What Song Are You Listening To, Right Now?

NEW ° Billy J. Kramer & The Dakotas – Bad To Me (Stereo)



Classic Hits {Stereo}
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1963... John Lennon wrote this in 1963 when he was in Spain. Billy J. Kramer recalled to the Daily Mail in December 2014: "John came to me on my 20th birthday when I was on tour with them and told me he'd written a song for me." "The next time I was recording at Abbey Road, he came and played it for me and we recorded it there and then. That was Bad to Me."

Billy J. Kramer with The Dakotas released their recording of the song in 1963 and it became their first number 1 in the UK Singles Chart. Paul McCartney was present during the recording session at Abbey Road Studios. The single was released in the US the following year, and was a top-ten hit there, reaching number 9. Stereo Mix by Radio Wollaton.
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NEW ° The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore — The Walker Brothers (Stereo)


Classic Hits {Stereo}
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1966... (Version 2) #1 UK Singles Charts #2 Canadian Top Singles #13 US Billboard Hot 100.. Bob Gaudio and Bob Crewe, the songwriting/ production team behind the Four Seasons, wrote “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore” to launch the solo career of Frankie Valli, the group’s frontman. Valli’s version missed the pop charts, but the song’s surging chorus and theatrical melancholy proved an ideal fit for the Walkers’ persona. Scott Walker’s deeper voice and pensive phrasing adds a layer of resonance to the record, while Gaudio and Crewe’s knack for soaring yet earthy melody keeps the song firmly in the realm of contemporary pop.

At one point, the legend goes, the Walker Brothers’ official fan club boasted more members than the Beatles’. But while the Walkers’ flame burned bright, racking up nine Top 40 hits in the span of two years, it also burned briefly. By the end of 1967, the band had dissolved, falling prey to both tensions within the band and the changing tastes of the pop public. Yet Scott Walker eventually emerged from the group as one of the most intriguing figures in popular music, with solo records running the gamut from Jacques Brel-inspired Euro-pop, to countrified easy listening, to uncompromising dips into the avant-garde. While the Walker Brothers could have ended up yet another beat group or faux-Spector also-rans, it’s his distinct yet indefinable essence that elevates a record like “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore” into a haunting expression of heartache.
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