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

[daf]

Hands up anyone who'd heard of Eden Kane - I know there's some strong competition (Tillotson, Valance), but could he be the most forgotten UK Number One artist of all time?

I'm also getting sorely tempted to sub-edit some of these clearly phonus-balonus origin stories about how they came up with their "nom-de-pop" :

He was signed by management team Philip Waddilove and Michael Barclay, who changed Sarstedt's name to Eden Kane – "Eden" because it sounded a bit like "Edam" which was Waddilove's favourite cheese, and "Kane" as a subtle reference to "Cocaine" which Barclay was hooked on.

Charles Westover became Del Shannon, "Del" after his favourite character from the John Sullivan BBC TV comedy 'Only Fools And Horses', and "Shannon" from a miss-hearing of the name "Sharron" - often heard shouted over the wall of his house by his permanently pissed Rock Star neighbour Ossie Osbourne when he demanded an emergency pie re-fill.

Young Sally's stage name of Petula was invented by her father; he joked it was a combination Pet - short for "Petrichor" - the pleasant smell that frequently accompanies the first rain after a long period of warm, dry weather, and  "Ula" after the middle bit from "medulla oblongata" - the cone-shaped neuronal mass located in the brainstem responsible for autonomic functions ranging from vomiting to sneezing.

[Satchmo Distel]

The title is Well I Ask Ya on the sheet music and on the Bobby Vinton cover

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tR4hUXrPa_Q

[daf]

Yes, that was confusing, but the Eden Kane version was 'You" on both the single disc label, and on the EP cover:

 

Going from the sheet music, it does seem like the proper version is "Ya". 

I suspect the record company in the UK decided that the vulgar Americanism was beyond the grammatical pale -  so decided to "correct it", (and probably couldn't change the sheet music, as they didn't own the publishing rights).

I like how that the song titles on the EP form an exasperated sentence :

"Well I ask you, Get Lost!  I'm telling you, before I lose my mind."

(Also, how awkward is that knee pose on the cover - careful mate, you'll sprain a ball!)

Hello Eden if you're reading - feel free to chip in! *

- - - - - - - - - -
* (We must get one of the buggers in here, sooner or later!)

[machotrouts]

"Well I ask you" is a lovely camp old English phrase for a hit single title; it's like having a #1 called "Flaming Nora" or "Daft Ha'p'orth" or "It's Like Blackpool Illuminations in Here".

But it's sung with a "ya"!? Unacceptable. Was it too much for me to hope it would sound like a Pet Shop Boys b-side?

His first recording Decca Records, "Well I Ask You"— written by Les Vandyke, arranged by John Keating, and produced by Bunny Lewis...

Together with a backing band, the Downbeats, which comprised Roger Retting, Ben Steed, Roger St. Clair and Bugs Waddell...

He collaborated with a Bugs and a Bunny.

Like many of his teen idol peers, Kane sought to stave off chart oblivion by hitching a ride onto the beat boom bandwagon, but some momentum was lost when his next release, originally titled 'Do You Love Me' had to be reissued with a new title, "Like I Love You", to avoid confusion with the Brian Poole & the Tremeloes and Dave Clark Five covers of the Contours' US hit.

Must have been fucking fuming when Justin Timberlake came along.

...and Clive (as "Robin" Sarstedt) scoring a top 3 hit with "My Resistance Is Low" in 1976.

Had no idea there was a third Sarstedt sibling. Eat your brothers' SHIT, #1 not-haver Clive! #3 by name, #3 by nature.

[daf]

Look out - here comes Foghorn!, it's . . .

123.  Helen Shapiro - You Don't Know



From : 6 – 26 August 1961
Weeks : 3
Flip side : Marvellous Lie
bonus : TV Appearance

Helen Kate Shapiro was born on 28 September 1946 in the East End district of Bethnal Green, London. She is the granddaughter of Russian Jewish immigrants; her parents, who were piece-workers in the garment industry, attended Lea Bridge Road Synagogue. The family moved to the Victoria Park area of Hackney, on the Parkside Estate, when she was nine.

Although too poor to own a record player, Shapiro's parents encouraged music in their home (she had to borrow a neighbour's player to hear her first single). Shapiro played banjolele as a child and sang with her brother Ron occasionally in his youth club skiffle group. She had a deep timbre to her voice, unusual in a girl not yet in her teens; school friends gave her the nickname "Foghorn".

Aged ten, Shapiro was a singer with "Susie and the Hula Hoops" (with her cousin, 60s singer Susan Singer) a school band which included Marc Bolan (then using his real name of Mark Feld) as guitarist.

At 13 she started singing lessons at The Maurice Burman School of Modern Pop Singing, based in Baker Street, after the school produced singing star Alma Cogan. "I had always wanted to be a singer. I had no desire to slavishly follow Alma's style, but chose the school merely because of Alma's success", she said in a 1962 interview. Burman's connections included John Schroeder, a young songwriter and A&R man of EMI's Columbia Records, who recorded a demo of Shapiro singing "Birth of the Blues", and signed her to the label.

In 1961, aged fourteen, she had a UK No. 3 hit with her first single, "Don't Treat Me Like a Child" and a number one with her second : "You Don't Know" - becoming the youngest artist to have a number one. This record would be beaten 11 years later by 9 year old Jimmy Osmond, but Shapiro is still holds the record as the youngest female artist to top the charts.

"You Don't Know" was written by John Schroeder and Mike Hawker, produced by Norrie Paramor, and released on the Columbia (EMI) label in the United Kingdom on 29 June 1961. It topped the UK Singles Chart for three weeks beginning on 10 August, and sold over a million copies, earning Shapiro a gold disc.

In Japan, where Shapiro's version also became popular in 1962, the song was covered in Japanese by Mieko Hirota, who had also covered Shapiro's earlier hit "Don't Treat Me Like a Child."

