Topic: Toppermost of the Poppermost - UK Number Ones : part 2 - The 1960s

[daf]

Welcome my friends, to the show that never ends - as we move into . . .
THE SWINGING SIXTIES
(. . . when the Beatles turn up in three years time)

But before that, Let's explore the mysterious, mixed up, muddled up, shook up world of . . .

THE SINGING SIFTIES

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
A note on the charts :

The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles - generally considered to be the authoritative reference source for the UK Singles Chart - used the New Musical Express (NME) chart from November 1952 to March 1960, and the Record Retailer (later Music Week) chart thereafter. It could be said that this division is misleading, since the Record Retailer chart was little known until it was adopted by the BBC in 1969 and that by adopting this chart as its standard, the editors had a non-consensual view. An example often given is the case of The Beatles' second single "Please Please Me" which was recognised as a number one hit by every other publicly available chart of the time, but not by Record Retailer and therefore not by British Hit Singles.

In light of this, I'll use the 'Official' (Record Retailer) chart as the main sequence, but also include ALL the missing number ones that appeared on the NME chart - which I'll highlight in BROWN for easy identification.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1950's thread  /  1950's Song Index

[daf]

We're going where the sun shines brightly, We're going where the sea is blue,
We've seen it in the movies, Now let's see if it's true, it's . . .

95.  Michael Holliday - Starry Eyed



From : 24 – 30 January 1960
Weeks : 1
Flip side : The Steady Game
Bonus : TV Appearance

"Starry Eyed" was another number one hit for Holliday in 1960 but found less success with his following recordings of "Little Boy Lost" (#50) and Hoagy Carmichael's "Skylark" (#39). All of these songs were done in a smooth, soothing style of crooning, almost a throwback to the 1940s and very beguiling to adult listeners seeking an alternative to the skiffle and rock & roll sounds that their children were listening to.

Holliday's albums seemed aimed at those older listeners -- he recorded five LPs between 1958 and 1962, all of which were far more steeped in nostalgia than his singles, most of which were covers of contemporary songs.

Holliday's chart entries ended after 1960, but his success up to that point was self-sustaining. He was a popular television and stage entertainer and always bidded fair for a comeback.

Further singles included : Stay In Love ‎(1960)  /  The One-Finger Symphony ‎(1960)  /  Dream Boy Dream (1961)  /  I Don't Want You To See Me Cry  (1962)  /  Drums (1963)  and  Just To Be With You Again ‎ (1963)

His private life, however, was apparently as unsettled as his public persona seemed smooth and relaxed. At the end of October of 1963, the British entertainment world was shocked by the news that Michael Holliday had died suddenly in a hospital in Croydon, by an apparent drug overdose.

EMI's Columbia Records released a tribute album in his memory, featuring the top vocal stars on the label, and posthumous singles by Holliday appeared in 1964, including Dear Heart and My Last Date.

Michael Holliday was a stylistic anachronism from the outset of his career. He stood in stark defiance of the changes that were taking place in music around him. His voice had a seductive power that, at its best, cut across cultural lines and is difficult to deny even a half-century after his passing.

"Starry Eyed" was written by Earl Shuman and Mort Garson and produced by Norrie Paramor. Entering the charts on 1 January 1960, it spent 12 weeks there altogether. It was the first UK No. 1 single of the 1960s.

Other Versions include : Gary Stites (1959)  /  Duffy Power (1959) /  Rikki Henderson (1960)  /  Viola Wills (1980)  /  China Crisis (2008)

Mort Garson was born in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. He later moved to New York City where he studied music at the Juilliard School of Music. He worked as a pianist and arranger before being called into the Army near the end of World War Two. After leaving the forces he became an active session musician, with an ability to carry out any or all of the musical chores on any given session: composer, arranger, orchestrator, conductor, and pianist as required.

In 1957, he co-wrote Brenda Lee's minor hit "Dynamite" with Tom Glazer, and he also co-wrote Cliff Richard's 1961 UK hit "Theme for a Dream". In 1963, with lyricist Bob Hilliard, he wrote one of the great lounge hits of the 1960s, "Our Day Will Come", a hit for Ruby & The Romantics.

