From Now On ...
From February to April the New Seekers consolidate their success in America by undertaking a full scale concert and cabaret tour of the United States. The group travels to Florida, Iowa, Illinois and Mississippi and performs at notable venues such as the Marco Polo Lounge in Miami, The Troubadour in Los Angeles and The Bitter End in New York. Recalling the experience in a newspaper interview, Lyn Paul said:
"We found ourselves playing places like 'The Troubadour' and 'The Bitter End' and we didn't know how to react. You can imagine how we felt, coming out to a long-haired audience all stoned out of their minds. We thought, 'they can't be expecting us; they must think we're a heavy group' - but they were freaked out by the act."
Another Melanie Safka song is selected as a single for release in March. Although it would remain a favourite with New Seekers' fans throughout their career, Nickel Song (Philips 6006 095) does not enjoy the same success as What Have They Done To My Song, Ma.
The New Seekers return to the UK for a series of cabaret dates beginning with a week of shows (from 12th April) at Manchester's Golden Garter. This is followed by appearances at the Sunderland Empire (the week commencing 10th May) and the Talk of the North (the week commencing 17th May).
On Monday, 26th April the BBC broadcasts the New Seekers' guest appearance on The Andy Williams Show (BBC 1). The show, which also features appearances by Bobbie Gentry and Tommy Roe, was recorded in Los Angeles the previous Autumn.
As Summer approaches the New Seekers support Neil Diamond at the Royal Festival Hall (29th May) and Joe Frazier at the Tooting Granada (15th June). They also top the bill at two Bank Holiday Sunday concerts at the London Palladium (30th May). The supporting acts are Christine Holmes, Glen Weston, Mike Yarwood and the Mixtures.
Meanwhile, back in the USA, the New Seekers appear on a special edition of The Ed Sullivan Show hosted by Jack Jones (CBS, Sunday, 30th May, 8.00pm - 9.00pm) The New Seekers sing three songs - What Have They Done To My Song , Ma, Nickel Song and the title track of the group's new album Beautiful People.
Titled after yet another Melanie song, Beautiful People (Philips SBL 6308 055) is the New Seekers' third album - the second to feature the line-up that included Lyn Paul and the first without Keith Potger, who steps out of the limelight into the role of Manager..The album features some of Britain's top session musicians, including: Terry Britten (lead guitarist in Cliff Richard's backing band and co-writer of Cliff's hit Devil Woman), Kevin Peek (later to have success with John Williams in the group Sky), Peter Skellern (who would go on to have solo hits with You're A Lady, Hold On To Love and Love Is The Sweetest Thing), Alan Tarney (who wrote and produced Barbara Dickson's hit January, February, not to mention Cliff Richard's biggest hit We Don't Talk Anymore) and Trevor Spencer (Alan Tarney's sometime songwriting partner). With the exception of Peter Skellern, these musicians also appear on most of the New Seekers' subsequent albums.
Beautiful People features one song with Lyn Paul on lead vocal - a Randy Newman ballad entitled I'll Be Home. More importantly it includes the song that is about to give the New Seekers their first really big UK hit ...
On 10th July Never Ending Song Of Love (Philips 6006 125) spends the first of 19 weeks on the singles charts, peaking at number 2 in the BBC chart and reaching number 1 in the New Musical Express chart. The song is a hit in the USA for its writers, Delaney and Bonnie.
Sheet music for
the New Seekers' hit
Never Ending Song Of Love
 
On 9th August the New Seekers begin a two week residency at London's Talk of the Town. Judith Durham, former lead singer with the Seekers, had also been in the running for this booking. Looking back on 1971 she recalls having to compete with the New Seekers:
"On occasions, we'd both be considered for the same booking and they'd win out because they had The Seekers' name. That happened on more than one occasion, but I remember specifically that I lost a season at the Talk of the Town and a London Palladium show for that reason."
(Quoted from The Judith Durham Story: Colours Of My Life by Graham Simpson, page 193)
Judith Durham also recalls being constantly asked by the press for her opinion of the New Seekers:
"I thought they were very good - very professional and very good singers. It seemed a shame to me that they had The Seekers' name, which led to a lot of confusion ... They actually appealed to a much younger audience than The Seekers had and The Seekers' name really couldn't have been much help to them."
(Quoted from The Judith Durham Story: Colours Of My Life by Graham Simpson, pages 193-194)
Following the fortnight at the Talk Of The Town the New Seekers fly to the United States for a week's worth of shows at the new Disneyland complex in Florida, followed by shows in Denver and two weeks at the St. Regis Hotel in New York.
