Transcript
Speaker: The Beatles had this chant, John Paul and George and probably then Stuart and Pete, had this chant 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 didn't work properly or the amps broke or whatever.
Speaker: I say, where are we going, fellas? And they'd go, to the top, Johnny. And I'd say, where's that, fellas? And they'd say, to the toppermost or the poppermost. I'd say, right. And we'd all sort of, cheer up where we going johnny straight to the top boys oh yeah where's that the topmost of the popper
Speaker: Welcome to Side C of Toppermost of the Poppermost. I'm Chan. I'm Kit O'Toole. And I'm Martin Quibble. All right, so we are into Billboard for the first week of June 1965.
Speaker: couple things I want to point out. Satisfaction is just out, and they put out a full-page trade ad featuring the Stones.
Speaker: Keith is smoking. Of course. And Nick stuck his tongue out. Yeah. Yes. Well, we know where the T-shirts and all the logos came from.
Speaker: Yes. ah The second thing I noticed from these charts, there was a record which I hadn't heard of. They are still doing the beetle haircut things.
Speaker: Oh, geez.
Speaker: So the Outsiders Karate 505, that's the label, released a single called The Guy With The Long Liverpool Hair.
Speaker: The Cashbox Review told us that the single was an English orc and vocal sound on a driving throbber.
Speaker: I'm sorry. My 12 year old self has emerged. Just giggling. Yeah, giggling. ah The song is available on YouTube.
Speaker: It's not like that John and Paul record we talked about a while ago. Oh boy It's a guy. His girlfriend is upset at him because she saw him with someone that she thought was another girl.
Speaker: no. Oh no. So the lyrics include the lines, that wasn't no girl she saw me with. It was a guy from work with that long Liverpool hair that, then a pause, some guys wear.
Speaker: At the end of the song, she demands that he introduce her to this guy with the long Liverpool hair. And, well, he couldn't prove a thing I said because he just came from the barber shop.
Speaker: okay
Speaker: I thought my heart would stop.
Speaker: Cause he couldn't help me prove a thing I said. He'd just come from the barbershop. Wow. Masterpiece. Did not chart, but I thought mid-65 would have been a little late for Beatle haircut novelty records, but I'm wrong.
Speaker: That's exactly what I thought. I'm like, isn't this passé by now? What would these people think if they went into a time machine and came out during the hair metal stage of the eighty s They'd freak out.
Speaker: The bangles, as opposed to poison, who had the more feminine looking hairdos. who Oh dear. Look what the cat drug in
Speaker: All right, so on to the Billboard charts. At number one for the first week in June is Help Me Rhonda by The Beach Boys.
Speaker: Classic. At number five is Ticket to Ride. Another classic. This one's called Ticket to Ride.
Speaker: at number fifty three a song that is not a classic
Speaker: Give us your blessings by the Shangri-Las. It starts with thunder sound effects. This is a Barry Greenwich song, by the way. The opening is, shall we say, awful?
Speaker: Talky, and it has that sense of foreboding. You know what's coming. It's the Shangri-Las. Jimmy, run, run, run. Mary, run.
Speaker: Mary and Jimmy were both very young, but as much in love as two people could be. And all they wanted was to be together and share that love eternally.
Speaker: Share that love eternally? Yeah, this is not going to end well. The echo and the wedding bells are just corny with, you know, give us your blessings. And then it ends, of course...
Speaker: The next day, when they found them, Mary and Jimmy dead. More splatter platter. Mary and Jimmy were dead. Big miss. Did they stabbed by the cake knife?
Speaker: Where to begin? Yes, another splatter platter, like we needed this. And what a creepy beginning. I mean, I know that's supposed to be thunder at the beginning, but at first I'm like, is this a bomb exploding?
Speaker: are
Speaker: um And then hearing the Shangri-La's chanting, run, Jimmy, run, and run, Mary, run. I know, of course, they're talking about eloping, but that wasn't clear at first. So I got just thought, what the hell is this going to be?
Speaker: Corny, overdramatic. The drums, the reverb on them sound a little Phil Spector-ish, like they were trying maybe to do a wall of sound thing in some ways. But other than that, cramely.
Speaker: Creepy. Just come on, enough of these splatter platters, these horrible deaths. Why was this a trend? Somebody tell me. Oh, damn. Same arrangement as always. Talking intro, singing, bit of a talking middle eight.
Speaker: The sound effects are rubbish. The thunderstorm at the beginning is also rubbish. And oh my gosh, quit with this already. yeah Yeah, how did Shadow Morton and Jeff Berry let this get out? They're good producers!
Speaker: I know. So this wasn't even produced well. Yeah. At number 63, Seventh Son by Johnny Rivers. It's a Willie Dixon song.
Speaker: Surprise, surprise. I like this record. Johnny Rivers is still using many of his same bag of tricks, but they mostly work this time around.
Speaker: Really nice guitar. The singing has just a bit of feeling behind it. The twist and shout ah-ah-ahs from the faux-eye cats is not great, but it's okay.
Speaker: the one. Oh, I'm the one. I'm the one, I'm the one. The one that calls us every son.
Speaker: This is live. This is the opening track on Johnny Rivers live at the Whiskey-A-Go-Go album. Enough pieces of this work to make it a moderate hit for me.
Speaker: I have to agree. I've always liked this cover. I'm not saying it's better than the original or anything. And as you said, he's up to his old tricks here, but for this song, it kind of works. I like his vocal on this. I think it's better than some of the others we've heard. Although you can tell he's cleaning up some of the more salacious lyrics. He's definitely making this a little more accessible and and maybe cleaner.
Speaker: for the pop charts. Nice guitar solo. Riffs are great. The background singers sound at times like they're trying to imitate Ray Charles' singers, you the Ray Letts, but not better than Willie Dixon, but moderate hit. On the whole, I think the usual Johnny Rivers treatment works here.
Speaker: Well, we're all in agreement. I like this. I liked his vocal. The hand claps were maybe from a year or two back, but they're okay. Speaking about the backing singers, that pushed home to me the fact that it's almost a bit, what did I say, rhythmically.
Speaker: Yeah. Which their backing vocals emphasised even more because they were doing exactly the same as the backing singers did there as well. Yep. Marv, you want to read the first of the Cashbox reviews for this week?
Speaker: Sure. So Cashbox says Johnny Rivers should quickly add this new Imperial entry to his long string of previous blockbusters.
Speaker: The side is a lively, fast-moving, chorus-backed, happy blueser. with a contagious, danceable beat all about the joys of a seventh son.
Speaker: Unsquared Dance, I'm guessing that's the B-side, is an infectious, hoedown-styled, country-ish, instrumental offering. Have I heard Unsquared Dance before by somebody else? I don't know.
Speaker: That sounds like a similar title I've heard before. I don't know. At number 66, It's Wonderful to be in Love by the Ovations.
Speaker: This is on Gold Wax, distributed by Tali Records, so our old friends Tali are still around. A nice lead from Lewis Williams. Nice backing from the Ovations, but it's not much of a tune.
Speaker: The organ doesn't really work. The guitar has potential, but it's poorly played and never really goes anywhere. Missed. Yeah, I really thought the lead vocal was the only thing that saved this song for me from being a complete miss, even though Lewis Williams, and we've talked about this before, I think, in the past episodes.
Speaker: Yeah, he's a little influenced by Sam Cooke. We've got a couple of other influences by Sam Cooke's coming up, don't we? Just a little. Not crazy about the organ underbed, as you talked about. I mean, that constant droning in the background really didn't like that.
Speaker: And it needed some remixing. Like, as you mentioned, Ed, the guitar solo, not only was it not played that well, but it's kind of too loud. It's too upfront.
Speaker: The vocal is also a little bit too upfront because it drowns out the backing harmonies for the most part. Well, I start to cry when you say goodbye and you turn and go.
Speaker: Take your hand other than the vocal that had a lot of other issues. And as you said, not a great song to begin with.
Speaker: Yeah. i mean, the only thing I really liked was that guitar. So I liked his voice. It's a very simple accompaniment. Like Ed, liked the guitar and I could see what he was trying to do with it. It's almost like he was trying to do a ah not so obvious guitar solo, if that makes sense. Cause sometimes you listen to guitar solos And they're almost predictable as to what they're going to do. Whereas this one, I think they were trying to do something that was slightly unpredictable and it needed the arrangement tidying up to take it from what I think is like a lower middle hit.
Speaker: And it might have pulled it up to like a higher mid hit if they'd have cleaned up the arrangement a bit more and done one more take. hu At number 69, Bring a Little Sunshine by vick Dana.
Speaker: It's a decent enough lead vocal, but it's completely sabotaged by that awful, sickly, sweet backing vocal. How is it possible that this was done by the same gentleman who arranged Frank Sinatra's That's Life?
Speaker: Nothing wrong with the instruments. The drums are almost catchy, but the whole record is just ultimately a bore. Missed. I agree. We have Mark Barkin, Mr. Banana Splits, back as co-songwriter of this track. Yeah, I agree.
Speaker: Way over range with strings, horns, corny backing singers. I picture this song without all the backing in a hotel lounge.
Speaker: Boring and the very definition of square. Miss. Miss. Yeah, his voice is okay. We didn't need the other voice there as well to double it up. I actually think the arrangement is too much.
Speaker: h And pulling a lot of it out might have actually made it more interesting. But this is what I wrote first as soon as I heard this was, same old, same old.
Speaker: who And we've got a lot of more songs that are like this coming up. Sadly. At number 71, World of Our Own from The Seekers, which we covered on the UK side.
Speaker: At number 73, This Little Bird by Marion Faithfull, which we covered on the UK side. At number 77, Cara Mia by Jay and the Americans.
Speaker: It's well sung, good backing, good backing vocals. It's got a slight Frank Eifield yodel going on there. Nice enough arrangement and instrumentation. Although the strings are a bit too big, pleasant enough, but it's not anything I'm going to put on any of my playlists.
Speaker: Low hit. We're pretty much in agreement again. Cut on me.
Speaker: I must listen.
Speaker: One's too dark
Speaker: I didn't realize David Black could sing like that. The opening pseudo-operatic, the way he sings, and then he really demonstrates his his range on his lung power. I mean, he sustains some serious notes here.
Speaker: I would say this is worth a listen for his vocals, but otherwise, didn't love it. It's just not my kind of track, but great singing. you know I really was impressed with his range on this.
Speaker: This song was just too much for me. The lead vocalist obviously wants to be Frank Ifield.
Speaker: Please stop.
Speaker: Oh, that's funny. So the authorship of this song was credited to Tulio Trapani, the song's co-writer and arranger, Matavani.
Speaker: Oh my gosh. Wow. The other co-writer was Lee Lange. We mentioned this because there are several articles which will tell us that the marvel that was Matavani, the UK's most successful recording star before the Beatles. Hmm.
Speaker: Interesting. Wow. Wow. At number 81, you'll never walk alone by Jerry and the pacemakers, which we covered all the way back in October of 1963 on the UK side.
Speaker: Wow. That's taking some time to go stateside. The Pacemakers had a mini February of 64 thing where the Pacemakers stuff all sort of came out at once.
Speaker: And then they just kept releasing the old stuff. Wow. At number 83, 3 o'clock in the morning by Lou Rawls. Now, as we mentioned, Lou Rawls came up as a Sam Cooke protege, and he is doing the Sam Cooke thing to an extent here. Lou Rawls was one of the backing vocalists on Bring It On Home To Me, and that's where it's at from Sam Cooke.
Speaker: He went more big band from there, and this is from that big band era The influence is evident here in this record. The tune is fine, although it's a little bit too smooth for its own good.
Speaker: Nice, but not outstanding lead vocal. And his baritone never really gets a chance to soar. Low hit. Yeah, I think this is a case of an artist who's still trying to find his own sound.
Speaker: And thankfully, he would finally do that ah with a Natural Man. And then, of course, his work in the seventy s
Speaker: You can hear the Sam Cooke influence, but a little Nat King Cole as well. with the piano, string, syrupy backing vocals. He does occasionally do some gospel-ish runs, but otherwise keeps it mainly in the pop vein. And, you know, at this point, I think Lou is still imitating others trying to find his own style. And by the way, this song dates back to the 20s.
Speaker: It was first published as an instrumental and piano solo, actually, in 1919. And then two years later, lyrics were written. And then Paul Whiteman's instrumental recording in 1922 became one of the first 20 recordings in history to sell over a million copies. Wow. But obviously, this is a bit updated.
Speaker: but Yeah, the little bits of gospel that Kit called out there, which are few and unfortunately very far between. Those bits liked in his voice, they would sort of lead towards where he would go, really, later in his career. and Other than that, I found the pop side of it bit irritating, and I wasn't really a fan of the actual arrangement either, and I don't know. i hate to say it because I do like Lou Rawls lot when he gets going, but this just didn't do anything for me.
Speaker: Are you going to go Mare or are you going to Miss, Marv? I'm going to go... Crikey. It's awful. I'm going to have to meh, even though I don't like doing that because it's Lou Rawls. I'm goingnna have to say it's meh.
Speaker: I agree. And I think that's it. They were trying to force him into this pop category. And that's not him. No. I mean, he certainly recorded the later material that did well on the pop charts, but but he is soul.
Speaker: And other than those few runs we're talking about, he's being held back here. Yeah, he's misused completely on this record. We've talked about that a lot with a lot of other artists as well, where they've just tried square peg in a round hole and they just don't work. They're trying to force them to do something that isn't them.
Speaker: Very true. At number 84, A Little Bit of Heaven by our friend Ronnie Dove. Boring country croon from Ronnie. Boring backing vocals.
Speaker: Boring strings. Miss. The only interesting thing about this record is that it was arranged by Ray Stevens, a gentleman we know for his novelty record, The Streak. Uh-huh. Missed.
Speaker: If you go on YouTube, Ray Stevens was popular enough that in the early 70s, he had a TV show, and he actually did a pretty decent cover of Let It Be on that TV show.
Speaker: And more recently, did a cover, which is a cover of Ringo's version of Only You. Oh, my goodness. Wow. Well, of course, his first big hit before the streak was Everything is Beautiful.
Speaker: This is more in the vein of that. I'm switching up.
Speaker: such lucky guy, cause I got level that I haven't
Speaker: Pretty much your average smooth country pop. A little twangier guitar than the average Nashville sound, but I agree. Boring is what came to mind. you know Decent vocal, but nothing extraordinary.
Speaker: And the standard ballad lyrics, there's just nothing remarkable. a much worse, everything is beautiful is a good description, yes. Exactly. I've got a little bit of boredom from listening to this song.
Speaker: a little bit of boredom so we all agree it's just nothing but boring yes yes at number 87 do the boomerang by junior walker and the all-stars there's a great sax solo in there but otherwise this record is more than a little bit of a retread it's just kind of a copy of shotgun it's still energetic still fun but there's nothing original so only a low hit Yeah, it definitely is similar to Shotgun, but not nearly as good.
Speaker: little busy in the production and arrangement, too. You could almost sing the lyrics to Shotgun to this song. And again, it's all one chord. Junior Walker and the All-Stars play it very well.
Speaker: But there's just too much going on, I think, in the background with the percussion, organ, guitar, and And of course the sax, great sax solo, but just really busy. It's fun. You could throw this on at a party and people like dance to it. But in terms of it being any kind of original sound, no.
Speaker: So yeah, I'd say low, low hit.
Speaker: It's okay in the background. You know, I was listening to this and I never thought about it previously, but there's almost vocally a Bob and Earl sort of thing going on here or Dave Porter.
Speaker: I'd not realized that before now. It's a background song. So lower hit. At number 88, Summer Sounds by Robert Bob Goulet.
Speaker: a The lyrics... Ding-a-ling-a-ling of the ice cream bell. Elvis, here's your pistol. There's only one bullet, though.
Speaker: Shoot out the screen. Miss. Wow, hard to chop that. Happy summer sun.
Speaker: The summer sounds I love.
Speaker: Listen to the music of the carousel, ding-a-ling-a-ling of the ice cream bell, the splishing and the splashing at a moonlight swim, the roaring of the waves when you're surfing the engines. Yeah, when he started singing Ding-a-Wang-a-Wang, was dying laughing.
Speaker: It was written by Sid Tepper and Royce Bennett, who brought us Red Roses for a Blue Lady. You remember that song? um This is the very definition of corny.
Speaker: It almost sounds a bit like music hall. like You could envision him singing this and saying, everybody sing along. And not good music hall, either. I was just glad when it ended. I'll bring in the first Betty-ism here. Mom said, this is like something out of a bad musical.
Speaker: And I thought, yeah, I can hear that. Oh, and Overrange by Don Costa. Don Costa, come on. He can do better than this. For sure.
Speaker: i just thought, what, more of this? How much more? Sadly, too much more of this to come up. Mm-hmm. At number 90, When a Boy Falls in Love by Sam Cooke.
Speaker: The song was written by Mel Carter and Sam Cooke. The Mel Carter version was released in 1963 and was a pretty big hit. I'm not sure why they released this one here.
Speaker: ah Mel Carter did have a new record out, so maybe it was in promotion of that. This sounds like a demo, though. It's not bad, but the post-production is pretty evident, and the lead feels kind of like a scratch vocal to me.
Speaker: Still, it's sweet and worthwhile. Very low hit. We're in agreement again.
Speaker: Lower tier Sam Cooke song. i mean, I'm amazed, as you said, that it was released as a single because this sounds more like a B-side or an album track. The lyrics are not too memorable.
Speaker: It's Sam Cooke. He sings it beautifully. i mean, you know, he's an incredible interpreter. has a slight Latin beat, but other than that, this is really lower tier Sam Cooke.
Speaker: They were probably just releasing material after his passing. I wonder if this would have been released otherwise. I mean, it's Sam Cooke, so it's worth a listen for his incredible voice, but other than that, yeah, very low hit.
Speaker: Yep, exactly what you just said. This is almost like a run-through of, here's a song that we've got. Let's just do this quick, as Ed put it, scratch version of the song, and we might come back to it later and clean the lyrics up, clean everything up on it, and this is just the quick run-through of songs that we've got.
Speaker: But did he pass before they had the time to actually finish the song off properly, and this is why we get it like this? I don't know. yeah I don't think there was ever any intention for Sam Cooke to finish it off properly.
Speaker: It was a Mel Carter single, and he had a hit with it. I don't see Sam Cooke releasing it as a cover of his own song. no If he lived, would never come out.
Speaker: Probably. At number 90, Boot Dash Leg by Booker T and the MGs. A cool little instrumental groove. Great horns and great playing, but otherwise it's really a pretty mid-level Booker T instrumental.
Speaker: I like it enough to make it a low hit. The most interesting thing about this record to me is that Isaac Hayes co-wrote it. How about that?
Speaker: you
Speaker: It's definitely not one of their best. I do like the fuzz guitar lead, which is interesting. And then, of course, Booker T's organ. This is good organ. It's not wonderfully recorded.
Speaker: I think it's a little fuzzy sounding, but to me it sounds almost like a jam session. And as you said, it's a groove. So it just doesn't really go anywhere like Green Onions or some of their other stuff.
Speaker: Packed with Soul, I do like that. And interesting that it was co-written with Isaac Hayes. Also, Al Jackson, member of Booker T, as well as Donald Duck Dunn. We know him well. So I'd say, yeah, lower tier Booker T hit.
Speaker: Yeah, it's interesting you say that, Kit, because i I listened to this and i thought, you know, because you've got that horn section there and and everything else that's going on around it. It's very packed for a Booker T and the MG song, because normally Booker T and the MG songs, you've got the core group there, and you've got more space in their productions, where it just allows each other to shine more and This seems almost like an outtake from when they're doing a session backing an artist when Booker T is part of the backing band for a singer.
Speaker: It's more that sort of thing and they're just having a mess about during a session than it is a real bonafide Booker T and the MGs session. At number 92, Then I'll Count Again by Johnny Tillotson.
Speaker: If you can't say something nice, then don't say anything at all. Okay. All right, well, it's not as bad as it could be, but it's still a pretty big miss.
Speaker: You go into YouTube and you search this title. The first thing that will come up is a Casio keyboard karaoke version of this song. ah That's better than the actual record.
Speaker: Miss. Yeah. When you were mine, I had you like a puppet. On a string So now you'd better listen Cause I'll tell you one more thing If your lips aren't next to mine By the time count to ten Well, I'll wait just a little while Then I'll count again
Speaker: First of all, some of the lyrics are pretty cringy and sexist. If you're not back in my arms by the time I count to 10, was like, is that a threat? What is that? It's would-be teenage heartthrob kind of song, but at times almost sounds like a parent reprimanding his daughter or something. I mean, it's just creepy. It was written by Chip Taylor, who we've come across before, brother of John Voight.
Speaker: And yeah, miss, miss, miss, miss. What an absolute load of rubbish. Dreadful lyrics that are but somewhere between misogynistic and making the narrator to be a bit of a pushover.
Speaker: The arrangement doesn't make matters any better. And it absolutely bored me to tears. hated this song. Yeah, I mean, more than the back in my arms by the time I count to ten thing.
Speaker: Then he says, yeah i want you kissing me by the time I count to ten. It's like, that's really creepy. Yeah, I mean, it's like, yeah, threaten this woman into loving you. Cool.
Speaker: Yep, sexual assault people. Yeah, exactly. As Mar says, well, I'll just wait a little while, then I'll count again. all right. You know, when you said that about, you know, if you've got nothing to say, say nothing.
Speaker: But my words like silent raindrops fell And echoed in the wells of silence
Speaker: At number 93, Ain't It Shame by Major Lance. A better tune, a much better tune. It's it's even a good tune. A nice lead vocal from Major Lance.
Speaker: The backing vocals are okay. The song is not Curtis Mayfield's best, but it's good enough. Moderate hit. Yeah, it's a Curtis Mayfield composition. You can tell right away the melody, the chord changes. a giveaway.
Speaker: And of course, he wrote and produced so much for Major Lance anyway. Music
Speaker: I like the horn arrangement in particular, but some of the production does threaten to overwhelm Major Lance's voice. And also, he's a little underutilized here. I would have liked to hear him let loose a bit more. It's definitely a low to moderate hit for me, not one of his best. And and as you said, and not one of Curtis Mayfield's best compositions, but it's nice. And as I said, the horn arrangement, I really, really liked yeah I actually thought that there was too much of the backing vocals, because to me, it was more like a group performance, a vocal group performance, in the style of, say, the impressions, in fact. It's got more of an arrangement like that, where they have a bit of lead vocal performance.
Speaker: And then the they have the others joining in and they have like a call and response. It's more that than a Major Lance song. You weren't getting enough of Major Lance out front because the backing vocalist kept interrupting him. That irritated me and it put me off quite a lot through the song. And I hate to say that because I like what Gertys is he doing with the music. Low hit or meh, Marv?
Speaker: Low hit. We're all more or less on the same page. Low to low moderate hit. Mm-hmm. At number 94, It's Almost Tomorrow by Jimmy Velvet.
Speaker: oh A sappy tune and the church bells just take it completely over the top. Jimmy Velvet was friends with Elvis and became as prominent as he was because he was backed by...
Speaker: Dick Clark. Jimmy Tennant, which is Velvet's real name, was born in Jacksonville, Florida, where he became involved in music entertainment. There he met Elvis Presley and they became lifelong close friends.
Speaker: After Elvis' death, Tennant operated an Elvis Memorabilia Museum in Memphis for about 20 years. All I could think of is, gee, this is Elvis' version of David Peel.
Speaker: It's almost
Speaker: But what can do?
Speaker: I hated those church bells. It sounds like a 50s throwback, or even something, I'm sorry, I'm going to tick off as fans here, but something Dean Martin could have recorded. It's so backward, just sounds so dated.
Speaker: Boring, overranged, with the syrupy strings. miss we've heard this sort of thing before and we've heard it much better and i'm going to call out a friend of mine who's a listener of the show on a comment that he's made listening to our show said to me he said he finds it hard to believe that even in 1965 we've still got and these are his words so many syrupy crooners around in the charts I agree a hundred percent. Elvis and Dick Clark. Dick Clark could be very easily paid off, but Elvis at least nominally had some taste.
Speaker: Right. Yeah. So crazy. At number 96 operator from Brenda Holloway, a great lead vocal from Brenda. It's not the Adante's best backing.
Speaker: It's not bad, but it's not great. The song is really only mid-level smoky. There is some great playing from the Funk Brothers. A moderate hit, but I prefer the poppier Mary Wells version for a number of reasons.
Speaker: poor Brenda Holloway when Mary Wells left Motown Brenda got a lot of the songs that she had either previously recorded or were intended for her so they were a bit like cast-offs for her and she deserved better great great singer this as you mentioned was written and produced by Smokey not one of his more memorable compositions there are some nice chord changes in it And of course, the Funk Brothers is always playing in their stellar way.
Speaker: Oh, so long.
Speaker: This is very, very strange. What is the hold of please? The hold of please.
Speaker: I just feel like this didn't really showcase Brenda Holloway like she should be. That she had such a terrific voice and Motown just didn't know what to do with her. but They were trying to turn her into another Mary Wells and it's not going to work. So I'd say Mad a low hit for me.
Speaker: Yeah, little low hit. She's a good singer, and the band is good, and the Andantes are usually incredible, but this just didn't hit the mark. I'd probably give it less than Motown Junkies gave it, actually.
Speaker: Our friends at Motown Junkies had this to say. The tune is an annoyingly gimmicky song in Mary Wells' hands, and it remains so here. However, Brenda Holloway voted for her own version when she said, on certain things, she, she referring to Mary Wells, was better.
Speaker: On other things, including this one, I was better. And they rated this record as a six out of ten. Yeah, five and a half, six. i would go that high. You wouldn't go quite that high, huh? No, I'd go four or five.
Speaker: Ding! I was going to say four.
Speaker: There go. At number 97, meeting over yonder by the impressions. I like the horns and the chord changes, but the impressions are not at their best here.
Speaker: There's a nice little build at about one minute and 20 seconds, which kind of reminds me of that change that Paul would use in temporary secretary that, you know she can be a belly dancer. I don't need a true romance or thing.
Speaker: The chords are very similar. The best thing for you, you and me Is go to the maiden of the yonder Go to the maiden of the yonder People are pushing up Children, are you ready?
Speaker: There's gonna be a maiden of the yonder
Speaker: A low hit. Yeah, this is obviously another Curtis Mayfield composition. Yeah, I thought the recording could have been better. To me, it had the feeling of being recorded in kind of a hurry.
Speaker: Sometimes ah the impressions didn't sound like they were totally in sync singing together, particularly at the beginning. I do like the gospel influences, which, of course, is a impression staple.
Speaker: Nice horn arrangement. But otherwise, it's just not that remarkable a song from Curtis. Yeah. And the instrumental section almost sounds like it's lifted from another song entirely. I mean, it just doesn't gel very well with the rest of the song.
Speaker: They've done a lot better than this. I would say Mad Low Hit. Yeah, surprisingly not a good mix of the sound on this, where sometimes, like he said, it's like the vocals, they're being done in a rush anyway by the sound of it. But the mix, the instrumentation at times clouds the actual vocals.
Speaker: So... you're at times barely hearing what's going on with the vocalist and it shouldn't really be like that on a song by the impressions. The big sell on impression songs is usually the way that their voices work together.
Speaker: Mm-hmm. Exactly. We have a cash box review. Kit, you want to read that? Sure. They said, "...the impressions one of the mainstays on today's Top 100 scene will keep their long hit string going with Meeting Over Yonder, a spirited gospel-type sound gone strictly teen market.
Speaker: Its good time feel assures a speedy teen response." Boys turn around and blend with tenderness with a string section helping the romantic approach nicely.
Speaker: At number 98, Tears Keep on Falling by Jerry Vale. First off, you look at the picture of Jerry Vale from the cover of this record. He looks like if you took David Schremer from Friends and said, let's dress Ross up in 1965 gear.
Speaker: Bad strings, bad backing. It's a well-performed lead, but I don't like it. Miss. Yep, I agree. Miss for me, too. It's another song that sounds like it could have been recorded in the 50s.
Speaker: The love I discarded has left me brokenhearted. Love came too late for me.
Speaker: You were
Speaker: Jerry Vale sings it fine, but it just sounds like every other heartbreak ballad of the time. Miss. Oh, great. Just what we needed. ah crooning song. We haven't had many of them.
Speaker: Miss, right? Yeah. How did you guess? Now I want a picture of Jerry Vale when he's been on the suntan bed for too long, like Ross. ah At number 99, From the Bottom of My Heart, I Love You by The Moody Blues, which we covered on the UK side.
Speaker: At number 100, Soul Sauce, Guachaguaro by k Jader, T-J-A-D-E-R. I used to go to a club called The Lighthouse, which was in Hermosa Beach, which is outside of Los Angeles.
Speaker: And I used to play down there. And I Cal Jader was in town. He he died, passed years ago. But he was a vibist and i I asked Willie, Willie Bobo was working with him.
Speaker: And I asked Willie too, I said, Willie, can you ask Cal? Let me sit in, because I know all his music. I know everything. And he said, okay Roy, I'll talk to him.
Speaker: And he scared the hell out of me. I said, oh man, I was young, you know. and He was taking a risk too. Of course, of course. But ah but but that really sharpened me. I have i know i know where everything.
Speaker: And it was a great moment in my life to sit here with Cal. I knew his music. I know, but it's funny. This is 1949 Dizzy Gillespie tune. The vibes, there's a really cool vibes solo.
Speaker: You've heard this style of instrumental before. Think tequila. This record is maybe slightly longer than it needed to be. Although, the full version of this song is over 10 minutes.
Speaker: Whoa! Hey, it's a just tune. Yes. Still, the record is fun, lively, and gets you moving. Low to moderate hit.
Speaker: so
Speaker: I enjoyed this. The vibe solo was fire. and It's just straight jazz. Loved it. I didn't love that percussive effect. It almost sounded like a rattle throughout.
Speaker: i mean, that's what it sounded like, but I don't know if that's what it was. That got on my nerves a little bit. But other than that, I really enjoyed this. It's combining, of course, jazz with Latin, little boogaloo.
Speaker: Just fun track. I liked it I'm trying to remember what the name of the percussion instrument is, but can't. It's almost like a thin U-shape with a ball either end, and you hold it with one hand, and then you smack it with the other hand, and it does like a clicking noise that carries on, almost like clackers.
Speaker: Today I'm going to show you how to play the vibra-slap. Now you probably have one of these in your classroom. You've probably seen one, but how do you play it? You'll notice there's a ball at one end and a box at the other end, trapezoid-shaped box.
Speaker: Inside the box are some little metal pins, and that's because this instrument is actually emulating one called the cuihada. qui haa which is a jawbone of a donkey that is dried out and the teeth rattle inside the jawbone. You can look that up.
Speaker: I'm not making that up. But here's how to play the viberslap, which is a modern version, um to emulate that old instrument called the cuijada. What you're going to do is hold it like this on this side, have the ball facing up, and then you're going to strike the ball.
Speaker: And the teeth rattle. You can use your palm. You can use your fist. It's okay every now and again, but I'm going to disagree with Christopher Walken.
Speaker: It's a bit like cowbell. You can have too much of it.
Speaker: But anyway, I liked this, except for that. My standout for this is I really like the vibraphone playing on this. Yes. We all agree. um um So we move on to the second week in June, and thankfully we're getting some really great songs this week.
Speaker: At number one is Back In My Arms Again by The Supremes. Cool. At number nine is Ticket to Ride. She's got a ticket to ride. She's got a ticket to ride. She's got a ticket to ride.
Speaker: She don't care. She's got a to ride.
Speaker: She said, let's live again.
Speaker: at number 67 I can't get no satisfaction by the Rolling Stones this is the song which really made the Stones escalating them to the second position in the 60s rock pantheon great guitar from Keith a hook which is easily among the best ever recorded in rock history great Mick vocal now there are actually two versions of this the first was recorded at Chess
Speaker: And they re-recorded it at RCA two days later
Speaker: This was the song which would popularize the maestro fuzz box. Although Keith says that the riff was inspired by Martha Reeves and the Vandellas and that he wanted horns on it, yeah which would end up on the Otis Redding cover of the tune.
Speaker: Quite possibly the highlight of the Mick and Keith songwriting partnership. Big hit. Absolutely. And in fact, when you talked about the Maestro Fuzz Box, this song boosted sales of that. So the entire stock sold out by the end of 65.
Speaker: And I can see why, because it just elevates the song even more. The Jagger and and Richards duo have reached new heights with their songwriting.
Speaker: And compared to what we've been listening to, some of the crooner stuff this month, and then you get this. And it just sounds like nothing from that era. Burrows from the blues, obviously, with that riff and all, but it's got that dirty sound to it.
Speaker: Of course, the lyrics are very suggestive to the point where some radio stations banned it. In fact, the UK, it was initially banned. It would only be played on pirate radio stations.
Speaker: But you just kind of sense this is the beginning, along with what the Beatles were doing, of this new era. What would become this more sexually open-friendly, free time. And so I just think it's not only great because it's just a great rock song with that unforgettable riff, but it just signals something great classic.
Speaker: Ladies and gentlemen, we have one of the calling cards for the Rolling Stones. The guitar, which Ed has already mentioned, was originally intended to be a horn section, according to Keith. And I'm glad that Ed mentioned the cover version by Otis Redding, because i love what he does with that, with the horns in Otis's version.
Speaker: Great lyrics, an all-round superb, flawless performance by everybody involved, and perfectly produced. A great song, unarguably.
Speaker: We do have a super cut of this song. There are 430 versions of satisfaction out there. Wow. Some of the ones that you will hear in this super cut include Bruce Springsteen did it. So we have to include it.
Speaker: Of course. Otis Redding, which is the other. Well, would you say this one or would you say the Devo version is, is the other best known version of satisfaction? Oh, good point.
Speaker: Devos was a big hit too. Yeah. You will hear the Devo version. You will hear the Otis Redding version. You will hear Dino, Desi, and Billy, who have become another one of our favorites for including in Supercuts.
Speaker: No Osmonds this month. No Osmonds this month. The Ventures. Cool. Paul Revere and the Raiders. Mary Wells, which we just mentioned. We did?
Speaker: Aretha Franklin did a version. George Burns did a version. George Burns. Interesting. A part of a medley, but he did do a full verse of Satisfaction.
Speaker: The Residents, Sam and Dave, Samantha Fox. Oh, God. dear me. That'll be interesting. That's a throwback. Vanilla Ice, with a a sort of vaguely rap version of Satisfaction.
Speaker: The Supremes, Tom Petty, and Britney Spears. Oh, yeah, that's right. She did do a version. I kind of remember it. Okay. and you You've been trying to forget it I've been trying to forget it, but yeah, she did do a version. Yeah.
Speaker: I know this is the lowest of the low of the low, but go on then, Which one wins out between Vanilla Ice and Britney Spears to you? ah Britney Spears. the The Vanilla Ice one is dreadful.
Speaker: um I'm sorry. The rap is just awful. yeah so He says it's a way to lead into the supercut. It's bad, bad baby. You don't know it. A little bit. You want to go sing it with We need a tambourine,
Speaker: I can't get no satisfaction Cause I tried I tried, tried, I tried I can't get no, oh no And I can't get no, oh no
Speaker: And a man comes on the radio, he's telling me more and more, to find some useless information. Supposed to trap my imagination, and I can't get no, no, no, no.
Speaker: Hey, hey, hey, tell me what I say right now, yeah.
Speaker: But I try, and I try, and try, and I try.
Speaker: Girlie at the ball, looking mighty fly. She looked so fly at the time. Had to make up, you know, my mind. So I walked up to her gently, just so I could speak.
Speaker: Man, she turned around and scoped me down and started doing the freak. I tried all I could. I even said, please. She moved my hands off her booty, because she was a skeez.
Speaker: Man, I had to escape so I could get away. I told her what was up. She said, come back another day.
Speaker: I can't get no girly action. But I try, and I try, and I try, and I try. I can't get no girly action.
Speaker: Damn it, baby, better come back Maybe next week You see, I'm all a losing streak can't get no
Speaker: No satisfaction No satisfaction No satisfaction No satisfaction
Speaker: So out of the super cut, we have a cash box review. I kind of couldn't believe this cash box review. What they say is the English stars should grab another top 10 spot.
Speaker: Their most recent one was the last time with satisfaction, a real goodie of a British sound approach to the novelty blues idiom.
Speaker: Novelty? Surefire Smash. Good Comical Undercut. Comical? They are referring to the B-side, which is all in the U.S. that was the under-assistant West Coast promotion.
Speaker: Oh, okay. i was going to say, there's nothing funny about this song. um First of all, calling it blues novelty. I mean, that's weird to begin with, but yeah, strange.
Speaker: This qualifies as the, what were you listening to? And, and, or, okay, well, since we've had this record and we were so used to this record, we can say, yeah, that's not right.
Speaker: Yeah. I'm pretty sure if I was around back then and in that recording studio when they recorded this, that I would have come up with something along the lines of George Martin where I would have said, guys, you've got yourself a number one hit there.
Speaker: Yes, absolutely. But they did have to re-record it, so. And the Chicago version was not the hit single. Yeah, that stinks. Yeah. hey um are At number 82, Temptation Bout to Get Me by the Knight Brothers.
Speaker: It's good, but it's a little bit by the numbers. Interesting use of harmony in the verses. But other than the drums, there's nothing special in this instrumentation. A very low hit at its best.
Speaker: I liked it a little better than that. It's definitely not the best soul single I've heard, but I like a lot of elements of it. The Unite Brothers, Richard Dunbar, and Jimmy Diggs also wrote it.
Speaker: know, somehow I know, that if my little heart gets weak,
Speaker: Richard Dunbar and Jimmy Diggs sing this with emotion. now I like their vocals. I like the chord changes. I like the horn arrangement. The drumming is a bit over the top, toward the end particularly. As Marv said, if if I were the producer of this one, I would have said, you know, calm down. We get it.
Speaker: You can drum. That's great. Calm down. But otherwise, think this is nice bit of pure soul. So I'd say it's a medium hit for me. Okay. Okay. I'd go with that as well. It's a decent song. we Love the vocals.
Speaker: The music's okay, except for those drums, yeah which go crazy. yup It's well written, and I would call it the same again. I'll put it as a middling hit. At number 83, Set Me Free by The Kinks, which we covered on the UK side.
Speaker: At number 84, Who's Cheatin' Who by Lil' Milton, a checker record. Great horns. It's Lil' Milton, a wonderful rollicking voice. Pounding drums.
Speaker: Better pounding drums than from the Knight Brothers song. The backing singers are only decent, though, and the idea of that solo is better than the actual execution.
Speaker: It mostly works pretty well, but it's a notch away from greatness. Still, it's a hit. Lil' Milton, what a singer. I mean, his voice is just pure blues. Teeting wood.
Speaker: Give up the good for what's good and maybe If you steal the bread that feeds your baby If you ignore your alarm and sleep right home You gain more sleep, but your job might be gone
Speaker: Love the horns and drums. I agree that the horn solo isn't as good as it should be. They should have done another take of that or reimagined it or something. But for me, Little Milton's vocals and the overall swagger won me over. So, a hit.
Speaker: Yeah. Absolute killer lead vocal that's got some nice gritty soul to it. The music could have done with a bit of a clean up, but I do like the song. It's sort of an upper middling hit and would have been an absolute belter if they'd have cleaned the arrangement up a bit more.
Speaker: Agreed. At number 88, It's Just a Little Too Late by Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders. The original was by Clyde McFadder in 1963, and this song was written by Clint Ballard of Game of Love fame.
Speaker: He co-wrote this tune. It's a nice pop number, twangy guitar in a good way, well-recorded. I like the sound of those hand claps. I like the tune. It would have been interesting on Please Please Me with George singing it.
Speaker: It doesn't quite live up to that promise on this record, but still a low to moderate hit. Yep, I said low hit. Eric Stewart on lead guitar. I like the solo.
Speaker: As you mentioned, Ed, the twangy guitars. I like that touch. It's a decent rocker and they perform it well, but it's definitely, and I'm not a big fan of Game of Love, but it had that hook. Game of Love was definitely catchier than this.
Speaker: There's been a change in me My eyes are closed, but now I see the light This long loneliness is tearing me apart I did you wrong, but now I'll make it right No, no, no, no, no It's just a little bit too late It doesn't really go anywhere, unfortunately, but for the elements of the guitars, I'd say low hit.
Speaker: Yeah, I'd probably go lower hit as well. We've all picked up on Eric Stewart's great guitar work on this, the guitar solo. But not only that, the little licks that he gets in there as well and the drums, they're really nice and tasty.
Speaker: But their vocals are decent. They've done better and they will do better. Yeah. Moderate hit at best. Yeah. yeah I'd have liked to have heard Eric singing it, actually.
Speaker: Yeah, that's a good point. At number 89, Marie by The Bachelors, which we covered on the UK side. At number 90, My Cherie by Al Martino.
Speaker: Another one of those croony quasi-Italian records. ah This is the sort of song you ignore as it crackles overhead at the Olive Garden. Miss...
Speaker: yeah Yeah, it's another Dean Martin-esque song that could have been released in the 50s. And these sort of pseudo-Italian songs are like, what was with this trend? Why was this so big for a time?
Speaker: Al Martino sings it fine, but it's overall just such a forgettable song, as you said, at the very least, background music.
Speaker: The accordion is nice and kind of romantic, but otherwise yawn. I like Al's voice. I think it's good, but it's 50s. If it had been 10 years before, and it would have been great, but it's just that it is 1965. It's old-fashioned, and just please stop and give us some songs that are of the time now, please.
Speaker: Unfortunately, the next one is not of the time as well. boom At number 98, Are You Sincere by our old buddy Trini, Trini Lopez. ah Trini is leaning heavily into the easy listening thing.
Speaker: His singing is good, but that's about the only thing that makes this record even passable. The strings and outro are syrupy and sleepy. If it were just a little more Italian, then it would sit alongside our unlimited salad and breadsticks with the Al Martino record.
Speaker: Yeah, I was going to say between this and the El Martino record, I suddenly have a craving for breadsticks. It's okay. It's typical adult contemporary stuff with a slight tinge of country to it.
Speaker: Every day
Speaker: know, Trini Lopez sings it well. It's fine. You know, string arrangement's okay, but otherwise pretty boring. Are you serious?
Speaker: I was listening to like, where have I heard this? And I then realized, all you Monkees fans out there, if some of the chord changes what sound a bit like, don't call on me.
Speaker: like to know which way to go. Will our love grow? Are you serious?
Speaker: Maybe those writers heard this song. For they wrote Don't Call on Me. Otherwise, yeah, missed for me. Trini is doing an impression of Dean Martin now as well.
Speaker: Wow. How many people are trying to be Dean Martin at this point? He could have had a cease and desist put in place, I'm sure. Yeah. I think that's as far as we'll go with this one.
Speaker: yeah So Trini is not the only one who recorded Are You Sincere? The original version was by Andy Williams in 1957. Other notable covers of this song include The Platters, Marty Robbins, Bobby Vinton, Brooke Benton, Mel Tillis, Elvis Presley in 1973, and Charlie Pride.
Speaker: Oh my gosh. Wow. That's kind of scary. Very scary. At number 99, Welcome Home by Walter Jackson. A nice soul lead vocal, but it's sabotaged by awful background singers.
Speaker: Yes. Darling, I'm so glad to have you home. Welcome home. Welcome home, my baby.
Speaker: Welcome home. Welcome home.
Speaker: We'll get loved as well as take. Decent arrangement, pretty good guitar, but ultimately a miss. Yeah, this had potential. The arrangement and all did him no favors. The beginning guitar notes almost made me believe it was going into Jingle Bells.
Speaker: Jingle Bells? No, no. Love his lead vocal. He had a beautiful, rich voice. But yeah, the backing singers ruin it. I mean, why were they even necessary?
Speaker: It was a nice ballad that could have been greatly improved with a pared-down arrangement that really showcases that incredible voice. And apparently he was mentored by Curtis Mayfield. I would love to hear him do a Curtis Mayfield composition, which would have been a lot better than this.
Speaker: I would only say it's worth a listen because of that incredible supple voice he has. But other than that, meh. It's awful ah saying it because his voice is great.
Speaker: His voice is fabulous, but the arrangement that they've got around it is too much. Even if you took the backing vocals out, the instrumentation is clouding it as well, where if you pulled all the arrangement out because they're doing all of these different things around him and it's just too much going on there and it's it's pulling your attention away from That incredible voice of his. Underneath it all, there's a decent song there for the most part. It's got the bones to it, but they've just destroyed it with everything that's in the way of what is or could have been ah really good song.
Speaker: It should have been a pared-down arrangement that just made you focus on that incredible voice. You didn't need all the bells and whistles. Yep. I'm almost thinking this would have been nice. a bit of an organ there just in the background, a guitar, a single bass and some sort of like low drums there.
Speaker: Just be there as a bed for him to put that voice over the top of it. And that's all it needed. It didn't need everything that's there. Agreed. Closing out this week and this episode at number 100, Long Live Love by Sandy Shaw, the U.S. chart debut.
Speaker: Join us next time as we cover the final two weeks of June 1965. See everybody. 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, Record and Show Mirror as it was then.
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.
Speaker: Toppermost of the poppermost.