Garson spent the mid-1960s on a rapid succession of accompaniment and arrangement jobs Doris Day, Mel Tormé, Esther Phillips, Julie London, Nancy Wilson, Chris Montez, Leslie Uggams, Joanie Sommers and many others. He was a favorite of producers when the job involved soft pop vocal groups and string ensembles, and was responsible for a wide variety of easy listening records, including 'Bossa Nova for All Ages' by the Continentals, 'Symphony for the Soul' by the Total Eclipse, and Sea Drift by the 'Dusk 'Til Dawn Orchestra'.

With Perry Botkin Jr., he arranged and conducted the Hollyridge Strings' Play the Beatles Songbook album series and their Play the Hits of Simon & Garfunkel.  He arranged The Sandpipers' 1966 hit, "Guantanamera", and in 1968, he was responsible for the string arrangements on Glen Campbell's international hit "By the Time I Get to Phoenix".

In the late 1960s, Garson became one of the first arrangers and composers to work with the newly available Moog synthesizer, and his electronic albums from the period are now highly prized among collectors and exotica fans. A suite of Garson compositions with words by Jacques Wilson, released on Elektra Records, The Zodiac : Cosmic Sounds - Celestial Counterpoint with Words and Music includes tracks for each of the 12 signs of the zodiac. While Garson was writing the music, he was introduced to Robert Moog and decided to incorporate his invention into the album.

Another moog album, 'Electronic Hair Pieces', covered songs from the hippie-influenced musical, Hair, while 'The Wozard of Iz' was a psychedelic satire based on The Wizard of Oz.

In 1971, he composed an entirely instrumental electronic Black Mass album, released on Uni Records under the pseudonym Lucifer, that again featured the Moog. Garson also released, in 1972, a record of music-and-moans to capitalize on the best-seller at the time, The Sensuous Woman by "Z". Mother Earth's Plantasia, which was released in 1976, was a series of Moog compositions designed to be played for growing plants.

On This Day :

25 January : Rutland Boughton, British composer, dies age 82
28 January : "The Goon Show"'s final episode on BBC radio

[purlieu]

Not the most auspicious start to a decade ever, is it?

[The Culture Bunker]

Not the most auspicious start to a decade ever, is it?

Wait till you see how it ends.

[purlieu]

Weird to think there's less than ten years separating that and Led Zeppelin.

[machotrouts]

You have to remember, the 1950s hadn't really started yet.

[kalowski]

Wait till you see how it ends.

It's some nonsense like Marmalade's Oh-Bla-Dee cover or Mungo Jerry or some shit.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

It's some nonsense like Marmalade's Oh-Bla-Dee cover or Mungo Jerry or some shit.

It's far, far worse than that.

[Natnar]

It's far, far worse than that.

It's Rolf and his Little Boys isn't it?

[daf]

Who can take a sunrise, Sprinkle it with dew,
Cover it with chocolate and a miracle or two, its . . .

96.  Anthony Newley - Why



From : 31 January – 27 February 1960
Weeks : 4
Flip side : Anything You Wanna Do

Anthony Newley was born in the London district of Hackney on 24 September 1931, the son of Frances Grace Newley and George Kirby, a shipping clerk. He was Jewish through his maternal grandmother. His parents, who had never married, separated during his early childhood, and his aunt and uncle brought him up through unofficial adoption. During the Second World War he was evacuated to a foster home in the country area safe from the Blitz aerial bombing attacks on London.

By the age of fourteen was working as an office boy for an Advertising Agency in Fleet Street. After reading an ad in The Daily Telegraph, headed "Boy Actors Urgently Wanted" he applied to the prestigious Italia Conti Stage School, only to discover that the fees were too high. Nevertheless, after a brief audition, he was offered a job as an office boy on a salary of 30 shillings (£1.50) a week plus tuition at the school. While serving tea one afternoon he caught the eye of producer Geoffrey de Barkus.

Newley's first major film roles were Dusty Bates in The Adventures Of Dusty Bates (1947) and as Dick Bultitude in Peter Ustinov's Vice Versa (1948) followed by the Artful Dodger in David Lean's Oliver Twist (1948). He made a successful transition from child star to actor in British films of the 1950s, his early career broken by a spell of national service.

During the 1950s he appeared in many British radio programmes, and for a time appeared as Cyril in Floggits starring Elsie and Doris Waters. However, it was probably the 1959 film Idle on Parade that most changed his career direction. In the film, he played a rock singer called up for national service; the story was somewhat inspired by Elvis Presley having recently been drafted for army service in the United States.

Newley's successful pop music career as a vocalist began in May 1959 with the song "I've Waited So Long" (b/w "Sat'day Night Rock-A-Boogie"), a number 3 hit in the UK charts thanks to the exposure it received as being featured in the film 'Idol on Parade'. This was quickly followed by his number 6 hit "Personality" (b/w "My Blue Angel"), "Someone To Love" (b/w "It's All Over") from the film 'Jazz Boat', and then his first number 1 in early 1960: "Why" (originally a 1959 US hit for Frankie Avalon).

"Why" was originally recorded by Frankie Avalon in 1959. The song was to No. 1 in the U.S. between 28 December 1959 and January 2 1960, making it the last No. 1 single of the 1950s, and the first of the 1960s. It was written by and Peter De Angelis and Robert "Bob" Marcucci (who was Avalon's manager)

The melody is based on a melody from an old Italian song. The Avalon version features an uncredited female singer (alleged to be Fran Lori), heard in the repeat of the first four lines of the first part of the song, with Avalon replying, "Yes, I love you".

Frankie Avalon's version reached #20 in the UK. His other UK chart entries include - 'Gingerbread' (1958 - #30)  and 'Venus' (1959 - #16). His last chart placing was 'Don't Throw Away All those Teardrops' #37 in 1960.

Anthony Newley covered the song shortly after Avalon, and his version went to No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart in February 1960.

Other Versions include : Frankie Avalon (1959)  /  a French version by Dalida as 'Bras Dessus Bras Dessous' (1960)  /  Donny Osmond (1972)  / a sad robot (2015)

On This Day :

3 February : British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan makes his "wind of change" speech in South Africa
4 February : Tim Booth, singer (James), born in Bradford, West Yorkshire
7 February : Steve Bronski, (Bronski Beat), born in Glasgow
8 February : Giles Gilbert Scott, British architect, dies of Lung Cancer, age 79
9 February : Holly Johnson, (Frankie Goes To Hollywood), born in Liverpool
10 February : "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" closes at Winter Garden NYC after 532 performances
11 February : Lionel Bart's musical "Fings ain't wot they used t'be" opens at the Garrick Theatre, London (it would run for 886 performances)
13 February : "Beg, Borrow or Steal" opens at Martin Beck Theater NYC (it flops after 5 performances)
15 February : Mikey Craig, (Culture Club), born in Hammersmith, London
19 February : Prince Andrew born in Buckingham Palace, London
25 February : John Cage's "Music For Amplified Toy Pianos" premiers
26 February : Jaz Coleman, (Killing Joke), born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
27 February : Paul Humphreys, (OMD), born in London

[DrGreggles]

Any mention of Anthony Newley requires the posting of his spoken word album:
'Anthony Newley Tells The Ultimate Love Story For You', as it contains probably the worst tracklisting of all time.

[machotrouts]

a sad robot (2015)

A major early influence on David Bowie, of course.

Any mention of Anthony Newley requires the posting of his spoken word album:
'Anthony Newley Tells The Ultimate Love Story For You', as it contains probably the worst tracklisting of all time.

That this actually gets worse after the tracklisting is an outstanding achievement:

To begin, place this record on your record player, dim the lights, and take your favorite member of the opposite sex in your arms. If you're still fully dressed at the end of the record, pehaps you should discuss your early childhood with your analyst.

ANTHONY NEWLEY WILL MAKE YOU FUCK

[daf]

Any mention of Anthony Newley requires the posting of his spoken word album (...) as it contains probably the worst tracklisting of all time.

And by 'worst', you surely mean 'best' - side two is a particular insane treat!

(I was keeping my powder dry on this gold nugget for the second Newley number one, but as it's already come up, I'll include it here)  :

In 1971 he released the magnificently barmy concept poetry album "Anthony Newley Tells the Ultimate Love Story For You" ('from the Book by Jennings Cobb')

 

The titles give a flavour of the increasingly hysterical depths plumbed along the journey :
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
You And Me - Inevitable
I Flooded You With My Love   
What Sets You Apart?   
There Is No Lyric For The Music Of You   
We Took Our Love Outside      
Feline, Wild And Domesticated
I Am A Fool   
Ocean, Great My Love   
Darling, It's Time   
The Secret Places
- - - -
I Want You For My Wife   
So That Now Remains Forever
Your Mouth-shaping Demands Of One Syllable   
The Anatripsis Of Love   
We Climb Yesterday's Stairway      
That Errant Whore, Time
The Eternal Instant Of Our Parting   
Couples - I Do Not Envy Them
I Reside In Hell   
Will The Windows Continue To Mock Me?
Memoria
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Can't find a sodding note of it online, but here's a bit I taped from Danny Baker's Radio 1 show - (from around 1996?) - featuring a dramatic reading of the titles and a short extract from 'Will the Windows continue to Mock Me' - here

[purlieu]

Bloody hell!

Crikey the song is twee though.

[Satchmo Distel]

Was Bowie's 'Time' inspired by Newley's 'That Errant Whore, Time'?

[falafel]

To begin, place this record on your record player, dim the lights, and take your favorite member of the opposite sex in your arms.

Mum?

[daf]

Well, I sound like-a Buddy Holly, 'cause it's raining in my heh-heart, its . . .

97.  Adam Faith - Poor Me



From : 28 February – 12 March 1960
Weeks : 2
Flip side : The Reason
Bonus : Brucie Duet

With his second number one, "Poor Me" and "Someone Else's Baby" (a UK No. 2), Faith established himself as a prominent rival to Cliff Richard in British popular music.

A UK variety tour was followed by a 12-week season at Blackpool Hippodrome in the summer of 1960 and an appearance on the Royal Variety Show.

Faith's next release was a double A-side single, "Made You" / "Johnny Comes Marching Home", which made the Top Ten, despite a BBC ban for 'a lewd and salacious lyric', followed by 'How About that' which reached #4 in September. His 1960 novelty record "Lonely Pup (In a Christmas Shop", released to coincide with his Christmas pantomime, reached #4 and gained a silver disc.

His début album Adam was released on 4 November 1960 to critical acclaim for the inventiveness of Barry's arrangements and Faith's own performances. The material ranged from standards such as "Summertime", "Hit The Road to Dreamland" and "Singin' in the Rain" to more contemporary songs, such as Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman's "I'm a Man", Johnny Worth's "Fare Thee Well My Pretty Maid", and Howard Guyton's "Wonderful Time".

Still 20 and living with his parents, he bought a house in Hampton Court for £6,000, where he moved with his family from their house in Acton. In December 1960, he became the first pop artist to appear on the TV interview series Face to Face with John Freeman.

In 1961, Faith made 'What a Whopper', a comedy film about the Loch Ness monster, written by Terry Nation, which had music by John Barry; Faith sang the title song and 'The Time Has Come' which was a Top 5 hit.

Between 1961 and 1962 the singles continued with - 'Who Am I?' (#5)  / 'Easy Going Me' (#12)  / 'Don't You Know It' (#12)  / 'Lonesome'  (#12)  / 'As You Like It' (#5)  / 'Don't That Beat All' (#8)  / and  'Baby Take A Bow' (#22) 

His final Top Ten hit in the UK was "The First Time" (#5 in October 1963) - which was also his first single with his backing group, The Roulettes, acquired to give Faith's music a harder 'beat group' edge more in keeping with the Merseybeat sound at that time sweeping the British charts.

Benefitting from the enthusiasm of American audiences for The Dave Clark Five and 'Tottenham Sound' at the height of the British Invasion in 1964–65, Faith managed to register one single in the Top 40 of the US charts, "It's Alright" - and appeared on the top pop show Shindig

Despite a late flourish with a top 12 hit 'Message To Martha' in December 1964, his later singles - 'If He Tells You'  /  'I Love Being In Love With You'  /  'Stop Feeling Sory For Yourself'  / and 'Someone's Taken Maria Away' all struggled to reach the top 30, and 'Cheryl's Going Home' from October 1966 proved to be his final visit to the charts - at #46. In 1967, he recorded "Cowman, Milk Your Cow" which was written by Barry Gibb and Robin Gibb and released as a single in September that same year.

After a final single in 1968 - 'You Make My Life Worthwhile' - he parted company with EMI and concentrated on acting.  In autumn 1969, he took the lead in a touring production of Billy Liar.

He starred as the eponymous hero in the 1970s LWT television series Budgie, about an ex-convict, but his career declined after a motor car accident in which he almost lost a leg. He restarted in 1974 with a role as the manipulative manager of rock star David Essex, in Stardust. He was nominated for a BAFTA award.

In 1974 he returned to music for a couple of singles - 'Star Song' (featuring Paul & Linda McCartney from Wings), and "I Survive" which made the Top 30 of the "Capital Countdown" on London's Capital Radio, and an appearance on Top of the Pops eventually peaking at #51.

In the 1970s, he went into music management, managing Leo Sayer among others. Sayer said in an interview with British newspaper The Daily Telegraph that "He handled everything for me, but although he was a very good mentor, he was less trustworthy with my money. In the end, Adam Faith made more out of Leo Sayer than I did."

By the 1980s, Faith had become an investor and financial adviser, and was hired as a financial journalist by the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday. Faith and partner Paul Killik were the principal investors behind UK television station Money Channel. When the channel closed in June 2002, Faith was declared bankrupt, owing a reported £32 million.

In 2003, he became ill after his evening stage performance in the touring production of 'Love and Marriage' at Stoke-on-Trent, and died of a heart attack early the next morning, 8 March 2003, at North Staffordshire Hospital.

His last words reportedly were "Channel 5 is all shit, isn't it? Christ, the crap they put on there. It's a waste of space."

"Poor Me" was written by Johnny Worth and, future James Bond film composer, John Barry

"Poor Me" was released when the previous single, "What Do You Want?", was still at number two in the UK Singles Chart. The song was originally rejected by several music publishers in its original incarnation as "Poor Man".

It was felt by some that Faith and Barry contrived a backing and singing style that leaned too heavily on the style of Buddy Holly, and "Poor Me" was likened to his hit single, "Heartbeat".

Other Versions include : Johnny Worth (1960)  /  Harry Glück as 'Nur Sie' (1960)  /  The Hunters (1961)

On This Day :

5 March : Elvis Presley officially discharged from active duty in US Army
5 March : Alister Hardy publicly announces his Aquatic Ape Hypothesis
7 March : Ivan Lendl, tennis player, born in Ostrava, Czechoslovakia
8 March : "Greenwillow" opens at Alvin Theater NYC for 95 performances

[purlieu]

[Johnboy]

Great work, Daf, loving it.

[machotrouts]

Is this the second shortest UK #1 single? Adam Faith racking up a total of, what, 3 minutes and 20 seconds at #1 across two separate songs? That's not even one full '...Baby One More Time'.

Nice to hear John Barry getting to rehearse that James Bond 'ahhhh, ahhhhh, AHHHHH, ahhhhh' chord progression two years early.

[daf]

Off for a shit in the woods, its . . .

98.  Johnny Preston - Running Bear



From : 13 – 26 March 1960
Weeks : 2
Flip side :  My Heart Knows
bonus : TV Appearance

Born as John Preston Courville on 18 August 18, 1939 in Port Arthur, Texas, of Cajun ancestry, Preston sang in high school choral contests throughout the state of Texas. He formed a rock and roll band called The Shades, who were seen performing at a local club by J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson.

Richardson offered Preston the chance to record a teenage tragedy song he had written, "Running Bear", which they did in Houston, Texas, in 1958. The record was released after the Big Bopper's death in the same plane crash that killed Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens. It entered the U.S. chart in October 1959, reaching number one in January 1960 and remaining there for three weeks. It was a transatlantic chart-topper, reaching #1 in the United Kingdom in March 1960. The sales of the record exceeded one million copies, earning Preston his first gold disc.

Preston quickly followed up with another hit called "Cradle of Love" which reached #2 in the UK, "Feel So Fine"  (#18)  /  and his final UK chart entry - "Charming Billy" (#34).

His 1961 singles included : "(I Want A) Rock and Roll Guitar"  /  "Leave My Kitten Alone"  /  "Free Me"  /   and  "Willy Walk". . . (Willy Walk!!!)

Further flops followed, until he had the bright idea to record a remake of his number 1 in 1965 as Running Bear '65 . . . it also flopped.

His final single was the aptly titled "I've Just Been Wastin' My Time" released in 1969.

After years of heart-related illnesses, Preston had coronary artery bypass surgery in 2010. He died of heart failure in Beaumont, Texas, on Friday 4 March 2011. He was buried at Oak Bluff Memorial Park in Port Neches, Texas.

"Running Bear" was written by Jiles Perry Richardson (a.k.a. The Big Bopper) and sung most famously by Johnny Preston.

Richardson was a friend of Preston and offered "Running Bear" to him after hearing him perform in a club. Preston recorded the song at the Gold Star Studios in Houston, Texas in 1958.

The 1959 recording featured background vocals by Richardson and George Jones and the session's producer Bill Hall, who provided the "Indian chanting" of "uga-uga" during the three verses, as well as the "Indian war cries" at the start and end of the record. The saxophone was played by Link Davis.

Preston was signed to Mercury Records, and "Running Bear" was released in August 1959, seven months after Richardson's death in the plane crash that also killed Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens.

The song tells the story of Running Bear, a "young Indian brave", and Little White Dove, an "Indian maid". The two are in love but are separated by two factors : Their tribes' hatred of each other, and a raging river.

Other Versions include :
Smiley Wilson (1959)  /  Mac Wiseman (1960)  /  A German version  by Gus Backus as "Brauner Bär und Weiße Taube" (1960)  /  A Dutch version by Het Cocktail Trio as "Grote Beer" (1960)  /  Dick Jordan (1960)  / Pat Boone (1961)  /  George Jones (1962)  /  Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys (1968)  /  Sonny James (1969)  /  Browning Bryant (1969)  /  Louis Armstrong (1970)  / rib-tickling parody version Jim Nesbitt as "Runnin' Bare" (1970)  /  The Guess Who (1972)  /  The Youngbloods (1972)  /  Tom Jones (1973)  /  Mud (1974)  /  Danny Davis and the Nashville Brass (1975)  /  Lena Martell (1977)  /  Stiff Little Fingers (1977)

On This Day :

13 March : Adam Clayton, (U2), born in Chinnor, Oxfordshire
16 March : Jenny Eclair, comedian, born in Kuala Lumpur, Federation of Malaya
18 March : 5th Eurovision Song Contest: Jacqueline Boyer for France wins singing "Tom Pillibi" in London
19 March : "Redhead" closes at 46th St Theater NYC after 455 performances
21 March : Guy Chadwick, (House of Love), born in Hanover, Germany
21March : Ayrton Senna, (Formula 1 world champion), born in São Paulo, Brazil
24 March : Nena, (99 Luftballons), born Gabriele Susanne Kerner in Hagen, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany
24 March : Grayson Perry, artist, born in Chelmsford Essex

[purlieu]

I'm not sure that's going to win any awards for the most sensitive portrayal of Native American culture ever.

[machotrouts]

Separated by a frankly quite still-looking river: the tragic love story of Little White Dove and Massive Purple Cunt

[daf]

Come and get your black bin-bags, They're on offer till December, its . . .

99.  Lonnie Donegan - My Old Man's A Dustman



From : 27 March – 23 April 1960
Weeks : 4
Flip side : The Golden Vanity

Following his second number 1,  'Gambling Man' / 'Putting on the Style' in 1957, Donnegan had several high charting singles, including : 'Jack O'Diamonds'  and 'Grand Coulee Dam', but struck gold with his 1959 single - 'Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour (On The Bedpost Overnight?)'  which became a Top 5 hit in the USA, as well as reaching #3 in the UK.

He turned to music hall style with "My Old Man's a Dustman" which was not well received by skiffle fans and unsuccessful in America on Atlantic in 1960. But it reached number one in the UK. Donegan's group had a flexible line-up, but was generally Denny Wright or Les Bennetts (of Les Hobeaux and Days of Skiffle, led by singer Dave George), playing lead guitar and singing harmony, Micky Ashman or Pete Huggett – later Steve Jones – on upright bass, Nick Nichols – later Pete Appleby, Mark Goodwin and Ken Rodway (now a Christian author and minister) on drums or percussion, and Donegan playing acoustic guitar or banjo and singing the lead.

By 1963, the new broom of "Beat Music" was beginning to to sweep the old guard aside and none of his subsequent singles such as 'Lemon Tree', '500 Miles Away From Home', and 'Beans In My Ears' saw him trouble the charts.

Despite this, he was chosen to write and record the England World Cup Song for 1966 - World Cup Willie - released a year early in 1965 . . . for some reason!

As Donegan found himself becoming unfashionable through the late 1960s and 1970s, he began to play the American cabaret circuit.

There was a reunion concert with the original Chris Barber band in Croydon in June 1975. A bomb scare meant that the recording had to be finished in the studio, after an impromptu concert in the car park.

He had his first heart attack in 1976 while in the United States and had quadruple bypass surgery. He returned to attention in 1978 when he recorded his early songs, such as Rock Island Line and 'Digging My Potatoes' with Rory Gallagher, Ringo Starr, Elton John and Brian May for the album Putting on the Style.  A follow-up featuring Albert Lee saw Donegan in less familiar country and western vein.

By 1980, he was making regular concert appearances again, and another album with Barber followed. In 1983 Donegan toured with Billie Jo Spears, and in 1984, he made his theatrical debut in a revival of the 1920 musical Mr Cinders.

Donegan appeared on Van Morrison's album The Skiffle Sessions – Live in Belfast 1998, an acclaimed album featuring him singing with Morrison and Chris Barber. Donegan also played at Glastonbury Festival in 1999, and was made an MBE in 2000.

Donegan died on 3 November 2002, at age 71, after a heart attack in Market Deeping, Lincolnshire mid-way through a UK tour

"My Old Man's a Dustman" was written by Lonnie Donegan, Peter Buchanan (Donegan's manager), and Beverly Thorn; Thorn was not credited on the original release. According to his autobiography, "Beverley Thorn" was a pseudonym of Leslie Bricusse, the songwriter who wrote hit shows with Anthony Newley.

It probably has its origins in "My Father Was a Fireman", a song sung by British World War I troops. The two songs share a lyrical similarity in their reference to "gorblimey trousers".

A song beginning with the line "My old man's a dustman", but otherwise sharing no lyrics with Donegan's, is recorded as a playground song in the 1956 novel My Old Man's a Dustman by Wolf Mankowitz.

The song represented a change in style for Donegan, away from American folk and towards British music hall, with a melody borrowed from Stravinsky's Petrushka.

On 16 March 1960, through Pye Records in the UK, Donegan released a version of the song recorded live at the Gaumont cinema in Doncaster on 20 February.The B-side was a version of the English folk song "The Golden Vanity". The single reached number one in the UK Singles Chart on 31 March and maintained that position for four weeks. It also reached number one in Ireland, Australia and New Zealand and on the Canadian CHUM Chart, selling over a million copies in total.

Other Version include :
Toby Rix (1960)  / a parody version, "My Old Man's An All-Black"  by the Howard Morrison Quartet  (1960) /  Bee Gees (1963)   / another parody, "My Old Man" (1963) by The Smothers Brothers  and on their TV show (1968)  /  The Irish Rovers (1966)

On This Day :

27 March :  Ian Whyte, Scottish composer and conductor (BBC Scottish Orchestra), dies at 58
28 March : Chris Barrie, (Red Dwarf), born Christopher Jonathan Brown in Hanover, West Germany
31 March : Gore Vidal's "Best Man" premieres in NYC
1 April : Michael Praed, (Robin Hood), born Michael David Prince in Berkeley, Gloucestershire
2 April : Linford Christie, Olympic sprinter, born in Saint Andrew, Jamaica
10 April : Katrina Leskanich, (Katrina and the Waves), born in Topeka, Kansas
11 April : Jeremy Clarkson, (oaf), born in Doncaster, Yorkshire
14 April : "Bye Bye Birdie" opens at Martin Beck Theater NYC for 607 performances
15 April : Guy Carawan sings "We Shall Overcome" to a Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in Raleigh - popularising the song as a protest anthem
17 April : Eddie Cochran,  dies at 21 in a car crash while travelling through Chippenham, Wiltshire in a taxi during his UK tour.
20 April : "From A to Z" opens at Plymouth Theater NYC for 21 performances
21 April : Brasilia becomes capital of Brazil
22 April : Gary Rhodes, (TV cook), born in London, England
23 April : 1st performance of Ferde Grofe's "San Francisco Suite"

[famethrowa]

Would just like to register Adam Faith's presence in Minder On The Orient Express. My mam was all "oooh 'e were a proper popstar, him", I thought he was a bit scary.

[purlieu]

Come and get your black bin-bags, They're on offer till December, its . . .

99.  Lonnie Donegan - My Old Man's A Dustman

Despite being very familiar with the chorus of the song, I've never actually heard this before. I enjoyed that a ridiculous amount, especially the toadstool joke.

[daf]

Would just like to register Adam Faith's presence in Minder On The Orient Express.

