30 EVERYBODY KNOWS (Reed/Mason) DAVE CLARK 5
29 STARDUST (Carmichael/Parish) NAT "KING" COLE
28 THE TIME HAS COME (Van Dyke) ADAM FAITH
27 THE WAY OLD FRIENDS DO (Andersson/Ulvaeus) ABBA
26 CARRY ME, CARRIE (Silverstein) DR HOOK/DENNIS LOCORRIERE
25 RAILWAY HOTEL (Batt) MIKE BATT
24 IF I DIDN'T HAVE A DIME (Russell/Medley) GENE PITNEY
23 HEY! BABY (Channel) BRUCE CHANNEL
22 THE ASHOKAN FAREWELL (Ungar) BAND OF H.M. ROYAL MARINES
21 MISS YOU NIGHTS (Townsend) CLIFF RICHARD
CLICK ON RED TITLE OF EACH TRACK FOR MORE INFORMATION
30
EVERYBODY KNOWS
(Reed/Mason)
DAVE CLARK 5
Released - 1967 Highest Chart Position - 14th No. of Weeks on Charts - 14
Wish they hadn't seen you walk away
And heard me beg you "Stay, please stay"
Why, why did we choose this crowded place
They all know it, 'cause I show it in my face
Everybody knows you said goodbye
Everybody knows we're through
Now they all can see the tears I cry
Running down my face for you
They all said it's too good to be true
It'll make a fool of you one day
I just laughed and said our love was strong
But you left me and they all know I was wrong
Everybody knows you're tired of me
Everybody knows we're through
Though I'm on my own I can't be free
Baby, I just live for you
Everybody knows you said goodbye
Everybody knows we're through
Now they all can see the tears I cry
Running down my face for you
Everybody knows you're tired of me
Everybody knows we're through
Though I'm on my own I can't be free
Baby, I just live for you
This is another of those little songs that is of quite strong personal significance to me. I’d rather not delve too deeply into that, but I’d like to commend this contemporary group of the Beatles from the 1960’s. There were 4 or 5 groups challenging the “Fab 4” for top spot in the affections of the record-buying public both here and in the States. The Dave Clark 5 were one of those groups. They released hit after stomping hit - normally upbeat songs perfect for dancing to. Then, of course, the time came for them to be brave and ask their fans to buy a ballad.
Naturally, Ray Poole loved the tuneful, pretty song and it soon became a strong favourite. I particularly like the ‘cello in the orchestral backing - it adds a strong yet sweet sound to the accomplished vocals, and it lifts the whole thing to a higher level.
The Dave Clark 5 played their part in the British domination of world music in the 60’s and I think this performance ranks up there with the very best. An interesting fact to finish on - the group actually released 2 singles in the 1960’s with the same title, “Everybody Knows” - that must be unique, don’t you think?
29
STARDUST
(Carmichael/Parish)
NAT "KING" COLE
Released - 1957 Highest Chart Position - 24th No. of Weeks on Charts - 2
Distinctive vocal style is paramount as far as I’m concerned, but singers who date back to the pre-1960’s are not too well represented in my list of favourites! "Crooners" like Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Al Martino, Tony Bennett, Perry Como etc. didn’t play a significant part in my early musical education. The exception is Nat "King" Cole.
The husky, completely one-off vocal cords first came to my attention when at the height of my record-buying I was one of the millions who bought "Rambling Rose"! I liked the voice a lot, and to the amazement of all my friends and my parents, I went out and bought Nat’s "Best Of..." album and began to take an interest in his style of music.
Again, I could have chosen any of a number of songs performed by Nat. "Nature Boy", "Mona Lisa" and "When I Fall In Love" spring readily to mind. "Stardust" is my choice, as it is a well-structured song with strong lyrics and a memorable chorus.
Nat "King" Cole had a remarkable career and was at the forefront of race-hatred and segregation in the States. He had to overcome so much prejudice, but he did it with a dignity and persistence which is to his eternal credit. Personally, I don’t think of him in the same bracket as Sinatra & Co. He was better than all of them!
It’s ironic too that the husky quality of his voice owes so much to the extremely heavy smoking habit that was to take his life too damn early. Still, we have dozens of albums to keep his memory alive - a memory sprinkled with golden "stardust".
28
THE TIME HAS COME
(Van Dyke)
ADAM FAITH
Released - 1961 Highest Chart Position - 4th No. of Weeks on Charts - 14
The time has come for me to hang my head in shame
The time has come for me to say that I'm to blame
The time has come for love's return but it won't be the same
Oh please believe me I won't make the same mistakes again.
