I love this bit. Future and then-current British superstars always display an encyclopedic knowledge of pop music, and they always judge the singles on the basis of their commercial potential.
It's pretty obvious that the format of the series (the questions asked to the week's guest) was: 1. Can you guess who this is? 2. What do you think of it? 3. Do you think it will be a hit?
Paul's comments were made during the three-month hiatus the Beatles took in early 1966. In April, they started work on Revolver, perhaps their best album. Having watched many of these episodes, it's amazing how many artists and songs dropped like stones into the pool of oblivion.
That "It's a girl, she's white, British, five feet five inches tall, and has blond hair, but I don't know what her name is" could have been the coda for She's Leaving Home.
Paul was as sharp as ever, what a mind for music. He did have one slip, with his thumbs down to "Flowers On The Wall". A major pop hit, it would become so iconic it would even show up in the 1990s landmark movie "Pulp Fiction".
This song beat the beatles to the 1966 Grammy less than a month later apparently, so either McCartney already had beef with them by this review or it is some form of hubris.
So The Beatles had one original song plus two cover versions of Michelle and two covers of Girl on the top 50 at the same time. Thats pretty impressive.
Yep. A similar thing happened a few weeks later when the Stones had their own "19th Nervous Breakdown" on the chart, plus Chris Farlowe's version of "Think" and David Garrick's version of "Lady Jane".
@@YesterdaysPapers Reminds me of your recent video of The Doors and Jefferson Airplane. A funny thing I noted in the charts that was shown (and what played out) The chart showed Hello I Love you by The Doors at 17. Above The Doors the cover of Light My Fire by Jose Feliciano was at 14. Jose Feliciano's cover would peak at 6. Hello I Love you would peak at 15. The Doors Light My Fire? Peaked at 49.
When The Beatles toured Australia in June 1964 they had 9 records in the top 10. The one exception was Oz band Billy Thorpe and The Aztecs with their great version of "Poison Ivy"
All the acts were his peers at the time so they would have seen each other at clubs and read about them in the music news media. George Michael knew all the acts on the Billboard Hot 100 as well in the days of WHAM!
McCartney always kept track of what other bands were doing. When he heard that the Who had recorded a song that was "loud and raucous", he immediately did "Helter Skelter". He was super competitive.
It is crazy to think that Rubber Soul was #1, a Beatles single and even a (cover?) of Michelle was on the charts at the time. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence in those years, but Paul's band was still increasing in popularity at this time. And even more mind blowing is that Paul is on tour and selling out concerts right now 56 years later.
I’m gonna be honest though as much as I love the Beatles I do prefer the overlanders version of Michelle. But they’re both great renditions of a fantastic song.
@@garygritter5701 I can't believe how many great covers of Beatles songs were made. As you say, some can be argued as good as or maybe had elements better than the Beatle versions. What a complement to the original songwriter when covers make the chart so soon after the original was released. It seems that happened a lot in those days with Beatle songs and others.
@@seed_drill7135 That's very interesting. I used to know Philip Lithman at the tail end of the sixties and he used to quote things from the Idries Shah book about Nasiruddin and other Sufi characters although his interests were vast as I remember and not just Sufi. He knew Martin Stone of Mighty Baby and had him in his band when Phil became 'Snakefinger'.
When I first heard the Action's I'll Keep Holding On on Mike Read's show in the early 80s, I thought they were a new mod revival act rather than from the 60s.
It was the first track I ever heard by The Action, back in 1980. Loved it then, love it now. An unbelievably good group. Never Ever and Shadows and Reflections are my favs.
@@maurice8607 They'd be my next two faves as well. 'Shadows and Reflections' is simply sublime, 'Never Ever' has such an exuberance to it. What an incredible voice Reggie King had. No wonder they were Phil Collins' favourite band back in the day.
@@NewFalconerRecords When I first listened to the Ultimate Action album I simply could not believe what I was hearing. Yes, Reggies voice was second to none. Unbelievable. The Rolled Gold album is pretty good. Look at the View and Something to Say in particular stand out for me. Strangely enough, I heard the original of Wasn't it You recently, and the Actions version killed it.
I was 12 years old in 1966 and I remember the Hit Parade very well. That was the era of the jukebox everywhere you went, in restaurants and bars and public places. They were loaded with songs from all styles of music. It was fantastic to go through the lists and choose what you wanted to hear! I think it's a great loss to popular music that the era of the hit single has been totally destroyed by digital technology. The Top 50 Singles and Top 10 Albums at the end of the video show how many different performers were creating unique and interesting songs for the world to hear. It was a fabulous way for new artists to enter the music scene, and for established artists to continue making hits. Songwriting was in its golden era, and the Beatles were leading the way with new sounds when "Sgt. Pepper's" came out in 1967. Bring back the Hit Parade! It was the greatest!
The only one on here that was a big hit on my neck of the woods at the time was "Flowers on the Wall" by the Statlers. Which makes sense as I was in the Southern US. It peaked on the US charts the month before, which explains why it's not on this US top ten here. As a little kid, I think the lyrics "smokin' cigarettes and watching Captain Kangaroo" must have hit me because my dad smoked cigs and I watched Captain Kangaroo, lol.
I remember “Flowers on the Wall”, the song enjoyed considerable airplay in Australia when I was a child. A lifetime of music later, and despite not having heard the song since then, I can still remember all of the lyrics. It’s no surprise they evoke a particular memory for you and I think the lyrics stay with us simply because they are clever, memorable and for many, relatable. “Playing solitaire till dawn, with a deck of fifty-one”......
