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SPECTROPOP - Spectacular! Retro! Pop!
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There are 20 messages in this issue.
Topics in this digest:
1. Re: The Breakaways CD
From: Ken Mortimer
2. Re: Crystals "Uptown" in stereo
From: James Botticelli
3. Re: Starsailor
From: Alfie Noakes
4. Re: Records for sale
From: Scott Blackerby
5. Re: Oh, Canada!
From: Will Stos
6. Re: Jerry Keller / The Duprees
From: Artie Wayne
7. Re: Oh! Canada
From: Denis Gagnon
8. Re: Oh, Canada!
From: Andrew Charles
9. "Got My Mind Set On You"
From: Andrew Charles
10. Bobby Darin
From: Artie Wayne
11. Re: Timothy
From: Bill George
12. Re: The Breakaways CD
From: Mark Frumento
13. The Willows
From: Stan Tinker
14. More Chiffons
From: David A. Young
15. Albert Brooks' break-in parody
From: James Cassidy
16. Re: The Willows
From: Ian Chapman
17. Re: "Got My Mind Set On You"
From: Art Longmire
18. Re: The Willows
From: Simon White
19. Re: The Duprees
From: Mikey
20. Re: "Got My Mind Set On You"; Willows
From: Ian Chapman
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Message: 1
Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2003 22:37:51 +0100
From: Ken Mortimer
Subject: Re: The Breakaways CD
Supreme Dream:
> To any and all girl group fans out there, I just found out that
> a CD has been released of the Breakaways.... I believe they were
> an off shoot of the Vernons Girls. Amazon.com carried their CD
> which will be released mid-September in the US. If anyone out
> there knows their history, would love hearing about it.
The Breakaways were a derivative of the Vernons Girls (just like the
Ladybirds were). I'm pretty sure there's a New Zealand based website
devoted to the Breakaways. In the meantime, I can tell you that the
wonderful (and much missed) Vicki Brown (wife of Joe and mother of
Sam and Pete) was a member of the Breakaways. More information on
Vicki can be found at http://www.vickibrown.co.uk
This site contains more information on the Breakaways period.
Ken
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Message: 2
Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2003 17:57:05 -0400
From: James Botticelli
Subject: Re: Crystals "Uptown" in stereo
Cmoeh wrote:
> A few years ago I heard what sure sounded like a true
> stereo version of the Crystals' "Uptown". I've been looking
> for the original source of this recording with no success.
> Does anyone out there have a clue?
Your ears are your friends. I too have that version along with
a few other Spector Stereo Spectaculars. "Uptown" is the best
of the batch, but the others ain't closin' time ladies themselves.
JB/still sportin' the 'back to mono' button from Spectropop NYC 6.20
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Message: 3
Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2003 22:46:02 -0000
From: Alfie Noakes
Subject: Re: Starsailor
Mark Wirtz:
> Even though the "Silence Is Easy" tune and Starsailor's vocal
> performance has gotten under my skin, I cannot listen to the
> darn thing anymore.. It turns my stomach and makes me want to
> weep...
So I'm not the only one to be bitterly disappointed by what
has to be Spector's swansong, regardless of current events.
Unfortunately I'm not even impressed by the tune, or the vocal
histrionics that Starsailor's singer specialises in.
I know some of the background to how the sessions came about,
and I suspect that it was more to do with their A&R man, Jeff
Barratt's desire to release A Phil Spector Production, than any
genuine will on the part of the band to submit to the wall of
sound. Whether they had it remixed and tamed in his absence
(likely, seeing as they fired him midway through the sessions),
is really neither here nor there. Spector's been out of the
business for twenty-four years - longer than he was in it - and
his latter-day output was patchy at best. The dream of a Phil
Spector comeback was a compelling one, but probably would have
been better left a dream...
...still, the Brian Wilson comeback. Now that's got to be worth
holding out for.
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Message: 4
Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2003 18:49:41 EDT
From: Scott Blackerby
Subject: Re: Records for sale
Ken Bell wrote:
> If you are looking to trade records that are Out Of Print,
> there is a group by that name.
Do you have the link for this one?
Scott
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Message: 5
Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2003 02:12:11 -0000
From: Will Stos
Subject: Re: Oh, Canada!
Keith wrote:
> Anybody else have any good Canadian soft rock recommendations?
Hmmmm, not so much soft rock and soft pop. Check out Les Miladys,
the Quebec-based ye-ye group. They sing in French, but their
melodies and harmonies transcend language. Plus they do some great
covers like Sandie Shaw's "Message Understood" and Lulu's "To Sir
With Love" en francais.
Will : )
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Message: 6
Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2003 05:49:59 -0700 (PDT)
From: Artie Wayne
Subject: Re: Jerry Keller / The Duprees
Mikey asked:
> Are you saying that The Duprees didn't sing on "You Belong
> To Me" or that you simply put some additional backrounds on
> the record. Please clear this up, if you can.
Mikey..........How ya'doin?
When Bob Reno, who worked in publishing at Coed records, asked
us to sing on "You Belong To Me", I believe the label was having
trouble with the group. We rehearsed with the lead singer a few times........then went in and recorded. As far as I know, the
rest of the Duprees weren't on the track.
regards,
Artie Wayne
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Message: 7
Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2003 09:04:14 -0400
From: Denis Gagnon
Subject: Re: Oh! Canada
Keith wrote:
> Anybody else have any good Canadian soft rock recommendations?
What about Blue Rodeo ?
Denis
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Message: 8
Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2003 09:35:30 -0400 (EDT)
From: Andrew Charles
Subject: Re: Oh, Canada!
Keith: I'm not quite sure this is what you're looking for,
but there was a Canadian group called Motherlode that had one
big hit in the US, "When I Die." Their Buddah album was a
fixture on my brother's turntable when I was young.
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Message: 9
Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2003 09:40:16 -0400 (EDT)
From: Andrew Charles
Subject: "Got My Mind Set On You"
Wasn't "Got My Mind Set On You" recorded sometime during the
S'pop era, long before George Harrison did it? If there's a
previous S'pop discussion of this, please direct me there
(I couldn't find one).
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Message: 10
Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2003 07:18:55 -0700 (PDT)
From: Artie Wayne
Subject: Bobby Darin
Country Paul..........How ya' doin'?
I'm glad you brought up Bobby Darin and his involvment in folk
music. Although he discovered me and was a mentor I never knew
how committed to the genre he was until Capitol records
reluctantly released "Earthy" in 1963. The album came out
unnoticed between a wave of top ten singles.
It had some incredible material on it that reflected the spirit
of the times, which Bobby performed brilliantly!!
I was so impressed with the album I learned 3 or 4 songs on my
guitar and performed them with some of my originals, as well as
songs from my friend Paul Simon, who backed me up on guitar.
One night, after my first set at the Bitter End in Greenwich
Village.....a stranger came backstage and asked if he could sit
in and play guitar on the next set. Paul looked at me........
I looked at the stranger like he was crazy........until he said
he was Bobby Darin's guitarist.
I knew I was "busted"..........so I just smiled and let Roger
McGuinn sit in with us.
regards,
Artie Wayne
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Message: 11
Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2003 11:02:06 EDT
From: Bill George
Subject: Re: Timothy
Please forgive my untimeliness as I catch up on past digests...
but all this discussion of "Timothy" has me anxious to hear it.
Can it be played to musica or is it currently available on CD?
Are there any other songs about cannibalism that anyone knows of?
What a strange thread that would be...
Bill - who just ate breakfast
np: Little Miss Cornshucks
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Message: 12
Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2003 15:11:07 -0000
From: Mark Frumento
Subject: Re: The Breakaways CD
The Breakaways CD is a great CD and everyone should buy it.
"That's How It Goes" (mono & stereo!) are worth the price of
the CD alone.
Only other comment: The Breakaways should have recorded more
on their own. They sure backed up some second rate singers.
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Message: 13
Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2003 16:30:08 -0000
From: Stan Tinker
Subject: The Willows
The Toronto-based girl group of the mid-sixties, the Willows
(formerly the Girlfriends), had a pretty big national hit in
1966 on MGM with "My Kinda Guy". I thought it was one of the
best recordings by a sixties Canadian artist. I'm wondering if
anyone knows the names of the individual members (especially
the lead) and whether or not they made any other 45s.
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Message: 14
Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2003 17:38:37 -0000
From: David A. Young
Subject: More Chiffons
My "Bronze Chiffons" adventure continues: I found a sealed
copy of their "Greatest Recordings" CD recently discussed
here as the victim, apparently throughout all pressings, of
a degradation phenomenon known as bronzing. I was thrilled
when it played perfectly from start to finish fresh out of
the shrink wrap, and as soon as I'd heard it once to satisfy
myself that all was well, I burned a CD-R copy.
Well, I'll be danged if the copy didn't turn out sounding like
*it* was bronzed, even though the original continues to play
without incident. Any idea what the heck is going on here, and
how I can successfully make myself a backup disc?
Meanwhile, I've just uploaded The Chiffons' alleged 1971 Buddah
single "So Much in Love" to musica for your dining and dancing
pleasure. I say "alleged" because I've never heard confirmation
that this was actually pressed, and have always wondered whether
copies really exist or not. It's taken here from the way out of
print 1993 Kama Sutra/Buddah retrospective CD "Mynd Excursions"
on (UK) Sequel 237.
David
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Message: 15
Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2003 15:57:56 -0400
From: James Cassidy
Subject: Albert Brooks' break-in parody
Roger Smith, who I assume is not married to Ann-Margret, wrote:
> Just in case you missed it, Albert Brooks does a funny parody
> of break-in songs in "Party from Outer Space" on his "A Star is
> Bought" album.
For those of you who haven't heard it, the premise of the album
is that, in a desperate effort to get radio airplay, Albert
includes a track for every radio format (talk, classical ["Bolero"
with lyrics], blues [Albert jams with Albert King, alternating
blues lines with bad jokes], etc.).
The idea of the break-in parody is that, to avoid paying royalties
for sampling real hits, Albert supplies his own. The result is a
break-in record where the "hits" are things like Linda Ronstadt
singing "Don't bother me now, I'm having lunch."
Jim Cassidy
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Message: 16
Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2003 21:07:02 -0000
From: Ian Chapman
Subject: Re: The Willows
Stan Tinker wrote:
> The Toronto-based girl group of the mid-sixties, the Willows
> (formerly the Girlfriends), had a pretty big national hit in
> 1966 on MGM with "My Kinda Guy". I thought it was one of the
> best recordings by a sixties Canadian artist. I'm wondering if
> anyone knows the names of the individual members (especially
> the lead) and whether or not they made any other 45s.
The Willows were Canadian? I had no idea. Can't help with the
group line-up, but I also have "Outside The City"/"Snow Song",
which was the follow-up to "My Kinda Guy".
I agree, they had a tight sound. "Outside The City" got played
on the UK northern soul scene a few years ago. And as a foot-
note, "My Kinda Guy" was also recorded by another girl-group The
Reasons on U.A. (presumably, they were American).
Ian
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Message: 17
Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2003 21:08:02 -0000
From: Art Longmire
Subject: Re: "Got My Mind Set On You"
Andrew Charles wrote:
> Wasn't "Got My Mind Set On You" recorded sometime during the
> S'pop era, long before George Harrison did it? If there's a
> previous S'pop discussion of this, please direct me there
> (I couldn't find one).
Hey Andrew,
I think this song was first recorded by a black singer named
James Ray. I don't have a lot of details and haven't heard Ray's
original version yet, but I absolutely love his big hit "If You
Gotta Make A Fool of Somebody", which dates from the early 60s.
Art Longmire
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Message: 18
Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2003 22:10:51 +0100
From: Simon White
Subject: Re: The Willows
Ian Chapman wrote: -
> The Willows were Canadian? I had no idea. Can't help with the
> group line-up, but I also have "Outside The City"/"Snow Song",
> which was the follow-up to "My Kinda Guy".... "Outside The City"
> got played on the UK northern soul scene a few years ago.....
Too weird! I was searching online for a copy of "Outside The City"
today!
But correct me if I'm wrong - there was a male Willows - weren't
they on MGM as well?
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Message: 19
Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2003 17:13:00 -0400
From: Mikey
Subject: Re: The Duprees
Artie Wayne...
I'm fine, thank you, Art. Hope you are as well.
That is a great story about The Duprees on "You Belong To Me".
What's funny is that it does sound like the group. Great job
by you guys.
PS...Just got a CD Called "Teenage Dreams" Vol 7 that has TWO
of your 45s on it!! Great stuff!!
All the best,
Mikey
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Message: 20
Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2003 21:14:34 -0000
From: Ian Chapman
Subject: Re: "Got My Mind Set On You"; Willows
Art:
> I think this song was first recorded by a black singer named
> James Ray. I don't have a lot of details and haven't heard Ray's
> original version yet, but I absolutely love his big hit "If You
> Gotta Make A Fool of Somebody", which dates from the early 60s.
James cut "I've Got My Mind Set On You" in '62 on Dynamic Sound 503
(it says here...)
Simon:
> But correct me if I'm wrong - there was a male Willows - weren't
> they on MGM as well?
Yes, there was the male doo-wop group the Willows who had the big
hit with "Church Bells May Ring"......and I think there may have
been other groups with that name too. But the Canadian girls are
the only ones listed on MGM.
Ian
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