The time has come to end this very sad affair
The time has come for you and I once more to share a summers kiss
But love's return won't ever be the same
Oh please believe me I won't make the same mistakes again.
No more sorrows, no more cheating
Our tomorrows won't be repeating the past
So here am I to ask if you can still forgive
If you can love, the time has come for love to live
With no regrets, but take my word that love won't be the same
Oh please believe me I won't make the same mistakes again
Oh please believe me I won't make the same mistakes again.
Come on, you people who remember me when I was a spotty, immature 14 year-old! Was I, or was I not, Adam Faith's biggest fan? Yep! When I had that Dansette record player for Christmas 1959, it was Adam who was my hero. Those appearances on early the Saturday evening's BBCtv pop shows in `59 were just at the time I was developing strong personal musical tastes.
"What Do You Want", "Poor Me", "Someone Else's Baby" etc., etc., etc. All were bought and played to death, as was "Adam", my first LP purchase. I related with Adam, for some reason. I suppose he had straight hair with a parting. So did I. He wasn't that tall. Nor was I. He couldn't sing that well! Nor could I! How on earth could I chose Cliff Richard compared with Adam Faith?
I saw Adam live, at the Princess Theatre, Torquay, with pen-pal Janet Hurt from Sheffield when we were on holiday in Paignton in `61 - he was actually a lot shorter than me, and he could sing a lot better than me! His hair was a lot blonder than mine. Yes, I liked Adam and all his efforts at singing.
Then he made a totally ridiculous "comedy" film about (whisper this, please) the Loch Ness Monster, starring Sid James and Wilfred Bramble amongst others who are instantly forgettable! But the film contained a performance of a song which will always be in my favourites list. Adam's rendition of "The Time Has Come" conjures up memories of those early teenage years of mine, before the Swinging 60's were to take our innocence. Exciting times where friends had strong allegiances to such superstars as Lonnie Donegan (Terry Ling), The Everly Brothers (Alan Vowles), Duane Eddy (David Eele) and French stars like Francoise Hardy (Colin Matthews)!
It was Adam Faith for me, bless him. Then along came the Beatles and we changed those strong allegiances for ever! Adam continued for a while with a Mersey-sounding song or two, but times had changed for ever, and I found a new hero to support - Gene Pitney.
I listen to Adam's songs today and realise how ultra-commercial they were, but they were right for the times, and I am not ashamed to say that I still enjoy singing along to them all, but none more so than "The Time Has Come". O.K., "byebee"!!!!
27
THE WAY OLD FRIENDS DO
(Andersson/Ulvaeus)
ABBA
Released - 1980 Released on Album "Super Trouper"
You and I can share the silence
Finding comfort together
The way old friends do
And after fights and words of violence
We make up with each other
The way old friends do
Times of joy and times of sorrow
We will always see it through
Oh I don't care what comes tomorrow
We can face it together
The way old friends do
We can face it together
The way old friends do
I think I explained in the Introduction Page to this Top 50 that sometimes I've made a choice of a track for personal reasons as much as for the fact that it is a great song.
Well, I guess that this live Abba performance qualifies on both counts. The final track on the highly successful 1980 album "Super Trouper", and I can think of few Abba recordings that pluck at the heart-strings as much as this one. Perhaps there have been more famous songs from the Swedish pop phenomenon, but I have some personal reasons for choosing "The Way Old Friends Do". For once I really don't want to explain more fully why, but the words are central to its' selection and recall some emotional times for me.
As I commented earlier in the count-down, Abba's songs are very deceptive and once again, the simplicity of the delivery hides a more complex arrangement. Critics continue to question how strongly the group deserve the acclamation poured upon them over the years, but for me they sum up the true essence of a successful pop act.
The girls' voices combine as well as any twosome ever have - in fact, I cannot bring to mind any female duo that can even come close. I bet you their songs will still be sung in a hundred years from now.
26
CARRY ME, CARRIE
(Silverstein)
DR HOOK/DENNIS LOCORRIERE
Released - 1972 Highest Chart Position - 0 No. of Weeks on Charts - 0
Second Street on Broadway
Sittin' in a doorway, head held in his hands
Looked to all the world like he was prayin'.
Foot wrapped in old rag, bottle in a brown bag,
I saw him trying to stand
Then I heard the words that he was sayin'
He said...
Come on, Carrie,
Carry me a little farther
Come on, Carrie,
Carry me one more mile.
I don't know where it's leadin' to,
But I know I can make it if I lean on you,
So come on, Carrie,
Carry me a little
I carried you, now carry me a little
Come on, Carrie, carry me a little while.
Well he struggled to his feet and staggered down the street
To the window of a five and dime
He stood and laughed a while at his reflection.
And then I heard him shoutin' something 'bout a mountain
He could surely climb
If she was only there to point the right direction.
But she ain't, no, but she ain't, no....
He said
Come on, Carrie,
Carry me a little farther
Come on, Carrie,
Carry me one more mile
I don't know where it's leadin' to,
But I know I can make it if I lean on you,
So come on, Carrie,
Carry me a little.
I carried you, now carry me a little
Come on, Carrie,
Carry me a little while....
Picture it.......perhaps remember it from experience.......Dr Hook troop off the stage, all except Dennis. Alone on stage with just his guitar, he builds the expectant audience up to this - the highlight of the 1970’s /1980’s concerts.
We loved the change of pace from the frenetic clowning around, but we didn’t know then that it was a foretaste what was to happen 20 years or more down the road, when Dennis was the solo star, alone on stage with just his guitar, and a 165 minute performance. No, it was 5 minutes back then, with "Carry Me, Carrie" - a Shel Silverstein classic about drunkeness and pleas for assistance to get him that one more mile. It’s so desperate a song, so gut-wrenching that you can almost smell the alcohol fumes. It was a truly marvellous few minutes that we treasured greatly - and still do.
So that is "Carry Me, Carrie" by Dr Hook & the Medicine Show, taken from the 1972 album "Sloppy Seconds". A great pop song.
25
RAILWAY HOTEL
(Batt)
MIKE BATT
Released - 1977 Highest Chart Position - 0 No. of Weeks on Charts - 0
We went to the room and we bolted the door,
The bass from the jukebox was coming through the floor,
And out through the walls we could still hear the roar of the trains.
Was this all the comfort we got for our sins?
No candles, no waiters, no soft violins?
A dirty electric convector plugged into the mains.
I had wanted much more for the first night with you,
But the Railway Hotel was the best I could do.
I knew the Savoy would have suited you well,
But the best I could do was the Railway Hotel.
Away in the sky were the lights of a jet,
Burning in the night like a slow cigarette.
The lamp in the street threw a soft silhouette on the wall.
And though it was crumbling and rundown and dead
A chair and a sink and an old single bed,
The love we began and the things that we said, I recall.
I had wanted much more for the first night with you,
But the Railway Hotel was the best I could do.
I knew the Savoy would have suited you well,
But the best I could do was the Railway Hotel
The second Mike Batt performance in my Top 50 is a self-penned song which has been recorded by several other well-known singers including a memorable version by Roger Whittaker. However, I feel that Mike's way of delivering the plaintive, wistful lyrics of gentle regret is just about perfect.
How many of us have wished for a situation to have been so much better than it was only to realise some time later that the reason we recall it with such nostalgia is because it wasn't as wonderful as it could have been?
I think that this is a very romantic song. Not in a slushy, candle-lit, floral way but in a more realistic way, and Mike Batt has picked the right mood and reminded us all that love songs come in all guises, including no-star hotels next to a railway-line!
Isn't he a fine composer/song-writer. Talent comes in all shapes and sizes and Mike is a great example of achieving the very best that you can. A memorable song by a highly talented man.
24
IF I DIDN'T HAVE A DIME
(Russell/Medley)
GENE PITNEY
Released - 1962 Highest Chart Position - 0 No. of Weeks on Charts - 0
If I didn't have a dime, and I didn't take the time to play the juke box
Saturday night would have been a sad and lonely night for me
And if you weren't standing there ruby lips and golden hair, beside the juke box
I'd have lost my chance to hold you while you danced with me
While the records turned and turned we danced and learned, our hearts had yearned for this
`Neath the moon we walked and walked and talked of love, and then...we kissed
Now with every sweet caress, oh my darlin' how I blessed that little juke box
Love songs that they sing wouldn't mean a single thing
Even though you're standing there ruby lips and golden hair
If I didn't have a dime and I didn't take the time...to play the juke box
Now with every sweet caress, oh my darlin' how I blessed that little juke box
Love songs that they sing wouldn't mean a single thing
Even though you're standing there ruby lips and golden hair
If I didn't have a dime and I didn't take the time...to play the juke box
I'd bought "Love My Life Away", Gene's first chart hit some time earlier, but it was just another U.S. hit (a good one though) by an unknown U.S. artist.
There are always quintessential moments in your life, and musically speaking the day I heard "If I Didn't Have A Dime" was one such moment. We all liked singers like Neil Sedaka, Del Shannon and other top pre-Beatle Era American singers, but one evening in Radlet Close, Taunton, listening to Radio Luxembourg on a well-used tranny with the "gang" (gangs were nice, friendly, social things then, not like today), there came this sound across the airwaves. Ray Poole's ears waggled!!! What was this pretty little song? I liked it - I liked it a lot. Very few songs hit you straight away - most grow on you, but this was one that was an immediate favourite. Radio Luxembourg faded out - I didn't catch the title. Shock/horror! One of the lads wanted to help - "It was by some girl called Jean, I think they said". No-one else seemed to care too much, and more important things were on the agenda!
For several days, I kept trying to recall that little song about a jukebox by a girl called Jean and also consulted my Friday copy of "New Musical Express"! Nothing, zilch.
As I said, this just happened to be a defining moment in my record-buying history! For when I finally stumbled upon what the record was and who sang it, it was the start of nearly 40 years of buying, playing and enjoying the recordings of a great singer. There it was - a small mention in another music paper, "Disc". The clue was in the brackets! "If I Didn't Have A Dime (to play the jukebox) by Gene Pitney.
Adam Faith was about to be deposed! Gene was tops now. The bonus was that Mr Pitney was such a fine person to have as a pop hero. Clean-cut, tidy, very decently dressed and when interviewed, highly articulate too. Girls in the "Close" liked him as he was a good-looking chap - the lads liked him because he could sing well.
Those were the days of the twice-nightly pop concert tours involving up to 6 top attractions of the moment and the "Radlet Gang" were always up for it when these shows were on tour in the south-west. Amazingly, Gene never actually appeared in Taunton, but regular visits to Bristol and Exeter over the next few years gave us the opportunity to see Gene live, and he was one of the few artists who were as good on stage as on record.
I championed Gene Pitney for several unproductive years as far as chart hits were concerned, until there came the big breakthrough -"24 Hours From Tulsa", of course. The rest, as they say, is history.
Gene Pitney, a name who has been with me musically for over 40 years, sadly passed away after a concert in Cardiff on 5th April 2006 - midway through another sell-out tour of the UK. I admired him so much as a man and as a musical perfectionist. A true Star.
I can't remember who it was in Radlet Close who thought Mr P. was a girl singer, but I do realise that Gene wasn't a British male name in 1962. Radio Luxembourg continued to play his music throughout the decade, and we all knew by then who it was - a male Gene!
Happy, happy days.
23
HEY! BABY
(Channel)
BRUCE CHANNEL
Released - 1962 Highest Chart Position - 2nd No. of Weeks on Charts - 12
Hey, hey baby
I wanna know
if you`ll be ,my girl
When I saw you walking down the streets
I said that's the kind of gal I`d like to meet
she's so pretty, Lord she`s fine
I'm gonna make her mine all mine
Hey, hey baby
I wanna know if you`ll be my girl
When you turned and walked away
that`s when I want to say
come on baby give me a whirl
I wanna know if you`ll be my girl
Hey, hey baby
I wanna know
if you`ll be my girl
If there's one pop song from the very early days of the 60's that encapsulated the joy and sheer happiness of being a teenager at that most wonderful of times it was Bruce Channel's smash hit "Hey! Baby".
A very unusual voice - that's what is most striking about Bruce's record. But, did you know that the harmonica intro directly influenced a fledgling British foursome so much that they made a similar, almost "tribute" style intro to their first hit - which was called "Love Me Do"? The Beatles actually were influenced by Bruce Channel.
Bruce didn't go from strength to strength after Hey! Baby. The follow-up was the identical "Number One Man" which sunk without a trace (I bought it though, and all the other misses he had in the decade!). I really enjoyed the soulful sounds emanating from a singer who has never really become known to the masses. He did have two minor successes some years later - "Keep On" & "Mr Bus Driver", but nothing else - ever!
That's not to say he has been forgotten completely, however. I searched the net and a surprising amount came to light - including the fact that a bluesy new album from those husky vocal chords was released not so long ago - I may well invest a few dollars by ordering it from the States!
So, "Hey! Baby" is a super reminder of my formative years - of the evenings spent after school in Radlet Close and Priorswood Playing Fields with my many friends of the time. It's a biggie in my charts - and I really do wonder if those from my past associate it with those few wonderful years as much as I do.
22
THE ASHOKAN FAREWELL
(Ungar)
BAND OF H.M. ROYAL MARINES, PLYMOUTH
Released - 1999 Highest Chart Position - 0 No. of Weeks on Charts - 0
The sun is sinking low in the sky above Ashokan
The pines and the willows know soon we will part
There's a whisper in the wind of promises unspoken
And a love that will always remain in my heart.
My thoughts will return to the sound of your laughter
The magic of moving as one
And a time we'll remember long ever after
The moonlight and music and dancing are done.