Other Versions include : Jean Campbell (1961)  /  Rita Deneve (1961)  /  "Doe niet zo" by Harry Bliek (1961)  /  "Tu ne sais pas" by Richard Anthony  /  "Tu ne sais pas" by Dalida (1961)  /  "Tu ne sais pas " by Renee Gilbert (1961)  /  David Garrick (1967)  /  Grayhounds  (2009)  /  Steve Reynolds (2015)  /  Mixberry Soda (2016)  /  bob45 (2016)  /  Mary Byrne (2017)  /  Dave Monk (2017)  /  Steve (2019)

On This Day :

6 August : Gherman S. Titov is the 2nd Russian in space aboard Vostok 2
6 August : 1st case of motion sickness in space reported (blork!)
8 August : The Edge, (U2), born David Howell Evans in Barking, Essex
10 August : The UK applies for membership of the European Common Market (Brentrance!)
12 August : Roy Hay, (Culture Club) born in Southend, Essex
12 August : Lawrence, (Felt / Denim / Go Kart Mozart), born Lawrence Hayward in Birmingham, England
13 August : Construction of the Berlin Wall (with barbed wire) begins in East Germany
13 August : Stuart Maconie, (Collins & Maconie's Film Club), born in Whiston, Lancashire
15 August : Matt Johnson, (The The), born in London
20 August : East Germany begins erecting 5 foot high wall along the border with the west to replace the barbed wire.
20 August : Joe Pasquale, comedian, born in Grays, Essex
22 August : Debbi Peterson, (Bangles), born in Northridge, Los Angeles, California
22 August : Roland Orzabal, (Tears for Fears), born Roland Jaime Orzabal de la Quintana (!!) in Portsmouth, Hampshire
23 August : US lunar probe Ranger 1 reaches 190 km from Earth, falls back
24 August : Colin Angus, (Shamen), born Aberdeen, Scotland
24 August : "Bedders", (Madness), born Mark William Bedford in Islington, London
25 August : Billy Ray Cyrus, country singer, born in Flatwoods, Kentucky
25 August : Joanne Whalley, actress, born in Salford, Lancashire

[sevendaughters]

all of those people born near the bottom of that list feel like they belong to completely separate generations.

[machotrouts]

Is this what 14-year-olds looked and sounded like in 1961? I thought the teenager had been invented by now. She was two years younger than Bhad Bhabie.

You might be able to foist a Secret Love gay reading on this song if you felt so inclined. I don't like it enough to bother. She doesn't really sound that arsed either.

[purlieu]

I thought the teenager had been invented by now.

Hasn't stopped bland shit getting to number 1 in the many, many years since.

But yes, it's all very safe. Again.

[daf]

Joe Meek, Remember him?, it's . . .

124.  John Leyton - Johnny Remember Me



From : 27 August – 16 September 1961 (3)
        + 24 – 30 September 1961 (1)
Weeks : 4
Flip side : There Must Be
bonus : Harpers West One performance

John Dudley Leyton was born on 17 February 1936 at the age of 0 and in the nude.

After completing his national service, he studied drama, paying his way through drama school with bit-part roles in films and on television. His first major acting role was his portrayal of Ginger in a 1960 Granada TV adaptation of Biggles, which earned him a large following of young female fans and led to the formation of a John Leyton fan club.

Following the success of Biggles, Leyton was persuaded by his manager, Robert Stigwood, to audition as a singer for record producer Joe Meek, and subsequently recorded a cover version of "Tell Laura I Love Her", which was released on the Top Rank label.

In 1961 though, the Top Rank label was taken over by EMI who then issued Leyton's records on their HMV label. EMI had already released Ricky Valance's version of the same song. Leyton's recording was withdrawn from sale, whilst Valance's version reached number one in the UK chart. A second single, "The Girl on the Floor Above", was released on the HMV label, but was not a success.

His first big hit, "Johnny Remember Me", (written by Geoff Goddard and produced by Joe Meek), coincided with his appearance as an actor in the popular ATV television series Harpers West One, in which he played a singer named Johnny Saint Cyr ["Sincere"]. Leyton performed "Johnny Remember Me" during the show (backed by the Outlaws), and the single subsequently charted at Number 1. His next single, "Wild Wind", also featured on the TV show, and reached number two in the UK Singles Chart.

Later singles included : 'Son, This Is She'  (1961) /  'Lone Rider' (1962)  /  'Down The River Nile' (1962)  /  'Lonely Johnny' (1962)  /  'Cupboard Love' (1963)  /  'I'll Cut Your Tail Off' (1963)  /  and 'On Lovers Hill' (1963)

In 1963, Meek and Goddard's association with Leyton ended; that circumstance, combined with the British beat boom spearheaded by The Dave Clark Five and The Brumbeats, cast Leyton adrift immediately, although he found a lot of acting work in television and film to keep him busy.

Despite trying to give Leyton's music more of a 'group' sound by giving him a backing group, The LeRoys, his chart career faded out by the beginning of 1964 when he headlined a tour with up and coming support act the Rolling Stones. Very quickly, it became apparent that the Stones were more popular than the headline act and Leyton, with great dignity, abandoned his pop career on the spot to concentrate on acting.

Leyton was a familiar face in film and television during the 1960s. He played himself in the 1962 Dick Lester film It's Trad, Dad!, performing his latest single "Lonely City" in a radio studio.

In 'The Great Escape' (1963) he played tunnel designer Willie Dickes, one of the only three characters who successfully make it to freedom. Leyton also cut a single, "The Great Escape", with lyrics to Elmer Bernstein's theme to the film -  He also appeared in 'Guns at Batasi' in 1964; 'Every Day's a Holiday' and 'Von Ryan's Express' starring Frank Sinatra and Trevor Howard in 1965. In 'Krakatoa, East of Java', in 1969 he played the designer of a diving bell.

From 1966 to 1967, Leyton played the lead role as SOE Royal Navy Lieutenant Nicholas Gage, an expert in demolitions, in 'Jericho', an American TV series about espionage in the Second World War.

He returned to Britain in the early 1970s and unsuccessfully attempted to re-launch his singing career, signing to the York record label in 1973. A single, "Dancing in the Graveyard" / b/w Riversong and an LP, "John Leyton" was released that year. A year later (1974) Leyton's cover version of the Kevin Johnson hit, "Rock 'n' Roll (I Gave You the Best Years of My Life  was issued in the UK but without success.

In the mid 1970s, Leyton starred in the ITV television series, The Nearly Man. Acting roles became fewer and farther between during the 1970s, and by the early 1980s, he was no longer active in show business.

In the 1990s, however, he began performing in the Solid Gold Rock'n'Roll Show, appearing with artists such as Marty Wilde and Joe Brown. The autumn 2004 tour featured Leyton, Showaddywaddy, Freddy Cannon and Craig Douglas. Leyton also returned to acting, with a cameo appearance in the 2005 film, Colour Me Kubrick starring John Malkovich.

In May 2006, Leyton released "Hi Ho, Come On England", a re-working of Jeff Beck's "Hi Ho Silver Lining", to coincide with the World Cup in Germany. During the summer of 2007 he filmed a cameo appearance for the Nick Moran film, Telstar. Leyton also topped the bill at the Theatre Royal, Windsor, along with 1960s stars Jess Conrad and Craig Douglas at a concert named "'60s Icons".

Leyton continues to tour the UK and Scandinavia performing his hits (sometimes backed by the Rapiers). In 2014, John continued to tour with his band, the Flames, featuring John James on guitar, Ray Royal on drums and Charlie Gardner on bass guitar and Jeff Jefferson on rhythm guitar.

The Outlaws were an English instrumental band that recorded in the early 1960s. One-time members included Chas Hodges, Bobby Graham, Ken Lundgren, Ritchie Blackmore, Mick Underwood, Reg Hawkins, and Billy Kuy.

Their name was originally conceived by Joe Meek, who needed a backing group for Mike Berry's "Set Me Free" in 1960. After that recording, they continued being one of the house bands of his recording studio at 304 Holloway Road, London. As such, they were used for recordings, demos and auditions. Many of their songs were written by Meek and credited to his pseudonym, Robert Duke. They appeared as themselves in the 1963 British film, Live It Up!.

In addition to featuring on three hit singles backing Mike Berry, they also recorded several singles in their own right, including : Ambush (1961)  /  Valley Of The Sioux (1961)  /  Ku-Pow! (1962)  /  and The Return Of The Outlaws (1963)

"Johnny Remember Me", performed by John Leyton and backed by Mike Berry's band The Outlaws, was producer Joe Meek's first #1 production. The song was written by Geoff Goddard who awoke inspired and sang it straight into the tape recorder which he kept by his bedside.

Recounting the haunting – real or imagined – of a young man by his dead lover, the song is one of the most noted of the 'death discs', (or "Splatter Platters"), that populated the pop charts, on both sides of the Atlantic, in the early to mid-1960s.

It is distinguished in particular by its eerie, echoing sound (a hallmark of Meek's production style) and by the ghostly, foreboding female wails that form its backing vocal, by Lissa Gray. The recording was arranged by Charles Blackwell. Despite the line, "the girl I loved who died a year ago" being changed to the more vague "the girl I loved and lost a year ago", the song was banned by the BBC, along with many other 'death discs', which were popular at the time. Spoilsports!

On Juke Box Jury in 1961 Spike Milligan dismissed it as "son of 'Ghost Riders in the Sky'", predicting, along with the others on the panel, that it would not be a hit.

The creation and success of the song plays a significant role in the 2009 film Telstar: The Joe Meek Story in which Goddard is portrayed by Tom Burke and Leyton by Callum Dixon.

Other Versions include : Bobby Stevens (1961)  /  Olavi Virta (1961)  /  Matti Heinivaho (1961)  /  Kari Fall (1961)  /  Vince Taylor et ses play-boys (1961)  /  Les Chats Sauvages avec Mike Shannon (1963)  /  Little Gerhard (1969)  /  The Rockin' Devils (1974)  /  the inevitable Showaddywaddy (1975)  /  The Meteors (1982)  /  The Red Hot Peppers (1982)  /  John Spencer (1983)  /  Bronski Beat (1984)  /  Dead Scouts  (1984)  /  Topi Sorsakoski (1985)  /  Kari Tapio (1986)  /  Dave Vanian and the Phantom Chords (1990)  /  Spell (1993) /  Mikkel Risbjerg (2007)  /  Nessie & Her Beard (2008)  /  Hans Edler (2009)  /  Josh Doyle (2009)  /  Hot Rod Frankie (2011)  /  La Féline (2011)  / daf's hit-pick : Danny McEvoy and Jasmine Thorpe (2011)  /  The Family Monroe (2013)  /  Geordie George (2014)  /  Mark Crush & Latin System (2014)  /  BurnsErnst (2015)  /  Dave Monk (2015)  /  Dr John Cooper Clarke & Hugh Cornwell (+ behind the scenes) (2016)  /  Charles, Liz, Neil and Steve (2017)  /  Freddie Dilevi (2018)  /  Johnny Hash (2019)

On This Day :

28 August : Kim Appleby, (Mel & Kim), born in Stoke Newington, London
10 September : Italian Grand Prix, a crash causes the death of German driver Wolfgang von Trips and 13 spectators hit by his Ferrari
11 September : Foundation of the World Wildlife Fund.
13 September : Unmanned Mercury-Atlas 4 launched into Earth orbit
16 September : Bilinda Butcher, (My Bloody Valentine), born in London
- - - - - - - - -
26 September : Will Self, writer, born in Westminster, London
27 September : Irvine Welsh, writer, born in Leith, Edinburgh
29 September : Bob Dylan's 1st recording session-backup harmonica for Carolyn Hester
29 September : Julia Gillard, 1st female Australian Prime Minister, born in Barry, Wales

[The Culture Bunker]

Geoff Goddard wound up working in the canteen at Reading University till he shuffled off his mortal coil. British Sea Power dedicated a song to him from their first album, as a few of them had studied there and become friendly with him.

