slag, round  the  bedroom  and  back " . With  Mac's  saloon  bar  piano  prominent  they'd  just  invented  pub  rock  and  sealed  their  enduring  image  as  a  boozy  lads'  band.  On  the  album  this  is  balanced  out  by  Ronnie's  sweet  love  songs  "Tell  Everyone"  and  " Richmond". They  got  to  perform  the  latter  and  the  tuneless  opener  "Bad 'n 'Ruin"  on  Top  Of  The  Pops   in  the  short lived  "album  slot ". Ron  "played"  a  customised  guitar  made  from  a  bog  seat  and  they  were  probably  the  first  band  to  use  the  fact  that  they  were  lip-synching   as  an  opportunity  to  horse  around  on  the  programme. The  exposure  helped  the  album  to  31  in  the  UK  ( it  was  29  in  the  U.S. ).

Rod  then  turned  his  attention  to  the  next  solo  album  "Every  Picture  Tells  A  Story" . Ron  and Mac  were  fully  on  board  but  Ronnie  and  Kenney  only  appear  on  one  track ( and  it  wasn't  "Maggie  May"  so  they  had  no  more  business  doing  it  on  TOTP  than  Peel ). It  was  released in  May  1971  and  two  months  later  in  the  UK. To  promote  it , a  single  was  released  with Rod's  cover  of  Tim  Hardin's  "Reason  To Believe"  and  the  Rod-penned  track  "Maggie  May"  as  the  B-side.  Hardin's   woeful  tale  of  betrayal  and  self-deception  was  already  much-covered  by  this  time  and  Rod's  version  is  OK  with  Mac's  swirling  Hammond  and  Dick  Powell's  violin   giving  it  some  distinction.  But  as  history  records  it  was  soon  elbowed  aside  by  its  own  B-side. The  ( excellent ) Popular  review  is  here  Maggie .

216 Goodbye The Tremeloes - Hello Buddy

Chart  entered : 10  July  1971

Chart peak : 32

You  can  take  this  one  as  the  point  where  the  Beat  group  era  finally  came  to  a  close. Obviously  there  are  some  big  name  survivors  who  we  won't  be  saying  farewell  to  for  some  time  yet  but  they  all  can  be  said  to  have  transcended  that  designation  in  a  way  that  The  Tremeloes  and  those  that  went  before  never  managed. In  fact  glancing  down  the  list  we  actually  say  goodbye  to  very  few  groups  from  this  point  until  the  days  of  punk  are  upon  us.

The  Tremeloes  had  been  through  a  number  of  changes  since  their  debut. In  1966  they  were  rocked , after  eight  hits, when  lead  singer  Brian  Poole  left  for  a  solo  career. Alan  Howard  left  not  long  after  him  and  was  replaced  by  Len  "Chip"  Hawkes. They  switched  to  CBS  and  cocked  a  snook  at  the  struggling  Poole  by  doing  much  better  without  him  including  another  number  one  with  "Silence  Is Golden"  in  May  1967.

They  had  another  big  hit  in  September  1970  when  "Me  And  My  Life"  got  to  number  four. However  ,in  a  disastrous  attempt  to  prove  themselves  a  more  serious  band  they  gave  an  interview  to  Melody  Maker  in  which  one  of  them   referred  to  fans  of  their  earlier  work  as  "silly  suckers"  a  Ratneresque  error  which  a  certain  Coventry-based  singer  would  repeat  a  dozen  years  or  so  later. Their  "serious " album "Master" was  a  flop and  the  next  single  "Right  Wheel, Left  Hammer, Sham"  wasn't  a  hit  on  a  technicality. A  postal  strike  in  February  1971  reduced  the  chart  to  a  Top  40  for  one  week  and  though  a  full  Top  50  was  later  compiled  which  placed  The  Tremeloes  at  46  this  was  never  officially  accepted.

Unlike  Snake  In  The  Grass  or  Lady  Barbara ,  "Hello  Buddy"  is  a  decent  record. It  was  written  by  Len  and  Alan  Blakley  and  takes  some  lyrical  cues  from  Brother, Can  You  Spare A  Dime ?  A  man  down  on  his  luck  is  importuning  a  successful  friend   for  a  leg  up  with  numerous  appeals  to  their  comradeship.  It's  set  to  a  lively  country  rock  backing  with  pedal  steel  guitars, banjos  and  sawing  fiddles  moving  the  song  along  at  a  fair  pace  and  the  boys' harmonies  are  still  well  up  to  scratch. Did  that  stupid  remark  depress  its  performance ?  It's  impossible  to  say  now although  if  it  had  been a  Top  10 hit  you  wouldn't  think  it  had  overachieved.

