1968 Decca (UK) 45s Song-By-Song Thread I’m going to post Decca 45s in Catalog Number order from 1968. One (A & B Side) every day (or so). I’ll also try to find where each song is available on CD. The Internet is a wonderful thing. In the past if you read about a song and wanted to hear it you’d have to turn on the radio and hope that they played it. Now you can just go to YouTube or Spotify or tons of other sites just to hear (almost) any song you want. I love having (most of) musical history at my fingertips! This Song-By-Song Thread is just like all my other Song-By-Song Threads: An excuse to hear music I’m not familiar with and share it with other people on here! The Years I’ve gone through so far: 1960 Decca 45s Song-By-Song Thread 1961 Decca 45s Song-By-Song Thread 1962 Decca 45s Song-By-Song Thread 1962 is currently running. 1966 Decca 45s Song-By-Song Thread 1967 Decca 45s Song-By-Song Thread
Decca F 22719 (1968-01-05) A: If Ever I Would Leave You - The Bachelors CD: The Bachelors – The Decca Years: 1962-1972 (1999)
Mum and Dad must have loved them. Not sure this material got released over here. We already had tons of acts doing this Vegas act. From an album titled "The Bachelors Do Broadway"?
They'd unsuccessfully attempted to update themselves with the David McWilliams song on their previous single - for this one they chose (or had chosen for them) songs from “Camelot” and “Cabaret” but their time as a hit making act had now passed. They still had their old hits which Decca could compile for LPs. including the budget-priced "The World of the Bachelors"which had eighteen weeks on the album chart in 1969 Vinyl Album: The Bachelors - The World Of The Bachelors (1969)
Six of the eight singles they had released in the US made the Top 40, and the other two peaked lower down on the Hot 100. but after the David McWilliams song they wouldn't have another US single until the summer of 1969 when they recorded Paul Simon's 'Punky's Dilemma'
Yeah, I always dread seeing another single by the Bachelors clogging up the pipeline. But are they seriously worse than a lot of other show business types, some of which I at most don't mind? Sorry, maybe it's their name, but being the Lettermen of Ireland cuts no ice with me. Move along boys. (And Decca: nice way to kick off 1968! I'm being sarcastic!)
If Ever I Would Leave You: This isn't bad, although it gives the impression of never having heard of Elvis or the Beatles. The song is well-written, the production and orchestration are pretty nice, but you just have to be in the mood for this sort of thing. I'm a bit on the fence but 3.5/5 Cabaret: Again it's well-produced but sounds like an escapee from the '40s or '50s that managed to crawl into a time machine. 3/5
The second of the three Decca singles by the Sea-Ders aka the Cedars aka the “Beatles of Lebanon” - this was the first one to be recorded in the UK; ‘For Your Information’ later became a big hit in Turkey but sadly the group had broken up by that time having been dropped by Decca and billed for the studio time they had used - apart from the drummer who remained in the UK they returned to Lebanon leaving their instruments and equipment behind. https://projectrevolver.org/features/interviews/searching-for-lebanons-sea-ders/ Cool Discovery by Project Revolver: Meet The Sea-Ders (The Cedars), Also Known As “The Beatles of Lebanon” | Blog Baladi
For Your Information: This isn't bad, I liked it more at the end than at the beginning. The lead guitar could have stepped off one of the Stones' '60s singles, although the bass is slightly too upfront and definitely not muddy enough for most '60s songs! I'd give it a 3.5/5 Hide if You Want to Hide: Easter-influenced / psychedelic, not bad but there's not really much to it. 3/5 I presume the producer named Tony Clarke is one and the same as the Moody Blues' producer? It's far from the first time his name has shown up in one of these threads.
Joined Decca in 1963; I think his first production may have been for John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, prior to 'Mirror Mirror' by Pinkerton's Assorted Colours (not credited on the UK single, but he was on the French EP) John Mayall Plays John Mayall - Wikipedia Pinkerton's 'Assort'. Colours - Mirror Mirror Tony Clarke (record producer) - Wikipedia
I now see that the CD-EP compilation of the recordings by the Cedars / Sea-Ders has 'Hide If You Want to Hide' being written by the lead guitarist with the group Albert Haddard (rather than as indicated on the label Albert Hammond) https://www.discogs.com/release/3093940-The-Sea-ders-The-Sea-ders/image/SW1hZ2U6NDc0NDc3OTY= However, it is included in a list of Albert Hammond songs put together for his "Appreciation Group" on Facebook and I do see that the CD notes refer to Tony Clarke as being the producer for the Tremeloes which I don't think is correct (I believe that was Mike Smith) Log into Facebook | Facebook There was a cover version released in Turkey as 'Saklan Saklanabilirsen' by Selçuk Alagöz https://www.discogs.com/release/8783663-Selçuk-Alagöz-Saklan-Saklanabilirsen-Ringo
I suspect it won’t be a hit. The Beatles were writing better original material than this back in 1962.
Decca F 12721 (1968-01-05) A: Don't Change It - Fearns Brass Foundry CD: Decca Originals: The Northern Soul Scene (1998)
Sounding not unlike the Foundations (who had a recent UK no.1 single ‘Baby, Now that I’ve Found You’), the first of two Decca singles. I’m not sure that their name or the quote from ‘Comin’ thro’ the Rye’ were the best of ideas. Two songs written by Steve Fearn, the leader of the group. John Manship Records There was a 1978 LP “Demobilised” (released on the obscure Sticky label) that appears to have been by a later version of the band. minus Steve Fearn who more recently has been half of the musical comedy duo Fingers ‘n’ Thumbs (I think he is/was Fingers) Brass Foundry - Demobilised https://www.harboroughmail.co.uk/news/people/two-south-leicestershire-music-stars-release-powerful-song-saluting-frontline-nhs-workers-289004
Don't Change It: I can see the Foundations similarity, although the bouncy beat seems more aligned to Build Me Up Buttercup than Baby Now That I've Found You. The intro reminded me of something, I can't put my finger on just yet. Wait a minute, one possibility might be You're Still a Young Man by Tower of Power, although that song is much slower. Same key, same tone, maybe? Anyway, this is a decent effort that's not really up my alley, so 3.5/5 John White: Another decent effort. I can see where these two tracks would be highly regarded by Northern Soul aficionados. The artists aren't doing anything wrong, but again, they're not really making my style of music. Other fans would be delighted to disagree. 3.5/5
Decca F 12722 (1968-01-05) A: Am I That Easy To Forget - Engelbert Humperdinck CD: The Best Of Engelbert Humperdinck (2005)
He followed up his UK no.1 hit with the Les Reed & Barry Mason song ‘The Last Waltz’ by returning to the country songs he had recorded for his first two hits. Peaked at no.3 (two weeks at no.2 in NME). The single had been released one month earlier in the US and peaked at #18 in Billboard. The song had first been released by Carl Belew in 1959 (US country #9); covered by Skeeter Davis (country #11) and Debbie Reynolds (#25 on the Hot 100) with many later versions, but it had not previously been a hit in the UK. Cover versions of Am I That Easy to Forget written by Carl Belew, W.S. Stevenson, Shelby Singleton | SecondHandSongs Unsurprisingly, there was a Gordon Mills song on the B-side
Am I That Easy to Forget: The witty, cynical response is, "Unfortunately, no". For me, the answer is "no", but not in a bad way. For others about me, the answer is probably "probably". Anyway, the song is alright, a pleasantly arranged piece of MOR (remember MOR?) that rates about 3.5/5 Pretty Ribbon: This one, which unlike its flip I haven't heard before, is somehow appealing in a way AITETF isn't. Must be the minor chords, or the strings, or who knows what. Anyway, I don't normally give part scores (other than a half) but this would be about 3.7/5, which in the scoring summary (if there were one) would really be perilously close to 4/5. Yeah, we'll go with that -- 4/5
