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September 1965 (side B)
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The Gentrys, Paul Revere and the Raiders, Andy Williams, Lesley Gore, the great Roy Head and the return of Jay and the Americans! The Magical Mystery Camp (https://www.magicalmysterycamp.com/toppermost/) once again sponsors Toppermost for the 2026 year! Friends of the show Darin Murphy and Jon Stone join us for a feature on the Beatles and Dylan! #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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Introduction and Sponsor Highlight
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 Foe, 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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Plus, there's special programming in honor of paul McCartney's 84th birthday.
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00:01:46
Speaker
topper most. 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 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 go, to the top Johnny.
00:02:10
Speaker
And I say, where's that, fellas? And we say, to the toppermost of the poppermost. And i say, right. And we'd all sort of cheer up. Where are we going, Johnny? Straight to the top, boys.
00:02:21
Speaker
Oh, yeah? Where's that? The toppermost of the poppermost.
00:02:46
Speaker
Welcome to toppermost of the poppermost side B, the U.S. charts for September of 1965. We're doing a cash box this month. All right.
00:02:57
Speaker
Cool. So before we get into the charts, something which I found kind of interesting, Gordon Lightfoot's first record was reviewed in the September Cashbox.
00:03:11
Speaker
It was just like Tom Thumb's blues. Well, just like everybody else, Gordon Lightfoot was doing a Dylan song. Yeah. Why not? you What the review told us was Canadian Gordon Lightfoot has an excellent chance of establishing an American reputation for himself with this impressive Bob Dylan penned UA bow called Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues.
00:03:36
Speaker
The side is a medium-paced chorus and orked folk loser. When has Dylan ever been called chorus and orked, you know? oh yeah About the problems women can cause men.
00:03:52
Speaker
Ribbon of Darkness, not Ribbons of Rust, Ribbon of Darkness, is an easygoing rhythmic pledge of devotion. Well, they were right about him eventually establishing an American reputation for himself.
00:04:03
Speaker
Yeah, no, it's interesting. So, you know September of 1965, there's where we first see Gordon Lightfoot. Very cool. All right, so we move on to the first week on the Cashbox Charts show. The week ending September the 4th, 1965. You want to start off, Marv?
00:04:21
Speaker
At number one, we've got Help by the Beatles. Next song I'm going to do is the title song from the latest film we've made. It's also our new record. And it's called Help!
00:04:37
Speaker
Help! Help! I need somebody help Not just anybody help You know I need someone
00:04:47
Speaker
When I was younger, so much younger than today I never, never needed anybody's help in any way But now these days are gone and I'm not so self-assured And now I'm fine, I've changed my mind and opened up the door Number two, we've got I Got You Babe by Sonny and Cher. Number three, we've got Like a Rolling Stone by Bob Dylan. Number four, we've got California Girls by The Beach Boys. You know, that top four, it's like one of those great 60s compilations. You'll find those four songs on there, wouldn't you? Don't you think? Well, if the label would let them.
00:05:29
Speaker
If the label would let them. At number 70, we've got I'll Make All Your Dreams Come True by Ronnie Dove, which we covered on the Billboard side. At number 75, we've got Home of the Brave by Jodie Miller, which we also covered on Billboard.
00:05:45
Speaker
At number 77, Ain't It True by Annie Williams, our first new song on the American charts, corny harmonica, which never really improves it.
00:06:03
Speaker
Ain't it true no matter what you do, someday when life is through they're gonna bury you beneath the cold, cold ground, girl. Big or small or short or fat or tall, it's gonna get us all.
00:06:14
Speaker
Someday we're gonna fall beneath the cold, cold ground, girl. Save us, believe it. The way or what you do.
00:06:29
Speaker
We got a lot bad harmonica this month, don't we? Ah, naughty harmonica. Andy's providing a pretty good lead vocal, but the song is just so wordy. It seems like Andy can never catch his breath.
00:06:42
Speaker
I do like those backing vocals and the lyrics. I don't want to be the one to see you in such misery, not even for the things you went and done, done, done girl. I don't really know what I think of this record. It's not what I want to listen to again, but it's at least pretty good. I'll give it a low hit.
00:07:02
Speaker
wow, we're going to really disagree here. I thought these were like bad Bob Dylan-esque kind of lyrics. And yes, complete with a subpar harmonica.
00:07:14
Speaker
To me, this was the WTF song. This week, the words are just a complete mismatch for Andy. And here's this sort of, you know, somewhat cheerful, upbeat kind of arrangement. And then, come on, ain't it true no matter what you do, someday when life is through, they're going to bury you beneath the cold, cold ground, girl.
00:07:36
Speaker
My poor heart was almost torn apart because you played a part. You thought you were smart. Wow, this is... Yeah, well, like I say, it's wordy, and he's definitely almost trying to do sub-training homesick blues. But, I mean, I like it a little bit more than you do.
00:07:48
Speaker
yeah And then the kicker at the end, i will forgive you. Here's what I'll say. On that final day, they lay you away. There was never another like you. And I just, as little I was like, did he kill this woman? I mean, what is this?
00:08:02
Speaker
And, you know, and it's Andy Williams. So, yeah, this was a miss for me. Okay. I don't like it that much. but I got a little bit toes to tapping and that's kind of about it.
