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SPECTROPOP - Spectacular! Retro! Pop!
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There are 13 messages in this issue.
Topics in this digest:
1. Re: Barbara Acklin
From: Shawn Baldwin
2. Re: Sen Robert Kennedy and "Wild Thing"
From: Den
3. Re: The Beach Boys vs. the Four Seasons
From: Steve Harvey
4. Re: Better Covers
From: David Coyle
5. Re. Sen Robert Kennedy and "Wild Thing"
From: Rat Pfink
6. Re: Sen Robert Kennedy and "Wild Thing"
From: Paul Balser
7. Re: Mello Cads Live This Friday
From: James Botticelli
8. Mac Davis -- A life in rock and roll
From: Hugo M.
9. Re British Remakes & Foreign Language Remakes
From: Tony Baylis
10. Re: Simon & Garfunkel + The Everly Brothers
From: Karl Baker
11. Mitch Albom meets Simon & Garfunkel
From: Andrew Jones
12. Re. Sen Robert Kennedy and "Wild Thing"
From: Phil Milstein
13. Re: The Beach Boys vs. the Four Seasons
From: Billy G. Spradlin
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Message: 1
Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2003 16:19:11 -0500
From: Shawn Baldwin
Subject: Re: Barbara Acklin
James Botticelli wrote:
> ... But the music is great, Barbara being essential to any
> Chi-Town soul collector worth the name. For my money? "I'll
> Bake Me A Man" runs the show, but that's just me.
Love me some Barbara Acklin LOVE MAKES A WOMAN!
Shawn
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Message: 2
Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2003 18:16:09 -0400
From: Den
Subject: Re: Sen Robert Kennedy and "Wild Thing"
A series of Senator Bobby singles (and an album) were released
under the name of The Hardly-Worthit Players in 1967. The voice
of "Bobby" was credited to a Bill Minchin. I think some of these
guys later on went to be a part of the 2nd City comedy troupe.
At least 3 singles were released on the Parkway label, and a
final one was released on RCA in the spring of 1968.
The events of June 1968 put an abrupt end to the Senator Bobby
parodies.
Den.
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Message: 3
Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2003 15:59:14 -0700 (PDT)
From: Steve Harvey
Subject: Re: The Beach Boys vs. the Four Seasons
Andrew Hickey re. "East Meets West":
> And on paper is where it should have stayed - it sounds exactly
> like the dozen or so other flop non-album tracks the Beach Boys
> put out in the 80s (Problem Child, California Dreaming, Rock &
> Roll To The Rescue etc), just a tired, badly performed song about
> how great it was back in those crazy 60s, with bad 80s production
> to boot...
I disagree! It's really Fankie Valli and the Beach Boys, but it's a
much better tune than most of the ones the Beach Boys did with other
acts. The production is a little slick, but the tune is not bad.
Better than alot of the later stuff the Boys put out. I'd rather
listen to it than "Kokomo" any day.
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Message: 4
Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2003 16:30:54 -0700 (PDT)
From: David Coyle
Subject: Re: Better Covers
Mike Edwards wrote:
> ("You're No Good" by the Swinging Blue Jeans) was one of
> the five best examples of a UK cover being better than the
> original US version. The others are:
> Dave Clark 5 - "Over And Over" (Bobby Day)
> Dave Clark 5 - "Do You Love Me" (Contours)
> Searchers - "Love Potion No. 9" (Clovers)
> Beatles - "Rock And Roll Music" (Chuck Berry)
"Over And Over" by the Dave Clark 5 better than the
original?? I personally don't think so. There's an
argument over on the Garage66 list right now about the
British Invasion, where the DC5 are having their share
of defenders and detractors, as they have since 1964.
I personally like them, but agree that a lot of their
tracks, especially covers, can be samey, with that
stomping beat and unison vocals.
"Over And Over" by Bobby Day, which I was recently
reacquainted with via Varese's "American Roots Of The
British Invasion" compilations, swings in a way the
DC5's version never could compete with. The "doo-oots"
in the backing vocals trucks it along. Besides, the
DC5 didn't even get all the words right, singing
"everybody there was there" (or "dead"?) instead of
"everybody there went stag."
As far as the Swinging Blue Jeans' version of "You're
No Good," I agree it's a great version, but is it
really definitive? Or do you mean definitive UK
version? I always thought the Linda Ronstadt version
was definitive, at least it's the one everyone knows.