[Satchmo Distel]

Helen Shapiro headed The Beatles first national tour.

[purlieu]

Helen Shapiro headed The Beatles first national tour.

I think that might be when my dad saw them.

'Johnny Remember Me', featured & recorded by John Leyton on top rank is an excellent song. The lack of ghostly pop in the charts these days is something that should be sorted out.

[machotrouts]

For a period, 'Johnny Remember Me' was what I considered the earliest properly good number one, before I realised 'All I Have to Do Is Dream' was A) a number one, and B) way older than I thought it was. Now I think there are multiple properly good number ones up to this point, though almost none as properly good as this. My reasoning for this is as follows:

There's a GHOST in it! ｗｏｏｏｏＯＯＯＯＯＯｏｏｏｏｏ

I get the impression Joe Meek is someone I should know more about than "bloke who produced Johnny Remember Me and bunged a UFO in a Winifred Atwell song"? I know he did Telstar too but I don't actually remember what that sounds like so it doesn't count. Going to look him up. Oh he's dead and shot himself, okay. But on the bright side, he was gay and murdered a landlady! Queer commie king

[Satchmo Distel]

Morrissey picked Johnny Remember Me for My Top 10 in 1984 (see link below), presumably due to its fairly clear gay subtext, but it turned out to be prophetic as now only Johnny Marr has any credibility left from their writing partnership.

Joe Meek engineered the Humphrey Lyttleton hit that Lady Madonna ripped off.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b096sbm2

[daf]

So let me get right to the point, it's . . .

125.  Shirley Bassey - Reach For The Stars



From : 17 – 23 September 1961
Weeks : 1
Double A-side : Shirley Bassey - Climb Ev'ry Mountain

In the early and mid-1960s, Bassey had numerous hits in the UK, and five albums in the Top 15. Her 1960 recording of "As Long As He Needs Me" from Lionel Bart's Oliver! reached #2, and had a chart run of 30 weeks.

Bassey made her American television début on 13 November 1960, when she performed on The Ed Sullivan Show. Her collaboration with Nelson Riddle and his orchestra, the album 'Let's Face the Music' (1962), reached #12 in the UK album chart; and the single, "What Now My Love" made it to #5.

Other UK Top 10 singles of the period included her second Number One : the double A-side "Reach for the Stars"/"Climb Ev'ry Mountain" (1961), "I'll Get By" (also 1961), and in 1963, a cover version of the Ben E. King hit "I (Who Have Nothing)".

Also In 1963, Bassey appeared on the cover of Ebony magazine, and sang at a Washington gala celebrating President Kennedy's second year in office.

Bassey enjoyed her only US hit with the title song of the 1964 James Bond film, 'Goldfinger'. The single, released in the United States during January 1965, peaked at #8, while it only reached #22 in the UK. Also in 1965, she sang the title song for the James Bond spoof 'The Liquidator'.

Bassey recorded a song for the next Bond film, Thunderball (1965), "Mr Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" was not used in the movie, rejected in favour of a new song, "Thunderball", hastily written by Barry and given to Tom Jones after the film's producers decided the song over the opening credits must feature the film's title. Allegedly fainting in the recording booth after singing the song's final, lung-busting high note. Jones said: "I closed my eyes and I held the note for so long when I opened my eyes the room was spinning."

In the aftermath of "Goldfinger" her UK sales started to falter: only two of her singles would enter the UK Top 40 from 1966 to 1970. She had signed to United Artists, and her first album on that label, 'I've Got a Song for You' (1966), spent one week on the chart. One of her best-known singles, "Big Spender" was released in 1967, charting just short of the UK Top 20.

But Bassey didn't pop her cork for every taxman she saw, and began to live as a tax exile in 1968. Due to this, she was unable to work in Britain for almost two years. At the Sanremo Festival in Italy, she performed "La vita", an Italian song by Bruno Canfora and Antonio Amurri, with some lyrics re-written in English by Norman Newell, which became a Top 40 hit in Italy. Bassey recorded several songs in Italian, some appearing on the 1968 album 'La vita'.

Bassey's UK comeback came in 1970, leading to one of the most successful periods of her career. Starting the year with a BBC Television 'Special' The Young Generation Meet Shirley Bassey, recorded in Sweden and shown on BBC1 on 18 March. She returned to the UK with a record-breaking run of performances at the Talk of the Town nightclub. Also that year, her album 'Something' was released, and showcased a new Bassey style, a shift from traditional pop to more contemporary songs and arrangements.

In 1971 she returned to  the James Bond franchise, recording the theme song for 'Diamonds Are Forever', and appeared on the 1971 Morecambe and Wise Christmas Show.

In 1972, "Never Never Never", an English version of the Italian "Grande grande grande", reached the UK Top 10 and was #1 in Australia and South Africa, and became the title song of her 1973 album . The album also included covers of contemporary hits such as "Baby I'm-a Want You", "Killing Me Softly with His Song" (one time!) and "No Regrets". The closing track, "Make the World a Little Younger" was released as the album's second and final single.

In 1973, her sold-out concerts at New York's Carnegie Hall were recorded and released as a two-LP set, Shirley Bassey: Live at Carnegie Hall.

In 1976 Bassey starred in the six-episode 'The Shirley Bassey Show', the first of her television programmes for the BBC, followed by a second series of six episodes in 1979 - the same year she recorded her third title theme for a Bond film, 'Moonraker'. 

