Kajagoogoo Bassist's All Time Top Ten

 

Kajagoogoo topped the UK and German charts in 1983 with "Too Shy" ( and climbed all the way to #5 in the US) and were on their way to more UK chart success when bassist Nick Beggs provided Smash Hits with this easy listening list that gives nods to both Elton John and Christopher Cross (!).  By the way, Beggs is right. In the UK Peter Gabriel's "Shock the Monkey" stalled at #58 even though it topped the Mainstream Rock chart in the US. This list comes courtesy of  Brian at Like Punk Never Happened.

KAJAGOOGOO "TOO SHY"

ELTON JOHN "BLUE EYES"

THE TUBES " I DON'T WANT TO WAIT ANYMORE"

THOMAS DOLBY "AIRWAVES"

40 Year Itch: Canadian Beatles Peak at #2

The band Quentin Tarantino called "The Canadian Beatles" had one big hit in the US. A two year old recording of "Last Song" peaked at #2 on March 10, 1973. It was held off the top spot by Roberta Flack's rendition of "Killing Me Softly With His Song" which spent 5 weeks in the top spot. New to the Top 20 this week were The Four Tops with "Ain't No Woman ( Like The One I Got)", The Temptations with "Masterpiece", The Moody Blues's "I'm Just A Singer (In a Rock n Roll Band)" and The Carpenters with "Sing"

1 Killing Me Softly With His SongRoberta Flack
2 The Last SongEdward Bear



3 Could It Be I'm Falling In LoveThe Spinners
4 Also Sprach Zarathustra (2001)Deodato
5 Rocky Mountain HighJohn Denver

6 Love TrainThe O'Jays
7 Dueling Banjos Eric Weissberg
8 The Cover Of The Rolling StoneDr. Hook And The Medicine Show
9 Do It AgainSteely Dan
10 Neither One Of Us (Wants To Be The First To Say Goodbye)Gladys Knight and The Pips

11 Crocodile Rock Elton John
12 Daddy's HomeJermaine Jackson
13 Danny's SongAnne Murray
14 Break Up To Make UpThe Stylistics
15 Ain't No Woman (Like The One I've Got)The Four Tops



16 AubreyBread
17 Space OddityDavid Bowie
18 MasterpieceThe Temptations
19 I'm Just A Singer (In A Rock And Roll Band)The Moody Blues
20 SingCarpenters



UK singles chart for the week ending 10 March 1973

1 Cum on feel the noize – Slade
2 Cindy incidentally – Faces
3 20th century boy – T Rex
4 Part of the union – Strawbs



5 Blockbuster! – Sweet
6 Feel the need in me – Detroit Emeralds
7 Hello hurray – Alice Cooper
8 Killing me softly with his song – Roberta Flack
9 Doctor my eyes – Jackson 5
10 Whiskey in the jar – Thin Lizzy

40 Year Itch : 1973's Greatest Day in Rock

God only knows how they managed to pull it off but on March 9th and 10th of 1973, the Dutch city of Voorburg was the place to be. In a single weekend fans could see Slade, The Eagles, The Faces, both Zombies descendants Colin Blunstone and Argent,JJ Cale, Chi Coltrane, Rory Gallagher, Ry Cooder and The Who perform. The arena was set up with two stages on either side, so as one act performed, crews could break down and set up for the next act. Roxy Music, Ringo Starr and Stevie Wonder were also invited to perform but couldn't make it. Much of the concert is scattered all over YouTube. Some of the samples appear below in the order they performed. ( Yes, Ry Cooder leading into The Who).


SLADE "COZ I LOVE YOU "



THE FACES "CINDY INCIDENTALLY"



COLIN BLUNSTONE "TIME OF THE SEASON"




  RORY GALLAGHER "MESSIN WITH THE KID"



RY COODER "JESUS ON THE MAINLINE"



THE WHO "MAGIC BUS"

40 Year Itch : McCartney Fined for Growing Cannabis

On March 8th, 1973, Paul McCartney was fined $240 for growing cannabis on his farm in Scotland.

"My dad’s a keen gardener, you know, I think it’s rubbed off. We got a load of seeds, you know, kind of in the post, and we didn’t know what they were you know, and we kind of planted them all, and five of them came up like – five of them came up illegal.”

 

40 Year Itch: Funny How The Circle Turns Around

[Purchase]

Only Gene Clark shines in this half hearted reunion album released on March 7, 1973. That's perhaps because the band ( last together in their original line-up in 1966) didn't reunite out of  a strong desire to start up the band again. As Roger McGuinn told Creem Magazine's Cameron Crowe, it all started off kind of half-assed.

 Nobody really pushed for it very hard, which is partly why it happened. It was sorta “how’d ya like to…,” an open invitation to all the original Byrds. Nobody stood to lose anything, even David Crosby, who really didn’t stand to gain by it because he was already doing okay by himself. I think he wanted to reinstate himself as a Byrd,; his pride was at stake. He didn’t like the idea that I continued the group without him. 



 There were two different points of view, one is business and the other aesthetic. (Drummer) Michael Clarke stood to gain quite a bit. Chris Hillman was doing okay and I was doing all right. I could’ve passed it up, but then I thought, well, it could be pretty big. It could reopen the catalog of past Byrds albums and a lot of people would probably like to hear the new one. Looking at it aesthetically.



The album received generally bad reviews. There were two Neil Young covers (a limp "Cowgirl In The Sand" and "(See the Sky) About to Rain"), a Joni Mitchell cover ("For Free" from Ladies of the Canyon) and two songs each from Hillman, McGuinn, Clark and Crosby ( including a very similar "Laughing" to the one Crosby recorded for his solo debut). So the Byrds final flight was a shaky one. McGuinn would release his solo debut later in the year.

40 Year Itch: 'Cum On Feel The Noize' Debuts at #1

"Unmistakeably Slade - a rousing, raucous, rocker that follows its predecessors with an instantly recognizable sound"
 -NME Magazine

For the first time since The Beatles did it with "Get Back" in 1969, Slade debuted a single at #1 in the UK.

In its first three weeks, "Cum On Feel The Noize" sold 500,000 copies.

As guitarist Dave Hill tells  the now defunct Slade FanClub website , it's a song about the Slade concert experience.

  "The song was based around audiences and things that were happening to us. They were just experiences. Obviously, when you are on the road, you are writing about being on the road, you're writing about what's going on."



Until 1983, the song failed to translate on US shores where Slade's "Cum on Feel the Noize" stalled at #9. Ten years later Quiet Riot recorded the song and took it to #5. Slade singer Nobby Holder talked to Kerang! Magazine about the Quiet Riot cover.

 "The first Slade knew about Quiet Riot was when they approached our publisher for permission to do 'Cum On Feel the Noize.' We agreed, never believing something like this would happen. In fact, the record was out for some while in the States before becoming a big hit, wasn't it? The really nice thing about the whole affair is that it proves how strong our songs are. After all 'Cum On Feel the Noize' is now ten years old, so it's obviously stood the test of time rather well! "

40 Year Itch: Keep On Pushing Mamma

[Purchase]

The Captain and Me, released March 2 1973, is commonly considered the creative peak of The Doobie Brothers. It's chock full of their good time strumming, double drumming, California rock'n'roll featuring two monster hits "Long Train Runnin " (US#8) and "China Grove" (US#15) as well as a nice couple of Patrick Simmons tunes including "South City Midnight Lady" ( featuring future Doobie Jeff "Skunk" Baxter on pedal steel guitar.

 The band admits this was a bit of a rush job following up on the success of Toulouse Street and "Listen to the Music". "Long Train Runnin'" was a re-write of a Tom Johnson instrumental called "Osborn". Producer Ted Templeman suggested the song be about a train so Johnson sat in a bathroom at Amigo Studios in Burbank and knocked out the lyrics:

 Down around the corner half a mile from here/ 

see them long trains run and you watch them disappear 

The Doobies solidified their hit formula with the double platinum Captain And Me. Long running fans still consider this to be their best album.