FIRST HOUR
Private Number (Judy Clay & William Bell)
(1968-69) ... soul classic on the legendary Stax label ~ their only UK hit as a duo, although William Bell had previously had a solo chart entry (Tribute To A King, 1968, # 31)
Dance With Me (Orleans)
(1975)... radio friendly single which somehow failed to trouble the chart in the UK ~ not even a solitary week on the bottom rung of the Top 75
Lost Weekend (Lloyd Cole & The Commotions)
... from the first of today;s featured years ~ highest placed of three Top 30 singles (# 17) for the Buxton-born singer-songwriter and his band
Lennon & McCartney Together
We Can Work It Out (The Beatles)
(1965) ... coupled with Day Tripper as a double 'A' side, this was the single that made it a hat-trick of Fab Four Christmas # 1s ~ toppermost of the poppermost three years in a row. By this stage, Lennon and McCartney were mainly writing separately ~ this was a rare exception
Two of Us (The Beatles)
(1970)..... written by Paul McCartney for the Let It Be album, recorded the previous year. * Apparently he was thinking of aimless car rides in the countryside with wife Linda rather than his friendship with John Lennon. On the other hand, the style of the song with Paul and John playing acoustic guitars and singing in harmony reminiscent of The Everly Brothers harked back to their formative years * A new three part TV series coming soon promises to shed new light on the infamous Get Back /Let It Be sessions, when the four Beatles were slowly drifting apart [*W]
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Am I The Same Girl (Barbara Acklin)
(1968) .... original US version of a song covered the following year by Dusty Springfield who just missed out on the Top 40. An instrumental version -re-titled as Soulful Strut - by Young Holt Unlimited made the Top 3 in America. Fast forward to the early '90s, Am I The Same Girl was successfully covered by Swing Out Sister and finally charted here. In the meantime, the song had been sampled on Freddie McGregor's 1987 single That Girl (Groovy Situation)
I Vow To Thee My Country (Military Wives Choirs)
(2018) .... first of two for Remembrance Sunday ~ I Vow To Thee My Country is sung to a familiar tune from The Planets Suite by Gustav Holst. A different section of the same tune was adapted by Manfred Mann's Earth Band for their 1973 hit Joybringer, played on last Sunday's show
Newsround Tameside: 36 years ago ~ 1985
Yesterday's Men (Madness)
... ... The Nutty Boys in mellow mood for their 20th Top 20 hit ~ the soulful instrumental fade out has echoes of the classic Spanish Harlem
Jacob's Ladder (The Monochrome Set)
.. rockabilly punk with a hint of gospel ~ they packed plenty into a very catchy song of less than three minutes which is fun from start to finish! Another of those singles much heard on the radio which sadly didn't shift enough copies to secure even the the lowliest placing in the Top 75
Crazy For You (Madonna)
... one of a staggering seven consecutive Top 5 singles in a single calendar year
In Between Days (The Cure)
... their fourth Top 20 single and first to make the US Hot 100, but only just ~ # 99 was as good as it got
See That Girl (Kirsty MacColl)
... breezy second track on a self titled album which was essentially a refresh of her 1981 debut LP Desperate Character
Thinking of You (The Colour Field)
ex -Specials, ex- Fun Boy Three singer Terry Hall, Toby Lyons on guitar/organ and bass player Karl Shale were all from Coventry, but based their new band in Manchester. Thinking Of You, also featuring Katrina Phillips on backing vocals, climbed to # 12 and was by far the most successful Colour Field single, trailblazing their album Virgins & Philistines, recorded in Stockport at Strawberry Studios. Musically, it was a new direction for front man 'Tezza', setting his barbed wit and bitter sweet lyrics to a much lighter, poppier sound. Looking back now, the style and overall feel can perhaps best be compared to The Beautiful South, who became massively successful a few years later
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SECOND HOUR
Come And Get It (Badfinger)
