for Sunday 28th May 1967

In this week's chart, youth reigned supreme. At number 4, are Dave Dee Dozy Beaky Mick & Tich, the Young Rascals are #5, When You're Young And In Love, #7, When I Was Young, #11, the Small Faces, make two appearances and Young Idea were at #29. Not so young now, maybe?

Some interesting cover-versions enhance this week's Fab. Marvin and Tammi's version of Ain't No Mountain High Enough is less well-remembered than the drama-queen reading by Diana Ross. The duo failed to reach even the foothills of the Nationals with the song, while Diana donned her stiletto hiking-boots and scaled the heights of the Top Ten with it in 1970.

In these photos, Joe Brown looks as if he's severely sunburnt and Young Idea appear to be posing with 'Thing' from the Addams Family

The race was on to take a Sgt Pepper track into the best-sellers. Joe Brown's and the Young Idea's versions of With A Little Help From My Friends both reached the Nationals, but it was Joe Cocker's gravelly rendition that hit the #1 spot in 1968. Meanwhile, David and Jonathan tried their luck with She's Leaving Home, but failed to impress.

Everyone knows Aretha's version of R-E-S-P-E-C-T, but who recalls Salena Jones's? Although a respected and well-loved jazz vocalist, chartwise, Salena is best remembered for her vocal version of Horst Jankowski's A Walk In the Black Forest, titled A Walk In the Black Forest (Our Walk of Love) which received plenty of airplay on Radio London, just scraping into the Fab in January '66.

Unlike the Ronettes in 1964 and Jay and the Americans in 69, The Walker Brothers failed to enter the US charts with Walking In The Rain, despite the song being a Grammy-winning Mann/Weil/Spector composition. In fact, when the trio first hit the US Hot Hundred in '65 and '66, many Americans had believed them to be a British invasion band. This was somewhat ironic for a harmony trio formed in Los Angeles. Lead vocalist and bass guitarist (Noel) Scott Engel, came from Ohio, John Maus, guitar and vocals, was from New York and drummer Gary Leeds was from California. They were not siblings and none of them was called Walker!

Ever emulators of the Phil Spector sound, the moody and toothsome threesome (sorry) was regularly mobbed in the UK. The Walkers were considered major players in the mid-Sixties pop league to the extent that one of Radio Luxembourg's Battle of the Giants features pitted them against the Stones. The 'Brothers' enjoyed nine National chart entries between 1965 and 67, including two #1 smashes, Make It Easy On Yourself and The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Any More. These were only minor Hot Hundred entries. (Bacharach and David's weepie ballad Make It Easy On Yourself had been a Top Twenty entry there for Jerry Butler only three years earlier.) The Walkers succeeded in walking Walking In the Rain... for a final stroll into the National Top Thirty at around the time the trio split. They reformed briefly to have another Top Ten hit in 1976, with No Regrets.

Right: John, Scott and Gary at Marble Arch in London, photographed just before the release of Love Her, circa March 1965. (© Chris Walter)

The Walkers' popularity was in no small way thanks to Radio London, and they received support by the station from the outset. In 1965, they even recorded a jingle for Kenny and Cash, which said "Kenny and Cash, in London" rather than "on London". It was mainly the presence of the trio that caused Fans to invade the race track at the Brands Hatch Radio London Trophy meeting, on 19th June '66. (see Fab for 19th June 66)

At the end of March 1967, the Walkers embarked on a series of gigs which could justifiably have been titled the 'Strange Bedfollows' tour. Second billing went to Engelbert Humperdinck, and the show also featured Cat Stevens and the Jimi Hendrix Experience. 'Experience' drummer Mitch Mitchell has described the tour as being the 'nearest thing to vaudeville'. Britain had continued to cling to the vestiges of the once-popular 'variety show', and some theatrical agents still promoted this type of tour, intended to encompass all sorts of 'wholesome family entertainment'. In a dying tradition, the showbills tended to mix knife-throwers, magicians and jugglers amongst major pop groups, much to the disgust of avid (and increasingly hysterical) pop fans. Pity 'Tommy Wallis and Beryl' who were one of the supporting variety acts on the 1963 gigs starring 'Britain's Fabulous Disc Stars' the Beatles. (see Fab 19th June 66, link above)

Right: A Paris TV appearance. Spot the invisible instrument. Unfortunately, Gary looks somewhat ridiculous, because the producers have forgotten to supply him with a drum kit! (© Chris Walter)

Thanks to a surreal billing order that could have been compiled by John Cleese and Michael Palin, Humperdinck was obliged to follow the Jimi Hendrix Experience on the 67 tour. Hendrix's act, which concluded with the 'spontaneous combustion' of his guitar, was followed by 'Eng' arriving on stage sporting a tuxedo to give his own, cabaret-style performance. Noel Redding ended-up playing bass for both acts - although, for the sake of audience-cred, he did this from behind the curtain during 'Eng's' performance!

These great pictures are reproduced by kind permission of Chris Walter, a photographer whose own career makes fascinating reading on his website, Photofeatures.com.

Read the lyrics to Walking In The Rain here.

Majicat.com – a Cat Stevens tribute site – has an NME review of one of the 'Strange Bedfollows' concerts.

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Trevor Bailey, who says, "Isn't it amazing the trivia that the human brain stores as knowledge?" adds a postscript:

Some years ago now Ronnie Spector published her autobiography "Be My Baby", in which she talked about when the Ronettes recorded "Walking in the Rain" Apparently the vocals were done in one take (the instrumental part having already been recorded). The story is that neither the group nor the writers were happy with the part of the lyric that goes:

"Johnny... No no he'll never do, Bobby... no it isn't him too", feeling that the line, "it isn't him too" wasn't grammatically correct, but as they couldn't think of anything else they left it in.

Trevor cites Walking In The Rain as "One of my favourite songs ever, along with another Ronettes song, "The Best Part of Breaking Up" and Garnet Mimms and the Enchanters' "Cry Baby".

Webmaster's note: They could have tried, "Bobby... no he looks like a gnu".

Willy Walker's climber was Gerry's first solo release after the Pacemakers split up

Aboard the Galaxy this week:

May 30th
Lorne King left Big L to return to Canada.His appropriately-titled final climber was 'Seven Rooms of Gloom'.

June 2nd
The famous funeral of 'Frankie the Fly' was broadcast during the Pete Drummond show.

Ashore May 28th The Free Radio Association held a 'Fight for Free Radio' protest rally in Trafalgar Square. Keith Skues was at the Hermit Club, Hermitage Ballroom, Hitchin to introduce Big L faves, Episode Six, whose new single Morning Dew was his climber for this week. The show also featured Spectrum, only recently departed from the Fab Forty (see feature, May 7th '67). This was the first of what was intended to be a regular Sunday night Radio London show at the club.

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.

And Suddenly was actually the B-Side of the Left Banke single, a departure from the usual 'baroque rock' band style found on the A-side, Ivy Ivy.
Why Radio London decided to flip it, is unknown.

Album of the Week Evolution Hollies PMC 7022 (Stereo PCS 7022) Side One: Side Two Then The Heartaches Begin Rain On The Window Stop Right There Heading For A Fall Water On The Brain Ye Olde Toffee Shoppe Lullaby To Tim When Your Light's Turned On Have You Ever Loved Somebody Leave Me You Need Love The Games We Play