Hi Kent,
Just some ramblings ... The Animals' hit song "We've Gotta Get Out Of This This Place" is identified as being a top 40 hit in 1965. This had bothered me for quite some time. Working on our yearbook for our graduation in 1963 we had chosen "We've Gotta Get Out Of This Place" as our class song. When the faculty advisors would not allow us to use this song, we chose "Lets Go" and life went on.
I attended all but one of our class reunions, and sometime after 1984 when computers and Compact Discs began to proliferate, I came up with the idea of creating a CD containing the hits that were popular during are high school years. I was always confused about the Animals' song since I was quite sure we had chosen it, but of course checking the charts for popular hits this could not be true since it is on the list for 1965. I had always felt a little insecure because I thought my memory had failed me.
Call me corny, I love most all music, but tonight watching "Ed Sullivan's Rock & Roll" on WHBG Channel 2 in Boston (a great station), one of the featured Ed Sullivan acts from 1962 !! was an appearance by Eric Burden and The Animals doing ==>"We've Got To Get Out Of This Place" !!! two years before it charts in America!! I felt reborn, that is where I/we had learned it I am not sure how it took such a long time to reach the charts in 1965.
Thanks for reading this, if in fact you did. Great job on the top Instrumentals. I realize this may not be of relevance to the majority of your readers but it is just the type of stuff that makes your site so attractive and personable. Happy Holidays !!!
P.S. My contribution to favorite non traditional Christmas song is: 'Stop The Calvary' by Jona Lewie !!!
Sweet Dreams
Charlie Fraser
I hate to burst your bubble but this just isn't possible ... and, if "1962" was flashed on the TV screen during The Animals' appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show during that recent PBS Special that's been running these past few months, it was a typo on their part. Quite simply, this would have meant that The Animals appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show two years BEFORE The Beatles did ... and that just didn't happen!!! "We Gotta Get Out Of This Place" debuted on the Billboard Chart (for the FIRST time) on August 14, 1965 ... by the time it finally did, The Animals had already placed seven OTHER hits on Billboard's Chart. A quick check of the British Hit Parade shows that it premiered on the British Charts exactly one month earlier ... they didn't make their first appearance on EITHER chart until 1964. Checking TV.com, I find that The Animals made a total of six appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, first on October 18, 1964, when they performed their #1 Hit "House Of The Rising Sun" and "I'm Crying", next on January 24, 1965 ("Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood"), May 30, 1965 ("Bring It On Home To Me" and "Bright Lights, Big City"), October 17, 1965 ("The Work Song"), February 6, 1966 (the first time they performed "We Gotta Get Out Of This Place", already six months AFTER it had been a hit, along with their brand new release, "Inside Looking Out") and April 17, 1966 ("Don't Bring Me Down" and "Shake"). Checking just a little bit deeper, I found that The Animals were first formed in 1962 and spent the spring of 1963 perfecting their act in Hamburg, Germany, much as The Beatles had done a few years before. They didn't cut their very first demonstration record until December of 1963, and even then they only pressed 500 copies to sell to their fans at their live shows. They made their first live appearance on the radio on December 27, 1963, when they appeared on the BBC Radio Program "Saturday Club." This source confirms the release of "We Gotta Get Out Of This Place" as July of 1965. (kk)
FUN FACT: Song writer Cynthia Weil (who co-wrote the song with her husband Barry Mann) later stated that she had written the song with Paul Revere and the Raiders in mind ... and, in fact, The Animals' cover version is her LEAST favorite version of ANY song she ever composed!!! (lol) Another source states that the song was originally written for The Righteous Brothers and that when Cynthia Weil first heard The Animals' recording, she called publisher Don Kirshner to see if there was anything he could do to prevent the song from coming out. Cynthia recalled, "When I heard The Animals' record, I went berserk because they left out half the lyric. They changed it radically. I called Kirshner and begged him to stop the song from coming out. He said, 'It's Number Two in England ... what do you want me to do?'" (kk)
... And, speaking of The Animals ...
>>>There were shortened singles versions, but it was a myth that singles had to be 2:30 or less, which lasted until at least 1969. Here is a 3+ pre-1969 minute singles:House of the Rising Sun (was there a shortened single version?)
Dwight Rounds
>>>Actually, yes there was ... and I wish I could FIND the shorter version of "House Of The Rising Sun" ... it hasn't been played in so long, MOST people have forgotten that it even existed! (kk)
Kent -
I have this if you're still looking for it.
Randy Price
I have it, too (although I can't vouch for what condition that 45 might be in!!!) Picture Sleeve, too! I used to LOVE this song when it came out ... (still do, actually, although Mrs. K HATES it and it scored pretty high on our "Fastest Buttons Pushers" recently, too!) I just NEVER felt like the "one foot on the platform" verse fit ... of course, we're all so used to it now ... but that whole verse wasn't in the original single version ... yet by the time The Animals' Greatest Hits LP came out, it was the LONG version (and it HAS been ever since.) Thanks for sharing this with our readers, Randy ... I wonder if anyone else will remember these edits??? (Quite honestly, while I clearly remember the edited verse, I did NOT remember the way they chopped up the awesome organ solo at the instrumental break!!! Too bad ... for me, that's one of the highlights of the song!) kk
Very interesting blog. I remember watching "Your Hit Parade" in those days and I don't think they ever did any Elvis songs. We thought at the time that the show was afraid of a lawsuit from the extremely protective Colonel Parker.
R.L.
Oak Lawn,IL
A little before my time, so I honestly can't say ... certainly they did the biggest hits of the day ... and when rock and roll started to take over the airwaves in a big way, series regulars like Snooky Lanson, Dorothy Collins, June Valli, Tommy Leonetti and Johnny Desmond took their crack at them. (Some even managed a few chart hits of their own!) Here's the way "The Complete Directory To Prime Time Network And Cable TV Shows, 1946 - Present" by Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh describes the introduction of rock and roll into the format ... which, by the way, specifically names an Elvis hit: "The ballads of the early 1950s were fine for TV presentation by a regular cast of singers, but trouble began to brew for 'Your Hit Parade' in 1955 when a new kind of music invaded the charts -- rock 'n' roll. Not only were the Hit Parade regulars ill-suited to perform this new, raucous music, but the youngsters who bought the records wanted to see only the original performers. There was something ludicrous about Snooky Lanson attempting 'Hound Dog' in a different setting each week, usually as a childish novelty." Since the program typically counted down The Top Seven Hit Songs of each week, (although rarely in order!), it would have been pretty hard to avoid an Elvis song. Speaking of which, this, too, from that same Prime Time Directory: "Although most of the 'Hit Parade' singers were recording artists in their own right, only one of them ever had a hit big enough to appear on the program's top seven while a regular on the show. That was Gisele MacKenzie's 'Hard To Get', which made the list briefly in 1955. Ironically, one-time 'Hit Parade' regular June Valli had the biggest hit of her career, 'Crying In The Chapel', only two months after leaving the show in June 1953." (kk)
DIDJAKNOW?: In 1957, in an attempt to save the show (and appeal to a larger audience), the entire cast was replaced with a younger, "more contemporary" crew, none of whom were popular rock artists, however. By February of 1958, The Hit Parade was reduced to The Top Five, often throwing in as many as five more "extras" ... and even a "Mystery Tune" contest that would award one lucky viewer $200,000, BIG money for 1958!!! In 1959, the program selected their "Top Tunes" list from Billboard Magazine but by then it was too late ... it went off the air on April 24th that year. Prior to "The Billboard Countdown", they explained their chart process this way: "'Your Hit Parade' survey checks the best sellers on sheet music and phonograph records, the songs most heard on the air and most played on the automatic coin machines ... an accurate, authentic tabulation of America's taste in popular music." ... although Brooks and Marsh go on to explain that "No explanation of exactly how the surveying was done was ever revealed. The actual compiling took place in great secrecy at Batten, Barton, Durstine And Osborne, which was sponsor American Tobacco Company's advertising agency." (kk)
