ukswings

Just working a hunch here, but one upbeat song that might have been playing at the time is Just Jack's "Starz In Their Eyes". It features Jack's voice, but has a number of changes in vocals throughout the song. It also features, at one point, a child saying "When I grow up, I'm going to be famous." Could that be it? UKSwings

I recently discovered a song by them that I'd completely forgotten, and I was glad to discover it again! It was "A Must To Avoid", which made it onto the British and American top 10 in 1965. What a great song! It starts with a guitar taken straight from the Hollies, and then Peter Noone's phased voice : She's a must to avoid/A complete impossibility/She's a must to avoid/Better take it from me The whole song is a gem at under two minutes. UKSwings

I had the privilege of seeing the above-mentioned show in May of last year. Alex Chilton can still bring it. He looks rather frail and thin, but the man's voice has not been diminished by the years. Of course, they did "The Letter", and they started the show with "Cry Like a Baby", but they also did a couple of their lesser-known songs and some covers. Highlights : "Neon Rainbow" : This song was not one of their biggest hits, although I believe it did crack the top 40 when it was released. It's a ballad, and has one helluva hook to it. The song was covered by the Mexican group Los Chijuas shortly after it's release, with the lyrics "redone" in Spanish. "Soul Deep" : This is an undiscovered classic R&B song that's just begging to be picked up for a wireless network or car commercial. Cover : "Whiter Shade of Pale" : I know, I know, no one can improve on Gary Brooker's original vocal on this. I cringed when I heard the familiar organ intro, but Alex Chilton managed a respectable version of it! I was a little disappointed that they chose not to perform "Sweet Cream Ladies Forward March", their ode to prostitution that was released around the same time frame as "Cry Like a Baby". I remember hearing the song on the radio maybe twice before someone realized what it was about and pulled it from the airwaves. The Shadows of Knight also put on quite a show; they actually have an album of new material which we bought! UK Swings

Blue Cheer were a band like no other; Vincebus Eruptum was a revelation in heavy sounds. I can't recall ever hearing material from Outside/Inside, but somewhere I've got a copy of "The Original Human Being". The group had significantly changed its sound by that time. The album was a crashing failure, but that period did produce a couple of interesting songs that are worth listening to even now. They'd gone into a psychedelic/progressive phase by this time; the songs were dominated by the sounds of a sitar. They are : "I'm the Light" : An almost orchestral piece, with crashing thunder and wind, a heavenly choir, and a catchy sitar riff. The lyrics are "cosmic" and occasionally silly : "One foot in the acid world/The other one in the grave/Til you see my light/One hand for all mankind/While the other one holds the flame/Til you see my light, babe" "Babaji" : An instrumental driven by....you guessed it....sitar. One of the catchiest sitar numbers I've ever heard (and I've heard maybe. . . two)! UK Swings

Dude, you hit it right on the nose with the song; it's our theme! It's always the first thing we play on the show. Those are some of Roger Miller's most descriptive lyrics. I have to take exception to the post being "spammy". I'm not trying to do anything with it other than to do what radio shows do - attract listeners. I chose to post it here because I felt that Beat King is a forum of people truly interested in music in all its forms. We work very hard putting the show together each week, and it may be of interest to many of the people who frequent the forum. If it was spam - or if we were trying to make money - I would be posting it all over the internet. I think I've posted the information maybe three times in the past four months in various places. If you go to the WEBR website, you'll see that it's "homegrown community radio" with no advertising. It's a great station, with a wide variety of programming for nearly every taste. But I don't want to sound like spam! Thanks for reading, UKSwings

I'm sharing some information about an internet radio show that you may enjoy : Remember the days when radio stations mixed pop, rock, soul, and other forms of music? Remember when a top 40 station played the best of modern music, no matter the genre? In the late 1970s, American radio fragmented into various niches, and since then, the situation has only further fragmented. But this didn't happen in other parts of the world. In the United Kingdom, you can find stations that, to this day, play a mix of genres and formats across the board. Therefore, the British music scene has remained distinct and diverse - even on the BBC, you can tune in at any given time and hear, for instance, the Killers followed by Chamillionaire followed by Muse followed by the Sugababes, etc. To explore the entire milieu of British music, we've designed a radio show. It's called "England Swings" and it airs on Saturdays at 12:00 Eastern Time. We pick the absolute best of current British music, add in some older songs by UK artists to provide a sense of history, and have a great time! The show can be found on the internet, live on Saturdays at: www.fcac.org/webr I'm not sure if anyone is doing anything quite like we are; the focus is British music, although we'll play occasional songs from elsewhere (even the USA) when they've become popular in the UK. The mission of the show is to bring the excitement of the British music scene to an international audience. We are 'casting on a local cable access station, and we're doing it not for any commercial reason, but simply because we love the music and are hoping to get it to a wider audience. I can't tell you the hundreds of times in years past when we've heard a great song from the UK, and thought, "Wow! That's a great song! Why isn't it getting any American airplay?" Most Americans don't realize that some of the best pop, rock, techno, and urban music in the world is being done in the UK, and IT'S ALL MIXED TOGETHER there. Many people, when they consider British music, think that perhaps they're all still listening to the Beatles and Herman's Hermits over there. Oh, and maybe the Spice Girls. The American and British music scenes used to be more or less synonymous at times in the past, but now they're separated by a wider gulf than the Atlantic Ocean - the current state of radio (American radio in particular). This is unfortunate for American audiences - they don't know what they're missing! Come join us and discover the best music Britain has to offer. Your amiable hosts Jim and Mike will welcome you! We have been doing the show now for four months, so we're actually getting competent at it. Here's a sample of artists we played last Saturday : Morning Runner Dave Clark Five Equals Strawbs Just Jack Mika Madness We'd love for you to join us! We can be reached at : [email protected] Thanks for reading!