00:08:20
Speaker
Poor, poor, poor Andy. He tries really hard. He's really trying, but the material is just not good.
00:08:31
Speaker
And I found myself thinking as I was listening to it, why didn't they just give him like a Rolling Stone by Bob Dylan? That would have been far better. You know, to give him a song that he could really sink his teeth into and probably not be turning around and going, oh, you're giving me more of this? yeah all right.
00:08:48
Speaker
this But I just think, what was this album? The Dark Side of Andy Williams? I mean, what is this? Yeah. At number 79, Jay and the Americans doing Some Enchanted Evening.
00:09:02
Speaker
Yes, it's that song from South Pacific. Jay and the Americans massacre it. The opening is just way too slow. And then it goes into, once again, bad Four Seasons harmonies.
00:09:15
Speaker
It's a decent enough lead vocal. The backing vocals improve, but not that much. The update of the tune just really doesn't work. And I also...
00:09:25
Speaker
hate their interpretation of that once you found her, never let her go.
00:09:38
Speaker
Once you have found her, never let her go.
00:10:04
Speaker
Very, very low, Matt, or maybe a miss. Okay, we're back on the same page now. What a weird cover. I'm trying to make it sound like a pop doo-wop track at that some points, but it just sounds awkward. And and in 4-4 Time, that's not right. This is the same ballad from South Pacific. I hated those bells, too, that were used throughout. It almost sounded like a Christmas song. Like they were straight out of a Christmas carol.
00:10:32
Speaker
Once you're out on the heaven
00:10:52
Speaker
What a weird, weird cover miss. Oh, my word. It's a shame because this is a really good song, but it's just massacred. and If they wanted to update it, they could have lent into the whole musical side of it if they wanted to and then sort of like use the voices to like, put a around in there or do anything, anything at all. But this is just lazy and boring.
00:11:22
Speaker
Yep. So we all agree it's a pretty big miss here. Yes. Yeah. At number 84, a song which may not be the biggest hit, but we're definitely going to say is a hit. Respect by Otis Redding.
00:11:34
Speaker
Otis wrote the song, even though he's not the version that we're all familiar with. This record Great horns, great lead vocal. It's funky, but maybe a step below the best from Otis Redding.
00:11:47
Speaker
I love the performance by Booker T and the MGs. However, the Aretha version would overshadow the original by far. And Otis would agree. When he first heard Aretha Franklin's record, he said, well, I guess it's that girl's song now.
00:12:04
Speaker
but This record, the original, is a moderate hit. NPR described it as reinforcing the traditional family structure of the time. Man works all day, brings money home to wife, and demands her respect in return. It's a hit, but certainly not as big a one as Aretha's.
00:12:24
Speaker
i I agree. Yeah.
00:12:50
Speaker
Boy, is this an example, isn't it, of how somebody else can put a completely different spin on the song because Aretha's turned into a feminist anthem. And as you pointed out and in that NPR review, this is much more traditional stereotype mid-60s relationship. However, love the horns. That's some classic Stax horns right there. And Otis's voice, toward the end, when he's practically scatting some of the lines, and just furiously spitting them out. Oh, my gosh.
00:13:25
Speaker
Steve Cropper, not surprisingly, produced this. Booker T the MGs, as you mentioned, were the backing band. And even though definitely Aretha's version is better, and as you said, I think Otis even saw that that. It became her song. This is still well worth the listen. It's a hit for me.
00:13:44
Speaker
Absolutely agree. I like Booker T and the MGs in the background, the horns, Otis's voice. Nobody does yearning like Otis. But yeah, I can't wait until we get to the Aretha Franklin version, actually. I'm really looking forward to that.
00:13:57
Speaker
Because this is a good song, and this is a good take of the song. It's just that that takes it into the stratosphere. And Otis knew it. And his bank balance was all the better for it. Of course. That's right. He's not complaining about that.
00:14:09
Speaker
No. At number 87, High Heel Sneakers by Stevie Wonder, which we covered on the Billboard charts. Kit's happy. Yay. At number 88, Home of the Brave, the Bonnie the Treasures version. Phil Spector is still out there seething because the other version is much higher than his.
00:14:30
Speaker
sure At number 95, There But For Fortune by Joan Baez, which we covered on the UK side. So we had u songs which are appearing on the UK charts, and now we have UK songs appearing on the US charts.
00:14:47
Speaker
Hmm. At number 97, If You Wait for Love by Bobby Goldsboro, which we covered in the Billboard charts. yeah At number 98, Keep On Dancing by The Gentries.
00:15:03
Speaker
This is one of those songs which was a staple of all these radio when Kit and I were wee youngsters. That's right.
00:15:14
Speaker
Keep on dancing at brand new world.
00:15:37
Speaker
Nice use of the organ and the drums. It's played energetically, if not particularly well. Again, this is a garage band kind of thing. Good but not great lead vocal. The back half after the drum fill is just a repeat of the first half.
00:15:51
Speaker
The lyrics are stupid, but stupid in a good way. Moderate hit. Yeah. ah That's stupid, but stupid a good way. This is a party record, nothing brainy about dancing, but it gets you going. I've always found this fun, repetitive, as you mentioned, and for good reason, because they really do repeat the first part go to lengthen the song. This case, I like the organ. I like that instrumental break that gradually builds in intensity, and then they modulate. It's just a fun, fun track. So I would say hit. Yeah.
00:16:27
Speaker
Agreed. Lower hit. The lyrics are, as I said, it's pointed out stupid, but it's all about the vibe. It's about getting you out on the dance floor, dancing with your other halves and having fun. And that's what it's about. And it works on that level.
00:16:42
Speaker
Don't overthink it. but Don't even take notice of the lyrics. Just enjoy it. Well, you can take notice of the lyrics in as much as they're ripping off the Beatles version of Twist and Shout because they keep doing that shake it, shake it, shake it, baby. Yes, true. Fuck yeah.
00:16:57
Speaker
We're all pretty much on the same page with this song as well. At number 99, The Way of Love by Kathy Kirby. Nice piano, a good of slightly cloying lead vocal. Another one with terrible lyrics. Mmm.
00:17:16
Speaker
The strings and backing just take things way too far. This is an English version of a French song, and we'll talk a little bit more about it after you guys give your reviews.
00:17:28
Speaker
If a flame should start as you hold him near, better keep your heart.
00:17:57
Speaker
When you'll see him go. Wow, this is overranged. I mean, when the strings and drums come in the chorus, first time, i almost jumped out of my seat. They just came crashing in.
00:18:11
Speaker
Just the way that you said goodbye to me.
00:18:25
Speaker
And at times she and the strings and all just fight for dominance. And it's a shame because if she has a good voice. You know, maybe if this had been more simply arranged and toned way down, including her vocals at times, because she's again, she's fighting with the backing. It maybe could have been improved, but between that and the pretty average lyrics, I'd have to give it a miss. I just did not like this. I think Kathy Kirby has a really good voice a lot of the time, but to me, this is almost like a phone in.
00:18:57
Speaker
The song just drags. I've actually given it a meh. Yeah, I would say a meh as well. Kit likes it a little bit less than we do. Yeah. yeah Yep. Now, the interesting thing about this record is it would become a hit for Cher, and Cher's version is the much better known version of this song.
00:19:14
Speaker
It was originally a 1960 French song entitled, Marv, time for you to put your French to work again. giimal detois And the English lyrics were written by al Stillman.
00:19:29
Speaker
Cher's recording would reach as high as number seven, so we will be seeing Cher's recording in the future. Now, I don't know if this is a modern interpretation of the lyrics or if this is something people caught At the time. But the currently accepted version of what these lyrics mean is that the song is either about a woman expressing her love for another woman or a woman saying au revoir to a gay male she loved. This is definitely not a mother to daughter heart to heart. Okay.
00:20:04
Speaker
What will you do when he sets you free just the way that you said goodbye to me? Rhapsody highlighted the song and called it sexually ambiguous. The Cher version would tend to lead you there, I suppose. But Cher reuses most of the same arrangement. I really don't know why Cher's version was such a big hit. Yeah. Interesting. At number 100, we have a couple of songs tied. One which we've already covered, The World Through a Tear by Neil Sedaka, which was on the Billboard chart last month.
00:20:38
Speaker
And Steppin' Out by Paul Revere and the Raiders. We mentioned Paul Revere and the Raiders last time. They'd been around since 1958, but they were actually popular because Dick Clark had promoted them to the featured band in Where the Action Is.
00:20:57
Speaker
This song...
00:21:21
Speaker
Well, now we know where the village people got their hey, hey, from. ah It's fairly standard Raiders sound, thumping bass and organs, staccato answer vocals. It's a lot like a proto version of their bigger hits. I'm thinking kicks that we will soon see a nice growl in the lead vocal.
00:21:46
Speaker
It's not top notch, but I'll give it a very low hit. I like this a lot less. It's you know interesting, goes into double time and almost preaching out of gospel, but definitely not holy in this case. It's another one of these songs where it's like, boy, this is kind of misogynistic, lot of anger, and the frequent rhythm changes like as I said double time it's like it's trying to desperately add excitement to the song where there isn't any what about this I told you once I told you twice stop your cutting around or else I'll put you on ice I'm telling you baby what I want you to do stop your messing around I'm gonna step on you now I understand
00:22:33
Speaker
He's saying he's going to fool around too But you know there's such anger here And of course as you mentioned the hey hey hey That gets repetitive Just not up to the best I mean you mentioned Kicks And Kicks is like a million times better than this song for sure It was a miss for me Yeah it was alright I suppose high meh And yeah the double time bits I was like Why the heck are they going into double time? Yeah it comes out of nowhere Yeah, okay. I don't know whether this phrase works.
00:23:06
Speaker
Making a silk purse out of a sow's hair. That's what I thought about the trying to change the arrangement. It was like that. It was like, look, you've got this idea. Mixing it around isn't going to change matters. So, meh, I meh.
00:23:19
Speaker
ah One thing which I find kind of interesting, you can almost see the inevitability of the monkeys out of a lot of these songs. You know, you get a lot of the charts moving in that direction of sort of quasi, but not quite as good Beatles songs, you know?
