Listen: Ska Train / The Beatmasters
Ska
Even after the ska revival, the one in the late 70′s to be exact, the occasional act would do an admittedly modern, but usually pretty great version of a classic. Or write one that sounded like a cover from old.
‘Ska Train’ comes to mind. Not shying away from The Beatmasters’ then curent pop/acid house/dancey techno success, they issued this as a B side. Along with Longsy D’s House Sound’s, it remains a favorite.
Listen: The Village Green Preservation Society (Mono Single Version) / The Kinks
The
Our dear friend Nancy Rose from London recently visited New York, as always, with piles of gifts for the whole family. She has the kindest heart on earth.
We met centuries ago, well in the last one, when we were all Kinks stalkers. Those who worshiped The Kinks, by telepathy or something, all found each other, unswayable from the band’s God-like greatness. Actually, it was Corinne who first befriended Nancy, but before long, her Los Angeles Kinks circle and our east coast one were a team.
When we get together now, we reminisce stories deep and many, and truly become kids again. Yet another power that The Kinks possessed that we didn’t even know about until decades later.
So back to this batch of gifts, included was a BIG ISSUE cover story on the Ray Davies’ curated Meltdown Festival from June. The feature and interview are so, well, so Ray. If you’re a Kinks person, you’ll understand.
The event’s a multi-day, yearly happening. Ray chose to center it around the 60′s and included various acts and speakers from that period, including Vicki Wickham. It culminated with a full London Philharmonic Orchestra presentation of THE KINKS ARE THE VILLAGE GREEN PRESERVATION SOCIETY, the infamous 1968 album that flopped on release, charted nowhere, but has gone on through the years to be rightfully revered as one of the greatest recordings of all time.
Presently, it’s The Kinks best selling album ever. Did you get that? Ever. And has been certified platinum in the US.
Ray Davies has recently referred to it as the “most successful flop of all time”. Never give up hope for musical justice.
Maybe the greatest thing the US Musician’s Union ever did was ban The Kinks from performing here for three years, due to reasons no one has ever officialized. Once the ban was lifted, and they returned in October ’69, the stalking began. The press referred to the band and their followers as a cult.
But those three years of not playing America, and not being influenced by Haight Ashbury and the Viet Nam war and all that, meant The Kinks we all now love were born or I should probably say, reborn. To quote Ray Davies from said BIG ISSUE piece: “When we realized we couldn’t go back, I withdrew into complete Englishness and quaintness.”
Thank you United States Musician’s Union.
‘The Village Green Preservation Society’, above in mono, is a different greatness than it’s stereo sister. I love both. Particularly at exactly 2:21, the way Ray sings “Donald Duck”, completely untreated by studio gimmicks, not double tracked or harmonized with Dave, is a real spine tingler for every Kinks person. This I guarantee you.
One of the all time greatest television moments ever comes at exactly :29 – :33, whether by accident or design, the shot of Ray Davies, Dave Davies and John Dalton is perfection. Despite being from a 1972 BBC televised concert, it is the only known early performance of the song to exist. I hope the copyright police don’t ever remove it
Listen: Right On / Ike Turner
Right
Lux and Ivy once pulled me aside in Toronto’s Kop’s Collectibles while we were shopping for 45′s just after doing a MUCH MUSIC interview. In deadpan seriousness, Ivy handed me an Ike Turner single proclaiming if I did not own it, I needed it. “He’s incredible, like seriously incredible.”
“Forget all that whoee about his domestic life, the records, just get ‘em all”, Lux in an almost scolding tone.
I have obeyed, and as an email I recently got specific to my several posts on this blog conveyed, you can never have enough Ike & Tina Turner.
‘Right On’ came out as a 7″ back when I was a college rep for United Artists, desperately interested in The Move, Wizzard, The Bonzo Dog Band and Family from their current roster, but also into the occasional Blue Note (who they distributed) funk-jazz release and any Monk Higgins or Bobby Womack single.
How I missed, misplaced or failed to pay attention to ‘Right On’ is a scary blank in my memory. It’s so good, so racey, so unforgettable. What the fuck happened? Did I black out for three months or something? Well, I’ll never know. But as I lie here in bed, with it on repeat and type this post, I can tell you one thing. At this very moment, it’s my favorite record in the whole wide world.
These lyrics are hysterical. Listen to every one. It may take a few plays, and I suggest headphones, but you’ll pick them up. Ike’s delivery will get in your face, maybe even scare you a bit, his voice is that alive. Wow.
Last week, while out on the Matt & Kim / blink-182 tour, we had a day off in Pittsburgh. Typically, they hit the Warhol museum, I think the crew went to a sporting event of some stadium sort, and I hit today’s version of the yellow pages, Google, looking for used 45′s. First thing that comes up: Jerry’s Records.
I rang to ask, did they have 45′s from the 50′s and 60′s. It was Jerry who answered.
Affirmative. “About 700,000.”
Hmm, ok, sounds like a bit of a stretch, but certainly more than a few boxes, and it was close, four miles. What the heck.
Lord have mercy. This was the most jaw dropping, overwhelming record store I can recall being in, maybe ever. If you visit, and you seriously must, be ready. What you see pictured above is one row from the $3 section of 45′s, then a few of those rows representing around one third of that total $3 section. Plus there’s the $7 section, the new arrivals and the $100+ locked room, none of those even pictured here. In total, they all take up maybe one quarter, tops, of the entire shop. The rest is albums. The walls are lined with memorabilia and every space is crammed with old displays and trade ads and, and, and……
I stood there frozen, body and brain. Couldn’t think of one single I needed for like five minutes. It was that powerful. But once I got going….forget it.
Promise yourself you will visit, and don’t plan on doing it in just one day. Maybe bring a stretcher. You might need to leave on it.
Like ‘Right On’, which I purchased at Jerry’s, I’d somehow never heard of either.
Aren’t records the greatest! There are so many, you never run out of the need to keep looking.
Listen: The Walk / Jimmy McCracklin
The
His biggest chart hit, ‘The Walk’, was the result of an AMERICAN BANDSTAND appearance in ’58, although the record had been released in ’57. Thus was the power of a very few, limited music outlets at the time. Then it was called television.
Dick Clark’s weekly program must have been aggressively worked for such precious exposure. To Dick Clark’s credit, many of the black acts, often who’s records were covered by white performers thus robbing the originals of the hit, were given shots. Jimmy McCracklin was one.
‘The Walk’ is a great combination of RnB and Jump Blues, which he carried over from the release of his first single, ‘Miss Mattie Left Me’ in 1945.
He went on to record for a few labels including Imperial and Stax, where with Lowell Fulson, co-wrote the massive ‘Tramp’ as recorded by Carla Thomas & Otis Redding, and as recently as 2007 played the San Francisco Blues Festival for the sixth time.
This copy came with the original jukebox tab stapled to it’s sleeve, where it shall remain.
Listen: Long Shot Kick The Bucket / The Pioneers
Long
Truth be told, I’m posting this Leslie Kong produced Pioneers single simply because I love it. But in an effort to add some habenaro to it all, I rang Duane for any details that might be worth sharing and sure enough…..turns out ‘Long Shot Kick The Bucket’ is about a horse named Long Shot who sadly died during a race.
Don’t get me started on that. Horses shouldn’t be whipped into racing, just like they don’t belong in traffic dragging overweight tourists in carriages around New York City.
But Long Shot presumably had a heart attack during said race, hence the kick the bucket bit.
Thanks Duane. And contribute anything you can afford to the great animal protection organizations in the right column of this blog.
Listen: Rock And Roll Love Letter / Tim Moore
Rock
Real short. And real, real, real simple. This is a genius, and hideously overlooked anthem. Tim Moore wrote a song that is criminally under appreciated, and here it is.
Oh, he’s also a lovely soul.
Listen: Black Sheep Boy / Tim Hardin
Black
Been meaning to post more double siders like this Tim Hardin one. Not official double A’s, but worthy of.
There’s literally not a bad song this guy ever wrote and recorded for Verve. The amount of other artists who have covered his stuff being proof, if plain old listening isn’t enough. Even the live album TIM HARDIN 3 LIVE IN CONCERT, a format I’m generally not fond of, is an exception in his case.
Listen: Misty Roses / Tim Hardin
Misty
And when it comes to covers, ‘Misty Roses’ has plenty. Hard to pick a favorite, but in front of a firing squad, I’d opt for Colin Blunstone’s.
Not to say the original isn’t a masterpiece.
