For some reason there were a number of old songs entering the charts of this week in 1979 in the lower end. The Drifters at No69 with Save The Last Dance For Me, also a record that my mum has and bought when it topped the chart in January 1961 from Johnny Tillotson, Poetry In Motion was at No67, another she bought in the late 50's from Teddy Bears, To Know Him Is To Love Him was at No66, A double A sided single from Bobby Darin of his two 1959 chart toppers Dream Lover & Mack The Knife was at No64, and Chris Montez was at No53 with Let's Dance.
Why?
None of them got too much higher, unlike the re-releases of old tracks did in the mid to late 80's.
On the contrary, I'm glad you heard the same because I wasn't totally sure about it and was worried I might be making things up!
Sweet were a great group, I'd probably list them in my top 10 bands of all time. I know they had a degree of success with their self penned stuff but in terms of their 'history' I wonder just how many more huge hits they could have had if they'd stuck with C & C and not made the split.
Sweet are fairly high up the pantheon but I agree that they deserve to be higher.:)
Sweet and Mud were chalk and cheese but I agree with posters that have noted certain possible Chinnichap similarities (as they were the writers of most of their hits).:)
Interesting to compare the success of Smokie, Mud and Sweet after they parted company with Chinnichap - Smokie only managed a couple of small UK hits (mexican girl/take good care of my baby), Sweet a couple of large ones (fox on the run/love is like oxygen) whereas Mud possibly had the most success of the three with another 4 hits including 3 top tens (l-l-lucy, show me you're a woman, shake it down, lean on me) after leaving RAK so they probably felt vindicated at the time, not that it was to last that long though of course...i love all three bands but definitely don't feel the same about racey
Spot on for the UK, but the Sweet wrote three of their five US top twenty hits--Fox on the Run, Action, and Love is like Oxygen.:)
And in the US Kiss were a band that drew very much on UK glam for their hits; they were very influenced by Sweet--sort of heavy, but melodic. Kiss, of course, did much better than Sweet ever did.:D
The Logical Song was not the first single of the 1970s to include this sonic effect - a similar sound was heard in a Chinnichap single seven years earlier.
The whistle can be heard at 1.33 in the vintage TOTP clip below:
The last time I recall seeing John Helliwell on TOTP he was playing saxophone with Thin Lizzy during a studio performance of 'Dancing in the Moonlight' in August 1977. It is no great surprise that he was invited to play with the group as Supertramp's drummer is Scott Gorham's brother-in-law.
I suspect the FMs who commented above with respect to The Sweet etc. may find this short lived DS thread interesting and/or entertaining (see link below). Although it was initiated nearly five years ago in August 2009 and attracted comments for less than a week, I recognise the names of six regular/occasional TOTP contributors over the 2 pages, three of whom have posted on this thread during the past week.
I would never wish to get into such a debate. They were both great bands, but as one of our posters who literally had the last word said: Roxy Music beat them hands down. And Dance Away must be coming up soon.:)
For some reason there were a number of old songs entering the charts of this week in 1979 in the lower end. The Drifters at No69 with Save The Last Dance For Me, also a record that my mum has and bought when it topped the chart in January 1961 from Johnny Tillotson, Poetry In Motion was at No67, another she bought in the late 50's from Teddy Bears, To Know Him Is To Love Him was at No66, A double A sided single from Bobby Darin of his two 1959 chart toppers Dream Lover & Mack The Knife was at No64, and Chris Montez was at No53 with Let's Dance.
Why?
None of them got too much higher, unlike the re-releases of old tracks did in the mid to late 80's.
Rich Tea, well, it's obvious why those old tracks from the mid-late eighties were bigger hits, and that's because they primarily belonged to movie soundtracks, or were occasionally used on tv adverts. Ben E King's 'Stand By Me', was used on the soundtrack to the film of the same name, The Hollies 'He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother' was used in a Miller Lite tv ad, Steve Miller's 'The Joker's success came through a tv ad too, and the Righteous Brothers 'Unchained Melody' was used in the film, Ghost. All these songs got to no 1, simply because of their increased profile due to their movie/tv ad exposure. I think more than anything this showed how powerful the visual (video) side of music marketing had become. I'm really doubtful as to whether it had anything to do with a burning nostalgia, as such, which really didn't get too big a look in, until the mid nineties brit pop years, and the publications of music magazines, like Mojo.
