My Seventies Music

Tag: Music

  • Middle Of The Road – “Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep”, “Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum”, “Soley Soley” And “Samson and Delilah”

    It was the age of miniskirts and hot pants when Scottish band Middle Of The Road with lead singer Sally Carr had a string of pop hits in 1971 and 1972, including “Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep”, “Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum”, “Soley Soley” and “Samson and Delilah”.

    For some reason the lines

    “Last night I heard my mama singing a song
    Woke up this morning and my mama was gone”

    came to mind, and the music was in my head.

    I then discovered a few other songs I remember from the time were also by Middle Of The Road, so here they are…

    “Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep” was a number one hit in the UK in 1971, here it is on Top Of The Pops:

    Later that year, “Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum” reached number 2 in the UK:

    Also in 1971, “Soley Soley” made it to No. 5 in the UK:

    In 1972 “Samson and Delilah” only got to No. 26 in the UK, but it was No. 2 in Germany and No. 1 in the Netherlands:

    Watching these old clips, there’s a lot to be said for hot pants and miniskirts…

    Paul

  • Wizzard – “See My Baby Jive”

    Roy Wood and his band Wizzard had a Number One hit in the UK in 1973 with “See My Baby Jive”.

    Roy Wood had previously been a founding member of Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) and was a particularly experimental musician, combining a range of genres in his music, such as classical and big band sounds.

    This is evident in the clip here of “See My Baby Jive”, featuring orchestral instruments such as a cello and various horns as well as two drummers:

    Gotta love the bass player on roller skates with angel wings and cricket pads on his legs (Rick Price), and the madly waving guy on keyboards – Bill Hunt, who apparently had a propensity to smash pianos…

    Paul

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

    Anne Murray album “This Is My Way”

    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

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

    Little River Band album "Diamantina Cocktail" (1976/1977) went Gold in the USA

    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

  • Magazine – “Rhythm Of Cruelty”, “Believe That I Understand”, “I Wanted Your Heart”, “Talk To The Body”, “Permafrost”, “The Thin Air”, “Feed The Enemy” and “Back To Nature”

    Magazine album "Secondhand Daylight" (1979)

    Magazine is another of those UK New Wave bands whose music I first heard played by the house band (Snatch) at the Majestic Hotel in Palmerston North, New Zealand, prompting me to buy their album “Second Daylight” with songs like “Rhythm Of Cruelty”, “Believe That I Understand”, “I Wanted Your Heart”, “Talk To The Body”, “Permafrost”, “The Thin Air”, “Feed The Enemy” and “Back To Nature”.

    Listening to some of the tracks now I’m not so sure why I bought it, but I think it might have been “Rhythm Of Cruelty” I heard at the Majestic (though I don’t recall the women at the pub being dressed like this…):

    “Believe That I Understand” might have been another one I heard in Palmerston North:


    Not sure about “I Wanted Your Heart”:


    Here are some more tracks from “Secondhand Daylight”, some of them seem a bit obscure for a “post punk” band, but you might like them, so I’ll let you make up your own mind…

    “Talk To The Body”:

    “Permafrost”:

    “The Thin Air”:

    “Feed The Enemy”:

    “Back To Nature”:



    That last one wasn’t quite what I was expecting, think I confused it with “Slow Motion” by Ultravox…

    Paul

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