“Lily The Pink” #1 UK 12/11/1968

This week’s UK #1 record was from the Scaffold, a Liverpool trio, which “bubbled under” over here. One member was Mike McGear, later revealed to be Michael McCartney - yep, Paul’s brother. It was a sanitized version of a rather bawdy tune about Lydia Pinkham, inventor of a 19th century patent medicine (Lydia E. Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound) that addressed women’s menstrual, menopausal and other feminine issues. The stuff sold well during Prohibition, likely because it was almost 20% alcohol. The tune became a British military drinking anthem during World War I. Backing vocalists here included Graham Nash, Jack Bruce of Cream, and Reg Dwight before becoming Elton John.