The breadth of The Four Seasons’ songbook is such that many of their finest numbers are squeezed out of their musical “biography” Jersey Boys, a must-see until Saturday at Oxford’s New Theatre.

Among “The Ones That Got Away”, as the programme styles them, are some of my favourites, including I’ve Got You Under My Skin, The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore, Silver Star and Don’t Think Twice.

The last was a 1965 novelty recording, released under the band name Wonder Who, in which Frankie Valli’s famous falsetto supplies a piping delivery of Bob Dylan’s folk classic.

Neither in the show nor (for some reason) listed among the escapees is Silence is Golden. This is not a song I much care for, too syrupy by far. The band, I think, rightly relegated it to the B-side of the infinitely superior Rag Doll, a UK No 2 in September 1964.

They must have been a little miffed, however, when the British band The Tremeloes took it to the top of our charts three years later, and to No 11 in the US.

This was an act of grand larceny, in fact, with the whole arrangement lifted lock, stock and barrel from the original, with Len Hawkes slavishly following Valli’s vocal line.

But this was par for the course at the time: think of all those Dionne Warwick hits covered (for which read copied) by Cilla Black.

The record was one of the few duds heard last Saturday on Pick of the Pops when presenter Tony Blackburn focused on the chart from May 1967. This is my favourite programme on Radio 2, eclipsing even Sounds of the Sixties (see below).

Alas, the station worsens as the day goes on, culminating in the early evening with Lisa Tarbuck and the witless contributions of her listeners. Last week’s highlights: “I’m making a fish pie.” “The caravan has changed our lives.”

My favourite programme last week showcased what has a good claim to be – possibly is – my favourite chart. I even have a soft spot for The Dubliners and their Seven Drunken Nights, itself a slice of biography, I think. A friend of mine, who was working at the time for the music press, enjoyed a four-day odyssey around the bars of Dublin’s capital in pursuit of an interview with them. Tony didn’t include this in the records he played – fearful of being seen to encourage drinking, perhaps.

Left off the playlist, which I thought a pity, was Cat Stevens’s I’m Gonna Get Me a Gun, his last offering in pop star mode before moving into the gentler, acoustic-guitar-led music which was recently honoured in his lifetime achievement accolade at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.

Great songs we did hear, though, included The Mamas and the Papas’ Dedicated to the One I Love, Jimi Hendrix’s The Wind Cried Mary (though not his Purple Haze, also in the chart), The Who’s Pictures of Lily, The Kinks’ Waterloo Sunset and Manfred Mann’s Ha Ha Said the Clown.

A week before The Eurovision Song Contest it was good to be reminded of a song that actually won it, in the shape of the bare-footed Sandie Shaw with her Puppet on a String. This was a song heartily disliked (in those days) by its creator, as was Jeff Beck’s Hi-Ho Silver Lining, a record also played. I can’t believe that Jeff was very proud either of his schmaltzy, Bert Weedonesque Love Is Blue from 1968 which was played earlier in the day by Brian Matthew.

Curiously absent from the Top 20 were the mighty duo of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. Both were to return within weeks, however, with anthems that set the tone for what was quickly called the Summer of Love: All You Need is Love and We Love You. Also waiting in the wings were Procul Harum with A Whiter Shade of Pale and Scott McKenzie with San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Some Flowers in Your Hair).

A big part was played in the whole hippy thing by Donovan. It was good to hear him still going strong as a guest on Chris Evans’s Radio 2 Breakfast Show last Friday. He was the first music star I saw in concert, aged 14, exactly 50 years ago – after two non-appearances at the venue (his was a rackety lifestyle then).

Donovan tours this autumn.