Transcript
Speaker: The Beatles had this charm, John, Paul and George, and probably then Stuart and Pete, had this charm when things weren't going well, which in their world wasn't very often because mostly it was an upward trajectory, but nonetheless, sometimes 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? they'd say, to the top-most of the pop-most. And right. Then we'd all sort of cheer up.
Speaker: Where we going, Johnny? Straight to the top, boys. Oh, yeah? Where's that? The topmost of the poppermost. The
Speaker: Welcome to Side B of Toppermost of the Poppermost, where we finish out the British charts for July of 1965. I'm Ed Shin. I'm Kit O'Toole.
Speaker: And I'm Martin Quibble. We pick up from the last episode, the third week of July 1965. At number one, we get Mr. Tambourine Man by the Birds. Okay, we're happy with it. Yep.
Speaker: I'll accept that. At number 34, one of our other favorites that we've been talking up for at least the last 18 months on this show, Cry to Me by the Pretty Things, which moves from number 34 to number 28. It's interesting because, you know, last time we had the Pretty Things, I was like, they're still doing the Stones-alike thing. It's good.
Speaker: Here, they move ever so slightly away from that. The Pretty Things are slowing it down. a nice bit of r and b Good guitar, drums, and vocal.
Speaker: It's slightly repetitive, but I do like it. The reverb is really pretty cool. Hit.
Speaker: Don't you feel like crying? Don't you feel like crying? Don't you feel like crying? Come on, try to
Speaker: I didn't like this quite as well. And part of it is because I had that Salmon Burke, the original version in my head. And his is just so, I know it's an overused term, but it is iconic.
Speaker: It really is. So it was really hard to keep his incredible voice out of my head as I was listening to this. I do like that the The Pretty Things made it a little rockier, but With electric guitars, it's you know trying to give it a little bit more of a rock edge.
Speaker: But keeping the soul in there. The lead vocal is decent, but I didn't like how they emphasized, maybe over-articulated the chorus, you know, crying. Don't you feel like crying?
Speaker: Don't you feel like crying? Don't you feel like crying?
Speaker: Cry to me. I mean, it it's just sounded a little stiff. Come on, this is Soul Guys. It's okay, but can't compare to Salmon Burke's original. I'd say High Me, very low hit.
Speaker: I would agree with most of that. I just like it a little bit more than you do Yeah. Interesting that they're trying something different to what we're used to. I think their musicianship is good. Yeah.
Speaker: I don't mind the guy's vocal at times, but yeah, it does occasionally waver into the almost William Shatner impression. but There's some bits where the wording could be done a bit clearer.
Speaker: Yeah. Hit, miss, or man, Marv? Ooh, because of their playing instrumentalism, I'll give it a low hit. You're about the same place I am, Kit's just a step below us. Yeah. yeah Dick Taylor.
Speaker: Dick formed the Pretty Things in 1963 with singer Phil May at Sidcup Art School Dick had recently left the Rolling Stone so he could continue to pursue his art studies He and Phil were joined by bass player John Fulliger who soon afterwards changed his name to John Stax A brilliant idea i later stole for myself Rhythm guitarist Brian Pendleton was the next on board, and they went through a succession of drummers before recruiting Viv Prince in 1964 when they signed to Fontana Records.
Speaker: That was the lineup that recorded The Pretty Thing's first two albums, along with a string of fantastic singles, including Rosalyn, Don't Bring Me Down, and Honey I Need.
Speaker: When you're babies, it keeps you all alone.
Speaker: So yeah, Cry To Me had already been a single back in June, six months before the album was released. And obviously it's the Solomon Burke song and yeah great version. um Who chose it?
Speaker: Guilty. too Yeah. ah Well, I had the album and we saw Solomon Burke at the Cromwellian Club and it was amazing.
Speaker: I could absolutely remember the whole evening. I mean, I had the Solomon Burke album with that on for some time before I just thought, again, it's actually a 12-bar blues, if you think about it, with the middle eight.
Speaker: Yeah. it Just about, anyway. Yeah. And it's a really good song. and And again, I thought Phil could actually do this really well, which he did, believe. He did, yeah.
Speaker: And the song was actually, ah the single actually did quite well in certain countries, didn't it? Yeah, apparently it was number one in, I'm not sure, a country in Africa, who's so which I can't name. I can't remember where it was.
Speaker: But, um yeah, I mean, again, obviously we had to put our own slant on it. yeah and There's the sort of quite distorted q guitar in the middle bit and what have you.
Speaker: Right, right. And, so yeah, again, another one. Yes, no, we did do. We did actually. We did do Cry To Me quite a lot.
Speaker: Not at the time. Later, later we we kind of. reincorporated it. And again on the record you've got that backing vocal chorus of Sax Pendleton, Leslie Duncan and Ian Sterling I believe.
