NEEDLES AND PINS
“Needles and Pins” is a song written by Jack Nitzsche and Sonny Bono. In his autobiography, Bono states that he sang along with Nitzsche’s guitar-playing, thus creating both the tune and the lyrics, being guided by the chord progressions. The song was originally recorded by Jackie DeShannon. The Searchers heard British performer Cliff Bennett perform “Needles and Pins” at a club in Hamburg, Germany, and instantly wanted it to be their next single. The Pye Records single was released in January 1964. It was number one in the United Kingdom, Ireland and South Africa and peaked at #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in the United States. (More from Wikipedia)
The Searchers is another Liverpool band that had numerous hits in the U.K., though they were less successful in the U.S.; their biggest hit songs here were remakes of “Love Potion No. 9” and “Needles and Pins”. The Swinging Blue Jeans barely missed the U.S. Top 20 with their cover of “Hippy Hippy Shake”, which was also recorded by the Beatles. Others include the Cryin’ Shames (not to be confused with the Cryan’ Shames, an American band from the same time period), the Merseybeats, the Hideaways, the Koobas (also known as the Kubas), and one of the first all-female rock bands, the Liverbirds.
(July 2013)
