Transcript
Speaker: The Beatles had this charm, John, Paul and George and probably then Stuart 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 they would a bad night or the gig didn't work properly or the amps broke or whatever.
Speaker: i say, where are we going, fellas? And they go, to the top, Johnny. And i say, where's that, fellas? And we say, to the top of most of the pop of most. And say, right. And we all sort cheer up.
Speaker: Now then, boys, where are we going? To the top, bro. Where's that? To the top of most of the pop of most.
Speaker: Welcome to this week's Top of Most of the Pop of Most. I'm Ed Jim. I'm Ed O'Toole. and I'm Martin Quibel. It's almost When They Was Fab because our feature is something that you may have heard if you've been listening to When They Was Fab. Our February feature is ah feature with our co-host from When They Was Fab, John Stone, talking about his memories of 64 up through early 1965, where we are here in February. We were having a chat on our sister show, When They Was Fab. We were having a chat with John about his memories of 1964 because...
Speaker: Is there any one of the four of us that do that show that, remember, that was around in 1964? And we just thought that putting some of that discussion in here would be helpful because we've not long since finished speaking about 1964 on top of most. And we thought that it'd be nice to get what was going on around that time from somebody that was around at that time, didn't It gives you some context, and it not only goes through 64, up through the Beatles 65 album, but we do cover the two singles, the I Feel Fine single, which came out in December, and Eight Days a Week, which, well, as you will see, is in these charts this very month.
Speaker: It really is, yes, absolutely. Yeah, I'm always jealous of of people who got to experience the music for the first time as the Beatles music was released in in real time because obviously none of us got to do that. And so I'm just always fascinated to hear stories of people that got to hear Hard Day's Night, Help, whatever.
Speaker: for very first time as the singles were released. I'm so jealous. All right, on to our feature. Enjoy. If you have already heard the episode on the fab side, you're certainly welcome to listen to it again, but you do not have to. You can skip right to the charts if you wish.
Speaker: Meek the Beatles came out, and... We, of course, got that as soon as we saw it. And it was shortly after that that my dad joined the Capitol Records Club, which played a role in our collections. And so, you know, we got to meet the Beatles. and basically, I could only hear side one because I was nine and I wasn't allowed to touch the records because of the fear what I would do, I guess.
Speaker: scratch it all up. So it was a while before I heard Side 2 because I couldn't play it. Yeah, but do you need more than Side 1? I'm on Hold Your Hand, you got Sawyer standing there, and you got This Boy as the first three songs. That's all anybody needs.
Speaker: Yeah, and All My Loving is on it, on Side 1. I'm pretty I didn't really need it, but it ended up being that Thanksgiving, which of course is nine or 10 months later, my cousin introduced me to a song I'd never heard called Not A Second Time. And I was like, where is this from?
Speaker: he goes, from Meet the Beatles. It's the other side of the record. Right. It's your side. but Were you not allowed to touch any of the magazines? Or were you able to look at the magazines and go through those?
Speaker: The Beatles magazines. I'm just super good.
Speaker: I could read them in their room. They had to watch to make sure that you looked after them properly. no peanut butter jelly sandwiches. So... ah Yeah, no PBJ for you.
Speaker: So one of the things I was confused about at the time was there were songs being played on the radio that I couldn't find. Where was Twist and Shout? And then some of them came out on the second album.
Speaker: But I actually skipped because these songs I couldn't hear. We went up to Lubbock to visit, and Mom and in L.I. the record section, and we came across this Beatles album.
Speaker: We'd never seen it. And turns out it was a copy of the VJ album, Introducing the Beatles, was the one with the gate sleeve. But again, my parents were like, another album already?
Speaker: yes But it was really cool because nobody else in Odessa or none of my friends had it. So that was kind of cool. And then when the second album came out, that had the most impact to me because it's an incredible rock and roll album.
Speaker: There's hardly any you know slow tunes on it at all. Good songwriter. Are you familiar with it, Mark? No. Yeah, I don't know 100% everything about the American releases and how they were done.
Speaker: No. You know, it it opened with ah Roll Over Beethoven. Roll Over Beethoven. Okay. Do you have the song with? Side one was Roll Over Beethoven, Thank You Girl, Really Gotta Hold On Me, Devil In Her Heart, Money. Then You Can't Do That.
Speaker: So there's a bit of what we would call With the Beatles in the UK. Correct. yeah With the Beatles and Singles is basically what it was. Yeah, right. And then ah side two started with Long Tall Sally, then I Call Your Name, then Please Mr. Postman, then both sides of the single, I'll Get You and She Loves You.
Speaker: Okay. Wow. That's a good album. It is a great album. When the American versions came out on CD and I heard it again, just really speaks me. Because I think of the rock and roll albums that came out in the past, they were not all that consistent.
Speaker: Whereas the Beatles' second album... It's just a killer album all the way through. Huge impact on me. Especially after Meet the Beatles. It's one of the things that Capitol actually kind of got right. Yes, they cut songs off and they put singles on the albums, but courtesy of that, both of those records are just, from front to back, absolutely great albums, great LPs.
Speaker: Yeah. Of course, that's thanks to the Beatles. Of course. And of course, with the second album, that kind of coincided with the Beatles having the top five singles in the nation.
Speaker: So it was like Beatles, Beatles, Beatles, Beatles. But when you consider from January to April, we hit up the parents for three albums.
Speaker: That was a big deal. Yeah. Well, that may be why your dad joined the Capital Record Club. Probably. If I'm going to keep buying records from these guys, at least I'm gonna get them cheap. That's probably exactly it Oh, if you bet my dad.
Speaker: Oh. Yeah, so it was just Beatles. And then shortly after that is the ad in the paper that says that there's this movie coming called Hard Day's Nine. Which is interesting because they were just finished filming it. If we're talking about April or May. I skipped a little time because there's nothing really going on except Beatles, Beatles, Beatles. mean, you know.