Speaker: Yeah that definitely is Ian on that one yeah most definitely. And of course it what happened was it got recorded by the Stones um very soon, well, almost simultaneously.
Speaker: Yeah. So we both must have realized, hey, this is ah this is something we could do. They actually do the um the Betty Harris version. Yes. Which is very different.
Speaker: so um And I think not as good. But I'm glad the vote that your version and the Stones version are so different. Yeah, yeah, me too, because, yeah, obviously we are not copying them, and why would we?
Speaker: um And, I mean, I genuinely, it was absolutely, you know, was Solomon Burke, and that whole album was amazing, but that certainly stood out for me. And it was a single for him, wasn't it, I believe?
Speaker: I think so, yeah. I think it was, yeah. And it's, again, another one that Phil makes it seem like it's written for him. I mean, nothing nothing could nothing could be sadder than a glass of wine alone.
Speaker: i mean, and that's so yes that could have been on a T-shirt for Phil. you know but if i'm really I must say I always loved that song anyway. So I'm glad we did it.
Speaker: At number 35, The Ballad of Spotty Muldoon by Peter Cook, which moves from 35 to 34. thirty four This is a parody of a story or character tune.
Speaker: This actually reminds me very much of the thing that Neil Ennis will do about a decade later. Alternating storytelling and piano. What sounds like a tack piano, actually, from Dudley Moore.
Speaker: ah Somewhere between the goons and Python. It's somewhat creaky, but still amusing. A low hit for me. I would agree. ah You can definitely hear where Python got some of their humor from. I mean, this is definitely the kind of funny character, as you mentioned. It's almost a music hall sing-along parody of it at parts. I mean, you could really picture people singing along to ah And yeah, it had some funny lines in there. I loved Acneed Angels. That was great.
Speaker: That's some wonderful lines. A leopard cannot change his spots, a nork and a Muldoon. Of ointments he has tried the lot, drunk medicine by the spoon.
Speaker: But his face remains as ravaged as the craters of the moon. Poor old Scotty Muldoon. Spotty Muldoon, spotty Muldoon, he's got spots all over his face.
Speaker: A little long, but still amusing. so yeah, low hit for me. Yeah. It also reminds me of where Roger McGuff would go in the 70s as well.
Speaker: Macca's Trousers. You were part of a suit that Paul handed down to his brother. High-buttoned Italian style, circa Please Please Me. The jacket fitted, but you were too short in the leg, so Michael hashed you on to me.
Speaker: On Saturday night, we went to the disco, and although we looked cool on the dance floor, it didn't seem right. Greater things you were meant for. So I hung you in the wardrobe and awaited the call.
Speaker: Hello, mate. Can make trousers back? It's Paul. One day, while clearing out the attic, I came across a suitcase filled with clothes I'd kept from the sixties. And there you were.
Speaker: But not as I'd left you. Ignoring the floral shirts, fleurs and velvet jacket, moths have been drawn to the flame of your DNA. Holes like cigarette burns peppered the crotch, putting paid to any dreams you might have had of making a comeback.
Speaker: No cavern, no Carnegie Hall. Hello mate, can have my trousers back? It's Paul.
Speaker: Roger McGuff, Neil Ennis, Mike McGeer. The Grimm's. They're all together in the same stew there. It's fun, but it's long. I will agree with Kit on that. It does last a fair while for a novelty tune.
Speaker: Yeah. A couple points I want to make. Do you think this inspired Paul McCartney to write Boyle Crisis? to I never thought of that. The subject matter is exactly the same. It's about a very spotty youth.
Speaker: Yes. Who knows? Well, and Marv, a question for you. Is Spotty Muldoon actually a character that is known to the wider British audiences?
Speaker: While I was looking up information on this, I was greeted with a picture of Spotty Muldoon, complete with the bag over his head, from the National Portrait Gallery. Wow. Wow.
Speaker: Now, would you believe me if I was to tell you, even in the late 70s and slightly into the early 80s, people would repeat lines from this song verbatim to kids who actually did have acne?
Speaker: Oh my gosh. Wow. It was like a taunt. Oh, yeah, that's not nice. That's not nice, but yeah. Okay. At the very least, it was well known.
Speaker: Yeah, so apologies to those British kids and bringing back their PTSD. Sorry. Yes. And in fact, I guess there was that comic strip about a kid who had a bag over his head, but I don't remember many instances of that in popular culture before this. Yes.
Speaker: It would become a much better known thing, i I guess. Well, it's odd. I don't understand it, but yeah, for the Boyle Crisis connection, I'll take it. Yep. a The British, some of them were weird people in the That's okay. Good drugs.
Speaker: Yeah. Good drugs and some unfortunate side effects from the musical scene. Yes, for sure. at number 38, Catch Us If You Can by the Dave Clark Five, which will move from number 38 to number 23.
