LENA MARTELL - “One Day At A Time”
Like so many of 1979’s chart-toppers, Lena Martell was a new face: but this time trailing no stylistic or cultural shift. In fact “One Day At A Time” is one of those occasional Ronseal hits you got back when the buying base for singles used to be huge - a plain sentiment, quite plainly expressed. If it struck something true in you, you might buy it; otherwise just hunker down and wait for it to pass. Relatively unbowed by life’s trials, and with no great interest in Jesus, I’m in the second camp. In fact after a year so stuffed with delights - or at least interesting failures - this sticks in the craw, feeling like a refugee from grimmer times: it would have fitted into the more erratic, unlucky-dip lists of the mid-70s.
Is this unfair on Lena Martell and her song? Not especially, I think. Her voice swings about alarmingly, sometimes giving it some bogus Southern twang, sometimes taking a more earnest tack. The arrangement never really integrates steel and strings. The lyrics take a slightly finger-wagging tone with Our Lord but there’s no killer lines or any real moral fire here. And yet the tune’s obviously got something - it’s one of those songs that feels like it’s been around for decades longer than it actually has, and I was a little surprised to find that it sprang from the pen of big Kris Kristofferson rather than some lost 19th Century devout. It’s a clunky record, to be sure, but its appearance in context is what really annoys. 2
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DJ Punctum on October 2nd, 2008
The very last major hit on PRT was the reissue/remix of Petula Clark’s “Downtown” at the end of 1988.
DJ Punctum on October 2nd, 2008
#25 - I will have to declare a personal connection with that one so go easy on it…
Billy Smart on October 2nd, 2008
Light Entertainment Watch 2: Lena had certainly been around for a long time. Here’s a brief filmography;
These shows are missing -
COMEDY BANDBOX: with Terry Scott and Hugh Lloyd, Terry Fearis, Jimmy Casanova, Southlands, Lena Martell, Lynton Boys (1963)
DEE TIME: with Bernard Cribbins, Lena Martell, The Dubliners (1967)
DODDY’S MUSIC BOX: with Matt Monro, The Scaffold, Lena Martell, David Hamilton (1968)
THE VAL DOONICAN SHOW: with Lena Martell, Stéphane Grappelli, Dickie Henderson (1973)
These episodes exist in the archives;
THE DAVID NIXON SHOW: with Freddie Davies, Lena Martell, Neville King, Frankie Vaughan (1972)
SATURDAY VARIETY: with Bob Monkhouse, Georgie Fame, Lena Martell, Larry Grayson, June Whitfield (1972)
SHOW OF THE WEEK: Lena Martell (1972)
Erithian on October 2nd, 2008
DJP #2 - I loved “The Devil Went Down To Georgia” - in which Old Nick gets in a fiddle-solo playing contest with a boy named Johnny, the stakes being a fiddle of gold or Johnny’s soul, and Johnny wins as you knew he would. Except that most of my mates agreed with me - the Devil wuz robbed, he was way better.
Mark G on October 2nd, 2008
Meanwhile, “Pye of Cambridge” got their monica back.
mike on October 2nd, 2008
#27 - I shall bear that in mind, DJP. Many years from now, I’ll also be declaring a personal connection of my own with another far-from-groovy (and Obama campaign catchphrase-quoting!) Number One.
The Intl on October 3rd, 2008
Here in the states it was Cristy Lane who graced the TV screen plugging her inspirational lp that featured this one. I think you could only get it thru tv. Maybe from her church, too.
I feel sorta bad saying a song to God sucks, but … screw it, I’m sayin’ it: it SUCKS.
lonepilgrim on October 3rd, 2008
#2 any post that mentions ‘Death disco’, particularly in this context, is alright by me.
As I mentioned in the Cliff thread, 1979 was the year that Bob Dylan released ‘Slpw train coming’ so there was some more compelling, if not comforting, gospel material to be had than ODAAT. This just sounds like she’s sleepwalking through the song.
Waldo on October 3rd, 2008
Erithian # 29 - I couldn’t agree more. The Devil took Johnny to school, boxing his ears off, only for Harry Gibbs to replicate his inexplicable verdict when he somehow got into his head that Joe Bugner had beaten Ow ‘enery, an outcome which launched the otherwise docile Harry Carpenter into a memorably incredulous soliloquy, concluding:
“And how..in the WORLD can you take away the man’s three titles LIKE THAT?!”
rosie on October 3rd, 2008
Mark @ 30: In the repair book of a Cambridge computer consultancy in the early 80s: “Apples for Pye”
Mark G on October 3rd, 2008
“Apples for Pye”
Lovely.
H. on October 3rd, 2008
I’ve no recall whatsoever of this song, which is very odd since it comes bang in the middle of the period when I was obsessing about the charts. I must have simply blocked it out as a song for the oldies, people who were teens in the 50s or something. It’s certainly a curious song to find at the top of the charts at this time, it’s kind of as if the Beatles etc had never happened…
vinylscot on October 3rd, 2008
I thought someone (probably DJP) may have pointed out that this was the first #1 single by a Scottish solo female.
DJ Punctum on October 3rd, 2008
Is it? Good God. Lulu you LET THE SIDE DOWN!
DJ Punctum on October 3rd, 2008
And yet the second one comes on the same label (albeit with a different name) within the space of less than a year!
Mark G on October 3rd, 2008
The one that killed the NME sponsored Japanese pop scene, stone dead? um, carrot?
DJ Punctum on October 3rd, 2008
No, there’s one before that.
Magic Fly on October 3rd, 2008
My only lasting memory of this ghastly slice of God-bothering was the playground chatter that “punks had been seen buying it”. This may have been the Big Bang of postmodern irony. Or it may have been for their mums.
In a way it’s an anthem for that parallel ’70s, the one you glimpse in the corners of old television shows, briefly infringing on the glitter and the now-ness upfront - the world of the prematurely old and disappointed, the ladies in their best Songs of Praise hats, the men scowling at the dollybirds.
Mark G on October 3rd, 2008
It’s the Daily Mail in song form.
Elsa on October 3rd, 2008
Just introduced myself to this song via youtube. What came to mind immediately was “One toke over the line… sweet Jesus… one toke over the line.” Brewer & Shipley. No significance to that, I suppose.
mike on October 3rd, 2008
Lena Martell wasn’t the only old-school MOR belter in the Top 40, either: see also Iris Williams’ “He Was Beautiful”: a vocal version of “Cavatina” (as used in The Deer Hunter) with lyrics by Cleo Laine.
DJ Punctum on October 3rd, 2008
Three versions of that hit in ‘79, all no doubt due to the film (as opposed to its previous use as soundtrack for The Gallery in Vision On); John Williams’ original, the Shadows’ individualistic interpretation (which was the biggest hit) and the abovementioned Iris, much beloved of BBC TV’s Variety Department.
Erithian on October 3rd, 2008
Marcello, that had me spluttering “the Gallery music was nothing like Cavatina!” - until I did some googling and found this:
Q: What is the Gallery music called?
A: Well to be honest, it depends how old you claim to be as to which Gallery music you mean. With ‘Vision On’, the best-known Gallery music was the brilliant ‘Leftbank 2′ by the Lance Gambit Trio. It was referred to as “the Gallery theme” by all those on the programme. Another used was ‘Cavatina’ played by John Williams. Others associated with ‘Vision On’ were ‘Accroche-Toi Caroline!’ (Claude Vasori), ‘Java’ (Al Hirt) and the absolutely unforgettable ‘Gurney Slade’ by Max Harris.
Sadly there was news just the other day that Tony Hart has had to give up art due to illness, but what a legend.
DJ Punctum on October 3rd, 2008
Full story - what a shame.
Mark G on October 3rd, 2008
Left Bank 2 - presumably the one with the vibes that had max resonance, with the acoustic guitar with minimal resonance.
One of the first times I noticed how different instruments could be ‘treated’ differently and sound interesting.
DJ Punctum on October 3rd, 2008
Yep, that’s the one. “Accroche-Toi” was used as the show’s main theme.
DJ Punctum on October 3rd, 2008
I think “Java” was the show’s closing theme.
