It most certainly was not an urban myth in the late 1960s (and even up to now).
I heard this on Johnny Carson's Tonight show for the first time in 1969. A lot of kids were getting involved with drugs and hitch hiking to the cities for excitement. It was a public message to the kids.
I used to have this on DVD - I think in the same episode he did a duet with Pet called "Knees Up Mrs Brown" about a lady who is celebrating her hundreth birthday or something like that...
And yes, that's Pet Clark, and I learn from her, for the first time, after all these years, that the tune was originally written by Charles "What Now My Love?" Aznavour.
@tuxguys "What Now My Love" was written by Gilbert Becaud and Pierre Delanoe and the English lyrics were by Carl Sigman. Charles Aznevour could only wish he had written it. At one time it was the most covered song in the world, woth over 1500 versions. Aznevour wrote "A Young Girl".
@iamkwk I stand corrected... I have no idea where I got the idea that Aznavour wrote "What Now, My Love?" but I've carried that misinformation around in my brain for over 40 years. Thanks for the info.
(Incidentally, the first time I ever heard that tune was on some variety show around 1963 being sung, seriously if not well, by Bill "Jose Jimenez" Dana. Maybe I got the faulty info there.)
I heard this once,in 1966,on Lloyd Thaxton's syndicated 'dance party' show,where Thaxton had a segment where a kid was brought out of the audience to lip-synch a current hit,and the kid did this tune (and well, too). The last word haunted me. Almost 40 years later,I hear it for the second time on a Saturday afternoon oldies show on WATD,in MA,and I call the DJ to find out who it is... and it's Noel, son of Rex,the soon-to-be co-star of "The Girl From U.N.C.L.E."
When we were kids we'd listen to this on a 45 rpm on a 1950 Seeburg jukebox our friends had. We'd make fun of it. On the reverse was another gem-- Mrs. Henry Hawkins. The lyrics were, "I know a little Donna, and I'm a-going to own her. She's a-going to marry me.. At first she said she couldn't, and then she said she wouldn't. And then she said, 'Well, I'll see.'"
I look at it this way, when you get past all the glittered hype of the "Summer Of Love", Woodstock, "Flower Power" etc., this song takes a stark look at what actually goes into the making of sausage. People just weren't into that. IMHO.
Amazing how many here don't like this song. Actually, the flip side on the 45 isn't bad. It's called "The Future Mrs. 'Awkins" and was also recorded by Herman's Hermits on their "Both Sides" album.
I remember this when I was just a kid. I didn't understand the lyrics, but I liked it. I prefer the recorded version to this hokey instrumental version.
Noel Harrison is the son of the actor, Rex Harrison. He was in My Fair Lady and Dr Doolittle. Noel looks and sounds a lot like his father.
The song seems cheesy and melodramaric now, but I loved it when was a kid. I wasn't one of those kids who liked a song because it had a good beat and you could dance to it. This is the kind of song I liked. I remember most of the lyrics even though I haven't heard it in ages. The ending really shocked me the first time I heard it.
I remember this song well, because I loved it, when I was 14. You can see that Noel Harrison also found sardonic humor in this song. The "run away and hitch-hike to Haight-Ashbury" era was a field day for psychotic redneck truck drivers and serial killers. Many girls ended up in sleazy color porno mags, all beaten up and drugged--some even dead in the photos. They should have heeded the old wives' takes and warnings, but realized so, too late! Bwaaa! HA HA HAA!! >:D
Yet another song I thought no-one had heard of except me. Brilliant. If anyone's got 'Trouble is my middle name' by the Brook Brothers my happiness would be complete!
This was from the October 25, 1965 telecast. I suspect producer Gary Smith wanted Noel to sing this one, because he was comfortable staging more "adult" musical numbers {Smith did not share the same attitude towards pop music as "SHINDIG!" producer Jack Good did}.
wow I thought the world had forgotten about this song! I remember being mystified by it when it was played on pirate radio in the UK in about 1965, when I was 11.
An excellent song and good, almost deadpan, delivery of very sad material. I was surprised at that last word..."dead". I think this song is more appreciated by people with a bit more life experience then the usually quite young audience of Hullaballoo. Took a chance having this song on the show but I'm glad they did.
I agree with you moorlock2003...it IS limp sounding.... I had the 45 single as a kid (even though I am only 37 I listened to what was available in the house) The studio version is FAR more superior. is tomlynntigard saying Noel had the wrong last name because of George Harrison? or is he saying George wasn't famous? Either way he has bad taste in sound knowledge....lol.
Kind of like "Society's Child" by Janis Ian, or "Where Do You Go To My Lovely?" by Peter Sarstedt, not your usual Hippy-dippy smiley-face Partridges pap. Always loved his version of Leonard Cohen's Suzanne, too.
It most certainly was not an urban myth in the late 1960s (and even up to now).
