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!

Wow your knowledge never ceases to amaze me Jade!

Wow your knowledge never ceases to amaze me Jade!

I was trawling through the 60s archives again to make some historic personal charts for fun and checked out as much as I could, definitely glad I did with that one :wub:

 

'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.

Ooh I assumed it was a Brenda sample after learning via PopMaster that her nickname was 'Little Miss Dynamite' - nice to hear the source material again just now (apparently scrobbled it back in 2014 too) after becoming so familiar with the Anish version.

'You Really Got Me' is a classic and I really enjoy 'Have I The Right' too. My mum got me into it and was even playing it recently lol.

 

'Oh Pretty Woman' is one that I'm most personally used to though back from my uni music performance days! I also really like 'You Got It' as well which will pop up here at some point!

well, if I ever heard Come To Me at the time it certainly washed over me, have no recollection of it ever, not even as an oldie. It's certainly different. I gotta go with Roy though, it's not his absolute greatest record but mum especially adored the record and in her last year or two I'd put it on Alexa to get her up and dancing a little bit, so it will always be special to me. I loved it as a kid, my brother, my dad, my Aunty Norma we all loved it.

 

My other fave of the time was The Searchers, loved that tune, still their best record for me. Maybe I know is terrific, not one I knew till the Seashells had a cover version hit in 1972, and I gradually grew to appreciate Lesley Gore more and more with the years. The Buddy Holly one I have heard, but doesn't strike much of a memory for me, and that prob applies to some of the others which I need to revisit but expect to have heard as an occasional oldie play (Hollies, Animals).

 

So that leaves Matt Monroe, Walk Away is pretty decent, and Bread And Butter I got to know in the 70's after Run Baby Run became a hit in 1971 for The Newbeats. I absolutely bloody love Run Baby Run, reminds me of the winter of '71/'72 back in the UK, and also having it booming out of speakers along Old Town Kissimmee in Florida in the late 90's/early 00's. There was a classic 45's shop selling all sorts of vintage Americana, and they created the soundtrack to the themed shops there in the 90's and 00's, and funfair carousels, classic cars on display etc.

 

And then there's Bread & Butter which has always annoyed me a bit since I first became aware of it in my teens, oops! I'll take Matt Monroe over it, on balance! :)

Ready for another surprise? “Summer Is Over” has some similarities with the last winner “Come To Me” with some of the Renaissance style instrumentation. It just achieves what it’s eating out to do brilliantly and beats all of Frank’s chart toppers for me. If I’d got here a week earlier it would also have seemed quite fitting but summer now seems to be having a second wind.

 

8 Frank Ifield Summer Is Over I love the flute and harpsichord on this almost giving it a 16th century vibe; a lovely wistful ballad delivered beautifully by Frank

8 Sandie Shaw (There's) Always Something There To Remind Me 180th #1: debut hit for Sandie with a Bacharach classic and she performs it with just the right balance of anger and tenderness

7 Shirley Bassey Goldfinger Great Bond theme with one of the most iconic opening riffs dramatically performed - just not a style of song I personally love

7 The Shangri-Las Remember (Walkin' In The Sand) First hit for another US girl group - a really interesting song with changes of tempo and wall of sound parts and barer parts

7 Dionne Warwick Reach Out For Me Sweet and soulful from Dionne, and she effortlessly shines with quite a light touch, but also lovely backing vocals and harmonies

6 Ray Charles No-One To Cry To A lovely jazzy heartbreak ballad with a sympathetic backdrop of piano, violins and the backing chorus - all sounds very classy

6 The Applejacks Three Little Words (I Love You) Last of their 3 hits - good song and really like the relentless backing rhythm on it; not sure if the market was too crowded for them

6 Cliff Bennett And The Rebel Rousers One Way Love First hit for this UK R&B group and it has quite a gung-ho feel to it but it's a good song and the saxophone hook is really catchy

5 The Ronettes Do I Love You? Already their last hit (well for 52 years) - I guess this style can get tired quite easily, and this is nice but nothing on their first couple

5 Wayne Fontana And The Mindbenders Um Um Um Um Um Um I was harsh on the original earlier in the year - song has grown on me and slightly prefer the production on this successful cover

5 The Cheetahs Mecca First hit for this UK group and it's quite an enjoyable listen with a Middle Eastern feel but with a really over the top falsetto hook

4 Heinz Questions I Can't Answer Last Top 40 hit for him - as ever he has a unique vocal style which is slightly on the rough side but not bad; song is a little laboured

4 Tony Jackson And The Vibrations Bye Bye Baby Only hit for him after he left The Searchers - it's perfectly decent but nothing too distinctive and the vocals sound a bit forceful

3 Cliff Richard Twelfth Of Never A really nice orchestral accompniment to this including some plucked strings and quite a nice performance, but still quite plodding

 

 

1964 Group 14:

 

#2190 17/10/1964 Val Doonican Walk Tall 3 42-35-28-30-25-23-17-11-5-{3}-4-3-5-7-9-15-22-28-34-37-40->21

#2191 17/10/1964 Manfred Mann Sha La La 3 43-18-11-5-{3}-5-11-14-23-27-40-46->12

#2192 17/10/1964 The Rockin' Berries He's In Town 3 44-29-18-14-6-{3}-4-10-13-23-22-31-32->13

#2193 17/10/1964 Gene Pitney It Hurts To Be In Love 36 46-{36}-48-46->4

#2194 24/10/1964 The Supremes Baby Love 1 24-13-7-5-{1}-1-3-8-10-15-18-21-25-40-50->15

#2195 24/10/1964 The Dave Clark Five Anyway You Want It 25 33-27-{25}-30-41->5

#2196 24/10/1964 The Nashville Teens Google Eye 10 34-26-16-{10}-13-21-25-32-40-48->10

#2197 24/10/1964 Dusty Springfield Losing You 9 38-30-28-22-17-10-{9}-11-17-21-29-28-37->13

#2198 24/10/1964 The Honeycombs Is It Because? 38 40-{38}-42-44-50-50->6

#2199 24/10/1964 Tommy Quickly And The Remo Four Wild Side Of Life 33 46-44-45-{33}-35-35-38-40->8

#2200 24/10/1964 The Pretty Things Don't Bring Me Down 10 49-34-29-17-{10}-13-13-17-28-36-42->11

#2201 31/10/1964 Elvis Presley Ain't That Loving You Baby 15 32-17-{15}-19-22-26-39-46->8

#2202 31/10/1964 Helmut Zacharias Tokyo Melody 9 35-21-12-{9}-12-15-15-25-30-37-33->11

#2203 31/10/1964 The Poets Now We're Thru 31 39-38-32-{31}-40->5

Edited August 17, 20231 yr by JulianT

Never heard Summer Is Over before, very nice too and a Tom Springfield song apparently. Dusty did a version of it on the B side of Losing You later in the year, havent heard it but I will bet any amount of money it's the definitive version....!

 

Sandie Shaw and Always Something There was another huge fave of mine at time, the tune was one that almost had a physical affect on me, and it's still a sort of pure joy when I hear it, so cool, and young Sandie with her bare feet was a sensation. Another 10/10 for me still.

 

Goldfinger is equally evocative of the time, and the Bond theme template, so dramatic. Still a drama-queen classic and Shirl at her best. The Shangri-Las track I discovered tucked away on the B side of Leader Of The Pack on it's 1972 reissued smash hit, and it's very different , producer Shadow Morton created mini-teen-operas, and this one is moody and fabulous, a sort of 60's version of many young current singer-songwriters specialising in 'men done me bad" songs (insert name of choice here).

 

Reach Out For Me is still fabulous, so Bacharach, so Dionne, smooth, cool, sophisticated, derided as MOR or Easy Listening by some critics talking out their arses. I've heard wayne Fontana's version of Um Um which is OK, Bye Bye Baby is obv a Four Seasons cover I've never heard, so I'll stick with the original, nobody has ever improved on the original, though the Rollers gave it a half-decent go. Twelfth Of Never, Cliff or Donny? Neither, Johnny Mathis, thanks.