>>>Here's a loooong-shot. There was as a "fragrance", I assume aimed at the 12-18 female demographic, named "Heaven Sent" - possibly "Heaven Scent". This was circa 1966-1970?, Chicago market, heavy saturation. There was a rather catchy song they labeled that product with, and played it again, and again, and yet ... again. On those late night drives one takes with that new girl ... who makes one's heart beat faster than the rest, the ambient melodies create the sountrack ... smile. The lyrics go something like: "Suddenly, there's a heavenly fragrance that clings ... it's heaven scent. Suddenly you're an "imp" (imp?) wearing angel's wings ... in heaven scent ... Suddenly you are all of the things that you want to be, a little bit naughty but heavenly ... in heaven sent ... etc." Can you imagine the angst those lyrics would create in the 16 year-old female heart? Angel / naughty? I digress ... I have so many memories tied to that commercial, and people I've kept connected to. Years ago I tried calling radio stations, and even searched the net. I'd do anything to get my hands on that. Might anyone out there in FH-land has ANY clue If, and HOW, I might be able to get my hands on that commercial? Thought fishing in "FH" pool might get a lead? Thanks ever-so ... (Ron)
>>>Hey, it's worth a shot ... we've come up with STRANGER requests! (LOL) I certainly remember this one, too ... quite honestly, I don't know if ANY of this helped sell perfume or hair products but these were GREAT little songs! (kk)
Kent and Ron,
As for your "wanted" "Heaven Scent" commercial, I think EVERY person that listened to WLS back in the period you mention will recognize this GREAT jingle instantly. Like you, I was entranced by how cool it was, the idea, not just the tune -- AND the over saturation of airplay it got! I loved it and have been trying to get a clean tape or record of it ever since without luck. Attached is the only version I have from AM radio. It sounds like the Chiffons to me, but the version I remember best was mostly a solo voice, possibly double tracked, singing it just a bit more sexy than this cleaner sounding (But STILL GROOVY!) version. Hey, how cool was this jingle? It was so good that the company put the SHEET MUSIC to it in their trade ads!! Buddy Weed composed it. Kent, can you find Buddy for us? Haha. So there you have it! Another great classic from Kent's FH members! Enjoy and by all means, SING ALONG while I play it on the piano in "Moderato, with a beat" (see sheet music)!!!
WLSClark
Kent -
It is Heaven Sent not Heaven Scent cologne one reader was alluding to and it can be purchased on the Net at the manufacturer or even via K-Mart. I'm tempted to buy a bottle, just to refresh my memory on the smell because I wore it all the time. Also, I do remember the commercial, just don't remember the exact lyrics or melody.
Keep up the good work.
Sue Patterson
You'll find the lyrics AND the melody posted on The Forgotten Hits Website right above your email!!! (Now how cool is THAT?!?!?) kk
Kent,
It was heard on the radio today (12/05/09) that, in the 60's, only The Beatles and Herman's Hermits had more than one song in the top 10 at a time. True??
ShelleyCT (Tufano)
While both of these artists certainly achieved this feat, they are NOT the ONLY two to do so during the 1960's. Depending on how "loose" you want to make the rules, I can come up with at least nine others.
First and foremost, you have to remember that in the 1960's, Billboard Magazine counted both sides of the same single as two SEPARATE entries on their Top Singles Chart. As such, in 1961 alone The Everly Brothers, Ricky Nelson and Elvis Presley each accomplished this feat by charting BOTH sides of their current single in Billboard's Top Ten. On March 20, 1961, The Everlys placed "Ebony Eyes" at #8 and the flipside, "Walk Right Back" at #9. Two months later, on May 22nd, Ricky Nelson reached The Top Ten with both sides of HIS latest single ... "Travelin' Man" hit #5 and "Hello Mary Lou" came in at #9. Four months after that, Elvis achieved this feat when "Little Sister" reached #6 the same week that "(Marie's The Name Of) His Latest Flame" hit #10.
Herman's Hermits achieved THEIR Double Top Ten status on April 24, 1965, when their version of "Silhouettes" reached #10 the same week that "Mrs. Brown, You've Got A Lovely Daughter" was the country's #2 Record. In THIS case, these were two completely separate releases ... and both records would remain in The Top Ten for four more weeks, with "Mrs. Brown" ultimately hitting #1 and "Silhouettes" peaking at #5.
