Previous Feature 45s — Page 5

The Small Faces first local hit, their eighth single release and the second single for the Stateside label was Itchycoo Park, a psychedelic-style song about an area of East London where they first rehearsed. The name referred to the itchy nettles which grew there. Earlier singles were released on Decca including the first, Whatcha Gonna Do About It in 1965. When the leader Steve Marriott formed Humble Pie, the other three members joined Ronnie Wood to form Rod Stewart's backing group, The Faces.

A single released exclusively in Australia of two tracks from The Beach Boys' U.S. long-playing release Surfer Girl. The tracks, Hawaii and The Rocking Surfer were recorded on 16th July 1963 and feature the vocals of Brian Wilson and Mike Love. On Sydney's 2UE Top 40, Hawaii made No.2 for four weeks in February and March 1964 and was listed for 16 weeks.

Regarded as the first of the girl groups, The Shirelles recorded this Carole King and Gerry Goffin song for Florence Greenberg's Scepter label in 1960. The composers called it simply Tomorrow but disc jockeys gave it a new title Will You Love Me Tomorrow for its second impression. It made No.6 in Sydney on 4th March 1961. The Shirelles returned to our Top 40 charts briefly in the following year with Soldier Boy.

The song A Pub With No Beer was adapted from Dan Sheahan's poem by Gordon Parsons and recorded by Slim Dusty in 1957. Late in 1958, Bobbejaan decided to record cover versions in Dutch and German. While the Dutch, Café zonder bier keeps the bar dry, the German, Ich steh'an der Bar und habe kein Geld has Bobbejaan's pocket empty. The stockman, swaggie and blacksmith are replaced by Tom Dooley and Charlie Brown portrayed as coward and miser.

Record producer, Russ Regan created Davey Summers and the Singing Ants and earlier, The Singing Reindeer (Dancer, Prancer and Nervous). He has produced records for the biggest names in pop music including The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, Neil Diamond and Elton John and he gave The Beach Boys their name. As Davey Summers he also recorded Calling All Cars with Sonny Bono.

The Happy Reindeer, written by Russ Regan (real name, Harold Rustigan) and Robert A. Plaisted and recorded in the style of David Seville's Chipmunks. It became a hit record around Christmas 1959, making No.25 on the Sydney Top 40, week ending 26th December.

Virginia O'Hanlon's letter to the editor of the New York Sun and the editor's published response as recorded in 1960 by José Ferrer with Norman Leyton and his Orchestra. Virginia was 8 years old when she wrote the letter in September 1897. The recording had some airplay on Sydney radio after Christmas 1961.

Scotsman, Lonnie Donegan began recording in 1953. His first 45rpm single, Lost John /Stewball was released locally on the Nixa label in August 1956 following his Decca 78 rpm Rock Island Line which made No.3 on our hit parades. He sang, played guitar and banjo on a revival of Huddie Ledbetter's classic Have a Drink on Me for which he added his own lyrics. On the Sydney Top 40, it made no.14 for two weeks in August 1961.

A limbo version of the traditional Jamaican song recorded in Nashville, Tennessee, by instrumentalists, The Tides with the Merry Melody Singers and orchestra conducted by Jerry Kennedy. Originally a track on their album Limbo Rock, it was issued as a Mercury single in 1962, coupled with the title track, then later re-issued on Philips with flip-side Patricia.

Written by Jesse Gonzales and produced by Norman Malkin for the Jack Ross Orchestra on the U.S. Dot label, the recording became a number one hit in Holland in 1962. The same tune was recorded for Warner Brothers, almost two years before as Happy Homer by Bill Haley and His Comets but was not released. Happy José made No.37 on Sydney's Top 40 in February 1962.

A "duet" performed by two Hayley Mills's from the film The Parent Trap as part of the plot by twins to reunite their divorced parents. Hayley starred as Pollyanna for Disney in 1960 and The Parent Trap (1961) was her second Disney film. An album and follow-up single Johnny Jingo/ Jeepers Creepers was released in 1962 then a duet with Maurice Chevalier, Enjoy It, from another Disney film In Search of the Castaways, was issued in 1963.

