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October 1965 (side B)
134 Plays5 days ago
October 1965. Beatles and Dylan, yes, but also Dionne, Little Anthony, Jonny Rivers, the Letterman and the Incredible Jimmy Smith! The Magical Mystery Camp (https://www.magicalmysterycamp.com/toppermost/) once again sponsors Toppermost for the 2026 year! #madeonzencastr. Support this podcast at the $6/month level on patreon to get extra content! Also, Create your own podcast today! #madeonzencastr
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Transcript
Sponsorship Message: Magical Mystery Camp
00:00:00
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This podcast is being sponsored by the Magical Mystery Camp. Love the Beatles? Ready to kick off your summer right? Music Masters Collective, The Fab Faux, and RPM Music School are delighted to once again bring you Magical Mystery Camp.
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Join us this June 16th through 19th, 2026 at the breathtaking Full Moon Resort in Big Indian, New York for Magical Mystery Camp, a one-of-a-kind music vacation exploring the music of the Beatles.
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Hosted by the Fab Foe with special guests Martin Sexton, Gail Ann Dorsey, Cindy Cashdoller, and more, this all-inclusive event includes...
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Nightly performances, interactive workshops, jam sessions, and plenty of opportunities for relaxation. Plus, there's special programming in honor of paul McCartney's 84th birthday.
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Whether you're a musician or simply a fan, join a vibrant community to celebrate the magic of the Beatles' music. Dive into workshops, write songs, stargaze, swim, or just take the breathtaking beauty of the Catskill landscapes.
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This unforgettable experience is crafted to refresh your spirit and ignite your creativity. Need a little help from your friends? Music Masters Collective also offers a scholarship program to make this experience accessible to more music lovers.
00:01:29
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Bring your instrument or just your good spirits And now, on to U.S. charts. The Beatles had this chant, John Paul and George, and probably then Stuart. register today at w ww w dot magicalm mysterystercamp dot com slash toppermost and now onto the us charts the beetle has had this ch john paul and george and probably then ste it and Pete had this charm when things weren't going well, which in their world wasn't very often because mostly it was an upward trajectory, but nonetheless, sometimes you they would have a bad night or the gig would you know didn't work properly or the amps broke or whatever. I say, where are we going fellas? And they'd go, to the top, Johnny.
00:02:13
Speaker
And I'd say, where's that fellas? they'd say, to the top of most of the pop-a-most. I'd say, right. And we'd all sort cheer up. Where are we going, Johnny? Straight to the top, boy.
00:02:23
Speaker
Oh yeah? Where's that? The toppermost of
00:02:33
Speaker
Welcome to October 1965, toppermost of the poppermost. Ed Chan. I'm Kit O'Toole. And I'm Martin Quibble.
Exploring the October 1965 U.S. Billboard Charts
00:02:43
Speaker
We are on to the Billboard charts starting the week of October the 2nd, 1965. Kit, you want to start us off with the song that Rick Derringer loved to Kit Ringo about? Okay. Well, we've got at number one, Hang On Slopey by the McCoys.
00:03:04
Speaker
At number three, Yesterday by of course, the Beatles. To help me out with this next song, I'd like to introduce some people I think you've seen already this evening.
00:03:22
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Live strings.
00:03:44
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Yesterday
00:03:47
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Oh my troubles seem so far away
00:04:22
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Number six, one of my mother's favorite songs, The In Crowd by Ramsey Lewis. And number seven, Treat Her Right by Royhead and The Traits. We'll be hearing from Mr. Head later. Yes, we will.
00:04:36
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At number 11, we've got Help by The Beatles.
00:04:47
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I'm so much younger than today. never needed anybody's help in any. But now these days are gone, I'm not so self-assure.
00:05:02
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Now I'll find a chain of mine, I'll open up the door.
00:05:19
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At number 28, we've got Mohair Sam by Charlie Rich. The song that Elvis and the Beatles loved. They did. At number 66, we've got new to these charts, but we covered this song on Cashbox.
00:05:33
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The fabulous Positively Fourth Street by Bob Dylan. At 72, we've got Act Naturally by the Beatles. The movie's gonna make me a big star Cause can play the part so well Well I hope you come and see me in the movies Then I know that you will plainly see The biggest fool that ever hit me big time And all I gotta do is act naturally
00:06:22
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At 76, new to Billboard, but we've already covered this on Cashbox. Rescue Me by Fontalabas, which is banger, an absolute classic.
00:06:33
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At number 80, another one that's new to Billboard, but we've covered it on Cashbox. Take Me In Your Harms, Rock Me A Little While by Kim Weston. So we move on to our first new track this month on the US side at number 82, Say Something Funny by Patty Duke.
00:06:54
Speaker
Well, it's a Patty Duke vocal. Decent but milk toast. I'm not really a fan of that backing. And the way she sings that pause, she's got you is just corny.
00:07:14
Speaker
She's got you. Say something funny to me. Make me laugh so they won't see how much it hurts.
00:07:26
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Loving you the way I do and knowing I'm losing you.
00:07:37
Speaker
The drumming is good. The contrasting vocals over the fade out are just a mess. Loma.
00:07:56
Speaker
I did not like this. Starting off, very average pop song. Nothing remarkable about it. Cliched lyrics, annoying backing singers. And Patti just did not have a strong voice when it really shows on this track.
00:08:13
Speaker
Look at how they envy us. They don't know we're single. The backing track and the strings are trying to cover up her, shall we say, a lack of vocal ability. The lyrics are just sicky sweet in many ways and cliched in others. It sounds like an early 1960s track rather than 1965. It just sounds so dated. It was a miss for me. It just really grated on me for some reason. I may like it just slightly, slightly more, mainly because I like that drumming. The drumming pretty good. Yep.
00:08:49
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Ed likes it more than me as well. okay Boring, musically meh, all been done before, better, turn it off. Good summary. It's all been done before, but better.
00:09:02
Speaker
At number 83, I Miss You So by Little Anthony and the Imperials. Well, another record that starts with a big overblown opening.
00:09:39
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I miss you so
00:09:45
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When Lil Anthony comes in, he has to rush just to keep up, and he barely does. That hurts the record in a big way. The strings don't really work.
00:09:56
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The backing vocals are corny, as we just said about the Patty Duke song. Most of all I
00:10:08
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miss you so much
00:10:17
Speaker
They make the Mike Sam singer sound restrained. And then what's with that violin? yeah the record only gets worse. Low, low, man. Maybe even a lower man than the Patty Duke song. We're pretty much on the same page, Ed. Now, I love Lil' Anthony and the Imperials, but, oh boy, yeah, the way overdone string opening. I mean, almost sounds like it's trying to be a movie theme, and it doesn't fit.
00:10:43
Speaker
Lil' Anthony does... As good a job as he can with the vocals, but he doesn't have a lot to work with here. And then the strings, my gosh. This was actually the 101 Strings group, which was an orchestra. They ranged anywhere from 128 to players.
