I'd say The Beatles were in their "Imperial" phase to quote Neil Tennant, but they never really left it. Can't Buy Me Love, dad bought it, I love it, and especially the scene from Hard Days Night which I must have seen when we lived in Chesham. My Boy Lollipop was def my 2nd fave record of the time though, I loved Millie and this song, ska has arrived. I love CBML more these days though. My actual top fave of the day was Juliet, The Four Pennies came and went but the melody lingered with me well into the 70's, before it dropped below both Millie & The fabs in my estimation. Mockingbird Hill was a top tune I knew, but had no idea who sang it, and Good Golly Miss Molly was another record dad bought. I liked it but not as much as my other faves in this batch. Viva Las Vegas was a great Elvis record that I knew and liked but it really came into it's own in later years as one of his great movie themes, during a period when he was on the decline. ZZ Top did a great version, but Elvis' still stands the test of time best out of all these bar The Beatles. There's also The Bachelors in the list....

 

"I don't know any of the rest. TBC"

Two utterly great songs both earning 9s here, but Roy gets his 6th win which is a record for this thread (Elvis and Little Richard on 5 I believe).

 

9 Roy Orbison It's Over 171st #1: again it's like a whole drama in a single song and you can't help feeling the heartache by the climax - just fabulous

9 Dionne Warwick Walk On By Sadly her version of "Anyone Who Had A Heart" missed the Top 40 but she's come back stronger with this wonderful classic

8 Gerry And The Pacemakers Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying Again I prefer this to their chart toppers - a tender song beautifully orchestrated with shimmering strings and mourning oboes

8 The Animals Baby Let Me Take You Home Their first hit and missed the Top 20 but I feel they could do rather well next time - it's a great cheeky little rock and roll song

7 Manfred Mann Hubble Bubble (Toil And Trouble) Their 2nd hit and this is delightfully chaotic with mouth organ twiddles used to represent trouble brewing - a really fun record

7 Sounds Incorporated The Spartans A really interesting different sounding instrumental led by two saxophones from a Kent based band who will go on to work with Cilla

6 The Searchers Don't Throw Your Love Away 168th #1: a nice song and it's smack in the middle of their trio of chart toppers - lacks the quirkiness of "Needles And Pins" for me

6 The Merseybeats Don't Turn Around Good again from this group - the twinkly piano is effective and it has nice harmonies; though blends into the soundscape of the time

5 Brenda Lee Think I think she's had a few hits now that are quite similar in that she sounds fab on them but the songs themselves aren't so memorable

5 The Fourmost A Little Loving This was their biggest hit although I preferred their previous couple, but this is nice and has a slightly raucous but very catchy chorus

4 Frank Ifield Angry At The Big Oak Tree On the one hand it's the sort of sorry for itself ballad that I don't tend to enjoy, but Frank does deliver the story fairly persuasively

4 Gigliola Cinquetti Non Ho L'Eta Per Amarti The Eurovision winner and an impressive chart run for it - in that dramatic Italian style which I can take or leave but beautifully sung

3 Kenny Lynch Stand By Me Sorry Kenny - not a bad version but it's very hard to hear a different rendition of something so iconic and not think it sounds wrong

3 Cliff Richard Constantly He's just had 2 hits in a row that I loved but drippy Cliff is never far away - this one plods along rather though the violins are nice

2 Peter, Paul And Mary Tell It On The Mountain This sort of hit just reminds me of school, or Scout campfires, or being taken to a happy clappy church - I can't take it seriously

 

 

 

1964 Group 6:

 

#2078 02/05/1964 Billy Fury I Will 14 38-20-17-{14}-14-16-20-23-23-36-42-49->12

#2079 02/05/1964 Dave Berry Baby It's You 24 39-{24}-29-32-36-48->6

#2080 02/05/1964 Ella Fitzgerald Can't Buy Me Love 34 47-35-38-{34}-50->5

#2081 09/05/1964 Cilla Black You're My World 1 30-12-4-{1}-1-1-1-3-7-15-20-27-35-40-48-44-50->17

#2082 09/05/1964 Kathy Kirby You're The One 17 36-30-28-{17}-19-22-27-35-43->9

#2083 09/05/1964 The Shadows Rise And Fall Of Flingel Bunt 5 37-21-13-7-{5}-7-8-13-15-19-23-40-48-50->14

#2084 09/05/1964 Chuck Berry No Particular Place To Go 3 42-26-20-10-6-{3}-6-11-19-28-42-46->12

#2085 09/05/1964 Terry Stafford Suspicion 31 45-39-38-33-{31}-35-41-49-49->9

#2086 09/05/1964 The Dennisons Walkin' The Dog 36 46-47-39-42-{36}-40-44->7

#2087 09/05/1964 Brian Poole And The Tremeloes Someone, Someone 2 49-34-26-13-8-4-3-{2}-2-4-10-15-16-20-25-35-42->17

#2088 16/05/1964 Lulu And The Luvvers Shout 7 41-31-24-17-10-{7}-9-13-17-19-28-45-48->13

#2089 16/05/1964 Freddie And The Dreamers I Love You Baby 16 45-25-21-20-{16}-20-28-48->8

#2090 16/05/1964 Buddy Holly And The Crickets You've Got Love 40 49-45-{40}-49-49-50->6

#2091 23/05/1964 Mary Wells My Guy 5 37-25-12-9-{5}-5-9-12-16-19-24-27-39-46->14

Edited February 22, 20241 yr by JulianT

3 10/10 classics for me here:

 

It's Over. perfect heartbreak, a masterpiece.

