Tag: Australia

Anne Murray – “Snowbird” And “You Needed Me”

When Anne Murray reached No. 1 on the U.S. charts with her single “You Needed Me” in 1978, she was the first Canadian female solo singer to ever achieve that honour. Previously she had hit No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1970 with “Snowbird”, which got to No. 2 on the pop charts in Canada and 1 on both the adult contemporary and country charts.

“This Way Is My Way”, the album from which “Snowbird” was taken, charted at No. 1 on both the U.S. and Canadian album charts.
“You Needed Me” was Number 1 on both the U.S. and Canadian pop charts, the Canadian album charts and the Canadian country charts, while reaching No. 4 on the U.S. country and 3 on the U.S. album charts.

It made it to No. 2 in Australia and 22 in the UK.

Here now first is Anne Murray singing “Snowbird”:

And “You Needed me”:

I’ve been writing this on a tiny netbook with a miniscule screen on a mobile connection, and the first draft didn’t quite look the way I was expecting so I may have to come back to this…

Meanwhile, enjoy the music!

Paul
Crystal Gayle – “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue”

I only really know one song by American country singer Crystal Gayle, but I really like it, especially the piano accompaniment: “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue”.

The song was a hit worldwide in 1977, reaching Number 1 on the U.S. Country charts and No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album it was taken from , “We Must Believe In Magic”, went platinum.

This performance of “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue” by Crystal Gayle appears to have been in Australia, judging by the accent of the announcer (or is it South Africa?):

Apparently Crystal Gayle, who is the younger sister of Loretta Lyn (never knew that till now), has blue eyes.

Fancy that.

Paul
The Knack – “My Sharona” And “Good Girls Don’t”

One song I remember from 1979 was “My Sharona” by The Knack.

It was apparently the biggest hit of the year and spent six consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart as well as five weeks at No. 1 in Australia.

The followup single “Good Girls Don’t”, from the same album “Get The Knack”, peaked at No. 11. The album itself went to No. 1.

Here’s “My Sharona”:

This is the “cleaned up” version of “Good Girls Don’t”:

And here is “Good Girls Don’t” in the the original, “unexpurgated” version:

I nearly fell off my chair when I heard this version the first time. (Especially on New Zealand radio, I was surprised it wasn’t censored.)

Incidentally, while preparing this I read that lead singer Doug Fieger passed away just three months ago, on February 14, 2010. Drummer Bruce Gary, who had not participated in more recent reunions, died in 2006. Both were in their mid Fifties.

Hard to believe when you watch the lively videos, and all the more reason to be thankful that we can.

Paul
Little River Band – “Help Is On Its Way”, “Happy Anniversary”, “Reminiscing”, “Lady”, “Lonesome Loser” and “Cool Change”

Probably one of the most successful Australian bands of the Seventies – or since – was the Little River Band, whose string of hits in the USA included “Help Is On Its Way”, “Happy Anniversary”, “Reminiscing”, “Lady”, “Lonesome Loser” and “Cool Change”.

Can anyone say “harmonies”….

And one of their most successful albums was “Diamantina Cocktail”, named after an Australian (Queensland) speciality made with Bundaberg Rum, condensed milk and an emu’s egg!

“Diamantina Cocktail” was released in Australia in 1976 and with a slightly different lineup of songs internationally in 1977.

The first two songs here, perhaps two of their most memorable hits, are from that album:

“Help Is On Its Way”:

“Happy Anniversary”:

“Reminiscing”, from the Little River Band album “Sleeper Catcher”, went to No. 3 in America in 1978:

Here’s Glenn Shorrock singing his hit “Reminiscing” 30 years later in 2008:

“Lady”, from the same album, went to No. 10 in the States in 1978:

And in 1979 “Lonesome Loser”, from the next album, “First Under The Wire”, peaked at No. 6 there:

It was followed by “Cool Change”, another track on that album, that also reached No. 10, the Little River Band’s last hit in the Seventies:

All I can say to this music is…. cool!

Paul
(UK) Squeeze – “Goodbye Girl”, “Cool For Cats”, “Up The Junction”, “Pulling Mussels (From The Shell)”, “Tempted”, “Black Coffee In Bed” and “Annie Get Your Gun”

Squeeze are a UK band (I always thought they were called UK Squeeze) who began charting in the late Seventies with songs like “Goodbye Girl”, “Cool For Cats” and “Up The Junction” and continued to record in the Eighties and Nineties.

Actually I’ve just seen that they were called UK Squeeze initially outside the UK to avoid legal conflicts with other bands in North America and Australia, this must have been the time when I first became aware of them.

I don’t know any of the songs from their first album, “Squeeze”, but I do recognise numbers from the second, “Cool For Cats”.

Two tracks from this one reached Number 2 on the UK charts, “Cool For Cats” and “Up The Junction”.

I remember the live band at the Majestic Hotel in Palmerston North, New Zealand, playing “Cool For Cats” in 1979.

Most of their other songs I know I actually taped off a live show in Germany a few years later.

Here’s the 1978 track “Goodbye Girl”:

“Cool For Cats”, from the album of the same name, went to No. 2 in the UK and 5 in Australia:

Many Squeeze songs tell a story, and the 1979 track “Up The Junction”, another No. 2 hit, is no exception (if you’ve heard of the big railway junction just south of London, you’ll get the play on words in this one) :

The following year Squeeze again had a number of singles, one of them was “Pulling Mussels (From The Shell)”, sung here live on TV a few years later in 1985:

Another Squeeze favourite from around this time is “Tempted”:

And “Black Coffee In Bed”:

“Annie Get Your Gun” is a typical Squeeze track:

And this is “Annie Get Your Gun” live in 1982:

I hear Squeeze are together and touring again, must keep an eye out for them…

Paul

Tag: Australia

Anne Murray – “Snowbird” And “You Needed Me”

Crystal Gayle – “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue”

The Knack – “My Sharona” And “Good Girls Don’t”

Little River Band – “Help Is On Its Way”, “Happy Anniversary”, “Reminiscing”, “Lady”, “Lonesome Loser” and “Cool Change”

(UK) Squeeze – “Goodbye Girl”, “Cool For Cats”, “Up The Junction”, “Pulling Mussels (From The Shell)”, “Tempted”, “Black Coffee In Bed” and “Annie Get Your Gun”