The single of the day ★ Not Fade Away

'Not Fade Away' was released as a 7" single in the UK exactly 61 years ago on February 21, 1964, where it peaked at #3.
Its US counterpart, released on March 6, 1964, reached #48.

The song was originally recorded by the Buddy Holly's band The Crickets in Clovis, New Mexico, on May 27, 1957. The Rolling Stones version, with a strong emphasis on the Bo Diddley beat, was recorded on January 10, 1964 at the Olympic Studios, London, England. Such sessions also saw the visit and occasional inputs of Graham Nash and Allan Clarke from the Hollies, as well as Phil Spector and Gene Pitney who incidentally were in London.
Backed with 'Little By Little', 'Not Fade Away' would be the band's UK third single and their first Top 5 hit in Great Britain. The track stayed in the UK charts for 15 weeks.

This track wo... [+]

Vintage distributors' jukebox strips are popular among collectors.

About the songs
Nearly 80 songs recorded by the Rolling Stones entered either the UK or US charts since 1963, twelve of them peaking at #1 ['Satisfaction', 'Get Off Of My Cloud', 'Paint It, Black' and 'Honky Tonk Women' were #1 in both countries].

The early years also were the most prolific and, whereas most titles were not yet penned by the Jagger-Richards tandem, record labels Decca [in the UK] and London [in the US] would issue singles at a frantic pace, building the band's reputation as the Beatles' most serious threat.

However, no global marketing strategy would emerge before the 70's, and both countries cultivated their differences in their respective discographies, as would their affiliates in other parts of the world.

The richness and diversity of the Rolling Stones singles discography is mainly due to the fact that, during the 60's, Decca would consider singles an independent market from the LPs' one, whereas London would use this format as a 'lift' for album sales. Therefore, British singles would offer non-album tracks [except for compilations], and Decca England would pass on a few US releases, while the US would opt for different B-sides and be a little more productive.

US exclusive couplings and singles would however often be released on Decca in Europe, notably in Scandinavia for which UK would exclusively press 'export' singles [Denmark, Sweden and Norway also pressed their own records and imported regular UK releases].