Saturday, July 13, 2024

THE SATURDAY SURVEY

 

The Four Seasons and The Beach Boys flip-flop positions this week as "Rag Doll" slides into the #1 spot while "I Get Around" slips to #2.

We've still got three British Invasion Hits in The Top Ten this week:  "Can't You See That She's Mine" by The Dave Clark Five is up a notch to #4, "Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying" by Gerry and the Pacemakers falls to #9 and "Wishin' And Hopin'" by Dusty Springfield makes another big move from #18 to #10. 

The Beatles make a HUGE move with their latest hit ... "A Hard Day's Night" sails from #65 to #13.  (No doubt where THIS one is headed!)

Peter and Gordon have the #15 and #16 hits with "Nobody I Know (up from #27) and "A World Without Love" (down from #7).  The Searchers are at #19 with "Don't Throw Your Love Away" while Billy J. Kramer has both the #20 record ("Bad To Me") and the #27 record ("Little Children).

Chad and Jeremy fall to the #31 spot with "Yesterday's Gone" (down from #26) while Cilla Black continues to climb with her booming ballad "You're My World" ... it jumps from #50 to #37 this week.  The Overlanders' version of "Yesterday's Gone" slips to #89 in its 11th week on the chart.

The Bachelors climb to #41 with their latest, "I Believe," while their first big chart hit, "Diane," falls to #71.

The Beatles fall just outside The Top 40 as "Love Me Do" drops to #43 ... while The Rolling Stones show a little more success with their second US hit, "Tell Me" ... it climbs from #72 to #58.  Just behind it is their first US chart hit, "Not Fade Away," which now sits at #61.

Gerry and the Pacemakers have a new song on the chart ... "How Do You Do It" debuts at #74.  (This is the song that Producer George Martin suggested The Beatles record as their follow up single to "Love Me Do."  John and Paul protested, saying that they only wanted to record their own songs as singles, to which Martin challenged, "Then write me something as good." They did ... "Please Please Me" became their first British #1 Record.)

And, speaking of The Beatles, Atco dug an old 1961 recording out the archives that the band recorded in Germany when they were cutting tracks with Tony Sheridan.

In this instance, they were given the chance to cut two songs on their own ... so "Cry For A Shadow" (and instrumental written by John and GEORGE) and a rockin' remake of the old standard "Ain't She Sweet" were recorded.

I still say John's vocal on "Ain't She Sweet is among his best EVER.  Had it come out just a couple of months sooner, it probably would have been a Top Ten Hit ... but British and American releases were enjoying simultaneous release dates these days ... and technically, this one was already an "oldie" ... so it lingered at #13 in Record World ... and #19 in Billboard.  (Incredibly, it was already The Beatles' 23rd National Chart appearance this year!)

 

American acts making their mark on this week's chart include an impressive showing of "The Girl From Ipanema" by Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto at #5, "How Glad I Am" by Nancy Wilson (another song that felt as if it came from another era) at #38 (up 15 places), The Supremes jumping an incredible FIFTY places with "Where Did Our Love Go," The Ventures remaking one of their own hits, this time calling it "Walk Don't Run '64," new at #75 and "People Say" by The Dixie Cups, the follow-up hit to their #1 smash "Chapel Of Love."

But perhaps most impressive is Dean Martin's leap from #41 to #11 with "Everybody Loves Somebody."  When he recorded it, he told anyone that would listen that he had just recorded the song that would knock The Beatles out of the #1 spot ... and it did a few weeks later when it replaced "A Hard Day's Night" at the top of the charts.

60 YEARS AGO TODAY:

The Supremes record "Come See About Me."  It will become their third straight #1 Record, following in the footsteps of "Where Did Our Love Go" and "Baby Love."