A musical diary: February 1965

In the UK and the USA, The Righteous Brothers, had their first number one with “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling” carrying on the success of Phil Spector-produced records.

The Zombies were one of Brian Epstein’s stable; they were formed in 1961 by Rod Argent and Colin Bluntstone. They already had a huge world-wide hit in 1964 with “She’s Not There”. But they were not as successful as the other Brian Epstein performers and had only two other minor hits with “Tell Her No” and “Time Of The Season”.

Ray Brown & the Whispers changed their name from The Nocturnes, as Australian groups moved away from imitating instrumental groups like The Shadows and looked to lead vocalists. Taking over as resident band at Surf City in Sydney’s King Cross they set about recording cover versions resulting in their first chart-topper “20 Miles”, this was previously recorded by Chubby Checker. They followed up with “Pride” coupled with “Say It Again” in June, and “Fool, Fool, Fool” in July. Further releases continued until 1966 but they did not hit the top spot again and the band split up. Ray Brown continued to record and formed the band again in the 70s and 80s for Rock and Roll Revival shows. Sadly Ray Brown died of a heart attack in August 1996.

On the 15^th of this month Nat King Cole died from lung cancer at the age of 45, this fabulous pre-rock vocalist, pianist and balladeer was one of the great entertainers of the 20^th century, his list of hits are numerous. “Stardust”, “When I Fall In Love”, “Let True Love Begin”, “Let There Be Love”, “Ramblin’ Rose” and who could forget the re-make duet with his daughter Natalie Cole, “Unforgettable”.

In the UK P.J. Proby found a novel way of driving the audience wild, splitting his tight trousers during the show and after a few warnings did not stop his antics he was banned by the ABC Theatre chain, thus finishing his career.

Flying up the charts and on their way to their first number one in the UK, was The Seekers with “I’ll Never Find Another You”. It’s hard to believe but by the end of the year the popularity of this Australian quartet would be sufficient to rival The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. The Seekers were formed in 1963 by three friends who all attended Melbourne High School: Athol Guy, Keith Potger and Bruce Woodley. As the folk boom started sweeping over the UK and the USA a young Judith Durham joined the group. Judith was born with a perfect singing voice and had intended to be an opera singer until the jazz scene made her change her mind; she already had records out, singing with Frank Taylor & the Jazz Preachers but she was talented enough to combine folk when she wasn’t singing jazz.

In 1964, this newly formed band performed on board a ship which got them to London for ten weeks where they played a few gigs. A recording deal followed with World Record Club a division of EMI. After a couple of quick albums they performed on the televised Sunday Night at the London Palladium. This brought them to the attention of Tom Springfield, who was a former member of the folk singing trio The Springfields.

Springfield became their producer and songwriter and they were signed to Columbia Records, a prestigious division of EMI. After their first chart-topper they continued with “A World Of Our Own”, “The Carnival Is Over”, “Someday One Day”, “Georgy Girl” and “Morningtown Ride”. In 1969 Judith Durham decided to leave and the group was officially disbanded in early 1969 after a farewell concert was broadcast on British TV.

A debut release in Melbourne, “I’ll Come Running Over” by Lynne Randell proved to be a starting point in a successful career, this song was covered in the UK by Lulu.

The number ones in Australia for February 1965

6^th – The Wedding – Julie Rodgers

13^th, 20^th – Under The Boardwalk / Walking The Dog – The Rolling Stones

27^th – Ferry Across The Mersey – Gerry and the Pacemakers

The USA

6th, 13^th – You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling – The Righteous Brothers

20^th, 27^th – This Diamond Ring – Gary Lewis & the Playboy Band

The UK

6^th, 13^th – You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling – The Righteous Brothers

20^th – Tired Of Waiting For You – The Kinks

27^th – I’ll Never Find Another You – The Seekers

The top 10 in Australia in February 1965    

1. Under The Boardwalk / Walking The Dog – The Rolling Stones
2. Downtown – Petula Clark
3. Ferry Across The Mersey – Gerry and the Pacemakers
4. Over The Rainbow / That I Love – Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs
5. The Wedding – Julie Rodgers
6. Heart Of Stone – The Rolling Stones
7. I Feel Fine / She’s A Woman – The Beatles
8. Somewhere – J. Proby
9. Paper Tiger – Sue Thompson
10. Walk Away – Matt Munro

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