A Young Girl of Sixteen will be recalled by Radio London listeners as a Dave Dennis favourite. The Jaques Brel-style death-song, would invariably have appealed to the DD's own theatrical nature. ("A young girl of sixteen, child of springtime, still green, lying here by the road – DEAD!") The UK B-side was Tomorrow It's My Turn, but in the Netherlands it was Noel Harrison's own arrangement of the folk song Barbara Allen. A Young Girl of Sixteen failed to chart in the Nationals, but had already made #51 in the US Hot Hundred, where the title was shortened to A Young Girl.

In 1969, the single saw a reissue, backed with the Beatles' She's a Woman. This was around the time of Noel's biggest hit Windmills of Your Mind (the Oscar-winning theme from the film The Thomas Crown Affair) which found international success. At the height of Sixties spy-mania, Noel Harrison co-starred with Stefanie Powers in the Man from U.N.C.L.E. spin-off, The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.. In October 2013, he was living in Devon and still performing locally, when he died of a heart attack.

Noel's Fan site

Une enfant de seize ans, to give the song its original title, was co-written by French star, Charles Aznavour and Oscar Brown Jnr. Noel Harrison recorded the song in French for the Canadian market, where it made the Top Ten, but he had serious competition on the continent. Performer/composer Boudewijn de Groot recorded the song as Een meisje van zestien – also on the Decca label. His version entered the Dutch charts on October 16, 1965, where it remained for 13 weeks.

The real fun comes when you allow the Google automatic translator facility to battle with converting the lyrics into English. Aznavour could never have improved upon, "She had left her parents to follow a boy, Bohemian, who could sign and say: I love you, and without that becoming upsetting" or "He told her coils demanded space, so they grinds from place to place."

The Untamed, the band championed by the Double D, also recorded the song. Although the Untamed's version was not released as a single, it is available on their CD 'Gimme Gimme'.

See the Fab for 13th June 1965 for more info about the band and their highly-collectable singles. (I-I-I (Want Your Lovin') can fetch £70+). Click on the picture for an Amazon link to more information about the Record Collector Rare Record Price Guide. However, despite the Price Guide linking the band with one called Odyessy, Sons Of Fred's bass player Pete Sears (later of Jefferson Starship) has confirmed that there never was any connection with a band of that name.

Dateline, Wednesday, January 12th, 1966 – Aboard the Galaxy, London After Midnight with a Difference!

At 1.30am during a force nine gale, the Galaxy lost her anchors and drifted into territorial waters, forcing Radio London to cease broadcasting. Captain Buninga discovered that the engines had not been used for so long that they no longer functioned.

The ship was towed by the tug Kent and the station resumed broadcasting at 1300 hours with a special news bulletin about the overnight adventure, as soon as she returned to International Waters. The Galaxy was fully back in position by 1500 hours.

Many quips were made about the unscheduled voyage, and DJs sang the words, "The station with the very loose anchor" over the PAMS jingle "The Station with the happy difference"! The first record played after Radio London's return to the airwaves was appropriately the #5 in the Fab Forty – Day Tripper!

Press adverts appeared the following day:
"To our audience of ten million listeners, we extend 266 apologies for being a little 'adrift' yesterday morning. Listen today to what you missed yesterday on 266 metres." (thanks to Brian Long)

To view a legible copy of this newspaper clipping, click on the picture.

See MD Phillip Birch's letter of thanks to Captain Bill Buninga here.

Only eight days later, Caroline's ship Mi Amigo ran aground at Frinton.