Barry White - You're The First. The Last, My Everything

Released in the winter of 1974, this classic soul record was massive in the UK charts. Barry was just having solo success after the hits he produced with the Love Unlimited Orchestra. The song original was based on a previously unheard country track by Peter Radcliffe. Barry changed the lyrics and the title, set it to a disco beat and classic single is made.

The single got to number 2 in America and did better here in the UK and got to number 1 for 2 weeks just before Christmas 1974, which Mud's Lonely This Christmas knocked it off the top for the converted Christmas number 1.

Free - All Right Now

What a classic rock single to mark my 100th post on my blog. Released in May 1970 and hit number 2 in the charts in June, this well known single from the Paul Rodgers led band hit the top of most of the charts around the world in 1970. The single was taken off the album Fire And Water which was a huge hit too thanks to the single. Free had mixed fortunes over the few years they were together and were formed in 1968 but had split up by 1973 due to personal differences and drug problems. All Right Now has taken on a life of it's own and continues to be played today. The single has various UK & US awards for the amount of radio play it has had since 1970. The song has been featured in various TV shows and adverts and has had it's fair share of cover versions too! It was re-released 1973 when it got to number 15 and again in 1991 when it got to number 8 thanks to a remix. Here's the single on the classic pink Island label

M - Pop Muzik

Released 35 years ago, this single is still very much remembered and liked and is often found on compilation albums. Robin Scott who was the brains behind M released this single in March 1979 as a song that told how pop music brought everyone together, a simple statement put on a simple pop track. When it was released it came on a double groove 12'' single which meant that the a side and the b side tracks were all on side a of the 12'' single, so it was pot luck when the needle landed to what track you actually listened to! A gimmick indeed but it annoyed a lot of people who only wanted the 12'' mix of the single!

The single reached number 2 in the UK in May 1979 but was stopped by Art Garfunkle's Bright Eyes. The single managed to get to Number 1 in the states almost 6 months after it peaking in the UK. It came off the album New York, London, Paris, Munich which failed to chart in the UK but managed a low entry in the US charts. Pop Muzik had a remix and re entered the charts in 1989 and managed to reach number 15. Here's the single

Stevie Wonder - Superstition

Another hit single from Stevie Wonder, this great track was released here in the UK in early 1973 and managed to climb to number 11 but did so much better in the States as it got to number 1. Stevie played many of the instruments on this single, including the drums, he wrote it and also produced the track which mentions a few of the superstitious tales of old. Taken from the 1972 album Talking Book which managed a number 16 chart placing here had enough sales to make it a gold album, but I don't think Stevie's UK success matched the States as in chart placing's. Shooting forward to 1986 and Peter Gabriel released Sledgehammer which gives a nod to Superstition. Here's the single

Alice Cooper - From The Inside

I'm not a huge Alice Cooper fan, although I saw him live in the late 80's and he was awesome, but I really like this unbelievably over looked album by Alice. Released in 1978 it was a concept album based about his stay in a New York institution for his alcoholism. This is a raw Alice, with help from Elton John's side kick Bernie Taupin and a couple of Elton's band mates, they helped create an album with each track with a storyline of a situation and character who he had met in the institution. From The Quiet Room about a guy in a padded cell to avoid self harm (also my favourite track on this album), with Millie And Billie which is a tale of two lovers which one is married who kill her husband to be together. There's Nurse Rosetta about a nurse that tuned on the inmates with a verse describing just what happens when he sees her! There is also the single How You Gonna See Me Now about an unsure Cooper wondering how a partner will treat him once he is freed. The single was a fairly big hit in the US but only managed 61 in the UK charts.

The album didn't chart in the UK which is a real shame as I think it is a classic. The album artwork was great too, featuring opening doors on the front cover and doors on the back which opened too all revealing Alice in various shots of the institution. To me, when I listen to this album it seems such a personal album but also bringing the other inmates to life too, where those people he sings about really there? I think it also a lot more of a softer rock album with, dare I say strings added to a couple of tracks! An album I think should be listened to from start to finish and follow the story to the final track singing about the inmates in Inmates (We're All Crazy). Originally released on Warner Brothers, try and listen to it if you can as it is a shame it wasn't such a bigger hit. Here is the sleeve from the cd!

The Hollies - The Air That I Breathe

Going back to being an 8 year old, just really getting into music and listening to the radio and hearing all kinds of music mixing together on the radio. I remember hearing this single from an old band that were having hits before I was born! The Hollies were a band from Manchester who were towards the end of their chart hit career. They had a lot of hit singles here and in America during the 60's as part of the so called ''British invasion'' which happened after the Beatles had hit America.

