161 Goodbye Wayne Fontana - Pamela Pamela

Chart  entered  : 8  December 1966

Chart  peak : 11

The  second  beat  boom  artist  to  depart  probably  wasn't  expecting  this  one  to  be  his  swansong  as  it was  actually  the  biggest  of  his  four  hits  since  decoupling  from  the  Mindbenders.

That  happened  in  October  1965  when  Wayne  announced  he  was  going  solo  and  walked  off  while  the  band  were  on  stage. He  wanted  to  go  in  a  more  pop  direction  than  his  muso  bandmates.  All  his  singles  since  then  had  charted ( the  previous  one , "Goodbye  Bluebird" only  just )  although  his  debut  album  "Wayne  One"  hastily  recorded  with  the  Les  Reed  Orchestra, hadn't  shifted  many  units.

"Pamela  Pamela"  was ,  written  by  Graham  Gouldman  ( who  would  later  link  up  with  Mindbender  Eric  Stewart  to  some  effect ). And  it's  terrific, another  great "find"  through  doing  this  blog. Wayne  and  Graham  were  barely  out  of  their  teens  but  this  is  an  achingly  nostalgic  look  back  to  the  days  of  innocence  and  a  girl  called  Pamela  who  wanted  to  grow  up  too  soon. From  the  acoustic  guitar  hook  at  the  beginning  ( slightly  reminiscent  of  California  Dreaming ), to  the  incoherent  wail  that  brings  it  to  a  close  in  startling  fashion,  this  is  a  gem.  Les  Reed's  wistful  strings, Gouldman's  gift  for  an  irresistible  melody  and  Wayne's  unaffected  vocal  ( even  though  he  was  reportedly  reluctant  to  record  the  song )  all  play their  part. For  good  measure  the  B-side  "Something  Keeps  Calling  Me  Back "  written  by  Wayne  himself, is  a  Northern  Soul  favourite.

I  came  to  this  post  knowing  very  little  about  Wayne  and  assuming  it would  be  wrapped  up  quite  quickly  but  no. I'm  amazed  at  the  number  of  chances  he  got  to  resurrect  his  career. I guess  the  name  must  have  helped; perhaps  the  costs  of  recording  and  releasing  his  singles  were  charged  to  the  advertising  budget  instead  of  A & R.

Anyhow  his  next  single, in  1967,  was  "24  Sycamore"  written  by  Les  Reed  and  Barry  Mason. It's difficult  for  me  to  assess  this  one  because  I'm  so  familiar  with  the  Gene  Pitney  version  ,released  in 1973  and  a  work  of  genius . By  comparison  Wayne's  version  sounds  hamfisted  but  it  probably sounded  quite  good  at  the  time  and  it  was  actually  a  sizeable  hit  in  Australia.

In  August  he  turned  back  to  Gouldman  for  "The  Impossible  Years"  which  has  nothing  to  do  with the  David  Niven  film  of  the  following  year  but  returns  to  the  subject  matter  of  "Pamela  Pamela"  as young  Graham  frets  over  female  adolescence, albeit  in  more  flowery  language -"When  does  the  one sun  choose  the  hour ?" I've  only  heard  his  own  version  but  I  imagine  Wayne  did  it  justice.

In  December  he  released  the  Brazilian-flavoured  "Gina"  written  by  Reed  and  Mich  Murray  which  sounds  like  the  theme  tune  to  some  minor  spy  caper  starring  Roger  Moore  and  Claudia  Cardinale. Wayne  does  a  decent  Tom  Jones  impersonation  and  the  brass  work  is  good  but  it's  not  really  my  cup  of  tea.

Wayne  opened  his  1968  account  with  a  version  of  "Storybook  Children"  a  US  hit  for  Billy  Vera  ( co-writer  with  Chip  Taylor )  and  Judy  Clay in  1967. Wayne  does  it  without  a  partner  and  sounds  like  he's  trying  to  give  Engelbert  Humperdinck  some  competition. It's  good  if  you  like  that  sort  of  thing.

Wayne  then  ventured  into  psych-pop  with  a  version  of  "The  Words  Of  Bartholomew"  by  The  Rokes, an  English  band  who  were  very  popular  in  Italy  but  counted  for  very  little  over  here. It's   the  tale  of  a  sheet  metal  worker  with  delusions  of  making  a  great  impact  through  his  writing.  with   whimsical  verses  then   a  spaced-out  chorus  with  prog-leaning  tempo  changes. Despite  the  subject  matter  being  a  little  too  close  to  home  for  comfort,  I  like  it  but  it  was  probably  a  bit  too  weird  to  be  a  hit.

The  next  one "Never  An  Everyday  Thing" , written  by  Ben  Findon  and  Peter  Shelley  doesn't  suffer  from  the  same  problem, fitting  right  into  the  big  pop  template  of  Love  Affair  or  The  Foundations  that  was  popular  at  the  time. Wayne  really  stretches  his  voice  here  especially  if  it's  his  falsetto  towards  the  end. There  are  no  clues  as  to  why  it  wasn't  a  major  hit.