Will we climb the hills once more?
Will we walk the woods together?
Will I feel you holding me close once again?
Will every song we've sung stay with us forever?
Will you dance in my dreams or my arms until then?
Under the moon the mountains lie sleeping
Over the lake the stars shine
They wonder if you and I will be keeping
The magic and music, or leave them behind.
A simple tune, played on a solo violin, by the Director of Music of the Band of H.M. Royal Marines Plymouth, Captain John Perkins, with a very understated accompaniment; the melody repeated any number of times with barely a change of style or mood throughout its entirety.
Not a promising description for as highly rated a track as this, is it! But, the more that you hear it, the more it enters into your soul - the more it creeps into your unconscious.
The tune was "made famous" as being the insistent sound-track to a critically acclaimed television series, but a series very few people ever seem to have watched. I didn't catch it first time around, but read about it, and it has been repeated since on BBC2 - and every other week on one of the myriad of satellite channels! It has become so popular that it has actually reached the Classic FM Top 300 (no mean feat as that is not so easy to do when you consider the number of classical pieces that are eligible). The tune is "The Ashokan Farewell", composed by American Jay Ungar - more about him shortly.
The TV programme was "The American Civil War", a fantastic historical series which deserved all the accolades it received. Now, I knew absolutely nothing about the music or the composer until I went searching on the internet, and here's what I found out. As far as the record is concerned, this version by the Band of H.M. Royal Marines, Plymouth is the definitive version and has a haunting quality to it. My father was an accomplished violinist both in a local band and as a soloist. I'm sure that he would have jumped at the chance of playing this simple, beautiful tune had it been around when he was doing his thing on the fiddle!
21
MISS YOU NIGHTS
(Townsend)
CLIFF RICHARD
Released - 1976 Highest Chart Position - 15th No. of Weeks on Charts - 10
I've had many times, I can tell you,
Times when innocence I'd trade for company,
And children saw me crying.
I thought I had my share of that.
But these Miss You Nights are the longest.
Midnight diamonds stud my heaven,
Southward burning lie the jewels that eye your place,
And warm winds that embrace me,
Just as surely kissed your face.
Yeah, these Miss You Nights they're the longest.
How I missed you,
How I missed you, I'm not likely to tell.
I'm a man,
And cold daylight buys the pride I'd rather sell.
All my secrets,
All my secretes are a wasted affair,
You know them well.
Thinking of my going,
How to cut the thread and leave it all behind.
Looking windwards, for my compass,
I take each day as it arrives.
But these Miss You Nights are the longest.
Lay down,
Lay down all thoughts of your surrender,
It's only me who's killing time.
Play down,
Play down all dreams and themes once remembered,
It's just the same, this miss you game.
Yes, these Miss You Nights are the longest.
I'm not a fan of Cliff Richard. There's nothing that I can put into sensible enough words to explain why but there it is. What I can acknowledge is the fact that Cliff has had a remarkable career, lasting nigh on 50 years. That is a remarkable achievement in any walk of life, but in the fickle, ever-changing world of popular music, it is truly incredible. His fans are the most loyal of any artist, ever. He is a devout and clean-living Christian, and no hint of scandal has ever been associated with his name or reputation. Even after saying all that, I still cannot bring myself to actually like him, as a person or a singer. Sorry!
I've only ever bought 2 records by Cliff. "Travellin' Light" and "Miss You Nights". The former was my first ever "45" purchase, so can I be excused on the grounds of juvenile irresponsibility please? However, I was a more mature person when in February 1976 I added "Miss You Nights" to my collection. It was a medium-sized hit nearly 3 years after his previous top 10 entry, but surely it is the very best song he has ever recorded. It's a beautiful song - a marvellous song and has been acknowledged by Cliff as his personal favourite (so he has got good taste after all!). I've got a version by Art Garfunkel, but it's not the definitive version, Cliff's is.
Now, guess what! I worked with the composer of "Miss You Nights". Honest, guv. Dave Townsend is a Tauntonian. What he was doing in the post room of the Education Department of the Somerset County Council I really don't know. But he was, and we were on reasonably close speaking terms. It was at a time when the rigid dress code and grooming was being relaxed, and I clearly remember Dave with very long flowing hair and white (ish) trainers! Not the usual County Hall image, but he was a nice guy. He also sang in a quite well-known local group which had some limited success.
So, to have this slight acquaintance with the composer of one of the most poignant and heart-rending songs of the Century is something special - special enough to help elevate "Miss You Nights" up there in a very high no.11 place. I've not met Dave Townsend since those days in the early 70's, and I didn't like Cliff Richard much then either.
