9 May 1981
‘Stand And Deliver’ by Adam and the Ants didn’t go to number one in Ireland – this did instead. Now, as I write this, I genuinely do not know this record and haven’t listened to it yet – I gather it’s a medley of various oldies, perhaps in the manner of Jive Bunny, who blighted the charts of 1989, which means my expectations are low.
So, I will now listen to ‘Stars On 45’ LIVE for the first time! Here goes!
[One listen later]
Well, imagine my surprise at the first snippet in this medley: ‘Beat The Clock’ by Sparks! Maybe this could be my thing, I say to myself. That jangly guitar chord from ‘Venus’ is also in my ballpark. But then it segues into awful old ‘Sugar Sugar’ and then just a medley of bad Beatles covers. I was surprised yet pained to hear a few bars of ‘I’ll Be Back’, the closing track of my favourite Beatles album. At one point I checked how much was left, and when I saw I still had a whole minute to endure I started losing the will to live.
I see this was a number two hit in the UK, so the Brits can’t escape ridicule here either. Still, more Irish people bought this than ‘Stand And Deliver’: why?
The 1 is for Sparks.
