My Favourite 45s: The Ones that Got Away 1970-79 Quiz

Answer: The Maytals

I was getting into reggae in the early 70s, listening mainly to Bob Marley and the Wailers from about the release of "Catch a Fire" in 1973 onwards. Some tracks had been around for a number of years before I heard them, and this is a classic example: "Pressure Drop" by the very wonderful Toots Hibbert and the Maytals. I'm not 100% certain of the release date of this fabulous record but I think it was 1970; however I do remember hearing it on the soundtrack of the 1972 film, "The Harder They Come". It failed to chart in both the UK and the US, but it was ranked at number 453 in the 2004 "Rolling Stone" list of the 500 greatest songs of all time. What is noticeable is the range of artists that have covered it, for example Robert Palmer, Keith Richards, the Specials and - perhaps the best version of all - the Clash.

Answer: Joni Mitchell

I really didn't like Joni Mitchell when I first heard her - I really disliked her vocal style in particular. However when she released her album "Blue" in 1971 I was taken totally by surprise and forced into a volte-face - I thought it was genius. The top song for me was "Carey", a song about a few months she'd spent on the Greek island of Crete which she sang while backing herself on an Appalachian dulcimer. I loved it - and when 30 years after its release I spent the first of my 20 years holidaying on the Greek islands it all came back to me - a song full of sunlight and the sea. It got to number 93 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart but failed to chart in the UK.

Answer: Judee Sill

From the very first time I heard her I was entranced by Judee Sill. From her distinctive vocals with their swoops and limpid clarity to her Bach-influenced musicianship I was bemused and entranced. The main products of her too-short life, her two albums, "Judee Sill" and "Heartfood" for me represent the pinnacle in everything that music should be. "Jesus Was a Crossmaker" was her first and only single - it's a fine example of her unique style. "The Kiss" on her second album is my favourite song of all time.
Sadly this wonderful record failed to chart in both the UK and the US.

Answer: The Sutherland Brothers Band

In the early 1970s Scottish siblings Gavin and Iain Sutherland were writers and performers of a kind of folk-influenced soft rock. Their instrumental proficiency and harmonies were especially noticeable on their first single, "The Pie". This great record failed to chart in both the UK and the US but their next single, "Sailin'", got to number 54 in the UK Charts. Later, of course, it was covered by Rod Stewart and became a massive international hit.

The Sutherland Brothers later amalgamated with a band called Quiver and had a hit in 1976 with "Arms of Mary", a song which is very personal to me.

Answer: Lou Reed

Lou Reed's 1972 album "Transformer" (blessed by the production of David Bowie and Mike Ronson) was a game changer that leapt from the counterculture to the mainstream and changed it completely. The stand-out track on the album was this classic, "Walk on the Wild Side" - a song about life in decadent New York, name checking people like Holly Woodlawn and mentioning a number of then-taboo subjects such as male prostitution and oral sex.
There are so many interesting "factoids" about this record. For example, the dual basslines were played by Herbie Flowers, who was paid the sum of £17 (worth about £300 in 2024) for his contribution. However he had no financial worries because he also co-wrote the execrable "Grandad" for Clive Dunn, a massive number one hit in the UK in 1970. The women singing the back-up vocals ("..and the coloured girls sing") were a trio known as Thunderthighs who also did the backing vocals on Mott the Hoople's 1973 hit "Roll Away the Stone".
It went to number ten on the UK Singles Chart and to number 16 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was ranked at number 223 in the 2010 "Rolling Stone" list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.

Answer: Art Garfunkel

"All I Know" by Art Garfunkel is one of the most beautiful ballads I've heard, exploring the difficulties in relationships ("I bruise you, you bruise me") but ending with a majestic declaration of love ("I love you and that's all I know") in Garfunkel's powerful, sweet voice. The orchestration is sumptuous, bracketed at the start and end by a solo piano.
It is, of course, a Jimmy Webb song, although he didn't record it until his 1996 album, "Ten Easy Pieces". It's well worth listening to this version, as Webb's voice is a lot more soulful than Garfunkel's. I've been very fortunate to see both Garfunkel and Webb live in concert, and both of them performed this song - it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up! A lovely song, one of my all-time favourites.
It went to number nine on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart but failed to chart in the UK.

Answer: Roy Harper

I realise that very few people will have heard of the English singer-songwriter Roy Harper, but those who have will know this wonderful, elegaic song, "When an Old Cricketer Leaves the Crease". Ostensibly it's about cricket, but it's also about nostalgia, the passing of time, and the inevitability of death.
Harper sings the first minute or so backed by a strumming 12-string guitar, but after about two minutes the mood is deepened by the entry of the Grimethorpe Colliery Band, a traditional northern English brass band.
The late, great John Peel loved this song. He made a pact with John Walters, the producer of his BBC Radio 1 show, that if Peel predeceased him then Walters would play the song on air as a tribute. Sadly Walters died in 2001, three years before Peel, so Peel played it at the end of his own show then. However after Peel died in 2004 the song was played by fellow DJ Andy Kershaw at the end of his tribute to him on BBC Radio 3; Peel's stand-in on his BBC Radio 1 show, Rob da Bank, also played it at the start of the final show before Peel was buried.
For non-cricketers, the "Geoff" and "John" referred to in the lyrics were two very famous English cricketers, Geoff Boycott (a batsman) and Jon Snow (a bowler).
Sadly, this wonderfully elegiac song failed to chart in either the UK or the US.

