This week's post was originally supposed to be a tune by Van Morrison, but thanks to his selfishness (especially from a man worth over $90 million) in debasing COVID-19 warnings and mandates so his band could tour and his idiocy in claiming it was pseudo-science, he'll never be featured on the hallowed pages of Friday Night Jukebox again. As if anybody was excited to see a seventy-six-year-old turd on his "Get Off My Lawn" tour. So instead, you'll be treated to a nice piece of British pop from the late sixties....
The Flying Machine arose from the breakup of Pinkerton's Assorted Colours who had had a big hit in the U.K. with a song called "Mirror Mirror." [Sidenote: Every now and again while doing my half-assed research a band will have some previous hit that I've never heard of and I'll give it a listen and every now and again, that song turns out to be a surprisingly good ditty--this was not one of those instances.] The band would have a very short career, originally forming in 1969 in the U.K. and breaking up for good in 1971. They released two albums and six singles. A compilation (of sorts) album was released in 1998, and since then The Flying Machine has been grounded.
"Smile a Little Smile for Me" was released in 1969 as the first single from their daringly titled debut album The Flying Machine. The single would reach #5 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100, but the album failed to make the LP chart.
Fun Fact: Though an English band, somehow "Smile a Little Smile for Me," which sold over a million copies in the U.S., did not reach the singles chart in the U.K.
"Smile a Little Smile for Me" tells the story of one Rosemarie, a (presumably) young woman who has had her heart broken so a friend tells her it's all going to be fine eventually, and that she'll make her happiness with another. Okay--Pride and Prejudice it's not. Still, it's a nice twist when a man tries to make a woman feel better about a breakup without trying to ingratiate himself to her so he can get her into bed. It's also got a great chorus (though nearly thirty years before their creation, the song reminded me of the British band Keane), and a sweet melody that's got Sixties pop imbued in its very soul. At the very least, it beats hell out of a song by a COVID-19 denying louse....
Lyric Sheet: "So, darling, dry your eyes/So many other guys/Would give the world I'm sure/To wear the shoes he wore/Oh c'mon, smile a little smile for me, Rosemarie..."
Enjoy:
Republican = Traitor
Peace,
emaycee
