FIRST HOUR
Jet (Paul McCartney & Wings)
(1974)... trailblazing, turbo-charged Top 10 single ahead of the album Band On The Run widely hailed as McCartney's best to date, post-Beatles
Behind A Painted Smile (The Isley Brothers)
(1969)... one of the eeriest intros ever gives away to an eruption of classic Motown with a dramatic drumbeat ending
Shy Boy (Bananarama)
... from the first of today's featured years ~ having made their highly successful first chart appearance under the collective banner 'Fun Boy Three and Bananarama' (It Ain't What You Do, It's the Way That You Do It) followed by the return fixture as 'Bananarama with Fun Boy Three' (Really Saying Something), this was the hit which finally gave them exclusive billing ~ the first of many, as it turned out
'60s songs which need no introduction #
Oh No Not My Baby (Manfred Mann)
(1965) ... one of several versions of the Goffin-King song ~ Manfred Mann reached # 11 in the UK a few months after the original US hit by Maxine Brown. Rod Stewart took it into the Top 10 in '73, but two decades later, Cher could only manage a # 33
You're Going To Lose That Girl (The Beatles)
(1965) ... John Lennon on lead vocal, Paul and George harmonising, on one of the best known songs from Help! - the album and the film
[# (they start by singing the title of the song!]
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The Night (Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons)
(1972 & 1975)... much played single in the northern soul clubs, re-issued due to popular demand and finally made the Top 10 three years after it had first been released. More than that, though, its success in '75 was a turning point in the group's fortunes ~ the first big hit in the UK since their '60s heyday. Within a year, they had added three more (all new) hits to their tally of Top 10-ers, including, most famously, December '63 (Oh What A Night), a UK # 1 in 1976
Newsround Tameside: 40 years ago ~ 1982
Ever So Lonely (Monsoon)
... 16-year-old singer Sheila Chandra who had just left school when the song became a hit. It also charted in Ireland, the Netherlands, and . Australia [W]
Here Is The News (ELO)
... one side of a double A side single (with Ticket To The Moon) ~ both tracks from the previous year's album Time. In a break with the band's past, Jeff Lynne chose to emphasise electronics over ELO's signature orchestral sound through a collection of songs with the themes of time travel and civilisation more than 100 years into the future, in the year 2095. The album's musical style draws from the 1950s, new wave, reggae, rockabilly and the work of artists such as The Beatles, Phil Spector and The Shadows [W]
Yellow Pearl (Phil Lynott)
... co-written - with Midge Ure * for the 1980 album Solo in Soho, Yellow Pearl was later remixed and chosen by BBC producer Michael Hurll as the new theme tune for Top of The Pops. Although the previously issued single had peaked at # 56, the enthusiastic response from viewers saw the remix reach the Top 20 in early '82 (* for a short time, a bandmate of Phil Lynott as a 'temporary' member of Thin Lizzy) [W]
View From A Bridge (Kim Wilde)
... second single from her second album Select ~ from this point on, Kim would have a three-year wait for her next appearance in the Top 20 (Rage To Love, 1985, # 19) which heralded an upturn in fortunes during the second half of the decade
Town Called Malice (The Jam)
... with a terrific bass line and some nifty organ playing, one of the trio's biggest and best, topping the chart for three weeks. '82 was their best year for high chart placings, four Top 10-ers in all, including Beat Surrender which was another # 1 and their last hurrah before calling it quits. Paul Weller would, of course, make a swift return the following year with The Style Council
Cardiac Arrest (Madness)
... a grim title which doesn't appear in the lyrics ~ perhaps explaining why it wasn't one of their biggest or best known hits. Such a shame that many would have missed out on hearing what is actually a very positive, upbeat song about not letting the pressures of work affect your health and well-being. "Don't you worry, there's no hurry, it's a lovely day, could all be going your way..." ~ a message there for all of us, as relevant today as it was 40 years ago
I Love Rock 'n' Roll (Joan Jett & The Blackhearts)
... anthemic sing-a-long written by '70s trio Arrows ~ Joan Jett heard their original version while touring the UK with her previous band The Runaways [W]
