For our final visit to the 1960’s our selection today brings together a disparate collection of performers whose offerings epitomise the comedic song (and indeed some of the attiudes) of the period.
“I’ve Been Everywhere” is a song written by Australian country singer Geoff Mack in 1959, and popularised by Lucky Starr in 1962.The Mudlarks were an English vocal group of the late 1950s and early 1960s. They were a family group from Luton, originally comprising Fred, Jeff, and Mary Mudd. At the end of 1958, The Mudlarks were voted top British vocal group by readers of the NME. The Mudlarks recorded their cover version of the song with a new selection of UK place names in 1962 but whilst popular it failed to chart.
“Will I What?” is a song written by Johnny Powell, Ken Hawker and Nick Shakespeare. It was recorded in 1962 by Michael Sarne a British actor, writer, producer and director, who also had a brief career as a pop singer in the 1960s. He is best known for his 1962 UK novelty chart topper, “Come Outside” (produced by Charles Blackwell), which featured vocal interjections by Wendy Richard. He had three more releases which also made the UK singles chart: “Will I What?”, also in 1962, which highlighted a similar motif to Come Outside featured Billie Davis and reached No.18 in the UK charts.
Boom Oo Yata-Ta-Ta was a routine performed in 1962 by Morecambe and Wise (and their writers Sid Green and Dick Hills). Morecambe and Wise were an English comic double act, working in variety, radio, film and most successfully in television. Their partnership lasted from 1941 until Morecambe’s death in 1984. They have been described as “the most illustrious, and the best-loved, double-act that Britain has ever produced”.
“Winchester Cathedral”, is a song by songwriter Geoff Stephens. In 1966 he created the group The New Vaudeville Band to record his novelty composition a song inspired by the dance bands of the 1920s and a Rudy Vallee megaphone-style vocal. To his surprise, the song became a transatlantic hit that autumn, reaching the Top 10 in the United Kingdom and rising to No. 1 in the United States. Initially a studio group composed of session players, Stephens quickly assembled a permanent group to continue recording and to play live shows. The group has been periodically revived since, without Stephens’ participation.
