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

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

You're right. But I wasn't just listening with fresh ears, I had put the disc on with a degree of self-consciousness because my brother was round. I'd fallen into a familiar trap of trying to impress him with 'pop music' (we'd just finished the second disc of Abbey Road outtakes) - he's a classical musician who stretches to like the Beatles, but only the late stuff.

Listening to Village Green, I suddenly realised how 'basic' it was.

Anyway - People Take Pictures of Each Other is as fantastic as you say. Hard to pick a favourite, but Last of the Old Fashioned Trains is good too.

Ah, I see. Understandable.

As for Trains, I agree. I've always loved the direct, unvarnished disgust of this line, the way he spits it out: "My friends are all middle-class and grey."

[machotrouts]

Not sure this song would survive without its tacked-on guitar growls, but I quite like it as it is. Is there a similar song it's reminding me of that makes me keep expecting to hear a backing vocal echoing the "do what you want"s, or have I just got a bad case of boyband brain?

This is an impossible thought to punctuate legibly, but here goes: "All Day and All of the Night" is the "Oops!...I Did It Again" to "You Really Got Me"'s "...Baby One More Time". (I make this comparison because, as I recall, at some point in my adolescence, I owned an MP3 player with exactly those 4 songs on it, and those 4 songs only. The reason for this is beyond my memory.) I scarcely used to be able to tell the two apart, though I find the drop in quality very noticeable now – the recurring emphasis on "the" in "all of THE time!" is the kind of thing they teach you to do in the first class of Fucking Up Songwriting 101.

[daf]

G'day Cobbers!, it's . . .

188.  The Seekers - I'll Never Find Another You



From : 21 February – 6 March 1965
Weeks : 2
Flip side : Open Up Them Pearly Gates
Bonus : Film performance

The Seekers were formed in 1962 in Melbourne by Athol Guy on double bass, Keith Potger on twelve-string guitar and Bruce Woodley on guitar. Guy, Potger and Woodley had all attended Melbourne Boys High School in Victoria.

In the late 1950s, Potger led The Trinamics, a rock 'n' roll group, Guy led The Ramblers and, with Woodley, they decided to form a doo-wop music group, The Escorts. The Escorts had Ken Ray as the lead singer and in 1962 they became The Seekers.

Ken Ray left the group to get married. His place was taken by Judith Durham, an established traditional jazz singer who added a distinctive female lead voice. She had earlier recorded an extended play disc on W&G Records with the Melbourne group, Frank Traynor's Jazz Preachers.



Durham and Guy had met when they both worked in an advertising agency – initially Durham only sang periodically with the Seekers, when not performing at local jazz clubs. She was replaced in Traynor's jazz ensemble by Margret RoadKnight.

The Seekers performed folk-influenced pop music and soon gathered a strong following in Melbourne. Durham's connections with W&G Records led to the group's later signing a recording contract with the label.

Their debut album, "Introducing the Seekers", was released in 1963. When being photographed for the album's cover, Keith Potger was replaced by Ken Ray – as Potger's day job with the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) as a radio producer barred him from involvement in a commercial enterprise. This was later replaced with a cover featuring the correct line-up featuring Potger (he's on the left side on the second cover).

 

Their debut single was the traditional historic Australian bush ballad from 1894, "Waltzing Matilda" (b/w "Wild Rover"), which appeared in November 1963 and peaked at #74 on the Australian charts. This was included on their second album - released in 1964.

   

The Seekers were offered a twelve-month position as on-board entertainment on the Sitmar Line passenger cruise ship Fairsky in March 1964. In May, they travelled to the U.K. and had intended to return to Australia after staying ten weeks, but upon arrival they were offered work by a London booking agency, the Grade Organisation.

They signed there with World Record Club and issued a single, "Myra", co-written by the group (b/w "With My Swag All On My Shoulder").

The distinctive soprano voice of Durham, the group's vocal harmonies and memorable songs encouraged the BBC to give them a regular slot on the TV show, "Call in on Carroll", hosted by Ronnie Carroll - which helped them to appeal to a broad cross-section of the British folk, pop and rock music audience.

After filling in on a bill headlined by folk singer Dusty Springfield, they met her brother - songwriter and producer Tom Springfield - who had experience with writing folk-pop material with the siblings' earlier group The Springfields. He penned "I'll Never Find Another You", which they recorded in November 1964. It reached No. 1 in the UK and Australia, and No. 4 in the US charts.

 

The Seekers were the first Australian pop group to have a Top 5 hit in all three countries – Australia, U.K. and U.S.A. Australian music historian, Ian McFarlane described their style as "concentrated on a bright, uptempo sound, although they were too pop oriented to be considered strictly folk and too folk to be rock." 

In April 1965, another Tom Springfield composition followed, "A World of Our Own" (b/w "Sinner Man"), which reached Top 3 in Australia and the U.K. and the Top 20 in the US. It was also included on their 1965 album 'A World Of Our Own' along with two Bob Dylan covers - "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right"  /  "The Times They Are A 'Changin'"  and Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land".

 

"I'll Never Find Another You" was written and produced by Tom Springfield, and performed by The Seekers.

It was released by EMI Records, on their 'Columbia' label, in December and was championed by the offshore radio station "Radio Caroline" which frequently played and promoted their music.



Despite the fact that the group had not signed a contract with EMI, the single reached the UK Top 50 and began selling well. In February 1965, it reached No.1 in the U.K. and Australia, and No.4 in the United States where it was released on EMI's Capitol Records label. "I'll Never Find Another You" was the seventh biggest-selling single in Britain for 1965.

Other Versions include :  Sonny James (1965)  /  Al Martino (1965)  /  Vic Damone (1965)  /  "Mensen, zoals wij" by The Shepherds (1965)  /  "En löydä ketään vertaistasi" by Anki, Bosse ja Robert (1965)  /  "Je n'en veux pas d'autre que toi" by Les Missiles (1965)  /  Sheila (1965)  /   "Du är det allra käraste" by Country Four (1965)  /  Slim Whitman (1966)  /  Jean DuShon (1966)  /  Wilma Burgess (1967)  /  Nora Aunor (1968)  /  The Bluegrass Alliance (1973)  /  Brødrene Olsen (2002)  /  Melanie (2002)  /  Clare Teal (2012)  /  Danny McEvoy (2011)  /  a robot (2019)

On This Day  :

21 February : Malcolm X assassinated at Audubon Ballroom in New York City aged 39
22 February : USSR launches Kosmos 57 into earth orbit (Voskhod Test)
23 February : Stan Laurel, British comedian, dies of a heart attack at 74
24 February : The Beatles begin filming "Help" in Bahamas
27 February : "High Spirits" closes at Alvin Theater NYC after 375 performances
2 March : Lembit Öpik, politician, born in Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland
3 March : The Temptations' "My Girl" reaches #1
4 March : Andrew Collins, (Collins & Maconie's Film Club), born in Northampton, Northamptonshire, Northamptonland, Northamponwo-o-o-o-o-rld!!
4 March : David Attenbrough becomes the new controller of BBC2
6 March : "How to Succeed in Business" closes at 46th St NYC after 1415 performances
6 March : Margaret Dumont, actress (Marx Brothers), dies at 75

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! :

     

[gilbertharding]

G'day Cobblers!, it's . . .

I'm not even listening to that.

Of course, we'll have The New Seekers (Continuity Seekers, I call them) along soon as well. Bastards.

Are they Christians? They look like Christians.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

This is an impossible thought to punctuate legibly, but here goes: "All Day and All of the Night" is the "Oops!...I Did It Again" to "You Really Got Me"'s "...Baby One More Time". (I make this comparison because, as I recall, at some point in my adolescence, I owned an MP3 player with exactly those 4 songs on it, and those 4 songs only. The reason for this is beyond my memory.) I scarcely used to be able to tell the two apart, though I find the drop in quality very noticeable now – the recurring emphasis on "the" in "all of THE time!" is the kind of thing they teach you to do in the first class of Fucking Up Songwriting 101.

Nooooooo. All Day and All of the Night is You Really Got Me perfected within a tight inch of its life. A reverse Britney. "THE time" is ace, it's emphatically, knowingly stoopid.

Just look at Ray Davies' permanently wry, amused, Mr Punch (but not punchable) face. He knows "THE time" is camp as chips, cool as mustard.

Not having that, machotrouts. Not having that at all.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

G'day Cobbers!

Cobblers, more like!

I can't stand The Seekers, they're the musty Gideon Bibles of '60s pop. Nice but dull supply teachers.

[The Culture Bunker]

To be honest, I know next to nowt about the Seekers (New or otherwise) but something about them, somehow, always made me think "young(ish) RE teacher who thinks they're really groovy because they can play guitar, usually with a rainbow-coloured strap".

[purlieu]

The Seekers always remind me of George in Men Behaving Badly.
But yes, that was pretty dull.

Kinks one was ok. Not their best.
I actually agree with the Britney / Kinks analogy, but only because I actually prefer 'Oops...' to 'Baby...'. Musically it just appeals more to me.

[gilbertharding]

Cobblers, more like!

Bah! I already said that!!

[machotrouts]

Wonder if the 1960s will get round to challenging my incredibly low expectations of the description "folk pop". This does not. This sounds like a soap opera theme tune.

Perhaps a #1 for the old people who hadn't yet died of Kinks-induced shock, going by the names in the covers I thought were long past making any more appearances in these threads. Vic Damone? Slim Whitman? Al Martino?

[daf]

Leap up and down, wave your knickers in the air!, it's . . .

189.  Tom Jones - It's Not Unusual



From : 7 – 13 March 1965
Weeks : 1
Flip side : To Wait For Love (Is To Waste Your Life Away)
Bonus : Live TV Peformance (For God's sake, stop clicking Tom - it's drowning out Clem Cattini!)

Tom Jones was born Thomas John Woodward on 7 June 1940 at 57 Kingsland Terrace, Treforest, Pontypridd, in Glamorgan, South Wales. 

Tom began singing at an early age: he would regularly sing at family gatherings, weddings and in his school choir. At 12 he was diagnosed with tuberculosis. Many years later he said: "I spent two years in bed recovering. It was the worst time of my life." During convalescence he could do little else but listen to music and draw.

In March 1957 Jones married his high school girlfriend, Linda Trenchard, when they were expecting a child together, both aged 16. The couple's son, Mark, was born in the month following their wedding. To support his young family, Jones took a job working in a glove factory and was later employed in construction.

Tom's bluesy singing style developed out of the sound of American soul music. His early influences included blues and R&B singers Little Richard, Solomon Burke, Jackie Wilson and Brook Benton, as well as Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis.

In 1963 he became the frontman in 1963 for Tommy Scott and the Senators, a Welsh beat group.



Tom : "They had a gig at a YMCA on a Friday night. Their singer hadn't turned up, so their bassist asked me to fill in. I didn't want to do it, but they twisted my arm, and my God, it was amazing. I was up there doing all these rock'n'roll numbers, and I knew I wasn't going to be playing the acoustic guitar after that. For me this was it. I'd made it."

"We took rock'n'roll into the south Wales working men's clubs, we had a show every night. The first time we turned up, they'd booked me as a solo singer with an acoustic guitar and I've got electric guitars and drums. They want to pay us off, but I persuade them to give us a go anyway as they know me, and we start with 'I Believe' – Elvis did it, The Platters, Frank Sinatra – then 'My Mother's Eyes', 'My Yiddishe Momme' and then we hit them with 'Great Balls Of Fire'. By the end of the night the secretary of the club has called the police station and asked for an extension until 12, so we could play longer. From that moment on I set my sights on London."

They soon gained a local following and reputation in South Wales. In 1964, the group recorded several solo tracks with producer Joe Meek, including "Chills And Fever", "Baby I'm In Love", "I was a Fool", "Little Lonely One",  "That's What We'll All Do", and  "Lonely Joe".

Tom : "We recorded a demo and sent it off. Joe Meek heard it, we auditioned for him at Holloway Road. We went up a flight of stairs – there was a kitchen and two rooms – we recorded in the front room, and the control room was in the back room. He looked like a teddy boy, wore mohair suits. We cut five sides with him, but he couldn't get any of them released, so he ripped our contract up in front of me. Of course I was naive and didn't realise it was only a copy."

Later that year, Decca producer Peter Sullivan saw Tommy Scott and the Senators performing in a club and directed them to manager Phil Solomon, but the partnership was short-lived.

The group continued to play gigs at dance halls and working men's clubs in South Wales. One night at the Top Hat in Cwmtillery, Tom was spotted by Gordon Mills, a London-based manager who also originally hailed from South Wales. Mills became his manager, took the young singer to London, and also renamed him "Tom Jones", to exploit the popularity of the saucy 1963 film, and The Senators were re-named The Playboys, and then as The Squires :

   

Eventually, Mills got Jones a recording contract with Decca. "Chills and Fever" (b/w "Breathless"), was released in August 1964. It did not chart, but the follow-up, "It's Not Unusual", became an international hit after offshore pirate radio station Radio Caroline promoted it. It reached No. 1 in the United Kingdom and the top ten in the United States.

In April, he released the single "Once Upon A Time" (b/w "I Tell The Sea) (a modest #32 hit in the UK), and the same month, backed by 'The Squires', unleashed the four track live EP "On Stage", featuring : "Bama Lama Bama Loo"  /  "I Can't Stop Loving You"  /  "Lucille"  /  and "Little By Little"

 

His next hit was "With These Hands" ( b/w "Untrue") which claimed the #13 spot in July 1965.

During 1965, Mills secured a number of film themes for Jones to record -  including the theme song for the film "What's New Pussycat?" (written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David), What's New Pussycat?" (b/w "The Rose") clawed it's way up to #11 in August 1965.

 

Tom : "I went to Paramount studios in Hollywood to talk about a song for a movie, and they said 'Elvis is here today filming and he would like to meet you'. So I thought, my God, I didn't know that he knew that I existed, because I had three singles out and one album at the time. And that was 'It's Not Unusual', 'What's New Pussycat' and a ballad called 'With These Hands'. When I go on the set where Elvis was filming, he walked towards me and singing 'With These Hands', which was my record. I couldn't believe it. It was like a dream, that Elvis Presley was singing my song, you know, to me!"

"We had a picture taken, and he said to me, 'How the hell do you sing like that'? And I said, 'Well, you are partly to blame, you know, listening to your records in the 50s'. He said, 'What's it like in Wales then? You come from Wales?' I said 'Yeah'. And he said, 'Do all people sing like that in Wales?' I said, 'Well, not exactly', but I said, 'Welsh people have strong voices, that is where I get my strength from. My volume is where I come from'. But, I said, 'I was influenced more by American music than I was Welsh traditional music'. So I said, 'It's a combination. I have a Welsh voice, but because of American music influencing me so much, I am sounding like I do'. Because they thought I was black, you know."



On another occasion, Tom had a slightly more awkward encounter with Elvis when Presley opted to relieve himself while pitching the Jones a new song. When Presley heard a song he thought was perfect for the Welshman, he insisted on visiting him in his hotel suite, while Jones was taking a shower.

Jones could hear Elvis in the bathroom as he cleaned up and it was only when he stepped out did he realise The King had been crooning on the toilet. Tom : "He was standing there cleaning up, looking in the mirror and so I'm naked and he's half-naked; his pants are down by his ankles... and he's singing. I'm trying to towel down and Elvis is singing... and then of course I said, 'Elvis, you know your pants...' and he went, 'Red!', because he used to have a bodyguard called Red... so Red busts through the door, thinking there's something wrong... and he says, 'My pants, man...'" The minder, Red West, then proceeded to help Elvis squeeze back into his skin-tight leather trousers.

Tom also lent his pipes for the James Bond film "Thunderball" - where he memorably fainted in the recording studio after over-extending himself on the final lung-busting top note. "Thunderball" (b/w "Key To My Heart") puttered out like a malfunctioning jet-pack at a disappointing #35 in January 1966.

 

In February, his next single, the future 'Northern Soul' stomper "Stop Breaking My Heart" (b/w "Never Give Away Love") flopped, but he was back in the chart with his next one - the double A-sided "Once There Was A Time" / "Not Responsible" - which climbed to #18 in May 1966.

By the middle of 1966, Jones's popularity began to slip - his next single "This And That" (b/w "City Girl") stalled at #44 in August 1966 - causing manager Gordon Mills to reshape the singer's image into that of a crooner with material that appealed to a wider audience. This move would soon return him to the top of the charts.

"It's Not Unusual" was written by Les Reed and Gordon Mills, first recorded by a then-unknown Tom Jones, after having first been offered to Sandie Shaw. Jones recorded what was intended to be a demo for Shaw, but when she heard it she was so impressed with Jones's delivery that she declined the song and recommended that Jones release it himself.

As was standard practice in the 1960s, session musicians were used instead of Jones's regular backing band. Although the guitar has been cited as having been provided by Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, the song's musical arranger, Les Reed, has stated that the only guitarist was Joe Moretti, who is known for his playing on "Shakin' All Over" and "Brand New Cadillac".

Jones's group "Tom Jones and the Squires" were missing their regular keyboard player for the session. Future AC/DC drummer Chris Slade ran across the street to the "La Giaconda" coffee house, and recruited the then-unknown Reginald Dwight (later to adopt the stage name Elton John) for the one-day recording session.

 

The record reached number one in the UK Singles Chart in 1965, and was also the first hit for Jones in the US, peaking at No. 10 in May of that year.

The BBC initially refused to play the song because of Jones's sexy image, but it was played by UK pirate stations 'Radio Caroline', and the newly launched 'Radio London'. Jones performed the song several times on The Ed Sullivan Show in the US.

Other Versions include :   The Dells (1965)  /  Brenda Lee (1965)  /  Marvin Gaye (1965)  /  Thee Midniters (1965)  /  Mel Carter (1965)  /  Jackie Trent (1965)  /  The Impressions (1965)  /  Maurice Williams & The Zodiacs (1965)  /  George Chakiris (1965)  /  Eddie Rambeau (1965)  /  Willie Bobo (1965)  /  Vic Damone (1965)  /  B.J. Thomas (1965)  /  Billy Strange (1965)  /  Glen Campbell (1965)  /  Camarata and His Orchestra (1965)  /  The Swingers (1965)  /  "Je ne fais pas d'histoires" by Noël Deschamps (1965)  /  Sophie (1965)  /  "Non è normale" by Little Tony (1965)  /  "No es nada extraño" by Bruno Lomas (1965)  /  "No Es Res D'excepcional" by Lleo Segarra (1965)  /  Cher (1966)  /  The Four Tops (1966)  /  Los Bravos (1966)  /  The Anita Kerr Singers (1966)  /  Helen Gamboa (1966)  /  George Maharis (1966)  /  Marty Paich (1966)  /  Hugh Masekela (1966)  /  Ted Heath (1966)  /  Shake Keane (1966)  /  Mod and The Rockers (1967)  /  Maggie Joddrell (1967)  /  Diana Ross & The Supremes  /  Vikki Carr (1968)  /  Nora Aunor (1968)  /  Connie Francis (1969)  /  Eddie Floyd (1969)  /  The Four Freshmen (1969)  /  The Blow Monkeys (1985)  /  The Wedding Present (1992)  /  Belly (1993)  /  D.O.A. (1993)  /  Danny McEvoy (2011)  /  Clare Teal (2013)  /  Jim Rodio (2013)  /  masterluke1986 8-bit (2014)  /  Booboo'zzz All Stars (2016)

On This Day  :

8 March : First US combat forces arrive in Vietnam, on the beaches of Da Nang
11 March : Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, TV painter & decorator, born Laurence Roderick Llewelyn-Bowen in Kensington, London
12 March : "Wooly Bully" single released by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs
13 March : Jeff Beck replaces Eric Clapton of the Yardbirds
13 March : The Beatles' "Eight Days a Week" single goes #1 in the US

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! :

     

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Bah! I already said that!!

Soz and apols!!

[Satchmo Distel]

Not sure how I feel about 1965 Tom Jones. He has great energy and a fantastic voice but he's also being embraced here as an antidote to the Kinks and Stones (as were The Seekers). In some ways he anticipates Vegas Elvis; if you listened to Elvis in 1956-57 but don't like these young mods and their snarling guitars, here's Tom doing some Elvis moves with a fairly unthreatening big band tune.

The track itself is something I wouldn't mind Ken Bruce playing on the radio but I'm never going to have it in my house or on a playlist.

[gilbertharding]

Something I've noticed before, but is highlighted by the thumbnails of magazine covers dafposter sticks at the end of all these posts - is how much of a big deal PJ Proby seems to be in '64.

I swear to Dog I've never heard a note by him. I've been aware of him for ages, but only as someone who was once very famous (for regularly splitting his trousers onstage, believe it or not), but then suddenly wasn't. Like a musical Simon Dee. Or Emperor Rosko.

I read some things about him recently which suggested he would be #cancelled now, if anyone knew who the fuck he was. Perhaps he was quietly #cancelled 50 years ago?

[daf]

Something I've noticed before, but is highlighted by the thumbnails of magazine covers dafposter sticks at the end of all these posts - is how much of a big deal PJ Proby seems to be in '64.

Not sure if it's known, but the thumbnail covers are also links - so you can click on them and read the magazines.

