The year 1978 was one of mixed fortunes for Scottish acts in the pop charts. Andy Cameron’s song Ally’s Tartan Army was written to celebrate Scotland’s foray into the World Cup in Argentina and although it managed a creditable No 6 in the hit parade, it was, like most football songs, a pretty awful record. But not as awful as the Scotland team’s performance as they were totally outplayed in losing to Peru before drawing with that other renowned footballing giant, Iran, leaving Ally’s Tartan Army to march home very early.
Fortunately, Scottish national pride was rescued that year by Paisley-born Gerry Rafferty with the Ivor Novello Award-winning international smash-hit Baker Street which, despite now being 45 years old, remains a timeless classic. This musical masterpiece made the mile-and-a-half long thoroughfare that links the south-western corner of Regent’s Park down to Oxford Street one of the most famous streets in the world, and all in the space of just over four minutes. That really does show the power of music.
The record, which debuted as the first single from Rafferty’s City to City album, is about as close to perfection as you can get in a rock song. Musically and lyrically, it creates an intense atmosphere that’s so skilfully crafted around a melancholic storyline that it still sends shivers down my spine, just as it did when I first heard it all those years ago. It tells of being down and depressed in a soulless city, of being stuck in a rut and desperately wanting to escape the situation and follow your dreams.
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Denne historien er fra April 2023-utgaven av Best of British.
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THE FEW ON SCREEN
Steven Taylor looks at the Battle of Britain across film and TV
Table Service
Rachel Toy looks at the history of Ridgway Homemaker tableware
Hever Forever
Claire Saul studies the newly refurbished Boleyn Apartment at Hever Castle & Gardens - a castle fit for a queen
Shining a Light
Tony O’Neil tunes into the history of the last manned lightvessel
The Man With the Goldeneye
Film stills photographer Keith Hamshere describes how he came to enter the world of James Bond
THE ORIGINAL GOLDEN BALLS
lan Wheeler looks back on 70 years of Tiger comic and Roy of the Rovers, and chats to the man who edited and oversaw both titles
To Play the Queen
Chris Hallam looks back on the life of one of the UK’s best known lookalikes
POOLING RESOURCES
Martin Handley looks at what life was like after the Vernons Girls
POSTCARD FROM= SUSSEX
Bob Barton indulges in pleasure piers and fairground delights, as well as fulfilling a long-held ambition to visit the home of Rudyard Kipling
Oh, Miss Jones
Chris Hallam looks back at the origins and legacy of Rising Damp, ITV's most successful sitcom