Speaker: This is quite possibly the most stereotypical Dave Clark Five record. And you know what? That's not a bad thing. and Catchy, fun, and energetic.
Speaker: couple of years ago in England, a bill collector met a draftsman. Now, the two them met a couple of factory workers and they all met a bartender. And between the group, they could hardly afford a haircut.
Speaker: So they became the Dave Clark Clive. Now, they're such a success with their rock and roll records, they don't need a haircut. Here they are, the Dave Clark Clive.
Speaker: Good guitar sound. Sax and Kit's complaint is now gone. Those booming drums are back. The harmony vocals are good. There's that John Lennon-alike scream in the middle. Catch us if can.
Speaker: It's maybe a tad bit repetitive. Another verse might have helped, but the positives do outnumber this minor issue. And you know what? This song would go on to inspire the Monkees theme song.
Speaker: And well, maybe it's better at 60 seconds. Yeah. Yeah, this is one of my favorite Dave Clark Five songs. As you said, this is like their essence, you know, the essence of their song.
Speaker: Catchy as hell, the finger snapping starting right at the beginning, the tight harmonies, and yes, the drums. You give me those drums that they really do in this.
Speaker: You know, interesting that they had a harmonica solo in the middle. Yes. That was kind of weird. I thought maybe a guitar would have worked a little better because it's not great harmonica playing. But again, small comment.
Speaker: The beat, the finger snapping, the lyrics. I mean, this is like the definition of an earworm. It's one of their best hit. But I mean, you can hear how it became Hey, Hey, We're the Monkeys. Oh, for sure. With the drumming, with everything. Yeah.
Speaker: quintessential Dave Clark 5 sound to this with the drums the vocals I didn't mind the harmonica solo too much I thought it was interesting to try and experiment with a new element in there was okay I enjoyed it cool We got a couple of reviews.
Speaker: If you love those cash box reviews, we've got a record world review, which reads, this record won't be caught until they hit the top 10.
Speaker: It moves and grooves for the groovy movers. Wow, that was clever. Peace and love. All right, you want to read the cash box, the actual cash box review for us, Marv.
Speaker: Yep. The Dave Clark Five are hitting big in England with Catchers If You Can, which is sung in their current flick, Having a Wild Weekend.
Speaker: And there's no reason why the side shouldn't also become a blockbuster in the US. Tune is a rollicking, fast-moving rocker with a contagious, funky rhythmic undercurrent.
Speaker: Yeah, we have different opinions of funk. and I was going to say, I wouldn't call it funky, but that's okay. On the move is a raunchy, blues-drenched, instrumental stanza.
Speaker: Stanza? Okay. Yeah. And as we mentioned last year when we talked about some of these rock and roll films, Catch Us If You Can was the title of this film in the UK. Yeah.
Speaker: The title of the film in the United States is having a wild weekend and it is under having a wild weekend. You can find it on streaming. o Okay.
Speaker: Is this their second film and all their first, I believe it's their first. Yeah. It is. if It doesn't actually say it's their first movie, but it has to be. Okay. The Dave Clark Five achieved the requisite feats of pop sensations, 15 consecutive top 20 hits, six sellout tours the United States, 18, 18 appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show.
Speaker: They sold out Carnegie Hall for 12 performances over three days. What was in that set list? And you may think the band made two feature films, but it was only one titled Catch Us If You Can in the UK, but called having a wild weekend in the United States, a brilliant marketing decision, you must admit.
Speaker: um Music reaches the soul. The Dave Clark Five lifted ours with a concussive beat and a reverb tremulo echo chamber of a sound, the Tottenham sound, from Lansdowne Studios in Holland Park, London, that commanded you to lean over from the back seat the moment you heard the rumbling percussion of the Dave Clark Five on the radio and commanded you to yell at your dad, turn it out turning up, turn it up, dad, this is my favorite song. And he said, why, why, this ain't music, this ain't music.
Speaker: And you say, oh yes, yes it is, Dad. Yes, this is music. It's the Dave Clark Five. And this song, this song is going to take our confusion and our sadness, our loss and our despair. It's going to take all the bleak days we've been through and all the heaviness of our hearts.
Speaker: This three minute record is taking our joylessness and smashing it to pieces, to bits and pieces. So turn out the radio, Dad.
Speaker: before we go into that tunnel and lose our AM signal.
Speaker: Which is also true for satellite radio.
Speaker: So, all right, Marv, to answer your question, our friends at Wikipedia tell us Nat Cohen had turned down the chance to make a film with the Beatles. According to John Borman, the success of A Hard Day's Night enabled Cohen to sell Warner Brothers a film about the Dave Clark Five before it had even been made.
