for Sunday 14th August 1966
At 1930 today, the first of Kenny Everett's reports from the Beatles' USA Tour was aired

Last
This
Presented by Ed Stewart
Week
Week
1
1
Yellow Submarine / Eleanor Rigby Beatles
2
2
God Only Knows Beach Boys
7
3
More Than Love Ken Dodd
3
4
I Saw Her Again Mamas & Papas
8
5
Doctor Love Bobby Sheen
10
6
Hi-Lili Hi-Lo Alan Price Set
5
7
With A Girl Like You Troggs
4
8
I Want You Bob Dylan
22
9
Just Like A Woman Manfred Mann
11
10
Headline News Alan Bown Set / Edwin Starr
17
11
Give Me Your Word Billy Fury
16
12
Big Time Operator Zoot Money's Big Roll Band
20
13
All Or Nothing Small Faces
30
14
They're Coming To Take Me Away, Ha Haa! Napoleon XIV/Kim Fowley
23
15
Warm And Tender Love Percy Sledge
24
16
Got To Get You Into My Life Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers
9
17
Summer In The City Lovin' Spoonful
14
18
Tell Her Dean Parrish
13
19
Lovers Of The World Unite David & Jonathan
33
20
So Fine Santells
21
21
Where Were You When I Needed You? Grass Roots
12
22
Visions Cliff Richard
19
23
Barefootin' Robert Parker
26
24
The Moment Of Truth Three Good Reasons
29
25
Popsicle Jan & Dean
26
Out Of This World Chiffons
39
27
When You Walk In The Sand Tuesday's Children
19
28
How Long Is Time Odyssey
34
29
Harlem Shuffle Mike Cotton Sound
30
Too Soon To Know Roy Orbison
28
31
I Love How You Love Me Paul & Barry Ryan
32
Tossin' And Turnin' Dave Davani Four
40
33
Summertime Billy Stewart
34
Good Day Sunshine Tremeloes / Glen Dale
37
35
This Heart Of Mine Jimmy James & the Vagabonds
36
Goodbye Bluebird Wayne Fontana
37
Cast Your Fate To The Wind Shelby Flint
37
Stop That Girl Chris Andrews
38
Working In The Coal Mine Lee Dorsey
39
You Can't Roller Skate In A Buffalo Herd Roger Miller
40
I Can't Turn You Loose Otis Redding
40
You Make Me Feel Like Someone Billy J Kramer with the Dakotas

30
14
They're Coming To Take Me Away, Ha Haa! Napoleon XIV/Kim Fowley

Throughout the Big L 2001 RSL, Paul Graham regularly featured tracks from the weird LP by Napoleon XIV, aka recording engineer Jerry Samuels. Bearing the same title as his much-banned (on both sides of the pond) single, They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha Haa, this album, which unsurprisingly features a conglomeration of bizarre tracks, has now become something of a collector's item.

Kim Fowley released his own version of They're Coming... on CBS 202243. Brian Long, in The London Sound, reveals that the Fowley B-side is called You Get More For Your Money, On the Flip Side of This Record, Talking Blues. You certainly got more for your money than on the B-side of Napoleon XIV's version, which was just the A-side played, and also titled backwards - !aaaH-aH ,yawA eM ekaT oT gnimoC er'yehT. Both versions of the controversial hit were also in the City Sixty, but both remained absent from Caroline's Countdown Sixty, despite Napoleon XIV scoring a top ten hit in the Nationals.

Kim Fowley's B-side was published by Pall Mall, the company partly owned by Radio London. (See Tornados story below) The publishing contract for You Get More... credits both Fowley and one Anthony X Bulldog as composers. 'Bulldog' was Mike Stone, a Californian who held the post of Radio London's PR and promotions man. Presumably, the pseudonym was chosen with tongue firmly in cheek, because the lyrics of They're Coming... considered so controversial at the time, are about a pet-lover going crazy about his runaway dog, as in, "I'll find you yet and when I do I'll put you in the ASPCA, you mangy mutt!"

Many covers of the song have been recorded, including one by Germany's Kingbeats. They released Ich Glaab', Die Hole Mich Ab, Ha-Haaa! on the B-side of Lisbeth (their version of Wild Thing), under the name Malepartus II.

For a more up-to-date take on the song, see: I'm Going To Ban Your Domain, Ha-Ha

Besides climbers that were played at the time of the broadcast of the Sunday Fab Forty, Alan kept a note of others
he heard later in the week and incorporated them into his list.


DJ Climbers:    
My Heart's Symphony Gary Lewis & the Playboys Tony Blackburn
Sunny Bobby Hebb Chris Denning
Distant Shores Chad & Jeremy Dave Dennis
I Dig Everything David Bowie Kenny Everett
The Kids Are Alright Who Bill Hearne
If You Ever Leave Me Jackie Trent Paul Kaye
Just A Dream Chris Farlowe Mike Lennox
Ashes To Ashes Mindbenders Mark Roman
Distant Drums Jim Reeves Keith Skues
It's Been Such A Long Way Home Garnet Mimms Ed Stewart
Go Where You Wanna Go Overlanders Norman St John
(You Make Me Feel) So Good McCoys Tony Windsor
Climbers:  
Is That A Ship I Hear Tornados
Turn Down Day Cyrkle
Here There And Everywhere Episode Six
Never You Hurt (The One You Love) Laurel Aitken & the Soulmen
You Can't Hurry Love* Supremes
Wade In The Water Graham Bond Organisation
Just Once In My Life Righteous Brothers
Peace Of Mind Zuider Zee
Pack Your Bags Brendan Phillips
Disc of the Week:  
Step Out Of Line Twice As Much
Album of the Week:  
The More I See You Chris Montez

Is That A Ship I Hear Tornados Columbia DB 7984

In July 2006, The Guardian published an article by Alexis Petridis in which he describes Do You Come Here Often – the B-side of Is That A Ship I Hear – as "the most astonishing record of 1966." The cause of the astonishment is that the otherwise instrumental B-side was boldly enhanced by Joe Meek with a conversation between two men who sound camper than Round the Horne's Julian and Sandy. The recording is regarded as the first indisputably gay single and is highly collectible, mint copies fetching around £40.

The Guardian feature covers the release of a 24-track CD compilation, From the Closet to the Charts: Queer Noises 1961-1978, which includes Meek's 1966 masterpiece alongside the Kinks' See My Friend. The Kinks released their single (apparently regarded as an oblique paean to homosexuality) in 1965. However, Do You Come Here Often? is regarded as the first release of something rather more blatant.

On the record label, the publisher of Do You Come Here Often is credited as Meeksville Music. Although a contract was signed with Pall Mall, the company partly owned by Radio London, on the day of the record's release, 12th August, presumably, it would have been too late to have changed the label. (It was Pall Mall catalogue #111. The catalogue contained eleven Joe Meek titles.) The Do You Come Here Often contract was in the names of the individual members of the Tornados – Peter Holder, Robert Huxley, David Watts, Roger Holder and John Davies, although as Alexis Petridis remarks: "Quite what the Tornados made of their pill-maddened producer's latest wheeze, let alone anyone who heard the song in 1966, is an intriguing question." David Watts and Robert Huxley recorded the voices for the 'conversation' heard on the B-side (including a line about pirate ships) without knowing the context in which Meek was intending to use the recording

Meek had written to the Tornados, currently employed in the Blackpool summer season, telling them that he intended to buy Is That A Ship I Hear into the charts. However, he found himself without the finances for carrying out his plan. Meek wanted a ship-themed title for the A-side to curry favour – and hopefully gain airplay – from the ship-borne offshore stations. He almost included the word 'pirate' in the title, but decided that would be too blatant. The track's original demo title was Is That A Spaceship I Hear.

Is That A Ship I Hear and its controversial B-side was to be the band's final single. All the original Tornados who had enjoyed an international mega-hit with Telstar, had departed their ranks by this time.

Melody Maker thought Is That A Ship I Hear made 'some pleasing electronic noise', while Disc and Music Echo wrote scathingly, 'Somebody must be joking'.

The Radlon management who were later to take exception to the lyrics of Arnold Layne and ban it from the Big L playlist, presumably remained blissfully ignorant of the existence of the 'astonishing' Tornados B-side. Ironically, it would have been perfect for TW's Camp Coffee Break!

(With grateful thanks to Brian Long and his extensive research into the Pall Mall catalogue, for additional information).


The red additions to the climbers indicate singles listed in Brian Long's book 'The London Sound' based on information typed in the Curzon Street offices or other sources.
* The addition of the Supremes' 'You Can't Hurry Love' as an unassigned climber, is courtesy of Wolfgang Buchholz.

The PURPLE Bill Hearne climber was supplied by Roy Taylor in 2020.
Alan Field did not hear them played or announced as climbers.


The Caroline 'Countdown Sixty' chart (south ship) for this week is here

This week's Radio City 'City Sixty' on the Pirate Radio Hall of Fame is here
This week's Radio England 'Boss Forty' on the Pirate Radio Hall of Fame is here

Tune in next week for another Field's Fab Forty


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