He IS nice and chill, But he IS a musician and we musicians have STRONG opinions about music NO MATTER how popular a record is we can still find "problems" with it. Does it make us right? HELL NO. Artists tend to be temperamental gatekeeping shmucks!, LOL. But DIFFERENT temperamental gatekeeping shmucks keeps music alive.
I think Paul mentioned that Ringo was very straight about what he thought. I think it was a recent interview maybe with Johns son. Something about how he told fans to f*ck off when they visit his home. I think.
I was aware December/January is traditionally a dead spot for releases, but, watching this video, I am still partially in shock to see that was even the case way back in the '60s. The Beatles actually ended up subverting that norm for a while by always releasing close to the holiday season.
Apart from that great track by The Daylighters & Leader of the Pack, Ringo was given a pretty duff selection of records for his ‘Blind Date’. Unsurprising that the hilariously named ‘Alan Dean And His Problems’ didn’t set the charts on fire with that particular offering!
Those two are definitely the best songs of the bunch. I kinda like the Alan Dean song, though. But then again I like pretty much anything Joe Meek produced in the 60s. Love that sound.
@@YesterdaysPapers I do like the Joe Meek sound from that period, very bright & ‘zingy’… just found it difficult to get past Alan Dean’s problems! I thought Ringo was spot on when he said of The Daylighters disc: “being good, it won’t sell”… so true, & one of the great mysteries of pop!
Ringo, what a crank!! Trashing the Shangri Las, just crazy!!! Yesterday, that closing track you did was awesome! Killer guitar tone!! Great job!!! Cheers!!
Cranky Ringo is almost as much fun as cranky Ray Davies. Jack Jones's "Dear Heart" went to #30 on the US Hot 100, and #2 on US Adult Contemporary, but Andy Williams's went to US #2 on the US Hot 100. Interestingly, both of their 45s had the same song on their B sides. The charts you show on this video are phenomenal, and they prove why London was the center of the pop music and rock and roll universe in the 60s.
I remember when that song came out. My older sisters thought it had something to do with Beatle Ringo (since in those days there were a number of records coming out that were about the Beatles or somehow hoped to tap into the Beatles phenomenon). Even though Lorne Greene's record had nothing to do with Beatle Ringo, I'm sure any confusion about the subject of the song only helped make that record a hit. I wonder what Ringo would have thought of "Ringo".
Thank you, Sophie! Amazing that a blues song like "Little Red Rooster" reached the charts, isn't it? It reached number 1 a couple of weeks before this Blind Date was published. Those were definitely different times.
The way I see it, Ringo might have been impolitic but he called them as he heard them, and frankly, they handed him off a load of tripes to review anyway! My complements to Mr. Starkey, known as the best back beat in the business, and right on in his commentary on these (mostly) third -rate records! Great show as always, Y.P.!
Lol I love Ringo “It won’t sell” Leader Of The Pack was a number 1 hit on billboards top 100. The “It sounds like he was given 25 cents an hour to make a record” for that other song made me laugh lol
I had to hear Leader every hour on AM, and after five plays I was ready to boycott radio. As a teen, those teen dramas made me want to wretch. But I still enjoy Walkin' in the Sand and Give Him a Great Big Kiss.
Got to love Ringo! The Candy and the Kisses Record 'Do the 81' was an early Kenny Gamble composition and is popular on the Northern Soul to this day (fan record even if it rips off Martha and the Vandellas 'In my lonely Room')
George, the Quiet Beatle, John the Intellectual Beatle, Paul the Cute Beatle and Ringo the Snappin' Bad Beatle ! Must have been in a bad mood to not realize Leader of the Pack was going to hit big. The TV scene w the motorcycle is from I've Got a Secret TV show. Betsy Palmer and another actor on the panel did a cold dramatic reading of the lyrics before the panel asked questions. The secret was it was a teenage pop song , not a play etc.as the lyrics imply.
