164 Hello Engelbert Humperdinck - Release Me

Chart  entered :  26  January  1967

Chart  peak : 1

Number  of  hits : 17

Ho  hum. Sometimes  you  just  have  to  make  yourself  a  brew  and  get  on  with  it. The  prospect  of toiling  through  seven  pre-fame  singles  by  an  artist  who's  never  interested  me  in  the  slightest,  leading up  to  one  of  the  least-loved  ( at  least  by  anyone  still  alive )  number  ones , doesn't  set  my  pulse racing.  But  Engelbert  is  an  important  part  of  the  charts'  story,  a  reminder  that  not  everybody bowed  down  to  the  Beatles  and  what  they  represented. There  was  a  counter-counter  culture at work  here ; is  it  just  a  coincidence  that  Engelbert's  chart  positions  tail  off  dramatically  after  Ted Heath's  election  victory ?

Arnold  Dorsey  was  born  in  Madras  in  1936  to  a  British  Army  officer  and  his  wife. They  relocated to  Leicester  just  after  the  war. He  started  out  as  a  saxophonist  in  the  early  fifties. He  picked  up the tag  "Gerry"  from  his  impersonations  of  Jerry  Lewis. In  the  mid-fifties  he  did  his  national  service  in the  Royal  Corps  of  Signals  and  got  his  first  chance  to  record  after  his  discharge.

His  first  single  as  Gerry  Dorsey ,  "Crazy  Bells"  was  released  in  February  1959 on  Decca . It  is chiefly  notable for  being  the  first  single  written  by  Tony  Hatch  ( along  with  Paul  Lacey ) . It  sounds a  lot  like Frankie  Vaughan  , high  octane  pop  with  a  manly  voice  backed  by  over-shrill  female voices  who keep  a  maddening  "dingedy ding-a  dong"  refrain  going  throughout  the  song.  Its  high irritant  quality  wasn't  enough  to  push  it  into  the charts.

By  November  he  had  switched  to  Parlophone  for  "I'll  Never  Fall  In  Love  Again"  which  you  may recall  was  the  last  hit  for  its  composer  Johnny  Ray. He's  well  supported  by  Tony Osborne  and  his Orchestra  but  his  beefy  vocal  has  none  of  the  winning  vulnerability  of  Ray's  version  and  that  won out.

Parlophone  gave  him  another  chance  eighteen  months  later  with  a  song  called  "Big  Wheel"  which was  written  by  Les  Vandyke  and  arranged  by  John  Barry. I've  only  heard  a  brief  snatch  of  it  but it  sounded  again  very  much  in  the  Frankie  Vaughan  mode.

"Gerry"  was  then  laid  low  for  three  years  by  a  bout  of  tuberculosis, returning  to  a  music  scene  utterly  transformed  by  those  lads  from  Liverpool. Inevitably  he  resurfaced  on  Pye with  "Take  Your  Time"  in  March  1964. It's  the  nearest  he  ever  got  to  rock  with  a  pounding  beat  and  screechy  brass   but  his  mechanical  vocal   sounds  like  he  wasn't   very  comfortable  with  the  material.

His  last  release  as  Gerry  Dorsey  was "Baby  Turn  Around"  in   October  1965  on  Hickory  Records which  is  big  and  dramatic  pop  with  some  good  sax  and  organ  work. It's  pretty  close  to  Tom Jones  territory  which  is  perhaps  not  surprising  as  it  was  written  by  Jones's  manager  Gordon  Mills.

Mills,  who  had  known  him  for  some  years , now  took  charge  of  his  career  and  came  up  with  the still-baffling  idea  of  re-naming  him  after  a  middle-ranking  German  composer. He  got  him  another deal  with  Decca; the  first  single  "Stay"  in  June  1966  had  been  rejected  by  them  just  weeks  earlier on  the  grounds  that  "Gerry  Dorsey"  was  "old  hat" . "Stay"  was  self-penned  but  produced  by  Mills and  again  sounds  tailor-made  for  Jones. It's  passable  but  the  song  isn't  really  strong  enough  to  bear  the  weight  of  the  kitchen-sink  production - Oriental  intro, dramatic  crashes, string  flourishes  etc.

The  first  fruits  of  success  occurred  in  Belgium  in  the  summer  of  1966  when  he  took  part in  the  Knokke  song  contest  and  his  subsequent  single  "Dommage  Dommage"  topped  the  charts  there.  It's  the  first  real  outing  for  his  trademark  MOR   balladeering  and  acceptable  if  you  like  that  sort  of  thing.