Their  next  single ,appropriately  enough  titled  "Too Late ( To Be Saved)",  came  out  in  October  1971. Another  Blakley/Hawkes  composition , this  one  sounds  like  a  Jehovah's  Witness  anthem  or  maybe  they  were  attacking  their  earlier  audience  again. You  can  hear  glam  rock  catching  on  in  the  T  Rex  rhythm section   but  they're  also  trying  to  hold  on  to  the  country  rock  vibe  with  the  slide  guitar. Then  there's  a  brass  interval  to confuse  things  further. Despite  all  the  genre-hopping  it  still  comes  out  sounding  a  bit  bland. "I  Like  It  That  Way"  from  February  1972  is  much  better, a  jaunty  piano-based    singalong   that's  not  a  million  miles  away  from  Madness. It  was  a  Top  10  hit  in  Holland. Nevertheless  CBS  decided  they  were  yesterday's  men  and  dropped  them. At  that  point   guitarist  Rick West  decided  to  call  it  quits. He  was  replaced  by  Bob  Benham

They  found  a  new  home  at  Epic  and  released  "Blue  Suede  Tie"  in  November  1972 which  sounds  like  Jerry  Lee  Lewis  ( c/o  Len )  jamming  with  Status  Quo  on  a  no  more  then  average  song . In  April  1973  The  Sweet  get  the  Xerox  treatment  on  "Ride  On"  where  the  song  is  a  flimsy  excuse  for  a  bassline  not  far  removed  from  Spirit  In  The  Sky. For  the  next  single " Make  Or  Break" in  July  1973  they  shortened  their  name  to  The  Trems  but  still  sounded  like  a cross  between  The  Sweet  and  Slade. In  January  1974  they  were  back  to  Tremeloes  for  "Do  I  Love  You"  which  sounds  more  like  The  Moody  Blues  with  an  impressive  guitar  solo  from  Bob  Benham  closing  it  out.

By  the  autumn  they  were  on  to  another  label, DJM  for  "Good  Time  Band"  which  I haven't  heard.   Its  failure  was  the  cue  for  Len  to  quit. His  replacement  was   Aaron  Wolley. Their  follow-up  in  February  1975  was  a  re-recording  of  "Someone  Someone", a  hit  from  the  Brian  Poole  days. For  their  April  release  "Rocking  Circus" they  changed  their  name  to  Space  to  test  if  their  name  was  the  big  handicap. Apparently  not , although  it's  not  a  bad  single  with  a  melancholy  lilt  redolent  of  Pilot  and  even , towards  the  end, The  Buggles. Their  next  single  in  August  "Be  Boppin  Boogie"  sounds  like  the  briefly  popular  Kenny. That  was  the  last  one  for  Alan,  leaving  The  Tremeloes  as  a  trio  with  drummer  Dave  Munden   the  last  man  standing  from  the  original  line  up.


Alan  came  back  in  1978  when  the  band  released  two  singles in  Germany "Lonely  Nights" and  "Gin  Gan  Goolie" the  latter  sounding  like  a  particularly  bad  Black  Lace  single. Then  the  classic  post-Poole  line  up  reunited  a  year  later  when  Len  returned  from  Nashville. Their  bread  and  butter  was  playing  the  cabaret  circuit  but  they  managed  to  put  out  a  new  single  "The  Lights Of  Port  Royal"  on  the  tiny  Ami  label  in  1980 . I  haven't  heard  it. A  year  later  they  released  a  medley  single  to  try  and  get  in  on  that  particular  fad. They  shot  their  final  bolt  in  1983  with  a  version  of  F R  David's  Europop  hit   "Words"  but  were  scuppered  by  Jonathan  King  featuring  the  original  on  his  European  slot  on  Top  Of  The  Pops  which  propelled  it  into  the  charts  instead. Since  then  they've  made  frequent  visits  to  studios  to  re-record  their  hits  for  the  cheap  CD  market  but  not  put  out  anything  new.

The line  up  held  together  until  1988  when  Len  left  to  manage  his  son  Chesney's  career  though  he  eventually  returned  to  performing  as  a  solo  artist. Alan  died  of  cancer  in  1996. Len  and  Brian  Poole  returned  in  2006  for  a  40th  Anniversary  Reunion  tour. In  2012  Rick  retired  leaving  Dave  once  more  as  the  keeper  of  the  flame.

