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 go, to the top Johnny. And I say, where's that fellas? And they say, to the top of most of the pop of most. I say, right. And we'd all of, cheer up. hey Where we going fellas?
Speaker: To the top! What top? To the very top! They had this chant and John would say where are we going fellas and the others in an American accent and the others would say to the top Johnny get the exact wording right um where's that fellas to the top of most of the popper most Johnny And that was their rallying call in When Times Were Bad to kind of, yes you know, we're still here, we're still together.
Speaker: A lot of irony in it as well. It was kind of done in a heavy American accent as a sender.
Speaker: Welcome to Side B of Toppermost of the Poppermost for February of 1965. More of the UK charts. I'm Ed Chan. I'm Kid O'Toole. And I'm Martin Quibble.
Speaker: So we are jumping right in with the third week on the UK side, February 1965, the week of the 10th to the 16th of February.
Speaker: At number one, still over Scylla's version, You've Lost That Love and Feeling by The Righteous Brothers. Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah. Yeah. At number 12 is Very Across the Mersey by Jerry and the Pacemakers.
Speaker: At number 25 is I Feel Fine by The Beatles. At number 33, Stop Feeling Sorry for Yourself by Adam Faith, which would move just up one spot the next week from number 33 to number 32.
Speaker: Big, dramatic opening. Not great slushy backing. A poor lead vocal that I can't understand for the most part. Yeah. I think Trini needs to give Adam Annunciation lessons.
Speaker: About the only thing I really like about this record of the horns, Miss. Oh, boy. Yeah, this was way overdone, overranged, particularly, as you mentioned, the dramatic beginning.
Speaker: Adam is just fighting with the strings, the screeching background singers, the bass drum, the horns, the piano. Chris Andrews wrote this, and at times you can tell, once again...
Speaker: trying to imitate Bacharach and David with the odd chord changes, the dramatic pauses, the wordy lyrics, shaky lead vocal from Adam Faith. I think he's just out of his element.
Speaker: Best quote here. We're going to introduce the first Betty-ism. I'm sorry for myself that I had to hear that song. with You want to start another play? Stop feeling sorry for yourself.
Speaker: Yeah, perfect.
Speaker: hu Over the top arrangement. And we're going to say this. Apologies to fans of Adam Faith and to Adam himself, if he's listening. Is he short-tongued in this? Because you cannot understand a word he's saying.
Speaker: Yeah. In it at all. But no, hated, hated, hated the song. Yep. We all agree. At number 35, Marianne by The Shadows, which moved from number 35 to number 25.
Speaker: It's a pretty tune. It's got some good harmony singing, but I'm really not sure where this song was going or if it ever got there. The guitar, and hence the whole tune, become awfully repetitive after a while.
Speaker: I'd had enough of it after about 90 seconds, and nothing in the last 60 seconds did anything to change my mind about it. Absolutely. I mean, pretty harmonies, pleasant tune, but yeah, I was waiting for something to happen.
Speaker: Needed a bridge, needed some more lyrics, something. It just went nowhere. It was mercifully short because otherwise I would have turned it off a lot sooner.
Speaker: It just went nowhere. It needed something. It needed a bridge, more lyrics. It didn't take you on a journey. It just went nowhere. So a miss for me.
Speaker: Playing was okay, but cliched. I do like Bruce Walsh's and Hank Marvin's vocals on this a lot. I do think that they work nicely.
Speaker: This was the first vocal song from the Shadows, wasn't it? The first time that they as the Shadows did a vocal track. Absolutely. Good on them that they did this, and they do a lot better vocal songs than this.
Speaker: It's okay for a first time with them trying to do something without Cliff vocalizing in front of them. Yeah, I mean, the harmonies were fine, but the song needed a lot more work. At number 36, Goodnight by Roy Orbison, which would move from number 36 to number 17. It's an Orbison D's tune.
Speaker: Of course, all of Roy Orbison's lead vocals are great, but other than that, the arrangement is pretty standard Orbison, and the arrangement is probably better than the tune.
Speaker: The tune isn't bad, but it does feel recycled. A hit, but it could have been better, and it had the core of something that might have been great.
Speaker: You wanted it to be better than it was. Typical great War Iverson vocal, you're hanging on his every word. You want to hear more of the story he's telling, but you're waiting for the climactic moment.
Speaker: And he delivers that great, so almost pseudo-operatic vocal, but it's not quite on the level of it's over or better yet, crying.
Speaker: You wanted it to be on that level. And it's not just really his voice. It's just, as you said, the arrangement. It just sounded more restrained here. The drama that you want to hear is just not here. and It's just not one of its strongest. As you said, it sounds a bit recycled, just a little flat.
Speaker: You've heard much better from Roy Orbison than this. Big voice, big orchestration and arrangement. And I mean, I love Roy Orbison, but the best I can say about it is it's a darn sight better than a song we get later by somebody else who does epic songs.
Speaker: At 39, one of those classic songs, It's Not Unusual by Tom Jones, which moved from number 39 to number 19 next week. Really great horns.