Here's  the  Popular  link  for  "Release  Me" -  quite  lively  as  you'd  expect  Engelbert

163 Hello The Move - Night Of Fear

Chart  entered :  5  January  1966

Chart  peak : 2

Number  of  hits : 10

The  Birmingham  music  scene  spawned  another  major  band  when  this  lot  broke  through. They're  the  last  band  we're  saying  hello  to  whose  hits  fell  primarily  in  the  sixties. It's  a complicated  story  as  four  out  of  the  five  members  had  a  previous  recording  history.

The  first  to  make  a  record  was  Roy  Wood  ( born  1947 )   the   guitarist  with  a  band  called  The  Falcons  who  played  old  style  rock  and  roll. Their  single  "Stampede"  from  November  1963  is  an  instrumental  somewhere  between  The  Shadows  and  Duane  Eddy. It's  passable  but  the time  had  gone  by  for  such  things.

By  the  end  of  the  year  he  had  decamped  to  Gerry  Levene  and  the  Avengers  and  stayed  long enough  to  be on  their  only  single  "It's  Driving  Me  Wild"   in  January  1964. I've  only  heard  the  B-side  "Dr  Feelgood"  which  is  a  decent  enough  stab  at  Manfred  Mann / Animals  blues-influenced  pop. I  should  have  mentioned  this  one  previously  as  Graeme  Edge of  The  Moody  Blues  was  also  in  the line-up. Shortly  afterwards  Roy  answered  a  newspaper  ad  to  join  a  well-established  band  Mike Sheridan  and  the  Nightriders  who'd  already  released  a  couple  of  singles.

They  released  their  first single  with  Roy  in  the  line-up  in  June  1964 , a  cover  of  the  Goffin-King song  "What  A  Sweet Thing  That  Was"  popularised  by  The  Shirelles . It's  a  competent  piece  of  beat pop  that  could  have  been  a  hit  with  the  right  breaks. Roy's  spindly  guitar  lines  help  give  it  some distinctiveness.

Also on  the  local  circuit  were  a  band  called  Carl  Wayne  and  the  Vikings. Their  leader  was  originally  Colin  Tooley ( born  1943 )  , an  accomplished  singer  who  wore  a  pink  suit  on  stage.  After  honing  their  craft  in  Hamburg  in  1963  they  got  a  record  deal  with  Pye  and  released  their  first  single  "What's  The  Matter Baby ?"  in  September  1964. It's  an  accomplished  version  of  a  Timi  Yuro  song  with  Carl  sounding  very  like  the  Manfreds'  Paul  Jones. Shortly  after  the  single  was  released  they  changed  bass  players  with  Chris  "Ace"   Kefford ( born  1946 ) from  the  unrecorded  Chantelles  joining  the  line-up.

The  next  Night  Riders  single  was  "Here  I  Stand"  a  cover  of  a  US  hit  by  Wade  Flemmons. They're  clearly  trying  for  a  Four  Seasons  sound  with  a  Frankie  Valli  impersonation  ( doesn't  sound  like  Roy )  for  a  second  vocal. It  doesn't quite  come  off.

At  the  same  time  another  Brum  band  Danny  King's  Mayfair  Set  released  the  single  "Pretty  Things". King  was  a  local  singer  whose  earlier  singles  as  a  solo  act  don't  concern  us  but his  new  band included  guitarist  Trevor  Burton ( born  1949 ).  The  single  benefits  from  Norrie  Paramor's production , Roger  Harris's  organ  work  and  King's  vibrato.

In  April  1965  Carl  Wayne and  the  Vikings  released  "This  Is  Love"  ( written  by  and  featuring  Danny  King  on  co-vocals )  which  is  brash  and  noisy  but  easily  forgettable. In  September  the  Night  Riders  were  re-christened  as  Mike Sheridan's  Lot  for  the  release  of  "Take  My  Hand"  where  Roy  shares  vocal  duties  with  Sheridan  and  gets  his  own  song  on  the  B-side. It's  still  standard  beat  fare  albeit  with  superior  guitar  work.

In  November  1965  Carl  Wayne  and  the  Vikings  had  "My  Girl"  released  in  the  USA  only. It's  The Temptations  song  played  at  a  faster  tempo, mildly  interesting  but  inessential. After  that  Pye  dropped them   and  another  German  tour  was  the  best  option  available. At that  point  the  drummer  bailed  out and  was  replaced  by  Beverley  "Bev"  Bevan   ( born  1944 ) who  had  played  with  the  unrecorded Denny  Laine  and  the  Diplomats.

