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

Started by daf, June 12, 2019, 01:55:00 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

daf

Quote from: purlieu on September 12, 2019, 04:04:25 PM
The track actually features a heavy tom-tom section, so she said "ah that must be him drumming!" It wasn't until a few years later that I realised there's no way in hell it was the same person.

Plus, it probably wouldn't be him drumming even if it WAS the same person - eh? eh? *

Quote from:  Bobby Graham"Dave wanted to produce and he couldn't be up in the box and down in the studio at the same time. Mike Smith had written 'Glad All Over' with him and they weren't too sure what they wanted from the drums. I was playing how I would normally play with the hi-hat, snare and bass and Dave asked, 'Bobby, can you make that simpler please?' He didn't want complicated fill-ins he couldn't play himself on live dates as that would have given the game away. In the end, I did this four-to-the-bar feel, a flam beat, and he said, 'That's lovely.'"

"I was on a lot of the hits but Dave did play on album tracks."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
* (see notes ^ for disputed thunderstick details)

sevendaughters

really can't get on with DC5. all their songs feel like they should kick ass, but end up weirdly dirge-like but upbeat, like being stuck at a kids party with a clown who can't read a room. this one's not as bad as Bits & Pieces though.

The Culture Bunker

Quote from: purlieu on September 12, 2019, 04:04:25 PMSong's a bit shit.
I think my first exposure to the song would have been when Crystal Palace used it as their cup final song in 1990. For reasons beyond my ken, their fans had adopted it as their anthem (see also Stoke with 'Delilah' by Tom Jones) - seems strange given Clark was a Spurs fan.

Cue Buzby with the story that the sax player had a trial at Selhurst Park back in the 50s.

machotrouts



Soz.

1960s pop music seems to have a tendency to divorce gladness from its source. In normal English, you don't feel just "glad", you're specifically glad about something. In this case, we're eventually told the reason that [SCROLLS TO CHECK WHO THE SINGER IS BECAUSE ALL I REMEMBER IS IT'S NOT DAVE CLARK] Mike Smith is glad ("so glad you're mine") but we have to go through several weird assertions of just plain gladness to get there. No native English speaker feels "glad all over".

Normally "glad" is an obvious rhyme filler – pop needs something to rhyme with those famously-difficult-to-rhyme words "bad" and "sad", and so the word "glad" must bend uncomfortably to its will – but I don't think the rhyme appears in this song, so I can only put it down to some sort of muddled pop conformity.

I don't care that much what the lyrics are – it bangs. Love the big meaty drum beat and the backing vocals that sound like they're being filtered through a magic space portal. Puts the "beat" in Merseybeat, and also takes the "Mersey" out of Merseybeat.

Quote from: daf on September 12, 2019, 02:00:03 PM
Inspired by the reception to the group's promos as seen on The Ed Sullivan Show, the band made the 12-minute high budget pop promotional film "Hits in Action", which was shown before screenings of the latest James Bond film in cinemas all over the world *, the first time a musical act had ever been promoted in this way.  * [probably "Thunderball" - released 29 Dec 1965]

Thunderball is fucking long enough as it is!

Quote from: daf on September 12, 2019, 02:00:03 PM
Dave, by this time, had taken control of all the group's business interests: the publishing of their songs under the banner of 'Spurs Music Publishing Ltd' and rights to their TV appearances, including the group's 18 performances on The Ed Sullivan Show. He also acquired the rights to ITV's 'Ready, Steady Go' music TV series - often tampering with the footage by splicing in performances by his band from other TV shows.

In 1986 he wrote a science fiction musical 'Time'  starring Cliff Richard and a hologram of Sir Laurence Oliver. The musical launched a concept album which featured Cliff, Freddie Mercury, Leo Sayer, Stevie Wonder and Dionne Warwick.

Starting to think "Dave Clark" is a comedy character you've invented specifically to test whether we're reading all of your posts.

Quote from: daf on September 12, 2019, 02:00:03 PM
Inexplicably, despite being a "shrewd businessman", aside from a couple of (now out of print) 'Greatest Hits' CDs, none of their music has been available to buy since the 60's - as he's apparently still waiting for "the right offer" - yeah, good luck with that, mate!

