The Bible is groovy

Long before Sons of Korah, Boney M were turning the Old Testament Psalms into songs. 39 years to the day, they had a number 2 hit with Rivers of Babylon. Until I wrote this post, I had no idea that composers have been putting this Psalm to music for hundreds of years. It shows how much I know.

http://rateyourmusic.com/list/Badgerdarkness/australian_top_100_singles___03_july_1978/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psalm_137

Retro geek

Universal Pictures are developing a Battlestar Galactica movie. It has been stuck in development hell for years. It would be cool if they could manage to release it by 2018, which will be the 40th anniversary of the original television series.

http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2016/06/the-battlestar-galactica-movie-just-took-a-major-step-forward/

Mainstreaming

Back in 1978 after Peter Gabriel left the band, and Phil Collins took over as lead singer, Genesis took a new musical direction. They shifted away from progressive rock towards a more commercial, radio friendly sound. The single Follow You, Follow Me was a sentimental ballad that helped the band to find a wider audience.

In Australia it was number 90 on the top 100 singles of 1978, peaking at 16, it reached number 23 in the United States, and number 7 in the UK.

http://australian-charts.com/forum.asp?todo=viewthread&id=35289

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Follow_You_Follow_Me

Obscure

This is City Boy's hit from 1978, 5705. It was released the same year as Paul Evans' Hello, This is Joannie (The Telephone Answering Machine Song), and two years after Electric Light Orchestra's Telephone Line. It seems that telephone-themed songs were all the rage back then.

https://www.cityboy.org