I heard this on Johnny Carson's Tonight show for the first time in 1969. A lot of kids were getting involved with drugs and hitch hiking to the cities for excitement. It was a public message to the kids.
Well Done Mr. Harrison.
TheGranule 9 months ago
especially the drummer makes me listen again every time when it is played, problaby nobody knows who he/she was.
19dick68 9 months ago
The studio verson of this song is surprisingly good...not because of Harrison but because of the session musicians.They were great!
listerone 9 months ago
This part of the British Invasion shouldn't have crossed the pond.
doglips1958 10 months ago
I used to have this on DVD - I think in the same episode he did a duet with Pet called "Knees Up Mrs Brown" about a lady who is celebrating her hundreth birthday or something like that...
shmuli9 1 year ago
My baby sister was found dead on her sixteenth birthday. This song reminded me of her. That was 38 years ago.
angeloschild 1 year ago
@angeloschild su comentario me hizo llorar ..., es muy triste , lo que pasa es que tengo una hija de esa edad , me dio mucha pena, lo siento mucho
Brunildilla 1 year ago
so nice to see these comments, peolpe sharing music knowledge, why cant all vidoes have comments like this.
clevamonkey 1 year ago
And yes, that's Pet Clark, and I learn from her, for the first time, after all these years, that the tune was originally written by Charles "What Now My Love?" Aznavour.
tuxguys 1 year ago
@tuxguys "What Now My Love" was written by Gilbert Becaud and Pierre Delanoe and the English lyrics were by Carl Sigman. Charles Aznevour could only wish he had written it. At one time it was the most covered song in the world, woth over 1500 versions. Aznevour wrote "A Young Girl".
iamkwk 1 year ago
@iamkwk I stand corrected... I have no idea where I got the idea that Aznavour wrote "What Now, My Love?" but I've carried that misinformation around in my brain for over 40 years. Thanks for the info.
(Incidentally, the first time I ever heard that tune was on some variety show around 1963 being sung, seriously if not well, by Bill "Jose Jimenez" Dana. Maybe I got the faulty info there.)
tuxguys 1 year ago
I heard this once,in 1966,on Lloyd Thaxton's syndicated 'dance party' show,where Thaxton had a segment where a kid was brought out of the audience to lip-synch a current hit,and the kid did this tune (and well, too). The last word haunted me. Almost 40 years later,I hear it for the second time on a Saturday afternoon oldies show on WATD,in MA,and I call the DJ to find out who it is... and it's Noel, son of Rex,the soon-to-be co-star of "The Girl From U.N.C.L.E."
tuxguys 1 year ago
is that Petula Clark ?
anisete46 1 year ago
When we were kids we'd listen to this on a 45 rpm on a 1950 Seeburg jukebox our friends had. We'd make fun of it. On the reverse was another gem-- Mrs. Henry Hawkins. The lyrics were, "I know a little Donna, and I'm a-going to own her. She's a-going to marry me.. At first she said she couldn't, and then she said she wouldn't. And then she said, 'Well, I'll see.'"
sunset777777 1 year ago
I look at it this way, when you get past all the glittered hype of the "Summer Of Love", Woodstock, "Flower Power" etc., this song takes a stark look at what actually goes into the making of sausage. People just weren't into that. IMHO.
U.W.
unklewink 2 years ago
Creepy song but good!
He sings like a cross between Leonard Cohen and Elliot Goblet here. :)
fossie32 2 years ago
I agree w/you.
6motion6 2 years ago
Amazing how many here don't like this song. Actually, the flip side on the 45 isn't bad. It's called "The Future Mrs. 'Awkins" and was also recorded by Herman's Hermits on their "Both Sides" album.
MikeBlitzMag 2 years ago
Who cares? I like it. The record, that is, not this limp-sounding TV version.
moorlock2003 2 years ago
My grandmother says she didn't know anybody who could stand this song.
unclealand 2 years ago
this was a big hit for
Bouwedijn de Groot..
divalover2007 2 years ago
WTF?
hmnwilson 2 years ago
I remember loving this song when I was about 15. Now, I wonder why we loved those "dead teenager" songs so much.
Joannakathryn 2 years ago
Saw Noel a few years ago in "Noises Off". He was great!
garymichael1950 2 years ago
Perhaps it worked better for the French in the Charles Aznavour version.
dogkelp 2 years ago
Noel Harrison had a much better song in the 60s, I believe it was called "good mornin', girl," or at least had lyrics to that effect.
I can't find hide nor hair of it in google. I can't be the only one who heard it! If someone has it, can you post it? Pleez and thanx!
