29 1 Don't Bring Me Down Animals John Steel (drums), Alan Price (organ), Brian (Chas) Chandler (bass), Hilton Valentine (guitar), Eric Burdon (in front) (vocals) This is not the actual line-up responsible for recording Don't Bring Me Down, but this particular picture is included here because of another offshore connection. The Geordie band got their break in 1963, when r 'n' b hero, Graham Bond, spotted the Animals and recommended them to one Ronan O'Rahilly. This was prior to the launch of Caroline, at the time when Ronan was a huge promoter of r 'n' b on the London scene. Not surprisingly, the picture comes from the book Radio Caroline and Its Stars, published 1965 – price 2/6d. By the time the group had signed to Decca and hit the Fab Number 1 (#6 in the Nationals) with Don't Bring Me Down, Alan Price had left and been replaced by Dave Rowberry from the Mike Cotton Sound.

Trivia courtesy of Brian Long: Kenny Everett played wooden blocks on Hideaway.

Between 1963 and 66, Sandy Roberton recorded and performed with Rick Tykiff as Rick & Sandy. When the Springfields disbanded and Tom turned his hand to producing and songwriting, he took on the duo and arranged a recording contract with Fontana. They then obtained a Decca contract via Les Reed and recorded three singles before calling it a day.
Rick & Sandy appeared in the Fab Forty in January '66, with their final release, Earl Richmond's hit-pick, the Jonathan King-penned and produced Creation, reaching #24. They secured a coveted slot on Ready Steady Go! on the 29th Jan 65, alongside the Who, Hollies, Animals and Donovan, but TV exposure did not bring them a hit.
After his split with Rick, Sandy recorded his cover of Solitary Man. "In those days it took so long to get records out in the UK that a smart A&R or publisher could go to America, grab a record, come back to England and cover it," he says. "If you got it out quickly, you would beat the original on the chart. We had three hours at Abbey Road to cut the A and the B side." (He penned the B-side You'll Never Know.)
Sandy Roberton would undergo a change of career and give up his singing to run the London Division of Chess Records’ music publishing company. He produced numerous albums for the likes of Duran Duran, the Cure and the Thompson Twins. In 1986, he emigrated to the States, where he runs World's End Management, Music and Creative Licensing with his daughter Niki as CEO of record label Iamsound. Sandy Roberton profile

– 36 I've Laid Some Down In My Time Tony Colton PYE 7N17117 Tony Colton, whose real name is Anthony George Chalk, was born in Tumbridge Wells. According to the Record Collector Rare Record Price Guide, Tony recorded two solo singles and three with the Big Boss Band. All of these pressings are highly-collectable, and mint copies of I've Laid Some Down In My Time, which (unlike the Fab Forty listing) the Price Guide credits to Tony Colton AND the Big Boss Band, changes hands for around £40. The difference in the artist credit is most likely because Radio London was given the pre-release promo, on which Tony's name appears solo. Tony also recorded with the Peter Bs, Poet and One Man Band prior to taking up his best-known role as vocalist for Heads Hands And Feet in the early Seventies. Click on the book (left) for an Amazon link to more information about the Record Collector Rare Record Price Guide. ( Right) Decca promotional photo. Fab Forty hits featuring Tony's songwriting talents include the Merseybeats, whose version of I Stand Accused was a Fab Forty #14 in December '65, Zoot Money's Big Time Operator - #4 in September '66 and Shotgun Express whose I Could Feel the Whole World Turn Round, made #16 in November '66. He has a very impressive list of songwriting credits and now lives in Nashville. Tony's Myspace photos

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.

As Kenny had only just arrived back on board the Galaxy, we can assume that his forgettable climber for that week had already been picked for him. Given the choice, he would undoubtedly have chosen the Association, which he absolutely loved. The song went on to do well in the Fab, but failed to make any impression on the Nationals, prompting Kenny to remark after one playing, "It hasn't sold a copy, ya finks! Why don't you go out and buy it?"

I certainly did! I adopted Along Comes Mary as my signature tune and all-time favourite song, which, like so many other great singles, I might never have heard were it not for Big L and Kenny in particular.

The Association was huge in America. Twelve chart entries, which included five Top Tenners, two of them Number Ones. The harmony group's almost total dismissal by British record-buyers remains a mystery. Along Comes Mary was in the US Hot 100 for eleven weeks, peaking at #7. Here, the Association's only national chart success was Time For Living, a meagre #23 in 1968. Ironically, that one UK hit was a single that did not perform so well (#39) for the group in the States.

The Association's first album 'And Then Along Comes... The Association' has been reissued. You get the entire original mono album including both album and single mixes of 'Cherish' and 'Along Comes Mary'. The CD contains 24 tracks and a 16-page full-colour booklet with unpublished photos and extensive liner notes written with the participation of band members.

You can hear a clip from Along Comes Mary on the Association's website, along with many other of the group's US hits. 2015 marked the band's 50th anniversary.

There is more about Kenny's fascination with Along Comes Mary in the Fab Forty for 10th July 66.

On June 10th, having only arrived back three days earlier, Kenny was already threatening to return to 'Little L' (by which he meant Luxembourg) if Younger Girl by the Critters didn't make the charts. The Critters single had already received airplay as a climber for the week commencing May 29th, but had then skipped a week on the climbers list. Two days after Kenny's threat, it did, indeed, enter the Fab Forty.

Steve Alaimo was co-host of Dick Clark's ABC Music TV show Where The Action Is. The Goffin/King song So Much Love was covered by Tony Blackburn to become a minor hit (#31) in January 1968.

Meanwhile, Off the Galaxy....

The Knees Club had received a letter from Keith Skues (who had joined the station on May 3rd) containing his phone number. On the evening of June 7th, Club Official Mozz and I were intending to ring him, but we chickened out. The following day, when we did pluck up the courage, Keith was out! We ended up having a long conversation with his flatmate, Roger Aspinall, who naturally enough decided to join the KC, becoming member #278.

It transpires that Keith would not have been available that first evening, even if we had been brave enough to phone. On June 7th, 1966, he was, in fact, visiting Shivering Sands fort with Duncan Johnson, Dennis Maitland and engineer Martin Newton, escorted by Radio City owner, Reg Calvert. The purpose of Keith's visit was to discuss his participation in the proposed Radio London/Radio City sweet music venture, UK Good Music - UKGM. Too long and complex a subject to go into in detail here, the project was never to come to fruition.

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