ROBUST ROCK’N’ROLL BRAND STILL BUCKS THE TREND IN PHYSICAL MARKET
DREAMBOATS & PETTICOATS HAS BECOME THE CD THAT FANS BUY FOR CHRISTMAS
BRANDED DREAMBOATS & PETTICOATS LIVE TOUR TO FOLLOW IN 2021
It started as a compilation album, then spawned a hit West-End musical. Now, Dreamboats & Petticoats is set to develop further as it moves into the live arena in 2021 with a UK tour headlined by Marty Wilde, the Godfather of British Rock & Roll.
Before that comes the eagerly awaited new compilation album. The annual Dreamboats & Petticoats compilations have become the most anticipated – and biggest selling – albums of the year, bucking a trend towards streaming and providing fans with 4 CDs of timeless, quality Rock ‘n’ Roll.
For the last five years, each new edition has sold well over 100,000 CDs – a figure now virtually unheard of in compilation sales. Nearly 5 million records have been sold across the series, making Dreamboats & Petticoats one of the most successful compilation brands of all time.
This year, Decca Records presents Dreamboats & Petticoats ‘Music That Lives Forever’. A celebration of the timelessness of the Rock ‘n’ Roll era, featuring 100 classic songs as well as a bonus track, ‘60s World’, newly written and recorded by one of the greatest British voices of them all, Marty Wilde.
The set kicks off with The Beach Boys ‘Wouldn’t It Be Nice’: one of the most exquisite pop songs of all time. Released in 1966, in the UK it was the B-side to ‘God Only Knows’, which hit No.2 in the chart. The song was also the opening track on their 1966 masterpiece Pet Sounds.
Other highlights – there are many – include:
· The Shadows ‘Apache’: Hank Marvin’s pioneering tremolo sound propelled The Shadows to No.1 in 1960 with Apache. The band and the song are celebrated with a new 60th anniversary companion title ‘Dreamboats & Petticoats Presents The Shadows: The First 60 Years’. Released on 13th November 2020, the collection features 40 sensational Shadows tracks, hand-picked by legendary guitarist Bruce Welch.
· Elvis Presley ‘Wooden Heart’ a No.1 hit in the UK and across the world, this tender little song with its chirpy accordion and a verse sung in German, was originally recorded on 28th April 1960 for the Elvis Presley film G.I. Blues.
· The Hollies ‘Here I Go Again’: punchy Motown intro meets Liverpudlian beat-pop at its finest. Written by Mort Shuman and Clive Westlake, it was the band’s fifth single release and their second consecutive top 5 UK single (following ‘Just One Look’).
· Manfred Mann ‘Pretty Flamingo’: although composed by American song-writer Mark Barkan, there is something very British about this song, with its Kinks vibe and fabulous, sing-along chorus. The recording featured future Cream bassist Jack Bruce, who briefly joined the band in 1965, and it gave Manfred Mann a UK No.1 in August 1966.
· The Crystals ‘Da Do Ron Ron’: another song that will surely live forever, this big-chorus Wall-of-Sound production gave The Crystals a worldwide hit in 1963 (UK No.5, US No. 3). Much covered since, the song has appeared many times in Top 500 lists including Rolling Stone, Q Magazine and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
· Little Richard ‘Lucille’: This 1957 classic was covered many times by some of the biggest acts including The Beatles and Deep Purple. The track is pure Rock ‘n’ Roll heaven from King Richard: just check the comments on YouTube: “He may be gone today but we’ll have this forever” sums it up perfectly.
· Eddie Cochran ‘C’mon Everybody’: simple, awesome groove, timeless. Originally a B-side, the song hit No.1 in the UK in ’59. Pop fact: the song is connected with Little Richard’s ‘Lucille’ by legendary drummer Earl Palmer, who played on both recordings…
· Marty Wilde ‘60’s World’: this is an entirely new song, written and recorded by Marty for his new album Running Together. Marty was there at the beginning and is here now, having enjoyed a remarkable eight consecutive decades of success as an artist. Marty continues to play an active role in the UK music scene and has been nominated as an Ambassador for National Album Day (10th October 2020) alongside Pop Star daughter Kim.