Her version of "Silver Threads And Golden Needles" is
harder to place next to the Springfields version,
which is probably the best-known version on most
traditional "oldies" stations. As far as "When Will I
Be Loved" or "That'll Be The Day," the originals are
still the greatest, as Dobie Gray would sing (or
Ramsey Lewis would play).
David
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Message: 5
Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2003 19:18:52 -0400
From: Rat Pfink
Subject: Re. Sen Robert Kennedy and "Wild Thing"
Mac Joseph wrote:
> In 1967 somebody did a parody of Sen. Bobby Kennedy singing
> "Wild Thing". Through my research, I found out later that
> the singer was a guy by the name of "Bobby Pickett". So here
> is my question: Is this the same Bobby "Boris" Pickett, from
> "Monster Mash" fame, or someone else. Or was my research wrong.
Your research may be wrong. According to Joel Whitburn's
Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, "Senator Bobby" was
someone named Bill Minkin of The Hardly-Worthit Players.
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Message: 6
Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2003 20:45:26 -0400 (Eastern Daylight Time)
From: Paul Balser
Subject: Re: Sen Robert Kennedy and "Wild Thing"
Bob Bailey:
> While we're at it, anyone have an mp3 of this, as this will
> be an addition to my Top 200 Hits of 1967.
I've got one in my CD archives. If I can find it I'll put it up.
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Message: 7
Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2003 20:19:10 -0400
From: James Botticelli
Subject: Re: Mello Cads Live This Friday
David Ponak wrote:
> Also, our new CD, "Gentle Explosion", comes out 10/22 in Japan
> on Philter records.
Hey David! Are the Mello Cads going for Baroque??? Hahahahahahaha.
Congratulations on a new CD. The sample songs sound great.
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Message: 8
Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2003 01:49:21 -0000
From: Hugo M.
Subject: Mac Davis -- A life in rock and roll
Oops, Clark caught me in a dumb mistake, wrong song title. Mac Davis
wrtote that Everyday People said? Reminds me of a 45 he put out @ '65,
jumping on the protest-song bandwagon; a two-sided Sonny Bono
imitation called "Bad Scene/I Protest". Extremely funny, though I'm
not sure if the humor was intentional...
And THAT reminds me of an off-the-wall foreign-language
cover-version... Mexican band Los Teen Tops, who started out as
rockabillies in 1959/60, doing a mid-70's version of 'Rub It In' by
Crash Craddock, queasily surreal.
I could play this game all day...
bang-bang, shoot-shoot...
Hugo M.
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Message: 9
Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2003 03:03:05 -0000
From: Tony Baylis
Subject: Re British Remakes & Foreign Language Remakes
I suggest no list of top British remakes would be complete
without 'Only Sixteen' by Craig Douglas. One of the very (IMHO) few
that was better than Sam Cooke's original - although that too was
excellent.
I have a Neil Sedaka cd on which is offered ..
Mi Vecinita (Next Door To An Angel) - Spanish
Es Dificil Decir Adios (Breaking Up Is Hard To Do) - Spanish
Feliz Cumpleanos, Dulce Dieciseis (Happy Birthday Sweet 16) - Spanish
Un Giorno Inutile (I Must Be Dreaming) - Italian
A 16 Anni Tu Vuoi Amare (It Hurts To Be 16) - Italian
Kinda neat !!
Tony Baylis
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Message: 10
Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2003 23:26:48 -0400
From: Karl Baker
Subject: Re: Simon & Garfunkel + The Everly Brothers
Mary S:
> Wow! If I didn't fear for the safety of my eardrums, I'd give
> virtually anything to attend the Simon and Garfunkel "Old Friends"
> Tour that even includes my all-time favorite harmony singers, the
> Everly Brothers!!!! I have no idea why the volume is always cranked
> up so high at all concerts, even ones of gentle pop music. Why do
> people want to hear music played at such an outrageous volume? It
> actually is painful to the ears!!
The volume is necessary to drown out all of the jackasses who - despite
having shelled out mucho bucks to get in to the show - insist upon
singing along and/or whooping at the top of their lungs. Guess that's
why I haven't been to a concert in a large venue for a very long time.
Karl Baker
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Message: 11
Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2003 23:37:10 -0400 (EDT)
From: Andrew Jones
Subject: Mitch Albom meets Simon & Garfunkel
With all the talk about the Simon & Garfunkel reunion tour, I can't
resist sharing this.
Most of you (at least in the US) know Mitch Albom as a bestselling
author ("Tuesdays with Morrie") and as a sports columnist. Some of you
may also know that Mitch hosts a syndicated radio talk-show. A few days
ago on that show, Mitch told about how he and Art Garfunkel were
conversing in a restaurant, apparently just before the tour began...when
who should walk up to the table but Paul Simon himself! The conversation
continued, and turned to the baseball playoffs. Apparently Paul and
Artie had a slight difference of opinion about who were the better
teams, and Mitch just sat there petrified, thinking "Oh no, now they're
gonna get into another big argument, the whole reunion tour will be
cancelled and it'll be partly MY fault!" Happily, that didn't happen
(yet), and the tour's still on.
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Message: 12
Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2003 00:19:39 -0400
From: Phil Milstein
Subject: Re. Sen Robert Kennedy and "Wild Thing"
Rat Pfink wrote:
> Your research may be wrong. According to Joel Whitburn's
> Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, "Senator Bobby" was
> someone named Bill Minkin of The Hardly-Worthit Players.
Minkin's cohorts in The Hardly-Worthit Players were Steve Baron and
Dennis Wholey. (The group name was a pun on "The Huntley-Brinkley
Report," NBC-TV's nightly news program at the time.) Interestingly,
Wholey's partner in putting the "whole" affair together was Chip Taylor,
who we all know as the author of "Wild Thing," the group's big hit.
Other pieces on their "Boston Soul" LP include:
King Of The Road with Mr. President (parody of Lyndon Johnson)
The Motown Sound
Daydream with William Rebuttley, Jr. (parody of conservative commentator
William Buckley)
Mellow Yellow with Senators McKinley and Bobby
96 Tears with Senator Bobby and the Questions
White Christmas with Bobby the Poet
Most of these pieces are in the style of their take on "Wild Thing." The
last one, however, diverges in that a) it is a parody not of a current
politician but rather of Bob Dylan, and b) it weaves that into a parody
of Simon & Garfunkel's "Silent Night/3 A.M. News." As I recall the
voicing was one of the better Dylan parodies that I've heard.
The "Boston Soul" LP was a follow-up to their debut, "The Hardly-Worthit
Report." Most oddly, the caption under a photo of Taylor and Wholey that
ran rather prominently on the back cover reads:
"Co-Producers Chip Taylor and Dennis Wholey, who, after producing their
first album, 'The Hardly-Worthit Report,' under the clever name of C & D
Productions (Chip and Dennis) decided that they should rename their
partnership with a catchier title, as is usual in the recording
industry. Henceforth, they will do business under the name of:
Taylor-Wholey Productions, Ltd."
That text reads much like the type you might find on a demo recording
sent out to the advertising industry, which leads me to wonder if that
wasn't one of the motives behind these two albums, i.e. they might've
been pitching themselves as something of a latter-day Stan Freberg-type
company.
--Phil M.
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Message: 13
Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2003 04:21:49 -0000
From: Billy G. Spradlin
Subject: Re: The Beach Boys vs. the Four Seasons
> And on paper is where it should have stayed - it sounds exactly
> like the dozen or so other flop non-album tracks the Beach Boys
> put out in the 80s (Problem Child, California Dreaming, Rock &
> Roll To The Rescue etc), just a tired, badly performed song about
> how great it was back in those crazy 60s, with bad 80s production
> to boot...
Im not impressed with the production or song (though it has some nice
hooks and a really nice vocal "swell" near the end where Frankie adds
some nice "ooohs" on top) it was kind of cool to hear Brian and
Frankie together on one 45.
But it does sounds like they just Fed-Ex'd the master tape to
wherever each member of the Beach Boys was to add thier vocals onto
it. Like most of the Beach Boys 80's and early 90's output it never
sounds like the group was in the same room at the same time, just
phoning in thier parts to a pre-programmed track.
"No Surfin Today" is a great song though! - the group was clearly
making fun of the Beach Boys and all the teenage tragedy/death hits
("Tell Laura I Love Her", "Last Kiss") that were hot in the early
60's. Its another one of those great seasons B-sides that could have
eaisly been pulled as a A-side and charted.
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