The Early Radio London Fab Forties

Sunday 4th April 1965
A change of colour as we switch to charts kindly supplied by Brian Long

Cliff's no April Fool at #3
Last
This
 
Week
Week
6
1
For Your Love Yardbirds
5
2
Catch The Wind Donovan
4
3
The Minute You're Gone Cliff Richard
11
4
The Times They Are A-Changin' Bob Dylan
1
5
Concrete And Clay Unit 4 + 2
2
6
The Last Time Rolling Stones
16
7
Here Comes The Night Them
15
8
Stop! In The Name Of Love Supremes
3
9
Goodbye My Love Searchers
14
10
I Can't Explain Who
12
11
I'll Be There Gerry & the Pacemakers
7
12
Silhouettes Herman's Hermits
18
13
Everybody's Gonna Be Happy Kinks
21
14
Reelin' And Rockin' Dave Clark Five
17
15
Little Things Dave Berry
8
16
Come And Stay With Me Marianne Faithfull
10
17
Do The Clam Elvis Presley
9
18
Give Him A Great Big Kiss Shangri-Las
32
19
You're Breaking My Heart Keely Smith
26
20
True Love Ways Peter & Gordon
13
21
I'll Stop At Nothing Sandie Shaw
22
Pop Go The Workers Barron Knights
23
Nowhere To Run Martha & the Vandellas
31
24
Bye Bye Girl Applejacks
28
25
Hawaiian Wedding Song Julie Rogers
35
26
Congratulations West Five
39
27
Birth Of The Budd Roy Budd
24
28
King Of The Road Roger Miller
23
29
Bring Your Love To Me Righteous Brothers
30
The Kind Of Boy You Can't Forget Little Frankie
20
31
I Apologise P J Proby
32
Casting My Spell Measles
33
Bring It On Home To Me Animals
19
34
In The Meantime Georgie Fame & the Blue Flames
35
Three Rooms With Running Water Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers
25
36
Honey I Need Pretty Things
29
37
This Diamond Ring Gary Lewis & the Playboys
27
38
Yes I Will Hollies
30
39
I Know A Place Petula Clark
33
40
The Birds And The Bees Jewel Akens

35
26
Congratulations West Five HMV POP 1396

There is a great deal of conflicting information to be discovered on the internet about West Five. Some confusion has been caused by a collection of unreleased tracks produced by Joe Meek, which appear to have been recorded by an earlier (skiffle) outfit of the same name. (CD: Joe Meek: Work in Progress – The Triumph Sessions). Fortunately for Radio London, two of the band members who recorded Congratulations, Michael Snow (aka Liston) and Colin Charles, have been in touch to set the record straight.

Colin Charles's nephew, Jonathan kindly sent these photos. (For a closer look at the 'memorabilia montage', click on the righthand pic)

Jonathan says:

I actually found the link to the Radio London site from Google when searching for my uncle's old group. I emailed you because Colin sent me a specially made "The Four - West Five" CD with the released tracks and some other unreleased ones.

I thought you'd also like to know who was in the band. They are listed on the CD as: Don Regan, Colin Charles, Jerry Wood, Barry Summerfield, and Mike Liston.

Originally called 'The 4', the band became West Five when they acquired a fifth musician, Mike Liston, for Congratulations (a Jagger/Richards composition, not connected to the 1968 Eurovision entry by Cliff Richard) and is named by various sources as Colin Charles, Mike Liston, Don Regan, Barry Summerfield and Jerry Wood. Brian Long, writing in The London Sound, comments that the band contained two ex-New Musical Express office boys, Don Broughton and Colin Charles. Congratulations was produced by John Burgess at Abbey Road.

Mike Liston was the name used at the time by multitalented singer, musician and songwriter, Michael Snow, who wrote the 1971 hit for Georgie Fame and Alan Price, Rosetta.

After the breakup of West Five, Michael Snow and Gerry Wood first worked with She Trinity which featured Carol McDonald and Margo Crocitto (ex-Goldie & The Gingerbreads).

Snow and Wood, along with Mick Fitzpatrick, were later hired to back Diane Ferraz and Nicky Scott. This particular association was short-lived, but Ferraz and Scott clocked-up one Radio London climber and two Fab 40 entries between April 66 and July 67.

Gerry Wood then retired and Snow joined The Checkmates, Emile Ford's backing band. The band's name was changed to Ferris Wheel when Diane Ferraz was brought in as front singer.

Ferris Wheel - Phase 1 - was: Diane Ferraz-vocals; Michael Snow-keyboards; George Ford-bass/vocals; Keith Field-guitar/vocals; Dave Ford-sax/flute/vocals; Barry Reeves-drums. This line-up made an album - "Can't Break the Habit" - and several singles for Pye, produced by John Schroeder. These were reissued in 2005 on Sequel/Sanctuary.

Phase 2 - Keith Field was replaced by Terry Edmunds.

Phase 3 - Diane Ferraz was briefly replaced by Marsha Hunt, then Linda Lewis. Barry Reeves was replaced by Dennis Elliott (later with Foreigner). This line-up recorded an eponymous album and a single for Polydor, both produced by Ian Samwell. Terry Edmunds was sidelined by ill-health towards the end of Ferris Wheel's run, and the guitar spot was filled by Bernie Holland and finally by Jim Cregan.

Many thanks to Michael Snow and Colin Charles, and Jonathan for setting the record straight.

Fab 40 Connections:
She Trinity hit the Big L Fab 40 twice, pacing the Bobby Fuller Four up the chart in April '66, with their version of I Fought the LawShe Fought the Law, and again in July '66, when Will the Man Who Took the Valise off the Floor at Grand Central Station at Noon reached #13. Liverpool's Beryl Marsden joined the group in its 1967 line-up, after leaving Shotgun Express, and another a one-time member was saxophonist Barbara Thompson.

Diane Ferraz, partnered with Nicky Scot, found Fab 40 success in March (Me and You), and April (You've Got to Learn) of 66, and again in July '67 with their best remembered release, Sh-Boom Sh-Boom.

The short-lived Shotgun Express released only two singles, but both appeared in the Big L chart, first in November '66, with I Could Feel The Whole World Turn Round and six months later, in May '67 with Funny, Cos Neither Could I.




Climbers  
Rum-Pum Bobby Jameson
Wish I Didn't Love Him Mia Lewis
Love Her Walker Brothers
Don't Get Off That Train Tony Blackburn
Ticket To Ride Beatles


Near-Misses
In his notes for The London Sound, Brian Long refers to a single called Someone New by Carlo Dini. It was being plugged on Caroline this month, while its B-side, Here in My Heart, was getting the Big L airplay. Brian also records a memo from Ben Toney to Tony Windsor, requesting that a release by the Dalys called Me Japanese Boy (Fontana TF 546) should be added to next week's chart. However, there is no evidence of either Someone New or Me Japanese Boy having been awarded official climber status. Neither reached the Fab 40.

Ashore this week
Today, April 24th, Mark Roman was making a personal appearance at Club Continental in Eastbourne. The popular club, managed by Des Burleton (d 2008) was, according to the Eastbourne Herald, "definitely the place to see and be seen in the Sixties". Unfortunately, no information has come to light as to the identity of the guest artists referred to on promotional posters.

Tune in next week for another Big L Fab 40!


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