Something that hardcore nostalgists occasionally lament is the disappearance of instrumentals from the pop charts. They have a point, in that it’s very rare for a bad instrumental to be remotely as bad as a bad song. To be honest though even am[…]

I’m genuinely pleased that Eddie Fisher got a second big hit, especially as it establishes the winning notion that if you’ve had one smash your second should be as like it as legally possible. ‘Outside Of Heaven’ saw Eddie sta[…]

This was No.1 for some stupefying number of weeks – every time a record knocked Frankie off the top he would climb back up and give the hapless contender a battering. I got the impression it was considered some kind of statistical freak for a l[…]

You have to wonder whether without the invention of the charts (and the creation of a market that might care about them) British pop wouldn’t have cycled round a selection of stock ditties forever, rocking contentedly between slop and whimsy. A[…]

Pretty much all the interest here is in the instrumentation, the now-expected orchestration replaced by a fragile electric organ and a break played on what might be a cracked cornet. The production makes for an effective bit of slush, which as a bare[…]

My listening self is currently adrift in time, split in three ‘ working in the present, listening to pop for pleasure; downloading song after song for this, enjoying right now the summer of ’60, listening for curiosity; and listening to t[…]

I know this tune already, from a role-reversed version by (I think) Goldie Hill, “I Let The Stars Get In My Eyes”. That’s a terrific record, strident and fatalist. Goldie admits her starstruck whim has ruined her relationship &#8211[…]

Not that sounding ‘modern’ is always great. Eddie Fisher’s tear-clogged crooning style is thoroughly, slickly pre-modern and all the more mysterious for it. Enveloped by trilling strings and cooing singers, he sounds as fallen and u[…]

A gutsy, danceable swing tune – just a hint of throat in Kay Starr’s voice to make it sexy, even though here she’s playing older sister, thumping you between the shoulders, telling you to pick yourself up. I’ve got a cold tod[…]

Sophistication – this particular kind of sophistication – is missing from pop now. “Fly the ocean in a silver plane / See the jungle when it’s wet with rain” – Stafford’s lover can tour the world but he can […]