385) Thomas and Richard Frost â âFairy Tale Affairâ
Another cut from the Frosts’s magnificent Visualize album– this time a horn-driven stomper (see #209, 211, 247). Let me quote Bryan Thomas again:
[By 1970,] Thomas and Richard Frost had already recorded a handful of classic pop singles for Imperial and Liberty, including âSheâs Got Love,â which charted at number 83 on Billboardâs Top 100 singles chart. Each subsequent single was a step further toward what was sure to be their artistic tour de force [but] plans to release [the Visualize] album were inexplicably aborted in the 11th hour by Imperialâs decision-makers, even though the master recordings were already in the can . . . . Imperial was in disarray, and the Frosts were, unfortunately, victimized by what was going on behind the scenes.
https://www.allmusic.com/artist/thomas-richard-frost-mn0000592334/biography
The album wasnât rediscovered and released until 2002. Anyway, Richard Frost recollects that “Tom and I wrote [“Fairytale Affair”] because we were really into Tony Macauley at the time. We were also both especially fond of âEverlasting Loveâ by the Love Affair and big Hollies Fans. I think you can hear the influences of both.” (liner notes to CD reissue of Visualize). Oh, come on, you know “Everlasting Love”, or you have never danced at a wedding! But who the hell is Tony Macauley? Well, his website informs us that:
[His songs] have sold more than fifty-two million records/CDs worldwide. Thirty-eight of his songs have made the Top Twenty in the UK — eight made Number One. Sixteen of his songs have been hits in the USA — three making the Number One spot in the single charts there. His songs have featured in four chart-topping movies. . . .
In 1970, Tony became the first-ever âSongwriter of the Yearâ â an award bestowed annually, ever since, by the British Academy . . . . He won the award again, seven years later â beating the Bee Gees in the year they had five singles in the Top Five in the USA. In all, Tony has won nine British Academy Awards. In 2007, Tony became the first-ever non-American recipient of the coveted Edwin Forrest Award for âoutstanding services to theaterâ.
Macaulayâs best-known songs include such classics as âBaby, Now That Iâve Found Youâ, âBuild Me Up Buttercupâ, âLove Grows Where My Rosemary Goesâ, âDonât Give Up On Usâ, âLast Night I Didnât Get To Sleep At Allâ, âSmile A Little Smile for Meâ, âYou Wonât Find Another Fool Like Meâ, âKissing In The Back Row of The Moviesâ, âNumber In My Little Red Bookâ, âLet The Heartaches Beginâ, âSilver Ladyâ, âSorry Suzanneâ, âIf I Get Home On Christmas Dayâ, âThat Same Old Feelingâ, âSomething Here In My Heartâ and âHome Lovin Manâ.
He has written songs for Elvis Presley, Gladys Knight, Sonny and Cher, Donna Summer, Tom Jones, Olivia Newton John, Englebert Humperdink, The New Seekers, The Fifth Dimension, Frank Sinatra, Johnny Mathis, The Foundations, David Soul, The Temptations, The Drifters, Andy Williams, The Hollies, Glen Campbell, James Ingram and Alison Krause. Tonyâs co-writers include, amongst others, Sir Elton John and Sir Tim Rice.
(http://www.tonymacaulay.com/biography/).
Oh. Man, I know some of those songs, and I loath them! But I love “Fairytale Affair.” Go figure.
Here is “Everlasting Love”! —
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