It was sixty years ago today | Page 3 | Vital Football

It was sixty years ago today

I worked with a guy, now a mate, who is living in Spain, called Alex Bell. He was one of the 'Luvvers' from 'Lulu and the Luvvers'. Anyway he saw a book on my desk once about Alex Harvey (a hero of mine) and told me the following.
When the British bands were first playing Berlin they were mostly teenagers and Alex was a bit older and tougher so always made sure that the 'kids' got paid properly. One evening he was chatting to Lulu and co. and said he had been singing an Isley Brothers song in his set that would be perfect for her and the Luvvers to cover too. The song, of course, was Shout!
 
Fifty years ago number one.This week was a song I enjoy hearing regularly.
Which song followed this one at number one .I am sure a few people on here bought it?
 
I'm fed up of arguing about politics on here (though I expect I will continue to do so) and there's no football going on, which made me wonder what on earth else we can talk about without us all getting on each other's tits.

There's only one thing more important than politics, football and lunch, a
I'm fed up of arguing about politics on here (though I expect I will continue to do so) and there's no football going on, which made me wonder what on earth else we can talk about without us all getting on each other's tits.

There's only one thing more important than politics, football and lunch, and thats Pop Music. So that's why I'm going to post up the number one single from sixty years ago for the Gills hive mind to prod, poke and dissect. That should keep us busy, especially the old ***** who aren't allowed out.

Now then, now then, guys and gals, as it 'appens the number one single from this day sixty years ago was uhUHuhUHuh Cathy's Clown by the Everly Brothers:


The reason why I didn't go for seventy years ago was because A) there weren't no charts until 1953 and B) when they did come along it was all sheet music and light opera. Chart music didn't really get going until about now.

So here we are in 1960 and straight in we've got a bit of a corker, especially compared to what else was going on at the time. I'm going to hold my thoughts for the moment, because this was number one for a fair few weeks, but what I want to know is:

Were you around back then?
Did you like this record?
If so, why, if not, why not?
What do you associate with this record and this time?
Any other digressions you think are worth mentioning. The more the merrier.

Looking forward to keeping this going so that I can discuss Tootsie Slide by Drake with you some time after I hit 112.

If you like music from the fifties and sixties you should ask Alexis to play Caroline Flashback. If you prefer the seventies and eighties ask her to play Radio Caroline. Both are available on that interwebby thing.
Back in the day I remember standing on the corner with my trany (different meaning then) trying to listen to Radio Luxembourg with the signal fading just as your favourite song played. Then the pirates turned up. Happy days.
 
Can we have the number one from 59 years ago today, 58 tomorrow and so on please? It will keep us busy for a couple of months.

Otherwise, if we do it in real time I'll have got the virus and possibly died before we even get to the Beatles.

Well, I don't want to leave any number ones out and there's every chance that if you only pick one for each year, it might be a crap one. But to hurry things along a bit, here's the next one, and it's another good 'un by my reckoning. Number one for two weeks in June and July 1960.


Same rules apply: any thoughts, stories, opinions, theories and wild tangents welcome.
 
Well, I don't want to leave any number ones out and there's every chance that if you only pick one for each year, it might be a crap one. But to hurry things along a bit, here's the next one, and it's another good 'un by my reckoning. Number one for two weeks in June and July 1960.


Same rules apply: any thoughts, stories, opinions, theories and wild tangents welcome.
Great song but Summertime Blues is better, 1 minute and 50 seconds of rock perfection.
 
I agree with that. The ones that get to number one aren't always the best ones.

I can't speak for any else, but I'd guess that most people my age had no idea about Eddie Cochran until Sid Vicious started doing those cover versions at the arse end of the Pistols.
 
Now we're talking, Alderman. I'm a huge Eddie Cochran fan!

Three Steps to Heaven was his only UK No. 1, probably because it was released posthumously just a few weeks after his tragic death at only 21.

I also agree that Summertime Blues is better. In fact I think there are quite a few better ones, including his first release, 'Skinny Jim', his breakthrough track, 'Twenty Flight Rock' and others such as, 'Something Else', 'Jeannie, Jeannie, Jeannie' and 'Nervous Breakdown'. But my favourite, well I've linked that below.

And you're right to mention the influence on the Sex Pistols and punk in general. In fact punk owes so much to those early rock 'n' roll and rockabilly recordings. I've got loads of rock 'n' roll and rockabilly records, as well as loads of punk ones too. Occasionally, at raves, when it's morning and the techno djs have all had enough, I've commandeered the decks and pumped out some Cochrane, Little Richard, Pistols and Clash (as well as loads of other records from well known and obscure artists from both genres). It usually goes down well and sometimes it even gets people who are 'wasted' (from recreational drug use and all-night dancing) up and dancing again!

Here's my favourite Eddie Cochran song:
 
Great stuff, Buddha. I think you can draw a lot of parallels between punk and the first wave of rockabilly. In musical terms, even though there are plenty of gems, both of them fizzled out pretty quickly because there's only so much you can do with three chords and a lot of energy. But there was more to it than just the music. It was about the attitude and the opportunity. They changed society's attitudes and also inspired a lot of people to pick up instruments, the best of whom developed and went on to produce other interesting stuff. Eddie Cochran would have been one of those but was sadly deprived of the chance.
 
Although I had heard this one. Just didn't know who it was about.
Yup. I saw Heinz, along with Ricky Valence (Tell Laura I Love Her), at the Hazlitt Theatre in Maidstone in the early '80s. Bopped all through the gig and ended up being invited onto the stage.

As to Eddie Cochran, his Rock n Roll tracks were great but I always loved his slower, broodier stuff, with this being my favourite:
 
A few posts here have jogged my memory. My elder half sister got married and left home in 1959 and gave me three of her 78s. Wake Up Little Suzie by The Everlys, Red Sails In The Sunset by Tab Hunter and Yes Tonight Josephine by Johnny Ray.

I didn't come across it till much later but Ray Charles had a number one with Georgia On My Mind.
 
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I'm fed up of arguing about politics on here (though I expect I will continue to do so) and there's no football going on, which made me wonder what on earth else we can talk about without us all getting on each other's tits.

There's only one thing more important than politics, football and lunch, and thats Pop Music. So that's why I'm going to post up the number one single from sixty years ago for the Gills hive mind to prod, poke and dissect. That should keep us busy, especially the old ***** who aren't allowed out.

Now then, now then, guys and gals, as it 'appens the number one single from this day sixty years ago was uhUHuhUHuh Cathy's Clown by the Everly Brothers:


The reason why I didn't go for seventy years ago was because A) there weren't no charts until 1953 and B) when they did come along it was all sheet music and light opera. Chart music didn't really get going until about now.

So here we are in 1960 and straight in we've got a bit of a corker, especially compared to what else was going on at the time. I'm going to hold my thoughts for the moment, because this was number one for a fair few weeks, but what I want to know is:

Were you around back then?
Did you like this record?
If so, why, if not, why not?
What do you associate with this record and this time?
Any other digressions you think are worth mentioning. The more the merrier.

Looking forward to keeping this going so that I can discuss Tootsie Slide by Drake with you some time after I hit 112.

Big brother was a big Everlies fan. My favourite was Temptation. As a 5 yo it was a treat to be allowed into his bedroom to listen to his new record player. He'd saved up for weeks to get hispride and joy a Danset.
 
Big sister was a huge Cliff Richards fan, Dynamite, Traveling light, Move it, great stuff. Other Sister big Buddy Holly fan (she cried for a week when he died) Peggy Sue, That'll be the day, still love those songs. Everyone loved Elvis (except mum and dad) Jailhouse Rock can still raise the hairs on my arms.
 
Brian Poole & the Tremeloes, Twist and Shout was the first single I bought, back in '63. I wanted the Beatles version but they were sold out so bought the BP version.

Im sure Woolworths used to sell ersatz versions of hits on their own label (red? coloured I think).
 
Great stuff, Buddha. I think you can draw a lot of parallels between punk and the first wave of rockabilly. In musical terms, even though there are plenty of gems, both of them fizzled out pretty quickly because there's only so much you can do with three chords and a lot of energy. But there was more to it than just the music. It was about the attitude and the opportunity. They changed society's attitudes and also inspired a lot of people to pick up instruments, the best of whom developed and went on to produce other interesting stuff. Eddie Cochran would have been one of those but was sadly deprived of the chance.

Are you kidding Status Quo made a whole career out of 3 chords.
Once Wayne learns 3 chords there will be a new rocker on the block.
 
I must have been born without the pop music gene, because it's never had much appeal for me. More relevantly, my sister is six years older than me, so most of what I was exposed to at the impressionable age was the jazz and folk that her art school chums would bring round.

Pretty soon I pushed on looking for more and more advanced stuff, including seeing John Coltrane opposite Dizzy Gillespie when I was 15, and going to all-nighters at Ronnie Scott's original place in a cellar in Gerrard Street when I was a sixth-former. (OK, I did see the Stones at the Gaumont in '63, but a woman was probably involved.)

The Beatles period floated by without any interest from me - I've never bought any of their stuff, not even for a woman, and the only single I ever remember buying was Hoots Mon, by Lord Rockingham's XI, and that only for the sax of Bennie Green.

My time playing viola in the Math orchestra must have left a liking for classical somewhere inside me, and now we have R3 on all day - the variety is incredible, and there's always something worth listening to. We get to as many jazz concerts as we can, almost always visiting American bands, usually at the Barbican or the South Bank. And then there's early music, chamber music, opera, and our particular favourite, choral. All periods, no limits, the contemporary music festival at Huddersfield, the Aldeburgh Festival, there's so much to get into, I can't imagine what it must be like to have only pop music in your life.

Still, each to his own.......