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SPECTROPOP - Spectacular! Retro! Pop!
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There are 25 messages in this issue.
Topics in this digest:
1. Re: Madison Time (Hit It !)
From: Art Longmire
2. Re: Disco / Chubby / Cameo-Parkway / Frankie Valli
From: James Botticelli
3. Re: The First Disco Records / Vintage Latin
From: James Botticelli
4. Re: Disco
From: James Botticelli
5. Re: The First Disco Rekkid
From: James Botticelli
6. Re: Disco
From: Sebastian Fonzeus
7. Re: House Of The Rising Sun
From: Bill George
8. Re: Disco
From: Art Longmire
9. Gay lyrics - The Purple Gang
From: Doug
10. Re: Japanese Bubblegum CDs
From: Rat Pfink
11. One hit wonders and bucking the trends.
From: Steve Harvey
12. Re: Cameo-Parkway & ABKCO
From: Billy G. Spradlin
13. Re: Japanese Bubblegum CDs
From: Billy G. Spradlin
14. Happiness???
From: Andres
15. Looking for Mob cd or songs for dad?
From: Chris
16. Re: In The Hollies Style
From: Mike McKay
17. Re: Sugaree
From: Mike McKay
18. Disco, Donna, and Hallelujah 2000
From: Jimmy Crescitelli
19. Re: Cameo-Parkway & ABKCO
From: Herb
20. Re: Beatles
From: Mike McKay
21. Re: Wild Thing
From: Jerry Lintelf
22. Re: Beatles - Born Too Late
From: Paul Bryant
23. Re: In defence of Revolution In The Head
From: Paul Bryant
24. Disposable Artists ?
From: Simon White
25. Re: Disco's Bad Rap
From: humthefirst2bars
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Message: 1
Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2003 22:37:19 -0000
From: Art Longmire
Subject: Re: Madison Time (Hit It !)
Simon White:
> Can we have a Madison thread please, please?
Is it just me or do the Madison's dance steps (as described on the
record) seem REALLY complicated? Bad for me-I'm a rotten dancer! But
it was a cool LOOKING dance anyway, at least as it was done in the
movie "Hairspray".
Art
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Message: 2
Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2003 17:32:57 -0500
From: James Botticelli
Subject: Re: Disco / Chubby / Cameo-Parkway / Frankie Valli
Simon writes:
> So my definition of "disco" in this sense has to be a record that
> was SPECIFICALLY made to be danced to in a club. Therefore, I
> nominate Chubby Checker as the first Disco artist, Cameo/Parkway
> as the first disco label and Chubby's version of The Twist as the
> first DISCO record. Not Hank Ballard's because Hank has a whole
> history before "The Twist" and it was just another release for him.
Not to split hairs on this one but the terms disco and discotheque are
not the same. They occured at different times. So how about Chubby as
Godfather of the Discotheque? And Cameo Parkway had Eddie Holman doin'
ballads, The Twilights singing soft girl group harmony, Bobby Rydell
doin' pop rock. Other examples I'm sure exist in their roster that
don't fall into the discotheque category.
Mike Edwards:
> Very true and Chubby Checker specifically referred to clubs in his
> songs. Examples are: "Pony Time" (the Union Hall), "Dancin' Party"
> (the Hall) and "At The Discotheque". Good luck with the sleeve notes
> on the upcoming Cameo-Parkway compilation CDs. They couldn't be in
> better hands.
>
> I don't believe anyone has played Frankie Valli's "You're Gonna Hurt
> Yourself" on radio since it was on the Hot-100 in 1966.
I had it in heavy rotation when I did the Lost & Found show on WMBR in
Cambridge. Great fingerpopper. Heavy rotation only meant it was played
more than once. Which was our general obscurantist rule. It got played
ONLY once. If you missed it tough. We were some serious radio weenies
all trying to find the ultimate forgotten gem.
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Message: 3
Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2003 17:56:03 -0500
From: James Botticelli
Subject: Re: The First Disco Records / Vintage Latin
Simon White:
> My definition of "disco". . . has to be a record that was
> SPECIFICALLY made to be danced to in a club. Therefore, I nominate
> Chubby Checker as the first Disco artist, Cameo/Parkway as the first
> disco label and Chubby's version of The Twist as the first DISCO
> record.
Stuffed Animal:
> This is a valid argument, to be sure. I have always considered the
> Cameo-Parkway label's output the direct ancestor of '70s disco music
> (don't forget that Neil Bogart was involved with both Cameo-Parkway
> and Casablanca, the creme de la creme of disco labels).
Salsoul I think was la plus creme.
> But don't forget about all those great Latin dance records from the
> '50s like "Ran Kan Kan" (Tito Puente) and "Mambo Number Five" (Perez
> Prado). Those were certainly made for nightclub dancing, too.
I had the pleasure of DJing a party the other night where they
specifically asked for a lot of Latin. I was in my glory playing Joe
Cuba's 'Bang Bang' (the toot toot beep beep which was later picked up
for Donna Summer on 'Bad Girls') along with La Plata Sextet, Jack
Constanzo, Perez Prado's "Manhattan" (is there a better Living Stereo
sound out there??), Tito's original "Oye Como Va". I augmented it with
some Latin breakbeat type stuff like Sunnyface, Los Chicharrons, Nicola
Conte, Gerardo Frisina, Comoestas (from Japan),Ursula 1000 and Freddy
Fresh. Latin is as good as it gets sometimes.
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Message: 4
Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2003 17:41:03 -0500
From: James Botticelli
Subject: Re: Disco
Simon White wrote:
> Boy, here's the same old tired tired argument trotted out again twenty
> years later!
Exactly...
> The majority of disco didn't suck at all but much of the stuff you
> heard on the RADIO did because it tended to be the "pop" end of it all.
Seconding this emotion as well. Disco was really just black vocal groups
singing uptempo in the beginning. Trammps, Intruders, O'Jays, Blue Notes,
and the thousands of others who didn't make it. In THAT sense it was the
70's version of uptempo doo wop. It was part of the tradition that was
invaded by guitar bearing angry white guys. It's that music that really
didn't join the continuum.
> Add to that the blatant racism that defined it as BLACK music and the
> blatant HOMOPHOBIA by the middle of the road AOR rock mainstream and
> the genre was effectively killed off. Except it didn't go away, it just
> went back to the clubs where it was meant to be in the first place -
> because that's where it worked.
Yup
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Message: 5
Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2003 17:34:03 -0500
From: James Botticelli
Subject: Re: The First Disco Rekkid
Bill Brown wrote:
> A record cannot truly be called "disco" unless there was some
> computer programming involved in the production.
You're joking, right?
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Message: 6
Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2003 23:56:16 +0100
From: Sebastian Fonzeus
Subject: Re: Disco
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. Low grade
> lyrics plopped over a dance tempo. Melodies didn't seem to essential
> to most disco music. I think part of the popularity of disco came
> from the push the industry gave it.
Simon White wrote:
> Boy, here's the same old tired tired argument trotted out again
> twenty years later! The majority of disco didn't suck at all but much
> of the stuff you heard on the RADIO did because it tended to be the
> "pop" end of it all. Add to that the blatant racism that defined it
> as BLACK music and the blatant HOMOPHOBIA by the middle of the road
> AOR rock mainstream and the genre was effectively killed off. Except
> it didn't go away, it just went back to the clubs where it was meant
> to be in the first place - because that's where it worked.
Seconded. I was about to answer the initial negative remarks about
disco but just got disillusioned by it all and scrapped the mail.
Recommended reading:
"Last Night A DJ Saved My Life - The History Of The Disc Jockey"
by Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton.
It takes all parts of the spectrum into account - musical, technical,
social etc. - from the late 19th century up until today. Essential
reading. The paperback edition is about £7.99 so don't miss out.
Take care!
/Sebastian
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Message: 7
Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2003 19:06:01 EST
From: Bill George
Subject: Re: House Of The Rising Sun
> ..."House Of The Rising Sun"....
I always liked the Jody Miller version.
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Message: 8
Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2003 23:06:50 -0000
From: Art Longmire
Subject: Re: Disco
I too was one of those who didn't much like disco-however, having
said that, I hated AOR rock if anything even more. I just didn't much
care for most of the mid-to-late 1970's musical styles. To me, disco
was too much of a commercialization and simplification of Black
musical style. I can remember many of the Black artists of the '60s
and early 70's bitterly criticizing disco's emergence-it killed off
many a promising career, although some of the older artists were very
successful at recording it-Johnny Taylor comes to mind, along with
the Trammps, whose "Disco Inferno" is an excellent tune.
I notice in recent years I've heard more of the more obscure disco
songs and many, to my surprise, are quite good...your point is well
taken that the radio stations tended to play the worst of the disco
songs (or the most commercial-same difference)? One of my rules of
thumb is never to condemn whole categories of music, and I guess I
should stick to that rule when it comes to disco as well.
I remember back in 1977 the one really good rock station in town
suddenly switched to a disco format-it was the one station in town
that played a lot of terrific sixties stuff-and left music listeners
with the wonderful choice of half a dozen disco stations and another
half dozen AOR rock stations.
I gave up on commercial radio completely at that point, but public
radio and college radio came in to save the day!
Art
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Message: 9
Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 01:28:38 -0000
From: Doug
Subject: Gay lyrics - The Purple Gang
Phil Milstein wrote:
> Good one, which reminds me of another. You don't need to be Sigmund
> Freud to recognize what's going on in "Jailhouse Rock":
>
> Number 47 said to Number 3
> "You're the cutest jailbird I ever did see
> I sure would be delighted with your company"
>
> Extending this lavender theme a bit further:
>
> "The whole rhythm section was the Purple Gang"
Phil, LOL! The "Purple Gang" referred to in Jailhouse Rock was
actually the notorious Detroit area group of mobsters of the 1920s
and 30s who went by that name. You can look it up!
Doug
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Message: 10
Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2003 20:29:30 -0500
From: Rat Pfink
Subject: Re: Japanese Bubblegum CDs
Mark wrote:
> I've seen some reference to a Japanese bootleg series with the horrid
> title "Bubblegum MF", probably no doubt due to a language barrier and
> someone not knowing what a vile word that is. I believe there is also
> a Sunshine Pop series with the same vulgar title.
There's another series called BubblePOP MF, I think it's up to volume 5
at this point.
> Who can tell me some info on this series such as what's on them, where
> to order, etc.
Here's the track lists for the volumes that I know about:
http://www.soybomb.com/ratpfink/tracklists/bubblegum-mf.htm
The sound quality is so-so, most tracks are recorded from vinyl (without
much cleanup) or ripped from other CD sources, however some of the
tracks sound like they were sourced from MP3. It's a mixed bag, and they
ain't real cheap at $16.95 apiece, but there's around 30 tracks per
volume and a decent number of rarities. As far as I know you can only
buy them on eBay, check for a seller named "hairlesspider".
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Message: 11
Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2003 19:20:50 -0800 (PST)
From: Steve Harvey
Subject: One hit wonders and bucking the trends.
Of course there have been lots of one hit wonders. My point is that
disco rarely spawned acts that survived past a couple of hits. However,
many soul and rock acts did have many hits and, some even evolving
musically while continuing to hit the charts.
The industry has been filled with crooks since day one. However, by the
70s they seemed to have it down to a science. The present state of
radio and records can be traced to the 70s. At least in the 50s and 60s
you could turn on the radio and hear decent stuff. FM extended the
shelf life of rock into the early 70s before the programmers slithered
out and beat any creative urges into the ground for good.
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Message: 12
Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 05:10:41 -0000
From: Billy G. Spradlin
Subject: Re: Cameo-Parkway & ABKCO
Thats great news, I HOPE Klein is telling the truth this time, and
he will find someone or a reissue company who knows (and loves) the
material to remaster and package it the right way. Abkco was supposed
to release a Cameo-Parkway box set years ago but nothing hit the
shelves.
Billy
http://listen.to/jangleradio
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Message: 13
Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 04:49:38 -0000
From: Billy G. Spradlin
Subject: Re: Japanese Bubblegum CDs
My copies of the Bubblegum MF series have all been from CD-R trades.
I dont know a legit place to get them. Now and then someone sells
those CD's on E-bay (do a search for "Bubblegum CD") so check there.
It's not often I endorse bootlegs but whoever is putting these
together is doing a wonderful job. A lot of rare 45's from super-
obscure bands, with a few familar cuts from favorites like the Banana
Splits, Tommy Roe and The Archies. Sound quality is fairly good from
vinyl dubs. I think the series is into the 30's now!
Billy
http://listen.to/jangleradio
PS: if you think the useage of the english language on that CD is bad,
check out the examples on http://www.engrish.com/
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Message: 14
Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 09:22:43 +0300
From: Andres
Subject: Happiness???
Tom Taber on "Happiness Is A Warm Gun":
> (PST) If you pronounce "happiness" the way Mrs. Charles De Gaulle
> would (remember that old joke?) it gives that song a whole different
> meaning.
Dear Tom, could you please explain what this joke was about to a
miserable foreigner for whom English isn't a mother tongue.
Thanks,
Andres
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Message: 15
Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 06:31:08 -0000
From: Chris
Subject: Looking for Mob cd or songs for dad?
Hi there, I just recently came across this board. Here's my question.
With Christmas coming up I'm looking for something really good to get
him. He always talks about growing up listening to The Mob. He went
to a few of their shows, and said that they were one of the best
bands to see live. He's been looking for years for a cd of the Mob or
even a cd with just any of their songs. SO basically I'm trying to
find a cd/record with The Mob songs on it. The important ones, "I Dig
everything about you" and " Give it to me"! So if anyone knows a
place where I could order this cd or any info at all would be very
helpful. Thanks.
P.S. I saw some 45's on Ebay, but we don't have a 45 player! Thanks
again! Chris
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Message: 16
Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 01:38:27 EST
From: Mike McKay
Subject: Re: In The Hollies Style
David Coyle wrote:
> Re: "In The Hollies Style" is probably one of the best, if not THE
> best, non-Beatles British beat LPs of the era. There are so many
> great songs on the album, starting with the medley of "Nitty Gritty/
> Something's Got A Hold On Me" which is a great kickoff. Very live
> sounding. Not a lot of hits on the LP, but great music nonetheless.
> One of my favorite is "You'll Be Mine," an understated number with
> 12-string acoustic guitar, complete with solo. "Please Don't Feel
> Too Bad" is a great beat ballad, which was referred to simply as
> "workmanlike" when it later appeared on "Not The Hits Again," which
> is a good compendium of the Hollies lesser-known tracks of the 1963-
> 66 era. Some of the best numbers of the beat group era were
> workmanlike, in my opinion.
My favorite from "In the Hollies Style" is "Time for Love," a simple
but very atmospheric two-parter featuring Alan Clarke and Graham Nash
and a great loping bass line. Speaking of which, I've heard it
alleged that Tony Hicks often played the bass on early Hollies albums,
as original bassist Eric Haydock wasn't always up to snuff. There's a
wonderful driving high-register bass part behind the harmonica solo of
"Put Yourself in My Place" from the US "Hear! Here!" album. If Tony
played bass on anything, I'll bet he did on this.
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Message: 17
Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 01:31:20 EST
From: Mike McKay
Subject: Re: Sugaree
Justin McDevitt:
> To my question: A few nights ago, I was listening to the oldies
> channel included in the specific satellite package that I subscribe
> to. Just after listening to a great recording of Bobby Freeman's
> Betty Lou's Got A New Pair Of Shoes, a song was played that I really
> enjoyed; (a real rocker). In all the years I've been listening to
> rock 'n roll, I've never heard this track. Based on the lyrics, I
> believe that the song is title Sugaree, Sugaree; not to be confused
> with Sugaree; a track from Jerry Garcia's 1971 first sole Lp. The
> artist on this track sounded like Ronnie Hawkins. Any assistance
> would be appreciated.
Paul Balser:
> The song "Sugaree" was recorded by a man named Rusty York. I believe
> the year was 1959. Rusty operates Jewel Records in Cincinnati Ohio.
To which Ken on the West Coast added:
> The song is indeed "Sugaree". It's by Rusty York on Chess 1730 & was
> written by Marty Robbins c 1959.
Actually, Marty Robbins' "Sugaree" goes back farther than that, as
Marty himself can be heard and seen singing it on one installment of a
series of color films done by Albert Gannaway in Nashville between
November of 1954 and December of 1956. These films aired some 20 years
ago on PBS under the name "Classic Country."
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Message: 18
Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 03:38:18 EST
From: Jimmy Crescitelli
Subject: Disco, Donna, and Hallelujah 2000
Personally, Donna Summer's "Love's Unkind" ROCKED, I guess because it
sounded like the Crystals after they were put through a mellow cycle.
It has a slowed-down Then He Kissed Me riff, yet stomps along nicely
-- complete with a spoken break. (Best friend steals boyfriend; mama
gives advice: "Someday... you may find... a lovahhhhh.") VERY cool.
And has anyone ever heard Casablanca's Hallelujah 2000? It came out in
about 1977, and is a glorified, screaming, handclapping, shrieking,
disco version of Handel's Messiah. I remember dancing madly to this at
the Ice palace in NYC, and it was like we were all at a mad revival
meeting. Stunning composition. A few years later I played it for some
elderly Baptist people and they almost fell off the couch.
