Ah me. Does anyone else remember the delights of Lift Off With Ayshea? This was a late 60s late afternoon ITV pop programme which didn’t feature only hits and was presented by Ayshea Brough, also known as Ayesha, one of the first women of Asian heritage to present a British TV programme.

From the date of release of the first song here it may have been the earlier Discotheque – on which Ayshea also appeared – where I first caught sight of Elton John (a hirsute, fleece-jacketed, very young looking Elton John) for he did first record under that name in the 60s. But I remember him as being introduced by Ayesha.

This was Elton’s second single, the haunting Lady Samantha, which got a fair amount of radio airplay but apparently sold only 4,000 copies.

I have searched in vain for the relevant clip – even for a reasonably good version of the song. The closest I came was this live recording of a BBC radio session.

Elton John: Lady Samantha

Elton’s subsequent song It’s Me That You Need I liked even better. I didn’t manage to get hold of either of them till a few years later when both songs were on the reverse of the 1972 single Honky Cat (which I bought purely for these.)

Elton John: It’s Me That You Need