It's all PJ Probably at the moment - Splitting his keks, getting banned, complaining about his ban, lifting the ban etc. etc. . . . Before that, ex-Tornado Heinz was clinging on like a barnacle for YEARS - his blond bonce popping up all over the place like the ghost of 'Fifties Past' unwilling to leave the party.

eg. from March 1964  :

[Captain Z]

[gilbertharding]

Not sure if it's known, but the thumbnail covers are also links - so you can click on them and read the magazines.

It's all PJ Probably at the moment - Splitting his keks, getting banned, complaining about his ban, lifting the ban etc. etc. . . . Before that, ex-Tornado Heinz was clinging on like a barnacle for YEARS - his blond bonce popping up all over the place like the ghost of the Fifties past unwilling to leave the party.

Heinz is another one. Famous... then BANG who?

Do we still have these people? Perhaps it's just something which happens when anyone looks back to a time before they were born - what are all these completely unfamous people doing in all the magazines and tv programmes? Maureen from Driving School. Howard from the Halifax.

THAR SHE BLOWS!!! https://www.pressgazette.co.uk/singer-pj-proby-loses-ipso-complaint-over-mirror-report-he-only-wants-to-date-underage-girls/

[purlieu]

As a song it's fine, definitely no surprise that it's endured, although not something I'm too fussed about. The arrangement is very muscular and punchy, definitely a step ahead of all the other Kinks / Stones 'antidotes' we've had lately.

[Gulftastic]

It's no 'The Young New Mexican Puppeteer'.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvQHt5t7zkg

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

As a song it's fine, definitely no surprise that it's endured, although not something I'm too fussed about. The arrangement is very muscular and punchy, definitely a step ahead of all the other Kinks / Stones 'antidotes' we've had lately.

Yeah, it's a catchy little ditty elevated by a groovy arrangement and Tom's belting soul man voice. He's often accused of being all style over substance, which is a fair criticism, but he sounds like he's really enjoying himself there.

Btw, his Elvis story sounds a bit dubious to me. The King getting one of his flunkies to pull up his keks post-piss is too good to be true. Also, Elvis only wore tight leather trousers once, during the '68 Comeback Special, so unless Tom was backstage at that epochal event, which he wasn't, then that particular detail is definitely false.

They did hang out together, though, that much is true, and Elvis really was a big fan.

[kalowski]

Like a musical Simon Dee. Or Emperor Rosko.

Excellent post. Two names that I imagine loads of people have never heard, whereas for some reason my mum was always going on about Emperor Rosko. (Probably because of Stax)

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Rosko was such a bizarre DJ, his presentation style amounted to a constant stream of gibberish. No dead air on a Rosko show, though, fair play to the man. Spouting torrential bollocks into a microphone is a talent of sorts.

[grassbath]

Has anyone ever had a better voice than Tom Jones in his prime? Good lord.

[The Culture Bunker]

Has anyone ever had a better voice than Tom Jones in his prime? Good lord.

There's someone coming up in 1966 who I rate, in any measure of vocal talent, miles above Jones the Steamed.

[gilbertharding]

Rosko was such a bizarre DJ, his presentation style amounted to a constant stream of gibberish. No dead air on a Rosko show, though, fair play to the man. Spouting torrential bollocks into a microphone is a talent of sorts.

It's Wolfman Jack Lite, isn't it? Well... whoever Wolfman Jack was ripping off...

There was an Emperor Rosko Chartmusic edition a while back. He was spectacularly ill suited to television - gibbering.

https://chartmusiccouk.wordpress.com/2017/06/30/chart-music-6-april-10th-1975-woody-looks-like-edward-heath/#comments

[machotrouts]

I was washing the dishes listening to one of Throbbing Gristle's bleaker albums just before I sat down to my laptop and opened this thread and you know what, it turns out there is a time and a place for Tom Jones in my life, and this is exactly it.

[gilbertharding]

There's someone coming up in 1966 who I rate, in any measure of vocal talent, miles above Jones the Steamed.

Reg Presley?

[The Culture Bunker]

Reg Presley?

Well, I'd certainly rather listen to the Troggs' Tapes than anything Tom Jones has ever made.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Has anyone ever had a better voice than Tom Jones in his prime? Good lord.

Yes, Elvis.

[gilbertharding]

Well, I'd certainly rather listen to the Troggs' Tapes than anything Tom Jones has ever made.

Well I looked at the list, and my serious answer is either Little Stevie Winwood or Dusty Springfield. It's not Frank, is it?

I feel about Frank Sinatra as you seem to about Jones.