Top Of The Pops Volume 44 offers a straightforward snapshot of the UK charts in spring 1975, as TV cop Kojak - aka actor Telly Savalas - shot to the #1 slot with a droll, spoken word rendition of David Gates' "If". It was a performance which swiftly earned him a ruthless parody by a pair of comedians called Yin & Yan, but even their effort could not compare with a Top Of The Pops rendition that made Savalas' own sound like a rampant belly-laugh. If this is a declaration of love, let's hope the speaker never has to recite the ingrediants of a cornflake packet.
Such dark sensibilities mask what is, overall, an almost inanely joyous offering. Versions of "Bye Bye Baby", returned to glory by the Bay City Rollers, Kenny's "Fancy Pants" and the Rubettes' "I Can Do It" glow with a quite fanatical gleam of joy, but even they cannot hold a candle to a heartstoppingly wholesome romp through Guys And Dolls' "There's A Whole Lotta Loving Going On", a song of such profound saccharin tendencies that you get a cold shower just thinking about it. For a much-needed reawakening, then, slam the needle over to "Lady Marmalade", where that so memorable chorus ("voulez vous couchez avec moi c'est soir") is, strangely, the only lyric that is at all decipherable. Just like Labelle's original.
It's not a great album, then, but a few other performances do leap out to surprise you - a genuinely powerful rendition of Barry Manilow's "Mandy" is an absolutely unsought-after highlight, and Jim Gilstrap's "Swing Your Daddy" has a loose, sexy charm. ~ Dave Thompson