The Early Radio London Fab Forties
Sunday 30th January 1966

Our busy 'Discatron Man', David Ballantyne has not only gone 'VOOM!' up the Fab Forty, according to this advertisement, he's a Caroline 'Hot Shot' (shouldn't that be Sure Shot?)! David's also touring the UK's Top Rank ballrooms, and best of all, he's appearing on Associated Rediffusion's famous kids' TV show, 5 O'Clock Club, with Muriel Young, Ollie Beak and Fred Barker!

The Televison Heaven website describes Fred and Ollie as 'the first glove puppets with attitude,' although we at Radio London feel that Sooty is liable to dispute such a claim by squirting them in the face with a water pistol. The site also tells how Beak and Barker were probably the first puppets to be accused of using foul language on a children's show! (In Ollie's case, it must have been 'fowl' language!)

(Clipping courtesy of Brian Long)

We also have a unique Fab 40 situation, with two different versions of the same song climbing the chart in tandem, gaining the top spot and jointly holding it for two weeks running!
Last
This
 
Week
Week
1
1
Michelle David & Jonathan / Overlanders
4
2
Love's Just A Broken Heart Cilla Black
2
3
My Girl Otis Redding
6
4
Like A Baby Len Barry
10
5
Second Hand Rose Barbra Streisand
11
6
A Groovy Kind Of Love Mindbenders
40
7
These Boots Are Made For Walkin' Nancy Sinatra
9
8
Mirror Mirror Pinkerton's Assorted Colours
13
9
I Can't Express It David Ballantyne
14
10
Don't Make Me Over Swinging Blue Jeans
18
11
Midnight To Six Man Pretty Things
19
12
You Didn't Have To Be So Nice Lovin' Spoonful
22
13
Attack Toys
15
14
Tchaikovsky One Second City Sound
8
15
Till The End Of The Day Kinks
16
16
Breakin' Up Is Breakin' My Heart Roy Orbison
38
17
Girl St Louis Union / Truth
20
18
Have Pity On The Boy Paul & Barry Ryan
7
19
A Must To Avoid Herman's Hermits
27
20
Call Me Lulu
29
21
This Golden Ring Fortunes
34
22
When You Move You Lose Keith Powell & Billie Davis
30
23
Little By Little Dusty Springfield
21
24
Keep On Running Spencer Davis Group
26
25
Can't Help Thinking About Me David Bowie & the Lower Third
3
26
Take Me For A Little While Stevie Lewis / Koobas
32
27
Tomorrow Sandie Shaw
5
28
Spanish Flea Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass
31
29
Remember You Zombies
28
30
Think Chris Farlowe
33
31
This Man's Got No Luck Gary Benson
32
Sha La La La Lee Small Faces
35
33
Waiting Here For Someone Neil Landon
34
A Little Bit Of Soap Craig / Exciters
35
Teenage Failure Chad & Jeremy
36
Cry Cry Cry Riot Squad
37
37
Uptight (Everything's Alright) Stevie Wonder
38
The Same Old Room Bobby Shafto
39
You Baby Jackie Trent
40
A Walk In The Black Forest (Our Walk Of Love) Salena Jones

40
A Walk In The Black Forest (Our Walk Of Love) Salena Jones Columbia DB 7818

Not typical of the Radio London playlist, Salena Jones's jazz vocal version of the Horst Jankowski success from the previous summer was in the Fab Forty for just one week. But Salena returned to the airwaves in May 1967, when her version of Respect received equal Radio London airing with Aretha Franklin's until the two recordings hit #23. The following week Salena had vanished and Aretha was alone at #11.


Disc of the Week:  
He's A Good Face Gaylords

All fifteen yards of the Kenny and Cash scarf – tied around a drainpipe in the middle and held at either end by Mary (white Beatle sweatshirt) and Club Official, Mozz

Mary Payne, Knees Club Founder, recalls the week's Big L highlights

February 1st, 1966 was the date when Camp Coffee began sponsoring TW's 11am Coffee Break spot, while Cema Bingo cut its regular slot by half, to 15 minutes

Saturday, February 5th was an exciting day for me. At around 10.45am, TW thanked the Knees Club for the birthday card we had sent him.

Later, Lynn and I caught the train for our second visit to London's Marquee Club in Wardour Street, for the Radio London Club Afternoon.

We kissed Dave Cash (member #10) and got him to autograph both my Knees Club card and my knee! (This has since washed off.) Dave promised to promote the club on his Rabbit Patch programme and gave a public plug to Knees Monthly during the Marquee show,

Dave also confirmed that he still had in his possession the Kenny and Cash scarf! In fact he told us he had recently worn it to host a disco! Dr Who's famous garment had nothing on the 15-yard-long multi-coloured scarf to which my friends and I had contributed knitted segments of varying lengths (and widths!) in the summer of 1965, for the benefit of Kenny and Cash. At our school fete, we'd even run a fund-raising 'guess the length of the scarf' stall!

My diary records that I also entered a mime competition, (I didn't win) but fails to mention the name of the record I was miming to!

See the Knees Club 40th Anniversary feature.


Tune in next week for another Big L Fab 40!

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