By Gillian Ellison

Last updated at 12:46, Sunday, 03 June 2012

BLOND wigs, mustard-coloured, figure-hugging flares... and that was just some of the men! The heaving audience - many in Seventies fancy dress - lapped up every minute of the Festival's Saturday night concert.

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The Bay City Rollers, Steve Harley, Showaddywaddy, The Three Degrees, The Real Thing and Odyssey all had the crowds eating out of their hand.

The Best of the 70s gig hit the stage on the Saturday of Whitehaven’s Diamond Jubilee Festival.

It became a party night to remember with all the bands performing their biggest hits on the harbourside.

Gerard Richardson, the festival’s chief organiser, said: “This took quite a while to put together but it was definitely worth all the effort. To get to number one in the 70s you had to actually sell tens of thousands of physical records whereas today you just need to get all your family to buy an itunes download. That’s why the music is so good and timeless.

“The Three Degrees flew in from the States for this gig which in itself is fabulous, and I cannot think of a better way to party in a festival weekend.”

Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel’s biggest hit was Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me) in 1975. It’s a song which has really stood the test of time – having been covered 120 times over the years, including by Duran Duran. They also had a top ten hit with a cover of The Beatles hit Here Comes The Sun.

The Bay City Rollers have sold over 300 million albums worldwide and they brought their big back catalogue to Whitehaven.

Les McKeown’s Bay City Rollers performed smash hits such as Bye Bye Baby,Shanga Lang, Summer Love Sensation and All Of Me Loves All Of You.

Say the name Showaddywaddy and you immediately think Hey Rock and Roll, Three Steps to Heaven and Under The Moon of Love – all were belted out at the show.

And The Three Degrees' When Will I See You Again, which topped the charts in the UK and the USA, brought an elegance and stunning vocal harmony to the evening.

The American girl group’s other hits include the likes of Take Good Care Of Yourself and Woman In Love.

Liverpool’s The Real Thing - still going strong with their original line-up after 39 years - stormed the charts with songs such as Can You Feel The Force, Can’t Get By Without You, You To Me Are Everything and they got the audience singing along in no time.

And Native New Yorker, Use It Up And Wear It Out and the re-working of the classic Going Back To My Roots came from soul and disco act Odyssey.

First published at 11:06, Thursday, 01 March 2012
Published by http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk