We’ll get into the details concerning this anniversary after we take care of today’s post from Parrot Records. As we’ve done on another occasion during the Thursdays Repeats and Threepeats during the Fourth Week Label Special, we’ve featured a song that was released by two different artists on the same label. Written by Bert Berns, “Here Comes the Night” was recorded in 1964 by two British Decca artists whose singles were issued on Parrot Records in the US.
Lulu’s Version
The first release of “Here Comes the Night” is slower than the eventual hit version and it has a different opening. Of course, it is sung from a female’s perspective. While in comparison to Them’s hit version, it is unusual, but I really like its treatment.
Issued as a non album single, Lulu’s recording was released in November 1964 and peaked only at #50 in the UK. Although marketed in the US on Parrot, it failed to chart. So for my American readers, this may be the first time you’ve heard this particular recording.
Them’s Version
The well known version of “Here Comes the Night” was recorded by the Belfast, Northern Ireland band “Them.” In addition, it was recorded before Lulu ever heard the tune. Berns had just written the song and had an idea of a repeating guitar riff. He brought the song to Them and the band worked on the tune for four days as it evolved.
Berns, who produced the record, utilized Jimmy Page on second guitar, Phil Coulter on second keyboards, Andy White on second drums and backing vocals, and Tommy Scott on backing vocals. Of course, Van Morrison sang lead. Although it was slated to be issued as Them’s next single, Decca held off on its release and brought Lulu into the studio to record her version. It even used the same guitar riff employed by Them.
Although both were on the same label, Decca (and ultimately Parrot in the US) rush released Lulu’s version. Needless to say, Them was not very happy with the decision; however, the band felt some vindication when Lulu’s version tanked. The label waited until March 1965 to release Them’s version and it did quite well in both The UK and Ireland where it charted at #2. Its US showing on Parrot was not as spectacular, as it only peaked at #24.
RBTG’s 1,300th Post / Fourth Anniversary Retrospect
Like I had reported with every other 100th post anniversary, I took a look backward on how we are doing visitor wise. I began this blog on September 26, 2009, but did not start monitoring the visits until October 16, 2009. Currently, we have 70 declared followers of the blog – up from 67 in June. There are many others who have visited frequently without declaring themselves as followers. The statistics are listed below:| Variable | Statistic |
|---|---|
| Unique Visitors | 122,170 |
| Times Visited | 135,789 |
| Number of Pages Viewed | 197,782 |
| People Visiting 200+ Times | 1,952 |
| People Visiting 101-200 Times | 844 |
| People Visiting 51-100 Times | 801 |
| People Visiting 26-50 Times | 784 |
| Number of Visitor Countries Represented | 179 |
| Percentage of Visitors Referred from Search Engines | 63.4% |
| Percentage of Visitors Referred from Other Sites | 26.6% |
| Percentage of Visitors via Direct Access | 11.0% |
The Top Ten Visitor Countries
Since our 1200th post, Spain overtook the Netherlands for the ninth spot. Four new countries and territories were added since June 2013. They include one from Europe (The Faroe Islands), one from the Caribbean (Haiti), and two from Africa (Rwanda and Burundi, which at one time were part of a single nation).| Rank | Country | Visits |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | 66,032 |
| 2 | United Kingdom | 11,160 |
| 3 | Canada | 7,428 |
| 4 | Germany | 6,216 |
| 5 | France | 4,189 |
| 6 | Italy | 3,132 |
| 7 | Australia | 2,908 |
| 8 | Brazil | 2,828 |
| 9 | Spain | 2,213 |
| 10 | Netherlands | 2,189 |
As always, I want to take this time to thank all of you for your support of this site and the encouragement to keep going forward. Thanks again for Reading between the Grooves.
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