15th - 21st October 1964

 

28. Reach Out For Me - Dionne Warwick

Just a week later, we have another cover of a Lou Johnson song, again written by Bacharach and David. Dionne's vocal is spot on, supported by piano, strings and the drums, a really classy record.

32. Remember (Walkin' In The Sand) - The Shangri-Las

The first of just two hits for the girl group. There's a lot going on here with tempo changes, seaside sound effects, finger clicking and dramatic piano parts. It's all well put together.

34. Goldfinger - Shirley Bassey

An iconic Bond theme which surprisingly will only get to number 21.

37. Three Little Words (I Love You) - The Applejacks

The last of the Applejacks' top 40 hits is an mediocre piece of Brumbeat. They will split up in 1967.

38. Bye Bye Baby - Tony Jackson and the Vibrations

This is a new group formed by Tony Jackson who sang lead on some of the Searchers' early hits. It's a spirited effort with good use of the organ and the addition of female backing singers. It will be their only hit single and is nothing to do with the Four Seasons/Bay City Rollers song with the same title.

39. Questions I Can't Answer - Heinz

The last of four top 40 hits for Heinz is an OK song with his distinctive raspy vocal.

 

Record of the week : 35. Do I Love You - The Ronettes

 

Dionne Warwick, Shirley Bassey or the Shangri-Las could all have taken the award this week but I'm going for the Ronettes' final UK hit single. The Spector wall of sound is in full effect here along with the fabulous lead and backing vocals. The single will go no higher than number 35 and the group will split up in the same year as the Applejacks.

 

Reach Out For Me is a classy song, so many 60's Dionne tracks made their way into my sub-conscience without noticing, this being a good case in point. The Shangri-Las track I got to know as a b-side to the revived 70's Leader Of The Pack single - it's pretty cool still! Goldfinger remains iconic, and yes shocklngly not a chart position that reflects it's popularity at the time (at least on radio and TV) and afterwards. After a trio of greats I have 4 I'm not familiar with:

 

The Applejacks' is jolly and upbeat, I like it. Bye Bye baby starts off pretending to be Shout, and maintains the groove. Lulu could have sung this better! Heinz has a familiar riff, I think it's Louie Louie, and it's not bad. I keep thinking of the Joe Meek movie biog I saw not long ago when I hear Heinz now. Good film.

 

I should know The Ronettes' song but it didnt ring a bell with me, and same now I'm playing it. It's good of course and does what you'd expect from a Spector production, but on balance I prefer Goldfinger.

22nd - 28th October 1964

 

18. Sha La La - Manfred Mann

A simple song with simple lyrics. That won't stop it from being another big hit for them. The Shirelles recorded the original version.

29. He's In Town - The Rockin' Berries

The first top 40 hit for the Birmingham band, their first three singles all missed out but this cover of a Goffin & King written song by The Tokens will go as high as number 3. There are some nice harmonies here with the lead singer in the high register and the others lower down.

33. Any Way You Want It - The Dave Clark Five

I like the driving rhythm to this and there's some echo added to parts of the vocal.

34. Google Eye - The Nashville Teens

Their second hit is another John D. Loudermilk cover but it's not as distinctive as the first one, 'Tobacco Road'.

35. Walk Tall - Val Doonican

A debut hit at the age of 37 in the same year as he's given his first BBC1 TV series. It's an OK country song about ending up in prison after he doesn't listen to his mother's advice.

36. It Hurts To Be In Love - Gene Pitney

This doesn't sound like a typical Gene Pitney song and I now see that it's a Neil Sedaka recording with his lead vocal replaced by Gene's, everything else was kept in.

38. Losing You - Dusty Springfield

Another great vocal from Dusty who gives this plenty of welly.

40. Is It Because - The Honeycombs

This is not as good as their number 1 single but it deserved a higher peak than number 38. There were some typical Joe Meek embellishments on the production.

 

Record of the week : 24. Baby Love - The Supremes

 

It's a busy week for new music but there's still no hesitation in the award going to the Supremes with this classic. It's just so catchy and I also like the saxophone parts. They will have plenty of Billboard number 1s but this will be their only UK chart topper.

