The 20th of February 1974
Official U.K. Albums Chart results from Sunday the 17th to Saturday the 23rd of February 1974
Cut-off for sales figures was up to the end of Saturday the 16th of February
Results counted from Sunday the 17th,
and published on Wednesday the 20th of February 1974.
Clifford T. Ward
Mantle Pieces
At No.45, on the “The Top 50 U.K. Albums Chart”, the week of my 2nd Birthday, is Clifford T. Ward with Mantle Pieces.
Clifford’s second album to make an impact…
…in the UK Chart, and his third solo album overall (following his outstanding success last summer with his huge hit single ‘Gaye’, which had been taken from his previous album Home Thoughts), makes a showing this week.
With this new collection of songs, the world is continuing to look rosy for this easy going musical artist, who infuriatingly makes songwriting and music-making look so impossibly easy, that others who touch upon his works must surely have at least given it a go themselves and ultimately and frustratingly failed miserably.
For anyone who would care to look up the definition of the remark that artists are born not made, should go no further than to dive into Clifford’s simple but inspired labours of love.
Just take the first track on side two, ‘All Modern Conveniences’ from which the title of this album is pulled, and witness his gift of sprinkling musical magic over the mundane ways and means of the everyday we would otherwise take for granted. It’s simplicity in itself, but nobody else could do this even a fraction as effectively and affectionately as he.
Another track, ‘To an Air Hostess’ which coincidentally is the B-side to his current single ‘Scullery’ from this album, and which is featured in this week’s equivalent Singles Chart, must surely have contributed to the inspiration in 10cc’s writing of ‘ I’m Mandy, Fly Me’ in some way, which at this point in time is still a couple of years away.
The album…
…had debuted in the chart last week at No.42 before slipping back a few places this week.
From here,..
…after this week, the album will slip quietly back out of the Top 50 and as yet has never returned.
For now, the two consecutive weeks this album shows will be enough, as this artist’s beauty does not need numbers in a chart alone to give him a steady stream of affection from an already worthy and dedicated fanbase.
Side 1
Side 2
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