The Mixtures - In The Summertime (1970)

(Ray Dorset)
Australia
#1 Sydney #1 Melbourne #1 Brisbane #1 Adelaide #1 Perth

Single on Fable by Melbourne band formed 1965 that went through numerous changes of style and personnel until its demise in 1973.

Co-charted in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth with the original British version by Mungo Jerry. Co-charted in Brisbane with British cover version by The Idle Race. Co-charted in Adelaide with Mungo Jerry and The Idle Race.

This is one of Fable’s cover versions of British releases at the time of the 1970 Radio Ban. Fable’s records were not affected by the ban, but many records on major labels from Britain, Australia and other countries were not being played on Australia commercial radio.

After the success of In The Summertime, The Mixtures released an original song in a Mungo Jerry style, The Pushbike Song (often mistaken for a Mungo Jerry song) which again topped the Australian charts and was a hit in the UK as well.

Suggestion from Terry Stacey.

The Radio Ban of May-October 1970.

Over 500 British, European, Australian and NZ record labels began to demand a new levy for radio airplay on top of existing royalties. Commercial radio stations in Australia objected, the record industry stood firm, and the records of those labels were not played on air until a solution could be found.

No longer heard on commercial radio were records on British labels and on 13 major Australian labels that were united in policing the collection of royalties. Local pop stars such as Johnny Farnham and Normie Rowe were affected, along with major British artists, but the United States had different copyright arrangements.

Ron Tudor’s Fable Records was a new independent label that opted out of the dispute over royalties, so its records were unaffected by the Record Ban. It built its initial success on producing cover versions of mainly British records that were not being played on local radio. Du Monde in Sydney was another independent label that was not involved with the Ban.

Fable’s covers often co-charted with the originals which were still available in record stores. See, for example, these 1970 Fable releases: • Liv Maessen – Knock Knock Who’s There? (covering Mary Hopkins) • Fourth House – Wild World (covering Jimmy Cliff, Chris Simmons) • Pat Carroll – All Kinds Of Everything (covering Dana).

Essential reading: That is my simplified account, but for a detailed exploration of the Radio Ban and its consequences, written as it was happening, see Roger Aldridge’s article from The Age, 2 June 1970, “Radio opens door to local talent”.

Other sources, further reading:
1. The 1970 Radio Ban at Wikipedia.
3. Wayne Mac, Don’t Touch That Dial, Hits ‘n’ Memories of Australian Radio (2005) pp. 134-135: excellent history and commentary from a radio industry viewpoint.
4. Milesago’s pages on Fable, Ron Tudor, and Du Monde.

The Idle Race - In The Summertime (1970)

(Ray Dorset)
UK
#1 Brisbane #1 Adelaide

Co-charted in Brisbane with Australian cover version by The Mixtures. Co-charted in Adelaide with The Mixtures and with the original by Mungo Jerry.

Birmingham band. Jeff Lynne, later of ELO fame, left the band to join The Move some months before this release.

See the Idle Race page at Brum Beat.

Elton John* - In The Summertime (1970)

(Ray Dorset)
UK

*Not an official Elton John release, but a recording he made anonymously for a budget series of LPs featuring cover versions of current hits.

This has been collected on Chartbusters Go Pop! 20 Legendary Covers from 1969/70 as Sung by Elton John.

Mungo Jerry - In The Summertime (1970)

(Ray Dorset)
UK
Original version
#1 UK #3 USA #1 Sydney #1 Melbourne #1 Perth #1 NZ

London band formed in 1969 by singer-guitarist Ray Dorset, who wrote this song.

The band’s name is from T.S. Eliot’s poem Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer in Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats (1939)

Co-charted in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth with Australian cover version by The Mixtures. Co-charted in Adelaide with The Mixtures and with a UK cover version by The Idle Race.

The Pushbike Song, The Mixtures’ follow-up to their cover version of In The Summertime, is not a Mungo Jerry or Ray Dorset song, although Mungo Jerry did record a version some years later.

Further reading: Mungo Jerry biography by Bruce Eder at All Music.

Shaggy Feat. Rayvon - In The Summertime (1995)

(Ray Dorset - Orville Burrell - Robert Livingston)
USA
Later version
#3 USA #5 UK #1 Sydney #15 Melbourne #5 Brisbane #9 Adelaide #4 NZ

Single on Virgin from album Boombastic by Jamaican Reggae artist Shaggy (Orville Burrell, b.1968) with Barbados-born singer-songwriter Rayvon (Bruce Brewster, b.1968). Both artists were residents of New York.

As well as Ray Dorset of Mungo Jerry, writer credits to Shaggy (Burrell) and producer Robert Livingston appear on the UK single, for example.

The biggest crossover success in the dancehall reggae scene of the 1990s, and an artist who showed longevity and growth for years afterward.
Steve Huey, All Music, on Shaggy

Further reading: 1. Shaggy biography by Steve Huey at All Music. 2. Rayvon’s bio page at his website.

Roger Miller - You Don’t Want My Love (alternative title: In The Summertime) (1960)

(Roger Miller)
USA
Red herring
#8 Sydney #18 Melbourne #12 Brisbane #7 Adelaide

Not the same song as “In The Summertime” by The Mixtures.

This is the one that goes: In the summertime/ When all the trees and leaves are green/ And the redbird sings/ I’ll be blue/ ‘Cause you don’t want my love. ♫ Listen at YouTube

The label shows You Don’t Want My Love. At BMI the song is registered under both You Don’t Want My Love and In The Summertime.

Single on RCA-Victor September 1960, re-released in the UK May 1965 when Miller’s #1 UK hit King Of The Road on Philips was on the British charts.

Co-charted in Adelaide with cover version by Andy Williams.

Andy Williams - (In The Summertime) You Don’t Want My Love (1960)

(Roger Miller)
USA
Red herring
#7 Adelaide

Not the same song as “In The Summertime” by The Mixtures.

B-side on Cadence October 1960, released in Australia on London January 1961. The British single had the title simply as You Don’t Want My Love.

Co-charted in Adelaide with the original by Roger Miller.

Also recorded by Doug Kershaw (1973).