Some interesting cover-versions enhance this week's Fab. Marvin and Tammi's version of Ain't No Mountain High Enough is less well-remembered than the drama-queen reading by Diana Ross. The duo failed to reach even the foothills of the Nationals with the song, while Diana donned her stiletto hiking-boots and scaled the heights of the Top Ten with it in 1970.
In these photos, Joe Brown looks as if he's severely sunburnt and Young Idea appear to be posing with 'Thing' from the Addams Family |
The race was on to take a Sgt Pepper track into the best-sellers. Joe Brown's and the Young Idea's versions of With A Little Help From My Friends both reached the Nationals, but it was Joe Cocker's gravelly rendition that hit the #1 spot in 1968. Meanwhile, David and Jonathan tried their luck with She's Leaving Home, but failed to impress.
Everyone knows Aretha's version of R-E-S-P-E-C-T, but who recalls Salena Jones's? Although a respected and well-loved jazz vocalist, chartwise, Salena is best remembered for her vocal version of Horst Jankowski's A Walk In the Black Forest, titled A Walk In the Black Forest (Our Walk of Love) which received plenty of airplay on Radio London, just scraping into the Fab in January '66.
Last
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This
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Presented
by Tony Blackburn
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Week
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Week
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5
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1
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A Whiter Shade Of Pale | Procol Harum |
2
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2
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The Happening | Supremes |
14
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3
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There Goes My Everything | Engelbert Humperdinck |
10
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4
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Okay! | Dave Dee Dozy Beaky Mick & Tich |
9
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5
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Groovin' | Young Rascals |
16
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6
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Just One More Chance | Outer Limits |
21
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7
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When You're Young And In Love | Marvelettes |
25
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8
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Don't Sleep In The Subway | Petula Clark |
27
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9
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Paper Sun | Traffic |
15
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10
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Day Time, Night Time | Simon Dupree & the Big Sound |
22
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11
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When I Was Young | Eric Burdon & the Animals |
23
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12
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Walking In The Rain | Walker Brothers |
18
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13
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Tabatha Twitchit | Dave Clark Five |
1
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14
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Waterloo Sunset | Kinks |
11
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15
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Two Streets | Val Doonican |
3
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16
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Finchley Central | New Vaudeville Band |
7
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17
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My Old Car | Lee Dorsey |
34
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18
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I'm All Ears | Los Bravos |
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19
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Night Of The Long Grass | Troggs |
30
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20
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Give Me Time | Dusty Springfield |
17
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21
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Fly Me High | Moody Blues |
13
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22
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Take Me In Your Arms And Love Me | Gladys Knight & the Pips |
6
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23
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24 Sycamore | Wayne Fontana |
36
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24
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Too Many Fish In The Sea & Three Little Fishes | Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels |
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25
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Carrie Anne | Hollies |
31
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26
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Holiday For Clowns | Brian Hyland |
38
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27
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Portrait Of My Love | Tokens |
33
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28
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Kansas City | James Brown & the Famous Flames |
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29
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Patterns | Small Faces |
8
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30
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Silence Is Golden | Tremeloes |
37
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31
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Happy | Rush |
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32
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Send Her To Me | Gary 'US' Bonds |
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33
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Six O'Clock | Lovin' Spoonful |
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34
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To Be Loved | Casinos |
40
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35
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This Time Long Ago | Guess Who |
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36
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The Man I Love | Chantelles |
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37
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Do It Again Just A Little Bit Slower | Jon & Robin |
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38
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No Good To Cry | Jimmy James & the Vagabonds |
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39
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With A Little Help From My Friends | Young Idea/Joe Brown |
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40
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Sunday Will Never Be The Same | Spanky & Our Gang |
23
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12
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Walking In The Rain | Walker Brothers | Philips BF1576 |
Unlike the Ronettes in 1964 and Jay
and the Americans in 69, The Walker Brothers
failed to enter the US charts with Walking In The Rain,
despite the song being a Grammy-winning Mann/Weil/Spector
composition. In fact, when the trio first hit the US Hot Hundred in '65 and
'66, many Americans had believed them to be a British invasion band. This was
somewhat ironic for a
harmony trio formed in Los Angeles. Lead vocalist and bass guitarist (Noel)
Scott Engel, came from Ohio, John Maus,
guitar and vocals, was from New York and drummer Gary
Leeds was from California. They were not siblings and none of them
was called Walker!
Ever emulators of the Phil Spector sound, the moody and toothsome threesome
(sorry) was regularly mobbed in the UK. The Walkers were considered major players
in the mid-Sixties pop league to the extent that one of Radio Luxembourg's Battle
of the Giants features pitted them against the Stones.
The 'Brothers' enjoyed nine National chart entries between 1965 and 67, including
two #1 smashes, Make It Easy On Yourself and The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine
Any More. These were only minor Hot Hundred entries. (Bacharach
and David's weepie ballad Make It Easy On Yourself had been
a Top Twenty entry there for Jerry Butler
only three years earlier.) The Walkers succeeded in walking Walking In the Rain...
for a final stroll into the National Top Thirty at around the time the trio
split. They reformed briefly to have another Top Ten hit in 1976, with No
Regrets.
Right: John, Scott and Gary at Marble Arch in London, photographed just
before the release of Love Her, circa March 1965. (© Chris Walter)
The Walkers' popularity was in no small way thanks to Radio London, and they
received support by the station from the outset. In 1965, they even recorded a jingle
for Kenny and Cash, which said "Kenny and Cash, in London" rather than "on London". It was
mainly the presence of the trio that caused Fans to invade the race track at the Brands
Hatch Radio London Trophy meeting, on 19th June '66. (see Fab
for 19th June 66)
At the end of March 1967, the Walkers embarked on a series of gigs which could
justifiably have been titled the 'Strange Bedfollows' tour. Second billing went
to Engelbert Humperdinck, and the show also
featured Cat Stevens and the Jimi
Hendrix Experience. 'Experience' drummer Mitch
Mitchell has described the tour as being the 'nearest thing
to vaudeville'. Britain had continued to cling to the vestiges of the once-popular
'variety show', and some theatrical agents still promoted this type of tour,
intended to encompass all sorts of 'wholesome family entertainment'. In a dying
tradition, the showbills tended to mix knife-throwers, magicians and jugglers
amongst major pop groups, much to the disgust of avid (and increasingly hysterical)
pop fans. Pity 'Tommy Wallis and Beryl' who were one of the supporting variety acts on
the 1963 gigs starring 'Britain's Fabulous Disc Stars' the Beatles.
(see Fab 19th June 66, link above)
Right: A Paris TV appearance. Spot the invisible instrument. Unfortunately,
Gary looks somewhat ridiculous, because the producers have forgotten to supply
him with a drum kit! (© Chris Walter)
Thanks to a surreal billing order that could have been compiled by John
Cleese and Michael Palin, Humperdinck
was obliged to follow the Jimi Hendrix Experience on the 67 tour.
Hendrix's act, which concluded with the 'spontaneous combustion' of his guitar,
was followed by 'Eng' arriving on stage sporting a tuxedo to give his own, cabaret-style
performance. Noel Redding ended-up playing
bass for both acts - although, for the sake of audience-cred, he did this from
behind the curtain during 'Eng's' performance!
These great pictures are reproduced by kind permission of Chris Walter, a photographer whose own career makes fascinating reading on his website, Photofeatures.com.
Read the lyrics to Walking In The Rain here.
Majicat.com a Cat Stevens tribute site has an NME review of one of the 'Strange Bedfollows' concerts.
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Trevor Bailey, who says, "Isn't it amazing the trivia that the human brain stores as knowledge?" adds a postscript:
Some years ago now Ronnie Spector published her autobiography "Be My Baby", in which she talked about when the Ronettes recorded "Walking in the Rain" Apparently the vocals were done in one take (the instrumental part having already been recorded). The story is that neither the group nor the writers were happy with the part of the lyric that goes:
"Johnny... No no he'll never do, Bobby... no it isn't him too", feeling that the line, "it isn't him too" wasn't grammatically correct, but as they couldn't think of anything else they left it in.
Trevor cites Walking In The Rain as "One
of my favourite songs ever, along with another Ronettes song, "The Best Part
of Breaking Up" and Garnet Mimms and the Enchanters' "Cry Baby".
Webmaster's note: They could have tried, "Bobby...
no he looks like a gnu".
DJ Climbers: | ||
Ain't No Mountain High Enough | Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell | Tony Blackburn |
Him Or Me - What's It Gonna Be? | Paul Revere & the Raiders | Chuck Blair |
She's Leaving Home | David & Jonathan | Tony Brandon |
What Good Am I | Cilla Black | Pete Drummond |
Respect | Aretha Franklin/Salena Jones | Paul Kaye |
Seven Rooms Of Gloom | Four Tops | Lorne King |
See Emily Play | Pink Floyd | John Peel |
Can't Take My Eyes Off You | Frankie Valli | Mark Roman |
Morning Dew | Episode Six | Keith Skues |
So Much For Mary | Jon | Ed Stewart |
Please Let Them Be | Gerry Marsden | Willy Walker |
Willy Walker's climber was Gerry's first solo release after the Pacemakers split up |
Aboard the Galaxy this week:
May 30th
Lorne King
left Big L to return to Canada.His appropriately-titled final climber was 'Seven Rooms of Gloom'.
June 2nd
The famous funeral of 'Frankie the Fly' was broadcast during the
Pete Drummond show.
Ashore
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Climbers: | |
And Suddenly | Left Banke |
Can't Seem To Make You Mine | Seeds |
Rattler | Dream Merchants |
Strange Brew | Cream |
I | Kiki Dee |
I Get The Feelin' / I'll Come Runnin' | Cliff Richard |
Here Come The Nice | Small Faces |
Lola | Los Brincos |
The Changing Of The Guard | Marquis Of Kensington |
Here We Go Again | Ray Charles |
She Was Perfection | Murray Head |
Girls In Love | Gary Lewis & the Playboys |
Wasn't It You? | Billie Davis |
Let's Build A World Of Our Own | Glenn Weston |
Exclusive: | |
Sound Of Love | Five Americans |
Disc of the Week: | |
She'd Rather Be With Me | Turtles |
Album of the Week: | |
Evolution | Hollies |
And Suddenly | Left Banke | Philips BF1575 |
And Suddenly was actually the B-Side of the Left Banke single, a departure from the usual 'baroque rock' band style found on the A-side, Ivy Ivy.
Why Radio London decided to flip it, is unknown.
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Messrs Clarke, Hicks and Nash penned all twelve tracks on Evolution, produced by Ron Richards, and was to reach #13 on the UK Album charts. Manfred Mann's Mike Vickers was also involved in its production. Lullaby To Tim, (written for Allan Clarke's
young son) with its unusual, warbly 'underwater' effect, was destined
to become a Kenny Everett favourite. The LP sleeve artwork was by Marijke Koger and Simon Posthuma, half of the ultra-trendy Dutch designer/musician collective which became known as The Fool. Koger and Posthuma had already made clothes for the Hollies, but it was when the Beatles were seen fashionably garbed in their garments during the satellite broadcast of All You Need is Love on June 26th, '67 that they received world-wide recognition. Simon is a renowned painter and Marijke (now Koger-Dunham) lives in LA and has her own website. |
Soul Set: | |
Ready, Willing And Able | Jimmy Holiday & Clydie King* |
There is currently no Ballad Box information available for this week
Green additions to the climbers indicate singles sourced from 'Monty's Diary'. (See Fab Forty for 010167). As well as new additions Here We Go Again, Girls In Love, Wasn't It You? and Big L Exclusive Sound Of Love, Monty has noted that Lola remained on the climber list from last week. The Changing Of The Guard and She Was Perfection have both been relegated from DJ picks to unassigned climbers.
Mauve addition to the climbers was kindly contributed by Hans Evers
Alan Field did not hear the records listed in green or mauve played or announced as climbers.
(*) This Soul Set track was discovered by Paul Osborn on a recording of Willy Walker show from Wednesday 31st May 1967. (We have no other SS listings for this week.)