"As a little kid, I think the lyrics "smokin' cigarettes and watching Captain Kangaroo" must have hit me because my dad smoked cigs and I watched Captain Kangaroo, lol." Same. lol
@@psychedelicprawncrumpets9479 doubt it. Paul had the 5 octave vocal range and could sing like Little Richard, which is how the Beatles themselves measured these things.
What is amazing to me aged 62 is that I know most of the songs in the top 20 or so in February 66. From 1990 onwarsd I don't think I could even name let alone hum one of the top 20!
From 2000 and ever since, I don't think there's anything even worth knowing. There were still some good things coming out in the 90's although you're right in that it was getting pretty thin by then.
A cover of Michelle by the Overlanders at number 3 this week and number 1 the previous week. This is precisely why The Beatles went against policy and released Eleanor Rigby/Yellow Submarine as a double A sided single later that year, because as George said so many other artists were covering their album tracks and having hits with them that they decided they may as well do it themselves. Such was the embarrassment of riches of their catalog, with all their hit singles so many of their most familiar songs were just album tracks.
Fordham1969.....on top of that, there were the “Throwaway” songs. The Pop Duo “Peter and Gordon” enjoyed chart success with 3 Lennon/McCartney compositions, including the Number 1 Hit single, “World Without Love”.
He somehow finds a way to be diplomatic in his criticisms, finding at least something good to say, even with ones he didn’t really like. Except for the Small Faces. Must be a story behind that.
Yeah, I was going to mention that . Most people would have gone on to something else or some other part of the music business in the 4 years before Changes broke in the US. But I have noticed him on one or two other charts, so I guess England alone kept him going. So many acts don't make it on both sides of the pond, but are big in there home land.
2:30 Never heard this Kiki Dee record before, but I searched it out and listened to the whole thing and it's more than a little catchy. I'll bet most people would think they were hearing Dusty Springfield.
1:08 ...Paul not being biased at all 👍🥴......this had nothing on The Birds' cover version. U.S. top ten ....T-Bones - No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach's In) interesting instrumental. The Vogues - Five O' Clock World......such a good song . Tracks that did nothing for me at the time but are now hard drive favourites.
"...down with cashing in!" - Paul Gotta love that. More people cashed in on the Beatles than any other band ever. Some of them would release Beatles songs days after the Beatles!
Amazing how many he got right. And the old McCartney ear noticing the high trumpet sound. Agree he was wrong about Flowers On the Wall. I've always loved it.
Funny, I had been checking out Johnny Cash's Live at Folsom Prison from 1969 the other day, and among the other music acts was the Statler Brothers. When they sang Flowers on the Wall, the inmates went crazy. See Paul, even THEY knew it was a great song!
@@michaelrochester48 Maybe a touch of manc/ scouse animosities breaking through ? still a thing today in certain moronic quarters,football mainly.Nuff said.
If I needed someone, based on a riff George took from a Byrds song ,and acknowledged it, the hollies version- never made top 20 their first failure after a great run of singles
Hearing flowers on the wall instantly reminded me of that scene in pulp fiction with Butch playing this on his car radio singing along before to his horror he spots Marsellus Wallace crossing the road.
Oh, Paul! How could you not like ''Flowers on the Wall'' 3:45 ! When I first heard it I was blown away. Regarding Gene Pitney (1:35) everyone says that the Los Bravos song ''Black is Black'' was a hit, partly because people thought it was Pitney… Frankly, I prefer Michael Volker's voice, is more powerful, and he was more charismatic. It is interesting that two covers of The Beatles appeared on the charts: Michelle, by The Overlanders, and Girl, by The Truth. And Klaus Voormann, 1:02 ''a man many have heard of, but few really know him''… faithful friend of The Beatles since the days of Hamburg. Thank you very much, Yesterday's Papers. 💯🌹
Nice rendition of 19th nervous breakdown at the end. I just learned that on guitar myself. The intro, I think is Keith’s first example of that barred suspended chord he would later use on just about everything from honky tonk women onwards.
Ha. Haven't thought of Flowers on the Wall in 50 years. For a country song it reached #4 on the US Pop charts and #2 on the Country charts. Good song. Always like The Hollies and Martha & the Vandellas, both so talented.
@@YesterdaysPapers And their LP's are chock full of great songs. Tell me Time For Love wouldn't be a top 10 single if they had released it separately. A perfect song.
Those were the good old days. A lot of these songs I'm only vaguely familiar with or might have never heard at all. Still, it was a great era for music.
When looking at the MM top 50 I was surprised to see Dylan’s “…Crawl Out Your Window “. I don’t remember it being a US single but it charted in the UK.
@@deirdre108 Thanks for reminding me of Jimi's cover, it's great! Highway 61 was actually the B-side in the US but I love that one too. Crawl Out Your Window was the only side I ever heard on the radio back then (Austin, Texas).
One thing I'd love to see before I take the celestial dirt nap is Paul's fellow 'Fireman' Youth take a night off from Killing Joke and letting Paul take over on bass for a show. Talk about surreal.
I thought this group of songs were better than most reviewed on these shows. They all had a distinctly '60s' sound to them. The kind we associate with the instruments,recording equipment,amps etc,of the time.
