In 1965, The Walker Brothers released a cover version of a Bacharach/David song that had been a minor hit for Jerry Butler three years earlier. With the powerful lead vocal of Scott Walker, the new version became a hit around the world. I already had the original on record, but I bought the new version too.
Here are both versions.
(It was also covered by Dionne Warwick, but not until 1970.)
1962, and a big hit for Carole King. Originally written by her and Gerry Goffin for Bobby Vee to perform, the record company preferred her version and released it as a single.
(The Bobby Vee version was released almost a year later.)
No apologies for featuring another Motown song from Holland/Dozier/Holland. This 1967 hit from the Isley Brothers was Motown magic, and it sounds as fresh to me today as it did back then.
It was very rare for me to buy a completely instrumental record in my teens, but this 1967 release was an exception. Earl Van Dyke was the house keyboard player for Motown Records, and his organ playing on this song is great! Listening now, it sounds not unlike the theme to a contemporary TV show, but it brings back great memories for me when I was 15.
This song was the soundtrack to my summer in 1963. Another marvellous composition from Holland, Dozier, Holland, performed perfectly by Martha and The Vandellas. Released on the Gordy label in the USA, in Britain it was a Motown record. I cannot keep still when I hear this song, even now. My legs are jiggling away as I type this!
I am going back to 1962 with this choice. I was only 10 years old, but I knew I had to have this record as soon as I heard it on the radio. This was his only major hit, but it was a very big one. Chris Montez changed his style later and became a ballad singer, never achieving the same level of fame again. Now aged 80, he is still working.
1963 again, (That was a great year for music!) and another pop classic from America. Lesley Gore was just 16 years old when she recorded this song, which was produced by none other than Quincy Jones. She went on to have more hits, including the classic “You Don’t Own Me”. In later life she also acted, and wrote songs with her brother for the musical ‘Fame’. Lesley was also known for being an ‘Out’ Lesbian, and had the same partner for most of her life. She died in 2015, at the age of 68.
In 1964, the American teenage girl group The Shangri-Las had a number one hit with the song ‘Leader Of The Pack’. This was in a short-lived musical genre known as ‘Teenage Tragedy’. I didn’t buy that record, but the same year I did buy another of their records. This one.
The lyrics are on the video.
I discovered that a 15 year-old Billy Joel is playing the piano on this record! The girls officially split up in 1967, and the current group touring using the same name is nothing to do with the original.
Also in 1963, The Ronettes hit the charts with this song. One of the earliest examples of Phil Spector’s ‘Wall of sound’ technique, it was a huge hit almost everywhere.
Ronnie (Veronica Greenfield) formed the group with her sister and cousin, and later married Phil Spector the music producer, becoming well-known as Ronnie Spector. They divorced in 1972. Ronnie died in 2022, at the age of 78.
A big hit on both sides of The Atlantic in 1963, this song performed by The Chiffons often pops into my head. It crossed over from Doo-Wop into mainstream pop, spanning both musical genres and pleasing listeners all over the world.
It wasn’t their only hit, but it was the first one of their records that I bought.