I love Kathy's version of "Secret Love", it's the one from the best singles from 1963 year.

Yeah that's a nice Cliff & Shads track that never gets remembered, def one that takes me back but not in a Summer Holiday iconic fashion. Another record dad bought, Freddie & The Dreamers, and one I still like a lot. Bossa Nova Baby was from the film Fun In Acapulco which we went to the cinema to see with mum, I'm pretty sure, as the image of Elvis diving off cliffs stuck with me for years, and my brother's first ever record purchase (in 1969, in Singapore) was Fun In Acapulco/Think I'm Gonna Like It Here, not quite up to Bossa Nova Baby but not far behind. I assume it was an Australian-only single (as many were in Singapore and thats what it says on the label) as I'm not sure if it was even released anywhere else. Boo Hiss!

 

Satisfied is OK, Deep Purple is a fab song, sweet in this version, better in the Donny & Marie hit cover, and even better in the Ray Stevens' upbeat country version - 1975 Misty-styled so don't worry about being a novelty song, it isn't! Sugar And Spice another kiddie-song-for-me of the time, but not one I went mad on. Busted is one I rate, Ray Charles, and Cilla does tend to polarise folk - but I love her busting-out vocally. Shakira sounds like her. She does though, just swap Latin accent for Scouse in the nasal/back of the throat lower register :lol: Love Of The Loved is a fave of mine and of course gifted by Lennon & McCartney for their former hat-check cloakroom mate from the Cavern. If anyone's not seen the Cilla biog with Sheridan Smith about her life, I can't rave about it enough, I lived in Liverpool in the 60's and visited it throughout the 60's, and they totally got it right.

 

and talking about belting it out, Kathy Kirby had 2 settings, loud and loudest. Loved her dearly, and loved this cover def would have topped 5-year-old john's charts of the time. It's not a patch on Doris' of course seen 60 years later, but it has the pop beat charm of the time. So I'm with Alex on that one :D Roll on Spanish Flea, her only other song of the time I know I loved. :lol:

Happy to see you rating 'Be My Baby' so highly as it's become one of my favourite 60s hits :wub: top tier wall-of-sound production there, the final chorus always gives me goosebumps in particular. As PCF mentioned, Brian Wilson is a huge fan, to the point of inspiring the song 'Don't Worry Baby' for the Beach Boys. It's endearing to read about his obsession with it.

 

If anyone's not seen the Cilla biog with Sheridan Smith about her life, I can't rave about it enough, I lived in Liverpool in the 60's and visited it throughout the 60's, and they totally got it right.

Yes this was fabulous!

Queen Dusty sweeping aside the competition today but great to see the Stones finding their stride.

 

9 Dusty Springfield I Only Want To Be With You Her first solo hit, instantly outdoing The Springfields' 2 #5s, and more importantly it's a pop masterpiece brilliantly delivered

8 The Rolling Stones I Wanna Be Your Man A Lennon-McCartney song but this is nonetheless the original recorded version and it's absolutely great - nice raw edge to it

8 Matt Monro From Russia With Love Matt hasn't had any scores anywhere near this high before but this is a great Bond theme and his rather ponderous style suits it

7 The Hollies Stay I love this doo-wop song though was originally done by Maurice Williams a couple of years ago and slightly prefer that version

7 Chad Stuart And Jeremy Clyde Yesterday's Gone Only hit here for this British duo although they did much better in the US - it's a really lovely gentle and dreamy folk-rock song

6 Heinz Country Boy 2nd hit for him and not sure why this did so much less well than his debut - nice song with a really catchy backing singer assisted riff

6 The Dave Clark Five Glad All Over 161st #1: a well remembered record with heaps of energy in a similar style to other chart toppers of the time - like but don't love it

5 Bern Elliott And The Fenmen Money A cover of a 1959 Motown song from this short lived Merseybeat group - it's a good slightly moody song and done very well here

5 Big Dee Irwin With Little Eva Swinging On A Star Only hit for him but of course she's had some others - the lyrics of this are bonkers and it's slightly plodding but still a fun pop duet

4 Johnny Kidd And The Pirates Hungry For Love Their last Top 40 hit and it's not bad but a rather run of the mill rock 'n' roll number compared to the brilliant "Shakin' All Over"

4 John Barry From Russia With Love As usual I tend to struggle with seeing the point of instrumental versions of sung songs, though the mandolin lead is quite nice

3 Brian Poole And The Tremeloes I Can Dance Right from the spoken part at the beginning this really sounds like a re-hash of "Do You Love Me?" - no wonder it didn't do so well

2 Mark Wynter It's Almost Tomorrow I love the Dreamweavers' original - as with the "Secret Love" cover the tempo and rhythmic emphasis feel all wrong with this

