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Oldies But Goodies » Discussions » Marty Wilde - Abergavenny (1968)

Bez
Marty Wilde - Abergavenny (1968)

This catchy little oddity, a song about a small town in Wales, became a Top 10 hit in Holland, Australia and New Zealand, and it even sneaked into the US Top 50 under the pseudonym Shannon, but it failed to reach the Top 50 in the UK despite repeated airplay and Marty Wilde's earlier chart success here.

  • I vaguely remember this. 

    Posted July 26, 2016
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  • Bez

    I suppose you could say it was vaguely a hit in the US, it got to number 47 there, a year after it was originally released. For some reason, Marty Wilde called himself Shannon on the US and Canadian releases. The Canadian issue was a dead giveaway that it was the same recording as the UK issue because it had the same label and release number (BF 1669 on the Philips label), despite being credited to Marty Wilde on the UK issue. The US issue was on a different label (Heritage, a spin-off label of MGM) and therefore had a different release number. Now you might not know about details like that, but I've been into that for over 40 years now, so I know a lot about such things. Lol:)

    Posted July 26, 2016
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  • bad then bad now

    Posted July 26, 2016
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  • Bez

    Well, I say good then, better now.

    Posted July 26, 2016
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  • I guess this can only mean one thing. I too have a nose. I don't feel one way or another about this song.

    Posted July 26, 2016
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  • Bez

    Don't you? I always liked it as a child but I didn't have it on record then. It was 20 years old when I finally did get hold of it. I was pleased when I found out I got it before my friend Dave (who has about 20,000 original vinyl singles). It took him a few more years to get a copy. His collection is a real collector's paradise, so it made me feel good for a few years to know that I had one that he hadn't got yet - until he got it, of course. I saw him buying it, I was at the same record fair that he got it from. Lol:)

    Posted July 26, 2016
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