It's a Long Way To Heaven / Mark James

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First the song, perfectly performed and..sad, one of the saddest TPF songs, the lyrics and the way DC sings it.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utV6giIxkcw

The song was written by Mark James (born Francis Rodney Zambar in 1940) and I'd loved to hear him in conversation with Louise Poynton for her podcast. Very talented songwriter, he wrote songs for Brenda Lee or Elvis Presley. And what songs - 'Suspicious Minds' and 'Always On My Mind'. The latter song was a great hit when it was later recorded by Willie Nelson, and in the UK by Pet Shop Boys.

 In 1972 Mark James signed a long-term contract with Screen Gems-Columbia Music. He wrote 3 songs for TPF. 'It's a Long Way To Heaven' appeared on  that ill-fated album, 'Crossword Puzzle'. The album was released in March 1973, the final TPF record to make the album charts, peaked at #167 on Billboard 200. 

 Bell Records released 3 TPF albums and 2 David's in 1972, it was  a lot even for the most loyal fans. Truly speaking too many albums and what's more, suddenly TPF's music sounded very old-fashioned, out of date..1973 was one of those years in the music history. Yes, the most popular song according to Billboard was 'Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree' (can you believe it ??)..but in that year we also got such albums as 'Dark Side of The Moon' Pink Floyd or Elton's 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road' or Led Zeppelin 'Houses of the Holy'.

But let's return to TPF and those cunning and sly guys from Screen Gems, Bell Records and Columbia . They knew they had exaggerated and they also lost faith in TPF, so they chose not to release a single from Crossword Puzzle, even if 8 songs were used in episodes. In 1973 there was one  more, last TPF album with (also) 2 songs written by Mark James - Roller Coaster and one of my fav 'Where Do We Go From Here'. It was a very popular  question at the time..What are we going to do with The Partridge Family..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dreVCZhvbk

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