Retro Music 55

~ beetleypete

Hard to believe it is almost 53 years ago that I heard this record on my car radio. It had the feel of Motown, but was by someone I had never heard of before. Off I went to the shop to buy the single, and as I only remembered the title, I was glad that they had it in stock.

I soon discovered that it had been written and composed by former Motown producers Holland–Dozier–Holland (under the pseudonym of Edythe Wayne) and Ron Dunbar, and that Invictus Records was their own new label. I also found out that Freda Payne had been well known on the Jazz circuit and had also worked in theatre as an actress. Her release of ‘Band oF Gold’ scored a top ten hit on both sides of the Atlantic, followed up by ‘Deeper and Deeper’, which I also bought.

However, she left Invictus in 1973, and never had the same fame after that, although she continued to work steadily in both acting and singing right up until 2021.

Now that you’re gone
All that’s left is a band of gold
All that’s left of the dreams I hold
Is a band of gold
And the memories of what love could be
If you were still here with me
You took me from the shelter of my mother, I had never known
Or loved any other
We kissed after taking vows
But that night on our honeymoon
We stayed in separate rooms
I wait in the darkness of my lonely room
Filled with sadness, filled with gloom
Hoping soon
That you’ll walk back through that door
And love me like you tried before
Since you’ve been gone
All that’s left is a band of gold
All that’s left of the dreams I hold
Is a band of gold
And the dream of what love could be
If you were still here with me
Oh, don’t you know that I wait
In the darkness of my lonely room
Filled with sadness, filled with gloom
Hoping soon
That you’ll walk back through that door
And love me like you tried before
Since you’ve been gone
All that’s left is a band of gold
All that’s left of the dreams I hold
Is a band of gold
And the dream of what love could be
If you were still here with me
Since you’ve been gone
All that’s left is a band of gold
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Edythe Wayne / Ronald Dunbar
Band Of Gold lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group

36 thoughts on “Retro Music 55”

  12. For some weird reason, this song always brings back a random memory of sitting on a bus, on the way to visit my mother in 1971; stranger still, because there can’t have been a radio on the bus—unless I had a trannie with me at the time? Possible, I suppose. Cheers, Jon.

    Liked by 1 person

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