The Ides of March — “You Wouldn’t Listen”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 6, 2024

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD

1,070) The Ides of March — “You Wouldn’t Listen”

Warning: Do not read any further if you are from Chicago — this lovely and surprisingly sophisticated song launched the Ides of March’s (see #431) career and reached #7 in Chicagoland! It was the first hit by the band, reaching #42 nationally. Kent Kotal tells us that:

[“You Wouldn’t Listen” is] as good as ANY song on the charts in 1966.  (They certainly came a long, long way in a very brief period of time … not only as songwriters but as musicians and singers as well.  This is a VERY sophisticated piece of material for some 15 and 16 year old kids still in High School!!!) . . . . Jim Peterik has told the story many times over the years of how they blended the soulful, gospel sounds of Curtis Mayfield and The Impressions with the latest trends coming out of The British Invasion.  Listen to the opening riff on “You Wouldn’t Listen” and you’ll feel an immediate connection to “Tired Of Waiting For You” by The Kinks.  But it was the merger of BOTH of these distinct sounds that allowed them to come up with their very own, original sound, making “You Wouldn’t Listen” a track that still holds up incredibly well today.  

http://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/2015/07/the-ides-of-march-part-2.html?m=1

They had the eye of the tiger, alright! Kotal continues:

[It] was originally released as by Batt Mann and the Boy Wonders on a local Ginny Records label.  Thankfully, the band changed their name to the Ides of March and were sometimes promoted to be an English band.  “You Wouldn’t Listen” was first released on the local label Harlequin Records and then, nationally on Parrot Records in early 1966. . . [I]t quickly climbed Chicago’s radio station charts and then the national charts . . . . Dick Clark featured it on his American Bandstand weekly dance show . . . .  

http://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/2015/07/the-ides-of-march-part-2.html?m=1

As to IOM’s origins, Mark Deming explains:

The [band is] best-known for the tough, “hard rock with horns” sound of their 1970 hit “Vehicle,” but that’s just one facet of the group’s body of work. In the mid-’60s, they played British Invasion-influenced garage rock with a dash of folk on a handful of singles . . . . The story of the Ides of March began in 1964, when four friends who went to school together in the Chicago suburb of Berwyn, Illinois decided to form a band. With Jim Peterik [yes, of Survivor] on vocals and guitar . . . the group adopted the name the Shon Dels . . . . and in 1966, they changed their name to the Ides of March, after [a band member] had read Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar in English class.

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-ides-of-march-mn0000768010/biography

Richie Unterberger adds:

Although they recorded a number of singles throughout the rest of the 1960s . . . and had another sizable local hit with “Roller Coaster,” the Ides never did break nationally at this stage, or manage to get an LP out. They continued to work as a popular regional live act, however, in the process expanding into harder, heavier, more soulful sounds from their original British Invasion-inspired style. They . . . add[ed] a horn section along the way and ke[pt] their multi-part vocal harmonies. “We started as a British Invasion wanna-be band, really, kind of Curtis Mayfield-meets-the-Hollies,” remarks . . . Peterik . . . . “We loved that sound, but as the band wore on, we started wanting to do songs with brass, like the James Brown stuff and Arthur Conley’s ‘Sweet Soul Music.’ We got a trumpet, and that was seductive; then we got another. It was kind of a gradual process .[“] . . .

http://www.richieunterberger.com/vehicle.html

Here are kids dancing to the song on American Bandstand:

Here is a French version from Quebec by les Phénomènes —

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