00:23:35
Speaker
Mm-hmm. Yeah. I'm surprised that when you mentioned that village people thing, that you didn't mention the monkeys for that instead. Yeah. Well, you can definitely see the trend coming, which I had never really thought about. You tend to think of the monkeys as coming out fairly whole cloth, but it was very definitely Boyce and Hart picking up on trends. Yeah.
00:23:58
Speaker
All right, we move on to the second week of September 1965, the week ending September the 11th. Help is still number one on the Cashbox charts.
00:24:09
Speaker
Yay!
00:24:13
Speaker
Now I'm mad feel so insecure I know that I just need your life I've never done before Help me if you can I'm feeling down And I do appreciate you being around Help me get my feet fight on the ground
00:24:42
Speaker
We move on to number 69, Treat Her Right by Roy Head and the Traits. Now, we've mentioned this song before. We've got a personal connection to it because when Roy Head went on tour in the fall of 1965, one of the members of his band, his horn player was none other than When They Was Fab's co-host's brother,
00:25:07
Speaker
So Lonnie Pena's brother was one of the horn players with Roy Head and they played this song for the loving audiences. Very cool. Cool. So the track itself, it's a nice bit of blue-eyed soul. It is, you know, more or less a fairly standard 12-bar blues, but I love the horns. It's got a nice guitar, really good drums, and Roy Head's got a great vocal on there. Lots of energy.
00:25:33
Speaker
This is a big hit for me. If you practice my method... just as hard as you can you're gonna get a reputation as a love and a man now and you'll be glad every night that you treated her right
00:26:05
Speaker
This is one of those songs that you don't hear it played lot on radio, and also I kind of had forgotten about it. you know And listening to it again, I just thought, boy, this is so good. I love those James Brownish horn blasts. It's a little bit reminiscent of Georgie Fame. Monus the scatting. Exactly, but I love it. Blue-Eyed Soul is best a searing lead vocal from Roy Head. Big hit for me as well.
00:26:34
Speaker
yeah And the music is absolutely cooking. Great song. I love everything about it. Sounds great. Great production. Wonderful performance by everybody. So we have some details on the recording of this track.
00:26:48
Speaker
Roy Head and his band were signed by, once again, our friend Huey P. Moe. Oh boy, he's back. Treat her right, was recorded here at Gold Star Studios, here being Houston, Texas. Gold Star being the studio which would become Sugar Hill Studios.
00:27:08
Speaker
Wow, cool. And if you're not sure who else recorded at either Gold Star or at Sugar Hill, some of the artists there included Lightning Hopkins, George Jones, Selena, and early Beyoncé and Destiny's Child.
00:27:26
Speaker
Wow! So, the record consists Roy Head on lead vocal, Johnny Clark on lead guitar, Frank Miller on rhythm guitar, Gene Kurtz on bass, Dan Bowie on keyboards, Danny Gomez and Tommy Max on tenor sax, Johnny Gibson on trumpet, that's the role that Lonnie Pena's brother would take over live, and Jerry Gibson on drums. And then... At the very end of the song, you can hear Roy Head just repeatedly shouting, hey, kind of stealing from Kansas City. And then he starts ad-libbing stuff, including, you're too much, baby.
00:28:07
Speaker
So we also have built a supercut around this song. Some of the versions you will hear include the one everyone probably remembers, the one from The Commitments. That was one of the singles from The Commitments film from what is now 35, 40 years ago. Yeah, nearly 40. Crikey. Wow. Move on, Ed.
00:28:31
Speaker
Other artists include Otis Redding. wow. Barbara Mandrell, believe it or not. Okay. Jerry Lee Lewis, our friend Mae West did a cover version of this song.
00:28:45
Speaker
Treat him right. Was it with or without the sweaty vest? No.
00:28:51
Speaker
i Shout out to McCartney. That's right. Jackie Lee, George Thorogood, Billy Gibbons, Bruce. Of course Bruce did a version of this song. Any supercut, we're going to have Bruce in there somewhere.
00:29:05
Speaker
I was going to say, what song is he not covered? This is incredible. Here in my head I was thinking the same thing. Yeah. Dale Watson and Steve Cropper.
00:29:16
Speaker
Cool. Len Berry, who we're going to see shortly here. And Los Straightjackets with Mark Lindsay. So there you go. but Then again, you know, Bruce Springsteen, if you think about it, he plays for about three or four hours. So he's got plenty of time in his live sets to do these songs, hasn't he?
00:29:37
Speaker
and because he takes requests he really did just learn everything with the east streeters were a bar band he knows at least enough to be able to just sort of rough it out on the guitar just about any song you can give him
00:30:39
Speaker
Every man ought to know If you want a little lovin' You gotta start real slow She gonna love you tonight If you just treat her right now Oh, squeeze him real chop You gotta make him feel good Tell him that you love him, hmm
00:31:08
Speaker
She's gonna love you tonight If you just choose
00:32:13
Speaker
Oh, oh, oh, oh,
00:33:09
Speaker
Every girl oughta know If you want a little lovin' You gotta start real slow He's gonna love you tonight If you just treat him right He's gonna love you tonight If you just treat him right
00:34:30
Speaker
You gotta treat that woman right now.
00:34:34
Speaker
At number 74, the next track from Roger Miller, Kansas City Star. Well, ah nope. It's Roger Miller hamming it up again, singing something about a local cowboy kiddie TV show host.
00:34:51
Speaker
Nice enough guitar and it's sung well, but I don't like the track, miss. Yeah, I wasn't crazy about this either. I'm a hero of the younger set.
00:35:01
Speaker
I'm the number one attraction ever. Supermarket parking lot. I'm the king of Kansas City. No thanks, Omaha.
00:35:11
Speaker
Thanks a lot. Kansas City Star. That's what are. You're the leader daddy. You're the same car. Drop big old Cadillac with white wheels.
00:35:23
Speaker
Got rhinestones on the spokes. Talking about hamming it up. That's the big problem. He gets too cute with the scatting that he does. And a little of that goes a long way. Let's put it that way.
00:35:38
Speaker
And yeah, as you said, the subject, something about being a local cowboy kiddie show host, it just doesn't make a lot of sense. I guess because of the guitar, I gave it a whoa low, low, low math.
00:35:53
Speaker
We're ah more or less at the same place. Yeah, we're a fraction off.
00:35:59
Speaker
I thought I was going to be disliked by Ed from this because I know that Ed is such a big Roger Miller fan. hum Lol. Another dose of novelty country folk from Mr. Miller.
00:36:14
Speaker
No, thank you. The one good thing about the lyrics to this track is they made me go and watch two or three of the versions of the story Jay Thomas used to tell on Letterman every year at Christmas time, because it is at least nominally related to what Roger Miller is singing about. TV cowboys and such.
00:36:35
Speaker
Clayton Moore. Clayton Moore. This was after the Lone Ranger had been canceled, was reduced to doing appearances. So, Jay Thomas was a local radio DJ at the time.
00:36:50
Speaker
Clayton Moore was the special guest at this opening of a car lot. And then just real briefly, it turns out that Clayton Moore's ride never showed up.
00:37:02
Speaker
So, once they finished, Jay Thomas said, well, okay, you know, hey, we'll take you wherever you need to go, Mr. Moore. So, Clayton Moore loads up into the back of their pot-smelling hippie mobile.
00:37:14
Speaker
I was going to say, they were definitely chemically altered. ah They were driving. They drove off in the direction that Clayton Moore told them to do, and they were hit by a car behind them. They were rear-ended, basically. no.
00:37:30
Speaker
And so Jay Thomas was like, I'm not going to let that go because the guy just took off. So he went zooming on the freeway after this car that hit him. He managed to to get behind him. They went and they traveled. And so it's a shaggy dog to a story to a certain extent. They go all the way through and they end up catching up to this guy and getting out at his next stop. Again, long hair in 1968, 1969. get out.
00:37:57
Speaker
they approach the guy the guy says Yeah, yeah, go ahead, call the cops. Are they going to believe me are they going believe you? Long-haired hippie freaks.
00:38:08
Speaker
Clayton Moore gets out of the car and says, they'll believe me, citizen. In full costume. Full costume. And and the guy goes, geez, I didn't know it was you. While not directly related to the song, you can see how the lyrics are at least nominally related to it. Jay Thomas used to go on the show. It was like a yearly tradition. that It's funny.
00:38:31
Speaker
Letterman basically did the same Christmas show every year. ah He did that, and then he had Darling Love come on. I'll just go on record to say that that Clayton Moore story is a lot more interesting than the song. Agreed. yeah Agreed.
00:38:49
Speaker
Good point. At number 77, Hungry for Love by the San Remo Golden Strings. Well, I don't quite know what to make of this track. It's a nicely jazzy, mostly instrumental. It's very well played, but...
00:39:06
Speaker
I don't know why it's here in the charts. Hi, Matt, I guess. Well, it's an interesting story. The San Remo Golden Strings were actually, you know, basically a studio group from Detroit. And some of its members played in the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and others were in the Funk Brothers.
00:39:29
Speaker
And so their albums were released on a subsidiary of Motown called Rick Tick, and they had two hits, this being the first.
00:40:10
Speaker
a pleasant instrumental. Once I found out the background, I'm like, oh, you can hear a little bit of the symphonic elements at some point. It's pleasant enough for background at a party. It's danceable. I thought parts of string sounded like they were going to go into I Can't Help Myself for tops a few times. So Motown connection.
00:40:31
Speaker
I would say high, mad, low hit. It would have been better with vocals, I think. Hopefully this isn't going to offend everybody, but nice music in the background while you're going up an elevator in a shopping mall.
00:40:45
Speaker
Yeah, it's background music. Decent background music, but not much more than that. Yeah, the Funk Brothers being on this record is interesting, or at least some of the Funk Brothers. That explains the jazziness, and and it also explains they were probably wanting to stretch out a little bit from what they did on a daily basis for Motown. Right. You know, that with Motown, it was like a machine in a sense, and maybe they wanted to do three for the corporates and one for myself. These guys had jazz backgrounds. and In some ways, I think they viewed Motown, the stuff they were playing, hey, it's a paycheck, but this isn't real music like jazz. Well, I mean, it was studio musicians. Exactly.
00:41:27
Speaker
At number 83, Leslie Gore with My Town, My Guy, and Me. This is a song that Leslie co-wrote. It's well sung, and I like those drums, but the song really never escapes the box that the title puts it in. This was definitely written as a song where Leslie could go out on the road and replace My Town with Hello Cleveland. Yeah.
