Tom Jones’ First Hit Of The ‘70s
By the dawn of the 1970s, Tom Jones had been a major singing star for five years, with ten UK top ten hits to his name, seven other chart singles and huge international success. On April 18, 1970, he scored his first UK hit of the new decade, and his biggest single there for two years, with ‘Daughter Of Darkness.’
The song, a typically dramatic creation well suited to Jones’ big voice, was written by regular British hitmakers Les Reed and Geoff Stephens (“You took my heart and broke it apart, you daughter of darkness”). It’s also notable as one of the many songs recorded in the late 1960s to feature a then-unknown British singer-songwriter by the name of Elton John, who sang backing vocals on it just as he had on Jones’ big 1968 success ‘Delilah.’
‘Daughter Of Darkness’ made its UK debut, this day 45 years ago, at No. 33, climbing to No. 17 and then No. 15. In something of a chart oddity, it then spent the first of three separate weeks at its No. 5 peak, in a 5-8-5-9-5 sequence, Tom’s best singles showing since ‘Help Yourself’ two years before.
The song was also a good-sized hit in the US, where it was already Jones’ 19th singles chart entry. ‘Darkness’ rose to No. 13 on the Hot 100 and went all the way to No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart. It spent a week atop that chart in June, before giving way to ‘The Wonder Of You’ by Jones’ friend Elvis Presley.
Listen to ‘Daughter Of Darkness’ on ‘Greatest Hits Rediscovered’ on Spotify
Download the album from Google Play or iTunes, or buy it on Amazon
Explore our dedicated Tom Jones Artist Page
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