Speaker: One thing, you so you talked about going to Woolworths and looking at the magazines. Do you remember seeing the memorabilia? Do you remember looking at the gumball machines and seeing the flasher rings and all that stuff? No, ah saw some stuff. Beetle wigs. We had a Beetle lunchbox.
Speaker: I'd like to have that now. There was stuff around. Pins. Lots of jewelry for the girls. so I mean, I think at that point, that's where the merchandising was aimed.
Speaker: Not at me. It was aimed at girls who mean they were a boy band in some ways, you know, or what we call them now, which is is why I think that the folk people rejected them.
Speaker: So what what we kind of skipped over again before we get into Hard Day's Night, you had moved around a little bit. So 63, you were actually here in Houston. Correct. And you remember that the two big pop rock stations, one of which was KILT, which actually bought the Beatles to Houston in 65, and the other was KNUZ. And... u z and It's interesting to me that in every at least semi-major to major city, there were always these two stations competing against each other.
Speaker: Yeah, I guess that's true. hadn't really thought about it because, again, this point, I'm not in control of anything. You know, I have my interests and I go, oh, yeah, yeah, but I don't control the radio station or the television you unless there's something specifically I'm going to lobby for. So I had no power but You had no hand, as George Costanza would say later on Seinfeld. ah Right.
Speaker: Was there a rock and roll station in Odessa when you were there? Well, there had to have been, because i definitely heard the Beatles a lot in the Stones. And, you know as it went along, the next group that i really became aware of after the Beatles were the Kings.
Speaker: So that stuff was being played out there. But at the same time, you know, you'd hear Beatles single and you'd hear Roger Miller. The playlist was wide.
Speaker: Nobody was niche marketing yet. So right now we can move on to Hard Day's Night. Yeah. the the the The single and the album, did you recognize even at that young age that that opening chord was something special in 1964?
Speaker: Hell yeah. In a way, I think that chord just said, we will do the unexpected. And they took that with them the whole rest of their career.
Speaker: But that's the opening you know salvo, because that was a great beginning of the record and the movie. I was surprised to read that George Martin said that that opening chord was added because they knew that they needed something to open the movie with.
Speaker: That's interesting. So do you remember being disappointed at the George Martin instrumentals on the UA Hard Days night? Well, yes and no. The music was good. Good tunes.
Speaker: I really liked what they called Rigo's theme, this boy, that guitar sound. Yeah, big flick. Yeah, it's real cool. And so yes and no.
Speaker: So that was then followed by something new. You had the Hard Day's Night soundtrack by that point. Yes. Was the fact that there was duplication bother you. Yes. Okay.
Speaker: That and what do I care about a German version of anything? I don't speak German. Take two. Oh, yeah. out loud.
Speaker: Come out loud.
Speaker: Oh, calm up, come to me in. To this very first time. Oh, calm up, come to me in.
Speaker: I mean, it's got some songs I really love. Anytime at all, it's a great song. Matchbox and Slowdown are really good rockers. They are. It's interesting they didn't put a Leonard McCartney song on one of the sides.
Speaker: One of the things that we found out, that single was more than 20% of the album. What? In playing time. Matchbox and Slowdown? Matchbox and Slowdown is like 25% of the runtime of the entire Something New LP.
Speaker: Yeah. Something botched together. Yeah. At that point, you started looking more critically at Capitol. What?
Speaker: And also shows the fact that Capital put out three singles right in a row, really close together. Three consecutive weeks, yes. Hard Day's Night, and I Love I'll Cry Instead. I was happy to hear, and I love her on the radio, you know, because it was a single.
Speaker: because i would use that to impress my mother. ah So the next LP was the dreaded Beatles story LP. Did you get that at the time? You could have gotten that through the Capitol Records Club. We did get it through the Capitol Records Club.
Speaker: And, you know, I was disappointed in something new. It wasn't the quality of... what I'd heard to that point, or the complete quality. And The Beatles story was a step lower. What it was for me was putting voices to interviews I'd already read in magazines. Most of it is from their Australian tour, and I'd already read teen magazines, covered all that.
Speaker: So the only real unique thing for me was it had twists and shouts.
Speaker: Oh, oh, oh, oh,
Speaker: my first taste of live Beetle-dom was like, ew, okay. Not quite what I expected. So as far as the Beatles story, yeah, it was okay.
Speaker: I can't say I've played that album more than five times in 60 years. So you have no problem with them not providing a wide-scale 180-gram re-release of the Beatles story. You can only get it if you buy the box.
Speaker: i Oh, darn, I've got to buy the box now. just to get the Beatles story. there
Speaker: That in the box are the only special things you get in the box. Well, it's tough, but I'm going to pass. know The next thing is something much better then, isn't it? the you know wo that The memories of the superb I Feel Fine coming out.
Speaker: Yeah. And I have a feeling about I feel fine like I do the previous single. They both open up so well. you know Hard to taste that with that chord, and I feel fine with the feedback.
Speaker: straight i mean When that happens on the radio, you feel freer. It's like a one-two punch. Yeah. Yeah. Were you aware of what that was or what that sound, what what that sound possibly could be coming from?
Speaker: you know, John and Paul have both said things like, Oh, the first time we heard that we thought it was voodoo or something. I thought it was a special effect the first time I heard it because the first time I ever heard I Feel Fine would have been on the Red album.
Speaker: Oh, right. When that came out in 73, when I was two and a half or three years old. So to me, i thought, oh, what's that? It was like a spaceship taking off or something to me as a three-year-old.
Speaker: Yeah. What I remember is it seemed like most of the records in those days faded. they They didn't have clean endings. yeah I would say that is true. agree, Marv? Yes, we moan about it a lot. Right.
Speaker: So you're having this song that's fading and all sudden you hear... so wow You know, the wow. you know if it It spoke for itself.
