Field's Festive Fab 'Forty' for Sunday 25/12/66
'Twas Christmas Day and the Fab was still fat – containing forty-six entries!
Last
This
Presented by Ed Stewart
Week
Week
5
1
Happy Jack Who
7
2
Any Way That You Want Me Troggs
3
3
Save Me Dave Dee Dozy Beaky Mick & Tich
12
4
In The Country Cliff Richard & the Shadows
13
5
(I Know) I'm Losing You Temptations
1
6
Sunshine Superman Donovan
10
7
Mustang Sally Wilson Pickett
8
8
Deadlier Than The Male Walker Brothers
18
9
My Girl, The Month Of May Dion & the Belmonts
16
10
Night Of Fear Move
17
11
Under New Management Barron Knights
2
12
Morningtown Ride Seekers
26
13
Too Many Fish In The Sea Young Rascals
11
14
Hang On To A Dream Tim Hardin
33
15
Baby Do The Philly Dog Olympics
22
16
Going Nowhere Los Bravos
37
17
Single Girl Sandy Posey
34
18
Hey Joe Jimi Hendrix Experience
4
19
If Every Day Was Like Christmas Elvis Presley
15
20
I Feel Free Cream
30
21
Progress Pretty Things
31
22
I See The Light Simon Dupree & the Big Sound
23
23
When Will The Good Apples Fall Ronnie Hilton
9
24
Pamela Pamela Wayne Fontana
25
25
Listen To My Heart Bats
26
Nashville Cats Lovin' Spoonful
6
27
Dead End Street Kinks
14
28
Walk With Faith In Your Heart Bachelors
34
29
Sugar Town Nancy Sinatra
30
(Come 'Round Here) I'm The One You Need Miracles
31
The Eggplant That Ate Chicago Dr West's Medicine Show & Junk Band
32
I'm A Believer Monkees
29
33
The Star Of The Show (The La La Song) Zoot Money's Big Roll Band
33
Call Her Your Sweetheart Frank Ifield
30
34
Listen To The River Roll Along Wee Willie Harris
28
34
Oh What A Fool Peter Lee Stirling
35
From Head To Toe Escorts
31
35
Green Green Grass Of Home Tom Jones
40
36
Baby Tomorrow Paul Jones
37
Run To The Door Clinton Ford
36
37
Make Believe Jason Deane
38
38
Gotta Get Out The Mess I'm In Young Idea
39
38
Something Inside Of Me Died Gene Latter
20
39
Yes Virginia There Is A Santa Claus Neil Spence
40
I'm Not Your Stepping Stone Flies
40
One Night Stand Incas

Wild Thing – The Sixties DVD Jukebox
In a DVD compilation of twenty performances from the German TV show Beat Club, called 'Wild Thing – The Sixties DVD Jukebox'. The Who not only perform their Fab Forty Christmas #1, 'Happy Jack', but also sing 'So Sad About Us' (Click on the sleeve photo for more information)

Some of the songs on the compilation are well-known numbers, others less so, although of course those which are unfamiliar in the UK, may well have enjoyed greater chart action in Germany.

Oddly, when the Troggs appear on this DVD called 'Wild Thing', the song they perform is not their most famous hit, but their '68 single, 'Hip Hip Hooray'! In fact, the only track with the word 'Wild' in the title is the Move's 'Wild Tiger Woman'. Small Faces fans will be pleased to see them sing both 'Itchycoo Park' and 'I Can't Make it'.

Perhaps the most unusual performance of the compilation is Status Quo, from their psychedelic era, and 'Technicolor Dreams'. (What a shame it's in black and white!) This was the A-side of a 1968 Pye single which was subsequently withdrawn, meaning that copies can now fetch between £300 and £750!

There's also a 22-track Beat Club Seventies compilation, where hits include the Walker Brothers'No Regrets', 10cc, 'I'm Not in Love', T Rex, 'Ride a White Swan' and Brian Ferry, 'Hard Rain's Gonna Fall'. There are lesser-known songs from the likes of Fleetwood Mac, Stealer's Wheel, Joe Cocker and the Jeff Beck Group. Chuck Berry also manages to sneak in with 'Johnny B Goode'. Hardly a Seventies song, but that must have been the era when he performed it on Beat Club.

38
38
Gotta Get Out The Mess I'm In Young Idea Columbia DB 8067

Young Idea were Tony Cox, from London on piano, guitar and vocals alongside the grandly-named Douglas Ugo Granville Allesandro MacRea-Brown, (known for short as Douglas MacRea-Brown) from Florence, Italy on guitar and vocals.

They returned to the Fab Forty in February '67, when they were on their first national tour with the Hollies. Read about it here.


3
3
Save Me Dave Dee Dozy Beaky Mick & Tich Fontana TF775

Dave Dee Dozy Beaky Mick & Tich had joined the Knees Club on April 5th at Wycombe Town Hall. The line-up was Dave Dee (member #158), Dozy (Trevor Davies) (#155), Beaky (John Dymond) (#156), Mick (Michael Wilson) (#157) and Tich (Ian Amey) (#160). At the time, they had been enjoying their first major hit Hold Tight. Dave (minus the band) was on the bill at both the 1999 and 2000 Brighton Sixties Festivals, wielding his whip on stage with customary aplomb. Dave sadly died of cancer in January 2009.

34
18
Hey Joe Jimi Hendrix Experience Polydor 56 139

It was 'Fabulous opening week' at The Upper Cut Club, ex-boxer Billy Walker's trendy new club in London E7. You would have had to part with 15 shillings (Ladies, 12/6) on Dec 23rd, for the privilege of seeing Dave Dee and Co, who were riding high both in the Fab and the Nationals with Save Me. However, you could have got in to see a virtually-unknown guitarist called Jimi Hendrix in an afternoon performance on Dec 26th, for a mere 5 shillings.



25
25
Listen To My Heart Bats Decca F 22534

The Bats released four singles in the UK between 1964 and 1967, without finding success. Members Jim Dunning (ld gtr), Barry Jarman (gtr), Paul Ditchfield (bs) and Eddie Eckstein (drms) were all credited as co-writers of the single's B-side, Stop Don't Do It.

Some sources list the band as Irish, some, South African. (It appears there was also a Belfast outfit of the same name, which recorded a track called On the Waterfront.) However, the identity of the musicians who recorded Listen To My Heart, and made other Fab 40 appearances, was revealed by a message received June 1st, 2002, from Judy Ditchfield:

Just interested to see a mention of The Bats from 25/12/66 and my husband Paul Ditchfield. There was a mention that they weren't sure where the Bats came from. They were a very successful band here in South Africa in the late 50's right through to the early 80's!!

Funnily enough, this past year they got back together again and have been touring South Africa, all now in their sixties. They also visited Australia with the Springbok Rugby tour this year and are coming over to England for the Rugby tour in November.

In October 2002, we heard from Tertius Louw, in Cape Town, South Africa. Tertius runs a tribute page to the Bats, where there are some great pictures of the band taken from their record sleeves. Their 1966 album, A Shabby Little Hut shows the band resplendent in collarless Beatle suits. The page also lists members of the Bats, past and present. Tertius explains, "Pete Clifford, lead guitarist, came to South Africa in 1964 as a member of Dusty Springfield's backing band, the Echoes. He replaced Jimmy Dunning in 1967."

* Eddie Eckstein: vocals, drums
* Paul Ditchfield: vocals, keyboards, guitars, bass (ex-The Vikings)
* Barry Jarman: guitar, trumpet, bass
* Jimmy Dunning: guitar, left in 1968
* Pete Clifford: vocals, guitar, joined in 1968, ex-The 004s
* Derek Gordon: vocals, various instruments, joined in 2000

We also heard from Bats fan Patrick Betson, who currently lives in California:

I spent a year in South Africa between '74 and '75, so, I was really interested to read about the South African group The Bats at the bottom of Christmas '67's Fab Forty. I watched Paul, Eddie, Barry and Peter regularly at the Rotunda in Camps Bay (just outside Cape Town) on Sunday nights. They were a great act, a great mixture of good music and comedy! So, if you say hello to Paul Ditchfield's wife again, please say thanks to the group for those fun memories.

Listen To My Heart may be little known in the UK, but it does have its fans. One of the Northern Soul sites describes it thus: "This really is a pounding dancer which would do untold damage to leather soles everywhere if exposed."

See Page Two, for more artist information and the climber list for Dec 25th 1966