 

 

 

This is a strong batch of singles. The only one i dont know is the honeycombs and thats nothing special. I like all the rest but especially Hes In Town. Carole king can do no wrong in the 60s with her melodies. Gene is ditto and Neil Sedaka songs up to 1964. My fave at the time was Val Doonican but not so much these days but i also loved Baby Love and that one still sounded great enough to chart again in 1974 when it topped my charts so i have to also give it top spot just ahead of the fab Dusty on the fab Losing You.

29th October - 4th November 1964

 

32. Ain't That Loving You Baby - Elvis Presley

This is another old Elvis song, this time from 1958. His backing band do a good job but it's out of place on a 1964 chart. I hope we get something new from him soon.

35. Tokyo Medley - Helmut Zacharias Orchestra

The Tokyo Olympics have just finished and this was used by the BBC as their theme music. It sounds very fitting for a sporting event. The orchestration is augmented by some Japanese touches to make it appropriate for the host country.

39. Now We're Thru - The Poets

The only hit for the Scottish band. I like the use of the tambourine and the guitars have a 1980s sound to them.

 

Record of the week : 34. Don't Bring Me Down - The Pretty Things

 

The first top 40 hit for the group from London having peaked at 41 with their debut single. There's a tambourine on this one as well. It has a raw blues sound to it but very up to date at the same time and using the harmonica well. It will reach a peak position of number 10.

 

5th - 11th November 1964

 

18. All Day And All Of The Night - The Kinks

Most weeks, this would have won the award but it misses out. They're rocking out again with another great guitar riff. This one will go to number 2.

33. There's A Heartache Following Me - Jim Reeves

His first posthumous release is a sad country ballad.

36. Black Girl - The Four Pennies

Quite an intense song about a woman widowed after her husband is killed in a train crash. I like how it builds towards the end. The song goes back to the 1870s.

 

Record of the week : 40. Dancing In The Street - Martha and the Vandellas

 

This beats the Kinks as it's so joyous and infectious, a huge Motown dance anthem. The people in the crowd here are clapping far too quickly, I only spotted one woman who is pacing her clapping to the beat of the song. Incredibly, the single will only reach number 28, it will take a 1969 re-issue to put it in the top 5.

 

Ooh Kinks for me!

Elvis' is one I dont know, and it sounds very 50's B-side. Never heard of the Poets or their record, it's not bad actually. Record of the week is between the 2 I do know, The Pretty Things is a good rocker that I like, but the one I liked at the time was Tokyo Melody, what a horn hook and girlie chorus backing. Not interested that much in the Olympics but I did like this exotic-sounding instrumental and it cropped up on TV for years afterwards as backdrops to many a report and such-like. So that wins for me.

 

Jim Reeves's first few posthumous hits weren't quite at the barrel-scraping stage, and this one is quite pleasantly sad. I was big on the Four Pennies' Juliet aged 6, but this one made no impact on me at all, and it's nothing like the big hit, nor as good. So it's Kinks' classic vs Motown dance classic, and I too have to go with Dancing In The Street having the edge, brilliant dance production just cuts it over the raw venom rocky All Day.

12th - 18th November 1964

 

27. I Understand - Freddie and the Dreamers

Their last single missed the top 40 but this one will go as high as number 5, reaching its peak at the end of the year which is appropriate considering part of the song uses the same melody as Auld Lang Syne. It's a gentle ballad so no comical dancing in this clip.

33. Wild Side Of Life - Tommy Quickly and the Remo Four

The only hit for the singer from Liverpool is an OK pop song which he sings well enough.

35. March Of The Mods - Joe Loss And His Orchestra

I think I've heard this before, I don't know where. I quite enjoyed it but I'm not picturing marching mods, it's a bit too quick and more for dancing to than marching to. It's the last of Joe Loss' four top 40 hits.

40. Last Night - The Merseybeats

A disappointing piece of beat music which will go no higher than number 40.

