FIRST HOUR
Dancing In The City (Marshall Hain)
(1978) ... British duo Julian Marshall and Kit Hain came up with a song which made our Top 10, was a hit across Europe and topped the chart in Australia
The Kids Are Alright (The Who)
(1966) ... surprisingly, not one of their biggest hits, a lowly # 41 was its highest chart placing, which was probably due to the band moving from one record label to another, around that time
Black Man Ray (China Crisis)
... made the Top 20 in the first of today's featured years, one of a run of hits by the band from Liverpool
Summertime songs
Those Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer (Nat King Cole)
(1963) ... summer hits often have a fairly short lifespan, but here's one which survived longer than most ~ no fewer than 30 weeks on the US Billboard chart, more than two and a half times longer than the official 12-week, three-month summer. Although instantly familiar and always popular here in the UK, Those Lazy, Hazy... has never made our chart
Summertime Summertime (Hobby Horse)
(1972) ... Mary Hopkin - hits including Those Were The Days, Goodbye and Temma Harbour - was by far the best known member of this trio, reviving a late '50s-early '60s US hit by The Jamies. Hobby Horse didn't register on the chart here, but made the Top 10 in Holland
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(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay (Otis Redding)
(1968) ... scene-setting soul classic ~ sit back, close your eyes and imagine you're on a beach somewhere, soaking up the sun
Newsround Tameside: 36 years ago ~ 1985
Into The Groove (Madonna)
... after three Top 3 singles Like A Virgin, Material Girl and Crazy For You, this one went all the way ~ Madonna's first UK # 1, from the soundtrack of her big screen debut Desperately Seeking Susan
Walls Come Tumbling Down! (The Style Council)
... some of their songs had quite a laid-back feel but this is one which moves along with a real sense of urgency ~ don't forget there is an exclamation mark in the title!
The Belle of St Mark (Sheila E)
... written by Prince, who was her long-time mentor. Sheila Cecilia Escovedo (born December 12, 1957) is an American percussionist, singer, author, and actress - known as the Queen of Percussion (Source: Wikipedia)
Dancing In The Dark (Big Daddy)
... if there had been an award for the strangest, most creative cover version of the year - or even the decade - Big Daddy would have won hands down. Their single peaked at # 21, hot on the heels of Bruce Springsteen's original, which stayed on the chart for 16 weeks and is still one of his biggest ever UK hits (# 4)
Wide Boy (Nik Kershaw)
... second of three Top 10-ers from his second album, The Riddle - in order of singles released, Wide Boy (# 8) was sandwiched between The Riddle (# 3) and Don Quixote (# 10)
Can't Get Enough of You Baby (The Colourfield)
... an old Four Seasons song covered by Terry Hall and co - it didn't make the original UK release of the album Virgins and Philistines recorded at Stockport's Strawberry Studios, but was included as a track on the LP in the US and Canada. In 1999, the album was reissued in Japan with 20 tracks including all songs on the UK and US versions of Virgins and Philistines, plus all singles, B sides and remixes before and immediately after the album's original release*. Now, In the era of online streaming, this expanded version is available wherever in the world you happen to be (* Source: Wikipedia)
Excitable (Amazulu)
... first of four Top 20 hits for the bright and breezy reggae-ska-pop combo. Originally there were six of them, five female and one male, but eventually evolved into an all female trio
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SECOND HOUR
The Price Of Love (The Everly Brothers)
(1965) ... after a mega-successful run of hits stretching as far back as 1957, this was the Everlys' final time in the UK Top 10. Peaking at # 2, The Price of Love came close to becoming their first chart-topper since Temptation four years earlier. Bryan Ferry later covered the song ~ it was the 'lead' track on an EP, with the somewhat less than inspired title Extended Play (1976, # 7)
Year Of The Cat (Daniel Takes A Train) (2021) .... taking Al Stewart's classic '70s song and turning it into 'an epic club floor filler, ideal for an Ibiza pool party or a balmy August night below the stars'.....its first play on Tameside Radio was four weeks ago on this show, now it's on our main playlist and has already had well over 1,000 streams online, which makes it one of their most popular tracks to date
Rock A Doodle Doo (Linda Lewis)
... Essex-born singer, demonstrating an amazing vocal range from deep and soulful to a much higher pitch. Rock A Doodle Doo, her first chart hit, is the teaser track for our second featured year
Absolutely Lyricless ~ the instrumental break
... super hero, sci-fi / spy connections
Shazam! (Duane Eddy)
(1960) ... Shazam! was the the magic word by which Billy Batson turned himself into the super hero Captain Marvel in the heyday of American comic books
Joe 90 (Barry Gray Orchestra)
(1968) ... theme from the then latest Gerry Anderson 'super-marionation' puppet adventure series, following the likes of Stingray, Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet and The Mysterons. Joe 90 was a nine-year schoolboy superspy.
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Magic Hour (Cast)
(1999)...the Liverpool band's lead singer and co-founder John Power had previously been in The La's, who had their biggest hit There She Goes at the start of the decade
That Girl (The Noisettes)
(2012) ... if you heard this playing in the background, you could be forgiven for thinking it might be a re-make of an old '60s hit, but the clue is in the lyrics ~ the giveaway phrase confirming that it is a bona fide, original, 21st Century song ~ 'your blogs and your tweets'...
Reflections: 48 years ago ~ 1973
Pyjamarama (Roxy Music)
... UK Top 10 -er released as a trailblazer for their second album For Your Pleasure, although it wasn't actually on the LP. Do The Strand, side one track one, became an instant favourite with the fans and seemed an obvious single ~ successfully filling that role in America and Europe, but, surprisingly, not in the UK, or at least not until five years later
Rising Sun (Medicine Head)
... blues rock duo John Fidler and Peter Hope-Evans had been championed by John Peel on his legendary Radio 1 show. 1973 was the year they broke through into the mainstream with a Top 3 hit One And One Is One and the follow-up Rising Sun peaking at # 11
Step Into A Dream (White Plains)
... grew into a fully-formed hit single after featuring in a TV ad for Butlins' holiday centres. One of those frothy, poppy songs which gets into your head and stays there, like it or not !
Smarty Pants (First Choice)
... second UK hit in the space of three months for the American girl group, hot on the heels of Armed And Extremely Dangerous...but it would also be their last
I Saw The Light (Todd Rundgren)
(1973) ... American songwriter, musician and record producer influenced by British pop/rock of the late '60s ~ the likes of Pink Floyd, The Beatles, The Move, The Who and The Yardbirds. I Saw The Light, instantly radio friendly, was his only hit here, highest position # 36
Alright Alright Alright (Mungo Jerry)
... Top 3 summertime smash, an English translation of a French song by Jacques du Tronc ~ Et Moi Et Moi Et Moi (And Me, And Me,And Me (!)
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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
