Spectropop - Digest Number 1131

• From: Spectropop Group
• Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2003

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               SPECTROPOP - Spectacular! Retro! Pop!
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There are 10 messages in this issue.

Topics in this digest:

      1. Re: Teddy Randazzo R.I.P.
           From: That Alan Gordon 
      2. Re: Teddy Randazzo R.I.P.
           From: ellichar 
      3. Re: Teddy Randazzo R.I.P.
           From: Mike Rashkow 
      4. Re: Teddy Randazzo R.I.P.
           From: S'pop Team 
      5. Re: Wild Thing
           From: Austin Powell 
      6. Beatles - Born Too Late
           From: Michael 
      7. Revolution In The Head
           From: Michael 
      8. Re: Modern Doo Wop
           From: Superoldies 
      9. Re: Sonny Bono, Disco
           From: Guy Lawrence 
     10. Another Bob Gaudio Production / Seagulls
           From: Art Longmire 


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Message: 1
   Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2003 17:48:06 -0700 (MST)
   From: That Alan Gordon 
Subject: Re: Teddy Randazzo R.I.P.

> ...Teddy Randazzo, co-author of more than 600 songs, died Friday 
> night at his home in Orlando. He was 68. Born Alessandro Randazzo 
> in Brooklyn, N.Y., to a musical family...

Sad news indeed. Teddy Randazzo was a voice that was there at the
begining of rock 'n' roll. His movies with Alan Freed, his group the
Chuckles, his solo records, "That's the way of a clown", among
others, and his great songs, made him a giant in the music world.
Didn't the Chuckles have that great record "Blanche"? R.I.P.

That alan




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Message: 2
   Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 02:12:03 -0000
   From: ellichar 
Subject: Re: Teddy Randazzo R.I.P.

What a rotten shame.  I had always loved his work.  He wrote some of 
the best soulful ballads of the 1960s.  One masterpiece of his (co-
written with Weinstein and Lou Stallman) is one of my all-time 
favorites: "You Better Go".  It was first recorded (and is best 
known) by Derek Martin for Roulette in 1965, and later by Frankie 
Valli, Darrell Banks and Nancy Wilson.  I don't know who produced the 
Martin version, but it is exquisite!  That's one song that should be 
recorded more often, but from today's current crop of "stars", who 
could do it justice?  Considering what a great job Luther Vandross 
did in covering "Goin' Out Of My Head", hopefully once he fully 
recovers from his stroke he can do a version of "You Better Go".



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Message: 3
   Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2003 22:26:22 EST
   From: Mike Rashkow 
Subject: Re: Teddy Randazzo R.I.P.

Mick Patrick writes:
> Very sad news. Teddy Randazzo was one of the greatest songwriter/
> ongwriter/arranger/producers operating in the S'pop sphere, his 
> luscious, sophisticated, string-drenched creations rivalling those 
> of such contemporaries as Burt Bacharach, Jerry Ragovoy and Phil 
> Spector.

Agree with Mick 100%. Nice guy too. Very down to earth and unassuming.  
Used to see him nearly everyday when I worked at Sounds On Broadway 
which was part-owned by Don Costa's South Mountain Music.

He called everyone (males at least) and this is spelled phonetically
-- "fachalugatz". I think it meant face like a penis or something 
along those lines.

I remember him bringing in Little Anthony and The Imperials and doing 
the background parts to a thing he wrote with Vicki Pike called "Trick 
Or Treat". Very tough parts and he taught them to the boys out in the 
hall by singing the lines to them. Come to think of it, I did that 
track as well, and his vocal, but he took it somewhere else to mix it.   

The first record I produced with the Queen of Rock and Roll, Ms. 
Eleanor Greenwich, was also written by Vicki Pike and Teddy. He gave 
us the demo track and we built from there.

He was very health conscious. Used to do yoga and stuff. Hang upside 
down, and things like that. Cautious on what he ate.

The article said he was married to someone named R. Kelly. I had 
thought he married Vicki Pike before moving to Florida.  A Google 
check of Vicki Pike came back with some young girl singer in 
Newfoundland.

Sad news. Big talent. Anyone know what became of Vicki Pike? She was a
pretty good lyricist.

I'm 62, he was 68. I better start playing more golf.

