Jackie DeShannon: Needles and Pins

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The writing was credited to Jack Nitzsche and Sonny Bono. Jackie DeShannon claimed joint authorship and she recorded it in 1963, reaching No 84 in the US.

Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers performed it in Hamburg. This appears to be an unreleased live recording.

The Searchers covered it in 1964, taking it to the top of the UK chart and to No 13 in the States.

Del Shannon did it on his 1965 album One Thousand Six-Hundred Sixty-One Seconds of Del Shannon, and I am not sure that this is not the best version. He has a certain pain in his voice which I don’t think the other performers capture.

The Ramones made a reasonable attempt in 1978.

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