The Byrds - Mr Tambourine Man

This is a special post for me. Last week (July 29th) I turned 50! Yep, half century has landed and I'm just the same old me as usual, don't think that will ever change! This single by The Byrds was number one here in the UK the week I was born. This single originally written by Bob Dylan and came off his Another Side Of Bob Dylan album. Originally Bob's version ran for about 5 minutes, but to enable the band to receive radio play in America, they recorded the song to run for about two and a half minutes. This worked as the song reached number one in America and the UK in July 1965, not bad for a debut single!

The song, with it's 12 string Rickenbacker jangly guitar song played by Jim McGuinn was the only member of the band to play on the single after the producer thought the band weren't up to playing on the song at that point. They all sang on the single and later recordings featured all the members of the band. They say the sound of The Byrds is the sound which defined Folk Rock, with that signature jangly guitar sound.

To me when I hear this song, it sends me back to being a 7 year old child going to my friend Amanda's house and her Mum playing this single quite a lot of times. I just fell for those jangly 12 string guitar sounds which I still love hearing today. This is a real classic single which defined the times, a real pocket of history when you listen to it. Here's the single!

The Move - Flowers In The Rain

Here's a single with a bit of history behind it. Flowers In The Rain became the first single to be played on the new BBC radio station Radio 1 on 30th September 1967. The single was written by Roy Wood, produced by Tony Visconti and got to number 2 in that year.

To help the single chart, the band's manager thought a stunt might help give the single an edge and came up with the idea of a cartoon postcard. He featured on the card a cartoon of a naked Harold Wilson who was Prime Minister then with his secretary, but the stunt seriously backfired and the band were sued. As a result of the court decision, all royalties from the song were to be donated to a charity of Harold Wilson's choice and that still stands today and is thought to have cost the band millions of pounds in lost royalties.

I remember the single from my childhood, I will have been 2 when it came out and can always remember it being played. I always remembered what it looked like and found a similar copy on Ebay! Here's is the single

Dusty Springfield - I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself

This heart tugger of a killer track written by Burt Bacharach & Hal David for an American artist called Tommy Hunt in 1963. Dusty had been to New York, heard the track and bought a copy back home to the UK to record. This was her 3rd solo single release and became the classic Dusty sound, complete with the trademark, thick eyeliner and beehive hair-do was enough to get the single to number 3 in the UK charts in the summer of 1964. The single got an American release but didn't get into the Billboard charts although Dionne Warwick's version managed to chart.