Jim Fixed It For Her (apparently)

Don't let the picture fool you - I don't actually own today's featured single at all. That's just an image I half-inched from Flickr. I do, however, have the song at my disposal, which is rather handy bearing in mind that I'm currently in the process of blogging about it.

Anyway, yes, Up In A Puff Of Smoke by Birmingham's own Polly Brown. What a tune! I stumbled upon this one quite by chance when it pitched up on an old K-Tel compilation I bought on one of my charity shop sprees recently. But it caught my disco ear the second I heard it, this being a pretty early example of the genre (it came out in 1974) and a belting good song to boot (even if it did, somewhat inexplicably, stall at #43 in the UK charts).

I was really surprised when I Googled for further info on Ms Brown, by the way, and found out that she was actually a white English lady rather than a black American soul diva, as she doesn't sound anything like you'd expect her to. Vocally, on this song at least, she sounds like she could have been in The Supremes or something, to my ears anyway. Have a listen and see what you think.

Polly Brown - Up In A Puff Of Smoke mp3

Mildly Interesting Pop Fact(s): Polly Brown had formerly been the lead singer with early-seventies popsters Pickettywitch, and had also sung on Sweet Dreams' (very) early ABBA cover and 1974 #10 smash Honey Honey. She was also romantically linked with professional oddball Jimmy Savile at one stage. 'ow's about that then?!