Mark G on October 3rd, 2008
Accroche-Toi - the one that sounds like Stereolab crossed with Stereolab?
jeff w on October 3rd, 2008
This might be a suitable moment to point you guys in the direction of this DeWolfe nostalgia fest:
http://www.dewolfe.co.uk/musicsearch/cd_tracks.php?cdnumber=DEWEB%2001
LondonLee on October 3rd, 2008
Oh man, that’s so sad about Tony Hart. I might never have gotten into the whole drawing thing and eventually gone to art college if not for him (and Marvel comics)
I see he went to my alma mater Maidstone College of Art, nice to know Tracy Emin isn’t the only famous graduate of the place.
lonepilgrim on October 5th, 2008
Tony Hart is a legend - I didn’t know about his war service with the Gurkhas. It makes sense that he would be involved with a cool outfit.
I sometimes wondered whether the signing for the deaf on Vision On was passing on an alternative message to ‘and now the gallery’ such as ‘and now another collection of crap that the kids have sent in’
I love that music with the vibes though
Waldo on October 5th, 2008
Yes. Tony Hart, top boy.
I always remember Pat Keysell telling the kids who were thinking of sending in shite for the gallery: “Sorry. We can’t return any”. The reason for this, of course, was that it enabled Vision On to simply bin straight away all the tons of rubbish which didn’t make the gallery before consigning to the same fate those which did.
The music throughout the show was excellent. My personal fave was the flute piece featuring the clock.
Caledonianne on October 5th, 2008
I remember being in both Virgin and HMV in Glasgow in December 2004, having just emerged from a job interview. Both Megastores sported dump boxes full of CDs and DVDs of a Lena Martell album and DVD called My Homeland. Somewhat surprised (Lena had notorious health traumas, and I thought she was deid) I asked my mother about this at the time and she confirmed that Lena was enjoying renewed success among her demographic.
It would appear from this article -
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/2008/03/11/heart-operation-agony-of-singing-star-lena-martell-86908-20347207/
that at that time Lena was outselling Britney and Kylie in Scottish record shops during that period.
So she wasn’t all bad. ;-)
Marcello is right about that niche in Scottish light entertainment that this comes from. It’s remarkably well entrenched, as anyone who has ever experienced Sydney Devine’s Tiny Bubbles or Crystal Chandeliers will testify.
BTW I loved Iris William’s He was beautiful. 79 marked my falling wildly, extravagantly and inappropriately in love and - er - that other thing that goes along with it*. Iris’s swooping belter, Randy Vanwarmer’s Just when I needed you most (search out Dolly’s take on this and weep!) to and Sad Cafe’s Every Day Hurts were my songs. I think I was living in a parallel universe.
* Have just realised that the Number 1 at time of said event was We Don’t Talk Anymore, and its parent album Wired for Sound was given by me to said gent as he decamped Glasgow for Oxford. It took me another eight years to graduate, qualify and get a job that would let me make a similar journey.
Mark G on October 6th, 2008
I always remember Pat Keysell telling the kids who were thinking of sending in shite for the gallery: “Sorry. We can’t return any”.
I also remember that for a while they would say this in voice-over, i.e. without letting the deaf kids know. Until they got a bunch of letters from parents (presumably hearing ones)….
Billy Smart on October 6th, 2008
TOTP Watch: Lena Martell performed ‘One Day At A Time’ on Top of The Pops on four occasions. Perhaps the most interesting edition is that of the 25th of October 1979. Also in the studio that week were; The Specials, Viola Wills, Cats UK, Chic, Iris Williams, Janet Brown (performing ‘The Iron Lady’, presumably a disc showcasing her Margaret Thatcher impersonation - I don’t remember that) and Errol Dunkley. The host was Peter Powell.
Erithian on October 7th, 2008
Some interesting chats in the green room there I would have thought.
DJ Punctum on October 7th, 2008
Nile Rodgers to Cats UK: “Say, where is this Luton Airport?”
Chris Brown on October 9th, 2008
This is one of the last remaining (chronologically) Number Ones that I’ve never knowingly heard. Nothing I’ve heard about it or seen on this thread encourages me to change that.
Bob on November 13th, 2008
This record ended up having 3 weeks at No.1, but at one stage only had 2. The original BMRB chart published on the 10th November had Dr Hook at No.1, but was re-published. Dr Hook eventually got to no. 1 the following week.
I can’t remember the reason. It could have been a joint No.1 with a rule dictating which title actually gets the honour.
The “rules” today prevent there ever being a possibility of a joint No.1 single.