1 March 1973 'I Know You're Married But I Love You Still' was co-written by Dolly Parton, and among its recordings is a duet by her with her long-time double-act partner Porter Wagoner. The shortened title of Big Tom's version seems like an effort to ensure provincial '70s Ireland didn't think this was a song … Continue reading Big Tom and The Mainliners – ‘I Love You Still’
Tag: 70s
The Sweet – ‘Block Buster!’
15 February 1973 You'll find it easily enough online - The Sweet performing 'Block Buster!' on the 1973 Top Of The Pops Christmas special with bassist Steve Priest dressed as a camp Nazi in Kaiser Bill spiked helmet and retrospectively-blurred-out swastika armband. Both versions, in fact: there's an alternate take, not on the official Sweet … Continue reading The Sweet – ‘Block Buster!’
Little Jimmy Osmond – ‘Long Haired Lover From Liverpool’
18 January 1973 Leave the kid out of this. Little Jimmy Osmond simply stands in a line of cutesy and precocious child performers, from Shirley Temple to whatever senior infant is currently wowing 'em on social media, and that strand of light entertainment has thrived since the days of vaudeville and music hall. Here in … Continue reading Little Jimmy Osmond – ‘Long Haired Lover From Liverpool’
John Lennon and Yoko Ono and the Plastic Ono Band with the Harlem Community Choir – ‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over)’
4 January 1973 There's some irony in John and Yoko's perennial Yuletide anthem for peace being kept off Ireland's 1972 Christmas number one spot by a song about an Irish bandit shooting a British Army officer. That said, given that year's events and chart-topping singles, plus Ireland's liking for Christmas number ones that have a … Continue reading John Lennon and Yoko Ono and the Plastic Ono Band with the Harlem Community Choir – ‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over)’
Thin Lizzy – ‘Whiskey In The Jar’
21 December 1972 Like an acid-tripping episode of Nationwide, our number ones of 1972 begin in the peaceful céilí-showband Slaney Valley, then head north to catch up with community goings-on Foyleside and a music-loving British Army regiment who've made the area their home, and now end here with an action-packed visit to the scenic Celtic-rock … Continue reading Thin Lizzy – ‘Whiskey In The Jar’
Chuck Berry – ‘My Ding-A-Ling’
7 December 1972 What in God's name is Chuck Berry doing at the top of the charts—in Ireland, the UK and, amazingly, for the only time in the US—in 1972? Well, if it had ever gone away at all, '50s rock n' roll was having a glam- and nostalgia-fuelled renewal of interest. Berry had headlined … Continue reading Chuck Berry – ‘My Ding-A-Ling’
Lieutenant Pigeon – ‘Mouldy Old Dough’
2 November 1972 I turn again to the words of my guru, Hugo Drax: "Not being English, I sometimes find your sense of humour rather difficult to follow". Feigning interest in 'Mouldy Old Dough' for a moment, I discern a mixum-gatherum of traditional English cultural expression: music hall; sea shanty; medieval folk; Dickensian grotesquery; end-of-the-pier … Continue reading Lieutenant Pigeon – ‘Mouldy Old Dough’
Gilbert O’Sullivan – ‘Clair’
26 October 1972 Others abide Operation Yewtree's questioning; Gilbert is free. Even with lines like "to me you're more than a child" and "in spite of our age difference" there's no implication of anything untoward in 'Clair'. We know that this is simply the Gilbertian muse in action: take an idea whimsically, run with it … Continue reading Gilbert O’Sullivan – ‘Clair’
David Cassidy – ‘How Can I Be Sure’
19 October 1972 Every generation has its male pop teen-idols and pin-ups. Since the '90s, they've tended to originate in variety packs of four or five, known to science as boybands, so that you can choose your preferred dreamboat from the cheeky one, the cute one, the tough one, the talented one, or—let's not kink-shame—the … Continue reading David Cassidy – ‘How Can I Be Sure’
T. Rex – ‘Children Of The Revolution’
5 October 1972 The crop is getting noticeably thinner; 'Children Of The Revolution' doesn't have a bridge or a third verse, and at barely two-and-a-half minutes it's half the length of 'Hot Love' and two minutes shorter than 'Get It On'. Also thinning off here is the market demand; 'Children Of The Revolution' didn't get … Continue reading T. Rex – ‘Children Of The Revolution’
