for Sunday 19th February 1967
Alan: "So, here's the chart for 19th February 1967. And what's this? A record actually staying at number 1 for a second week! Well it is by the Beatles. Out of all the Field's Fab Forties on the website, dating back to 1st May 1966, only one other record has done that so far, and that was also by the Fab Four, in August '66."

One Little Voice

Lois Lane

RCA 1570

Lois Lane began life as Lois Ann Wilkinson in Sleaford, Lincs. She teamed up with Andrea Simpson to record You Don't Have To Be A Baby To Cry (as the Caravelles), which became a Top Ten hit in both the UK (#6) and USA (#3) in 1963. The duo was unfortunately unable to repeat this success and eventually, Lois left to launch a solo career. She was often heard singing live on the BBC Light Programme.

Keith Skues had intended to play a taped interview with Lois on the Coffee Break of February 21st, 1967, to tie in with her latest release, but had to abandon both the interview and the turntables while the Galaxy was lashed by gales.

In May '67, Lois would be named as part of the team that would be representing the UK in the 1967 at the Belgian annual Knokke European Cup song contest. The UK fared well in song contests in 1967. Not only did Puppet on a String win Eurovision, but Gerry Marsden led the British to victory in Knokke. Gerry's winning team consisted of singers who also happened to be Fab Forty artists; besides Lois Lane, there was Dodie West, Roger Whittaker and Oscar (Paul Nicholas) who this week holds the #30 slot in the Fab Forty. It was the second year running that the UK had triumphed in Knokke.

This NME report from the John Bennett archive hints at problems of 'bickering in the ranks', but cites Roger Whittaker's performance as the winning ingredient.

Supermarket Full Of Cans

Eyes Of Blue

Deram DM 114

The Eyes Of Blue were from Wales, evolving during the mid-sixties from two outfits called The Mustangs and the Smokestacks to form a line-up of Wyndham Rees vcls, Ray 'Taff' Williams, gtr, Ritchie Francis, bass, Phil Ryan, keybds, and Gary Pickford-Hopkins, vcls, plus John 'Pugwash' Weathers, a drummer from the Brothers Grimm.

In 1966, Eyes Of Blue beat off strong competition to become champions of the national Melody Maker Battle of the Bands, winning a cash prize, a keyboard and a one-year Decca recording contract. Two singles were subsequently issued on Deram.

When Heart Trouble/Up And Down (Deram DM 106) came out in late '66, Up And Down was the side being played on Radio London, reaching #24 on November 20th. Supermarket Full Of Cans was retained as a Big L climber for one more week, but unfortunately failed to make the Fab Forty.

The band split in 1970, after the release of three singles and two albums, going back to their roots to play their farewell gig at the Gwyn Hall in Neath.

Supermarket Full Of Cans was released on a compilation called The Mod Scene (Decca 844 549-2) in 1999.

As the Man website said, "The fortunes of Phil Ryan, John Weathers, Taff Williams and Gary Pickford-Hopkins can be followed through incarnations of Man and other acts from the Man family tree."

I Wish You Could Be Here

Cyrkle

CBS 202577

This was the Cyrkle's 4th chart entry in the US Hot Hundred, but I Wish You Could Be Here, reached no higher than #70. Like Supermarket Full of Cans, the single was a DJ pick, then retained on the climber list for a second week, but it failed to enter the Fab Forty. Cyrkle's previous climber of December 18th, Please Don't Ever Leave Me, also missed out on the Big L chart.

Climbers:
Humming Bird	Herbie's People
Darling Be Home Soon	Lovin' Spoonful
I'm Gonna Be Somebody Someday	King George
Reservations	Simon Dupree & the Big Sound
Happy Together	Turtles/Graham Bonney (*)
Cousin Jane	Barry Benson
Love Is Here And Now You're Gone	Supremes
Shingaling '67	Don Covay
Come On Down (From The Top Of That Hill)	Jackie de Shannon
I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman	Whistling Jack Smith
Love Makes Sweet Music	Soft Machine (*)
I Won't Be There	Equals (*)
Green Plant	Tokens
I Dig You Baby	Jerry Butler
Never Ever	Action (*)
Always On My Mind	Settlers
Cat In A Tree	Jimmy Smith
What'll I Do	Peddlers
Disc of the Week:
Simon Smith And His Amazing Dancing Bear/Tickle Me	Alan Price Set
Album of the Week:
Born A Woman	Sandy Posey

Setting back the cause of Women's Lib about 50 years?

Nearly half of the people who write about this song on their websites, Brian Long, and even Old Gold records who included the track on a CD, refer to it as "Simon Smith And The Amazing Dancing Bear" which is the title gievn by writer Randy Newman. However, according to Guinness Hit Singles, Tony Jasper's chart book and the WMCA US charts on the net, the official Alan Price title is Simon Smith And HIS Amazing Dancing Bear (a line which Price doesn't actually sing in precisely that form on the record). However, it appears that only on the USA and Swedish releases was the song titled Simon Smith And HIS Amazing Dancing Bear.

What'll I Do debuts here 5 weeks before the record was the upcoming release that was picked as Ed Stewart's climber on March 26th

I wonder if Sandy Posey knows that, when it was released, Born A Woman (her first hit) may have set the Women's Lib cause back about 50 years!

Humming Bird Herbie's People CBS 202584 The members of the band from Bilston, near Wolverhampton, who joined the Knees Club on April 9th 1966 at the Marquee, were lead vocalist Herbie (real name Danny) Robinson (#175), Alan Lacey, drms, (#176) and Len Beddow, ld gtr, vcls(#177). They would have been promoting their second single One Little Smile which was officially on the Big L playlist as a climber for just one week, beginning March 27th, 1966. Absent that day were Mick Taylor, gtr, vcls and Pete Walton, bs, vcls. Bill Bates, who signed-up as member #174, was their manager. Bill had chanced upon the group (originally called Danny Cannon and the Ramrods) when they were practising at the local Toc-H club – a venue they shared with The N'Betweens (see Fab 4th Dec '66) – and was impressed by their sound. Humming Bird was penned by Bill, who had written the 1962 Top Twenty hit Will I What? for Mike Sarne and Wendy Richards. Bill's brother-in-law was songwriter Ken Lewis, and Herbie's People had recorded the Carter/Lewis song Semi-Detached Suburban Mr Jones for release as their third single. It was pressed and ready for despatch when the record company withdrew it , because Manfred Mann had decided to record the song as Semi-Detached Suburban Mr James. The Manfreds were to take it to #1 in the Fab and #2 in the Nationals. Sadly, Humming Bird did not match that success. Read a full feature about Herbie's People contributed by band member Michael Taylor.

Tune in next week for another Field's Fab Forty

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