Another installment of the legendary Top Of The Pops radio series from the 1960s. This one, broadcast on November 17, 1967 features The Zombies, Jimi Hendrix, The Bee Gees along with newcomers Kiki Dee and Ebony Keyes. And in true Top Of The Pops spirit a completely eclectic show, which gives you some idea of just how broad the spectrum was in Pop Music in the UK during that time.
Headliners are The Bee Gees who do Mrs. Gillespie’s Refrigerator as well as their hit Massachusetts. Hendrix does Burning Of The Midnight Lamp as well as his rendition of Hound Dog and Experiencing The Blues along with an interview. The bitter-sweet entry is from The Zombies, who do a Motown turn with This Old Heart Of Mine as well as paying tribute to Bacharach/David and The Look Of love. This is a side of the band that, if you haven’t heard via the fine reissue set from Ace Records released a few years ago, will surprise you at just how versatile and talented they were. The sad part is, they broke up a month after this session, ahead of the release of the milestone Odyssey And Oracle and the emergence of Argent.
i confess to missing Ebony Keyes altogether, not having heard any of his material at the time. Kiki Dee is a surprise, and her opening track Excuse Me fairly rips your heart out. Unfortunately, there is a technical glitch (a pressing dig) which causes part of a sentence to skip. But the song on the whole is unbelievable and it’s a far cry from her 1974 hit I’ve Got The Music In Me.
As always, this is a series full of surprises, with the added attraction they are performed live and not off commercial releases. Definitely historic material from a pivotal time in our musical history.
And while I have you here – I want to let you know we’re in the middle of doing our Past Daily Fall Fundraiser – which we do every year around this time. We try to be as inconspicuous as possible, but we still want to get the message out that we can really use your help in keeping this site up and running and giving you rarities like this everyday, all year long. We’re not asking for a lot – the price of a cup of coffee or a movie ticket. Bringing you history and amazing discoveries from our Archive is what we do every day. So, if you can, please give what you can by making your donation here: (Past Daily’s Fall Fundraiser) and helping us stay up and running and vital. We’ve been getting amazing contributions so far, we need a little more to get us over the top. Do what you can.
