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“One Day At A Time” — Lena Martell
To say it was a surprise when Lena Martell had a UK Number One with “One Day At A Time” in 1979 is something of an understatement.
Unlike, say, the US Country charts, songs with religious themes tend not to sell well in the UK. And before you ask, no, “God Save The Queen” by the Sex Pistols isn’t about what you think it’s about…
Lena Martell was from Glasgow, not far from where I grew up, and she was quite a force on the West of Scotland music scene back in the 1970s and 80s.
The reason her 1979 UK Number One was such a surprise was not only did “One Day At A Time” have an overtly religious theme, it was a country song — traditionally another big no-no in the upper reaches of the UK charts.
If any UK-based singer was going to get the traction going on a country song with a religious theme back in the 1970s, though, it was likely to be an artist from the west of Scotland. Despite its relatively unpopularity in the UK as a whole, country music has always done well in and around my home town.
There’s a pretty reasonable evidence base that some of country music’s heritage stretches back to the Scottish and Irish folk music immigrants brought with them to the New World.
A sizeable number of them eventually settled in the lush green mountains of the Appalachians…
