Our pick of the pops, June 2009

Romina

Quando gli angeli cambiano le piume
Best known for her 1970s collaborations with husband Al Bano, Romina Power started out in the mid-1960s with this gem. If her name doesn’t sound overly Italian, that’s because she’s the Los Angeles-born daughter of American actors Tyrone Power and Linda Christian. She spent a lot of time in Italy during her youth, before eventually moving there. She didn’t enjoy chart success until the release of Acqua di mare in 1969, though by that time, she was perhaps better known for her film work, particularly for her role in an adaptation of the Marquis de Sade’s Justine.

The Chantelles
There’s something about you
British girl group the Chantelles issued a handful of records on the Parlophone label from 1965 before switching to Polydor for this one-off release a year later. This pounding number is the most in demand of the group’s 45s, and, though it disappeared without trace at the time, it has gone on to find popularity on the dance floors of Britain. Perhaps surprisingly then, it has never turned up on any Brit girl or northern soul compilations. If this ticks your box, check back next month when we’ll be publishing a full page on the trio, with loads more great sound clips.

Los Stop
El último tren a Clarksville
Nights in white satin was recently declared the most played song of all time. We’re not sure whether pollsters were referring to Los Stop’s version, Con su blanca palidez, though somehow we suspect not. Here the band take on the Monkees’ Last train to Clarksville. The Spanish combo enjoyed a string of hits from the mid-1960s, including Tres cosas (salud, dinero y amor) and El turista 1.999.999. Lead singer Cristina went solo at the end of the decade but never quite managed to recapture the momentum from her time with Los Stop.

Jocelyne
Chaque fois que je rêve
It’s hard to believe that French singer Jocelyne was just 13 when she recorded this terrific number. The teenager was billed as the French Brenda Lee – and listening to her gutsy delivery, it’s easy to understand why. Jocelyne cut a number of covers of Little Miss Dynamite’s US releases, amongst them Le dimanche et le jeudi (Lonely, lonely, lonely me), Oui j’ai peur (It is true) and our pick, originally Thanks a lot. Recorded in London, this song was issued in the spring of 1965, and we think it’s one of her very best.

Sylvan
We don’t belong
The release of the film The boat that rocked has had us enjoying Sylvan’s We don’t belong all over again. The song isn’t featured in the film’s soundtrack, but Sylvan is said to be the only woman to have spent a night on the ship that hosted Radio Caroline, the pirate radio station that provided the inspiration for the film. Unlike the girls in the movie, the beautiful blonde wasn’t there to, erm, provide relief for the DJs, but instead to plug her 45. Bad weather, however, left her marooned on the boat for a weekend. It wasn’t a high point in her career, though we guess it makes for an amusing anecdote.

Dionne Warwick
Geh’ vorbei
We can’t help but be charmed by Dionne Warwick’s German translation of her huge US success Walk on by. This was the A-side of her only German-language release. Issued on the Vogue label in 1965, it failed to appeal to German record buyers. In fact, the closest the singer came to scoring a hit in Germany was a year earlier with Anyone who had a heart, but even that lost out to a version by Cilla Black. Dionne has still to forgive the British singer for her note-for-note copy, once commenting that if she had coughed on her recording, Cilla would have coughed on hers too. Meow.