1 Wilfred Brambell And Harry H Corbett At The Palace (Parts 1 And 2) I think this is the first hit single I've reviewed that contains no music at all; just 11 minutes of jokes that I don't really understand

 

 

1963 Group 16 (skipping over the Buddy re-release):

 

#1989 07/12/1963 The Beatles I Want To Hold Your Hand 1 10-{1}-1-1-1-1-2-3-6-7-15-15-17-25-24-25-32-42-40-48-50-48R(3)->22

#1990 07/12/1963 The Singing Nun (Soeur Sourire) Dominique 7 24-10-8-{7}-7-10-10-16-24-29-33-38-42-43->14

#1991 07/12/1963 The Shadows Geronimo 11 28-13-{11}-11-12-18-22-24-29-38-37-48->12

#1992 07/12/1963 Gene Pitney Twenty Four Hours From Tulsa 5 33-20-9-9-{5}-6-6-5-7-6-11-16-19-27-31-33-45-39-46->19

#1993 07/12/1963 Dora Bryan All I Want For Christmas Is A Beatle 20 37-24-21-{20}-24-44->6

#1994 14/12/1963 Chris Sandford Not Too Little, Not Too Much 17 30-{17}-18-18-19-18-25-33-47->9

#1995 14/12/1963 The Swinging Blue Jeans Hippy Hippy Shake 2 41-27-23-13-3-3-{2}-3-3-4-6-12-23-27-32-41-44->17

#1996 14/12/1963 Adam Faith We Are In Love 11 42-35-27-20-16-13-{11}-11-18-25-24-35->12

#1997 14/12/1963 Richard Anthony Walking Alone 37 43-{37}-42-40-50->5

#1998 14/12/1963 Trini Lopez Kansas City 35 46-41-{35}-42-49->5

#1999 21/12/1963 Elvis Presley Kiss Me Quick 14 25-16-{14}-15-15-14-15-25-30-39->10

21/12/1963 Buddy Holly What To Do {1963} 27 38-29-28-{27}-29-43-39-44->8

#2000 21/12/1963 Chuck Berry Run Rudolph Run 36 39-41-{36}-45-43-48->6

#2001 21/12/1963 Bobby Vinton There! I've Said It Again 34 45-45-46-37-{34}-34-34-35-45-43->10

#2002 28/12/1963 The Fourmost I'm In Love 17 44-32-31-33-21-20-{17}-18-20-23-34-50->12

 

 

 

Unsurprising with Dusty on top there. It is a great song. 'Glad All Over' is a bit of fun too.

Dusty deservedly on top, a cracker then, and much-covered hit versions from Bay City Rollers, The Tourists aka Eurythmics (more or less), and others. Glad All Over is my next fave, and a hit again in the 90's, stomping fun for kiddies and teens then and still fresh-sounding. From Russia With Love, Matt's finest moment courtesy of John Barry, always classy, and Swinging On A Star was a huge fave of mine at the time. Not so much these days but it's the one that gives me the biggest nostalgic trip back in time.

 

Never rated the Stones track, prefer the Beatles version, and even then not a huge fave, though as a statement of intent, spot on. Stay, prefer the original, prefer the 1978 Jackson Browne cover. Dont know the Chad & Jeremy but they appeared on a lot of US shows I watched in the 60's not least guests on Batman! As themselves, and Jeremy cropped up as an actor over the decades on stuff like the Dick Van Dyke Show, Bergerac, and Downton Abbey.

 

Dont know the rest, but I'd guess the Steptoe and Son record was a recording of an episode of the show. My good friend likes to say I look like Wilfred Brambell (best thing he did was appear in Hard Days Night as grandad) which is sweet of him to say so :lol: Harry H. Corbett was fab in Carry On Screaming. They were both god-awful in Steptoe & Son, I had to endure it as a kid and into the 70's, totally not funny. Ragnbone men seen as grim n gritty reality sitcom mirroring real life. Annoying old man ruining the life of his son, 30 minutes of bickering and mutual insults every week and this record is awful. Along with Till Death Us Do Part, one of the main reasons why I loved American sitcoms and hated British ones as a kid.

I've reached 2,000 records! :yahoo: I had hoped to get there by the end of June but I'm still going and I've retained my sanity, my job and my friends. B-)

 

The last batch of the year has often been a let-down but not so here, and it's headed up by 2 real greats.

