Record of the Year 1962: The Tornados - Telstar

For the first time my record of the year was a number one. It was also the first US number one to be recorded by a British group.

Instrumental music was clearly popular when this came out, but this does sound like its ahead of its time. I first heard this after learning about the US number one fact and finding it on YouTube. Even all these years after it was written I still don't think I've ever heard anything quite like it.

The Tornados would have a further three hit singles, all the following year, all instrumental and all rather good.

The man behind the Tornados was Joe Meek. He wrote and produced this track and had great success with other artists too in the early 60s. Despite this he found himself with major financial difficulties and in 1967 he shot dead his landlady before shooting himself dead aged just 37.

As for the Tornados themselves, well they are actually still going today as a triggers broom band. Three of the five members on this track have since passed away including Heinz Burt who would have a few solo hits after leaving the band under the name Heinz. Of the two still alive, there is Clem Cattini who became a successful session musician and holds the record for most number ones played on with at least 44 known to feature him. He rerecorded this track this year (2016) with a Ska band called the Skammers. Then there is George Bellamy who is now retired but has a famous son, Matt Bellamy the lead singer of Muse.

UK Singles Chart: 1962

I begin my review of 1962 by talking about an artist who made his chart debut in 1961 who I failed to mention in my review of that year, Chubby Checker. He had reached number 27 with his debut "Pony Time" and then his follow up, "Lets Twist Again" reached number 37 and remained in the top 40 for one week. The first week of 1962 saw "Lets Twist Again" re enter the top 40 and would go on to reach number 2 and remain in the top 40 until the end of May before reappearing for two more weeks in June. The second week saw "The Twist" enter the top 40 having failed to do so on its original release two years earlier.

This set the scene for the first half of the year with several songs about doing the twist appearing in the charts such as "Twistin the Night Away" by Sam Cooke, "Ya Ya Twist" by Petula Clark and "Slow Twistin" by Chubby Checker himself. There would be no further twist songs in the second half of the year with Chubby Checker moving onto rock having hits with "Limbo Rock" and "Jingle Bell Rock".

Another record from 1961 which made a big impact in the charts in 1962 was "Stranger on the Shore" by Mr Acker Bilk. This entered the top 40 in December 1961 but would remain in the charts until December 1962 spending just 3 weeks outside the top 40 in that time. This was a record at the time and it never actually made number one.

It proved to be yet another successful year for Elvis Presley scoring another four number ones taking his total to 13. At the time of writing, this number has only been topped by the Beatles, Cliff Richard and Westlife in the history of the charts. His total number of top 40 hits would now stand at 43.

Of the 1952 chart debutants, only Nat King Cole would have top 40 hits this year. This would be the last we'd see of Nat King Cole in the charts until "When I Fall in Love" got rereleased in 1987. Of the 1953 debutants we have a hit for Perry Como with "Caterina" which would be his last record for several years until he would return with a string of hits in the 70s. Frank Sinatra and Frankie Vaughan both continued their run of having a hit every year since 1954 and as mentioned 1954 debutant Petula Clark would be in the charts this year.

The instrumentals were still going strong with three instrumental number ones this year. They were "Wonderful Land" by the Shadows, "Nut Rocker" by B Bumble and the Stingers and "Telstar" by the Tornados which was also the first US number one by an English group. We also had the chart debut of instrumental group the Spotnicks who were the first act from Sweden to enter the charts having hits with "Orange Blossom Special" and "Rocket Man". Meanwhile Duane Eddy had a hit late on in the year with "(Dance With The) Guitar Man" which was his first UK hit with vocals on.

The year saw the chart debut for the Four Seasons with "Sherry". Meanwhile, November saw the chart debut of a certain band from Liverpool called the Beatles with the record "Love Me Do". This record would slowly climb the charts for the rest of the year being at number 17 in the final week of the year.

So despite this being the third year of the 60s the chart still has a 50s feel about it. Will the debut of the Beatles change that? Well you know the answer to that, but come back in a couple of weeks to see exactly what happened.

Black Grape - Shake Your Money

Some time ago I wondered one day, what was that song Chris Evans used to play often on his Radio 1 breakfast show that went "Shake your money shake shake your money"?

So I looked on the internet and found that funnily enough it was called "Shake Your Money" and it was by Black Grape. This wasn't long before the infamous Sean Ryder interview on TFI Friday when Black Grape were at the height of their popularity.

