This is a fun mid-sixties pop song by The Tremeloes. I like the live party atmosphere they created. Here Comes My Baby was written in 1966 by Cat Stevens. It was almost released as Steven’s first single, but “I Love My Dog” was thought to be stronger.
After “I Love My Dog’s” success, “Here Comes My Baby” was shelved for several months. The Tremeloes picked it up and it became their breakthrough hit in America and their first hit in the UK since their lead singer Brian Poole left them. The song’s success helped establish Cat Stevens as a songwriter and he included it on his first album Matthew And Son.
The Tremeloes had been a backup band for Brian Poole and when they split in 1966 after 8 UK hits, they looked to be another backing band set for junk pile. They bought in Len “Chip” Hawkes as their bassist and lead singer and their career took off.
Some trivia about the Tremeloes. Decca was looking to sign a guitar group in 1962 and the Tremeloes (at the time known as Brian Poole and the Tremeloes) and The Beatles auditioned… Decca picked The Tremeloes over The Beatles mostly because they were closer, based in London…while The Beatles were far away in Liverpool (Whoops!). That decision would haunt Dick Rowe (Decca Executive) for the rest of his life…He did end up signing The Rolling Stones though after a suggestion by George Harrison.
The song peaked at #13 in the Billboard 100, #4 in the UK Charts, and #7 in Canada in 1967.
This is one of those songs that I never get tired of and it always makes me feel good. They did have some success after this song…Silence is Golden #13, Even the Bad Times Are Good #37, and several successful singles in the UK.
Cat Stevens version
Here Comes My Baby
In the midnight moonlight hour
I’ll be walking a long and lonely mile,
And every time I do,
I keep seeing this picture of youHere comes my baby, here she comes now,
And-a it becomes as no surprise to me
with another guy,Well, here comes my baby, here she comes now,
Walking with a love,
With a love that’s oh so fine
Never to be mine, no matter how I try,
You’ll never walk alone,
and you’re forever talking on the phone
I try to call you names,
but every time it comes out the same
Here comes my baby; here she comes now,
And-a it becomes as no surprise to me
with another guy,
Here comes my baby; here she comes now,
And-a it becomes as no surprise to me
with another guy
Here comes my baby.
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This is a fun song. That story of Decca turning down the Beatles is legendary. But they certainly recovered nicely by signing the Stones. The Tremeloes had several very different sounds. They could have had more hits if they’d kept going, imo.
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I liked their other music…I liked them a little more with this singer.
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I love the song, whether by Cat or by The Tremeloes. I used to have that Cat Stevens album!!!!! My ex- probably still has it, packed away in some dank corner of his basement 😦
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Oh wow… I never heard his version untilI did this. He could write a good pop song along with his more sophisticated things later on.
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I never knew Cat Stevens wrote this. It’s a great song, and The Tremeloes were a good band.
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Yea I liked them…they found a good singer-bass player after Poole left.
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I prefer The Tremeloes cover over the Cat version, and I can see why this song makes you happy.
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Yea it’s the lively atmosphere…
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quite an upbeat, decent little song I didn’t know (the Tremeloes particularly). I’d trade the Stones (especially if limited to Decca ones) and Tremeloes for the Beatles anyday, but I guess Decca still did pretty well in the 60s.
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Yea and then the Stones lost their Decca records to Klein.
I’ve always liked this song. I first heard it in the 80s while listening to an oldies station at my work… it will stick in your head.
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I remember ‘Here Comes My Baby’ (Cat Stevens) from Wes Anderson’s Rushmore. I’m not a big fan of the Tremeloes version. Cat nailed it, to my ears.
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I like his version…I only heard it recently for the first time.
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It’s wonderful and your article here reminded me to add it to my collection. I also like Cat’s voice here. It’s not so Cat Stevens if that makes sense.
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Yea it was before he started to make the more serious music in the early seventies.
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Personally, I don’t think his music has aged well because of that voice he did. It’s not a bad voice, on the contrary but his music and voice seemed to aim at a certain ideology. But this song is just whimsical and free.
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It is unique completely to him…no one sounds like Cat Stevens…that is one thing he has lol
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That’s true.
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I never realised that Stevens wrote it. He has this career break where he had TB and came back totally different.
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Yea he wrote more sophisticated songs after that. That was around the time of Astral Weeks and those stretch of Morrison albums.
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Do you own all this stuff that you post dude? If you do u must 6 jobs to keep up lol
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I either own it or at one time had it lol…
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I think it’s a more complete record than Cats. And more fun! The beginning bass, the good time giggles, the whistling and, as always, there can never be enough cowbell…
They do a great version of ‘Silence Is Golden,’ They were a great little singles band, and I also rate ‘(Call Me) Number One’ as a forgotten Pop gem. I can recommend that one for a listen. Hooks all over the place.
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Obbverse…thank you… this is why I love the interaction of blogs. I never heard Call Me Number One before… a very cool song. I’ve been listening to it a couple of times…a good representative of that time.
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Yep, I agree- WP can be bitc- bit of of a pain, what with them making ‘improvements’ at random times, but it works for interactions that wouldn’t take place otherwise. Call Me Number One was not a number One here, but it was probably, just off the top of my head, top Ten. (No pun intended.)
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No pun taken! It’s a good song regardless. I love old new music.
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During the 60s there was a pop show in Germany that had all the major acts on their television program, and they all performed live, warts and all. The quality of the film is amazing as well as the sound. I saw the Tremolos and The Hollies on this show, which can be found on YouTube and they were spot on with this tune and a few others. It makes me respect what good musicians and singers bands like them were, compared to todays crop of posers. Cat Stevens was, and is still an amazing writer and performer. One of the worst live acts, maybe just a bad day for them, was Herman’s Hermits and Freddie and The Dreamers. Of the British invasion bands, the Animals were the best live act I saw while in Memphis TN, 1965.
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I can believe that about the Animals. They sounded powerful just on record… more so than the Stones in some of their songs.
Those old bands didn’t have American idol or whatever… they had to work themselves up from pubs and theaters… yea they had to be well rounded… not just have an image.
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Love this record. Loved it as a 9 year old but not quite as much as i loved Matthew And Son. Cat Stevens greatest pop record and i was obsessed with it. I still adore it and it remains his biggest UK hit. The Trems had a fab run of pop singles and i also rate Call Me Number One and follow up Me And My Life. I remained a fan even when the uk hits dried up with forgotten tracks like I Like It That Way. Glam Rock did them in though. They sounded very 60s suddenly, but chip hawkes got some fame back in 1991 when his son chesney has a massive seller with Nik Kershaw’s The One And Only a rare case of a father and son both getting a uk chart topper
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I just found Call Me Number One by a commentor… I will be posting that one in the future….
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