R2OK!

Helen May · Joined: 10 Dec 2006 Posts: 19382 Location: Cheshire

I loved Breakaway and have the single which I almost took back to the shop as they had put the labels on the wrong way!

Breakawaty was actually the B side on my copy, a bit confusing at the time!

H
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88 - 91 FM this is Radio 2 from the BBC!

I said it live on air in the studio with Jeremy Vine on 10/3/2005

iwarburton · Joined: 08 Dec 2006 Posts: 2133 Location: Northumberland

My internal alarm woke me just before 8 with its usual SOTS-related infallibility.

Unlike others, I do remember the Susan Maughan one, though I doubt if I've heard it since it was first out.

That Doddy should have the biggest-selling single of the year and that it should be followed at no 1 by the Rolling Stones shows how diverse the chart was then.

What a treat to have heard both the Kinks' and Kirsty McColl's versions of Days this week.

The Holiday theme wasn't the tune that I was expecting.

Ian.

iwarburton · Joined: 08 Dec 2006 Posts: 2133 Location: Northumberland

Generally excellent selection today, even if the Walker Brothers one made a bit of a downbeat ending for Valentine's Day.

I still LOL at My Old Man's a Dustman, especially the toadstools/mushrooms tag.

Ian.

Minx · Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2009 11:15 am Post subject:

I liked the line "where's me tiger's head - four foot from his tail".

I think I recall reading somewhere that he was nowhere near the jolly jokey person that comes across in this record. He was still one of my early favourites though.
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Minx

To err is human, to forgive - canine.

RockitRon · Joined: 07 Dec 2006 Posts: 7646

No he wasn't. My dad crossed his path at a petrol filling station once, in the days when an attendant filled your tank. He queue-jumped and when my dad raised a slight objection the air turned blue. Twisted Evil

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Ron

iwarburton · Joined: 08 Dec 2006 Posts: 2133 Location: Northumberland

I like the description of his old man looking a proper nana.

This term of mild abuse was also used by Sgt Major Snudge in the Army Game, which Granada TV was airing nationally around the time of issue of the Lonnie Donegan track.

I could imagine this being a morsel of Cockney rhyming slang (?banana split = twit).

Does anyone know the origin of the phrase?

Ian.

colby · Joined: 06 Feb 2009 Posts: 1216

Lord Evan Elpuss · Joined: 10 Dec 2006 Posts: 3417 Location: Cloud Cuckoo Land

Helen May · Joined: 10 Dec 2006 Posts: 19382 Location: Cheshire

Yes it is the Beach Boys song.

H
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88 - 91 FM this is Radio 2 from the BBC!

I said it live on air in the studio with Jeremy Vine on 10/3/2005

Lord Evan Elpuss · Joined: 10 Dec 2006 Posts: 3417 Location: Cloud Cuckoo Land

I also like their take on 'Cottonfields'. Does anyone know an album where these are available on?
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Lord Evan Elpuss, Your ideal job is a Lumberjack.

becky sharp · Joined: 01 Dec 2008 Posts: 6851

colby · Joined: 06 Feb 2009 Posts: 1216

Lord Evan Elpuss · Joined: 10 Dec 2006 Posts: 3417 Location: Cloud Cuckoo Land

Thanks for that Colby.
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Lord Evan Elpuss, Your ideal job is a Lumberjack.

RockitRon · Joined: 07 Dec 2006 Posts: 7646

I could only catch odd bits of this week's show, but it sounded as good as ever.

Effectively two old Childrens Favourites, with Lonnie Donegan and John Pertwee, whose version of I Know An Old Lady, which presumably Ed Stewart used to play, almost contrived to sound more American than the more traditional Burl Ives - they altered the line "Perhaps she'll die" to "I guess she'll die"
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Ron

colby · Joined: 06 Feb 2009 Posts: 1216

iwarburton · Joined: 08 Dec 2006 Posts: 2133 Location: Northumberland

A treat to hear Flanders and Swann this morning.

My mother and a friend went to see At the Drop of Another Hat at the Liverpool Empire circa 1962 and had a truly magical evening.

If they ever fancy giving F and S an encore on SOTS, how about either the Gas Man Cometh or that peerless Mozart parody, Ill Wind?

I remember the Easybeats one and note its strong resemblance to the Herd's I Don't Want Our Loving to Die. The Easybeats' disc came out first but I wonder which song was the earlier one written.

Nice that so many wanted a Dave Dee Three in a Row.

Ian.

