1970: Edison Lighthouse: Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)

Edison Lighthouse

In those now far off days of the 1970s, I tried to buy every Number 1 song, even if I did not really like it that much. It was more for historical record than for taste, I guess. Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes) is one that made it into my record collection, as I enjoyed this type of easy on the ear bubblegum pop and often, surreptitiously, sang along to it when I thought no-one else was listening.

Tony Burrows

Lead singer Tony Burrows seemed to be everywhere during the early 1970s, not least on this Edison Lighthouse hit. As a session singer he was called upon to voice the songs of many of the best known songwriters of the era. In the UK, his vocals can be heard on My Baby Loves Lovin' by White Plains, United We Stand by Brotherhood of Man and Gimme Dat Ding by The Pipkins. In fact, because nearly all of these songs were rising up the charts at the same time, Burrows had to perform three of them during one evening's edition of the UK's leading music television show, Top of the Pops.

Pure Pop

All four of the songs were very much in the pure pop genre of the day, but as far as rock music fans were concerned, tracks of this sort were definitely disposable and truly unhip. Strangely, all those that lambasted Edison Lighthouse's effort back in 1970 now think, with the passage of time, that it is so much cooler. Possibly, age and nostalgia have tempered their opinions.

Hey Petula!

Although many consider this to be a One Hit Wonder in the UK - the description of which is a Number 1 song and then nothing else - the group actually returned to the British charts one year later, albeit briefly, with the track It's Up to You, Petula.

A First 

However, Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes) is one of those 45s that holds a little more importance than a lot of others, as it was the first UK Number 1 record of the new decade.

Chart Stats

• United Kingdom: Number 1
• United States: Number 5
• Canada: Number 3
• South Africa: Number 3

Estimated worldwide sales: 4.5 million copies.

Members

• Tony Burrows 
• Ray Dorey
• Dave Taylor 
• Stuart Edwards 
• George Weyman