Monday 13th July

They came from Scotland and I first discovered them as part of McGuinness-Flint, a four-piece band who had two hit singles, both written by Gallagher and Lyle – “Malt and Barley Blues” and “When I’m Dead and Gone.”  The band broke up after two albums and Benny Gallagher and Graham Lyle became a duo.  They had a string of albums in the seventies and many hit singles becoming gradually more and more mainstream.  But eventually the treadmill of writing, recording, promoting and touring took its toll and after about ten years they split up and became session players and quite successful songwriters.  They have been inactive for a long while now, which seems a great pity.

They were a very British band, singing a mixture of soft rock and folk.  Beautiful voices and talented musicians, they had it all, but it is the quality of the songs that is most enduring.  From early efforts like ‘Mrs Canatelli’ or ‘Willie’ to chart-toppers like ‘Breakaway’ or ‘Heart on my Sleeve’ they had an enduring and immaculate quality almost unmatched by their contemporaries.  They backed Rod Stewart on ‘Maggie May’ and were often on Top of the Pops, a welcome change from the Glam-Rock and Punk bands of the Seventies.  Their albums are now much sought after, especially on CD and fetch well above £80.00 for some of the early records.  I keep watching Amazon and e-bay but rarely find a bargain, one day I will buy them all again at whatever cost.  Some things are priceless, and Gallagher and Lyle’s brand of gentle English songs are so unique and beautiful that I will eventually own them all.  Their Greatest Hits is well worth a look, but chances are you may want to hear more…