This was Tony Blackburn's first presentation of the Big L Fab Forty. Tony had declined the invitation to change his name to Mark Roman when he left Caroline and joined Big L, but someone else was happy to rule the Empire!

Oscar first began his musical career under the name of Paul Dean, and was pianist in two of the many line-ups of Lord Sutch's Savages. He is often to be seen in TV documentaries about the '2 IIs Coffee Bar', where the band played regularly. Paul played on the 1963 Sutch single, I'm A Hog For You Baby and was with the band in 1964, when His Lordship was running Radio Sutch from the Shivering Sands fort. Two singles were issued as Paul Dean in 1965 and '66. She Can Build a Mountain is credited in Brian Long's book, 'The London Sound', as a Fab Forty entry for Paul Dean and the Thoughts, which had climbed to #26 in the Fab for 24th April '66. Elsewhere, the single is credited to Paul Dean and the Soul Savages. Its B-side, A Day Gone By, was written by Dean, under his real name of Paul Beuselinck. The Thoughts were a Liverpool backing band featuring Pete Beckett on guitar and vocals, Phil Boardman on lead, Alan Hornby on bass and Dave Croft on drums. The Thoughts also issued their own single in 1966.

According to the Record Collector Rare Record Price Guide, the single She Can Build a Mountain/A Day Gone By, credited to Paul Dean and the Soul Savages, first appeared on Polydor (NH 59102) in 1964, and is thought to have remained unreleased. The sharp-eyed viewer will notice that this matrix number is almost identical to the later Reaction number, 591002. Whether there is a connection between Sutch's Savages and the Soul Savages, is unknown. (Click on the picture for an Amazon link to more information about the Record Collector Rare Record Price Guide)

Paul Beuselinck also penned the flip of Club of Lights, Waking Up, which was produced by Robert Stigwood. Oscar named his new stage persona after his father, Oscar Beuselinck, a music business lawyer whose clients included The Who. (The follow-up Oscar single was a Pete Townshend composition, Join My Gang.) A promotional device used by the record company was a cartoon Oscar 'statuette' (presumably a likeness of the singer), which allowed the Reaction record company to issue advertisements alluding to the Hollywood Oscars: 'Reaction now award you... Oscar – Club of Light'. A shame nobody noticed the missing 's' from both 'award' and 'Light'!

It was novelty disc, Over The Wall We Go, that brought notoriety to Oscar in 1967.(see Fab Forty for 12th February 1967) The single has a Knees Club connection, with member #127, David Bowie, having written, produced and even sung on it. Bowie's tongue-in-cheek lyrics concerning escaped prisoners and incompetent cops, were considered controversial and naturally attracted publicity. This was aided by Radio City's Ian MacRae, who started a spoof spot called 'Breakaway Club'.

Ian says:

"At the time, there were almost daily breakouts from the jails. So, just for a stunt, I played appropriate records for the escapees, along with personal (made up) messages for them. Plus I'd give the results of the escapes from the various prisons as if it were a competition.

So we'd have such stuff as Keep on Running, Catch Us if You Can, My Boyfriend's Back, Jailhouse Rock, Day Tripper, Nowhere Man etc, and there'd be songs for the coppers such as Keep Searching. The theme must have been Getaway and I think we also would have played Runaway/Come on Let's Go. "

The 'prison escape' disc was also chosen as a Kenny Everett climber in Jan '67, and would have probably have appealed to his sense of humour. It did not enter the Fab till the following month, peaking at #30 on February 19th. Again, 'Oscar' wrote the single's flip side, Every Day of My Life.

Over The Wall We Go was reissued in 1978, with a different B-side, and credited to 'Ivor Bird'.

Oscar eventually settled on the stage name Paul Nicholas in the late-Sixties, when he appeared in West End musicals, including Hair and the lead in Jesus Christ Superstar. In the Seventies, Paul appeared in films, renewing his Who connection with appearances in Tommy and Lisztomania. Chart success eluded him until 1976, when a return to releasing novelty songs brought four UK chart entries over two years.

Paul's best-remembered TV role is probably in John Sullivan's sitcom, Just Good Friends. He played Vince, a man who had jilted his fiancee, Penny (played by Jan Francis) at the altar, then five years later reappeared to disrupt her life.

Just Good Friends has its own website, which includes a Paul Nicholas Biography. www.whom.co.uk

Dave Bower, rthm, John Kirby Wollard, vcls and Terry Stokes, ld gtr, Mike Sweeney, bs, and Jim Green, drms came from Yorkshire and were formerly called the Cherokees. Not to be confused with the US group of the same name, the Cherokees had hit #33 in the Nationals of 1964 with Seven Daffodils. Mickey Most renamed the group New York Public Library when he produced this, their first single, as the band were from York.

