In 1970, the Jackson Five arrived on the scene with four top ten singles and they were joined by fellow newcomers, Marc Bolan and the Carpenters. Meanwhile, Hotlegs, who later became 10cc, had a hit with Neanderthal Man. The 1970s were to unfold as the most diverse decade in pop music history with a wide … Continue reading Popular Music’s Greatest Decade by Mansel Jones
by Mansel Jones The 1960s opened with the Shadows and Cliff Richard dominating the charts. The Shadows, who began as the Drifters, only to change their moniker because of the American band of the same name, had their first hit with Apache. However, even that success pales when compared to Cliff Richard, who had six … Continue reading The Swinging Sixties
by Anthony Randall A dep turned up to a Shebeen gig once with a ludicrous amount of gear, he had at least four keyboards, a rack of amps and outboard equipment. He came highly recommended from another dep with the accolade of having once been in a well- known eighties British rock group, so we … Continue reading Departures: Misadventures in Music
by Mansel Jones In the 1950s, the pop charts (introduced in 1951) were dominated by the likes of Frankie Laine, Johnny Ray, Rosemary Clooney, Doris Day, Tony Bennett, Dickie Valentine and Jimmy Young. On the whole these singers produced melodic, easy-listening tunes with not much there to frighten the horses. Then, in the mid-1950s Bill … Continue reading The Birth Of Rock ‘n’ Roll
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