Speaker: she in April 1964, Variety listed a Dave Clark film then called glad all over with Sidney Hayes attached director, Peter Rogers as producer, and Kathy Kirby as the female lead. Oh, our pal Kathy. Peter Rogers from the Carry On Films.
Speaker: Cohen eventually assigned the project to producer David Deutch, who brought in John Borman to direct. Borman says he was given total creative freedom as long as he kept under budget as the film was already in profit before it had been made.
Speaker: Gee, we've heard that story before, haven't we? Yes. m Borman hired Peter Nichols to write the script because Charles Woods, his first choice, was busy writing a Beatles film.
Speaker: wo Borman says Dave Clark wanted the band to play stuntman. So it had been preparation basically since Hard Day's Night was finished, but it took them a year to actually come to fruition. So but this is indeed the Dave Clark Five's first film.
Speaker: Interesting. Yep. And don't forget that is John Borman, who seven years later would make the absolutely superb film Deliverance. oh Oh, yeah, that's right. And the ending of the forest. It's a little bit amazing that the same writer, who is not a well-known writer, was in line for both the Dave Clark Five film and Help.
Speaker: Yeah. hunting Wow. Wow. Moving on, at number 41, another one of those classic records. We Gotta Get Out of This Place by The Animals, which would move from number 41 to number 17.
Speaker: It's another big hit for The Animals. It's a Barryman and Cynthia Wilde tune. To me, it sounds like a descendant of House of the Rising Sun. However, it could have been quite different as Man and Wheel wrote it for The Righteous Brothers. Can you imagine that?
Speaker: Wow. I can't imagine them doing this song. I can imagine their vocals doing it, but not to that music. No. Eric Burden described the vocal as being, well, whatever suited our attitude, we just bent the song to our own shape.
Speaker: Alan Price had left the band. Chaz Chandler plays that great bass part. It's a great record, vocal, guitar, organ, the whole thing. Big hit. Yeah, this is a banger.
Speaker: We got a banger here. This is really just a classic. As you said, the bass line, so catchy. I mean, it immediately grabs you from the first notes of the song.
Speaker: Organ, which is good organ, and a top-tier blues soul vocal from Eric Burden. No.
Speaker: Watch my daddy in bed.
Speaker: He's been working, enslaving his life away, oh yes I know He's been working so hard
Speaker: This is one of his best, and in my opinion. And he almost sounds like he's so snarling at some part. Sounds kind of ominous, but then you know he wants to escape with his girlfriend.
Speaker: Girl, there's a better life for me and you. So i mean he really gets this ominous tone, and then when they hit the chorus, it's like they're breaking free. It's just a great, great song.
Speaker: And it was popular... with United States Armed Forces members stationed in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War, and it was frequently requested and played by the American Forces Vietnam Network disc jockeys.
Speaker: So that kind of explains why you'll see it in various movies you know about Vietnam. We gotta get out of this place If it's the last thing we ever do
Speaker: Yeah, when referring to the popularity of this song amongst Vietnam veterans, I love this quote from a Vietnam soldier. You know, every bad band that ever played in Armed Forces Club had to play this song.
Speaker: You know it too
Speaker: Just a great record that still sounds different today. Great song. Eric Burden's voice is fantastic. Dave Robry does a great job on the organ after Alan Price left in May of 1965.
Speaker: The official reason for his departure was that he had a fear of flying, but behind the scenes there were some apparent tensions musically and personally. He was having trouble himself personally in his life,
Speaker: But there was a lot of in-band difficulties, particularly between Burden and Price, in reference to song royalties, where Price was allegedly taking the majority of the money, with the other members getting between nothing and next to nothing.
Speaker: Was there an element of frustration with Alan Price wanting to be lead vocalist when he knew damn well that you were doing a fine job and he really didn't have much of a chance? I've always wanted to ask you that question. um To the outside world it would appear to be that it was a problem of Alan and his need to be heard vocally.
Speaker: Maybe it was. I didn't see it that way because my relationship with Alan was always a love-hate delicate relationship from the very beginning. The other thing to note is that there were actually two different versions.
Speaker: The US and UK single releases were somewhat different. They were two different takes from the same recording session, but you can hear changes made between the two takes.
Speaker: Again, a story very familiar to us as Beatles people. EMI sent MGM the wrong version. Wow. The two versions are most easily differentiated by the lyric at the beginning of the second verse.
Speaker: ah In the US version, the lyric is, see my daddy in bed a dying, while the UK version uses, watch my daddy in bed a dying. And despite that, the labels are also screwed up.
Speaker: Right. So you go into streaming um and play the UK version. It is identified as the US version.
Speaker: Interesting. Nice. So they still haven't quite gotten it right. Yeah. okay Okay. So so it's it's a bit like in 12 years, 13 years, we'll get the Led Zeppelin album that's in the brown paper and you don't know which cover you're getting. So you don't know which version you're getting.