Copies of I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore are quite collectable, changing hands at around £20. The Rascals had achieved a minor US hit (#52) with this song penned by Pam Sawyer and Lori Burton back in January.

The Knack's Topper Clay joined New York Public Library in 1967, followed by ex-Knack-colleague Brian Morris, in 1968. In response to my email, Topper says:

I didn't know that anybody out there would still remember us. My daughter was impressed that someone on the web was interested in bands that I've been in. When I talk about the 60s and gigs I've done I'm afraid I come under the heading of 'boring old fart'!

Today NYPL are still together playing small gigs in the south around the Farnham area. It's now a six-piece line-up with emphasis on vocals, as ever. We currently have two CDs out and are working on a third. The line-up includes the original NYPL singer John Kirby Woollard, and 1970 lead singer Peter Morrison.

The current NYPL is John Kirby Woollard, Peter Morrison, Karl Rylander, Topper Clay, Dave 'Lofty' Reng and Bob Doughty. Topper was kind enough to send the Webmasters copies of the NYPL CDs Take Some Music and Keep a Clear Head and this is a really great-sounding band. Take Some Music includes terrific covers of the Showmen's It Will Stand and Curtis Mayfield's Monkey Time. The 17-track CD Keep A Clear Head has original compositions by band members alongside the likes of Goffin and King's Going Back and Bob Dylan's Chimes of Freedom. The CD sleeve-notes were written by a musician who recorded some drop-ins for Big L 2001, long-term admirer of the band, Jackie Lynton. (click here to purchase Keep A Clear Head)

For a photo of Topper taken in 2000 see our Knack Story feature.

Visit the NYPL website here . Original band member Terry 'Tez' Stokes and his wife Mo have their own website.

Scottish band Red Hawkes contained Manny Charlton, who went on to become a member of Nazareth in 1969.

Nazareth's third album, Razamanaz ('73), containing two hit singles, Broken Down Angel and Bad Bad Boy, was produced by Deep Purple bassist and KC member, #305, Roger Glover. Glover also produced Nazareth's Loud And Proud album in '73, which brought them success in European and US charts.

The producer on the next two Nazareth albums Rampant and Hair Of The Dog, was Manny himself. A cover of My White Bicycle taken from Rampant, became the band's fifth UK chart entry in 1975. The original, by Tomorrow, was co-written by Keith Hopkins, better known on Big L as Keith West, who enjoyed a massive hit in August '67, with Excerpt From A Teenage Opera.

Two photos of Manny during his Nazareth days, courtesy of Pincy's World of Manny Charlton. Click on the small images to view a larger version. All Sixties photos gratefully received!

Manny has an entire website all to himself: Pincy's World of Manny Charlton www.geocities.com/pincy2/ via the site, we were able to contact him and ask him to fill in the gaps about Red Hawkes, which he has very kindly done. Manny says:

"Ah yes, now we go back a few years talkin' bout the Red Hawkes! I joined them around 65/66. At that point they were the resident house band at the Kinema ballroom doing covers of Top 40 songs. The original line up at that point was Alan Jordan, vocals, Tommy Wallace, drums Ian Burns, bass Alex Smith, sax, Billy Hunter, trumpet, myself on guitar. I was with them until they folded around 66/67 and they reformed as Marshmallow 400 adding Brian Sheridan on vocals and Gerry MacPherson on bass We recorded one single (Friday Night ) They were basically a soul band and in 1967 I wanted to be in a power trio so in 1968 I joined the Shadettes and the rest is history.

Manny Charlton "

Manny's information leads me to an entirely different notion. Could the drummer Tommy Wallace possibly be the man who had toured with the Beatles in 1963 as one half of novelty act, Tommy Wallis and Beryl? This was in the days when the Fabs took top billing in what was called 'The Beatles Show' a strange cocktail of current pop and elements of the old-fashioned summer variety show. Wallis (that's the spelling in the tour programme) was indeed a drummer. His act also featured "xylophone, tap dancing and a charleston spot", which the audience was promised would "make a lasting impression" on us – not to mentiion Beryl in her spangled costume! While Tommy Wallis and Beryl is not the act listed as appearing directly before the Beatles, the programme, it says, was 'subject to change'.

My mother took myself and my brother to The Beatles Show while we were on holiday in Bournemouth. I distinctly recall the foolhardy drummer from whichever act had drawn the short straw in the thankless task of preceding the Fab. I suppose a certain amount of admiration is due for having the audacity to persist in performing a lengthy solo! The teen screamers, desperate for the arrival of their idols, did their utmost to boo the man off, pelting the stage with any handy missiles. He failed to take the hint and drummed on, enraging Beatle fans into an even greater frenzy than normal! Whatever the identity of that sticksman, he certainly made a 'lasting impression' on me!