In  December  Danny King's  Mayfair  Set  released  the  quasi-religious  "Amen"   ( a  King  song )  which   is  pretty good  but  would  have  benefited  from  a  cleaner  production.

By  that  time  the  forces  were  already  in  motion  to  create  The  Move. Ace  and  Trevor  had  met  up at   a  gig  by  Davy  Jones  ( the  future  Mr  Bowie )   in  December  and  it  was  he  suggested  they  form their  own  outfit. Roy  Wood  soon  came  on  board  after  one  last  single  with  the  Night  Riders  the aptly  titled   Jackie  DeShannon  song   "Don't  Turn  Your  Back  On  Me"  where  he  again  shares  the vocals  and  plays  some  mean  fuzz  guitar.  It  helped  I  guess  that  the  three  existing  groups  were   more  or  less  stuck  at  the  same  level. When  Carl  heard  about  the  new  group  he  offered  his  own services  and  was  accepted. Bev  followed  him  shortly  afterwards.

They  also  acquired  a  manager  Tony  Secunda  who  had  formerly  worked  for  The  Moody  Blues. He believed  that  outrageous  publicity  stunts  were  the  best  way  to  break  the  band  , some  of  them politically  dubious  such  as  having  busts  of  Hitler  on  stage  and  signing  a  contract  on  the  back  of  a topless  model. On  the  positive  side  he  got  them  a  weekly  residency  at  the  Marquee  Club  and encouraged  Roy  Wood's  writing, their  original  repertoire  being  mainly  covers  of  West  Coast  bands or  Motown  acts.

By  the  end  of  1966  they  had  a  deal  with  Deram  and  struck  gold  with  this  first  single. "Night  Of Fear"  was  written  by  Roy and , in  a  sign  of  things  to  come,  incorporated  a  phrase  from Tchaikovsky's  1812  Overture . The  song  concerns  night  time  terrors  ( or  perhaps  more  pertinently, a bad  trip )  although  the  music -upbeat  and  jaunty  -  doesn't  really  match ; it's  hardly  The  Green Manalishi. It's  definitely  bang  up  to  date  though  with  sitars  and  cello  underpinning  the sound  and  all the  band  save  Bevan  doing  four  part  harmonies  on  the  chorus. They'd  make  better  records  but  not many  that  were  as  successful.

Here's  Lena's  take : the Move



 
 

 

162 Hello The Monkees - I'm A Believer

Chart  entered : 5  January  1967

Chart  peak : 1

Number  of  hits : 11

1967  started  with  a  bang  as  the  first  week  featured  two  new  bands  who  were  one  and  two  in  the  charts  at  the  end  of  the  month.

There  are  few  groups  whose  genesis  is  better  known  to  the  public  than  this  lot. They  were  put together by  Bob  Rafelson  and  Bert  Schneider  for  a  TV  series  inspired  by  the  Beatles  film  A  Hard Day's  Night. The  standard  version  says  they  chose  two  actors (  Davy  Jones  and  Micky  Dolenz )  and  two  musicians  ( Michael  Nesmith  and  Peter  Tork )  but  the  truth  is  a  bit  messier  than  that.   For  this  one  it  probably  makes  more  sense   to  look  at  each  member  in  turn  rather  than  attempt   a  cris-crossing  chronological  narrative.

Davy  Jones  was  the  first  choice  and  his  audition  was  perfunctory ;  his  background  in  musical  theatre  and  teen  appeal  made  him  a  target  from  the  start. He  was  born  in  Manchester  in  1945  and  as  a  fifteen  year  old  appeared  in  one  episode  of  Coronation  Street  as  Ena  Sharples' grandson. After  leaving  school  he  trained  to be  a  jockey  but  his  mentor  Basil  Foster  actually  pushed  him  back  towards  acting  when  an  offer  to  play  Artful  Dodger  in  Oliver  ! came  round. Davy  was  such  a  success  he  moved  with  the  show  to  Broadway  and  got  a  Tony  Award  nomination. This  led  to  an  appearance  on  the  Ed  Sullivan  Show in  1964, coincidentally  the  one  featuring  The  Beatles  for  the  first  time. This  ignited  Davy's  interest  in  a  musical  career.

He  was  signed  to  a  TV  contract  by  Screen  Gems  and  a  recording  contract  by  Colpix  ( both  divisions  of  Columbia ). His  first  single ,  as  David  Jones,  was  "Dream  Girl"  in  February  1965.  Written  by  Van  McCoy  it's  a  charming  Brill  Building  pop  ditty  with  Davy  sounding  like  he's  been  on  the  helium. It's  a  dated  sound  for  1965  but  quite  appealing  and  it  was  a  monster  hit  in  Australia  a  couple  of  years  later.

"What  Are  We  Going  To  Do?"  a  few  months  later  is  more  of  the  same  although  someone  appears  to  have  decided  that  Davy's  Mancunian  vowels   were  "cute"  so  he's  allowed  to  sing  "tell  them  we're  in  luuvv" . It  was  a  minor  hit  in  the  States  peaking  at  number  93  while  going  Top  20  in  Australia.

His  third  pre-Monkees  single  was  the  Goffin-King  song  "The  Girl  From  Chelsea"  and  is  the weakest  of  the  trio. Davy  sounds  like  the  melody  is  too  subtle  for  him  and  there's  a  distracting  de-tuned  guitar  throughout  which  suggests  a  rather  rushed  recording. The  parent  album  "David  Jones" made  a  minor  showing.

Micky  Dolenz   was  primarily  an  actor. Both  parents  were  actors  and  he  made his  TV  debut in  a  show  called  Circus  Boy  as  an  11 year  old  in  1956  under  the  name  Mickey Braddock.  He  had  to  learn  the  drums  from  scratch  after being  cast. Nevertheless  he  had  made  some  recordings  as  a  guitarist  and  singer  with  a  band  called  The Missing  Links. However  these  were  not  released  until  after  The  Monkees  took  off  and  then  under  his  own  name.  Both  "Don't  Do  It"  and  "Huff  Puff"  are  enthusiastic  and  raw  approximations  of  R & B  with  uninhibited  vocals ; Micky's  unhinged  singing  on  the  latter  recalls  Screaming  Lord  Sutch.

Mike  Nesmith  was  a  Texan  whose  mother  famously  invented the  Liquid  Paper  correction  fluid. Although  involved  in  school  theatre, he  joined  the  United  States  Air  Service  in  1960  and  served until  honourable  discharge  in  1962. He enrolled in  San  Antonio  College  and  began  writing  songs  and poetry. After  getting  married  to  a  fellow  student  he  moved  to  Los  Angeles  to  play  the  folk  clubs.

His  first  single "Wanderin'  in  1963  was  a  vanity  pressing, a  primitive  country  blues  with  Mike accompanied  by  just  an  acoustic  guitar.  His  flat, one-dimensional  voice  kills  it  stone  dead  and  it's difficult  to  imagine  even  his  mother  wanting  a  copy  except  to  see  where  her  money  was  going.
His  next  attempt  was  two  years  later  with "Just  A  Little  Love"  which  is  a  bit  more  listenable  and betrays  a  Dylan  influence  with  the  harmonica .

"How  Can  You  Kiss  Me" came  out  under  the  name  Mike, John  and  Bill  with  John  London  on  bass  and  Bill  Sleeper  on  drums  and  sounds  like  The  Byrds  recording  in  a  garden  shed. It  definitely  benefits  from  the  three  singing  in  harmony  but  they  were  quickly  broken  up  by  Sleeper  receiving  a  call-up  to  the  army.

Mike  then  recorded  a  couple  of  singles  under  the  name  Michael  Blessing  on  Colpix  Records. "The  New  Recruit "  adapted   and  copyrighted   by  producers  Bob  Krassnow  and  Sam  Ashe  is  an  anti-war  diatribe  taking  the  form  of  a  series  of  dumb  questions  from  a  rookie. Mike  sings it  in  character with  Stannard  Ridgway  vocal   inflexions   over  a  light  folk  rock  backing. "What  Seems  To Be The Trouble  Officer ?"  is  a  sort  of  Dylan  parody  that's  outstayed  its  welcome  before  the  first  minute  is up.

Peter  Tork, the  oldest  Monkee  and  last  to  be  selected,  was  from  Washington  DC. He  was  a  minor  player  on  the  Greenwich   Village  folk  scene  and  came  to  the  audition  on  the  recommendation  of Stephen  Stills  who  had  been  rejected. He  came  to  the  band  with  no  previous  recording  history.

The  first  Monkees  single , released  in  August  1966   before  the  TV  series  aired  was  "Last  Train  To Clarksville "  written  by  their  producers  Tommy  Boyce  and  Bobby  Hart. It's  a  slyly  subversive  song  about  a  recruit  wanting  a  night  with  his  girl  before  going  off  to  fight.  Musically  it  was  based  on  Paperback  Writer , the  writers  freely  admitting  their  ambition  to  emulate  the  Beatles. Dolenz  does  the  lead  vocal.  It  wasn't  a  hit  in  Britain  until  the  following  year  but  hit  the  top  spot  in  the  US. Their  debut  album  The  Monkees   was  also  released  in  1966  with  their  participation  largely  restricted  to  the  lead  vocals. Mike  got  one  song  "Papa  Gene's  Blues"  and  a  co-write  on  the  LP ; if  Peter  didn't  play  a  bit  of  guitar  on  the  former  he  wouldn't  be  on  the  album  at  all.

Here's  the  Popular  link  for  "I'm  A  Believer"Monkees

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.




 

160 Hello Jimmy Ruffin - What Becomes Of The Broken-Hearted ?

Chart  entered : 27  October  1966

Chart  peak : 8  ( 4  on  reissue  in  1974 )

Number  of  hits : 10  ( 1  as  part  of  The  Council  Collective* )

*( I'll  clarify  the  point  here  because  "Soul  Deep"  isn't  his  goodbye  hit. I'm  not  normally  counting  appearances  on  charity  ensembles  in  artists'  hit  totals  mainly  because  it's  near-impossible  to  track  who's  on  which  record  and  what  their  contribution was ( for  instance Spandau  Ballet's  Steve Norman  is  not  credited  with  any  vocals  on   any  of  their  records, can  we  be  sure  that  his  voice  is  actually  in  the  mix on  Band  Aid ? )   In  the  case  of  The  Council  Collective  I'm  allowing  it  to  count   towards  Jimmy's  total  because  there  was  a  relatively  small  number  of  participants, it  was  an  original song  and  Jimmy's  participation  was  a  major  selling  point  in  the  promotion  of  the  record.)  

Jimmy  only  just  scrapes  in  here  but  as  this  is  my  favourite  of  the  Motown  classics I've  stretched  a point  to  include  him. He's  possibly  ( D.C.  might  correct  me )  the  only  Motown  artist  to  be  more successful  in  the  UK  than  the  US.

Jimmy  is  the  elder  brother  of  the  Temptations'  David  Ruffin  and  the  two  began  their  singing  in the gospel  group  Dixie  Nightingales. Jimmy  joined  Motown  in  1961  as  a  session  singer  but  was   allowed  to  cut  a  single - in fact  the  first -  on  its  subsidiary  label  Miracle, "Don't  Feel  Sorry  For  Me". Jimmy  wrote  the  song  himself  but  it's  fairly  typical  of  the  early  Motown  R &  B  sound  except  for  the  fact  that  Jimmy's  vocal  is  heavily  influenced  by  Gordy's  friend , Jackie  Wilson. Jimmy  himself  acknowledged  this.  It's   not  a  bad  first  effort  with  some  good  drumming  and  sax  although  the  chorus  could  definitely  be  stronger.

Jimmy  didn't  get  the  chance  to  cut  another  single  before  being  called  up  for  military  service. He  returned  to  Motown  when  his  tour  of  duty  ended  in  1964 ( not  a  bad  time  to  be  leaving  the  US  Army  actually ). He  was  apparently  considered  for  The  Temptations  when  Elbridge  Bryant  left  but  they  chose  David  instead.  Jimmy  was  again  shunted  on  to  a  subsidiary  label, this  time  Soul.

His  first  release  for  them  was  "Since  I've  lost  You", a  Norman  Whitfield  song. Whitfield  also produced. Jimmy  finds  his  own  voice , somewhere  between  Marvin  Gaye  and  Otis  Redding,  on  this medium  paced  soul  tune  with  unusually  heavy  brass  but  it  wasn't  a  success.

His  next  single  came  out  more  than  a  year  later  and  this  time  Smokey  Robinson  was  writer  and producer. "As  Long  As  There  Is  L-O-V-E  Love"  is  sweet  soul  pop  ( as  you'd  expect )  but  the arrangement  is  strange  with  a  stabbing  riff  punctuating  the  verses. The  aggression  in  it seems  out  of kilter  with  the  nature  of  the  song.