 

Record of the week: 34. I'm Gonna Be Strong - Gene Pitney

 

A dramatic ballad which builds up to a huge crescendo, its sound reminded me of a number 1 single that will appear early in 1965. This cover of a Frankie Laine song from 1963 will go as high as number 2, Gene Pitney's biggest hit so far.

 

according to my schoolbook for 1964, I drew a picture of 2 ladies at a fireworks display in our garden in Chesham, with a bonfire and fireworks, and I wrote:

 

"Last week it was Thursday we had eight Rockets and I had two spinning weel and one golden rain and a Bonfire and it kept going out and I had three jumping jacks and three packets of Sparklers"

 

No health & safety in those days, nor much money, and the teacher gave me a "good".

 

Meanwhile, 60 years later, I don't remember the Freddie record, it's quite nice though. Tommy Quickly passed me by, I know it as a top 10 Status Quo song from 76/77, this version is decent enough but I will take Quo's in preference. March Of The Mods was in my Aunty's record collection so it's one I knew well as a kid, and it was on TV a fair bit here and there over the years as a backdrop to performing acts on Opportunity Knocks and the like. It's catchy and fairly upbeat fun, still enjoy it.

 

The Merseybeats' is another I doubt I've ever heard, meh. Gene Pitney's is one I would have known at the time, and had vague memories of when I came across a clip of Gene singing it in the 80's on TV, and I was hooked. His best record, what a vocal performance and song. One of my classic go-to songs if I'm feeling sad. Just brilliant.

 

19th - 25th November 1964

 

24. Little Red Rooster - The Rolling Stones

First recorded by Howlin' Wolf in 1961, this cover keeps to the American blues sound. I like the slide guitar effects and harmonica, it's certainly an unusual number 1 single and an indication of how popular the band are at this point.

34. Pretty Paper - Roy Orbison

A Christmas song that I was unaware of until now and it's a good one with lyrics about Christmas shoppers being too busy to stop for a homeless man on the street. It will get to number 6.

39. Show Me Girl - Herman's Hermits

A pleasant, cheery pop song written by Goffin & King but not essential listening.

40. When I Grow Up (To Be A Man) - The Beach Boys

The harmonies are there and the harpsichord makes a good contribution but this is a step down from their first two UK hits.

 

Record of the week : 20. Downtown - Petula Clark

 

There were some big acts entering the chart this week but this song is still an easy winner. It's one of the best pop songs from the mid 60s. The melody, vocals and orchestral arrangement (which is kept nicely in check) are all top quality. It will reach a peak position of number 2, Petula's biggest hit for three years, and top the Billboard chart.

 

 

LIttle Red Rooster not a Stones essential for me, Show Me Girl isnt on my Greatest Hits CD for Herman's Hermits and I can see why. Must have been a Goffin/King cast-off no-one else wanted. When I Grow Up is still a sweet Beach Boys early hit, and Pretty Paper is better than half the bloody annual Xmas invaders pushed on playlists that were never actually UK hits originally. If I had control of the playlists Roy would be on it and I would change the list of xmas songs every year, no repeats allowed.

 

Which brings me to one of the iconic 60's songs of all time, the under-rated Tony Hatch and Jackie Trent had a run of fabulous songs with the fab Pet Clarke, but this is the top tune: Downtown was Swinging 60's, London was the global cultural centre, and I lived in Chesham, and we had trips on the Tube to the city some weekends. Visited Chesham earlier this year on the Tube, same Tube station, nothing has changed much and all my childhood schools, play areas, shop buildings etc are all still pretty much the same, like stepping out of a 1964 timewarp, even the pub by the river across the road from what was our old house. This record takes me back and love it as much as I ever did then.

26th November - 2nd December 1964

 

34. A Message To Martha (Kentucky Bluebird) - Adam Faith

A Bacharach & David song that's been recorded by many singers. This version was quite sleepy and plodding.

36. A Message To Martha (Kentucky Bluebird) - Lou Johnson

And here's another version (not the original). The production has more to it and I prefer his vocal to Adam's.

37. What'cha Gonna Do About It - Doris Troy

A pretty good pop/soul record which will be her only hit.