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.

Dum-De-Da Bobby Vinton Columbia DB 7922 – 40 I Love Onions Laurie Decca F12424 A curious connection can be made between Cardbaord Shoes' climber Dum-de-Dah and new Fab Forty entry I Love Onions! Bobby Vinton (left)'s Dum-de-Dah had been in the lower end of the US Hot Hundred for six weeks, peaking at #40 on April 30th, but faring better in Canada, reaching #28. Laurie (found at this week's #40, with I Love Onions) had released her UK cover on March 4th, as He Understands Me (Decca F12347). Dum-de-Dah (He Understands Me) was written by Merle Kilgore and Margie Singleton. Johnny ('Poetry in Motion')Tillotson had first taken the song (as She Understands Me) into the lower reaches for the US Hot Hundred in 1964. Laurie's single was produced by Decca's renowned Noel Walker, the man who in '67 whistled I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman into the charts. Laurie's follow-up release, novelty song I Love Onions, was only played on Big L for two weeks, (having been chosen as Kenny Everett's climber last week). However, as a 'turntable hit' it is as well-remembered as many big-sellers. This time, Laurie had covered a US chart entry by Susan Christie. Susan's version of I Love Onions only reached #63 in the US, but it climbed to #6 in the Canadian charts in July 66. Information on both Laurie and Susan Christie, is scant. Some sources claim Susan was the sister of Lightning Strikes singer, Lou, but it seems unlikely, as her name does not appear to be mentioned on his official website. I Love Onions appears to have been Susan's only release, while Laurie recorded only the two singles mentioned. I Love Onions penned by Donald Cochrane & John Hill featured on a popular regional US Children's TV programme called Lunch With Casey, but it is not clear whether the TV show's popularity prompted demand for a release of the song, or if the song was featured on the kids' show because it was already popular.

The Roman Emperor picked a huge hit for his birthday week climber. Chris Farlowe's Jagger and Richards-penned release was destined for #1. On shore on June 19th, he appeared alongside Chris Farlowe, Tom Jones, The Small Faces (with their eponymous LP chosen as the current Big L Album of the Week), David Garrick, and the Walker Brothers all appeared at the first Radio London Trophy Meeting at the Brands Hatch motor racing track. The Walkers were there to present the winner's trophy, which went to Peter Gethin. Mark was also in attendance, along with Keith Skues, Duncan Johnson and Mike Lennox. Pop personalities and motorsport proved strange bedfellows and racing had to be suspended twice, when fans of both the stars and the star DJs invaded the track!

Midnight Mary Rockin' Berries Piccadilly 7N 35327 The Rockin' Berries, a harmony group from Birmingham, evolved, like so many bands, from an r 'n' b outfit. After achieving six national chart successes, including two Top Ten hits, between 1964 and early '66, the band failed to make the Nationals again. Midnight Mary had been a #10 hit in the States for Joey Powers in December '63. The Berries joined the Knees Club on September 7th. I met them, not at midnight, but during the afternoon, in a park in Blackpool, having seen them appearing in a Summer Season variety show the previous evening, (probably on the pier!). The Berries played a game of table tennis against my 58-year-old Dad (who won!), and then experienced the privilege of having their photos taken with a copy of the famous Knees Monthly. (The defeated ping-pong players:"We have in our hands the piece of paper!") The line-up in September '66 was Bobby Thomson (#345), Chuck Botfield (#346), Clive Lea (#347), Terry Bond (#348) and Geoff Turton (#349), who later pursued a solo career as Jefferson.

The 57-track double CD, They're in Town, contains pre-Radio London chart success, He's in Town (1964), plus Fab Forty hits What in the World's Come over You (Jan/Feb 65) Poor Man's Son (#1 May '65), You're My Girl (Aug '65) Water is Over My Head (Dec 65), I Could Make You Fall in Love (May 66) and Sometimes (April 67). Click on the sleeve to see full track listing and purchase information from Amazon.

The Small Faces: Steve Marriott, Ronald Frederick Lane, Kenneth Jones and James Langwith, to give them their formal names, were rechristened 'The Minuscule Mooshes' by Kenny Everett! The band had been promoted via the Radio London film 'Dateline Diamonds', released in April '66, (see our 2-page feature) where they performed the songs I've Got Mine, It's Too Late, Come on Children and Don't Stop What You're Doing. (All these tracks are available on 'The Ultimate Collection'. Click photo to buy.)