FIRST HOUR
Love Hurts (Jim Capaldi)
(1975)....well-deserved Top 5 hit for the ex-Traffic drummer. Songwriting duo Boudleaux Bryant wrote the song in 1960 for The Everly Brothers. Several artists have recorded it, including Roy Orbison, Emmylou Harris and Nazareth ~ whose slow, bluesy version had recently been a major hit in the US, Norway & The Netherlands, but here in the UK, Jim Capaldi's uptempo, radio-friendly re-working in the same year was easily the most successful
Do You Believe In Magic (The Lovin' Spoonful)
(1965) ... their debut single which did well in America, but failed to make the grade over here
Let Me Take You There (Betty Boo)
... from the first of today's featured years ~ final chart appearance for'the Boo', best known for Doin' The Do ~ her debut hit two years previously She's really Alison Moira Clarkson
Asking the questions...
When Will I Be Loved (The Everly Brothers)
(1960)... written by Phil Everly, a Top 10-er here (# 4) and in the US (# 8). Across the Atlantic, Linda Ronstadt made it an even bigger hit in the mid '70s, reaching # 2 on the Billboard chart, but missing out completely in the UK
How Can I Be Sure (Dusty Springfield)
(1970)... originally recorded by The Young Rascals in '67, How Can I Be Sure was only a minor hit for Dusty whose chart career had
taken a downward turn. Two years later it became David Cassidy's first # 1
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The Story of The Blues (Wah!)
(1982-83)... frontman and songwriter Pete Wylie proved to be one of the more enduring talents to emerge from the resurgent Liverpool music scene in the early '80s. The Story of The Blues has stood the test of time as a classic of that era
Newsround Tameside: 30 years ago ~ 1992
Weather With You (Crowded House)
... one of those timeless songs which could be from almost any of the past five decades
Book of Days (Enya)
... from the soundtrack of Far And Away, the film starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman
You (Ten Sharp)
... duo from Holland with their only chart success of any note outside of their home country. The piano hooks you in from the start and underpins the entire song. French music author Elia Habib said: "the notes from the piano are sharply separated with a beautiful consistency and constitute the backdrop of a melody served by the power of Marcel Kapteijn's voice" [W]
Love is Everywhere (Cicero)
... electro-pop with added bagpipes, co-produced by Pet Shop Boys Chris Lowe and Neil Tennant ~ the only Top 20 hit for Scottish-American (American-born Scot) singer-keyboard player David Cicero. In the same year, his song Live For Today was part of the PSB-produced soundtrack for the film The Crying Game - its title track which was released as a single is coming up shortly....
Give Me Just A Little More Time (Kylie Minogue)
... successfully reviving an early '70s toe-tapper by Chairmen of The Board
The Crying Game (Boy George)
... from the film of the same name # which had its premiere in '92 ~ previously a mid '60s hit for Dave Berry (# see Cicero, played earlier)
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January February (Barbara Dickson)
(1980) ... written by Alan Tarney, perhaps best known for We Don't Talk Anymore, #.1 for Cliff Richard the previous year
SECOND HOUR
Soley Soley (Middle of the Road)
(1971) ... completing a hat-trick of Top 5 hits for MOR. Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep got to # 1, Tweedle Dee Tweedle Dum # 2 and Soley Soley # 5. Their next two singles Sacramento and Samson & Delilah could only manage # 23 and # 26 respectively, which marked the end of their chart career Singer Sally Carr brought a touch of glamour to Top of the Pops whenever they were asked to perform on the show
Come And Get Your Love (Redbone)
(1974)... biggest US hit for the Mexican-American-Native American band known here mainly for Witch Queen of New Orleans (1971, UK # 2, US # 21). They released several other singles which failed to trouble our chart - Come And Get Your Love being one of them. It had all but been forgotten here... until last year when it popped up in a TV ad
Good Luck Charm (Elvis Presley)
... third in a whirlwind run of four UK chart toppers for Elvis in our second featured year
Absolutely Lyricless ~ the instrumental break
... TV and film, clock and crazy frog connections
Axel F (Harold Faltermeyer)
(1984) ... infectious synth-pop theme tune, from Beverly Hills Cop, named after the film's main character Axel Foley. Unusually - probably uniquely - for such a quirky instrumental it has made the Top 10 in three different versions in three different decades ~ the Faltermeyer original (1984, # 2) was re-worked a decade later by Manchester dance music act Clock (1995, # 7) and then by Crazy Frog which overtook them both to claim the top spot (2005, # 1) [W]
Man In A Suitcase (Ron Grainer)
(1967) ... from the ITV spy thriller series of the same name, but also well known in the '90s as the theme tune of Chris Evans' Channel 4 TV show
TFI Friday
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Ideal World (The Christians)
(1987) ... Liverpool band named after the three brothers who were founder members Garry, Roger and Russell Christian. By coincidence, 'Christian' also happened to be guitarist Henry Priestman's middle name. They had the highest selling debut album of any artist signed to Island Records, which entered the UK Album Chart at # 2 and eventually sold over a million copies. Although it had already yielded three Top 40 hits the fourth single Ideal World was the one achieving the highest placing (#14). Fast forward to 2022 ~ Garry 'the face and voice' of The Christians as most people will remember them is the only remaining original member. The band are back on the road with live dates planned throughout this year including The Witchwood, Ashton-under-Lyne on 5th March and Holmfirth Picturedrome, 29th April. Full details at http://www.thechristianslive.co.uk/
I Don't Blame You At All (Smokey Robinson & The Miracles)
(1971)... Motown hit which seems to have been largely forgotten, even though it did well chart-wise (# 11)
Newsround pre-Tameside: 60 years ago ~ 1962
Here Comes That Feeling (Brenda Lee)
... three years after her UK chart debut, Little Miss Dynamite was still clocking up hit after hit
Goodbye Cruel World (James Darren)
... Top 3 in the US, # 28 here. According to Wikipedia * it's about a man left brokenhearted by a 'mean fickle woman' who decides to join the circus. He doesn't mind being shot out of a cannon, and plans to tell the world that she 'made a crying clown' out of him. A cover of one of his earlier chart singles is up next... [* W]
Because They're Young (Helen Shapiro)
... hot on the heels of two # 1 singles the previous year, and still a few months away from her 16th birthday, Helen released the LP Tops With Me featuring her versions of popular songs which had been hits for other artists. Because They're Young had been a Top 30 entry for James Darren, although by far the most famous version was Duane Eddy's twangy guitar instrumental (1960, # 2)
Forget Me Not (Eden Kane)
... having topped the chart with Well I Ask You in '61, this would be the closest he came to matching it. Peaking at # 2 early in '62, Forget Me Not was the third of five hits, all of which made the Top 10. Eden Kane was the teen idol stage name of Richard Sarstedt ~ older brother of Peter (Where Do You Go To My Lovely, 1969, # 1) and Robin (My Resistance Is Low, 1976, #' 3)
Wonderful Land (The Shadows)
... a lyricless bonus ~ # 1 for eight weeks, one of the biggest instrumental hits ever
I'm Just A Baby (Louise Cordet)
... the only major hit for a singer who also happened to be a god-daughter of Prince Philip
Things (Bobby Darin)
... Top 3 on both sides of the pond, 'a walk in the park' for one of pop's first singer-songwriters
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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 30/01/2022:
