5 June 1971 Anyone who writes 'I'm A Believer' can't be all bad. Therefore, to say that every Neil Diamond song is knuckle-gnawingly dreadful would be incorrect. It's the other 99.9 percent of them that's the problem: his gauche, self-satisfied lyrics that amount to the wrong-headed knowingness of a parish priest telling a class of … Continue reading Neil Diamond – ‘I Am… I Said’
Tag: 70s
Pat Lynch and The Airchords – ‘When We Were Young’
10 April 1971 Knocking Marc Bolan off the Irish number one spot: a welder from Cork, an actual metal guru. Some more chopping and changing saw Lynn Anderson's 'Rose Garden' and T. Rex's 'Hot Love' each reclaim the top bunk, before 'When We Were Young' by Pat Lynch and The Airchords vanquished both again to … Continue reading Pat Lynch and The Airchords – ‘When We Were Young’
T. Rex – ‘Hot Love’
3 April 1971 It happened on 24 March 1971, according to biographer Lesley-Ann Jones in her book Ride A White Swan. T. Rex were at the BBC to record 'Hot Love' for that week's Top Of The Pops as the new UK number one. They had performed the track on the show before, but this … Continue reading T. Rex – ‘Hot Love’
Lynn Anderson – ‘Rose Garden’
27 March 1971 Lynn Anderson is not Canadian. This information is for any other '80s kids like me who first encountered her singing 'Rose Garden' as a sample on 'I Beg Your Pardon' by dour Canuck electro act Kon Kan, a sort of New-foundland Order. Their name comes from the regulation that music radio stations … Continue reading Lynn Anderson – ‘Rose Garden’
Paul McCartney – ‘Another Day’
20 March 1971 Surprisingly, Paul McCartney won't have a post-Beatles UK number one single until 'Mull Of Kintyre' in 1977 - and that's his only UK chart-topping single of the entire '70s. It's surprising not only because he was a Beatle and was still having loads of hits, but also because Paul's sentimental, whimsical old-fashioned … Continue reading Paul McCartney – ‘Another Day’
George Harrison – ‘My Sweet Lord’
30 January 1971 Ireland's first solo Beatle number one is also our first chart-top encounter with copyright controversy. Since then we've had loads of hugely entertaining courtroom action: singer shenanigans with 'Ride On Time' and 'Return To Innocence'; riff-based rifts with 'Ice Ice Baby' and 'I'll Be Missing You'; vibes-based karmic retribution for 'Blurred Lines'. … Continue reading George Harrison – ‘My Sweet Lord’
Dave Edmunds – ‘I Hear You Knocking’
25 December 1970 British rock and pop of the '60s never shook off its worship of bluesy '50s US rock & roll, so you can't really say 'I Hear You Knocking' embodies the start of the new decade's '50s revival. That said, a tinny, crappy vocal track on a much-covered old song suggests the creative … Continue reading Dave Edmunds – ‘I Hear You Knocking’
Dermot Henry and The Virginians – ‘If Those Lips Could Only Speak’
18 December 1970 So, what lips would those be? Well, the "life-like features" in a portrait of the main character's wife: he's filthy rich and has everything in his mansion except her in the flesh. The maudlin song and setting nudge us to assume that she has died, but that's not actually stated in the … Continue reading Dermot Henry and The Virginians – ‘If Those Lips Could Only Speak’
Margo & The Country Folk – ‘I’ll Forgive And I’ll Try To Forget’
27 November 1970 Only a few weeks after Freda Payne's epic 'Band Of Gold' ended its run at number one, here's another 1970 Irish chart-topper already from a woman with a song calling out a dysfunctional marriage. What's more, it's by a country & Irish showband act - and the singer is even a blood … Continue reading Margo & The Country Folk – ‘I’ll Forgive And I’ll Try To Forget’
Freda Payne – ‘Band Of Gold’
2 October 1970 Ireland didn't have any number ones at all from Motown during the '60s - and here in October 1970 we still didn't, as despite its classic Motown sound 'Band Of Gold' is on Holland-Dozier-Holland's own Invictus label after they had left Hitsville. The parting with Berry Gordy was evidently acrimonious; ongoing legal … Continue reading Freda Payne – ‘Band Of Gold’