Graham Nash had left the band to form Crosby, Stills & Nash. The Hollies hits were drying up and they recorded this track written by Albert Hammond & Mike Hazlewood, which was included on Hammonds solo album. The Hollies heard the album decided the track was their kind of track and complete with lush orchestral arrangements, this ballad hit the charts in February 1974 and raced up to number 2 and made the top 10 in America. It would be the last major hit for the band until the mid 80's re- issue of He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother after an advert had used the song and pushed it to number 1!

The song has been covered many times by a number of different artists and has become a standard. In 1992 Radiohead were sued as the chords in their single Creep were very similar to the chords on the Hollies version of The Air That I Breathe so they were sued by the writers of the track and are now listed as co writers on the Radiohead track. Here's the single.

Sarah Brightman & Hot Gossip - I Lost My Heart To A Starship Trooper

Thanks to one of my TV heroes, Kenny Everett, this is where the Hot Gossip story began. Hot Gossip were a dance troupe that were more sexy with the clothes and moves than what Legs & Co were off Top Of The Pops. Kenny Everett had the dancers on his show and used them in odd sketches and because they were mostly gorgeous women, they became well known and talked about certainly at my school and no doubt loads of other schools around the UK in 1978.

Sarah Brightman was in her late teens when she was in the dance group and also was the one who could sing. To cash in the their popularity and of the disco boom they released this camp single I Lost My Heart To A Starship Trooper and was written by the two guys who were known in the UK as Typically Tropical who got to number one with Barbados in 1975. The song was a tongue in cheek name checking reference to Star Wars, Close Encounters, Star Trek, Flash Gordon and plenty of innuendo for good measure. The song did well and reached number 6 in the UK charts.

They tried to follow up the single with The Adventures Of The Love Crusader but it didn't do that much. Not long after that Sarah Brightman left Hot Gossip to concentrate on her singing career which was to scale enormous height over the next few years. A great song from an amazing show, here's the single

Roxy Music - Angel Eyes

A reformed Roxy Music recorded this classic single in 1979 and originally came off the album Manifesto but in more of a rockier feel to the track. This was the third single to be lifted off the album and to give it more of a chance in the charts, they re-recorded the song with a more disco feel to the song and also released a 12'' version too. This was enough to push the single to number 4. As a result of the single being a hit, copies of the album and CD releases replaced the rockier album track with the single version, I guess to help sell more copies of the album, which itself managed to get to number 7 in 1979.

I always enjoy listening to Roxy Music's singles from mid seventies to their end in the early 80's. They always managed to fill the tracks full of amazing sounding instruments, but in turn you can hear them all and they all sound clear crisp and not muddled at all! Here's the single

Kate Bush - Wow

OK, I wasn't going to put another Kate Bush single on here for a while but after yesterday's news (Friday 21st March) that she has announced she is going to play live for the first time in 35 years, it needed celebrating! Wow was released in March 1979 and came off her second album Lionheart. The album Lionheart was released in late 1978 and people say it was rush released and more or less had tracks left off from recording the first album. The first single Hammer Horror missed the top 40 so relief was all around when this charted. The song managed to get to number 14 and around this time she played live for the first time calling the tour, The Tour Of Life.

Part of the lyrics for Wow were about an aging gay actor and had a pretty good video to go with the single, much in the vein of the last few videos, when released on the compilation video, they made a compilation video of bits from the live tour for Wow. Kate's success I believe is mainly here in the UK and Ireland and I think she is more of a cult artist in America and Europe. A lot of artists around today say that Kate has been a huge influence and hopefully after this tour she just might release a new album and her back catalogue is in need of a re-master and a new compilation DVD would be great too!

Here's several shots of the single I've collected over the years starting with the UK release

Here's the Italian pressing

And Finally a rare Canadian pressing in yellow vinyl!

Blondie - Denis

The first charting single from Blondie, was a cover version of an American single released by Randy & The Rainbows (originally called Denise) in 1963. Blondie covered the track and put it on their second album Plastic Letters. It was released in February 1978 and climbed to number 2 but Kate Bush's Wuthering Heights kept it from the top spot. The single came complete with a fantastic video exposing Debbie Harry to the UK population and making her a pin up for a generation of boys to drool upon. Over the next few years Blondie would become one of the biggest bands in the world and have 6 number one singles in the UK. The success was pretty instant in the UK after Denis but it took a little longer in their home country. Here's the single

Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

This was the second single off the album of the same name. This single is regarded as one of Elton's best ever songs, it was released in September 1973 and amongst the Glam Rock hits in the charts at that time, managed to get to number 6. Written by Elton and Bernie Taupin, the lyrics of the song are about Bernie wanting to get back to having a normal life and leaving Elton to live the rock n roll lifestyle! He still sings the song live at all his show but as the years go on, Elton has to drop the key of the song down as he can no longer reach the notes of the original song.

The album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road is about to get a re-release as a deluxe box set and should bring a lot of interest back in the album and Elton too! Here's the single

Aretha Franklin - Until You Come Back To Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)

This gem of a soul single was released in 1973 and sold over a million copies in the states and got to number 3 on the BIllboard chart but for some reason didn't get a UK release until 1974. The song was co written by Stevie Wonder in 1967 but he never released it himself until 1977. A song of someone waiting for their lover to return back to them, has the unmistakable notes of Aretha over it and it reached number 26 here but has become one of Aretha's most well known tracks.

To be honest, I'm not a huge Aretha Franklin fan, I think she wails and screeches too much for me, but on this track and another one of my Faves, Don't Play That Song, are tracks I still often play.

Giorgio - From Here To Eternity

Fresh from the futuristic sound of Donna Summer's I Feel Love, her producer Giorgio Moroder carried on the sounds of the synthesizer and produced this sizeable hit from 1977. It was released in September 1977 and reached number 16 in the UK charts. The single was mixed down from a 6 minute album track to produce this single version which was big in the discos along with Donna's single!

The track isn't really remembered that much, I hardly ever hear of people talking about it but it seems the album it came off (named after the single) seems to have been such an influential album in late 70's electronic music. It was one of the first electronic tracks I had heard (along with I Feel Love, Kraftwerk's Autobahn and Jean Michel Jarre's Oxygene) and it is what really got me into the sounds of synths and electronic music, that is why I still really love this single. Try and listen to it if you can! Here's the scan of the single

Sweet - The Ballroom Blitz

Let's start 2014 with a huge worldwide hit and a great power single

Sweet released this single in September 1973 after having huge success in the year with Blockbuster and Hellraiser. 1973 and 1974 were to be the band's biggest years and made some great singles in these years. Glam rock was in full force and there was no stopping the band, or maybe there was!

The track was partly influenced by an incident where the band were playing a gig in a ballroom in Scotland (the birth place of Brian Connolly, the lead singer) and were forced off stage due to bottle throwing from fans. Ballrooms and club were what venues were around in those days (a throwback from the 50's & 60's pre rock n roll days). Sweet didn't help the fact that they used to piss the fans off by not playing early hits as Sweet wanted to be a rock band not a bubblegum band they were more know for. The single was never featured on any album release in the UK (except Greatest Hits) but was featured on the US version of Desolation Boulevard

The single peaked at number 2 in the UK, a position that Sweet were used to but was really annoying as a lot of Sweet singles stuck at number 2 and was only Blockbuster that got to the top. Here is the single in all it's glory!

Abba - Waterloo

Probably Eurovision's biggest success ever via Sweden. In 1974 Abba took part in the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on the 6th of April in Brighton with a catchy little ditty called Waterloo. Influence by the Glam Rock scene of the UK and dressed in the latest fashions of the time (remember folks this is mid 1970's) they performed the song in English and won the contest with just 24 points. They had previously tried for Eurovision in 1973 with Ring Ring but failed to get chosen by the Swedish broadcasters. So this time they knew what they had to do to win a place, but for them it was a small step in the band's idea of making the big time.

The single got to number 1 in the UK and also the top of the charts in several European countries too. Also it hit the charts in Australia and America too where Eurovision wasn't really that well known. Apparently the band have said that Waterloo is roughly based and influenced by Wizzard's single See My Baby Jive (a hit in 1973) which I never thought about until now, but there is a similar sound. Although they released another couple of singles in the UK they all flopped here until S.O.S was released in 1975 which got into the top 10 and the rest is history. This was the beginning of the Abba story, from this one contest that would shoot them into superstardom and worldwide stars.

Tonight's Eurovision Song Contest is to take place in Sweden, 39 years after Abba's triumph win, the band split up in 1982 and vowed they would never sing together again. There are a lot of rumours that they might appear tonight to sing Waterloo, seeing that the band have opened this year a museum in Sweden celebrating the bands career and that Agnetha Fältskog has just released a new album, have all helped to fuel the rumours. It would be nice to think they might get back together but it is doubtful! Here is the original single, plus a picture disc version of the single that was released here to celebrate the 30th anniversary.

