The A-side of this single by a British band went to #1 in the US in 1966, and it sounds nothing at all like the lovely little ditty on the B-side.
[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2009/JUL/WaitForMeBaby.mp3]D.F. Rogers says, “Needs more megaphone!” You are correct, sir! The song “Wait For Me Baby” is the flip side of the New Vaudeville Band’s megahit with a megaphone from 1966, “Winchester Cathedral”. I’m always amazed by how a 40+ year old piece of plastic that was beat on when new can sound so good. I doubt there were many original Rudy Vallee records from the 20’s that were playable in ’66.
[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2009/JUL/WinchesterCathedral.mp3]The YouTube player has the New Vaudeville Band performing the song, with the first tune, “Peek A Boo” being more interesting because it’s not familiar. (From there it’s an easy leap to Tiny Tim and to Robert Crumb’s Cheap Suit Serenaders.) Then Petula Clark sings “Winchester Cathedral” followed by a more familiar performance of her own hit, “This Is My Song.”
The original “Winchester Cathedral” LP, in my hands at this moment, doesn’t have “Peek A Boo”, so I had to find it elsewhere.
[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2009/JUL/PeekABoo.mp3]
The New Vaudeville Band, 1966
And when else but the 60’s were there so many great cigarette commercials?
The fact that a song like “Winchester Cathedral” could be a huge #1 hit is what made the Sixties such a great decade for music. You could hear “Good Vibrations” followed by “Winchester Cathedral” on the radio – each with a distinctive sound. Kate Smith could dig it just as much as an 11 year old kid! Petula Clark could sing it and then follow it with a song written by Charlie Chaplin – even sing part of it in French – and then joke around with Jack Benny! What a decade! Unlike the New Vaudeville Band, it sounds like Pet’s vocal is “live” – or at the least recorded especially for the show.
The vocal in “Peek A Boo” sounds as though it were sung by Boris Karloff (aka: Bill Pratt)!
More megaphone! The creep sitting on the left is the one who hit on me (I’m referring to an earlier comment in email).
Needs more megaphone!