Steve (or Stephen) Bent (1952- ) is an actor from the Isle Of Man, who was initially a well-known face on British TV for his role as Gerry Hurst in the ATV tea-time soap opera Crossroads. In common with other actors from that series, he released a self-penned spin-off single on ATV-owned Bradley's Records (which also had the Goodies on its roster) in 1976 entitled I'm Going To Spain. (Bent appeared on ATV's talent show New Faces on 6 March 1976, apparently performing this song.) It is a medium-paced ballad, arranged for brass, guitar and castanets, chronicling the singer's desire to escape from his factory job and emigrate to Spain: most of the criticism of Bent's opus stems not from the performance but the questionable lyrics ("The factory presented me with some tapes of Elton John / They packed me up some sandwiches / And I hate them, yes I hate the cheese and pickle"). There is also a mention of a Cousin Norman (which may or may not be inspired by the Marmalade hit of that title) who "had a real fine time last year" and a musical reference to John's 1972 hit Rocket Man.
It is presumably this feature that inspired listeners to Kenny Everett's show on Capital Radio in 1977 to vote it into his 'bottom 30' chart of the worst songs ever recorded at number 18 (the broadcast can be found, along with more chart details, here). The song was later released (on appropriately vomit-coloured vinyl) by K-Tel on The World's Worst Record Show in 1978. Bent's musical career continued with the Showbiz XI, a conglomeration that included Jess Conrad (another Everett bottom 30 favourite). He has since concentrated on his acting in a variety of genres.
Years later, the Fall included a version of it on The Infotainment Scan and Peel played the two back to back, remarking that Steve would probably be receiving some royalties from the song at last. The Fall's version made #22 in that year's Festive Fifty (one vote coming from a Lithuanian listener who believed it was called 'Going To Spend').
Festive Fifty Entries
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Sessions
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Other Shows Played
- 24 April 1993: 'I'm Going To Spain (7")' (Bradley's)