Frank Sinatra was considered for the vocals, before Johnny Mathis was approached and offered the opportunity. Mathis was unhappy about the song and withdrew from the project, leaving the producers scrambling for a replacement. Kate Bush declined as she was due to embark on her British tour, so John Barry offered the song to Bassey just weeks before the release date. As a result, Bassey made the recordings at very short notice and never regarded the song 'as her own'. Indeed, Bassey has seldom performed the song live in comparison to her other two Bond themes, Goldfinger and Diamonds Are Forever. The film uses two versions of the title theme song, a ballad version heard over the main titles, and a disco version for the end titles.  The song failed to make any real impact on the charts, which may partly be attributed to Bassey's failure to promote the single.

in 1982 she recorded an album entitled 'All by Myself', and the following year, recorded a duet with the French film actor Alain Delon, "Thought I'd Ring You", which became a hit single in Europe. Bassey was now recording far less often but an album of her most famous songs, 'I Am What I Am' (1984), was recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) conducted by Carl Davis.

In 1987 Bassey provided vocals for Swiss artists Yello on "The Rhythm Divine", and released an album sung entirely in Spanish, 'La Mujer' in 1989.

In 1996 Bassey collaborated with Chris Rea in the film 'La Passione' (1996), appearing in the film as herself and releasing the single "'Disco' La Passione". In 1997 "History Repeating", written for her by the Propellerheads, reached #19 on the UK charts (#1 on the UK Dance Chart), and #10 on the US Dance Chart. It was also a Top 10 hit in Italy.

"The Living Tree", written, produced and originally recorded by the group Never the Bride, was released as a single on 23 April 2007, marking Bassey's 50th anniversary in the UK Singles Chart – and the record for the longest span of Top 40 hits in UK chart history. Bassey performed a 45-minute set at the 2007 Glastonbury Festival wearing a pink Julien Macdonald dress, and customised Wellington boots.

"Reach for the Stars" was written by Austrian Udo Jürgens (with English lyrics by Norman Newell). As a double A-side single it went to No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart for one week in September 1961.

Norman Newell was the head of EMI's Columbia label for many of the label's most successful years. He was also a much sought-after lyricist, sometimes writing under the pen-name David West, responsible for co-writing songs that included "My Thanks To You" (music by Noel Gay) and "Portrait of My Love" (music by Cyril Ornadel), a hit for Matt Monro.

He also wrote with the composer, Philip Green, the United Kingdom's 1963 Eurovision Song Contest entry, "Say Wonderful Things", recorded by Ronnie Carroll. The song was later recorded in the United States by Patti Page. He also wrote the English lyrics to the German song "Sailor", a number one UK hit for Petula Clark.

Newell also wrote English-language lyrics to Vicky Leandros's 1972 Eurovision Song Contest winning entry, "Après Toi" - which, as "Come What May", reached No.2 on the UK and Republic of Ireland singles charts in 1972.

Other Versions Include : Jean Campbell (1961)  /  Camillo (1962)  /  Roy Etzel (1973)  /  Danny McEvoy (2011) /  Ed Wylde (2011)  /  Jenny Wren (2014)

"Climb Ev'ry Mountain" is a show tune from the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The Sound of Music. It is sung at the close of the first act by the Mother Abbess. It is themed as an inspirational piece, to encourage people to take every step toward attaining their dreams.

In the original stage play, the Mother Abbess sings the song at the end of the first act. When Ernest Lehman wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation, he shifted the scene so that this song would be the first major song of the second act. When Robert Wise and his film crew were filming this scene, Peggy Wood had some reservations about the words, which she felt were too "pretentious". So they filmed Peggy Wood in silhouette, against the wall of the set for the Mother Abbess' office. Peggy Wood's singing voice is dubbed by Margery MacKay, the wife of the rehearsal pianist Harper MacKay, as Wood was not able to sing the high notes of the song.

Other Versions include : Tony Bennett (1959)  /  Percy Faith and His Orchestra (1959)  /  Andy Williams (1960)  /  The Hi-Lo's (1960)  /  Edmundo Ros and His Orchestra (1961)  /  Sammy Davis Jr. (1962)  /  Coleman Hawkins (1963)  /  The Lettermen (1964)  /  Eydie Gorme (1964)  /  Gary Burton (1965)  /  Ed Ames (1966)  /  The Four Tops (1966)  /  Vince Hill (1968)  /  Judith Durham (1971)  /  The Fleetwoods (1990)  /  Laibach (2018) 

On This Day :

18 September : Dag Hammarskjöld, 2nd Secretary-General of the United Nations (1953-61) dies in an air crash over Congo at 56
18 September : USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya, USSR
22 September : Antonio Albertondo from Argentina completes 1st "double" crossing swim of English Channel (44 miles) in 43 hrs 10 min.

[Captain Z]

Was sure it was going to be:

I've   got   you   and   you've   got   me   so...

Shirley Bassey - Reach For The Stars
Shirley Bassey - Climb Ev'ry Mountain

[daf]

Heh - didn't spot that one!

Funny coincidence with the Steps . . . (goes off to google it) . . . Sex Club 7 song lyrics though:

Reach for the stars / Climb every mountain higher  / Reach for the stars  / Follow your heart's desire

Co-written by Cathy Dennis and Republica keyboardist Andy Todd, I wonder if one of them had the Bassey platter in the back of their mind when they came up with it.

[Satchmo Distel]

Probably Todd, who was a remixer, according to Wiki.

Unlikely collaborations: Cathy Dennis wrote Too Many Walls with Anne Dudley of Art of Noise.

[sevendaughters]

Agh I missed Johnny Remember Me, which is probably going to be the best #1 for about 20 odd years.

[daf]

It's alright - There isn't a daily cut-off.

Feel free to comment on anything you like - the more song-chat the merrier!

[purlieu]

I always find listening to Shirley Bassey is a little like having a conversation with a drunk, hard of hearing person who's always shouting.

[machotrouts]

I've been waiting for this single, raring to barge into the thread with the fun pop fact that the S Club song was specifically based on it; now, not only has it already been discussed, I can't find any proof that it's more than just a coincidence. I was sure I read somewhere it was an explicit inspiration! Did I just see it in the Wikipedia list of #1s and draw my own conclusions? "Ah, that's where that comes from, then. That's that origin story sorted."

Listening to the two songs now, if only I was listening to S Club. "Reach for the Stars" couldn't be less of a reach in the context of Bassey's discography; "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" irredeemable before Laibach took it on. Been meaning to get into Laibach – do they have any S Club covers? Bet they'd do a cracking "Don't Stop Movin'".

Weird that Shirley Bassey's chart career peaked with these and the no-less-forgettable 'As I Love You', and tailed off with 'Goldfinger' and 'Big Spender'. The UK lost interest in Shirley Bassey the moment she properly became Shirley Bassey.

'Moonraker' is probably my favourite of her three Bond themes. Delicate and lovely in a way that seems bizarrely incongruous with both her reputation and the content of the film. I never knew who else was pitched for it; I just now went off it the moment I realised I could easily imagine Sinatra's version, then decided to like it again when I saw Kate Bush's name.

Of course 'Mr Kiss Kiss Bang Bang' should have been the theme for Thunderball, then that would be her best. Who remembers anything about the Tom Jones theme other than the fainting? Probably the most famous thing about the record isn't even part of the record. Ask the average member of the public to hum it, and they'll pause, frown, then invent some generic Loud Tom Jones Noise before making a *THUMP* sound. Every time I try to remember how it goes myself, I just end up going "THEY CALL IT SPY HARRRRRRRRRRD... YOU'RE WATCHING SPY HARRRRRRRRRRD..."

Not a patch on 'Mr Kiss Kiss Bang Bang'. But what is?

♪ Mr Kiss Kiss Bang Bang's... NOT A FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL ♪

[DrGreggles]

do they have any S Club covers? Bet they'd do a cracking "Don't Stop Movin'".

I like The Beautiful South's version.

[daf]

All aboard for our second trip off the beaten track - Where snakes in the grass are absolutely free, it's . . .

125b. (NME 121.)  Elvis Presley - Wild in the Country



From :  22 - 28 September 1961
Weeks : 1
Flip side : I Feel So Bad
bonus : In the studio (Takes 1-10)

The Story So Far :

During his final months in the Army, Presley started to experiment with new material and thinking ahead to his anticipated return to recording. For his first scheduled recording session, Presley considered The Four Fellow's "Soldier Boy", the Golden Gate Quartet's "I Will Be Home Again", The Drifters' "Such a Night" and Jesse Stone's "Like a Baby".

Presley returned to the United States on March 2, 1960, and was honorably discharged three days later with the rank of sergeant. The train that carried him from New Jersey to Tennessee was mobbed all the way, and Presley was called upon to appear at scheduled stops to please his fans. While Presley was in Germany, manager Colonel Tom Parker negotiated new terms with RCA Victor for Presley to fulfill his contractual obligations with film soundtracks.

On March 20, Parker sent a chartered Greyhound bus to transport Presley and his entourage from Memphis, Tennessee to Nashville. The session personnel consisted of guitarist Scotty Moore, drummer D.J. Fontana, pianist Floyd Cramer, guitarist Hank Garland, bassist Bobby Moore, percussionist Buddy Harman and the backing group The Jordanaires. Presley's original bassist Bill Black declined to join the sessions as he was enjoying success with the Bill Black Combo.

RCA Victor's Studio B had recently been equipped with a new three-track recorder. To further improve the recording of Presley's voice, Porter had Telefunken U-47 microphones placed in the studio. The U-47 was the first condenser microphone that could switch between omnidirectional and cardioid patterns. The microphone could be used for vocals, instruments and full area coverage.

The first song recorded was Otis Blackwell's "Make Me Know It", which was mastered in nineteen takes. "Soldier Boy" was later recorded in fifteen takes, followed by the non-album cuts "Stuck on You" and "Fame and Fortune". The last song recorded during the March session was a non-album cut, "A Mess of Blues". A new session was arranged for April. Presley then left for Miami, Florida, where he taped The Frank Sinatra Timex Show: Welcome Home Elvis.

The original musicians returned to the studio on the evening of April 3; they were joined by saxophonist Boots Randolph. Presley started the session with "Fever", accompanied only by the bass and drums. He followed with the reworded version of "O Sole Mio", now titled "It's Now or Never". After Presley failed several times to achieve the full voice ending of the song, Porter offered to splice it for him. Presley refused and tried the song until he achieved the desired ending. "Girl Next Door Went A-Walking", was recorded in ten takes, followed by "Thrill of Your Love". The non-album cut "Are You Lonesome Tonight" was followed by "I Will Be Home Again"—a duet with Hodge which Presley played acoustic guitar throughout the song. For the last song of the session, Lowell Fulson's "Reconsider Baby", Presley played the lead using his Gibson Super 400 guitar.

Elvis Is Back! represented a new sound for Presley; it moved him further toward pop music, a direction he continued to take over much of the decade. The album features a mixture of genres, including rock, rhythm and blues and pop ballads. Critics generally agreed that Presley had acquired a "deeper, harder voice quality", and said his interpretations were "increasingly sophisticated".



The album's front cover shows Presley standing in front of a blue stage curtain, dressed in an Army trench coat and smiling as he glances to his left. The back cover features an image of Presley grinning; he is dressed in an Army regulation fatigue jacket and cap. The inside of the gatefold cover features fifteen photographs of Presley taken at various times during his Army service.

The first single from Elvis Is Back!, "Stuck on You", was released two days after its recording with "Fame and Fortune" on the B-side, attracting 1.4 million advanced orders. The pre-printed single sleeve said, "Elvis' 1st New Recording For His 50,000,000 Fans All Over The World". It was the first Presley single to be released in stereo.