Speaker: That's why as the streaming thing goes, a more immediate connection would be the two different versions of help or the two different versions of I'm only sleeping, you know, the UK and the US version.
Speaker: Yes. Just because EMI would either, they weren't done or EMI would just say, Oh, here, send them that. Yeah. In 2004, this song was ranked number 233 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.
Speaker: Hard to argue with that. It is also listed in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 songs that shaped rock and roll list. And in 2011, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Speaker: Cool. And we've got a cash box review. What they tell us is the animals should have no difficulty in continuing their fantastic money-making ways with this new MGM release called We Gotta Get Out of This Place.
Speaker: The tune is a laconic, blues-drenched romancer about a duosome, duosome, I like that word, Yeah. Who feel hemmed in living in the city.
Speaker: I can't believe it is a slow moving, funky, soulful weeper on a traditional theme of rejection. And our super cut for this episode, you're going to love some of these versions.
Speaker: Mmm. We start with The Partridge Family starring Shirley Jones and featuring David Cassidy. ah Right. They could do in the four seasons featuring Frankie Valli there or something because they are members of The Partridge Family.
Speaker: Yeah, exactly. They're using that. Let's make the name of the band as long as we possibly can. Yes. Blue Oyster Cult did a cover of this song. But that's good.
Speaker: Grand Funk Railroad did a cover this song. Wow. You're going to love this, Marv. Chris Thompson featuring Brian May did a cover of this song. Oh, that's great. For those who don't know, Chris Thompson is the lead singer of Manfred Mann's Earth Band.
Speaker: Oh, okay. I was like, where have I heard that name? Okay, got it. Omar and the Howlers covered this song. Eric Burden came back and did a live version with Katrina and the Waves.
Speaker: That's a very 80s moment. But they were walking on sunshine. That's right. Bon Jovi covered it. Ann Wilson with Wynonna Judd covered it.
Speaker: Interesting. That's the heart Ann Wilson, not the other Ann Wilson. Yes. Ace Frehley, better known as one of the members of Kiss, covered it. yeah And the one I have to mention, just because I like the idea of a band with this name covering this tune, the Jazz Delics.
Speaker: It has got jazzy feel to it, though, especially in Chaz Chandler's bass on the original. that's true. That could work as a jazz cover. Yeah. You can hear that walking bass. Yeah.
Speaker: ain't no reason to lie My love, you're so young and pretty One thing I know is true You're gonna die before your time is due
Speaker: We gotta get out of this place If it's the last thing we ever do We gotta get out of this place Girl, there's a better life for me and
Speaker: my daddy's dead and tired Watch his head been turning grey He's been a wicked and slaving his life away know he has.
Speaker: He's been working, yeah. He's been working, yeah. He's been work, work, work, work. Oh, yeah. We gotta get out of this place.
Speaker: If it's the last thing we ever do. We gotta get out of this place. Girl, it's a
Speaker: See my daddy in bed and dying See his hair turning gray He's been working and slaving his life away
Speaker: Yes, I know. It's been work every day. Just work every day.
Speaker: It's been work, work, work, work. We gotta get out of this place. If it's the last thing we ever do.
Speaker: We gotta get out of this place. Love is a better life for me and you. I know a new girl.
Speaker: Oh, yeah. We've been working now. Love it.
Speaker: That's every song I've ever written.
Speaker: That's all of them. I'm not kidding either. That's born to run, born in the Everything I've done for the past 40 years, including all the new ones. It came about, I just was writing. It came about because we were writing a song for the Righteous Brothers. And um and yeah I think you came up with the melodic idea. the thing that came up first was... It was that riff, you know, because I remember there were songs that had kind of riffs like that that were great. And I said, I want to do a nice bluesy riff that I could write to, least melodically. We cut a demo for the Righteous Brothers, and Barry sang. I sang it. did...
Speaker: you know, 1500 voices and backgrounds and harmonies. And it was a great demo. And George Goldner wanted to put it out on Redbird Records. I was an artist on Redbird. It was Lieber and And...
Speaker: We had gone to see Alan Klein, who there's a book out about him. We played the demo for him just because we were kids who played our demos for everybody. We left it there and we forgot.
Speaker: And when Barry's record was about to come out, Kirshner called us and said, you know, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that you have a number two record on the UK charts of We Gotta Get Out of This Place.
Speaker: The bad news is Barry's record can't come out because they're putting it out in the States. On top of that, they also change the lyric. They did. Yeah. You know? And we thought we had a pretty good lyric.
Speaker: But they were, I mean, they were right. and They weren't right not to call us and say, look, we're going to change it. Can you? Or can can you do this with us? Or can you, ah you know, I mean, i'm I'm never adverse to changing something and making it better or making it work for the artist that's singing it.
