19 December 1965 I find the 'Day Tripper' riff useful for tuning a guitar. Otherwise, I've never really warmed to this particular Beatles hit. The clunky chorus pay-off of "To find out / And I found out!" has the same this'll-do anti-energy as their other occasional hits-to-order, like 'Can't Buy Me Love' and 'Help!'. Snazzy … Continue reading The Beatles – ‘Day Tripper’ / ‘We Can Work It Out’
Tag: 1965
The Seekers – ‘The Carnival Is Over’
5 December 1965 The tune is trad. arr. of the Russian folk variety. However, the lyrics of 'The Carnival Is Over' are by a Dionysius 'Dion' O'Brien trading as Tom Springfield and indeed a brother of Dusty. You'll recall from my encomium on the magnificent 'What Have I Done To Deserve This?' how Mother Springfield … Continue reading The Seekers – ‘The Carnival Is Over’
Dickie Rock and The Miami – ‘Wishing It Was You’
22 November 1965 After 'From The Candy Store On The Corner To The Chapel On The Hill' and 'Every Step Of The Way', 'Wishing It Was You' is Dickie Rock's third Irish number one single in a row to centre on getting married in church. However, this time Dickie's tale is one of woe: the … Continue reading Dickie Rock and The Miami – ‘Wishing It Was You’
Chris Andrews – ‘Yesterday Man’
8 November 1965 One person relieved to see The Late Late Show survive RTÉ's turbulent summer of 2023, and with its original theme, must surely be '60s English pop star Chris Andrews. What we know as The Late Late Show theme is actually his other 1965 hit, 'To Whom It Concerns'. Even the thinnest sliver … Continue reading Chris Andrews – ‘Yesterday Man’
Ken Dodd – ‘Tears’
11 October 1965 Amazing fact: 'Tears' by Ken Dodd was the UK's third-biggest-selling single of the entire '60s. It sold more than all but two Beatles hits, every Stones single, and every '60s single sung by a woman. Yes, the same Ken Dodd I dimly remember from '80s TV as an amiable but unfunny English … Continue reading Ken Dodd – ‘Tears’
The Rolling Stones – ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’
13 September 1965 The Stones had played Dublin and Belfast earlier in September 1965, in the gigs filmed for the Charlie Is My Darling documentary. 'Satisfaction', on the setlist for those gigs and a raucous highlight of the film, had already gone to number one in the States that July and was now about to … Continue reading The Rolling Stones – ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’
Brendan Bowyer and The Royal Showband – ‘Don’t Lose Your Hucklebuck Shoes’
6 September 1965 If Chubby Checker can follow up 'The Twist' with 'Let's Twist Again' (I imagine Brendan Bowyer or his defence counsel pleading) surely Ireland's leading showband can treat the little people to more of that Hucklebuck magic, right? Well, it may be Ireland's biggest home-grown hit of the '60s but I'm not so … Continue reading Brendan Bowyer and The Royal Showband – ‘Don’t Lose Your Hucklebuck Shoes’
The Beatles – ‘Help!’
2 August 1965 The semaphore on the album cover and movie poster actually spells N-U-J-V, not H-E-L-P. On US releases the lads were rearranged to spell N-J-U-V. For this reason it's bad luck to listen to 'Help!' on board a ship. (It's also bad luck to watch the movie, anywhere.) 'Help!' reminds me of a … Continue reading The Beatles – ‘Help!’
The Byrds – ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’
26 July 1965 It's remarkable how The Byrds' three biggest hits have become TV and cinema's go-to evocative signifiers for '60s America: 'Mr. Tambourine Man' for the dawning of age-of-Aquarius optimism; 'Eight Miles High' for LSD-spun hippie-ana; 'Turn! Turn! Turn!' for a coming of age either wistfully in suburbia or traumatically on the battlefields of … Continue reading The Byrds – ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’
The Hollies – ‘I’m Alive’
19 July 1965 The sunny doo-doo vocal harmonies and shimmering tremolo guitar at the start of 'I'm Alive' suggest the influence of an innovative '60s US group we won't be seeing in the Irish number one spot: The Beach Boys. Still, after tunnelling through a sewer of showband hits I'm relieved to hear a chart-topping … Continue reading The Hollies – ‘I’m Alive’
