Song Of The Day 11/16/2014: Mud - "Tiger Feet"

British Hits, American Misses: As a discerning cultivator of music history and a person utterly unable to stand up after three Newcastle Brown Ales (which are from where Venom comes from), I have always been fascinated by the differences between popular music of the United States, where I currently live, and the United Kingdom, which at one point served as slumlords of several pieces of property on the American East Coast before the revolution gave them all extreme makeovers. Certainly there are several American bands of the '70s, full of gristle, leathery skin and impolite bacteria who would have a hard time translating onto the European charts. But I've heard all of those. I wanted to go back in history and find some songs that were huge, I mean huge, I mean Status Quo huge in England, but for one reason or another (and we can usually figure out that reason fairly quick) were met by American audiences with great apathy, I mean gigantic apathy, I mean Status Quo apathy. So for this week, with the help of Britain's tremendously useful database of historical UK charts from the Official Charts Company, I'm going to put up some songs that hit beyond saturation point in the Mother Country but nary a blot in the land of the Ungrateful Bastard Sons.

For example, how about relaxing your defenses and listening to some Mud? They were one of the small army of bubbleglammers that bore the badge of Chinnichap on their blazers. "Chinnichap" was the monster songwriting/producing team of Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn, whose work is most recognized in the United States via the songs they wrote for Sweet. I get the feeling the sloppy seconds trickled down to Mud, but it worked at home because "Tiger Feet," the naturopathic benefits of which I know nothing about, was the UK's biggest-selling single of 1974. I hope a lot of its popularity came from the dexterous line-dancing as seen in this clip from Top of the Pops, which was kind of like the Solid Gold of the United Kingdom, except more influential, distinguished and popular. The amount of concentration involved must be immense, especially when you're trying to lip-synch correctly. Also note the gentleman who wears a couple of your grandma's Christmas ornaments as earrings. They were called "The '70s." Try to look respectful. Well, fine then, just try to look sober.