Whitey Morgan & The 78s (worth a dabble if you like a bit of Americana) welcome you to the latest edition of the Hot 100 Countdown as we reach number seventy eight... a number for which, once I'd discounted songs about 1978, there were two clear contenders.
We'll get to those in a moment. First though, your suggestions...
Martin was first out of the gate with something which would have been a clear winner had this been about 1978...
Bruce Springsteen - Racing In The Street '78... Oh, the harmonica! Oh, the piano! Oh the nostalgic American romanticism!
Martin also offered the following, which I'd never hear before but does the job nicely...
Rich Mullins & A Ragamuffin Band - 78 Eatonwood Green
Next up was The Swede who offered this lo fi oddity. Pretty good, though it does sound like it was recorded on Memorex.
Omni - 78
Rigid Digit was among those suggesting today's winner, but he also offered a couple more sterling contenders that live right next to each other in all our record collections. This...
Manic Street Preachers - Montana/Autumn/78
And this... which gets him top marks. Always got time for Manly Barrymore.
Barry Manilow - Summer of '78
All excellent - but what were my original contenders? Well, the runner-up was always going to be this, seconded by Martin...
Stiff Little Fingers - 78 RPM
The winner though? Obvious, it seems. Suggested first by Lynchie, then seconded by just about everybody else.
My other half went to uni with the lead singer of Gomez. Her only memory of him is that he was "a bit full of himself", which I guess goes with the territory if you're gonna be a pop singer. However, I'd back this up by saying that the one time I saw Gomez play live in the late 90s, they spoiled a perfectly fine gig by not knowing when to finish and doing about 27 encores like they were James Brown or someone with a lot more than just one half-decent album to go at. We left at about encore five, but for all I know they carried on all night. They'd probably still be doing the show today if the venue in question hadn't been knocked down 15 years ago.
Anyway...
Next week... 77. Any suggestions gratefully received.
