Hold Me Close

This love song was written by David Essex and produced by the singer's regular collaborator Jeff Wayne. It was a late addition to the All The Fun of the Fair album. David Essex recalled in 1000 UK #1 Hits by Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh: "We were having so much fun making the album that we went past our deadline. We were being hounded by record executives from all over the world who were anxious to hear a playback. We were so up against it that I was still doing vocals for 'Hold Me Close' as record company hierarchy was sitting in the studio reception. I did two vocal takes followed by a quick half hour mix and the track was finished. After an hour and a half wait, the record company guys were led in, we offered our apologies and played them the track. They got their own back by keeping us waiting for a reaction to the song, but eventually the chief said he liked it and the compliments started to flow."

The song was the most commercial offering on the album and was released as the follow-up to the more heavyweight "Rolling Stone." "It's just a good-time song," Essex told Circus. "'Rolling Stone' stretched the market and credibility started to sneak in with the music papers. So instead of coming out with something heavy that would have made me 'solid, man,' I thought it would be nice to come out with something journalists would really hate - and they did hate it."

Though the music writers hated the song, Essex's fans lapped it up. It became his second and final UK #1 hit spending three weeks at the top of the chart in October 1975.