FIRST HOUR
Downtown (Petula Clark)
(1964] ... in an enduring career which began as a child star in the 1940s, this was the stand-out song which reinvented Petula as a bona fide '60s pop star. Fast forward to 2022, on 15th November, she will celebrate her 90th birthday. Two more hits from her golden era, by the same writing team of Tony Hatch and Jackie Trent are on the playlist today...
Dance With Me (Orleans)
(1975)... radio friendly single which somehow failed to trouble the chart in the UK ~ not even a solitary week on the bottom rung of the Top 75
Just Don't Want To Be Lonely (Freddie McGregor)
.... reggae singer hitting the Top 10 in the first of today's featured years, easily overtaking the # 27 achieved by '70s soul group The Main Ingredient
Mellow Motown
It's All In The Game (The Four Tops)
(1970) ... an old song which had been already been a hit twice over - for Tommy Edwards (1958, # 1) and Cliff Richard (1963, # 2). The Tops peaked at # 5
The Tracks of My Tears (Smokey Robinson & The Miracles)
(1965, US, 1969, UK) ... .highly rated by both of the major American chart publishers. Billboard hailed it as a "first rate teen ballad with pulsating dance beat." Cash Box described it as "a slow-shufflin’ pop-r&b tearjerker about a gal who has several regrets about losing her guy." [W]
---------------------------
I Vow To Thee My Country (Military Wives Choirs)
(2018) .... first of two for Remembrance Sunday ~ I Vow To Thee My Country is sung to a familiar tune from The Planets Suite by Gustav Holst. A different section of the same tune was adapted by Manfred Mann's Earth Band for their 1973 hit Joybringer,
Newsround Tameside: 35 years ago ~ 1987
Weak In The Presence of Beauty (Alison Moyet)
... sixth in a run of seven hits, most of which made the Top 10
Build (The Housemartins)
... the third single from their second - and final - album The People Who Grinned Themselves To Death, made in Stockport at Yellow Two Studios, is a foretaste of the direction in which most of the band would be heading post-Housemartins as founder members of The Beautiful South. 'With top session man Pete Wingfield on piano, Build followed the softer template of the band's later material and is unusual in that drummer Dave Hemingway is on vocals for the choruses, whilst usual singer Paul Heaton sings the verses and bridge.' [W]
Under The Boardwalk (Bruce Willis)
... the actor best known at the time for the TV series Moonlighting, soon to become much more famous for the Die Hard films, showed a softer side in a brief spell as a recording artist. His version of the old Drifters song stormed the chart all the way to # 2, a second major hit hot on the heels of his first, a few months earlier, re-working The Staple Singers' soul classic Respect Yourself (highest position # 7)
The Circus (Erasure)
... title track of the duo's breakthrough album and also the last of four singles taken from it
Faith (George Michael)
... Top 10 hit from the album of the same name ~ George's first as a solo artist
My Baby Just Cares For Me (Nina Simone)
... recorded way back in the '50s, but gained a new lease of life and became a huge hit after featuring in a TV ad for a certain brand of perfume
Little Lies (Fleetwood Mac)
... radio-friendly Top 10 single from the album Tango in the Night, written by band member Christine McVie and her then-husband, Eddy Quintela, with lead vocals performed primarily by McVie, although the chorus features backing vocals by Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks [W]
---------------------------
SECOND HOUR
Bye Bye Love (The Everly Brothers)
(1957) ... Don and Phil's first time in the UK Top 10, beginning a long run of chart entries which would endure for the next eight years, with over 30 hits in all, including three # 1s
Wherever You Are (Military Wives Choir with Gareth Malone & London Metropolitan Orchestra)
(2011) .... second of two for Remembrance Sunday ~ this was the song which first brought the Military Wives and Gareth Malone to our attention just over a decade ago. Wherever You Are went on to be the 2011 Christmas # 1
My Love (Petula Clark)
... teaser track for our second featured year from the singer who celebrates her 90th birthday this week (see Downtown earlier). A third and final reminder of her heyday decade is on the way later....
Absolutely Lyricless ~ the instrumental break
Tokyo Melody (Helmut Zacharias)
(1964) ... specially written for the Tokyo Olympics by the German musician and composer who created over 400 works and sold 14 million records [W]
Scotch On The Rocks (Band of The Black Watch)
(1975) ... bring on the bagpipes and drums ~ a surprise Top 20 hit in an era of unexpected chart entries ranging from Jasper Carrott to Billy Connolly to Laurel and Hardy
---------------------------
(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace Love and Understanding (Brinsley Schwarz)
(1974) ..... much played turntable hit, which failed to break through on to the chart, written by the band's lead singer and bass player Nick Lowe, who went on to find solo success (I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass, Cruel To Be Kind). What's So Funny 'Bout... was later covered by Elvis Costello & The Attractions
Home Thoughts From Abroad (Rumer)
(2012)... fine performance of a Clifford T Ward song, much played by the late great Sir Terry Wogan. Rumer is currently midway through a series of live dates - the Woman to Woman tour - with Judie Tzuke, Beverley Craven and Julia Fordham which arrives in Manchester, at the Bridgewater Hall on Thursday 17th November
Newsround pre-Tameside: 56 years ago ~ 1966
My Mind's Eye (The Small Faces)
... fourth in their run of seven Top 10 hits through the middle years of the decade. My Mind's Eye was the follow-up to All Or Nothing which reached # 1
What Would I Be (Val Doonican)
...top songwriting team Tony Hatch and Jackie Trent gave the king of easy listening and Saturday night TV his biggest chart hit, peaking at # 2. Next up, the artist we've been featuring today who recorded several Hatch/Trent songs...
Colour My World (Petula Clark)
... third of three today ~ Petula had a run of best sellers in the mid '60s, mostly written by Hatch/Trent. Colour My World, by the same writers, seemed a dead cert to continue that unblemished run, but surprisingly failed to make the Top 50
Morningtown Ride (The Seekers)
... the train whistle was a blowing ~ much played on the BBC radio request show, Junior Choice, presented by the very sadly missed Ed 'Stewpot' Stewart. An instrumental version of Morningtown Ride by the pianist and band leader Stan Butcher became the show's theme tune
Dead End Street (The Kinks)
... their third Top 5 single of the year, hot on the heels of the classic summer # 1 Sunny Afternoon
You Keep Me Hangin' On (The Supremes)
... Motown classic successfully revived 20 years later by Kim Wilde ~ one of her biggest ever hits (1986, # 2)
---------------------------
SHOW THEME:
Rhapsody In Blue (Rick Wakeman)
written by George Gershwin, arranged by Tony Visconti
from the album Rhapsodies (A&M Records, 1979)
[W]: Source: Wikipedia
If you missed any of the show, you can catch up online after 15:00 on Sunday 13/11/2022:
