for Sunday 25th September 1966
The Stones – straight in at #21 (but rather strangely, being obliged to share the slot with Chris Montez) – commenced their Rolling Stones 66 tour at The Royal Albert Hall on Sept 23rd. They were supported by Ike and Tina Turner, who have this week's Big L Album of the Week, and The Yardbirds.
Guantanamera has risen to #9, but Digno Garcia's version, which appeared from nowhere to share last week's #18 with the Sandpipers, has vanished.

Last
This
Presented by Ed Stewart
Week
Week
8
1
Bend It Dave Dee Dozy Beaky Mick & Tich
4
2
Walk With Me Seekers
2
3
I'm A Boy Who
9
4
Winchester Cathedral New Vaudeville Band
5
5
Sunny Bobby Hebb
5
Sunny Georgie Fame
1
6
You Can't Hurry Love Supremes
12
7
All I See Is You Dusty Springfield
10
8
I Don't Care Los Bravos
18
9
Guantanamera Sandpipers
3
10
Little Man Sonny & Cher
20
11
Have You Ever Loved Somebody Searchers / Paul & Barry Ryan
26
12
I've Got You Under My Skin Four Seasons
24
13
Another Tear Falls Walker Brothers
32
14
Baby Toys Toys
6
15
Distant Drums Jim Reeves
21
16
Dear Mrs Applebee David Garrick
28
17
Lady Godiva Peter & Gordon
13
18
Light Finders Keepers
33
19
I Struck It Rich Len Barry
23
20
We Love The Pirates Roaring 60's
37
21
There Will Never Be Another You Chris Montez
21
Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing In The Shadow? Rolling Stones
35
22
What A Wonderful Feeling Lulu
36
23
Summer Wind Frank Sinatra
14
24
Working In The Coal Mine Lee Dorsey
15
25
Ashes To Ashes Mindbenders
39
26
She Drives Me Out Of My Mind Swingin' Medallions
16
27
When I Come Home Spencer Davis Group
19
28
Land Of 1,000 Dances Wilson Pickett
29
Gotta Get A Hold Of Myself Zombies
7
30
Summertime Billy Stewart
34
31
What Would Your Mama Say Now? Miki Dallon
32
There's Something About You Chantelles
33
Born A Woman Sandy Posey
34
'Til Winter Follows Spring Settlers
35
Dommage, Dommage (Too Bad, Too Bad) Engelbert Humperdinck
36
My Strength, Heart And Soul Johnny Devlin
37
The Cost Of Living Downliners Sect
37
That Loving Feeling Honeycombs
38
I Can Make It With You Jackie de Shannon/Pozo Seco Singers
39
Painter Man Creation
40
Security Diana Dors
40
Somewhere My Love Mike Sammes Singers

35
Dommage, Dommage (Too Bad, Too Bad) Engelbert Humperdinck Decca F 12496

Dommage, Dommage (Too Bad, Too Bad) was the second release by unknown singer Engelbert Humperdinck who as Gerry Dorsey, had previously failed to spark much interest at Decca. His manager Gordon Mills suggested the name change, although Engelbert's first release with the new moniker, Stay, released in June 66, had made little impact, appearing as a climber for one week only. (It later found success in Northern Soul circles). Fortunately, Engelbert 's performance of Dommage, Dommage (Too Bad, Too Bad), won him the 1966 Knokke - Heist song contest in Belgium. Other UK competitors that year were Truly Smith, Chloe Walters, Eden Kane and Jimmy Wilson. The 1964 Eurovision Song Contest winner Gigliola Cinquetti released a French-language version of Dommage, Dommage.

Engelbert's competition-winning rendition spent 3 weeks on the Fab Forty playlist and five on the Caroline Countdown of Sound, where it reached #18.

Unfortunately, this Euro-success did not secure Engelbert a US release, but over there, three other versions of Dommage, Dommage – issued simultaneously – vied for sales. The song's composer, Paul Vance, just about managed to fight off the competition from Jerry Vale and Steve Rossi. Vance and Vale both charted, but only in the lower reaches of the Hot Hundred. However, Vance must have fared well in royalties.

8
1
Bend It Dave Dee Dozy Beaky Mick & Tich Fontana TF 746

Strictly Come Bending
There's an amusing story on the fascinating site So Many Records, So Little Time, concerning Bend It.

Howard Blaikley's lyrics were deemed too sexually explicit for tender American ears, so the record label US Fontana made a desperate attempt to convince listeners that the song concerned nothing more than a new dance craze called 'The Bend'. Somehow, they'd got away with this ruse in the UK, by employing Ready Steady Go's resident twinkletoes, Patrick Kerr (sadly, he passed away in 2009) to devise a dance specifically to fit the record.