Speaker: Great effect. You comment on the reverb and how you you thought it was a little bit Brian Wilson-like, a little bit Beach Boys-like. It wasn't so much Brian Wilson. There was a sound. Back then, there were lots of... The Be My Baby sound.
Speaker: And surf magazines and and car races. And it would be like the speaker the guy would come on and go Saturday, Saturday, you know, be there.
Speaker: And there's just something about it. I'm not in the way. Exactly. It just kind of, up it's hard to do reverb with your hands.
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Speaker: ones... Rock! Rock! Rock!
Speaker: So there's there's just this reverby sound that reminded me of of all this culture. That's a Dave Dexter thing. Dave Dexter
Speaker: He did the same thing to ah She's a Woman. It's got this big reverb-y sound, and it just fit in the sound of the day. probably sounds like crap to people in the UK.
Speaker: Having grown up with those records, I was a real fan. So for me, something like the album Yesterday and Today sounds great.
Speaker: I see it as a complete bastardization of... what was going on. But as Leonard once said, nothing is real. Which is why lot of the Americans buy American CDs of the albums.
Speaker: Because they're they're mixed differently or mastered differently. And so and then 64 ended with, of course, the release of Beatles 65. Was that your Christmas gift that year? That was Christmas. Uh-huh.
Speaker: Sure was. And Santa Claus had great taste. He Because I got ah another one in 68 when I got the White Album. Nice. Yeah.
Speaker: Santa Claus sprung for a double LP. Anyway, yeah, 65, Beatle 65. I was the one that had it. so So it was yours and you could play both sides if you wanted to.
Speaker: And I took it around. That was nothing that was not like allowed to do with Beatle Records, take them out of the house. But this one, I took my friend's house and would sit listen to Beatle 65 over and over again.
Speaker: I probably did that with three friends sitting in their house and played this record. As I joked about before, they missed trick not coming out with Beatle 66 in December of 1965.
Speaker: Yeah, I'm not sure why. um Probably because they didn't want to upset Brian and the Beatles because the renegotiation was just around the corner. They weren't going to rename Rubber Soul.
Speaker: Okay. and It's a perfect title for an album anyway, isn't it? that Rubber Soul. We end up our look at 60 years ago with the eight days a week single, which is actually in the charts over on the topmost side for February of 1965.
Speaker: nineteen sixty five I've often felt that the beginning of this was a tickle from the Beatles because as I said, yeah every record ended with a fade.
Speaker: yeah So they begin with the fade. Right. I know, that makes me laugh as well. I think that's brilliant. ah That it fades in instead and then you get a proper ending at the end.
Speaker: Exactly, yeah. Yeah, he's brilliant. That's so clever. That was naughty boy. It's almost like a satire on the music industry. Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker: It's such a ah great single, and it wasn't a British single. Right. I know. Why did we in the UK not have that as a single? I don't get it. No. I don't know, because you know the rumor was that it was planned to be, and then they came up with I Feel Fine. That was the story.
Speaker: So why do they feel like... I don't know. I mean, the whole thing about singles not going on albums was clearly not a hard and fast rule.
Speaker: So I don't know why they couldn't have two singles for Eagle 65. But eight days a week would have been perfect. It was. I think it was number one for four weeks here.
Speaker: Just imagine if they'd have done that. I mean, in the UK, the way that they were doing the releases... If they'd have released the ones that were singles only, and then interspersed those with, in between, songs lifted from albums with a different B-side, how much more of a killing could they have made on the British charts if they'd have done that?
Speaker: Well, I mean, you know, later in the year, Yesterday was not a single in the UK, so... Yeah. Yeah. Did we adequately cover your memories of 1964 and early 1965? So well. And it was a ah lovely stroll down memory lane for me.
Speaker: All right. That was our discussion with John Stone. If you want to hear more of John Stone, he's not frequently with us on When They Was Fab, but he is there often enough. Right, Marv? When he's not too busy with all the other engagements that he has to do. He's a very busy man.
Speaker: Now, Kit, as you said up front, you were very interested to hear what John had to say, particularly his thoughts on the second album. You we always think of the second album as being this great rock and roll album.
Speaker: But John there saying that this was the one that really got me into it. That's interesting. And what's particularly interesting is that it was really his sisters that got him into the music because he was, what, like eight or nine at the time.
Speaker: that the Beatles came out. with His sisters were obviously the perfect age to really start getting into them being older. He experienced it differently than his sisters did being a kid. But yeah, it was interesting that it was the second album that really grabbed I love that album too, by the way, so but so I don't blame them.
Speaker: Ed, was it the first or the second album where John was saying that he only heard Side 1 because he wasn't allowed to touch the record to turn it over? it was Meet the Beatles. His parents bought Meet the Beatles for them, and his sisters would not let him turn over the record.
Speaker: Then he said he said went down to his cousins, and his cousins started to playing a song to him, and he said, oh, what's that? And he found out that it was on Side 2 because he'd never heard Side 2 before he visited his cousin.
Speaker: not Not a second time, I think it was. Yeah. Oh, that's funny. New worlds were opened up to him and in more ways than one. yeah i particularly loved that once they got the second, not the second album, but their second album, they discovered a copy of Introducing in one of those Woolworths.
Speaker: And it was after that point, it's like, well, we're going to keep buying these Beatles albums. So John's dad went and joined the Capitol Records Club just so they could get these Beatles albums cheaper.
Speaker: That's awesome. But as I said before, just so jealous of people who got to experience these songs and albums as they were being released and in real time. I mean, it's just so exciting.
Speaker: It's great to experience them as we did when we were first learning about the Beatles, but it's different learning about how the albums were received and all. But I mean, to get to experience them,
Speaker: In real time? How cool is that? So cool. The difference between Generation Beta and Us, they just named them. The kids born in 2025 are now going to be called Generation Beta.