Speaker: Of course, the lead vocal. We all know it. It's just a powerhouse, energetic lead vocal. The lyrics, maybe it's a little bit wordy, but the song is all about the feel of Tom Jones' lead vocal and the backing.
Speaker: It's not unusual to see me cry
Speaker: hit Yeah, I love it in a campy kind of way. It's so much fun. Love the horns on this. And of course, Tom Jones, he sings the hell out of this.
Speaker: He really commits himself to these. You know, as you said, the lyrics might be a little wordy. They're obviously not groundbreaking or anything. But Tom Jones just commits himself 110% to this.
Speaker: But when you look at the list of musicians on this, Jimmy Page, Vic Flick, and then as far as drums go... we don't know who the drummer is. Two of the three possible drummers have a Beatles connection. That's right. We'll get to that in a minute.
Speaker: Just the cream of the crop of the British studio musicians of the time. Just a classic. What can you say? Everybody do the Carlton.
Speaker: I wonder when that was going to come up.
Speaker: The amusing thing about this is that Tom Jones had written it as a song for Sandy Shaw, and he gave it to her, and she said, I can't do much better than that demo. You do it.
Speaker: And yeah that is how Tom Jones got to be singing this song. Yeah. yeah I can't imagine anyone else doing it. mean, this is his song. Tommy Boy wrote it then. Yes. Cool.
Speaker: When you think of Tom Jones, at least in the UK, you think it's not unusual. Delilah Green Green Grass of Home. What are the big hits over there? Delilah, not so much in the States.
Speaker: What's New Pussycat? Peter Sellers' connection. We'll get to that eventually. Great song. What can you say about it? and Yeah, we'll let Ed go into some more detail. Well, we've got a slew of Beatles connections and we're going to have a super cut of this song. So we'll start off with the Beatles connections.
Speaker: We mentioned that there are three drummers who claim that they were on this record. The first of which is our old buddy Andy White. Yes, indeed. The second is Ronnie Varel. Now, Ronnie Varel would go on to be the real drummer behind Animal and the Muppets.
Speaker: Yes! Oh, that's awesome! Who doesn't love the Muppets? That's right. Ronnie Varel's Beatles connection. We've spoken of Quincy Jones and his, well, rather unfortunate memories of the sentimental journey sessions.
Speaker: Yeah. So what Quincy Jones claimed was that Ringo was unable to provide something that he wanted. So he told Ringo to go off to the bar and get a drink. And he called in Ronnie Varel.
Speaker: Oh, wow. It's odd because it's a very specific memory of the guy. Did it happen? Didn't it happen? Who knows? That ties Ronnie Varell in with certainly Ringo, at least, if not a full Beatles connection.
Speaker: Then the third possible drummer is Alan Graham, who was a Tom Jones sideman for many of his live shows. How many ex-Beatles have been in the Muppets, if any?
Speaker: Hmm. Hmm. I don't think any of them have ever been in the Muppets, to be honest with you. Either Sesame Street or on the Muppets itself. No, because then you'd have a good link if they'd been on the Muppets.
Speaker: They might have sung him to the the Muppets and had Animal behind them, which would technically mean that they'd be playing with Ronnie Varel. Ringo would have been perfect, but I know Ringo never did the Muppets.
Speaker: No. Missed opportunities. Yes. We need to go back in that DeLorean, Doug. Tom Jones and John Lennon had several run-ins with each other.
Speaker: Really? Run-ins? Okay. Well, I think we can define them as run-ins. Right around the end of this year, the end of 1965, the Beatles and Tom Jones would be together on Thank Your Lucky Stars.
Speaker: So after John finished rehearsing, there was Tom Jones. John Lennon would spot Tom Jones and come over to him and go off and do ah very John Lennon version of It's Not Unusual.
Speaker: Yep. It's not a unicorn. It's an elephant.
Speaker: Well done, John. Well done. Yep. So the he then comes over and just looks at Tom Jones and says, how you doing, you Welsh poof? Yep. Wow.
Speaker: Not very nice. No. It's very John Lennon. Yes. Tom Jones was not happy about that. No, he wasn't. No, he wasn't. So, you know, apparently he just kind of looked at John and said, how dare you?
Speaker: You're going take the piss out of my song and then you're going to call me a poof? What he said is, I'm not sure what I should do. i was thrown into confusion, crushed and bristling at the same time.
Speaker: Should I just melt back into my seat or should punch this lippy scouser in the mouth? Hmm, that might have not gone too well for John. No.
Speaker: Remember we had previously heard this story about Paul not being too happy when someone came up and interrupted him. So before Tom Jones could actually do anything, his manager Gordon Mills came over and said, that's just John Lennon. You know, he's a quirky fellow. He's got a quirky sense of humor.
Speaker: And then later, Paul would be asked about it by Tom Jones, and Paul would say, well, it just means that John likes your song. If John makes fun of a song, he likes it, because he wouldn't comment on it. Yeah, but then there are instances of John in the 70s taking the mickey out of Paul's songs.