Surprisingly for a record that was often played on radio 1 it was never actually a single.

Lately I've been getting the urge to listen to this, quite possibly because of the association with Chris Evans and the fact he is back on TV presenting Top Gear. I urge you to do the same, enjoy!

Record of the Year 1961: Drifters - I Count the Tears

You could probably tell from my review of 1961 that I wasn't particularly inspired by the hits of that year in general. However there were some good tunes including this, my record of the year.

This was the last UK single for the Drifters with Ben E King as the lead vocalist having left the group in 1960 after being a member for just 2 years.

What I like about the song is how its sad in terms of lyrical content and the key its sang in, but has quite an uplifting beat at the same time. The Drifters have several well know songs and this probably isn't one of them having reached number 28, but sometimes its the lesser known ones which are the better ones.

All further releases by the Drifters in the 60s didn't even get as high as 28 and that included "Under the Boardwalk" which despite being one of their better know songs, failed to reach the top 40 stalling at number 45.

The 70s though brought them their most successful chart period scoring 8 top ten hits. Being the Drifters though, it was a completely different line up by this point.

Whilst they haven't troubled the charts since the 70s, they are still going today and still keep on changing their line up. The current longest serving member joined the band in 2006 and wasn't even born when this record came out in 1961.

UK Singles Chart: 1961

When I was reviewing 1960 I said it was probably the most stereotypical 50s sounding year to date. Well 1961 is probably the most actual 50s sounding year to date with plenty of traditional pop thrown in for good measure.

The most notable thing about the evolution of the chart music in 1961 is the rise of instrumental music. There were two instrumental number ones this year, "Kon-Tiki" by the Shadows and "On the Rebound" by Floyd Cramer. The lead instrument in "On the Rebound" was the piano with Floyd Cramer having previous success as a session pianist for well known artists such as Elvis Presley. There were also many guitar based instrumentals from lesser known groups which you could be forgiven for thinking its a Duane Eddy or Shadows tune.

The biggest success story of 1961 though was Elvis Presley who reached 38 singles and clocked up another four number ones bringing his total to 9. Included his number ones of the year was "Wooden Heart" which was his best UK hit in my opinion.

This year saw the chart debut of Gene Pitney. First of all in January the Gene Pitney penned "Rubber Ball" charted for Bobby Vee, The Avons and Marty Wilde. There was also the Gene Pitney penned "Hello Mary Lou" which was a hit for Ricky Nelson in June. He also made his chart debut as an artist in March with "I Wanna Love My Life Away". Despite him being a songwriter, this would be the only UK hit he would have as an artist which he would write himself.

Another chart debutant known for their high pitched voice this year was Del Shannon. He reached number one in June with his debut hit "Runaway". He would follow up with two more top 10 hits later on in the year with "Hats off to Larry" and "So Long Baby". It was also the year the Shirelles made their chart debut with "Will You Love Me Tomorrow?" which would be their only top 10 hit.

This is now the tenth year of the charts and the 1952 chart debutants who had hits this year were Max Bygraves and Nat King Cole, though Max Bygraves would have to wait several more years until he would have his next hit. Of the 1953 debutants, the Ted Heath Orchestra had their first hit in 3 years with "Sicu Sicu" which would be their last ever hit. Ted Heath himself would be 61 by the time of this release so not bad going. We also see the return of Dorothy Squires with "Say it With Flowers". This was only her second single, her first being "I'm Walking Behind You" in 1953 and she would wait several more years until her third single.

Out of the 1954 debutants, there were hits for Frankie Vaughan, Alma Cogan and Frank Sinatra. All three artists had hits every year between 1954 and 1961, a record at the time. This would be the last year we'd see Alma Cogan in the charts, but Frankie Vaughan and Frank Sinatra would be back. Further to that, Frankie Vaughan scored a number one this year with "Tower of Strength". There was one more 1954 debutant who had hits this year, Petula Clark who also had a number one this year with "Sailor". Another 50s artists of note to still be having hits is Lonnie Donegan long after the skiffle craze was over.

We had one new nationality on the charts in 1961. This was Danny Williams from South Africa who had the Christmas number one with Moon River.

So not quite the swinging sixties yet, how will 1962 fare? Find out in a couple of weeks.