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SECOND HOUR
Just One Look (Doris Troy)
(1963) ...biggest US hit for the R&B singer-songwriter known as Mama Soul ~ successfully covered here by The Hollies (1964, # 2)
This Kiss (Faith Hill)
(1998) ... hugely successful country cross-over, US, UK and worldwide
Elderberry Wine (Elton John)
... teaser track for our second featured year ~ from the album Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player, released towards the end of January and straight in at # 1 on the LP chart, first week of February. The sprightly, uptempo Elderberry Wine had already been the B side of Crocodile Rock towards the end of the previous year
Absolutely Lyricless ~ the instrumental break
... world leaders of easy listening
Afrikaan Beat (Bert Kaempfert)
(1962)... from a LP which has become a car boot - bargain bin classic. One of those tunes - the same can be said of the title track - which enjoys instant recognition although it was never a hit. Bert and his orchestra released dozens of easy listening and jazz oriented albums. His other claim to fame - he was the first producer to record The Beatles. In 1961 Kaempfert hired the rough-and-ready, as yet unknown beat group from Liverpool - with their original drummer Pete Best to be the backing band for Tony Sheridan. They also recorded two songs on their own ~ My Bonnie and Ain't She Sweet
Happy Music (James Last)
(1967) ... a perfect title for one of our cheeriest tunes ever! Happy Music was adopted by BBC Radio 2 presenter Tony Brandon as the theme tune to his daily show in the early '70s. James Last - like Bert Kaempfert - was a German composer, musician and orchestra leader whose production line of LPs was prolific and seemingly endless. Total record sales during his lifetime were believed to be in the region of 200 million albums
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Tell Me Where You're Going (Silje)
(1990-91) ... much-played turntable hit with a notorious false ending! It always sounded great on the radio, but could only manage the lower reaches of the Top 75 here. In Norway, her home country, it made the Top 10 and was a #1 in Japan. Silje - pronounced SEEL-YA - Nergaard, to give her full name, has gone on to gain worldwide acclaim as a jazz singer and songwriter
Please Mr Postman (The Beatles)
(1963) ... Liverpool's legendary Cavern Club - where the Fab Four played regularly in their formative years with Please Mr Postman as part of their live set - opened its doors for the first time as a jazz club 65 years ago today, 16th January 1957
Be My Baby (The Ronettes)
(1963) ... highest placed UK hit for the American girl group ~ played in tribute to Ronnie Spector, their lead singer who died a few days ago, aged 78, after a short illness
Newsround pre-Tameside: 49 years ago ~ 1973
Cindy Incidentally (The Faces)
.... one of their handful of hits as a band in their own right ~ running in parallel with the massively successful solo career of their mic stand twirling lead singer, a certain Rod Stewart
Good Grief Christina (Chicory Tip)
... their third and final hit, a year after their first ~ Son of My Father, which was # 1 for three weeks
Look Me Up (Blue Magic)
... pop-soul pre-dating the mid #70s disco era, a Stateside hit which was much played over here, but failed to make the chart. Two other Blue Magic songs were later successfully covered by reggae singer Barry Biggs ~ Sideshow (1976, # 3) and Three Ring Circus ( 1977, # 22)
You Are The Sunshine Of My Life (Stevie Wonder)
... unusually, for a song credited to a solo artist, the first voice you hear ... is not the singer you were expecting! Jim Gilstrap ~ who had his own hit with Swing Your Daddy a couple of years later sings the opening line. Next to step up to the mic is Lani Groves and then, finally, Stevie himself
Out Of The Question (Gilbert O'Sullivan)
... from Back To Front, No 1 on the album chart early in '73. Never a single in the UK, Out Of The Question was an American Top 20 hit
Blockbuster (The Sweet)
... five weeks at # 1 for one of the greatest hits of the glam rock era, which kicked off a spectacularly successful year for The Sweet and songwriters Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman
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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 16/01/2022:
