Music Memories during my 3rd Year. From my 2nd Birthday on Wednesday, the 20th of February 1974, through to Wednesday, the 19th of February 1975
Sweet Sensation
Sad Sweet Dreamer
Charting in the year of 1974, on the 14th of September, are Sweet Sensation with the single Sad Sweet Dreamer.
A smooth hit,..
…which arrived for me in a bit of an indirect way.
I had probably heard this song on the radio, but the way I distinctly remember it was from an album which my big sister Susan owned, although the version was not by the group Sweet Sensation, but by other more obscure artists trying their best to recreate the original.
Yes folks, this was the age of the knock-off album series a lot of people in the UK will remember called Top of the Pops. A budget album with a glamour model looking cheekily out at you on the front. The series was not tied to the TV programme in the slightest, and quite how they got away with using that title without a big copyright kerfuffle back then is a mystery to me.
I remember Susan owning two of these albums, probably getting both at the same time, as they were back to back editions. This song came from the former of the pair, and to be honest, it’s not a bad effort from those session musicians. Nevertheless, if I ever got to listen to the song back then, on-demand as it were, this was the only way I could hear it.
The real deal,..
…and defacto performers on the official single had been another successful act discovered via a TV talent show, in this instance, ITV‘s New Faces.
Stemming from a nucleus of three, and then swelling to the eight-piece formation everyone grew to love, Sweet Sensation were Manchester’s answer to the ever-growing Philly sound sweeping the music world at the time.
Fronted by the talented,..
…and usually bespectacled Marcel King, 17-years of age at the time. The soul group were gifted this song, written by singer/songwriter David Parton, who also co-produced the track along with New Faces panelist and gifted music & TV entertainment composer, songwriter and arranger Tony Hatch.
The song would propel the group to, not only win the TV talent show, but also to give them a taste of international stardom, becoming a sizeable hit in the United States. Proving that the north of England could come up with the goods just as well as the smooth sounds of Philadelphia.
The Single,..
…sneaks into the chart on the 8th of September 1974, at a quiet No.44, and gains 10 further places by its second week.
The track then leaps up 19 places to sit firmly in the Top 20 at No.15, and bounds another ten positions to sit in the Top 5 as the month comes to a close.
As October beds in, so the song climbs higher, into the Top 3, before claiming the No.1 spot to hit the top of the chart on the 13th of that month.
From there,..
…just before British Summer Time ends for the year, the single will drop back to the No.3 position the following week before slowly rolling back, gaining momentum on the way, until finally ending up at the same position in came in at, then leaving altogether after the 16th of November, having achieved a grand total of 10 weeks in the chart in its wake.
The “A” Side
The “B” Side
“Top Of The Pops” TV Performance
“TopPop” TV appearance.
TV Appearance
TV Performance
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