Yes, OK, a cinema promotion shot by Pathé News does show Patrick demonstrating 'The Bend' with a troupe of trendy dolly birds and a Playboy bunny thrown in for good measure, but in it, Dave Dee (also sadly no longer with us) still has a saucy look on his face that tells you he's singing about something else altogether. Even in his later years, Dave (right) had a knack for innuendo. The dance demonstration sequence was shot at London's Cromwellian Club and a newspaper cutting is shown in the club archive. Further down the page there's a shot of the Searchers' Frank Allen doing a bit of 'bending' with Adrienne Posta and Twinkle.

With amended lyrics and Dave's rerecorded vocals, the single was pronounced suitable for issue on the 'delicate' side of the Pond and came complete with a six-step instruction leaflet by Patrick Kerr on how to go about 'bending' on the dance floor. (More on the story, complete with the dance instruction leaflet here.)

According to a post by 'Senor XREY', accompanying the sanitised version of the song on You Tube, it was #1 on a station very familiar to Radio London fans - the 50,000 watt KLIF 1190 in Dallas. An even smuttier version is rumoured to have been recorded, but never released.

The So Many Records, So Little Time webmaster Kevin says:

"Luckily, this was a hit in the northeast {of America}, including my hometown Syracuse, where it went to #1 on the WOLF chart. Unfortunately, I don’t have a copy from that particular week’s survey, but do have one from two weeks prior."

was #1 on 50,000 watt KLIF 1190 in Dallas

Left, the band (known as 'The Dozies' for short) on stage

In the WOLF All-American Survey dated December 10th 1966, DDDBM & T are at #12, on their way up.

Another feature concerning the Cromwellian includes a picture sleeve of a record by Gaylord Parry's Carnival Band (identities unknown) who released the EP Let's Bend in Italy and Germany bearing a photo of the same dancers. This was approximately six months after DDDBM & T had their hit in the UK and several months after their watered-down Stateside success.

After we speculated about how the US record company would have coped with promoting the Dozies' 1967 release Touch Me, Touch Me, Kevin wrote another page on the subject to explain. He suspects that a major factor in the band's lack of American promotion was that US DJs couldn't be bothered to learn the long name.

Those who have good memories will recall that WOLF 1490 in Syracuse, New York is the station where Howie Castle, aka Bud Ballou worked after the closure of Radio Caroline.

Our WOLF 1490 feature and memories of Howie by 'Brother Vic' is here. Bob Mitchell's WOLF tribute site to the station is here.

40
Somewhere My Love Mike Sammes Singers HMV POP 1546

Somewhere My Love, the vocal version of Lara's Theme from the film Dr Zhivago, did unusually badly in the Fab, compared to the Nationals, where it reached #22 in the autumn of '66 re-entering in the summer of '67, this time to make #14.

The Mike Sammes Singers were back in the charts incognito in March '67. They were the genuine recording artistes on I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman, (see Fab 26th February) with producer Noel Walker providing the whistling. Billy Moeller, who later made live appearances as Whistling Jack Smith did not participate in the recording.

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.

DJ Climbers:    
End Of The Season Uglys Tony Blackburn
No Milk Today Herman's Hermits Dave Dennis
Who Am I? Petula Clark Kenny Everett
Oh What A Day It's Going To Be Mo & Steve Paul Kaye
Que Sera Sera Geno Washington & the Ram Jam Band Mike Lennox
High Time Paul Jones Mark Roman
My Uncle Used To Love Me But She Died Roger Miller Keith Skues
I Love My Dog Cat Stevens Ed Stewart
If I Were A Carpenter Bobby Darin Norman St John
It Hurts Me Bobby Goldsboro Alan West
Time Drags By Cliff Richard & the Shadows Tony Windsor

Two of this week's DJ climbers, End of the Season and Oh What A Day It's Going To Be were penned by Ray Davies



Climbers:  
Everything I Touch Turns To Tears Brian Poole
Someone's In The Kitchen With Dinah Wee Willie Harris
San Francisco Woman Bob Lind
Join My Gang Oscar
Bad News Feeling Vikings
No One Knows Graham Bonney
Flamingo Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass
I Can't Control Myself Troggs
Stop Stop Stop Hollies
Happy New Year Beverley
Disc of the Week:  
A Fool Am I Cilla Black
Album of the Week:  
River Deep Mountain High Ike & Tina Turner

Ashore:
Sept 24th saw the arrival in the UK of the unknown Jimi Hendrix.

October 1st, Georgie Fame made his final appearance with the Blue Flames at the Grand Gala du Disque in Amsterdam.


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

Tune in next week for another Field's Fab Forty!

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