FIRST HOUR
Oblivious (Aztec Camera)
(1983) ... peaked at a lowly # 47 first time out, but a swift re-issue later in the year was enough to see Roddy Frame and co reach the Top 20 for the first time
Little By Little (Dusty Springfield)
(1966) ... good old toe-tapper massively influenced by Dusty's love of American soul music and the Motown sound in particular
Kid (The Pretenders)
... from the first of today's featured years ~ their second single to grace the Top 40 in the space of a few months, although greater glory would soon follow with Brass In Pocket going all the way to the top
Time-hopping hits which did much better second time around
Stand By Me (Ben E. King)
(1961, 1987) ... reissued after featuring in one of those iconic TV ads for Levi jeans and reached # 1, an improvement of 26 places on the peak position it had achieved on its first outing. Stand By Me had also been 'borrowed' as the title song of a recently released film
At The Club (The Drifters)
(1965, 1972) ... one side of a fabulous double A side which got as high as # 3 in the UK in '72. At The Club which had enjoyed modest success here in '65 (# 35) shared the spoils with an equally great song from the same era, the US Top 20 hit Saturday Night at The Movies
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Female Of The Species (Space)
(1996) .... the famous line about the female of the species being deadlier than the male is from a poem by Rudyard Kipling, written in 1911. Wikipedia describes the song as as 'a funky, upbeat, Latin-flavoured number with feel-good-sounding vibes and vocals' and goes on to say that it 'borrows to some extent, both thematically and in overall aesthetic, from The Walker Brothers' theme song for the 1967 film Deadlier Than The Male'. One of the more unusual '90s Britpop hits, it was adopted at that time by the Manchester based TV drama Cold Feet, and continued to be played over the closing credits when the series returned to our screens in recent years [W]
Newsround Tameside: 43 years ago ~ 1979
Do Anything You Want To (Thin Lizzy)
... superb rhythmic drumming by the greatly under-rated Brian Downey and lyrics by Phil Lynott filled with rhyme and alliteration. In the first three lines alone, he somehow manages to include the words 'investigate', 'insinuate', 'intimidate', 'complicate', 'hesitate'...'
Chuck E's In Love (Rickie Lee Jones)
... only UK hit for a singer who has alternated between rock, R&B, pop, soul and jazz
Accidents Will Happen (Elvis Costello)
... follow up to the # 2 hit Oliver's Army , but much less successful despite its highly acclaimed animation video
Prime Time (The Tubes)
... band from San Francisco renowned for their risque live shows, stepping into the mainstream with a radio friendly single ridiculing our obsession with TV. Prime Time - from the album Remote Control, produced by Todd Rundgren - peaked at # 34 in the UK Singer and dancer Re Styles is the female voice, sharing vocal duties with regular frontman Fee Waybill [W]
The Lone Ranger (Quantum Jump)
... British one hit wonders who came up with what has to be the most attention-grabbing opening line ever ~ the world's longest word, according to the Guinness Book of Records, recited in the language of the Maori, native to New Zealand. All together now... "Taumatawhakatangihangakoayauo-tamateaturipukakapikimaungahoro-nukypokaiwhenuakitanatahu" [W]
Time For Action (Secret Affair)
... mod revival band with a fast and frantic Top 20 stomper, which reached # 13. A year later they achieved similar success with My World (# 16)
Midnight Blue (ELO)
... the hits just kept on coming for the Electric Light Orchestra during '79 with no fewer than four singles in the Top 10. The slow ballad Midnight Blue with echoes of early Bee Gees was never a single but is one of many highlights of the album Discovery
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SECOND HOUR
Make Your Own Kind Of Music (Mama Cass)
(1969),... instantly familiar song from the prolific writing partnership of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, surprisingly, never a hit this side of the Atlantic. Fast forward several decades, 21st Century popster Paloma Faith covered the song which featured in a TV car ad (2018, # 28)
Rome Wasn't Built In A Day (Morcheeba)
(2000)... UK Top 40 hit which did well in several other countries especially New Zealand where it reached # 2
Tower of Strength (Frankie Vaughan)
... teaser track for our second featured year ~ by the Liverpool-born song and dance man/ all-round entertainer who had already had several chart hits. His turbo-charged cover of Tower of Strength, written by Burt Bacharach and Bob Hilliard and previously a US hit for Gene McDaniels gave him a Christmas # 1. Frankie - known as 'Mr Moonlight' after his signature song - once said: *** "I was never just looking for songs to record... I wanted songs I could do in my act, songs that I could give a performance to... Tower of Strength was right up my street.".... taken at its full throttle [the song] was perfect for Frankie Vaughan with his stylised kicks. He promoted fitness and his illustrated feature for the 1962 Radio Luxembourg book of stars was entitled 'How To Be A Tower Of Strength And Stay Fit' [ *** Source: 1000 UK Number One Hits by Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh)
Absolutely Lyricless ~ the instrumental break
... energetic early '80s with international connections
Can Can (Bad Manners)
(1981) ... Ooh-la-la ska! The mighty Buster Bloodvessel and co sound like they're having a whale of a time taking a famous old tune and doing it their way in typically raucous style
Cacharpaya (Incantation)
(1982) ... builds from a fairly steady pace to a frantic finish, featuring the traditional pan pipes sound of the Andes in South America
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DIY (Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbott)
(2014) ... radio friendly but lowly charting (# 75) single for the former Beautiful South-ers, from their much more successful - Top 3 - album What Have We Become
I'm A Believer (Robert Wyatt)
(1974) ... a brilliant re-imagining of The Monkees '60s chart-topper (written by Neil Diamond) which, with the passage of time, I must admit I had completely forgotten about. Robert Wyatt had been the drummer in the prog rock/jazz fusion band Soft Machine before embarking on a solo career. In the early '80s, he had another one-off hit with Shipbuilding (lyrics: Elvis Costello, music: Clive Langer)
Newsround pre-Tameside: 61 years ago ~ 1961
You Don't Know (Helen Shapiro)
... having made her chart debut at the tender age of 14 with Don't Treat Me Like A Child (was that a deliberate choice?!) Helen would have two # 1 singles to her name by the end of the year ~ You Don't Know and Walkin' Back To Happiness
Cupid (Sam Cooke)
... legendary singer & songwriter whose influence was far reaching, inspiring cover versions too numerous to mention of his best known songs - Cupid was no exception, with Johnny Nash enjoying similar success in '69
The Writing On The Wall (Tommy Steele)
... final chart hit for Britain's first rock 'n' rolling teen idol who was en route to becoming all-round showman entertainer and a star of stage and screen
Let's Jump The Broomstick (Brenda Lee)
... Little Miss Dynamite was clocking up one chart entry after another in the early '60s, but her best run of form would come with a run of six Top 10 singles over the next couple of years
Let There Be Drums (Sandy Nelson)
... lyricless bonus ~ one of the most memorable instrumental tunes to make the chart in any era. Let There Be Drums has featured in TV shows and films far too numerous to mention, a classic which has really stood the test of time
More Than I Can Say (Bobby Vee)
.... one of five Top 10-ers in what proved to be his most successful year in the UK
Runaway (Del Shannon)
... co-written with electric keyboard player Max Crook who created its distinctive sound ~ # 1 here and in America
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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 28/08/2022:
https://www.questmedianetwork.co.uk/on-demand/