NOBODY out-performed The Beatles, however. Counting separate releases and two-sided hits, The Beatles placed two records in The Top Ten a total of eight times ... but they ALSO achieved a chart status that NOBODY else would ever achieve ... in 1964, at the height of Beatlemania, The Beatles not only placed at least two songs in the nation's Top Ten, but they ALSO held down The Top Two Spots on the Chart, The Top THREE Spots on the Chart, The Top FOUR Spots on the Chart and, incredibly, The Top FIVE Spots on the Chart!!!
Here's how they did it:
On February 8th, "She Loves You" joined "I Want To Hold Your Hand" in The Top Ten. The two records remained in The Top Ten for the next several weeks. On February 22nd, "She Loves You" hit the #2 spot while "I Want To Hold Your Hand" was still the #1 Record. The songs HELD those two positions for the next four weeks ... and by then "Please Please Me" had JOINED them in The Top Ten, giving them THREE Top Ten Charters. On March 14th, "I Want To Hold Your Hand", "She Loves You" and "Please Please Me" were the Top Three Songs in the Country. A week later, "She Loves You" replaced "I Want To Hold Your Hand" at #1 and "Twist And Shout" entered The Top Ten for the first time, giving The Beatles FOUR Top Ten Records the week of March 21st. The following week, these four records were The Top Four Records in the Country with "She Loves You" at #1, "I Want To Hold Your Hand" at #2, "Twist And Shout" at #3 and "Please Please Me" at #4. NO Artist had EVER achieved this feat before ... so imagine the surprise the following week when their latest release, "Can't Buy Me Love", jumped from #27 to the #1 Spot, giving The Beatles THE TOP FIVE RECORDS IN THE COUNTRY!!!: "Can't Buy Me Love" (#1), "Twist And Shout" (#2), "She Loves You" (#3), "I Want To Hold Your Hand" (#4) and "Please Please Me" (#5). No act would EVER repeat this feat. The Beatles would have two-sided hits in The Top Ten when "I Feel Fine" and "She's A Woman" did the trick for two weeks beginning December 26, 1964 ... again when "We Can Work It Out" and "Day Tripper" reached The Top Ten for three weeks beginning January 8, 1966 ... another week when "Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Fields Forever" hit The Top Ten on April 1, 1967 ... and for an eight week stretch when "Come Together" and "Something" hit The Top Ten beginning November 8, 1969.
Right in the middle of that impressive run, Billboard changed their chart policy and began charting both sides of the same single at the same chart position. As such, Creedence Clearwater Revival became the next artist to place two records in The Top Ten thanks to THEIR two-sided hit, "Down On The Corner" and "Fortunate Son".
Some would consider that a "technicality" and maintain that this means that only The Beatles and Herman's Hermits "OFFICIALLY" pulled off this feat. However, ANOTHER artist throws a REAL monkey-wrench into this philosophy because on April 25, 1964, The Dave Clark Five reached The Top Ten with two SEPARATE singles when "Glad All Over" hit #6 and their follow-up, "Bits And Pieces" reached #7. That would make The Dave Clark Five the only other act to hit Billboard's Top Ten during the '60's with SEPARATE record releases unless you consider the following:
Bending the rules just a little bit (again), we can also count Diana Ross and the Supremes and The Temptations on our list. Beginning on December 28, 1968, (and remaining in The Top Ten for a total of three consecutive weeks), Diana Ross and the Supremes were at #3 with "Love Child", The Temptations were at #10 with "Cloud Nine" and a "duet" by both groups, "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" premiered in The Top Ten at #7.
In another "technicality", Frankie Valli pulled off this feat for three weeks when his solo hit "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" reached #3 the same week his lead vocal as part of The Four Seasons hit #9 with "C'mon Marianne"!!!
And if you REALLY want to get technical (i.e. anal ... and we do!!!), Ron Dante reached The Top Ten the same week as the "ghost" vocalist for The Archies ("Sugar Sugar) and The Cuff Links ("Tracy") on October 18, 1969 ... and HE stayed there for three consecutive weeks, too!!!
So there's the REAL answer to your question, Shelley ... according to OUR interpretation of Billboard's Top Ten, we've got to include The Beatles (with a Top Ten chart performance that will NEVER be equaled), Herman's Hermits, The Dave Clark Five, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Diana Ross and the Supremes, The Temptations, Ron Dante, Elvis Presley, Ricky Nelson and The Everly Brothers ... a total of ELEVEN different artists to place TWO records in America's Top Ten during the same week.