Speaker: I was sitting in the and and Beverly Hills doctor's office. One day, was this lady sitting next to me and I i think she was pregnant, you know, and she was in the office to get checked up.
Speaker: She yeah turned around to me and she said, you know, Eric Burden, I'm here. And said, yeah. She said, you know, my husband and I, we hated what you did with our song.
Speaker: But we got used to it.
Speaker: I said, yeah, bet you did. At number 42, This World Is Not My Home by Jim Reeves, which moves from 42 to 37. We complained about this last time.
Speaker: The angels beckon me from heaven's door. Exactly how many of these records did Jim Reeves record? Good lord. Yeah. This is a better Jim Reeves record.
Speaker: Smooth vocal and guitar. It's a nice enough version of an old hymn. The origins of this song, the world is not my home, I can't feel at home in this world anymore, are unclear.
Speaker: It first appeared anonymously with only the lyrics in a hymnal entitled Joyful Meeting in Glory Songbook No. 1 from 1919, selected by Evangelist Bertha Davis, 693 Cisco, Columbus, Ohio.
Speaker: This early version contained five verses and a chorus. The copyright for the songbook was registered on eighteenth of October 1919, for a term lasting 28 years, and it does not appear to have been renewed.
Speaker: The record? Eh. It's Jim Rees. Okay, fine. yeah He recorded it, well, in 1962. I've had enough of it, sorry. Low hit, and that's just for Jim Rees as well.
Speaker: Yeah, I agree. you know, and of course, it's creepy to listen to, considering, you know, that he had passed by this time. You know, he sings it well. I mean, it's a typical Jim Reeves vocal. He's got, you know, and a very smooth country kind of voice.
Speaker: But just thinking about him passing in the plane crash and hearing this, its it just puts a pall over it. The angels beckon me from heaven's open door And I can't feel at home in this world anymore
Speaker: As you mentioned, recorded in 1962, released in 65. Yeah, high, mad, low hit, just based on his voice. Low hit, if you remove it from the context, yeah.
Speaker: yeah If you put the context in, yeah. no I would even say low, mad, if you put the context in. Yeah. Another song by Jim Reeves about leaving this mortal coil after he had indeed done just that.
Speaker: How many more of these are there out there? shit You're the one who told us that we're going to have Jim Reeves records through the We are. Yeah. Wow.
Speaker: Hopefully, there are going to be fewer, we got to get out of this place kind records. yeah Yeah. Yes, yes. I'd like to say that the next song we're going to talk about is Better But... Yeah.
Speaker: No. No. All right, we move to the final week of July on the UK charts, the week of the 22nd to the 28th of July.
Speaker: Still at number one is Mr. Tamarine Man by The Birds. All right. Cool. At number 38, In Thoughts of You by Billy Fury. It's Billy Fury trying to do Roy Orbison.
Speaker: The big piano is just annoying. The smooth singing doesn't work at all. The background vocalists are fine when they're at the low to slightly perceptible level.
Speaker: And that's not meant as a dig. However, they don't stay that way through the whole record. Meh. Yeah. Not banger, that's for sure. Yeah.
Speaker: In thoughts of you, I'll spend my days In thoughts of you, now and always
Speaker: It seems I have no choice. I hear your voice wherever I may be. ah Another unnecessarily dramatic opening, particularly with that Liberace-ish piano. Really didn't like that.
Speaker: And then the annoying piano that just sort of pounce through the whole song. And then the horn comes in in the instrumental section. I just feel like they're trying to cover up this boring mid-tempo song with orchestration. Maybe if we'd make it more dramatic.
Speaker: Even though you're no longer mine I know
Speaker: I've spent my whole life through Just living in my thoughts of you
Speaker: Since you said goodbye, that's all that I can do with my time. Billy Fury sings it serviceably, but that's about it. It's so over the top in the production, arrangement, everything that it's a miss for me.
Speaker: Yeah. The piano. Is it Schroeder from Charlie Brown play the piano instead? Yeah, that would have been better. Mm-hmm. I actually thought this was Billy Fury attempting a Gene Pitney impression.
Speaker: Well, and Gene Pitney, Roy Orbison, you know. Yeah. Please stop flogging that dead horse. That's animal cruelty. Yes. The New Musical Express writer Derek Johnson told us that there is a symphonic opening with a concerto-type piano.
Speaker: I don't agree with that. No. It quickly breaks into a mid-tempo ballad with muted brass and canute guitar work. Mike Leander's colorful, pulse-quickening scoring embellishes the descriptive lyric of the kind Billy handles ever so well.
Speaker: Wow, really don't agree with that, but... You do you. ah We're going to get better arrangements by Mike soon. Come on. Yes.
Speaker: At number 40, This Strange Effect by Dave Barry. ah Slightly Spanish guitar, which leads to a laconic, slightly phased, again, almost psychedelic vocal.
Speaker: Unfortunately, those horns come in and take us right out of that almost hypnotic pace to something more ordinary. That's why feel gone
Speaker: It might have been a really good record if they kept to the courage of their convictions. As it is, it's a low hit. Yeah. Interestingly, i thought the very beginning, the melody sounded a little like an I love her.
Speaker: And I like it For a minute there. Lyrics are very underwhelming. You can almost predict the next line. And I agree with you on the horns. The horns sound like they're trying to do a Bacharach David kind of thing. That sort of horn arrangement, but it doesn't really work.
Speaker: It's a meh for me. And I agree, Ed. I think this song could have been more interesting or daring. The acoustic guitar was pretty, but that's about it. Right.
Speaker: ah Written by Davies of the Kinks. Produced by Mike Smith of the Dave Clark Five. In some bits, I think it sounds almost otherworldly in some areas.
Speaker: In other areas, it's not. And personally, i'd have loved have heard a version of this couple of years later with a psychedelic band doing it. Might have been nice.
Speaker: The beginnings of that are there with that phased vocal. Exactly. For those who want a better version of this, I'm going to send you to the 2015 album Cradle to the Grave by Squeeze.
Speaker: That is a really good version of this, and that is otherworldly all the way through with a great Glenn Tilbrook vocal. Ooh, well, check that out. Love Squeeze.
Speaker: Yep....
Speaker: You've got this strange effect on me
Speaker: At number 41, I Want Candy by Brian Poole and the Tremelos. Yes, it's that same song. The one we had the Strange Loves doing the original version of it just real recently.
Speaker: It's a Dave Clark 5-alike with the guitar instead of a sax. The organ is squeaky and mediocre. i don't hate it, but I also don't like it very much. Meh. Yeah, I like it maybe a tiny bit more than you. I would say very low hit for me.
Speaker: I like the drums on this. I mean, they do a nice job of, you know, replicating the thunderous kind of sound. Guitar is an interesting substitute for the sax and the harmonies are nice.
Speaker: But that organ part, yeah, that just kills the song. I mean, why didn't they just stick to the guitars?
Speaker: The brief solo right after the organ solo was decent, you know, the instrumental section. The lead vocal was lacking a bit of energy for me, so it's an okay cover, but with some parts of it that I like, so I guess I would say very low hit.
Speaker: An amiable attempt. The drums and bass are really nice. I love the tone on that guitar. Yep, they should take the organ out altogether. And to me, the vocals are too clean for a song that I think needs to be riotous and anti-establishment.
Speaker: Good point. At number 42, Say You're My Girl by Roy Orbison. This is older school Roy Orbison. All vocal piano and girl backing singers.
Speaker: It's very 50s. Or even better, this is, to me, what an Elvis Presley film song really should sound like. It's a throwaway and it is obvious Roy was running out the string.
Speaker: In the U.S., he was getting ready to change his label. He would be on MGM very soon. The vocal, though, is enough to rate this a low hit. Yeah, definitely sounds, sorry, Ken Michaels dated. It's a bit fifty s very early 60s in recording quality and the song itself much poppier than the typical Roy Orbison opera, so pseudo opera kind of sound.
Speaker: See, bones and everything about you, girl. Personality, girl. Give me a chance. Come on, let's dance on. That's a night away.
Speaker: Roy co-wrote it, but it's definitely lower tier Roy Orbison. He does sing it well, and like how he goes way up in his range toward the end.
Speaker: ro co-wrote it but it's definitely lower tier rboin he does sing it well and i like how he goes way up in this range toward the end
Speaker: But otherwise, it's a pretty average pop track, not really worthy of his wonderful talent. you know And as you said, he was running out the clock on his label, so he was just you know and putting out what he needed to.
Speaker: So I'd say high, meh, low hit, strictly for his vocals. Yeah, it is like one that is just churned out to to just get get the numbers out the way.
Speaker: And also, I wish the backing vocals weren't so old-fashioned, That just niggled me. Low hit for Roy. Apologies to Roy Orbison fans. Yes.
Speaker: Cashbox tells us Roy Orbison is a surefire cinch to add this new monument outing, Say You're My Girl, to his long string of previous triumphs. The side is an easygoing pledge of romantic devotion with an infectious repeating rhythmic riff.
Speaker: The B-side, Sleepy Hollow, is a pretty, laconic, heartfelt, chorus-backed romancer sold with loads of poise by the songster. Songster. I do, again, still find it interesting. You got an Elvis tune, you got an Everly Brothers tune, and you got a Roy Orbison tune all in the charts at the same time on the UK side.
Speaker: I'm now going to give both of you a what-if situation, okay? Okay. We all know the story that Roy told about going to see if Elvis was interested in doing songs that Roy had written and Elvis wasn't there.