Listen: Down To Zero (Mono) / Joan Armatrading
Down
Me, I never tire of Joan Armatrading, and never will. She’s gone through a lot of musical twists and turns, by her own choice, during the last decade. Some of it, quite frankly, is tough for me to tolerate. But like all true greats, meaning seminally true greats, every album contains, minimum, a couple of jems.
During the span of her career, beginning in the early 70′s, I never missed any of her upstate appearances, where she played on a regular basis. After relocating to New York in ’84, I went to every, and I mean every one of her shows. Three nights at The Beacon Theater, I was there for them all. In fact, I’d gladly drive out to Long Island or New Jersey to catch neighboring appearances. There are no plans to end that pattern by the way.
‘Down To Zero’ still slays every female singer/songwriter in sight.
When doing A&R for Columbia in the 90′s, Jewel had her meteoric rise into mainstream ubiquity. Every label, especially Columbia, was looking for their own version of Jewel. So an endless parade of young nursing student types would schlep through the department, many times with an acoustic guitar in tow, or their parents, or worse yet, both. As soon as the sight of this entered my office, I got straight to the point.
“Are you as good as Joan Armatrading?”
To their credit, every last aspiring hopeful knew her, and would always answer, “Well…..no.”
With utmost politeness, I’d ask them not to unpack or even bother playing me their demo, because I couldn’t tell good from slightly better than good, given that greatness had just been established as outside the realm of possibility. Basically, there was no point. Out of courtesy, I’d shuffle them down the hall to others more qualified in the genre.
A few even got signed. None succeeded.
Listen: The Green Manalishi (With The Two Prong Crown) / Fleetwood Mac
The
To my recollection, this 1970 non-LP A side was Peter Green’s final, officially planned single with Fleetwood Mac. Almost feels like they were veering toward the sound de jour: those beginnings of heavy guitar arena rock, as Deep Purple and The Jeff Beck Group seemed to happily forge.
In fact, around the same time ‘The Green Manalishi (With The Two Prong Crown)’ was released, so too was Deep Purple’s ‘Black Night’. And given Peter Green’s imminent departure, that musical default could very well have been Fleetwood Mac’s path of least resistance.
Luckily, guitarist Jeremy Spencer’s love of late 50′s/early 60′s doo wop/ RnR influenced the direction for their next album, KILN HOUSE, and disaster was averted.
Technically, KILN HOUSE was an extension of ‘Somebody’s Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonight’, the B side of a previous single, ‘Man Of The World’, their only ’69 release on Immediate Records, issued a year or less, between their periods on Blue Horizon Records and Warner Brothers/Reprise. The band even adopted the comical moniker Earl Vince & The Valiants for that side of the single’s label copy.
If ever you were lucky enough to see the Peter Green lineup pictured above on that beauty of a rarer than rare 7″ sleeve, you know how powerful these five were on a stage. Simply unforgettable.
Peter Green’s closing guitar solo twists and turns once again provided musical fear as only he could.
Listen: Oh! Wot A Dream / Kevin Ayers
Oh!
You know you’re in England by switching on BBC Radio 1 midday to find this playing. Happened to me. Arriving in the UK, a wide eyed kid finally making it to this fantasy land only previously having dreamed existed, I felt like once and for all, I’d found my natural habitat.
Now such privileged music accessibility is a click away, but in ’73, things were way different.
Never did figure out where that quacking sound helping make up the beat originated from. Might be my first question for Kevin Ayers if ever we meet.
‘Oh! Wot A Dream’ is yet another stellar track from his flawless BANANAMOUR album, a gem worth digging hard and paying highly for.
Kevin Ayers has stated in interviews that ‘Oh! Wot A Dream’ was about his friend, colleague and Harvest label mate Syd Barrett.
“You are the most extraordinary person / You write the most peculiar kind of tunes / I met you floating as I was boating / One Afternoon”.
Pretty much covers it.
Listen: Is It In (Mono) / Eddie Harris
Is
In the early 70′s, a lot of these credible jazz players leaned disco or dance-y, I assume looking for more mainstream exposure. After all, Deodato had hit big on Top 40 with ‘Also Sprach Zarathustra’ while with CTI, actually getting to #2 on BILLBOARD. It was an audio oasis on the AM dial at the time.
So guys like Wes Montgomery, Grover Washington, Jr. and Eddie Harris either made attempts at singles, or their respective labels would edit down longer album tracks in hopes of some pop airplay.