I notice most of the songs in that post were available on Spotify, with '- 2019 remaster' after their titles. Is this the year someone made the right offer?

Quote from: daf on September 12, 2019, 02:00:03 PM
Pet Shop Boys (2010)

Love the Pet Shop Boys cover. Dave Clark loves it too, according to Neil Tennant. I think it's one of the most overtly jubilant things they've recorded, though I'm nonplussed to note that Chris Lowe says it sounds "very sad" and "moody". A lot of great pop music does fall into that ambiguous valley.

I'm currently following a series of threads on the Popjustice forum where members rate Pet Shop Boys songs out of 10 and they're ranked based on their averages. They're currently on thread 3, the most recent third of their discography, where 'Glad all over' – that's how it's capitalised when it's a Pet Shop Boys song, don't proofread me – placed #92 out of 101. So Pet Shop Boys fans aren't arsed.

It's a b-side to suicidal electrowaltz 'Together', which was my highest-rated song of the thread (it got to #33 overall); however, I have changed my mind since submitting my scores, and my favourite song is now the generally hated #99-ranked 'Pazzo!' – bludgeoning, dumb, aggressive, and banging, which I think is in the spirit of 'Glad All Over'.

kalowski

I like "Catch Us If You Can"


Hated how DC5 always put himself on the end of episodes of Ready Steady Go.

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Quote from: sevendaughters on September 12, 2019, 05:09:10 PM
really can't get on with DC5. all their songs feel like they should kick ass, but end up weirdly dirge-like but upbeat, like being stuck at a kids party with a clown who can't read a room. this one's not as bad as Bits & Pieces though.

That's an apt description. Glad All Over is a harmless song, but there's just something so dead-eyed and sterile about the band's relentless, tub-thumping joie de vivre. It's almost sinister, like a Nazi's idea of what happy rock and roll music should sound like.

Quote from: kalowski on September 12, 2019, 06:24:27 PM
I like "Catch Us If You Can"

Their best song by miles and a direct influence on Theme from The Monkees (which is much better, obvs).

Quote from: kalowski on September 12, 2019, 06:24:27 PM
Hated how DC5 always put himself on the end of episodes of Ready Steady Go.

That man has such a massive ego, presumably borne of insecurity surrounding his deep down knowledge that the DC5 were shit compared to most of the other acts who appeared on RSG.

I once watched a hilarious documentary on BBC Four, produced by the man himself, in which he tried to make out that he was one of the key players in '60s pop. The DC5 were a popular band, mainly in America, but they didn't have an ounce of the talent or significance of yer Beatles, Stones, Kinks etc.

Dave Clark, what a wally.

The Culture Bunker

Quote from: Ballad of Ballard Berkley on September 12, 2019, 10:22:28 PMI once watched a hilarious documentary on BBC Four, produced by the man himself, in which he tried to make out that he was one of the key players in '60s pop. The DC5 were a popular band, mainly in America, but they didn't have an ounce of the talent or significance of yer Beatles, Stones, Kinks etc.
Was that the one where the credits were something like:

Presented by: Dave Clark
Written by: Dave Clark
Director: Dave Clark
Catering: Dave Clark
A Dave Clark Production

Ballad of Ballard Berkley


kalowski

Quote from: The Culture Bunker on September 12, 2019, 10:25:35 PM
Was that the one where the credits were something like:

Presented by: Dave Clark
Written by: Dave Clark
Director: Dave Clark
Catering: Dave Clark
A Dave Clark Production
I assume this is the one that daf refers to.

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Oops, sorry daf! I somehow missed that bit. "One of the most ludicrous puffed-up pieces of self-regarding nonsense" sums it up entirely, it's amazing.

daf

Quote from: Ballad of Ballard Berkley on September 12, 2019, 10:54:54 PM
Oops, sorry daf! I somehow missed that bit.

No probs - It probably wasn't there when you first looked - I only added it in at the end of my OCD proof-reading / link-checking tinkering-session (around 5:30-6pm)

God bless nutty Dave - He's a real life Bingo Little!


DrGreggles

Quote from: The Culture Bunker on September 12, 2019, 10:25:35 PM
Was that the one where the credits were something like:

Presented by: Dave Clark
Written by: Dave Clark
Director: Dave Clark
Catering: Dave Clark
A Dave Clark Production

His shit 80s musical took up about 20 minutes, yet the deaths of 2 members of DC5 were covered in a single sentence.
Luckily the credits give a clue as to the cunt responsible...

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Plus he looks like a startled fucking onion these days.

No, it's not nice to make fun of elderly people's botched plastic surgery, but DC is a total dick so it's fine.


daf

Mind the Pricks!, it's . . .

162.  The Searchers - Needles And Pins



From : 26 January – 15 February 1964
Weeks : 3
Flip side : Saturday Night Out
bonus : TV Performance

QuoteTheir first UK album, sung mostly by Tony Jackson and Mike Pender, "Meet The Searchers" was released in August 1963 and reached number 2 on the British album charts the following month.

In the US their first single, was issued on Mercury and the second on Liberty, both without success; then a deal was arranged with US-based Kapp Records to distribute their records in America.

The first US album on Kapp, "Meet The Searchers / Needles And Pins", was a #22 hit in the US album charts in June 1964. Despite it's similar title, it shared only five songs with the UK debut : "Alright"  /  "Farmer John"  /  "Since You Broke My Heart"  /  "Ain't Gonna Kiss Ya"  /  and "Tricky Dicky".  It dropped "Sweets For My Sweet" and added the curent hit single "Needles and Pins".

 

In September 1963, following their August chart topper, Philips Records rush-released in the UK an earlier recording they held of a cover of Brenda Lee's hit 'Sweet Nuthins', which dismayed the group. It made the lower end of the UK chart (#48) in October, but this did not disturb their momentum.

Phillips also had the rights to a 1962 live set recorded at the Star Club Hamburg, and to cash in further, released the live album, "The Searchers at the Star Club Hamburg".  In the US, Mercury re-packaged these recordings as the album, "Hear! Hear!"

 

Producer, Tony Hatch played piano and wrote the band's second single, "Sugar and Spice", a #2 hit record, under the pseudonym Fred Nightingale, a secret he kept from the band at the time. Apparently Chris Curtis disliked this song and refused to sing on it. Tony Jackson again took lead vocal, though Curtis later agreed to sing the distinctive high-harmony vocal links between verses. 

It was included on their second album, released in October 1963, and also released in France as part of the "Surfin' with the Searchers" EP, along with : "Ain't That Just Like Me"  /  "Unhappy Girls"  /  and "Saints And Searchers".



Initially, Tony Jackson was the band's lead singer, but for their third single, released in january 1964, Mike Pender took over -

Mike : "When you hear 'Sweets for My Sweet', I'm taking all the choruses with Tony on that - Tony's singing the verses on his own. So I'm with him there and it just so happened that I sang 'Needles and Pins' on my own. In the studio, our manager Tony Hatch said, 'Look, let's do it the way you do it on stage.' We put it down, couple of takes, and he said, 'That sounds great to me' and that's the way it was."

Quote"Needles and Pins" was written by Jack Nitzsche and Sonny Bono. In his autobiography, Sonny Bono states that he sang along with Nitzsche's guitar-playing, thus creating both the tune and the lyrics, being guided by the chord progressions. However, Jackie DeShannon claims that the song was written at the piano, and that she was a full participant in the song's creation, along with Nitzsche and Bono, although she did not get formal credit.

Jackie DeShannon was the first to record the song; in the US it peaked at number 84 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in May 1963. Though it was only a minor US hit, DeShannon's recording of the song topped the charts in Canada, hitting number one on the CHUM Chart in 1963.

The Searchers first heard British performer Cliff Bennett & The Rebel Rousers perform "Needles and Pins" at a club in Hamburg, Germany, and instantly wanted it to be their next single. Released in January 1964 on Pye Records, it was number one in the United Kingdom, Ireland and South Africa and peaked at number 13 in the United States.

 

Soon after, in April, "Needles and Pins" appeared on the Searchers' first US album, 'Meet The Searchers / Needles And Pins' (a hodge-podge of tracks from their first two UK albums), and a month later their third UK album, 'It's the Searchers' in May 1964. A German language version was also recorded by the group, re-titled "Tausend Nadelstiche" ("Thousand pinpricks").

Audible during the Searchers' recording of "Needles and Pins" is a faulty bass drum pedal, which squeaks throughout the song. It is particularly noticeable during the opening of the number.



Other Versions include :   "La nuit n'en finit plus" by Petula Clark (1963)  /  Les Lionceaux (1964)  /  The Typhoons (1964)  /  Buddy Morrow and His Orchestra (1964) (PARP!)  /  Andrew Oldham Orchestra (1964)  /  The Ventures (1964)  /  Del Shannon (1965)  /  Cher (1965)  /  Gary Lewis & The Playboys (1965)  /  Denny Seyton and The Sabres (1965)  /  Love and Tears (1972)  /  "Bettler und Prinz" by Peter Orloff (1977)  /  Smokie (1977)  /  Dag Spantell (1977)  / "Nerver af stål" by Peter Belli (1977)  /  "Kerran sut löydän" by Gulliver (1978)  /  The Ramones (1978)  /  James Last (1978)  /  Tonix (1978)  /  Hans Edler (1978)  /  The Spongetones (1980)  /  Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers & Stevie Nicks (1986)  /  Twiggy (1989)  /  Ultima Thule (1995)  /  Mr. T Experience (1998)  /  Paul Weller (2004)  /  The Farm (2008)  /  Danny McEvoy (2011)  /  Dog Party (2013)  / Dave Monk (2016)  /  a robot (2016)

On This Day :
Quote29 January : Unmanned Apollo 1 Saturn launcher test attains Earth orbit
29 January : "Dr Strangelove", directed by Stanley Kubrick and starring Peter Sellers, premieres
29 January : Roddy Frame, (Aztec Camera), born in East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire
29 January : Beatles record in German "Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand" & "Sie Liebt Dich"
30 January : Ranger 6 launched; makes perfect flight to Moon, but cameras fail
1 February : "Stop the World, I Want to Get Off" closes at Shubert NYC after 556 performances
1 February : The Beatles' 1st US Number One, "I Want to Hold Your Hand" topped the Hot 100, and stays there for 7 weeks.
1 February : Indiana Governor Mathew Walsh tries to ban "Louie Louie" for obscenity, the soppy sod!
2 February : GI Joe, debuts as a popular American boy's dolly
5 February : Duff McKagan, (Guns N' Roses), born Michael Andrew McKagan in Seattle, Washington
6 February : "Rugantino" opens at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC
6 February : France & Great-Britain sign accord over building the channel tunnel
7 February : Baskin&Robbins introduces "Beatle Nut" ice cream
7 February : The Beatles land at NY's JFK airport, for 1st US tour
8 February : Trinny Woodall, British fashion guru born Sarah-Jane Duncanson Woodall in Marylebone, London
8 February : Peter Shaffer's "Royal Hunt of the Sun" premieres in London
9 February : 1st appearance of the Beatles on the "Ed Sullivan Show" draws 73.7 million viewers
9 February : IX Winter Olympic Games close in Innsbruck, Austria
11 February : The Beatles 1st live appearance in US; Washington, D.C. Coliseum
12 February : Gerald Gardner, British occultist and Wiccan, dies at 79
14 February : Rob Jones "The Bass Thing" (The Wonder Stuff), born in Kingswinford, near Dudley
15 February : "Meet the Beatles!" album goes to #1 & stays at the top for 11 weeks

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! :
Quote
             

purlieu

'Needles and Pins-uh'.
Pleasant but forgettable. Couple of unexpected chord changes in the middle 8.

Jackie DeShannon's version is awesome and definitive and makes this look like a lame cover, sadly. It needs a Lennon power vocal if it's going to work for a British male group.

Also the face bottom left in that Searchers picture looks a bit Trumpy!:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4wisQfJERY

Disagree with the above, I think The Searchers version is tops. In terms of this era of pop music, it also has an understated melancholy vibe that The Beatles were never very good at.

There is a Ramones version as well that is truly unnecessary.

The Culture Bunker

I like the jangly guitar, not sure if they were a big influence on subsequent bands or whether they were ripping off someone else, but it gives them something to differentiate themselves from the Beatles. Song itself is fair enough, has the good sense to not hang around long enough to get boring.

kalowski

Needle and Pins is magic, both this and Jackie DeShannon. The Searchers' version is just lovely.

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Quote from: The Culture Bunker on September 13, 2019, 07:59:59 PM
I like the jangly guitar, not sure if they were a big influence on subsequent bands or whether they were ripping off someone else, but it gives them something to differentiate themselves from the Beatles. Song itself is fair enough, has the good sense to not hang around long enough to get boring.

The Byrds nicked the Needles and Pins riff for I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better, the ultimate mid-'60s folk rock song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=to-RVV_3anw

The Searchers don't receive enough credit for helping to foment the power pop and C-86 sounds of the '70s and '80s. They weren't as cool as The Beatles and The Byrds, but they were a significant influence on subsequent generations of wan, wiry, Rickenbacker-wielding indie boys and girls.

When they recorded this power pop banger in the late '70s, they were obviously trying to remind all those jangly New Wave arrivistes who the twelve-string daddies were (this record was not a commercial success).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbXLOvnrg5c

machotrouts

I get very intense pins and needles in my legs and I've been thinking of seeing a doctor about it. I don't know if pins and needles is the sort of thing you're allowed to see a doctor about. As you can imagine this song resonates deeply with me. Anyway that's what's going on in my life, nice to catch up

daf

I've heard enough of this crap!, it's . . .

163.  The Bachelors - Diane



From : 16 – 22 February  1964
Weeks : 1
Flip side : The Stars Will Remember
bonus : TV performance

QuoteThe Bachelors are a popular music group, originating from Dublin, Ireland. The founding members of the group were Conleth "Con" Cluskey, born 18 November 1941, Declan "Dec" Cluskey, born 23 December 1942, and John "John" Stokes, born 13 August 1940.

John Stokes : "My interest in harmonica music brought me in contact with the Cluskey brothers.  I had started a trio with two local lads and played in many of the local halls with fair success, but I did not have the time to continue with this.  I had met Con a few times and he asked me if I would get together with his younger brother Declan, who I had never met, with a view to perhaps forming a trio again at a later date when i might have more time."

In 1957 they formed their first band, a classically styled instrumental harmonica-act, known as "The Harmonichords".

 

John : "One evening he brought him to my house.  Con joined us later to make up a trio and we practiced some songs together and did some shows around the local halls and sometimes the Theatre Royal.  But I knew there was not much future in show business for a harmonica trio which prompted me to buy a guitar to introduce some singing into the act.  Dec borrowed the guitar and decided to alter the construction of the instrument.  This wrecked my guitar.  Just another one of his great ideas that I had to suffer."

As The Harmonichords, they appeared on Hughie Green's Opportunity Knocks on Radio Luxembourg and on the 'Ed Sullivan' TV show St. Patrick's Day special (filmed in Dublin, and broadcast 15 March 1959), where they played "Danny Boy".

They also played background music plus featured pieces in a radio comedy series called Odd Noises on Radio Éireann, which featured Eamonn Andrews.

John : "Our big break came when we were asked to play a tune plus some little bits of link music in a twenty-six week radio series. A summer at Butlins in Mosney, Co. Meath followed, which was quite an enjoyable time.  A five week tour of England was offered and we decided to give it a try.  The tour finished in the Palace Theatre in Manchester and a local agent offered some club work."

In 1961, they were discovered in Scotland by entrepreneur Phil Solomon and his wife Dorothy. Solomon introduced them to Decca Records' A&R head Dick Rowe.

Dick Rowe : "They all played harmonicas and sang folk songs. They weren't an act you could sign to a pop record company. We went backstage afterwards and there were these three boys who looked at me as if I'd come from heaven and was going to open the door for them to walk in. I said, 'God be with me at this moment' and I meant it." After signing the trio, Rowe suggested a name change : "I said, 'What do girls like, Philip? . . . Bachelors!"

John"Dick Rowe from the Decca Record Company was talked into coming all the way from London to see us.  He had a song for us to record and was confident of its success.  We were very excited at the thought that we were getting a new song to record, but when he handed us a copy of Charmaine and told us there were already fifty-seven recorded versions I sensed a feeling of disappointment."