This might be the first Blind Date recommending a record for a specific dance. Makes sense since Ringo was all about the beat. He could probably do the Monkey like crazy!
boy, ringo being a little to critical on a lot of these performers i thought, i liked a lot of these records. i guess when you are a beatle you expect nothing but perfection in the music field. thanks for sharing this, enjoyed it!
YP, Thanks for posting the charts at the end which reminded me why my ear was attached to my radio back in '64. I don't think that Ringo was as brutal as some folks have posted. He was evaluating chart potential - without much negativity - but he did make it clear which songs he disliked. The Beatles sure seemed to like American r & b, even girl groups like the Shirelles, but not Jack Jones nor Pat Boone. I was subjected to 'Leader' hundreds of times on AM radio, and I loathed it as I loathed all that teen drama bogus reality. On the other hand, I loved 'Walkin' in the Sand' and 'Give Him a Great Big Kiss' by the Shangri-Las. Your commenters seem to be ignoring that most girl groups were really the creation of their producers (how many groups did Darlene Love sing lead on for Phil Spectot?). The Shangri-Las recorded for Red Bird (first single release, I think, was 'Chapel of Love by the Dixie Cups which also makes me cringe) which was started by Leiber and Stoller (okay, a major cut above most writer/producers). The producers picked out the material. Sorry, I just hated teen drama song (Tell Laura I Love Her, ...), so I am going over the deep end here. I was unfamiliar with the Daylighters (but I am familiar with 'Can I Get A Witness' the basis for the single), and I really liked it. And I can see why Ringo, based on Beatles cover tunes, did too. And I love Petula's 'Downtown.' maybe the best thing here.
Can't recall any of these even vaguely, so have to say while Ringo might seem to be harsh, he is also spot on about this variety not making the charts.
Well it seems he was not given too many gems to review although I do like the Shangri- Las and always associate it with Kenneth Anger's ground breaking film, Scorpio Rising, the first to use all pop songs on the soundtrack. "Sounds like an English tambourine player as well...." Lol....Must say Alan Dean & His Problems is a very funny band name. I like it.
1964 was a great year for the Beatles. From their appearance on Sullivan in February, a world tour and a hit movie, they were untouchable. Ringo had quite an obnoxious mix of records to comment on. He didn't bite his tongue, either. Honest and straight forward opinions.
YP stands out from the other YT Brit Invasioners as your choices are unique and don't insult your viewers by talking down to us! Thank you for this..Ringo's reviews are definitely honest (although I love L.o.t.p) (Didn't know Little Red Rooster hit 9 back then..great blues tune).
Thank you, Suzanne! I appreciate your words. "Little Red Rooster" actually reached number 1 in the UK a couple of weeks before this Blind Date. It was a major achievement at the time 'cause it was the first blues song to ever reach number 1 in the UK.
This is actually kind of refreshing. Instead of worrying what his opinion might do to the song's chances, he just gave it. He does come across as easily annoyed.
@@djhrecordhound4391 Funny! Didn’t know the Bonanza theme had lyrics. I’ll look for it on YT. I wonder how many non singing actors got a chance to make a record then? William Shatner is probably the most famous one. He recorded an LP , if I remember correctly, and of course his cover of Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds is a camp classic.
@@goplad1 I think most people who have read my comment recognize the ironic/sarcastic/snarky intent. Perhaps I should have made it more obvious for you alone.
Oh dear, a few too many “No No Songs” for Ringo! 🤣 I found this interesting though because as the Charts prove, until The Beatles exploded onto the scene, the music (with very few exceptions) was mediocre at best. In a few short years, those lads not only dominated the charts, they created a wonderful musical legacy that will endure for generations to come. Thanks YP, fabulous as always.