 

Record of the week : 39. Terry - Twinkle

 

Nothing really stands out this week so I'm picking this song as Twinkle wrote it herself and she's only sixteen. It starts slowly but develops nicely with good use of the electric organ and some tempo changes. The lyrics about a fatal motorbike accident led to the single being banned from BBC airplay. That won't stop it from spending three weeks at number 4 in January.

 

 

Message To Martha was one of Adam's hits that I actually remember from that time, and being a fave of mine (like every Bacharach tune I heard). Haven't heard it in decades, let's give it a spin: I like the moody out-of-synch b&w TV version, Adam looking like the star he was, and he does a decent job on it, actual proper singing by this stage of his career. I don't know the Lou Johnson version, Adam got the airplay in the UK, it's OK, more soulful but also more plodding.

 

Doris Troy not one I know either, Atlantic Records soul, so it's going to be well-done, and it's not bad but not one I'm going to rush to play - I do have an Atlantic box set of various artists, but Just One Look is the more-famous Doris Troy track on it. Terry, obv I didn't know at the time being banned and all (same with Leader Of The Pack) - and I would have def remembered it as it's my dad's name. I first recall it in being voted one of the top 100 tracks on Radio One in 1974, which mystified me - it makes sense if it was banned, people voting it in as times had changed and it could played now, plus it prob sounded a bit more exciting than it was getting banned. If I'm honest, the one I'd rather play again is Adam Faith. Nostalgia wins.....

3rd - 9th December 1964

 

31. So Deep Is The Night - Ken Dodd

This ballad builds up quite nicely with the strings and backing vocals so it's one of the better songs by him.

34. Genie With The Light Brown Lamp - The Shadows

They're just going through the motions with this one, not very inspired.

35. Baby I Need Your Lovin' - The Fourmost

The Four Tops' original wasn't a hit in the UK so we get this cover instead. They make a decent job of it but obviously not as good.

 

Record of the week : 6. I Feel Fine - The Beatles

 

And it's an easy win for the Beatles this week with their next single. The feedback at the start came about by accident with a guitar being leaned against an amp and it's the most noteworthy thing about the record with the rest of it being a fairly standard pop song. Of course, that's still enough to see it flying off the shelves and it will be the Christmas number 1 and go on to spend five weeks at the top of the chart.

 

10th - 16th December 1964

 

16. No Arms Can Ever Hold You - The Bachelors

This time the Bachelors are tackling a song from 1955 and there's a bit more scale to this one with the strings and drums building it up. The piano chords are fairly similar to 'You'll Never Walk Alone'.

20. I Could Easily Fall (In Love With You) - Cliff Richard and the Shadows

A song written by The Shadows for the pantomime 'Aladdin And His Wonderful Lamp'. It's pleasant enough if a little basic

26. Blue Christmas - Elvis Presley

Like the last few Elvis singles, this is an old recording, going back to his 1957 Christmas album. It's certainly endured through the years and I particularly like the backing vocals by the Jordanaires.

27. What Have They Done To The Rain? - The Searchers

A cover of one of the earliest protest songs by Malvina Reynolds from 1962. It's about nuclear testing producing radioactive fallout which came back down to the planet in the rain. The Searchers version has some sympathetic strings.

30. Somewhere - PJ Proby

It's a third top 10 hit out of three releases for PJ Proby with his version of the song from West Side Story. He has a deeper voice than most of the other singers who have attempted it and doesn't try to oversing it.

34. Cast Your Fate To The Wind - Sounds Orchestral

The only top 40 hit for the English group is an enjoyable instrumental with quite a few tempo changes and the piano combining well with the strings and drums.

36. Gone Gone Gone - The Everly Brothers

The energetic drum intro set the pace and a good rhythm was kept up for the rest of this song.

38. Girl Don't Come - Sandie Shaw

The follow-up to her number 1 will reach the top 3 and it's another good one with a wonderful tone to her vocal.

 

Record of the week : 35. Go Now - The Moody Blues

 

An easy decision this week as one of my favourite songs from the mid 60s appears. The piano parts make it stand out along with the long held notes on the backing vocals. There's also a fine lead vocal from Denny Laine. The Birmingham group's first single failed to chart but this cover of a Bessie Banks song will spend a week at number 1 at the end of January.

