Mary
Mary Hopkin was born on this day in 1950 so, according to my shaky arithmetic, she is now seventy four years old. At the tender age of eighteen, the shy Welsh folk singer was catapulted to stardom after recording "Those Were The Days". Here it is:- Mary Hopkin was one of the first artists to sign up for The Beatles' Apple label back in 1968. Based upon a Russian love song, Mary's version of "Those Were The Days" was produced by Paul McCartney and it seemed to quickly resonate with British pop fans for it soon shot up to Number One in our charts. I think you can detect the song's Russian heritage through the accordion and the song's early folk dance rhythm and the " La-la-la-da-da-da" chorus. I suspect that most people can still easily identify with the nostalgic notion that things were probably better in the past. We laughed more or so it seemed. We were more carefree and what on earth happened to those that we once knew? Oh yes, ...