FIRST HOUR
On A Carousel (The Hollies)
(1967)... Graham Nash, who wrote the song with bandmates Allan Clarke and Tony Hicks considers On A Carousel to be up there as one of The Hollies' very best. "It's a pop song with an infectious chorus, but flirts with gorgeous shifts in rhythmic texture [that keep] the melody from becoming predictable... the lyric captures the essence of young love without the usual moon-and-June cliches...We [realised] a love affair was pretty much like going round and round and round on a carousel... and before we knew it the song just took shape. It was all there, the words, the tune, there was no stopping it..." (Source: Wikipedia)
We Are Detective (Thompson Twins)
(1983).... quirky third single - the second to make the Top 10 - from their third studio album, Quick Step and Side Kick
Baby Don't Change Your Mind (Gladys Knight & The Pips)
... from today's first featured year, a 'joint best-ever' chart position for Gladys and the Pips, peaking at # 4 ~ an accolade shared with The Way We Were - Try To Remember
Jolly Jacks Tell Me When (The Applejacks)
(1964)... biggest and best known of a handful of hits by the 'Brumbeat' band who were mostly childhood friends from around Birmingham and Solihull who had been in the Scouts together. Their sound was labelled 'Brumbeat' - the Midlands answer to Merseybeat. What made them really stand out from the crowd was deciding to invite a woman to be their bass player ~ Megan Davies, who hailed from Sheffield
My Name Is Jack (Manfred Mann)
(1968) .. written by American record producer John Simon ~ his own version was included on the soundtrack of the film You Are What You Eat. The song is about residents of the " Greta Garbo Home for Wayward Boys and Girls", which was the nickname of a real life hostel, The Kirkland Hotel in San Francisco, where part of the movie was filmed (Source: Wikipedia)
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Flying High (Morgan)
(2000) ... sounds as though it could have been made in the late '60s ~ always reminds me of This Wheel's On Fire (Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & The Trinity) with more than a nod to The Mamas & The Papas. Flying High was a single from the only solo album to date by Morgan Nicholls* with Rose Smith joining him on vocals [ * prolific musician who has worked with Muse, Gorillaz, The Streets and Lily Allen]
Newsround Tameside: 44 years ago ~ 1977
I Feel Love (Donna Summer)
... once it got into your head, that pulsating beat seemed to follow you everywhere. Undoubtedly one of the biggest hits of the era, it was also among the most influential, taking the disco sound to a new level, paving the way for an exciting new genre of electronic dance music
Good Morning Judge (10cc)
... second Top 10-er of the band's second era, with a new line-up based around the remaining original members Eric Stewart and Graham Gouldman, following the departure of Kevin Godley and Lol Creme
I Don't Want To Put A Hold On You (Berni Flint)
... instant success for the singer-songwriter from Southport, who won the Iong-running TV talent show Opportunity Knocks. The single made the Top 3, but it was to be his one and only moment of chart glory, save for a solitary week at # 48 with the follow-up, Southern Comfort. Berni had a couple of albums which did quite well, before eventually branching out, a few years later into kids TV ~ remember Mooncat & Co?!
Nobody Does It Better (Carly Simon)
... from the Bond film, The Spy Who Loved Me - Roger Moore's third outing as 007. The theme song was written by Marvin Hamlisch with lyrics by Carole Bayer Sagar, who had a hit in her own right in the very same year, You're Moving Out Today
Fanfare for the Common Man (Emerson, Lake & Palmer)
....'prog' rock legends renowned for mega-selling concept albums and extravagant stage performances with a one-off hit single, re-working a classical tune by the 20th Century American composer Aaron Copland. From pillars of the rock establishment to new wave pioneers......
(Get A) Grip (On Yourself) (The Stranglers)
... a million miles from ELP musically as, undoubtedly, they were style and image-wise ~ one thing they had in common was a keyboard wizard who gave them their distinctive sound. Dave Greenfield who died last year, did for The Stranglers what Keith Emerson had done for ELP.