Speaker: Oh, I didn't know that. Even Generation Alpha and Us, it's such a world of difference. And they're still becoming Beatles fans. That's the amazing thing. and I was talking to somebody at the fest a couple of years ago, younger person, and I said, you know, how did you first discover the Beatles?
Speaker: iTunes. you know Or rock band. Wow. That is obviously so not how I discovered them. Every generation has a different starting point.
Speaker: So, all right, on to a word from our sponsor, which, well, maybe us. And we'll be back with the charts just after that. did do-oo- doter did Well, and that's true, but, you know, with how busy everyone is, how would someone start a podcast? Well, as Ringo said, with the washing and the cooking, you know.
Speaker: right Well, I'm sorry we can't be there in person you know to do this show, but everybody's busy these days and with the washing and the cooking. ah Well, you know, when we started coming up with Top of Most, the Popper Most, we were thinking exactly the same thing.
Speaker: And as we were experienced with online recording through Zencastr, we looked at what the service provided in their own podcast hosting services. And already through our experiences of using online recording with Zencaster for the show When They Were Spab, which Ed has presented for many years now, we were already aware of their ability to provide separate recordings for each participant, which is helpful.
Speaker: All of which are recorded on each person's own devices in order to cut down on any signal degradation. Separate recordings are a good thing because then if anybody's levels are lower than somebody else's, you can equalize these and it works better for editing that way.
Speaker: Martin knows. Martin is the man who hosts the podcast on podcast. ah One thing I do want to mention, just recently they've added phones, both iPhone and Android, to the devices which are compatible with Zencaster. And that has already been very helpful to us.
Speaker: So the automated editing on Zencaster is helpful, even though we do more editing afterwards. Yeah, believe it or not, folks, we do actually go in and cut down these shows.
Speaker: As with a few services, it places the episodes onto all your streaming platforms. That's the other thing about Zencaster now is they are also the host for this podcast. And their online diagnostics are very easy to use.
Speaker: With recording processes and editing services provided, you have everything you need to create, edit, and distribute your podcast every step of the way at an affordable price. And it's easy to get started. All you have to do is go Zencaster.com slash pricing and use the code TOPPERMOST and you'll get 30% off your first month of any Zencaster paid plan. We want you to have the same easy experiences that we do for all our podcasting and content needs.
Speaker: It's time to share your story. All right, on to the charts for the first week in February, the week of January 27th to February the 2nd, 1965. Marv, why don't you start us off?
Speaker: Yep, so at number one, we've got The Superb Go Now by the Moody Blues. Denny Lane, lead vocals, of course, going from number one to number three to number four to number ten. at number two, You've Lost That Loving Feeling by Scylla, going from number two to number five to number nine to number thirteen. Ooh, she's just slightly ahead that week of...
Speaker: Number three, You've Lost That Loving Feeling Again by, again isn't in the song title by the way, by the Writers Brothers, which goes from number three and then beats Scylla by going two weeks at number one, then to number three and number four.
Speaker: Now, Marv, if they haven't heard our episode from last time, they need to hear the story about how Brian went to Andrew Lugaldum and said, no way you're going to beat us.
Speaker: This was that week. Yep, that week. Sorry. dear me. That must have been embarrassing for Brian. Yeah. As an aside, I read the first part of the memoirs by Cher, and she was mentioning that this session was the last session that she and Sonny were involved in when they were working for Phil Spector before they went solo and went and did their own careers.
Speaker: So you've got Sonny and Cher included in the backing singers and percussion players on this Righteous Brothers song. Interesting. along with Darlene Luff. She's one of the backing singers on this as well.
Speaker: And to bring in in a ah slightly odd Houston reference, the folks here insist that they were going to bring the Beatles to Houston in 1964 rather than 1965, but they did not because Sonny and Cher were booked to play Houston.
Speaker: No way! Sonny and Cher had not released anything, so who knows what they're actually thinking of. Very soon we will get to the first release by Sonny and Cher in a couple of months. Yes.
Speaker: Number four, The Superb Yeah Yeah by Georgie Fame, going from number four to number eight fifteen to 15 to 21. Number six, Tired of Waiting for You by The Kinks, which will go from six to two to two to number one, deservedly to number one, in my opinion.
Speaker: Number nine, Ferrycross the Mersey by Gerry and the Pacemakers, which would go from number nine, number 12, number 12, and number 18. Now, I've discovered that there was a yeah review of this in Cashbox, and I had to mention it.
Speaker: And it says Ferrycross the Mersey is a touching, soft, cha-cha. Look at that. Best sentimental opus that Jerry vocals with much sincerity, there's a sock rock refitting of Pretend on the Contagious Undercut.
Speaker: Sock rock? What is that? It's got be the sock hop thing. And I've found them using this at least on one or two other occasions. They were trying to build another orc or cha-cha, I guess.
Speaker: But yes, we couldn't go a month without a bit of cha-cha.
Speaker: Over to you, Kit. Okay, well, hard to top that, but I'm going to try. Number 13 is I Feel Fine, which will then go down to 19, 25, and 38.
Speaker: Going down the charts, but it's still an awesome song. And then number 14, Somewhere by our friend PJ Proby. will then go from 15 to 24 to 29.
Speaker: Number 16, Downtown by Petula Clark, which will then go to 20, 29, and then 40. Number 20, one of my favorites, Leader of the Pack by the Shangri-Las.
Speaker: Sarcasm. Yes, Sarcasm, Sarcasm, which will go from 18 11 to 14.
Speaker: And number 26, Promised Land by Chuck Berry, which will stay at 26 for another week, then 31 and then 39. There is something interesting we forgot to mention about this song when we talked about Promised Land over on the U.S. side.
Speaker: Chuck Berry did not write the original tune. This is a repurposed version of the song The Wabash Cannonball.
Speaker: From sunny Miami, Florida to icy Boston, Mass. To the Broncos, Colorado to the iron in the Steelers, Mass. He's mighty tough and rugged.
Speaker: He's bearded quite well by all. He's a winning combination of the order of cannonball. Somebody help me get out of Louisiana. Just help me get to Houston town.
Speaker: There are people there who care a little about me. And I've olded the poor boy down.
Speaker: the best known version of the wabash cannon ballll came from roy akoff and his crazy tennesseeans recorded in guess where Chicago? Chicago. Ding, ding, ding.
Speaker: yeah The Wabash Cannonball was itself derived from a song called The Rock Island Route, which has ties to the Rock Island line of Lonnie Donegan fame.
Speaker: Yeah, Chuck Berry certainly had done this before, repurposed some other songs, so it's not unheard of for him to do that, as did other artists, so not a huge surprise.
Speaker: And it's still a great song. Number 27, Maybe I Need Your Lovin' by The Foremost, which would then go down to 34. 50, and then out of the charts. And finally, a favorite of ours here, Ringo by Lorne Green. We've talked about that quite a bit, which would stay at 34, then go down to 35, and then out of the charts.
Speaker: Ed, I pass the baton to you. At number 35, Little Red Rooster by the Rolling Stones, which would move from 35 to 47 to out of the charts. We like this version.
Speaker: yeah Yeah, very cool. At number 36, Yes I Will by The Hollies, which moves from number 36 to number 25 to number 22 to number 15.
Speaker: Our first new song of this month, Good Pop. Nice guitar, drums, a great lead and backing vocals. It's a real simple song, but it is The Hollies moving forward.
Speaker: It's not a complete copy, but it does sound fairly 1963 Beatles-esque to me. I like the little Spanish guitar flourishes.
Speaker: Yes, I will.
Speaker: Yes, I will. It's a good song. Yeah, it was written by Jerry Goffin and Russ Teitelman. And here's an interesting thing.
Speaker: When I was listening to this, I thought, I've heard this before. And I then realized the Monkees covered this. They covered this on their debut album, just under a different title.
Speaker: Every dream that you have, I'll fulfill
Speaker: We'll be the guy who said that every girl
Speaker: I like the harmonies on this a lot. Not a surprise since the Hollies were so good at harmonies. I like the drums, particularly the fills.
Speaker: I'm much more familiar with the Monkees version. The lyrics are fairly trite. Sorry, Jerry Goffin. And you're right, Ed, that has that early 60s sound to it.
Speaker: But I like the chord changes, and I liked them in the Monkees version when I first heard it You know, they're slightly more interesting than the usual pop song. i would not rate this as one of the Great Holly songs.
Speaker: And if you listen to the Monkees version with Davy Jones singing lead, it sounds much more... like kind of a typical teen idol song, the way that's done. Very teen dream kind of stuff.
Speaker: Now, I assume we'll talk about this in a minute, but there's an alternate version that I think better. I agree. Let Mark have his say, then we'll talk about that a little bit. Fun and bouncy with great harmonies.
Speaker: Are the lyrics a bit cliched? Maybe, but it didn't stop me from liking the song. Although, after Kit mentioned that with the Monkees, I'm wondering if it might have been a better fit for Herman's Hermits with Peter Noon singing the lead vocal.
Speaker: Hmm, that's interesting. Yeah, that is interesting, and that may well be why the Hollies released another version it. It's like, we can't let the monkeys have the final say on this song. The remake of the song, which showed up on their Greatest Hits album, was it a remake, or did they record it at the time and chose to go with this, the single version?
Speaker: I think they may have recorded it at the same time and chose to go with the other version. I have a feeling that was it. I don't think they recorded it specifically for the Greatest Hits version.
Speaker: The reason I ask is the Greatest Hits version sounds more like later Hollies. The harmonies are much tighter. There is a much more prominent acoustic guitar.
Speaker: And just in general, the song is a better version. It's a better record. Yeah, I'm not 100% sure. I'd have to look that up. But I thought it was that they recorded that version and decided not to release it and go with the other version. But it could be, because I like the other version a lot better. I like the more prominent acoustic guitar, very rhythmic. The opening with the Holly singing harmony on the title phrase, like starting out with that.
Speaker: Love that. Grabs you immediately. less Spanish guitar, different guitar solo, of which is much like rockier. I think it's more danceable than the other version. It's more upbeat. I just think it rocks a little harder.
Speaker: And when I say that, I don't mean it's a hard rocking song, but I just think it makes up for the yeah a little bit cliched lyrics.
Speaker: I just think it's much more rhythmic and I like it a lot better. Yeah, the key to the song is the harmonies for sure. Yes, exactly. The harmonies are just as good, of course, on the alternate version. You think it's more rock-a-rhythmic then?
Speaker: Rock-a-rhythmic, exactly! I don't know where you get that description, Marv, but it's perfect. But is there any cha-cha in it, Marv? I haven't noticed any. I haven't heard the other version.
Speaker: Has that got any cha-cha in it? a No, this version has more cha-cha than the 68 version. Yes. but you say The 68 version sounds more like something that the Hollies might have done as an album track in 1968.
Speaker: Okay, closer to something like Carrie Ann and that sort of era. Yeah, exactly. A little bit, yeah. okay I need to listen to that version. Yeah, it's really good. You'll like it. At number 47, Pretty Paper by Roy Orbison, which goes out of the charts next week, which you would expect it's February for goodness sake. We don't need any Christmas songs any longer.
Speaker: No. At number 49, we've got What You Gonna Do About It by Doris Troy, 49 to 44 to 38 to 49. Number 50, Baby Love by The Supremes going from number 50 and it goes out of the charts.
Speaker: Has that been in the charts now in the UK for about three months or so? Something like that, yeah. Wow. It's had a good run. Yeah, it sure has. On to the next week, the week of February 3rd to the 9th, 1965, Marv. Number one, we've got You've Lost That Loving Feeling by The Righteous Brothers. Number three, we've got Go Now by The Moody Blues.
