Turn on to Jesus? Hell no!

There’s something about nearly forgotten songs that sparks a little joy, isn’t there? The ones that never quite made it to classic status but had their moment - perhaps a brief stint on the radio, a chart position that looked promising before fizzling out, or a life in the depths of someone’s tear stained teenage memories. These songs become time capsules, reminders of a particular moment that, without them, might just slip away entirely. Which brings me to Turn On to Jesus by City Boy. Or, as it later became, 5705.

City Boy were one of those bands that never quite got the household name treatment but had enough of a run to make a dent in the music weeklies, even if only briefly. Originally formed in Birmingham in the early 70s, they were neither glam nor punk. And certainly not prog. They occupied a derelict postcode with near neighbours Be-Bop Deluxe; both knew their way around a song but never quite nailed their colours to a particular mast. And then there was Turn On to Jesus. From what I can make out the song started as a tongue-in-cheek take on the whole religious revival movement that was on the rise at the time: tent preachers, televangelists, the whole “come into the light” schtick. The song had the melody and structure of a hit, but the suits at Phonogram - perhaps wisely - suggested they tweak it a bit.(Some bands listen to their record companies, some don't.) A song about Jesus might have raised a few eyebrows, and not necessarily in the way that sells records. So, the band went back to the drawing board and, basically, rewrote it. The result? 5705. Same tune, different words; suddenly a song about salvation became a song about waiting by the phone for a girl to call. Less controversy, more teenage heartbreak. And it worked. 5705 became City Boy’s biggest hit, reaching number 8 in the UK in 1978.

Would Turn On to Jesus have been the bigger song? Not that I think it would have been a massive hit, but in a weird way, its quirkiness might have given it a different kind of longevity. Maybe it would’ve become one of those cult oddities that people dig up years later, like some lost classic. Instead, 5705 did its thing, had its moment, and now lives on in those YouTube comments where people like Colin from Portsmouth say, “I haven’t heard this in years!” 

City Boy - Turn on to Jesus (1978)