Must have been around the same time (1985) as his appearance on Noel Edmond's 'This is your Life' knockoff  : The Time of your Life

[machotrouts]

A comedy record. Barry Admin move thread to Comedy Chat immediately

This song was recorded with an audience, but none of the lyrics online include their reactions, so I've helpfully transcribed them.

now here's a little story,

[LAUGHTER]

to tell it is a must

[LAUGHTER]

about an unsung hero,
that

[LAUGHTER]

mooooves away your dust.

some people make a fortune,
ooothers, earn a mint

[MILD LAUGHTER]

my old man don't earn much,
in fact, he's flippin'...

[ONE WOMAN SCREAMS IN ECSTASY]

skint.

ohh, my old man's a dustman
he wears a dustman's hat
he wears gorblimey trousers
and he lives in a council flat

he looks a proper 'nana
in his great big hobnail boots
he's got such a job to pull them up
that he calls 'em daisy roots

[LAUGHTER]

some folks give tips at Christmas
and some of them forget

[BIG LAUGH FROM ONE GUY, AS IF TO GO, YEAH! I DO FORGET TO TIP THE DUSTMAN ON CHRISTMAS. THAT'S ME. I'VE BEEN SEEN]

so when he picks their bins up,
he spills some on the step

now one old man got nasty
and to the council wrote
next time my old man went round there
he punched him up the throat. HEY!

[NOT REALLY ANY LAUGH THERE. JUST A BIT MUCH. PURE VIOLENCE]

ohh, my old man's a dustman
he wears a dustman's hat
he wears gorblimey trousers
and he lives in a council flat

I say, I say, Les
yes?
I, er, I found a police dog in my dustbin
well, how do you know he's a police dog?
he had a policeman with him

[BIG LAUGH. AUDIENCE REALLY CAUGHT UNAWARES BY THAT ONE]

though my old man's a dustman
he's got an 'eart of gold
he got married recently
though he's 86 years old

we said, 'ere, hang on, dad
you're getting past your prime
he said, well, when you get my age
it helps to pass the time. OI!

[LAUGHTER]

my old man's a dustman
he wears a dustman's hat
he wears gorblimey trousers
and he lives in a council flat

I say, I say, I say!
huh?
my dustbin's full of lilies
well throw 'em away then!
I can't – Lily's wearing them

[BIG LAUGH. RECORDING JUMPS A BIT HERE, AS IF THE LAUGHTER WAS INTENSE ENOUGH THAT THEY HAD TO EDIT IT SHORT]

now one day whilst in a hurry
he missed a lady's bin
he hadn't gone but a few yards
when she chased after him

what game do you think you're playing?
she cried right from the 'eart
you've missed me, am I too late?
nooo, jump up on the cart! OI!

[HUGE FUCKIN LAUGH]

my old man's a dustman
he wears a dustman's hat
he wears gorblimey trousers
and he lives in a council flat

I say! I say. I say.
not you again!
my dustbin's absolutely full with toadstools
how do you know it's full?
'cause there's not mushROOM INSIDE!

[BIG LAUGH]

he found a tiger's head one day
nailed to a piece of wood
the tiger looked quite miserable
but I suppose he should

just then from out a window
a voice began to wail
it said, OI! Where's me tiger's head?
four foot from his tail! HEY!

[NOBODY LAUGHS AT THIS, PRESUMABLY BECAUSE: WHAT THE FUCK]

ohh, my old man's a dustman
he wears a dustman's hat
he wears gorblimey trousers
and he lives in a council flat

next time you see a dustman
lookin' all pale and sad
don't kick him in the dustbin
it might be my, old, DAAAAAAAAAD

[APPLAUSE]

[Captain Z]

Oh what a frightfully witty song!

the painful 'My Old Man's A Dustman', a real Mrs Brown's Boys of a record.

The absolute shrieks of laughter just cut through me on this one.

I say, I say, Les
yes?
I, er, I found a police dog in my dustbin
well, how do you know he's a police dog?
he had a policeman with him

Yeesh.

I say, I say, I say!
huh?
my dustbin's full of lilies
well throw 'em away then!
I can't – Lily's wearing them

Doesn't even make any fucking sense!

[Captain Z]

I say, I say, I say!
huh?
my dustbin's full of lilies
well throw 'em away then!
Yeah I have... that's why they're in the dustbin...

Also, I'm surprised to see virtually no discussion anywhere online about the clear similarities between this song, 'Football Crazy' and the Match Of The Day theme tune.

Buzby...?