Speaker: Number five, You've Lost That Loving Feeling by Scylla. See, she didn't win. Number 12, Ferry Cross the Mersey by Jerry. At number 19 is the Beatles with I Feel Fine.
Speaker: Now we got a string of relatively new songs here. At number 27, Game of Love by Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders, which would move from number 27 to number 14 to number 5.
Speaker: Tambourine driven, nice guitar, nice drums, a strong lead vocal, but that is not the center of this record. It's a nice pop song with a funky break that would be borrowed more than a little bit in hand jive later on.
Speaker: Yeah, that was an interesting observation that when you mentioned the hand jive, as I was listening to this again, I'm like, oh yeah. I don't know why I hadn't picked up on the hand jive rhythm before, but you're right. It definitely does.
Speaker: Game up.
Speaker: Play the game of love
Speaker: You know, to be honest, I've never been a huge fan of this song, but it's interesting for a pop song in that it has three parts to it. You know, you have the first part, the purpose of a man is to love a woman section.
Speaker: which is slower, little bit bluesy. I don't like the lyrics. The lyrics are a little trite there. But then it goes into so title phrase that's sort of a doo-wop section. a
Speaker: Then the bridge, which is the hand jive part, which is almost little bit of a Bo Diddley beat. So now you've got some soul in there. Game up, la la la
Speaker: And then part three, which is toward the end, the tempo speeds up, repeating the title phrase. came
Speaker: So now you get kind of a poppy tone to it. So it's interesting how you go from blues to more soul and then pop at the end. The Bo Diddley section is my favorite part.
Speaker: Kind of complicated construction for a pop song. So other than the lyrics that I'm not insane about, I think that part of it's interesting. And Wayne Fontana navigates these sections vocally very well like because you have to change your tone. throughout. So I will give them credit for that.
Speaker: Incidentally, the person who wrote this, Clinton Ballard Jr., also wrote You're No Good, one of my favorites. So again, not a song I enjoy listening to a lot, but I'll give it credit for that complicated construction. Yeah, fun song musically. Love the vocals, all of the vocals, the lead and the backing vocals.
Speaker: And I particularly enjoyed those fantastic lead guitar licks that Eric Stewart was doing. Oh, that's right, Eric Stewart. That's some great guitar playing that he's putting in there. That's really nice.
Speaker: Yeah, it's interesting that you mentioned the different parts because Wayne Fontana and Tan Sisi are so fundamentally different, but this song kind of bridges those two. here Yeah, it's it's almost like an early version of ah something like Et Nuit. I can't remember the name of the song now. Do you know that one?
Speaker: Un-Nuit à Paris. One Night in Paris. That's it. oh Yes. It's also similar then later where you'd have something like I'm Mandy Flyme as well, where that goes from one different style to another, to another, to another as well. You've got that similarity to between this and the 10cc era as well. And of course, that is what Paul McCartney would do. You wonder whether he was listening to this because he hadn't started doing that yet.
Speaker: The idea of just taking little pieces and putting them together. and Good point. Yeah. It makes you wonder if Paul and John had heard this and they got that sort of idea of that's interesting. Let's see if we can do the same thing by putting little bits in. Like you said, so I think probably both of them, maybe John and Paul.
Speaker: left That's true. Although John would deny it. Oh, I'm sure. I only want rock and roll. I don't want any of this production stuff. is Did Paul meet Eric around this time? i mean, do we know when they first met each other, the Paul and Eric? Yes, Eric Stewart has stories of them both being at the BBC at the same time.
Speaker: cool Manchester Liverpool were twin cities really and the Manchester Ship Canal joined them and it was only what an hour away from Manchester. So we used to travel to do the Cavern in Liverpool and the Beatles would come to Manchester and play at the Twisted Wheel, the Oasis Club and places like this.
Speaker: All these great clubs At number 32, a song we've mentioned, but we only mentioned because it fits into a little song title play, which we will bring up at the end of this week.
Speaker: It's I Understand by Freddy and the Dreamers, which moved from 32 to 43 to Out, which Kit refers to as that dang old Lang Syne song.
Speaker: At number 33, Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood by The Animals, which would move from number 33 to number 13 to number 6. It's a cover of the Nina Simone song, but to me this is by far the better version.
Speaker: And that is entirely due to Eric Burden's lead. Just the pain vocal. The backing is strong, but this record rests entirely on the anguish of the lead singer.
Speaker: Oh, Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood.
Speaker: Can we say banger? Yeah. This is incredible. I mean, once again, as you were saying, Ed, Eric Burden was just one of the great singers of the 60s. I mean, he was and is world-class blues R&B singer.
Speaker: I mean, when he delivers lines like...
Speaker: He delivers them like he means it. I like the organ on the song. This is good organ. Drives the song as well. But as you said, Eric Burden's the star of this show. Nina Simone's original, she takes a very different approach. I mean, she really almost acts out the song.
Speaker: And the album that it's from, Broadway Blues Ballads, It's appropriate that she would interpret it that way by almost dramatizing it. So this is a very different take than hers, but it's great. It's faster. It's obviously much more blues, although with a bit of a rock sheen to it. So it's not entirely blues.
Speaker: But wow, as you said, Eric Burden obviously was just a vocalist par excellence. And interestingly, when the animals would perform this song live, Eric Burden would sometimes slow the vocal down to an almost spoken part to kind of recapture a bit of the Nina Simone flavor. So he was very familiar with the original and and wanted to pay tribute to that as well.
Speaker: But man, what a version. You can see that. I mean, I can even see sometimes, you know, in Alan Price's organ playing, I could see him being a fan of Nina's piano playing.
Speaker: v Absolutely. absolutely so There's that like that same sort of expression that they both put into their keyboard playing. they're also trying to act out the song in a way like Nina was but they're just taking a different approach superb version of the song great vocals Alan Price's keyboards single out Chas Chandler's bass as well I think that's fantastic and really nice production by Mickey Most absolute five out of five banger and if I'm pressed to decide which one of the two this one or Nina this one comes out at number one
Speaker: but only just to me because I do like Nina Simone's version a lot. Yes. There are a lot of really great versions of this song, actually. Yeah, absolutely. So we've got a super cut coming. This is the song where we're doing super cut this month.
Speaker: Some of the versions you will hear, and if you don't hear them, go looking for them. The Nina Simone original. Joe Cocker did a cover of this song. Ooh. Lou Rawls did a cover of this song. Oh, wow.
Speaker: Cyndi Lauper. Wow. Good old Yusuf Islam, formerly Cat Stevens. Ooh. yeah The Moody Blues did a version. Ooh. Is that with Denny? No, that is after Denny. That's after Denny. Okay. Cool.
Speaker: Betty Lovett did a version. Michelle Indigicello. Oh, that's great. I bet that'll be good. Mm. Mary J. Blige did a version. Ooh.
Speaker: Okay. Lana Del Rey did a version. bet that's a laid-back version. Our friend Ronnie Spector did a version. wow Gina Gershon, because we got to have one nominally celebrity-driven version in a supercut.
Speaker: Is that an actual song from an album or is that from a film? That is actually from a TV show. Oh, wow. Elvis Costello covered it. Oh, yeah. Nice.
Speaker: Chris Sedgwick and Ozzy Osbourne covered it. Oh, wow. No Mercy featuring Al Demiola covered it. Cool. And since we have to have our Beatles associated, Lawrence Juber covered it as an instrumental.
Speaker: Oh, nice. Very nice.
Speaker: And then I know you're bound to see my other side.
Speaker: Please don't let me be misunderstood
Speaker: Please don't let me be misunderstood
Speaker: At number 39, Funny How Love Can Be by the Ivy League, which moved from number 39 to number 19 to number 9. It's a John Carter, Ken Lewis song.
Speaker: It's an okay lead vocal. The harmony singing is technically proficient, but I don't care for it. I find it slightly twee and more than a little bit off-putting. It's not a bad song, but I might have liked it better if somebody else were doing it.
Speaker: Once again, we're all very simpatico here because I was thinking, wow, this sounds very twee. The harmonies are very nice, very pleasant. You know, this song sounds kind of like a cross between the Merseyside sound and maybe a little bit like the birds or something, but otherwise not a very particularly memorable song. i don't think it really goes anywhere.
Speaker: was waiting for it to have some kind of a hook or something. And I really didn't like the opening line, There she goes with her nose in the air.
Speaker: Really? That's how you're going to start this song? I just thought that was very odd. Now, this is not the first time are going to encounter this group, but they're going to appear in a different way later on in the charts.
Speaker: You beat me too, that one To use a word, it's a bit twee. Middle-tier pop song that wasn't awful, but also wasn't great.
Speaker: he So the Ivy League stuck around all the way into COVID. They did not retire until 2021. And one of their final tours reads like a topper most of the popper most list.
Speaker: In 2016, they toured North Wales along with Herman's Hermits, the Swinging Blue Jeans, the Fortunes and Chris Farlow. Also on the bill were the new Amen Corner and Alan Mosca from Freddy and the Dreamers.
Speaker: Wow. We want all of them on top of most. That's right. The bass player from the Ivy League, John Brennan, who is not the John Brennan who was on The Real World, by the way.
Speaker: John being the third party was a little shocking. He opened the door going, yee-haw, come on in. I've seen cowboy movies and you really don't think that there's this...
Speaker: person with a hat that talks like that in this high-end voice. I didn't think the... I thought it was a Hollywood creation.
Speaker: He remembers playing at a the Oasis Club in Manchester sometime in 1964, and the Beatles unexpectedly walked in. It's not that far from Liverpool to Manchester. What he remembers is that he was starstruck, but he still managed to collect the autographs of each of the four in his diary as a 17-year-old, and he cherishes that book to this day.
Speaker: bet. As you would. Yes. At number 40, long after Tonight is All Over by Jimmy Radcliffe, which moved from number 40 to number 49, then out of the charts.
Speaker: It's a Bacharach David song. Northern Soul, a swinging lead vocal. It's... A pretty interesting soul interpretation of Bacharach and David.
Speaker: The horns are halfway between Motown-type horns and typical Bacharach horns. Well-recorded, good backing vocals. The general backing isn't the best, but it's good enough.
Speaker: The strings have been done before and don't significantly improve the song. It's not the best, but it's a pretty good mid-level hit. And darling now, that I've kissed you,
Speaker: I am craving to kiss you more. Let me tell you. Forget that tonight is a woman. Forget that tonight is a woman.
Speaker: Come anything to me you'll always be. Just everything to me.
Speaker: We love our northern soul on this program. Love his voice. What a voice he had. Very emotional singer, but his voice had great depth and texture. And this has kind of a Latin feel and rhythm. I thought the record was pretty well produced, well arranged. And it's interesting, looking up his background, that he once sang backup for the Drifters.
Speaker: And I thought that was fascinating because this had a little bit of a Drifters feel to me. ding. d ding Here we go again, particularly in the backing vocals and strings. The song itself, I wouldn't say this was one of Bacharach and David's best compositions.
Speaker: I think the song itself isn't like one of their top tier songs, but I like it. It was a good piece of soul, but his voice, wow. And here's something interesting found out about Radcliffe that beginning in 1965, he was the first African-American performing artist to write, produce, and sing commercial jingles for the advertising industry.
Speaker: Cool. And by the time of his death in 1973, unfortunately died young, he had worked on over 200 television and radio commercials. Among his commercials he'd worked on, the 1969-70 Pontiac, apparently the jingle was Breakaway in a Wide-Tracking Pontiac.
