Peter and Gordon: "Lady Godiva"

December 12, 1966 (1 week)

He was a player in London's thriving avant garde arts scene, involved in the the operations of the famed Indica Gallery in London along with Barry Miles and John Dunbar. He befriended Paul McCartney, the pair sharing a loft on the top floor of his family's spacious home. He would go on to be the head of A&R for The Beatles' Apple Records, pushing for the signing of a young James Taylor and supervising the recording of albums by both doomed power pop group Badfinger and jazz legends the Modern Jazz Quartet. He then went into management and record producing in Los Angeles. Yes, you might say Peter Asher has accomplished a great deal over his eighty plus years. It's just a shame his actual music wasn't up to much.

Hot on the heels of "Winchester Cathedral", music hall was everywhere! You couldn't throw a beer bottle in disgust without it hitting an opportunist looking to cash in. Having rode the wave of Lennon and McCartney's generosity for more than long enough, Peter and Gordon weren't about to change course at this point. Sure, they could've followed the example of The Beatles and embraced more exotic types of music while also doing some studio experiments of their own. Alternatively, they could have done the obvious thing and moved in the direction of folk rock. They could've been Britain's answer to Simon and Garfunkel, for Pete's sake!

Nevertheless, something had to be done. The rise of The Monkees on the other side of the Atlantic likely signaled an end to the British Invasion. Thus, "Lady Godiva" appears to be an attempt at maturity. I say 'appears' because the results don't really bear it out. The risque nature of doing a song about a mythical exhibitionist transported in time to the swingin' sixties is rather undercut by the vaudeville send up. And they weren't really able to pull off passable music hall anyway. Asher and buddy Gordon Waller sound uncertain as to whether they're supposed to come across like either a pair of horned up losers out on the prowl or a cheeky comedy duo winking to the audience as they fire off innuendos. While I might wish for them to have chosen a lane, neither approach was going to lead to anything worthwhile. Ultimately, "Lady Godiva" offers proof that the music business was about to leave them behind — the same music business that Asher became an intrinsic part of.

While it might seem like Peter and Gordon were either incapable or unwilling to write their own songs, they were able to contribute some of their own material for their albums, even if the cover versions always outnumbered the originals. Their singles releases, however, were made up entirely of either covers or numbers written especially for them by others. (On the other hand, some of their own songs ended up as B sides, including the Byrdsian "Morning's Calling", the flip side of "Lady Godiva") While a hit-making machine for a period, it's difficult to see just what they contributed overall. Waller would go on to record a solo album, do some acting and then run various businesses in both his native Britain and in the US while Asher did everything I mentioned above. It's good to know they were both able to be much more than mediocre recording artists.

Score: 4

Peter and Gordon: "Woman"

April 4, 1966 (1 week)

With two number one hits along with a cover of one of their album cuts doing similar business, 1966 was already yet another one of the good years for The Beatles. Just about everything they touched topped the charts while the critical acclaim only seemed to grow. While artistic growth and commercial success often come in conflict for many musicians, no one has ever managed to combine the two as well as the Fab Four — and they even managed to do so for an extended period of time.

While John Lennon and Paul McCartney were their era's dominant songwriting team, they weren't quite as deft when it came to supplying hits for others. Yes, they did provide large smashes for the likes of Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas and Peter and Gordon but these were clearly cast offs that they had no interest in themselves. Plus, tracks like "Bad to Me" and, in particular, "World Without Love" weren't even suited to them. The group's punishing schedule of recording deadlines, concert dates, movie work and promotional commitments left little time for them to be considering how to properly tailor Lennon-McCartney originals to the people who relied on their songwriting prowess.

Meanwhile, Peter Asher and Gordon Waller were beginning to feel the pinch due to their connection to The Beatles. "World Without Love" had given them a global smash but their modest talents didn't allow for much beyond more of the same. Paul McCartney kept them in adequate material but the law of diminishing returns had already begun to set in. Even with that invaluable Lennon-McCartney stamp, their chart positions had begun to slip somewhat.

Perhaps with all this in mind, McCartney had the idea to have their names removed from the credits for Peter and Gordon's next single "Woman". Instead, it was credited to one 'Bernard Webb'. The song's composer wanted to see how it would perform free of The Beatles. Yeah, handing it over to an already established act, albeit one whose prominence was beginning to fade, might not have been the most accurate way of assessing it (he should've sought out a relatively obscure Canadian, Australian or Kiwi act or perhaps a hopeless Eurovision Song Contest entry from Austria or Denmark) but at least he was able to compare how P&G did with and without that formidable talisman.

So, about that. Everyone quickly found out the truth. This Bernard Webb fellow had been McCartney all along and no one was denying it. Needing another hit, I don't suppose Asher and Waller appreciated playing along with Macca's ruse and even if they did, the pair's management and record label weren't about to be so understanding in accommodating a songwriter's desire to test out a sociological experiment — and who can blame them?

The backstory of "Woman" is of some interest which is more than can be said for the record itself. The most generous account would be to say that it may have set McCartney on the path towards the baroque pop of his Revolver and Sgt Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band contributions but even that's pushing it. (He almost certainly would have gone that way regardless of this) Speaking of precedents, it also displays worrying signs of its composer's eventual creative slump in the early seventies. (But, again, he would have experienced this phase either way) So, let's just conclude by saying it's a trite time-waster of a single that proves once and for all that Lennon and McCartney never mastered the art of composing for anyone other than themselves.

Score: 3

Peter and Gordon: "A World Without Love"

June 8, 1964 (2 weeks)

The pair are a study in contrasts: while one lounges about smoking and prattling on about a variety of topics, the other fusses about, getting us cups of tea, answering the telephone and hunting down file folders of still-unused lyrics. One jokes while the other is mostly serious. One is a study in decorum while the other has his shirt untucked and a necktie loosened. Yet, on matters of music business, they are a two-headed monster.

John Lennon and Paul McCartney were once part of the biggest act in pop. The Beatles commanded the charts and conquered the world in 1963 and '64 before it all began to crumble around them the following year. Where once their creative decision making had never failed, their missteps only seemed to compound. Lennon believes the decline began with the title of their second film.

"Dick Lester came in and told us, "I've got it! It'll be called Eight Arms to Hold You". I went home and tried to write something with that in mind and couldn't come up with anything good. But I thought, "well, Paul will think of something". The next day, Paul came up to me and said, "I have no idea! What should we do?" We normally work so easily but this time we were dry. I had a feeling we might be in trouble at that point, you know".

The decision was soon made to scrap having a title track but their troubles only continued. Fans who flocked to see A Hard Day's Night a year earlier mostly stayed away ("I think they were turned off by the title," McCartney speculates, "Everyone must have thought we'd be fighting an octopus or something"; "Or embracing one", Lennon quips) Some of the songs they ended up using were as strong as ever but others missed. They still insist that the tune Paul wrote for the song "Scrambled Eggs" is still among the finest they've been attached to but they acknowledge that its lyrics are "naff". Once again, they couldn't come up with anything better.

Still a reliable chart act for the next year, The Beatles foolishly embarked on a disastrous world tour. The venues they played were half full at best and with the smaller attendance figures came a considerable reduction in the screaming which had once been so deafening as to drown out what their playing. Then they began to hear the boos. Audiences could hear them and they evidently didn't like what they heard. Finally, Lennon's infamous 'Bigger than Jesus' remark was printed in American newspapers and the backlash was complete. While some protested by burning Beatle records, others laughed at the absurdity of such a claim. ("I might have got away with it had I said it a year earlier, you know," Lennon shrugs) It had only been three years since the Fab Four took the UK by storm but now it was all over.