Months  went  by  and  then  Jimmy  heard  a  song  that  was  being  pitched  at  the  ( Detroit )  Spinners and  persuaded  its  writers  that  he  should  record  it  instead. "What  Becomes  Of  The  Broken-Hearted" was  written  by  three  of  Motown's  lesser-known  writers  William  Weatherspoon, James  Dean  and house  trombonist  Paul  Riser.  It's  a  plea  from  a  man  drowning  in  his  own  misery  after  being deserted. I  think  the  record  derives  much  of  its  impact  from  a  decision  by  Weatherspoon  and  fellow  producer  Mickey  Stevenson  to  drop  a  spoken  introduction  from  the  final  mix  and  allow  the  two  backing  groups  The  Originals  and  The  Andantes  to  hum  that  deathless  melody  before  Jimmy's  entrance. They  set  a  mood  of  warmth  to  offset  Jimmy's  woe  is  me  wailing  and  then  return  on  the  chorus  to  take  the  song  on  to  another  plane.

The  record  was  an  immediate  hit, making  the  Top  10  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic. It  has  been  continuously  covered  ever  since. Here,  it  surpassed  its  previous  peak  when  reissued  in  1974 , the  competition  not  being  quite  as  strong.  

  

159 Goodbye Adam Faith - Cheryl's Going Home

Chart  entered :  20  October  1966

Chart  peak : 46

Adam  had  weathered  the  Beatles  storm  a  lot  better  than  many  of  his  contemporaries. Most  of  his singles  continued  to  chart  albeit  in  lower  positions. By  1966  though,  it  appeared  that  the  game  was up. None  of  the  three  singles  immediately  preceding  this  one  had  made  the  charts.

"Cheryl's  Going  Home"  was  written  by  Bob  Lind  and  was  originally  on  the  B-side  of  his  transatlantic  smash  Elusive  Butterfly.  It  was  also  recorded  by  Sonny  and  Cher  and  The  Cascades  but  Adam's  is  the  only  hit  version. It's  a  regretful  song. Cheryl's  had  enough  and  her  man  is  running  hopelessly  behind  the  train  taking  her  away, wanting  her  to  hear  some  explanation. Adam's  voice  has  improved  somewhat  so  that  this  sounds  like  David  Soul  sings  R  Dean  Taylor  although  Adam  has  Anglicised  the  lyric  slightly. Producer John  Woodman  gives  it  the  standard  mid-sixties  pop  production  although  the  acoustic  guitar  deserves  a  mention ( I  don't  know  who  it  is ). It's  a  decent  farewell  note.

His  first  single  of  1967, "What  More  Can  Anyone  Do"  was  written  by  Chris  Andrews  ( whose  own  brief  run  of  hits  also  ended  in  1966 )  and  is  a  bright  piece  of  sunshine  pop , lifted  by  the  mariachi  trumpet  but  let  down  by  an  indifferent  vocal. Adam's  declining  interest  in  recording  is  indicated  by  the  presence  of  a  1964  album  track  on  the  B-side.

His  next  single  didn't  come  out  until  September. "Cowman,  Milk  Your Cow"  was  written  by  a  couple  of  new  kids  on  the  block, Barry  and  Robin  Gibb  although  it  sounds  more  like  The Byrds'  psychedelic  pop. Its  curiosity  value  is  high , its  musical  value  limited. "To  Hell  With  Love"  was  a  John  D  Loudermilk  song. Its  a  pleasant  piece  of  pop  whimsy  with  an  arrangement  deserving  of  a  better  singer. His  last  single   for  Parlophone  in  March  1968,  "You  Make  My Life Worthwhile "  written  by  jazz  bassist  and  session  man  Joe  Mudele,  is  old-fashioned  MOR  schmaltz  that  could  have  been  in  the  first  chart. It's  one  of  Adam's  better  vocal  performances  but  it  sounds  like  an  admission  that  his  time  as  a  pop  star  was  up.

As  we'll  see  that  wasn't  quite  the  end  of  Adam's  recording  career   but  music  yielded  to  his  other  activities  from  this  point.  He  turned  back  to  acting, initially  in  the  theatre  and  in  1969  had  the  lead  role  in  a  touring  production  of  Billy  Liar. He  also  did  some  Shakespeare playing  Feste  in  Twelfth  Night .  He  got  a  big  break  in  1971  as  the  title  character  in  Budgie  , a  lovable  petty  criminal  whose  scams  always  end  in  failure  partly  due  to  his  association  with  a  shady  entrepreneur  played  by  Iain  Cuthbertson.  My  mother  had  a   curiously  visceral  hatred  of  Cuthbertson;  her  involvement  in  a  few  Am-Dram  productions  in  Littleborough  in  the  50s  apparently  made  her  an  infallible  judge  of  actors  and whenever  he  appeared  in  anything,  she  would  sound  off  about  what  a  terrible  ham  he  was. I  digress ; Budgie  was  a  big  TV  hit  which  ran  for  two  series  from  1971  to  1972. A  third  series  was  being  considered  when  Adam  was  nearly  killed  driving  into  a  tree  in  August  1973  ( shortly  after  a  similar  accident  almost  claimed  the  life  of  Slade's  Don  Powell )  and  his  first,  irrational  response  was  to  declare  he  was  giving  up  acting.

By  that  time  he  and  his  friend  David  Courtenay  were  involved  in  managing  former  busker  Leo  Sayer. This  brought  instant  rewards  first  through  Roger  Daltrey's  Giving  It  All  Away  album  which  was  largely  written  by  Sayer  and  then  Sayer's  own  run  of  huge  hits  beginning  at  the  end  of  1973.  Sayer's  success  both  prompted  and  facilitated  Adam's  own  return  to  the  studio. He  got a  deal  with  Warner  Brothers  to  make  an   album  "I  Survive"  co-written  with  Courtney ,  largely  inspired  by  his  recovery  from  the  accident.

The  lead-off  single  "I  Survived "  starts  with   a  long   guitar  solo  from  Ritchie  Blackmore  amidst  an orchestral  overture  and  ends  with  a  piano  solo  from  Russ  Ballard.  In  between  is  a  genial  acoustic  guitar   and  piano  pop  song  not  a  million  miles  from  ( though  pre-dating )  Steve  Harley's  Make  Me  Smile . However  the  liberally used  gospel  singers  can't  mask  how  poor  the  central  vocal  performance  is. There  are  a  lot  of  complimentary  reviews  of  the  album  on  Amazon  but  I  don't  know  how  they  can  ignore  the  fact  that  Adam  sounds  like  a  battered  old  pub  singer, off  key  and  hardly  able  to  make  himself  heard. Actually,  when  there's  less  clutter  , as  on  the   plodding follow-up single " Star  Song " , it's  even  worse  , the  song's   clumsy  cynicism  getting  lost  in  the  sheer wretchedness  of   his  vocal.

Thankfully  that  was  his  last  single. He  can  be  heard  on   a  soundtrack   album   from  the   Budgie stage  musical  in  1988 ( not  a  success )  but  otherwise  his  recordings  end  there.  He  was  persuaded  by  David  Puttnam  to  play  David  Essex's  manager  in  Stardust  in  1975   and  received  excellent  reviews.

Sayer's  career  reached  its  peak  in  the  mid  to  late  seventies  which  kept  Adam  out  of  mischief   though  he  did  take  the  odd  film  role. In  1983  he  presented  Video  Video , a  cheap  and  nasty  review  programme  typical  of  the  early  days  of  Channel  4. It  was  only  notable  for  Adam's  chronic  inability  to  read  from the  autocue  in.....  a. ...fluent ...manner,  a  bizarre  failing  coming  from  an  experienced  actor. Unsurprisingly  it  didn't  get  a  second  series.

Two years  later. the  hits  having  dried  up for  him  too, Sayer  sued   Adam  for  withheld  royalties  and  won  substantial  damages  in  an  out  of  court  settlement. The  revelation  of  his  financial canniness  didn't  do  Adam  any  harm  and, after  recovering  from  open-heart  surgery  in  1986, he  reinvented  himself  once  more  as  a  financial  advisor  with  a  column  in  the  Daily  Mail.  Things  went  well  on  the  surface  for  a  couple  of  years  but  he  was  associating  with  Roger  Levitt. ( I  remember sharing  office  space  with  the  Levitt  Group  in  1989  because  the  authority  I  worked  for  was  the  lead  authority  for  the  Greater  Manchester  Superannuation  Fund  and  invited  them  in  as  consultants  but  I  think  we  got  out  unscathed ). When  Levitt  was  exposed  as  a  fraudster  in  1990, Adam  suffered  both  reputational  and  financial  damage   as  did  some  celebrity  friends  ( e.g. Michael  Winner ) he  had  encouraged  to  invest  with  Levitt . He  also  lost  money  as  a  Lloyds  Name  in  the  nineties

