S6 E7: Gerry & The Pacemakers, 10cc, The Police, Gabrielle, Evanescence, Robin Thicke

The Sixties! The Sixties!

This is I Like It by Jerry and the Pacemakers.

It was the second of seven top 20s they had between 1963 and 1965.

And it was their second of three consecutive number ones.

It spent four weeks at the top.

It replaced From Me To You by The Beatles.

It was replaced by Confessing by Frank Ifield.

I should say that Gerry Marsden of The Pacemakers did score two further number ones, both of them charity singles on which he appeared.

So he had You'll Never Walk Alone in 1985 and Ferry Cross The Mersey in 1989.

This is so 60s.

It almost sounds a bit

like a parody or like I imagine what you would get if you put into one of those planet burning AI machines, make a pastiche of what Liverpool sounded like in the swinging 60s to distract you from the abject misery of modern life.

But you don't need to use 78 Olympic swimming pools full of water for two and a quarter minutes of light amusement because this already exists.

It's not... deep art, is it really? I don't think you're going to need hours to process this for its subtle nuance, but 135 seconds, you're Austin Powers dancing on top of a red letterbox whilst bobbies give cheeky kids a click round the ear and a bag of Werther's Originals, aren't you? I mean, I don't know really a lot of stuff by Jerry and the Bassmakers.

Did they do more adventurous, complex things? Obviously, the Beatles did, but the Beatles also did I Want to Hold Your Hand and Ticket to Ride.

And there's absolutely nothing with just quick, simple pop music like this.

It's maybe a little bit too quick and simple for me.

It's not one that I went out and bought.

I can't see a time when I would play it.

But there's nothing wrong with Easy Pop.

I mean, arguably, it's what this entire podcast is about.

And it doesn't overstay its welcome.

You know, it's in.

It does what it's done.

It's away.