In 1970 this was stuck to my turntable. It was the single Lay Down that hit the radio that year which introduced us to Melanie. One word name in a time when singers didn't have one-word names. I was particularly attracted to her voice. Powerful at times but then fragile in the quieter moments. It was just different to other female voices I had heard.
So I bought the album and played it to death. It was 1970. The era of the singer-songwriter. I was living in Blackburn South but just started hanging out over across Middlesborough Road in Box Hill North. There was a friend from school called Paul True who played the guitar. I was in awe as he seemed to be able to play anything. The girls he hung out with were particularly enamoured by his version of Alexander Beetle from this record. He refused to play it for me though. He'd moved on.
His dream was to play Festival Hall. I hope he got there. Little Murders almost got there. On a bill with Uncanny X-Men. But then the sponsors (Coca-Cola I think) didn't like the idea of having an independent band on the bill. They wanted bands on labels. That's when I realised playing Festival Hall might be my dream too. Too late now I guess unless I join the Church of Hillsong.
I lost interest in Melanie after this album. Glam rock swept a lot of this away. But she did hit the radio again with Brand New Key which I loved. And then when on my first live appearance I performed on Radio Auditions and with my girl-led trio Feathers singing a song called "Helpless Sparrow" won that night our prize was a bunch of singles. All rubbish except one was a Melanie single. Not very good but the flip side was a cover of a Jim Croce song which intrigued me because for a while there I liked Jim Croce too. The song was called Lovers Cross. And it was brilliant.
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