January 9 – One Man, One Month, Three Hits, Three Hats

A one-hit wonder, four times over! That’s Tony Burrows for you, and perhaps the biggest hit he is known for was released this day in 1970. That would be “Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)”, a song recorded by Edison Lighthouse. Which is where the story gets more interesting.

Edison Lighthouse was a band formed in London in 1969, essentially by writer Tony McAulay, who one assumes needed an outlet for his many songs, which later included hits like the 5^th Dimension’s “Last Night I Didn’t Get To Sleep At All” and David Soul’s “Don’t Give Up On Us, Baby.” McAulay found four session musicians and the great voice of Burrows to create the first Edison Lighthouse album, Already, released on Bell Records. The band, in case you’re wondering, got its name from a real lighthouse in Britain, the Eddystone Lighthouse, not from phonograph inventor Thomas Edison.

“Love Grows” was an upbeat little song, about a gal whose “clothes are kinda funny, her hair is wild and free” and had evidently captivated the singer, sped up the charts, particularly in their UK. There it went to #1 in just two weeks, the fastest climb up the charts ever to that point. The single also topped New Zealand and Irish charts and got into the top 5 in North America. That might have made the Grass Roots kick themselves. ABC Records here wanted them to record the song before the British one took flight, but the band turned it down, mainly because one of the members had a wife named Rosemary and singer Rob Grill felt it might be awkward to sing a love song that seemed like it was for a friend’s wife! The hit was helped along by an appearance on Top of the Pops… a show whose viewers might have been scratching their heads a bit that winter. Because it probably seemed like Burrows was everywhere!

Although he quit Edison Lighthouse soon after the hit (which would be their only noteworthy one) left the charts, he was also singing on two other big hits that winter – “United We Stand” by the Brotherhood of Man (a song also done by Edison Lighthouse) and “My Baby Loves Lovin’” by White Plains(a song also done by, yes, Edison Lighthouse!) He showed up on Top of the Pops doing all of those songs, according to him in a span of four weeks. Neither of those two acts had much follow-up success either, however Burrows would go on to appear on a few more hits, including Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer” (he’s doing backing vocals) and Beach boys-knockoff “Beach Baby” by First Class… for whom he was the singer. Tony Burrows… one hit wonder, times four!

Curiously, “Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)” has had a resurgence in popularity this year. It’s recharted in several European countries and today, coincidentally is listed as the “most-searched for” song at Songfacts.com. While we’d love to think it was due to our little site here, the real reason it’s hot again is apparently a Tik Tok personality named Rosemary who’s used it in her clips.