FiRST HOUR
I Can Hear Music (The Beach Boys)
(1969) ... written by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich and Phil Spector for The Ronettes, who just about made it on to the bottom rung of the Billboard Hot 100 in 1966. The Beach Boys version, with Carl Wilson on lead vocals, did much better ~ # 24 in America and # 10 here
Ain't No Mountain High Enough (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell)
(1967) ... original upbeat version of the song re-invented three years later as a gospel-style anthem for another Motown legend ~ the newly solo Diana Ross (1970, US # 1, UK # 6). Marvin and Tammi's feelgood toe-tapper did well in the US but missed out completely this side of the pond
Bette Davis Eyes (Kim Carnes)
... best selling single in the US, nine weeks at # 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, in the first of today's featured years ~
Seaside songs
Seaside Rendezvous (Queen)
(1976)... from the album A Night At The Opera ~ one of Freddie's occasional forays into music hall novelty songs - "my ragtime mood" as the man himself once said
Sea Side Shuffle (Terry Dactyl & The Dinosaurs)
(1972)... 'Terry' was the alias adopted by singer John Lewis who returned in 1980 as Jona Lewie (You'll Always Find Me In The Kitchen At Parties and Stop The Cavalry)
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Luton Airport (Cats UK)
(1979) ... how do you follow Terry Dactyl with his song about a trip to Brighton 'way past the town of Crawl-ee '?!... I know, let's head on down to another place 'darn sarf'! All female group Cats UK reached # 22 on the chart, inspired by the famous punchline by Lorraine Chase in the Campari TV commercial.
Newsround Tameside: 40 years ago ~ 1981
Ghost Town (The Specials)
... hailed as a sharply observed social commentary in a summer stricken by rioting and unrest in many UK cities. Internal tensions within the band were also coming to a head when the single was being recorded. It became the final release by the original seven members before splitting up. Fast forward to 2019, The Specials regrouped to celebrate 40 years since their initial breakthrough with a # 1 album Encore. It included the stand-out song Vote For Me - almost a companion piece to Ghost Town.
The Race Is On (Dave Edmunds with The Stray Cats)
... rockabilly was enjoying a mini revival in the early '80s. Dave Edmunds, having produced The Stray Cats' album and hit singles persuaded them to join him on his latest release
Chariots of Fire (Vangelis)
... instantly recognisable Oscar winning theme from a mega-successful British film about two athletes striving for glory in the 1924 Olympics
Prince Charming (Adam & The Ants)
... their second No.1 of the year, hot on the heels of Stand And Deliver. Book-ending the year were two other Top 3-ers Kings of The Wild frontier and Ant Rap
Swords of A Thousand Men (Tenpole Tudor)
... English punk band who first came to prominence when singer Edward Tudor-Pole appeared in the Sex Pistols' film The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle. The band then went on to have hits in their own right with Swords of a Thousand Men and its follow-up Wünderbar (Source: Wikipedia)
For Your Eyes Only (Sheena Easton)
... joining that elite roster of artists invited to sing the theme song for a James Bond film
Water On Glass (Kim Wilde)
... following on from Chequered Love and the one which launched her career, The Kids In America, Kim made it a hat-trick within the space of a few months
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SECOND HOUR
Keep On Running (Spencer Davis Group)
(1965-66) ... first of two chart-topping singles for a founder / leading light of the British rhythm and blues, As with Manfred Mann, the band took the name of a band founder member who was not the lead singer. The vocalist with the Spencer Davis Group at this point in time was a young Steve Winwood, who left just over a year later to join Traffic
Tears Dry On Their Own (Amy Winehouse)
(2007) ... first of two in celebration of one of the finest voices of the early 21st Century. It's exactly 10 years since Amy died at the tragically young age of 27, on 23rd July 2011
Summertime City (Mike Batt and The New Edition)
... teaser track for our second featured year ~ The Womblemeister stepped out of his furry costume to write and sing the theme song of the BBC TV Saturday night variety show Seaside Special. Released as a single, it soon took on a life of its own, reaching a peak of # 6. Its success was well deserved ~ one of the best summer songs ever, in my humble opinion
Absolutely Lyricless ~ the instrumental break
... two word titles which double up on their initial letters
Rebel Rouser (Duane Eddy)
(1958) ... first UK hit by the twangy guitar man, kick starting a fabulous five year span of 20 Top 40 entries
Sucu Sucu (Laurie Johnson & His Orchestra)
(1961) ... an already familiar tune, many different versions over the years, vocal and instrumental ~ Laurie Johnson's lively arrangement was the most successful chartwise, peaking at # 9, having been adopted as the theme of a then current TV series Top Secret
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Massachussetts (The Bee Gees)
(1967) ... signature song of the brothers' early years of stardom ~ and their first # 1
Valerie (Mark Ronson with Amy Winehouse)
(2007) ... one of the top music producers to emerge in the '00s joining forces with one of the finest soulful voices, giving a fresh new twist to The Zutons hit from the previous year, (see also Tears Dry On Their Own - earlier)
Newsround Tameside: 46 years ago ~ 1975
I Can Do It (The Rubettes)
... Top 10-er title song from their album We Can Do It., also the first single released on the newly launched State Records label
It Oughta Sell A Million (Lyn Paul)
... catchy little song which followed a familiar pattern, having started out as an advertising jingle for Coca Cola. Lyn's voice had previously been heard on a string of hits by The New Seekers ~ including the mega-successful I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing, which had been featured in a previous TV ad for the same soft drink. Surprisingly, though, history failed to repeat itself on this occasion ~ Lyn's solo single peaked, disappointingly, at # 37, It Oughta Sell A Million was merely wishful thinking
Moonshine Sally (Mud)
... as one record deal came to an end, another one was about to start ~ Mud were on the move but still time for Rak Records to release one more single. Moonshine Sally made it 10 hits in a row for the band, their 8th Top 10-er . More would follow on the Private Stock label, including L'L'Lucy, Show Me You're A Woman and Lean On Me
Mama Never Told Me (Sister Sledge)
... UK Top 20 debut for the family group who came into their own later in the disco era, continuing well into the next decade
Good Love Can Never Die (Alvin Stardust)
... just missed out on what could have been, what should have been, his fifth Top 10-er, peaking at # 11
Dolly My Love (The Moments)
... without The Whatnauts who had shared the billing on their previous hit, Girls earlier the same 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)
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
