In July 2006, The Guardian published an article by Alexis Petridis in which he describes Do You Come Here Often – the B-side of Is That A Ship I Hear – as "the most astonishing record of 1966." The cause of the astonishment is that the otherwise instrumental B-side was boldly enhanced by Joe Meek with a conversation between two men who sound camper than Round the Horne's Julian and Sandy. The recording is regarded as the first indisputably gay single and is highly collectible, mint copies fetching around £40.

The Guardian feature covers the release of a 24-track CD compilation, From the Closet to the Charts: Queer Noises 1961-1978, which includes Meek's 1966 masterpiece alongside the Kinks' See My Friend. The Kinks released their single (apparently regarded as an oblique paean to homosexuality) in 1965. However, Do You Come Here Often? is regarded as the first release of something rather more blatant.

On the record label, the publisher of Do You Come Here Often is credited as Meeksville Music. Although a contract was signed with Pall Mall, the company partly owned by Radio London, on the day of the record's release, 12th August, presumably, it would have been too late to have changed the label. (It was Pall Mall catalogue #111. The catalogue contained eleven Joe Meek titles.) The Do You Come Here Often contract was in the names of the individual members of the Tornados – Peter Holder, Robert Huxley, David Watts, Roger Holder and John Davies, although as Alexis Petridis remarks: "Quite what the Tornados made of their pill-maddened producer's latest wheeze, let alone anyone who heard the song in 1966, is an intriguing question." David Watts and Robert Huxley recorded the voices for the 'conversation' heard on the B-side (including a line about pirate ships) without knowing the context in which Meek was intending to use the recording

Meek had written to the Tornados, currently employed in the Blackpool summer season, telling them that he intended to buy Is That A Ship I Hear into the charts. However, he found himself without the finances for carrying out his plan. Meek wanted a ship-themed title for the A-side to curry favour – and hopefully gain airplay – from the ship-borne offshore stations. He almost included the word 'pirate' in the title, but decided that would be too blatant. The track's original demo title was Is That A Spaceship I Hear.

Is That A Ship I Hear and its controversial B-side was to be the band's final single. All the original Tornados who had enjoyed an international mega-hit with Telstar, had departed their ranks by this time.

Melody Maker thought Is That A Ship I Hear made 'some pleasing electronic noise', while Disc and Music Echo wrote scathingly, 'Somebody must be joking'.

The Radlon management who were later to take exception to the lyrics of Arnold Layne and ban it from the Big L playlist, presumably remained blissfully ignorant of the existence of the 'astonishing' Tornados B-side. Ironically, it would have been perfect for TW's Camp Coffee Break!

(With grateful thanks to Brian Long and his extensive research into the Pall Mall catalogue, for additional information).

The red additions to the climbers indicate singles listed in Brian Long's book 'The London Sound' based on information typed in the Curzon Street offices or other sources.
* The addition of the Supremes' 'You Can't Hurry Love' as an unassigned climber, is courtesy of Wolfgang Buchholz.
The PURPLE Bill Hearne climber was supplied by Roy Taylor in 2020.
Alan Field did not hear them played or announced as climbers.

The Caroline 'Countdown Sixty' chart (south ship) for this week is here
This week's Radio City 'City Sixty' on the Pirate Radio Hall of Fame is here
This week's Radio England 'Boss Forty' on the Pirate Radio Hall of Fame is here

Tune in next week for another Field's Fab Forty