Don't Leave Me This Way (Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes)
... Motown got in first with Thelma Houston's version which made the Top 20, but a mere three months later, rival label Philadelphia International managed to outdo them when The Blue Notes reached # 5. The Communards' high-energy re-working fared even better, # 1 in 1986
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SECOND HOUR
What (Soft Cell)
(1982)... a year after Tainted Love topped the chart, electro-pop duo Marc Almond and Dave Ball channeled their love of Northern soul into another big hit. 'What' was first released by Judy Street in 1968, an unknown song by an unknown artist, which, like the original Tainted Love by Gloria Jones and so many others, gained an avid following in the Northern soul clubs
Don't Come The Cowboy With Me Sonny Jim! (Kirsty MacColl)
(1989) ...sharp. straight talking lyrics wrapped up in a tune which is pure country ~ from Kite, Kirsty's second album.
I Saw Her Again (The Mamas & The Papas
... teaser track for our second featured year ~ co-written by band members John Phillips and Denny Doherty and released as the follow up to their recent Top 10-er Monday Monday
Absolutely Lyricless ~ the instrumental break
... involving a famous band leader from Cuba and a Manchester beat group forever associated with the Mersey Sound
Guaglione (Perez 'Prez' Prado)
(1958 / 1995) ... the Cuban bandleader recorded the best known version of a tune which had its origins in Naples Second time around, it leaped to # 2 in the UK after featuring in a famous TV ad. I wonder what could that be?....
The Cruel Sea (The Dakotas)
(1963)... Top 20 instrumental hit for the beat group best known for backing Billy J Kramer - he hailed from Liverpool ,but The Dakotas were from Manchester
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I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker (Sandi Thom)
(2006) ... one of those no messing, make-you-sit-up-and-take-notice songs that comes along every now and again, sounding totally fresh and unlike anything else
Newsround pre-Tameside: 55 years ago ~ 1966
Sunny Afternoon (The Kinks)
... the last of the Kinks' three mid '60s chart-toppers. Billboard magazine in the US praised the song's 'off-beat music hall melody' and bang up to date, topical lyrics. Like The Beatles' Taxman (on the Revolver album released later the same year) Ray Davies' song references the high levels of progressive tax introduced by Harold Wilson's Labour government (Source: Wikipedia)
You Can't Hurry Love (The Supremes)
,,, exactly two years after their UK debut Where Did I Love Go climbed to # 3, You Can't Hurry Love reached the same peak
Hi-Lili Hi-Lo (Alan Price Set)
... a cheery tune first heard in the early '50s in the film Lili, starring Leslie Caron
I Couldn't Live Without Your Love (Petula Clark)
... one of a run of hits written specially for her by acclaimed songwriting duo Tony Hatch and Jackie Trent
UK Top 3 singles on the day England won the World Cup ~ 30-07-1966
[3] With A Girl Like You (The Troggs)
... 1966 was 'their' year - With A Girl Like You was on its way to # 1, the middle one of three in a row which made the Top 3 ~ the others were Wild Thing and I Can't Control Myself.
[2] Black Is Black (Los Bravos)
... successfully revived in '78 by La Belle Epoque who equalled the original's highest chart position # 2. Los Bravos were overall winners in one respect, however ~ at least they managed a reasonably successful follow up (I Don't Care, 1966, # 16), while La Belle Epoque were destined for the one hit wonder club
[1] Out Of Time (Chris Farlowe & The Thunderbirds)
... mega-successful cover version of a Mick Jagger & Keith Richards song - The Rolling Stones' original had recently appeared on the album Aftermath
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SHOW THEME:
Rhapsody In Blue (Rick Wakeman)
written by George Gershwin, arranged by Tony Visconti
from the album Rhapsodies (A&M Records, 1979
Please bear in mind: it's a live show and so, occasionally I might need to change the running order, leave a song out, or play an unplanned extra song which will not be shown in this weekly music blog.
- MW
