The 20th of February 1975
Official U.K. Singles Chart results from Sunday the 16th to Saturday the 22nd of February 1975
Cut-off for sales figures was up to the end of Saturday the 15th of February
Results counted from Sunday the 16th,
published on Tuesday the 18th,
and broadcast on B.B.C. Radio 1 on Sunday the 23rd of February 1975.
Ralph McTell
Streets Of London
At No.46, on the “The Top 50 U.K. Singles Chart”, the week of my 3rd Birthday, is Ralph McTell with Streets Of London.
One of the most beautiful,..
…and instantly familiar pieces ever recorded, graces the chart this week, by an artist who makes music-making seem impossibly effortless.
For Ralph, the familiarity of this tune is already well-trodden, having been first recorded some five years previously, and then re-recorded for the American market three years after that; but although the tune was known to some over here, mainly thanks to Roger Whittaker‘s rendition which had been included earlier this decade on his album New World In The Morning, Ralph’s own take of his own song had, until recently, gone more unnoticed to the nation.
For this release,..
…he had decided to re-record the song once more. Enlisting some support from friends from along his journey to enrich the tune further. Most notably, Lindisfarne‘s Rod Clements, and the harmonious vocal trio Prelude, both artists of which I have already met along own my musical road in the past.
From around this time,..
…for me personally, I would always enjoy a happy few minutes whenever this aired either on the radio or TV; and myself, along with countless others, would inevitably hold a special place for it as the years will pass.
No more will this become evident,..
…as when, many years later, Ralph will guest star as the main protagonist in a comedy sketch on the French & Saunders show, which features their own fictitious musical father and son duo Raw Sex, played by the inspired Simon Brint and Rowland Rivron, who are considering taking Ralph through the courts, due to his effortless guitar playing being too difficult to learn without the inclusion of fret-diagrams, not just to themselves, but also to an absolute plethora of guitar giants at that time.
The sketch…
…which airs in 1990, made me laugh so much it brought tears to my eyes, and also the shock as each player unbelievably takes to the stand to profess they cannot play even their own compositions due to the exclusion of the dots. For me, it’s one of the best comedy sketches I’ve ever seen, and I’ll gladly sit it up there alongside others such as Morecombe and Wise‘ unforgettable few moments with Andre Previn.
The great moment Ralph has in his sketch though, is when he’s allowed to play the first bars of this song, at which point the live audience breaks into spontaneous applause.
It proved, at that moment, over 15 years after this single had released, that it had (hopefully like the characters themselves in the song), survived the harshest of weathers.
The song had undoubtedly by then become something that every musician and artist strives to achieve their whole lives. Timeless.
The single…
…had softly entered the chart at No.39, last year on the first day of December 1974, but by the following week had leapt up 25 places to sit at No.14.
In the run up to Christmas, it had easily broken into the Top 10, sitting at No.6 for two weeks, then climbing to No.4 for the rest of the festive period, before almost going all the way to the top, only being denied by Mud‘s Christmas single, and then Status Quo following week.
After spending those first two weeks of the New Year at No.2, it will slip back to No.4, leaving the Top 10 as the end of January approaches, and falling further until I catch it here this week.
From here,..
…it will walk away from the chart altogether after the 22nd of February, with a total of 12 weeks in its carrier bags.
But unlike many who have gone before, and many are still yet to do, the song will live on, far beyond its presence here.
The “A” Side
The “B” Side
“Streets Of London” – TV Performance
“Summer Lightning” featuring Danny Thompson – The Old Grey Whistle Test Performance (20th January 1974)
“Streets Of London” – Hits A GoGo TV Performance
“Streets Of London” – Disco TV Appearance (26th April 1975)
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