What's the groovy music that plays starting at 4:06? It sounds like a soul organ version of "Dancing in the Streets" by the Mamas and the Papas. I really want to hear more of this track! :D
Looking at the charts is always fascinating . The relatively unknown David Bowie at no 45 with ‘ Can’t Help Thinking About Me’ . Will go and have a listen to that, never heard of it.The Beatles slipping to no18 with Daytripper/ We Can Work it out. Pete Townshend said he was never a big fan of The Beatles until they released that double A side, then he thought to himself wow!
@@YesterdaysPapers Just listened to him singing it live in the 1990s. It’s great. He really was special. Makes you wonder why he took a few years to really make it big if he could write songs like that in 1966?
It really does blow my mind when I hear really see one of those really tame and wholesome straight-laced British pop songs like some of the ones they have to review because I always wonder how the rock n roll explosion of that era from The Beatles and The Stones and soooo many more that were dominating the charts seem to have zero influence on so many of these relatively square crew-cut young singers. It’s as if these young people who were recording this type of clean-cut Pat Boonesy music lived in an alternative universe where Sgt Pepper never existed. The UK was either still stuck in the squeaky clean 1950s or the British labels were run by old gits that did everything in their power to resist the younger generation from dictating what should dominate the pop music scene.
Would love to grab Feb 66 Paul and listen to peak Spiritualized, Radiohead etc, or even 80s pop hits. See what he has to say. Feb 66 John would do as well.
Would love to hear Paul comment on that Bert Kaempfer record. He signed the Beatles to their first contract in 1961. As for Kiki Dee: talk to Elton John
I just got done watching "Get Back" and I was so amazed at how they put that album together. Let it be is my favorite Beatles album so I was intrigued at how their minds work when they're writing a song.
At least Paul was nicer than Ringo. Ringo seemed to hate almost every song from 1964, including Leader of that Pack. Funny story, while The Beatles and the Shangri -Las were at Paramount, Mary Ann Ganser (one of the twins and backup singer to The Shangri-Las) kept went up to a high floor and kept sticking her fingers through the blinds to get a reaction from the crowds below. Someone kept on elbowing her. She hit him in the gut. Turns out it was, Ringo.
"It's a girl, she's white, British, 5 feet, 5 inches tall and has blonde hair but I don't know what her name is" I love him 😂😂😂It's nice to see "19th Nervous Breakdown" in the chart. Very cool song. Great video and fantastic outro as always, YP. By the way I loved your Doors video but for some reason there was a Glitch I couldn't comment on it properly or click like 🤔💖
Thanks, Sophie! That's weird that you couldn't comment on the Doors video. Probably some strange youtube glitch, as you said. Glad you liked it, though.
Paul certainly had the birds on his side! St. James Infirmary is one of the great blues songs, I'm surprised he doesn't like it! Gene Pitney was an incredibly unique vocalist whose vocal gymnastics were one of a kind, to diversify with a style like that would have been career suicide. Come to think of it, Paul's solo material wasn't exactly a catalog of originality either! Thanks again YP!
It seems he didn't like Pitney at all. There's another Blind Date with Paul from 1967 that I posted some months ago and he didn't like the Pitney song he was asked to review there either.
I love Gene Pitney, too. I've got a couple of compilations featuring most of his singles from the 60s and I really enjoy listening to those songs. "Backstage", the song Paul reviews here, is actually one of my favourites by him. Some people may find it a bit corny and ridiculously dramatic but it's a phenomenal song.
It’s always interesting when they can tell a song is British before knowing who it is, based on the production or drums. Does anyone know what that’s about? I always wonder what it is they’re picking up on, because it’s often songs I would assume are American unless someone told me otherwise.
British and American records had very different drum sounds in the 60s. The drums usually sounded more crisp and compressed in american records so they sounded better on the radio or on cheap record players.
Kiki Dee I never realized was recording all the way in the 1960s. Two Americans we only know about her with 1974s I got the music in me, and her duet with Elton John, don’t go breaking my heart
I notice that David Bowie has a song called “Can’t Help Thinking about me” at No 45. This is in February 1966 when he had just turned 19, and well before he was famous.
As a huge Bowie fan since Hunky Dory,i tend to forget he had a hard slog getting to the top,but the star quality was always there,even if he was making ice lolly adverts as an unknown.
I only know that Statler Bros. tune because of "Pulp Fiction". I know the first song, of course - top-shelf Hollies right there. Linda Ronstadt did a very nice cover of it, which is where I first heard it. Not a lot of great ones for Paul, here.
@@YesterdaysPapers i think evie sands did the origional i cant let go,loved the hollies and their psyche efforts evolution & butterfly, also love youre videos these reviews are really intresting and factual.
My knickers are in a twist because I've loved Kiki's "Why Don't I Run..." and Four Pennies "Trouble" for decades. The New Faces song was done to far greater effect in the States as "Walk Tall" by The Two of Clubs. Lastly, The Birds cover of "No Good Without You" completely obliterates Paddy, Klaus & Gibson's tepid version!
Paul ,you dissed one of the biggest country artists of the 1960s - Statler Bros and their first hit Counting Flowers. I didn't expect y'all to know who Captain Kangaroo was 😂 They had great harmony One was a baritone
Meet The Beatles, A Hard Day's Night, Help! & Abbey Road were spotless. All the other Beatles albums were hit and miss. Too much experimenting, at our expense. David Lee Roth's albums were less songs, but all great.
I love this bit.
Future and then-current British superstars always display an encyclopedic knowledge of pop music, and they always judge the singles on the basis of their commercial potential.
It's pretty obvious that the format of the series (the questions asked to the week's guest) was: 1. Can you guess who this is? 2. What do you think of it? 3. Do you think it will be a hit?
And all around great guy. Paul McCartney is one of the best humans ever conceived!
Well, they were competing on the charts. Everybody wanted to get to the top.
They were asked by the journalists whether they think it will be a hit.
Duh......
They all comment on the hit potential. There was no pretence at "art" back then. They also say "scene" a lot.
Gotta love how candid Paul is even when he is being diplomatic: I have to say I like this because we share the same publicist. 😛
This is a biggie. From one of the most brilliant, prolific songwriters of all time. Always interesting to hear Paul commenting on others music.
What an AWESOME channel this is. Thank u!!
Thanks!
Paul's comments were made during the three-month hiatus the Beatles took in early 1966. In April, they started work on Revolver, perhaps their best album. Having watched many of these episodes, it's amazing how many artists and songs dropped like stones into the pool of oblivion.
Paul's appreciation of a moustache was the most salient foreshadow of a new look.
I think you mean Charlie Watts and Ray Davies who appreciated the moustache for a short period of time in '66.
I think he grew it to cover a scar on his lip from his moped accident when he also chipped a tooth.
That "It's a girl, she's white, British, five feet five inches tall, and has blond hair, but I don't know what her name is" could have been the coda for She's Leaving Home.
Paul was as sharp as ever, what a mind for music. He did have one slip, with his thumbs down to "Flowers On The Wall". A major pop hit, it would become so iconic it would even show up in the 1990s landmark movie "Pulp Fiction".
You're right. It's the best song reviewed. Ringo would love it!
It is a fantastic song, the lyrics sound funny but it's from a pretty dark place.
This song beat the beatles to the 1966 Grammy less than a month later apparently, so either McCartney already had beef with them by this review or it is some form of hubris.
@@pastorpresent7774
Not a big hit in the UK though.
if you were any kinda country enthusiast you knew the bros Statler from their work with Johnny Cash.
So The Beatles had one original song plus two cover versions of Michelle and two covers of Girl on the top 50 at the same time. Thats pretty impressive.
Yep. A similar thing happened a few weeks later when the Stones had their own "19th Nervous Breakdown" on the chart, plus Chris Farlowe's version of "Think" and David Garrick's version of "Lady Jane".
And two albums in the UK Top Ten: Rubber Soul and Help!
@@YesterdaysPapers Reminds me of your recent video of The Doors and Jefferson Airplane. A funny thing I noted in the charts that was shown (and what played out)
The chart showed Hello I Love you by The Doors at 17.
Above The Doors the cover of Light My Fire by Jose Feliciano was at 14.
Jose Feliciano's cover would peak at 6.
Hello I Love you would peak at 15.
The Doors Light My Fire? Peaked at 49.
Indeed. You could say everything about the Beatles was pretty impressive!
When The Beatles toured Australia in June 1964 they had 9 records in the top 10. The one exception was Oz band Billy Thorpe and The Aztecs with their great version of "Poison Ivy"
Hilarious that he recognised almost every single act instantly. Fully immersed in music!
All the acts were his peers at the time so they would have seen each other at clubs and read about them in the music news media. George Michael knew all the acts on the Billboard Hot 100 as well in the days of WHAM!
McCartney always kept track of what other bands were doing. When he heard that the Who had recorded a song that was "loud and raucous", he immediately did "Helter Skelter". He was super competitive.
It is crazy to think that Rubber Soul was #1, a Beatles single and even a (cover?) of Michelle was on the charts at the time. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence in those years, but Paul's band was still increasing in popularity at this time. And even more mind blowing is that Paul is on tour and selling out concerts right now 56 years later.
I’m gonna be honest though as much as I love the Beatles I do prefer the overlanders version of Michelle.
But they’re both great renditions of a fantastic song.
@@garygritter5701 I can't believe how many great covers of Beatles songs were made. As you say, some can be argued as good as or maybe had elements better than the Beatle versions. What a complement to the original songwriter when covers make the chart so soon after the original was released. It seems that happened a lot in those days with Beatle songs and others.
And Help! was at #9
....PAUL 'S band?!!😂😂😂😂😂
There were 2 covers of Michelle on the charts at the same time. Interesting.
The Action and their later incarnation as Mighty Baby were criminally under appreciated at the time.
Excellent musical melange at the end!
Thanks, Delbert! I agree, I love The Action and Mighty Baby. Criminally underrated.
You couldn't be more right. Love The Action.
I once read that Mighty Baby were who introduced Richard and Linda Thompson to Sufism.
@@seed_drill7135 That's very interesting. I used to know Philip Lithman at the tail end of the sixties and he used to quote things from the Idries Shah book about Nasiruddin and other Sufi characters although his interests were vast as I remember and not just Sufi. He knew Martin Stone of Mighty Baby and had him in his band when Phil became 'Snakefinger'.
When I first heard the Action's I'll Keep Holding On on Mike Read's show in the early 80s, I thought they were a new mod revival act rather than from the 60s.
The Action 'I'll Keep Holding On'! Yes!!! One of my absolute favourites. Produced by George Martin too.
Yep, brilliant version. A mod classic.
It was the first track I ever heard by The Action, back in 1980. Loved it then, love it now. An unbelievably good group. Never Ever and Shadows and Reflections are my favs.
@@maurice8607 They'd be my next two faves as well. 'Shadows and Reflections' is simply sublime, 'Never Ever' has such an exuberance to it. What an incredible voice Reggie King had. No wonder they were Phil Collins' favourite band back in the day.
@@NewFalconerRecords When I first listened to the Ultimate Action album I simply could not believe what I was hearing. Yes, Reggies voice was second to none. Unbelievable.
The Rolled Gold album is pretty good. Look at the View and Something to Say in particular stand out for me.
Strangely enough, I heard the original of Wasn't it You recently, and the Actions version killed it.
I was 12 years old in 1966 and I remember the Hit Parade very well. That was the era of the jukebox everywhere you went, in restaurants and bars and public places. They were loaded with songs from all styles of music. It was fantastic to go through the lists and choose what you wanted to hear! I think it's a great loss to popular music that the era of the hit single has been totally destroyed by digital technology. The Top 50 Singles and Top 10 Albums at the end of the video show how many different performers were creating unique and interesting songs for the world to hear. It was a fabulous way for new artists to enter the music scene, and for established artists to continue making hits. Songwriting was in its golden era, and the Beatles were leading the way with new sounds when "Sgt. Pepper's" came out in 1967. Bring back the Hit Parade! It was the greatest!
The only one on here that was a big hit on my neck of the woods at the time was "Flowers on the Wall" by the Statlers. Which makes sense as I was in the Southern US. It peaked on the US charts the month before, which explains why it's not on this US top ten here. As a little kid, I think the lyrics "smokin' cigarettes and watching Captain Kangaroo" must have hit me because my dad smoked cigs and I watched Captain Kangaroo, lol.
I remember “Flowers on the Wall”, the song enjoyed considerable airplay in Australia when I was a child. A lifetime of music later, and despite not having heard the song since then, I can still remember all of the lyrics. It’s no surprise they evoke a particular memory for you and I think the lyrics stay with us simply because they are clever, memorable and for many, relatable. “Playing solitaire till dawn, with a deck of fifty-one”......
"As a little kid, I think the lyrics "smokin' cigarettes and watching Captain Kangaroo" must have hit me because my dad smoked cigs and I watched Captain Kangaroo, lol." Same. lol
And it's a great song with a nod and a wink.
Quentin Tarantino said the song was a big hit in Tennessee when he was living there as a kid, hence it ending up on the Pulp Fiction soundtrack.
I think it was a big hit in Texas as well....but maybe not the type of song to hit big in the UK
Paul McCartney is the greatest rock music legend.
No question.
Ill take Bob Dylan or John Lennon!
I think John was more rock n roll than Paul
@@psychedelicprawncrumpets9479 doubt it. Paul had the 5 octave vocal range and could sing like Little Richard, which is how the Beatles themselves measured these things.
@@gosstopher John had the best rock n roll voice. Not even arguable. I mean John's voice was the sound of the Beatles period. So unique
What is amazing to me aged 62 is that I know most of the songs in the top 20 or so in February 66. From 1990 onwarsd I don't think I could even name let alone hum one of the top 20!
From 2000 and ever since, I don't think there's anything even worth knowing. There were still some good things coming out in the 90's although you're right in that it was getting pretty thin by then.
I stopped listening around 1994, a lot of junk since then.
Holy shit. He likes Graham Bond's moustache and the next year he's wearing it. So many gems in these pieces.
Imagine being as busy a man as Paul was in 1966 and still taking time to do this.
The fabs had time off between January and April.
And the Beatles still had time to do things like this even when they were busy.
This probably took about an hour mate
He loves his music,..it wouldn't have been a chore to talk about other people's music.
I mean the band didn’t tour at all, other then recording for a couple months a year what else was he doing haha
Another very enjoyable video & I can't believe it took me a while to recognize your version of 19th Nervous Breakdown. Loved that too!
Thanks, glad you liked it!
I love Paul McCartney he is the most generous,nice and cool rocker in the world history!
A cover of Michelle by the Overlanders at number 3 this week and number 1 the previous week. This is precisely why The Beatles went against policy and released Eleanor Rigby/Yellow Submarine as a double A sided single later that year, because as George said so many other artists were covering their album tracks and having hits with them that they decided they may as well do it themselves. Such was the embarrassment of riches of their catalog, with all their hit singles so many of their most familiar songs were just album tracks.
David and Jonathan's (better) version of Michelle is also on the Top 50 list.
Fordham1969.....on top of that, there were the “Throwaway” songs. The Pop Duo “Peter and Gordon” enjoyed chart success with 3 Lennon/McCartney compositions, including the Number 1 Hit single, “World Without Love”.
@@lindadote I think we can safely say that Paul could speak authoritatively about which songs might be hits and which wouldn't.
Cliff Bennett had a big hit with Got To Get You Into My Life
He somehow finds a way to be diplomatic in his criticisms, finding at least something good to say, even with ones he didn’t really like.
Except for the Small Faces. Must be a story behind that.
It was not the Small Faces, it was the New Faces.
@@YesterdaysPapers ooooh…so he may be okay with faces that are small, but not that are new. 😉
Paul with some nice words for fellow Parlophone band the Action, an extremely underrated 60s band that should have made it big!
100% agree
Is it them that did the song Something To Say?
I never realized how different the charted songs i.e. HIT songs were between America & England! a LOT of these songs we never heard here in the U.S.A.
"I love the high trumpet note...if it was a trumpet." I love it.
David Bowie on the top 50 back in 66'! What a surprise
Yep, and that's a pretty cool song.
Good thing "The Laughing Gnome" tanked.
Yeah, I was going to mention that . Most people would have gone on to something else or some other part of the music business in the 4 years before Changes broke in the US. But I have noticed him on one or two other charts, so I guess England alone kept him going. So many acts don't make it on both sides of the pond, but are big in there home land.
I hadn't realised Bowie was putting out singles this early. It peaked at number 34 apparently.
Christian...in his playful Syd Barrett mode!
2:30 Never heard this Kiki Dee record before, but I searched it out and listened to the whole thing and it's more than a little catchy. I'll bet most people would think they were hearing Dusty Springfield.
It's stood the test of time qute well, and I think it was actually quite popular.
1:08 ...Paul not being biased at all 👍🥴......this had nothing on The Birds' cover version.
U.S. top ten ....T-Bones - No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach's In) interesting instrumental.
The Vogues - Five O' Clock World......such a good song . Tracks that did nothing for me at the time but are now hard drive favourites.
"...down with cashing in!" - Paul
Gotta love that. More people cashed in on the Beatles than any other band ever.
Some of them would release Beatles songs days after the Beatles!
Make that days *before* the Beatles for some. 🙂
I loved the irony of that now considering the Beatles repackage, and resell so much of their own stuff.
Amazing how many he got right. And the old McCartney ear noticing the high trumpet sound. Agree he was wrong about Flowers On the Wall. I've always loved it.
Funny, I had been checking out Johnny Cash's Live at Folsom Prison from 1969 the other day, and among the other music acts was the Statler Brothers. When they sang Flowers on the Wall, the inmates went crazy. See Paul, even THEY knew it was a great song!
@@markb20 "Flowers On The Wall" spent 4 weeks at #2 on Billboard's Country chart, and it reached #4 on Billboard's Hot 100 in January 1966.
@@total.stranger Yea, I guess the inmates had 3 years (and tons of radio airplay) to "realize" it was a great song.
Well, Paul was wrong about the trumpet- that was Graham Nash singing.
@@markb20 Of course, at this point, we should all know that the audience noises were "manipulated" in post production. Still...it's a great song.
I like that he like the Hollie’s, the other Beatles especially George hated them
@Douglas Farshtey Maybe. Who is he?
George did not like their cover of “if I needed someone”, I don’t think he especially hated the band per se
@Douglas Farshtey Brilliant guitarrist. One of the most underrated musicians from that era.
@@michaelrochester48 Maybe a touch of manc/ scouse animosities breaking through ? still a thing today in certain moronic quarters,football mainly.Nuff said.
If I needed someone, based on a riff George took from a Byrds song ,and acknowledged it, the hollies version- never made top 20 their first failure after a great run of singles
It always amazes me the presence of American artists on the British charts. Even more amazing is that many of those songs weren't hits in the U.S.
Hearing flowers on the wall instantly reminded me of that scene in pulp fiction with Butch playing this on his car radio singing along before to his horror he spots Marsellus Wallace crossing the road.
Oh, Paul! How could you not like ''Flowers on the Wall'' 3:45 ! When I first heard it I was blown away.
Regarding Gene Pitney (1:35) everyone says that the Los Bravos song ''Black is Black'' was a hit, partly because people thought it was Pitney… Frankly, I prefer Michael Volker's voice, is more powerful, and he was more charismatic.
It is interesting that two covers of The Beatles appeared on the charts: Michelle, by The Overlanders, and Girl, by The Truth.
And Klaus Voormann, 1:02 ''a man many have heard of, but few really know him''… faithful friend of The Beatles since the days of Hamburg.
Thank you very much, Yesterday's Papers. 💯🌹
He caught right away that Flowers on the Wall had a melodic similarity to All My Loving.
Nice rendition of 19th nervous breakdown at the end. I just learned that on guitar myself. The intro, I think is Keith’s first example of that barred suspended chord he would later use on just about everything from honky tonk women onwards.
Ha. Haven't thought of Flowers on the Wall in 50 years. For a country song it reached #4 on the US Pop charts and #2 on the Country charts. Good song. Always like The Hollies and Martha & the Vandellas, both so talented.
Yep. I don't think the Hollies ever released a bad single. I even like "Jennifer Eccles"!
@@YesterdaysPapers think I agree with you.
@@YesterdaysPapers And their LP's are chock full of great songs. Tell me Time For Love wouldn't be a top 10 single if they had released it separately. A perfect song.
@@willieluncheonette5843 whoa! absolutely YES "Time For Love" is a killer
Those were the good old days. A lot of these songs I'm only vaguely familiar with or might have never heard at all. Still, it was a great era for music.
Love the Eamonn Andrews reference at the end !
0:52 This is a great song. And a top 3 R&B chart hit as well as just scratching just outside the Top 20 at #22 on the Hot 100.
Funny, I really like "Flowers on the Wall." It's by far my favorite of these.
Agreed. Otherwise a bunch of crap
Agreed. Otherwise a bunch of crap
Absolutely, this was the one slip in Paul's list here. "Flowers" is an iconic song of the 1960s!
it's the perfect song for blasting out of your car
@@thewkovacs316 Like Bruce Willis in Pulp Fiction!
I love Paul ... really one of the great composers of many, many generations ... but "Down with cashing in I say" is pretty funny !!
what's the song that starts at 4:05 when we see the charts? love that fuzz bass. many thanks!
When looking at the MM top 50 I was surprised to see Dylan’s “…Crawl Out Your Window “. I don’t remember it being a US single but it charted in the UK.
Definitely a US single, I bought it!😁As I recall it wasn't on any US Dylan LP at the time.
@@RobbiesVideoArchives OK. The B side was “Hwy 61 Revisited” right? That song I like more. Also Hendrix covered Crawl Out Your Window.
@@deirdre108 Thanks for reminding me of Jimi's cover, it's great! Highway 61 was actually the B-side in the US but I love that one too. Crawl Out Your Window was the only side I ever heard on the radio back then (Austin, Texas).
Poor Paul, that was a really weak week of singles to be reviewing.
Great video as always 👍
I've seen worse. I mean, David Bowie, The Hollies, Graham Bond and The Action. Pretty good I'd say.
Paul teaches you a life lesson here; If you couldn't find a redeeming quality about a song, always pay a compliment to the mustache of the singer.
One thing I'd love to see before I take the celestial dirt nap is Paul's fellow 'Fireman' Youth take a night off from Killing Joke and letting Paul take over on bass for a show. Talk about surreal.
YES! :D
I thought this group of songs were better than most reviewed on these shows. They all had a distinctly '60s' sound to them. The kind we associate with the instruments,recording equipment,amps etc,of the time.
What's the groovy music that plays starting at 4:06? It sounds like a soul organ version of "Dancing in the Streets" by the Mamas and the Papas. I really want to hear more of this track! :D
Any chance anyone could link to the source of that press conference around 3:54. Looks late 65? Thank you
Paul knew surprisingly.well the contemporary acts.
I think of all the Beatles he kept up with other artists the most.
Looking at the charts is always fascinating . The relatively unknown David Bowie at no 45 with ‘ Can’t Help Thinking About Me’ . Will go and have a listen to that, never heard of it.The Beatles slipping to no18 with Daytripper/ We Can Work it out. Pete Townshend said he was never a big fan of The Beatles until they released that double A side, then he thought to himself wow!
"Can't Help Think About Me" is a pretty cool song.
@@YesterdaysPapers Just listened to him singing it live in the 1990s. It’s great. He really was special. Makes you wonder why he took a few years to really make it big if he could write songs like that in 1966?
Check out the other Bowie singles on Pye. Great stuff I assure you.
@@lthompson7625 Probably bad luck or lack of proper promotion.
@@maurice8607 I agree, most of those singles are definitely worth a listen. Good stuff.
It really does blow my mind when I hear really see one of those really tame and wholesome straight-laced British pop songs like some of the ones they have to review because I always wonder how the rock n roll explosion of that era from The Beatles and The Stones and soooo many more that were dominating the charts seem to have zero influence on so many of these relatively square crew-cut young singers. It’s as if these young people who were recording this type of clean-cut Pat Boonesy music lived in an alternative universe where Sgt Pepper never existed. The UK was either still stuck in the squeaky clean 1950s or the British labels were run by old gits that did everything in their power to resist the younger generation from dictating what should dominate the pop music scene.
Would love to grab Feb 66 Paul and listen to peak Spiritualized, Radiohead etc, or even 80s pop hits. See what he has to say. Feb 66 John would do as well.
Can I just say that your opening music has one of the greatest cymbal sounds I have ever heard. what is that from?
I recorded the opening music myself. Glad you like it!
It reminds me of Inagaddadavida
Would love to hear Paul comment on that Bert Kaempfer record. He signed the Beatles to their first contract in 1961. As for Kiki Dee: talk to Elton John
I had no idea Kiki went back to 1966.
“I like his moustache, though”. Awesome
This is why Yesterdeay's Papers in my fav RUclips music chanel
Cheers!
This is such a great video idea
Wish he had reviewed some of the songs on the charts...
Perceptive, witty, clever - it must be Paul McCartney!
Love the 19th Nervous Breakdown outro.
I just got done watching "Get Back" and I was so amazed at how they put that album together. Let it be is my favorite Beatles album so I was intrigued at how their minds work when they're writing a song.
Nice, that 19th nervous breakdown finish.
Paddy, Klaus & Gibson, 'No Good Without You Baby', wasn't a hit Paul, but you had to pretend it would be!
Good catch. Nobody seems to have picked up on it here in the comment section.
John would've said it wouldn't be a hit, but he'd apologize to his friend first and wish them luck.
At least Paul was nicer than Ringo. Ringo seemed to hate almost every song from 1964, including Leader of that Pack. Funny story, while The Beatles and the Shangri -Las were at Paramount, Mary Ann Ganser (one of the twins and backup singer to The Shangri-Las) kept went up to a high floor and kept sticking her fingers through the blinds to get a reaction from the crowds below. Someone kept on elbowing her. She hit him in the gut. Turns out it was, Ringo.
LOVE Cleo's mood....
The best song in this selection was The Hollies, enough said
It's definitely a decent track alright. Have you heard the original by Evie Sands?
What is "Pinkerton's Various Bassets Assortment"? Did he come up with that off the top of his head?
It was a band called Pinkerton's Colours. If you take a look at the chart later in the video, you'll see that their song "Mirror Mirror" was there.
He was also thinking of Basset's Jelly Babies at the time.
"It's a girl, she's white, British, 5 feet, 5 inches tall and has blonde hair but I don't know what her name is" I love him 😂😂😂It's nice to see "19th Nervous Breakdown" in the chart. Very cool song.
Great video and fantastic outro as always, YP. By the way I loved your Doors video but for some reason there was a Glitch I couldn't comment on it properly or click like
🤔💖
Thanks, Sophie! That's weird that you couldn't comment on the Doors video. Probably some strange youtube glitch, as you said. Glad you liked it, though.
@@YesterdaysPapers 💖
Paul certainly had the birds on his side! St. James Infirmary is one of the great blues songs, I'm surprised he doesn't like it! Gene Pitney was an incredibly unique vocalist whose vocal gymnastics were one of a kind, to diversify with a style like that would have been career suicide. Come to think of it, Paul's solo material wasn't exactly a catalog of originality either! Thanks again YP!
It seems he didn't like Pitney at all. There's another Blind Date with Paul from 1967 that I posted some months ago and he didn't like the Pitney song he was asked to review there either.
Like The " Mods " - The Action ! Paul should have delved more into Production - he knew a hit when he heard one.
Great mod band. I love The Action, too.
Gene Pitney was a favorite of my fathers and I became a fan too. Somethings got a hold of my heart is to me the greatest thing you ever recorded
I love Gene Pitney, too. I've got a couple of compilations featuring most of his singles from the 60s and I really enjoy listening to those songs. "Backstage", the song Paul reviews here, is actually one of my favourites by him. Some people may find it a bit corny and ridiculously dramatic but it's a phenomenal song.
@@YesterdaysPapers My all-time Pitney favorite is "I'm Gonna Be Strong", from 1964.
@@total.stranger Great song.
Paul!!! flowers on the wall is a great hit!
It’s always interesting when they can tell a song is British before knowing who it is, based on the production or drums. Does anyone know what that’s about?
I always wonder what it is they’re picking up on, because it’s often songs I would assume are American unless someone told me otherwise.
British and American records had very different drum sounds in the 60s. The drums usually sounded more crisp and compressed in american records so they sounded better on the radio or on cheap record players.
Kiki Dee I never realized was recording all the way in the 1960s. Two Americans we only know about her with 1974s I got the music in me, and her duet with Elton John, don’t go breaking my heart
Wow.Amareuse (sic) and Loving and free are Kiki's finest outings i reckon.Lots of depth to them both.Saved her from the Lulu option.
I had the same reaction.
Two is a number, Michael.
Otis Redding did a version of "My Girl?" I'm be on the lookout for that one.
Kiki Dee’s Been around that long?
who did the version of "19th Nervous Breakdown" that is played in the background.?
I recorded that version myself to go along with that part of the video.
@@YesterdaysPapers love it. sounds really 60s london club sound. Could i buy a copy of it from you?
may i ask, who is playing 19th nervous breakdown at the end - its awesome
I recorded that version to go along with the last part of the video. Glad you liked it. Thanks!
I notice that David Bowie has a song called “Can’t Help Thinking about me” at No 45. This is in February 1966 when he had just turned 19, and well before he was famous.
As a huge Bowie fan since Hunky Dory,i tend to forget he had a hard slog getting to the top,but the star quality was always there,even if he was making ice lolly adverts as an unknown.
This is just after We Can Work it Out / Day Tripper was number 1.
Spencer Davis Group un number 4 of lp's
Two lps on the chart.
I personally don't think Paul is dead. He is a sir though. 😎
Paul guessed wrong on the Statler Brothers single, but I think I do agree with him in that I like the Hollies song the best out of all of these.
"I like his mustache though"
I only know that Statler Bros. tune because of "Pulp Fiction". I know the first song, of course - top-shelf Hollies right there. Linda Ronstadt did a very nice cover of it, which is where I first heard it. Not a lot of great ones for Paul, here.
One of my favourite songs by The Hollies.
@@YesterdaysPapers i think evie sands did the origional i cant let go,loved the hollies and their psyche efforts evolution & butterfly, also love youre videos these reviews are really intresting and factual.
Complementing one's mustache instead of the single in quite an underhanded way stood out from Paul's review.
My knickers are in a twist because I've loved Kiki's "Why Don't I Run..." and Four Pennies "Trouble" for decades. The New Faces song was done to far greater effect in the States as "Walk Tall" by The Two of Clubs. Lastly, The Birds cover of "No Good Without You" completely obliterates Paddy, Klaus & Gibson's tepid version!
Oh yeah, the "trumpet" Macca heard in I Can't Let Go was just Graham Nash screeching the highest note in the chorus :)
Agreed. The Birds' cover of "No Good Without You" is definitely much better.
"Trouble Is My Middle Name" was a hit for Bobby Vinton in 1962, and was written by the same duo who wrote "Mecca" for Gene Pitney in March 1963.
And then Tami Lynn had the UK hit when it was retitled I'm Gonna Run Away From You.
Why Don’t I Run away from you by Kiki Dee is a fabulous record
What's the song when they're showing the top 50?
To think they were still touring?
Paul ,you dissed one of the biggest country artists of the 1960s - Statler Bros and their first hit Counting Flowers.
I didn't expect y'all to know who Captain Kangaroo was 😂
They had great harmony One was a baritone
Meet The Beatles, A Hard Day's Night, Help! & Abbey Road were spotless. All the other Beatles albums were hit and miss. Too much experimenting, at our expense. David Lee Roth's albums were less songs, but all great.
A good year and month
Macca is misunderstood. He's not the smiling innocent his image suggests. It's not surprising he showed some strong opinions here. He's a hardcase.
Aguanten The Hollies 🤗
Who does the 19th century nervous breakdown cover at end?
I recorded it myself to go along with that part of the video.
Jane Asher! Why??
paul was stupid