More U.K. Tracks On U.S. Labels: I Scream You Scream, Who The Hell Screamed For Freddie?

FREDDIE AND THE DREAMERS-Do The Freddie/Tell Me When US Mercury 72428 1965

Freddie and the Dreamers have always annoyed me, maybe it was the fact that Freddie always looked like a degenerate window cleaner or that stupid giggle he did with those ridiculous leaps or that him and his band mates looked old enough to have been in World War II (he was actually born in 1936). Well all this lunacy culminated with someone writing a song for him to leap about to called "Do The Freddie". It wasn't even released in the U.K. but it was his eleventh US 45 released in April 1965 where it reached a modest #18 in the charts (incidentally his last hit here, or anywhere actually).

If you can get past his ridiculous mad giggles peppered all over the track "Do The Freddie" is a half way decent tune.  The best part of the number is the musical backing (possibly session players?) which is heavily accented by horns and female backing vocalists (no doubt the Vernon's Girls) and I will admit it's pretty damn catchy (especially the guitar solo)! My dad remembers dancers on some US TV program back then showing viewers how to "do the Freddie", thankfully it never caught on!

Freddie and the Pensioners

The flip side is a track called "Tell Me When", previously covered by The Applejacks (and it was their debut US 45 issued a year earlier). The Dreamers make a complete mess of it because it already had potential to be a dippy song and their interpretation of it is even more icky. The phrase "disgustingly twee" aptly describes it.

Both sides were compiled on an EMI USA CD collection way back called The The Definitive Collection" that's still available.

Hear "Do The Freddie":

https://youtu.be/3a21N44FQhI

Hear "Tell Me When":

https://youtu.be/3a21N44FQhI