So  now  let's  look  at  the  solo  ventures. Brian  Poole's  first  solo  single  was  a  cover  of  the  Goffin/King  song  "Hey  Girl"  in  May  1966, a  move  into  Gene  Pitney / Walker  Brothers  territory  with  Brian  making  full  use  of  the  echo  chamber. It's  alright  but  pales  beside  the  competition. In  November  he  tried  again  in  the  same  vein  with  "Everything  I  Touch  Turn  To  Tears"  a  Geld/Udell  ( ?)  song  which  many  others  were  covering  and  they  all  cancelled  each  other  out.  I  haven't  heard  the  third  one  "That  Reminds  Me  Baby"  but  "Just  How  Loud"  from  October  1967  sees  him  moving  towards  the  big  pop  sound  of  Love  Affair,

After  that  one  failed  Brian  had  to  find  a  new  label  and  he  showed  up  on  President  in  March  1969   with  a  new  backing  group  The  Seychelles. The  record  " Send  Her  To  Me "  is  a  palatable  enough  Hollies-style  pop  tune  but  wasn't  strong  enough  to  revive  his  fortunes. Looking  at  them  performing  it  on  Beat  Club  the  new  band  certainly  weren't  going  to  upstage  him  on  looks  even  if  his  hair  was  receding. I  haven't  heard  their  next  one  "What  Women  Most  Desire"  but  it  was  his  last  single  for  six  years.

Public  indifference  drove  Brian  out  of  the  music  business  and  into  the  family  butcher  shop. In  1975  he  dipped  a  toe  in  the  water  again  with  a  single  called "Satisfied" on  Pinnacle  records. There  was  another  long  spell  out  of  the  public  eye  before  he  started  a  record  label
Outlook  Records  in  the  early  eighties  which  never  amounted  to  much  but  did  make  some  money  from  a  single  by  Duncan  McKenzie  ( not,  I  think,  the  fancy  dan  footballer ), "All  Of  You  Out  There"  being  used  to  close  down  Radio  Luxembourg  each  night  for  a  couple  of  years.  Brian  himself  put  out  a  medley  of  "Do  You  Love  Me"  and  "Twist  And  Shout"  on  the  label  in  1983. In  1988  he  was  part  of  The  Corporation  collective  ( see  The  Searchers' goodbye  post ). In  the  nineties  he  concentrated  on  helping  his  two  daughters  who  formed  the  successful  band  Alisha's  Attic. He  returned  to  touring  in  2002 and  in  2006  buried  he  hatchet  with  the  surviving  Tremeloes  for  a  reunion  tour. In  2008  he  and  his  new  band  Electrix  recorded  a  CD  "Antique  Gold"  for  private  distribution. He  remains active  on  the  nostalgia  circuit.

I've  drawn  a  complete  blank  on  Alan  Howard. I  guess  he  left  the  music  business  and  has  never  traded   on  his  hitmaking  past.

Alan  Blakley  put  out  a  couple  of  solo  singles  "Sorry  in  the  UK  in  1975  and  "I'm Lost  Without  You"  in  Holland  in  1977  but  mainly  earned  his  corn  as  a  producer, chiefly  with  The  Rubettes  who  he  started  working  with  in  1976. He  produced  their  last  hit  "Baby  I  Know"  in  1977  and  drafted  in  Rick  Westwood ,  when  they  needed  a  new  guitarist  at  the  end  of  that  year. I've  no  idea  what  Rick  had  been  doing  since  1972.  Alan  also  produced  a  minor  hit  for  the  group  Bilbo  and  some  post-fame  records  for  Mungo  Jerry.

The  Rubettes'  hitmaking  days  were  already over by  the  time  Rick  joined. The  success of  "Baby  I  Know"  persuaded  them  to  throw  over  their  rock and  roll  revivalist  trappings and   pursue  an  insipid  soft  rock  style -10cc  on  Mogadon -  which  was  completely  out  of  step  with  the  times.  Rick  added some  neat  guitar  work  on  two  albums  with  them  and  was  replaced  by  another  ex-Tremeloe  Bob  Benham  when  he  and  Alan  joined  Len  and  Dave  again  in  1979.

As  the  youngest  and  most  photogenic  member  Len  had  the  most  reason  to  expect  success  as  a  solo   performer. It  didn't  happen. He  moved  to  Nashville  where  he  recorded  two  LPs  as  Chip  Hawkes  which  are  so  obscure  even  his  own  website  doesn't  seem  to  recall  what  they  were  titled.  He  had  three  singles  released  in  the  UK, "Friend  Of  A  Friend", "One  More  Dusty  Road"  and  "Eleanor  Rigby"  which  aren't  available  to  hear  on  the  normal  sources. 

When  Chesney's  musical  career  turned  out  to  be  a  short-term  proposition  Len eschewed  rejoining  the  Tremeloes  until  the  reunion  tour  of  2006. Instead  he's  done  his  own  thing  in  a  variety  of  guises  and  with  his  "Class  of  64"  ensemble  including  Mick  Avory  of  the  Kinks  and  Eric  Haydocke  from  the  Hollies  actually  released  a  new  single  "She's  Not  My  Child"  in  2012, a  creaky  Travelling  Wilburys  light  rocker  on  which  Len  sounds  well  past  his  sell  by  date. Check  out  the  sophisticated  video  on  youtube  which  looks  like  it's  been  filmed  by  one  of  his  grandkids  on  a  mobile.