Speaker: Does that mean that he hated them or does that mean that he liked them? I honestly don't know. Underneath it all, John always respected and to a certain extent liked it, maybe grudgingly liked it, but he liked it.
Speaker: And so speaking of that era in the 70s, Tom Jones and John Lennon would have another encounter on another TV show, the Salute to Sir Lou Grade.
Speaker: Okay. So they were both there. They were on the stage. John Lennon came over. This time he didn't insult him. He didn't make fun of it's that not unusual, but he came over and stuck his hand out and offered him a handshake.
Speaker: Tom Jones, nope, nope, not going to do that, and left John Lennon hanging. Oh, snap. Wow. That's a mic drop right there in today's terminology.
Speaker: But Tom Jones later thought better of it and said, well, you know, I thought it was like men holding hands. i was shy of that. That's why I just shook it off and dropped his hand.
Speaker: Stupid uptight reaction. I'm sorry now that I did that. As also mentioned, we've got a super cut of this song, which is something for a two minute song.
Speaker: Yeah. Will the super cut be two minutes? and It's actually always slightly longer than two minutes. Okay. Well done, that man. We didn't extend it out hugely, but some of the versions you're going to hear, Kit is going to appreciate this.
Speaker: My two favorite versions that are in there. One is from Stevie Wonder. Nice. The other is from Sammy Davis Jr. Oh, wow. Very nice.
Speaker: So we've got a super cut with both of these icons in it. Nice. And your gal, Brenda Lee, who we will mention once again, appeared with Ringo Starr in Nashville. Yes. Very cool.
Speaker: Others include the Knickerbockers, the Four Tops, Connie Francis, who we just had one of her songs here, Marvin Gaye. Nice. Wow. Cher.
Speaker: we were talking about Sonny and Cher earlier. Yep, that's true. The Supremes. Wow. One of our favorite guitar players, Billy Strange. Cool. And I'm not sure whether it'll make the supercut or not, but it does exist.
Speaker: Jimmy Osmond sang it in a Las Vegas medley. Oh my gosh. Well, it is one of the Osmonds, and we normally like to have an Osmond connection in the supercuts.
Speaker: Well, you'll have to listen and see whether it shows up, although you may not recognize it, even if it does. Hmm. Intriguing.
Speaker: It's not unusual to have fun and want, but when I see
Speaker: I'm going to be here.
Speaker: Why can't this crazy love be fine? Oh, my! Baby, baby, come on now
Speaker: not unusual you wantt to be mad with anyone. It's not unusual to be sad with anyone.
Speaker: At number 40, Windmill in Old Amsterdam by Ronnie Hilton, which would move from number 40 to number 30. thirty Oh boy. ah From a great song to this.
Speaker: This was written by Ted Dix and Miles Rudge, who also wrote Hole in the Ground and Right Said Fred for Bernard Cribbins. Both of those songs were produced by George Martin, not this song.
Speaker: Yeah, I prefer those other two songs. Ronnie Hilton would later cover Imagine. Hopefully not like this. Now, as to this song, as you might expect, it's a children's song.
Speaker: Clip Clippity Clop on the Stairs. It's about a mouse with clogs on. ah Put down the bong, Ronnie. Actually, before we get past that, my late stepfather, when we first had a computer, he was learning programming.
Speaker: So it was of an old Commodore 64. Oh, had one! So he started with getting graphics and sound together. And he was so excited. He was like, oh, look, come here and have a look at this.
Speaker: We feel bad now about this because we went and he's like, oh, see what I've done here programmed. And there's this thing going across the screen and it's got a sound to it. And one of us said, oh, that's great.
Speaker: It's a mouse wearing clogs.
Speaker: And he said, no, it's supposed to be a horse. Did you know this song? I did know this song back then. I remembered the verse and everything. It's terrible song. Never liked it.
Speaker: But that's a real true story, though. I did actually say, oh, look, it's a mouse wearing clogs. LAUGHTER ah Then the track ends with some are weird squealing and then you got chipmunks.
Speaker: laughter
Speaker: That ending just makes a bad tune completely unlistenable. Big Miss, maybe another one that can go in the worst of 65. Music Hall sort of song.
Speaker: This was a big hit. This was one of Kilton's biggest songs. This overshadowed his career because he had 16 other chart hits.
Speaker: But this one apparently was his biggest. It's been claimed that this sold more than a million copies in 1965, the composers of this were granted Ivor Novello Award in 66 for the year's outstanding novelty composition.
Speaker: An Ivor Novello? Yes, it won for the year's outstanding novelty composition. I don't understand why this was such a big hit.
Speaker: I could see it appealing to kids, maybe, although I don't know if I'd even grade highly on that level. Otherwise, i don't get it. It gets annoying really fast.
Speaker: That's a big old pass for me. And I've already said that I don't like it, so there we go. I like the Commodore 64 reference, so I didn't see that coming.
Speaker: No. The B-side of the disc was Dear Heart, which is another song we've seen on a couple of occasions recently. Is it a good version? I haven't listened to it, so I couldn't tell you.
Speaker: Honesty there. I like that. At number 45, Tell or No by the Zombies, which we covered on the U.S. side, moved from number 45 to number 43. At number 48, another song which will quite possibly be in the worst of 65, Don't Make Me Fall in Love with You by Babbity Blue, which would fall from number 48 to number 50 the next week. It was produced by Mike Smith.
Speaker: The lyrics begin, such a young girl. My answer, yes, Barbara Chalk, you are. You listen to the song, you can hear the estrogen kicking in.
Speaker: Terrible acoustic guitar, terrible backing, and then there's that zither which comes in every once in a while. The only thing on this record which sounds like it belongs in a recording studio is the backing vocals, and those are mediocre at best.
Speaker: Miss. Guys, this is one of the creepiest songs I've ever heard. It truly was. I don't want to, so don't make me.
Speaker: I'm not ready to give my love to you.
Speaker: Wow. i I just, I'm speechless. I'm such a young girl. Don't make me. i just kept thinking, you sure we're talking about just falling in love here?
Speaker: i don't want to, so don't make me. I'm not ready to give myself to you. oh And that little girl voice singing those lines.
Speaker: And then the male backup singer saying, baby, baby, baby. don't want to, so don't make me. I'm not ready to give my love to you.
Speaker: It just truly is one of the creepiest songs I have ever heard in my life. And to have the singer named Babbity Blue just adding to this little girl image, just awful.
Speaker: I felt like i needed to take a shower after listening to this song. It was that bad. Well, to make it worse, her follow-up was entitled Don't Hurt Me.
Speaker: Oh, who thought this was appropriate? To say this is a miss is putting it mildly. This should have never even aired on the BBC. Yeah, a song that's trying to be atmospheric, but ends up sounding like somebody's being groomed.
Speaker: Exactly. I felt like this should be on an episode of Law & Order SVU. It was incredibly uncomfortable listening. Really. a Take it off. So, Babbity Blue's real name was Barbara Chalk.
Speaker: Barbara Chalk, at the age of 17, won a talent contest, which led to her being signed by Decca Records. And that was where this single came from.
Speaker: Wow. I mean... Oh, who did seriously. DECA believed that they had a big hit on their hands and they actually promoted this heavily.
Speaker: So it got TV and radio exposure. But when the disc stalled at number 48, they gave her one more shot and well, don't hurt me, did no better. Yeah, Don't Hurt Me was the follow-up.
Speaker: Wow. Don't Make Me, then Don't Hurt Me. ah Okay. Yeah, can you believe it? oh They thought Don't Make Me was going to be a big hit. Remember, this is DECA. Guitar groups are on the way out, you know. yeah They were clueless.
Speaker: Alright, we move on to the final week on the UK charts for February of 1965. The week of the 17th to the 23rd of February. At number one is Tired of Waiting for You by The Kinks.
Speaker: At number 18 is Ferry Across the Mersey. At number 24, I Must Be Seeing Things by Gene Pitney. This is the second Al Cooper song we've encountered recently. The other one being This Diamond Ring over on the U.S. s side.
Speaker: Big arrangement and overdramatic lead vocal.
Speaker: Isn't that my girl? And is that my best friend? Aren't they walking much too close together?
Speaker: It's not the best lyrics. Isn't that my girl and my best friend together? And it don't look like they're talking about the weather. That's a tortured rhyme if I've ever heard one. Oh, that line, seriously laughed out loud when I first heard that line. I just thought that was hilarious, and I know that wasn't meant to be funny, but I just thought, wow, really?
Speaker: That was hysterical. The lyrics left a lot to be desired. Standard Gene Pitney. The horns go in and out in their style.
Speaker: At times they are in that mariachi ring of fire mode. And then at times they're just kind of playing normal, almost Burt Bacharach style. And then they go back to the ring of fire thing at the end. me all picked up on those, didn't we?
Speaker: I don't get it. Yep. The horns did not like them. They were, as you said, just going in and out of all different styles and very overdramatic. I thought instead of the horns, guitars would have been better here. Maybe even acoustic or Spanish guitar, something.
Speaker: But the horns just were out of place here. Overall, though, I don't know how much swapping horns for guitars would have improved it. Just thought the lyrics were not great. They needed some work.
Speaker: I'll be honest, I've scripted this. All right. The families of the Mariachi Band have placed pictures all over in aid to try and get them back after their lock-in at the studio's continues.
Speaker: yeah There's more drama from Jean leading to a crescendo at the end that's a little subdued for Mr Pitney. In terms of drama, the feel of the piece is a bit more The Bold and the Beautiful as opposed to Dallas.
Speaker: Oh, man. I didn't like this song. I kind of sensed that. We're all in agreement again. Yes. Makes this diamond ring look like a masterpiece. Yes, for sure.
Speaker: yes And so this song got to Gene Pitney because Al Cooper and Gene Pitney were under the same umbrella as far as recording and songwriting. So we talked about John Lennon and Tom Jones.
Speaker: John Lennon had something to say, not about Al Cooper, but about... blood sweat and tears which is how we would for the most part come to know al cooper in the rolling stone interview john lennon specifically says you know i don't like that blood sweat and tears s oh i think that's all just bs Yikes.
Speaker: I like blood, sweat, and tears. Not all the Beatles thought that way, though. Yeah. Al Cooper would appear with George on Somewhere in England. He is one of the players on All Those Years Ago.
Speaker: Oh, wow. Cool. So George thought he was blood, sweat, and gear. ah ah Something like that. There's a great picture from the All Those Years Ago sessions, before it was All Those Years Ago, when Ringo recorded his vocal. And I still want to hear that version of the song, by the way. Me too.
Speaker: Does Al appear on the version that we got then? Al Cooper does appear on the final version, yes. Cool. Because they just stripped the backing. Paul, Denny, and Linda added some extra bits to the backing.
Speaker: Cool. So the original Ringo backing is all there. There's a great picture at Tittenhurst Park. Ringo and George and Olivia with Al Cooper. Mm-hmm. I like Al Cooper as well.
Speaker: The song, not so much. Yeah, definitely not one of his best. This Diamond Ring is the better song. And that's not brilliant. Mm-hmm. At number 26, a song which we're going to have some fun with.
Speaker: Come and Stay With Me by Marianne Faithfull, written by Jackie DeShannon, and the musical director was Mike Leander.
Speaker: country opening i'm not really sure the instrument choices they made here it's not the best lead vocal for mary ann faithful the arrangement is mediocre to poor the strings miss and then those horns at the end they almost take the song down to parody can see you're gonna stay
Speaker: Nothing really works well. Especially when about 20 seconds from the end, it gets big. And I was like, why? What was the point of it suddenly chasing the tales of the earlier pitney? It didn't make any sense. It just didn't work for that arrangement at all.
Speaker: But the song is still good and the record is still listenable. Hi, man. Mm-hmm. I just didn't think this song fit Marianne that well. And maybe it was because of the arrangement, because she has such a unique voice.
Speaker: but I'm not saying this to insult her in any way. It's not a technically wonderful voice. I mean, it has a very distinctive sound. They really nailed it with As Tears Go By, because I think,
Speaker: The arrangement it really made the most of her voice, and I think her fragility worked in that song. And this one, ah i felt like it didn't play to her strengths, let's put it that way.
Speaker: It was kind of a cross between country, folk, and pop. So the backing, particularly with the horns and strings, really threatened to overpower her. I just didn't think the song really fit her.
Speaker: and again, maybe due to the arrangement, this one just... And missed. A song that would have been a lot better if there wasn't so much instrumentation on it.
Speaker: Right. I do like the story behind it that Ed's going to tell us, I believe. Oh, yeah. Well, first off, Marianne Faithfull describes Jackie DeShannon as being a bit of a tart, which is not the way that we tend to think of Jackie DeShannon these days. No, but you might do with this story. Apparently, Jackie DeShannon would dress seductively and enjoyed other musicians, shall we say?
Speaker: So, one of the musicians which is on this record is Jimmy Page. Yes. Marianne, her manager, Tony Calder, and Jimmy Page and Jackie DeShannon were together in Los Angeles.
Speaker: This would have had be in late 64, I guess. And so there are two slightly different versions, but they both end the same way. Jackie DeShannon said that she was in the room next to Jimmy and Marianne Faithful. What Tony Calder said was that he was sharing a room with Jimmy Page and was unable to get into the room.
Speaker: Wink, wink. Why is that there Whichever version you believe, the story goes that Jimmy Page and Jackie DeShannon were shagging in the room behind a locked door. Both Marion Faithfull and Tony Calder agree that Tony was at the door, either he couldn't get into his room or Marion had gone to him and said, can you do something about the noise next door?
Speaker: Thin Walls Hotel, you know, that sort of thing. Yep, yep. You know how it goes. what Tony apparently did was he went and knocked on the door and shouted out, hey, when you guys are finished, can you write a song for Marianne?
Speaker: Apparently when they finished, Jackie DeShannon did go and write a song for Marianne Faithfull. This song, Marianne Faithfull's version ends exactly the same way, but she doesn't say shagging.
Speaker: We'll go with the Tony Calder version. Right. Because this is a family show. So it's a great story. I guess it's true. And well, I mean, you know, Jimmy Page was a healthy young buck at that point in time. And well, if Jackie DeShannon was willing to engage. Hey, why not, right?
Speaker: Yeah, modern woman. At number 37, You're Hurting Kind of Love by Dusty Springfield, written by Ivor Raymond and Mike Hawker. Good song. Great lead vocal, soulful horns.
Speaker: It's everything that the last two records really wanted to be, but didn't quite accomplish. The only negative I can find is in the instrumental break, which is a little bit undercooked and a little bit undefined, but not enough to tank the record.
Speaker: I think you liked the song a little better than I did. It is a great lead from Dusty. She had such a soulful voice, and so I do like her lead. But I thought the backing vocals and horns and strings were a little much.
Speaker: Dial it down. Too busy an arrangement. I would have loved to have had her go to Motown and have the Funk Brothers work on this. Ooh, that would have been something, yes.
Speaker: I was thinking Stux. or Muscle Shoals or something to have them work on this. Because I think it would have really been a banger. So I think this had a lot of promise. I just didn't like the arrangement of it. I just thought it was too busy. But greatly vocal.
Speaker: I do agree with that. Mid-hit, you rank it as a low hit. Yeah. I like a little bit more, but not like a huge difference. Yeah. Mid-tier, dial back the arrangement because it crowds Dusty at times and Dusty is doing one heck of a job of singing it as well.
Speaker: Dial back the production and it would have been a lot better. Yep, agreed. I do like the lyrics as well. The lyrics include the lines, I want you to know, even though you broke my heart, I can make a brand new start.
Speaker: I'm so glad to see you go. You will bring me no more pain. I will never cry again. You see that? The lyrics are really good. You've got the bones of a really great song there, but if it was dialed back, there's almost a country element to those lyrics.
Speaker: So that's why I said stacks, is because if you do the stacks, and then, you know, sometimes Steve Cropper, a lot of his guitar work, a lot of the time it's like a soul mixed with almost a country twang in his guitar, which would have perfectly have matched with those lyrics.
Speaker: Yeah, those lyrics got really buried in that production. So I agree. If there had been a better arrangement, I think those great lyrics could have really been brought out better. yeah And I have to mention the name of the U.S. album that this song appeared on.
Speaker: Ooh-wee! ha! That's the album title? That is the album title. Six O's, a four E's, and three exclamation points.
Speaker: She wasn't kidding around. She probably had nothing to do with the album title. It's probably the label who came up with that. But that I will list as a work of genius.
Speaker: Yep. At number 38 is I Feel Fine. At number 41, Silhouettes by Herman's Hermits. I never knew that this was a Bob k Crew song. This came from Bob Crew pre-Four Seasons, and this was actually one of his very early records.
Speaker: The Herman's Hermits version, it's okay. Music
Speaker: Took a walk and passed your house. Late last night, all the shades were pulled and drawn. Way down tight, from within the dim light cast.
Speaker: Two silhouettes on the shade. Oh, what a lovely couple we made. I mostly like Peter Noon's lead vocal, but the backing should have been down half a step and maybe at a slightly slower tempo.
Speaker: It's not bad, but it could have been quite a bit better. The original is somewhat more substantial, somewhere between Sinatra and Paul Anka. And believe it or not, Bob Dylan covered this, which appears in the Bootleg Series Volume 11.
Speaker: It's odd and he's laughing through the cover, but it amused me very much. Okay, first of all, I'll have to look that up. Okay.
Speaker: you left me in our SIP down in your wall. Wasn't surprised, so decided to celebrate some of the same. Listen, just to celebrate some of the same. Listen, just to celebrate some of the same.
Speaker: Second of all, it's a fun pop version mainly due to, as said, Peter Noon's youthful vocal. I agree with that. But I also agree the tempo should have been slower because the lyrics are important to understand because you have the you know twist and quotes and the story and everything. So you know it's important to understand what he's saying, and he does sound kind of rushed.
Speaker: And the doo-wop harmonies need to be appreciated. The doo-wop is you know a big part of the song. And because it's so rushed, you don't really get to hear that as well, the backing vocals and harmonies from the rest of the group. If everything had been slowed down a bit, they would have had more room to play with those harmonies. So I agree. It's an okay version.
Speaker: But I think it could have been better. But it's saved by Peter Noon's voice, for sure. Now, I can't wait to hear Marv's take on this, because he's been kind of teasing what he thinks.
Speaker: Produced by Mickey Most, nice guitar playing, great vocal by Pete, and I really do like the harmonies. When I listen to the lyrics, my take on it is, ah young guy is out on the street watching The House,
Speaker: of someone that he likes paying attention to what's going on through the shadows of the close curtains the two people get close which you can see through the shadows and it affects the narrator in such a way that he knocks on the door of the house because he's really irritated by it and finds out that it's two other people and is at the wrong house So he runs quickly to the house of the person who he actually does like and finds out that she's only got thoughts for him.
Speaker: Oh, bless. Everything's okay, thankfully. But isn't it a bit voyeuristic? And what if that couple had have been the woman that he liked and somebody else?
Speaker: Would he have gone on a killing spree? Well, I don't think that it's supposed to be voyeuristic. Took a walk and passed her house late last night. He wasn't stalking her.
Speaker: No. Okay. And we can't mention this song without mentioning the previous Del Shannon song, Two Silhouettes, which is uncomfortably close to this song. Yes. Without the twist.
Speaker: But beyond that, yes, you are correct. What he said in there is, lost control and rang your bell. I was sore. Let me in or else I'll beat down your door. Yeah, that's creepy.
Speaker: Little pig, little pig, let me in. Yes. But always wonder, if it was her girlfriend, how did he not know it was the right house? Yeah, well. yeah That's weird. yeah the The one after 909, right? Yeah.
Speaker: All right. We'll give you partial credit on the creepy, but... Yes. So, other than the lyrics, do you think it's okay, Marv? I do. Okay. If I don't listen to the lyrics at all and just listen to the the melody and the music, yeah, I like it quite bit, yeah. It may average out to us all kind of going, eh, maybe high man, maybe maybe a low hit if we're being generous.
Speaker: Yeah. At number 44, I'll Stop and Nothing by Sandy Shaw, written by Chris Andrews. More pointless big drums. A good lead vocal, but this too is at least a little bit overdramatic.
Speaker: Slushy strings. The separately might violins actually come through the bad strings, but this song has quite possibly the worst backing singers we've yet to hear.
Speaker: Yeah, they weren't great. That's for sure.
Speaker: Chris Andrews once again attempting a Bacharach-David song in terms of wordiness, the phrasing, the chord changes.
Speaker: Really distracting parts with the backing singers, you know repeating that title phrase over and over and over again. and doing it so badly and out of tune. Wow, was that distracting. There's really no hook, nothing to particularly remember this song by, and poor Sandy Shaw. She's trying But even her great voice can't salvage this.
Speaker: Sandy is trying to give the song much more than the music does. who The music is very much in the background. There's no hook to it at all musically. Right.
Speaker: She's good. Everything else really isn't. Thankfully, we have a song which is going to wash the taste of this one out of our mouths. At number 45, here comes the who. They're no longer the high numbers with I Can't Explain.
Speaker: Yes. This is amazing. It's the breakout song from the Who. You can hear where they're taking off from the Kinks feel in the guitar and harmonies, but it's Pete Townsend.
Speaker: His playing is more than a little bit melodic, definitely more melodic than the slightly grungy feel we got from the Kinks. Keith Moon's drumming, amazing stuff. Even this early, Pete Townsend wrote the song when he was 19.
Speaker: Shall tell me in the Who. Just tremendous stuff. I think we all can say, banger. Banger. Wow. What can you say?
Speaker: This is just great rock. Can't explain. I think it's love. Try to say it to you. When I feel blue. Can't explain.
Speaker: Can't explain. Yeah, hear what I say here.
Speaker: This is just hinting at their later brilliance. This is great in itself, but this is the start of what they would become. Great guitar solo from Pete Townsend.
Speaker: ah Almost grungy solo, complete with hand claps here. Ivy League doing the hand claps and the vocals. we teased that the Ivy League would be... Returning, yes. And there they are in the backing vocals. Now, they wouldn't last with the Who because eventually they decided that Pete Townsend and John Entwistle could handle the backing vocals, and they certainly did. So the Ivy League wouldn't last long with them, but there they are in the backing vocals.
Speaker: Roger Daltrey doesn't quite get to let loose on this like he would in later Who songs with that great yelling and all that he did. But... You can hear him developing his style in lines like, you know, dizzy in the head and I'm feeling blue.
Speaker: Great line there. And as you said, Ed, the drumming from Keith Moon. Oh, man. And the production on this, as you said, from Shel Tommy. I love the sound of the drums.
Speaker: Just the whole thing is classic rock and roll. And, you know, you can just hear that this is a band that is going somewhere and and don't really sound like anybody else.
Speaker: Yeah, great song, raw power. Even if Pete Townsend and Roger Daltrey say that they think Shelton Tell Me made it a bit pop, in their opinion, whatever they say about it, it's a great song.
Speaker: Yeah, Pete described it as being quite childish. I don't get that. And as far as it being too pop, I mean, it was a way to introduce them to the public.
Speaker: They had to be introduced somehow. And I think this was the way to do it, to give them a bit of a pop sheen and then they can hit them, which they did later with their more adventurous sound. So I think this was the perfect way to introduce them.
Speaker: Yeah, I agree. So Pete Townsend said in his autobiography that they were pre-warned by Kit Lambert, the manager that, you know, Shell is well known for getting other people in. So be prepared just in case.
Speaker: Shell didn't know what Pete's lead guitar work was like, and he wasn't sure about their vocals. So what he did was he got Jimmy Page, his usual person in, another mention of Jimmy.
Speaker: When he wasn't busy with Marianne Faithfull. Right. Or busy with Jackie DeShannon. Right. So Jimmy Page came in, but he only plays rhythm guitar. It's Pete doing the lead guitar work. Jimmy Page makes note of that in the biography. He says that it's Pete doing the lead guitar and Jimmy doing the rhythm.
Speaker: And then the Ivy League were brought in to do vocals and hand claps because he wasn't sure about their backing vocals. But there is a funny thing where there was a drummer that it did appear. And shall we say that, how shall I put this?
Speaker: Keith told the drummer what to do. Ah, okay. So I wonder what Keith said there. I can't imagine. Ah, well, who knows? Something John Lennon might have said.
Speaker: Mm-hmm. I can't imagine what that is. um sure it was very polite. So the drummer left very soon, basically sent off by Keith. I see. yeah The B-side was recorded in the same session, by the way, Bold Headed Woman. That's a great cover version of a blues standard. That's got really raw energy to it.
