I don't recall that Drifters hit - though obv the classic Stand By Me on the youtube link (oops?) is universally loved :) Playing it now and I agree that's a great record, deserves to be better known. Pomus & Shuman wrote it as they did Ben's hits as well as Drifters. I'm sure that hook has been borrowed for another song...

 

Dont know Trambone, seems nice though, and dont know Connie's Baby Roo, fun track, I actually prefer it to the Boys radio hit side which I know quite well. Lazy River dont know either, seems pleasant enough.

 

The Theme From Exodus is wonderful, the film and theme all but forgotten these days, but it's the best of the week for me - preferably the cinema version, but I'll take covers as subs. Wooden Heart has been a fave since I was a likkle boy and i can vouch it appeals to kids, esp the clip from the film of Elvis singing it with puppets. 76 Trombones is a good ol tune too, pretty much a standard back in the 60s and 70s before fading from view, dont know this version though.

 

I need to hear anything with "Flintstone" in the title (Hi B52s) - The Flintstones was and is the greatest animated TV show till The Simpsons stole their thunder, inspired by the show and sitcom Green Acres, which I also loved to bits. The record's not quite to the same standard!

I don't recall that Drifters hit - though obv the classic Stand By Me on the youtube link (oops?) is universally loved :)

Thanks link fixed! :)

Another obvious winner today but a strong and interesting bunch behind.

 

9 The Marcels Blue Moon 116th #1: Only Top 40 hit here for this American doo wop group and it's surely the definitive version of the wonderful 1930s song

8 The Brook Brothers War Paint First and biggest hit for this English Everlys style duo - I didn't know this before and it's a great cheeky and catchy number

8 Bobby Vee More Than I Can Say/Staying In "More Than I Can Say" is a Crickets cover and a fabulous song well done; "Staying In" is also a great angst ridden number

7 The Temperance Seven You're Driving Me Crazy 118th #1 (with an odd 1-9 crash): a 1920s style number with wind band and some very RP vocals - I rather love it I must say

7 Floyd Cramer On The Rebound 117th #1: another slightly off the wall chart topper but it's a fun piano led instrumental with a catchy tune and intersting rhythms

7 Gene Pitney (I Wanna) Love My Life Away First minor hit for Gene, and it's a lovely heartwarming one with sweet harmonies and backing and he sings it with conviction

6 Helen Shapiro Don't Treat Me Like A Child But you are a child Helen - 1st hit for this teenage star with the scarily mature voice; a good song but she has better coming

6 Johnny Burnette Little Boy Sad The grumpy morosensess of this reminds me of "Heartbreak Hotel" - he plays the part very well and it's a good catchy little song

6 Chubby Checker Pony Time "Boogedy boogedy shoo" - funny that this is sandwiched between two all time classics in his discography; fun and bouncy though

5 Jimmy Jones I Told You So Last hit for him and it's nice with the usual quirky bits of falsetto scatting, but the tune isn't so catchy and it's not very memorable

5 Peggy Lee Till There Was You Originally a stage song and of course will be further covered by the fab four - a very nice version but nothing to really distinguish it

5 Cliff Richard And The Shadows Gee Whiz It's You Better than his schmaltzy ballads with a nice rock 'n' roll vibe but has a slightly complacent feel to it and it's nothing new

4 Kokomo Asia Minor A pop crossover version of a Grieg piano piece by an American pretending to be Japanese - interesting but I can't say I love it

3 Nero And The Gladiators Entry Of The Gladiators Another British instrumental group - this is a slightly odd twangy slowed down version of the well known circus piece

2 Pearl Carr And Teddy Johnson How Wonderful To Know Second and final hit for this married couple after their Eurovision entry "Sing Little Birdie" - another terribly twee and dated duet

 

 

1961 Group 6:

 

#1383 22/04/1961 Duane Eddy Theme From Dixie 7 30-18-8-{7}-7-8-17-19-29-44->10

#1384 22/04/1961 Craig Douglas 100 Pounds Of Clay 9 34-22-11-{9}-10-10-21-24-38->9

#1385 22/04/1961 Frank Sinatra My Blue Heaven 33 41-{33}-37-35-35-39-43->7

#1386 22/04/1961 Freddy Cannon Muskrat Ramble 32 43-{32}-33-42-47->5

#1387 22/04/1961 Alma Cogan Cowboy Jimmy Joe 37 50-49-45-{37}-38-43->6

#1388 29/04/1961 Adam Faith Easy Going Me 12 37-23-14-{12}-12-14-15-20-37-38->10

#1389 29/04/1961 Billy Fury Don't Worry 40 47-{40}->2

#1390 29/04/1961 Del Shannon Runaway 1 48-28-13-8-5-2-2-2-2-{1}-1-1-2-3-6-11-14-18-20-26-41-45->22

#1391 06/05/1961 Jerry Lee Lewis What'd I Say 10 38-21-14-16-{10}-10-14-19-19-21-30-40-49R(2)-49->14

#1392 06/05/1961 Clarence 'Frogman' Henry But I Do 3 39-28-19-19-11-5-5-{3}-8-8-6-8-13-14-23-22-24-28-32->19

#1393 13/05/1961 The Shadows Frightened City 3 19-9-4-{3}-3-3-6-6-9-10-14-12-19-26-25-25-26-30-43-46->20

#1394 13/05/1961 Lonnie Donegan Have A Drink On Me 8 34-18-17-12-12-{8}-11-16-18-20-25-35-35-41-43->15

#1395 13/05/1961 Kenny Ball And His Jazzmen I Still Love You All 24 36-26-{24}-30-31-42->6

#1396 13/05/1961 Billy Fury Halfway To Paradise 3 41-43-31-23-18-9-5-7-7-4-7-7-{3}-3-7-6-5-4-6-9-14-22-34->23

#1397 13/05/1961 Ernie K-Doe Mother-In-Law 29 44-{29}-40-31-29-36-40->7

 

"Runaway" was always going to win this group but "Halfway To Paradise" deserves a feature too.

 

I've now caught up with the beginning of Rollo's "My Record Of The Week 60 Years Ago" thread. I'll be featuring the same records as his thread from now on but in a slightly different order as I feature them from when their Polyhex run starts (currently that means Top 50) and he features them from the week they entered the Top 40. The Ernie K Doe track from this batch was in his first week covered.

 

9 Del Shannon Runaway 120th #1: "WA WA WA WA WONDER" - aside from the musitron solo this is a wonderfully over the top song full of catchy hooks

9 Billy Fury Halfway To Paradise His first huge hit and rightly so - the drum rhythm really sets the song up and the orchestra gives it an epic build; wonderful track

8 Clarence 'Frogman' Henry But I Do First hit for the New Orleans blue singer; very classy and there's a great contrast between the smooth vocals and punchy saxes

7 The Shadows Frightened City Yet another great one from The Shadows - starts with a really butch menacing hook and then there's a lighter countermelody

7 Duane Eddy Theme From Dixie "Dixie" itself seems to have been controversial but this is another stonking instrumental with a great guitar hook and use of voices

7 Freddy Cannon Muskrat Ramble Great as ever from Freddy - a very danceable multi-layered track with guitars and brass and his raspy vocals on top

6 Ernie K-Doe Mother-In-Law Only hit for this American RnB singer - an entertaining soulful number all about the sheer frightfulness of said lady

6 Kenny Ball And His Jazzmen I Still Love You All First hit for them; it's enjoyable and a bit like of precursor of "Song For Whoever" with 18 named women who he professes to love

5 Jerry Lee Lewis What'd I Say A good track with a frantic piano line and nice backing vocal interaction but I think lacks anything that makes it really stand out

4 Billy Fury Don't Worry Thankfully Fury has an infinitely superior song in this group so we won't dwell on this one, which is a bit sorry for itself and limp

3 Craig Douglas 100 Pounds Of Clay All about the story of Adam - the production on this is by far the best part and the violins are great, but a rather tedious song

3 Frank Sinatra My Blue Heaven Another Sinatra song that just goes in one ear and out of the other really - it's so easy listening that it leaves no impression

3 Adam Faith Easy Going Me I thought this was Antony Newley at first as it has his vague not really sure what's going on feel - Adam's weakest hit so far

2 Lonnie Donegan Have A Drink On Me I don't know what happened to Lonnie but at the turn of the decade he seemed to really lose it - this is just like pub singing

2 Alma Cogan Cowboy Jimmy Joe You can just tell from the title and the artist involved what this is going to be like - terribly twee and unsettlingly cheerful

 

 

 

1961 Group 7:

 

#1398 13/05/1961 Shirley Bassey You'll Never Know 6 45-20-14-8-8-{6}-8-11-14-13-23-21-41-35-34-36-49->17

#1399 20/05/1961 The Allisons Words 34 36-35-{34}-39-47->5

#1400 20/05/1961 Neil Sedaka Little Devil 9 37-30-18-11-13-{9}-17-16-27-27-40-50->12

#1401 20/05/1961 Matt Monro Why Not Now?/Can This Be Love? 24 41-34-{24}-27-25-26-28-36-44->9

#1402 20/05/1961 Linda Scott I've Told Every Little Star 7 42-36-25-22-10-{7}-10-12-16-21-27-33-42->13

#1403 27/05/1961 Elvis Presley Surrender 1 27-{1}-1-1-1-2-6-9-11-16-17-24-28-32-36->15

#1404 27/05/1961 Roy Orbison Running Scared 9 38-27-21-17-14-{9}-10-11-10-11-15-15-23-27-33->15

#1405 03/06/1961 Ricky Nelson Hello Mary Lou/Travelin' Man 2 32-20-11-4-3-{2}-2-4-6-9-8-5-8-10-10-16-25-37->18

#1406 03/06/1961 Andy Stewart The Battle's O'er 28 36-30-35-{28}-30-39-46-38-38-48-46-41-43->13

#1407 03/06/1961 Benny Hill Transistor Radio 24 39-25-26-{24}-31-43->6

#1408 03/06/1961 Max Bygraves With The Corona Children, Chorus And Orchestra Bells Of Avignon 36 40-{36}-49-43-40->5

#1409 03/06/1961 Gene Vincent She She Little Sheila 22 46-43-41-33-25-{22}-24-26-34-38-44R(2)->11

#1410 03/06/1961 Eden Kane Well, I Ask You 1 48-33-18-16-15-11-8-5-2-{1}-2-3-4-4-5-5-8-15-19-25-44->21

#1411 10/06/1961 Adam Wade Take Good Care Of Her 38 {38}-46R(2)-41-38-38-49->6

#1412 10/06/1961 Mark Wynter Exclusively Yours 32 48-33-39-36-{32}-35-44->7

Edited May 12, 20232 yr by JulianT

dropping behind, oops!

 

Blue Moon is a standard and I remember buying a KTel album in 1973 which had number one classics of the 60's on it - including The Marcels version. Great fun, though I've heard some decent slow, moody versions. Bobby Vee's More Than I Can Say is also a fab record, and Warpaint is a forgotten goodie too. Staying In is good, Drive Me Crazy is great retro fun, On The Rebound is instrumental goodness, and 2 major debuts for little me, Gene Pitney one of the greatest balladeers of all-time, such a classic singer on his decent intro hit in the UK (Liberty Vallance is the US debut and his most-famous track in the USA). Helen Shapiro was my first girlie crush, and it's stunning to think she's only 11 years older than me considering it was 62 years ago! Great record. T'others in that batch I know nothing of... :o

 

 

Runaway is a top-notch 60's classic, as is Halfway To Paradise and my Billy Fury stanning moves into gear for 3-year-old me. But I Do is one I like, Frightened City is a Shads track that passed me by then and since. Not bad though, playing it now. Duane: ooh bad choice of song. Muskrat is one Ive never heard before too, seems OK! The rest mean nothing to me, though I do like Frank's song My Blue Heaven, featured regularly by other acts in the TV show M*A*S*H in the 70's, one of the greatest TV sitcom/serious sitcom's in TV history. Done well, the 1927 song is a goodie, and is now conveniently out of copyright, so anybody can do a cover version anyway they like, change whatever they like and claim a part-credit, and you don;t have to pay anybody anything....hooray!

 

Catch-up time again! I don't recall hearing I Count The Tears before but it's a lot better than Save The Last Dance For Me. In general, I agree with your assessments of songs now regarded as classics. That said, I obviously have a higher opinion of Wooden Heart than you do.

 

Blue Moon is one of those songs that I know thanks to Showaddywaddy but the Marcels version is undoubtedly better.

 

I wasn't aware of the Kokomo song (for me, Kokomo is a Beach Boys song) but rather liked it. It sounds like a precursor to B Bumble & The Stingers.

 

Runaway and Halfway To Paradise are both outstanding.

 

The best song about Blue Heaven is by Public Service Broadcasting.

I absolutely love 'Runaway', one of the best 60s UK #1s in my opinion!

'Runaway' & 'Halfway To Paradise' are both familiar and good choices there

And it's 3 wins out of 3 for Roy!

 

8 Roy Orbison Running Scared Another brilliant one from Roy with a fantastic drum beat; very simple production but still manages an epic build

8 Linda Scott I've Told Every Little Star "Da, da da, da da…" - no it's not Mae Muller; only Top 40 for this US singer and a brilliant pop tune originally for a 30s musical

7 Elvis Presley Surrender 119th #1: track sounds like a Bond theme before they existed and all in all it's a very dramatic and intense song

7 Neil Sedaka Little Devil It's the usual Neil style with a catchy chorus, rich backing vocals and a slick and punchy track, and it all works very well

6 Eden Kane Well, I Ask You 121st #1: first of his 5 Top 10 hits - he has an unusual quite raw sounding voice but I quite like it, and the song is nice

6 Ricky Nelson Hello Mary Lou/Travelin' Man This is Ricky's biggest hit reaching the runner up position, and both sides are enjoyable, mid tempo light rock ballads

5 Gene Vincent She She Little Sheila Another good slice rock 'n' roll number from Gene with a nice call and response with the backing band, but doesn't stand out

5 The Allisons Words The follow up to the excellent "Are You Sure" but this is a much more ordinary song; but it's still pleasant with a country feel to it

4 Adam Wade Take Good Care Of Her A concilliatory heartbreak ballad that really does come across in a very heartfelt way, but for me it's all a little bit laboured

4 Mark Wynter Exclusively Yours A nice jolly happy go lucky little tune here but sounds dated even for the time to me, particularly the "sha la la" backing

3 Shirley Bassey You'll Never Know Can't really get into this one from Shirley - has a very cinematic and dramatic quality to it but the tune doesn't draw me in

3 Andy Stewart The Battle's O'er His last Top 40 hit and to me this seems very similar to "A Scottish Soldier" but nowhwere near as catchy or endearing

2 Matt Monro Why Not Now?/Can This Be Love? Sometimes with crooner double A sides one of them is more upbeat but not in this case; both very much unmemorable dirges

2 Max Bygraves With The Corona Children, Chorus And Orchestra Bells Of Avignon He can't pronounce "Avignon", not that that's the only issue with this - a very old fashioned song with the usual kiddies' choir

1 Benny Hill Transistor Radio A parody song including bits of Elvis, Jimmy Jones and the shipping forecast; only 3 minutes but feels much longer to me

 

 

1961 Group 8:

 

#1413 17/06/1961 Anthony Newley Pop Goes The Weasel/Bee Bom 12 23-15-{12}-13-12-17-23-36-43->9

#1414 17/06/1961 The Temperance Seven Pasadena 4 24-10-{4}-4-7-6-8-7-10-11-14-9-14-15-26-40-47->17

#1415 17/06/1961 The Everly Brothers Temptation 1 27-12-5-3-3-{1}-1-4-5-8-7-16-22-31-43->15

#1416 17/06/1961 Connie Francis Breaking In A Brand New Broken Heart 12 32-21-22-19-15-{12}-19-22-29-32-35->11

#1417 17/06/1961 Eddie Cochran Weekend 15 34-36-24-20-17-{15}-17-16-21-17-20-21-27-34-39-50->16

#1418 17/06/1961 Al Caiola Theme From 'The Magnificent Seven' 34 39-35-37-{34}-49-48->6

#1419 17/06/1961 Ken Dodd Once In Every Lifetime 28 44-34-32-31-{28}-37-41-47R(2)-39R(2)-34-44-45-34-33-32-31-47-48->18

#1420 24/06/1961 Cliff Richard And The Shadows A Girl Like You 3 23-13-5-5-{3}-5-8-7-12-11-15-18-26-32->14

#1421 24/06/1961 Duane Eddy Ring Of Fire 17 31-20-{17}-18-18-22-30-33-30-38->10

#1422 24/06/1961 Karl Denver Marcheta 8 32-33-29-21-30-26-18-17-18-15-{8}-8-18-22-28-30-49-49-42-48->20

#1423 24/06/1961 Garry Mills I'll Step Down 39 49-49-47-47-{39}->5

#1424 24/06/1961 Ben E King Stand By Me 27 50-48R(2)-36-35-33-{27}-48->7

#1425 01/07/1961 Joe Loss Wheels Cha Cha 21 43-23-25-28-36-31-27-33-28-23-23-25-{21}-22-21-26-27-33-34-36-46->21

#1426 01/07/1961 Tommy Cooper Don't Jump Off The Roof Dad 40 44-{40}-50R(2)->3

#1427 01/07/1961 Helen Shapiro You Don't Know 1 45-27-14-9-4-2-{1}-1-1-2-2-3-3-3-11-10-14-18-26-35-32-45-48->23

 

Edited May 15, 20232 yr by JulianT

Well there's an obvious classic coming up in that next round ;)

'Blue Moon', 'You're Driving Me Crazy', 'On The Rebound' and 'Runaway' are all fab *.*

 

Ooh the introduction of Helen Shapiro! I read a book called One Two Three Four: The Beatles in Time on holiday and there was a section dedicated to her, due to the fab four supporting her on a package tour - and eclipsing her star by the end of it. A fun fact I learned was that she was briefly in a band with Marc Bolan in primary school!

Oh 'Blue Moon' I bypassed there but I mostly recognise it due to Grease :P

Runnin' Scared is classic Big O, 10/10 for me still. Linda Scott is a new one on me! Mae Muller for tonight (Or Loreen, Australia or Portugal, or a couple of others) but she's on last everyone will be faffing off for the toilet and kettle, tch!

 

Elvis' Surrender is one of his dramatic uptempo pop ballad best, very Italian-ish, Little Devil is a goodie from Neil, and Well I Ask is also one I rate. His real name is Sarstedt and his two brothers Peter and Robin will be popping up in your reviews in the next couple of years :) I saw all 3 in one concert back in the day...

 

Double Ricky at his very best there, and Gene Vincent's is OK too. I like the Shirley track too, but the rest all mean nothing to me and your reviews nicely filter them out from me having to bother listening to them :lol:

 

 

Runnin' Scared is fabulous. Looks like there's an obvious winner from the next batch but maybe Julian has a surprise for us.

Looks like there's an obvious winner from the next batch but maybe Julian has a surprise for us.

 

Nope no surprises today. Today I learned that the thing that sounds like a matchbox is a güiro, and it gets the second perfect score of the 60s. It's a double feature though as Helen also deserves a feature for her gorgeous first chart topper. Think this is also the first time I've given every score from 1 to 10 in a batch.

 

10 Ben E King Stand By Me Incredibly reached #27 on initial release, proving that public taste failure is not only a recent phenomenon; all time classic of course

9 Helen Shapiro You Don't Know 123rd #1: this has a an excellent build to it and realy allows you to be swept up with the emotion and her stunning contralto voice

8 The Everly Brothers Temptation 122nd #1: a great one from the Everlys - really like the rhythms in the "yeah yeah yeah ah" part and has lovely harmonies

7 Eddie Cochran Weekend A great cheeky and rhythmic rock number about going out partying - seems I like everything from him aside from his chart topper

7 Duane Eddy Ring Of Fire Appears in the film of the same name and actually has vocals on it which is unusual for a Duane song - I find this really rousing

6 The Temperance Seven Pasadena Very similar style to their #1, which suggests they might not last very long, but this is lovely again with great use of instruments

6 Al Caiola Theme From 'The Magnificent Seven' A Western soundtrack and a really enjoyable and uplifting one with some atmospheric twanging and punchy string sections

5 Connie Francis Breaking In A Brand New Broken Heart A typical one from Connie in her country style with multitracked harmonies and a slow lilting melody - nice but not so memorable

5 Joe Loss Wheels Cha Cha I preferred the punchier and twangier version of this instrumental from earlier in the year but it's still a great tune and this is nice

4 Ken Dodd Once In Every Lifetime Not a high bar but this is my favourite of Ken's - I really like the tune and he just about manages to make it more tender than turgid

4 Tommy Cooper Don't Jump Off The Roof Dad The only top 40 for Tommy: the 4 points are very much for the black humour - if you must end it all please do it somewhere else

3 Anthony Newley Pop Goes The Weasel/Bee Bom "Pop Goes The Weasel" is every bit as dire as it sounds, but "Bee Bom" is actually one of his better ones - a nice jazzy number

3 Garry Mills I'll Step Down One of these terribly sorry for itself and paranoid songs - just let me know when you find someone more interesting and I'll leave

2 Cliff Richard And The Shadows A Girl Like You This is really beyond limp, with such lyrics as "I'm a boy and you're a girl - I guess that's a pretty good start": so happy with itself

1 Karl Denver Marcheta Very much in the Slim Whitman style but I liked some of his, whereas this is really just a raucous mess of yodelling and whining

 

 

 

1961 Group 9:

 

#1428 01/07/1961 Craig Douglas Time 9 50-25-19-13-{9}-11-9-10-9-11-20-23-29-39->14

#1429 08/07/1961 Pat Boone Moody River 18 35-26-20-{18}-20-20-20-21-27-35->10

#1430 08/07/1961 Buddy Holly Baby I Don't Care/Valley Of Tears 12 37-23-16-15-13-{12}-16-17-19-16-22-30-44-46->14

#1431 08/07/1961 Johnny And The Hurricanes Old Smokie/High Voltage 24 45-34-32-{24}-32-28-42-45->8

#1432 08/07/1961 Bobby Darin Nature Boy 24 50-29-{24}-31-37-37-38->7

#1433 15/07/1961 Petula Clark Romeo 3 37-19-10-5-4-4-{3}-6-6-12-18-21-31-32-42->15

#1434 15/07/1961 Brook Benton The Boll Weevil Song 30 40-34-{30}-34-32-31-34-32-43->9

#1435 15/07/1961 Mr Acker Bilk And His Paramount Jazz Band That's My Home 7 43-29-25-25-25-21-19-14-{7}-8-11-16-15-19-18-29-41->17

#1436 15/07/1961 Clarence 'Frogman' Henry You Always Hurt The One You Love 6 45-22-14-10-{6}-9-10-13-15-17-23-29->12

#1437 22/07/1961 Floyd Cramer San Antonio Rose 36 42-44-45-{36}-39-42-42-40->8

#1438 22/07/1961 Brenda Lee Dum Dum 22 43-28-23-{22}-26-23-25-31->8

#1439 22/07/1961 Adam Faith Don't You Know It? 12 46-20-{12}-13-15-12-12-13-21-35->10

#1440 22/07/1961 U.S. Bonds Quarter To Three 7 47-29-21-16-13-16-{7}-9-9-16-19-23-36->13

#1441 29/07/1961 Shirley Bassey Reach For The Stars/Climb Ev'ry Mountain 1 37-24-14-6-5-3-3-2-{1}-2-5-14-16-23-35-38-40R(2)-50->18

#1442 29/07/1961 The Fireballs Quite A Party 29 42-39-31-{29}-29-29-29-47-47->9

 

 

'Stand By Me' is a classic and unsurprisingly the top song there.

Stand By Me, You Don't Know and Weekend were all records of the week for me so I'm pleased they all get high scores. You don't share my appreciation of Karl Denver, hopefully his next one will get more than 1 point.

'Stand By Me' is definitely an all-time great :wub: thank goodness it experienced such an almighty second wind in the 80s.

Yes that's a top top 2 there, Stand By Me is timeless and You Don't Know is gorgeous. The John Lennon version topped my charts in 1975 as I didn;t really know it that well until then, and then the Ben original shined in 1987 and overtook my love of the Fab John's cover.

 

Temptation is good, Weekend ditto though I know the Alvin Stardust version better, Ring Of Fire is Johnny Cash's early classic moment and now I play this I see it's nothing to do with that song. S'OK.

 

The Magnificent Seven is one of the all-time great movie themes and a total classic I've loved all my life. Not sure if this is the version I knew at the time but the one from the film is the definitive. The Tommy Cooper was a Junior's Choice regular but not one I especially liked. The rest I don't know except the cover versions and that godawful Pop Goes The Weasel. Pasadena I expect I will know so I'm playing it now. Not really, actually, but quite retro pleasant.

One of those batches where there's nothing too bad but nothing really outstanding either. Clarence "Frogman" Henry just nudges ahead with his lovely heartfelt ballad.