00:41:54
Speaker
ah Leslie is sort of copying downtown in feel and melody. It's not bad, but it's maybe a bit generic. Low hit. That was the first thing I thought of, like, wow, does this sound like downtown? it was produced by Quincy Jones, and the song was co-written by Leslie Gore.
00:42:14
Speaker
Don't tell me about all the good times I'm missing Nothing's good as the time when we're loving and kissing
00:42:32
Speaker
I thought the lyrics were pretty cliched. Definitely not on a level of
00:42:45
Speaker
i thought the lyrics were pretty cliche definitely not on a level of It's My Party or you You Don't Own Me. You know, Leslie Gore sings it fine. She has a good vocal on it. But otherwise, I thought this was a pretty meh track that was a ripoff of Downtown.
00:43:04
Speaker
Yep. I thought, oh, let's see if we can do a copy of Downtown, but not include the good bits that we might get sued for. on And that basically tells you that I think of it as a meh.
00:43:17
Speaker
Sorry, Leslie. No. Cashbox, on the other hand, tells us that the Lark seems destined to repeat her recent top 20 sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows stand with this excellent follow-up dubbed My Town, My Guy, and Me.
00:43:35
Speaker
The tune's a rhythmic, romantic rocker about a gal who just wants to be in the same town as the guy of her dreams. Flips, girl in love. They can't even say anything about the B-side. It's a flip.
00:43:49
Speaker
yeah That's a ringing endorsement. You know, if people were saying these cashbox reviews or speaking like this back then, they must have had to have rehearsed saying these things because would you really talk like that? Yeah, right.
00:44:09
Speaker
it Although saying that, behind the scenes, that is how Ed speaks in real life. Kit is our favorite gal. That's right.
00:44:20
Speaker
And we're the guys. There you go. Yep. At number 86, Tossing and Turning by the Ivy League, which we covered on the UK side. at number 87, If You've Got a Heart by Bobby Goldsboro. Chad and Jeremy released the first version of this song back in January. It is a Goldboro written tune. I'm not sure why Chad and Jeremy did it first.
00:44:47
Speaker
That's the better record, but only by a little bit. Whoever was sitting there listening and Bobby decided, I'm going to do my own version of it. They chose the worst parts to carry over to this record.
00:45:00
Speaker
Bobby removed the only bit other than the harmony, because, I mean, obviously he's not a harmony singer, and he's not to double track with himself, that I really liked about the Chad Jeremy version, and that is the piano.
00:45:13
Speaker
This record, cheesy, annoying guitar, horns and drums that are way too much, pointless backing singers, miss. Yeah, it's just really generic mid-60s pop song, very average. At times the horns sounded like they were lifted from Come a Little Bit Closer.
00:45:42
Speaker
I think you're using me till you find someone new
00:45:49
Speaker
But if you wait too long, you'll have to find me too. Backing singer's really annoying with the la-las.
00:46:02
Speaker
Tell me you're mine or leave me alone. It's like they're trying to interject some life into the song and it doesn't really work.
00:46:12
Speaker
This is a mess for me. Yeah, it's worth listening to the Chad and Jeremy Version. If nothing else, they don't have the annoying backing singers. But all the negative parts have been carried over from that record to this one.
00:46:24
Speaker
Getting rid the backing singers would help.
00:46:28
Speaker
Bobby, Bobby, Bobby. Pretty soon, I'm sure we're going to get Bobby as we know him. But we haven't got there yet.
00:46:39
Speaker
Forgettable fluff. At number 88, Another Bobby, What Color Is a Man by Bobby Vinton. This is a track written by Marge Barton, who is a name that you may not know, but she has a long history in country music, as you might expect from this record. It sounds and feels like a worse version of what we're going to get from Mickey Dolan's In the Monkees in a year or two.
00:47:05
Speaker
potentially interesting country track with heavy-handed message lyrics. And I'm sorry, the Red Indian and the Yellow Cowardice. it's like You're trying to be progressive and you're unintentionally reinforcing those stereotypes.
00:47:25
Speaker
If you're colored in blue sun He may not be a happy man
00:47:33
Speaker
If you color him red sun, someone may steal his land. If you color him green or yellow, he may be jealous and cowardly.
00:47:47
Speaker
If you color him red sun, someone may steal his land.
00:48:01
Speaker
Train Beat, Harmonica, and the return of the Walk Hard Backing Singers. The song is tired, and it just never succeeds. Still, meh.
00:48:12
Speaker
Maybe a little meh. Yeah, this is to me a very, very clumsy attempt to write a song with a message like Bob Dylan or Pete Seeger, and it really falls short. We're going to get a couple of those this month. cool Yeah, you really hear just how much influence Bob Dylan had, for sure.
00:48:33
Speaker
As you mentioned, the clunky lyrics just make me cringe. i mean, yes, the message that color doesn't make a man, but it's about the man himself. Okay, I get it, but oh my gosh.
00:48:46
Speaker
This is a little boy with his father, and he has a coloring book. And it says, i want to be brave like a soldier. What crayon should I use to color me? If you color her him blue sun, he may not be a happy man. If you color him red sun, someone may steal his land. And then it goes on, as you mentioned, Ed, about yellow. and It's really cringy lyrics, preachy, and definitely has not aged well.
