THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

545-Alvin Stardust-My Coo Ca Choo.

1973-Number 2 single.

Best Bit-At 1.20. The romantic in me hopes that being referred to as a ‘Coo Ca Choo’ is a term of endearment.

The story about this one, is both strange, and intriguing. The song was written by Peter Shelley, (1943-2023) not to be confused with Pete Shelley (1955-2018) of the ‘Punk Rock’ band ‘Buzzcocks.’ Peter Shelley had written, produced, and recorded ‘My Coo Ca Choo,’ and was invited to perform the song as the original ‘Alvin Stardust’ on the children’s British ‘ITV’ television show ‘Lift Off with Ayshea.’ Shelley was surprised when the song entered the UK top 40 the week after, and was invited to perform on ‘Top of the Pops, but he had no desire to be a ‘Glam Rock’ star, so on recommendation, 1960’s Pop star Shane Fenton was hired, and he lip synced the track on television from then on.

The second and best known ‘Alvin Stardust’ was born Bernard William Jewry, on September 27th, 1942, in Muswell Hill, Middlesex, London, he died on October 23rd, 2014, from cancer, at the age of 72. Jewry had initially found success in the early 1960’s, when performing as ‘Shane Fenton,’ as part of ‘Shane Fenton and the Fentones.’ Jewry had been asked to join that group after the lead singer Johnny Theakston had died at the age of 17, from the result of rheumatic fever. ‘Shane Fenton and the Fentones’ released 11 singles between 1961-1964, of which four made the UK top 40, with ‘Cindy’s Birthday,’ from 1962, peaking the highest at Number 19. The character ‘Alvin Stardust’ was devised by Peter Shelley at the height of ‘Glam Rocks’ popularity in 1973. The name ‘Stardust’ was influenced by the character ‘Ziggy Stardust,’ which had been invented by David Bowie, (1948-2016) (see also best songs 440-334-302-209-186-118-47-31 and 5) and Bernard Jewry dressed for the part in all black clothing, the same as the American ‘Rock ‘N Roll’ singer Vince Taylor, (1939-1991) who had been a major influence on Bowie’s development of the character of ‘Ziggy Stardust.’ As Alvin Stardust, Bernard Jewry issued 11 studio Albums between 1974-2021, and 36 singles between 1961-2014, there are also 12 official compilation Albums, and two live Albums spanning his whole career available. As Alvin Stardust he achieved 11 UK top 40 singles, with ‘Jealous Mind,’ another Peter Shelley composition, peaking the highest at Number 1 in 1974. With the exception of ‘My Coo Ca Choo,’ Bernard Jewry provided his own vocals to all of the other Alvin Stardust songs.

Peter Shelley was born Peter Alexander Southworth, on February 28th, 1943, in London, England, he died on March 23rd, 2023, of cancer, at the age of 80. After working as a talent scout for ‘Decca Records’ in the 1960’s, where amongst the artists he discovered were ‘Amen Corner,’ and some of the musicians who would eventually make up ‘King Crimson,’ Shelley started up his own record label ‘Magnet Records’ in 1973, with the future British political Labour Party peer Michael Levy. ‘Magnet Records’ was one of the most successful independent record labels of it’s era, with it’s rota including Chris Rea, Bad Manners, Silver Convention, and Darts. In 1988 the label was acquired by ‘Warner Bros. Records,’ for an estimated £10 million. Peter Shelley may not have wanted to be a ‘Glam Rock’ star, but he had no objection to being a ‘Pop’ star, releasing two studio Albums between 1974-1975, and six singles between 1974-1979, with two of those tracks ‘Gee Baby,’ (1974-UK Number 4) and ‘Love Me Love My Dog’ (1975-UK Number 3) making the UK top 40.

‘My Coo Ca Choo’ was the first of two singles released from ‘The Untouchable,’ which was the debut studio Album from Alvin Stardust, from March 1974, the song was written and produced, and performed by Peter Shelley. ‘My Coo Ca Choo’ was the first single released on the ‘Magnet Records’ label with the catalogue number ‘Mag 1.’ In Australia the song spent seven weeks at Number 1, and became the countries best selling single of 1974. In the UK, The follow up single ‘Jealous Mind’ went to Number 1, bettering ‘My Coo Ca Choo’ by one place, but in Australia ‘Jealous Mind’ only reached Number 27.

‘Tom Cat, why, you know where it’s at, come on, let’s go to my flat, lay down ‘n groove on the mat, a-you can be my coo ca choo.’