"We knew that we had to do something with the song, but nobody knew what.  We did a busking version on stage, but we were not getting anywhere.  I then took it over, changed the melody to what I thought would sound more commercial.  Put in harmonies that I thought would have suited "The Rainbow Choir" and our first hit was born.  I sang the lead on the show for a while, but it did not suit my voice and Con could not sing the harmonies.  We changed around."

With the assistance of producer Shel Talmy, the group enjoyed a UK Top 10 hit with a revival of the Lew Pollack and Erno Rapee song "Charmaine" in the summer of 1963.



Declan Cluskey : "What did it feel like standing in Philip's flat in Park Lane, London, listening to the acetate pressing of our first proper recording?  Can you imagine?  Did you ever get that hair on the back of your neck stand on end...did you ever have a welling up in your eyes with sheer excitement....did you ever just stand silent in disbelief?  That numbness....IT WAS ALL OF THAT...AND THEN SOME MORE......   
Okay, we had a huge hit....19 weeks in the top twenty...longest for that year....AND CON AND I STILL SING IT EVERY TIME WE APPEAR ON STAGE...... "
   

John : "Charmaine went to number six in the UK charts and we followed this with "Far Away Places" which did nothing.  I had been working on a vocal arrangement of "Whispering" and suggested this to Dick.  He liked the idea, we went into the studio and the record went to number sixteen.  This was the restart we needed."

Following the minor #36 hit, "Far Away Places", "Whispering" climbed to #18 in September 1963, and in January 1964, they scored their first, and only, UK number 1 - "Diane".

Four of their hit songs were taken from 1920s films. Before The Bachelors, Jim Reeves had also covered the same four songs, "Charmaine", "Diane", "Ramona" and "Marie", in the 1950s.

Dec : "Dick Rowe [said] "Now do you understand, boys, stick to what I say...just record 'oldies'." He said the same to Mick Jagger one day at Top of the Pops.....we were chatting in our dressing room.  Mick's reply?  "F*** Off, Dick!"....Whaaaattt?  "Mick just told Dick to.....Did you hear that?"

In 1964, The Bachelors appeared in Just for You, (later re-titled "Disk-O-Tek Holiday"), alongside other music stars of the time. In 1965, they appeared in a Billy Fury film, I've Gotta Horse, singing "Far Far Away" and "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands".

 

Through the mid-60s, they continued to rack up a string of easy listening pop hits, including four more in 1964 :  "I Believe" (#2)  /  "Ramona" (#4)  /  "I Wouldn't Trade You For The World" (#4)  / and  "No Arms Can Ever Hold You" (#7). 

Another three followed the following year : "True Love For Evermore" - #34 in April  /  "Marie" - #9 in May  /  and "In The Chapel In The Moonlight" - #27 in November 1965.

Following "Hello, Dolly!", scraping in at #38, in January 1966, their last big hit in the UK was a cover of the Paul Simon song "The Sound of Silence" which reached The Top 3 in April 1966.

Four further singles made the UK charts - "Can I Trust You" - #26 in July 1966  /  "Walk With Faith In Your Heart" - #21 in December 1966  /  "Oh How I Miss You" - #30 in April 1967  /  and "Marta" - #20 in July 1967.

Some later flops included : "Three O'Clock Flamingo Street" (1967)  /  "The Unicorn" (1968)  /  and "Punky's Dilemma" (1969)

The group began 1970 by appearing on the BBC's highly rated review of the 1960s' music scene Pop Go The Sixties performing "Charmaine" and "Diane" live on the show, which was broadcast on BBC1 on 1 January 1970. 

In 1971 they starred in a TV situation comedy series called Under and Over playing three Irish navvies working on the London Underground. Six episodes were broadcast on BBC One.



Live work carried them into the 1970s with record-breaking theatre season shows, but after a successful start to the decade with the album 'The World of the Bachelors' hitting the top 5, the band became less and less dominant in the changing music industry. They remained successful recording artists and moved to the Philips label, which was home to easy listening stars such as Val Doonican and The New Seekers.

But there was trouble a-brewin' behind the scenes between the brothers on one side, and John Stokes on the other . . .

The Bachelors bought their own sound system in the late '70s and for the first time they had monitor speakers on stage so that they could hear themselves singing. Con noticed that the voices were somehow out of tune, and immediately thought it was his fault! He asked their sound man, Brian Savory,  to record his voice solo, during a show, direct from his microphone to a tape machine, so that he could listen to himself. He was pleasantly surprised to hear that he was singing very much in tune.

Con then got Brian to secretly record Dec thinking it must be him who was out of tune. Once again he was pleasantly surprised..... It was not him.

Their next show was at Gunton Hall, and once again Con asked Brian, this time, to record John solo, direct from his microphone to the tape recording machine. When he got home he could not believe what he was listening to! Not only was it out of tune, but there were the weirdest noises he had ever heard on the tape. At the next show Con handed the tape to John and asked him to listen to it, whereupon he flung the tape to the floor saying it was 'doctored' and that there was nothing wrong with his voice. He then stated that the monitors on stage made him sing out of tune!

Con and Dec had no option but to ask Brian Savory to turn John's microphone off and it was like that for the four final years except when he had a 'solo' to sing. 

 

On Saturday, 14th January 1984, the curtain came down on the annual panto at the Theatre Royal in Hanley, where Lyn Paul and The Bachelors had been appearing in Aladdin. During its final fortnight the pantomime played out to an off-stage drama between The Bachelors.

It was decided to call a company meeting of Bachelors Limited in London, and confront John officially with his conduct in the act.  John would not accept the evidence of the deterioration in his voice that had been recorded solo.  There was no option but to vote John off the board of directors and also terminate his service contract with the company Bachelors Ltd. John stormed out of the meeting with the words "I'VE HEARD ENOUGH OF THIS CRAP!!".

On 4th January brothers Con and Dec Cluskey announced that the third member of the group John Stokes was to leave because of a "throat problem". The following day John Stokes' lawyer, announced that his client was to sue the Cluskeys for "improperly" excluding him from the group. The dispute was reported in the press. The Glasgow Herald quoting Dec as saying: "John's throat problem has magnified to the extent that we now feel it is impossible for us to maintain the high standard the public expect, and demand, without replacing him"

At the eventual High Court case John's voice at that time was described by Queen's Counsel as that of a 'drowning rat', which made headlines in the National Newspapers :



Eric Morecambe was heard to say: "That is the funniest headline I have ever seen in Show Business"

The High Court case ended in May with all three members of the group agreed not to use the name The Bachelors in their future careers. The Cluskey brothers recruited Peter Phipps and continue as The New Bachelors; John Stokes teamed up with Steve Coe to form Stokes & Coe.

In 1993, against the court ruling,  John started calling his band 'The New Bachelors'.  To avoid confusion, Con and Dec changed their name to "Con & Dec, The Bachelors", whereupon, quick as a flash, John changed his to "The Bachelors with John Stokes".

So, to this day, both versions of The Bachelors warily circle each other on the sticky-carpeted cabaret circuit like lumbering jungle beasts . . . on the plus side, David Van Day isn't in either one of them!!

 

Dec : "In 'The Bachelors' early days Con was the one with the voice, I was the one with the ideas, John was the one with the newspaper!  A great pal and fun to be around.  Con and I always wish him the best of luck in everything that he attempts. Sadly he breaks the laws of this great country every time he attempts to present a 'Bachelors' presentation ... he is forbidden by a High Court Undertaking which he signed.  Why does he do it?  Who can tell ....  a law breaker?"

Quote"Diane", also known as "Diane (I'm in Heaven When I See You Smile)", was written by Ernö Rapée and Lew Pollack, originally as a theme song for the 1927 silent movie 7th Heaven.

The song was a popular single by Irish band The Bachelors, reaching number one in the UK Singles Chart, making The Bachelors the first act from the Republic of Ireland to top the British charts. It was also a Number 2 in Ireland and Number 3 in Australia. In the US, "Diane" was The Bachelors most successful single, peaking at Number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1964.