Adam  returned  to  acting and  got  another  TV  break   in  1992  with  Love  Hurts  where  he  played  a  self-made  Cockney  businessman  romancing  middle  class  and  right -on Zoe  Wanamaker. He  was  essentially  playing  himself   but  with  great  charm  and  the  series  was  a  hit. I  caught  a  couple  of  episodes  because  they  featured  an  actress  I  was  following  called  Arkie  Whiteley  ( now  sadly  deceased )  and  it  wasn't  really  my  cup  of  tea  but  it  ran  for  three  series. A  couple  of  years  later  his  autobiography  Act  of  Faith  sold  well.

But  Adam  wasn't  finished  with  the  financial  world  yet. Eager  to  get  in  on  the  dot.com  bubble, in  May  1999  he  invested  heavily  in  a  new  digital  channel  The  Money  Channel  with  himself  as  a  presenter  dispensing  financial  advice. His  questionable  record  in  the  field, publicly  highlighted  by  a  less  than  forgiving  Winner  at  the  time  of  its  launch , doomed  the  venture  from  the  start  and  it  closed  in  June  2002  with  heavy  losses. He  was  declared  bankrupt  shortly  afterwards.

At  the  same  time  his  new  BBC1 comedy  series  The  House  That  Jack  Built  with  Gillian  Taylforth  was  getting  slated   and  shedding  viewers  with  each  episode. The  last  one ( of  six )  wasn't  even  aired. Nonetheless  he  dusted  himself  down  to  appear  on  It's  The  Number  One  Party  on  New  Year's  Day  2003. Celebrating  fifty  years  of  the  charts, Adam  represented  the  fifties  and  performed  "What  Do  You  Want". It  was  pretty  ropey  but  he  looked  happy  to  be  up  there  again.

He  then  went  out  on  tour  in  Love  And  Marriage  and  was  reportedly  ruminating  over  doing  another  series  of  Love  Hurts  when  he  was  taken  ill  after  a  performance  in  Stoke-on-Trent  on  7  March. He  died  of  a  heart  attack  the  following  day. Fittingly  , for  the  first  TV-launched  pop  star  his  last  words  were  a  pungent  critique  of  Channel  5 :  "all  shit  isn't  it ? Christ, the  crap they  put  on  there. It's  a  waste  of  space".

158 Hello Cat Stevens - I Love My Dog

Chart  entered : 20  October  1966

Chart  peak : 28

Number  of  hits : 13

Some  self-control  required  here  as  I  try  to  keep  my  detestation  of  this  man  out  of  writing  about his  music.

Steven  Georgiou  was  born  in  1948  in  London  to  a  Greek  Orthodox  father  and  Baptist  mother. He was  then  educated at  a  Catholic  school  which  no  doubt  added  to  his  religious  confusion.  He   grew up  interested  in  music  and  art  and  spent  a  year  at  Hammersmith  College  of  Art  with  the  intention of  becoming  a  cartoonist. He  signed  his  first  publishing  deal  at  17 and  began  performing  his  songs   at   London  coffee  houses  and  pubs  under  the  name  Cat  Stevens.

In  1966  he  was  spotted by  ex-Springfield  Mike  Hurst  who  arranged  a  recording  session  for  him  at Decca  under  false  pretences,  telling  CEO Dick  Rowe  they  were  recording  a  Mike D'Abo  song. He  wasn't  amused  by  the  deception  but  his  boss  Edward  Lewis  liked  this  song  enough  to  agree  to  put  it  out  on  the  sub-label  Deram.

It's  hard  to  discern  what it  was  that  made  Lewis  so  indulgent. "I  Love  My  Dog" sounds,  at  best,  half-written. It's  only  two minutes and  sixteen  seconds  long  but  even  so  appears  to  run out  of  ideas  halfway  through. There's  little  more  than  a  single  verse  where  our  hero  charmingly  tells  his  lover  that  he  expects their  relationship  to  be  less  substantial  than the  one  he  has  with  his  dog. Hurst,  as  producer,  and  his  arranger Alan  Tew,  give  it  a  cello-heavy  baroque  pop  arrangement  predicating  the  works  of  Clifford T  Ward  and  the  teenaged  Cat  already  has  that  unmistakable  pained  tenor  but  it  still  sounds  a  very  slight  item. Nevertheless  pirate  radio  play  got  it  into  the  charts.