Tom Dors · Joined: 11 Aug 2008 Posts: 64

Regarding Cottonfields : the version on Friends/20:20 is different from the single.

iwarburton · Joined: 08 Dec 2006 Posts: 2133 Location: Northumberland

Re 3 in a row, I hope they play Helen Shapiro's Tell Me What He Said again as soon as it's thought OK to do so. It's a brilliant track in its own right but was also a stuck on 2 to the Shadows' superb Wonderful Land.
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I wrote the above on 7 June 2008.

Everything comes to him who waits!

Amazing that Wonderful Land should have kept no fewer than 4 such classics from the top slot.

Surprised if the Mighty Avengers one (Playing Hard to Get) isn't available.

My Colouring Book is certainly a very poignant song but is it really a JUNIOR Choice?

Can never understand why Gary Lewis and the Playboys did so well in the States yet evinced so little interest here.

Ian.

Tom Dors · Joined: 11 Aug 2008 Posts: 64

I recently bought a CD of the Shadows which had all of the hits on it..(the original recordings)...but, for some reason, had a version of Wonderful Land that was orchestra-free. In other words, the incomplete record. Which was highly disappointing, as it's my favourite single by them but just isn't as good without that orchestral arrangement.

Helen May · Joined: 10 Dec 2006 Posts: 19382 Location: Cheshire

A good one this week Ian. Smile

I missed first 20 minutes or so but listened back as there were some favourites of mine.

I remember having a Gary Lewis and the Playboys single This Diamond Ring sent as a gift from my then American pen pal (remember them?). They are played a lot on the oldie stations over there.

I liked the 3 in a row this week as well, but got a bit lost off with the connections that Brian read out. It's turning into Phil Swern's SOTS though as he chooses more and more of the records that are played.

H
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88 - 91 FM this is Radio 2 from the BBC!

I said it live on air in the studio with Jeremy Vine on 10/3/2005

becky sharp · Joined: 01 Dec 2008 Posts: 6851

I love the Gary Lewis and The Playboy's ..This Diamond Ring..looked it up on Youtube and before he sings it he said it knocked The Beatles off the No 1 spot ..which as he said was no mean feat back then!

The comedian Jerry Lewis is his father.

Briant · Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2009 11:47 am Post subject: Where's Waylon?

This morning I saw that Waylon Jennings was amongst the songs to be played. Well he must have stepped outside for three minutes as all I heard was a girl singing! I know Waylon made an album with The Kimberleys (a Las Vegas act) but the producer of SOTS should have checked that Waylon actually sang on this particular track!

Helen May · Joined: 10 Dec 2006 Posts: 19382 Location: Cheshire

You can't get the staff these days can you Briant!

H
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88 - 91 FM this is Radio 2 from the BBC!

I said it live on air in the studio with Jeremy Vine on 10/3/2005

becky sharp · Joined: 01 Dec 2008 Posts: 6851

Don't remember the one by Sid James.. ..... he played awful versions of Endless Love and From a Window...... Shocked

.they hurt my ears.......i love From A Window By Billy J Kramer.......still, i can almost forgive him .....he played Sharing You by Bobby Vee..... Razz

RockitRon · Joined: 07 Dec 2006 Posts: 7646

Inclined to agree with you, becky.

I don't remember ever hearing the Sid James on Childrens Favourites / Junior Choice either. In fact, given that the content of the lyric is about swearing, would the Beeb have allowed it, even in the liberated late 60s?

When EMI compiled the Hello Children Everywhere series of CDs they did check that all tracks had actually been played on the programme. The 'ooter Song wasn't included on them.
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Ron

iwarburton · Joined: 08 Dec 2006 Posts: 2133 Location: Northumberland

Lovely jubbly!

David and Jonathan's Lovers of the World Unite brought back memories of my mum, as it was one of her favourites. The words, too, are as relevant today as they were in 1966.

A lot of failure to achieve closure today, with both I'll Never Get Over You and I'll Never Quite Get Over You.

Do-Re-Mi has been a pet hate of mine for getting on for half a century but I acknowledge its right to receive a spin.

A welcome appearance from the Dave Clark Five. On another occasion they could flip the disc and play its B side (and US no 1), Because.

Ian.

Briant · Posted: Sat Mar 28, 2009 10:55 am Post subject:

That 'Weather Forecast' ditty was the worst thing I've ever heard on Radio 2! I note that the producer still likes to pursue his hobby of making Brian Matthew tell us how much vinyl copies of LPs are worth. Bring back Roger Bowman! Rolling Eyes

iwarburton · Joined: 08 Dec 2006 Posts: 2133 Location: Northumberland

Agree re Weather Forecast but enjoyed most other items today.