Di da,

Rashkovsky



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Message: 4
   Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 08:10:55 -0000
   From: S'pop Team 
Subject: Re: Teddy Randazzo R.I.P.

New @ Musica - In Tribute To Teddy Randazzo:

Teddy Randazzo..."Lost Without You" (DCP 1108, 1964)
Timi Yuro........"Can't Stop Running Away" (Mercury 72431, 1965)
Georgia Gibbs...."Let Me Dream" (Mala 635, 1968)

All three are available right here: 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/spectropop/files/musica/

The S'pop Team




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Message: 5
   Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2003 18:40:04 -0000
   From: Austin Powell 
Subject: Re: Wild Thing

David Coyle wrote:
> The other day, I was in a Sam Goody store, and I saw a clerk 
> wearing a button that said: "Q: Who Was The First Group To Cover 
> 'Wild Thing'?" Apparently Sam Goody's chain has a new pop music 
> trivia game for sale in its stores, and this was a tie-in. Do you 
> know how much it took for me to keep from saying "The Troggs" and 
> explaining how the Troggs had gotten it from a recording made by 
> an LA club band? (I forget who it was...)

Fred wrote:
> I thought it was a New York band, the Wild Ones, headed by Jordan 
> Christopher. Jordan was previously the lead singer of Jordan and the 
> Fascinations ("Once Upon A Time" [Carol]; "If You Love Me (Really 
> Love Me)" [Dapt]). If Demo's count, the song's writer, Chip Taylor 
> (brother of actor, Jon Voight), recorded a version, though I am 
> uncertain if it ever saw commercial release.

The Wild Ones' version slipped out in the UK on a United Artists 
various artists album called "16 Of The Best Golden Oldies" (ULP 1243). 
In Alan Warner's sleeve notes it says: "In May 1966, the Troggs took 
the Chip Taylor song "Wild thing" to the top of the British charts; 
included here is the original version by the Wild Ones which was 
released in the States the previous year".   A more different version 
could hardly be imagined.  The LP also included "My Place" by the 
Crystals, Del Shannon's "Runaway", "Red River Rock" by Johnny & The 
Hurricans and a UK version of "Stop Her On Sight (S.O.S.) by Long John 
Baldry.  I once played The Wild Ones on the radio - the audience was 
not impressed !

Austin



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Message: 6
   Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2003 19:30:09 -0000
   From: Michael 
Subject: Beatles - Born Too Late

I enjoyed reading the various accounts of when you first heard 
particular Beatles records. That's the main drawback I feel about 
being a later generation Beatles fan (I'm 34). Sure, I can still 
enjoy the recordings on their own merit, and I have my own nice 
memories of when I first heard certain songs and albums...But by not 
being around when they were first released, I'll never know what they 
really sounded like at the time. Let me explain:

By the time I got into the Beatles, all their albums were available 
for me to buy and examine in any possible order. The order in which I 
took in their LPs, first by way of a few we had in the house and then 
later by my buying them up one by one, zigzagged chronologically. 
Those ones in the house I mentioned included the early stuff 
via 'Meet The Beatles' as well as later more studio-minded 'Magical 
Mystery Tour' and 'Yellow Submarine.' Throw in 'Help!' and 'Yesterday 
and Today' and you'll see that at an early age, I was concurrently 
absorbing bits and pieces from all phases of their career. 

Therefore, later on when I first heard the 'Sgt. Pepper' LP, I liked 
it but had already heard their stuff that had come after that...as 
well as current 1970s music like ELO and progressive rock that had 
already taken from 'Pepper/Mystery' and went on from there with it. 
In other words, I was denied the thrill of "Wow, I've never heard 
anything like this" that listeners had upon hearing it in 1967. 

And not just 'Pepper.' I think it would have been cool to ingest each 
new Beatles record one by one as fans did in the 1960's, being amazed 
by each new one, with no clue as to where they were going next.

But as it is, I heard 'Let It Be' and "A Day In The Life" before I 
heard "Love Me Do" and "I Feel Fine" (and probably heard "Band On The 
Run" and "Whatever Gets You Through The Night" before hearing any of 
those). I'll never know the true "context" of the records. Sure, I 
can research and find a list of other records released around the 
same time to see what else was happening in pop at the time, but I 
can't temporarily erase from my mind everything that came later. 

