The Early Radio London Fab Forties

Sunday 20th February 1966
(In 2010 new recordings of Dave Cash Breakfast Shows broadcast during the week 21 - 25 February came to light.
These enabled climber and other information to be added to the existing chart.)

Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich appreciating the meaning of 'Hold Tight' when applied to the constrictions of paisley pants! The tight gear had not prevented them from leaping 16 places up the Fab Forty, to #18 – even if it prevented them from sitting down!

Last
This
 
Week
Week
1
1
19th Nervous Breakdown / As Tears Go By* Rolling Stones
8
2
My Love Petula Clark
9
3
Sha La La La Lee Small Faces
7
4
Uptight (Everything's Alright) Stevie Wonder
3
5
A Groovy Kind Of Love Mindbenders
23
6
Inside Looking Out Animals
6
7
Tomorrow Sandie Shaw
17
8
Barbara Ann Beach Boys
10
9
Little By Little Dusty Springfield
14
10
This Golden Ring Fortunes
2
11
These Boots Are Made For Walkin' Nancy Sinatra
16
12
Land Of 1000 Dances Cherokees
19
13
Think Chris Farlowe
21
14
Can't Help Thinking About Me David Bowie & the Lower Third
24
15
Jenny Take A Ride Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels
25
16
Lightnin' Strikes Lou Christie
4
17
You Didn't Have To Be So Nice Lovin' Spoonful
34
18
Hold Tight Dave Dee Dozy Beaky Mick & Tich
28
19
What Now My Love Sonny & Cher
35
20
You've Come Back P J Proby
29
21
Under Your Spell Again Johnny Rivers
22
Make The World Go Away Eddy Arnold
31
23
La La La Gerry & the Pacemakers
24
Backstage Gene Pitney
25
Blue River Elvis Presley
26
I Can't Let Go Hollies
12
27
Have Pity On The Boy Paul & Barry Ryan
36
28
You Don't Love Me Gary Walker
29
I'll Never Quite Get Over You Billy Fury
30
Shapes Of Things Yardbirds
31
Me And You Diane Ferraz & Nicky Scott
38
32
Never Let It Be Said Valerie Mitchell
37
33
Woman Peter & Gordon
11
34
Girl Truth / St Louis Union
39
35
Please Go Trekkas
36
634-5789 Wilson Pickett
37
Baby Don't You Do It Poets
38
Accidental Love Loving Kind
39
Who Is Sylvia? Honeycombs
40
Why Don't I Run Away From You? Kiki Dee



35
Please Go Trekkas Planet PLF 105

The Coda website has a 2-page photo feature on this Hertfordshire band in its various incarnations and Webmaster Dave has kindly obtained permission from guitarist Martyn Day for us to reproduce the picture of the Trekkas line-up that recorded Please Go. (l to r) Ken Caylor (drums), Ron Baird (bass), Martyn Day (rhythm) Mick Casey (lead), Mick Simmons (vocals) and Angela Penketh (keyboards).

Please Go was published by Radio London's company Pall Mall. but because its writer J Martin Pring was still a minor, the publishing contract had to be signed by his mother Anne, on his behalf. (Thanks to Brian Long). Both Dave and band members have attempted to resolve the mystery concerning the underage writer, whom it transpires was not connected to the Trekkas.

Martyn Day said, "I don't think that any of us know who the mysterious J. Martin Pring is. All I recall is rehearsing one Sunday morning in Lincoln Electric in Welwyn Garden City when our manager Eddie Veale turned up with the song. I don't think that we were very impressed with it. It didn't really start to work until Ron Baird, our bass player, came up with that bass riff. Unfortunately when we came to record the song Ron made a slight gaff on the riff. We asked if we could go again but the engineers wouldn't let us so there it remains - on the actual record! After all these years I still feel for poor old Ron! You could try contacting Eddie Veale. He's still in the business - building high tech recording studios!"

Eddie was, however, unable to help. "As I recall, the guy who gave me the manuscript worked at Lincoln Electric, but I have had no contact since and do not know how to find him. I'm afraid that brain wracking has produced nothing from the fog of time!"

Please Go is quite collectable – the highest price paid for it as of 2021 was £180 - but if you aren't desparate to own it on vinyl, it's available on Looking Back: 80 Mod, Freakbeat & Swinging London Nuggets.

Among the 80 tracks are other Big L Fab Forty gems (and also one or two Caroline ones) including I'm Not Your Stepping Stone by the Flies, It's Not True – The Untamed, Just What You Want – Just What You'll GetJohn's Children and The Birds – No Good Without You Baby.

1
1
19th Nervous Breakdown / As Tears Go By* Rolling Stones

Dave Cash played As Tears Go By during the ensuing week and announced it as a double-sided hit at number 1. It was probably listed alongside 19th Nervous Breakdown in other weeks too, but no accurate assumptions can be made, because such records were often not listed as double-sided hits throughout their entire chart run on Radio London.

19
13
Think Chris Farlowe

Please see the notes from last week's Fab Forty concerning the placing for Think, which was originally listed here as new in at #13.

22
Make The World Go Away Eddy Arnold

Make the World Go Away had somewhat strange journey up the Fab Forty. Eddy Arnold had entered the chart on December 19th 1965 and spent three weeks there, sharing the second two on equal footing with Dodie West's version of the song. The peak position shared on this occasion was #20. However, after a seven-week absence, Eddy Arnold's version of Make the World Go Away suddenly reappears in the Big L chart at #22, where it will remain for another five weeks, reaching #7 on March 20th. Dodie West is nowhere to be seen.

Make the World Go Away spent a total of 17 weeks on the UK National chart, peaking at #6. Eddy Arnold was, however, unable to follow this success in the UK charts, although he remained a best-seller in the US. His singles did, in fact, receive more airplay on Radio Caroline than on Radio London. Make the World Go Away spent its final week in the Caroline Countdown of Sound on April 23rd 1966.

Massively-popular country singer Eddy Arnold died in 2008, just one week short of his 90th birthday.

On Feb 25th (Friday), our Knees Club Official, Lynn, was the person responsible for signing-up the Swinging Blue Jeans at Beaconsfield Youth Club. Ray Ennis (#100), became our Vice-President at his own insistence, and also received the special award of a (plastic) knee for becoming our 100th member. (I think, and certainly hope, that this was an item removed from a doll!) Other group members were Terry Sylvester (101) (who in 1969 would replace Graham Nash in the Hollies), Norman Kuhlke (102), Les Braid (99), and Ralph Ellis. As far as can be established, poor Ralph was omitted from the KC book due to an 'administrative error' and unfortunely failed to get a membership number. He is perhaps the only unnumbered Knees Club member.

Sadly, Les Braid passed away in 2005. Ray Ennis announced his retirement from the band in 2010.

Such was the way of the Big L Fab Forty, that the band's latest single Don't Make Me Over, which last week had stood at #13, had already vanished from this week's chart. It was still selling sufficiently well to remain in the Nationals, although it climbed no higher than #31.

Note: this somewhat dog-eared, or perhaps simply well-loved, autographed photo shows a four-man group. Terry Sylvester who is not pictured, definitely joined the Knees Club at Beaconsfield Youth Club, so this must have been a change-over phase in the band's line-up.

Fast-forward 34 years to 2000 and the Brighton Summer Sixties Festival, where we found the Knees Club's Vice-President still indicating eagerness to display his patellae to all-and-sundry. Ray's years of dedication to knees prompted the Club Founder to promote him to the role of President, to take the place of the late TW.

Ex-Caroline DJ Bud Ballou was also present at Brighton. Bud, who has proved an exemplary ambassador for knees, and has displayed them internationally, was immediately chosen to step into the role of Vice-President. More Knees Club history here.

DJ Climbers:
The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore Walker Brothers Dave Cash
Something I've Got To Tell You Glenda Collins Dave Dennis
Super Girl Graham Bonney John Edward
Dedicated Follower Of Fashion Kinks Duncan Johnson
Baby Let Me Love You Elkie Brooks Paul Kaye
Elusive Butterfly Bob Lind Mike Lennox
There'll Be Another Spring Frank Ifield Earl Richmond
Devil May Care Ray Stevens Mark Roman
Nowhere Man Settlers/Three Good Reasons Ed Stewart
Running Round In Circles Ivy League Tony Windsor

Nowhere Man is the fourth cover of a Rubber Soul track to appear in the Radio London playlist. Three of those Beatles covers saw two rival versions sharing the limelight throughout, with the two releases of Girl having plummeted down the Fab Forty from #11 to #34 since last week, while both recordings of Michelle have disappeared altogether.

Super Girl by Graham Bonney was noted as Dave Cash's climber last week. It's back in the climber list again, this time as John Edward's pick. This is the second time recently that this has occurred. Sonny and Cher's What Now My Love, was John Edward's climber on January 23rd and was then picked as Earl Richmond's two weeks later.

John Hutley's tape includes fragments of two separate shows from that week, Mark Roman and Dave Cash. They both played Paul Kaye's climber, Baby Let Me Love You by Elkie Brooks. Interestingly, the day the Cashman played it, he announced that it was Elkie Brooks' 21st Birthday that very day - which means (if Dave had the same information as ours) the date of the broadcast was Friday 25th February '66, which by coincidence is the day that Elkie's record was released

 

Climber:
Please Stay Cryin' Shames
   
Disc of the Week:  
Stop Breaking My Heart Tom Jones

Explanations for colour-coding credits are as follows
GREEN indicates information we have previously published, taken from the tape discovered in 2010 (mentioned above).
BLUE indicates information gleaned from recordings provided by John Hutley in 2019.
PURPLE indicates information supplied by Roy Taylor in 2020.
In addition there is a high degree of corroboration between the various sources, and with overlapping information recently forwarded to us by Kees Brinkerink,
again taken from archive recordings. Our thanks to all the contributors.


The Caroline 'Countdown Sixty' chart (south ship) for this week is here


Tune in next week for another Big L Fab 40!


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