Tony Etoria

The shelf in your local independent record shop marked 'Welsh Disco' is not exactly groaning under a weight of shimmering vinyl. Here, though, is some vintage disco from Cardiff's Tony Etoria whose song I Can Prove It charted back in the summer of 1977. The self-penned ditty reached a heady number 21 in the hit parade. As you can see from this clip Etoria even appeared on Top of the Pops where he was introduced by David "Kid" Jensen. The song was successfully covered in 1986 by Phil Fearon who took it to number 8 in the charts. I have to say I prefer Tony's more soulful version. It was the Ely singer's only hit but it has stood the test of time remarkably well and would make a great cover version for some contemporary balladeer. Etoria eventually moved into radio broadcasting and still presents shows for BBC Radio Wales.