(1969-70) ... multiple Beatle connections ~ written and produced by Paul McCartney for the film The Magic Christian with a starring role for... Ringo Starr, along with Peter Sellers. It became the debut chart hit for Badfinger - band from Swansea, previously known as The Iveys who had signed with The Beatles' Apple Records. McCartney had recorded the original demo a few months earlier ~ a version which remained unreleased - bootlegs aside - until 1996 when it was included on Anthology III
Wherever You Are (Military Wives Choir with Gareth Malone & London Metropolitan Orchestra)
(2011) .... second of two for Remembrance Sunday ~ this was the song which first brought the Military Wives and Gareth Malone to our attention, exactly 10 years ago (yes, really). Wherever You Are went on to be the 2011 Christmas # 1
Some of Your Lovin' (Dusty Springfield)
... teaser track for our second featured year ~ Dusty gives a soulful performance of the Gerry Goffin-Carole King song her second consecutive Top 10-er to peak at # 8, following on from the pure pop sing-a-long In The Middle of Nowhere
Absolutely Lyricless ~ the instrumental break
Love's Theme (Love Unlimited Orchestra)
(1975)... made the Top 10 here having already topped the chart in the US and Canada. The string-laden 40-piece orchestra was founded by producer-writer-performer Barry White to accompany his protégés the female vocal trio Love Unlimited as well as his own releases. The orchestra went on to record several singles and albums under their own name [W]
Cast Your Fate To The Wind (Rick Wakeman - Piano Vibrations)
(1971) ... familiar tune with a softly, softly introduction, written and first recorded by American jazz composer Vince Guaraldi; A vocal version by Mel Tormé was a hit in Australia in 1963. Two years later, the studio-based British easy listening group Sounds Orchestral re-worked it with a lighter touch and had a Top 10 hit Prog rock keyboard wizard Rick Wakeman - who had recently joined Yes - followed their lead when he covered Cast Your Fate... for a solo venture, Piano Vibrations [W]
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(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace Love and Understanding (Brinsley Schwarz) *
(1974) ..... much played turntable hit, which failed to break through on to the chart, written by the band's lead singer and bass player Nick Lowe, who went on to find solo success (I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass, Cruel To Be Kind). What's So Funny 'Bout... was later covered by Elvis Costello & The Attractions [ * Sorry, this song didn't make 'the final cut' for today's live show, due to a ,last minute change in the running order, but rest assured it will be on the show in the next week or two!]
He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother (The Hollies) [REQUEST] (1969 & 1988) ... made the Top 3 first time around, and went all the way to # 1 as a reissue. An earlier Hollies hit is in the 1965 selection coming up....
Human (Jerry Williams)
(2018) ... Portsmouth-based singer-songwriter. with her unplugged cover of a 21st Century classic. The 2008 original by American band The Killers did much better here, peaking at # 3
Newsround pre-Tameside: 56 years ago ~ 1965
My Ship Is Coming In (The Walker Brothers)
... originally a US hit for soul singer Jimmy Radcliffe, but in the UK, the Walkers made it their own, sandwiched between two # 1s Make It Easy On Yourself and The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore
Positively Fourth Street (Bob Dylan)
... highly successful year as a performer and as a writer of songs which other artists were queuing to cover ~ one of which is coming up later
Come And Stay With Me (Marianne Faithfull)
...... written by US singer songwriter Jackie de Shannon with Marianne firmly in mind
If I Needed Someone (The Hollies) .... George Harrison song from The Beatles' Rubber Soul album ~ one of The Hollies' lowest placed chart hits, stalling at # 20
All I Really Want To Do (The Byrds)
... one of two hit cover versions of the Bob Dylan song which made the chart at the same time - the other was by Cher....
Here It Comes Again (The Fortunes)
... Birmingham group's second time in the Top 10, following You've Got Your Troubles earlier in the year
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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)
[W]: Source: Wikipedia
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.
If you missed any of the show, you can catch up online after 15:00 on Sunday 14/11/2021:
https://www.questmedianetwork.co.uk/on-demand/