I was working for DISCOUNT RECORDS in Syracuse at the time. All the label’s sales guys would donate their boxes of promo 7″ allocations my way, given that no one else at any of their accounts wanted them. The store managers and clerks were generally album whores. It was a God-send for me.
‘Is It In’ became a big hit, well in our store that is. We had a sturdy Garrard stacking turntable behind the counter, and I played it ad nauseam, resulting in some LP sales. At home, even Corinne found the lyrics amusing in a sort of risque way and ended up tolerating it, an anomaly for her when it came to anything jazz.
Listen: Keep The Ball Rollin’ / Jay & The Techniques
Keep
A few years back, I sent a close friend a copy of this single. I figured he’d love it’s cross between pop and Northern. His reaction was so intensely negative, that I wondered, was I crazy?
Hadn’t played ‘Keep The Ball Rollin” for ages, but always recall liking Jay & The Technigues’ singles. Filing away a newly acquired Vicki Wickham UK pressing of their first and only Top 10, ‘Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie’, from ’67′ I pulled out a few for a whirl.
Despite being a #14 hit, this one still sounds pretty Northern to me.
Beware of the reissue CD, THE BEST OF JAY & THE TECHNIQUES. With admittedly good packaging and liner notes, and being well intentioned, like most repackages, the label dug out stereo mixes, remastered them and shined away any of the frequencies and ambience that would transport you back to the heyday. Search out the original pressings instead.
Listen: Right Place, Wrong Time / Dr. John
Right
I recall while living in London during the early 70′s, Dr. John, The Night Tripper, who had by now shortened his stage name, or maybe Atco did the the shortening, to Dr. John, visited London for a handful of shows. The press and beautiful people were drooling. Despite ‘Right Place, Wrong Time’ not being a UK chart hit, unlike in the US, those in the know weren’t fussed. It was a classic, way more important than a chart number. These hommies knew and besides, Dr. John was the real, real, real deal. I believe the show happened at the Rainbow.
Of course, Ronnie Wood couldn’t cut the media line fast enough to be name checked as a supporter. A leopard don’t change it’s spots, as Screamin’ Jay Hawkins once rightfully proclaimed.
But for true authenticity, Charlie Watts stepped into the spotlight to affirm his excitement.
Dr. John has many great singles, basically all of them. ‘Right Place, Wrong Time’ was just one.
Listen: Sheila / The Georgia Satellites
Sheila
Warning: ignore the questionable 80′s drum sound and over all narrow time period production. Jeff Glixman had a vision as producer, fair enough. But despite Howard Thompson and myself angling to tone the drum sound down, improve it a bit or simply get rid of it’s processed tunnel effect, we did not succeed. It may be why such a potentially seminal band, untouchable as a live act in their day, didn’t stand the test of time as powerfully as they deserved to on record. That’s one opinion.
I tell you what. Dan Baird could write a song or two, or fifty. ‘Sheila’ being proof.
Just pay attention to the lyrics on ‘Sheila’ one time through. They’re the epitome of white trash America, going to the drug store to buy a diamond ring. Come on, it doesn’t get more visual or literal than that. This guy should have been grandfathered into Walgreen stock options, or dare I say, a Wal-Mart profit share.
Not to take away for the greatness of Dan Baird in any way. Good hearted soul, flawless musician, and that rare DNA gift of never ever aging. It’s a little unbelievable.
None of the above can overshadow the other guys by the way. Classic combination of great players, the sum being greater than the very great parts, like The Ramones.
Rick Richard may be one of the best guitarists in the solar system. In fact, he is.
Listen: Mr. Soft / Cockney Rebel
Mr.
Early on, Cockney Rebel were inconveniently caught somewhere between glam and suave Roxy Music, despite being nothing near suave visually. A US slot supporting for The Kinks on their SCHOOLBOYS IN DISGRACE tour, and getting a bit of ‘Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me)’ radio play, didn’t change their US fortunes much, well, not at all.
This was a time when The Kinks were struggling, on the tail end of their has-been to legend penance. They could hardly help themselves, let alone Cockney Rebel.
We saw the show at SUNY Brockport, in the gym. Despite being permanently affixed to stage edge, drooling for The Kinks to transcend us into heaven, every last pal in all directions loved Cockney Rebel’s set. The band seemed genuinely surprised.