 

Other Versions include :   The Troubadours and the Nat Shilkret Orchestra (1927)  /  James Melton (1927)  /  Billy May and His Orchestra (1952)  /  Jackie Gleason (1955)  /  Bill Doggett (1957)  /  Shirley Scott (1958)  /  Ray Charles (1961)  /  Miles Davis (1961)  /  Vic Damone (1962)  /  Ernie Freeman (1962)  /  Sir Julian (1962)  /  Pete & Conte Candoli (1962)  /  Skitch Henderson (1962)  /  Johnny Beecher (1963)  /  Living Strings (1963)  /  Joe Harnell (1963)  /  The Concords (1964)  /  Sergio Franchi (1964)  /  Don Patterson with Sonny Stitt  (1966)  /  R. Crumb and His Cheap Suit Serenaders (1976)  /  Danny McEvoy (2011)

On This Day :
Quote16 February : Christopher Eccleston, actor, born in Langworthy, Salford, Lancashire
16 February : "Foxy" opens at Ziegfeld Theater NYC
16 February : The Beatles' 2nd appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show
18 February : Paul Hanley, (The Fall - drummer), born in Manchester
19 February : UK flies ½ ton of The Beatles wigs to the US
21 February : UK flies 24,000 rolls of Beatles wallpaper to US
22 February : The Beatles arrive back in England after their 1st US visit

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! :
Quote       

sevendaughters

really like that Searchers tune (and the Jackie DeShannon version) too. nothing new to add to the comments really. feels like where Go Betweens were pulling from once they'd gotten over any post-punk pretensions. sparse, letting good changes do the heavy emotional lifting.

not sure about the Bachelors. it's sweet and competent but feels like a 50s hangover stuffed into a 60s suit.

daf

I think we've reached the absolute rock bottom here  - I could only find one (recent) cover version on youtube - and that's only because the ever reliable Scouse busker Danny McEvoy decided to cover every single UK number 1 a few years ago, so he was sort of 'forced' into doing it.




Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Quote from: sevendaughters on September 16, 2019, 02:05:50 PM
not sure about the Bachelors. it's sweet and competent but feels like a 50s hangover stuffed into a 60s suit.

Loafer-tapping shite like this has no place in a hit parade that's just begun to swing. We haven't seen the last of these mum and dad records, they'll occasionally crop up throughout the '60s like an unwelcome houseguest, but my God they just sound so square compared to what was starting to happen in pop at the time.

These grinning, chicken-in-a-basket dorks make Gerry and The Pacemakers sound like Motorhead. Begone!

sevendaughters

Quote from: Ballad of Ballard Berkley on September 16, 2019, 10:00:16 PM
Loafer-tapping shite like this has no place in a hit parade that's just begun to swing. We haven't seen the last of these mum and dad records, they'll occasionally crop up throughout the '60s like an unwelcome houseguest, but my God they just sound so square compared to what was starting to happen in pop at the time.

These grinning, chicken-in-a-basket dorks make Gerry and The Pacemakers sound like Motorhead. Begone!

I suspect you're right. I once tried to review every UK number 1 on a blog using a random number generator so I didn't have to plod through the 50s, but found some right horror corners in every decade.

The Culture Bunker

I've long been aware of the Bachelors as a name, but never knowingly heard their music. Presumably they would still appear on light-ent shows even into the 1980s, or they were a punchline of sorts to jokes my dad/uncles would make about this kind of "granny music".

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Quote from: sevendaughters on September 16, 2019, 10:06:28 PM
I suspect you're right. I once tried to review every UK number 1 on a blog using a random number generator so I didn't have to plod through the 50s, but found some right horror corners in every decade.

Going through the charts in 'real time' like this is fascinating for so many reasons, not least of which is the reminder that pop-crazed youngsters didn't completely rule the roost. If a boring piece of MOR dreck such as Diane received enough airplay, then the mums, dads and grannies would come out in force and send it to the top of the charts.

This becomes increasingly weird and jarring the deeper we get into the '60s, as you go from, say, the Stones at number one with a wild piece of noisy, nihilistic rock, followed by the safe sounds of Ken Dodd or Des O'Connor, then back to something groovy for the kids.

This is such a great thread, daf, I hope you know how much we're digging it! 

daf

Quote from: Ballad of Ballard Berkley on September 16, 2019, 10:33:21 PM
This is such a great thread, daf, I hope you know how much we're digging it!

Cheers!

If you have time, the "Extra Extra" section is also worth a look, (click on the covers) - it's a fascinating glimpse of the 'current' music scene - Heinz has popped up again, The Rolling Stones begin to appear, and Dave Clark's thinking about buying a thatched mansion for a whopping £15,000 - Worra Breadhead!