Elvis Is Back! was released on April 8, 1960, in stereo and mono versions. The album reached number two on Billboard's LP chart and topped the UK Albums Chart. Despite this, its commercial performance was a disappointment, with fewer than 300,000 copies sold in the United States.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Presley returned to television on May 12 as a guest on The Frank Sinatra Timex Special—ironic for both stars, given Sinatra's not-so-distant excoriation of rock and roll. Also known as Welcome Home Elvis, the show had been taped in late March, the only time all year Presley performed in front of an audience. Parker secured an unheard-of $125,000 fee for eight minutes of singing. The broadcast drew an enormous viewership.

Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop, members of Sinatra's famed 'Rat Pack', also appeared on the television special. In addition, the cast included Sinatra's daughter Nancy Sinatra, whom the gossip columns had recently linked with Elvis. Elvis sang his two latest hits, then later in the show he joined Sinatra for a short duet.

Dressed in a conservative but stylish tuxedo, the former teen idol sang Sinatra's 'Witchcraft,' while Sinatra crooned Elvis' 'Love Me Tender'. His choice of clothes, shorter hairstyle, and connections with the Rat Pack indicated that Elvis' career was taking a new direction. When Elvis and Sinatra sang each other's songs, it was as though Sinatra was passing on his position as pop idol to the next generation: 'The Voice', as Sinatra was known in the 1940s, was making way for 'The King'.

In Ed Sullivan's syndicated newspaper column in the New York Daily News, May 1960, the show business luminary spoke harshly of Elvis' appearance on the The Frank Sinatra-Timex Special. Lingering bitterness over his dealings with Colonel Parker crept into his account. Sullivan blasted Parker for allowing Elvis to sing only two songs in the special, stating : "Col. Tom, using the logic of a farmer, is a firm believer in not giving a hungry horse a bale of hay". Sullivan seemed to forget that it was Sinatra's special, not Elvis', and there were four other guests to showcase as well. Some jabs at how Elvis looked rounded out the column as Sullivan noted that the young singer, "minus his sideburns, has substituted what the ladies probably would call a 'high hair-do. His hair is so high in front that it looks like a ski jump."

The Film :

Wild in the Country was a 1961 American drama film directed by Philip Dunne and starring Elvis Presley, Hope Lange, Tuesday Weld, and Millie Perkins. Based on the 1958 novel The Lost Country by J. R. Salamanca, the screenplay concerns a troubled young man from a dysfunctional family who pursues a literary career. The screenplay was written by playwright Clifford Odets. Presley's fee was reportedly $300,000.

Glenn Tyler (Elvis Presley) gets into a fight with, and badly injures, his drunken brother. A court releases him on probation into the care of his uncle in a small town, appointing Irene Sperry (Hope Lange) to give him psychological counselling. Marked as a trouble-maker, he is falsely suspected of various misdemeanors including an affair with Irene. Eventually shown to be innocent, he leaves to go to college and become a writer.

Wild in the Country started filming in November 1960. It was the last movie to shoot at the colonial mansion which had been on the studio backlot since 1934 - this was knocked down and sold after filming completed.

The movie was also shot on location in Napa Valley and in Hollywood Studios, although it is set in the Shenandoah Valley. The cast and crew created a public sensation in Napa for over two months of filming. The motel where many of the cast stayed, Casa Beliveau (since torn down), was so mobbed that Elvis had to be moved to the St. Helena home that was being used in the film as Irene Sperry's house, where Glenn Tyler went for counseling.

Dunne recalled, "For his love scenes with Hope Lange, he couldn't get the right tempo so, I had him listen to Bach's Fifth Brandenburg Concerto. Presley listened intently, then said, 'Hey, man, now I get it!' And he did the smooching very slowly, in one take."

This was Elvis' last dramatic lead role until Charro! as his next film, Blue Hawaii, was his first big budget musical and was a box office sensation. All his subsequent movies were largely formula musicals which were quite lucrative but never gave him the chance to develop his potential as a serious actor that was very apparent in Wild in the Country.

Presley began an off-screen romance with Hollywood "bad girl" Tuesday Weld but the relationship was short-lived after Elvis's manager, Colonel Tom Parker, warned him against his involvement, fearful it would harm his image. Elvis and Hope Lange also were quite taken with each other, but her separation from her husband did not result in a divorce until the next summer making her unavailable for a serious relationship.

The film received mixed to negative reviews from critics. Bosley Crowther of The New York Times wrote: "Nonsense, that's all it is—sheer nonsense—and Mr. Presley, who did appear to be improving as an actor in his last picture, is as callow as ever in this. The few times he sings are painful—at least they are to our ears—and his appearance is waxy and flabby. Elvis has retrogressed. So have Jerry Wald, the producer; Philip Dunne, the director; and, alas, Mr. Odets."

Charles Stinson of the Los Angeles Times called the film a "fairly acceptable melodrama," crediting a "sharp and unpretentious script by Clifford Odets, who adapted it from a novel by J. R. Salamanca. But credit must also be given young Mr. Presley who, with every film, keeps on improving as a performer. 'Wild in the Country' will take no prizes but it proved a lot better than this reviewer was steeling himself for."

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "In view of the generally murky photography, art direction and acting and Philip Dunne's soporific direction, the film's one rewarding feature—Hope Lange's sensitive and (wherever possible) intelligent playing of the psychiatrist-literary agent—is nothing short of a miracle. Presley gives an unassuming, sub-sub-Brando performance—even a likeable one in the hotel love scene: but one can't help feeling he was infinitely better off in every way prior to this misguided bid for class."

Phil Dunne later wrote that the film "fell between two stools. Audiences who might have liked a Clifford Odets drama wouldn't buy Elvis and his songs; Elvis's fans were disappointed in a Presley picture which departed so radically from his usual song-and-sex comedy formula. On both factions his fine performance was tragically wasted."

The Songs :

20th Century Fox insisted on the insertion of four songs for Elvis Presley. Recording sessions took place on November 7 and 8, 1960, at Radio Recorders in Hollywood, California, under the supervision of producer Urban Thielmann. Five songs were recorded for the film, all ballads with "Lonely Man" and "Forget Me Never" left out of the film.

