FIRST HOUR
Steppin' Out (Joe Jackson)
(1983) ... song about the 'anticipation and excitement of a drive around town' which he wrote while staying in New York ~ it became.his highest charting single in America, reaching # 6, which was also its peak position in the UK [W]
Somebody Help Me (Spencer Davis Group)
(1966)... many people would assume Keep On Running was the group's biggest hit ~ in fact, it shared that honour with Somebody Help Me. Both singles topped the chart within a few months of each other
Black Eyed Boy (Texas)
... the first of today's featured years was one of the band's most prolific with four consecutive Top 10 singles including Black Eyed Boy - from their fourth studio album White on Blonde
'Girls name' songs that switch from English to French
Michelle (The Beatles)
(1965) ... the original version as heard on the Rubber Soul album. Two cover versions competed against each other on the singles chart in early '66, The Overlanders enjoying three weeks at No.1, easily outflanking David and Jonathan (# 11)
Jennifer Juniper (Donovan)
(1968) ... AllMusic journalist Matthew Greenwald noted that "...capturing all of the innocence of the era perfectly, it's one of [his] finest singles". The sixth of seven Donovan Top 10-ers in the mid to late '60s, it features a wind section with oboe, flute, and bassoon.
[W]
-----------------------
I Can't Help Myself (Donnie Elbert)
(1972) ... lively, upbeat re-working of the old Four Tops song ~ as a soloist with a distinctive falsetto voice, Donnie Elbert made it sound fresh and new, as if it was one of his own. I Can't Help Myself followed his successful re-working of another '60s Motown classic, Where Did Our Love Go, originally by The Supremes
Newsround Tameside: 25 years ago ~ 1997
Strange (Wet Wet Wet)
... 10 years on from Wishing I Was Lucky, the Wets could look back on an impressive run of hits, well into double figures. Strange was a single taken from the appropriately named album '10'
Lovefool (The Cardigans)
... biggest UK hit for the Swedish band ultimately peaking at # 2 having secured a second chart run thanks to its inclusion on the soundtrack to the Leonardo Di Caprio film Romeo And Juliet
What A Beautiful Day (The Levellers)
... rousing anthem by the punk-folk band - lead singer Mark Chadwick has claimed that it took him only three minutes to write
Only If... (Enya)
... single released from the compilation album Paint The Sky With Stars with that 'classic Enya' sound - rhythmic, hummable and radio friendly. Sadly it managed only two weeks on the chart, stalling at #43
Tub-thumping (Chumbawamba)
... one of the year's stand-out songs which topped the chart in Australia, Canada, Ireland, Italy and New Zealand, peaked at #2 in the UK and # 6 in the US [W]
I Wanna Be The Only One (Eternal feat BeBe Winans)
... the British girl group's biggest hit to date was co-written by guest vocalist Benjamin 'BeBe' Winans, American gospel and R&B singer
I'll Be There For You (The Rembrandts) ... famously the theme song of the hugely popular American sitcom Friends ~ but did you know the show's producers originally wanted to use REM's Shiny Happy People?! [W]
---------------------------
SECOND HOUR
The Price Of Love (The Everly Brothers)
(1965) ... after a mega-successful run of hits stretching as far back as 1957, this was the Everlys' final time in the UK Top 10. Peaking at # 2, The Price of Love came close to becoming their first chart-topper since Temptation four years earlier. Bryan Ferry later covered the song ~ it was the 'lead' track on an EP, with the somewhat less than inspired title Extended Play (1976, # 7)
If Not For You (Olivia Newton John)
(1971)... first of two as a tribute to Olivia who has died aged 73 ~ well before her famous film role in Grease and those mega-selling duets with John Travolta, her first chart success came courtesy of a Bob Dylan song which George Harrison had recently covered on his triple album All Things Must Pass
Rising Sun (Medicine Head)
... blues rock duo John Fidler and Peter Hope-Evans had been championed by John Peel on his legendary Radio 1 show. In the year we are heading back to, later in the hour, they enjoyed mainstream success with a Top 3 hit One And One Is One with the follow-up Rising Sun peaking at # 11
Absolutely Lyricless ~ the instrumental break
.... memories of '60s offshore radio
Beefeaters (Johnny Dankworth)
(1964)... long-time theme tune of broadcasting legend Tony Blackburn - the version played on the show features the authentic sound of Tony's canine companion Arnold the Dog
Rinky Dink (Johnny Howard Band)
(1964)... Tom Lodge, one of the first presenters on Radio Caroline chose this as his show theme. The original version by Dave 'Baby' Cortez, one of its co-writers had made the US Top 10 a couple of years earlier
---------------------------
Xanadu (Olivia Newton John with ELO)
(1980) ... continuing our tribute to Olivia ~ title song of a film in which she starred, largely forgotten with the passage of time. Written and produced by Jeff Lynne with that typical 'ELO sound', Xanadu the song was much more memorable, a one-off coming together which went all the way to the top
Take Love (Gilbert O'Sullivan with KT Tunstall)
(2022)... 50 years on from his chart career peak, Gilbert has just released Driven, his 20th studio album which has received some of the best reviews of his long career. Toe-tapping Take Love is one of two duets on the album - the other is the much slower Let Bygones Be Bygones with Mick Hucknall
Newsround pre-Tameside: 49 years ago ~ 1973
Pyjamarama (Roxy Music)
... UK Top 10 -er released as a trailblazer for their second album For Your Pleasure, although it wasn't actually on the LP. Do The Strand, side one track one, became an instant favourite with the fans and seemed an obvious single ~ successfully filling that role in America and Europe, but, surprisingly, not in the UK, or at least not until five years later
Rock A Doodle Doo (Linda Lewis)
... Essex-born singer, demonstrating an amazing vocal range from deep and soulful to a much higher pitch. Rock A Doodle Doo peaked at #15 but a couple of years later her disco version of It's In His Kiss (aka The Shoop Shoop Song) did even better (1975, # 6)
Step Into A Dream (White Plains)
... grew into a fully-formed hit single after featuring in a TV ad for Butlins' holiday centres. One of those frothy, poppy songs which gets into your head and stays there, like it or not !
Smarty Pants (First Choice)
... second UK hit in the space of three months for the American girl group, hot on the heels of Armed And Extremely Dangerous...but it would also be their last
I Saw The Light (Todd Rundgren)
(1973) ... American songwriter, musician and record producer influenced by British pop/rock of the late '60s ~ the likes of Pink Floyd, The Beatles, The Move, The Who and The Yardbirds. I Saw The Light, instantly radio friendly, was his only hit here, highest position # 36 [W]
Alright Alright Alright (Mungo Jerry)
... Top 3 summertime smash, an English translation of a French song by Jacques du Tronc ~ Et Moi Et Moi Et Moi (And Me, And Me,And Me) !
---------------------------
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 14/08/2022:
https://www.questmedianetwork.co.uk/on-demand/