 

Which brings me to Mecca - another cover, this time a carbon copy (but inferior) of a Gene Pitney US and Aus smash, which just may be Gene Pitney's most-under-rated record, pretty unique for 1963 and one I discovered when I bought his Greatest Hits CD and became instantly passionate about sometime in the 90's or early 00's. Play the original, avoid the cover, nobody can beat Gene's original versions of anything he recorded.

 

The rest I don't know just yet...

Let's make it a hat-trick of surprises then shall we? "Baby Love" is of course a hugely important record but it's just a bit polished and as Motown classics go I don't think has the magic of "Be My Baby". I've instead chosen something that's captivating and really represents that moment in history.

 

8 Helmut Zacharias Tokyo Melody Used by the BBC for the Tokyo Olympics coverage, it's an interesting and transfixing orchestral piece with a choir providing ahs

8 The Supremes Baby Love 181st #1: produced to have a similar sound world to "Where Did Our Love Go" and the persistent cooing lead vocal works a treat

7 The Nashville Teens Google Eye Their 2nd Top 10 hit and a bit more fun and cheeky than "Tobacco Road" but still really good with a catchy driving rhythm

7 The Rockin' Berries He's In Town Lovely 1st hit for this Brummie beat group - like how it starts on a falsetto wail and it's a really nice tune and tender performance

7 Tommy Quickly And The Remo Four Wild Side Of Life Only hit for this Liverpudlian with a lovely soft and lyrical voice; very nice melody and enjoy the twinkly guitar accompaniment

6 Gene Pitney It Hurts To Be In Love As usual with Gene it's a really well written song performed with feeling; the chorus interplay with the female backing works well

6 The Honeycombs Is It Because? Has the stompy chorus like "Have I The Right?" and so maybe flopped because it was too similar, but it's still a really good song

6 The Pretty Things Don't Bring Me Down Another English rock band getting its Top 40 debut - the clappy rhythm really works and it's a lively and slightly raw rock song

5 Dusty Springfield Losing You She sounds brilliant as ever and like how the drama builds into the chorus - think the actual song isn't all that memorable though

5 The Poets Now We're Thru Only hit for this Scottish band - the guitar riff and rhythmic strumming underpin a very slow melody, but it works quite well

4 Elvis Presley Ain't That Loving You Baby A pleasant rock 'n' roll song with a nice little guitar solo and complementary backing ahs but all in all feels a little perfunctory

4 The Dave Clark Five Anyway You Want It Has quite a similar feel to "Bits And Pieces" but without the effective rhythmic emphasis of that - nothing really memorable here

3 Manfred Mann Sha La La He's replaced his do wah diddys with sha la las; some nice parts but lacks the ingenuity of his #1 and gets irritating quite quickly

2 Val Doonican Walk Tall A country song not up my street: his mom told him to be confident which he says was very wise but it's now landed him in prison

 

 

1964 Group 15:

 

#2204 31/10/1964 The Four Pennies Black Girl 20 41-36-31-27-{20}-20-21-33-41-47-38-48->12

#2205 31/10/1964 The Kinks All Day And All Of The Night 2 42-18-7-{2}-2-5-7-16-19-26-19-23-33-45->14

#2206 31/10/1964 The Beach Boys When I Grow Up (To Be A Man) 27 45-44-40R(2)-33-{27}-37-45->7

#2207 31/10/1964 Martha And The Vandellas Dancing In The Street 28 46-40-38-32-30-{28}-31-48->8

#2208 07/11/1964 Jim Reeves There's A Heartache Following Me 6 33-19-11-7-8-{6}-11-18-21-18-20-28-40->13

#2209 07/11/1964 Freddie And The Dreamers I Understand 5 41-27-29-26-17-12-7-{5}-5-12-14-18-28-32-43->15

#2210 07/11/1964 The Merseybeats Last Night 40 43-{40}-42->3

#2211 07/11/1964 Joe Loss Orchestra March Of The Mods 31 50-35-36-42-46R(4)-{31}R(2)-41->7

#2212 14/11/1964 Gene Pitney I'm Gonna Be Strong 2 34-16-6-{2}-2-4-3-4-6-12-15-23-36-44->14

#2213 14/11/1964 Petula Clark Downtown 2 41-20-9-4-4-{2}-2-2-3-8-10-16-20-29-40->15

#2214 21/11/1964 The Rolling Stones Little Red Rooster 1 24-3-{1}-3-5-8-14-16-18-26-35-47->12

#2215 21/11/1964 Roy Orbison Pretty Paper 6 34-19-12-9-{6}-6-13-22-29-38-47->11

#2216 21/11/1964 Herman's Hermits Show Me Girl 19 39-25-{19}-19-20-25-32-30-50->9

#2217 21/11/1964 Doris Troy What'cha Gonna Do Bout It? 37 46-{37}-40-43-47-50-49-47R(3)-49-44-38-49->12

Edited September 26, 20231 yr by JulianT

Ooooh yes I remember 'Tokyo Melody' being a strong discovery for me too when listening through the 60s archives, it really stands out as a top 10 hit :wub: what a magical time capsule. 'Baby Love' is so embedded into my veins in comparison, so it's a difficult choice, but both wonderful records.

Make 3 of us then, Tokyo Melody was all over the telly that year and stands out in my memory, pretty sure I liked it more than Baby Love - which topped my charts in 1974 as a UK hit again - but it has been utterly forgotten since the 60's, never gets played anywhere, sadly.

 

Google Eye is fun, he's In Town is a lovely melody, It Hurts To Be In Love is good Pitney, Don't Bring Me Down a well-regarded rock track I've always quite liked since the 70's, bit none of those impacted on my Primary School awareness.

 

Losing You is amazing, love it. That's my record of the week, not even close.

 

The other key one would have been my fave record of that batch at the time - Val Doonican Walk Tall. Wholesome variety-show Val would never have ended up in prison, but I still have residual fondness for this one and Val's very-Jim-Reeves vocal tones. Not one I'd play very often these days though.

 

"the rest are still to be discovered in the near future". That's my new catch-phrase. Hmmm, it's a bit clumsy on reflection...

I’ve given one song a 10 in each year of the 60s so far so it’s time to give my 10 for this year. I’m not quite sure what it is about “Downtown” but I think it’s one of those cases where the vocals, the lyrics, the melody and the instruments combine in just the right way to create something magical. Some other great ones here too and The Kinks deserve to be highlighted for the first of their Holy Trinity of fabulous #2 hits.

 

10 Petula Clark Downtown Something about the gentle production and her crystal clear vocals: all is right in the world for a couple of minutes when this plays

9 The Kinks All Day And All Of The Night Big contrast between the rawness of this and the slickness of "Baby Love" that held it off #1 - brilliant follow up hit for them

8 Martha And The Vandellas Dancing In The Street This stalled at #28 but will go Top 5 in a few years - not a personal favourite but another Motown classic and such a soulful record

8 Roy Orbison Pretty Paper A marvellous Christmas record with beautiful lyrics - maybe overlooked today because the slow ballad style isn't seen as festive

7 Gene Pitney I'm Gonna Be Strong An incredibly dramatic heartbreak ballad with epic vocals - just when you think it has reached the climax it builds even more

7 Jim Reeves There's A Heartache Following Me A rather more gentle heartbreak ballad with a twinkly country style piano backing - but his smooth voice carries the story so well

6 The Rolling Stones Little Red Rooster 182nd #1: a cover and the only ever blues chart topper, so kudos for that and it's good but not the most memorable of pop records

5 Doris Troy What'cha Gonna Do Bout It? Only hit for this US R&B singer and it has a relentless nagging and echoey feel but it's a very soulful song with lovely harmonies

5 Herman's Hermits Show Me Girl The follow up to their chart topper and it's missing the dynamism and punchiness of that but a very pleasant melody nicely sung

4 The Merseybeats Last Night A sultry number with a nice Shadows style twangy guitar accomapniment - think the song is just a bit ordinary and forgettable

3 The Beach Boys When I Grow Up (To Be A Man) They're still developing their sound and this one isn't great: the lyrics are quite odd, especially the backing vocalists counting ages

3 Joe Loss Orchestra March Of The Mods Last hit for Joe and band - quite a well known tune and maybe good to listen to when rushing to the shop and it's about to close

2 The Four Pennies Black Girl Originally a folk song about a homeless girl: very different from their tender ballads but I find it a bit of a dirge and quite repetitive

1 Freddie And The Dreamers I Understand I do not understand why "Auld Lang Syne" is being mangled like this: gave the G Clefs version 3 years ago a 1 and this is no better

 

 

 

1964 Group 16:

 

#2218 28/11/1964 Adam Faith Message To Martha (Kentucky Bluebird) 12 34-21-14-{12}-14-12-15-16-22-37-45->11

#2219 28/11/1964 Lou Johnson Kentucky Bluebird (Send A Message To Martha) 36 {36}-37->2

#2220 28/11/1964 Twinkle Terry 4 39-30-24-15-12-10-{4}-4-4-7-10-17-22-28-47->15

#2221 28/11/1964 Ken Dodd So Deep Is The Night 31 41-{31}-33-34-34-33-34->7

#2222 28/11/1964 The Fourmost Baby I Need Your Lovin' 24 45-35-45-41-33-28-27-{24}-25-27-34-50->12

#2223 05/12/1964 The Beatles I Feel Fine 1 6-{1}-1-1-1-1-2-7-13-19-25-38-50->13

#2224 05/12/1964 The Shadows Genie With The Light Brown Lamp 17 34-22-21-28-24-20-{17}-23-30-38->10

#2225 05/12/1964 The Everly Brothers Gone Gone Gone 36 42-{36}-36-39-42R(2)-46->6

#2226 05/12/1964 Sounds Orchestral Cast Your Fate To The Wind 5 43-34-31-23-17-17-10-{5}-10-7-8-12-19-20-33-45->16

#2227 05/12/1964 Elvis Presley Blue Christmas 11 44-26-13-{11}-15-24-38->7

#2228 05/12/1964 The Bachelors No Arms Can Ever Hold You 7 46-16-8-{7}-8-11-13-16-22-28-34-47->12

#2229 05/12/1964 The Searchers What Have They Done To The Rain? 13 49-27-19-16-16-{13}-15-17-25-31-47->11

#2230 12/12/1964 Cliff Richard And The Shadows I Could Easily Fall 6 20-9-9-{6}-9-11-13-18-21-30-46->11

#2231 12/12/1964 P.J. Proby Somewhere 6 30-14-10-9-8-{6}-6-14-15-24-29-42->12

Edited September 26, 20231 yr by JulianT

Quite a few classics in there but my favourite has to be 'All Day And All Of The Night' :wub: after I became obsessed with The Beatles back in the day The Kinks were the next 60s group that took my fancy and that is one of my top singles of theirs, love the energy of that raw guitar sound.

I'm Gonna Be Strong is one of my "feeling sorry for myself" tunes to singalong to, epic, and Gene's absolute pinnacle, an awesome record with a stunning build to the climax. At the time Downtown would have been my fave, loved it, and still love it, it's pure London 60's beatboom and takes me back to my childhood when London was the pop culture centre of the world, suburban Chesham, underground day trips to London, and not too far off moving to massively deprived Liverpool for a year.

 

All Day And All Of The Night was one I got to know in the 80's, really, still rocks. Dancing In The Street is pure 1969 for me, when it was a big hit, still rate it a lot, though Bowie & Jagger did their best to ruin it for me, for life. Pretty Paper is a good record, deserves to be played more at Xmas. Prob needs a sleigh bell remix!

 

Little Red Rooster, never impressed me, just not bovvered. March Of The Mods was one my Aunty Eileen had, I think, and it was a well-known tune in the 60's, I still like it. When I Grow Up is an early Beach Boys good track, not an A list BB track, but pretty decent set amongst a chronological Greatest Hits set.

 

The rest all need playing to remind me, or discover. That's my new new-catchphrase....

I do love a great Christmas song and “Blue Christmas” is just that. I really enjoy the almost lazy way he performs it, and the unique way he sings “blue blue blue” - takes me back to “Heartbreak Hotel”. This is Elvis’ 6th win here but his 52nd signal so not a huge strike rate.

 

9 Elvis Presley Blue Christmas Missed the Top 10 like most of Elvis' singles around this time but a classic Christmas song which he puts his stamp on marvellously

8 The Beatles I Feel Fine 183rd #1: their 2nd straight Christmas chart topper; a maturer sound than their early ones but still fairly straightforward pop

7 The Searchers What Have They Done To The Rain? Not a huge hit but a lovely one here from The Searchers - very sweet melody and harmony and a simple twinkly accompaniment

7 Sounds Orchestral Cast Your Fate To The Wind A cover of a beautiful US jazz instrumental that made the Top 5 here; it's lovely with some very fine playing and improvisation

6 The Fourmost Baby I Need Your Lovin' A Four Tops cover but the original didn't chart here - the song is a great Motown classic and this is a good version by the UK band

6 The Everly Brothers Gone Gone Gone They're really struggling to get hits at the moment and this didn't too well but it's a very good lively rock song that deserved more

5 The Shadows Genie With The Light Brown Lamp I feel like their formula is becoming slightly tired - a nice instrumental with the usual arresting main melody, but lacks excitment

5 Cliff Richard And The Shadows I Could Easily Fall Quite a nice easy listening one here from Cliff with a very pleasant melody and background strumming; just all a bit comfortable

4 The Bachelors No Arms Can Ever Hold You Certainly one of their better records with a compelling drum beat and a convincing build, though still rather plods along I feel

4 Ken Dodd So Deep Is The Night This might be my favourite Ken hit to date too - starts off like his usual dirge but develops into a rather lovely if quite dated tune

3 Twinkle Terry She was only 16 when she had a big hit with this death song: has a certain appeal but the vocals and song are not my cup of tea

3 Lou Johnson Kentucky Bluebird (Send A Message To Martha) "Message To Martha" is the alternative of the Bacharach song "Message To Michael" - this version isn't too bad but not essential

2 P.J. Proby Somewhere A version of the "West Side Story" song released 3 years after the film for some reason - rather too country for my liking this

1 Adam Faith Message To Martha (Kentucky Bluebird) Gosh we really didn't need another version of this and it's actually not at all pleasant with really scratchy vocals from Adam

 

 

1964 Group 17:

 

#2232 12/12/1964 The Moody Blues Go Now! 1 35-32-27-19-10-3-2-{1}-3-4-10-18-27-50->14

#2233 12/12/1964 Sandie Shaw Girl Don't Come 3 38-18-13-11-7-5-{3}-8-9-18-31-35->12

#2234 12/12/1964 Brenda Lee Christmas Will Be Just Another Lonely Day 25 44-38-29-{25}-43->5

#2235 12/12/1964 Larry Cunningham And The Mighty Avons A Tribute To Jim Reeves 40 46-43-44-43-{40}-40-49-48-46R(4)-49-49->11

#2236 12/12/1964 Julie Rogers Like A Child 20 48-39-24-{20}-25-21-30-41-46->9

#2237 19/12/1964 Georgie Fame And The Blue Flames Yeh, Yeh 1 26-17-7-2-{1}-1-4-8-15-21-27-39->12

#2238 19/12/1964 The Joy Strings A Starry Night 34 35-35-{34}-45->4

#2239 19/12/1964 Gerry And The Pacemakers Ferry Cross The Mersey 8 37-31-22-14-9-{8}-9-12-12-18-25-36-48->13

#2240 19/12/1964 Lorne Greene Ringo 22 44-37-30-26-{22}-24-34-35->8

#2241 26/12/1964 Matt Monro For Mama 23 38-{23}-36-43->4

#2242 26/12/1964 Gunter Kallmann Choir Elizabethan Serenade 39 45-{39}-46->3

#2243 26/12/1964 The Long And The Short Choc Ice 40 49-{40}-49->3

#2244 02/01/1965 Francoise Hardy Et Meme 31 35-41-{31}-44-46->5

#2245 02/01/1965 Brian Poole And The Tremeloes Three Bells 17 41-37-27-21-{17}-17-21-23-30-45->10

Edited September 26, 20231 yr by JulianT

Agreed that the lyrics of 'I Feel Fine' are still quite straightforward but the riff is delicious *.*

I'm with Jade on I Feel Fine, the intro and those riffs are fab, love it and rediscovered it in 1976 when I bought the re-issued "green cover" version, I played it loud a lot. Record of the week for me.

 

I like the Elvis Xmas song, the Searchers song, Cliff's, and Adam faith's version of Message To Martha but none of the others ring a bell except Terry, which was voted one of the greatest 100 singles in 1974 Radio One poll - for some inexplicable reason cos it never showed up again in any poll, and got promptly forgotten.

 

The Four Tops Baby I Need Your Lovin' is stunning, it's a crime that wasn't a hit, but I def knew the song from around that time so I guess it must be the cover version. I was aware of the Four Tops version by the 70's though, and no other version is needed!

 

Which brings me to Sounds Orchestral: I seem to remember John Peel saying he was booked to host Top Of The Pops in the 60's, and John being John, he announced the song as Cast Your Wind To The Fate. At which point the producer got rather miffed and declared "I'll make sure you never work on the show again!" True to his word, till he moved on and in the 80's John Peel became best-ever presenter of Top Of The Pops. Not even close :D

As usual the last group of the year is somewhat patchy but I really like the Top 4 and Gerry and gang get their first win!

 

8 Gerry And The Pacemakers Ferry Cross The Mersey A wistful and soulful Liverpudlian anthem that has aged well and doesn't feel usurped by football like "You'll Never Walk Alone"

8 The Moody Blues Go Now! 185th #1: their 1st hit and it's a cover of an R&B song but a very fine one - the voices really come together and the emotion they bring is explosive

7 Georgie Fame And The Blue Flames Yeh, Yeh 184th #1: this doesn't have the emotional gravity of "Go Now" but is nonetheless a joyous record with infectious offbeat rhythms

7 Julie Rogers Like A Child I wasn't keen on her last much bigger hit so didn't have high hopes here but it's lovely and heartfelt with dramatic orchestration

6 Sandie Shaw Girl Don't Come Another big hit for Sandie and it's really good, though pretty similar to "Always Something…", even with another horn intro

6 Gunter Kallmann Choir Elizabethan Serenade A classical piece written by Ronald Binge for the coronation - not sure why this charted but this German choir does it very nicely

5 Francoise Hardy Et Meme Another Christmas offering from Brenda and I can see why "Rocking Around…" is a classic and not this, but it's still very charming

5 Brenda Lee Christmas Will Be Just Another Lonely Day 2nd French language hit for her and not quite as good as her debut but her voice is still exquisitely pure and it's easy listening

4 The Joy Strings A Starry Night 2nd and final hit for this group - a sweet festive song with twinkling and close harmonies; pleasant gift opening background music

3 Matt Monro For Mama More crooning with a big dramatic accompaniment - enjoy the eerie violins and bells on this but the song doesn't really get going

3 The Long And The Short Choc Ice Neither of this group's hits is on Spotify and the world isn't missing much: quite a repetitive song with strange rather rough vocals

2 Larry Cunningham And The Mighty Avons A Tribute To Jim Reeves Only hit for this Irish entertainer with snippets of Jim's hits and spoken parts: the thought is nice is all I can really say in its favour

2 Brian Poole And The Tremeloes Three Bells I quite enjoyed this song when I heard it in the 50s but was happy for it to stay there - this cover doesn't seem to add anything

1 Lorne Greene Ringo Only hit for the Canadian actor and a US #1 - combines speaking with gun violence themes and could hardly be less up my street

Edited September 26, 20231 yr by JulianT

'Downtown', 'All Day and All Night', 'Go Now' some good picks from those past few sections. Agree to disagree on that Elvis Christmas one though, one of my least faves, a bit droopy for my liking :P

Agree to disagree on that Elvis Christmas one though, one of my least faves, a bit droopy for my liking :P

Aww “Blue Christmas” has so much character! :)

Well, let's do the nostalgic ones first:

 

Ferry Cross The Mersey was 100% relevant for me at the time, we were off to Liverpool for a year to live with my grandma (and then in a one-bed flat) while dad was in Aden. It was an anthem then and it's an anthem now, what a tune. Record Of The batch. And in those days you could one of several ferries across the Mersey, to New Brighton, Birkenhead, Wallassey too I think. These days there's just a tiny token ferry for tourists dwarfed by massive ocean liners dropping off day tourists off to the Cavern and Beatles musuem, and oldest UK Chinatown and the Liver Building and other stuff.

