Gilbert O'Sullivan - I'll Believe It When I See It (1975)

In 1974 Gilbert O'Sullivan released the stand-alone single 'Christmas Song', which reached No. 12 in the UK, but this was the start of a slow decline in his success, with subsequent singles tending to miss the top 20. 'Ooh Baby' and 'Happiness Is Me and You' charted, but sales were decreasing, and in June 1975 he had his last Top 20 hit with 'I Don't Love You But I Think I Like You'. Things turned even more sour when he discovered his recording contract with MAM Records greatly favoured the label's owner, Gordon Mills. A lawsuit followed, with prolonged argument over how much money his songs had earned and how much of that money he had actually received. Eventually, in May 1982, the court found in O'Sullivan's favour, describing him as a 'patently honest and decent man', who had not received a just proportion of the vast income his songs had generated. They awarded him £7,000,000.00 in damages, but although he'd won, the court battle put his recording career on hold. In 1980, after a five-year hiatus, he returned to his old record label CBS, and the first single 'What's In A Kiss?', put him back into the UK Top 20. Following this release, and due in part to the then-ongoing MAM court case, O'Sullivan released no new material between 1983 and 1986, and apart from the single 'So What?' in 1990 and a compilation album in 1991, he was absent from the charts until another compilation album, 'The Berry Vest Of Gilbert O'Sullivan', returned him to the UK Top 20 in 2004. O'Sullivan is also noted for his role in bringing about the practice of clearing samples in hip hop music, as a result of the 1991 court case, Grand Upright Music Ltd. v. Warner Bros. Records Inc. In this case he sued rapper Biz Markie over the rights to use a sample of his song 'Alone Again (Naturally)', and won 100% of the royalties, making sampling an expensive undertaking from that point on. His most successful years as a singer/songwriter were from 1971 to 1975, so I'm concentrating on the non-album singles and b-sides from those four years, and the fact that I can make up two albums of them shows just what a prolific talent he was during that period. He's still writing and recording today, but for most of us he'll always be remembered for those classic songs from the early 70's. The cover is based on a painting by John Springfield.  

  
Track listing

01 Why, Oh Why, Oh Why (single 1973)
02 You Don't Have To Tell Me (b-side of 'Why, Oh Why, Oh Why')
03 Christmas Song (single 1974)
04 To Cut A Long Story Short (b-side of 'Christmas Song')
05 Happiness Is Me And You (single 1974)
06 Breakfast, Dinner And Tea (b-side of 'Happiness Is Me And You')
07 Going Home (single 1974)
08 Come To See Me Yesterday (single 1974)
09 Get Out Of My Life (b-side of 'Come To See Me Yesterday')
10 I'll Believe It When I See It (single 1975)
11 Just As You Are (b-side of 'I'll Believe It When I See It')
12 You Are You (single 1975)
13 Tell Me Why (b-side of 'You Are You')