Gary Numan - Cars

Cars was released in 1979 as the follow up to Are 'Friends' Electric, which came under the band name of Tubeway Army. Gary Numan had wanted to release 'Friends' under his real name but Beggars Banquet (his label) wanted it under the band name. After the huge success of 'Friends' Gary persuaded the label to let him release under his name, so Cars is the first official Gary Numan single. The song, based about a confrontation in his car and locking all the doors to keep himself in safe, reached number 1 in September 1979, hit the top 10 in America and number 1 in Canada as well as doing well all over the world.

Over the years Cars has been remixed and has managed to get back into the UK top 20 on several occasions in 1987 and 1995, it has been covered by Fear Factory and always manages to get onto 80's electronic compilations (although it was released in 1979). The song also has been sampled in Armand Van Helden single Koochy. Cars is a track that is a classic piece of early electronic music that has influenced a generation of electronic bands and has a good video that still gets airplay today. Here's the single

Kate Bush - Wuthering Heights

In celebration of Kate receiving her C.B.E from the Queen today I thought I'd post probably her most well known single here today. Released in January 1978 this single slowly climbed the UK charts and got to Number 1 early March and was there for 4 weeks. This was the first number 1 single by a female to be sung and written by the same person. Originally the record company wanted her to release another track as the first single but Kate insisted it was to be Wuthering Heights and luckily for her, an EMI engineer came into the meeting and said how good Wuthering Heights was and it should be the first single. It was released in a small run in a picture cover and it is worth about £30!

The single is based on the book by Emily Bronte but it was the film she watched first, then read the book afterwards. The single had 2 videos (still a new thing in those days) the first and most well known was the studio dancing video with the smoke and film effects, the other was shot out doors with a similar dance routine but this was used for America but has been shown here. The song came off her first album The Kick Inside which hit number 3 of 1978. At the time of release, you either liked her or hated her, I didn't like the single first off, I couldn't get into it until it was dropping out of the charts, then I suddenly got it and thought it was an amazing track, so different to anything around at that time. Here's the single, in the classic EMI bag!

The Buggles - Video Killed The Radio Star

A fantastic pop song from 1979, was originally from an album released in 1978 by Woolley & the Camera Club called English Garden. Written by Trevor Horn, Geoff Downes & Bruce Woolley this synthpop classic is about nostalgia and technology, about a radio star who's career is cut short by television. Released on Island Records in September 1979 the single climbed to number 1 in November of that year. Although the song was from 1979 is has been featured on many 80's compilations. Surprised at the single's success the band had to rush back into the studio to record a follow up single and came up with The Plastic Age and the album The Age Of Plastic, although the single hit the charts nothing came close to the success of Video!

When MTV started in America in August 1981 Video Killed The Radio Star was the first video to be shown on the new station, very much true to the single's title! The band released another album but split up, Horn and Downes joined Yes for a while and Trevor Horn became a top producer in the first half of the 80's to work with the likes of ABC, Frankie Goes To Hollywood and Dollar! Here's the single which still is a classic and still sounds great!

Sad Cafe' - Everyday Hurts

Mancunian band Sad Cafe' had been around since 1976 and although building up a small following never really did anything till this single hit the charts. Released in September 1979 it slowly climbed the charts to number 3 that year and also was a small hit in American where it was renamed Everyday. To help this gorgeous ballad hit the charts the record company released the single in blue vinyl and also a picture disc (a rarity, a song being released on 2 different formats to get it into the charts). It came off the album Facades (an anagram of Sad Café) which also was released in blue vinyl and got to number 8 in the album charts!

I have seen the band quite a few times and have met them several times and were a great bunch of guys and always happy to meet the fans. I followed the band for a few years before the lead singer Paul Young left the band to join Mike & The Mechanics. Here's the single, with the picture cover, blue vinyl and picture disc versions!

Roger Daltrey - Giving It All Away

In between a tour break by The Who, Roger Daltrey set about recording his solo album, Daltery. In 1972 The Who were recording in the studio where writers Leo Sayer and David Courtney were recording material for Leo Sayer. Roger liked what he heard from them and asked if they would write some tracks for his forthcoming solo album. As David and Leo had loads of tracks demoed and half written they let Roger choose. He Chose Giving It All Away, a powerful ballad that really suited Roger's voice, full of emotion and power. The track was a hit and reached number 5 in 1973 and was his first solo hit single. This also started the career of Leo Sayer as a few months later he was to have his first hit single too and he also recorded his version of his song on his second album Just A Boy.