At the end of September the New Seekers undertake their first major tour of the UK. The tour kicks off at the Floral Hall, Southport on 26th September and comes to a close at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London on 16th October.
The live shows coincide with the release of the group's first album for Polydor Records, New Colours (Polydor 2383 066). The LP features two tracks with Lyn Paul on lead vocals - No Mans Land, a lively song co-written by Richard Thompson and originally featured on the Fairport Convention album What We Did On Our Holidays (Island ILPS 9092), and Lay Me Down, a tender ballad written by Peter Doyle (three years later this track was to be used as the B-side of Lyn Paul's first solo single, Sail The Summer Winds).
One of the other tracks from the album, Good Old Fashioned Music (Polydor 2058 157), is released as a single in October just as the New Seekers head back to the States for another month of live appearances. The single disappoints by not making the charts.
The closing months of the year, however, bring ample compensation. On Monday, 15th November the New Seekers appear in the 1971 Royal Variety Performance at the London Palladium, attended by the Queen and Princess Anne (Lyn's mum and dad are also in the audience). The bill includes Shirley Bassey, Sacha Distel and Stephane Grappelli. In the UK the show is broadcast on Saturday, 20th November (LWT, 7.55pm), attracting the fourth biggest TV audience of the year. It is also broadcast to the Commonwealth for the first time.
When interviewed on Val Meets The VIPs in 1974, Lyn recalled it as "quite an ordeal to think that we were performing in front of the Queen."
"The nicest thing that ever happened to us was doing the Royal Command Performance, because I think it's something that every artist dreams of doing. And when we were invited to do it my mum saved the little [invitation] card. She's framed that."
In December the New Seekers release the single that would soon become their signature tune - I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing (Polydor 2058 184). Originally recorded in 1970 as a Coca-Cola jingle for US radio, the song is revived for a television commercial. The TV ad is recorded in Rome in the Summer. It features a crowd of young people of different races on a hilltop, each holding a bottle of Coke and miming to the voices of the New Seekers. The image of the world as one big happy family and the lyrics about "peace throughout the land" both strike a chord in what are troubled times. Combined with a catchy tune, the song makes an instant impact. When the ad goes to air in the USA the public reaction is so strong that the New Seekers are rushed into a New York recording studio to re-record the song as a single. The record enters the US singles chart on 4th December and débuts on the UK singles chart a fortnight later.
As the year draws to a close the New Seekers record a number of television appearances, which are screened in the UK over the Christmas holidays. They appear on a Cliff Richard special on Christmas Eve (BBC 1, 7.30pm), on a Val Doonican special (screened by ATV the same night) and on Christmas Day they appear on Christmas Night With The Stars (BBC 1, 6.40pm). The other stars appearing on the show with them are: Dick Emery, Engelbert Humperdinck, Lulu, Vera Lynn and Harry Secombe.
New Seekers
Pictured (left to right): Peter Doyle, Paul Layton, Marty Kristian, Lyn Paul and Eve Graham.
Copyright © Chris Walter. Photo used with permission.
See more of Chris Walters' photographs at the Photofeatures website.
Incidentally ...
During the early 1970s the New Seekers covered songs by many of the decade's finest singer-songwriters, providing many teenagers with their first introduction to the likes of Carole King, Cat Stevens and Paul Williams. In 1971 these songwriters provide the group with a particularly strong collection of songs - Beautiful (from Carole King's classic album Tapestry), Changes IV (from Cat Stevens' Teaser and the Firecat) and Perfect Love and An Old Fashioned Love Song (both from Paul Williams' album Just An Old Fashioned Love Song).
1971 also furnishes Lyn Paul with material for her solo career - Labi Siffre's It Must Be Love (which she records for her 1975 album Give Me Love), Billy Joel's She's Got A Way (which Lyn records as He's Got A Way for the same album) and A Case Of You from Joni Mitchell's album Blue (which Lyn records for a CD single in 2002).
| In the News - 1971 |
| |
|
| Jan |
On Saturday, 2nd January Cliff Richard hosts the first show of a new 13-week series for the BBC, It's Cliff Richard.
On the same day sixty-six football spectators are killed and 145 injured when crush barriers collapse at the Ibrox Park stadium, Glasgow after a match between Celtic and Rangers.
Coco Chanel dies on 10th January, aged 87.
On 20th January 200,000 UK postal workers go on strike for the first time in pursuit of a 13% pay rise.
Idi Amin seizes power in Uganda on Monday, 25th January while President Milton Obote is attending a Commonwealth conference in Singapore.
Charles Manson is convicted of murdering the actress Sharon Tait and six of her friends in August 1969.
|
| Feb |
Rolls Royce goes bankrupt.
US astronaut Alan Shepard hits two golf balls during a moonwalk on Saturday, 6th February, using a golf club he had smuggled on board the Apollo 14 spacecraft inside his space suit.
A referendum of the all-male electorate in Switzerland gives women the right to vote in federal elections and to stand for Parliament.
On Monday, 15th February the UK decimalises its currency; new coins for half, one and twopence denominations are issued to join the five-pence, ten-pence and fifty-pence pieces already introduced.
London Bridge, which opened in 1831, is closed on Saturday, 20th February. It is then dismantled and transported across the Atlantic to be rebuilt in Arizona.
On 21st February 100,000 trade unionists march from Hyde Park to Trafalgar Square in protest at the Industrial Relations Bill.
|
| Mar |
On 6th March 4,000 women protesters march from Hyde Park to Downing Street in the UK's biggest ever women's liberation demonstration.
Poet and novelist Stevie Smith dies on 7th March, aged 68.
The UK postal strike comes to an end on Monday, 8th March. The seven-week strike cost the Post Office an estimated £25m in lost revenue.
Charles Manson and three members of his hippy cult, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten, are sentenced to death in Los Angeles on 29th March.
|
| Apr |
Ford motor workers in the UK return to work on 5th April after a nine-week strike.
Haiti's self-proclaimed "president for life" François "Papa Doc" Duvalier dies in Port-au-Prince on Thursday, 22nd April, aged 64. He is succeeded by his son Jean-Claude Duvalier.
Phonelines between Britain and China are re-connected for the first time since 1949.
Bangladesh declares independence from Pakistan.
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| May |
After 75 years as a broadsheet newspaper, the Daily Mail transforms itself into a tabloid and merges the following week with its sister paper the Daily Sketch. The Daily Sketch, founded in 1909, is published for the last time on Tuesday, 11th May.
Mick Jagger and Bianca Macias get married in St. Tropez on Wednesday, 12th May.
The Guardian newspaper celebrates its 150th anniversary.
|
| Jun |
There is an outbreak of cholera in West Bengal. Thousands of refugees cross the border into India.
On 10th June the USA ends its 21-year embargo on trade with China,
The Education Secretary, Margaret Thatcher, dubbed the "milk snatcher", announces plans to abolish free school milk for over-sevens. In defiance, Labour-controlled councils pledge to continue supplying universal free milk for schoolchildren.
On 21st June the International Court of Justice in The Hague rules that South Africa's administration of Namibia (South West Africa) is illegal.
Three Russian cosmonauts, who had been in space for a record 23 days, are found dead in their Soyuz 11 spacecraft when it returns to earth on 30th June.
On the same day the Twenty-Sixth Amendment to the US Constitution extends full voting rights to 18-year-olds.
|
| Jul |
Jim Morrison, the 27-year-old lead singer of the Doors, is found dead in a bath at his Paris apartment on Saturday, 3rd July. The inscription on his tombstone in the Père Lachaise cemetery reads: "Kata ton diamona eay toy" ("True to his own spirit").
Louis Armstrong dies on 6th July, aged 71.
On 25th July Dr. Christian Barnard performs the first human heart and lung transplant.
On 30th July a passenger aircraft and a jet fighter collide in mid-air over Japan. 162 people are killed.
Greenpeace is founded.
|
| Aug |
On 1st August George Harrison holds a Concert for Bangladesh in Madison Square Garden, New York. Harrison is joined on stage by Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Billy Preston and Ringo Starr.
Emergency powers allowing internment without trial are introduced in Northern Ireland. There are violent scenes on the streets as more than 300 IRA suspects are arrested.
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| Sep |
On Thursday, 9th September the British Ambassador to Uruguay, Geoffrey Jackson, is freed by the left-wing guerrillas who had held him captive for eight months.
Former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev dies on 11th September, aged 77.
Acting on information from a Russian defector and former KGB agent, Oleg Lyalin, the UK government expels 90 Russian diplomats and officials. 15 others who were out of the country at the time were forbidden to return.
|
| Oct |
63 passengers and crew aboard a BEA flight from London to Austria are killed when their plane crashes in Belgium.
Protesters greet Japanese Emperor Hirohito in silence when he visits London on 9th October.
Gene Vincent, best-known for his 1956 hit Be-Bop-A-Lula, dies from a perforated ulcer on 12th October, aged 36.
The German Chancellor, Willy Brandt, is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
On 28th October MPs vote by 356-244 in favour of the UK joining the Common Market.
At 4.30am on Sunday, 31st October a bomb explodes on the 33rd floor of the Post Office Tower in central London.
