Sounds on Sunday: 50 of 50/12

WHAT WERE WE listening to 50 years ago? Here’s a short series on the hits of 1969 – two years after the Summer of Love, the year that humans landed on our moon, the last year of the 1960s.

Here’s a curious number that topped the UK charts for just a week at the start of June. It was recorded by US singer songwriter Tommy Roe, with session musicians – and became a massive, but relatively short term hit. OK, so it was “bubblegum pop” (music churned out for the mass market in the late 60s and early 70s), but it was at the higher end of the genre – or, if you want to be cynical, nothing special but quite catchy.

Musically, the song is remarkable for having 11 key changes – very much more than its fair share. It was covered by Vic Reeves in 1991, for no apparent good reason – but which may have brought the song to new ears.

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Sounds on Sunday