Here’s the full track list
CD1 WOULDN’T IT BE NICE
01 THE BEACH BOYS WOULDN’T IT BE NICE
02 CLIFF RICHARD & THE SHADOWS THE YOUNG ONES
03 THE HOLLIES HERE I GO AGAIN
04 MANFRED MANN PRETTY FLAMINGO
05 NEIL SEDAKA CALENDER GIRL
06 LOVE AFFAIR RAINBOW VALLEY
07 HERMAN’S HERMITS WONDERFUL WORLD
08 BILLY FURY IN SUMMER
09 EDEN KANE WELL I ASK YOU
10 THE KINKS DEDICATED FOLLOWER OF FASHION
11 PAUL JONES HIGH TIME
12 PETER AND GORDON A WORLD WITHOUT LOVE
13 PETULA CLARKE I KNOW A PLACE
14 FRANK IFIELD I REMEMBER YOU
15 THE MERSEYS SORROW
16 PJ PROBY HOLD ME
17 KARL DENVER WIMOWEH
18 CAT STEVENS MATTHEW AND SON
19 DUSTY SPRINGFIELD IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE
20 ADAM FAITH WHAT DO YOU WANT
21 RICKY NELSON & THE BYRDS ALL I REALLY WANT TO DO
22 THE LOVING SPOONFUL SUMMER IN THE CITY
23 DEL SHANNON LITTLE TOWN FLIRT
24 MARTY AND KIM WILDE 60S WORLD
25 THE BARRON KNIGHTS CALL UP THE GROUPS
CD 2 UNCHAINED MELODIES
01 THE RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS UNCHAINED MELODY
02 ELVIS PRESLEY WOODEN HEART
03 ROY ORBISON IN DREAMS
04 MARTY WILDE TEENAGER IN LOVE
05 THE CASUALS JESAMINE
06 MANFRED MANN JUST LIKE A WOMAN
07 BOBBY DARIN IF I WERE A CARPENTER
08 THE CRICKETS MAYBE BABY
09 TOM JONES I’LL NEVER FALL IN LOVE AGAIN
10 THE SEARCHERS GOODBYE MY LOVE
11 THE MERSEYBEATS WISHIN’ AND HOPIN’
12 LULU HERE COMES THE NIGHT
13 ANDY WILLIAMS ALMOST THERE
14 JIM REEVES DISTANT DRUMS
15 THE BACHELORS CHARMAINE
16 ENGELBERT HUMPERDINK RELEASE ME
17 JOHNNY RAY JUST WALKING IN THE RAIN
18 MARK WYNTER IMAGE OF A GIRL
19 MATT MONRO YESTERDAY
20 NAT KING COLE SMILE
21 STEVIE WONDER MY CHERIE AMOUR
22 THE TEMPTATIONS MY GIRL
23 THE PLATTERS ONLY YOU
24 LOUIS ARMSTRONG WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD
25 JAMES BROWN IT’S A MAN’S, MAN’S, MAN’S WORLD
CD 3 LET’S TWIST AGAIN
01 CHUBBY CHECKER LET’S TWIST AGAIN
02 DAVE DEE DOZY BEAKY MICK & TITCH HOLD TIGHT
03 BRIAN POOLE & THE TREMELOES DO YOU LOVE ME
04 THE EVERLY BROTHERS WALK RIGHT BACK
05 THE FOUR SEASONS WALK LIKE A MAN
06 BRUCE CHANNEL KEEP ON
07 KATHY KIRBY DANCE ON
08 THE FOUR TOPS REACH OUT I’LL BE THERE
09 MARTHA & THE VANDELLAS JIMMY MACK
10 THE SUPREMES STOP IN THE NAME OF LOVE
11 THE CRYSTALS DA DOO RON RON
12 THE RONETTES BE MY BABY
13 MARVIN GAYE I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE
14 SMOKIE ROBINSON I SECOND THAT EMOTION
15 FRANK WILSON DO I LOVE YOU
16 THE VELVELETTES NEEDLE IN A HAYSTACK
17 SAM & DAVE SOUL MAN
18 JUNIOR WALKER & THE ALL STARS [I’M A] ROAD RUNNER
19 EDDIE FLOYD KNOCK ON WOOD
20 OTIS REDDING HARD TO HANDLE
21 DAVE BERRY LITTLE THINGS
22 LOS BRAVOS BLACK IS BLACK
23 BILLIE DAVIS TELL HIM
24 BRENDA LEE SPEAK TO ME PRETTY
25 PAT BOON SPEEDY GONZALEZ
CD4 C’MON EVERYBODY
01 EDDIE COCHRAN C’MON EVERYBODY
02 CHUCK BERRY NO PARTICULAR PLACE TO GO
03 BUDDY HOLLY BROWN EYED HANDSOME MAN
04 JOHNNY KIDD & THE PIRATES SHAKIN’ ALL OVER
05 LITTLE RICHARD LUCILLE
06 JERRY LEE LEWIS HIGH SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL
07 BILL HAYLEY & HIS COMETS SEE YOU LATER ALLIGATOR
08 GENE VINCENT MY HEART
09 MARTY WILDE EDDIE
10 THE SHADOWS APACHE
11 JET HARRIS THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM
12 THE TORNADOS TELSTAR
13 THE COASTERS POISON IVY
14 THE PRETTY THINGS HONEY I NEED
15 THE YARDBIRDS SHAPES OF THINGS
16 THE ZOMBIES SHE’S NOT THERE
17 THE EASYBEATS FRIDAY ON MY MIND
18 CHRIS FARLOWE OUT OF TIME
19 HEINZ JUST LIKE EDDIE
20 CHICKEN SHACK I’D RATHER GO BLIND
21 STATUS QUO ICE IN THE SUN
22 THE WHO I CAN SEE FOR MILES
23 THE SPENCER DAVIS GROUP I’M A MAN
24 CANNED HEAT LET’S WORK TOGETHER
25 THUNDERCLAP NEWMAN SOMETHING IN THE AIR
Finally, mention must be made of The Barron Knights who enjoyed enormous popularity in the 60’s and 70’s.
Their ‘pop parodies’ – sending up fellow bands including The Beatles, The Stones, The Searchers and many others – earned them millions of record sales – and perhaps surprisingly – many friends in the music business.
Far from causing upset to their rivals, The Barron Knights became hugely popular with many of the world’s biggest acts, owing to their skilful musicianship and arrangements that were humorous but never disrespectful.
‘Call Up The Groups’ – featured in this collection – parodied the Searchers, Freddie and the Dreamers, the Dave Clark Five, the Bachelors, the Rolling Stones, and the Beatles. The song imagined the various artists singing about being conscripted, or “called up” into the British Army.
Barron Knights singer and song-writer Pete Langford recalled “We had 17 copyright infringements and I went round on hands and knees to publishers pleading for permission to cover the various songs within our song!” His efforts paid off and ‘Call Up The Groups’ became the band’s first hit, reaching No.3 in 1964.
This, together with all the other groups that have been called up for this collection, is music that truly will live forever.
