for Sunday 9th April 1967

Two new Fab Forty entries arrive with Pall Mall B-sides written by Barry Paterson, Ricky Kemp and Keith Herd. 'Empty My Heart' backs Jerry Page's 'Fortune Teller's Friend', while 'Life's a Gamble' backs Roger Bloom's Hammer's 'Out of the Blue'. The tracks for both singles were originally recorded at Fairview Studios in Yorkshire, but Harold Shampan at Pall Mall had insisted that they were rerecorded at Sound Techniques studio in Chelsea.

More on Roger Bloom's Hammer (left) and Fairview Studios is in a Fab Forty feature for 19/07/67 when the band reappeared in the Big L chart with 'Polly Pan'.


Matters monetary dominate this week's Fab Forty, with Hi-Ho Silver Lining at #7, Bobby Goldsboro at #11, Sixpence at #35, Cash McCall #40 and a bit of Moonlight Saving at #39. You'll need a Fortune Teller's Friend, (#34), with a Crystal Ball, (#15), to predict the Ups And Downs (#22 ) of the stock market but Time Will Tell if The Laughing Gnome(s) of Zurich get the last laugh.

You could win Twice As Much (#15), Win Again a Big Roll of Zoot Money on the Roulettes, or end up The Loser (With A Broken Heart) if you do Somethin' Stupid (#18). It's no good Beggin' (#5) the Inland Revenue, The First Cut Is The Deepest and they're Gonna Fix You Good (#20)!


Last
This
Presented by Ed Stewart
Week
Week
2
1
A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You Monkees
8
2
Ha! Ha! Said The Clown Manfred Mann
9
3
Bernadette Four Tops
10
4
I'm Gonna Get Me A Gun Cat Stevens
7
5
Beggin' Four Seasons
18
6
I Can Hear The Grass Grow Move
12
7
Hi Ho Silver Lining Jeff Beck
24
8
Yellow Balloon Jan & Dean
13
9
With This Ring Platters
-
10
Funny Familiar Forgotten Feelings Tom Jones
40
11
Too Many People Bobby Goldsboro
26
12
At The Zoo Simon & Garfunkel
34
13
Travelin' Man Stevie Wonder
1
14
Puppet On A String/Tell The Boys Sandie Shaw
-
15
Crystal Ball Guy Darrell / Twice As Much
3
16
Jimmy Mack Martha & the Vandellas
28
17
The Return Of The Red Baron Royal Guardsmen
4
18
Somethin' Stupid Frank & Nancy Sinatra
32
19
Birds And Bees Warm Sounds
27
20
Gonna Fix You Good (Everytime You're Bad) Alan Bown Set
-
21
Come Back Girl Jackie Edwards
35
22
Ups And Downs Paul Revere & the Raiders
-
23
The Boat That I Row Lulu
29
24
Going Home Normie Rowe
-
25
What A Woman In Love Won't Do Sandy Posey
37
26
What'll I Do Peddlers
-
27
Gilly Gilly Ossenfeffer Katzenellenbogen By The Sea David & Jonathan
5
28
Because I Love You Georgie Fame
30
29
Walk Away Renee Truth
6
30
It's All Over Cliff Richard
-
31
Out Of The Blue Roger Bloom's Hammer
23
32
One To Seven Gates Of Eden
-
33
I Know You Love Me Not Julie Driscoll
-
34
Fortune Teller's Friend Jerry Page
-
35
You're The Love Sixpence
-
36
Love Is A Beautiful Thing/Bert's Apple Crumble (*) Quik
-
37
The Hand Don't Fit The Glove Terry Reid & Peter Jay's Jaywalkers
39
38
Tiger Brian Auger
-
39
Moonlight Saving Time Blossom Dearie
-
40
It's Wonderful (To Be In Love) Cash McCall

Chart Compiler Extraordinaire 'Fab' Alan Field has kindly scanned the original (extremely neat) notes that he wrote, aged 14, about this week's Fab Forty and Climbers. (Click on each page to see a larger version.) He says:

The notes were double-sided, written on a page ripped out of one of my school exercise books! Back in the day, it was sellotaped into a scrapbook with all the rest (attached on the left side only, with a kind of sellotape hinge device on the right – to keep it down most of the time, but still enable it to be turned over to view). The green writing (date and Fab 40 show presenter) was originally the heading and footer for the chart in the scrapbook. I transferred that information many years later when the scrapbook finally fell apart and I just kept the charts, as separate pages. Incidentally, I wrote down the Fab 40 records as you see them, as the show was broadcast, working up the page (which is why I never had separate lines for two records that were jointly-placed). I noted down the climbers in draft, during the Fab 40 show and throughout the week, and then added them to the chart page on the Sunday, just as the next page was being started. This enabled the climbers to be listed in some kind of order, reflecting in most cases the current Radio London programme schedule and the DJs sitting in for those on shore leave. It wasn't consistent though, and I couldn't always make proper sense of it when I started posting the charts on the site, so when I was typing them up in 2001 I put the climbers primarily in DJ-alphabetical order instead. I think the unallocated climbers are generally in the same order as they always were. It might indicate at what stage I first heard them played, but not reliably so.