Speaker: Here, this year, you can break away right now. Is the time right now? Why not break away? Break away in a firebird.
Speaker: Break away in friend's breed. Break away in G.G.R.
Speaker: the The sole version of McDonald's You Deserve a Break Today and Clio award-winning Polaroid Gives It To Now from 1971. All bangers.
Speaker: All bangers, that's right. The other thing he did is he was one of the songwriters behind the Banana Splits. Yes!
Speaker: that so yeah Yes! Gen Xers unite! One banana, two banana, three banana, four. It's in my head now, can't get it out. Yeah, that's right. You have any comments on this, Marv?
Speaker: Yep, great vocal. The music makes you move, which is why it's Northern Soul standard from the 70s Club Times in north of England. The Justice thing, I was listening I thought, it's almost got a percussive feel that reminds me of Up on the Roof and Saturday Night at the Movies.
Speaker: There you go, now you know why. But also, I listened to this, Kit, and I thought, I'm wondering if this was inspiration for Isaac Hayes doing the reinterpretation of Walk On By that he did.
Speaker: That's an interesting thought. Could be. A previous supercut of ours. yeah That's right. There you Went back to the past there instead of the future. At number 41, It Hurt So Much To See You Go by Jim Reeves, which moved from number 41 to number 20 to number 11. The piano is strong.
Speaker: The rest of the backing isn't all that strong. The reverb is way overdone. It's a good song, though. Fairly typical Jim Reeves vocal. The record itself is maudlin and not great.
Speaker: Considering that he had just died, well, doubly so. High meh, maybe a low hit. Yeah, I wasn't too crazy about this. And yes, it's typical Jim Reeves sound in terms of the deep voice.
Speaker: Kind of a typical country ballad. It's one of those where you can practically predict each lyric. It's just not really my cup of tea. And I have to agree with you on the reverb. I thought that was overdone a bit on his vocal. And this was written by Jim Reeves and Billy Guitar. And it was originally recorded in 1960.
Speaker: And I think we've heard better from Jim Reeves than this.
Speaker: My heart will break.
Speaker: The song's okay for what it is, but it's over sweet and I don't like the bad wall of sound copy. Yep. Agreed. I like how they advertised it, though. It was advertised as being in new orthophonic high fidelity.
Speaker: Yeah, I saw that. Like, what is that? Who knows? But all right. Sounds impressive. I'm misread it to start with, and I thought new orthopedic. I thought the same thing.
Speaker: was like, What does that mean? Like, orthopedic? But even then, when you do know what it says, orthophonic, you think, what does that mean?
Speaker: its It makes as much sense as orthopedic. Yes. Yeah. What do you think, Dr. Ed? Do you know? I will not even make a guess at what that means. Hey, listeners out there, if anybody knows, let us know.
Speaker: Doc, Doc, do we need to go back to 1965 and ask them what it means? It means we need another way to talk about stereo is what it means. Okay. At number 48, I'll Take You Home by Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers, which would move from 48 to two weeks at 42 and then out of the charts.
Speaker: The horns are well played, but the baseline and really the rest of the backing is repetitive and overdone. Good production and recording, but really neither the song nor the arrangement and recording are original.
Speaker: Medium meh. Meh, meh? Meh, meh. Meh, meh, yeah. Do, do, do, do, do. Sorry. No, that's right. Everybody tell me you came with him, but another gal caught it.
Speaker: pretty derivative all around. I mean, it sounded like Save the Last Dance for me in many ways. it just sounded pretty dated from 1965. I mean, this sounded like it was more like 1960. It has the shalala backing and just cliched in terms of the lyrics. The horns were fine, as you said, but yeah, very repetitive.
Speaker: And yeah, as I said, it just sounds like it's five years too late. We've heard Save the Last Dance for me, and it was way better before. Yep, standard fare, inoffensive, but I wouldn't go out and buy it.
Speaker: And then we close out this show at number 49. Thanks a lot by Kit's gal, Brenda Lee, which moved from number 49 to number 41, then out of the charts.
Speaker: Thanks. Thanks a lot. I got a broken heart. That's all I've got. You made me cry.
Speaker: I cried a lot. Oh, I lost your love. Baby, thanks a lot. We mention it just because we have to mention Brenda Lee. And if you listen to our January shows, we don't know whether it's aired yet, but Brenda Lee appears with Ringo Starr in the Ringo Starr country special on CBS.
Speaker: That's right, campboy. but Now we are going to have a little play, not a back to the future play, a little play because Marv discovered something.
Speaker: Now, the way we choose the songs that we mentioned, we mentioned pretty much the new songs that are on the charts in any given week. And then we go back to other songs, which we have mentioned in the past that are relevant or Beatles related.
Speaker: What Marv has discovered is the songs from number 27, all the way down to the end of the charts, make up a little play. Shall we read it, Marv? Shall we read it?
Speaker: Of course. So we start at number 27 with the game of love, question mark? I understand. Well, if you understand, don't let me be misunderstood. Well, you know, it's funny how love can be.
Speaker: Well, is it funny long after tonight is all over? Sometimes, but occasionally it hurts so much to see you go. Kit, are we going to do something? Are we going to take you home?
Speaker: I'll take you home.
Speaker: Thanks a lot. And we did not plan that out. We did not. That was a thrilling drama. The only thing that was planned out was we weren't going to ah include I understand except for the fact that it fits so well with Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood. true.
Speaker: That just put together just a we're really gripping, gripping play. That's amazing. like All right. So that is our first two weeks of February 1965 on the UK charts.
Speaker: Join us soon when we continue with the final two weeks of February 1965. Who knows what thrilling drama we'll find next time. See you then. Take care, everybody.
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.
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 or Disc.
Speaker: Record and Show Mirror, as it was then. 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.
Speaker: Toppermost of the poppermost.
