Previous Feature 45s — Page 12

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Title:Back to the Hop
Artist:Danny & the Juniors
Writer:Terranova, White
Label:Top Rank
Release:November 1961
Danny and The Juniors began as a vocal quartet in the mid 1950s and with the help of DJ Dick Clark they had their first big hit late in 1957 with At The Hop for the ABC Paramount record label. In 1960 they made a change to Swan Records and in 1961 they recorded a sequel to their first hit, Back to The Hop with Frank Slay and his Orchestra. The song made No.80 on the Billboard Hot 100. One of the group, Dave White was famous for his compositions for other artists, The Fly, You Don't Own Me and 1-2-3.
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Title:Now That I
Artist:Jack Scott
Writer:Jack Scott
Label:Capitol
Release:June 1961
Jack Scott recorded for Capitol Records from March 1961 to December 1962 after the collapse of the Top Rank International label in the U.S.A. For Top Rank he had many hits including What in the World's Come Over You and Burning Bridges but not so for the Capitol label. His first Capitol single was A Little Feeling (Called Love) backed with Now That I and it barely made the Billboard Hot 100 at No.91.

See Cool Water
feature 45
Title:Got a Zack in the Back of Me Pocket
Artist:Johnny Devlin
Composer:Nat Kipner
Label:Teen
Release:October 1960
Johnny Devlin came from a musical family. He won a talent quest in 1951 and formed a band with his brothers. In 1958 he began recording for New Zealand's Prestige label and released eight singles in as many months. In 1959 he came to Australia and set up his own record label, 'Teen'. He recorded this single with 'The Bricks and the Deeners' and the song made No.7 in Sydney on 12th November 1960.
See:
Lonely Boy and I Gotta Be True.
feature 45
Title:Newcastle Twist
Artist:Lord Rockingham's XI
Composer:Blackwell
Label:Decca
Release:May 1962
This British session group was put together in 1958 by musician Harry Robinson and television producer Jack Good. The group commenced with XI (eleven) members including an organist, saxophonists, guitarists, a double bass player and a percussionist and later they added a pianist. Their first record was Fried Onions and later in 1958 they had a British No.1 hit Hoots Mon. Newcastle Twist was based on a Tyneside folk tune The Keel Row.
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Title:Camptown Races
Artist:The Playboys
Composer:S.Foster arr.The Playboys
Label:Sunshine
Release:February 1965
An instrumental quintet formed in Melbourne, Australia in 1963. They backed a number of local artists and in April 1964 supported 'Gerry and the Pacemakers' and 'Brian Poole and the Tremeloes' on their Australian tour. Later that year, 'The Playboys' signed to the newly-formed Sunshine label and released an album and five singles. The first single was Exodus / Sabre Dance followed by Swan Lake / Camptown Races. The group became well known as the backing group for Normie Rowe.
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Title:I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman
Artist:Whistling Jack Smith
Composer:Greenaway, Cooke
Label:Deram
Release:February 1967
Whistling Jack Smith, a "one-hit" group was formed in England in 1966 from studio musicians with the Mike Sammes Singers. The name was a play on the famous American crooner of the 1920s, 'Whispering Jack Smith'. John O'Neill from the Mike Sammes Singers was thought to be the whistler on I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman; the recording made No.3 in Sydney, 24th May 1967 and was also a hit in England and America. An unsuccessful follow-up single was released, I Was Bizet's Carman.
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Title:English Country Garden
Artist:Jimmie Rodgers
Composer:adpt. Jimmie Rodgers
Label:Roulette
Release:September 1961
An English folk song, Country Gardens, one of many collected by Cecil Sharp, was famously arranged for piano by Percy Grainger and published in the U.S.A. in 1916. Jimmie Rodgers released a pastiche on a Roulette single in 1961, calling it English Country Garden.
For more of Jimmie Rodgers, click the links below:

The Wreck of the John B;
Oh-Oh, I'm Falling in Love Again;
Just A Closer Walk With Thee;
Child of Clay.
feature 45
Title:Jingle Bells (medley)
Artist:The Singing Dogs
Composer:J. Pierpont
Label:Festival
Release:March 1956
Danish recording engineer, Carl Weissman recorded bird songs in the early days of tape recording in the late 1940s. Barking dogs often fouled the recordings, so by careful editing and pitch scaling he was able to make the dogs sing Oh Susannah, Pat-a-Cake, Three Blind Mice and Jingle Bells. These singing dog recordings were released in America in 1955 and became a million selling single.
hollyleaf
feature 45
Title:I Need Your Love Tonight
Artist:Col Joye
Composer:Wayne, Reichner
Label:Festival
Release:August 1963
A single released from Col Joye's Classics of Rock album, I Need Your Love Tonight was a hit for Elvis Presley in 1959. Col Joye's single made No.21 on the Sydney Top 40, 4th October 1963 coupled with the A side, Be-Bop-A-Lula; it was his 14th Top 40 hit in Sydney. His run began in 1959 with three number one hits: Bye Bye Baby; (Rockin' Rollin') Clementine and Oh Yeah Uh Huh.
For more of Col Joye, see--
Starlight of Love.
feature 45
Title:My Blue Heaven
Artist:The String-A-Longs
Composer:Whiting, Donaldson
Label:London
Release:August 1962
This instrumental quintet from Texas began recording as the "Rock 'n' Rollers" in 1958, later changing their name to 'The Leen Teens'. Their producer, Norman Petty suggested the name String-A-Longs and they are best-known for their 1961 hit Wheels. The following year, they recorded the Walter Donaldson and George Whiting composition My Blue Heaven. The song was well-known since 1928 when Gene Austin made it a hit and sold five million copies.
feature 45
Title:Toast and Marmalade for Tea
Artist:Tin Tin
Composer:Steve Groves
Label:Polydor
Release:1970
This duo was formed in Britain from Australian musicians Steve Groves and Steve Kipner. They named themselves 'Tin Tin' from the Belgian comic strip. On the recording, they were joined by Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees. Maurice played bass guitar with a broken arm, the drum pedal was broken and a sound engineer accidentally leaned on the tape machine making the piano track wobble. However it made No.20 in Sydney on 16th September 1971 and it was also a Billboard hit in the U.S.A.
feature 45
Title:Spanish Flea
Artist:Kathy Kirby
Composer:Wechter, Stellman
Label:Decca
Release:April 1966
Kathy Kirby was an English singer who joined the legendary band of Bert Ambrose in 1956. In 1960 she began recording for Pye before signing with Decca Records and releasing (He's A) Big Man late in 1962. Her upbeat revivals of Secret Love and Let Me Go Lover propelled her into the hit charts late 1963 and early 1964. She represented Britain in the 1965 Eurovision Song Contest coming second place and later she released a vocal version of the Tijuana Brass instrumental Spanish Flea.
feature 45
Title:Peace of Mind
Artist:The Bee Gees
Composer:B. Gibb
Label:Leedon
Release:10 February 1964
The Bee Gees had only two Top 40 hits before leaving Australia to return to England where they were born. The first hit was Wine and Women in 1965 and the second, Spicks and Specks in 1966. After departure, they had enormous international success, particularly in America where Billboard named them the third most successful band after 'The Beatles' and 'The Supremes'.
For more see:
The Three Kisses of Love and Everyday I Have to Cry.
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feature 45
Title:Bristol Stomp
Artist:The Dovells
Composer:Mann, Appell
Label:Columbia
Release:October 1961
An American quintet formed in Pennsylvania in 1957 and signed a contract with Parkway Records in 1960. Bristol Stomp was their first hit and it sold a million copies, earning the group a gold record. Subsequent releases had mild success until You Can't Sit Down in 1963 which made No.3 on the Billboard Hot 100. In the same year one of the original members, Len Barry left the group and had success later with the songs 1-2-3 and Like a Baby.
feature 45
Title:Greenback Dollar
Artist:The Merry Melody Singers
Composer:N. Matthews
Label:Philips
Release:March 1963
Gordon Stoker, Neal Matthews and Raymond Walker, members of the Jordanaires joined Margie Singleton and Millie Kirkham. These vocalists and musicians were used as session artists on many recordings of the forties, fifties and sixties. In 1962 they came together under the name, The Merry Melody Singers and recorded Neal Matthews' composition Greenback Dollar which was also recorded by The Springfields.
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Title:Golden Wildwood Flower
Artist:Tom and Jerry
Composer:Terry, Kennedy, Tomlinson
Label:Mercury
Release:May 1961
Session guitarists Tommy Tomlinson and Jerry Kennedy came together in 1960 to record their own instrumental tune, Golden Wildwood Flower for Mercury Records. Jerry Kennedy began in the fifties as a guitarist for many artists including June Valli, Patti Page, Rusty Draper, George Jones and Johnny Horton. Tommy Tomlinson also worked with Johnny Horton; his guitar work is heard on Horton's big hits.
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Title:Rondo
Artist:Warren Carr
Composer:Mozart, arr. Carr,Garrett
Label:Leedon
Release:June 1962
A honky-tonk arrangement by Warren Carr of the third movement (alla turca) of Mozart: Sonata No.11 in A Major (K331). Carr was born in Newcastle, NSW, Australia and his first recording was Li'l Ole Me, an American tune composed by Jerry Smith. Carr was a regular on the Johnny O'Keefe television shows and had three Top 40 hits in Sydney. Rondo was the third hit and it made No.10 on 30th June 1962.
feature 45
Title:Your Goodnight Kiss (Ain't What It Used to Be)
Artist:Guy Mitchell
Composer:E. Warren, G. Goehring
Label:Coronet
Release:May 1961
Guy Mitchell was signed to Columbia Records in 1950 after singing with Carmen Cavallaro's Band. His first hit My Heart Cries For You was one of his six million sellers. As well as his solos he had a number of duets with female artists such as Rosemary Clooney, Mindy Carson and Doris Day. He had no less than 30 hit parade entries in Sydney between 1951 and 1957 and his biggest sellers were My Truly Truly Fair and Singing the Blues.
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Title:Stay With Me (A Little While Longer)
Artist:Ed Townsend
Composer:Ed Townsend
Label:Warner Bros.
Release:October 1960
Ed Townsend was born in Tennessee in 1929 and studied law after graduating from college. He served in the U.S. Army in Korea then started recording in the mid 50s for Aladdin Records. His first hit was his own composition For Your Love in 1958 on the Capitol label. In 1960 he recorded Stay With Me (A Little While Longer) for Warner Brothers. After this he concentrated more on song writing and record production.
feature 45
Title:The Old Oaken Bucket
Artist:Tommy Sands
Composer:Ervin Drake
Label:Capitol
Release:August 1960
American singer and film actor, Tommy Sands began recording for the RCA label without much success. A change to the Capitol label and a song by Joe Allison gave him his first hit record, Teen-age Crush in 1957. Later he developed an easy-listening style and recorded I'll Be Seeing You and The Old Oaken Bucket. The latter disc was his fifteenth single release in Australia. It peaked at No.28 on Sydney's 2UE Top 40, 3rd September, 1960.
feature 45
Title:The Plumber's Cha Cha
Artist:Dick Curtis
Composer:Dick Curtis
Label:W&G
Release:September 1960
Dick Curtis was an American comedian whose earliest involvement with show business was with Desi Arnaz' travelling group in the 1940s. He later sang with the band of Horace Heidt. In the early sixties, Curtis toured Australia and appeared on Australian television with Digby Wolfe in Revue '61. On the programme he performed his satirical skits and songs, many of which contained political or social commentary. He recorded The Plumber's Cha Cha for the Melbourne-based W&G label.
feature 45
Title:Put Your Arms Around Me, Honey
Artist:Fats Domino
Composer:A. Von Tilzer, J. McCree
Label:London
Release:October 1960
New Orleans singer and pianist, Fats Domino signed with Imperial records in 1949 and recorded a number of old songs such as My Blue Heaven, Coquette, Margie and Blueberry Hill. Put Your Arms Around Me, Honey was composed in 1910 and was one of the most recorded songs of all time. It was immortalised in a 1949 film starring Judy Garland and Van Johnson. Fats Domino gave it his usual rhythms and blues style.
feature 45
Title:Honey Drippin' Times
Artist:Neil Diamond
Composer:Diamond
Label:Festival
Release:September 1968
After many years of songwriting, Neil Diamond finally scored with his composition Sunday and Me, recorded by Jay and the Americans in 1965. Early in the following year he recorded his own composition Solitary Man for Bang records and it became his first solo hit. After several hits for the Bang label, Diamond left in 1968 and recorded for Uni records, a subsidiary of MCA. Honey Drippin' Times was one of those recordings.
feature 45
Title:Sputnik (Satellite Girl)
Artist:Jerry Engler and the Four Ekkos
Composer:J. Engler
Label:Brunswick
Release:March 1958
Inspired by the launch of the first artificial satellite by the Soviet Union in October 1957, Jerry Engler wrote a song about a trip in space with his girlfriend. He recorded it in a studio in Rochester, New York and released it on the Brunswick label a month after the satellite launch. Later, Engler recorded in Norman Petty's studio in Clovis, New Mexico and was involved in some Buddy Holly sessions.
feature 45
Title:Little Things Like That
Artist:Donna Gaye
Composer:R.Titleman-L.Kolber
Label:Kommotion
Release:September 1966
Donna Gaye was discovered at Sydney's 'Surf City' and soon after she started recording for Ivan Dayman's Kommotion label. Her first release was a remake of John D. Loudermilk's song Norman which, for her, became Normie. Earlier, Barry Gibb of The Bee Gees had suggested she change her name from Vivienne Jarvis to Donna Gaye. Her second release was Little Things Like That, followed by a third single, Hey, Beach Boy.
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Title:Miss Johansson and I (Fröken Johansson och jag)
Artist:Öijvinds Quintet
Composer:Thore Skogman
Label:Parlophone
Release:April 1963
The song was written and recorded in 1960 by Thore Skogman about a pastry cook from Årjäng in Sweden. Two years later, Öijvinds Quintet recorded an instrumental version which made No.2 on Sweden's hit charts. The group was named from the first name of one of the members Öijvind Karlsson, an accordeon and vibraphone player. The quintet added a vocalist and continued as a rock band through the 1960s and 1970s.
feature 45
Title:Night Rider
Artist:The Denver Men
Composer:Johnny Devlin
Label:His Master's Voice
Release:May 1963
The Denver Men were formed in 1961 and their first Top 40 hit was the instrumental Surfside released in December 1962; it made No.1 at the peak of the surf music craze. Their subsequent hits were a mixture of instrumentals and vocals with Digger Revell. The follow-up instrumental hit was Night Rider coupled with Blue Mountains which made No.18 on the 2UE Top 40 in Sydney on 7th June 1963.
feature 45
Title:My Block
Artist:The Four Pennies
Composer:Margo, Medress, Siegel
Label:Festival
Release:August 1963
One of two singles the U.S. girl group 'The Chiffons' recorded for the Rust label under the name 'The Four Pennies'. My Block was followed by When the Boy's Happy, both singles making the Billboard chart. When their first Laurie label release, He's So Fine became a bigger hit they decided to drop the alternate name and continue recording as 'The Chiffons'. In Australia, Festival released nine singles and an extended play, only He's So Fine making the Sydney Top 40.
feature 45
Title:Under the Boardwalk
Artist:The Rolling Stones
Composer:Resnick, Young
Label:Decca
Release:January 1965
American songwriters Arthur Resnick and Kenneth Young wrote the song for 'The Drifters' in 1964. Later in the same year British group, 'The Rolling Stones' recorded a version for their second album, '12x5'. The Rolling Stones version was released as a single in Australia and only two other countries. It became The Rolling Stones' first number one single in Australia. In Sydney it made No.1 on 3rd February, 1965, its second week on the chart, staying two weeks at the top spot.
feature 45
Title:A Pub With No Beer
Artist:Slim Dusty
Composer:Gordon Parsons
Label:Columbia
Release:July 1958
Gordon Parsons wrote the song using the words of a poem written by Dan Sheahan of North Queensland. On 1st April 1957, Slim Dusty recorded it in Sydney as a B-side for Saddle Boy and it was released on a Regal Zonophone 78 rpm single. It was the first Australian single to earn a gold record. In the following year it was issued on a 7 inch 45rpm single and made No.1 on the 2UE Top 40 on 5th September 1958.
feature 45
Title:Skinny Girls
Artist:Alan O'Day
Composer:Alan O'Day
Label:Pacific
Release:February 1980
Alan O'Day was a singer-songwriter and keyboard player who wrote Rock and Roll Heaven for the Righteous Brothers and Angie Baby for Helen Reddy. Three years later he recorded his own hit Undercover Angel which topped Billboard and the Canadian charts and sold over a million copies. In 1979 he recorded his novelty song Skinny Girls which was popular in Australia, making No.11 on 4th June 1980.
feature 45
Title:Hootenanny Coming Your Way
Artist:The Yeomen
Composer:Freddy Morgan
Label:Viking
Release:November 1963
Probably more famous for their cheese advertising jingle, the Yeomen were members of a folk trio from New Zealand. They began recording for the Viking label in 1962, made No.1 on the New Zealand charts in 1964 with Down Town Bus and they were finalists in the Golden Disc TV Show in 1965. Hootenanny Coming Your Way made #17 on the predictions list for Sydney's 2UE Top 40 (6th December 1963).
feature 45
Title:Gimme Love
Artist:Ann-Margret
Composer:Sherman, De Vorzon
Label:RCA
Release:November 1961
Ann-Margret was born in Sweden and moved to the U.S. when she was five. She learned dancing and singing and in 1961, RCA signed her to a five-year contract promoting her as "The Female Elvis". At the same time, 20th Century Fox signed her to a seven-year film contract. Her recording of I Just Don't Understand made the Billboard charts and was also a hit in Sydney. It was followed by the more up-tempo Gimme Love which made Prediction #36 for the 2UE Sydney chart dated 11th November 1961.
feature 45
Title:One More Year to Go
Artist:Nola Hirst
Composer:B. Bryant
Label:Festival
Release:September 1959
Nola Hirst was born in Sydney and in her teens was a contestant on the radio shows of Ted Quigg and Australia's Amateur Hour. She later sang on 2KY's country radio show Melody Trail then began recording for Festival in 1957. Her first release was Three Ways followed by her version of Have I Told You Lately That I Love You. In 1959 she covered the Janis Martin hit One More Year to Go, a song written by Boudleaux Bryant and recorded by Janis Martin in 1956.
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Title:Theme from The Magnificent Seven
Artist:Al Caiola and His Orchestra
Composer:Elmer Bernstein
Label:United Artists
Release:1961
Al Caiola joined the CBS orchestra in 1946 and was a session guitarist from the early 50s. He worked on a large number of hits by artists such as Rosemary Clooney, Perry Como, Elvis Presley, Bobby Darin, Neil Sedaka, Del Shannon and the list goes on and on. He was also known for his own recordings: Bonanza and The Theme from "The Magnificent Seven" which made No.17 on the 2UE Top 40 in Sydney 20th May, 1961.
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Title:Good Timin'
Artist:Jimmy Jones
Composer:Tobias, Ballard Jr.
Label:M-G-M
Release:May 1960
Jimmy Jones was a singer, songwriter and dancer from Alabama who had two million-sellers in 1960. The first was Handy Man which he wrote with Otis Blackwell. The second was Good Timin' written by Fred Tobias and Clint Ballard Jr. drawing from an Old Testament story and 15th century European history to find examples of good timing. It topped the British charts and made No.3 in the U.S.A. In Sydney it made No.5 on its second week in the Top 40 (4th June 1960).
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Title:The Rangers Waltz
Artist:The Mom and Dads
Composer:Quentin Rattlif
Label:GNP Crescendo
Release:November 1971
A group of senior aged musicians from Washington State formed in the early fifties. After making a few recordings for a local record company, Gene Norman signed them without audition to his GNP Crecendo label. The Rangers Waltz was played on radio in Montana and was heard in Alberta, Canada where it became a smash hit. An LP was released by Festival Australia and the single from it made No.1 on the Top 40 in Sydney on 5th March 1972.
feature 45
Title:Oliver Cool
Artist:Rock Martin With The Schoolmates
Composer:Vance, Pockriss
Label:Rex
Release:November 1960
In the late 50s Rock Martin was known across Australia as The Travelling Showman, combining performances of his own musical compositions with magic tricks and hypnotism. In 1960 he released a cover version of the American hit Oliver Cool on the Rex label with The Schoolmates. Later he became known internationally as Martin St. James, one of the world's great hypnotists.
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Title:Hit the Road, Jack
Artist:Ray Charles
Composer:Percy Mayfield
Label:Ampar
Release:12 October 1961
Ray Charles started recording in the 1940s and had many hits on the American R&B charts. In 1960 he had the first of three No.1 records on the Billboard Hot 100 with his version of Georgia On My Mind. The second was Percy Mayfield's composition Hit the Road, Jack which he recorded with his orchestra and backing group 'The Raelets'. It made No.3 in Sydney on 18th November, 1961.
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Title:Operation Decoy
Artist:Hugh Masher
Composer:Eddie Dean, Pete Meyers
Label:Festival
Release:7 December 1962
New York disc jockey Pete 'Mad Daddy' Meyers and Eddie Dean wrote the satirical song Operation Decoy after the New York Police Department used male officers dressed as women to catch mashers in Central Park. Meyers recorded his first disc under the name "The Joker" in the late 50s when he was a disc jockey in Cleveland, Ohio: What is a Festerris? / I Love a Practical Joke for the local label G&F.
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Title:Juke Box Saturday Night
Artist:Nino & The Ebb Tides
Composer:Stillman, McGrane
Label:Top Rank
Release:October 1961
Nino and The Ebb Tides were brought together in New York in 1957. They are best known for their 1961 hit Those Oldies But Goodies (Remind Me of You). As a follow-up they updated the Al Stillman and Paul McGrane hit of 1942, Juke Box Saturday Night originally recorded in by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra. The disc made No.57 on the Billboard Hot 100 after four weeks in the chart in September 1961.
feature 45
Title:I'll Save the Last Dance For You
Artist:Damita Jo
Composer:Pomus, Shuman
Label:Mercury
Release:November 1960
The answer song to Save the Last Dance For Me which was recorded earlier in 1960 by The Drifters. The lyrics were tweaked by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, the composers of the original hit, and Damita Jo's single made No.9 on the Sydney Top 40 on 24th December, 1960. She followed with another answer song: See--I'll Be There.
feature 45
Title:Catch the Wind
Artist:Donovan
Composer:Donovan
Label:Astor
Release:April 1965
Donovan, a singer, songwriter and guitarist from Glasgow, Scotland recorded a number of demo tracks for Pye Records in 1964 and released one of them, Catch the Wind on a single early in 1965. It was a hit in Britain and the U.S.A and made No.4 on the Sydney Top 40 on 2nd June 1965. He went on to have a number of hits including Sunshine Superman, Mellow Yellow, Hurdy Gurdy Man and Atlantis.
feature 45
Title:Blueberry Hill
Artist:Skeeter Davis
Composer:Lewis, Stock, Rose
Label:RCA
Release:October 1961
The song was introduced by Gene Autry in a 1940 film The Singing Hills and versions by The Glenn Miller Orchestra, Louis Armstrong and Fats Domino were popular over the years. Country artist Skeeter Davis recorded her version after some success with an answer song to Please Help Me, I'm Falling and a vocal version of Floyd Cramer's piano hit Last Date.
feature 45
Title:Kissin' in the Back Row of the Movies
Artist:The Drifters
Composer:T.Macaulay, R.Greenaway
Label:Bell
Release:July 1974
The Drifters were formed in New York City in 1953 and recorded for the Atlantic record label for nearly 20 years before switching to Bell Records in 1972. They relocated to the U.K. and had nine charted hits there in the three years to 1976 which included Like Sister and Brother and Kissin' in the Back Row of the Movies which made No.2 in Britain. See Saturday Night at the Movies and I'll Take You Where the Music's Playing.
