Peter Anathan - No More Love/ Georgia On My Mind

"Northern! Mod Dancer!" the vinyl sellers say. "If you say so", I say.

Label: Fontana

Year of Release: 1966

Once every so often I'm forced to observe collectors enthusing about a single online which I think is just a bit of vaguely enjoyable, serviceable pop and little more. This, I hate to confess, is one of those moments, but rather than ignore it completely I thought it would make sense to upload this single so you could all judge for yourselves.

The A-side "No More Love" is the one causing all the fuss here. Yet another Howard Blaikley composition - did the pair ever stop writing songs, I ask you? - it seemed to have appeared at almost exactly the same time another version emerged on Dave Dee Dozy Beaky Mick and Tich's debut LP. Whereas their version is a slightly quirky but otherwise recognisably DDDBMT-ish affair, Peter Anathan here appears to be trying to make it a dancefloor hit. This has got the same springy, pounding, jiggy swing to it you'd expect of a lot of 66's bigger hits, the trouble is it's hampered by a slightly stiff, formal arrangement. It should fly, but it never quite makes it.

Over on the flip, "Georgia On My Mind" is, of course, a faithful cover of "Georgia On My Mind" and nothing more or less. 

I've no idea who Peter Anathan is, but according to a few online sources he was an Australian singer based in the UK. This naturally begs the question of what his Australian releases were before arriving here, because I can find no evidence of any at all (even this one didn't get an issue down under). Either he was a club singer who scored lucky on these shores but not his home country, or there's something not quite right about this story. Does anyone know?