Since Wild in the Country showcased Presley the actor rather than the singing star, RCA elected to release neither a long-playing album nor an EP as the soundtrack for a Presley film. The Colonel promised 20th Century Fox to assist with promotion by releasing some songs on singles. Despite being cut from the film, "Lonely Man" was actually the first song from the score to be released, appearing on 7 February 1961, the B-side of Presley's chart-topping hit single, "Surrender".

The songs "In My Way" and "Forget Me Never" would be included on the 1965 anniversary compilation album Elvis for Everyone, while "I Slipped, I Stumbled, I Fell" appeared on the 1961 album 'Something for Everybody'.

The title track to the film, "Wild in the Country" was written by Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore, and George Weiss. It was released on 2 May 1961 with "I Feel So Bad" on the flip side. In the United States "Wild in the Country" peaked at number 26 on the Billboard Hot 100, while "I Feel So Bad" peaked at number 5.

In the UK it reached #4 in the (retrospectively designated) "official" Record Retailer chart, it held the top spot in the NME chart for a week in late September 1961 - during John Leyton's second stint at number one with "Johnny Remember Me"

Other Versions include : Rikki Henderson (1961)  /  The Fagan Brothers (1961)  /  "Das Lied von der Liebe" by Ted Herold (1961)  /  "Das Lied von der Liebe   Michael Holm (1961)  /  Foster and Allen  (2007)  /  Don Woods (2010)  /  Danny McEvoy (2011)  /  Rob Wanders (2011)  /  Claude Portelli (2013)  /  Tino Acebal (2015)  /  The Mixer Electronic Sound (2015)  /  Manfred Sommer (2016)  /  Jake Calypso (2017)  /  Philippe Koo (2017)  /  Jay Yellamaty (2018)  /  Sandy Leung (2018)  /  pan pipes! Harald Metzger (2018)  /  John Crawford (2019)

The flip side, "I Feel So Bad" was written and originally recorded by Chuck Willis. released in 1954. It rose to #8 on the Billboard Rhythm & Blues Chart in early 1954.

His most successful recording was "C.C. Rider", which topped the US Billboard R&B chart in 1957. "C.C. Rider" was a remake of a twelve-bar blues, performed by Ma Rainey in Atlanta before Willis was born. Its relaxed beat, combined with a mellow vibraphone backing and chorus, inspired the emergence of the popular dance, The Stroll. Dick Clark played "C. C. Rider" on American Bandstand, and "The Stroll" became a popular dance.

Willis's follow-up was "Betty and Dupree", another "stroll" song and a similar "old standard", which also did well. Wexler said that Dick Clark used "Betty and Dupree" on American Bandstand to accompany "The Stroll," and that is how Willis became known as "King of The Stroll."

Willis performed wearing a turban (a gimmick suggested to him by his friend Screamin' Jay Hawkins) and was also known as the "Sheik of Shake." In the early 1950s he hosted and performed on a weekly Saturday night television show in Atlanta, which featured guest artists such as Ray Charles and Sam Cooke who were passing through town.

Other Versions include : Little Milton  (1966)  /  Cuby + Blizzards (1968)  /  Lowell Fulsom (1968)  /  Otis Rush (1969)  /  Martha Veléz (1969)  /  Ray Charles (1971)  /  Cactus (1971)  /  Earl Hooker (1972)  /  Foghat (1973)  /  Gregg Allman (1974)  /  The Jimmy Dawkins Band (1976)  /  Sunnyland Slim Blues Band (1985)  /  Walter "Wolfman" Washington (1988)  /  Robin Trower (1997)  /  John Martyn (1998)  / Emil & The Ecstatics (2006)  /  Dave Specter (2008)  /  The Morlocks (2010)  /  John Mayall (2015)

[purlieu]

That sounds like it was written by someone who'd never been to the country.

[daf]

Got to be honest, I was disappointed with that one - from the title, I expected a frantic rock-a-billy freak out, but it's just a load of wet . . . sploorgh.

Come on NME chart, pull your socks up - or I'll have to send Mike Read and Gambo round to give you a chinese burn!

[kalowski]

Got to be honest, I was disappointed with that one - from the title, I expected a frantic rock-a-billy freak out, but it's just a load of wet . . . sploorgh.

Come on NME chart, pull your socks up - or I'll have to send Mike Read and Gambo round to give you a chinese burn!

Yeah, but how utterly amazing does Elvis look on the Elvis is Back! cover. Fucking stunning. Imagine being that good looking.

[purlieu]

Imagine being that good looking.

Honestly, it's as much an inconvenience as it is a benefit.

[Inspector Norse]

Yeah, but how utterly amazing does Elvis look on the Elvis is Back! cover. Fucking stunning. Imagine being that good looking.

His hair looks odd. Like whoever combed the grease in had some kind of arm spasm and it went all wonky.

[machotrouts]

Poor daf, having to squeeze a 22nd part out of the 21-part Elvis Presley story. Undeserved. Just think who else could have had 22 #1s. Girls Aloud released exactly 22 singles, for instance.

According to Last.fm, this is Elvis Presley's 192nd most popular song. Think Record Retailer might have held up better than NME in this case. Also a rare example of a "#1" only available on one album on Spotify, and not scattered across loads of weird-looking compilations. Contract thing, or is it just nobody gives a fuck? I guess it's easy to forget a hit single when it comes tethered to a flop film. When's the last time anyone listened to 'Wild Wild West' by Will Smith?

And to somehow start another paragraph with "According to Last.fm" in 2019: According to Last.fm, Elvis Presley is my 10th most-played artist of 2019 so far. Entirely because of this thread. I don't fucking like him! I a bit like 'I Got Stung' and that's it. One place above the guy who composes the Silent Hill soundtracks, who I'd obviously rather have in that top 10.

Elvis. Nah. Not even hot. Ski jump.