FIRST HOUR
Even The Bad Times Are Good (The Tremeloes)
(1967) ... intriguing start which feels as though you are eavesdropping on a party going on in the studio. With the background 'atmos' continuing in the background, it soon builds into an upliftingly cheery chorus
So Good To Be Back Home Again (The Tourists)
(1980) ... second and final Top 10-er for the band featuring Dave Stewart & Annie Lennox ~ before they became Eurythmics.
Arms of Mary (Sutherland Brothers & Quiver)
... from the first of today's featured years ~ the great coming together of the Sutherlands who had previously been best known for writing
Rod Stewart's chart-topper Sailing with the band Quiver who had been around for a few years without chart success. Arms of Mary was the song they had long been waiting for, reaching the Top 5
Rock 'n' roll classics
Say Mama (Gene Vincent & The Blue Caps)
(1958) ... never a hit in the UK but a 'fab' up and coming Liverpool beat group heard it, probably on an American import, and added it to their live set. John Lennon was always a huge Gene Vincent fan and through his enthusiasm, young movers and groovers here got to hear a good number of songs which they might otherwise have missed
Rave On (Buddy Holly)
(1958) .... one of only two solo UK Top 10-ers for Buddy during his lifetime, although he had three more as lead singer of The Crickets including the 1957 chart-topper That'll Be The Day
---------------------------
In The Morning (The Coral)
(2005) ... band from the Wirral with their second highest placed chart hit, peaking at # 6, two years after Pass It On (# 5). Both are under two and a half minutes - which makes them two of the shortest chart songs of the 21st Century to date
Newsround Tameside: 45 years ago ~ 1976
Love Me (Yvonne Elliman)
... US soul singer who had recently been working with Eric Clapton, and previously best known for the show stopping ballad I Don't Know How To Love Him on the original 1970 various artists double album of Jesus Christ Superstar. Love Me was her first time on the chart in her own right ~ a couple more hits would follow
The Killing of Georgie Part I and II (Rod Stewart)
... a true story sensitively told ~ Rod wrote the lyrics and the music and was rightly applauded for tackling a subject where few other writers or performers would have have ventured at that time. * When asked about writing a song with a gay theme, he said: "It's probably because I was surrounded by gay people at that stage. I had a gay PR man, a gay manager. Everyone around me was gay. I don't know whether that prompted me into it or not. I think it was a brave step, but it wasn't a risk. You can't write a song like that unless you've experienced it. But it was a subject that no one had approached before. And I think it still stands up today." [W] *
More More More (Andrea True Connection) [04/10/20]
... disco-tastic one-hit wonder, # 5 on the American Billboard Hot 100, and climbing one place higher on our chart. Fast forward to 1999, the familiar instrumental riff from More More More was famously sampled in Steal My Sunshine by the Canadian band Len.
The Girl of My Best Friend (Elvis Presley with The Jordanaires)
... recorded in 1960 for the album Elvis Is Back which marked the King's return to civilian life after his US army service. Sixteen years later , having never previously been a single in the UK, it made the Top 10 - the first of two consecutive releases from the vaults. The follow up Suspicion did just as well - in fact, both singles peaked at # 9
My Resistance Is Low (Robin Sarstedt)
... Hoagy Carmichael song from the '30s which unexpectedly became a Top 3 smash in '76 ~ completing a Sarstedt family hat-trick. Robin's older brothers had already 'been there, done that'. Peter Sarstedt had topped the chart in '69 with Where Do You Go To (My Lovely?) and a few years before him, eldest sibling Richard had been a hit parade regular as Eden Kane
Jungle Rock (Hank Mizell)
... slice of obscure late '50s rockabilly, which sank without trace in the US, only to resurface, unexpectedly in the Netherlands, years later. Eventually it was reissued as a single and became a UK # 3 as well as topping the Dutch chart
That's Me (Abba)
... a track on their # 1 album Arrival and also the B side of Money Money Money, written by Abba's regular creative trio Benny Andersson, Bjorn Ulvaeus and Stig Anderson, * A greatest hits compilation by Agnetha released internationally in 1998 was named after the song as -apparently it was one of her favorites from the Abba years [W} *
---------------------------
SECOND HOUR
Coming Around (Travis)
... tuneful, timeless guitar pop ~ Coming Around made the Top 5 as a stand-alone single although it was later added to a special live limited edition of the album The Man Who
The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy) (Simon & Garfunkel)
(1966) ... first of two today to mark the 80th birthday of Paul Simon on 13th October ~ Art Garfunkel reaches the same milestone on 5th November
Cherish (Madonna)
... teaser track for our second featured year, not to be confused with those other Cherishes - by Kool & The Gang ('85) and David Cassidy ('72, album title track) ~ they are all different songs
Absolutely Lyricless ~ the instrumental break
....from police patrollers to international explorer
Theme from Z Cars (Johnny Keating)
(1962) ... one of the all-time great TV themes, based on an old Liverpool folk tune, Johnny Todd, and nowadays best known as the theme tune of Everton FC, played as the team emerge from the tunnel on to the pitch before each home game
Globetrotter (The Tornados)
(1963) ... follow up to Telstar, their chart-topper of the previous year
---------------------------
Here I Go Again (Archie Bell and The Drells)
(1972) ... began life as a B side in America in '69 before breaking through over here on the Northern Soul scene to become a Top 20 chart hit. By the mid '70s, they had become part of the Philly Sound having signed with the Philadelphia International label ~ their biggest success in that later era was Soul City Walk (# 13, 1976)
Homeward Bound (Simon & Garfunkel)
(1966)... second of two from the duo following 59th Street Bridge Song earlier ~ both songs from their album Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme, * which largely consists of acoustic pieces, mostly written during the time Paul Simon was living in England the previous year [W] * Legend has it that Homeward Bound was inspired by his experience of waiting to change trains at Widnes station while on tour
.
Newsround Tameside: 32 years ago ~ 1989
You On My Mind (Swing Out Sister)
... much played on the radio, but not one of their biggest hits, peaking at # 28. Swing Out Sister's style of music had previously been described as cool, sophisti-pop. You On My Mind, lead single from their second album Kaleidoscope World, sits under that general banner but also has a retro '60s feel, taking the sophistication to a new level
Pure (The Lightning Seeds)
... debut hit for the 'band' - a studio based Ian Broudie solo project would have been a more accurate description in '89. Five years later, with the release of the mega-successful album Jollification, The Lightning Seeds had evolved into a fully fledged touring band
Wouldn't Change A Thing (Kylie Minogue)
... her seventh hit with the Stock Aitken Waterman 'Hit Factory' - all of which had reached either # 1 or - as in this case - # 2.
The Second Summer of Love (Danny Wilson)
... not as everyone thought, an individual musician who had given his name to the band - a la Manfred Mann ~ Scottish trio Danny Wilson - brothers Gary and Kit Clark and Ged Grimes - did exactly the opposite, adoping a male name from the title of a 1952 Frank Sinatra film. Meet Danny Wilson was a favourite of Gary and Kit's dad. The Second Summer was their second hit (# 23) a year after their first Mary's Prayer eventually made the Top 3
Be With You (The Bangles)
... upbeat follow up to their chart-topping ballad Eternal Flame. Drummer Debbi Peterson takes the lead vocal on Be With You which she co-wrote
My Brave Face (Paul McCartney)
... one of a handful of songs written by Macca and a certain Declan McManus, aka Elvis Costello. This instantly likeable single and trailblazer for the McCartney album Flowers In The Dirt was like a blast from Paul's musical past ~ very 'Beatley'!
---------------------------
[W]: Source: Wikipedia
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