While drummer Ringo Starr returned to Merseyside to open a hair salon ("It's a nice place," says McCartney, "He and Maureen are set to open a second shop soon") and guitarist George Harrison has done session work for the likes of Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton as well as tentatively getting a solo project going, Lennon and McCartney are now full time composers, contributing songs for old colleagues like Cilla Black and a returning Peter and Gordon. They've also been in touch with Hollywood producers over possible film scores and there have been persistent rumours that they'll be writing old rival Cliff Richard's potential entry into next year's Eurovision Song Contest. ("We might do it if we can think of something to rhyme with 'Jesus'", Lennon claims) They're even currently at work on a West End musical that will either be about their childhoods back in Liverpool or a fancifully tale about a fictional band led by a hopeless individual called Billy Sheers. (Here's hoping it ends up being the former) Has their songwriting changed since the demise of The Beatles?

"I don't think so," say McCartney confidently, "It's still very much the same process. If John gets an idea, he'll work on it and then show me what he's got and I do likewise. He's my favourite consultant and I hope I'm his".

"And I hope he's his", says a rueful Lennon. But are the songs they give to others in danger of being too much like the Fab Four? "I think we worried bit a about that when we moved into full time songwriting but I don't think about it anymore, you know. Besides, we get some groups who'll call us up and request material that sounds like The Beatles".

"Yeah, back when we were stars we also wrote songs for other people", chimes in McCartney. "Usually we'd give them stuff that didn't suit us, like when we gave Peter and Gordon "A World Without Love". I thought about us recording it but John hated how it opened with that line...how did it go?"

"Please lock me away", Lennon responds in a comedy operatic voice. "That bit always left me in hysterics".

"But I think we learned how to write with other people in mind", McCartney says helpfully. Indeed, their song "Misery" had been written with an eye on submitting it to teen singing sensation Helen Shapiro but her handlers balked at the very idea of it. And even though The Beatles are no more, the Lennon-McCartney credit still carries plenty of weight. Do they feel that their mere presence guarantees a number one smash?

"No and I'm not sure that's ever been the case", the former bassist argues. "I'm sure it helps quite a bit but nothing's for certain. We gave "A World Without Love" to Peter and Gordon and "Bad to Me" to Billy J. Kramer and they both went to number one but nothing else we didn't perform on ever did that well".

"Who else did we give our castoffs to?" Lennon asks his partner.

"Let's see, The Fourmost, The Applejacks...". McCartney can only think of a pair of examples.

"The Dirty Laundry Ladies, Herbert and the Squires 4," interjects Lennon, "The Passion Sharks...we made stars out of a lot of nobodies in our day, you know".

And what of the future for the pair? Do they foresee getting their old band back together?

"Maybe someday but we don't have plans to do so anytime soon", says McCartney.

"Let's see if anyone remembers us in the future first", Lennon agrees. "For now, I'm happy to suspect I'm a has-been but I'd rather not have it confirmed". Their time as kings of pop may be at an end but I think we'll be enjoying the fruits of the Lennon-McCartney partnership for years to come.

~~~~~

This entry brings the CHUM chart era to an end. While the longtime Toronto-based radio station would continue to print Top 40 or Top 50 listings until the mid-eighties,the lauch of RPM magazine meant that there was a true national alternative to opt for. I was going to say that it was more reliable but, sadly, that isn't the case. While the dedicated folks at CHUM printed charts every week (while also having fun doing so: their April Fool's hit parades being an annual treat), RPM would take weeks off or go on hiatus for extended periods. Then there's the fact that almost every chart topper from this point through to the end of the sixties was just a one week wonder; very few singles managed two or more weeks on top. I'm still planning to use the invaluable CHUM Tribute Site for reference purposes and to compare chart toppers. Good as it is, there's no escaping the fact that it was a Toronto chart that just sort of became Canada's national hit parade because there was nothing else. Time to go naitonal: on to RPM!

Score: 5