for Sunday 26th February 1967

Alan: "Something I've noticed this week is that since TW left Big L there's no more of those double-positions enlarging the Fab 40 to contain 45 or so records. Looking ahead I can see that there's still the occasional practice of doubling-up two versions of the same song at a single position on the chart, but not two unrelated records. There's even one instance coming up in May where a joint number 1 means there isn't a number 2, just like in the National charts and at odds with the previous practice for the Fab 40. Some kind of rethink must have taken place."

This week's Fab is full of cartoon characters. Future animated heroes of Yellow Submarine, The Beatles, were #1, newspaper strip character Cousin Jane, was #25, the (Teenage Mutant Ninja) Turtles, #32, and Lois Lane, that woman who was so dim that she couldn't recognise Clark Kent as Superman when he donned glasses, was #33. Animated Monkee, Micky Dolenz was a climber, and so was Kaiser Bill's Batman."

Last
This
Presented by Ed Stewart
Week
Week
6
1
 On A Carousel Hollies
8
2
 Detroit City Tom Jones
1
3
 Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever Beatles
15
4
 Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye Casinos
10
5
 Lovin' You Bobby Darin
23
6
 (In The) Cold Light Of Day Gene Pitney
3
7
 Give It To Me Troggs
25
8
 I'll Try Anything Dusty Springfield
18
9
 Georgy Girl Seekers
19
10
 Is This What I Get For Loving You? Marianne Faithfull
29
11
 Peculiar Situation Young Idea
2
12
 Release Me Engelbert Humperdinck
39
13
 He Was Really Saying Something Velvelettes
24
14
 Wish You Didn't Have To Go James & Bobby Purify
5
15
 There's A Kind Of Hush Herman's Hermits
36
16
 So You Want To Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star Byrds
7
17
 I've Passed This Way Before Jimmy Ruffin
31
18
 Keep It Out Of Sight Paul & Barry Ryan
4
19
 Mellow Yellow Donovan
–
20
 Love Is Here And Now You're Gone Supremes
26
21
 Baby I Need Your Lovin' Johnny Rivers
–
22
 California Nights Lesley Gore
13
23
 This Is My Song Petula Clark
38
24
 You Look Good Together Bats
–
25
 Cousin Jane Barry Benson
40
26
 Go Where You Wanna Go 5th Dimension
–
27
 Memories Are Made Of This Val Doonican
20
28
 Stay With Me Baby Walker Brothers
34
29
 Run For Shelter Lesley Dawson
35
30
 Pushin' Too Hard Seeds
–
31
 Simon Smith And His Amazing Dancing Bear Alan Price Set
–
32
 Happy Together Turtles
–
33
 One Little Voice Lois Lane
–
34
 Love Makes Sweet Music Soft Machine
–
35
 I've Found A Love David Garrick
28
36
 Bring Him Back Stella Starr
–
37
 I'm Going Out (The Same Way I Came In) Kiki Dee
–
38
 Humming Bird Herbie's People
–
39
 Girls Are Out To Get You Fascinations
–
40
 Reservations Simon Dupree & the Big Sound

–
25
 Cousin Jane Barry Benson Parlophone R 5578


Barry Benson's major claim to fame appears to have been that he was once P J Proby's hairdresser! He had already been in the Fab in May 1966 with his first release, a Peter Lee Stirling composition Stay A Little While. This was to become popular as a Northern Soul track and was released on CD – GSCD79 British Soul Volume 2.

Barry (far left) is pictured on his visit to the Radio England ship Olga Patricia. The others in the photo are Jerry Smithwick, Wayne Fontana, Don Pierson and an unidentified visitor. (Photo courtesy of Grey Pierson, from the Don Pierson archive).

Cousin Jane was also recorded by the Troggs, whose version invokes the descriptions: "creepy", "gothically moody", "slow folk-pysch" and (in Italian) "ballad morbosa" on various websites. Barry Benson appears to have had a connection with the Larry Page stable. Cousin Jane was co-wriiten by Larry and someone called Mathews, and the fifth and final Barry Benson single was released on the Page One label.

According to a feature on the Marmalade Skies website, sadly, Barry died of cancer in a hospice in Bognor Regis in 2003.

35
30
 Pushin' Too Hard Seeds Vocalion 9277

From Los Angeles, the Seeds were Sky Saxon (Richard Marsh), bass, vcls, Jan Savage, gtr, Rick Aldridge, drms and Daryl Hooper, kbds. Their 11-week stint in the US Hot Hundred took the Sky Saxon-penned Pushin' Too Hard to the #36 position, but they failed to chart in the UK Nationals.

The UK publishing contract belonged to Pall Mall Music, a company associated with Radio London. It was fairly unusual for Pushin' Too Hard to be issued as an A-side, as most of the songs in the Pall Mall catalogue ended up on the B-sides of singles.

A somewhat tenuous link between the Seeds and offshore radio is that Emperor Rosko's brother, Jeff Pasternak, was in a band called the Mustard Greens who opened a concert for the Seeds. Obviously a horticulturally-themed evening. (Who else was on the bill? The Cherry People and Strawberry Children?) Well, we warned you it was tenuous!

Besides climbers that were played at the time of the broadcast of the Sunday Fab Forty, Alan kept a note of others he heard later in the week and incorporated them into his list.