Sydney songwriter and performer, Jay Justin was a 20-year-old shoe salesmen when he signed a contract with HMV records. His debut single Nobody's Darling But Mine was released in August 1960 and his second Top 40 hit followed in 1961. His biggest hits Proud of You and Reminiscing made No.4 and No.6 (respectively) on the 2UE Top 40. With Joe Halford, he wrote songs for other artists.

Jack Scott was born in Ontario, Canada but spent his teenage years in Detroit, Michigan. His hit Leroy/My True Love was a million seller and What in the World's Come Over You was No.1 in Sydney in April 1960. Bob Nolan's country classic of 1936, Cool Water was intended to follow but the release was delayed by some months, Burning Bridges intervening.

See Now That I.

Born Harold Lloyd Jenkins in Mississippi in 1933, his first record I Need Your Lovin' was released on Mercury in 1957. His first hit It's Only Make Believe (MGM) came late in the following year. Hey Little Lucy! was recorded in New York for MGM records early in 1959 and preceded his hits Mona Lisa, Danny Boy, Lonely Blue Boy, Is a Bluebird Blue and C'est si bon.

The song, written by Mack Gordon and Harry Revel in 1937, was introduced by Alice Faye in the musical Wake Up and Live. In 1962, Linda Scott revived the song to follow her 1961 hits I've Told Every Little Star and Don't Bet Money Honey/ Starlight Starbright. Linda was born in New York and recorded for Canadian-American records and their subsidiary Congress label. Linda quit show business for theology in the 70's.

The fifth single in the Four Seasons' Philips catalogue and the first of them to miss a place in the Sydney Top 40. The first Philips singles Dawn (Go Away), Ronnie, Rag Doll and Save It For Me followed initial successes Big Girls Don't Cry and Walk Like a Man on the Festival label from Vee Jay (U.S.). Big Man in Town continued the theme of rich versus poor of some of their previous songs.
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Paul Anka's fifteenth W&G single release, following hits such as Diana, You Are My Destiny, Lonely Boy and Put Your Head on My Shoulder. Anka was born in Ottawa, Canada and wrote Diana when he was 15. He continued through the sixties and seventies, with a No. 1 hit, (You're) Having My Baby in 1974. He also wrote She's a Lady for Tom Jones and the English lyrics for Frank Sinatra's hit, My Way. See Dance On Little Girl and Kissin' on the Phone.

A band from Coventry, England managed by Andrew Loog Oldham who also managed The Rolling Stones. The song So Much in Love was composed by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards but they decided it wasn't suitable for The Rolling Stones. The Mighty Avengers later recorded another Jagger-Richards composition, Blue Turns to Grey which was a bigger hit for Cliff Richard. In the 1970's some of the group re-emerged as Jigsaw with a hit Sky High.

Don and Phil Everly penned this number and it was their first for the Warner Brothers label. It was also the first official Warner Brothers release in Australia after the signing of an agreement with the Australian Record Company earlier in 1960. To celebrate, the single was released on the same date as the U.S. release. It made No.3 on Sydney's Top 40 for two weeks early in May 1960 and was listed for 14 weeks.

The Olympics, a group formed in California, is best known for the 1958 hit Western Movies. The lead singer, Walter Ward was joined by his cousin and two school friends and they were signed to Demon Records in 1958. Little Pedro, a novelty number in a similar style to some of The Coasters' hits was released in February 1961 on the Arvee label in the U.S. and made No. 76 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Shane Fenton and the Fentones was an English group formed in 1961. After a successful audition with the BBC, they were signed to Parlophone records and their first single I'm a Moody Guy was released in September 1961. Why Little Girl was co-written by Fentone (under his real name Bernard Jewry) and was later performed in the film Play It Cool which starred Billy Fury. Shane Fenton was known as Alvin Stardust in the seventies.

After writing many songs for other artists and recording demo versions, Carole King recorded a hit demo in 1962, intended for Bobby Vee. Vee's manager rejected it as a single release and King's demo acetate of It Might As Well Rain Until September became a hit on the Billboard Hit 100. In 1963, it reached No.3 in the U.K. and in Sydney, No. 19 for two weeks late in October 1962 with an 8 week run on the Top 40.

A traditional gospel song thought to have an Afro-American origin in the 19th century. There have been many recordings since the 1940's, notably the million-selling version recorded in 1950 by Red Foley and the Jordanaires. Jimmie Rodgers recorded the song for his LP When the Spirit Moves You and a slightly altered single version was released simultaneously. It topped Sydney's singles chart for two weeks in July and August 1960.
--See--The Wreck of the John B;
Oh-Oh, I'm Falling in Love Again;
Child of Clay;
English Country Garden.

The Australian vocal duo The Allen Brothers were friends not brothers. Peter Allen and Chris Bell formed the duo in 1959, performed on television and at live venues throughout Australia and Asia and recorded three Top 40 hits. Judy Garland spotted them in Hong Kong in 1964 and directed their career. The duo split early in 1970 and Peter Allen became a successful songwriter until he died of throat cancer in 1992.

The tune written by Henry Mancini was included in the African wildlife film Hatari! starring John Wayne and shot on location in Tanganyika. The Miniature Men recorded the best selling cover version for Dolton Records and it made No.9 in Sydney in October 1962. The composer's version was an album track and featured tuba and woodwinds orchestrated in a way that represented an unsteady young elephant.

The song was written by Donna Kohler and Carl Maduri as a result of the hula hoop craze which swept the world in 1958. This version was recorded by Teresa Brewer, a popular singer from Ohio U.S.A., whose many hits include Music! Music! Music!, Till I Waltz Again With You, Ricochet and Sweet Old-Fashioned Girl. Another version was released in the same week on the Roulette label and sung by Georgia Gibbs but neither version was a Top 40 hit in Sydney.
--See--Ballad of Lover's Hill.

Beep-Beep became a million seller for The Playmates with their 1958 recording on Roulette. Time magazine reported that sales of Nash Motors Rambler models spiked late in 1958 despite an economic recession and the song's reference to a difficult gear lever. The song was written by Don and Chic of the group and was No.3 on Sydney's Top 40 for three weeks in February 1959. Their other hits were Jo Ann, Don't Go Home and Wait for Me.
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Johnny Preston was 19 when he recorded Running Bear with J. P. Richardson and George Jones in 1958. Richardson and Jones made the Indian noises. The record was released late in 1959 and became a million seller. Preston followed with Cradle of Love, Feel So Fine and six more Mercury singles before the release of the Autry Inman song Kissin' Tree. A run of W&G releases followed including a 1965 remake of Running Bear.
--See--New Baby For Christmas

Sue Thompson from Missouri, U.S.A. is best known for her Hickory label hits of the 1960's but her recording career dates back to 1950 when she signed to Mercury records. She recorded the first version of the 1952 hit You Belong to Me and released at least two Mercury 78rpm singles here in 1953. In 1957 she revived the Sammy Kaye hit Walkin' to Missouri for American Decca and in the 1970's she recorded duets with Don Gibson.

The original recording of Art Wayne and Bert Raleigh's 1962 composition. Jerry Cole joined The Champs in 1959 but soon left to become a session guitarist. He can be heard on a number of sixties hits including Be My Baby, Chapel of Love and Mr. Tambourine Man. Bobby Darin recommended him for a contract with Capitol Records and he recorded with his group Jerry Cole and His Spacemen. Midnight Mary was his only vocal hit.

A duo from Belgium, Gus Roan and Marc Malyster (The Veterans), recorded the song for an album on Lark Records in 1979. The lifted single was a small hit in Germany and Austria but a smash hit in Australia, largely due to exposure on Countdown (ABC-TV). It made No.6 on Sydney's Top 40 on 18th June 1980 during an 11 week run. A follow up single No More Smoking / Tap Dancin' was released here in July 1980 but without success.

