Top of the Charts: “I’m Telling You Now” by Freddie and the Dreamers

Apr. 10, 1965 - Hitting No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 today was “I’m Telling You Now,” a song by Freddie Garrity and Mitch Murray recorded by Freddie and the Dreamers.

“I’m Telling You Now” was first released in the United Kingdom in August 1963 on EMI’s Columbia label and went to number two in the U.K. Singles Chart, becoming the band’s biggest hit. This year, Capitol’s subsidiary, Tower Records, re-released the song in the U.S.

Born in Crumpsall, Manchester, Freddie Garrity worked as a milkman while playing in local skiffle groups: the Red Sox, the John Norman Four and, finally, the Kingfishers, who became Freddie and the Dreamers in 1959.

Garrity’s trademark is his comic dancing and his habit of leaping up and down during performances. This, combined with his almost skeletal appearance and horn-rimmed glasses, have made him an eccentric figure in the U.K. rock ’n’ roll scene.

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