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 BBC Radio 1 on Sunday the 23rd of February 1975.
Supertramp
Dreamer
At No.36, on “The Top 50 U.K. Singles Chart”, the week of my 3rd Birthday, is Supertramp with Dreamer.
This has got to be…
…one of the most listened to singles I hear in this year, and most probably the next couple of years too. Not because anyone owned it in either my home, or (as far as I know) in any of my relatives’ homes either.
No. This song, and also to some extent its B side, filled the air through other means. Whether that was from the radios in our house, the TV, or from other people’s portable transistor radios when the weather became warmer, or maybe from car windows or other open windows out into the world. Maybe it was the playful intro which hooked me and made me take notice, I don’t know. I just remember it coming at me from everywhere; and I loved it.
As I mentioned above,..
…the flip side was sometimes heard too; and I remember, at my infant age of 3-onwards, that it had swearing in it. Well, it felt a bit uncomfortable to me at the time, especially if one of my parents was also in earshot.
My Dad especially used to say “bloody” a lot (something was obviously getting to him in some shape or form most of the time – probably whacking his fingernail with the hammer instead of the nail for his beloved shed), and I also remember probably saying it myself and getting a quick intake of breath from my mother (or sister), and told sternly (probably while they were trying to stifle a laugh) that it was swearing and that I definitely should NOT be saying THAT word; probably under pain of death or something.
Well, to be quite honest, if my brain back then was a bit more switched on, I should have said to them that it was bloody rich coming from them, and they should bloody well be more mindful of what they said in front of me, especially now that I was hearing someone singing it. However, they would have outrun my little legs once I’d quickly seen the look on their faces and, even though I probably didn’t know about lynching someone, I would have found out pretty quickly. I’m pretty sure my sisters would have informed me that killing annoying little brothers was commonplace in my neck (pardon the painful pun) of the woods, that I should have seen it coming; and now there’s not a lot they can do.
The most common song though,..
…that I would have heard, would of course have been the A side.
It’s one of the songs which reminded me of warmer days, much further on in the year.
From the mocking child-like “Dreamer” line which I would have picked up on (a bit like when children would have teased “Scaredy-Cat, Scaredy-Cat, Sitting on the Doormat”), but then moving into the part where dreams could be limitless – that was the part I loved the most. When it built all the way up, with them not just giving permission to dream, but to bloody well (I’m at it again) make the most of it.
I think back now, and with that message ringing out like a choir near the end, it had quite an effect on me; and one that I’ve never forgotten; and even passed onto my own children subconsciously, and which I pass to anyone who cares to read this.
No matter who may mock you, or make fun of you in life, never stop dreaming.
And dream big.
The single…
…had been a New Entry last week, when it had landed on the 9th of February at No.49, and had then leapt up thirteen places to this week’s position.
From here…
…it bounds up another twelve places next week to reach No.24; and as the promise of spring appears with the beginning of March, the single scales up eleven further places to hit No.13 – a position which it cannot better.
As the days become noticeably lighter, it slips two places to No.15 and sits there for a couple of weeks, witnessing the clocks spring forward to British Summer Time, before it slips a further two positions.
As it welcomes in April during the Easter Bank Holiday weekend, it drops outside the Top 20, then plummets back out of the Top 40, before finally departing out of the Top 50 after the 19th, with a nice round 10 weeks in the chart to show for it; and a 3-year-old who feels they’ve been bloody well given the right to dream, so big that it can be out of this world, who has taken notice of this band, and will listen out for them again in the future.
The “A” Side
The “B” Side
“Dreamer” – Top of the Pops Appearance
“Dreamer” – TV Appearance (1974)
“Bloody Well Right” – The Midnight Special Appearance (20th July 1975)
“Dreamer” – The Old Grey Whistle Test Appearance
“Bloody Well Right” – Live Performance, Tokyo (May 1976)
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