Comment on this compilation CD...

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

...what I made yesterday. These were all hit singles in the UK and for reference purposes I have added the song's highest chart placing and the year it charted. Talk about individual songs if you like, or how good/rub the CD is, but I'm more interested in what story (if any) you think this compilation is telling. I'll explain the method behind the madness here in the Comments if there's sufficient interest.


1. Chris Farlowe – “Out of Time” (#1, 1966)
2. Sandie Shaw – “Tomorrow” (#9, 1966)
3. The Tremeloes – “Here Comes My Baby” (#4, 1967)
4. Petula Clark – “Don’t Sleep In The Subway” (#12, 1967)
5. The Foundations – “Baby Now That I’ve Found You” (#1, 1967)
6. The Lemon Pipers – “Green Tambourine” (#7, 1968)
7. 1910 Fruitgum Co. – “Simon Says” (#2, 1968)
8. The Tremeloes – “Suddenly You Love Me” (#6, 1968)
9. The Foundations – “Back On My Feet Again” (#18, 1968)
10. The Paper Dolls – “Something Here In My Heart (Keeps a-Tellin’ Me No)” (#11, 1968)
11. The Consortium – “All the Love in the World” (#22, 1969)
12. The Tremeloes – “(Call Me) Number One” (#2, 1969)
13. The Nice – “America” (#21, 1968)
14. Pickettywitch – “That Same Old Feeling” (#5, 1970)
15. Status Quo – “Down The Dustpipe” (#12, 1970)
16. Melanie – “Brand New Key” (#4, 1972)
17. The Tremeloes – “Me And My Life” (#4, 1970)
18. Family – “In My Own Time” (#4, 1971)
19. Pickettywitch – “(It’s Like A) Sad Old Kinda Movie” (#16, 1970)
20. Jackie Lee – “Rupert” (#14, 1971)
21. Family – “Burlesque” (#13, 1972)
22. Status Quo – “Mean Girl” (#20, 1973)
23. Sylvia – “Pillow Talk” (#14, 1973)
24. Nazareth – “This Flight Tonight” (#11, 1973)
25. Prelude – “After the Goldrush” (#21, 1974)

Comments

Don't Know If This Is What You Had In Mind

[koganbot]

Don't have much time to comment, but I might describe some of this as "Squares trying to be hip, not succeeding, making good passionate music in the process, often with as much character and idiosyncrasy as the actual hipster music it was aping." A squarer, clompier idiosyncrasy, perhaps. (This description fits Nazareth and Melanie very well, doesn't fit Sylvia at all.)

A few irrelevant side points:

The melody to Bruce Springsteen's "Incident On 57th Street" resembles "Here Comes My Baby" (the part where Bruce sings "It's good night, all tight Jane").

Sylvia had hit with "Love Is Strange" in 1957 as half of Mickey & Sylvia (the NY Dolls quoted and copied bits of it in "Trash"). And flash forward to 1979, Sylvia recorded the Sugar Hill Gang's "Rappers Delight" for her label, Sugar Hill.

I've never heard any Status Quo record other than "Pictures of Matchstick Men." (I'm sure a trip to YouTube could change this.)

Re: Don't Know If This Is What You Had In Mind

[martinskidmore.livejournal.com]

Sylvia Robinson was that Sylvia too? I never knew that!

Re: Don't Know If This Is What You Had In Mind

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

Frank - well, I'm not sure what I had in mind. But I like the suggestion in your first paragraph: there's definitely a sense in most of these records (perhaps not all) of a mainstream pop response to something that was going on elsewhere.

Your Springsteen comment is interesting as I noticed last night that one of the other Tremeloes records here ("Suddenly You Love Me" IIRC) was ripped off chord for chord by some other record that came much later. Stupidly, I've now completely forgotten what that other record is.

All four of these Tremeloes records are great, incidently. And none of them sound remotely like each other.

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

*incidentally* (ugh)

"Suddenly You Love Me" was ripped off by some other record that came much later. Stupidly, I've now forgotten what that other record is.
A quick re-spin reminds me it's "The Ruling Class" by The Monochrome Set.