FIRST HOUR
Darlin' (The Beach Boys)
(1968) ... with its instant hook line, an obvious choice as a single from the album released the previous year, Wild Honey. Darlin' peaked at # 11 in the UK and # 19 in the US. David Cassidy covered the song in the mid '70s and also made the Top 20
Stop Her On Sight (SOS) (Edwin Starr)
(1966 & 1968) ... a blast of Motown magic which could only manage a # 35 in the UK first time out, but climbed to # 11 on reissue
Baby I Love Your Way / Freebird (Will To Power)
... previously a US No.1 , the melding of classic '70s tracks by Peter Frampton and Lynyrd Skynyrd successfully crossed the Atlantic and charted here in the first of today's featured years...
It started with a TV ad...
I'd Like to Teach The World To Sing (The New Seekers)
(1971-72).... the song had famously featured in a Coca Cola ad ~ the one with a large gathering of singers on a hillside ~ 'in perfect harmony'. The New Seekers version spent four weeks as the UK's # 1
Jeans On (David Dundas)
(1976).... an advertising jingle for Brutus, a well known denim-wear brand at the time which quickly caught on with the viewing public. The jingle was expanded into a three minute song, released as a single and made the Top 3
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Roxette (Dr Feelgood)
(1974) ... debut single by the Canvey Island pub rock combo which also appeared on their debut album Down by the Jetty the following year [W]
Newsround Tameside: 33 years ago ~ 1989
End of The Line (Travelling Wilburys)
... second hit for the Wilburys, the super group which George Harrison invited four famous friends to join ~ Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne and Roy Orbison. Ultra likeable and radio-friendly, End of The Line deserved to do much better than # 52 in the UK. In the same year, Tom Petty also registered three modest to minor hit singles here in his own right
You Are The One (a-ha)
... four years on from their debut Take On Me, the trio's 12th Top 20 hit was this very catchy song from their third studio album Stay On These Roads
Wait (Robert Howard and Kym Mazelle)
... the Blow Monkeys' frontman duetting with the American singer widely regarded as a pioneer of house music in the UK and Europe during the late '80s [W]
Fine Time (Yazz)
... having topped the chart the previous summer with the anthemic The Only Way Is Up, swiftly followed by Stand Up For Your Love Rights (# 2), the mellow, jazz-infused Fine Time completed a Top 10 hat-trick (# 9)
She Drives Me Crazy (Fine Young Cannibals)
... first of their two Top 10-ers in '89 ~ Good Thing was the successful follow-up
Hit The Ground (Darling Buds)
... band from Newport, South Wales who created melodic, hook-driven, short-duration singles. They were considered part of the short lived "blonde" movement - indie rock band fronted by blonde female singer with all other members being dark-haired males - others of similar inclination included The Primitives and Transvision Vamp [W]
Americanos (Holly Johnson)
... second of two consecutive solo hits peaking at # 4 within the space of a few months for the former Frankie Goes To Hollywood front man
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SECOND HOUR
I Feel Love Coming On (Felice Taylor)
(1967) ... co-written and produced by Barry White, long before he came to prominence as a performer
Cool Like You (Blossoms)
(2018)... Stockport's finest with an acoustic version of their second album's title track
If I Had Words (Scott Fitzgerald & Yvonne Keeley)
... teaser track for our second featured year based on a familiar melody from Saint Saens' Organ Symphony No.3. Next up, another classical connection...
Absolutely Lyricless ~ the instrumental break
... early '60s instrumentals, titles inspired by flying insects...
Bumble Boogie (B Bumble & The Stingers)
(1961) ... re-working The Flight of The Bumble Bee, the famous tune by Rimsky-Korsakov. A year later, the equally familiar March from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite inspired The Stingers' biggest hit, Nut Rocker (1962, # 1)
Beatnik Fly (Johnny & The Hurricanes)
(1960) ... The Hurricanes' speciality was to seek out familiar old tunes and give them a rock beat. Beatnik Fly ~ second in a run of seven hits in all - was their take on an American folk song Blue Tailed Fly, also known as Jimmy Crack Corn
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Grace (Supergrass)
(2002) ... single taken from Life On Other Planets, the band's fourth album - their first since keyboard player Rob Coombes, brother of lead singer Gaz officially joined the band (although he had long been a part of Supergrass... unofficially) [W]
What (Judy Street)
(1968)... the original Northern soul floor filler successfully covered by Soft Cell (1982, # 3)
Newsround Tameside: 44 years ago ~ 1978
Love Is Like Oxygen (The Sweet)
... their first Top 10-er for nearly three years but sadly it was to be the last of a long run which stretched back to the start of the decade
I Can't Stand The Rain (Eruption)
... Euro-disco-funk group signed by the Hansa label after supporting Boney M on tour. Following their cover of Ann Peebles '73 song, they returned a year later with One Way Ticket
You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth (Meat Loaf)
... UK chart debut for the charismatic singer and actor who has died, aged 74. Renowned for his powerful, wide-ranging operatic-like voice and theatrical live shows * Meat Loaf - born Marvin Lee Aday will forever be remembered for the epic Bat Out Of Hell. In a career which endured over five decades, he achieved sales of 100 million albums worldwide and also appeared in films such as Fight Club, The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Wayne's World. If you had to describe Meat Loaf in a few words, those words would have to be 'one of a kind'... or 'a total one-off' [* W]
Come Back My Love (Darts)
... originally recorded by American group The Wrens back in 1955, Come Back My Love was the first of three from Darts during '78 to reach # 2 on the UK singles chart [W]
I Don't Want To Go To Chelsea (Elvis Costello & The Attractions) . ... EC's second Top 20 success, following on from Watching The Detectives
Denis (Blondie)
... first time on the chart in the UK for Debbie and co ~ sung as 'Denee, it had previously been a US hit in the '60s for Randy and The Rainbows
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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 23/01/2022:
