Moon River for me too. Henry Mancini was a great composer and that song is indestructible in any version or style.

I'm sure Drake could destroy it :lol:

A string of great rock 'n' roll songs over the last ten days or so - some of the all-time classics as well as lesser-known songs by greats such as Eddie Cochran and Bobby Vee,

'Don't Bring Lulu' was used as Charleston music on Strictly a couple of years ago so I'm quite familiar with that one. It was fun in that context but not something I often seek out as a standalone song :P

I'm sure Drake could destroy it :lol:

 

True enough, I still have nightmares about what he did to Timmy Thomas' Why Can't We Live Together :lol: - and that's one of his better efforts (NB better efforts is no more than 5 tracks) :teresa:

'Don't Bring Lulu' was used as Charleston music on Strictly a couple of years ago so I'm quite familiar with that one. It was fun in that context but not something I often seek out as a standalone song :P

 

aww that gladdens my heart they picked it. I wouldnt want to hear it a lot either but I'm glad it's still around 60 years since the original TV show was already forgotten. I long for the day when someone does a tango to Mud's Crazy I think that could work beautifully :D

Average score for 1961: 5.29, slightly down from 1960. Based on my 1962 pre-listening I'm not feeling very inspired; think the average score may well go down further.

 

Gold medal for year: Stand By Me - Ben E King

 

Silver medal: Runaway - Del Shannon

 

Bronze medal: Take Five - The Dave Brubeck Quartet

 

Other 9s:

 

Hit The Road Jack - Ray Charles

Let's Twist Again - Chubby Checker

Will You Love Me Tomorrow - The Shirelles

Johnny Remember Me - John Leyton

Stranger On The Shore - Mr Acker Bilk With The Leon Young String Chorale

You Don't Know - Helen Shapiro

Cryin' - Roy Orbison

Blue Moon - The Marcels

Halfway To Paradise - Billy Fury

Take Good Care Of My Baby - Bobby Vee

Moon River - Danny Williams

 

Worst hit of the year: What Kind Of Fool Am I? - Anthony Newley

 

1962 Group 1:

 

#1542 06/01/1962 John D. Loudermilk Language Of Love 13 31-14-{13}-16-16-23-26-32-42-47->10

#1543 06/01/1962 Bob Wallis And His Storyville Jazzmen Come Along Please 33 38-41-38-{33}-35->5

#1544 06/01/1962 Iain Gregory Can't You Hear The Beat Of A Broken Heart 39 {39}-44->2

#1545 06/01/1962 Doug Sheldon Your Ma Said You Cried In Your Sleep Last Night 29 46-{29}-30-38-32-40->6

#1546 06/01/1962 Leroy Van Dyke Walk On By 5 49-26-17-10-6-{5}-5-5-7-8-9-15-17-27-44-43-50->17

#1547 13/01/1962 Cliff Richard And The Shadows The Young Ones 1 {1}-1-1-1-1-1-2-2-2-4-7-11-16-17-19-22-30-31-35-48-48->21

#1548 13/01/1962 Joe Brown And The Bruvvers What A Crazy World We're Living In 37 42-{37}->2

#1549 20/01/1962 Eden Kane Forget Me Not 3 19-8-4-{3}-3-4-4-7-10-14-20-35-34-49->14

#1550 20/01/1962 The Everly Brothers Cryin' In The Rain 6 21-18-13-9-9-7-{6}-10-12-13-16-23-30-39-44->15

#1551 20/01/1962 Lonnie Donegan The Comancheros 14 26-24-18-{14}-17-16-16-25-28-39->10

#1552 20/01/1962 Adam Faith Lonesome 12 33-21-22-{12}-14-17-27-32-38->9

#1553 20/01/1962 Phil McLean Small Sad Sam 34 {34}-40-36-45->4

#1554 20/01/1962 Danny Peppermint And The Jumping Jacks The Peppermint Twist 26 35-32-{26}-35-45-41-43-49->8

#1555 20/01/1962 Danny Williams Jeannie 14 42-29-19-16-15-{14}-18-19-19-20-26-40-49-48->14

#1556 27/01/1962 Anthony Newley D-Darling 25 27-27-{25}-31-39-49->6

Edited May 28, 20232 yr by JulianT

Well there's a good rock n roll one in this next batch ^_^

I think "Crying In the Rain" might be my favourite Everlys track. I discovered it via the A-Ha cover which is also lovely - just a very powerful and heartbreaking song.

 

9 The Everly Brothers Cryin' In The Rain This has an incredible emotional intensity to it with the way the drum beat and the close harmony builds to a soaring climax

8 Eden Kane Forget Me Not My favourite of Eden's so far; his voice is unusual but there's a raw charm about it and a dreamy quality to the accompaniment

7 John D. Loudermilk Language Of Love "Ooby dooby dooby doo" is lovespeak - only hit for this US country artist and it's really endearing; love the harpsichord backing

7 Bob Wallis And His Storyville Jazzmen Come Along Please Only Top 40 for them and it's a bright and breezy Charleston-ish style number complete with raspy vocals - love it

6 Iain Gregory Can't You Hear The Beat Of A Broken Heart A stuntman and this is his only hit - very nice and you can definitely hear the "poom poom" of the heartbeat in the strings

6 Cliff Richard And The Shadows The Young Ones 132nd #1 and debuted there: a very nice record with decent input from the Shadows but still has that slightly complacent feel

6 Joe Brown And The Bruvvers What A Crazy World We're Living In Another hit in his Cockney style but it has a lovely orchestral opening followed by a fun frenzied number accompanied by banjos

5 Leroy Van Dyke Walk On By A US country musician and it's very much in that style - I enjoy the guitar work on this though and overall it has a nice sincerity

5 Doug Sheldon Your Ma Said You Cried In Your Sleep Last Night Once you get past the slightly irritating "ma ma ma ma ma" there's a nice melody sung with some real passion here

4 Danny Peppermint And The Jumping Jacks The Peppermint Twist I doubt his name was really "peppermint" - this is a cover of a hit to come, and it's an energetic but slightly chaotic rendition

4 Danny Williams Jeannie It's very difficult to do a record in the same slow style as "Moon River" without it being boring, and indeed this one is fairly dull

3 Phil McLean Small Sad Sam "Big Bad John" parody; mainly spoken, the twist being that Sam's a cat - mildly funny in conjunction with the other record I guess

3 Lonnie Donegan The Comancheros Title refers to old Mexican traders - once again 60s Lonnie misses the mark; you get to the end and wonder what was the point

2 Adam Faith Lonesome His 3rd #12 peak in 4 outings and little wonder is success is waning - this is very much a dirge and he almost sounds drunk on it

1 Anthony Newley D-Darling Oh my goodness listen to those lyrics - an acrostic to the letters of "DARLING"; toe-curlingly cloying and not sure if it's deliberate

 

 

1962 Group 2:

 

#1557 27/01/1962 The Brook Brothers He's Old Enough To Know Better 37 {37}->1

#1558 27/01/1962 Carol Deene Norman 24 41-37-32-{24}-29-40-44-49->8

#1559 27/01/1962 Burl Ives A Little Bitty Tear 9 44-30-19-13-{9}-9-11-13-16-22-29-28-37-39-46->15

#1560 27/01/1962 Karl Denver Wimoweh 4 46-28-20-12-8-5-{4}-5-6-6-5-8-11-20-21-33-48->17

#1561 03/02/1962 Elvis Presley Can't Help Falling In Love/Rock-A-Hula Baby 1 12-4-2-{1}-1-1-1-3-3-4-4-6-6-8-14-16-16-26-30-48->20

#1562 03/02/1962 Frankie Vaughan Don't Stop - Twist! 22 33-26-{22}-24-28-30-40->7

#1563 03/02/1962 Shane Fenton And The Fentones Walk Away 38 41-39-{38}-45-38->5

#1564 03/02/1962 Miki And Griff Little Bitty Tear 16 44-21-19-20-17-{16}-18-19-24-30-41-35-48->13

#1565 03/02/1962 Ken Dodd Pianissimo 21 48-31-25-23-{21}-22-26-27-27-25-24-28-32-44-48->15

#1566 10/02/1962 Dave Brubeck It's A Raggy Waltz 36 {36}-37-42->3

#1567 10/02/1962 Joey Dee And The Starliters Peppermint Twist 33 38-35-35-{33}-40-36-45-49->8

#1568 10/02/1962 Matt Monro Softly, As I Leave You 10 48-30-19-13-12-11-11-{10}-10-14-16-21-24-30-38-46-46-46->18

#1569 17/02/1962 Kenny Ball And His Jazzmen March Of The Siamese Children 4 29-15-8-6-6-{4}-8-14-20-24-31-33-42->13

#1570 17/02/1962 Helen Shapiro Tell Me What He Said 2 33-22-12-5-3-{2}-2-2-3-5-5-6-17-33-44->15

#1571 17/02/1962 Shirley Bassey Tonight 21 34-26-25-{21}-23-28-36-49->8

 

 

Crying In The Rain tops with me too, great song in the aha version too. Also love Eden Kane's, his finest moment, and the Shads make The Young Ones a goodie. Don't know or not that curious about the rest, though I think Loudermilk is highly thought of and Walk On By was quite well known but neither of them spring to mind much.

Elvis gets his 5th win here with a really lovely double A side.

 

8 Elvis Presley Can't Help Falling In Love/Rock-A-Hula Baby 133rd #1: "Can't Help Falling In Love" is a glorious classic and "Rock-A-Hula Baby" complements it nicely with a fun uptempo bop

7 Helen Shapiro Tell Me What He Said Her 4th Top 3 in less than a year but also her last ever - a lovely angst ridden number that shows off her voice very well again

7 Shane Fenton And The Fentones Walk Away Another rock 'n' roll number from this group that I really enjoy with moody and slightly grudging vocals and twanging

6 Shirley Bassey Tonight I've been mostly pretty hard on Shirley but I'll allow her this one - good performance of a great song from the greatest ever musical

6 Dave Brubeck It's A Raggy Waltz Following up "Take Five" can't have been easy and this is lovely, but it feels more like being in a jazz bar than listening to a pop hit

6 Kenny Ball And His Jazzmen March Of The Siamese Children Another really good, catchy and busy jazz number from these guys with nice bits of drums, trumpet, clarinet and sax

5 Burl Ives A Little Bitty Tear His only bit hit and it's very country in style and slightly naff but it has a sincerity and vulnerability to it that I really rather like

5 Frankie Vaughan Don't Stop - Twist! The crowd noise on this is really rather off-putting but it's a fun and energetic Chubby Checker style dancey rock number

5 Joey Dee And The Starliters Peppermint Twist Theie only hit and the original of this - some nice close harmony and instrumental parts but not sure it feels like a cohesive record

4 Matt Monro Softly, As I Leave You You just know from the title that it's going to be slow, sentimental and slushy - but the melody and performance are quite nice

4 Karl Denver Wimoweh A real oddity this but the highest score I've given him so far - some very strange rasping and yodeling but it's actually not too bad

4 The Brook Brothers He's Old Enough To Know Better Really liked their other ones and it's another vigorous tune but find the lyrics about breaking someone's bones a little off-putting

3 Carol Deene Norman Her first Top 40 and this Norman chap's lucky as she seems to wait on hm hand and foot - perfectly pleasant but very dated

2 Miki And Griff Little Bitty Tear A rather needless cover of this from this British country duo - lacks the raw emotion of the Ives version and it's just a bit limp

2 Ken Dodd Pianissimo Dirge of the day for sure - it's not only pianissimo but in true Ken Style it's terribly slow and lifeless and more like a wartime ballad

 

 

 

1962 Group 3:

 

#1572 17/02/1962 Bernard Cribbins Hole In The Ground 9 36-36-22-18-14-12-{9}-9-10-14-15-22-32->13

#1573 17/02/1962 The Allisons Lessons In Love 30 42-34-34-31-{30}-38->6

#1574 17/02/1962 Dion The Wanderer 10 43-31-23-20-17-{10}-13-15-18-23-27-43->12

#1575 17/02/1962 Pat Boone I'll See You In My Dreams 27 44-40-31-{27}-31-30-31-33-33->9

#1576 24/02/1962 Russ Conway Lesson One 21 37-41-23-22-{21}-33-37->7

#1577 24/02/1962 Don Charles Walk With Me My Angel 39 48-46-{39}-45-46->5

#1578 24/02/1962 Karl Denver Never Goodbye 9 49-44-29-33-36-21-18-12-{9}-10-9-10-11-15-21-25-37-43->18

#1579 03/03/1962 The Shadows Wonderful Land 1 20-9-2-{1}-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-3-6-9-8-15-26-32-49->19

#1580 03/03/1962 Johnnie Spence Theme From 'Dr Kildare' (Three Stars Will Shine Tonight) 15 30-36-27-23-19-17-{15}-18-18-20-21-30-43-40-42->15

#1581 03/03/1962 Johnny Keating Theme From 'Z Cars' 8 35-24-20-17-14-11-11-{8}-11-13-18-24-34-39->14

#1582 10/03/1962 Roy Orbison Dream Baby 2 28-16-9-4-3-{2}-2-3-5-7-14-22-38-47->14

#1583 10/03/1962 Sam Cooke Twistin' The Night Away 6 37-24-18-15-7-{6}-7-7-12-11-18-28-32-34->14

#1584 10/03/1962 Clinton Ford Fanlight Fanny 22 45-37-35-32-{22}-27-30-34-37-45->10

#1585 10/03/1962 Gene Pitney Town Without Pity 32 46-34-{32}-37-38-42->6

 

 

You know I might enjoy listening to "Wonderful Land" even more than "Apache" - so beautiful.

 

9 The Shadows Wonderful Land 134th #1: another brilliant one from The Shadows - has an futuristic feel and love the plucked melody sections and horn parts

8 Dion The Wanderer Dion's last hit and they're all good but this is a brilliant lazy tempo rock hit that captures the sense of wandering aimlessly

7 Sam Cooke Twistin' The Night Away There's something so engaging about that lovely soulful voice and this is a great happy number, again referring to the twist dance

7 Roy Orbison Dream Baby Roy's 5th hit and 1st non win - a great song but doesn't quite have that extra special element of his first 4 hits for me

6 Gene Pitney Town Without Pity An intriguing one from Gene - an unconventional chromatic melody that isn't the easiest to get into but still has a lot of character

6 Johnny Keating Theme From 'Z Cars' The theme to a BBC police series - a very interesting instrumental in a march style led by flutes playing in octaves; like it

5 Johnnie Spence Theme From 'Dr Kildare' (Three Stars Will Shine Tonight) From a series about a fictional doctor - a very nice instrumental with sweeping strings, but I don't think I would buy the record

5 Bernard Cribbins Hole In The Ground I've mostly been savaging Bernard's novelty hits but I'll allow this one - it's quite catchy and has a nice flow; a fun listen

4 The Allisons Lessons In Love Last of 3 hits for them and they haven't managed to recapture the magic of "Are You Sure" - nice harmonies but quite forgettable

3 Russ Conway Lesson One A curious one - it's that chopsticks tune everyone learns on piano: Russ develops it into something quite similar to "Roulette"

3 Don Charles Walk With Me My Angel Only hit for this English balladeer and it has nice percussive violin accompaniment but the melody is pedestrian and forgettable

2 Clinton Ford Fanlight Fanny "WONDERFUL FANNY!" - a cover of a comic song about an ageing lady who makes a living in clubs, that I find quite hard to enjoy

2 Pat Boone I'll See You In My Dreams In his Pat style he sounds like he's only half paying attention and it's a vague, rambling and plodding melody that goes nowhere

1 Karl Denver Never Goodbye Sorry Karl but I really can't get on with this one - the yodeling and wailing and indistinct melody factors are really dialled to the max

 

 

1962 Group 4:

 

#1586 10/03/1962 Bobby Vee Please Don't Ask About Barbara 29 48-{29}-31-35-32-38-36-47-38->9

#1587 17/03/1962 Billy Fury Letter Full Of Tears 32 {32}-37-44-36-39-50->6

#1588 17/03/1962 Del Shannon Hey! Little Girl 2 43-24-18-8-9-3-4-{2}-5-8-8-15-17-31-47->15

#1589 17/03/1962 Paul Anka Love Me Warm And Tender 19 47-29-23-{19}-19-25-25-26-29-32-38->11

#1590 17/03/1962 John Leyton Lone Rider 40 50-{40}-42-50-45->5

#1591 24/03/1962 Bruce Channel Hey Baby 2 25-12-12-5-4-{2}-3-4-10-14-23-31->12

#1592 24/03/1962 Norrie Paramor And His Orchestra Theme From 'Z Cars' 33 41-38-44-47-{33}-46->6

#1593 24/03/1962 Nat 'King' Cole Brazilian Love Song 34 42-{34}-42-43->4

#1594 24/03/1962 Craig Douglas When My Little Girl Is Smiling 9 43-25-20-16-10-{9}-14-13-20-21-37-43-41->13

#1595 24/03/1962 Sammy Davis Jr What Kind Of Fool Am I/Gonna Build A Mountain 26 44-29-{26}-32-41-38-40-47->8

#1596 24/03/1962 Sandy Nelson Drums Are My Beat 30 50-{30}-34-31-42-40->6

#1597 31/03/1962 James Darren Her Royal Majesty 36 43-39-{36}->3

#1598 31/03/1962 Joe Loss Theme From 'Maigret' 20 45-21-21-{20}-23-25-22-31-42-49->10

#1599 31/03/1962 Jimmy Justice When My Little Girl Is Smiling 9 47-24-22-12-13-15-12-{9}-9-12-24-28-35->13

 

'Wonderful Land' is gorgeous :wub: I'm going to have to put it on now!

 

aww that gladdens my heart they picked it. I wouldnt want to hear it a lot either but I'm glad it's still around 60 years since the original TV show was already forgotten. I long for the day when someone does a tango to Mud's Crazy I think that could work beautifully :D

Yeah I love that they do often go really old school for the Charleston! This one was TV presenter AJ Odudu with pro Kai Widdrington a couple of years ago and it went down really well. I think 'Tiger Feet' has been used before so maybe one day :P

Elvis, I like both sides, but oddly I prefer Andy William's and UB40's covers of Cant Help falling In Love, they have a lot more life to them. Tell Me What he said is really good, such a shame her chart career was over by 16! I dont know that Alvin Stardust track :o West Side Story is an awesome soundtrack, but I'll stick with the film version I think, and ditto March Of The Siamese Children, though Kenny's cover of The King And I tune was by far his most listenable single. I really like Burl Ives single, though Ugly Bug Ball should have been a hit, and Wimoweh is basically The Lion Sleeps Tonight rewritten OTT. The rest not much to say...

 

Wonderful Land total classic, and The Shads best record. Love it to bits. Also rate The wanderer, I can't believe his career ended on his only track to become a hit again (in 1976)! He's still doing decent music 60 years later (see his last laid-back guest-star-featuring album). Not my fave Sam Cooke song, but anything with Twist in the title was going to sell at that time, yet A Change Is Gonna Come? Never been a hit :o Dream Baby is great fun but it's not epic heartbreak, and I prefer the Glen Campbell version anyway. Yes, I know! :o Glen can do epic too though, and has a voice more suited to fluffier tracks. Town Without Pity, and the great Gene has arrived - it's pretty decent. The Z Cars theme was iconic and the best thing about the Merseyside show, which, as a toddler, infant school and teenager, I found dreary. Dr' Kildare was also huge, but the theme tune hasnt stayed in the memory like Z Cars. Mostly it was women fancying the actor Richard Chamberlain. If only they'd known he batted for the other side. Hole In The Ground is still charming and beautifully crafted - George Martin might have stuck with the novelty jobs but he made them sound better than some lesser talents did. Pat Boone killing a lovely veteran song there I'm guessing, check out the Joe Brown version, it's been his concert closer for a long time and is simple and beautiful. Finally, never heard of Fanlight Fanny, and it would be 14 years to the next chart Fanny - the Bee Gees rather naughty lush ballad Be Tender With My Love. Because yes they knew it was both a popular Aussie name and a name for something else. Americans seemingly didn't though, cue top 40. :lol:

Everton FC still use the theme from Z Cars (aka Johnny Todd).

Tough choosing a winner from this group but I think I need to get over my slight prejudice against "Hey Baby" due to the cover, and appreciate it for the great song it really is.

 

8 Bruce Channel Hey Baby It's difficult to listen to this without thinking "Ooh! Aah!" but it's a great song complemented beautifully by the mouth organ

8 Del Shannon Hey! Little Girl This took him back near the top of the chart and indeed it's his 2nd best song with very effective use of falsetto and instruments

7 Bobby Vee Please Don't Ask About Barbara A really sweet and gentle heartbreak ballad with the guitars and violins cradling the vocal melody and an intimate vocal

7 Nat 'King' Cole Brazilian Love Song There's an even better 21st century duet version of this with Bebel Gilberto, but this is lovely too and beautifully sung

7 Paul Anka Love Me Warm And Tender His last hit for 12 years - a great emotional performance from him and a very good song with a mesmerising relentless beat

6 Sandy Nelson Drums Are My Beat A much smaller hit than his first 2 but still very good; like the interplay of the relentles drumming with the guitar and the piano

6 Joe Loss Theme From 'Maigret' "Maigret" was a detective series and this wasn't the original version of the theme but it's a very enjoyable brass led instrumental

6 Billy Fury Letter Full Of Tears More heartbreak - slightly prefer Bobby's but this is sincerely performed with a rhythmic accompaniment and nice backing vocals

5 Sammy Davis Jr What Kind Of Fool Am I/Gonna Build A Mountain As usual great performances from Sammy but not his very best songs - both written for musicals and have that dramatic flavour

5 Craig Douglas When My Little Girl Is Smiling The original's in the next batch but 2 #9 peaking covers here - this is perfectly nicely sung but doesn't match the original

5 Jimmy Justice When My Little Girl Is Smiling Another very serviceable version and enjoy the harpsichord at the beginning but slightly prefer Craig's vocal tone

4 John Leyton Lone Rider OK but less effective than his others; cowboy style song with his trademark distant female backing vocals but it's not that gripping

3 Norrie Paramor And His Orchestra Theme From 'Z Cars' The other version of this was a really intriguing piece of music - this turns it into a military march style and it's much duller

2 James Darren Her Royal Majesty Highly curious - a military band procession style song about a lady he loved who has let him down; very much not for me

 

 

1962 Group 5:

 

#1600 31/03/1962 Ricky Nelson Young World 19 48-28-23-26-24-{19}-19-21-26-28-28-32-40->13

#1601 07/04/1962 The Drifters When My Little Girl Is Smiling 31 {31}-40-32->3

#1602 07/04/1962 Chubby Checker Slow Twistin' 23 41-26-27-28-{23}-38-43-49->8

#1603 07/04/1962 Shane Fenton And The Fentones It's All Over Now 29 45-35-{29}-33-29-44-46->7

#1604 07/04/1962 Lonnie Donegan The Party's Over 9 46-25-21-17-16-{9}-17-19-16-20-27-39->12

#1605 07/04/1962 Brenda Lee Speak To Me Pretty 3 47-29-17-8-7-{3}-5-7-14-15-21-29->12

#1606 07/04/1962 Frank Sinatra Ev'rybody's Twistin' 22 48-50-38-29-28-25-{22}-29-27-27-38-36->12

#1607 14/04/1962 Danny Williams Wonderful World Of The Young 8 37-22-16-11-{8}-12-13-13-19-22-24-26-47->13

#1608 21/04/1962 B Bumble And The Stingers Nut Rocker 1 31-14-4-2-{1}-2-3-3-5-9-10-19-26-32-41->15

#1609 21/04/1962 Ketty Lester Love Letters 4 34-26-17-6-6-{4}-7-11-13-22-27-33->12

#1610 21/04/1962 Neil Sedaka King Of Clowns 23 40-30-27-27-{23}-30-36-35-33-45-48->11

#1611 28/04/1962 Leroy Van Dyke Big Man In A Big House 34 35-{34}-41->3

#1612 28/04/1962 John Barry Seven Cutty Sark 35 36-{35}->2

#1613 28/04/1962 Shirley Bassey Ave Maria 31 37-{31}-34-39->4

Hey baby is a great pop record - almost as great as his 1968 comeback hit Keep On, which is utterly fab. I still resent that Ooh Ah monstrosity which turned the song into karaoke cheese. Del Shannon os always fine by me and I still recall the first time I heard Barbara from Bobby Vee - at his concert with my mum in the 80's, he was taking requests from the fans in the audience, perfectly happy to do the old hits in the order they wanted, and he introduced this song which I'd never heard of, but is quite sweet. I bought his Greatest Hits immediately after the concert.

 

Brazilian Love, Song would be quite different these days in meaning. I don't know Bebel Gilberto but she sounds suspiciously related to the more-famous Joao Gilberto (Quick google, Bossa Nova actual baby) so I want to hear that version now. Playing it. Very nice. I love Bossa Nova rhythms. I don't know the rest, except for the more-famous original fab version of When My Little Girl, and the Jimmy Justice cover of it, and also the Sammy davis Jr double - the influence of TV variety shows from America I think when the big crooners all got to showpiece big songs and I def associate both those with Sammy who was so cool and unique.

A good bunch here with two real gems both deserving 9s.

 

9 B Bumble And The Stingers Nut Rocker 135th #1: theme taken from "The Nutcracker" and brilliantly turned into a rock instrumental; piano led but also great guitar parts

9 Ketty Lester Love Letters A stunning piano ballad beautifully sung with no frills - it's very gentle and yet the emotion comes through incredibly powerfully

8 Neil Sedaka King Of Clowns Not sure why this was a small hit for Neil as it's one of my favourites of his - great tune and love the strumming and the energy

8 Shane Fenton And The Fentones It's All Over Now A great little rock 'n' roll number with a gritty beat, a real attitude to it and so much character in the vocals - very enjoyable

7 Brenda Lee Speak To Me Pretty Her highest peaking hit - as ever she sounds great and this bounces alone in a lovely way with very effective backing harmonies

7 The Drifters When My Little Girl Is Smiling The original and worst chart performing but actually best version of this - great tune and the harmonies and production work well

6 Danny Williams Wonderful World Of The Young Quite a subtle one and another slow ballad from him, but beautifully sung with lovely orchestral touches and it grows on you

6 John Barry Seven Cutty Sark Can't find much info about this but it's a lnice sax led instrumental with a mournful melody and a slightly sinister relentless beat

5 Ricky Nelson Young World Nothing unusual but nice multi-tracked harmonies on this and it's a good performance of a sweet ballad with quite an intimate feel

5 Chubby Checker Slow Twistin' A duet with a female singer and it's all about taking it easy soit's much slower than most of his others - quite pleasant

4 Leroy Van Dyke Big Man In A Big House 2nd and final hit for him about someone who shoots somebody and ends up in proson - fairly catchy but very of its style

3 Frank Sinatra Ev'rybody's Twistin' Another of those Frank songs that you're bound to forget more or less however many times you hear it as it's so nondescript

2 Lonnie Donegan The Party's Over Unusual for Lonnie to do such a slow and serious song - I don't think it suits him and the big vocal climax at the end is slightly grim

1 Shirley Bassey Ave Maria Really not keen on classical pieces done by pop singers - yes Shirley brings a big vibrato voice to it but it isn't an enjoyable listen

 

 

 

1962 Group 6:

 

#1614 28/04/1962 Connie Francis Don't Break The Heart That Loves You 39 49-{39}-39->3

#1615 05/05/1962 Helen Shapiro Let's Talk About Love 23 32-24-26-{23}-31-26-42->7

#1616 05/05/1962 Billy Fury Last Night Was Made For Love 4 36-26-15-11-{4}-6-8-6-6-11-12-14-20-27-37-41->16

#1617 05/05/1962 Adam Faith As You Like It 5 42-23-7-{5}-5-5-6-8-14-13-19-21-30-39-47->15

#1618 05/05/1962 John Leyton Lonely City 14 48-35-25-20-20-16-{14}-15-21-28-43->11

#1619 12/05/1962 Elvis Presley Good Luck Charm 1 16-2-{1}-1-1-1-1-3-3-4-6-6-13-21-27-35-44->17

#1620 12/05/1962 Cliff Richard With The Norrie Paramor Orchestra/Cliff Richard And The Shadows Do You Want To Dance/I'm Looking Out The Window 2 20-4-3-{2}-2-2-3-4-6-6-10-19-24-26-32-44-49->17

#1621 12/05/1962 Brian Hyland Ginny Come Lately 5 36-19-10-10-7-9-{5}-5-5-5-8-11-18-29-36->15

#1622 12/05/1962 Perry Como Caterina 37 {37}-50-50-42-45R(2)-48->6

#1623 12/05/1962 Patti Lynn Johnny Angel 37 40-{37}-39-43-39->5

#1624 12/05/1962 Mike Sarne With Wendy Richard Come Outside 1 46-29-17-6-4-3-2-{1}-1-2-4-7-6-9-17-18-26-32-43->19

#1625 12/05/1962 Eden Kane I Don't Know Why 7 50-28-18-8-9-{7}-7-11-15-18-25-33-47->13

#1626 19/05/1962 The Vernons Girls Lover Please/You Know What I Mean 16 34-32-22-21-{16}-17-28-34-46-49R(6)-39-48-48-44-44-44-48R(2)-44-37-50R(2)->20

#1627 19/05/1962 Dave Brubeck Unsquare Dance 14 36-31-24-18-17-{14}-18-24-27-35-40-49->12

Edited June 6, 20232 yr by JulianT

Two great, but contrasting, songs at the top of this list. Alison Moyet's great cover of Love Letters will come up eventually.

top 2, Nut Rocker I spent my pocket money on in 1972 second-time round, yes even when I was 14 and Glam Rock was big I still liked oldies :lol: Great fun still. Love Letters is just gorgeous, also Alison's version and even Elvis'.

 

Didnt know the Alvin Stardust track, it's OK. Brenda's is a good ol track, The Drifters is a wonderful record, and the song written by...Carole King (music) and Gerry Goffin (words). Carole King tunes always stand out. That would be my record of the week I think, other than Love Letters. Cutty sark is mildly pleasant and of course I like Neil Sedaka. Been listening to his 1973 hit Standing On The Inside about his years frozen out of the music biz, when being a good songwriter wasn't enough for the fickle pop biz.

Dave Brubeck gets his second win - "Unsquare Dance" isn't legendary like "Take Five" of course but still a brilliant little composition.

 

8 Dave Brubeck Unsquare Dance Presumably the title comes from the irregular 7 quaver rhythm - another brilliant jazzy instrumental from him, piano led this time

8 Brian Hyland Ginny Come Lately Rather different from his first two hits "Itsy Bitsy…" and "The Clickety Clack Song" - a tender ballad beautifully arranged here

7 Billy Fury Last Night Was Made For Love Has a slightly futuristic feel to it with the thick orchestral texture, and it's a lovely big hearted ballad and another big hit for him

7 The Vernons Girls Lover Please/You Know What I Mean A bit of a guilty pleasure - production all sounds quite raw but both sides are really good tunes and it's all a really fun listen

7 Helen Shapiro Let's Talk About Love Her chart fortunes fell off a cliff with this one but I still really like it - catchy tune with great singing and orchestration

6 John Leyton Lonely City A good wistful one from John with a really dramatic production - he always manages to get a lot of atomosphere into his songs

6 Patti Lynn Johnny Angel Her only hit - it's a cover and quite twee but really grew on me; has a lovely innocent falling in love dreamy kind of quality to it

6 Elvis Presley Good Luck Charm 136th #1: definitely not his best or his worst - a well composed tune well performed but doesn't hugely excite me

5 Adam Faith As You Like It Back to Adam's bright and bouncy light pop with some good little rhythmic effects in the accompaniment; vocals a bit scratchy

5 Eden Kane I Don't Know Why A good tune and arrangement; as usual his vocals aren't polished but there's a certain charm and the emotion really comes across

4 Cliff Richard With The Norrie Paramor Orchestra/Cliff Richard And The Shadows Do You Want To Dance/I'm Looking Out The Window Both sides are covers but it's very much saved by "Do You Want To Dance" which is fun while the other is something of a dirge

3 Connie Francis Don't Break The Heart That Loves You Typical slow Connie ballad with a country flavour, multitracking and bucketfuls of angst, but there's not much of a melody

3 Perry Como Caterina "I'm in ecstasy-he-he-he-he" - it's catchy in a way but all in all just quite a silly and raucously sung song that belongs to the 50s

2 Mike Sarne With Wendy Richard Come Outside 137th #1: he has a few hits to come with exaggerated London accents on the theme of wooing girls - really not keen on this

 

 

1962 Group 7:

 

#1628 19/05/1962 Johnny Burnette Clown Shoes 35 40-37-{35}->3

#1629 19/05/1962 The Everly Brothers How Can I Meet Her? 12 41-25-19-14-{12}-13-16-22-37-42->10

#1630 19/05/1962 Norman Vaughan Swinging In The Rain 34 42-41-{34}-37-44->5

#1631 19/05/1962 Burl Ives Funny Way Of Laughin' 29 44-33-33-36-{29}-33-36-41-47-45->10

#1632 19/05/1962 Kenny Ball And His Jazzmen The Green Leaves Of Summer 7 47-24-17-13-10-10-12-{7}-15-18-21-26-39-38->14

#1633 19/05/1962 Joe Brown And The Bruvvers A Picture Of You 2 49-27-18-10-4-4-{2}-2-3-3-3-4-4-6-13-16-25-32-41->19

#1634 26/05/1962 Jet Harris Besame Mucho 22 35-25-{22}-25-31-38-39->7

#1635 26/05/1962 Marty Wilde Jezebel 19 36-30-23-{19}-20-25-23-33-41-42-48->11

#1636 26/05/1962 Duane Eddy Deep In The Heart Of Texas 19 47-29-29-24-{19}-33-42-49->8

#1637 02/06/1962 Shirley Bassey Far Away 24 45-44-26-27-{24}-27-28-34-36-34-38-39-47->13

#1638 02/06/1962 The Shirelles Soldier Boy 23 47-38-39-28-{23}-26-36-39-48->9

#1639 09/06/1962 Karl Denver A Little Love A Little Kiss 19 32-20-23-{19}-20-22-26-28-35-50->10

#1640 09/06/1962 Richard Chamberlain Theme From 'Dr Kildare' (Three Stars Will Shine Tonight) 12 40-23-{12}-13-17-24-31-37-46-49->10

#1641 09/06/1962 Bobby Vee Sharing You 10 41-18-25-17-{10}-13-16-16-15-20-29-32-40->13