1979, wasn't especially nostalgic either, generally, although there were still a few of those groups making it big who admired the old fifties/early sixties sounds like Showaddywaddy, Darts and Rocky Sharp etc. However, that doesn't really answer your question, aside from saying quite a number of those old type songs were re-released intermittently throughout the seventies. A little more successful musical nostalgia does take place later in the year with the re emergence of the mod scene leading to the re-release of 'Green Onions' by Booker T And The MGs, which reached no 7 in the charts.
Rich Tea, well, it's obvious why those old tracks from the mid-late eighties were bigger hits, and that's because they primarily belonged to movie soundtracks, or were occasionally used on tv adverts. Ben E King's 'Stand By Me', was used on the soundtrack to the film of the same name, The Hollies 'He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother' was used in a Miller Lite tv ad, Steve Miller's 'The Joker's success came through a tv ad too, and the Righteous Brothers 'Unchained Melody' was used in the film, Ghost. All these songs got to no 1, simply because of their increased profile due to their movie/tv ad exposure. I think more than anything this showed how powerful the visual (video) side of music marketing had become. I'm really doubtful as to whether it had anything to do with a burning nostalgia, as such, which really didn't get too big a look in, until the mid nineties brit pop years, and the publications of music magazines, like Mojo.
1979, wasn't especially nostalgic either, generally, although there were still a few of those groups making it big who admired the old fifties/early sixties sounds like Showaddywaddy, Darts and Rocky Sharp etc. However, that doesn't really answer your question, aside from saying quite a number of those old type songs were re-released intermittently throughout the seventies. A little more successful musical nostalgia does take place later in the year with the re emergence of the mod scene leading to the re-release of 'Green Onions' by Booker T And The MGs, which reached no 7 in the charts.
As you quite rightly say, nostalgia is on the wane by 1979, with the fortunes of those groups you mention all in decline.
As I recall, all those re-releases Rich has singled out came from the same record label: Lightning. Lightning was at this point better known as a reggae label - they licensed 'Up Town Top Ranking' and 'Money In My Pocket' and scored UK chart hits with them - but also had an interest in re-issues, and these titles were part of its Old Gold brand, which I think I'm right in saying became a label in its own right by the 1980s.
As for why this rash of titles all charted … at the risk of being controversial, Lightning was at this point distributed by WEA, which would be within a year be the focus of a World In Action programme about allegedly hyping singles into the chart. Might these re-releases have been part of that phenomenon?
All idle speculation, of course - whatever the case, there rurally wasn't sufficient interest in that kind of music by this point in the 70s, and that's why their chart appearances were short-lived.
As you quite rightly say, nostalgia is on the wane by 1979, with the fortunes of those groups you mention all in decline.
As I recall, all those re-releases Rich has singled out came from the same record label: Lightning. Lightning was at this point better known as a reggae label - they licensed 'Up Town Top Ranking' and 'Money In My Pocket' and scored UK chart hits with them - but also had an interest in re-issues, and these titles were part of its Old Gold brand, which I think I'm right in saying became a label in its own right by the 1980s.
As for why this rash of titles all charted … at the risk of being controversial, Lightning was at this point distributed by WEA, which would be within a year be the focus of a World In Action programme about allegedly hyping singles into the chart. Might these re-releases have been part of that phenomenon?
All idle speculation, of course - whatever the case, there rurally wasn't sufficient interest in that kind of music by this point in the 70s, and that's why their chart appearances were short-lived.
Very interesting !
I can remember buying a lot of those Old Gold singles back in the eighties.
As you quite rightly say, nostalgia is on the wane by 1979, with the fortunes of those groups you mention all in decline.
As I recall, all those re-releases Rich has singled out came from the same record label: Lightning. Lightning was at this point better known as a reggae label - they licensed 'Up Town Top Ranking' and 'Money In My Pocket' and scored UK chart hits with them - but also had an interest in re-issues, and these titles were part of its Old Gold brand, which I think I'm right in saying became a label in its own right by the 1980s.
As for why this rash of titles all charted … at the risk of being controversial, Lightning was at this point distributed by WEA, which would be within a year be the focus of a World In Action programme about allegedly hyping singles into the chart. Might these re-releases have been part of that phenomenon?