‘Mr. Soft’ never saw a US 7″ release, despite EMI giving them a few serious gos with several tracks. Not that such a British centric tune would have changed their fortunes in America. Therefore acquiring a UK pressing needs be a must for every responsible citizen.
Despite nary a mention that I can recall, it seems blaringly obvious Blur honored this band’s many ideas. Good choice fellows.
Listen: (Bang Zoom) Let’s Go Go / The Real Roxanne & Hitman Howie Tee
(Bang
Is this the world’s first mashup? Sure does sound like it to me. So many great production ideas. “Sorry, wrong beat”. Top that.
Guessing those studio maneuvers came from Hitman Howie Tee, English born fellow. Real name: Howard Thompson. No, not the same Howard that’s mentioned everywhere else on this blog, bit if I were him, I’d certainly claim I was.
‘(Bang Zoom) Let’s Go Go’ just missed the UK Top 10 (#11) in ’86.
For being an American street record of that moment, it’s quite embarrassing the single did better in the UK than here at home, where it didn’t chart at all. Seriuosly, it did not enter our Top 100. So was/is the everlasting state of America’s terrestrial radio programmers, desperately out of touch with the very audience they need in order to keep their jobs, most of whom don’t currently have them from said time period as a result. Good riddance.
Revel in the brilliance of ‘(Bang Zoom) Let’s Go Go’, still in many ways, light years ahead of it’s time.
Listen: Times Square (Live) / Marianne Faithfull
Times
Over several nights, Marianne Faithfull recorded a live album at St. Ann’s in Brooklyn with an all star cast put together by Hal Winner. I was in charge of A&Ring it, and Marianne graciously gave me an Executive Producer credit on the album. I was beyond flattered and touched. She has a good heart.
A lot of the performances needed some serious weeding and occasionally required confrontation between myself and Hal. At the time, I was under appreciative of his input. But now I realize what an absolutely tremendous contributor and producer he was and is. Thanks Hal.
Playing the final mix of the terrific composition by Barry Reynolds, ‘Times Square’, for Chris Blackwell gave both he and I chills up the spine on that first listen. I will never forget the two of us simultaneously having involuntary spasms at exactly 2:19. Yes, Marianne Faithfull could be a higher form of life without even knowing it. Her performance on this occasion unanimously proved that.
Thankfully, Island Germany chose to release ‘Times Square’ as a picture sleeved 7″ single. I was thrilled and am forever grateful.
Listen: The Girl From Ipanema (Single Edit) / Astrud Gilberto & Stan Getz
The
‘The Girl From Ipanema’ may have created the Space Age Bachelor Pad musical sub genre on it’s very own, quite by accident. What started out as rather lengthy bossa nova jazz rendition by Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto, with an Astrud Gilberto vocal feature rather far into the song’s album version, was eventually rearranged and edited down to a brilliant worldwide hit.
Seek out the single version, streamed above. It’s concise and in my opinion, far superior to the long full length counterpart. Then there’s the near extinct picture sleeve. Don’t ever pass that up.
Several years back, Astrud Gilberto played a night at SOB’s in NY’s West Village. I’d seen the listing, and lazily intended to attend, until day of. Suddenly, getting home and sinking into the sofa sounded way better. For whatever reason, I thought, just do it already. So last minute, left the Island office and walked across town, only to find the club oversold. Now the juices were flowing. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Two days later, Island’s King Sunny Ade & His African Beats were scheduled. Without shame, I pulled out my Island office ID and forcefully played the guilt card.
She was fantastic.
Listen: Whiskey In The Jar (Single Edit) / Thin Lizzy
Whiskey
First thing I’d ever heard by Thin Lizzy was ‘Whiskey In The Jar’. Wow. It sounded fantastic from that initial instant and has never waned. Was a big UK hit during winter ’73, reaching #6, and remained a staple, especially in pubs, through the summer. Couldn’t escape it, and who would want to?
Their following was already a growing multitude of the seriously possessed, and they played The Marquee a few times during my employment at the club that year. Never did speak with them, but even then, their live sound was incredibly different and hugely more powerful than the records. Took several years for the two factions to line up.
Meanwhile, both band leader Phil Lynott and Nick Tauber did the producing during their years with the Decca label in England, and sister outlet, London Records in the US.