Written and recorded by Harold Dorman in 1959 for Rita Records of Memphis Tennessee. The Little Green Men was the backing group and Billy Lee Riley formerly of Sun Records produced the recording. A string backing was added for the second impression and it was released nationally in February 1960 and later internationally on Top Rank. On Sydney's Top 40 it made No.22 on 4th June 1960 and was listed for seven weeks.

Johnny Crawford ex-mousketeer and co-star of the TV western series, The Rifleman released this recording on Del-Fi in July 1962. It followed two earlier singles Daydreams and Cindy's Birthday and reached No.20 for 2 weeks in November 1962 with a total 8 weeks on the Sydney Top 40 chart. Other releases followed, namely Rumors, Proud and his final hit Petite Chanson in 1963.

This was Marty Robbins' final Coronet single after seven years. He began with Maybelline in 1956, the first of 11 standard play (78 rpm) releases including A White Sport Coat and The Story of My Life. His first Coronet 45 rpm single was Mean Mama Blues in 1957, 21 more followed then a further five on CBS to 1968. Ruby Ann made No.28 on 26th January 1963 and was 3 weeks on Sydney's 2UE Top 40.
See--El Paso.

The sixties revival of Cab Calloway's 1931 hit by the Australian group The Cherokees in jug-band style. It retains the responsorial style and even the drug references "kokey" and "kicking the gong around", well-known expressions in some circles of the twenties and thirties but not so well-known in the sixties. Calloway's trademark "Hi-De-Ho" is transformed to "Der-Dee-Der".

The Marcels was a group of five singers from Pittsburgh who recorded on Colpix. Their first hit was a revival of the Rodgers and Hart pop classic of the thirties, Blue Moon. They followed with other oldies, Heartaches, My Melancholy Baby and others. After Johnny Cymbal's hit Mr. Bass Man, they recorded I Wanna Be the Leader, a song pushing for the restoration of the tenor as lead singer.

Originally an instrumental by the U.S. group, The Megatrons. In 1960, Dorothy Dodd, a Sydney housewife was asked to write lyrics for Velvet Waters as she had done 10 years earlier for Granada. Her vocal version was first recorded by Melbourne's Bruce Gillespie. A later version by Brisbane singer Tony Worsley made No. 5 (2UE Top 40) for 2 weeks in October and November 1965 and was listed for 15 weeks.

School friends, Ray Hildebrand and Jill Jackson were encouraged to record Ray's composition Hey Paula after singing it on radio. They assumed the name Paul and Paula and the single disc was issued internationally and became the first gold record for the Philips label. They had two more top 40 hits in Young Lovers and Flipped Over You. The fifth of eight Australian single releases during 1963 and 1964 was First Day Back at School.

Hosiery salesman, entertainer, contestant and grand champion of the quiz show Name That Tune on Sydney television, Jimmy Hannan travelled to Canada with his cash prize and spent six years there and in the U.S. He returned in 1962 to host his own TV show and later recorded a hit record, Beach Ball. Chang the Magic Dragon is a song about Graeme 'Changa' Langlands who played for the St. George rugby league team, The Dragons.

Johnny Preston's remake of his original hit which made No.1 in Sydney in February and March 1960. The remake recorded for Hall Records in the U.S. was played on Sydney radio, made the Brisbane and Melbourne Top 40 and enjoyed modest sales throughout Australia. It was reissued on a black label W&G in June 1969 to compete with the Sonny James version on Capitol.
For more--see
Kissin' Tree and New Baby For Christmas

Baby Sittin' Boogie was written by Johnny Parker and was Buzz Clifford's only hit although a follow-up single Three Little Fishes /Simply Because and an album entitled Baby Sittin' With Buzz were also released on Coronet in 1961. Baby Sittin' Boogie made No.17 in Sydney on 18th March 1961 and was listed for 9 weeks. Buzz Clifford went on to have a successful songwriting career.

The song was written in 1920 and initially recorded by The Amphion Quartet. Tab Hunter's version was one of many recordings over the years. Hunter was under exclusive contract to Warner Brothers films and recorded on Dot records. After four singles and an album for Dot, Jack Warner decided to create his own record company. Hunter came across but his appeal as a singer was waning and Apple Blossom Time was his only big hit for Warner Brothers.
See There's No Fool Like a Young Fool.

Brian Poole and The Tremeloes gained a contract with Decca Records in 1962 and the debut single was Twist Little Sister. Their version of Do You Love Me made No.1 in Sydney and the recording of the old Buddy Holly song Someone, Someone made No.7 on 8th July 1964 and was listed for 13 weeks on our Top 40. Poole left the group in 1965 to go solo but his career failed while The Tremeloes continued to record successfully for another three years.

Ray Peterson released nine RCA singles in Australia beginning with Fever in 1958 before his own label Dunes gave us six more on our London label. The first London issue was Corinna Corinna an adaptation of the traditional blues number first recorded under that title by Bo Carter in 1928. It made No.10 on the Sydney Top 40 in February 1961 and was listed for 7 weeks.

From his initial hit Diana (1957) to Eso Beso (1962), Paul Anka had 16 Top 40 hits in Sydney. Dance On, Little Girl made No.22 (12th August 1961) and was listed for 8 weeks. After concentrating on song writing for other artists, he had two further hits in the seventies with (You're) Having My Baby and One Man Woman, One Woman Man. See My Home Town and Kissin' on the Phone.

Patsy Ann Noble started in show business in Sydney with her parents Buster Noble and Helen de Paul and commenced a solo recording career with HMV records in 1960. Good Lookin' Boy (1961) was her biggest hit. The Noble family moved to England to support Patsy Ann's career in 1962. She recorded Sour Grapes with Martin Slavin's Orchestra for Columbia E.M.I. in England.

The Paris Sisters, from San Francisco sang Rum and Coca Cola with the Andrews Sisters on stage and later recorded for the Decca and Imperial labels in the fifties. Phil Spector produced their biggest hit, the Barry Mann and Larry Kolber composition I Love How You Love Me for Gregmark Records U.S.A. It made No 22 on Sydney's Top 40 on 16 December 1961 and was listed on the chart for 8 weeks.

Clinton Ford from Lancashire had a few hits in England from 1959 to 1967 but missed opportunities to record hit songs such as The Story of My Life and The Wedding. He formed a skiffle group in 1957 and his version of Old Shep was a hit in England in 1959. The closest to a hit in Sydney was Run to the Door although Why Don't Women Like Me was a minor hit in other Australian cities in 1966.

Inspired by the Corstophine Town area along the Tyne River in South Shields (N.E. England) where Bob Purvis and Bill Elliott grew up. Bob and Bill were the duo Splinter and Costafine Town was a track on their debut album The Place I Love. It was produced by George Harrison for his Dark Horse label and George played most of the instruments. The single made No.8 for two weeks in April 1975 in Sydney and charted for 14 weeks.

A pop group from Perth, Western Australia revived the Scottish folk song about Bonnie Prince Charlie's escape to the Isle of Skye after the Battle of Culloden in 1746. The song was first published in London in 1884 and a version was released by Kenneth McKellar on Decca in 1957, becoming popular on Sydney radio. Glen Ingram's up-tempo version made No.5 on Sydney's Top 40 on 14 Dec 1966 and stayed on the charts for 15 weeks.

Well recognised by Bernie Hagley's introduction on the flute, Hitchin' a Ride became this English group's second million seller, the first being Early in the Morning. There were three earlier releases including a version of The Sunrays hit I Live for the Sun (Parlophone) in 1968. Hitchin' a Ride made No.7 on Sydney's Top 40 on 18 Feb 1970 and was listed for 12 weeks.

Billy Rose and Lee David's song was first recorded by Irving Kaufman in 1926, a hit for Gene Austin in 1927 and returned three times in the fifties. Floyd Robinson's arrangement followed Frankie Laine's 1952 version and a best-selling version by the sister duo Patience and Prudence in 1956. It made No.29 on 16th April 1960 and was listed for 5 weeks on Sydney's Top 40.

For more see: Boys and Girls