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"We've got a few smooth beat numbers up our sleeve",Jackson assured the press. "We won't be doing any ballads, unless a really good one comes along." Convinced that Motown was the way to go, he returned to the Mary Wells catalogue for a cover of *You Beat Me To The Punch*. This was the first single licensed by Tito Burns' new Lyndon organisation to Pye, and it meant that Jackson's recording career was now being handled by Kinks' producer Larry Page. Page encouraged The Vibrations to move away from the R&B sound of their debut and emphasise Tony's roots in The Searchers - with the bizarre result that this Soul song came out sounding like a cross between 'Needles And Pins' and 'When You Walk In The Room'. The public weren't convinced. Peter Doggett: Foldout sheet Watch Your Step CD |
December 1964: Tony's 2nd single was on the market: Pye 7n 15745, didn't chart. |
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Below: Three different pressing |
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A second 45; You Beat Me To The Punch' b/w 'This Little Girl Of Mine'
followed in December, with 'Punch' being another gem from the Mary Wells
catalogue, written this time by Smokey Robinson. It was recorded at Baker
Street's Olympic Studios with producer Larry Page and engineer Keith Grant.
They worked for hours to perfect a new 'bass' sound for Tony, 12-string
guitars were layered on and the resulting mix was considered pretty damn
amazing.Tony's obvious love of such material was equally clear on this
release, another faultless
record coupled again to a worthwhile flip, sadly it made little commercial
progress, although Jackson's standing among his peers remained high, with
Eric Burdon tipping him for stardom in 1965. (From booklet Just Like Me CD) |
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| above: US promo and regular release, didn't chart. See the little difference in the group's name: JF and t V (UK) TJ with t V (US) |
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| Above: Danish single, here only credited to TJ, no Vibrations mentioned. |
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