It’s still 54 years before Sadie will be born in our little trip down musical memory lane, so let’s get into it – we have catching up to do!
Songs of the month
“Ain’t Too Proud To Beg” – Temptations
[new] “Blowin’ In The Wind” – Stevie Wonder
[new] “Born A Woman” – Sandy Posey
[new] “Bus Stop” – Hollies
[new] “Guantanamera” – Sandpipers
“Hanky Panky” – Tommy James And The Shondells
“Hungry” – Paul Revere And The Raiders
“I Couldn’t Live Without Your Love” – Petula Clark
“I Saw Her Again” – Mamas And Papas
“I Want You” – Bob Dylan
[new] “Lady Jane” – Rolling Stones
[new] “Land Of 1000 Dances” – Wilson Pickett
“Lil Red Riding Hood” – Sam The Sham And The Pharaohs
“Love Letters” – Elvis Presley
[new] “Make Me Belong To You” – Barbara Lewis
“Mother’s Little Helper” – Rolling Stones
[new] “My Heart’s Symphony” – Gary Lewis And The Playboys
“Over Under Sideways Down” – Yardbirds
“Paperback Writer” – Beatles
[new] “Pretty Flamingo” – Manfred Mann
“Red Rubber Ball” – Cyrkle
[new] “Respectable” – Outsiders
[new] “Say I Am” – Tommy James And The Shondells
[new] “Searching For Your Love” – Bobby Moore
“See You In September” – Happenings
“Somewhere My Love” – Ray Conniff
“Strangers In The Night” – Frank Sinatra
“Summer In The City” – Lovin’ Spoonful
[new] “Summertime” – Billy Stewart
“Sunny” – Bobby Hebb
[new] “Sunshine Superman” – Donovan
“Sweet Dreams” – Tommy Mclain
“Sweet Pea” – Tommy Roe
[new] “The Joker Went Wild” – Brian Hyland
“The Pied Piper” – Crispian St. Peters
“The Work Song” – Herb Alpert And The Tijuana Brass
“They’re Coming To Take Me Away Ha-Haaa” – Napoleon Xiv
“This Door Swings Both Ways” – Herman’s Hermits
“Trains And Boats And Planes” – Dionne Warwick
[new] “Wade In The Water” – Ramsey Lewis
[new] “Warm And Tender Love” – Percy Sledge
“Where Were You When I Needed You” – Grass Roots
“Wild Thing” – Troggs
[new] “Working In The Coal Mine” – Lee Dorsey
[new] “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” – Beach Boys
[new] “Yellow Submarine” – Beatles
[new] “You Can’t Hurry Love” – Supremes
“You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me” – Dusty Springfield
[new] = New to the chart this week.
You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.
This month in history
On the 4th of August the station manager of WAQY-AM radio in Birmingham, Alabama, became the first to urge listeners to boycott record stores and bookstores that sold music and memorabilia of The Beatles, starting an American backlash against the British rock group that was preparing to make a tour of the United States. Manager Tommy Charles told reporters, “We just felt it was so absurd and sacrilegious that something ought to be done to show that they cannot get away with this sort of thing.”
And then…inevitably, on the 11th The Beatles held a press conference in Chicago, during which John Lennon apologized for his “more popular than Jesus” remark made in a magazine interview in March, saying, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry I said it really. I didn’t mean it as a lousy, anti-religious thing. I was sort of deploring the attitude toward Christianity. I wasn’t saying the Beatles are better than God or Jesus.”
On the 26th NASA released the first photograph of the Earth as seen from the Moon, after Lunar Orbiter 1 transmitted a picture taken three days earlier. Ground control had decided to turn the orbiter’s camera toward the Earth, just as the probe was about to travel toward the far side, in order to show both objects in the same photo.
And back to The Beatles who, on the 29th, played their final official concert, “marking the end of a career as international performing artists that lasted just under three years”. A crowd of 25,000 turned out at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, paying between $3.80 and $7.00 to see the Fab Four. Somewhat cheaper than Taylor Swift tickets in 2024…
Crazy to think they were only touring for 3 years, which leads to the question of “why did they stop?”. Apparently a lot of it was technical – with the stadium setups of the time they couldn’t hear themselves over the crowd going crazy, and as their songs became more technical in the studio (overdubs, more than the four instruments the band played) they became harder to reproduce live – so they become a studio band for the remainder of their career.
What’d Sadie think?
Another two weeks at the top for classic “Wild Thing” by the Troggs before two weeks for “Summer In The City” by Lovin’ Spoonful.
Loved ’em
Some real classics on this week’s playlist – a personal favourite has to be “Wouldn’t it be nice” by the Beach Boys, off their classic “Pet Sounds” album that was released this year.
- “Blowin’ In The Wind” – Stevie Wonder
- “Bus Stop” – Hollies
- “Pretty Flamingo” – Manfred Mann
- “Summertime” – Billy Stewart
- “Sunshine Superman” – Donovan
- “Working In The Coal Mine” – Lee Dorsey
- “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” – Beach Boys
- “Yellow Submarine” – Beatles
- “You Can’t Hurry Love” – Supremes
Liked ’em
- “Born A Woman” – Sandy Posey
- “Guantanamera” – Sandpipers
- “Lady Jane” – Rolling Stones
- “Land Of 1000 Dances” – Wilson Pickett
- “Make Me Belong To You” – Barbara Lewis
- “My Heart’s Symphony” – Gary Lewis And The Playboys
- “Respectable” – Outsiders
- “Say I Am” – Tommy James And The Shondells
- “Searching For Your Love” – Bobby Moore
- “Wade In The Water” – Ramsey Lewis
- “Warm And Tender Love” – Percy Sledge
Leave ’em
- “The Joker Went Wild” – Brian Hyland
Now go listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.