FIRST HOUR
Another Day (Paul McCartney)
(1971) ... although he had already released his first solo album the previous year, this was the very hummable first McCartney single in his own right . Paul plays acoustic guitar and sings with Linda although she only received an official credit in later years when Another Day became an add- on track on the Ram album
Do It Again (The Beach Boys)
(1968) .. clocking in at little over two minutes, a song that somehow leaves you wanting more and, perhaps surprisingly, considering their long list of chart successes, one of only two UK No.1s, two years after Good Vibrations
Joe le Taxi (Vanessa Paradis) .... from the first of today's featured years ~ recorded when she was just 14 years old, Joe le Taxi topped the chart in France for 11 weeks, and, unusually for a French language song at that time, was released in the UK and Ireland where it peaked at # 3 and # 2 respectively [W]
Old school dancing, fast and slow:
Twistin' The Night Away (Sam Cooke)
(1962) ... self-penned song which became his highest placed UK hit (#6), although it would eventually be overtaken by the 1986 reissue of Wonderful World (#2)
Save The Last Dance For Me (The Drifters)
(1960) ... their first big hit in the UK, peaking at # 2 but a decade would go by before The Drifters' next Top 10-er which would be the first of many. The group had a famously ever changing line-up ~ on Save The Last Dance, Ben E King sang lead vocal, shortly before leaving to go solo. Stand By Me would be his most enduring song
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(Remember The Days Of The) Old Schoolyard (Cat Stevens)
(1977) ... a much-played single which surprisingly just missed out on a Top 40 placing. It was his final hit as Cat Stevens, before embarking on a completely different way of life. In recent years, he has made a return to the mainstream and reactivated his music career as Yusuf Cat Stevens
Newsround Tameside: 34 years ago ~ 1988
Together Forever (Rick Astley)
...featuring the instantly recognisable production house sound of Stock Aitken Waterman. Together Forever remains one of Rick's biggest hits with a sub-title The Lovers' Leap Remix, date-stamping it as a Leap Year release
Hazy Shade of Winter (The Bangles)
... the original by Simon & Garfunkel had been a US hit in 1966, and finally made our Top 40 in 1991 ~ 25 years after its initial release and three years after The Bangles took the song to # 11 in the UK
Make My Heart Fly (The Proclaimers) [Band Version]
... bespectacled twins from Auchermuchty, in north east Scotland, Craig and Charlie Reid with the 'band version' re-mix released as a single a few months after the original acoustic version as heard on their mega-selling debut album This Is The Story. A promising follow-up to the Top 10-er Letter From America, Make My Heart Fly surprisingly fell by the wayside, stalling at # 63. Neil McCormick of The Telegraph, writing about their initial success said the pair "stuck out like a pair of sore thumbs amidst the ersatz glamour of Eighties pop" [W]
When We Was Fab (George Harrison)
... recalling the heady days of Beatlemania, when George and bandmates John, Paul and Ringo, were hailed, in typical '60s speak, as The Fab Four. Jeff Lynne shared the writing credits with George. A track on his 1987 album Cloud Nine, it became the second single taken from it, the follow-up to Got My Mind Set On You
Crash (The Primitives)
... indie pop band from Coventry, with the first - and biggest by far - of their four Top 40 hits
Hot In The City (Billy Idol)
... one of his best known songs, although it had failed to rise above #58 first time around in 1982. Six years on, the reissued single made the Top 20
I Think We're Alone Now (Tiffany)
... chart-topper early on in the year ~ having been a US Top 10-er back in '67 for Tommy James & The Shondells, It was also a minor hit in the UK for The Rubinoos (1977) and successfuly covered by Girls Aloud (2006, # 4)
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SECOND HOUR
One Fine Day (The Chiffons)
(1963) ... American girl group dipping into the ever expanding Goffin-King songbook for their second UK hit, following on from He's So Fine. Their greatest success was yet to come ~ Sweet Talkin' Guy made the Top 40 in 1966, but as a reissue six years later reached the dizzy heights of # 4
Blown Rose (Blossoms)
(2016) .... one of the stand-out tracks on the first Blossoms album, the only song I know which references the 'stately homes of England'
Your Kiss Is Sweet (Syreeta)
... teaser track for our second featured year ~ co-written and recorded with ex-husband Stevie Wonder for the album Stevie Wonder Presents: Syreeta, Your Kiss Is Sweet reached # 12 as a UK hit single
