MARMALADE singer Sandy Newman was finally able to thank Sir Paul McCartney for “writing the song that changed my life” – even though the track got The Beatle into a jam with John Lennon.
Fifty-five years ago Paul penned Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da in a nod to his love of Jamaican Ska music.
But Lennon despised the track so much he branded it “granny music s**t” and refused to allow it to be released as a single in the US or UK.
And that allowed Marmalade to sweep in and record a cover version which earned them their place in history as the first Scottish group to have a No1 single when it was released in 1969.
Sandy says: “There is no doubt that Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da is known more for being a Marmalade song than it is for being a Beatles track.
“It’s still the song we play at the end of our set and the one that always gets everyone up dancing.
“But a little while back I got a call out of the blue from Paul McCartney’s monitor engineer John Callis, who used to work for us.
“He asked us to be part of a charity show that Paul was arranging. When we turned up he said Paul couldn’t be there but would I mind recording a video message for him as he likes to see what’s going on.
“So I ended up standing there talking to camera and the only thing I could think of saying was, ‘Thank you for writing a song that changed my life’.
“And it’s true. It did change my life because Marmalade wouldn’t still be going if it hadn’t been for Paul’s Obi-La-Di, Ob-La-Da.”
But Marmalade’s history is almost as chequered as The Beatles track that made them famous.
The group originally formed in Glasgow’s east end as the Gaylords in 1961, fronted by singer songwriters Dean Ford and Junior Campbell.
In 1964 they were signed to record giants EMI, where they released four singles before being dumped.
Two years later they were advised to change their name to Marmalade when they switched to CBS, but record chiefs soon became concerned by their lack of hits.
And that’s when their management team were able to capitalise on the growing disharmony within The Beatles that saw Paul’s song being hawked around.
Sandy says: “Apparently it was sent to five different bands, so it was a sort of battle of the cover versions to see who could get theirs out first.”
The track was included on The Beatles album – referred to by fans as The White Album – when it was released in November 1968.
It had taken the Fab Four 42 hours to record Obi-La-Di, Ob-La-Da and tensions ran so high their legendary sound engineer Geoff Emerick even quit his job after a heated argument with Paul over it.
Meanwhile, insiders pinpoint the recording session for the track as a key moment in the eventual break-up of The Beatles by April 1970.
Marmalade were warned that their cover version, released in January 1969, would be “career suicide” – but instead it gave them their biggest hit, selling over two million copies.
However, by 1972, the Scots group had themselves imploded, with singers Dean and Junior gone and drummer Alan Whitehead sacked – then later reinstated – for telling lurid stories about orgies with groupies to a newspaper.
Then 50 years ago Sandy from Scotstoun, Glasgow, was hired to steady the ship as the new singer – a role he’s maintained to this day.
He also gave the band another crack at the charts when they notched up the top 10 hit Falling Apart At the Seams in 1976.
Sandy says: “I had been in bands since I was at school but I started off playing for Chris McClure – who is known as Christian – before joining Marmalade in 1973.
“To say it was a time of upheaval was an understatement as Junior had already quit then Alan had to leave abruptly.
“That would have been the death knell for most bands but I would say it was sheer tenacity that kept us going.
“It also helped that we had another big hit in 1976, ironically called Falling Apart At the Seams, which came at the right time for us and made sure we were back on TV on Top of the Pops and the likes again.”
However, the explosion of punk music the following year ensured Marmalade’s next single came to a sticky end.
Sandy says: “In 1978 we released the Roger Cook and Bobby Wood song Talking in Your Sleep, but the radio stations wouldn’t play it because suddenly everything was punk.
“About six months later the song was recorded by Crystal Gayle who went to No1 in the US and all around the world with it. But I was still very, very proud of our version.”
If punk had ruined their chance of another international hit then the peak disco era of 1978/79 threatened to kill off Marmalade for good.
He says: “Things were going really bad for us at that point and we ended up doing cabaret clubs where you could tell the crowd couldn’t wait for you to get off so they could get on with the disco music.”
Then slowly but surely music from the 60 and 70s started to become fashionable again.
Sandy, 72, admits: “Germany saved us at first because that’s where our concerts really started to take off.
“We’d get booked for bigger and bigger clubs and then a tour with other acts of the era. Later they started adding American acts to the bill like Chubby Checker too. It became huge for us.”
The Scot has lived in Berkshire since the mid-70s with his wife of 51 years Jan.
They have two sons including the successful actor Alec Newman, 49, known for the Sky One special forces drama Strike Back, and musician John James, 45, who has penned tracks for Kylie Minogue and Chesney Hawkes.
And he’s still grateful to be performing, largely in part to the song hated by The Beatles but loved by Sir Paul McCartney who even included it in his Glastonbury set last year to mark his 80th birthday.
Sandy says: “It’s sad John Lennon wanted nothing to do with Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, even though he’s credited as its co-writer.
“But I think the genius was its simplicity as it actually sounds like a nursery rhyme. I’m just happy Marmalade is still around today because of it.”
*Marmalade will be on tour from today until October 29, with Herman’s Hermits, Steve Ellis, Spencer James of The Searchers, Dave Berry, The Fourmost and Gerry’s Pacemakers. Tickets and info at sixtiesgold.com
