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SPECTROPOP - Spectacular! Retro! Pop!
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There are 14 messages in this issue.
Topics in this digest:
1. Re: The fall of The Rascals
From: Clark Besch
2. Re: BTM
From: James Botticelli
3. Re: Hard Times
From: John Berg
4. Kenny Young - Slauson Street
From: Tom Diehl
5. Re: Russ Titleman
From: Declan Meehan
6. 60sgaragebands.com May Updates
From: Mike Dugo
7. Re: Young Rascals
From: Joe Nelson
8. Re: Russ Titelman
From: Mike Edwards
9. Re: B&H's L.U.V.
From: Matt Spero
10. Re: Water; hello, Cynthia; Del Satins; Paul Simon's "Works In Progress 2"
From: Country Paul
11. Re: no "Collage"
From: Bill Mulvy
12. Re: Summy Symphony
From: Anthony Parsons
13. Re: In defense of Paul Anka
From: Chris Brame
14. The Whyte Boots
From: Mick Patrick
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Message: 1
Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2005 04:52:20 -0000
From: Clark Besch
Subject: Re: The fall of The Rascals
Bill Mulvy wrote:
> Is "See" one of The Rascals' most overlooked songs?
> Beware of the version that appears on the 2-CD box set
> by Rhino, which cuts the "See" ending considerably and
> has mostly mono versions on it.
I totally agree about "See". The Rascals story is so strange. Right
when they were at the very top of a great career, they fell flat!
Unlike groups who get let down easy after peaking, these guys never
were in the game after "People Got To Be Free". That song was
their fifth Top 10 out of six releases, and it spent a whopping
five weeks at #1 in '68. Followups "A Ray Of Hope" and "Heaven"
may have had their messages, but they lacked everything musically
that all those previous Top 10 hits had.
"See" was a masterpiece rocker, but they had lost serious momentum,
it seemed. "Carry Me Back" was a good song too, but after that it
was over. So many groups, such as the Hermits and DC5, seemed to
have a slow fade from the top, but The Rascals could do no wrong
in '68, until those those records I mentioned above. Unlike many
groups where their music passed them by, The Rascals don't fit
that groove. There was no other group that sounded like The Rascals,
at least until J. Geils in '72 or so. It's just so surprising how a
group with so many terrific songs in a row could suddenly not have
any. The Monkees fell very very fast from the top too, but they'd
never had the string that The Rascals had for three years.
Clark
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Message: 2
Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2005 20:41:35 -0400
From: James Botticelli
Subject: Re: BTM
Bob Rashkow wrote:
> The Ribbons and Mike Clifford singles are hard to locate.
> Congratulations!!
Thanks, Bob. I'd been listening for the past 10 years to the phony
stereo version on Era Back-To-Back Hits, b/w Toni Fisher's phony
stereo version of "The Big Hurt". Now I hafta join our British brethren
in saying, "Back To Mono".
JB
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Message: 3
Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2005 22:04:33 EDT
From: John Berg
Subject: Re: Hard Times
Bill George wrote:
> Someone here recently mentioned the Pozo Seco Singers'
> version of Chip Taylor's "I Can Make It With You". ... I have a
> video of a group called 'Hard Times' doing it. It's a great
> version. Was this ever released on vinyl?
The Hard Times album, along with some non-LP items, was reissued
on CD by Rev-Ola. You can find specific song titles at their website:
http://www.revola.co.uk/
John Berg
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Message: 4
Date: Wed, 27 Apr 2005 06:13:36 -0000
From: Tom Diehl
Subject: Kenny Young - Slauson Street
Can anyone help me locate Kenny Young's demo of "Freddy's Street,"
done as "Slauson Street"? I thought I still had it, but apparently
I don't and I'd like to hear it again.
Tom "Diamond Hunter" Diehl
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Message: 5
Date: Wed, 27 Apr 2005 08:50:35 -0000
From: Declan Meehan
Subject: Re: Russ Titleman
Mark Frumento asked:
> To Kingsley's point about RT: has anyone ever compiled a list
> of his earlier songs?
Hi, Mark. I suggest you check out my previous post (Spectropop
Digest #1714, msg. #5) for a list of Russ Titelman songs, which
Mick Patrick later added to.
Mark again:
> My favorite of all his songs is 'I Never Dreamed'.
I agree with your assessment. 'I Never Dreamed' was my favourite
for many years, though I have to say after locating a copy of
ex-Cookie Darlene McCrea 's 'My Heart's Not In It' (on Tower, and
another co-write with Gerry Goffin), that one may eclipse 'I Never
Dreamed' in its melodic subtlety, passion and intensity IMHO.
Currently I have a 'Russ Titelman Songbook' as a permanent fixture
on my iPod Mini (which includes both US and UK productions of
certain tracks), which would certainly make the basis of a fantastic
compilation CD, if licensing permitted. (Have Kingsley or Mick
considered this?)
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Message: 6
Date: Wed, 27 Apr 2005 06:04:17 -0700 (PDT)
From: Mike Dugo
Subject: 60sgaragebands.com May Updates
The May updates to 60sgaragebands.com are now online. Included
this go-round are recollections by Jerry Milam of Golden Voice
Recording, who offers a rebuttal to J.C. Clore of The Third Booth
on his previously printed recollections on the recording of "I
Need Love"; Roger "Eric" Johnson and Forest Cloud of Kansas'
Eric & The Norsemen ("Get It On"); and Edward Gerosa of
Connecticut's The Road Runners. who have four excellent,
previously-unreleased songs on Arf Arf's "New England Teen
Scene" compilation. Check it out ...
Mike Dugo
60sgaragebands.com
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Message: 7
Date: Wed, 27 Apr 2005 09:24:29 -0400
From: Joe Nelson
Subject: Re: Young Rascals
Mikey wrote:
> The band was called The Rascals, and right when they were
> signed by Atlantic and it was announced in Billboard, musician
> and bandleader Johnny Puleo of "Johnny Puleo and The Harmonicat
> Rascals", a popular group with the older set, sued for use of
> the name "Rascals." Atlantic's solution was to change the name
> to The Young Rascals. Thats how it happened, as told by Gene
> Cornish on NPR.
I don't doubt Cornish's memory, as he's been pretty consistent with
the story through the years. I think it got real clear real fast that
if people had the Harmonicat Rascals on the brain to the extent that
they were going to be confused with the Rascals, a name change to the
Young Rascals wasn't going to be any. In any case, I think confusion
between the Young Rascals and the Little Rascals (of Hal Roach's "Our
Gang" series) was far greater.
Joe Nelson
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Message: 8
Date: Wed, 27 Apr 2005 18:47:01 -0000
From: Mike Edwards
Subject: Re: Russ Titelman
Mark Frumento writes:
> To Kingsley's point about RT: has anyone ever compiled a list
> of his earlier songs? Of all of the writers of the 60s his song
> really stand out as incredibly melodically subtle (as opposed
> to the direct to hook writing of Carole King and others). My
> favorite of all his songs is 'I Never Dreamed'. Been on a quest
> to find other examples but I think I can count on one hand the
> number of Russ Titleman songs I have.
Although I don't have it to hand, I'm pretty sure that an article
on Russ Titelman appeared in an issue of either "That Will Never
Happen Again" or "Philately", the print forerunners to Spectropop.
Here's a list I've put together of some of RT's songs that you may
or may not know of:
* Chiffons (and others) - What Am I Gonna Do With You (co-written
with Gerry Goffin)
* Honey Bees - She Don't Deserve You (w/ Goffin)
* Chiffons - Sailor Boy (w/ Goffin)
* Cookies - I Never Dreamed (w/ Goffin)
* Darlene McCrae - Heart's Not In It (w/ Goffin)
* Cinderellas - Please Don't Wake Me (w/ Cynthia Weil)
* Cinderellas - Baby Baby (I Still Love You) (w/ Weil)
* Dusty Springfield - I Wanna Make You Happy (w/ Weil)
* Barbara Mills - Little Things Like That (w/ Larry Kolber)
* Glen Campbell - Guess I'm Dumb (w/ Brian Wilson)
* Hollies (and Monkees) - Yes I Will (aka I'll Be True To You)
(w/ * Goffin)
RT wrote some top quality material but his early '60s repertoire was
not that extensive. Looking at the co-writers of the above titles, he
was clearly very involved with some of our Brill Building favorites.
Having said this I don't think I can endorse your comment that his
songs were "incredibly melodically subtle" whereas those of Carole
King and others were "direct to hook". Carole King's '60s catalog
is so huge and diverse that she has many titles that match the above
for subtlety. I like: "Some Of Your Lovin'", "I Didn't Have Any
Summer Romance", "Randy", "We Love And Learn", "Is This What I Get
For Loving You Baby", "I Wasn't Born To Follow", "Up On The Roof"
and "Oh No Not My Baby" for starters.
Mike Edwards
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Message: 9
Date: Wed, 27 Apr 2005 15:46:38 EDT
From: Matt Spero
Subject: Re: B&H's L.U.V.
Jimmy Botticelli wrote:
> 2. Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart: I Wanna Be Free / L.U.V. (Let
> Us Vote) (A&M). Better known by The Monkees, this is the way
> the writers did it.
FYI, I was a DJ when this came out and "L.U.V." was the A-side.
Matt Spero
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Message: 10
Date: Wed, 27 Apr 2005 15:47:52 -0400
From: Country Paul
Subject: Re: Water; hello, Cynthia; Del Satins; Paul Simon's "Works In Progress 2"
Phil M.:
> Agreed that [Water's] catalogue has a lot of great-looking
> stuff in it, but note that they sell only through distributors
> and not to individual customers.
A Google search for the album title + artist yielded several competing
sites, all below list and with a couple of low-priced choices. J&R Music
World in New York is sending it out.
Cynthia Santiglia:
> Hello everyone - this is my first post! I have very
> much enjoyed reading the lively exchanges on
> Spectropop and wish you all well.
We're tickled to have you aboard, Cynthia; please ask Aunt Peggy if she
feels like jumping in, too!
Phil M. again:
> I found a neato little Del Satins site, including bio,
> photos and discography, at
> http://www.tangerinemusic.com/original.htm
Very cool site. Where would Dion's early solo career have been without them?
Considering that, it must be strange to have one's music be that well known
and yet be almost a "total phantom" comparatively speaking.
Artie Wayne:
> Paul Simon's lyric to "The Boxer" talks about the whores on
> 7th Ave., not 2nd Ave. I remember when Jerry Landis (as I
> knew him then) wrote it. We used to have lunch near one of
> their favorite corners.
It is indeed 7th Avenue. The reference is to the pre-Disney days of Times
Square.
And speaking of "Jerry Landis," I've just acquired the second volume of
"Works In Progress," the Paul Simon-emerges-from-his-embryo collection.
This has the hit "Lone Teen Ranger," possibly the best thing on the CD, but
he does a version of "Tick Tock," an uptempo doo-wop track, that's mighty
credible. The album still overflows with "sweetness" -- an overabundance of
teenage love songs, mostly demos he sang for hire -- but one can hear the
sonic shift moving a little toward the more mature Paul Simon. Unfortunately,
Volume 2 doesn't have a mindbending discovery like the version of "Just To
Be With You" he does with Carole King on the first one (and which was
played to musica), but it's an interesting artifact nonetheless. My next
listen-through will be done with the thorough and well-researched liner
notes in front of me for deeper appreciation of the stories behind the
recordings.
A related question for Artie: Was Paul Simon still using "Jerry Landis" when
he was writing the earlier songs that became Simon & Garfunkel material?
Best to all,
Country Paul
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Message: 11
Date: Wed, 27 Apr 2005 16:06:46 -0500
From: Bill Mulvy
Subject: Re: no "Collage"
Does anyone know why the Raiders' album "Collage" has never
been released on CD?
Bill Mulvy
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Message: 12
Date: Wed, 27 Apr 2005 18:04:28 -0500
From: Anthony Parsons
Subject: Re: Summy Symphony
Jimmy Botticelli wrote:
> 1. Jack Gold Sound: Summer Symphony (Columbia). Penned
> by Sedaka/Greenfield, this stereo/mono copy is a soft rock
> blueprint, with ocean waves rushing, an ever-so-slightly funky
> bass, and Sandpiper-like male vocals. Find of the Week!
Any chance that could be posted to musica? Lesley Gore's version is
definitely among my top five favorites of her recordings (although
I could only list any favorites by her alphabetically rather than
numerically). The song itself is a sublime masterpiece! I'm very
curious as to what this version sounds like. Is that Jack Gold the
same one associated with Lesley's first hit, "It's My Party"? If
so, it's pretty ironic!
Sincerely,
Antone
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Message: 13
Date: Wed, 27 Apr 2005 20:49:27 -0000
From: Chris Brame
Subject: Re: In defense of Paul Anka
Rob Pingel wrote:
> Not only do I think that Paul Anka was one of the finest
> singers during the period in question, but also deserves
> to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Hear, hear! Quick question: on what LP or CD can one find his
great "duet-yourself" version of "You're Just in Love"?
You sound pretty good yourself,
Chris
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Message: 14
Date: Thu, 28 Apr 2005 22:22:31 +0100
From: Mick Patrick
Subject: The Whyte Boots
Once again, I'm on a quest for some very vital research material. An
inhabitant of planet S'pop can help me, I know it. As we all are
aware, the fabled girl group known as the Whyte Boots did not
actually exist. They were put together by Philips Records to promote
the death-disc "Nightmare", the handiwork of singer-songwriter Lori
Burton and her partner in crime Pam Sawyer. At the time of the
release of the single in late-'66/early-'67, the pop magazine Go ran
a feature article about the group, complete with photograph and
quotes from all three members. By any chance, does anyone out there
have a copy of the article, or the magazine. The Rev-Ola label here
in the UK will be releasing Lori Burton's "Breakout" album on CD
sometime soon. They and I would be eternally grateful for any
assistance received.
Hey la,
Mick Patrick
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SPECTROPOP - Spectacular! Retro! Pop!
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