Everyone knows "Do Wah Diddy Diddy", the first and biggest of Manfred Mann's hit singles. There are a bunch more. This group had two distinct periods of success, the first in the mid-sixties as part of the British Invasion, the latter in the 70s, after the departure of lead singer John Paul Jones - that period produced the AOR regular "Blinded By the Light".
But I only liked the earlier stuff meself. That first incarnation of the group produced a slew of catchy singles. So at some point I invested in a "Best Of" collection, making sure to stay focused on the early material. It was there that I found this little gem. Written by singer Jones, offered to (and turned down by) The Yardbirds, it was released on an EP in the UK of the same name.
I find this song utterly charming. I love the cheesy yet tasty little Farfisa organ bits and the rest of the instrumentation, the fact that it serves as kind of a band member introduction (I could just picture them doing it live) and, not least, that it pokes fun at the less-than-serious non-musical parts of being pop stars. It will never leave my iPod. Have a listen.
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This song is exactly as you say it is. Charming is really the only word. Also, unlike a lot of their brethren of the British Invasion, these guys actually had chops - which were kept firmly in check. Also worth noting that Mike Hugg was successful in selling the Yardbirds "Mister, You're A Better Man Than I," a song that is overdue for rediscovery.
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Yeah, not too bad.
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DMDM, your praise is as underwhelming as your new avatar.
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excellent pick, dermahrk. i must check the local record shop & see if they have this ep. .
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That's the stuff! Yeah!
:=)
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If your record shop carries EPs from the sixties, more power to you!
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I've got the song on an Ascot CD collection of Manfred Mann. Ahh...just reading the words "record shop" make my heart go pitter patter...
:=)
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Love the organ solo! They get the tempo right for R & B, as opposed to the rest of the invasion which tended to speed things up too much. Sweet.
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I have so many Manfred Mann faves from that period: "Come Tomorrow," "Pretty Flamingo," their version of Goffin-King's "Oh No Not My Baby," "Sha La La"...I'm going to fire up the MM tracks on my iPod now and play in my office. Thanks for kick-starting my musical day.
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That is a gem! Disk one of my 63-03 Greatest Hits (DE pressing) has some real nice songs from the early days and I just can't get enough of this sound. "Pretty Flamingo," and "If You Gotta Go" are two of my faves. Thanks for this indeed - goes without saying that I'll be searching my record stores!
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Sweet! Thanks Dermahrk. :)
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I don't think I've ever heard a band sing their own praises, great tune!
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Cool... :) Hey, thanks for the comment.
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yeah, a few of them do. a lot of that stuff was released in spain back in the day... also record covers were different & sometimes a different selection of songs too. here 90% of record shops that carried only cd are dead. only survivors have been the 2nd hand & collectors shops.
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diggin it
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Waydutch finds self-reference in the third-person always a bit weird... but other than that this is a SWEET tune, Thanks!
Oh, btw was the singers name John Paul Jones or just Paul Jones?
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Most wonderfully droll, WD. It was just Paul, I think.
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This was great, I love hearing songs from artists that do not have the recognition of some of their other hits. Loving the track
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"The One in the Middle" sounds wonderful. I like how the verse ends sounding like the end of the verse in Chuck Berry's "Talking About You," which the Rolling Stones covered. "Without You" is another good Manfred Mann song. Your cool EP cover shows them, like all the great groups then, standing together out in some bucolic country location where they would never be standing around in real life. Also I, if no one else, like the Manfred Mann's Earth Band albums.
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5 words: Venus in furs the movie.
1 more word: amazing
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You know, I SWORE I read some article, oh, 40 years ago that talked about how Paul Jones' real name was John Paul, which he changed to avoid confusion with the American naval hero.
Or maybe Alzheimer's has finally come a-knockin'.....
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Could well be true, DM. Could also be some publicist's idea of a piquant back story....