Walk On By: one of my half-dozen broken-relationship tearjerkers that I've been known to play over and over crying along, a masterpiece, Dionne and Burt at their best.

Non Ho L'Eta: still my favourite Eurovision winner, a fab tune I loved as a kiddie, and still do love. Gigliola is fab and her 1974 entry Go (Si) is not quite as fab, but still great. 2nd to ABBA 2nd time around. Talk about bad timing!

 

Don't Let The Sun is another kiddie fave, loved the melody, Gerry is best when he's doing emotion and his 3rd best track.

Baby Let Me Take You Home is fine, The Searchers' Don't Throw Your Love Away was prob my fave tune of the time, and still my top Searchers record, but maybe I'd go for Gerry more these days. A LIttle Loving is OK and the rest remain to be discovered by me (or rediscovered in some cases) :)

A top notch Top 3 and any of them could have won really but it's the Chuck song that excites me most overall.

 

9 Chuck Berry No Particular Place To Go 1st of only 2 Top 5 hits and maybe his best known song - love the galloping stop start accompaniment and manic intensity of this

9 Mary Wells My Guy Only Top 40 for this US Motown singer unofortunately: her voice is so beautiful and it's a brilliant soulful song with a jazz band

8 Lulu And The Luvvers Shout 1st appearance for Lulu's gravelly voice and still her best known: has a glorious energy and the acceleration towards the end is epic

8 Terry Stafford Suspicion Only hit for this American Elvis-a-like singer and it's a really beautiful and convincing performance - love the backing vocals too

7 Billy Fury I Will This has a Bond theme feel in the violin part and generally a rich dramatic production - overall a lovely atmospheric number

6 The Shadows Rise And Fall Of Flingel Bunt Flingel is an imaginary character they've made up - this has a very nice blues style tune and otherwise the usual Shadows elements

6 Kathy Kirby You're The One An English version of a Mexican song that certainly has that Latin feel - good song and a really strong dramatic vocal performance

5 Freddie And The Dreamers I Love You Baby Decent but very slightly grating tune - enjoy this less than their earlier ones; feels less raw and more mainstream and comfortable

5 Buddy Holly And The Crickets You've Got Love Amazingly the only hit with the credit "Buddy Holly And The Crickets" - one of the less interesting ones from both artists though

4 Ella Fitzgerald Can't Buy Me Love A perfectly pleasant big band style cover with a swung rhythm: I suppose looking back it's harder to see the point than at the time

4 Cilla Black You're My World 170th #1: I enjoy the first 50 seconds until "with your HAAYNDS" and all subtlety and sensitivity is off the table thereafter

3 Dave Berry Baby It's You A Bacharach song done by the Beatles and others - this version doesn't really grab me and the "sha la la"s sound a bit throwaway

3 Brian Poole And The Tremeloes Someone, Someone Their 2nd biggest hit but it's rather drippy and saccharine - I know these ballads appear in all eras so must have an enduring appeal

2 The Dennisons Walkin' The Dog Only Top 40 for this group and it's a cover of a US R&B hit done by Liverpudlians which is probably why it sounds quite jarring

 

 

 

1964 Group 7:

 

#2092 23/05/1964 Ronnie Hilton Don't Let The Rain Come Down 21 40-28-23-{21}-24-27-30-40-47-48->10

#2093 23/05/1964 The Hollies Here I Go Again 4 46-18-11-8-{4}-7-14-16-24-43-47-49->12

#2094 30/05/1964 The Dave Clark Five Can't You See That She's Mine 10 32-21-11-11-{10}-11-14-15-21-31-39->11

#2095 30/05/1964 Wayne Fontana And The Mindbenders Stop Look And Listen 37 {37}-40-43-48->4

#2096 30/05/1964 Adam Faith I Love Being In Love With You 33 38-35-38-{33}-38-47->6

#2097 30/05/1964 P.J. Proby Hold Me 3 44-32-31-22-17-5-{3}-5-7-6-13-18-24-33-40->15

#2098 06/06/1964 The Bachelors Ramona 4 29-19-12-6-{4}-6-12-18-19-21-26-36-44->13

#2099 06/06/1964 The Swinging Blue Jeans You're No Good 3 34-25-16-8-{3}-7-8-14-17-19-28-37-49->13

#2100 06/06/1964 Louis Armstrong And The All-Stars Hello, Dolly! 4 37-18-10-{4}-8-9-13-17-20-22-29-38-45-49->14

#2101 06/06/1964 Peter And Gordon Nobody I Know 10 39-23-14-12-{10}-11-14-26-28-32-47->11

#2102 06/06/1964 Frankie Vaughan Hello, Dolly! 18 41-28-26-{18}-18-20-31-25-38-44-49->11

#2103 06/06/1964 Karl Denver Love Me With All Your Heart 37 43-47-43-46-{37}-39->6

#2104 06/06/1964 Little Richard Bama Lama Bama Loo 20 45-29-25-{20}-22-26-39->7

#2105 06/06/1964 The Migil Five Near You 31 47-42-34-37-34-{31}-44->7

Edited August 3, 20231 yr by JulianT

Cilla tops for me, oc, You're My World was my fave song of the time and since, from this batch. Very Italian big ballad. Cilla's "Hayynds" back of the throat upping the ante not everyone's cuppa tea obv ( :lol: ) but Shakira does the same trick, except she doesn't have the sweet lower range to fall back. What-EVER, hayyynds, Wherever :lol: Love both songs though :)

 

My Guy was a hit again in 1972 when it almost topped my charts, great Smokey Robinson song, and Lulu's teenage Shout anthem still gets older folk on the dancefloor, till they get out of breath. She was very young! Topped my chart in 1986, on top 10 hit status again and caught her banging it out in the 00's. Was supposed to see her in a couple of months but she's had to cancel due to ill health. Hope you're doing well Lulu! :heart:

 

I agree about No Particular Place To Go, his best track I think, and Elvis did cover Suspicion, hit in 1976 belatedly issued. I vaguely know the original and like it, ditto Billy Fury's, and the other I know is Ella Fitzgerald's jazz Beatles cover - never liked it much, but it was a significant moment for both, Ella going contemporary, and kudos coming from legendary singers as they cover Lennon/McCartney and the floodgates open on their songs - not just the ones they give away or opportunistic album track knock-offs.

 

The rest "I don't recall just at the moment" so tbc...

The classics are like buses at the moment - either 3 in a group or none at all. That said there are some nice discoveries here - the groups are really dominating now.

 

8 The Swinging Blue Jeans You're No Good Their only Top 10 aside from "Hippy Hippy Shake" and originally a hit for a US soul singer but this has a great moody feel to it

8 P.J. Proby Hold Me First and biggest hit for this Texas singer; a slow a capella intro and then launches into a great raspy rocky chorus with twanging

7 Peter And Gordon Nobody I Know Another really sweet one from them with tender lyrics, nice harmonies and a slightly Latin sounding guitar accompaniment

7 The Dave Clark Five Can't You See That She's Mine A good one I prefer to "Bits And Pieces" - has an infectious swung rhythm and like the organ accompaniment and trumpet solo

6 Little Richard Bama Lama Bama Loo The last of 15 Top 40 hits for him (aside from a re-issue) and this is good fun with a strong guitar solo and plenty of frantic "woo"s

6 Wayne Fontana And The Mindbenders Stop Look And Listen First minor hit for Wayne and it's rather good - great vocals and tune the backing ahs and bumpy accompaniment work well

5 The Migil Five Near You Their 2nd and final hit: less twee than "Mockin' Bird Hill" and has a good oompah rhythm and fun slightly shouty call and response

5 The Hollies Here I Go Again Their 3rd Top 10 - this is perfectly nice but the chorus is a bit repetitive for me and overall it doesn't do a huge amount for me

4 Adam Faith I Love Being In Love With You Another late career minor hit - a pleasant melody and production but it feels like he's struggling to keep up with the group sound

4 Ronnie Hilton Don't Let The Rain Come Down Based on a nursery rhyme about a crooked little man turned into a folk song, this is rather naff but I must admit also quite catchy

3 Louis Armstrong And The All-Stars Hello, Dolly! The original from the film of the same name - likely to be the best of the several versions coming up but not keen on the song

3 Karl Denver Love Me With All Your Heart Last of 11 Top 40 hits for Karl - there's no yodeling in this and like the mandolin and backing ahs but the song's a bit pedestrian

2 The Bachelors Ramona As usual they aren't hitting the spot for me - the voices are slighty off-putting but the whole thing is also quite flaccid and insipid

1 Frankie Vaughan Hello, Dolly! I don't like the song in the first place and this version manages to be particularly bad - Frankie was about 35 but sounds 70 on this

 

 

1964 Group 8:

 

#2106 13/06/1964 Kenny Ball And His Jazzmen Hello, Dolly! 30 33-{30}-34-33-37-46-45->7

#2107 13/06/1964 John Lee Hooker Dimples 23 41-31-25-{23}-24-29-24-29-33-45->10

#2108 13/06/1964 The Beatles Ain't She Sweet 29 45-{29}-30-29-29-43->6

#2109 13/06/1964 The Applejacks Like Dreamers Do 20 46-32-22-{20}-21-21-22-26-30-37-41->11

#2110 13/06/1964 The Mojos Why Not Tonight 25 50-35-32-27-{25}-27-34-33-42-38->10

#2111 20/06/1964 Jim Reeves I Won't Forget You 3 37-24-12-8-4-4-9-9-5-4-{3}-3-3-4-7-6-7-10-14-17-19-23-33-38-39-47R(5)->26

#2112 20/06/1964 The Dixie Cups Chapel Of Love 22 40-39-26-{22}-28-30-36-43->8

#2113 27/06/1964 The Animals The House Of The Rising Sun 1 31-6-{1}-2-5-7-8-13-22-30-31-38->12

#2114 27/06/1964 Elvis Presley Kissin' Cousins 10 33-17-{10}-11-11-15-16-23-30-41-46->11

#2115 27/06/1964 Millie Sweet William 30 45-39-33-35-39-{30}-34-42-47->9

#2116 27/06/1964 Francoise Hardy Tous Les Garcons Et Les Filles 36 50-38-41-40-{36}-41-46->7

#2117 04/07/1964 The Rolling Stones It's All Over Now 1 25-2-{1}-2-2-4-4-7-9-10-17-20-28-32-35->15

#2118 04/07/1964 Cliff Richard And The Shadows On The Beach 7 31-13-9-8-8-{7}-9-11-15-23-27-37-43->13

#2119 04/07/1964 Dusty Springfield I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself 3 42-18-6-{3}-3-5-7-9-13-20-26-36->12

 

Absolutely agree with those three list toppers. My Guy is lovely, You’re No Good has a great sound and No Particular Place To Go is peak Chuck Berry imo.

Now I may well be banished to pop purgatory for saying I prefer Dusty to The Animals but in all honesty I do - they're certainly the 2 big highlights this time anyway.

 

9 Dusty Springfield I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself Her 2nd brilliant solo Top 5 - a great Bacharach song in the first place but Dusty makes it with her gut wrenching performance

9 The Animals The House Of The Rising Sun 172nd #1 but actually a less stellar chart run than you might think - an iconic 60s moment with incredible instrumental textures

8 The Rolling Stones It's All Over Now 173rd #1: cover of a song by US soul group The Valentinos but the Stones expertly turn it into a fine radio friendly pop rock song

8 Jim Reeves I Won't Forget You Will only peak after his death - I think Jim does ballads that would be extremely dull in other hands and makes them beautiful

7 Francoise Hardy Tous Les Garcons Et Les Filles Huge internationally and a rare non Eurovision French language hit here: her voice is beautifully clear and it's a lovely sweet song

7 The Mojos Why Not Tonight Prefer this to the other lesser known beat group hits in this group - has a raw and sincere sound to it and a compelling energy

6 The Dixie Cups Chapel Of Love First of a couple of hits for yet another of these US girl groups - very nice harmonies and instruments and a pleasant melody

6 John Lee Hooker Dimples First hit for this US singer - it's a charming song effectively accompanied with that delightfully lazy and repetitive blues vibe

5 The Applejacks Like Dreamers Do "And I-aye-aye-aye-aye" - not as good or as big as their debut and that part is a little clunky but overall a decent and catchy song

5 The Beatles Ain't She Sweet Song is an old standard - this version was recorded a few years before and only released now; actually find it fairly pedestrian

4 Cliff Richard And The Shadows On The Beach A sweet and jolly one and the backing vocals interplay with the lead nicely - just a bit comfy sounding as I've said before with Cliff

3 Elvis Presley Kissin' Cousins He seems to put on a funny accent in this which is the most memorable aspect - all in all one of his least engaging singles for me

2 Millie Sweet William Somehow in "My Boy Lollipop" her slightly annoying vocals work but here they are fairly grating and the record is sickly sweet

2 Kenny Ball And His Jazzmen Hello, Dolly! Still don't like the song but not quite as bad as Frankie Vaughan's version thanks to the band; last of 13 Top 40s for Kenny and co.

 

 

 

1964 Group 9:

 

#2120 04/07/1964 The Crickets (They Call Her) La Bamba 21 45-34-33-32-{21}-24-32-43-46-50->10

#2121 11/07/1964 The Merseybeats Wishin' And Hopin' 13 30-18-16-{13}-14-15-17-24-30-41->10

#2122 11/07/1964 The Barron Knights With Duke D'Mond Call Up The Groups 3 38-17-6-4-{3}-3-5-10-11-19-26-36-47->13

#2123 11/07/1964 The Beach Boys I Get Around 7 46-32-20-11-10-8-8-{7}-9-15-21-30-34->13

#2124 11/07/1964 The Nashville Teens Tobacco Road 6 48-26-12-10-{6}-6-6-6-14-20-27-41-48->13

#2125 18/07/1964 The Beatles A Hard Day's Night 1 3-{1}-1-1-2-2-5-6-10-15-19-24-28->13

#2126 18/07/1964 The Searchers Someday We're Gonna Love Again 11 22-13-12-{11}-16-18-28-41->8

#2127 18/07/1964 Manfred Mann Do Wah Diddy Diddy 1 30-9-5-2-{1}-1-2-4-6-8-15-27-27-36->14

#2128 18/07/1964 The Everly Brothers The Ferris Wheel 22 36-41-27-29-{22}-27-26-28-43-49->10

#2129 18/07/1964 The Four Pennies I Found Out The Hard Way 14 38-23-25-23-{14}-14-18-24-31-42-46->11

#2130 25/07/1964 Billy Fury It's Only Make Believe 10 31-18-12-{10}-12-17-21-29-34-44->10

#2131 25/07/1964 Frank Ifield I Should Care 33 {33}-37-37->3

#2132 25/07/1964 Stan Getz And Joao Gilberto The Girl From Ipanema 29 35-32-38-30-{29}-35-36-42-47-48->10

#2133 25/07/1964 Billy J Kramer With The Dakotas From A Window 10 38-22-15-12-{10}-19-22-35->8

Edited August 7, 20231 yr by JulianT

Batch Obscure To Me!:

 

I dont really know the SBJ's cover of You're No Good! I am familiar with the dreary Linda Ronstadt version, so this sounds way better than that! Hold Me is a great tune in this version and also the 80's revival from BA Robertson and Maggie Bell. The Hollies Here I Go Again continues the slow climb in quality for their singles, their best to date. Louis Armstrong's Hello Dolly was easily the most-famous of this bunch at the time, and the only one I recall knowing. His version is the best. Hold Me is the one I'd most rather hear again though.. the rest I don't know....!

 

Batch the Best:

 

You will not be banished by me, Dusty over House Of The Rising Sun everyday :) Bacharach perfection, my fave record of that time as a boy and still now. Pure emotion with a perfect sophisticated melody. The Animals classic is moody and timeless, that said, and I def knew it at the time. The Stones goodie is less classic but still good. Jim Reeves is classy country. Francoise Hardy I know I like, but I couldnt hum it. Chapel Of Love is another familiar goodie, Ain't She Sweet is a cash-in Fabs that I never liked much, Cliff's On The Beach is much better if jolly singalong. Millie's track is OK, and I always disliked Kenny Ball's Hello Dolly.

 

"the rest I don't know"

I must admit I only discovered "The Girl From Ipamena" when Astrud died a couple of months ago. Like "Sukiyaki" it's one of those records that sounds timeless and ethereal; you would have no idea it was from the early 60s. Meanwhile "A Hard Day's Night" feels like an important step in the Beatles' maturing sound.

 

9 Stan Getz And Joao Gilberto The Girl From Ipanema With vocals from Astrud Gilberto who died very recently, this stands out from other 1964 hits - unique and incredibly beautiful

9 The Beatles A Hard Day's Night 174th #1: this is a great record with one of the most iconic opening chords ever, and really helped to move their sound forward

8 The Beach Boys I Get Around Their first big hit and it's a great and establishes their signature style, but it's still a while before they'll hit their real purple patch

8 The Nashville Teens Tobacco Road First hit for this British group and an excellent one - love the guitar riff, the piano and the way the lead vocal has multiple lines

7 Billy J Kramer With The Dakotas From A Window A good come back from "Little Children" - this has a strong melody, drum beat and guitar solo and a lovely sense of longing to it

7 The Searchers Someday We're Gonna Love Again Missed the Top 10 straight after 2 chart toppers but not sure why as it's a really good song and the "doo doo" parts are infectious

6 Manfred Mann Do Wah Diddy Diddy 175th #1: a well remembered hit but not their finest: I'm torn between thinking it's a work of genius and really quite irritating

6 The Four Pennies I Found Out The Hard Way A big come-down from the chart success of "Juliet" but actually prefer it - has a very catchy chorus and delicately sung verses

5 The Everly Brothers The Ferris Wheel Nothing outstanding but a nice moody one from the Everlys with strong harmonies underpinned by an Orbison-esque drum beat

5 The Barron Knights With Duke D'Mond Call Up The Groups A medley of parodies - I don't normally get on board with these but it's actually quite funny and the imitations are pretty accurate

4 The Merseybeats Wishin' And Hopin' Best known as a Dusty song but it didn't chart here, and this version is very competent but just blends into the sound of the time

4 The Crickets (They Call Her) La Bamba Last of 13 hits for The Crickets - this is a slightly odd rock 'n' roll version of the very well known song; doesn't do much for me

3 Frank Ifield I Should Care Nice instruments including a harp in the background; but melody is a bit yodely and indistinct and all in all it's a bit of a snooze

3 Billy Fury It's Only Make Believe This is by far the lowest score I've given Billy - this cover is too sure of itself for me and lacks the emotional intensity of Conway's

 

 

 

1964 Group 10:

 

#2134 25/07/1964 Inez Foxx Hurt By Love 40 44-{40}-45->3

#2135 25/07/1964 The Honeycombs Have I The Right? 1 49-34-18-11-3-{1}-1-2-2-3-8-13-18-25-43->15

#2136 25/07/1964 Ken Dodd Happiness 31 50-39-{31}-33-34-34-35-33-31-35-33-36-48->13

#2137 01/08/1964 Sounds Incorporated Spanish Harlem 35 43-{35}-36-42-47->5

#2138 01/08/1964 Del Shannon Handy Man 36 44-{36}-41-49->4

#2139 01/08/1964 Dionne Warwick You'll Never Get To Heaven (If You Break My Heart) 20 46-25-{20}-23-22-26-32-43->8

#2140 08/08/1964 Cilla Black It's For You 7 28-17-13-8-{7}-11-18-23-25-39->10

#2141 08/08/1964 Dave Berry The Crying Game 5 41-21-20-12-{5}-5-6-10-13-21-24-37->12

#2142 15/08/1964 Marianne Faithfull As Tears Go By 9 27-19-16-15-{9}-10-9-9-12-15-19-31-47->13

#2143 15/08/1964 The Dave Clark Five Thinking Of You Baby 26 31-{26}-32-44->4

#2144 15/08/1964 The Kinks You Really Got Me 1 34-15-4-2-{1}-1-5-10-16-20-26-47->12

#2145 15/08/1964 The Zombies She's Not There 12 35-28-21-16-{12}-12-16-14-20-27-45->11

#2146 15/08/1964 The Fourmost How Can I Tell Her 33 40-{33}-36-43->4

#2147 15/08/1964 The Bachelors I Wouldn't Trade You For The World 4 43-21-11-8-{4}-7-6-5-6-6-11-15-20-28-30-32->16

 

Some familiar big guns really popping up now. A fan of 'Hard Day's Night', 'I Get Around', 'I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself' and 'House of The Rising Sun'!

ooh that's a top 4 there, all of 'em greats, Loved Girl From Ipanema without really being that aware of it at the time, still ever-smooth and cool, The Beatles will always be me going to the pictures to see the film, Hard Days Night is FabGear and it's not even the best track in the movie. I Get Around is The Beach Boys stepping it up a gear to match the Fabs, and Tobacco Road is just so exciting. Hard to pick one, but The Beatles just edge it, I think. Seen The Beach Boys do I Get Around 3 times - original line-up in 1980, minus Brian and the late Dennis in the late 80's, and then again in the 90's.

 

Do Wah Diddy Diddy is a great pop single, so catchy, seen them do it in concert a few times now, never fails. Wishin' and Hopin' is a Dusty classic, no substitutes accepted. Not that familiar with Billy's version, but It's Only Make Believe is a Glen Campbell masterpiece if one is looking for emotional intensity - with due credit to Twitty.

 

"The rest I don't know" :D

The Kinks have arrived with a bang! "You Really Got Me" is of course fabulous and wins this group, though the Zombies pushed them fairly close.

 

9 The Kinks You Really Got Me 177th #1: their 3rd single but 1st hit and a fabulous ground breaking song with a great build and quiite a raw sounding energy

9 The Zombies She's Not There Only hit for this UK group and a US #2 that shockingly missed the Top 10 here: a fabulously anguished song excellently delivered

8 The Honeycombs Have I The Right? 176th #1: the stompy chorus with the guitar twanging in the background is what really makes this; only big hit for the Londoners

8 Marianne Faithfull As Tears Go By 1st hit for her and what a delight - this is so beautiful and dreamy, from the oboe melody to her soft but crystal clear vocals

7 Dave Berry The Crying Game 1st of 3 #5 hits for Dave and another gorgeous ballad here; not 100% convinced by his vocals but a very sensitive performance

7 Inez Foxx Hurt By Love This is actually the siblings Inez and Charlie Foxx performing a very soulful and lively duet - her vocals especially are brilliant

6 Dionne Warwick You'll Never Get To Heaven (If You Break My Heart) Classy again from Dionne and the song's quite understated but has some really gorgeous moments - love the ethereal "la la la"s

5 The Fourmost How Can I Tell Her Another that features a march style rhythm; like the way the tempo switches and the harmonies are nice, but not that memorable

4 The Dave Clark Five Thinking Of You Baby This begins a run of poor chart fortunes for them - a decent song but unlike the Fab Four they aren't really showing progression

4 Cilla Black It's For You Another Lennon & McCartney one and it's a lovely lilting song with quite an explosive chorus, but yeah the vocals really do grate

3 The Bachelors I Wouldn't Trade You For The World Yet another big hit for them - slightly better than many of their others and nice violins but still feels quite limp and nondescript

3 Del Shannon Handy Man Don't touch a song if the original is brilliant is my advice - suits Del's falsetto style but he's not even trying to do anything with it

2 Sounds Incorporated Spanish Harlem Again I really struggle with instrumental remakes of songs that are clearly supposed to have words - just very dreary for me

2 Ken Dodd Happiness Has much more life than most of Ken's hits - unfortunately it's still rubbish with a very basic melody irritatingly cheerfully sung

 

 

 

 

1964 Group 11:

 

#2148 15/08/1964 Julie Rogers The Wedding 3 46-25-23-19-16-13-11-7-5-4-6-{3}-3-9-12-18-22-25-29-32-38-35-45->23

#2149 15/08/1964 Simon Scott With The LeRoys Move It Baby 37 50-50-39-42-{37}-44-45-49->8

#2150 22/08/1964 Elvis Presley Such A Night 13 31-20-{13}-13-14-18-21-24-40-50->10

#2151 22/08/1964 The Naturals I Should Have Known Better 24 39-27-25-{24}-28-31-30-40-49->9

#2152 22/08/1964 Herman's Hermits I'm Into Something Good 1 40-25-18-7-3-{1}-1-2-2-5-10-15-24-38-47->15

#2153 22/08/1964 Chuck Berry You Never Can Tell 23 45-31-27-{23}-25-29-29-38->8

#2154 22/08/1964 Brian Poole And The Tremeloes Twelve Steps To Love 32 48-37-34-34-{32}-32-41->7

#2155 29/08/1964 The Four Seasons Rag Doll 2 29-17-8-5-{2}-2-4-5-12-16-23-36-45->13

#2156 29/08/1964 Dean Martin Everybody Loves Somebody 11 40-29-21-16-12-12-{11}-13-17-19-32-43-44->13

#2157 29/08/1964 Kenny Lynch What Am I To You 37 48-{37}-46-50-44R(2)-48->6

#2158 05/09/1964 The Supremes Where Did Our Love Go 3 32-18-9-4-{3}-3-3-4-5-9-16-25-27-36->14

#2159 05/09/1964 The Shadows Rhythm And Greens 22 33-{22}-22-25-23-25-30->7

#2160 05/09/1964 Gerry And The Pacemakers It's Gonna Be All Right 24 38-28-{24}-24-26-26-33->7

#2161 05/09/1964 P.J. Proby Together 8 39-25-19-13-11-{8}-14-16-22-35-48->11

Edited August 10, 20231 yr by JulianT

OK, I'll start with all the ones that I knew then: Happiness, Ken Dodd, that is all. His most chirpy song, and his Diddy Men were legend to kids of the time, and his tickling stick went on to the very end - he just wouldnt leave the stage as long as people were still sitting there for the gags. Not a great record though.

 

So, 2 of these came along with 20 Number Ones of the 60's compilation album that I bought in late 1973 for the In The Year 2525 track, and a couple of others. You Really Got Me sounded blistering even in full-Glam stomping era, and it was genre-inventing with those riffs. The Kinks I'd known for later more melodic stuff that I loved, but this one was a late discovery. As was Have I The Right, it has that Joe Meek echo to it, but pretty jolly upbeat pop that I liked.

 

She's Not There was pretty well-known in the 70's, not least after Santana covered it, and I always liked it, but The Zombies became known more to me in their post-split era, I was huge on Argent and Colin Blunstone in 1971/73 and then went back and discovered later flop US big hits like Time Of The Season in later years. They still tour group and solo material and its a 3-fer-one concert in fine voice!

 

As Tears Go By is gorgeous, and sounds nothing like Lucy Jordan-era Marianne, by which time the drugs had savaged her voice, a mere 15 years later. It made Jagger & Richard songs sound subtler than one might think they were. The Crying Game is a great song, and both of these songs were vaguely known to me by the 70's, but I came to love it after Boy George's Pet Shop Boys-produced hit cover for Scandal. Plus I saw Dave do it on one of those 80's tours.

 

Dionne + Bacharach/David = smooth, classy, melodic. Always. The Stylistics did their best to put me off the song, but they failed. That leaves Cilla. I highly recommend Youtube for a live version from Cilla introduced by Paul & John on their 1965-era special TV show featuring the Fabs and other acts covering their songs, even Peter Sellers doing Hard Days Night as Richard III as Laurence Olivier might do it. Still gives me goosebumps. Cilla not Sellers! :)

 

Best record? The Kinks edge it.

 

 

No absolute top favourites in this group and my top pick is probably less well remembered than my second and third. :)

 

8 The Four Seasons Rag Doll Their biggest hit and it's very catchy with the usual off the scale falsetto used effectively; not quite as brill as "Big Girls Don't Cry"

8 The Supremes Where Did Our Love Go Their first hit and a great tune and a well remembered classic - I suppose I find it slightly too polished slick to give it a top score

8 Herman's Hermits I'm Into Something Good 178th #1: first hit for this Manchester group - another well remembered one and such a happy jaunty song written by Carole King

7 P.J. Proby Together A 2nd great one from him - he has quite an unusual voice but this really hits the spot with its energy and a stonking guitar solo

7 Kenny Lynch What Am I To You Another really cool one from Kenny with an infectious off-beat Latin rhythm, lovely crystal clear vocals and sympathetic trumpets

6 Simon Scott With The LeRoys Move It Baby Only hit for this singer who worked with the Stones and later moved into TV; a fun and jolly rock 'n' roll song with nice harmonies

6 Chuck Berry You Never Can Tell A fairly typical enjoyable Chuck record with a casually narrated story over a frenetic accompaniment featuring honky tonk piano

5 Gerry And The Pacemakers It's Gonna Be All Right By far their smallest hit to date; a decent melody and guitar interlude but overall doesn't stand out from other records of the day

4 Brian Poole And The Tremeloes Twelve Steps To Love They continue to be a bit hit and miss for me: the Tremeloes announce each of the steps but they don't sound like very good ones

4 Dean Martin Everybody Loves Somebody The song was written in the 1940s and it's not bad but really sounds its age with the big backing chorus throughout and strings

3 Elvis Presley Such A Night Elvis' wilderness period continues - I give short shrift to covers of #1s unless they reimagine the song in some way; this doesn't

3 The Naturals I Should Have Known Better Apparently very little is known about this English one hit group, and this Beatles cover is perfectly fine but doesn't add much

2 The Shadows Rhythm And Greens My least favourite of all their hits to date by far - find the screeching really off-putting and the tune not that engaging either

2 Julie Rogers The Wedding First hit for this Londoner and was huge for her but really not up my street - find the "Ave Maria" part naff and the rest pedestrian

 

 

1964 Group 12:

 

#2162 05/09/1964 The Cherokees Seven Daffodils 33 45-48-38-{33}-46->5

#2163 12/09/1964 Brenda Lee Is It True? 17 30-23-{17}-18-18-22-28-40->8

#2164 12/09/1964 Roy Orbison Oh, Pretty Woman 1 36-17-8-4-{1}-1-2-2-2-1-4-8-16-28-30-42-48-44->18

#2165 12/09/1964 The Newbeats Bread And Butter 15 39-29-22-19-{15}-19-21-36-49->9

#2166 12/09/1964 The Long And The Short The Letter 35 40-{35}-38-39-49->5

#2167 12/09/1964 The Mojos Seven Daffodils 30 44-{30}-34-35-33->5

#2168 12/09/1964 Buddy Holly Love's Made A Fool Of You 39 50-{39}-42-50-50-50->6

#2169 19/09/1964 Matt Monro Walk Away 4 33-26-22-17-12-7-6-{4}-4-8-14-18-18-22-20-27-23-36-36-44->20

#2170 19/09/1964 The Animals I'm Crying 8 40-20-15-10-{8}-9-14-22-29-37->10

#2171 19/09/1964 The Searchers When You Walk In The Room 3 41-21-16-9-7-{3}-4-6-11-15-24-32->12

#2172 19/09/1964 The Hollies We're Through 7 46-27-20-14-9-8-{7}-10-20-26-43->11

#2173 26/09/1964 Lesley Gore Maybe I Know 20 37-28-22-21-{20}-25-34-45->8

#2174 26/09/1964 Henry Mancini Orchestra How Soon? 10 39-31-23-17-{10}-12-11-21-21-28-47-50->12

#2175 26/09/1964 Julie Grant Come To Me 31 40-40-37-{31}-48->5

Edited August 17, 20231 yr by JulianT

*big catch up*

 

Glad you found a good discovery in 'Dominique'! It was one of those songs I recognised but couldn't put a name to for years :lol: what an idiosyncratic hit.

 

I'll always associate 'My Boy Lollipop' with Spiceworld The Movie haha, it's pretty charming

 

Ooh you wrote about 'Walk On By' and then it popped up as a sample on the new Doja Cat hit a couple of weeks later!

 

'Hippy Hippy Shake' seems to be the signature hit for The Swinging Blue Jeans (and a Frankie & Benny's fave x) but I prefer 'You're No Good' - nice to see that coming out on top for you in the respective batch!

 

'The House Of The Rising Sun' is one of my very favourite 60s songs, what a masterpiece :wub: :wub:

 

Agreed that 'The Girl From Ipanema' really stands out with its bossa nova style <3 what a great cluster that was with 'A Hard Day's Night' and 'I Get Around' too *.*

 

...then another stellar section with 'You Really Got Me', 'She's Not There' + 'Have I The Right?' :heart: the latter was the last chart-topper produced by Joe Meek, love that stamping sound

Rag Doll was my fave at the time, still love that one dearly, top tune. I'm Into Something Good was my other then-fave, and still sounds great. I saw peter sing it (and a selection of his hits) in Disney's Epcot Centre in the 90's. They always had 60's acts singing during the Garden Festival period, so I would book the holiday to match with that, and shuttle launches if possible. I video'd part of the concert, it was lunchtime and outdoors and a very small venue by the lake.