DJ Climbers:    
Baby Get Your Head Screwed On Double Feature Tony Blackburn
Hold On Mirage Chuck Blair
Ain't Nobody Home Chants Pete Drummond
Touch Me Touch Me Dave Dee Dozy Beaky Mick & Tich Kenny Everett
Bring It Up James Brown & the Famous Flames Paul Kaye
Hung Up In Your Eyes Brian Hyland Lorne King
Everybody Needs Somebody To Love Wilson Pickett Mark Roman
You'd Better Get Used To Missing Her Symbols Keith Skues
I Can't Make It/ Just Passing (*) Small Faces Ed Stewart
Tell Me To My Face Keith Norman St John

Tell It To My Face
Tell Me To My Face Keith Mercury MF968

Keith's record, which was previously listed as an unassigned climber, is now shown as Norman St John's final climber (even though Norm left Big L the day after the chart was broadcast). This is in accordance with Brian Long's Curzon Street list, and with on-air announcements heard by Wolfgang Buchholz.

At the same time, we're taking the opportunity to amend the title. The song, written by the Hollies, was eventually released in the UK under the title Tell Me To My Face. (Vinyl disc, right). It appears however that the record was originally promoted under the title Tell It To My Face. That's how it's shown in Brian Long's Curzon Street lists for 26th February and 5th March 1967, and also in my original handwritten notes – suggesting that was the title announced on the radio, initially at least. The inference is that promo copies of the disc, and maybe also some early pressings, had the incorrect title, and it's known that in some territories the wrong title made it on to issued copies of the record. (Photo sleeve, left). – Alan Field

Tell Me To My Face is the title of the song as written by the Hollies and recorded by them on their album For Certain Because.

Keith's personal website keith98.6.com.

Tell Me To My Face



Baby Get Your Head Screwed On Double Feature Deram DM 115

Double Feature, from Birmingham, were Brian Lane and Bill Hall who only released two singles. This, their first, is quite collectable, with mint copies worth around £25. Baby Get Your Head Screwed On was a track from Cat Stevens' Matthew & Son album.

Mike Hurst produced both Cat Stevens' and Double Feature's versions. Mike started his musical career as a Springfield, with Dusty and Tom and went on to produce countless hits.

Climbers:  
Fragile Child Chances Are
I Will Be There Shirley Abicair
59th Street Bridge Song (Feeling Groovy) Harpers Bizarre
Don't Do It Micky Dolenz
Sock It To Me Baby! Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels
Darling Be Home Soon Lovin' Spoonful
I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman Whistling Jack Smith
Saturday Morning Man Paul Stewart Movement (*)
Hi Ho Silver Lining Attack (*)
Doctor Doctor Frame (*)
Drive On James King George (*)
I Won't Be There Equals
Marryin' Kind Of Love Critters (*)
Disc of the Week:  
You Got What It Takes Dave Clark Five
Album of the Week:  
Images Walker Brothers

Fragile Child Chances Are Columbia DB 8144

Like the Double Feature single above, this one changes hands for around £25. Little is known about Chances Are, a band that is thought to have included Rosco Birchmore and Dick Smith in the line-up. Fragile Child was penned by John Fogerty and Tom Fogerty, who recorded it as the Golliwogs, a couple of singles before changing the band name to the rather more PC Creedence Clearwater Revival. (See Fab Forty 12th March '67) Read the lyrics to Fragile Child here.

I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman Whistling Jack Smith Deram DM 112

This was the single's third week as a climber. Everyone aboard the Galaxy thought it sounded dreadful and were afraid that Programme Director Alan Keen had taken leave of his senses to want it on the playlist. However, the Cook/Greenaway composition was craftily written to be the sort of irritatingly catchy tune that is impossible to eradicate from the brain. I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman sold in bucketloads, to become a huge hit on both sides of the pond. It remained on the Big L playlist for 6 weeks, peaking at #5 in both the Fab and the Nationals, and also made #20 in the US Hot Hundred.

I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman was recorded with the Mike Sammes Singers (of BBC Radio's Sing Something Simple programme) who had scraped in at #40 in the Fab of September 25th, '66, with the Dr Zhivago theme, Somewhere My Love. Kaiser Bill's producer, Noel Walker, provided the whistling. When the single took off at warp speed, a real Whistling Jack was needed to pucker up for TV appearances and live performances. The man chosen for the role, although it is not known if this was done on the basis of his whistling abilities, was Billy Moeller. Billy became Knees Club member #209 at Beaconsfield Youth Club on April 15th 1966. At the time he was acting as roadie for his brother, Tommy Moeller's group Unit Four Plus Two.

The failure of four subsequently-issued Deram singles and an album, Around the World With Whistling Jack Smith, (the sleeve predictably depicting Billy holding a globe), proved that people could only take so much whistling.

Billy also released a Decca single in '67 under the name of Coby Wells. He went on to form the duo Bill and Buster, who enjoyed a #1 hit all over Europe in the early Seventies, with Hold On To What You Got.

Originally from Liverpool, Billy and his brothers Tommy and Greg now live in Australia, where they were involved with a musical project Marathon Man, connected to the Sydney Olympics 2000. Billy was Project Manager.

A Japanese group called the Carnabeats recorded it as the b-side of their single Sukisa Sukisa Sukisa (Philips FS-1018, June 6, 1967). Whistling presumably does not lose anything in the translation.


The blue additions to the climbers indicate singles listed in Brian Long's book 'The London Sound' based on information typed in the Curzon Street offices or other sources. The symbol (*) indicates additional information from personal listings, courtesy of Wolfgang Buchholz. Alan Field did not hear these records played or announced as climbers.

In this instance, Wolfgang confirms Brian's listing of the records by Paul Stewart Movement, Attack, Frame and King George, and additionally lists the Critters record, which neither Brian nor Alan have noted. Wolfgang notes also hearing 'Just Passing' by the Small Faces and lists Ed Stewart's climber as a double A side, though Brian and Alan have noted only 'I Can't Make It'.

The Caroline 'Countdown Sixty' chart (south ship) for this week is here

Tune in next week for another Field's Fab Forty

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