Michelle (David and Jonathan)

30 JANUARY 1966

Bristol pop duo David and Jonathan were at #12 in the UK this week with their version of the Beatles’ ‘Michelle’. This was hardly a McCartney classic, but another version of this same song (by the Overlanders) was already at #1, and to tell the truth there’s not a lot of difference between these covers and the original.

There were also two versions of 'Girl' (from Rubber Soul) in the charts around this time. I get the impression that producers would run from the record shop to the recording studio with a copy of the latest Beatles' album in their hand and say 'quick, let's put out a single of one of these songs!'

The Overlanders' version of 'Michelle' spent three weeks at #1, and would no doubt have sold even more if the same song hadn't also been at #11.

This one was David and Jonathan’s first charting single, peaking at #11 in the UK and #18 in the US. They had one more hit in the UK during 1966 but that was the sum total of the duo's chart success, although they went on to have more songwriting successes under their real names Roger Greenaway and Roger Cook (with big hits for Gene Pitney, the Hollies, Blue Mink, Englebert Humperdinck, among others).