 

Where Did Our Love Go was vaguely familiar to me when dad borrowed their Greatest Hits album to record in Singapore, and then I went mad on the Donnie Elbert cover version in 1972. Still prefer that version, but it's close. You Never Can Tell is fine, Such a Night is substandard Elvis, Everybody Loves Somebody was very familiar from Dean's TV variety show in the late 60's, but it was never one of my faves, and The Wedding was one that I played when I went to grandma and grandad's, I think my Aunty Eileen had bought it. I liked it, but the memorable bit was the ave maria reference.

 

In an alternate universe I Should Have Known Better would have been a Beatles single, I def knew the song at the time from the movie, but don't know the cover as far as I can recall, nor the rest!

Well surely Roy will be getting his 7th win now that his best known song has come up? Nope - "Oh, Pretty Woman" is great but not a big favourite of mine. I did consider giving it to Buddy with his last hit and it is a really good one. However it's been ages since anything really unknown came out on top and there's something about this obscure Julie Grant track with its almost medieval feel that I just think is fantastic so I'm going to really champion it, and what a talent - not sure what happened to her and why she wasn't bigger. From reading a few Youtube comments sounds like others among the track's relatively small audience love it too.

 

9 Julie Grant Come To Me An unknown but utterly enchanting song with an irregular time signature, a gorgeous oboe part and beautiful clear vocals - brill

8 Buddy Holly Love's Made A Fool Of You His career has well outlived him but this is finally his last new hit and he's ending on a high with this lovely simple little ditty

8 Roy Orbison Oh, Pretty Woman 179th #1: his signature song and that beat and riff are utterly iconic but I love Roy more for his big dramatic heartbreak ballads

8 Lesley Gore Maybe I Know Her second and final hit and this is in a similar style to "It's My Party" and almost as great, and she gives it plenty of welly

7 The Hollies We're Through "We're through-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo…" - a great descending guitar riff introducing an infectious and moody meandering melody

7 The Searchers When You Walk In The Room This took them back into the Top 3 and it's really strong one with a memorable guitar riff - better than 2 of their 3 #1s for me

7 Brenda Lee Is It True? A punchy heartbreak song, beautifully sung as ever with complementary guitar effects using the same rhythm as the vocal line

6 The Animals I'm Crying Following up HOTRS can't have been an easy task and this is an energetic and sultry effort underpinned by a frenetic organ part

6 The Cherokees Seven Daffodils Only hit for this group named after an ice cream from the time - it's a really well done version of this quite mesmerising song

6 The Newbeats Bread And Butter An American male trio (I really thought the lead vocals were female with the Lulu style raspy falsetto); it's a fun original song

5 Matt Monro Walk Away A big slow burning hit for this crooner and actually it builds up well and even manages to be slightly moving by the end

4 The Long And The Short The Letter Can find very little about this group or song - it's quite a pleasant song in the Merseybeat style with slightly scratchy vocals

3 Henry Mancini Orchestra How Soon? Henry's mainly known as a composer and pianist and this has a nice warm orchestral feel but the song itself sounds very dated

2 The Mojos Seven Daffodils Last hit for this group and another version of this - they have quite a harsh vocal style and I find it quite unpleasant on this song

 

 

1964 Group 13:

 

#2176 26/09/1964 Ray Charles No-One To Cry To 38 50-{38}-43->3

#2177 03/10/1964 The Cheetahs Mecca 36 {36}-44-41->3

#2178 03/10/1964 Frank Ifield Summer Is Over 25 37-32-{25}-30-33-37->6

#2179 03/10/1964 Cliff Bennett And The Rebel Rousers One Way Love 9 42-29-23-15-{9}-12-14-22-31->9

#2180 10/10/1964 Cliff Richard Twelfth Of Never 8 30-16-13-{8}-8-13-18-23-29-41-49->11

#2181 10/10/1964 Sandie Shaw (There's) Always Something There To Remind Me 1 31-11-{1}-1-1-2-7-16-24-42-50->11

#2182 10/10/1964 Wayne Fontana And The Mindbenders Um Um Um Um Um Um 5 34-29-22-20-13-8-6-{5}-7-10-24-26-36-29-44->15

#2183 10/10/1964 Dionne Warwick Reach Out For Me 23 41-28-{23}-24-31-39-47->7

#2184 10/10/1964 The Ronettes Do I Love You? 35 42-{35}-47-49->4

#2185 10/10/1964 The Shangri-Las Remember (Walkin' In The Sand) 14 45-32-31-29-26-18-{14}-15-23-29-42-43->12

#2186 10/10/1964 Tony Jackson And The Vibrations Bye Bye Baby 38 46-{38}-43->3

#2187 17/10/1964 Shirley Bassey Goldfinger 21 34-27-{21}-24-26-28-29-33-47->9

#2188 17/10/1964 The Applejacks Three Little Words (I Love You) 23 37-32-{23}-27-37->5

#2189 17/10/1964 Heinz Questions I Can't Answer 39 {39}-41->2

 

Ooh I only discovered 'Come To Me' last year and it's a right gem, another great choice of top song :wub: deserved better than a #31 peak!

'Is It True?' sounds great - it's the Brenda Lee song sampled on 'Little Miss Dynamite' by Anish Kumar which was recently playlisted by Radio 1.