PAPER LACE - “Billy, Don’t Be A Hero”
There’s a sensibility here that’s completely vanished now from British pop. Death ballads aren’t exactly thick on the ground these days, but it’s the combination of death, jauntiness and theatre that’s really become alien - the drumbeats and penny-whistles, the big matey chorus, the sudden slowdown when Billy’s girl gets the (hardly unexpected) bad news. It’s a particular kind of sentimentality, absolutely unafraid of corn. You still find this kind of storytelling and broad emotional brushstrokes in country music sometimes (though from my skimpy knowledge of country, it’s declined even there) - and “Billy” might make an OK country song. There’s one line at least - “I heard she threw the letter away” - which could hit hard if it wasn’t so oversold. As it stands, “Billy” is an emotional non-starter - and it was probably ridiculous to most even in 1974, war or no war. 4
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Mark G on October 18th, 2007
“gang bang” was Black lace, surely?
Marcello Carlin on October 18th, 2007
Actually you are quite correct, yes it was Black Lace (”Good record” - Winton, D) as featured in Rita, Sue And Bob Too.
I must have got it confused with “Gang Bang,” the B-side to the Sensational Alex Harvey Band’s 1974 single “Swampstake.”
mike on October 18th, 2007
So, is “Billy” the only UK Number One to feature lead vocals from the drummer? ‘Cos I can’t think of any others. What about other bands whose drummers were the lead singers? (I would have said the Dave Clark Five, but apparently not.) Genesis being your starter for one…
Marcello Carlin on October 18th, 2007
“Yellow Submarine.”
Also Kevin Godley did at least some of the vocals on “Rubber Bullets.”
And there is a certain singing female drummer who will come to global prominence about a decade hence…
Matthew H on October 18th, 2007
June Miles-Kingston?
Marcello Carlin on October 18th, 2007
…although she didn’t as a rule drum on her own hits.
mike on October 18th, 2007
What, her out of the Breakfast Club?
I forgot about the Carpenters, of course.
Marcello Carlin on October 18th, 2007
Aye, that would be her.
There was Wyatt-era Soft Machine, of course, and also Sir Lord Baltimore (and for Canadian readers, Skip Prokop in Lighthouse). And the Beach Boys whenever Dennis sang lead.
henry s on October 18th, 2007
The Believer put together the ultimate list of singing drummers in their music issue a couple of years ago…(makes sense, being that their marketing person is also the drummer in Comets On Fire, the same guy who released the Colossal Yes LP, in the same sensitive-drummer tradition as Dennis Wilson and Epic Soundtracks)…to preempt the trainspotters, Roger Taylor was the only key omission…
Matthew H on October 18th, 2007
And Don Henley. And the fellow out of Jellyfish. Roger Manning?
Matthew H on October 18th, 2007
Sorry, Andy Sturmer.
Brian on October 18th, 2007
Singing Drummer : Levon Helm ( of The Band ).
Brian on October 18th, 2007
” Actually, I was wondering when we would get around to discussing how long regular contributors would last. ”
Although not contributing regularily ( hurrah ! ) I read everybody’s posts. I learn alot of useful and useless stuff.
As for the music , I have been experinceing a renaissance of musical appreciation as my kids get older and have started playing and listening to alot of music I wouldn’t have got to, if not for them. I think that FT can do the same.
But if I was to ask my kids ( age 13 , 15 , 17, ) to jump into this - they wouldn’t . That’d be lame.
Marcello Carlin on October 19th, 2007
Erithian on October 19th, 2007
Yes, hopefully I’m here for the duration, although I rather drifted away in the early 90s, albeit always finding pleasure in at least a few corners of the top 40. It’ll be a drag when we get to the early Noughties when there was a new piece of dross at number one nearly every week. But even at an age when hardly anything in the chart is pitched at me, I can still hear the likes of Sean Kingston, Sugababes and especially Plain White T’s and think they’re great pop records.
Wasn’t it the Mayor of Chicago who said he’d like Paper Lace and the writers of “The Night Chicago Died” to “jump in the Chicago River, going down three times and coming up twice”?
Doctormod on October 19th, 2007
Re: Waldo (31)
Actually, I was wondering when we would get around to discussing how long regular contributors would last. I can tell you now that the second we enter the 1980s is when Waldo leaves the building, Clodagh Rodgers moments an’ all.
And around that time, I might well be back. For now, there are either no microchips in my brain that process most of the music under discussion–or else I’ve carefully crafted selective amnesia about it and don’t want to be reminded. Loved the 60s, hated the 70s–with the exception of ELO and the group whose cheerful faces now appear at the top of the page. (Ooops! Sorry–I suppose alluding to them or the 80s at all will get me in trouble for the nonce.)
Brian on October 19th, 2007
DOC MOD !! You old choir girl !
Baby, please come home …..
Doctormod on October 19th, 2007
Oh dear. There I go again. I hadn’t read the “Seasons in the Sun” thread when I wrote that.
Brian on October 19th, 2007
Not to worry Doc, it’s been a bit of a dry-spell with alot of un-inspring #1’s in the Brit Charts. Consequently, we’ve learned to go off subject very, very well …..
Doctormod on October 20th, 2007
Thank you, Brian.
Erithian on October 22nd, 2007
Great to see you back on these pages Doc, you’ve been missed. To risk another spoiler a couple of decades away, we want you back for good. Even if you can’t stand the 70s…
A favourite gag of the time from Bob Williamson, the Peter Kay of his day: “Terrible accident at the Nestle factory the other day - a bloke fell into a vat of chocolate, and his mates all sang “Billy, Don’t Be An Aero”.”
Marcello Carlin on October 22nd, 2007
Now there’s genuine 1974 comedy for you. Speaking of which, Freddie Starr had a top ten hit round about this time with his heartrending ballad “It’s You.”
Waldo on October 22nd, 2007
Come on then, MC, what did Dale say about “It’s You”? I personally found it nauseating and Freddie himself about as amusing as Harry Worth, the man with only one joke.
Marcello Carlin on October 22nd, 2007
“Lovely man…and a good single.”
Waldo on October 22nd, 2007
Just wrong.