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 Do you remember your Top Of The Pops appearance for 'In The Summertime'?
Ray: Well John Peel had been at the Hollywood festival gig and had really liked us, so he plugged us on his show. The single came out and was the very first maxi single in the world. We went straight into the charts at No. 13. The first TV show that we did was Tommy Valance's Disco 2, the fore-runner to The Old Grey Whistle Test. We went to the studios and got into a lift there and someone squeezed into it at the last moment, and we all got stuck! We were just about to shoot for the broadcast and nobody could find us, because we were stuck in the lift. We finally got out and recorded for the show, which was broadcast later that Sunday night. The charts were compiled on a Tuesday in those days, so two days later the track hit the No.1 spot. We had to go down and do Top Of The Pops on the Wednesday, but I was still working with the electronics company then, so I had to ask my boss to give me the afternoon off. I arrived a little bit late, I had to stop-off and buy what I thought might be more suitable clothes, and I vaguely remember coming into the studio and seeing a cardboard cutout to fill my space on the stage. Anyway, we did the show and the track was No.1 for six or seven weeks. It just kept selling! I think it sold about 10 million in just the first few weeks, it was the fastest selling single in history in France and it was No.1 just about everywhere. Not Japan though. It was a tremendous experience.
What do you think of Shaggy's version?
Ray: It's good, especially since it's got my guitar and my 'ch -ch-ch oog'! And it's great to have two No.1s with different version of the same tune. I must say Shaggy did a good job. I've never actually met him though.
You wrote and produced Kelly Marie's 'Feels Like I'm In Love'. But you didn't originally write it for her did you?
Ray: No, that's right, I wrote it for Elvis and sang it in an Elvis-style voice for the demo. Barry Murray agreed to get it all ready and send it off to Elvis. A few days later, I was at the bottom of my garden when I got this call. It was Barry and he said, 'Elvis has died!'...I couldn't believe it. After that I kinda put it to bed for a while. Kelly Marie had a few minor hits in France and had been around our office a bit, so we asked her to do it. Nothing much happened at first. Then, I went up to a club in Leeds and this DJ said he liked the track and asked to keep it. A few weeks later, it started to sell steadily, at first 20 or 30 a day. It just slowly started to happen for the track and then, about nine months after its official release, it got to No.1. It's just really unfortunate that DJs don't have their say these days.
So tell us about your new recordings...
Ray: I've got an album out at the moment, called 'Candy Dreams'. It's difficult to describe and pretty unique. It's kinda mixing old and new technology, but it's good! It goes on and on and on as well. I'm also recording a blues album at the moment and I'm releasing a version of 'Lady Rose' in Germany next month. That track's totally different again. It's a bit like DJ Otzi; it's a party track. I really don't care what kind of music it is that I do, I either like something or not. And I think that's the way people in the street are. So, I've got a lot of things on at the moment. I'm expecting to do a legends of British blues tour with Long John Baldry as well at the end of the year. I just keep pressing on!
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