Don Fardon

The Sorrows reached the British singles chart with Take a Heart in 1965, giving Fardon's forceful singing an early public setting. His solo work subsequently moved through songs and arrangements that connected beat music, pop and soul. The catalogue is wider than the few titles that became familiar: singles, different album programmes and live recordings all form part of that first run.

Indian Reservation appeared in his 1968 repertoire before becoming a British number-three single in 1970. Belfast Boy, also a 1970 hit, paid tribute to footballer George Best. The records ask for different kinds of emphasis, but both depend on a voice able to establish a character quickly. Fardon could make a short pop recording feel like a complete performance, with the phrasing carrying as much personality as the production.

I'm Alive was recorded in 1969 and found a much later audience, returning to the British independent singles chart in 2010. The gap is part of its appeal: a recording made for one musical moment can acquire a different function when another audience hears its rhythmic energy. The vocal attack gives the track enough momentum to stand comfortably beside newer dance-floor selections. Cherry Red's 2024 anthology I'm Alive: The Don Fardon Anthology 1967–1974 places that rediscovered favourite back among the surrounding singles, album tracks and BBC performances. The context reveals a working singer moving through a substantial body of material, rather than the owner of one accidental revival. The song's second life is compelling because the conviction in the original performance never needed updating.