 

Go Now is fab, liked it then, loved it since, Denny Laine went on to greater things, and oddly so did The Moody Blues without him. Yeh Yeh gave birth to Matt Bianco in the 80's, inspirationally, and Georgie was a fave of mine in the 60's, but have only ever quite liked this one. Elizabethan Serenade was my other major fave of this bunch, loved that tune, recorded it off the radio in Singapore 6 years later, and loved the Mantovani version that started it all off just as much. I have many times considered bunging this one in the BJSC just to see if I can get the impossible Nil Points :lol: I do still love it though, and also enjoyed Boris Gardiner's reggae version.

 

Of the rest Sandie Shaw's Girl Don't Come sort of sounded familiar when I bought her Greatest Hits in 1974 or so, and it's one of my fave records of hers, love it, so cool. 3rd best of this bunch. Ringo I also knew, Lorne Greene was the star of Bonanza, a huge Western TV series, and future star of the sci-fi Star Wars rip-off TV show Battlestar So-craptica. I think that was what it was called. It was a long time ago....in a galaxy not far enough away.

 

The rest are still to be heard by me yet...

And so another year is over. The average score for 1964 was 5.48, the 2nd highest so far after 1963.

 

Gold Medal: Downtown - Petula Clark

 

Silver Medal: You Really Got Me - The Kinks

 

Bronze Medal: It’s Over - Roy Orbison

 

Also receiving 9s:

I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself - Dusty Springfield

Walk On By - Dionne Warwick

The Girl From Ipanema - Stan Getz And Joao Gilberto

The House Of The Rising Sun - The Animals

A Hard Day’s Night - The Beatles

All Day And All Of The Night - The Kinks

No Particular Place To Go - Chuck Berry

She’s Not There - The Zombies

Come To Me - Julie Grant

Louie Louie - The Kingsmen

Blue Christmas - Elvis Presley

My Guy - Merry Wells

 

Worst hit of the year: Hello Dolly - Frankie Vaughan

 

1965 Group 1:

 

#2246 09/01/1965 Them Baby, Please Don't Go 10 39-19-11-11-11-{10}-16-21-29->9

#2247 09/01/1965 The Seekers  I'll Never Find Another You 1 48-33-32-19-14-5-2-{1}-1-2-4-6-10-15-19-24-19-22-26-33-28-41-45->23

#2248 16/01/1965 Manfred Mann Come Tomorrow 4 26-14-5-{4}-6-8-16-19-29->9

#2249 16/01/1965 Cilla Black You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' 2 28-12-{2}-5-9-13-22-32-40->9

#2250 16/01/1965 Del Shannon Keep Searchin 3 30-19-12-6-{3}-4-6-16-20-29-48->11

#2251 16/01/1965 Billy Fury I'm Lost Without You 16  32-29-24-{16}-16-20-26-38-43-38->10

#2252 16/01/1965 Betty Everett Getting Mighty Crowded 29  34-35-{29}-30-32-35-49->7

#2253 16/01/1965 The Righteous Brothers You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' 1 35-20-3-{1}-1-3-4-13-22-37->10

#2254 16/01/1965 Dodie West Goin' Out Of My Head 39  {39}-45-43-42->4

#2255 16/01/1965 The Shangri-Las Leader Of The Pack 11 42-27-20-18-{11}-14-23-26-36->9

#2256 16/01/1965 The Dave Clark Five Everybody Knows 37  47-41-38-{37}->4

#2257 16/01/1965 Chuck Berry The Promised Land 26  49-34-{26}-26-31-39->6

#2258 23/01/1965 The Kinks Tired Of Waiting For You 1 31-6-2-2-{1}-5-10-15-25-38->10

#2259 23/01/1965 Val Doonican The Special Years 7 37-21-13-{7}-7-7-7-12-15-16-24-38-49R(2)->13

#2260 23/01/1965 The Beach Boys Dance, Dance, Dance 24  39-31-{24}-26-27-39->6