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.
Gilbert O’Sullivan
I’m A Writer, Not A Fighter
At No.34, on the “The Top 50 U.K. Albums Chart”, the week of my 2nd Birthday, is Gilbert O’Sullivan with I’m A Writer, Not A Fighter.
Gilbert’s toy shop…
…by this point had expanded with this latest collection.
Now up to his third album, he’s once again revolutionising firstly his sound, this time with newly added bells and whistles in his armory, in the form of electronic keyboards and percussion a-plenty, to give his sound a braver, more contemporary feel; something which had been hinted at over half a year before, when he had released the single “Get Down“, which would take the last track of this LP.
Secondly,..
…he was also getting even more relaxed in his look. Gone were the big G jumpers and instead, he was going more for the look of a rock star with jeans and shirt.
For this album in particular, including naming it after the first track where he seems to be drawing a line in the sand, which to me, sounds to have been influenced by witnessing anti-war protests. In light of this (to me anyway), the likeness he was attempting to portray for the album cover was uncannily akin to the Argentinian revolutionary rebel Che Guevara, which had become fashionable in the late 1960’s after his untimely death; adorning posters in bedrooms and on T-shirts the world over. In fact, with this album, it initially came with a transfer of Gilbert’s similar pose which could be ironed on to a T-shirt of your choice, so you could adorn yourself with your very own Gilberterrillero Heroico around town if you so desired.
Vocally, he also sounds even more confident too, since those previous releases; most probably due to a conscious effort to commit to a packed calendar of demanding tour commitments which, although very successful, increasingly overstretched him to the point that, by the end of the European leg of the tour, he fainted.
Although his success…
…now came with many more relaxed home comforts, easier access to more informal studio session time and the pleasure of taking much desired trips to Spain; it also meant, with the experimenting of his new more electronic sonic sound, that he was now leaving some of his older followers behind, who much preferred the younger and poorer version which they knew and loved.
He’d certainly come a long way since those days. However, it was clear to see, he just wasn’t Himself anymore.
The album…
…had landed into the chart early last autumn at No.23 on the last day of September 1973, and by the following week had shot like a rocket up to No.3. The week after that, it went one further, hitting No.2 in mid-October before falling back again; staying mainly in the Top 10, through into winter, and into this new year of 1974, until eventually climbing back up to the same No.2 position in mid’January, which so far, is the highest it has peaked.
As this month of February approached, it has stayed true to this course until, inexplicably, it has plunged a whopping 25 places to sit here this week.
From here,..
…the album bounds back up 22 places next week, to sit at No.12.
The drop truly begins the week after, at the beginning of March, when it goes back to No.22 and then drops another 6 places which would end up being it’s final week for this run, with 24 consecutive weeks in the bag.
It will return for one final week at the end of that month, bringing its total so far up to 25 weeks, leaving after the 30th.
Side 1
Side 2
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