(For the record, this feat was ALSO achieved a few times in the '50's and in the '70's ... but you only asked about the '60's ... and this "short answer" is already long enough!!! lol) GREAT question!!! (kk)
Speaking of exceptional chart performances, I was very pleased to hear Bob Stroud salute The Monkees last week on his "One 45 at 1:45" feature. It was the 42nd Anniversary of The Monkees' album "Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn and Jones, Ltd." reaching the #1 Spot on Billboard's Album Chart. This gave The Monkees FOUR #1 Albums during the same year, 1967 ... an INCREDIBLE statistic that has never been equaled. (In fact, The Monkees would spend 29 weeks in the #1 LP Spot during 1967: their debut album, "The Monkees", first reached #1 on Billboard's Album Chart on November 12, 1966, where it remained for 13 consecutive weeks, only to be knocked out of the top spot by their SECOND album, "More Of The Monkees", which posted another 18 consecutive weeks in the #1 position! In June, their third LP, "Headquarters" reached the top of the charts for a week (before it was displaced by The Beatles' landmark LP, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band") and then, on December 2nd, The Monkees RETURNED to the top spot with "Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn and Jones, Ltd." which spent the next five weeks atop the chart. Those 29 weeks at #1 in 1967 (plus the eight weeks prior at #1 with their debut LP) gave The Monkees the #1 Album in the country for 37 out of a possible 60 weeks! The 45 Stroud featured that day was "Daydream Believer", also the #1 Single in the Nation on that date yet, amazingly, not from ANY of the four previously mentioned albums!!! (It wouldn't show up on a Monkees LP until May of the following year when "The Birds, The Bees And The Monkees" broke the string of consecutive chart-toppers when it peaked at #3.) The Monkees are the ONLY act to place four straight albums at #1, four #1 LPs in a one year period, and first four LPs "out of the box" to top the charts. Here's a little '60's Flashback to part of our Boyce and Hart Series where we first addressed the question, "Where The Monkees REALLY More Popular Than The Beatles?":
'60's FLASHBACK:
WERE THE MONKEES REALLY BIGGER
THAN THE BEATLES AT ONE TIME?!?!?:
For a brief moment in time, yes, they were! The Monkees' first album spent 13 weeks at #1 beginning in November of 1966. It was knocked out of the #1 spot by their SECOND album ("More Of The Monkees"), which spent 18 additional weeks at #1!!! That one-two punch accounted for 31 consecutive weeks of The Monkees topping Billboard's LP chart. In addition, The Monkees would place two more albums at the top of the chart during 1967: "Headquarters" (#1 for 1 week) and "Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn and Jones, Ltd." (#1 for 5 weeks). That's a total of 37 weeks at Number One out of a possible 60!!! (During that same timeframe, The Beatles topped the charts just once with what is considered to be their landmark album of all time, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", which spent 15 weeks on top of Billboard's LP Chart.) In addition, The Monkees rang up eight Top 40 Hits during that 60 week period (vs. The Beatles' five.) It can be argued that The Beatles lost some of their younger fans who were not yet ready to follow their leaders down the much more sophisticated path of "Rubber Soul", "Revolver" and "Sgt. Pepper" ... let alone their newly embraced drug culture ... some of us still wanted the fun, happy, carefree mop-tops and suddenly The Monkees better fit that bill. (The Beatles were growing mustaches for God's sake!!!) But the truth is that NO other Beatles album ever spent more time at #1 than "Sgt. Pepper"'s 15 week run ... in fact, even when compared to their biggest year ever (1964, when they, too, knocked themselves out of the #1 spot on the album chart ... "The Beatles' Second Album" replacing "Meet The Beatles" at the top of the heap for a combined consecutive total of 16 weeks ... along with a mass saturation of product hitting the marketplace never before seen in the music industry), The Monkees certainly gave The Beatles a run for the money in terms of overall short-term popularity.
You can read the entire Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart Series here:
Click here: Forgotten Hits - THE MUSIC OF TOMMY BOYCE AND BOBBY HART
