#atozchallenge Top Ten: Radio Veronica (Hilversum, The Netherlands), 6/29/68

A to Z Challenge 2 Minutes

Radio Veronica operated from a ship called the Borkum Riff (also a brand of pipe tobacco) off the coast of the Dutch town of Hilversum, the media center of The Netherlands. It has an interesting history, which you can read on Wikipedia. Here’s their survey from June 29, 1968.

#10 – Sir Henry & His Butlers, “Camp”: This was a Danish band fronted by Ole “Sir Henry” Bredahl, best known for the song “Let’s Go.”

#9 – Simon & Garfunkel, “Mrs. Robinson”: From the 1967 film The Graduate, which was really popular, a good thing for S&G.

#8 – Bobby Goldsboro, “Honey”: There’s a debate going on over on this song’s page about whether Honey died of natural causes or by her own hand. The more I listen to it, the more I think it was the latter. What about you?

#7 – The Easybeats, “Hello, How Are You”: The Easybeats’ big international hit (and the only one to reach the Top 40 in the US) was “Friday On My Mind” from a couple of years earlier. This Australian band featured George Young, the brother of Angus and Malcolm of AC/DC, on guitar.

#6 – Small Faces, “Lazy Sunday”: These diminutive rockers had a big international hit with “Itchycoo Park” the previous year. This was a Top 10 hit for them in the UK, Australia, Germany, and The Netherlands, but failed to reach the Hot 100 in the US.

#5 – John Rowles, “If I Only Had The Time”: From Whakatane, New Zealand, this was Sir John’s biggest hit in the UK (#3) and The Netherlands (#2).

#4 – Gary Puckett & The Union Gap, “Young Girl”: Gary and the boys, from Union Gap, Washington, had an international hit with this song.

#3 – Blue Cheer, “Summertime Blues”: Maybe my favorite cover of Eddie Cochran’s 1958 hit, it went to #1 on the Dutch Singles chart.

#2 – The Rolling Stones, “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”: Rolling Stone magazine called this “supernatural Delta blues by way of swinging London.” It’s hard to believe this song is over 50 years old.

#1 – Heintje, “Ich Bau’ Dir Ein Schloß”: Heintje is a Dutch singer who is popular in the German-speaking countries and, evidently, in China. He continues to perform as Hein Simons. He was not quite 13 when this record was released.

Back with W tomorrow! And look for my post on the challenge blog tomorrow!

This month, my Monday A to Z Challenge posts also serve as my Monday’s Music Moves Me posts.

Monday’s Music Moves Me is sponsored by Marie, Cathy, Alana, and Stacy, so be sure and visit them, where you can also find the Linky for the other participants.

Published by John Holton

Internet disc jockey, lover of old TV (especially the commercials), inveterate wise guy.

Published

23 thoughts on “#atozchallenge Top Ten: Radio Veronica (Hilversum, The Netherlands), 6/29/68”

  1. Pingback: #atozchallenge 2021: A Reflection – The Sound of One Hand Typing

  2. Hi John – another great range of songs for us … thanks for the memories – Hilary

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  3. Pingback: The Post-A to Z Week That Was – The Sound of One Hand Typing

  4. The songs I knew (the hits in the U.S.) I enjoyed, except for Honey. That song has always been too morbid for my taste. I will totally agree on Blue Cheer and Summertime Blues; best cover. That song had such a metal blues vibe to it. As for the other songs like #10 and #1 – it was good to sample them and learn more about what others were listening to in that time period.

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    1. That’s why I like to recreate surveys: I figure there’s music that has fallen through the cracks over time and is almost forgotten, and I don’t want that to happen. More often than not I find a song that I had forgotten or can’t remember ever hearing, or I know the song without knowing the title or the artist. It’s a way to keep the music alive…

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  7. Everything was going well until The Stones where it states it is unavailable. I was looking forward to hearing Heine(as my mom called him) and I think he now goes by Heino or am I wrong?? I can’t believe he is on any list:) There are some songs I don’t know but I still liked them especially John Rowles who reminded me of Tom Jones.

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    1. I think the video was broken, because I couldn’t get at it, either. I replaced it, so you should be able to move along. Wikipedia says Heintje goes by Hein Simons these days…

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  8. John,

    I love the variety of songs in your playlist today. Gary Puckett & the Union Gap “Young Girl” might be my fave but they’re all great and I loved the background entertainment for my ears while doing other things. Can you believe it, we’re about to victoriously cross the A2Z line again! 👏 Have fun, my friend!

    Villain Looney Tunes A-Z Art Sketch

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  12. Okay, trying to decide between Mrs Robinson and Hello, How Are You, but it’s too tricky to decide. Almost a coin toss this week.

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