Posted in Music, 1960s, Friday On My Mind at 12:00 on 17 November 2023
A rather typical mid-1960s piece this. The Parade were one of those harmony based US groups so abundant in the mid-1960s. Sunshine Girl was their only notable success.
The Parade: Sunshine Girl
This Sunshine Girl is not to be confused with the song of the same title which was a no 8 hit in the UK for Herman’s Hermits in 1968.
Herman’s Hermits: Sunshine Girl
Posted in Events dear boy. Events, Music, 1960s, Friday On My Mind at 12:00 on 12 March 2021
Trevor Peacock, who was best known as an actor (particularly as Jim Trott in The Vicar of Dibley, died earlier this week.
However he was also a songwriter, with several hits to his credit in the early 1960s, though they were performed and sung by other people. Mrs Brown, You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter was a no 1 in the US for Herman’s Hermits, though it wasn’t released as a single in the UK.
This one was a No 3 in the UK. It is a very “early 1960s” sound, from a tiny bit before my time.
Joe Brown and The Bruvvers: That’s What Love Will Do
Trevor Edward Peacock: 19/5/1931 – 8/3/2021. So it goes.
Posted in Events dear boy. Events, Music, 1960s, Friday On My Mind at 12:00 on 3 May 2019
Songwriter (well, tune writer: he collaborated with lyricists to complete his songs) Les Reed died last week.
Writing for the likes of Tom Jones and Engelbert Humperdinck, Reed was never the most credible with the rock crowd but he helped create a formidable catalogue of notable songs of the 1960s.
It’s Not Unusual, The Last Waltz, I’m Coming Home, Delilah and I Pretend all made No 1 or 2, not a bad achievement for anybody – even if these were mostly bought by Mums and Dads.
Then there’s this song from 1967 (lyric by Geoff Stephens,) and later recorded by The Carpenters.
Herman’s Hermits: There’s a Kind of Hush
Leslie David (Les) Reed: 24/7/1935 – 15/4/2019. So it goes.
Posted in BBC, Music, Radio 2, 1960s, Friday On My Mind at 14:00 on 26 July 2013
Another Graham Gouldman composition; but this one was most definitely a hit – for the almost anodyne Herman’s Hermits. In the US, where the Hermits had huge success, it was only released as a B-side but in the UK it reached no. 7 in 1966.
No Milk Today is lyrically very curious as a pop song, what with its emphasis on the down side of life. It has a very British feel to it, though, with its evocation of the daily morning delivery and terraced housing, “just two up, two down.” Nowadays the line, “the company was gay,” is likely to be read differently from back then!
For some reason I really like the bells in the “but all that’s left” sections of this.
Herman’s Hermits: No Milk Today
It seems the Hermits also recorded a version of Tallyman (see last week’s post) but it was never released, being thought not commercial enough by the group’s producer Mickie Most. This is a version they recorded in a BBC session. It’s introduced by the voice of Radio 2’s Sounds of the Sixties, Brian Matthew.
Herman’s Hermits: Tallyman
