In Perfect Harmony: Singalong Pop in ’70s Britain

In 1970, pop was in trouble. The Beatles were no more. Pink Floyd gave up on singles altogether. Led Zeppelin dismissed anything beyond their 'musical statements' as childish frippery. Thankfully, help was on its way. This comprehensive chronicle by music historian Will Hodgkinson explores how an unlikely mix of backroom songwriters, revitalised rockers, actors, producers, teen stars and children turned pop into the dominant sound and vision of the 1970s. While bands such as the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac were ruling the albums chart, the singles chart was swinging along to the tune of million-selling blockbusters by the likes of Brotherhood of Man, the Sweet and the Wombles. These were the songs you heard on Radio 1, on Saturday-night TV, at youth clubs, down the pub and even emanating from your parents' record player... It was never cool, but it was the real soundtrack of the decade. Against a rainy, smog-filled backdrop of three-day weeks, national strikes, IRA bombings and the Winter of Discontent, this unending stream of novelty songs, sentimental ballads, glam-rock stomps and blatant rip-offs offered escape, uplift, romance and the promise of eternal childhood - all released with one goal in mind: a smash hit. In Perfect Harmony takes the reader on a journey through the most colour-saturated decade in music, examining the core themes and camp spectacle of '70s singalong pop, as well as its reverberations through British culture since. This is the pioneering social history of a musical revolution.

About the Author :
Will Hodgkinson is author of the music books Guitar Man, Song Man and The Ballad of Britain. He is a regular contributor to The Guardian, Mojo and Vogue and presented the Sky Arts television series Songbook. Since 2010, he has been chief rock and pop critic for The Times.

Review :
'Will has painted a colourful picture of my life in this business, and in fact paints a colourful picture of the entire '70s in Great Britain.' 'Instead of walking the byways and backwaters of '70s pop, Will Hodgkinson heads straight down the high street. So many of these names that soundtracked everyday life turn out to have been overlooked and their stories undocumented - the results of Hodgkinson's research are hugely entertaining and informative. A terrific read and a valuable book, too.' 'Full of bold characters and strange stories, In Perfect Harmony might start out Middle of the Road but it takes audacious left turns all the way. 4/5' 'A delightful, perceptive celebration of that decade's chartbusters, which the canon tends to ignore. A splendid, overdue rehabilitation for the era's junkshop geniuses. 4/5' 'Highly entertaining, a treasure trove of primary colours ... awash with startling trivia.' 'Epic.' 'What a wonderful book, polished and classy, with a genuine insight into the world of '70s singalong pop and the awesome magic of an unforgettable "tune" .' 'Such a fluid, well-written read ... every page a new surprising story of hits we took for granted.' 'A thorough, accurate and insightful recreation of the times and the tunes ... A wonderful work.' 'A glorious cavalcade of the sort of acts who are used in BBC Four documentaries about punk and the Winter of Discontent to illustrate the inevitability of Thatcherism - but actually serve to remind us of the ingenuity and sheer wackiness of that much-maligned decade, the 1970s.'