Single:
Dreadlock Holiday entered the Australian singles chart* on 25 September 1978 and peaked at #2. The song was #30 on the Top 100 of 1978.
Album:
The song is on Bloody Tourists which entered the Australian albums chart* on 30 October 1978 and peaked at #3.
Songwriters:
Eric Stewart, Graham Gouldman
Producer:
10cc
Record label of Australian release:
Mercury
Music video:
The music video for the song was directed by Storm Thorgerson. The beach scene was filmed on England’s Dorset coast near Charmouth.
*Kent Music Report / Australian Chart Book. See About.
Wikipedia:
The song is based on real events Eric Stewart and Moody Blues vocalist Justin Hayward experienced in Barbados, and Graham Gouldman experienced in Jamaica. Graham Gouldman commented: “Some of the experiences that are mentioned are true, and some of them are … fairly true!”
Stewart recalled seeing a White man “trying to be cool and he looked so naff” walking into a group of Afro-Caribbeans and being reprimanded, which became the lyric “Don’t you walk through my words, you got to show some respect”.
Another lyric came from a conversation Gouldman had with a Jamaican, who when asked if he liked cricket replied, “No, I love it!”
Read more: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreadlock_Holiday
Lyrics:
I was walkin’ down the street
Concentratin’ on truckin’ right
I heard a dark voice beside of me
And I looked round in a state of fright
I saw four faces one mad
A brother from the gutter
They looked me up and down a bit
And turned to each other
Click for full lyrics
This song is also on our Spotify playlist Bang a Gong – the 70s
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