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| Nov |
The Court of Appeal quashes the convictions against the three editors of Oz magazine, who had been found guilty in August of offences under the Obscene Publications Act.
The unmanned American orbiter probe, Mariner 9, sent on a year-long mission to take photos of the planet Mars, begins its study of the planet on Saturday, 13th November. It is the first spacecraft to orbit another planet.
The President of Pakistan, Yahya Khan, declares a state of emergency as the crisis in Bangladesh (East Pakistan) worsens.
|
| Dec |
The Queen's annual allowance is doubled to £980,000 a year.
Heavy fighting breaks out between India and Pakistan.
On 16th December India accepts the surrender of all armed forces in East Pakistan and later orders a cease-fire on its western border with Pakistan.
On 20th December Zulfikar Ali Bhutto takes over as President of Pakistan.
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| In the Charts |
| |
| UK Chart Debuts |
| |
- Bay City Rollers
- Tony Christie
- Elton John
- Gordon Lightfoot
- Olivia Newton-John
- Partridge Family
- Labi Siffre
- Slade
- Rod Stewart
- Sweet
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| UK Best-selling Singles |
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- Badfinger
No Matter What
- Joan Baez
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
- Shirley Bassey
For All We Know
- Bay City Rollers
Keep On Dancing
- Cilla Black
Something Tells Me (Something's Gonna Happen Tonight)
- Blue Mink
Banner Man
- Bob and Marcia
Pied Piper
- Carpenters
Superstar / For All We Know
- C.C.S.
Tap Turns On The Water
- Cher
Gypsys, Tramps and Thieves
- Tony Christie
I Did What I Did For Maria
- Tony Christie
(Is This The Way To) Amarillo
- Dave and Ansil Collins
Double Barrel
- Judy Collins
Amazing Grace
- Perry Como
It's Impossible
- Dana
Who Put The Lights Out
- Dawn
Candida
- Dawn
Knock Three Times
- Deep Purple
Strange Kind Of Woman
- Neil Diamond
I Am ... I Said
- Neil Diamond
Sweet Caroline
- Equals
Black Skin Blue Eyed Boys
- Fortunes
Freedom Come, Freedom Go
- Four Tops
Simple Game
- Free
My Brother Jake
- Al Green
Tired Of Being Alone
- Greyhound
Black and White
- George Harrison
My Sweet Lord
- Isaac Hayes
Theme from 'Shaft'
- Benny Hill
Ernie (the Fastest Milkman In The West)
- Elton John
Your Song
- Tom Jones
She's A Lady
- Kinks
Ape Man
- John Kongos
He's Gonna Step On You Again
- John Kongos
Tokoloshe Man
- John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band
Power To The People
- Lobo
Me And You And A Dog Named Boo
- Paul McCartney
Another Day
- McGuinness Flint
Malt and Barley Blues
- Curtis Mayfield
Move On Up
- Middle of the Road
Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep
- Middle of the Road
Tweedle Dee Tweedle Dum
- Mungo Jerry
Baby Jump
- New World
Tom-Tom Turnaround
- Olivia Newton-John
Banks Of The Ohio
- Olivia Newton-John
If Not For You
- Peter Noone
Oh You Pretty Thing
- Gilbert O'Sullivan
No Matter How I Try
- Pioneers
Let Your Yeah Be Yeah
- Cliff Richard
Sunny Honey Girl
- Clodagh Rodgers
Jack In The Box
[Eurovision Song Contest:
UK entry]
- Rolling Stones
Brown Sugar
- Diana Ross
I'm Still Waiting
- Buffy Sainte-Marie
Soldier Blue
- Labi Siffre
It Must Be Love
- Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood
Did You Ever
- Slade
Coz I Luv You
- Hurricane Smith
Don't Let It Die
- Ringo Starr
It Don't Come Easy
- Ray Stevens
Bridget The Midget (The Queen Of The Blues)
- Rod Stewart
Maggie May
- Supremes
Nathan Jones
- Supremes
Stoned Love
- Sweet
Co-Co
- Sweet
Funny Funny
- Tams
Hey Girl Don't Bother Me
- James Taylor
You've Got A Friend
- R. Dean Taylor
Indiana Wants Me
- T Rex
Get It On
- T Rex
Hot Love
- T Rex
Jeepster
- White Plains
When You Are A King
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| One Hit Wonders |
| |
- Lynn Anderson
Rose Garden
- Ashton, Gardner and Dyke
Resurrection Shuffle
- Congregation
Softly Whispering I Love You
- Curved Air
Back Street Luv
- Clive Dunn
Grandad
- East of Eden
Jig A Jig
- Fantastics
Something Old, Something New
- Tami Lynn
I'm Gonna Run Away From You
- Mixtures
Pushbike Song
- Piglets
Johnny Reggae
- Redbone
The Witch Queen of New Orleans
|
| Hit Albums |
|
- Marvin Gaye
What's Going On
- Carole King
Tapestry
- John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band
Imagine
- Paul and Linda McCartney
Ram
- Joni Mitchell
Blue
- Moody Blues
Every Good Boy Deserves Favour
- Rolling Stones
Sticky Fingers
- Cat Stevens
Teaser and the Firecat
- Rod Stewart
Every Picture Tells A Story
- Barbra Streisand
Stoney End
- James Taylor
Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon
- T Rex
Electric Warrior
- The Who
Who's Next
- Andy Williams
Home Loving Man
- Yes
The Yes Album
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|
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| At the Movies |
| |
| |
- Alias Smith and Jones
- Bananas
(Woody Allen)
- Bedknobs and Broomsticks
- Carnal Knowledge
- A Clockwork Orange
- Death In Venice
- The Devils
- Dirty Harry
- Fiddler on the Roof
- The French Connection
- Get Carter
- The Go-Between
- The Last Picture Show
- Le Mans
- Little Big Man
- Love Story
- Murphy's War
- The Music Lovers
- Nicholas and Alexandra
- Song Of Norway
- Straw Dogs
- Sunday Bloody Sunday
- Traffic
- Valdez Is Coming
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|
| On Television |
| |
| |
- And Mother Makes Three
- Bless This House
- Blue Peter Royal Safari
- Dave Allen At Large
(Series 1)
- Elizabeth R
- Father, Dear Father
(Series 4 and 5)
- The Generation Game
(Bruce Forsyth)
- The Goodies
(Series 2)
- It's Cliff Richard
- The Last of the Baskets
- The Liver Birds
(Series 2)
- Look - Mike Yarwood!
(Series 1)
- The Morecambe and Wise Show
(Series 5 and 6)
- The Old Grey Whistle Test
- On The Buses
(Series 5)
- The Onedin Line
- Opportunity Knocks
- Parkinson
- Sale of the Century
- The Two Ronnies
(Series 1)
- Upstairs, Downstairs
|
|
| Sporting Heroes |
| |
|
BBC Sport
BBC
Sports Personality
of the Year:
HRH The Princess Anne
|
|
Cricket: England win the seventh Test against Australia to reclaim the Ashes.
Boxing: Joe Frazier defeats Casius Clay at Madison Square Garden to retain his World Heavyweight title.
Henry Cooper retires from boxing after losing his European, Commonwealth and British heavyweight titles to Joe Bugner.
Snooker: John Spencer wins the World Snooker Championship for the second time.
Horse Racing: Specify wins the Grand National.
Geoff Lewis becomes the first jockey to achieve the "Epsom treble" by winning the Derby (on Mill Reef), the Coronation Cup and the Oaks (on Altesse Royale).
Football: Arsenal do the double, finishing the football season as both League Champions and winners of the FA Cup.
Chelsea win the European Cup Winners' Cup, beating Real Madrid 2:1 in the final.
Rugby Union: The British Lions win a Test series in New Zealand for the first time.
Tennis: Evonne Goolagong beats the defending Champion, Margaret Court, in the women's singles final at Wimbledon (6-4, 6-1).
The Men's defending Champion, John Newcombe, beats Stan Smith in five sets to take the men's singles title (6-3, 5-7, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4).
Golf: Great Britain & Ireland win the Walker Cup from the United States for the first time since 1938.
Lee Trevino wins the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.
Sailing: Chay Blyth sails non-stop around the world in 292 days.
The British team wins the Admiral's Cup, skippered by Prime Minister Edward Heath aboard the yacht Morning Cloud.
Chess: Bobby Fisher wins the World Chess Championships.
Eventing: Princess Anne wins the European Three Day Event Championship on Doublet.
Show jumping: Harvey Smith wins the British Show Jumping Derby on 15th August but is stripped of the title and his £2,000 winnings after making a two-fingered 'V-sign' in the direction of the judges. His disqualification is reversed two days later.
Motor Sport: Jackie Stewart wins the F1 drivers' championship for the second time.
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|
| Page-turners |
| |
Man Booker Prize
Winner:
V. S. Naipaul
In A Free State
On the shortlist:
Thomas Kilroy
The Big Chapel
Doris Lessing
Briefing For A Descent Into Hell
Mordecai Richler
St. Urbain's Horseman
Derek Robinson
Goshawk Squadron
Elizabeth Taylor
Mrs. Palfrey At The Claremont
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