Beach Baby – First Class | Top 40 Chart Performance, Story and Song Meaning
Chart Performance: Pop (#4); 1974
Story Behind The Song By Ed Osborne
The voice of First Class belonged to Tony Burrows who, at one point in 1970, could be heard on four different hits: Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes) by Edison Lighthouse, My Baby Loves Lovin’ by White Plains, United We Stand by Brotherhood Of Man, and Gimme Dat Ding by The Pipkins.
Tony’s First Class vocal partner was producer/songwriter John Carter/ Shakespeare, who had co-written Can’t You Hear My Heartbeat and Little Bit O’ Soul, and sung on UK hits by the Ivy League and the Flower Pot Men.
Like First Class, the Flower Pot Men was a studio creation, and Carter met Burrows when the latter signed up as a member of the touring version of the group. Burrows’ 1970 four-hits-at-once hat trick led to an appearance fronting three of the bogus groups in the same night on the BBC’s Top Of The Pops.
The Beeb banned Burrows, who went back to studio work until Beach Baby brought him to the fore once again. Appropriately, a French horn at the very end of Beach Baby plays a bit of the Flower Pot Men’s Let’s Go To San Francisco.
This content and all Song Meaning articles were created and written by Top 40 Contributing Editor Ed Osborne. © 2024 Ed Osborne. All Rights Reserved. In addition to these song meaning articles, Ed has written our “Year in Music 1960s-1990s” articles.
Produced by:
- John Carter for Sunny Records Ltd.
Lyrics Written by:
- John Carter
- Gillian Shakespeare
Ed Osborne
Hi. I got my first record at age two and never looked back, spending a decades-long career in radio and the music business. Even after years of reading about and listening to all types of music, I am still fascinated by it. Apart from that, I’m endlessly intrigued by art, nature, and the inner lives of people (and dogs).