FIRST HOUR
Dancing In The City (Marshall Hain)
(1978) ... British duo Julian Marshall and Kit Hain came up with a song which made our Top 10, was a hit across Europe and topped the chart in Australia
The Kids Are Alright (The Who)
(1966) ... surprisingly, not one of their biggest hits, a lowly # 41 was its highest chart placing which was probably due to the band moving from one record label to another, around that time
I Think I Love You (Voice of The Beehive)
... from the first of today's featured years, exactly two decades on from the original by David Cassidy and co, otherwise known as The Partridge Family
Summertime memories
Those Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer (Nat King Cole)
(1963) ... summer hits often have a fairly short lifespan, but here's one which survived longer than most ~ no fewer than 30 weeks on the US Billboard chart, more than two and a half times longer than the official 12-week, three-month summer. Although instantly familiar and always popular here in the UK, Those Lazy, Hazy... has never made our chart
Summertime Summertime (Hobby Horse)
(1972) ... Mary Hopkin - hits including Those Were The Days, Goodbye and Temma Harbour - was by far the best known member of this trio, reviving a late '50s-early '60s US hit by The Jamies. Hobby Horse didn't register on the chart here, but made the Top 10 in Holland [W]
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Torch (Soft Cell)
(1982) ... peaking at # 2, Torch was the duo's second biggest hit after the chart-topping Tainted Love. All told, they clocked up five consecutive Top 5 singles in a 12 month span from August '81 to August '82
Newsround Tameside: 31 years ago ~ 1991
More To Life (Cliff Richard)
... theme song for a short lived BBC Sunday night drama series ~ involving horse racing ... does anyone remember Trainer??! Looking back, I don't think it's too over the top to say that Cliff singing More To Life* was easily the most memorable thing about it (* written by prolific TV music composer Simon May with lyrics by broadcaster/writer - and '80s era Cliff lookalike - Mike Read
Every Heartbeat (Amy Grant)
... a landmark year for Amy, who grew up; in Nashville and had made her name writing and performing contemporary Christian songs. Having reached the dizzy heights of # 2 with her first pop crossover Baby Baby, this one followed hot on its heels to make it two hits in a row
Heavenly Pop Hit (The Chills)
... New Zealand band with one of the most hummable songs ever - sadly not a hit, heavenly or otherwise, in the UK despite plenty of airplay from Simon Mayo who chose it as his Record of The Week on the BBC Radio 1 breakfast show
Happy Together (Jason Donovan)
... chartwise, it proved just as popular as The Turtles' original back in '67 ~ numbers-wise, it managed to go two places higher, reaching # 10
The Size Of A Cow (The Wonder Stuff)
... first time in the Top 10 after several lower placed chart entries for the band from Stourbridge, West Midlands
Footsteps Following Me (Frances Nero)
... American soul and jazz singer who had recorded for Motown in the '60s After a lengthy hiatus, in 1989, she was contacted by Ian Levine, a British record producer and promoter of Northern soul music. They recorded Footsteps Following Me, written by Levine with Ivy Jo Hunter and Steven Wagner. Her first recording for 23 years, the single reached # 17 in the UK in 1991 and was dubbed by British disc jockeys "the soul anthem of the nineties" [W]
The One I Love (REM)
... they were on a roll with no fewer than six Top 40 hits during the year. The One I Love had been their debut hit in the US back in '87
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SECOND HOUR
Call Me Round (Pilot)
(1975) ...following up a # 1 is never easy ~ the single after the chart-topping January was another catchy song with that distinctive Pilot sound, but surprisingly stalled at # 34
Who Wants The World (The Stranglers)
(1980) ... a non-album single which could manage only a modest #39 placing, despite a very catchy sing-a-long-able title line and Dave Greenfield's exuberant keyboard playing
This Little Bird (Marianne Faithfull)
... teaser track for our second featured year~ written by US singer songwriter John D Loudermilk best known for his hit earlier in the decade The Language of Love. This Little Bird was Marianne's third Top 10-er - all three from famous or soon-to-be famous writers and performers. The other two were As Tears Go By (Mick Jagger and Keith Richards) and Come And Stay With Me (Jackie de Shannon) [W]
Absolutely Lyricless ~ the instrumental break
... from famous TV ads ~ with a chocolate connection...
Return of Django (The Upsetters)
(1969) ... one-off hit by the house band for legendary Jamaican reggae producer Lee 'Scratch' Perry - those of us of a certain vintage may remember it accompanying a Cadburys Fruit and Nut TV ad produced by Terry Gilliam of Monty Python fame
The Night Rider (Alan Hawkshaw)
(1972) ... the music forever associated with the Milk Tray man in the famous ads ~ one of the best known tunes by a prolific composer of TV themes, previously a member of Emile Ford and The Checkmates who had a handful of hits in the late '50s and very early '60s. Later he played on an early David Bowie song (In The Heat of The Morning) and worked with The Shadows, Cliff Richard, Olivia Newton John and others [W]
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Wishful Thinking (China Crisis)
(1984) ... echoing Bernie Taupin's lyric for Elton John's Your Song ~ "I sat on the roof"... but the similarity ends there, They didn't kick off the moss and a few other verses didn't make them quite cross. In keeping with the song's dreamy feel, China Crisis preferred to use their elevated vantage point to "watch the day go by..."
Suburban Homeboy (Sparks)
(2002) ... from the album Lil' Beethoven, a very likeable, radio-friendly single from the Mael brothers, up to the high standard of their '70s heyday
Newsround pre-Tameside: 57 years ago ~ 1965
Long Live Love (Sandie Shaw)
... Sandie's second # 1 was one of four written by Chris Andrews who had a couple of hits in his own right Yesterday Man ( # 3) and To Whom It Concerns (# 13) all within the same year
Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood (The Animals)
... song recorded the previous year by jazz pianist and singer Nina Simone
In The Middle of Nowhere (Dusty Springfield)
... straight in with an instantly catchy chorus and hook line ~ classic '60s feelgood song with Dusty at her poppiest
Here Comes The Night (Them)
... band which launched the career of Van Morrison ~ the second and biggest of two hits within a few months of each other
Leave A Little Love (Lulu)
... a slow, soul ballad in complete contrast to her debut the previous year with Shout !
I Got You Babe (Sonny & Cher)
... chart-topper both sides of the Atlantic, one of the best duets ever. I Got You Babe returned to the UK top spot exactly 20 years later, courtesy of UB40 and Chrissie Hynde
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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 25/09/2022:
https://www.questmedianetwork.co.uk/on-demand/