Hope they might one day flip over the Marbles disc. The B side, By the Light of the Burning Candle, reminds me of someone very special from those days.

Scaffold's Lily the Pink was a bit naff but a great party disc.

Surprised that the excellent Kenny Lynch track is counted as a Playing Hard to Get. It's a track on KL's compilation album Nothing But the Real Thing, which according to Amazon is currently available. I've got it on a 60-64 Sovereign general compilation and I also possess the companion 65-69 one but I suspect that these may not be in the catalogue now.

An original idea for Three in a Row.

Note that they're revisiting the set slots. It'll be good to hear the US Chart Stuck-on-Twos. I'll miss hearing the Junior Choice items but it's probably right to rest the slot for a bit. I shall be featuring some Junior-flavoured items when I resume my 50s/60s/70s show on Tynedale Community Radio next month, following my illness. Am slowly improving, by the way.

Ian.

Briant · Posted: Sat Mar 28, 2009 11:14 am Post subject:

I'd like to hear the full American Charts that SOTS used to feature on a regular basis. Many of these were hits only in America and though I had seen the names of the songs in charts I had never heard them on radio. These days SOTS is not the highlight for me that it was for many years. Hopefully it will improve, but not I fear under the present producer. Rolling Eyes

colby · Joined: 06 Feb 2009 Posts: 1216

Although SOTS is still one of the very few R2 slots that I still habitually listen to, I have to agree that of late it's not been quite right....... can't put my finger on why, but it just isn't.
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(signature and avatar removed, violated forum Rule 2.)

becky sharp · Joined: 01 Dec 2008 Posts: 6851

davem · Joined: 13 Mar 2009 Posts: 115

What did everyone think of 'Mrs Miller' doing the beatles cover?

colby · Joined: 06 Feb 2009 Posts: 1216

iwarburton · Joined: 08 Dec 2006 Posts: 2133 Location: Northumberland

Mrs Miller was so bad she was good! I remember her version of Downtown.

Not sure whether I agree that the programme has gone downhill since the Collector took over its production. Some comparative audience figures would be useful. But for me it's still essential listening.

Ian.

essexlady · Joined: 10 Dec 2006 Posts: 348 Location: Essex

Wasn't Mrs. Miller an alias of Jo Stafford or have I got her mixed up with someone else?

becky sharp · Joined: 01 Dec 2008 Posts: 6851

RockitRon · Joined: 07 Dec 2006 Posts: 7646

She may have been inspired by Jo Stafford, who with husband Paul Weston, did a bad lounge-act sketch as part of her act, and made three albums out of it (1957-1961) using the names Jonathon and Darlene Edwards.

I don't actually recall Mrs Miller's Hard Day's Night, but then it would probably have been eclipsed by Peter Sellers' .

The Master Singers I do remember; they repeated the trick with the Shipping Forecast and The Highway Code. The more famous King's Singers usually incorporate something similar into their act - they do an hilarious Ding-a-Dong, of Eurovision infamy.

I wouldn't mind an American chart feature, so long as they were only hits over there. Unless PS has them in his collection they might be difficult to source.
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Ron

iwarburton · Joined: 08 Dec 2006 Posts: 2133 Location: Northumberland

Ever had one of those tunes that's run around in your head year in, year out but you don't know what it is?

Finally solved one of mine this morning--Tony Hatch's Beautiful in the Rain.

Ian.

John H · Joined: 16 Apr 2008 Posts: 36

Good morning Ian and I hope you are now feeling well again.I agree about the Tony Hatch 3 in a Row. I think I have most if not all of them on CD and I enjoyed hearing all of them this morning.I especially enjoyed The Montanas.

I have submitted my own idea for a future three in a row, picking up the theme from the thread I have been contibuting to in the Music discussion section, I have asked for one each from TV brother and sister Paul Peterson and Shelley Fabares, and one duet.

I have also sent a couple of possible substitute tracks. My first choices would be

I'll see You In September-Shelley
You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby-Paul
Very Unlikely-Shelley and Paul

Johnny Angel(Shelley of course) and Mama Your Little Boy Fell(Paul) are included as possible alternatives.

Hope all is going well with you Ian.

John H

iknewdavidjacobsmum · Joined: 07 Dec 2006 Posts: 336

I heard the last song on SOTS today, thought it was Bob Dylan until the lyrics got dodgy. I heard it was Benny Hill, but didn't catch the title.
Can anyone enlighten me or should I get a free hearing aid trial as advertised on C4?