Best Opportunity Knocks Act

Hahahahaha - classic.

I'm voting for The Real Thing, not Mary Hopkin. Candlewick Green were perpetually on kids TV as guest band on stuff like Ayshea and Crackerjack IIRC, but did they ever have a real hit. I can't remember it if so.

What did Tammy Jones have a hit with?

Paper Lace!

A friend of my son just had an audition to play a young Hughie Green in a film - christ knows why that's being made.

It's not the Zav story, is it?

Candlewick Green only had the one hit - "Who Do You Think You Are?" which peaked at #21 in early '74 - but nevertheless it was a hit, and a very fine one; written by the chaps from Jigsaw and subsequently and beautifully covered by Saint Etienne.

Tammy Jones' solitary hit - but it was a huge one, top five in '75 - was a cover of Sinatra's "Let Me Try Again."

Anyroad, wot no wolfgang plagge option?

Oh shit - WDYTYA - I shoulda known that.

x-post Could be Zav story.

Oh bugger, I knew I'd missed someone out (xpost).

For all the non-FT readers,

WPlagge was a child prodigy who appeared on a special 'international' edition of OpKnox around 1970 age 9 or so, played these very difficult piano pieces with some violent force, and was in danger of winning every week for 10 years or so, until they sort of "bumped" him back to school.

I checked t'internet, and found he's still the virtuoso, and a big name on the classical scene. Did not write "I love to play my bongos in the morning"

Tony Monopoly, purely on the basis of his name.

Hopkin for her priceless contribution to 'Sound And Vision'

No Stuart Gillies, no credibility!

xpost: I actually "beat the jock" on R1's Mike Read show in 1979, with the question "What was the last Top 20 hit that Mary Hopkin appeared on?" - and received an official jumbo-sized I BEAT THE JOCK! Mike Read badge for my trouble.

"Where did you get yr Mike Read Tee He mug, mark?"

"I bought it at a roadshow"

Take that, will.i.am!

The eximious Mr Gillies has been ruthlessly erased from OK history due to his performance of the theme tune to Love Thy Neighbour (i.e. I forgot).

Has to be Mary Hopkin, though: the first hit-making artist that I ever saw live, in panto at the London Palladium with Tommy Steele. (He sang "Little White Bull"; she sang "Those Were The Days".)

Which panto was it?

I remember liking Candlewick Green as a kid. Mrs V was apparently a seeeeeerious Peters and Lee fan tho, so I'm torn.

Oh hang on didn't see Kelly Marie okay easy choice then.

xpost: It was this panto.

Blimey, the Irving Davies Dancers.

BUMP!

Is this where we are supposed to start a Pop Idol poll?

Get off my fucking thread, Geir. You're not welcome here.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Not too many votes cast here... :-(

A predictable winner but I can't complain.

Well, "Now you've got the best of me / come on and take the rest of me" is one of the sharpest lines in any love song ever, so fair play...

Bugger it, I missed this one - there would have been one vote for Paper Lace if I had seen it!