UK Music Chart: July 11, 1970

Number 16 : Lola : The Kinks

While Mungo Jerry continued to reign supreme over the British music chart this week in July 1970, there were three new arrivals to the Top 20, all of which would soon climb towards the upper echelons of the listing.

• 01 (01) Mungo Jerry - In The Summertime 
• 02 (02) Free - All Right Now 
• 03 (03) Mr Bloe - Groovin' With Mr Bloe 
• 04 (09) Creedence Clearwater Revival - Up Around The Bend 
• 05 (08) The Four Tops - It's All In The Game
• 06 (05) The Beach Boys - Cottonfields
• 07 (04) Gerry Monroe - Sally 
• 08 (06) Cliff Richard - Goodbye Sam Hello Samantha 
• 09 (15) Nicky Thomas - Love Of The Common People 
• 10 (10) Fleetwood Mac - Green Manalishi (With The Two-Prong Crown) 
• 11 (13) Marvin Gaye - Abraham, Martin And John 
• 12 (12) Status Quo - Down The Dustpipe 
• 13 (16) Shirley Bassey - Something 
• 14 (11) Glen Campbell - Honey Come Back 
• 15 (07) Christie - Yellow River 
• 16 (22) The Kinks - Lola 
• 17 (17) Arrival - I Will Survive 
• 18 (14) Ray Stevens - Everything Is Beautiful 
• 19 (28) Cat Stevens - Lady D'Arbanville 
• 20 (---) Elvis Presley - The Wonder Of You

*Previous week in brackets; Climbers denoted in red
Image: The Best of the Kinks: Lola

The highest new entry at Number 16 was a song that would cause some consternation at the BBC, strangely not because of what you might think, but instead due to a soft drink. With lyrics about a transvestite that you might think would get the Beeb in a flap, it was the mention of Coca-Cola that had Lola banned from airplay. Product placement was/is not permitted by the BBC, so the record was a no-go until writer Ray Davies changed the offending cola to cherry flavour. This allowed The Kinks to perform the song on such shows as Top of the Pops. It would eventually peak at Number 2 in the UK and Number 9 in the USA.

While The Kinks were having their own problems with Lola, Cat Stevens was entering the chart at Number 19 with his own tale of relationship woes. Lady D'Arbanville was written about his romance with girlfriend Patti D'Arbanville, a model who would be absent from his life for long periods of time as she pursued her career. Stevens composed the song during his break-up with her and she has since commented that "he wrote that because he missed me, because he was down... It's a sad song". The track would go on to peak at Number 8, but it made no impression in the States.

Meanwhile, Elvis was not hanging about as he crashed into the Top 20 at Number 20, on his first week on the chart. The Wonder of You was Presley's cover of a late Fifties song that was originally a minor international hit by Ray Peterson. It would turn out to be his sixteenth UK Number 1, remaining there for six weeks and becoming the biggest selling single of 1970.

Until next time...