Much of the blame for these awful records must lie with Brian
& Michael, the pop duo best known for their 1978 number one hit Matchstalk
Men and Matchstalk Cats and Dogs which, incidentally, also featured the St
Winifrid’s School Choir on backing vocals. The pair went on to write and
produce the hit The Sparrow for yet another kiddie choir (The Ramblers) in 1979
and It's 'Orrible Being in Love when You're Eight and a Half, a number 13 hit
for Claire and Friends in 1986. My Mum is One in a Million was written by Gordon
Lorenz, who also penned the equally horrible b-side have You Read the Story: a
vile ditty about the birth of Jesus. Lorenz, who was one of the most prolific
record producers in Britain producing over 800 albums (believed to be a world
record), was also the author of There’s No-one Quite Like Grandma…..it’s all a
bit incestuous, isn’t it?
Thankfully this musical aberration seems to have run its course; the Tansley kids follow up - Our Family/We’re Going to a Birthday Party - sank without a trace as did their album (also called Our Family) and they were quickly sent back to Derbyshire by EMI. It’s been a fair while since the UK charts last saw a kiddie hit. Let’s hope it stays that way.
Enjoy!
7/1/12
ReplyDeleteRobGems.ca wrote:
"Matchstick Men & Matchstick Cats and Dogs" also got a cover version over here in the US and Canada as The Canadian/Irish pub band The Irish Rovers covered the song of Brian & Michael's in 1980 for CBS/Epic Records. The group wasn't billed as The "Irish" Rovers on that record, they were billed as just "The Rovers",as a publicity move from being an old-timey folk/pub band to a then-contemporary pop/country/folk band. Their biggest hit of that time period was a cover of Tom Paxton's drunken ode "Wasn't That A Party", and the "Matchstick" song appeared on the resulting album that followed. The Rovers do a nice version of it compared to Brian & Michael's version (there's no cloying children's choir responding in the background). As far as I know it, no covers of the "Grandmother" song or the "My Mum Is One In A Million" tune exsists in either the US or Canada.
It`s soo sweet, how dare you ??
ReplyDeleteOk, best parts of this piece for me are the occasional skippings...
Time for Heintje, don`t you think ?
I love your writing !!
J.