(Call Me) Number One
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"(Call Me) Number One" is a song by British group
the Tremeloes The Tremeloes (formerly Brian Poole and The Tremeloes) are an English beat group founded in 1958 in Dagenham, England. They initially found success in the British Invasion era with lead singer Brian Poole, scoring a UK chart-topper in 1963 with ...
, released as a single in October 1969. It peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart.


Background and release

The Tremeloes had success in the early/mid 1960s with
beat Beat, beats, or beating may refer to: Common uses * Assault, inflicting physical harm or unwanted physical contact * Battery (crime), a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact * Battery (tort), a civil wrong in common law of inte ...
songs such as their versions of "
Twist and Shout "Twist and Shout" is a 1961 song written by Phil Medley and Bert Berns (later credited as "Bert Russell"). It was originally recorded by The Top Notes, but it did not become a hit in the record charts until it was reworked by the Isley Broth ...
" and "
Do You Love Me "Do You Love Me" is a rhythm and blues song recorded by the Contours in 1962. Written and produced by Motown, Motown Records owner Berry Gordy Jr., it appeared twice on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, reaching numbers three ...
". Following the departure of lead singer
Brian Poole Brian Poole (born 2 November 1941)Eder, BruceBrian Poole Biography, Allmusic. Retrieved 17 August 2014 is a singer and performer who was the lead singer of 1960s beat band Brian Poole And The Tremeloes Early life He was brought up in th ...
in 1966, the group's music changed to producing pop records, perhaps better defined as
sunshine pop Sunshine pop, originally called soft pop and soft rock, is a loosely defined form of pop music that was first associated with early soft rock producers and songwriters based in Los Angeles, California, during the mid-to late 1960s. Its recording ...
, and success continued with further hits such as " Silence Is Golden" and "
Even the Bad Times Are Good "Even the Bad Times Are Good" is a song recorded by British group the Tremeloes, released as a single in July 1967. It became their third consecutive top-ten hit in the UK and continued their international success. Release and reception "Even ...
". However, by the late 1960s, the group wanted to move away from this style of pop. They released a cover of
Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...
's " I Shall Be Released", but following its relative commercial failure (only just a top-thirty hit), they reverted to their trusted pop with the top-twenty hit "
Hello World Hello World may refer to: * "Hello, World!" program, a computer program that outputs or displays the message "Hello, World!" Music * "Hello World!" (composition), song by the Iamus computer * "Hello World" (Tremeloes song), 1969 * "Hello World" ...
". However, following the failure of their next single "Once on a Sunday Morning", which didn't make the UK charts, the Tremeloes took this as a sign that the public had also grown tired of their current musical style. They therefore decided to change musical direction, and released "(Call Me) Number One", a heavier
psychedelic pop Psychedelic pop (or acid pop) is a genre of pop music that contains musical characteristics associated with psychedelic music. Developing in the mid-to-late 1960s, elements included " trippy" features such as fuzz guitars, tape manipulation, ...
song, as a single. At the time, member Alan Blakley said that they had "come to hate all those happy records, even the ones that sold hundreds and hundreds of thousands", with Len "Chip" Hawkes adding that they had gotten "into the carefree, singalong thing and we found the more it worked for us, the harder it became to get out of the rut". After writing "(Call Me) Number One", the Tremeloes played it to some friends, who were "universal in their praise, but equally sure that it was the wrong type of song for the group". The success of the song was a surprise for the group, given their recent releases, with Blakley saying that "people have bought it thinking it was a good record, and not because it was the Tremeloes". "(Call Me) Number One" was their first single written solely by members of the group (Blakley and Hawkes), and it was released with the B-side "Instant Whip", written by the other two members (Dave Munden and Rick Westwood). Whilst it did not reach the top of the UK Singles Chart, nor the charts published by the ''
New Musical Express ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a " rock inkie", the ''NME'' would become a maga ...
'' and ''
Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...
'' (on all three, it was held off the top by
the Archies The Archies are an American fictional rock band featured in media produced by, and related to, Archie Comics. They are best remembered for their appearance in the animated TV series '' The Archie Show''. In the context of the series, the band ...
' "
Sugar, Sugar "Sugar, Sugar" is a song written by Jeff Barry and Andy Kim (singer), Andy Kim, produced by Barry and recorded by the Archies, a fictional bubblegum pop band from Archie Comics. It was released as the group's third single (music), single on th ...
"), it did reach the top of one UK newspaper chart, '' Top Pops & Music Now'', for two weeks. Elsewhere, the song topped the charts in South Africa.


Reception

Reviewing for ''
Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...
'', Chris Welch wrote that "as one of Britain's most respected "straight" groups, they are ready to take risks with material they believe in musically as well as commercially, an approach shared by
the Hollies The Hollies are an English rock and pop band formed in Manchester in 1962. One of the leading British groups of the 1960s and into the mid-1970s, they are known for their distinctive three-part vocal harmony style. Singer Allan Clarke and ...
ho had recently released "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother"">He_Ain't_Heavy,_He's_My_Brother.html" ;"title="ho had recently released "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother">ho had recently released "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother". For ''New Musical Express'', John Wells described the song as having "an enveloping heavy rock backing, with muted trumpets and deep brass and towards the end there's an almost psychedelic instrumental passage. It struck me as being musically a big step forward for the boys but at the same time they've managed to retain their usual happy sound".


Afterwards

Following the success of "(Call Me) Number One", the Tremeloes were offered a song called "Tomorrow Night", written with the group in mind by Jeff Christie. However, they said it was too poppy and not in the direction the group wanted to take following "(Call Me) Number One". The group heard another of Christie's songs, "Yellow River (song)">Yellow River The Yellow River, also known as Huanghe, is the second-longest river in China and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system on Earth, with an estimated length of and a Drainage basin, watershed of . Beginning in the Bayan H ...
", and they immediately jumped it and wanted to record it. They had intentions of releasing it as a single, but instead, they decided to release the self-penned "By the Way" as their follow-up single, which failed to capitalise on their success, only peaking at number 35 on the UK Singles Chart. However, the Tremeloes would go on to have one final top-ten hit later in 1970 with "Me and My Life". Christie decided to form his own group entitled Christie (band), Christie, whose recording of "Yellow River" would go on to top the UK chart and become an international hit.


Charts


Personnel

* Dave Munden – lead vocals, drums (died 2020) *
Rick Westwood Richard Westwood (born 7 May 1943), also known as Rick West or Ricky West, is a British retired musician, known for being a member of the Tremeloes from 1962 to 2012. Early life Richard Westwood was born in Dagenham, East London on 7 May 1943. ...
– vocals (during chorus), lead guitar * Alan Blakley – vocals (during chorus), rhythm guitar (died 1996) * Len Hawkes vocals (during chorus), bass guitar


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Call Me Number One 1969 singles 1969 songs The Tremeloes songs CBS Records singles Song recordings produced by Mike Smith (British record producer)