00:11:03
Speaker
And they worked on Broadway musical scores and and many others. That's why the strings are so huge on this. When it's just the softer strings, drums, and a little guitar, it's better. Marginally, but it's better. Terrible chorus of female backing singers. It's like Lawrence Welk produced it, even though it was Teddy Randazzo, of course, worked with them many, many times.
00:11:29
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101 Strings would go on to record an album entitled 101 Strings Play the Hits Written by the Beatles. Ah, there you go.............
00:12:01
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Quick song, thankfully, but still did nothing for me. Miss? Meh? Miss. Okay. So the first two songs, Marv is not very happy with. No.
00:12:13
Speaker
No. We'll see whether this one is any better, although I kind of doubt it is. At number 84, A Lifetime of Loneliness by Jackie DeShannon. This is not Jackie DeShannon's best.
00:12:26
Speaker
No.
00:12:45
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You are the judge and I'm your prisoner. Don't sentence me.
00:13:00
Speaker
Those kettle drums come in and they're just way too much. You strip away 60% of the orchestra and 70% of the backing vocals and there's a pretty nice tune here.
00:13:11
Speaker
But everything that's good about this record really just gets lost. Meh. First of all, Burt Bacharach and Hal David wrote this song, which I find astounding, but they did. Again, overly dramatic string arrangement, and yes, that kettle drum. That didn't work at all. That was so unnecessary. Didn't like, I'm assuming that's double tracking on her voice in the verses, and it's not very well done. And ah her upper register clashes with the lower register and not in a good way.
00:13:42
Speaker
The lyrics are the usual, come back to me, I'm so lonely, and it just goes nowhere. Loma. So that people realize the level of greatness, sarcasm, of this song. This Burt Bacharach and Al David song has only been recorded three times.
00:14:04
Speaker
First in 1963 by a frequent visitor to the the show, Steve Alemo. In March 1963, it didn't chart. This is the only version that charted because then in 1973, it was recorded by Tina Harvey and released and did nothing as well. The stark doubling of the vocal doesn't work. Yes.
00:14:26
Speaker
That is dreadful. Yep. The fact that they're so separate from each other, and it's there, but she's doing really, really low in comparison to the high voice that she's got. They just don't work. If they were close harmonized, it would be really nice, almost like double tracking. But doing it that way, it's awful. Yeah, it was like nails screeching down a blackboard. Now let's see what Kit thinks of this one.
00:14:50
Speaker
At number 90, Run Baby Run Back Into My Arms by the New Beats. Well, the New Beats keep on trying. Well, at least the falsetto here is curtailed to Frankie Valli levels.
00:15:05
Speaker
The backing isn't too bad, but it does feel like a poor copy of Sugar Pie Honey Bunch. There is a better performance of the song from Roy Orbison later in the decade that just about works. Still, I actually almost like this version from the newbies. I'll even go as high as a very low hit.
00:15:27
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oh Okay, well...
00:15:46
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Oh
00:16:10
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Can we say Motown ripoff? Wow. We get real Motown ripoff coming up. Yes, we do. God, have we And by the way, yeah, this is something you're going to notice, listeners, as you're hearing this with lots of Motown imitators. I mean, it just shows you how big they were at this point. But yeah, this is the first in many. Motown imitation in strings, drum and bass, everything. You know, it's uptempo.
00:16:36
Speaker
But Larry Henley's vocals are annoying as usual. Maybe slightly lower than, say, Bread and Butter, but not enough for me. ah Betty is a mere. She called it tourable and harrible. Your mom doubled down on this one.
00:16:52
Speaker
She really did. This really ticked her off. I don't think it's quite that bad, but it's not great. And it did get some play in Northern Soul Clubs in the 70s. I give this a meh.
00:17:03
Speaker
Go and listen to the Roy Orbison version. He actually makes it into something. Now, for somebody like me that doesn't mind quite a bit of Northern Soul, my impression of this was low-level Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons impersonators attempting to put a bit of a Motown beat in the background.
00:17:26
Speaker
yep Are you going to go with Betty, are you going to go with Kit, are you going to go with me? might be tempted to go with Betty. Ooh! Wow, I'll tell her. We're all pretty different on this, although, like you say, none of us are going to say this is a banger. No!
00:17:41
Speaker
They're all different levels of bad. Yes! yeah Again, I'm very, very, very low hit. I'll go above meh, but... Yeah, instead of 50 shades of grey, it's three shades of meh.
00:17:54
Speaker
yeah Another one we may have some disagreement on here at number 91. Just One Kiss From You by The Impressions. Yep, it's those Curtis Mayfield chord changes.
00:18:07
Speaker
A bit too much on the drums, but not like we've heard on those other records. Great vocals, good backing. It's a good enough song, but I might have preferred the sweet to be dialed back half a notch, or maybe even more than half a notch.
00:18:21
Speaker
I will go with a low hit on this. I agree. Yeah, low hit. It's definitely not among the impressions best. Not crazy about the percussion, but particularly those weird, almost military drum-like fills. Yeah. three beats in between the verses.
00:18:37
Speaker
The rolling drum. Yeah. Why, Curtis? Why? That was totally unnecessary.
00:18:52
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For myself, if I had just one wish, it would be just this.
00:19:02
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You, my love, for now and ever. Great lead vocal, though, from Curtis Mayfield, as always. The strings are pretty. They accent the Curtis staple jazz chord changes.
00:19:16
Speaker
But the middle eight is just too much. I thought the horns were way too prominent. I mean, they suddenly come in and I was almost startled. It's a sound out of sync with the rest of the mood of the song. I would have preferred a simple doo-wop arrangement with minimal instrumentation. Love Curtis's vocals, however, and that's what makes it a low hit.
00:19:40
Speaker
We're all going to surprise Ed here. I'm a huge fan of the Impressions and Curtis Mayfield, but this song, it wins for me because of their vocals. I love the vocals, but the arrangement was just wrong. I would have pulled it back to basic laid-back guitar, brushed drums, background bass, and then allow their vocals, like Kit said, almost more doo-wop with the vocals and let them have prominence and pull back the backing.
00:20:14
Speaker
And we've got our first Cashbox review from this month. Cashbox tells us, The impressions are a logical cinch to repeat their last time out smash-a-roo of I Need You with this potent pop R&B follow-up labeled Just One Kiss From You.
00:20:33
Speaker
The side is a plaintive, slow-shuffling romancer about an easy-going fella who is really hung up on the girl of his dreams.
00:20:43
Speaker
not gail Not gal. Not gal. On the Undercut, LaCrue offers an impressive reading of the years back Platters hit Twilight Time. Hmm. Well, at least they didn't call it ensure to generate the green or something.
00:20:57
Speaker
Yeah. They do say it's going to be smash-a-roo, so. Smash-a-roo. Love it. Love it. at Number 92. Where have all the flowers gone by Johnny Rivers? Well, preempting our previous complaint, Johnny Rivers definitely feels what he's singing. i don't know what he feels, but he definitely feels something. It's not what Pete Seeger intended him to feel. This version just doesn't work with Johnny Rivers singing in that fashion.
00:21:27
Speaker
That young girl's pick them when he's singing about those flowers is nothing more than cringy. Where have all the young girls gone?
00:21:41
Speaker
Long time passing. Where have all the young girls gone? Long time ago. Where have all the young girls gone?
00:21:55
Speaker
Taking husbands, everyone. When will they ever learn?
00:22:10
Speaker
I don't like the backing. I do kind of like it a little bit when it goes up tempo, but that just takes away from the lyrical symbolism of the lyrics. There's no emotion when the drums pick up.
00:22:25
Speaker
I like the fact that the drums are trying to go to a marching beat, but again, Johnny's vocal just kills it. That whole reading of where have all the graveyards gone is almost a monotone.
00:22:38
Speaker
A pop version of this tune could work, but this one isn't it. Low meh. Maybe a high miss. He took it to the graveyard. Yep. It's a typical Johnny Rivers arrangement, but come on, that doesn't work with where of all the flowers gone. With the hand clapping, it's just strange. Between each chorus, he suddenly breaks into a heavier rhythm guitar to rock it up a bit. Because, ah yes, he's not going to do straight folk. But it just doesn't work with the song. The female backing singers are annoying with the oohs and even more cheesiness. And then, yes, Where Have All the Graveyards Gone? Followed by the background singers saying, Ooh-wee-oo!
00:23:21
Speaker
What? Where have all the graveyards gone? Long time passing Where have all the graveyards gone A long time ago Where have all the graveyards gone Gone to flowers everyone When will they ever learn When will they end
00:23:58
Speaker
What a weird juxtaposition. Johnny's voice is fine. It's passable, but it just doesn't work. I will disagree with you on Johnny's voice is fine. I mean, he sings it okay. He sings in tune, but it just doesn't fit at all.
00:24:14
Speaker
No, he doesn't feel it. This is a serious song. I not only rate this low, meh, if we had an awkward rating, I would give this an A for awkward rating. The ooey-oos, I heard that, and i was thinking of an alternative to the thriller video, where he's there doing it, and then all these dead bodies suddenly appear, rising up from the grave, like, ooey-oo.
00:24:42
Speaker
We're so scary, ooey-oo.
00:24:46
Speaker
Because an it appears from the back. Formulaic and um dreadful. This is a mistake. Cashbox disagrees with us, though. Of course they do.
00:24:57
Speaker
What they tell us is Johnny Rivers is an obvious choice to duplicate his recent Seventh Son bestseller, and you'll remember I gave Seventh Son a hit. Yeah, you liked that.
00:25:08
Speaker
And I liked it pretty well. With this first-rate reading of Pete Seeger's oft-cut Where Have All the Flowers Gone, the chanter reads the anti-war pop folk item in an impressive, hard-rockin', contagious fashion.
00:25:25
Speaker
Love Me While You Can is a rhythmic, raunchy, chorus-backed, twangy romancer. And you're going to that on the B-side of this record? Yeah, right. That would have been fun. And I just love that. A hard-rockin', contagious song. This is Where Have All The Flowers Gone. What?
00:25:44
Speaker
Yeah, and considering Pete Seeger was not real excited about Dylan going electric, and you wonder what he thought when he heard this. Oh, he must have thrown up when he heard this. Absolutely.
00:25:55
Speaker
At least we've got the birds later to make up for that. Yes. At number 93, Secretly by the Letterman, which we covered on the Cashbox side last month.
00:26:08
Speaker
At number 97, Looking with My Eyes by Dionne Warwick. Another Burt Bacharach, Hal David song.
00:26:21
Speaker
Well, here I go again. Looking with my eyes. Things look bad for me.
00:26:31
Speaker
Seeing with my heart, I just close my eyes.
00:26:43
Speaker
Darling, darling, darling, don't you ever go away from me. It's a nice song, but it doesn't really surprise me at all until the piano bit comes in. The backing is flat out bad and falls into TV theme song territory.
00:27:01
Speaker
The backing vocals don't work either. I'm not really sure that the record needed that double time bit. It's over.
00:27:14
Speaker
and All in all, it probably needed another pass, but Dion does work hard enough and provides a good enough vocal to keep the record going.
00:27:24
Speaker
Hi, man. Yeah, I wasn't crazy about this either. i mean, had some promise in some of the chord changes, although the chord changes were very strange in the middle eight. This didn't quite work for me. Dionne uses a great bit of her range here, and she's one of the few people who could interpret these Bacharach and David melodies that are so difficult. But I also thought it was odd that Burt Bacharach tries some different piano playing styles in this. You know, flourishes at one moment, almost pounding in the next. And it just doesn't quite work.
00:27:59
Speaker
I like it slightly less than you, Ed. But just slightly. I'll give it a meh. I'd agree it's sort of a meh. The piano bits are weird. It's the first time the record surprised me.
00:28:10
Speaker
What's surprising? didn't say it's good, but it is surprising. I think I will single out something from this that I really did like, though. Those 16ths on the hi-hat by the drummer are fabulous.
00:28:23
Speaker
Mm-mm.
00:28:31
Speaker
Oh, my darling, my darling, don't ever go far away from me. He's doing something really interesting with the rhythm of the cymbal on the drums, and that sort of got me. He's going like a... There's all that going on, i thought, that's interesting.
00:28:50
Speaker
But other than Dion's voice, it's the only thing that was interesting about it. is At number 99, another record which I kind of view in kind of the same way, He Touched Me by Barbra Streisand.
00:29:06
Speaker
And it's from the musical production Drat the Cat. We'll talk about that a little bit before we move on to next week. This song was arranged by Don Costa. and was produced by our old friend Bob Mersey. It's not their best work.
00:29:22
Speaker
A really good vocal from Babs, but I don't care for much of the backing. There's enough there in this track to be listenable, but it's not great. A low hit, and that's only for Babs' voice. I agree. Beautiful vocals. But I thought the bridge was way too overdramatic. Barbara had really up the volume voice, increase the intensity to be heard over all that.
00:29:48
Speaker
knew it. I know
00:30:28
Speaker
she just had to adjust for the over-the-top string arrangement. And the song itself is just not that interesting to begin with. And I think I like it a little less than you had. Oh yeah, not much. Not much. Barbara deserves much better. I'd give it a high meh.
00:30:43
Speaker
Okay, I will quickly say that I'll be the same as Ed and give it low hit for her voice on this, because her voice is great. I mean, the song itself, it's all right. You could misinterpret the song title nowadays as a Me Too statement, couldn't you?
00:31:15
Speaker
He touched them. But not the greatest song. So you bring up the lyrics. How did the record get away with this one line? I feel such a wonderful drive toward valentining.
