Born David Grundy, Dave Berry’s music career began in September 1963 with the British hits while a member of The Cruisers.

Memphis Tennessee then tied for 19th, after which My Baby Left Me was also a modest hit. When he left The Cruisers, he managed to score two solo top 10 hits with The Crying Game and Little Things in the United Kingdom.

This Weird Effect was written by Ray Davies, who had recorded it with the Kinks in 1964. However, the group made a different choice with singles and that is why it took until 2001 before a Kinks performance was also released with a voiceover. Berry’s single entered the UK charts on 22 July 1965, but did not have much success there, taking 37th place. In Belgium and the Netherlands it was a number 1 hit, thanks to the Knokke Festival which ensured that the song received the attention it needed. Reportedly, Dave himself got paid 700 guilders to appear there. The Netherlands won the festival for the second time in a row, thanks mainly to contributions from Greetje Kaufeld and List Liesbeth. Dave Berry received a prize of 20,000 guilders from the press in attendance.

Freak Effect only hit the top 40 in its 13th week and the final push was undoubtedly provided by an appearance at the Grand Gala Du Disque on October 2nd. We didn’t see another long run to first place until 1971; Non, Non, Rien N’A Changé (of Poppys) later became her second number 1 hit which took her three months from the Top 40 to top the list. Poppy’s family even takes 14 weeks. If we ignore repeated hits, it’s rare to take first place so late. After Dave Berry and the Poppys it only happened a third time in 2014 with All Of Me by John Legend before Suzan & Freek only made it in 2019 in its 17th week. Behind La Danse De Zorba, This Weird Effect was for a long time the second most successful Top 40 hit ever.

It wasn’t until 2011 that they were surpassed by a No. 1 hit. 1 Gotye, Someone I Used to Know.

Dave Berry’s popularity seems to know no bounds. In December 1965 he was in the Top 40 with four hits simultaneously. This Strange Effect is still in the top 5, I’m Gonna Take You There in the top 10 with Can I Get It From You and Little Things at the bottom of the list found. Only one artist has managed to top Dave Berry’s performance; At the start of 2013, Sandra Van Nieuwland was in the Top 40 for two weeks with five consecutive hits.