I’ve just had my Birthday in 2024 and we’re now only…12 years before I was born as we listen to the hits of February, 1965!
Songs of the month
“All Day And All Of The Night” – Kinks
“Bye Bye Baby” – Four Seasons
[new] “Can’t You Hear My Heartbeat” – Herman’s Hermits
“Come See About Me” – Supremes
“Don’t Forget I Still Love You” – Bobbi Martin
“Downtown” – Petula Clark
[new] “Eight Days A Week” – Beatles
[new] “Ferry Cross The Mersey” – Gerry & The Pacemakers
[new] “For Lovin’ Me” – Peter Paul & Mary
“Give Him A Great Big Kiss” – Shangri-Las
[new] “Goldfinger” – Shirley Bassey
[new] “Goodnight” – Roy Orbison
“Have You Looked Into Your Heart” – Jerry Vale
“Heart Of Stone” – Rolling Stones
“Hold What You’ve Got” – Joe Tex
“How Sweet It Is” – Marvin Gaye
[new] “Hurts So Bad” – Little Anthony & The Imperials
“I Feel Fine” – Beatles
“I Go To Pieces” – Peter & Gordon
“I’ll Be There” – Gerry & The Pacemakers
[new] “I’ve Got A Tiger By The Tail” – Buck Owens
“Keep Searchin'” – Del Shannon
[new] “King Of The Road” – Roger Miller
[new] “Laugh Laugh” – Beau Brummels
[new] “Lemon Tree” – Trini Lopez
“Let’s Lock The Door” – Jay & The Americans
[new] “Little Things” – Bobby Goldsboro
“Look Of Love” – Lesley Gore
“Love Potion No. 9” – Searchers
[new] “Love Potion No.9” – Searchers
“My Girl” – Temptations
[new] “No Arms Can Ever Hold You” – Bachelors
[new] “Paper Tiger” – Sue Thompson
[new] “Red Roses For A Blue Lady” – Bert Kaempfert
“Shake” – Sam Cooke
“Tell Her No” – Zombies
“The ‘in’ Crowd” – Dobie Gray
[new] “The Birds And The Bees” – Jewel Akens
[new] “The Boy From New York City” – Ad-Libs
“The Jolly Green Giant” – Kingsmen
“The Name Game” – Shirley Ellis
“This Diamond Ring” – Gary Lewis & The Playboys
“Thou Shalt Not Steal” – Dick & Deedee
[new] “Twine Time” – Alvin Cash
[new] “What Have They Done To The Rain” – Searchers
“You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin'” – Righteous Brothers
[new] = New to the chart this week.
You can listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.
This month in history
On February the 10th the first “one-shot” vaccine against the measles was made available to American physicians. The new measles shot, using a greatly-weakened strain of the measles virus, was 99% effective in providing a lifelong immunity to the illness.
On the fifteenth a new red and white maple leaf design was inaugurated as the flag of Canada, replacing the Union Flag and the Canadian Red Ensign. Did not know they’d kept the union jack around that long myself!
Then on the 21st Malcolm X was assassinated at Manhattan’s Audubon Ballroom. As he was preparing to deliver a speech to the Organization of Afro-American Unity, he opened with the greeting As-Salaam Alaikum and the audience acknowledged with Wa-Alaikum-Salaam. At that moment, a man in the crowd shouted “N*****! Get your hand outta my pocket!” to a person sitting next to him, an apparent signal for four other spectators to stage a fight. Malcolm said, “Hold it. Let’s cool it, brothers”, and was shot in the chest by a man who approached the stage with a Luger pistol.
What’d Sadie think?
2 weeks at the top for “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin'” by the Righteous Brothers and then for “This Diamond Ring” by Gary Lewis & The Playboys.
Loved ’em
I’ve always loved the Ad-Libs’ “The Boy From New York City”, just such a joyful song. Seems to be a bit of a big city meme going on with this and “Downtown” in the charts. News to me, when I dug into this, was that the latter classic homage to NYC is is written and produced by English composer Tony Hatch and recorded by a British singer (Petula Clark). Interesting anecdote,
I was staying at a hotel on Central Park and I wandered down to Broadway and to Times Square and, naively, I thought I was downtown. … I loved the whole atmosphere there and the [music] came to me very, very quickly”. He was standing on the corner of 48th Street waiting for the traffic lights to change, looking towards Times Square when “the melody first came to me, just as the neon signs went on.”
“Can’t You Hear My Heartbeat” – Herman’s Hermits
“Eight Days A Week” – Beatles
“Ferry Cross The Mersey” – Gerry & The Pacemakers
“Goldfinger” – Shirley Bassey
“Goodnight” – Roy Orbison
“King Of The Road” – Roger Miller
“Love Potion No.9” – Searchers
“The Boy From New York City” – Ad-Libs
Liked ’em
“For Lovin’ Me” – Peter Paul & Mary
“Hurts So Bad” – Little Anthony & The Imperials
“Laugh Laugh” – Beau Brummels
“Lemon Tree” – Trini Lopez
“Little Things” – Bobby Goldsboro
“No Arms Can Ever Hold You” – Bachelors
“Paper Tiger” – Sue Thompson
“Red Roses For A Blue Lady” – Bert Kaempfert
“The Birds And The Bees” – Jewel Akens
“Twine Time” – Alvin Cash
“What Have They Done To The Rain” – Searchers
Leave ’em
“I’ve Got A Tiger By The Tail” – Buck Owens
Now go listen to the full playlist on Youtube via this link.