Some of you may be saying "What difference does it make, just as long 
as you like the music?" And that's a valid point, but still, I wish I 
could have enjoyed these works of art in their original frames for 
that extra ounce of appreciation.



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Message: 7
   Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2003 19:31:03 -0000
   From: Michael 
Subject: Revolution In The Head

Someone said:
> All Beatle fans and Spectropoppers alike should have by their beds 
> a copy of Revolution in the Head by Ian Macdonald, the best book 
> about the Fabs & a good shot at the best book on pop music ever.

I'm afraid I disagree with this comment. I wasn't too crazy about 
that book. First, it just seemed to me like a large portion of it was 
little more than Mark Lewisohn's 'Recording Sessions' book reworded 
(like an elementary school student rewording an encyclopedia entry 
and handing it in as a school report). Second, his using a number for 
every song title was highly annoying and very user-unfriendly. I also 
didn't agree with many of his assessments. 

However, one thing I did like about the book was the month by month 
look, where he lists the popular songs of the day, which not only let 
readers see just what songs the Beatles singles were riding the 
charts with but also...and this was what I found cool, since I was 
still pre-internet at this point...gave me my first clue of a whole 
lotta songs/bands that were having huge hits in England that I never 
heard of. "Love Sculpture? Amen Corner?" Hadn't heard of them until 
then..."And wow, look at all these Manfred Mann and Hollies songs 
I've never even heard of that were smashes over there!" I found that 
incredibly fascinating. So much so that at the time I was doing a 
college radio show of classic and overlooked 1960s music, and I 
started a weekly feature of "UK Smashes/US Flops," where I'd play 
songs that were Top Ten hits in Britain that didn't do a thing here.



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Message: 8
   Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2003 20:57:14 -0000
   From: Superoldies 
Subject: Re: Modern Doo Wop

> What other modern doo wop records are there? 

My group The Shackshakers is an "oldies" style group, not strictly 
doo-wop. We did a cover of "Morse Code Of Love" on our CD, and 
surprisingly oldies stations have been playing it quite a bit. A new 
group on oldies stations...fairly unheard of.



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Message: 9
   Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2003 22:06:11 -0000
   From: Guy Lawrence 
Subject: Re: Sonny Bono, Disco

What is it about Sonny Bono? He always seems to get such a hard
time! I know he was no genius but all I ever hear is people doing 
him down! Sure, he made a dodgy psychedelic album but he did 
work with Don & Dewey! Give Sonny a break!

Steve Harvey wrote:
> Sorry Stuffed Animal, but I have to agree with Bob Seger and his 
> sentiment, "Give Me That Old Time Rock and Roll". I have nothing 
> against dance music, but the majority of disco did sux.  
> The disposable artist really reached its heyday during disco. It's 
> hard to find any disco acts that had more than one or two hits (the 
> exceptions seem to be KC, Donna Summers and the Village People). The
> majority seemed to fit the "use and lose 'em". Forget acts like the 
> Beatles that musically evolved before your eyes (and ears). Get an 
> act have a hit, rip them off and then find some new fools. 

...An art perfected in the sixties by many of the producers we (rightly)
celebrate today. The "disposable artist" and the pop production line 
were central to such brands of Spectropop as girl group, surf, 
sunshine pop and bubblegum. For me, disco music is up there with
space travel as one of man's greatest achievements.

> I started swing dancing in 1988...

Maybe Tony Manero swing dances now?...

Guy



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Message: 10
   Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2003 22:11:53 -0000
   From: Art Longmire 
Subject: Another Bob Gaudio Production / Seagulls

I have a promo 45 by a group called Lock, Stock and Barrel on the 
Gazette label-the record is produced by Bob Gaudio and, I would 
guess, dates from 1968 or '69. The plug side is called "Happy 
People". Are any Bob Gaudio experts familiar with this one? This 
record is interesting in that it has a custom sleeve done up to 
resemble a newspaper-similar to Jethro Tull's "Thick as a Brick".

Any info would be appreciated-I haven't been able to turn up any 
information on this tune so far.

Also, thanks to Faux J.C. for the info on the Seagulls-you mentioned 
several titles by them I hadn't heard of, including "Don't Go Out 
Into the Rain"-which I have by Herman's Hermits, a nice tune...as 
usual it sets me to wondering which version was first. As I recall, 
that is a Kenny Young song-was he a member of the Seagulls?

Art




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