Answer: Talking Heads

"Psycho Killer" by Talking Heads spent years in development being first played in about 1974, three years before its release. It's an edgy song, driven by a relentless bass line and full of threat and menace, although the band always denied that the lyrics dealt with a serial killer. The classic presentation of the song is when it appeared in the live concert that was filmed for "Stop Making Sense" in 1984, in which David Byrne sings an acoustic version of the song to a drum machine backing.
It went to number 92 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart but failed to chart in the UK.

Answer: Weather Report

"Birdland" by Weather Report is not only the only jazz record in all these 20-odd quizzes on my musical likes but also the only instrumental. At a time when all my friends were buying punk rock singles, I got some pretty strange looks in the "Good Vibrations" record shop when I bought it on a 12" single! It's a great record, full of hooks and brilliant instrumentation - it was listening to this that turned me on to the great bass playing of Jaco Pastorius. As far as I can tell, this inspiring record failed to chart in either the US or the UK.

However The Manhattan Transfer won a Grammy Award with their 1979 cover version of the song, and Quincy Jones won two Grammy Awards for the cover version of the song he included on his 1989 album "Back on the Block".

Answer: Cheap Trick

I'd never heard of Cheap Trick, but the lead singer of the band I used to work with in Belfast absolutely raved about them so I bought their second album, "In Color". I loved it - I really liked Rick Neilson's guitar work (although I was a bit suspicious of his dress sense!). "I Want You to Want Me" was the perfect pop song, with a great riff.
The original 1977 version of the song failed to chart, but the 1979 remake got to number 29 on the UK Singles Chart and to number seven on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Answer: Buzzcocks

The Buzzcocks were a Manchester band, inspired by the Sex Pistols but with a more pop sensibility. In the late 70s they released a whole string of short, snappy singles, noticeable for their energy and for singer Pete Shelley's somewhat flat delivery. "Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've)" from 1978 is a classic example of this, and is perhaps their best single release. (with "What Do I Get" running it a close second). It went to number 12 on the UK Singles Chart but it didn't chart in the US.

The Fine Young Cannibals had a number nine hit on the UK Singles Chart with their cover version in 1986.

Answer: Joe Jackson

Singer-songwriter Joe Jackson flourished at the same time as the outburst of punk in the UK, although his music was much more controlled, jazz-influenced and orthodox: he'd won a scholarship to study musical composition at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

His first single, "Is She Really Going Out with Him?", asks one of the eternal questions: why do women go out with totally unsuitable men? Instrumentally it's great, with a pleasing bass line and a good chorus. Jackson went on to greater things, especially the very jazz-tinged "Steppin' Out" in 1982. I had the great fortune of seeing Jackson live at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast in 2001, and despite a small (but vocal) audience he put on a barnstormer of a show! It went to number 13 on the UK Singles Chart and to number 21 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Answer: The Police

The Police formed in London in early 1977, and despite their relatively advanced years went out touring on the punk rock circuit. Even though they couldn't really be described as an authentic punk band, their energy and reggae-influenced music attracted attention, with their single "Roxanne" gaining chart success despite its controversial lyrics about prostitution.

However the band hit the big time with their follow-up single, "Can't Stand Losing You". Within a year of it hitting the top 20 the band were huge, touring the world and selling records by the million. I wonder if the same would happen to me if I dyed my hair blonde and wore a jumpsuit? It went to number two on the UK Singles Chart but failed to chart in the US.

Answer: Dave Edmunds

Dave Edmunds has been in the music business for many, many years from way back in the late 1950s. As a member of the band Love Sculpture he had a number five hit in the UK in 1968 with a speeded-up rock version of Khachaturian's classical piece "Sabre Dance", and then in 1970 a solo number one hit with "I Hear You Knocking".

After a couple more UK Top Ten hits he then turned his hand to producing, becoming involved with the burgeoning pub rock scene in the mid-1970's. He then got together with famed songwriter/producer Nick Lowe to form Rockpile, to record the well-crafted rock/pop songs of which "Girls Talk" is a perfect example.

The song was written by Elvis Costello, and it's remarkable for its sharp lyrics. It went to number four on the UK Singles Chart and to number 65 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Answer: The Leighton Buzzards

The Leighton Buzzards were originally from Leyton in east London, but chose to name the band after the town of Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire. A pub rock turned punk band, they were together from 1976 to 1980. They had the great fortune of winning a joint BBC Radio 1/Sun newspaper talent contest, the product of which was this great song, "Saturday Night (Beneath the Plastic Palm Trees)".
It's a story of growing up, going to the clubs in the suburbs of London to dance, drink cider or rum-and-black, and to get into fights. It's sung in a thick London accent to a vaguely reggae-ish backing - and all-in-all it's a cracking song!
It went to number 53 on the UK Singles Chart but didn't chart in the US.