 

7 Clarence 'Frogman' Henry You Always Hurt The One You Love Another great soulful track from Clarence - the slowness of it really brings the sadness and despair of the lyrics home

7 Mr Acker Bilk And His Paramount Jazz Band That's My Home The Louis A version of this didn't chart but this is a really good laid back version of a really good tune with the usual Acker touches

7 Floyd Cramer San Antonio Rose Much less successful than his chart topper but I actually like it just as much - especially when the singers come in with "doo doo"s

6 Bobby Darin Nature Boy Quite a classy relaxed jazzy ballad from Bobby that makes you want to pour yourself a gin cocktail and imagine you're in a bar

6 U.S. Bonds Quarter To Three Second, final and biggest Top 40 hit for this act, and it's a catchy and relentless rock track with nice raspy vocals and sax playing

6 Craig Douglas Time Early equivalent of an X Factor star - this is actually a really nice tune decently sung and wasn't a hit for anyone else so fair play

5 Johnny And The Hurricanes Old Smokie/High Voltage Both nice tracks with the usual organ followed by saxophone - prefer "High Voltage" as the other reminds me of "Blueberry Hill"

5 The Fireballs Quite A Party This does indeed give a strong party vibe with a great drum rhythm throughout the track and then the guitars kicking in; good fun

5 Buddy Holly Baby I Don't Care/Valley Of Tears A double cover here - it's decent as Buddy always is but both tracks are just lacking a little bit of oomph; prefer the Elvis cover

4 Adam Faith Don't You Know It? His hitherto stratospheric success was starting to wane by this point, and the vocals sound a bit patchy but it's still a good tune

4 Shirley Bassey Reach For The Stars/Climb Ev'ry Mountain 125th #1: this isn't entirely for me - don't enjoy the big slow vibrato moments; but "Reach For The Stars" is my preferred track

4 Brenda Lee Dum Dum Pleasant enough but far from essential listening, and the "dum dum diddly dum" hook is catchy but gets quite annoying quickly

3 Pat Boone Moody River It's not a dirge which is always a relief when Pat's involved but it is about a cheating woman who drowns herself, so hardly jolly

3 Petula Clark Romeo Not a big fan of this one from Petula - lyrics are quite odd and seemingly bear no relation to the play and the tune is a bit boring

3 Brook Benton The Boll Weevil Song A mostly spoken track about an invasive beetle that migrated to the US - there doesn't seem to be much to it but it's intriguing

 

 

1961 Group 10:

 

#1443 29/07/1961 Sam Cooke Cupid 7 45-28-30-27-22-18-12-11-{7}-9-18-23-33-34->14

#1444 05/08/1961 John Leyton Johnny Remember Me 1 26-18-2-2-{1}-1-1-2-1-4-5-8-17-28-32->15

#1445 05/08/1961 Bobby Vee How Many Tears? 10 40-34-19-13-17-11-{10}-10-18-20-27-38-47->13

#1446 05/08/1961 Anthony Newley What Kind Of Fool Am I? 36 44-38-{36}-37-40-38-38-48->8

#1447 12/08/1961 Johnny Burnette Girls 37 40-{37}-47-50-49->5

#1448 12/08/1961 Bobby Angelo And The Tuxedos Baby Sittin' 30 44-40-{30}-48-41-44->6

#1449 19/08/1961 Tommy Steele Writing On The Wall 30 46-31-{30}-34-46->5

#1450 19/08/1961 Chubby Checker Let's Twist Again 2 49-44-37-50R(17)-29-22-16-11-{2}-2-4-3-3-3-7-5-5-13-13-15-19-18-28-27-40-44-33-40-50-43-46R(8)-49R(3)-50-50->34

#1451 26/08/1961 Dorothy Squires And Russ Conway Say It With Flowers 23 40-41-46-30-24-{23}-27-35-35-43->10

#1452 26/08/1961 The Brook Brothers Ain't Gonna Wash For A Week 13 41-22-19-{13}-14-17-16-22-24-46->10

#1453 26/08/1961 Jan And Dean Heart And Soul 24 50-44-39-40-38-{24}-35-50->8

#1454 02/09/1961 Kenny Ball And His Jazzmen Someday (You'll Be Sorry) 28 31-{28}-29-31-35-39->6

#1455 02/09/1961 Lonnie Donegan Michael Row The Boat/Lumbered 6 35-21-14-{6}-11-13-16-21-30-38-49->11

#1456 02/09/1961 Gene Vincent With Sounds Incorporated I'm Going Home (To See My Baby) 36 38-{36}-42-37->4

#1457 02/09/1961 Don Gibson Sea Of Heartbreak 14 39-33-28-27-20-{14}-15-19-22-27-24-28-33->13

Edited May 18, 20232 yr by JulianT