==Jimmy==
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Message: 19
Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 07:01:53 -0000
From: Herb
Subject: Re: Cameo-Parkway & ABKCO
Hi,
Some of the Cameo Parkway material is available as released on
Liberty Bell CDs Vol. 1 to 5.
Vol 1 starts with Butterfly -- Charlie Gracie and ends with Let's
Twist Again -- Chubby Checker.
Vol 2 Bristol Stomp -- The Dovells to Wildwood Day -- Bobby Rydell
Vol 3 Birdland -- Chubby Checker to Lovey Dovey/You're So Fine --
Bunny Sigler (also included: Long Tall Sally -- The Kinks; Wild Thing
and Mellow Yellow -- Senator Bobby; Heavy Music -- Bob Seger & Last
Heard)
The above three I guess is like a "history" from beginning to end.
Vol 4 is a mix starting from Daddy Cool -- The Rays to Lazy Elsie
Molly.
Vol 5 is a mix of mid-60s and starts with I Took My Baby Home -- The
Kinks to Billy Sunshine -- Evie Sands (also includes: Here We Go --
Bob Sled & the Toboggans; four by Bob Seger & LH (East Side Story,
Sock It To Me Santa, Persecution Smith, Chain Smokin', Vagrant
Winter); Shake -- The British Walkers; threee by The Kinks, etc....
Liberty Bell has also issued combo CDs (2LPs) by Bobby Rydell, The
Dovells, Dee Dee Sharp, The Orlons, The Tymes and Chubby Checker (one
of which includes: Down To Earth with Dee Dee Sharp and Chubby
Checker and Bobby Rydell doing each other's hits).
Some of the above I have seen on Midnight Records in New York (they
don't list the cuts) and Continental Records near Toronto, Ontario
(Google will take you there) which lists the cuts.
A local record/CD store does a lot of importing and they have some of
the above.
Another series was put out via Cam Park Records (8 volumes) that
consists mainly of Vocal Groups Billy Abbott & the Jewels, The
Taffys, The Turbans, The Orlons, The Skyliners, The Tymes, etc. etc.
Where to get the immediate above I do not know. I got them at the
record store in Toronto that I mentioned. They have some copies of
these Cam Park discs - which ones I can't say but I did see them this
past weekend.
I hope the above helps.
Herb Toronto Canada
PS: If Liberty Bell would only (somehow) re-issue John Zacherlie's
Monster Mash LP, a dream would come true :)
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Message: 20
Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 01:55:12 EST
From: Mike McKay
Subject: Re: Beatles
Clark Besch wrote:
> Right! I have an aircheck of WKYC in Cleveland on which all four
> tracks from the UK Rubber Soul left off of the US version are played.
> They had done the same thing earlier with "I've Just Seen a Face"
> and "It's Only Love" from the UK "Help!" album. I love talking about
> those first times I heard Beatles songs.
Two stories: I heard the "Yesterday and Today" album for the first time
on WKYC's "Beatle Hour," a regular Sunday night feature. I taped this
on my Voice of Music reel-to-reel, and still have the tape. They had a
habit of presenting albums on that show by segueing between Side One,
Track 1 and Side Two, Track 1, then Side One, Track 2...etc. To this
day, I can still hear the sequence of "Drive My Car" segueing into "And
Your Bird Can Sing" into "I'm Only Sleeping" into "Nowhere Man"!
But my most memorable "first Beatle hearing" was "Strawberry Fields
Forever." I was a big fan of Dick Summer's "Nite Lite" show on WBZ
Boston, and I stayed up way late on a school night (at least 1:00 or
2:00 a.m.) to hear his promised first airing of it. When I heard the
false ending, with the backwards mellotron coming back in, I was
positively psychedelicized! I can truthfully say that this moment had a
profound effect on me...it was like nothing was gonna be the same from
that point forward.
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Message: 21
Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 00:48:01 -0800 (PST)
From: Jerry Lintelf
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...)
I think it's by The Wild Ones. I have it on a UK United Artists
compilation LP from the '60s called "16 Great Hits" with a cute girl
on the cover.
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Message: 22
Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 03:00:42 -0800 (PST)
From: Paul Bryant
Subject: Re: Beatles - Born Too Late
Michael wrote:
> 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...
I dig what you say, and I was indeed around. The first one which hit
me like a train was Please Please Me which seems to be entirely made
up of hook lines. Each new single was looked forward to - which radio
show will be the first to play it? - but I confess that by 1965 I was
thinking that the Beatles just weren't as exciting as these newer
groups - The Who, The Byrds, The Lovin' Spoonful (we were kind of
spoiled for choice in those days). So then, just when the Fabs seemed
to be fading - wham! Revolver! I should also point out that for me and
many other kids in Britain, singles were all we could afford. So I had
to catch up on many early album tracks & hear them out of sequence
like you.
I often wonder how young music fans regard the huge mass of great
stuff from (let's say) the 60s and 70s. I myself had to catch up on the
good 50s stuff, but I was only a decade behind - what if you were
starting out today?! The mind boggles.
pb
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Message: 23
Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 03:28:03 -0800 (PST)
From: Paul Bryant
Subject: Re: In defence of 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.
Michael replied:
> 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....
In defence of Revolution in the Head, here is a lengthy quote taken at
random. Macdonald is discussing "Help!" (the song). This is not just a
rewrite of Lewisohn. He precisely locates each song within its moment of
Beatle history, pop history and actual history. Anyway, here we go -
judge for yourselves:
"Seven weeks into shooting, The Beatles' second film was still scheduled
as "Eight Arms to Hold You", yet neither Lennon nor McCartney fancied
writing a song to accommodate this octopodous concept, and in the end
director Richard Lester, perhaps acknowledging the slapdash and
directionless tone of the project, decided on "Help!". Written almost
entirely by Lennon at his new home in Weybridge, the title song began in
mid-tempo, but was speeded up slightly during recording to make it more
commercial. Lennon later resented this for compromising his conception,
yet the group needed another hit. In fact "Help!" retains its
authenticity through the emotion in its author's voice. Looking back on
this song in 1980, Lennon recalled it as a cry for help from the depths
of what he referred to as his "fat Elvis" period. Mentally exhausted by
two years of continual touring, he was isolated and alienated in his
multi-roomed mansion in the stockbroker belt of London's western fringes.
His marriage damaged by his orgiastic round of groupies and whores on
the road, he felt unsustained by his faithful and attentive wife Cynthia,
who, concerned for her husband's health, made no secret of disapproving
of his drug intake. All of this amounted to a personal malaise that
would expand to overwhelming dimensions during the next two years.
Musically the song offers neither artifice nor distance. So
characteristically horizontal that its verse consists of one repeated
note trailing off into a wail, the song opens on an unhappy B minor,
climbing stepwise via a sixth to a pleading scream as A major arrives to
stabilise the harmony. With no relieving middle eight "Help!" perpetually
slides back to the anxiety and tension of B minor. Only in the song's
moaning final sixth is the tension wearily resolved."
Macdonald wraps up his piece on this song by telling us what it displaced
from the No 1 spot in the US (I Got You babe) and what it was succeeded
by (Eve of Destruction) & so places it within what was being talked about
as folk rock. And also he mentions the then ongoing US Labor Department's
protectionist attempt to prevent British pop performers touring in America
(which I had completely forgotten). All in all, this is for me great rock
writing.
pb
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Message: 24
Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 13:33:07 +0000
From: Simon White
Subject: Disposable Artists ?
Not wanting to be toooooo contentious, but are we really saying that
early '60s artists like the Crystals, Ronettes, Fabian, Chubby
Checker, Dee Dee Sharp -you name 'em - were really any thing more
than the product of the studio production teams?
Sure, there's a degree of success after a certain peroid for some of
them, but mainly not. Shangri-Las without Shadow Morton? Ronettes
without Spector? Uh, no.
Even the Motown artists stuggled after they'd left their main producers
behind.
Groups like The Drifters, Platters etc, only exsisted in people's minds
- they didn't know or care in the main who it was up there on stage -
they just wanted to see a group doing those hits. This is not to put
any of those people down because they are and where all seriously
talented individuals.
But to say "The disposable artist really reached its heyday during
disco" is plainly not true!
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Message: 25
Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 11:38:24 -0000
From: humthefirst2bars
Subject: Re: Disco's Bad Rap
Stuffed Animal wrote:
> Disco didn't suck any more than any other kind of music did. There
> were both good and bad records
The Bee Gees weren't too shabby. Try walking out of Saturday Night
Fever without humming and strutting :-)
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