Listen: Baby Don’t Go / Sonny & Cher
Baby

There aren’t many things as lasting as Sonny & Cher. I stumble on their records via radio or in any public place less and less and less. With the exception of ‘I Got You Babe’, and Sirius XM, their older singles are played literally never.

Wasn’t always the case. ‘I Got You Babe’ hit so big and wide that for a year or more, they were everywhere. Appearances on all the TV shows plus each had solo hits right next to their rapid output as a duo. At the peak, past labels were reissuing worthy songs that had flopped only nine to twelve months prior. Such was the case with ‘Baby Don’t Go’.

Damn if I don’t remember this one like yesterday. It was late winter/early spring and I think for a period, this was played more than the current Atco stuff. The two distinctive pieces that make ‘Baby Don’t Go’ so memorable to me are the rather unlikely but perfect harmonica and mandolin combination plus Sonny & Cher’s signature harmonizing, whereby Cher always sang the low parts against Sonny doing the highs.

And there you had it, timeless magic.

Listen: The Shoop Shoop Song (It’s In His Kiss) / Betty Everett
The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss) / Betty Everett

Seems like a ton of people have covered this. Cher comes to mind. A perfect song for her. She could sing the phone book though, and pretty much has.

First things first. Betty Everett did the original and had her biggest solo hit with it too (#6 in ’64). ‘The Shoop Shoop Song (It’s In His Kiss)’ as it’s also known, was a soul/girl group staple in ’64. I recall someone, maybe The Chiffons, doing it on SHINDIG. As ubiquitous then on US radio as Linda Lewis (see yesterday’s post) was on UK radio during ’75 with her cover version.

Listen: Believe / Cher CherBelieve.mp3

Anyone who says they don’t love Cher is a liar.

Rob Dickens, who ran WEA UK when I was with the company in the 90′s, is a class act in every way. Didn’t know him well, but knew that much nonetheless. Good for him. He signed and A&R’d this period of her career, which gave us all one the best singles ever.

Listen: Oh No Not My Baby / Maxine Brown MaxineBrownOhNo.mp3

Infamous Carole King (did you know she married one of The Myddle Class) / Gerry Goffin classic. Like many of their compositions, ‘Oh No Not My Baby’ was recorded by a whole bunch of folks. Cher, Manfred Mann, Fontella Bass, Dusty Springfield and Dee Dee Warwick amongst my favorites.

The US hit version went to Maxine Brown (#24, 1964). Unfortunately, most of her singles for Wand (Pye International in the UK for this one), as well her duets with Chuck Jackson, achieved undeserved low Billboard pop chart peaks, Bubbling Under The Hot 100 entries or non hits whatsoever. Hence, their place in every last Northern Soul price guide.

As with most of her work for the label, Cissy Houston and The Sweet Inspirations provided backups. It had to have been a magical time around the New York studios that catered to the RnB sessions in those days. Seems a day didn’t pass without a classic being recorded, just think of all the unreleased, forgotten songs.

Worth getting: BEST OF THE WAND YEARS, a flawless cd comp from Ace UK with the usual amazing booklet. The details will have you drooling.

Above: Jukebox Tab signed by Maxine Brown