Speaker: Now imagine if Elvis was there Roy was writing songs around this time for Elvis. We would have gotten something better than the stuff that came out from Potluck.
Speaker: Yeah. True. Like I say, if Elvis had done this, this would actually be a pretty good Elvis film song. Nothing brainy, nothing too exciting, but just good enough.
Speaker: Yeah. Yep. Yep. At number 44, Summer Nights by Marianne Faithfull. ah Sorry, Marianne, your voice does not suit this song.
Speaker: I like the drums. The harpsichord is different, but I'm not sure it's different in a good way. It's probably more substantial than it feels. Hi, ma'am for me.
Speaker: Yeah, it's another Mike Lander production, actually. And I agree this was meant for a stronger voice, you know, particularly at the end. when you can hear Marianne trying to hit her higher range, and it sounds pretty thin.
Speaker: We'll walk along the sun on summer nights In our little cafe We're dancing right away And we know what love will be Always true eternal
Speaker: On summer nights On summer nights On summer nights On summer nights
Speaker: pretty standard pop track. I think she's much better with songs that have a bit of edge, like As Tears Go By and her inner vocal range, but this is too much of sort of an up-tempo, poppy track, and that's not Marianne Faithful.
Speaker: So, yeah, maybe meh, low meh. Yep. It's a shame, because I think the musicians are doing a good job on this. I don't mind Mike's arrangement of this for the musicians,
Speaker: But yeah, Marianne's voice is very warbly. There's a lot of warbling going on with the voice and it's not good warbling either. We're not talking opera here with the really good trill that they get in. It's not in that standard at all.
Speaker: Yeah. If a different singer had done this, I don't know. Who could you think of Kit? Petula Clark? who Who else would you think of? Yeah, maybe Patula Clark, or I'm trying to think if Lulu would have worked for this, but I'm not sure. don't know Lulu would have been yeah quite right with that. Bigger voice.
Speaker: Yeah, Soul Black, maybe. yeah I know Shirley Bassey. Yes. There you go. Yeah, she would have killed this. That would have it. If we're going to go into the future, Joan Jett might have been someone who could really handle this song. oh Ooh, nice.
Speaker: That's interesting thought. Yeah. Not to put down Miriam Faithful at all, but yeah if her voice just didn't suit this song. Is that with or without a Lita Ford harmony in there, Ed?
Speaker: We've got to go with The Runaways. Yeah. At number 48, Zorba's Dance by Marcello Minerbi. Oh, ah you know this tune.
Speaker: It's what comes to mind whenever you hear the word Zorba the Greek. And it's also the very first thing you're going to hear every time you head into the Greek fest while standing in the line waiting for suvlaki or baklava.
Speaker: Fine. I guess I prefer the original version by Mekas Theodarchus. And if I don't, well, Zeus will strike me down. So low hit.
Speaker: Oh, man. Yeah. When I was listening to this, I thought, oh, man, I've got to get back to the Greek islands restaurant near here. This is, you know, this is the kind of stuff you'll hear. Greek fest, Greek restaurants.
Speaker: um You know, and as you said, Zorba the Greek.
Speaker: This is a decent version. I don't think it's anything remarkable. You know, I guess I would say I'd prefer the original as well, but I guess I'd give this a low hit. As I said, it's a decent, if not that exciting, version.
Speaker: Yeah, I actually enjoyed it, although I do prefer the original. And I had to apologize to Louise for all the broken plates afterwards as well. Sorry, darling. As an aside, Marcello Minervi, on August the 7th of this year, he will be 97 years old. Wow.
Speaker: God bless him. that That is the Mediterranean diet for you. i like a nice sound of a zither. Do I own a zither? Well, does the Pope pray? Yes, I do.
Speaker: So I guess we are all being blessed by Apollo, the god of music, and his good friends, the nine muses. Is Patty Boyd one of those? Maybe.
Speaker: Don't send Percy after us. So you two are being blessed because you get 20 minutes of your life back because this is a short episode. We'll be back with the start of the American charts real soon now.
Speaker: Talk to you then. See you soon. Take care, everybody.
Speaker: you
Speaker: There was a piece in the NME, a news piece that said the top rank records, remember when top rank had a record label? and They introduced an LP series next week that will be called Toppermost.
Speaker: And it's coinciding with their current advertising slogan, Toppermost of the Poppermost. I thought, they got it from somewhere. They saw that, they must have seen that in either the NME or Record Mirror or Disc.
Speaker: Record and Show Mirror as it was then. And they've taken it from there. They've obviously thought how stupid that is. How stupid is is one of those phrases that someone, an older person who doesn't understand teenagers comes up with a slogan that they think is going to be the hip slogan of the month.
Speaker: Toppermost of the poppermost.
