Motown Treasures

Does Mary count - given that her big hit dates from 1968?

Back in the day, I bought the first three of Mary's Apple singles and loved them to bits. I also bought the Paul McCartney album Post Card. I'm not terribly interested in foreign language versions of songs but the CD release of Post Card includes a couple of Euro versions of Those Were The Days.

I did track down a CD collection entitled Those Were The Days which includes many of the Apple 45s A and B sides. Some of the most interesting tracks were composed by Gallagher & Lyle. One of these is the haunting Sparrow - a song that touches my soul and has fascinated me since I first heard it, way back when.

Am I right in thinking Mary seems to have slipped through the cracks and is a forgotten star these days?

SWI

I have heard Sandie's Those Were The Days - it ain't dreadful but I don't think it's a patch on Mary's big hit.

Mary probably suffered because she achieved fame through a talent show (ugh) and the patronage of Paul McCartney and the hoo-ha surrounding the launch of Apple Records. She really was an excellent folk singer and I gather she was uncomfortable with the pop hits.

My Guinness Book Of British Hit Albums says "see also Oasis." This puzzled me and I scoured that group's hits without success, only to discover an album by a different Oasis from 1984, by a group featuring Mary and Peter Skellern. Their album was a number 23 hit on the pop charts. Don't remember that at all!

SWI