He  turned  to  Randy  Newman  for  his  first  single  of  1969  "Dayton  Ohio  1903". The  song  conjures  up  a  gentil  America  on  the  cusp  of  being  changed  forever  by  the  Wright  Brothers  first  flight.  Arranged   as  a  simple  piano  ballad  by  Newman, Wayne  and  producer  Mike  Vickers  give  it  a  beefier  arrangement  with  a  bit  of  vaudeville  swing  and  an  irony-rich  vocal. It  was  a  brave  choice  that   went  unrewarded.

At  this  point  Fontana  seem  to  have  thought  the  public  needed  reminding  who  he  was  so  both  "Um Um Um Um "  and  "Pamela  Pamela"  were  re-released  in  May  to  little  interest.  His  last  single  for  Fontana  in  October  1969  is   surrounded  by  some  confusion. First "We're  Building  A  Love"  was  released  with  "Charlie  Cass "  on  the  B-side  then  "Charlie  Cass"  was  the  A-side  with  another  Randy  Newman  song  on  the  flip. Both  songs  were  written  by  Wayne  himself. "We're  Building  A  Love"  is  another   straightforward  pop  song  in  the  Love  Affair  vein   while  "Charlie  Cass "  is  a  novelty  song  about  circus  performers  having  fatal  accidents  and  doesn't  invite  a  second  play.

Wayne  of  course  could  not  earn  a  living  from  the  meagre  sales  of  these  records  and  was  constantly  treading  the  boards  with  various  backing  line-ups  sometimes  billed  as  The  Mindbenders ( easier  after  the  original  band  split  in  1968 )  or  The  Opposition. As  the  70s  loomed  Fontana  decided  it  was  time  to  cut  him  adrift.

Wayne  then  resurfaced  on  Philips  in  the  summer  of  1970  with  a  version  of  Chairmen  Of  The  Board's "Give  Me  Just  A  Little  More  Time"  which  was  set  to  do  battle  with  the  original  but  then  suddenly  withdrawn. It's  an  uncomfortable  rather  stilted  version  with  nothing  to  suggest  it  would  have  troubled  the  American  group.

He  re-emerged  in  May  1973  when  10cc  decided  to  give  him  a  leg  up. The  single  "Together"  was written  by  Gouldman  and  recorded  at  their  Strawberry  Studios. Wayne  and  his  old  bandmate  Eric Stewart  are  credited  as  the  co-producers  of  the  B side.  Warner  Brothers released  it. I  haven't  heard it  but  reportedly  it  was  another  big  hit  in  Australia.

Wayne's  final  single  came  out  in  July  1976  on  Polydor. Written  by future  art  fraudster  John  Myatt  , David  Meyers  and  John  Worsley  who  produced  and  arranged  it  "The  Last  Bus  Home"  is  a  retro affair  sounding  like  The  Drifters  with  a  pizzicato  string  line  on  loan  from  Adam  Faith. It's  a  decent tune  and  not  without  some  charm  but  on  the  cusp  of  punk  it  was  never  going  to  restore  his fortunes.

Wayne  then  disappears  from  view  until  the  late  eighties  when  he  was  persuaded  onto  the  oldies  circuit  and  got  a  reputation  for  being  a  very  amusing  raconteur. He  seemed  to  have  settled  into  this  comfortable  groove  until  he  was  declared  bankrupt  in  August  2005. Although  the  order  was  annulled  after  five  months  it  seems  to  have  unhinged  him  and  a  long  campaign  against  officialdom  of  any  sort  began. In  2007  he  refused  to  pay  a  London  congestion  charge  he  had  incurred. When  bailiffs  came  to  his  home  in  Glossop  he  set  fire  to  their  car , pouring  petrol  on  the  bonnet  while  one  was  still  inside.

When  he  appeared  in  court,  without  representation  and  dressed  as  the  Lady  Of  Justice,  he  was  detained  under  the  Mental  Health  Act   suffering  from  paranoiac  delusion  and  severe  depression. By  the  time  he  was  convicted  of  arson  he  had  already  served  the  sentence  he  received. He  relocated   to  Spain  shortly  afterwards.

Nevertheless,  he  returned  to  the  oldies  circuit,  becoming  a  regular  on  the  Solid  Silver  60s  Tour.  In  2011  he  had  another  minor  brush  with  the  law  over  a  speeding  fine  but  the  matter  was  resolved  amicably.  He  has  a  blog  which  makes  David  Icke  seem  like  a  reasonable  guy. In  April  this  year  he  had  to  pull  out  of  the  Tour  citing  "serious"  illness  and  it  remains  to  be  seen  whether  he'll   ever  perform  again.