I had a theme in mind for this week but it just wasn’t coming together how I would like, so I’ve put it on ice for now. Maybe in a few weeks time I can make it work – who knows? I sure as hell don’t! So I took a look back at the list of favourite songs I created some months ago and which I have already dipped into a couple of times, and it struck me that I could do a mini-themed subset within them, so that is what I’m doing. All of these are long time favourites of mine, but what they have in common is that they are all by British artists – well, just about. The other thing that all of them, bar one, have in common is that they were all big hits here, so I think you may well know a few of them already. Time for a singalong?

Even if you weren’t yet born when this opener was a hit I bet you know it:

Go on, tell me you don’t know it! That was, of course, The Rolling Stones with Honky Tonk Women, which was released in July 1969 and made #1 in both the UK and the US, selling more than 1m copies over there and 200k here in the process. For me, it was very much the sound of that summer: that was the first year in which I had a full time school holiday job, rather than just working Sundays as previously, and the sound system in the coffee bar where I worked was blasting this out all the time! Cast your mind back to that date and you may recall that it was the month in which the first moon walk took place: it was on the night before I began that job, so I was a little bleary eyed when I got there having been up most of the night watching tv! Country Honk, the Stones’ countrified version of the song, was a track on their next album – Let It Bleed – which came out in November of that year, peaking at #1 in the UK and #3 in the US. In those days, though, the biggest bands kept their albums and singles separate.

I was surprised to find that I hadn’t ever played that Stones one before, though I’m not sure I can say the same about this one, too:

The Equals were, as you can see, a multiracial band at a time when this was far from common. They comprised Eddy Grant, born in Guyana, brothers Derv and Lincoln Gordon, from Jamaica, and Pat Lloyd and John Hall from London. They grew up together on a council estate in North London, out of which they formed the band. Baby Come Back was originally released as a B-side in 1966 but did little, but after it became a sleeper hit in Germany it was re-released in the UK in May 1968, and spent three weeks at #1 here in July of that year – very much the sound of that summer. It also reached #32 in the US, their only chart hit over there. The song was written by Eddy Grant, who as you probably know went on to have a successful solo career which took in a trip to Electric Avenue along the way. Lead vocals here are by Derv Gordon, though. I bought the single at the time and played it to bits, and still enjoy hearing it now: it brings back some great memories.

I’m slowing things down a bit with this next one. It is from a couple of years later, and is still one of the most beautiful love songs I know:

Your Song was Elton John’s first hit record, and I still don’t think he has bettered its simple beauty. It was released as a single in late October 1970, and reached #7 in the UK and #8 in the US. It has been re-released several times, and Reg himself recorded a new version of it around ten years ago. In total over the years it has sold well over 2m in the US and 1.2m in the UK. I loved it back then, and still do. It had also been on his Elton John album, the one with the black sleeve, which came out in April 1970, and got to #5 in the UK and #4 in the US.

As beautiful love songs go, this is another great example. It is one of a couple in this set which I expect will be unknown to most of you, but you will recognise why I have included it amongst my favourites:

If you know of Ralph McTell it is probably from his famous song Streets Of London (which he introduces in his shows as “time to play my greatest hit”). First Song was a track on his fifth album, Not Till Tomorrow, which was released in November 1972, during my first term at uni. I saw Ralph play twice in those uni days, and again much later, around 2013. He played this one every time, and you could have heard a pin drop. Folk music has always been a steady seller, rather than achieving anything spectacular – Streets is one of the exceptions – but this album reached #36 in the UK, which is pretty respectable for the genre.

As this one made the UK singles chart I had been hoping to find a rare Top Of The Pops appearance on YouTube, but was out of luck so it’s the audio-only version, I’m afraid. But who could resist one of the finest English folk-rock bands doing a cover version of a Bob Dylan song? In French:

This was a track on Fairport Convention’s third album, Unhalfbricking, which was released in July 1969. Possibly going from the vaguely ridiculous to the absolutely sublime, that was also the album which gave us the wonderful Sandy Denny song Who Knows Where The Time Goes, but as I’ve played that one several times and have built posts around it I thought I’d go for a bit of fun today, with something that shows the band’s lighter side – they still have it to this day, though sadly Sandy left us many years ago. In case you didn’t recognise it, Si Tu Dois Partir began life as the Bob Dylan song If You Gotta Go, Go Now, which had previously been a UK hit for Manfred Mann. Fairport Convention made #21 with their version, their only UK hit single: I guess the country just wasn’t ready for them!

After that little side track it’s back to another beautiful love song for my next tune:

Cat Stevens had a string of UK hits through 1966/7, starting with I Love My Dog and including Matthew And Son. He then contracted TB in 1969, so severely that he nearly died, and spent many months in recuperation. During this time he wrote a lot of songs which were more of the singer-songwriter style for which he became known, rather than the pop idol stuff of his early days. Lady D’Arbanville was written about Patti D’Arbanville, his girlfriend at the time, and was the only single taken from his comeback album, Mona Bone Jakon. It presaged his new career style, but his fans were still with him: the album and single were both released in April 1970, and this song reached #8 in the UK Singles chart. The album did less well, only reaching #63, but the important thing for him was that he was back, with a new record company that was ideally suited to what he wanted to do. The rest, as they say, is history. I’ve spoken before about how much I love his music, and what a nice man he was on the occasion I met him. I even managed not to do a fan boy act over him!

I’m closing today with two other long time favourites of mine, both of which were UK #1 singles. This band had a lot of chart success here and in Europe, though they did nothing in the US, and this was their real biggie:

The Small Faces released All Or Nothing in August 1966, and it spent just the one week at #1 the following month. It is still for me a classic single, and I have always felt it deserved a longer run at the top. It had taken over from The Beatles Yellow Submarine/Eleanor Rigby double A-side, but was itself supplanted the following week by Jim Reeves’ Distant Drums: I guess mums were buying more records than their teenage sons!

Today’s final tune is another vintage one. I loved this guy’s early records – less so the crooning stuff he went into in his dotage – and this was him in his prime:

This was another one that only spent one week at the top. It was released as a single in August 1972 and reached #1 here in the UK the following month, also making #13 in the US. At the time there were a few murmurs about it sounding similar to his big hit from the previous year – Maggie May – but why change a winning formula! Rod Stewart first released You Wear It Well as a track on his fourth album, Never A Dull Moment, in July of that year. The album also topped the UK chart and made #2 in the US. I bought it with that summer’s holiday job earnings and took it away to uni with me, where it was played a lot – and loudly! It was one of those rarities that sold more in the UK than it did in the US – over 1m to just 500k – but I still think it is a great record.

That’s all for this week. I hope you’ve enjoyed this trawl through some of my favourites: some great pop songs, some beautiful love songs, and one that defies classification! I’ll see you again in a couple of days, and will of course be back for Song Lyric Sunday – it’s a much better theme this week, I promise you! Have a good week 😊