00:49:15
Speaker
Miss. Absolutely of its time. I wonder if I would have liked it more if I'd have heard it decades ago but i'm not sure yeah they were trying to be hip but they weren't so they can hip hop away and bring something better to us thanks even the final lines of the song if you color him black son he may never be free okay gimme woman is the over that sorry yeah yes back to the knickers
00:49:48
Speaker
At number 89, Make Me Your Baby by Barbara Lewis. Make me, make me your baby. Kiss me, kiss me and baby.
00:50:02
Speaker
You will see paradise is waiting for you and me. If you make me your baby. If you make me.
00:50:25
Speaker
Okay, my complaint from her previous track is gone. She's not cooing like a little girl anymore. But can we talk about those lyrics? I'm going to kiss you in a special way. I'll find a way to please you every day. Makes Please Please Me sound kind of innocent there. was going to say, boy, read it like that. Wow, that's pretty journey. Ha ha ha. So Barbara Lewis sounds a little bit desperate. Still, I like the feel of the tune. Her voice is good. The backing is not annoying, and for the most part, it works.
00:50:58
Speaker
A low hit, which could have been higher if they had put a little bit of subtlety into those lyrics. definitely that. I thought there was too much reverb going on on the instruments, particularly. know Trying to sound like another Phil Spector kind of production. In terms of just sound, not lyrics, typical early 60s girl group kind of song, particularly the doo-waz. You hear that in the background, but As you said, Barbara Lewis gives a really nice performance here, soulful, beautiful. So maybe high, mad, but to me, part of it is just the production, Phil Spector-lite production that just doesn't work.
00:51:40
Speaker
I actually can't believe that the lyrics were written by a woman, Helen Miller, because I thought they sounded a bit almost what a man would be like a woman to say to him.
00:51:50
Speaker
I love that velvety voice that Barbara's got on this. I think that's good. I thought it was okay. Lower hit. Was it just me that in places it it almost sounded like they were going into Move Over Darling musically? The Doris Day song. it It just made me think of that in certain places.
00:52:06
Speaker
Not as you. Interesting. I'll still go back and listen to that. At number 90, A Lover's Concerto by The Toys. This is another one of those played heavily on all these radio tunes, which I didn't realize just looking at the title.
00:52:51
Speaker
was written by American songwriters Sandy Linzer and Denny Randell and was based on the 18th century composition Minuet in G Major by Christian Petzold.
00:53:03
Speaker
Good vocal, good backing, good playing. It's prime girl group material. However, there's nothing really original here. The pieces work, but there's a reason why the hooks in Minuet in G Major were recycled again.
00:53:17
Speaker
Still, I'll give it a hit Yeah, this is one of those songs that was played on oldies radio a lot back in the day. And I like this track. The very beginning sounds a little like Bacharach David chords that would even later sound a bit like a fifth dimension track. So they're using some different chords here. Then the tempo kicks in with a supreme sounding intro.
00:53:43
Speaker
And boy, that lead vocal She is really killing this, because there's endless modulation going on. Just go up, up, up in her range, and and she absolutely nails it. I think this is well produced and arranged.
00:53:58
Speaker
One of my favorite girl group songs, Hit. yeah Thankfully, they didn't let Phil Spector anywhere near it. Thankfully. Louis said that hearing this song conjured images of swinging London, clubbing in the 60s, I would take that further and say that it would be the perfect song for the 1960s parts of the Austin Powers films, perhaps were the dancing in in the streets and that sort of thing. um Great vocals and music on the song feel good, happy and bouncy. 100% hit.
00:54:29
Speaker
At number 94, Carl Lynn by The Strange Loves, their follow-up to I Want Candy. Nope.
00:55:16
Speaker
I like very little of this record. It's very much a failed attempt, low-meh, or even a high-miss, and that's really only because it's energetic and played decently well.
00:55:27
Speaker
Yeah, I was really torn about this record. I liked it a little more than I care to admit. Yeah. Yeah, it has a nice mixture of rock and soul with some banging drums, which, of course, not surprising. This is the Strange Loves, or I Want Candy it was their big hit.
00:55:46
Speaker
and yeah I found my foot tapping to the beat. You know, whether I like or not, I like the scratchy guitar. Lyrics are nothing brainy, that's for sure, but it's enough to be kind of a fun sing-along, kind of in the vein of Barbara Ann.
00:56:02
Speaker
Nothing brainy there, but it's catchy, and you can sing along, and I like the woo's. As I said, I like this track more than I care to admit. Whoa, hit.
00:56:13
Speaker
The performance is better than the song, which is odd considering that the Strangelove were songwriters just pretending to be performers. Right. I was the same as Kit. It was almost a case of my foot was tapping, and then I was telling myself on so and going, why am I tapping my foot to this song?
00:56:30
Speaker
Yes, exactly. You're questioning yourself. Why am I doing this to this? Because it's not good. But there were bits about it that sort of liked, but the lyrics are dreadful. The lyrics are from the school of rhyming June with Moon.