All idle speculation, of course - whatever the case, there rurally wasn't sufficient interest in that kind of music by this point in the 70s, and that's why their chart appearances were short-lived.
BIB - I meant 'clearly' … the joys of auto-spellcheck!
Of the glam acts only Slade just about manged to get over the glam pop era. They were a great rock band with a glam image. Rainbow or should I just say Ritchie Blackmore as really any image change was soley down to him. Got away with it because Ritchie was and still is a guitar genious and his presense overshadowd any change.
It was a shame that Sweet lost out though they could be quite arrogant. One of them sneeringly laughed at Francis Rossi when Paper Plane hit for Status Quo in 1973. "good luck with that he said" with a smirk.
thing is bands like Sweet and Mud used the same shuffle sound to most of their songs. That Quo had been doing since late 1969 onwards. Though they had more high profile sucsess with it during 1971-1972.
Slade succeeded where Sweet didn't partly because of the good fortune of being adopted by the heavy metal crowd post-Reading in 1980, partly because they never had credibility issues with songs being written for them and partly because they didn't have anything remotely approaching Connolly's alcoholism (he collapsed on stage one night in 1978 whist touring the US) to hamper their ability to play live.
I don't recall Sweet slagging off Status Quo but I can't help but wonder if that comment was driven by bitterness as much as anything - they would have loved a more 'serious' audience but were scoring massively in 1973 with Chinnichap songs and a glam image. I do remember a war of words between Sweet and Mud in early 1974, though, as the battle for number one between 'Teenage Rampage' and 'Tiger Feet' built …
But I don't think there's any such 'shuffle' sound you refer to: 'Blockbuster', 'Hellraiser' and 'Ballroom Blitz' are quite different tempos, for instance … and none of them sound remotely like Status Quo who, let's face it, spent most of the 70s rehashing the same song …
I do remember a war of words between Sweet and Mud in early 1974, though, as the battle for number one between 'Teenage Rampage' and 'Tiger Feet' built …
But I don't think there's any such 'shuffle' sound you refer to: 'Blockbuster', 'Hellraiser' and 'Ballroom Blitz' are quite different tempos, for instance … and none of them sound remotely like Status Quo who, let's face it, spent most of the 70s rehashing the same song …
Also, i believe Sweet pretty much retained their more typical sound, to a greater degree than Mud, when they left Chinn and Chapman, with regards to their singles. 'Fox On The Run' (the single version) and 'Action' aren't a total departure from what they had been doing previously, especially from a vocal perspective, aside from them perhaps appearing a little heavier with those more occasional prog elements. Sweet must have felt well justified with leaving Chinn and Chapman after their no 2 hit with 'Fox On The Run'.
Mud varied their sound greatly with songs like 'Show Me You're A Woman' and 'Shake It Down', although to a large degree, their cover, 'Lean On Me' sounded much more typical of them.
Also, i believe Sweet pretty much retained their more typical sound, to a greater degree than Mud, when they left Chinn and Chapman, with regards to their singles. 'Fox On The Run' (the single version) and 'Action' aren't a total departure from what they had been doing previously, especially from a vocal perspective, aside from them perhaps appearing a little heavier with those more occasional prog elements. Sweet must have felt well justified with leaving Chinn and Chapman after their no 2 hit with 'Fox On The Run'.
Mud varied their sound greatly with songs like 'Show Me You're A Woman' and 'Shake It Down', although to a large degree, their cover, 'Lean On Me' sounded much more typical of them.
After watching the youtube clips of Sweet on geordie scene i can see why they were must have been unhappy singing catchy pop songs as they clearly were at ease playing a much heavier less accessible rock sound (to a slightly bemused audience who must have been expecting the big hits) - whereas i don't think Mud were so worried about what they were singing as long as they were having a good time (and lots of hits) so i guess it must have come down to seeking a bigger slice of the pie financially from writing their own singles...yes they went on to change their style occasionally (shake it down veering into disco territory for example) but i think that was down to ray stiles' and (more so) ray davis' influences away from their usual rock and roll sound? maybe they just wanted to show people they weren't one trick ponies but as the hits faded and showaddywaddy stole their thunder (and ideas?) they quickly reverted back to reviving old songs but it was too little too late and came across as a bit desperate...Smokie didn't seem to want to alter their sound at all after parting company with chinnichap but sadly their own songs just weren't as good, a shame as i think out of the three bands they could/would have survived a lot longer into the 80's with chinnichap still at the helm
After watching the youtube clips of Sweet on geordie scene i can see why they were must have been unhappy singing catchy pop songs as they clearly were at ease playing a much heavier less accessible rock sound (to a slightly bemused audience who must have been expecting the big hits) - whereas i don't think Mud were so worried about what they were singing as long as they were having a good time (and lots of hits) so i guess it must have come down to seeking a bigger slice of the pie financially from writing their own singles...yes they went on to change their style occasionally (shake it down veering into disco territory for example) but i think that was down to ray stiles' and (more so) ray davis' influences away from their usual rock and roll sound? maybe they just wanted to show people they weren't one trick ponies but as the hits faded and showaddywaddy stole their thunder (and ideas?) they quickly reverted back to reviving old songs but it was too little too late and came across as a bit desperate...Smokie didn't seem to want to alter their sound at all after parting company with chinnichap but sadly their own songs just weren't as good, a shame as i think out of the three bands they could/would have survived a lot longer into the 80's with chinnichap still at the helm
Yes, agreed. Smokie seemed much less inclined musically to be part of a trend (and they started having hits after glam rock had peaked), which gives the feeling, maybe, they may have been able to last longer than both Mud and Sweet. Maybe Smokie's problem may have actually been a resistance to significantly vary their style, in an ever changing musical climate (and especially when the eighties truly began to take hold). The issue, though, with Sweet and Mud, is that they were so identified with a certain era, and sound, that it did seem difficult for them to convincingly move away from it, and also successfully take their fans with them. The fans, of course, were growing older also. Mud did have this rather endearing quality of not taking themselves so seriously, and as much as they relied on the Chinn/Chapman partnership, and they took the opportunity to become independent from them, i think they were also proud of what they achieved, without the desire to have wanted to change things. Sweet were different though, and one senses to a degree their early Chinn and Chapman bubblegum hits like 'Co Co', in addition to the glam hits like 'Blockbuster' and 'Wig-Wam Bam', really did stifle their quest to be taken more seriously, on their own terms. I'm doubtful also as to whether their later hits, aside from maybe 'Love Is Like Oxygen', and 'Fox On The Run', actually stand up so well as songs, behind the heavier rock sound and prog influences. Maybe though, they were not really aiming for those things primarily, anyway. However, as i have stated earlier, Sweet still managed to retain a level of identity from their previous Chinn/Chapman era. I think they had a big enough carrot to use as bait, to perhaps capture of few of those ever maturing former glam fans.
Sweet might have learned from the case of the Tremeloes which is a very interesting example of how not to handle a career.
The Tremeloes post Brian Poole, that is from 1967 had a series of big hits which were often Italian songs with English lyrics or in the case of Silence is Golden, a Four Seasons B side. They were huge for a while.:)
However, the band were extremely talented and very diverse and wished to move on to more "serious" music written by themselves. They even turned down Yellow River which became a number one for Christie, but which would surely have hit the top for the Tremeloes.
Instead they released a rather good album written by themselves in the middle of 1970. At first, they scored highly with the self-written Me and My Life. Their idea at the time was to try to release a less commercial and then a more commercial track, according to one of their writers the late Alan Blakely. He even was quoted as saying that those who had bought their early commercial tracks were "morons.":o
Just to be awkward they released a sort of rock track whose name I have forgotten, but similar to Star Studded Sham. It was totally different to anything they had done before and was a complete flop and they never had another hit. They released a series of excellent single in diverse styles through 1974--highlights include Blue Suede Tie and Ride On--but never had another hit.:(
It is a bit of an extreme case and neither Sweet nor Mud ever alienated their fans, but it was out there as a warning. It is very hard to change a hit formula or move away from it..:)
Although Kylie was later to be the master of just this.:)
… and none of them sound remotely like Status Quo who, let's face it, spent most of the 70s rehashing the same song …
Too easy to say - I don't think any critical listen to Quo's 70's output , particularly the early 70's releases ( Piledriver, , Hello, Quo ) supports such a view. It's popular to Quo bash forgetting that the latter day demise of the band came after Lancaster and Coughlin were ejected. The Frantic Four in their heydey were accomplished rock and blues musicians
Too easy to say - I don't think any critical listen to Quo's 70's output , particularly the early 70's releases ( Piledriver, , Hello, Quo ) supports such a view. It's popular to Quo bash forgetting that the latter day demise of the band came after Lancaster and Coughlin were ejected. The Frantic Four in their heydey were accomplished rock and blues musicians
Whereas the remaining two have turned Quo into an embarrassing shadow of its former self. If peir end variety bills still existed the current Quo would be quite happy appearing thererather than playing any kind of heavy rock gig
Whereas the remaining two have turned Quo into an embarrassing shadow of its former self. If peir end variety bills still existed the current Quo would be quite happy appearing thererather than playing any kind of heavy rock gig
Yes they did tend to go downhill when the other two left - although I always thought Rick Parfitt and Francis Rossi were the main songwriters in the band!
As for why this rash of titles all charted … at the risk of being controversial, Lightning was at this point distributed by WEA, which would be within a year be the focus of a World In Action programme about allegedly hyping singles into the chart. Might these re-releases have been part of that phenomenon?
From memory these were a special issue of picture discs with a different old car on one side of them. So nostalgic in more than one sense.
... Sweet were different though, and one senses to a degree their early Chinn and Chapman bubblegum hits like 'Co Co', in addition to the glam hits like 'Blockbuster' and 'Wig-Wam Bam', really did stifle their quest to be taken more seriously, on their own terms. I'm doubtful also as to whether their later hits, aside from maybe 'Love Is Like Oxygen', and 'Fox On The Run', actually stand up so well as songs, behind the heavier rock sound and prog influences. Maybe though, they were not really aiming for those things primarily, anyway. However, as i have stated earlier, Sweet still managed to retain a level of identity from their previous Chinn/Chapman era. I think they had a big enough carrot to use as bait, to perhaps capture of few of those ever maturing former glam fans.
One thing I liked about Sweet was that they continued to write their own more 'rock orientated' stuff during the Chinn/Chapman era even though none ever made onto an A side of a single. A little known fact is that Sweet's first venture into bubblegum pop actually preceded Chinn/Chapman.
Yes they did tend to go downhill when the other two left - although I always thought Rick Parfitt and Francis Rossi were the main songwriters in the band!
agree with last couple of comments , but without the "heavier" backline Quo became the end of the pier show, reduced due releasing Beach Boy medleys, an embarrasing Margheritta Time, and touring with Chas n Dave !
agree with last couple of comments , but without the "heavier" backline Quo became the end of the pier show, reduced due releasing Beach Boy medleys, an embarrasing Margheritta Time, and touring with Chas n Dave !
To be fair to them though they have just finished a sell out reunion tour of the original line up. It would be great if they could carry on but Alan Lancaster has got some health problems. I don't think he would be able to commit to the band full time anymore.
Though tracks like this show that they can still Rock with the best of them. The orignal band still have that power.
Comments
Why?
None of them got too much higher, unlike the re-releases of old tracks did in the mid to late 80's.
Sweet are fairly high up the pantheon but I agree that they deserve to be higher.:)
Sweet and Mud were chalk and cheese but I agree with posters that have noted certain possible Chinnichap similarities (as they were the writers of most of their hits).:)
Spot on for the UK, but the Sweet wrote three of their five US top twenty hits--Fox on the Run, Action, and Love is like Oxygen.:)
And in the US Kiss were a band that drew very much on UK glam for their hits; they were very influenced by Sweet--sort of heavy, but melodic. Kiss, of course, did much better than Sweet ever did.:D
I would never wish to get into such a debate. They were both great bands, but as one of our posters who literally had the last word said: Roxy Music beat them hands down. And Dance Away must be coming up soon.:)
Rich Tea, well, it's obvious why those old tracks from the mid-late eighties were bigger hits, and that's because they primarily belonged to movie soundtracks, or were occasionally used on tv adverts. Ben E King's 'Stand By Me', was used on the soundtrack to the film of the same name, The Hollies 'He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother' was used in a Miller Lite tv ad, Steve Miller's 'The Joker's success came through a tv ad too, and the Righteous Brothers 'Unchained Melody' was used in the film, Ghost. All these songs got to no 1, simply because of their increased profile due to their movie/tv ad exposure. I think more than anything this showed how powerful the visual (video) side of music marketing had become. I'm really doubtful as to whether it had anything to do with a burning nostalgia, as such, which really didn't get too big a look in, until the mid nineties brit pop years, and the publications of music magazines, like Mojo.
1979, wasn't especially nostalgic either, generally, although there were still a few of those groups making it big who admired the old fifties/early sixties sounds like Showaddywaddy, Darts and Rocky Sharp etc. However, that doesn't really answer your question, aside from saying quite a number of those old type songs were re-released intermittently throughout the seventies. A little more successful musical nostalgia does take place later in the year with the re emergence of the mod scene leading to the re-release of 'Green Onions' by Booker T And The MGs, which reached no 7 in the charts.
As you quite rightly say, nostalgia is on the wane by 1979, with the fortunes of those groups you mention all in decline.
As I recall, all those re-releases Rich has singled out came from the same record label: Lightning. Lightning was at this point better known as a reggae label - they licensed 'Up Town Top Ranking' and 'Money In My Pocket' and scored UK chart hits with them - but also had an interest in re-issues, and these titles were part of its Old Gold brand, which I think I'm right in saying became a label in its own right by the 1980s.
As for why this rash of titles all charted … at the risk of being controversial, Lightning was at this point distributed by WEA, which would be within a year be the focus of a World In Action programme about allegedly hyping singles into the chart. Might these re-releases have been part of that phenomenon?
All idle speculation, of course - whatever the case, there rurally wasn't sufficient interest in that kind of music by this point in the 70s, and that's why their chart appearances were short-lived.
Very interesting !
I can remember buying a lot of those Old Gold singles back in the eighties.
BIB - I meant 'clearly' … the joys of auto-spellcheck!
Slade succeeded where Sweet didn't partly because of the good fortune of being adopted by the heavy metal crowd post-Reading in 1980, partly because they never had credibility issues with songs being written for them and partly because they didn't have anything remotely approaching Connolly's alcoholism (he collapsed on stage one night in 1978 whist touring the US) to hamper their ability to play live.
I don't recall Sweet slagging off Status Quo but I can't help but wonder if that comment was driven by bitterness as much as anything - they would have loved a more 'serious' audience but were scoring massively in 1973 with Chinnichap songs and a glam image. I do remember a war of words between Sweet and Mud in early 1974, though, as the battle for number one between 'Teenage Rampage' and 'Tiger Feet' built …
But I don't think there's any such 'shuffle' sound you refer to: 'Blockbuster', 'Hellraiser' and 'Ballroom Blitz' are quite different tempos, for instance … and none of them sound remotely like Status Quo who, let's face it, spent most of the 70s rehashing the same song …
Also, i believe Sweet pretty much retained their more typical sound, to a greater degree than Mud, when they left Chinn and Chapman, with regards to their singles. 'Fox On The Run' (the single version) and 'Action' aren't a total departure from what they had been doing previously, especially from a vocal perspective, aside from them perhaps appearing a little heavier with those more occasional prog elements. Sweet must have felt well justified with leaving Chinn and Chapman after their no 2 hit with 'Fox On The Run'.
Mud varied their sound greatly with songs like 'Show Me You're A Woman' and 'Shake It Down', although to a large degree, their cover, 'Lean On Me' sounded much more typical of them.
Just two episodes a month from June now.>:(
After watching the youtube clips of Sweet on geordie scene i can see why they were must have been unhappy singing catchy pop songs as they clearly were at ease playing a much heavier less accessible rock sound (to a slightly bemused audience who must have been expecting the big hits) - whereas i don't think Mud were so worried about what they were singing as long as they were having a good time (and lots of hits) so i guess it must have come down to seeking a bigger slice of the pie financially from writing their own singles...yes they went on to change their style occasionally (shake it down veering into disco territory for example) but i think that was down to ray stiles' and (more so) ray davis' influences away from their usual rock and roll sound? maybe they just wanted to show people they weren't one trick ponies but as the hits faded and showaddywaddy stole their thunder (and ideas?) they quickly reverted back to reviving old songs but it was too little too late and came across as a bit desperate...Smokie didn't seem to want to alter their sound at all after parting company with chinnichap but sadly their own songs just weren't as good, a shame as i think out of the three bands they could/would have survived a lot longer into the 80's with chinnichap still at the helm
Yes, agreed. Smokie seemed much less inclined musically to be part of a trend (and they started having hits after glam rock had peaked), which gives the feeling, maybe, they may have been able to last longer than both Mud and Sweet. Maybe Smokie's problem may have actually been a resistance to significantly vary their style, in an ever changing musical climate (and especially when the eighties truly began to take hold). The issue, though, with Sweet and Mud, is that they were so identified with a certain era, and sound, that it did seem difficult for them to convincingly move away from it, and also successfully take their fans with them. The fans, of course, were growing older also. Mud did have this rather endearing quality of not taking themselves so seriously, and as much as they relied on the Chinn/Chapman partnership, and they took the opportunity to become independent from them, i think they were also proud of what they achieved, without the desire to have wanted to change things. Sweet were different though, and one senses to a degree their early Chinn and Chapman bubblegum hits like 'Co Co', in addition to the glam hits like 'Blockbuster' and 'Wig-Wam Bam', really did stifle their quest to be taken more seriously, on their own terms. I'm doubtful also as to whether their later hits, aside from maybe 'Love Is Like Oxygen', and 'Fox On The Run', actually stand up so well as songs, behind the heavier rock sound and prog influences. Maybe though, they were not really aiming for those things primarily, anyway. However, as i have stated earlier, Sweet still managed to retain a level of identity from their previous Chinn/Chapman era. I think they had a big enough carrot to use as bait, to perhaps capture of few of those ever maturing former glam fans.
The Tremeloes post Brian Poole, that is from 1967 had a series of big hits which were often Italian songs with English lyrics or in the case of Silence is Golden, a Four Seasons B side. They were huge for a while.:)
However, the band were extremely talented and very diverse and wished to move on to more "serious" music written by themselves. They even turned down Yellow River which became a number one for Christie, but which would surely have hit the top for the Tremeloes.
Instead they released a rather good album written by themselves in the middle of 1970. At first, they scored highly with the self-written Me and My Life. Their idea at the time was to try to release a less commercial and then a more commercial track, according to one of their writers the late Alan Blakely. He even was quoted as saying that those who had bought their early commercial tracks were "morons.":o
Just to be awkward they released a sort of rock track whose name I have forgotten, but similar to Star Studded Sham. It was totally different to anything they had done before and was a complete flop and they never had another hit. They released a series of excellent single in diverse styles through 1974--highlights include Blue Suede Tie and Ride On--but never had another hit.:(
It is a bit of an extreme case and neither Sweet nor Mud ever alienated their fans, but it was out there as a warning. It is very hard to change a hit formula or move away from it..:)
Although Kylie was later to be the master of just this.:)
Good old US of A!
Does that mean Jimmy Savile and DLT were presenting a lot then?
Too easy to say - I don't think any critical listen to Quo's 70's output , particularly the early 70's releases ( Piledriver, , Hello, Quo ) supports such a view. It's popular to Quo bash forgetting that the latter day demise of the band came after Lancaster and Coughlin were ejected. The Frantic Four in their heydey were accomplished rock and blues musicians
Whereas the remaining two have turned Quo into an embarrassing shadow of its former self. If peir end variety bills still existed the current Quo would be quite happy appearing thererather than playing any kind of heavy rock gig
Yes they did tend to go downhill when the other two left - although I always thought Rick Parfitt and Francis Rossi were the main songwriters in the band!
agree with last couple of comments , but without the "heavier" backline Quo became the end of the pier show, reduced due releasing Beach Boy medleys, an embarrasing Margheritta Time, and touring with Chas n Dave !
To be fair to them though they have just finished a sell out reunion tour of the original line up. It would be great if they could carry on but Alan Lancaster has got some health problems. I don't think he would be able to commit to the band full time anymore.
Though tracks like this show that they can still Rock with the best of them. The orignal band still have that power.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEjYQHg3bvw
Whereas without the other two they're just a sell-out.