UK Top 10 December 7, 1974

1. David Essex : Gonna Make You a Star

2. Barry White : You're The First the Last, My Everything

3. Gary Glitter : Oh Yes! You're Beautiful

4. Rubettes : Juke Box Jive

5. Queen : Killer Queen

6. Bachman-Turner Overdrive : You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet

7. Suzi Quatro : The Wild One

8. Eddie Holman : Hey There Lonely Girl

9. The Peppers : Pepper Box

10. Chi-Lites : Too Good To Be Forgotten

40 Year Itch: The Worst Singles of 1974

 Telly Savalas : If

"People know that singing is not my bag, but if I say 'Hey, this is how Telly feels about this or that song,' I can't make mistakes. I can only make mistakes by pretending to be a great singer."

   Telly Savalas hit #1 in the UK in 1975 with his 1974  spoken word, smooth as fuck version of the Bread classic "If". Did he know how God awful this was? I've learned never to underestimate the intelligence of a successful actor so I'm guessing he was.

Bonus Turd!

# 4 Gary Glitter : Remember Me This Way

What a remarkably lifeless Top 10 UK single! Sounds like a star who has run out of gas. Of course Glitter's well documented problems are still years away.

#3 Bimbo Jet : El Bimbo

Euro-disco at its worst. Released in 1974, the tune swept through Europe topping charts first in Bimbo Jet's home country of France then in Spain, Italy, Denmark and others before it narrowly missed becoming a Top 40 hit in the US.

#2 Donny and Marie Osmond  I'm Leaving It (All) Up To You

Let's ignore the incestuous overtones of a brother and sister singing about whether they want each other's love, and just rank this #2 because of the awful syrupy string section. What in God's name propelled this into the Top 10 on both sides of the Atalantic?

#1 Paul Anka : (You're) Having My Baby

"The need inside you I see it showin' Oh the seed inside you baby do you feel it growin'"

Not sure what's more creepy: the whole "seed inside you" concept or the graphic abortion allusions in the bridge"

"Didn't have to keep it Wouldn't put ya through it You could have swept it from you life But you wouldn't do it No, you wouldn't do it"

Despite protests from the National Organization of Women, who gave Anka their annual "Keer Her in Her Place" Award,  "(You're) Having My Baby" knocked Paper Lace from the Top Spot on the Billboard Hot 100. And you sure as shit know it wasn't the men who were buying this 45. Anka has always said the song is a "personal statement of a man caught up in the affection and joy of childbirth". Eventually he would make one small concession to Women's Lib: singing "having our baby" in future concerts

Bonus Turd: Anka's Nirvana cover

40 Year Itch : UK Top 10 November 24, 1973

 

On November 24, 1973 Gary Glitter's "I Love You Love Me Love" enters the UK charts at #1 where it would spend the next four weeks and establish itself as Britain's #1 selling single of 1973. 

The Rest of the Top 10

2. Osmonds Let Me In

3. David Cassidy Daydreamer/Puppy Song

4. David Bowie Sorrow

5. Mud Dynamite

6. Donny Osmond When I Fall in Love

7. Carpenters Top of the World

8. Ringo Starr Photograph

9. Barry Blue Do You Wanna Dance

10. Detroit Spinners Ghetto Child  

40 Year Itch : The UK Top 10 August 11, 1973

UK Top 10 August 11, 1973

Gary Glitter has the top UK hit for four straight weeks. Lennie Peters ( who had the misfortune to be blinded in both eyes in two separate incidents) and Dianne Lee had already hit #1 with "Welcome Home" in May but apparently the song had staying power. At #3 is Mungo Jerry with a re-write of the Jacques Dutronc hit "Et moi, Et Moi Et Moi". And yes, I owe Suzy Quatro a write-up. Later this month.

1. Gary Glitter: I'm the Leader of the Gang ( I Am)


2. Peters and Lee "Welcome Home"



3. Mungo Jerry "Alright Alright Alright"



Jacques Dutronc "Et Moi Et Moi Et Moi"


4. Osmonds "Going Home"
5. David Bowie "Life on Mars"
6. Suzy Quatro "48 Crash"



7. Carpenters "Yesterday Once More"
8. Al Martino "Spanish Eyes"

9. Diana Ross "Touch Me in the Morning"
10. Blue Mink "Randy"

40 Years Ago This Week: Glitter

[Buy The Greatest Hits]

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Born Paul Frances Gadd, the man who would become Gary Glitter reinvented himself several times (first as Paul Raven then as Paul Monday) before he invented his trademark sound. With two drummers, a guitarist who played the same lines as the sax player, and football stadium cries like "HEY!" and "C'MON C'MON" the Glitter sound took the UK by storm. Even teenage girls could barely contain themselves in front of the slightly overweight 30-something lead singer .





Glitter is the first album and it's a bit of a mixed bag. Along with the two versions of "Rock and Roll" ( Part 2 is the instrumental you still hear in stadiums and arenas), "I Didn't Know I Loved You ( Til I Saw You Rock N Roll)" and "The Famous Instigator", you get a handful of 50's covers ( Chuck Berry's "School Days", Richie Valens's "Donna") that just sort of sit there. The most recent reissues also contain "I'm The Leader of The Gang ( I Am)" of of three UK #1s Glitter recorded.

The heady days for Gary Glitter lasted just four years and have since been overshadowed by arrests for child pornography and child sex abuse. Glitter has retired from rocking and has talked about writing a book to prove his innocence.