-
36
Love Is A Beautiful Thing/Bert's Apple Crumble (*) Quik Deram 121

Although Love Is A Beautiful Thing was the side of the Quik single featured on last week's climber list, and Alan Field also heard it played as this week's #36, Brian Long records that the vinyl was 'flipped' in favour of Bert's Apple Crumble when it entered the Fab Forty.

Whether or not this decision to give preferential airplay to the B-side was influenced by the fact that the song was published by Radio London's company, Pall Mall, is unknown. However, Pall Mall songs generally tended to inhabit B-sides and as such, were seldom played on Big L. Written by David Hadfield, Bert's Apple Crumble surfaced again on the soundtrack of Gangster No 1, a film released in 2000 and set in the Sixties era.


DJ Climbers:    
Rhyme Boy, Rhyme Roulettes Tony Blackburn
Show Me Joe Tex Chuck Blair
The First Cut Is The Deepest P P Arnold Pete Drummond
Don't Go Home (My Little Darlin') Susan Maughan Paul Kaye
Nick Knack Zoot Money's Big Roll Band Lorne King
Say You Don't Mind Denny Laine John Peel
New York Mining Disaster 1941 Bee Gees Mark Roman
Sometimes Rockin' Berries Keith Skues
I Can Fly Herd Ed Stewart

The First Cut Is The Deepest P P Arnold Immediate IM047

With Cat Stevens at #4, here comes another of his compositions, which became the second solo single from former Ikette, PP (Pat) Arnold. Pat had arrived in the UK with the Ike and Tina Turner Review in 1966, when they toured the country with the Stones. Recognising Pat's potential as a solo artist, Andrew Loog Oldham signed her to his Immediate label. The First Cut Is The Deepest was to bring Pat a #18 in the Nationals. Pat is still living in the UK and continues to work hard in the music business. News of Pat's current musical projects can be found on her website.

Six years later, The First Cut Is The Deepest brought ex-Caroline DJ Keith Hampshire a Canadian #1 (US #70), and in 1977, Rod Stewart took it to #1 in the UK (US #21).

The Cat Stevens website has a collection of all his lyrics.

New York Mining Disaster 1941 Bee Gees Polydor 56161

Town Of Tuxley Toymaker Billy J Kramer Reaction 591 014

As new boys in town, the Manx-born, but Australian-raised Bee Gees were making a big impression. Their ship literally came in in February when they were signed by Robert Stigwood to Brian Epstein's NEMS agency, which Stigwood was managing at the time. This signing occurred practically at the moment they stepped ashore from the Fairsky, after their return sea voyage from Down Under. The Gibb brothers' early recording career had centered around the St Claire recording studio, a former butcher's shop storeroom in Hurstville, a suburb of Sydney. Studio owner Ossie Byrne came with them to England and produced their Bee Gees First album.

New York Mining Disaster was about a fictional event, but the Gibb brothers say the song's inspiration was a real disaster. On 21st October 1966, 144 people, 116 of them children, had died when a coal waste tip engulfed the Welsh village of Aberfan.

Barry, Robin and Maurice not only had two songs 'wot they wrote' in this week's climber list, but their vocals enhanced Town Of Tuxley Toymaker, which was released on Stigwood's Reaction label. (Unlike Craise F(r)inton Kirk, the Bee Gees did not issue their own version of the song.)

NEMS stablemate, Billy J Kramer, had previously enjoyed huge success during the 'Merseybeat' era, with former instrumental group the Dakotas, recording several Lennon/McCartney songs and enjoying six national Top Twenty hits, two of which hit #1. Born William Howard Ashton, Billy picked his stage name 'Kramer' from the phone book. The addition of the 'J' was suggested by John Lennon, in honour of his mother, Julia and son, Julian. Hits were drying up by the end of the Mersey boom and Billy J split with the Dakotas to go solo in 1966. Unfortunately, his Bee Gees collaboration did not bring him fame and solo success continued to elude him.

Aboard the Galaxy this week

April 15th
Radio London promoted the King George and the Harlem Kiddies tour (See Fab 12th March 1967), which was that evening playing the Chelmsford Corn Exchange.

Jonathan King made on-air appearances on April 15th and 16th, playing new records he had acquired on a trip to America.

Ashore
Saturday 15th was Big L Night at the Starlite Ballroom, Greenford.

Not ashore, but afloat, Big L hosted an all-night rave across the English Channel, from Folkestone to Boulogne and back, featuring Chris Farlowe and four other groups.

The April 15th edition of Record Mirror shows photos of the Beatles wearing their Flower Power gear during the Sgt Pepper recording sessions. (With George Martin looking extremely serious and not wearing his Flower Power gear). Says the caption, "No, EMI haven't hired out their studio to the gypsies. But you must admit the Beatles are looking weirder in every photo taken of them these days."

 

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.

Climbers:  
It Ain't Me Babe Davy Jones
Time Will Tell West Point Supernatural
The Laughing Gnome David Bowie
A Girl Without A Boy Sheila Southern
Can't Stop Now Marmalade
Town Of Tuxley Toymaker Billy J Kramer
Maroc 7/Bombay Duck Shadows
You Ain't As Hip As All That, Baby Jay & the Americans
Don't You Care Buckinghams
They've All Got Their Eyes On You Chris Andrews
The Loser (With A Broken Heart) Gary Lewis & the Playboys
Lazy Fat People Barron Knights
# You Win Again (# see note below) Ray Charles
The Magic Book Gibsons
Disc of the Week:  
Gonna Give Her All The Love I've Got Jimmy Ruffin
Album of the Week:  
More Of The Monkees Monkees

It Ain't Me Babe Davy Jones Pye 7N 17302

Much more Monkees! While A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You holds the top slot and More Of The Monkees is Album of the Week, Davy Jones sings Dylan.

 


Ballad Box:
No One's Gonna Hurt You Anymore Kathy Kirby
Almost Persuaded Crispian St Peters
It Must Be Him Vikki Carr
Our Song (La Musica È Finita) Ornella Vanoni
# You Win Again Ray Charles
Making Memories Frankie Laine

Soul Set:
Something Good (Is Going To Happen To You) Carla Thomas
Day Tripper Otis Redding
Show Me How You Milk A Cow Real McCoy
Soothe Me Sam & Dave
Sweet Soul Music Arthur Conley
Cry To Me Freddie Scott
Raise Your Hand Eddie Floyd
When Something Is Wrong With My Baby Sam & Dave
Hip Hug Her Booker T & the MGs

Fab Notes (by Alan Field)
Vikki Carr
's It Must Be Him begins its first of two separate runs in the Ballad Box this week. The record eventually peaked at #2 in the national charts 16 weeks later, at the end of July, but never featured in the Fab 40, although it was frequently played on Radio London.

Ornella Vanoni's Our Song was also issued as a solo single by an 18-year-old Robert Plant in his pre-Led Zeppelin days, but his version was not picked up by Radio London.

Sam and Dave have two songs in the Soul Set. When Something Is Wrong With My Baby is actually their follow-up to Soothe Me, both on Stax.

Fab Notes (by Mary Payne)
A two-week stint in the Soul Set appears to have been a last-ditch attempt on the part of Fontana to promote Show Me How You Milk A Cow. When it arrived on April 2nd, eight weeks had elapsed since its release date of February 17th. A publicity flyer issued at the same time as the single mis-titles it as Show Me How to Milk A Cow, as did a half-page spread in the Evening Gazette, Middlesbrough, dated February 16th and sponsored by local companies.

The Real McCoy, formerly (John McCoy and) The Crawdaddies were Tony Ayres, Ottie McLoughlin, John McCoy, Alan Fearnley, Ken Thwaites, Ray Dales and Terry Sidgwick.

The band's bio and publicity photos are on Stan Launden's website which houses a comprehensive selection of pages looking at the pop groups from Hartlepool and Teesside from the 1960s. Stan presented 'Country Time' on BBC Radio Cleveland for 21 years.


The Caroline 'Countdown Sixty' chart (south ship) for this week is here

Green additions to the climbers indicate singles sourced from 'Monty's Diary'. (See Fab Forty for 010167). Monty has noted that one climber from last week, Lazy Fat People was retained for a second week.
# For a second week running, Monty has noted You Win Again as a climber, whereas the Curzon Street list placed it in the Ballad Box. As we're unable to draw a firm conclusion about its status, we are including it in both the climber list and BB.
Mauve additions to the climbers were kindly contributed by Hans Evers
Alan Field did not hear the records listed in green or
mauve played or announced as climbers.

Tune in next week for another Field's Fab Forty