FIRST HOUR
Just What I've Always Wanted (Mari Wilson)
(1982) ...Top 10-er steeped in nostalgia from a singer who managed to capture the style and sound of a previous decade
Wishin' And Hopin' (The Merseybeats)
(1964) ... poppy Burt Bacharach - Hal David song, also covered by Dusty Springfield and Dionne Warwick
What Is Life (Olivia Newton John)
... from the first of our featured years ~ having debuted with a cover of if Not For You, the Bob Dylan song which George Harrison had included on his triple album All Things Must Pass, here we have Olivia doing her version of another track on the same album ~ this time, a Harrison original which also been the B side of his # 1 single My Sweet Lord. Fans and critics alike were convinced What is Life was a strong enough song to be a hit in its own right - and so it proved to be, but for Olivia, rather than George
Jolly Jacks
Tell Me When (The Applejacks)
(1964)... biggest and best known of a handful of hits by the 'Brumbeat' band who were mostly childhood friends from around Birmingham and Solihull who had been in the Scouts together. Their sound was labelled 'Brumbeat' - the Midlands answer to Merseybeat. What made them really stand out from the crowd was their decision to invite a woman to join the group as their bass player ~ Megan Davies, who hailed from Sheffield [W]
My Name Is Jack (Manfred Mann)
(1968) .. written by American record producer John Simon ~ his own version was included on the soundtrack of the film You Are What You Eat. The song is about residents of the "Greta Garbo Home for Wayward Boys and Girls", the nickname of a real life hostel, The Kirkland Hotel in San Francisco, where part of the movie was filmed [W]
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Honeymoon (Daniel Takes A Train) (2020) ... instantly appealing, toe tapping tune much played on Tameside Radio by the '80s band who never quite made it - in the '80s... but will 'never say never'! Honeymoon was mixed by Pat Collier who produced Walking on Sunshine by Katrina and the Waves back in '85
Newsround pre-Tameside: 50 years ago ~ 1972
School's Out (Alice Cooper)
... unleashed with perfect timing for the start of the school summer holidays and quickly became THE anthem for the class of '72. Shock rocker Alice made his sensational first appearance on Top of the Pops just before the last day of term, and within two weeks, much to the horror of parents, MPs and other deeply disapproving adults, School's Out was crowned the nation's # 1 and defiantly held on to the chart's top spot for four weeks
Automatically Sunshine (The Supremes)
... Jean Terrell and Mary Wilson shared lead vocal duties on a Smokey Robinson song which turned out to be The Supremes' final Top 10 single in the UK
Meet Me On The Corner (Lindisfarne)
... first big hit for the Tyneside folk rock band who have survived changes in line-up and continue to draw the crowds wherever they are playing
Back off Boogaloo (Ringo Starr)
... Ringo's highest charting solo single, apparently inspired by his good friend Marc Bolan and produced by his Beatles bandmate George Harrison, The marching beat has been hailed as a "rare showcase" of Ringo's drumming. George's biographer Simon Leng also gives due tribute to "a roaring series of Harrison slide breaks that brought to mind Duane Allman" [W]
Hold Your Head Up (Argent)
... anthemic rock from the band formed by former Zombies keyboardist Rod Argent. Guitarist Russ Ballard sings lead vocal on Hold Your Head Up, their first and biggest hit
Sweet Talkin' Guy (The Chiffons)
... charting much higher second time around, # 4 in '72 ~ compared with a relatively lowly # 31 on its first showing in 1966
Little Bit Of Love (Free)
... Reviewing the single, the weekly music paper Record Mirror said: "Having had their fair share of the knocks and problems of fame, Free are back in full swing again. An album on the way – and this single, which should do them a lot of good. It's a relaxed put together production, good lead voice, solid beat ~ a philosophic song and easy to pick up in the mind. Plus that very distinctive sound." Little Bit of Love spent ten weeks on the chart peaking at # 13 [W}
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SECOND HOUR
Thank You (The Pale Fountains)
(1982)... the Liverpool music scene in the early '80s was the liveliest it had been since the '60s. Although this would be the closest they came to a hit (# 48), Pale Fountains were among the bands leading this renaissance ~ others included Echo & The Bunnymen and Wah! (later The Mighty Wah!)
Mr Haze (Texas)
(2021)... recent song hailed as a 'soul-soaked, Motown-inspired track' * which grabbed our attention within a couple of seconds, with its sampling of Love's Unkind, 1977 hit for Donna Summer [* W]
Cradle of Love (Johnny Preston)
... nursery rhymes 'Rock A Bye Baby', 'Hey Diddle Diddle' 'Jack be Nimble' and 'Jack and Jill' are referenced in the lyrics - it's the teaser track for our second featured year, a # 2 follow-up to the # 1, Running Bear
Absolutely Lyricless ~ the instrumental break
... '60s instrumentals from groups with similar sounding names
Last Night (The Mar Keys)
(1961) ... Top 3-er in America, which failed to chart in the UK
Soul Finger (The Bar Kays)
(1967) ... long-time theme tune of Stuart Henry, the former offshore pirate DJ (Radio Scotland) who went on to be one of the original line-up of presenters on BBC Radio1
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Sailing (Mike Oldfield - vocal: Luke Spiller)
(2014) .... 'radio single' /airplay favourite from Man on The Rocks, his 25th studio album - but only the second of his career with no exceptionally long or instrumental pieces [W]
Ti Amo (Gina G)
(1997) ... Australian singer who had represented the UK at Eurovision a couple of years previously, continuing a run of chart entries with the Italian-titled Ti Amo which went on to top the charts - in Lebanon
Newsround pre Tameside: 62 years ago ~ 1960
When Will I Be Loved (The Everly Brothers)
... written by Phil Everly, # 4 here and # 8 in America. Linda Ronstadt covered the song in the mid '70s and did even better, reaching # 2 on the Billboard Hot 100
Let's Have A Party (Wanda Jackson)
... previously recorded by Elvis Presley for the 1957 film Loving You ... next up is the man himself....
Stuck On You (Elvis Presley with The Jordanaires)
... pre-dating by very nearly a quarter of a century Lionel Richie's mid-80s song which shares the same title
Shakin' All Over (Johnny Kidd & The Pirates)
... not, as many people thought, American ~ they were English, through and through, a rock 'n'roll band with a fondness for theatrics and dressing up - as pirates, what else?! Shakin' All Over topped the chart , one of the stand-out songs of the year and was by far their finest hour, ahead of its time with a compelling vocal and brilliant guitar riff which hooks you in from the start
Good Timin' (Jimmy Jones)
... second of two # 1 hits during the year, following on from Handy Man. Between them, they notched up a total of 39 weeks on the chart. Despite such an impressive start, he never darkened the doors of the Top 20 again
Theme From A Summer Place (Percy Faith)
... lyricless bonus ~ one of the biggest and best instrumental hits ever, a lush string-driven melody which wafts over you like a gentle breeze. In more recent times, it would probably have earned the accolade of the ultimate 'chill-out' tune
Robot Man (Connie Francis)
... one side of a double A side ~ Mama was on the other ~ one of her highest placed hits this side of the pond
Three Steps To Heaven (Eddie Cochran)
... the title has an added poignancy as it was one of the last songs the young American rock 'n'roller recorded, shortly before he died in a car crash, aged just 21, while on tour in the UK
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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 17/07/2022:
