Here is an oldie from the late '60s U.S. charts just to start this blog off with a 'bang'... hee hee. Cinnamon (G.Tobin-J.Cymbal) by Derek on Bang Records B 558 (erstwhile label of early Neil Diamond). This comes from the very copy my brother and I would spin again and again in childhood (where Dion's Runaround Sue and Rolf Harris' Nicotine And Alchohol discs got to is a mystery), so expect a couple of surface noise glitches but actually I was surprised it still sounded this good! The B-side for the curious was Dance What Cha Wanna (J.J.Murray) by Jerry O.

"Sneakin down your alley way and knockin' on your door. Thought I had enough but I'm back for more."

From All Music Guide: "The first artist ever to be billed simply as "Derek" was a stand-in for the real singer of a No. 11 hit on the Bang label, entitled "Cinnamon." The real Derek, real name Derek Cymbal, was the brother of Johnny Cymbal, a Scottish-born singer and songwriter. He wrote and recorded "Cinnamon" for Bang Records. It had all of the hooks, a catchy melody, and a beautiful chorus that seemed to fit in with the easy-going pop-rock vibe of the period (its intro and beat recalled the Monkees' "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You," while its chorus recalled "Brown-Eyed Girl" by Van Morrison; curiously enough, Morrison was a Bang artist, and the Monkees tune had been written by Neil Diamond, who was also a Bang artist). Rather than risk it being ignored like his other recent singles, however, he chose to release it under his brother's name, Derek. Issued in August of 1968, "Cinnamon" became a hit, riding the charts for 15 weeks and rising to No. 11—that kind of action required personal appearances, and suddenly Johnny Cymbal's brother Derek, who was a musician in Johnny's band anyway, was out on the road. Alas, Derek never charted another single, and disappeared from the consciousness of the listening world after 1969."