 

'Go Now' is great. Good pick for ROTW!

don't think I've heard that Ken Dodd track, sounds like he's experimenting with his vocal range and a little bit more upbeat. It's a bit more interesting than any other Ken track I've heard. As usual with most Shadows instrumentals I need to hear the tune as the titles never meant much to me as a kid. Hmmm, this one is very half-hearted. Baby I Need Your Loving is a song I love and a tune that I def knew at the time, largely for that epic chorus - it's just begging for a mash-up remix with another Four Tops track, and has just been in my charts at long last following the death of the final Top, Duke. This version is decent but it's not Levi Stubbs.

 

That feedback intro to I Feel Fine hooked me in 1976 when their back catalogue was available again on single in all record shops, and I picked it up to re-acquaint myself with it as one I'd quite liked as a kid but loved as a teen.

 

 

Next batch:

 

Next Bachelors: plodding. Not one I know. Cliff's is indeed mildly pleasant, Blue Christmas has been on radio 2 this week and it's one I knew as a kid, but it's not one I've ever been fussed about. The Seachers' records I always liked and this one is still very listenable and I applaud the sentiment. PJ Proby was a fave of mum and is still a fave of my Aunty, so that meant I liked him too. Oddly, Somewhere is fine in the original fabulous musical movie, but I've yet to hear a version that comes close to that, and I include Pet Shop Boys!

 

Sounds Orchestral, once mis-announced by John Peel as Cast Your Wind To The Fate, is a tune that doesn't ring a bell as I play it now. Too jazzy, as in there's a tune in there somewhere but they insist on farting about getting there. Jazz was my mortal enemy in the 60's, it was always on bloody TV wailing and hogging slots that could have been given to current pop music. Gone Gone Gone is not the Johnny Mathis 70's disco hit, it's the Everly's trying to move into the Merseybeat Sound. It's OK.

 

Girl Don't Come is a great record, one I got to know better on Sandie's hits album in the mid-70's (MFP the budget label was servicing my 60's love pretty well at that time) and it comes close to being record-of-the-week but I too have to plump for Denny Laine and Eric Stewart & co on Go Now. An amazing record, dramatic and timeless.

17th - 23rd December 1964

 

26. Yeh Yeh - Georgie Fame and The Blue Flames

An interesting jazz/pop crossover, I like it. The single will reach number 1 before last week's ROTW by the Moody Blues, spending two weeks at the summit.

35. A Starry Night - The Joy Strings

The second and last hit for the Salvation Army group is about the true meaning of Christmas. It's a good melding of the male and female vocals with some twinkly sounding accompaniment.

38. Christmas Will Be Just Another Lonely Day - Brenda Lee

A less well known Christmas song from Brenda and it's more upbeat than I was expecting when I saw the title. All the ingredients are here: big drums, strings, sleigh bells and backing singers.

39. Like A Child - Julie Rogers

The second of her three hits is an orchestra backed ballad which, rather than building gradually, alternates from quiet to noisy and back again at regular intervals throughout the song.

 

Record of the week : 37. Ferry 'Cross The Mersey - Gerry and The Pacemakers

 

And quite an easy decision with this well known song appearing this week. It's a fine vocal from Gerry backed by the understated orchestration. He wrote the song for the group's own film of the same name. It's a bit of a surprise that the single went no higher than number 8.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yeh Yeh is OK, always quite liked it but never loved it. The Joy Strings has sunk without trace in time. Never heard of it. Twee but not unpleasant.

 

Never knew Brenda had another xmas hit - much rather be hearing this every christmas to give t'other one a break. Much better melody but not as upbeat of course. Like the strings. Julie Rogers' I have probably heard along the way, but I don't recall it. Quite decent but not in Brenda's league.

 

Ferry Cross The Mersey was quite iconic in the 60's, and still is in Merseyside, it's chart position is a bit modest - more like a number one as far as this 6-year-old was concerned at the time, and still a goose-bumps record for me. One of Gerry's 3 fab ballads. Easily record of the week.