Nick Tauber has a very signature, specific to the period, quality. It’s basically, by today’s standards, weedy, even smothering, heavily mid ranged and comes complete with a rather small dry drum sound. I for one, loved it. Attempts at success with harder rock and progressive bands from the early 70′s were as handicapped by these sonic limitations as were the glam acts he worked with. Despite what any English speaking reader might logically interpret from this description, I truly mean it all as a positive. I’m a Nick Tauber fan.
Listen: Things Ain’t Working Out Down At The Farm (Single Edit) / Thin Lizzy
Things
‘Things Ain’t Working Out Down At The Farm’ was a very unsuspecting A side choice for a maxi single Decca released in ’78, after the band had left the label, were having UK/US success on Vertigo/Mercury and punk was completely youth culture’s musical pulse of the period. The song was originally released on the NEW DAY EP between album one and two, during August ’71.
In ’78, Decca released a compilation, THE CONTINUING SAGA OF THE AGEING ORPHANS, and according to it’s sleeve notes, “All the tracks were originally recorded between the years ’71– ’74. Remixes and alterations were recorded at Decca Studio 2, West Hampstead, during Christmas ’77″. So this version is clearly a result of that update. But as a song, it’s rather mundane and was perfectly complimented by a blanket over the speakers production/mix, which even after the ’77 enhancements, hadn’t changed much.
Not a hit, not a big seller, not a single that sold at all really, but I play it often and revel in it’s plainness. Is that a word?
Listen: I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday / Wizzard
I
Pay attention. This might get complicated.
A famous writer once told me Roy Wood’s songs were never about topics that the critics and public assumed. For example, at the height of LSD psychedelia, we’re talking summer ’67, ‘I Can Hear The Grass Grow’, recorded by his band The Move, was indeed based on a children’s fantasy story, not drugs. This particular detail, in fact, from Roy Wood himself. Apparently, he never did drugs.
So it’s an interesting theory that ‘I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday’ was indeed not a seasonal song at all, but instead about one’s beloved coke dealer. Pay close attention to the lyrics: “When the snowman brings the snow…”, etc. Quite a hilarious double entendre indeed.
More interesting to myself though are the details about this single’s actual appearance into the UK marketplace.
Roy Wood and his band, Wizzard, were red hot property in ’72. And after two consecutive #1 singles, the first, ‘See My Baby Jive’ reportedly being one of the all time biggest selling UK singles, at least for a while, he could basically write his own ticket.
Possibly resulting from both bad judgement and advice, Roy Wood prematurely signed to Warner Brothers after a very successful run with the EMI group’s various labels, and planned on releasing ‘I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday’ via his new label home. Warners even pressed up copies, complete with an elaborate picture cover, the front of which is pictured above. In actuality, the sleeve was a gatefold, and an absolute beauty.
Someone, somewhere put a halt, I’m guessing by pointing out that EMI’s Harvest label indeed still had the rights to his output, and so the Warner Brothers copies were withdrawn, subsequently never to be seen again. Well until now, above.
The existing sleeves, however, now housed the Harvest pressing, without the bother of even stickering over the Warner Brothers catalog number. And why not? The record still barreled to a UK #4 in ’73. A true work of genius, right down to the children’s choir, possibly signing about the joys of cocaine. How funny if indeed this were fact, but given Roy Wood’s public aversion to drug use, probably not the case.
To slightly complicate these details and unfortunately ruffle some hard core collector’s coloured feathers, Roy Wood’s US label at the time, United Artists, basically chickened out on giving ‘I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday’ a proper release, so instead pressed up weird bootleg looking copies, servicing them to radio.
Huh? Is this a way to make stations feel a commitment to your act? Stupidity of the highest degree, but as a result, adding incredible value to the handful of copies in existence. Thank you Rich Fazekas for mine.
Two years ago, I was in a Bed, Bath & Beyond, scouring some last minute gifts for obligatory friends, when what came over the store sound system? ‘I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday’. Only took thirty five years.
More importantly, a classic song is forever just that, a classic. Roy Wood has been recognized as a living Beethoven, and I am front of the line in agreeing.
‘I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday’ has re-charted in the UK many times during the holidays: ’81, ’84, ’07, ’08, ’09 and ’10. I’m betting on ’11 to repeat that process.