Well, in 1963 the Surfaris, Ricky Nelson, The Beach Boys, The Impressions with Curtis Mayfield, The Miracles with Smokey Robinson, The Chiffons (who George apparently liked), were already going strong, so it wasn’t totally bleak. 🎉
i love it ! beatles...fame ...beatles ....she loves you ...hard days night ...ect other bands were going to have to sound pretty damn good at this stage of ringo's ear career
Ringos wife Maureen was one of the prettiest ladies in all of Rock and Roll. She was so pretty, when Frank Sinatra heard she was a fan, he recorded a song just for her of which only 8 copies existed. The record became Apples first ever catalog number 00000000001.The song idoliuzes Maureen at the same time takes playful insults at the Beatles to rub it in she was his fan and not theirs. They loved it. All copies were destroyed except for one and when she died it was digitized and you can hear it today. RU-vid search "Maureen is a Champ".
Frank was stubbornly resistant to then-current styles of music and bands..until the late 60s of course. Even the manager for his label Reprise advised him to sign some new rock and pop artists or else have his label sink!
One problem, the sound quality of this track is terrible, could not have been recorded for a serious release, unless the master tape of it still exists in much better sound quality. Sung to the tune of Lady Is A Tramp.
Wonder if Ringo knew that Bonanza's Lorne Green recorded a song titled Ringo. Would have loved to hear fab4 Ringo's take on it. He was brutal but spot on!
Ringo should have been an A&R man...no matter what it was, "it won't sell!" Seriously, it's quite interesting how many comments he had about the songs' arrangements, singling out the trumpets here and the guitar solo there, not to mention that English tambourine player.
“Leader of the pack” went to number one in the United States so it wasn’t a load of rubbish! One of their earlier songs, “remember walking in the sand” actually had a teenage Billy Joel playing piano. I asked Christie Brinkley and she said it was true. Shangri Las Where among the baddest bad ass girl groups
The British Invasion groups were so much more interesting and rocking than those corny girl groups. The girl groups were interchangeable chicks singing about going on malt shop dates. No wonder the Beatles and Stones and Kinks and Animals and Hollies wiped them out.
@@buzzawuzza3743 Agree. Not to mention no songwriting talent and most of them only sang and didn’t play instruments. Not even in the same hemisphere as the groups you mentioned.
Bang on! I adore the Shangri Las. John Lennon must've liked them, because his unfinished song "Free as a Bird" quotes directly from "Remember (Walking in the Sand)". The line that goes 'Whatever happened to / The life that we once knew'. The Shangri-Las version was 'the boy that I once knew'.
@@buzzawuzza3743 They were not corny at all. The Shangri La’s and the Ronettes were a cut above a lot of the female groups…And the British invasion produced many female singers that did not exactly bring on the electric guitar. Petula Clark a wonderful singer is an example
That surprised me. I thought Ringo would go soft on the December releases but instead he was really quite harsh. The only one he seemed to like was the Billy Fury single, but he still gave it a "miss". I suppose I can understand trashing the Shangri Las song as it probably came over as a novelty record on first listen, or perhaps a tad too morbid.
Lorne Green's Ringo had absolutely nothing to do with Ringo Starr. Why would he cover the song? He certainly couldn't improve on it being the fact he couldn't sing.
@@goplad1 Good one, Captain Obvious! It's called "speaking figuratively" and "imagination". Shows you don't even know the song at all--it's spoken ("rapped").
Especially with someone like Ringo Starr it would make a big difference when you would hear and see him review. It must have been a bit tongue in cheek, here and there. I doubt if he still thinks the same about Leader of the Pack as he did then. Great song.
Dang Ringo Leader of the Pack was a major hit, so egg on your face. He was brutal and yet John's review was actually thought out and kind. I would have thought it'd been the opposite.
You didn´t fuck about with Ringo. He could just as in-your-face as anybody else. And, in those days when being a fag wasn´t obligatory, Scousers were pretty tough too!
Lee Curtis and The All Stars regularly played the Cavern alongside The Beatles. Pete Best even joined them for a while after The Fab Four sacked him. Ringo really putting the boot in on this one
