For those suffering from chart anoraxia, Alan Field notes that the #23 and #24 positions in his chart are the reverse of the order shown in Brian Long's 'The London Sound', i.e. Brian has Tears Tears Tears at #23 and Walking In the Rain at #24. Wolfgang Buchholz in Germany concurs with Alan's version, as does Geoff Posner. As previously mentioned, Brian took much of his information from the chart issued by the Radio London Curzon Street office, which had frequently changed by the time the Fab Forty was aired. In this case, the anomaly could have been caused by nothing more exciting than Stewpot accidentally playing the singles in the wrong order. There's many a slip 'twixt shore and ship!

Music-wise, April and May were momentous months in the life of Big L. Not only did Radio London obtain the exclusive preview of the Sgt Pepper album, but it was the first station to air A Whiter Shade Of Pale.

Deram's promotions man, Tony Hall, had been played a worn acetate of the single by its producer, Denny Cordell. Although Cordell loved the single, he thought it completely non-commercial, and was convinced it wouldn't stand a chance of being a hit. Hall, however, was 'blown away' by it. He saw it as a smash hit, but he had difficulty convincing Cordell. Hall phoned Big L's Programme Director, Alan Keen, and arranged for the record to be given a trial play on Radio London. Mark Roman spun the disc at around 4.00pm on a Monday, (probably April 17th) telling listeners if they liked it, to call the Curzon Street office. When the office was inundated with calls, Alan Keen realised they had a hit single aboard the ship. However, it took around four weeks to get the record on sale in the shops.

The Roman Emperor admits that he was so amazed by the record, it practically left him speechless. Very unusual for the Emperor! Interestingly, the single was never awarded official climber status, merely appearing in the Fab from nowhere on May 14th.

A Whiter Shade Of Pale was also a massive success during the Radio London 'Holidays With Deejays' promotion. Cardboard Shoes, Mark Roman, Chuck Blair, Tony Blackburn and Ed Stewart spent a week each in the Spanish resort of Estartit, accompanied by Big L listeners who had paid £28 apiece for the privilege. Travelling abroad on holiday was a relatively new idea to the British public, and package tours were just beginning to become popular, so this was a forward-thinking venture for the station. According to Stewpot, who took the first trip on May 27th, the now-massive Estartit was a, "One-horse, very quiet resort" in the summer of '67 and the accommodation was, "A bit of a tip".

The Radio London 'Holidays With Deejays' promotion. Cardboard Shoes, Mark Roman, Chuck Blair, Tony Blackburn and Ed Stewart spent a week each in the Spanish resort of Estartit, accompanied by Big L listeners who had paid £28 apiece for the privilege. (Rough equivalent in 2008, £320.) Travelling abroad on holiday was a relatively new idea to the British public, and package tours were just beginning to become popular, so this was a forward-thinking venture for the station. According to Stewpot, who took the first trip, on May 27th, the now-massive Estartit was a, "One-horse, very quiet resort" in the summer of '67 and the accommodation was, "A bit of a tip".

Pete Frame, writing in ZigZag magazine, 27, December 1972, and quoted on the Procol Harum website, 'Beyond the Pale', wrote:

Everyone in the world bought that single (backed with Lime Street Blues on Deram 126), which topped just about every chart in the Western hemisphere – and quite rightly so. (That was a great single, was it not? How well I remember the first time I heard it, on Radio London... I couldn't believe it – never heard anything like that before).

According to 'Beyond the Pale', A Whiter Shade... had additional verses that were not included on any recording, but were often included in live performances. No doubt producer Denny Cordell (who already considered A Whiter Shade... uncommercial) felt that an extra two verses would have rendered the song far too long for release as a single.Appropriately for a single pioneered by offshore radio, one of the missing verses is all about sea, shore-leave and mermaids. The only nautical reference amongst the familiar lyrics is to something horribly familiar to offshore jocks – feeling kind of seasick!

Procol Harum's Gary Brooker, guested on a show during Radio London's final day, August 14th. He appeared on pre-recorded sponsored show, The Juicy Fruit Spectacular, which was broadcast between 1.30 and 2.00pm.

In 2007, t he famous song's authorship was under legal dispute. Organist Matthew Fisher issued court proceedings against Gary Brooker and Onward Music Limited, claiming a share of royalties for his alleged co-authorship. Brooker argued that he wrote the song with Keith Reid before Fisher joined the band.

Secrets of the Hive: The Best of Procol Harum is a 35-track double CD. Naturally, A Whiter Shade of Pale is the first track on there, but it's good to be able to enjoy the lesser-played ones such as Conquistador and Homburg. Click on the picture of the CD sleeve to see a full track listing and purchasing information.

Alan Field on another Deram track:

Outer Limits included Jeff Christie in its line-up. He wrote Just One More Chance, and subsequently penned Yellow River and San Bernadino for his eponymous group of the early Seventies, both songs charting in the Nationals on either side of the pond.

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22

When I Was Young

Eric Burdon & the Animals

MGM 1340

"From 1955, if it was Friday and five to five, that meant only one thing: CRACKERJACK!" So says www.whirligig-tv.co.uk

The lyrics of When I Was Young, which talk about smoking at the age of ten and meeting girls at thirteen, were deemed unsuitable by the BBC for a children's TV show. Eric Burdon & the Animals were banned from performing the song on Crackerjack. (Yes, we can hear you all shouting "Crackerjack!". So, how many of you actually got to appear on the show? Click here to let us know

Aboard the Galaxy this week

May 23rd
Willy Walker was Keith Skues's Coffee Break guest. He had returned to the Galaxy to replace American, John Yorke (sometimes spelt 'York'), who had left the station after around two weeks. (Yorke was given climbers for the weeks commencing April 30th and May 7th.) Willy had returned to Radio London, after originally leaving on July 8th 1966.

May 25th
A High Court ruled that Radio 390, based aboard the Red Sand WWII fort in the Thames estuary, was within territorial waters and therefore, illegal. The station was given eighteen days to lodge an appeal, but it closed for good on July 28th.

May 26th
The Daily Mail printed a story concerning talks between soon-to-be outlawed offshore broadcasters and Radio Andorra, operating from the small independent Pyrenean Mountain State. The Mail named management of both Radio London and the just-declared-illegal Radio 390 as interested in joining with Radio Andorra to launch a new station operation on similar lines to Radio Luxembourg.

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.

Two new climbers added June 2008
Alan Field observes: "For Pete Drummond's climber I have listed the Small Faces' new Immediate release, Here Comes The Nice, instead of Patterns which was brought out at the same time by their old company, Decca." However, a recording of the Lorne King Show broadcast between 1800 and 1900 the same day as this chart (21/05/67), reveals that Patterns was also played as a Big L climber (unallocated to a DJ) during the same week. It seems the Small Faces were in competition with themselves, as seven days later (28/05), Patterns arrived in the Fab Forty at #29 while Here Comes The Nice was held back as a climber. Then on June 4th, both Small Faces releases tied at #17, while their eponymous LP held the Album of the Week slot. Whether or not the rival record companies went off to fight it out with their lawyers is unknown, but after one week of glory, both singles sunk wihtout trace. The band bounced back on July 30th, with Itchycoo Park selected as Ian Damon's climber.

The Ultimate Collection is a 2-CD, 50-track set, containing both Patterns and Here Comes The Nice. Click on sleeve photo for full track listing.

Also announced by Lorne as a climber, is Lola by Los Brincos, which enters the chart on June 4th.