"(Call Me) Number One"
Cover of the single released in Germany
Single by the Tremeloes
B-side"Instant Whip"
Released17 October 1969 (1969-10-17)
Genre
Length3:45
LabelCBS
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Mike Smith
The Tremeloes singles chronology
"Once on a Sunday Morning"
(1969)		 "(Call Me) Number One"
(1969)		 "By the Way"
(1970)

"(Call Me) Number One" is a song by British group the Tremeloes, released as a single in October 1969. It peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart.[1]

Background and release

The Tremeloes had success in the early/mid 1960s with beat songs such as their versions of "Twist and Shout" and "Do You Love Me". Following the departure of lead singer Brian Poole in 1966, the group's music changed to producing pop records, perhaps better defined as sunshine pop, and success continued with further hits such as "Silence Is Golden" and "Even the Bad Times Are Good". However, by the late 1960s, the group wanted to move away from this style of pop. They released a cover of Bob Dylan'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". 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 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".[2]

"(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).[3] Whilst it did not reach the top of the UK Singles Chart, nor the charts published by the New Musical Express and Melody Maker (on all three, it was held off the top by the Archies' "Sugar, Sugar"), it did reach the top of one UK newspaper chart, Top Pops & Music Now, for two weeks.[4] Elsewhere, the song topped the charts in South Africa.[5]

Reception

Reviewing for Melody Maker, 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 [who had recently released "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother"]".[6] 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".[7]

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", and they immediately jumped it and wanted to record it.[8][9] 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".[1] Christie decided to form his own group entitled Christie, whose recording of "Yellow River" would go on to top the UK chart and become an international hit.[10]

Charts

Chart (1969–70) Peak
position
Australia (Go-Set)[11] 22
Australia (Kent Music Report)[12] 27
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[13] 5
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[14] 9
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[15] 22
Denmark (IFPI)[16] 6
Germany (Official German Charts)[17] 3
Ireland (IRMA)[18] 2
Malaysia (Radio Malaysia)[19] 3
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[20] 19
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[21] 17
New Zealand (Listener)[22] 4
Norway (VG-lista)[23] 4
Rhodesia (Lyons Maid)[24] 3
South Africa (Springbok Radio)[5] 1
Sweden (Tio i Topp)[25] 12
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[26] 5
UK Singles (OCC)[1] 2

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Tremeloes: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company.
  2. ↑ "For the Tremeloes new hit is new start" (PDF). New Musical Express. 29 November 1969. p. 3. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
  3. ↑ The Tremeloes - (Call Me) Number One, retrieved 1 October 2022
  4. ↑ "Top Pops and Music Now Weekly Charts". UKMIX Forums. 25 August 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
  5. 1 2 "South African Rock Lists Website - SA Charts 1965 - 1989 Acts (T)". Archived from the original on 27 May 2019. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
  6. ↑ "New Pop Singles" (PDF). Melody Maker. 18 October 1969. p. 22. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
  7. ↑ "New rocking Trems" (PDF). New Musical Express. 18 October 1969. p. 8. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
  8. ↑ "Christie - Beat Magazine 2". www.jeffchristie.com. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  9. ↑ "Not a rash move!" (PDF). Record Mirror. 16 May 1970. p. 3. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
  10. ↑ "CHRISTIE | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  11. ↑ "Go-Set Australian charts - 28 February 1970". Gosetcharts. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
  12. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  13. ↑ "The Tremeloes – (Call Me) Number One" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  14. ↑ "The Tremeloes – (Call Me) Number One" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  15. ↑ "The Tremeloes – (Call Me) Number One" (in French). Ultratop 50.
  16. ↑ "Top 20". Ekstra Bladet. 12 December 1969. p. 33.
  17. ↑ "The Tremeloes – (Call Me) Number One" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts.
  18. ↑ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Call Me Number One". Irish Singles Chart.
  19. ↑ "Hits of the World" (PDF). Billboard. 21 February 1970. p. 64. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
  20. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – The Tremeloes" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  21. ↑ "The Tremeloes – (Call Me) Number One" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  22. ↑ "flavour of new zealand - search listener". www.flavourofnz.co.nz. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
  23. ↑ "The Tremeloes – (Call Me) Number One". VG-lista.
  24. ↑ Kimberley, C. Zimbabwe: Singles Chart Book. Harare: C. Kimberley, 2000
  25. ↑ Hallberg, Eric; Henningsson, Ulf (2012). Tio i Topp - med de utslagna "på försök" 1961–74 (in Swedish) (2nd ed.). Premium. p. 286. ISBN 978-91-89136-89-2.
  26. ↑ "The Tremeloes – (Call Me) Number One". Swiss Singles Chart.
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