00:56:44
Speaker
True. They're just really bad. Again, professional songwriters and three professional songwriters wrote this song. Yes. Yes. At number 95, You're the One by The Vogues. A good track. Poppy and catchy. Good lead and backing. Ever so slightly British invasion and feel. Good drums. Pretty good guitar that make up for, once again, not so great lyrics. Hit.
00:57:12
Speaker
I pretty much agree. I will say I like their single, which I think came after this, Five O'Clock World. a bit better than this. It's a bit more distinctive. But this is a really pleasant pop track.
00:57:25
Speaker
Another favorite on oldies radio back in the day. I didn't recognize it immediately when I saw the title, but as soon as I heard it I thought, oh yeah, I've heard this. It's catchy. The lead vocalist has such a clear voice and emotional depth to his voice. The drum fills are overdone in some sections, but it's a minor quibble. So I would give it a low hit.
00:57:48
Speaker
Yeah, it's okay. I'd say the same lower here. It's nice in the background, that's for sure. And it'll get your foot moving again. And so we do have some interesting points about how this song came to be. The original version of this was actually by Petula Clark and she co-wrote it with her husband.
00:58:07
Speaker
She needed one more song to fill out her I Know A Place album. So they just recorded it. Oh, this is good enough for an album track. We're not going release it as a single or anything.
00:58:17
Speaker
But somehow it ended up in the hands of a record producer in Pittsburgh. Wow. who So at Gateway Studios in Pittsburgh, that record producer came up with a group that had previously recorded as the Val Ayers and got them to record You're the One. Who were the Val Ayers?
00:58:41
Speaker
Nick Sensi, that record producer, had actually already cut the record once with a Pittsburgh band called the Racket Squad. Nick Sensi didn't like everything about the Racket Squad version, so He went to another band who he had heard who had sent him a demo tape and that is where the Val airs came from.
00:59:05
Speaker
Specifically since he decided that the group's lead singer, Bill Burkett would be better singing a lead here. all So he brought Burkett in and erased poor Sonny DiNunzio's vocals from the Racket Squad version and Burkett recorded a fresh vocal over the instrumentation played by the racket squads members, a story we've actually become familiar with in several other places. Most notably hang on. Sloopy.
00:59:36
Speaker
Oh, yes. Different producer, different place, but same idea. oh At number 99, I'll take you where the music's playing by the drifters, which we've previously covered on the billboard side at number 100. The first of a couple of songs, which are tied the, Number 100.
00:59:56
Speaker
ah Everyone's Gone to the Moon by Jonathan King. Covered on the UK side. We didn't understand why it was on the UK side. And here it is. Even if it's only at number 100, here it is on the cash box charts. h Okay.
01:00:14
Speaker
Tied with it at number 100, The Sins of a Family by P.F. Sloan. P.F. Sloan is the songwriter behind Barry McGuire's Eve of Destruction. And you'll know him much better for the track Secret Agent Man for Johnny Rivers.
01:00:35
Speaker
wow This record, it's a pretty good tune, but P.S. Sloan was not much of a performer. Stock standard guitar, harmonica, and drums with lyrics that are nothing more than what is now derisively referred to as stoner poetry. In short, a bad Bob Dylan copy. Low meh. you go and look up a picture of the guy. He's got the cloth cap. He's got the harmonica. He's got the acoustic guitar. Yeah, you're trying to be Dylan.
01:01:07
Speaker
Yeah. I love stoner poetry. That's great. All the sins of a family fall on daughter.
01:01:19
Speaker
All the sins of a family fall on daughter.
01:01:35
Speaker
And all of us, heaven's sea looks just a precious view. And it takes some inside pull to get Gabriel, make an angel out of you.
01:01:51
Speaker
This is definitely another Dylan ripoff, complete with harmonica and acoustic guitar. It's kind of an interesting, maybe a little bit ahead of its time, song in terms of the subject matter, you know, that it's hard to escape the family you were raised in and go on to another station in life. You're trapped by the sins of your family and everything. That's a heavy subject to tackle, and this doesn't do a very good job of it.
01:02:16
Speaker
Just didn't find it very engrossing, just wanted it to end. a low meh for me. I have to add, he also produced two songs from one of my favorite groups in the 60s, The Grassroots.
01:02:28
Speaker
Where Were You When I Needed You and Let's Live For Today. There you go. Those are good songs. Yes. Dylan Wannabe, including the harmonica solo that was...
01:02:40
Speaker
like something that was thrown onto the cutting room floor. I suppose the best I could say is is unique. He's himself. It's a song. It's a song. All right, so we close out the show with a little note on the cash box charts. You know, one of the things we've mentioned was that they like to group together all the different versions of a tune when there was one big seller and others that were lesser sellers.
01:03:05
Speaker
This was the last week that they would do that, and the records which were still grouped together were the Cher version of All I Really Want to Do and the Birds version, which was considered the minor version of that song.
01:03:20
Speaker
So that would change the next week and we're not going to get to do that mention anymore. All right. We'll be back with side. sea See you then.
01:03:32
Speaker
See you soon. Take care, everybody.
01:04:05
Speaker
There was a piece in the NME, 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.
01:04:16
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, Record and Show Mirror as it was then.
01:04:33
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.
01:04:48
Speaker
Toppermost of the poppermost.