But Travis & Bob's "Tell Him No" is a different beast from the rest. It isn't bad (though neither is it especially good), it's just incredibly hard to imagine it catching on with enough people to take it all the way to the summit of the Canadian chart. Obviously I've got an awful lot of ground still to cover but I have trouble believing I'll come across a single that sounds less like a number one (though there is a certain prog rock number from the early eighties that may well give it a good run for its money but we'll have to see). Weak-kneed, overbearing, convinced they're in control when they have no idea what to do: yeah, this song's got it all for manchild creepiness.
At first, however, "Tell Him No" seems way ahead of its time. It's impressive that a pair of young men in the alpha male fifties would be advocating for 'No Means No' anti-rape values if only that's what Travis Pritchett had intended when he wrote it. Okay, scratch that: they're all for a woman having self-determination over her own body when it comes to other guys who may be interested. Rather than attempting to make a case for why they might be the right the guy for her, they're all about convincing the girl to save herself for them. While the sentiment of the chorus is fair enough, the bargaining done in the song's middle eight comes across as pathetic. "It's all right to go to a party / It's all right to have some fun": I think you've already lost the battle if you're down to giving in on the fun she's permitted to get up to.
If the Canadian public really wanted a new Everly Brothers record then they ought to have been satisfied with their latest release "Take a Message to Mary", which had just entered the Top 10. While a minor work by their standards, Don and Phil's harmonies are as immaculate as ever, the backing is tasteful and Felice and Boudleaux Bryant handed in yet another peerless composition for the brothers to work with. It proved to be a modest hit compared to their recent imperial run but it is superior to "Tell Him No" in every respect. Why would you wish to have a third-rate "Bye Bye Love" when you could have the real thing?
One thing worth mentioning is that this single's rise up the charts is notable. Debuting at number forty-eight for the week of March 30, 1959, it was joined by a rival version of the same song by the duo of Dean & Marc (made up of brothers Dean and Mark Mathis who would go on to form The Newbeats who will be featured on this blog sometime within the next twelve months). This practice of the same song sharing a chart placement was not unusual at the time though in this particular instance something strange seems to have occurred. The two then shot up to twenty-six (where the April Fool's gag listed them as 'Princess Margaret', who, it should be noted, wasn't known to turned down the advances of her suitors) before hitting the Top 10 a week later. A week prior to this, Travis & Bob & Dean & Marc were at number five. But then, the Mathis brothers disappeared and suddenly it was just Travis & Bob who held the top spot. Curious and more than a little suspicious.
This is a shame since I prefer Dean & Marc's more spirited and shambolic rendition — although not by much. While Travis & Bob sound unconvincing as Everly Brothers impersonators, the future Newbeats don't even bother trying to sound like anyone but themselves. Nevertheless, there's only so much that can be done with such a flimsy piece of writing. Putting it on isn't the worst way to spend two minutes but surely you also have far better things to do, right?
Score: 4
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