 

9 Gene Pitney Twenty Four Hours From Tulsa A beautiful Bacharach song, right from the trumpet opening, with great lyrical storytelling and Gene performs it brilliantly

9 The Beatles I Want To Hold Your Hand 160th #1 and their first Christmas chart topper - despite being in the Merseybeat style this song still has a lovely tenderness to it

8 The Swinging Blue Jeans Hippy Hippy Shake Not the original but certainly the best known version of this delightfully raucous and energetic "Twist And Shout" style record

8 The Singing Nun (Soeur Sourire) Dominique Unexpectedly my best new discovery here - a really sweet French language song with close harmonies and atmospheric strings

7 Chuck Berry Run Rudolph Run One of those Christmas tracks that deserves to be remembered better - a fun rock 'n' roll number about our favourite reindeer

7 The Fourmost I'm In Love This sounds like early Beatles to me and I really like it - you can feel the emotional build but it's not soppy and retains a gritty edge

6 The Shadows Geronimo Like Adam's song here this agonisingly peaked at #11 for 2 weeks - a good tune and I like the driving beat and the dramatic build

6 Trini Lopez Kansas City Another cover for Trini here but very nicely done - the record really conveys the hopeful excitement of travelling somewhere new

5 Adam Faith We Are In Love The backing vocals are slightly raucous on this, almost like he was trying to emulate the Merseybeat sound, but it's a good tune

5 Richard Anthony Walking Alone It's the Greensleeves melody again - not keen on that aspect but otherwise it's a nice and quite mysterious, well produced record

4 Elvis Presley Kiss Me Quick He's had 14 #1s but this is is 3rd in 4 releases to miss the Top 10 - some nice instrumentation but this is pretty bland overall

3 Chris Sandford Not Too Little, Not Too Much Only hit for this British actor and it's a middle of the road ballad - not surprised the music career didn't work out as it's pretty dull

2 Dora Bryan All I Want For Christmas Is A Beatle I'm sure someone will tell me that I'm a Scrooge for not being amused by this but I can't really enjoy the twee style and odd accent

1 Bobby Vinton There! I've Said It Again He won't have another hit for nearly 30 years and that will be a good one but this is terribly turgid, dreary and lacking in melody

 

 

Edited July 20, 20231 yr by JulianT

Well done Julian, 2000! :yahoo:

 

2 iconic classics there at the top, 24 Hours was and is my fave of the bunch, Gene at his best, we all loved it and him in our house. Dad bought I Want To Hold Your Hand so that and B side This Boy got played throughout the 60's a lot. It's still a classic, exciting, and broke them in the States.

 

Hippy Hippy Shake is one I knew and liked, and Dominique seeped it's way into my brain without noticing, as when I came across it in the early 70's it was obviously familiar to me. Great tune, tragic end to the poor Sister. Run Rudolph Run is pretty decent, I agree should get more plays these days. There I've Said It Again I got to hear after his 1990 revival, it's OK, and Dora Bryan was beloved in the 60's, and in 1963 anything Beatles-related would sell. That's why Elvis was struggling, pop had moved on and treading water was no longer good enough for The King. All I Want For Xmas Is A Beatle wasn't one of my kiddie faves, I was aware of it but, meh, so you're safe there! :lol: It was very much fixed into 1963 and didn't get dragged up on request shows afterwards, phew!

 

Culturally, my new hobby was Brooke Bond tea picture cards and albums to stick them in, and also bubblegum cards will be popping onto the market in 1964 - I still have a selection of Beatles bubblegum cards with signed photos of the band (not original signatures obv) - a complete set goes for £50 now, but mine isnt complete, doh! :D

Review of 1963:

 

Average score was 5.51 making it the best year so far!

 

Gold Medal: In Dreams - Roy Orbison

 

Silver Medal: Sukiyaki - Kyu Sakamoto

 

Bronze Medal: End Of The World - Skeeter Davis

 

Also receiving 9s:

Be My Baby - The Ronettes

All Alone Am I - Brenda Lee

Twenty Four Hours From Tulsa - Gene Pitney

From Me To You - The Beatles

I Want To Hold Your Hand - The Beatles

Atlantis - The Shadows

Pipeline - The Chantays

Rhythm Of The Rain - The Cascades

Diamonds - Jet Harris And Tony Meehan

I Only Want To Be With You - Dusty Springfield

It's My Party - Lesley Gore

Big Girls Don't Cry - The Four Seasons

Wipe Out - The Surfaris

 

Worst hit of the year: At The Palace (Parts 1 And 2) - Wilfred Brambell And Harry H Corbett

 

1964 Group 1:

 

#2003 04/01/1964 Billy Fury Do You Really Love Me Too? 13 37-20-17-17-{13}-14-22-28-32-39->10

#2004 11/01/1964 Brenda Lee As Usual 5 29-16-9-9-{5}-7-7-9-10-17-20-24-29-33-43->15

#2005 11/01/1964 Frank Ifield Don't Blame Me 8 38-19-13-10-10-{8}-12-15-26-28-30-43-46->13

#2006 11/01/1964 The Ronettes Baby I Love You 11 40-27-23-18-13-12-13-{11}-15-19-21-30-41-47->14

#2007 11/01/1964 Dave Berry And The Cruisers My Baby Left Me 37 41-47R(2)-47-48-41-{37}-43-49-48->9

#2008 11/01/1964 The Dowlands Accompanied By The Soundtracks All My Loving 33 43-39-{33}-35-39-39-46->7

#2009 18/01/1964 Gerry And The Pacemakers I'm The One 2 23-10-4-{2}-2-4-6-7-12-19-25-28-32-40-49->15

#2010 18/01/1964 The Searchers Needles And Pins 1 26-6-{1}-1-1-3-3-4-7-10-18-21-27-38-44->15

#2011 18/01/1964 Nino Tempo And April Stevens Whispering 20 35-31-26-{20}-23-25-33-45->8

#2012 18/01/1964 The Merseybeats I Think Of You 5 41-29-19-15-9-9-{5}-5-8-7-14-15-20-21-32-42-50->17

#2013 18/01/1964 The Paramounts Poison Ivy 35 42-41-37-37-{35}-42-44->7

#2014 18/01/1964 Tony Meehan Song Of Mexico 39 44-{39}-46-46->4

#2015 25/01/1964 Manfred Mann 5-4-3-2-1 5 27-14-9-{5}-5-7-8-20-22-31-33-50-50->13

#2016 25/01/1964 Helen Shapiro Fever 38 {38}-45-42-38->4

#2017 25/01/1964 The Bachelors Diane 1 40-22-8-3-{1}-2-3-4-6-10-8-13-16-21-26-33-37-47-47->19

 

 

 

 

I'd put Be My Baby on top, and knock your top 3 down one place each and stick Gene Pitney at 4 ahead of Skeeter, but really just shuffling places here. Worst record is a no contest. Just awful.

Into 1964 we venture then and no obvious stand-out in this first group but I'm actually rather fond of "Needles And Pins" so that gets the win.

 

8 The Searchers Needles And Pins 162nd #1: I much prefer this to their sugary first couple of hits, this is a great sad song and the bitterness is conveyed very well

8 Gerry And The Pacemakers I'm The One I think I prefer this to their trio of #1s - less big and brash, but a lovely melody and a clever skippy rhythm helped by the piano

7 Manfred Mann 5-4-3-2-1 So familiar from adverts that the hook has become annoying, but aside from that it's a fun frantic song with great instrumentation

7 The Ronettes Baby I Love You The follow up to "Be My Baby" in the same style and also a very good record, but of course it doesn't quite have the magic of that

7 Billy Fury Do You Really Love Me Too? A very good one from Billy with a slightly mysterious Shadows-esque feel created by the pulsing beat and recurring guitar riff

6 The Merseybeats I Think Of You Their biggest hit and it's a charming and gentle song with a lilting rhythm and sweet guitar riff, performed with nice soft vocals

6 Brenda Lee As Usual Not one of her very best tunes but great vocals and storytelling as usual from Brenda, and the slow tempo adds to the gravitas

6 Dave Berry And The Cruisers My Baby Left Me His future hits won't name check the backing band but the guitars contribute a lot to this good Chuck Berry style rock number

5 Nino Tempo And April Stevens Whispering Quite an unusual record, done in a similar style to "Deep Purple" with the harmonies and element of yodeling; an enjoyable listen

5 The Paramounts Poison Ivy Only hit for this group that was the forerunner of Procul Harum - love the original rawer Coasters version and this is pretty good

5 The Dowlands Accompanied By The Soundtracks All My Loving Only hit for this duo - I love this as a Beatles song so was always going to struggle to warm to this version, but it's nicely sung

4 The Bachelors Diane 163rd #1: I find them a bit drippy generally and this is one of their better ones with a certain charm, but still sounds half asleep

4 Helen Shapiro Fever Her last hit after less than 3 years, and she does make a decent fist of this cover and it's a bit more rocky than Peggy's, but meh

4 Frank Ifield Don't Blame Me Quite a similar laid back vibe to "I Remember You" and enjoy the mouth organ, but the song itself lacks a memorable melody

3 Tony Meehan Song Of Mexico He's split from Jet Harris and this is his only solo hit, and it has nice twanging but all in all is rather a non event of an instrumental

 

 

1964 Group 2:

 

#2018 25/01/1964 Shirley Bassey My Special Dream 32 42-36-36-34-{32}-38-44->7

#2019 01/02/1964 Ricky Nelson For You 14 30-21-16-{14}-16-19-23-27-34-37->10

#2020 01/02/1964 The Kingsmen Louie Louie 26 40-34-{26}-29-30-31-40->7

#2021 01/02/1964 Brian Poole And The Tremeloes Candy Man 6 42-22-13-11-8-{6}-11-15-19-22-26-30-48->13

#2022 01/02/1964 Eden Kane Boys Cry 8 49-33-24-18-13-12-9-{8}-9-12-21-23-31-50->14

#2023 08/02/1964 Cliff Richard And The Shadows I'm The Lonely One 8 23-14-{8}-10-14-21-24-39-34-48->10

#2024 08/02/1964 Cilla Black Anyone Who Had A Heart 1 28-10-2-{1}-1-1-3-4-10-11-15-19-35-47-40-44-45->17

#2025 08/02/1964 Ken Dodd Eight By Ten 22 40-31-{22}-22-22-25-23-27-26-29-36->11

#2026 15/02/1964 Chuck Berry Nadine (Is It You?) 27 43-{27}-27-30-33-45-43R(2)->7

#2027 15/02/1964 Major Lance Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um 40 47-{40}->2

#2028 22/02/1964 The Dave Clark Five Bits And Pieces 2 19-4-{2}-2-2-6-7-10-14-23-33->11

#2029 22/02/1964 Dusty Springfield Stay Awhile 13 30-18-16-{13}-13-17-19-23-28-41->10

#2030 22/02/1964 Roy Orbison Borne On The Wind 15 33-21-17-{15}-17-22-24-28-34-42->10

#2031 22/02/1964 Kathy Kirby Let Me Go, Lover! 10 36-24-18-{10}-11-15-17-19-22-30-40->11

#2032 22/02/1964 Freddie And The Dreamers Over You 13 44-20-{13}-18-16-21-16-22-25-34-44->11

Needles And Pins was an iconic smash of the time, and one I've always liked but never loved. My fave Searchers track is sill to come. Guess who co-wrote it? Sonny Bono, who will be featuring with his missus before long. I'm The One is OK, 5-4-3-2-1 was famous for being the theme tune to the coolest pop show of the 60's Ready Steady Go, but again never one of my top faves and Manfred & co will do much better.

 

Baby I Love You is more famous in it's cover versions, my own fave is Dave Edmunds' from 1973, but The Ramones' 1980 romp is better remembered these days. The original is great too, prob my pick of this batch. I Think Of You is pleasant, As Usual is fab, a great song that one, my 2nd fave this time. Diane was a biggie but not one I recall being especially bothered about, and "soppy" is about right. The various covers here I don't know, along with all the others, but All My Loving was def famous for being The Beatles. It was def on TV or radio because it's ingrained on my memories of 1964. So let's pretend it wasn't just the lead track on a charting EP in Feb 1964 and call it an actual hit, and I'll vote it Record Of The Week.

The first version of I Only Wanna Be With You I recall hearing was the Bay City Rollers cover. Dusty Springfield's version was, obviously, a lot better. Similarly, I got to know Needles And Pins from the Smokie version and Poison Ive from The Lambrettas.

The Kingsmen have the stand-out record today despite it only having been a minor hit here.

 

9 The Kingsmen Louie Louie Only hit for this US group that spent 6 weeks at #2 there - not the original but a great quirky rocky song excellently performed

8 Cliff Richard And The Shadows I'm The Lonely One Another for Cliff's remarkably good pile - an upbeat rock number but with some RnB influence and he carries it off very well

7 Roy Orbison Borne On The Wind Lovely again from Roy; this has the classic epic build seen in many of his songs and the backing sings really create the wind effect

7 Cilla Black Anyone Who Had A Heart 164th #1: I have a heart and I'm giving this a good score despite the vocals - it is a great song and she does the emotion really well

6 Freddie And The Dreamers Over You Not quite as good as their trio of Top 3s but another well produced song in the Merseybeat style with nice tune and harmonies

6 Brian Poole And The Tremeloes Candy Man Originally a Roy Orbison song but this is a good version - like the way the accompaniment stops on "candy candy" each time

6 Chuck Berry Nadine (Is It You?) Fun lyrics on this though he never seems to question why she keeps avoiding him - good song in the typical Chuck rocky style

5 Dusty Springfield Stay Awhile This almost feels like a Ronettes record with the wall of sound style - not quite as special as Dusy's first solo hit but a nice listen

5 Ricky Nelson For You Has that quite effective echoing effect from the vocals that I've heard on Rick's songs before; all in all a decent tune well delivered

5 Shirley Bassey My Special Dream Really enjoy the lavish orchestral elements on this; otherwise it's quite a dramatic, albeit a slow, ballad which suits her style

4 The Dave Clark Five Bits And Pieces A very big hit for them and the relentless thumping rhythm is quite effective but I find the chorus a little grating and monotonous

4 Eden Kane Boys Cry Last of his 5 hits (all Top 10s) and not bad but the melody is slightly repetitive; chorus a little like watching a washing machine spin

3 Major Lance Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um Must have been interesting to introduce this title on radio - it's quite a soulful record but I find it hard to enjoy the lyricless hook

2 Kathy Kirby Let Me Go, Lover! 4 versions of this charted in 1955 and I didn't much enjoy any of those, so it's not a song I particularly wanted to see again

1 Ken Dodd Eight By Ten Not sure what makes Ken's records so stultifyingly dreary but think it's the faltering pace as well as the delivery lacking energy

 

 

1964 Group 3:

 

#2033 22/02/1964 Jim Reeves I Love You Because 5 45-26-21-14-9-{5}-5-7-5-6-6-10-8-10-12-13-12-15-14-16-23-25-29-23-26-19-16-14-12-14-11-14-17-19-26-39-37-39-46->39

#2034 29/02/1964 The Rolling Stones Not Fade Away 3 29-11-5-4-{3}-4-6-8-8-13-21-28-33-41-44->15

#2035 29/02/1964 Billy J Kramer With The Dakotas Little Children 1 34-9-3-{1}-1-2-2-4-9-16-22-27-36->13

#2036 29/02/1964 The Hollies Just One Look 2 39-20-6-5-{2}-3-5-6-10-18-29-35-49->13

#2037 29/02/1964 Heinz You Were There 26 40-29-{26}-26-40-36-44-49->8

#2038 29/02/1964 Maureen Evans I Love How You Love Me 34 45-38-{34}-35-42-47-35-35-43-49-50R(2)->11

#2039 29/02/1964 The Joy Strings It's An Open Secret 32 46-{32}-37-40-36-38-38->7

#2040 29/02/1964 Andy Williams A Fool Never Learns 40 48-{40}-41-46->4

#2041 07/03/1964 Gene Pitney That Girl Belongs To Yesterday 7 28-16-12-{7}-9-8-9-15-22-32-44-50->12

#2042 07/03/1964 The Shadows Theme For Young Lovers 12 36-22-14-13-14-{12}-19-20-24-38->10

#2043 07/03/1964 Karl Denver My World Of Blue 29 42-32-37-{29}-32-31->6

#2044 07/03/1964 The Applejacks Tell Me When 7 47-29-18-12-11-9-{7}-7-14-19-22-29-46->13

#2045 07/03/1964 The Crystals I Wonder 36 48-{36}-48->3

#2046 14/03/1964 Doris Day Move Over Darling 8 38-34-26-23-15-12-11-{8}-8-15-17-19-26-36-47-43->16

#2047 14/03/1964 Peter And Gordon World Without Love 1 39-36-16-13-4-2-{1}-1-4-5-12-23-27-37->14

My fave record at the time was Cilla and my fave of these is still Cilla, spine-tingling version of a classic Bacharach/David tune that does the unthinkable - outdoes Dionne Warwick's original. Stay Awhile is pretty good and Louie Louie is a garage rock classic that I didn't know until it was featured in the Animal House film sung by John Belushi in 1978. Bits & Pieces was a fave of the time but it's not as good as Glad All Over. Roy's is a goodie, but not one I knew back then, Over You I did know and it's not bad. Um Um UM etc is also one that sounded familiar when I first noticed it in the 70's and I still like it.

 

The rest don't ring a bell, not even Cliff, though I know I must have heard Eden kane and Kathy Kirby's, so saving them for when I play them....

Not quite as big a classic as "Twenty Four Hours From Tulsa" but still this heartfelt ballad gets Gene his second win in quick succession. I do have a soft spot for the Peter And Gordon song though.

 

8 Gene Pitney That Girl Belongs To Yesterday A dramatic multi-tracked song that builds into a wail of agony - another fabulous performance and piece of storytelling from him

8 Peter And Gordon World Without Love 167th #1: first hit for this duo and it's a lovely tender song with sweet vocals, an organ solo and a nice guitar accompaniment

8 The Applejacks Tell Me When First hit for this "Brumbeat" group and it's excellent - has a great urgency to it and an interesting, slightly raw sounding vocal

7 Doris Day Move Over Darling Amazingly this is her last hit and only Top 10 after "Que Sera Sera" - from the film of the same name it's a lovely warm ballad

7 The Rolling Stones Not Fade Away Originally a Buddy song, this was their first big hit and a great one with a pounding rhythm and folky feel with the mouth organ

7 Heinz You Were There He certainly knows how to write a catchy tune and this is less bubblegum than his first two hits so think it's my favourite of his

6 The Hollies Just One Look Each of their hits has peaked higher than the last - a tightly produced and performed cover of a US hit from the previous year

6 Karl Denver My World Of Blue Again his vocal acrobatics are absent here for which I am grateful: a sweet number and really like the piano and backing vocals

5 The Shadows Theme For Young Lovers[/b] Already their 32nd hit so can forgive them for running out of steam a little: was used for a film and it's a pleasant gentle number

5 Jim Reeves I Love You Because His bigest hit to date and a huge chart run for this - a simple love ballad that I wish I liked more but he delivers it excellently

4 The Crystals I Wonder These early girl groups all seem to have been short lived and this is already their last hit - same style but song is fairly ordinary

4 Andy Williams A Fool Never Learns A rather forgettable one from Andy here, though like the oom-pah rhythm in the chorus and the twinkly piano accompaniment

3 Maureen Evans I Love How You Love Me Last Top 40 hit for her and a cover of an ballad from a few years prior: perfectly pleasant but doesn't really do anything with it

3 Billy J Kramer With The Dakotas Little Children 165th #1: please leave little children so I can smooch with your sister - ignoring the lyrics I don't think it's aged well musically

2 The Joy Strings It's An Open Secret The 2 is for the nice little guitar solo: otherwise this is a terribly old fashioned and very fervently Christian happy clappy number

 

 

1964 Group 4:

 

#2048 14/03/1964 Adam Faith If He Tells You 25 42-31-33-{25}-25-26-35-43-44->9

#2049 14/03/1964 Del Shannon Mary Jane 35 43-41-{35}-35-45->5

#2050 14/03/1964 Elvis Presley Viva Las Vegas 17 46-29-20-18-{17}-18-22-29-40-42-42-48->12

#2051 14/03/1964 Millie My Boy Lollipop 2 47-43-28-27-16-10-5-5-3-3-{2}-3-7-15-21-26-40-45->18

#2052 21/03/1964 The Bachelors I Believe 2 28-11-6-3-3-3-3-{2}-4-6-9-14-24-28-36-44-50->17

#2053 21/03/1964 The Swinging Blue Jeans Good Golly Miss Molly 11 39-23-20-14-{11}-14-20-27-33-48->10

#2054 21/03/1964 Bern Elliott And The Fenmen New Orleans 24 44-38-30-{24}-24-27-34-41-43->9

#2055 21/03/1964 The Migil Five Mocking Bird Hill 10 50-49-45-30-17-13-{10}-12-14-18-26-28-39->13

#2056 28/03/1964 The Beatles Can't Buy Me Love 1 8-{1}-1-1-2-4-7-13-15-22-25-30-38-44-47R(2)->15

#2057 28/03/1964 The Mojos Everything's Alright 9 37-31-18-13-12-{9}-17-18-24-30-42->11

#2058 28/03/1964 Tommy Tucker Hi-Heel Sneakers 23 47-49-34-33-28-{23}-26-32-35-43->10

#2059 04/04/1964 The Four Pennies Juliet 1 40-36-32-18-12-5-2-{1}-2-3-5-13-15-24-36->15

#2060 04/04/1964 Richard Anthony If I Loved You 18 48-39R(3)-28-{18}-20-19-27-30-34-39->10

#2061 11/04/1964 Shirley Bassey Gone 36 37-37-{36}-41-48->5

#2062 11/04/1964 Mark Wynter Only You 38 39-41-{38}-45->4

Edited July 27, 20231 yr by JulianT

'Hippy Hippy Shake' is grand. My mum plays that one quite a bit round the house every now and then :lol:

 

'I Love You Because' is nice too!

I think Jim Reeves' untimely death was the main reason for the extended chart run of I Love You Because.

OK just for a change I'll order this batch in preference:

 

Move Over Darling: love Doris, love the film, love the theme tune and a hit all over again in '87 thanks to Tracey Ullman's hit cover

World Without Love - Macca wrote it for his girlfriend's brother (Peter Asher) and pretty generous giving away a chart-topping song with characteristically melodic appeal and one I liked at the time

Little Children - my fave song of the time, no contest, not even close. Mad on it I was, mad on Billy J, and still rate this one, takes me back in time.

That Girl Belongs To Yesterday - don't remember it from the 60's, but it's Gene, and Gene is fab

I Love You Because - mum n dad loved Jim, I would have been aware of him dying, and I have always loved his warm vocals. A goodie I knew then.

Tell Me When - I liked The Applejacks and this is pretty decent

Not fade Away - The Stones improving with each release

Just One Look - ditto The Hollies.

 

don't know the rest! TBC another day.

I don't like "Can't Buy Me Love" anything like as much as "I Want To Hold You Hand" and yet the latter didn't win its group and the former has but that's the way it goes. There are some well known ones from Millie and Elvis here but I can't say I personally love them.

 

8 The Beatles Can't Buy Me Love 166th #1 and another early classic of theirs: they've had the 1st, 2nd and now 4th biggest hits of the decade in quick succesion

8 Richard Anthony If I Loved You We have a hidden gem here with his 2nd and final hit - a slow ballad but very sincerely delivered and it builds beautifully

7 The Mojos Everything's Alright First and biggest hit for this Merseybeat group - has a great gentle opening riff and explodes into a great energetic rock number

7 Millie My Boy Lollipop A classic and it goes perfectly with Millie's rather childlike voice, though I think there are only so many plays before it grates

7 Tommy Tucker Hi-Heel Sneakers Only hit for this American singer-songwriter that encapsulates the blues style perfectly and has great instrumental improvisations

6 Elvis Presley Viva Las Vegas A very well remembered and fun song, written for the film of the same name starring Elvis - just lacks the depth for me to love it

6 Bern Elliott And The Fenmen New Orleans Originally a Gary US Bonds song done here by another British beat group - enjoy the raw energy here, especially in the backing

5 The Four Pennies Juliet 169th #1: yet another British beat group and this is a pretty and gentle ballad with lovely harmonies, but doesn’t quite grab me

5 Adam Faith If He Tells You I feel Adam is trying to sound more like the Merseybeat bands with the "do-ah, yeah yeah yeah" backing - it's a good tune though

4 Del Shannon Mary Jane Not a bad mid tempo song but it doesn't really stand out at all from the other hits of the time and not surprised it wasn't big

4 The Migil Five Mocking Bird Hill "Tra la la, tridly dee dee" - a very chirpy little song and it is catchy but somehow I find it slightly grating and it doesn't go anywhere

3 The Swinging Blue Jeans Good Golly Miss Molly The Little Richard version of this was explosive - the pace of this is too relaxed and it feels a rather lazy effort from them really

3 Shirley Bassey Gone Not sure if this song is from a musical but it sounds like it should be which is the problem - not so great as a stand alone track

2 Mark Wynter Only You A pretty drab and disengaged sounding cover of a song that was scintillating when The Platters did it - what was he thinking?

1 The Bachelors I Believe "Oi believe… still be haired" I think the Irish accents are a little too prominent but even ignoring that I really don't enjoy this cover

 

 

1964 Group 5:

 

#2063 11/04/1964 Brenda Lee Think 26 41-27-{26}-27-31-36-41-39->8

#2064 18/04/1964 The Searchers Don't Throw Your Love Away 1 20-4-2-{1}-1-3-8-15-26-36-40->11

#2065 18/04/1964 Manfred Mann Hubble Bubble (Toil And Trouble) 11 29-16-{11}-15-19-21-34-50->8

#2066 18/04/1964 Gerry And The Pacemakers Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying 6 31-17-7-{6}-9-7-15-24-32-49-48->11

#2067 18/04/1964 The Animals Baby Let Me Take You Home 21 39-29-{21}-23-23-23-29-38->8

#2068 18/04/1964 The Merseybeats Don't Turn Around 13 42-24-17-{13}-16-16-16-22-27-42-41->11

#2069 18/04/1964 Dionne Warwick Walk On By 9 44-25-15-{9}-11-11-11-10-13-17-19-32-35-45->14

#2070 18/04/1964 Kenny Lynch Stand By Me 39 45-40-48-{39}-46-43-49->7

#2071 18/04/1964 Peter, Paul And Mary Tell It On The Mountain 33 46-{33}-37-43->4

#2072 25/04/1964 The Fourmost A Little Loving 6 37-19-11-10-8-{6}-9-14-19-29-35-43-50->13

#2073 25/04/1964 Sounds Incorporated The Spartans 30 45-32-34-31-{30}-35->6

#2074 25/04/1964 Gigliola Cinquetti Non Ho L'Eta Per Amarti 17 46-36-28-24-22-20-18-{17}-18-21-28-27-34-37-42-47-44->17

#2075 25/04/1964 Frank Ifield Angry At The Big Oak Tree 25 47-{25}-25-25-27-31-33-44->8

#2076 02/05/1964 Cliff Richard Constantly 4 30-16-7-9-5-{4}-6-9-16-21-32-37-47->13

#2077 02/05/1964 Roy Orbison It's Over 1 31-14-6-5-4-2-2-2-{1}-1-5-7-10-14-17-24-32-38->18