For the letter H, I’ve discovered two songs that have some similarities.
HELP Me, Rhonda by the Beach Boys went to #1 in the US in 1965.
HELP by some obscure Liverpudlian band went to #1 in the US in 1965.
Both recordings were on Capitol Records in the US.
HELP Me, Rhonda originally was HELP Me, Ronda, composed by Brian Wilson with by Mike Love for the album The Beach Boys Today! in March 1965.
A second recording, with a significantly different, and to my mind superior arrangement, was issued as a single and subsequently released on the album Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!) in June 1965.
It’s the single version that reached #1 in Canada, #2 in Singapore, #3 in The Philippines, #5 in Hong Kong and Sweden, #9 in Ireland, #10 in Germany and Australia, but only #27 in the United Kingdom.
Listen to HELP Me, Rhonda
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPnBrK6D26g Album cut, without the baw, baw, baw, baw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVDEL_HeKq0 Single version
HELP is the title track of that Liverpool band’s second film, and the accompanying album, which, naturally, is different in the US and the UK. The album was released in August 1965, and the single a month earlier. The song was written primarily by John Lennon, but credited to Lennon–McCartney.
Listen to HELP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNahS3OHPwA Live version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQv4OQJJEZg Live version
So just HELP yourself – isn’t that a Tom Jones reference? – to that little blue button and participate in this week’s meme
ABC-Wednesday
