About a year before most of America was saying, "Boy, that guy sounds JUST like Rod Stewart" quite a few of us had already commented, "Man, that could be the brand new Paul McCartney record!!!"
Such was the case for lead singer Ian Lloyd and Stories, who very quickly placed THREE songs in The National Top 40 in a span of just eighteen months.
The two songs mentioned above were the chart-topping Brother Louie (1973) and their chart debut hit I'm Coming Home (#26, 1972). Their other Top 40 Hit was Mammy Blue (#21, 1973).
We still hear Brother Louie ALL the time on oldies radio ... but these other hits are rarely (if ever) acknowledged.
We'll change that today by featuring BOTH of their other Top 40 Hits.
I'm Comin' Home (1972)
Mammy Blue (1973)
DIDJAKNOW?-1: Although much has been made over the years about the fact that Michael Brown, keyboardist for Left Banke, formed Stories, he only stuck around for their first album. That means that while Brown handled those awesome piano runs on Stories' first hit, I'm Comin' Home, he wasn't even around when the band enjoyed their greatest success a year later when Brother Louie topped the charts. The sound of Stories really revolved around lead singer Ian Lloyd.
DIDJAKNOW?-2: When I played Mammy Blue for Frannie she said "I know this song ... but I don't know this version of this song!" That might be because an earlier version of this song charted for a band called Pop Tops (aka Los Pop Tops). Their version really didn't do any better ... it peaked at #57 back in 1971.
DIDJAKNOW?-3: When I heard I'm Comin' Home for the very first time back in 1972, I thought that it just might be the new Paul McCartney single ... the deejay had not announced the name of the artist yet. Finding out that it was instead a brand NEW artist called Stories, I was a bit disappointed ... I'm Comin' Home was a WHOLE lot better than the crap McCartney was releasing as singles at the time. (His new charter was Mary Had A Little Lamb ... which followed up Give Ireland Back To The Irish!!!)
DIDJAKNOW?-4: Just like April Wine's U.S. break-through hit, You Could Have Been A Lady (which we featured a few weeks ago in Forgotten Hits), Brother Louie was FIRST recorded by Hot Chocolate. Perhaps an even LESSER know fact is that Hot Chocolate was one of the earliest bands signed to The Beatles' Apple Records label. (By the way, we featured Chris Hodge's Apple Hit, We're On Our Way, last week in Forgotten Hits, too!!! Don'tcha just love it when all this stuff ties together?!?!?)