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Title:Postman's Knock
Artist:Spike Milligan
Composer:Kretzmer, Goodwin
Label:Parlophone
Release:June 1962
Spike Milligan was a British comedian, writer, musician and composer who is best known for his performances in The Goon Show on BBC Radio in the 1950s. Spike wrote books and poetry appeared in several films and recorded many albums for Parlophone; some tracks were released as singles. Postman's Knock was recorded with Ron Goodwin's Orchestra and a Children's Choir early in 1962.
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Title:Nice to Be With You
Artist:The Gallery
Composer:J.Gold
Label:A&M Sussex
Release:April 1972
'Gallery' was a quintet from Detroit, Michigan put together by musician and composer Jim Gold. The group released their first album in 1972 and the track Nice to Be With You was lifted as a single, becoming a No.1 hit on Cashbox. It was also a top hit in Canada and sold well in New Zealand and Australia (No.5 in Sydney on 9th July, 1972). They had two more hits in America before disbanding in 1976.
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Title:Twenty Four Hours of Loneliness
Artist:Bonnie Lou
Composer:McPherson, Hughes
Label:Viking
Release:September 1962
Country singer Bonnie Lou, well known on Illinois radio in the 1940s, signed with King Records in 1953 and had a instant smash hit with Seven Lonely Days. She followed with another smash hit Tennessee Wig-Walk and then had two pop hits, Daddy-O and Teen Age Wedding. In 1962 she recorded the Warner Mack song, Twenty Four Hours of Loneliness.
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Title:Lappland
Artist:Finn Eriksen
Composer:M.Olsson, C.Hielm
Label:Philips
Release:September 1965
Norwegian trumpeter Finn Eriksen was a session musician on hundreds of recordings and led his own orchestra. After playing with a jazz ensemble for six years, he began recording in 1962 for the Viking label but it would be another three years and a change to Fontana Records before his first solo hit Lappland. The tune was revived by 'The Baltimore and Ohio Marching Band' in 1967 and used on a radio ad in Sydney - "Get your gear at Leviss's".
feature 45
Title:Theme from 'Good Neighbor Sam'
Artist:The Bearcats
Composer:Frank DeVol
Label:Colpix
Release:September 1964
The theme from the David Swift film Good Neighbor Sam, a story of deceit, impersonation and a large inheritance which starred Jack Lemmon, Romy Schneider, Dorothy Provine and Edward G.Robinson. The Bearcats was an established jazz band which also recorded a number of themes from movies in the early 1960s. This theme was composed by Frank deVol and Jack Lewis produced the recording with an arrangement by Billy Costa.
feature 45
Title:Tia Juana Ball
Artist:Larry Moon
Composer:Kaye, Hill, Lee
Label:HMV
Release:June 1963
Larry Moon is a successful composer, lyricist, pianist, organist and singer of pop songs since the 1960s. He was a member of the Swedish bands 'The Moonlighters' and 'The Spacemen'. Tia Juana Ball was a revamp of Buddy Kaye and Ethel Lee's 1962 hit Speedy Gonzales, (a 'Looney Tunes' cartoon character - The fastest mouse in all Mexico) with Carole King and Gerry Goffin's Loco-Motion mixed in for good measure.
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Title:A Little Ray of Sunshine
Artist:Axiom
Composer:Brian Cadd, Don Mudie
Label:Parlophone
Release:March 1970
Brian Cadd and Don Mudie, singer, guitarist and songwriters from 'The Groop', and Glenn Shorrock, lead singer of 'The Twilights' formed a new band, 'Axiom' in 1969. Their first single was Arkansas Grass which made No.8 on the charts. In 1970 they were offered a publishing deal and recording contracts in the U.K. and they left Australia while their second single release A Little Ray of Sunshine, climbed the charts. It made No.3 in Sydney on 20 May 1970.