00:31:31
Speaker
Valentining? Wow, I didn't know that was a verb. Exactly. real and the world is alive
00:31:45
Speaker
What rhymes with shining? Oh, I know. Valentine. We'll just make up a word. Close enough. As mentioned, this song came from the musical Drat the Cat.
00:31:58
Speaker
Not that darn cat, which we talked about in our feature this month. Yeah, that's right. That's a better of thing. Yes. Now, Drat the Cat ran for exactly 11 performances. A banger.
00:32:11
Speaker
yeah The reason Babs was doing this song, Elliot Gould was the star of Drat the Cat. Mr. Streisand. The female lead was Leslie Ann Warren, believe it or not. Yeah, I mean, that's a good cast. You know it wasn't a great musical.
00:32:30
Speaker
No. The music and lyrics were by Ira Levine and Milton Schaefer, and the musical was about a cat burglar, Leslie Ann Warren, plundering New York society in the eighteen ninety s oh At number 100, closing out this week's Billboard charts, The Organ Grinder Swing by Jimmy Smith with Kenny Burrell and Grady Tate.
00:32:57
Speaker
Okay. The Organ Grinder Swing is an old song. This version would have been better without those twee vocals. It's somewhat more jammy in this version.
00:33:10
Speaker
The opening feels like the theme of a late night show to me.
00:33:31
Speaker
Paul Schaefer was there listening to this. Nice guitar and the organ works. It's a hit, but not a huge one. But that may only be because I like this sort of thing.
00:33:42
Speaker
Yeah, I like this too. i agree with you on the vocals. That was unnecessary. And also the ending is very abrupt, but love Kenny Burrell's guitar solo.
00:33:53
Speaker
That was a great song. And yes, this is a case of good organ. And of course, Jimmy Smith is known for playing jazz organ. has a little bit of a blues flavor in this as well. And even though it's got its flaws, I would give it a hit. I enjoyed it. Well, I surprised people by saying I knew this one already.
00:34:12
Speaker
Oh, wow. Because I was interested in the album because I saw the album somewhere. It's on Verve Records, which a lot of jazz people will know is a great jazz label. I was first interested in it because of the fact that I saw Kenny Burrell's name on there.
00:34:27
Speaker
who is a superb guitarist and shows how amazing he is with that great solo that he gets in this song. Like you said, if it had stayed instrumental without all the vocal-y bits on it, it would have been much better.
00:34:40
Speaker
But I enjoyed it. I just wish it it had been without the voices and allowed to go on for about another minute and a half. Well, as mentioned, this is actually an old song which was first published in 1936. It was composed by Will Hudson and became associated with the Jimmy Lunsford Orchestra.
00:35:01
Speaker
Hudson based this tune on the nursery rhyme, I Love Coffee, I Love Tea. And if you listen to the Four Aces version, you can very clearly hear that it is derived from that nursery rhyme. Not so much in this version.
00:35:17
Speaker
All right, we move on to the second week, John Lennon's birthday, the week ending the 9th of October, 1965.
00:35:29
Speaker
Marv, what had taken over the number one spot? Yesterday by the Beatles.
00:35:42
Speaker
Suddenly, I'm not half the man I used to be. Because now I'm an amputee.
00:36:13
Speaker
Okay. Yesterday... All my troubles seem so far away. Where are the other Beatles songs this week, Marv?
00:36:24
Speaker
At number 15, we've got an actual Lennon-led song, Help. We'd like to do the title song from the last film we made, you haven't...
00:36:35
Speaker
Which you haven't seen yet, I don't think. Anyway, it's also our latest record and it's on wax and it's called Help.
00:36:47
Speaker
I need somebody, help, not just anybody, help, you know need someone, help.
00:36:56
Speaker
When I was younger, so much younger than today Never needed anybody's help in any way But now these days are gone, I'm not so self-assured And now I find I've changed my mind and opened up the doors And at number 51, we've got a Ringo-led song with his cover version of Act Naturally.
00:37:24
Speaker
And I would like to do something we don't often do. Give someone a chance to sing. just often sing. And here he is, all out of key and nervous, singing Act Naturally, Ringo.
00:37:35
Speaker
Ringo.
00:37:45
Speaker
They're gonna make a big start out of me We'll make a film about a man that's sad and lonely
00:38:00
Speaker
So it's interesting that both sides of the yesterday single were in the charts, but I'm down was not interesting. Yeah. That is weird. I'm down. He's a banger.
00:38:11
Speaker
It is. It could be that the DJs just didn't flip it over, or it also could have been the, a little Richard pastiche was sounding kind of old in 1965 to some of the kids.
00:38:22
Speaker
We move on to number 64, and there's that other band with Get Off of My Cloud by the Rolling Stones, a Jagger Richards composition.
00:38:33
Speaker
I love the opening from Charlie Watts.
00:38:47
Speaker
And in fact, I love Charlie's drumming through the whole record. A really good Mick Jagger vocal is slightly tentative. Keith puts in some great guitar licks.
00:38:57
Speaker
Big hit. I agree. That's exactly what I wrote. Big hit. One of my favorite early Stones songs. There's so much to like about this. As you said, Ed Charlie Watts' drumming, not only in the opening, but he does some great fills throughout this.
00:39:48
Speaker
Really strong Mick Jagger vocal. I love how he interprets the subject of ah young rebellion and angst. It's a catchy refrain, complete with hand claps, the snarling lead vocal. Now, interestingly, I guess Keith Richards wasn't thrilled with this production. He wanted it slower.
00:40:08
Speaker
It's almost like the Stones version of Help. Yeah, but he's wrong. It's a great song. Big hit. Yeah, great song. And this song shows that they are growing as songwriters. And I like the production. I like the speed that it goes at. And I also really like Ian Stewart's piano on this. Mm-hmm.
00:40:30
Speaker
So what Keith said was that the song was a reaction to their suddenly greatly enhanced popularity and deals with their aversion to people's expectations of them after the success of Satisfaction. So it's also kind of a Stones version of Don't Bother Me. Yeah.
00:40:49
Speaker
Continuing, Get Off of My Cloud was basically a response to people knocking on our door, asking us, what's the follow-up to Satisfaction? We thought, well, at last, we can sit back and maybe think about events.
00:41:01
Speaker
Suddenly, there's just this knock at the door, and of course, what came out of that was Get Off of My Cloud. I never dug it as a record. The course was a nice idea, but we rushed it as the follow-up.
00:41:12
Speaker
We were in LA where Satisfaction was recorded and it was time for another single. But how do you follow up Satisfaction? Actually, what I wanted was to do it slow, like a Lee Dorsey thing.
00:41:24
Speaker
We rocked it up. I thought it was one of Andrew Luke Oldham's worst productions. Wow. Disagree. Paul talks about he doesn't know what a hit is. The Stones really don't know what a hit is. Yeah.
00:41:35
Speaker
ah They were saying some of the same things about Satisfaction. And in fact, they recorded Satisfaction twice. Yeah. And so we've got a passel of reviews on this.
00:41:45
Speaker
Marv, you want to read the cash box? I'll read the billboard and we'll let Kit read the record world review. Wow. You're making his work this week. Yeah. So cash box says the group hit the number one sloth.
00:41:58
Speaker
Last time out with satisfaction and they should certainly continue in their tremendously successful ways with this excellent follow-up. The top side get off of my cloud is a rollicking, fast-moving, blues-soaked thumper with an infectious, danceable beat.
00:42:18
Speaker
The Billboard Review described the song as wild, far-out beat number, which will have no trouble topping their Satisfaction smash. Well, it never quite topped it, but it did get close to it, I think. Yep.
00:42:32
Speaker
And then Record World said, that the Rolling Stones dispense some more of their very thick and funky rock. So they all agree it's funky, bluesy, it's fast-moving. Eh, okay, I mean, know, the three major U.S. record publications all liked it, huh?
00:42:51
Speaker
Mm-hmm. rightly so. And one more thing before we move on from this. Mick Jagger talked about the song in 95 during an interview with Rolling Stone. That was Keith's melody in my lyrics. It's a stop-bugging-me post-teenage alienation song. The grown-up world was a very ordered society in the early 60s, and I was coming out of it. America was even more ordered than anywhere else.
00:43:15
Speaker
I found it was a very restrictive society in thought and behavior and dress. Right on. Sonny Bono would agree with you. Mm-hmm. And at number 68, But Your Mind by Sonny and Cher, which we covered this month over on the UK side. So this is appearing in both charts ah at the same time.
00:43:36
Speaker
Thankfully, they didn't record that with Dave Ungate and Steve Lucifer.
00:43:42
Speaker
number 71 ain't that peculiar by marvin gay it's another one of those great marvin gay tunes a really amazing vocal nice if ever so slightly too high in the mix backing vocals i love that cascading bit where it's you know tears tears tears the piano solo is a perfect compliment big hit Big hit and also banger in all capital letters. I love, love this song. It's always been one of my favorite Marvin Gaye songs. That piano. James Jamerson's bass. It's dog-gone shame, for you seem But the truth love longer make stronger?
00:44:20
Speaker
dog-gone shame, love But the Why do stronger? dog-gone love your But the truth love Why Why do lies my love dog-gone you your the makes longer last longer? love longer?
00:44:57
Speaker
subtle horns, but they're there. The driving beat, and then on top of it, that Marvin rasp and gospel drenched vocals. It just doesn't get any better than this. And it was produced by Smokey Robinson and was written by Robinson as well as fellow Miracles members Bobby Rogers, Pete Moore, and Marv Tarplin, and they wrote many songs together, but this is just a standout. I love this song.
00:45:27
Speaker
I'm going to carry that torch on and say, how about that really great guitar playing by Marv Tarplin that's on this as well? Great song, top-notch, can't say any more than that.
00:45:39
Speaker
So once again, we've got reviews from each of the three major record publications of the time, and our friends over at Motown Junkies. So Billboard said that the penetrating hard drive dance beat backs another soulful first-rate gay performance.
00:45:59
Speaker
Gay G-A-Y-E, you should note. Marv? So Cashbox described it as a rollicking, rhythmic, pop-blues, romantic hand-clapper about a lovestruck fella, fella,
00:46:13
Speaker
who can't get along with his gal. And then Kit? All right, then Wrecker World said, oh, there's a little pun here, the Detroit Beach gets going in high speed on this Marvy gay slice.
00:46:28
Speaker
Again, G-A-Y-E. Yes. Marvy, get it? young Nice. Not subtle. not Not at all. Well, I mean, are any of these reviews subtle, Marv?
00:46:41
Speaker
Yeah, they knew how to be very unsubtle back then, didn't they? That's subtle. Now, our friends at Motown Junkies do know how to be subtle. Who wants to read what Motown Junkies had to say?
00:46:54
Speaker
Not for the first time, Marvin Gaye sounds every inch the pop superstar. And once again, here he's made an excellent pop record. The difference now is that he's making excellent records that sound like Marvin Gaye records, and everyone else is hereby put on notice. And they rate it an 8 out of 10. I might agree maybe go slightly higher than the ah Motown Junkies did.
00:47:20
Speaker
Yep, I agree. I would have given it a nine. Yeah, a nine is probably about where I'd place it as well. Although eight is not out of the question. From that to another banger.
00:47:31
Speaker
At number 72, Let's Hang On, The Four Seasons featuring the sound of Frankie Valli. It's a bit of return to form for The Four Seasons.
00:47:42
Speaker
Frankie manages to not go into the falsetto. I guess he handed that over the new beats for this month. Nice use of the horns and the backbeat. There are two fuzz guitars on this record. One wasn't enough.
00:47:57
Speaker
A bit of reflection of Motown and Fontella Bass. Not bass, Fontella Bass. Despite that, this still feels like a good Four Seasons record.
00:48:08
Speaker
The patch it up and open up backing vocals could only have been done by the Four Seasons. When such things work, that's not a bad thing. Give it a hit. Hang on, hang on to what we've got.
00:48:20
Speaker
Do it, do it, do it. Say you're gonna go and call it quits Gonna chuck it all and break our love to bits Break it up wish you never said it Break it up No, no, we'll both regret it That little chip of diamond on your hand Ain't a fortune, baby, but you know it stands
00:48:50
Speaker
This is one of my favorite Four Seasons songs, actually. It's a big hit for me. Love that fuzz guitar. I'd forgotten about that part at the beginning.
00:49:10
Speaker
Gives a little edge to it. Is this a Motown derived song? Sure. Particularly in the drums, tambourine, and bass. But I will give it a pass because it's such a great tune with a memorable chorus.
00:49:24
Speaker
Great, strong lead vocal from Frankie Valli, where he shows off some of his lower range, as well as the falsetto. So it's a bit more of a varied performance.
00:49:35
Speaker
Catchy, memorable, fun, big hit. Yeah, that's some mighty fine bass playing there by Nick Massey. I love this song. Finally, one of their calling card songs. Wonderful performance vocally and instrumentally. Don't forget, guys, the Four Seasons played their own instruments yeah while they were doing all these vocals, and it's an incredibly well-written song.
00:49:58
Speaker
I'd probably call it a perfect song. o You want to read the cash box for us, Marv? Okay. The seasons should speedily add this Phillips stand.
00:50:08
Speaker
Phillips records. Let's hang on to their long string of previous hits. The tune is a hard rocking, fast moving, rhythmic ode about a lucky fella who is mighty pleased, mighty pleased, that he's fortunate enough to have met the girl of his dreams. Lucky guy.
00:50:31
Speaker
On Broadway... I know. Well, yes, he's a lucky fellow. You're right. yeah On Broadway is an impressive, full-orked, backed, legit-ish affair. Oh, it's a cover version of On Broadway on the B-side. Okay.
00:50:46
Speaker
I love it. Full-orked, backed, legit-ish affair. Legit-ish is the word that I like there, yeah. Yep. And back to orc. Yeah. Yeah. and we mentioned it with regards to Gary Lewis.
00:50:59
Speaker
Frankie and the Four Seasons were also not above selling their songs to commercials in a very short amount of time. In 1966, this tune came out as a jingle for Beech Nuts Spearmint Gum with different lyrics.
00:51:15
Speaker
The Four Seasons themselves sang on the ad, and Frankie was the narrator explaining how the flavor of the gum hangs on. Cough!
00:51:27
Speaker
Each nut that bourbon has got flavor of the gum has got And that peppermint of flavor hangs on, hangs on, hangs on To what it's got to do.
00:51:42
Speaker
Each nut's peppermint has got flavor of the gum has got And that peppermint of flavor hangs on, hangs on, hangs on To what it's got to do.
00:51:57
Speaker
When beech nut makes gum, the flavor hangs on. So don't get hung up. Look for the beech nut when you buy gum. Beech nut gum has got lot. And that flavor that it's got.
00:52:10
Speaker
Yeah, that rush of gushing flavor. Hangs on, hangs on, hangs on. Do what it's got.
00:52:20
Speaker
Hang on to flavor. Buy beech nut. Buy gum. How far can you stretch a tune to get it into a jingle?
00:52:42
Speaker
True love takes a lot of trying
00:53:21
Speaker
Hang on, hang on, to what we've got. You say you're gonna go and call it quits, gonna chuck it all and break our love to bits.
00:53:34
Speaker
Just pick it up, wish you'd never stand it.
00:53:44
Speaker
Don't regret it, that little chip of diamonds won't be had, ain't fortune, baby.
00:54:16
Speaker
inside we're in a nainon, nainon, nainon
00:54:50
Speaker
I'll be any surprised to get in good with you Give me a second turn Don't cool off wine
00:55:24
Speaker
Oh no no No No No
00:56:06
Speaker
Thank you. At number 85, Round Every Corner by Petula Clark, which we've already covered. At number 87, Ring Dang Do by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs.
00:56:21
Speaker
Oh boy, it's Wolly Bolly Part 2.
00:56:29
Speaker
Looking for ring-dang-dang-dang I fell in love with a girl in tight blue jeans Looking for a ring-dang-dang-dang I said I can't stay though my love is true I've got to keep a looking for ring-dang-dang-dang
00:57:03
Speaker
The answering harmony vocals kind of work. Good enough organ. I like the sax a little bit, but we've heard it all before. Meh. Yeah, meh for me as well. Replay of Wooly Bully, particularly in the rhythmic organ part. Weird lyrics. It's like you know they're trying to come up with these catchy lyrics, and they're just kind of odd. You can practically sing Wooly Bully over this.
00:57:28
Speaker
Domingo Samudio, the lead singer, even sings almost the same way as Bully Bully. I guess it's supposed to be funny. Lyrics like, I've fallen in love with a thousand girls looking for a ring dang do. I've got a mojo bag and a little voodoo, but I ain't never found a ring dang do. Yeah, poetry. This was tedious to me, the whole thing. Meh.
00:57:53
Speaker
I was glad when this song was ring dang done. yeah A load of nonsense lyrically. It's got a vibe, but it's vibe that they've done before. Low hit, maybe be between that and a miss, somewhere there.
00:58:10
Speaker
I've got a mojo bag and a little voodoo, but I ain't never found a ring dang do. Well, at least they credit this to New Orleans. Yeah, that's true.
00:58:21
Speaker
At number 88, Chapel in the Moonlight by The Bachelors, which we covered. At number 89, Don't Talk to Strangers by The Bo Brummels. Marv noted that this would be the last time that Sly Stone would produce The Bo Brummels. Mm-hmm.
00:58:39
Speaker
Yep. We are going to have a couple more Sly Stone productions in here this month. This record, i love that 12 string. They've got those birds harmonies going on full blast here.
00:58:50
Speaker
The only thing that takes me out of the song is that screamy bit in the middle. I like what they're trying to do with the harmony vocals at the end, but find them only somewhat successful.
00:59:01
Speaker
Low hit. Yeah, that's exactly what I said, low hit. It is very birds-like with that 12-string jangling guitar, but that's not a bad thing. Be aware of hidden dangers, and don't you dare go unto strangers.
00:59:27
Speaker
In these raging days and nights, look upon what's black and white, and don't you call talking to strange.
00:59:48
Speaker
Sal Valentino's lead vocal explores his deeper range here, which changes it up a bit from their previous tracks. Some interesting moments, and it has kind of a darker tone overall, but it still sounds like a bird's ripoff, particularly with that constant jangling guitar. I will give it a low hit just for points of creativity here, or trying to achieve a different sound. So I'll give him a low hit for that.
01:00:14
Speaker
Agreed. I thought that middle bit was really weird as well. Other than that, I didn't mind it. The guitar line almost reminded me a bit of if I Needed Someone.
01:00:34
Speaker
give them points but for trying to do something different and to move with the times. So we move on to number 90, just yesterday by Jack Jones, which we covered over on the UK side at number 91.
01:00:51
Speaker
Cleo is back by junior Walker and the all stars. I like that bass and horn opening. Oh,
01:01:26
Speaker
The instrumental break followed by shouting the title is a little bit cliche by this point. Yes, we know you've done it about three times since Shotgun. Nice organ. The guitar could have done a bit more, could have gone a bit further. The drums in the track, but I would have liked a bit more of those as well.
01:01:46
Speaker
Still, low hit. Once again, we agree, low hit. This is a sequel to a previous song they did called Cleo's Mood from 1962. Well played, great sax as always from Junior Walker. Little grittier and less slick than some of their previous productions. And I should say, my mother really liked this song. Liked it better than I did.
01:02:07
Speaker
She'd probably rate it hit. I'm going give it a low hit, but not that much difference. They've got a pretty cool jam going, I suppose, there, you know, for themselves. But like you said, low hit. Let's move on to the next one that we've already hinted at. We do want to give Motown Junkies their voice on here because this was, of course, a Motown-related release.
01:02:32
Speaker
What they said is, don't get me wrong, this one's still undeniably cool. I would agree with that. yep I almost feel a compelling need to listen to it while wearing shades and cracking open a cold one, and the punters liked it too.
01:02:48
Speaker
Junior scoring a double-sided chart hit thanks to this one's popularity on black radio. But if you put a gun to my head and said I had to choose one Cleo and only one, it wouldn't be this one. So referring to Cleo's mood, as you indicated, luckily nobody's ever going to force you to make that choice. And they give it a 7 out of 10. I wouldn't go quite that high. I wouldn't either.
01:03:10
Speaker
All right, now we're going on to the next one, which is not a Motown record. I'm so thankful by the Iketts. It's the Iketts almost kind of doing a Supremes.
01:03:24
Speaker
Similar cooing vocals, but only a little bit. It's Motown-like, but not a great arrangement. Good performance, fairly standard girl group feel.
01:04:03
Speaker
I'll go so high as to give it a low hit. Yeah, I think that's pretty much what I would do as well. It's very Motown-esque. Harmonies are Supremes-ish in terms of their flirtatiousness, but sophistication, very similar. I also thought, at first when listened to this kind of sounds like How Sweet It Is by Marvin Gaye. And it turns out that the songwriters for this both have Motown connections. So that all kind of ties it together. Vocals are a nice gospel blend, but otherwise it it just sounded like a Motown imitation. so But due to the vocals, I'll agree. I'll give it a low hit.
01:04:42
Speaker
Wow. We're in agreement again. Low hit. I'll say that straight away. Very Motown-styled, but, and I hate to say this, not with that nice sheen of production that you get from Motown. It's a bit dirty of a production.
01:04:58
Speaker
Yep, I agree. And Cashbox has cranked up their AI reviewers again. The only interesting thing about this review is they described them as the iKetters.
01:05:12
Speaker
Yeah, that's weird. Yeah. The Iketters are a cinch to create a tremendous sales stir with this in both the pop and R&B markets.
01:05:23
Speaker
The top lid here, I'm so thankful, is a slow shuffling romantic ode about a lovesick gal who is on cloud nine since she met the fella of her dream. We've read that review this show already. I was going to say, this sounds really familiar. We've written that review two or three times already.
01:05:43
Speaker
Yeah. Undercut, Don't Feel Sorry For Me, is a hard-driving blues twister about a jilted lass. There's a new one. Lass. Lass. Yeah. Who claims happy that her romance went kaput.
01:05:57
Speaker
yeah Okay. So we move on there to a real Motown song. At number 95, My Miracles. Girl Has Gone By The Miracles.
01:06:15
Speaker
You went away with somebody else Now all I can say to comfort myself
01:06:46
Speaker
It's a good song, but not a great one. However, when that lead vocal comes in, I am immediately taken into that Imperial House TV record offer commercial. Marv may not know it, but it was when Motown was doing the let's sell whatever we can on TV. yeah And in the middle of this commercial, they cut to people on the street, presumably in Detroit. And there's a guy in there who says, yeah, yeah, I would listen to these records on the radio. And my dad would tell me to turn down the sound. And I go, but dad,
01:07:22
Speaker
It's smoky. My father used to say, turn that. radio down but
01:07:33
Speaker
Two records that will not be sold in stores and is available only through this exclusive television offer with a money-back guarantee. To order, call toll-free 1-800-453-4000. That's 1-800-453-4000. Save COD charge by sending check money orders at two to Smokey Robinson, Box four old a call total three one eight hundred four five three four thousand and charge it i
01:08:05
Speaker
Unfortunately, the song and lyrics don't live up to Smokey's great voice. This is another instance of Smokey stopping short when he's writing for himself in The Miracles. The playing is better than Workmanlike, but there's nothing too interesting in these changes, and the song just lays there a little bit.
01:08:23
Speaker
Low, low hit. I would say Smokey's vocals really saved the song. As you said, it's Smokey. He really lends a melancholy but romantic air to the song. It does sound a bit like Tracks of My Tears and chords and backing harmonies. And i don't think that that was an accident.
01:08:42
Speaker
And it's a similar theme, too. It's pouring his heart out over a lost love, but not nearly as memorable or well done as Tracks My Tears. But this is well played and sung, so I'll give it a low hit.
01:08:56
Speaker
Wow. Okay, but not great. Low hit based on a rewrite of Tracks of My Tears, but not near that level. On the same page.
01:09:07
Speaker
And in this instance, Motown Junkies agree with us. Marv? Okay, so Motown Junkies say, Faced with trying to decide whether to make this a breakup song or an advice song, the Miracles opt for an uneasy compromise. via the clunky method of having Smokey sing consoling advice to himself.
01:09:28
Speaker
Now all I can say to confront myself is a device which just never quite works. If anything, it makes the narrator sound even less sympathetic.
01:09:39
Speaker
Maybe it's meant to be an ultra-realistic portrait of a guy who's so broken-hearted that he's annoying his friends by laying it on thick and basking in the resulting attention.
01:09:51
Speaker
But I'm more inclined to think there were conceptual problems with this song from day one and they just couldn't be satisfyingly fixed. I know now that this song is much loved by many Miracles fans, as always.
01:10:06
Speaker
I'm very willing to hear why, because for the moment, it just doesn't do it for me. Five out of ten. You've given it more than I would. I've given a three and a half. Maybe a four. Eh, four or five. Yeah, four or five for me too, but definitely not ranking among their best. We all basically agree, and you read that Motown Junkies review, all I can think of is, we were on a break. We were on a break. We were on a break. We were on a break. We were on a break.
01:10:38
Speaker
We were on a break. We were on a break. We were on a break. We were on a break. We were on a break. guys were on a break. We were on a break. We were on break.
01:10:49
Speaker
We were on a break. You really were on a break. Ross from Friends there. But it's smoky. Yeah. At number 98, Early Morning Rain by Peter, Paul, and Mary. This is a Gordon Lightfoot tune. it is.
01:11:06
Speaker
Gentle guitar and harmony, beautifully sung and performed. It's not quite a lullaby, but it is a wistful look at life and love. Oddly enough, the lyrics are kind of a counterpoint to leaving on a jet plane.
01:11:21
Speaker
The lyrics here, hear the mighty engines roar, see the silver bird on high. She's away and westward bound, far above the clouds she'll fly.
01:11:32
Speaker
Leaving on a jet plane. So kiss me and smile for me. Tell me that you'll wait for me. Hold me like you'll never let me go. I'm leaving on a jet plane. I don't know when I'll be back again. oh babe, I hate to go. It's two sides of the same coin. Hit for both of these songs, even though we're going to get to jet plane much later.
01:12:22
Speaker
Jordan Lightfoot actually composed the song in 1964, but it really started during a 1960 trip to Westlake, Los Angeles, trying to build his career. And he was homesick for Canada. And he would go to the Los Angeles International Airport on rainy days to watch planes taking off and landing. And so the imagery of these flights taking off into the sky was with him when he wrote this particular song. I like his version better.
01:12:54
Speaker
He recorded it just him and acoustic guitar. My first real good song. And it was also the one that sort of gave me a hand up the ladder.
01:13:06
Speaker
Peter, Paul and Mary recorded it and got a big hit with it. Which sort of got me started in show business or got me on to the next level. So we'll do it for you. You'll recognize it.