Speaker: Although Pete was a bit nasty with that one because Jimmy was still there, Jimmy Page, who took the lead and they finished recording It's great version. And then Pete just turned around to Jimmy and says, I could have come up with that in a couple of minutes, that solo.
Speaker: Oh, that's not nice. And we've got a ton of Beatles connections. We're not going to go through all of them, but we'll go through some of them. But before we mention that, I love the trade ad.
Speaker: The single hadn't broken in the U.S. yet, but there's a trade ad in Cashbox and Billboard, which tells us that this song is a breakout in Flint, Detroit, Lansing, Pontiac, and Toledo.
Speaker: Michigan plus Toledo. Huh. It is now spreading for a national hit, which of course it would be, but that's how they choose to advertise it, huh? That's weird.
Speaker: Keith Moon would of course have many connections with the Beatles and he would go on to be one of Ringo's best friends. Yeah, of course. here Keith Moon is the one who would teach Zach how to play the drums. So it makes perfect sense that Zach is the one who took over for Keith.
Speaker: That's right. Yeah. Wow. Cool. John Lennon gave Move Over Miss L to Keith Moon. Yep. And, well, Mal Evans did some work for Keith Moon.
Speaker: Toward the end of his life, he mixed a handful of songs. The list includes Backdoor Sally, One Night Stand, Crazy Like a Fox, Solid Gold, Move Over Miss L, and a cover of In My Life.
Speaker: Wow. Very nice. John Lennon, whether he was just being nice or whether he actually meant it, would write a note to Mal Evans and Keith Moon saying, this is better than the Beatles version. Wow.
Speaker: So... my goodness. All right. Of course, Ringo would appear in some of the films of The Who, and we're going many more Who songs through the years, and we'll bring some of the connections up as we move through them. But the one we'll start with is...
Speaker: Keith Moon and Ringo Starr were very good friends. Yes. Okay, guess what number I'm thinking in my head. That's right. um
Speaker: you by the way um the a
Speaker: Amen.
Speaker: Thank
Speaker: At number 48, we talk about creepy songs. Here's another creepy song. Do What You Do Well by Ned Miller. Okay? Mediocre voice, decent guitar.
Speaker: The drums are the only things that come through clearly in this record. The reverb, once again, significantly hurts the record. And what is with these lyrics?
Speaker: Sometimes he'd kiss my mother and hold her tenderly. Then he'd look across the top of her head. Then he'd wink at me and say, do what you do well, boy.
Speaker: Do what you do well, give your love and all your heart, and do what you do well. Followed by a rather boring chorus. Well, he was the man of laughter, but a tragedy came by. the tears ran free, and he'd say to me, never be afraid to cry.
Speaker: What does that have to do with the rest of it? I don't get the lyrics at all. Ed, it's just a rubbish song. Okay. What does this even mean?
Speaker: Yeah, it was written by Ned Miller. It's corny. Other than the guitar, guitar's okay. I am definitely not a fan. do not like the reverb on his voice. It's way too much.
Speaker: From what I can tell, it's just kind of ah my daddy was the best. kind of song, you know, like my daddy taught me right. But excuse he's making moves on your mother and then he looks over you and winks? Yeah, that's weird.
Speaker: What is that? I mean, that that part's extremely weird. The rest of it, I could see the part about, you know, don't be afraid to cry. don't know about the tragedy part, but what that's about. But I guess, you know, don't be afraid to cry, you know, teaching them about being a man. I mean, I guess...
Speaker: But yeah, that part about his mother, there are a number creepy songs in this episode. And yeah, that's a creepy stanza, definitely. So just a bizarre song.
Speaker: Other than the guitar, Miss, take it off. I'd just say next please, but unfortunately, that's the last song in the UK charts for us to talk about this month. Sadly.
Speaker: It's interesting, as we will see in the US charts, things are very definitely changing. We got It's Not Unusual, we got Can't Explain. There are two absolute bangers. We are very much moving forward. You had a couple others, right, Marv? I liked the Game of Love for the fact that it shows a change in how music's going to be with its different section.
Speaker: ah It's not unusual, don't let me be misunderstood, and I can't explain. They were just the standouts for me in the UK charts this month. Yeah, I have to agree. don't love the Game of Love in terms of its lyrics, but I like that it has the three sections. It definitely expands the limits At the very least, it's interesting. It's interesting and it expands the limits of like a traditional pop song construction. And of course, we're going to be seeing a lot more of that about what a traditional pop song can be in future episodes.
Speaker: And be sure to come back for the rest of February 1965, because we're going to have nine or ten bangers on the American side. You we have a full album of really great, really amazing songs coming up.
Speaker: Absolutely. Can't wait. See you then. Talk to you soon. Take care, everyone.
Speaker: There was a piece in the NME, a news piece, that said that Top Rank Records, remember when Top Rank had a record label? and They introduced an LP series next week that will be called Toppamos.
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.
