All the Hits Plus More

Marmalade are one of those groups that just seems to endure. They are best remembered today for one record, their cover of the Beatles' "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da," although they charted number one records and even Top Ten American singles into the 1970s. The group, especially as constituted through the early '70s, had many sides, including white soul, harmony dominated pop/rock, and progressive pop, all very much like the Beatles in their middle years. However, it was their cover of a Beatles song, oddly enough, that weighed down their reputation. In point of fact, they did somewhat resemble the Beatles musically, having started out as a band of teenagers eager to play hard rock & roll; like the Beatles, they developed a great degree of sophistication in their singing and playing, but they never had the freedom to experiment with the different sides of their music. Ironically, in their prime, their career arc most resembled that of the Tremeloes, who made incredibly well-crafted pop/rock but were never taken seriously. The band had six top 10 hits and were the first Scottish band to have a UK number one hit - an achievement they celebrated by wearing kilts on Top of the Tops. They toured with The Who and duetted with Bobbie Gentry before Ford quit the band in 1975. The group had hits with Reflections of My Life, which reached #10 on the US Billboard Hot 100 Chart. While their song I See The Rain was praised by Jimi Hendrix as the "best cut of 1967". Ford continued to have a fascinating career after his time in the spotlight working as a limousine driver for the likes of Michael Jackson and Bob Dylan. He continued recording music right until the end, releasing an album called "My Scottish Heart" just two months before his death.