TessIguess 2 years ago
That one was by "Neon Philharmonic"
mcrenshaw 2 years ago
I believe the song to which you refer was "One Too Many Mornings" (released in 1965 on the London label, No. 9755). I don't have it, though.
vandywilliam 2 years ago
heh.
hollies65 3 years ago
When I was a kid I heard this song, and then had to change my underwear.
hollies65 3 years ago
I remember this when I was just a kid. I didn't understand the lyrics, but I liked it. I prefer the recorded version to this hokey instrumental version.
pataphysician66 3 years ago
Does anyone remember Noel singing "Out for the Day" I think around 1967? I purchased it on a 45 but I don't think I ever heard it again.
belleek20 3 years ago
Noel Harrison is the son of the actor, Rex Harrison. He was in My Fair Lady and Dr Doolittle. Noel looks and sounds a lot like his father.
The song seems cheesy and melodramaric now, but I loved it when was a kid. I wasn't one of those kids who liked a song because it had a good beat and you could dance to it. This is the kind of song I liked. I remember most of the lyrics even though I haven't heard it in ages. The ending really shocked me the first time I heard it.
melora72 3 years ago 7
Whoa-ho, baby! Thanks so much for placing this on YT! I haven't heard this years. It's a better composition than the charts depicted.
terrafirma91 3 years ago
Kinda reminds me of a Morrisey tune.
mickmcknicknik 3 years ago
I remember this song well, because I loved it, when I was 14. You can see that Noel Harrison also found sardonic humor in this song. The "run away and hitch-hike to Haight-Ashbury" era was a field day for psychotic redneck truck drivers and serial killers. Many girls ended up in sleazy color porno mags, all beaten up and drugged--some even dead in the photos. They should have heeded the old wives' takes and warnings, but realized so, too late! Bwaaa! HA HA HAA!! >:D
smerdley 3 years ago
WTF! what kind of music is this ¿¿¿
burtonkidd 3 years ago
It's like, an urban myth sort of song, or an old wives tale--about a young girl who thought she knew everything--and found herself dead.
smerdley 3 years ago 5
I full in love with him when he was on The Girl From U.N.C.L.E.
Such a cheery song though!
res78nxh1 3 years ago
he opened for the beach boys at our local armory in 1965-lovin' spoonful also played. first concert i ever saw-hard to top.
lamper2 3 years ago
I saw the same concert lineup in 1965--Noel Harrison, Loving Spoonful, Beach Boys--at Fordham University.
lennycohenfan 3 years ago
Yet another song I thought no-one had heard of except me. Brilliant. If anyone's got 'Trouble is my middle name' by the Brook Brothers my happiness would be complete!
suzie106 3 years ago 2
This was from the October 25, 1965 telecast. I suspect producer Gary Smith wanted Noel to sing this one, because he was comfortable staging more "adult" musical numbers {Smith did not share the same attitude towards pop music as "SHINDIG!" producer Jack Good did}.
fromthesidelines 3 years ago
wow I thought the world had forgotten about this song! I remember being mystified by it when it was played on pirate radio in the UK in about 1965, when I was 11.
GentleGenius 3 years ago
Nice video, I always liked Noel Harrison's tunes, especially his Reprise era stuff (1967-1970).
Brakeman 3 years ago
An excellent song and good, almost deadpan, delivery of very sad material. I was surprised at that last word..."dead". I think this song is more appreciated by people with a bit more life experience then the usually quite young audience of Hullaballoo. Took a chance having this song on the show but I'm glad they did.
Cissy2cute 3 years ago
This song reminds me of the young runaways of the 1970s who did not survive them; my 16-year old sister was one.
angeloschild 3 years ago
Fantastic! Better than the single, it's got orchestra. He should have been a bigger star, BUT HE HAD THE WRONG LAST NAME! Right George?
tomlynntigard 3 years ago
I disagree; the backing on this wrecks the song. It is limp-sounding. The studio version is far superior; it was a hit here in Los Angeles.
moorlock2003 3 years ago
I agree with you moorlock2003...it IS limp sounding.... I had the 45 single as a kid (even though I am only 37 I listened to what was available in the house) The studio version is FAR more superior. is tomlynntigard saying Noel had the wrong last name because of George Harrison? or is he saying George wasn't famous? Either way he has bad taste in sound knowledge....lol.
drummerkid71 3 years ago
This was a hit in different parts of the country at the time. Some radio stations would not play it.I was waiting for it to be posted. thanks
bufb 4 years ago
An amazing song.
Almost unknown.
It was slightly popular (but didn't get any real radio play) in 1965.
I only heard the song 3 or 4 times before it disappeared.
I finially heard it again when I got VERY lucky and found it avaliable for download on Limewire.
The first time I heard it (I was 17 yrs old) I was deeply moved.
hammerogod 4 years ago
Kind of like "Society's Child" by Janis Ian, or "Where Do You Go To My Lovely?" by Peter Sarstedt, not your usual Hippy-dippy smiley-face Partridges pap. Always loved his version of Leonard Cohen's Suzanne, too.
teenonator 3 years ago
Thank you for posting this .. I love this song and I was a kidd then .
itchycoopark2 4 years ago