Absolutely Lyricless ~ the instrumental break
... instantly recognised tunes by the same composer
James Bond theme (John Barry Orchestra)
(1962) ... one of the most iconic film themes ever, a Top 20 hit soon after the first Bond adventure Dr No had its big screen premiere
Hit Or Miss (Jukebox Jury theme) (John Barry Seven)
(1960)... iconic rock 'n'roll theme tune of Juke Box Jury, the BBC's long-running Saturday teatime show in which a celebrity panel voted the latest record releases a hit or a miss, presided over by the show's genial host, David Jacobs
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Kissing You Goodbye (The Pierces)
(2011)... Los Angeles-based duo consisting of sisters Allison and Catherine Pierce, who grew up listening to The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel and Joni Mitchell. The '60s influence can certainly be heard on Kissing You Goodbye which would easily pass for a Mamas and Papas song
Newsround Tameside: 47 years ago ~ 1975
Life Is A Minestrone (10cc)
...... trailblazing, upbeat single for their third album The Original Soundtrack which came out a few weeks later, recorded, as per the band's previous releases, at Strawberry Studios in Stockport . 'Minestrone' could hardly be more different to I'm Not In Love, the album's best known track and the second single to be released from it, which went on to top the chart
Good Love Can Never Die (Alvin Stardust)
... just missed out on what could have been, what should have been, his fifth Top 10-er, # 11 was its highest placing
Footsee (Wigan's Chosen Few)
... notable as being one of the first commercially successful re-mixes of a previously released recording. According to most sources, Dave McAleer, working for Pye Records' Disco Demand subsidiary label, heard a 1968 single by the obscure Canadian group, The Chosen Few. At a time when several such rarities had become Northern Soul hits, McAteer could see the potential. He arranged for the original instrumental track to be speeded up in the recording studio to the right dance tempo. It was overdubbed with car horns and crowd noises, which are variously reported to be taken from the 1966 Everton v Sheffield Wednesday FA Cup Final or alternatively, a group of revellers invited into the Pye studio. The re-mix credited to 'Wigan's Chosen Few' was dismissed by purists as a novelty single cashing in on the Northern Soul boom and its association with the legendary Wigan Casino. When Footsee was featured on Top of the Pops, dancers from the Casino gave a demonstration of the Northern Soul style of dancing, in the absence of a real group to promote the record [W]
Ski-ing In The Snow (Wigan's Ovation)
... you wait ages for a chart hit which mentions 'Wigan' on the record label and then within weeks, another one comes along. Ski-ing In The Snow was a mid '60s soul song recorded by American group The Invitations. In the 1970s, it was rediscovered by DJ-producer Ian Levine while in Miami and became an extremely popular dance track in Northern soul clubs in England. Wigan DJ Russ Winstanley met up with a local group called Sparkle who renamed themselves Wigan's Ovation and covered the song (with slightly modified lyrics) [W]
Angie Baby (Helen Reddy)
... by far the most successful UK single for the Australian singer-songwriter who died in 2020. Helen achieved international success, particularly in the US, where she had a string of hits during the mid '70s, including her interpretations other people's songs. Angie Baby (by American writer Alan O'Day) was her only chart entry here of any note although at least three more were turntable hits, popular with radio station playlisters and producers but not sufficiently so with the nation's record buyers ~ I'm particularly thinking of I Am Woman, Leave Me Alone [Ruby Red Dress] and Ain't No Way To Treat A Lady although no doubt there are others you will know
The Secrets That You Keep (Mud)
... another Elvis-inspired vocal from Les Gray, following the huge success of Lonely This Christmas at the end of '74. Mud spent more weeks on the chart in '75 than just about anyone else ~ 45 weeks in all, the collective lifespan of seven hit singles
Bye Bye Baby (The Bay City Rollers)
... '75 was definitely the year of Rollermania, with hordes of screaming, tartan-clad teenage girls following the boy band's every move.Bye Bye Baby - an old Four Seasons song which had not previously been a hit in the UK - gave them their first # 1, not only spending six weeks at the top but also going on to become the year's top selling single. The follow-up, Give A Little Love also topped the chart.
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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 20/03/2022:
