for Sunday 9th July 1967

(#) #1 – The additional credit for Baby You're a Rich Man reflects Brian Long's and Hans Peters' listings.

July 9th
Lots of 'doubling-up' on shows today. Tony Blackburn took the Breakfast Show shift as well as the Fab Forty and Pete Drummond was on air from 18.00 to 21.00, returning for another stint at midnight.

Tony Brandon, presenting the show following the Fab, admitted to having suffered sunburn to his posterior, which resulted in him having to do the show standing up!

10th
Tony Blackburn announced to his listeners that he was to leave Radio London, but on July 15th, not the 17th, as suggested in the clip on the left.

14th
A memorable day in many ways. The DJs were having as much fun as they could while the dream lasted.

Pete 'Dum Dum' Drummond's Coffee Break was packed with 'star guests'. Chuck Blair had returned to the Galaxy following a 'Holidays With DJs' trip to Spain and a visit to the USA. He dropped in to share his vacation experiences with Big L listeners.

This being the day that Royal Assent was given to the Marine Offences Act, Paul Kaye was the next Coffee Break guest, arriving to hammer home a point about government red tape, by playing The Wireless Telegraphy Act, as sung by the King's College Cambridge Choir. John Peel turned up next, to plug his Perfumed Garden (by now, management santioned) followed swiftly by a visit from Tony Blackburn.

Gene Latter, whose single Little Piece of Leather was Dum Dum's climber for this week, visited the Galaxy, although he did not appear as a Coffee Break guest, which was the norm for visiting musicians.

Intending to literally end his Big L stint with a splash, Tony Blackburn jumped into the sea fully clothed, to entertain visitors aboard the tourist boat Viking Saga. Leaping with him (and also fully clad) was Dave 'Hermione' Hawkins, who one month later drew straws with Russ Tollerfield to decide who would be saddled with the sad task of switching off the Radio London transmitter. Russ drew the short straw.

15th
Tony Blackburn presented the Breakfast Show before leaving the Galaxy for the last time. He chose one of his own singles as his final record.

Ashore

July 9th
Mark Roman opened a new housing development near Frinton-on-Sea. As the radio ships were just visible from Frinton, and this was the place for watery wireless fans to go and flash their car headlights from the top of the cliffs at the ships on the horizon, it was appropriate that Mark should give away free passes for boat trips to go out and visit them.

It's Got To Be A Great Song Tiffanies Chess CRS 8059 One of many soul records featured on this week's Big L playlist, Tony Blackburn's final climber failed to impress in 1967, but was destined to become popular on the Seventies Northern Soul scene. It's Got To Be A Great Song was a massive Wigan Casino fave, around the 1975 festive season, which accounts for the single now changing hands at £40 or more. Alan Hardy was surprised to discover that he had an advance promo copy in his collection, stamped with the release date of July 14th, and kindly sent us a scan of his vinyl treasure.

Besides climbers that were played at the time of the broadcast of the Sunday Fab Forty, Alan kept a note of others he heard later in the week and incorporated them into his list.

Gin House Amen Corner Deram DM136 The Radio London Club Disc of the Week was titled Gin House Blues on prerelease copies, but on its release (21/07/67) the label title had been abbreviated to Gin House. From Alan's notes of the Fab 40 shows, and from surviving Curzon Street typed lists, the single appears always to have been announced as Gin House, right from its first appearance as Disc of the Week. According to this feature, the song was originally titled Me and My Gin. In his undated music paper column on the right, Jonathan King was less than complimentary about the Amen Corner single. He is, however, extremely impressed by To Love Somebody, Morning Dew (both already in the FF) and Soul Set track Tramp.(Click on column to see legible version) Music press 'thanks' clipping on the left and Jonathan King Column, from the the Luuk Meuwise archive, courtesy of Hans Knot

Note:
There are two anomalies in Brian Long's listings for this week. We're mentioning them in this footnote, but are not formally incorporating them into the Fab 40 and climber list:

1) For this week only, Brian has listed Jackie de Shannon's version of Chip Taylor's I Can Make It With You, alongside the (presumably British) version by Robb and Dean Douglas, released on Deram. The latter currently stands at #27 in a four-week run on the Big L playlist. Jackie de Shannon's original version had been issued the previous year and peaked at #38 in the Fab 40 on 25th September 1966, sharing the slot with the cover by the Pozo Seco Singers. Although they shared the slot, it was an improvement on the situation in the US Hot Hundred where Jackie de Shannon's original had only made #68, while the Pozo Seco Singers climbed well above it to #32.

We have decided not to include the Jackie de Shannon version for two reasons. Liberty Records do not appear to have reissued or reactivated it to coincide with the release of the Robb and Dean Douglas cover, and neither Alan Field nor Hans Peters have noted hearing it played as a current Big L Fab Forty track in 1967.

2) Brian Long has an additional climber in his list for this week, Created By Clive by the Attack. This record had been Tony Brandon's climber on 18th June 1967 (along with a second version of the song by the Syn). They had entered the Fab 40 jointly at #34 on 25th June. A return to the climber list by either version after an appearance in the chart two weeks previously, seems highly unlikely. Alan has no note of either version of Created By Clive in this week's playlist.