01:13:27
Speaker
The early morning rain with a dollar in my head With an aching in my heart In my pockets full of sand And a long way from home
01:13:50
Speaker
London is the loved one so, in the early morning rain. With no place to go, I run runway number nine.
01:14:10
Speaker
The way he does it, it sounds more personal, because this was a personal song. Peter Palmieri's rendition is okay. I thought some of the backing vocals I wasn't as insane about, but very pretty melody. I just think they missed some of the emotion of the song that only Gordon Lightfoot could capture in his versions. I like this one just as much as Gordon Lightfoot, largely because this is just such a gorgeous performance. Yeah. I would say low hit for this one and hit for Gordon Lightfoot version. I like this interpretation of the Gordon Lightfoot song, nice vocals, and this beautiful guitar work going on here yeah between Peter and Paul. That's superb, especially the nylon acoustic that's being played on this. It's beautiful. I liked this.
01:14:55
Speaker
I'm not going to get into the debate of which version I prefer. Oh, come on. i'm Okay. Fair enough. We'll talk about some of the other versions as well before we c close out on this song. That's interesting, because I was going to say other notable versions that I've heard and I really like. I like the version by Ian and Sylvia. Bob Dylan did it on the Self-Portrait album, which is an album cover versions. And Paul Weller did a really good version of this as well.
01:15:22
Speaker
Well, and that makes sense that Bob Dylan did a version. his He's a huge admirer of Gordon Lightfoot. so ah George Hamilton also did a really great version of this and Elvis did it a lot in several different Elvis performances you can hear him doing this song there's at least a dozen different versions from Elvis interesting now if I'd have listened to this with Louise I'm sure that Louise would have mentioned that to me because she's a big Elvis fan and there's also a really cool French version of this song Don La Brume du Matin in The Morning Mist
01:15:58
Speaker
Interesting.
01:16:38
Speaker
like we would want to fly In the early morning rain with nowhere to go
01:17:00
Speaker
Out on runway number nine Big 707 set to go I'm stuck here on the ground Where the cold winds blow The liquor tasted good And the women all are fast There she goes my friend She's rolling down a fire
01:17:54
Speaker
Hear the mighty engines roar
01:18:20
Speaker
See the silver wing on high She's away and westward bound Far above the clouds she'll fly
01:18:37
Speaker
But all out here on the grass Where the pavement never grows K-jumper jet plays Like a catechrape train
01:19:00
Speaker
In the early morning.
01:19:13
Speaker
In the early morning. Thank you.
01:19:19
Speaker
All right. Now the song, which I'm sure we're all going to agree, is the biggest of the Motown ripoffs. And it is a ripoff, although that's not necessarily bad thing.
01:19:31
Speaker
At number 99, right now and not later by the Shangri-Las. The Shangri-Las trying to sound more than a little bit Motown.
01:19:43
Speaker
Girl Group Harmonies with a faux Funk Brothers backing. Well, faux question mark.
01:20:22
Speaker
I'm not sure how much I like that organ and sax. The only thing I dislike about this record is those bells. They're not needed. I like it enough to be a low to medium hit, and I am glad to see the Shangri-Las crawling away from leader of the pack talkie territory. It's not a great record, but it's a good one.
01:20:41
Speaker
Yeah, I would agree, particularly for getting away from the splatter platters and and that kind of thing. But yeah, boy, does this sound like Motown. The bass line sounds like it's from my girl at times.
01:20:55
Speaker
It's also not wonderfully recorded. i mean, at times I thought the organ sounded like it was underwater. It was really kind of odd. But I would say a low hit for the pleasant vocals, the upbeat tone. And incidentally, it was written by Robert Bateman, Ronald Moseley, and Kenny Holland. Bateman co-wrote Please, Mr. Postman.
01:21:19
Speaker
That makes sense. Yeah. melodically in places very similar to Stop in the Name of Love. Not awful by any stretch, but incredibly similar to a lot of Motown.
01:21:30
Speaker
I'll be honest, I much prefer the subject of this song to some of the other songs that they've done. Yes. It's derivative, but it's pleasant enough. The people in this song are alive.
01:21:44
Speaker
Yes. Now, we don't know who the musicians are, and there is an ongoing argument both in Motown groups and in Shangri-La's groups, and a fair number of them believe that is actually the Funk Brothers playing behind this record, and I could see that.
01:22:01
Speaker
e ah I don't know. They're not as good. I don't know. Do we know where it was recorded? It was recorded in New York City. It was not recorded in Detroit. Right. But, not I mean, they could have very easily flown the Funk Brothers up.
01:22:14
Speaker
True. If it had been West Coast, then I might have thought it might have been some of the Wrecking Crew. Mm-hmm. The Wrecking Crew have told us everything they played on. Yeah.
01:22:25
Speaker
True. All right, we close out this week at number 100 with Rusty Bells by Kit's favorite, Brenda Lee. It's a really nice vocal performance from Brenda. The backing and the bells do need to be turned down about three notches. it It might have worked as a Christmas record, but it's not a great pop record.
01:22:47
Speaker
Brenda's turn to, quote, grown-up music, unquote, works. but she would have been better served finding songs in the Patsy Cline mode as opposed to trying to be a female Roy Orbison.
01:22:59
Speaker
Low hit, and that's for her vocal.
01:23:11
Speaker
No one praying in the chapel Where so many prayed before
01:23:22
Speaker
And they've let the bells get rusty Don't they care anymore?
01:23:46
Speaker
My Girl Deserves Better Than This. Overly dramatic. The song itself is really cliche-ridden. Liberace piano and cheesy female chorus, along with overdone strings. And as you mentioned, Ed, those bells. The bells were really... ah Those were grating. It just makes it a middling song, except, as you said, Brenda's voice.
01:24:11
Speaker
you know she Her voice really saves it from complete mediocrity. I will give it a high meh, but that's really for her voice. Okay, I'll give it the same.
01:24:22
Speaker
Poor Brenda has been given a song that sounds like it was turned down by both Jim Reeves and Andy Williams.
01:24:31
Speaker
That's great. Nothing else to say about the song, Marv? No. All right. So that closes out this week on the Billboard Charts. We've still got three more weeks this month. We'll be back real soon with more of the Billboard Charts. Talk to you then.
01:24:48
Speaker
See you soon. Take care, everybody.
01:25:07
Speaker
There was a piece in the NME, a news piece that said the top rank records. Remember when top rank had a record label? and They introduced an LP series next week that will be called Toppermost.
01:25:19
Speaker
And it's coinciding with their current advertising slogan, Toppermost of the Poppermost. I thought they got it from somewhere. They saw that. They must have seen that in either the NME or Record Mirror Disc, Record and Show Mirror as it was then.
01:25:36
Speaker
And they've taken it from there. They've obviously thought how stupid that is. How stupid is is one of those phrases that someone, an older person who doesn't understand teenagers comes up with a slogan that they think is going to be the hip slogan of the month.
01:25:50
Speaker
Toppermost of the poppermost.