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SPECTROPOP - Spectacular! Retro! Pop!
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There are 22 messages in this issue.
Topics in this digest:
1. Re: The End of Albums
From: Tom Taber
2. Re: The End of Albums
From: Tom Taber
3. Re: The End of Albums
From: Paul Bryant
4. Chong in the can
From: Phil Milstein
5. Re: Question for Artie Wayne
From: Artie Wayne
6. Re: Run For Your Life
From: Rat Pfink
7. Re: The End of Albums
From: Bill Brown
8. Re: Best lines / Raindrops / Rupert's People
From: Bob Rashkow
9. Re: Viva
From: Art Longmire
10. Re: favorite lines / Viva Burr / Telstar
From: Phil Milstein
11. Re: Jim Doval and The Gauchos
From: Steve Bonilla
12. Re: Jim Doval & The Gauchos
From: Guy Lawrence
13. Re: Fetish Factors
From: Phil Milstein
14. Re: Teddy Randazzo & The Duprees
From: Philip Hall
15. "Innate" Timing
From: Rex Strother
16. Re: Gay Songs
From: Jeffery Kennedy
17. Re: Tom Wilson / Steve Tudanger / "That Boy John" / Roberta Day
From: Stuffed Animal
18. COOL YULE Saturday 20th December BRIGHTON
From: Chris King
19. Re: Coke ads @ Musica
From: Mike Rashkow
20. Re: He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss)
From: Art Longmire
21. Re: Snuff Garrett
From: Artie Wayne
22. Re: A Christmas Gift to You: A Tribute to Phil Spector
From: Bill Reed
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Message: 1
Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2003 05:58:52 -0800 (PST)
From: Tom Taber
Subject: Re: The End of Albums
Tom:
> Not having a calculator with me - I believe that a
> 60-70 minutes CD is a much cheaper source of music
> than the 30 minute $3.98 stereo LP was in 1967....
Scott replied:
> I'd argue that many 60-70 minute CDs have little
> more than 30 minutes of listenable material on them.
And 30 minute LPs often had less than five! But if
you buy a compilation now with 30 songs from a
particular genre, you are way ahead these days - not
to mention a "perfect" copy can be made for 30 cents
or less, where a crummy cassette copy was $1.00 or
more thirty years ago.
Tom Taber
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Message: 2
Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2003 06:12:55 -0800 (PST)
From: Tom Taber
Subject: Re: The End of Albums
Phil Milstein wrote:
> I too share a romance for the fetish factors, so I'm
> not putting them down, but if the discussion is about the
> future of the record industry........
"Fetish Factors" - what a great name for a group!
Tom Taber
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Message: 3
Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2003 03:00:18 -0800 (PST)
From: Paul Bryant
Subject: Re: The End of Albums
Richard wrote:
> In Billboard on December 24 1949 there was a fascinating
> article under the headline "Sinatra’s Pioneering Thoughts
> on LP Pop Tune Production. It talks of Frank being the first
> noted pop artist to voice his theories on the fact "that LP
> calls for new orientation and pioneering. (It) calls for an
> entirely new approach to recording – from the artists point of
> view." He said that people were still thinking of LPs as they
> thought of 78-rpm albums. "Artists and a and r men will have to
> pioneer in the use of script material in conjunction with
> music, the representation of musical sketches, commentary,
> narrative and mood music. 20 minutes of 'time' on each side
> will call for much more of a production package."
Wow! Well, this didn't happen at all - sketches, commentary,
narrative added to songs... I hope Frank was pleased that his
concept finally bore fruit with "Ogden's Nut Gone Flake", although
it's possible he missed that one.
Mark Wirtz wrote:
> ....don'tyou think that, ultimately, the "length and duration" of
> any piece of entertainment should be determined by how long it
> captivates the audience's interest, rather than by "standard"
> and contrived measures??
Entirely take your point about good long books and bad short books.
But the analogy may be false as reading is not a real-time experience.
You pick up and put down a book when you want to. Better to compare
an album with a movie, also a real-time experience. What's the average
length of a movie? I bet there is one. But occasionally, a great work
will break these "artificial" boundaries.
> Don't have to eat it all, or all at once, do I? There's always later.
Using the album like a book, picking it up where you left off last
night - how many people will really do this? An album if it's not
just a bunch of tracks will create a whole continuous listening
experience. But I don't wanna get too pompous here!
pb
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Message: 4
Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2003 11:26:03 +0000
From: Phil Milstein
Subject: Chong in the can
Bobby Taylor & The Vancouvers fans will want to take a look at
Steven Mikulan's article, in the current issue of the L.A. Weekly,
on Tommy Chong's legal travails. Not to get too political in
this apolitical forum, but: Chong's case presents a chilling view
of the agenda of John Ashcroft's America. "Chong Family Values" is
at http://www.laweekly.com/ink/04/02/features-mikulan.php
Gang a bong,
--Phil M.
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Message: 5
Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2003 06:16:14 -0800 (PST)
From: Artie Wayne
Subject: Re: Question for Artie Wayne
Glenn.......How ya' doin'? Yes, I'm the co-writer of "I Wanna
Slow Dance Again". The Grass Roots did a great job on it!!
When I wrote the first verse and chorus, I was so excited I
cornered my friend Richard Perry in an elevator and sang it
to him accapella. He loved it and asked me to finish it up
with Artie Garfunkel in mind. I ran home and got my friends
Norma Helms and Kenny Hirsch to help me finish it up. Artie
never cut it......but fortunately the Grass Roots did.
I haven't heard it in years.......could you play it to musica?
Thanks and regards, Artie Wayne
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Message: 6
Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2003 09:59:40 -0500
From: Rat Pfink
Subject: Re: Run For Your Life
Rob Stride wrote:
> Chuck Berry was going to sue but Lennon agreed to do a couple of
> Berry tracks on his Rock N Roll album, or so the story goes.
Actually the lawsuit was threatened by Morris Levy; Chuck
Berry didn't own the publishing rights.
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Message: 7
Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2003 08:58:17 -0800 (PST)
From: Bill Brown
Subject: Re: The End of Albums
> .....I do feel that equally as important, if not more so, was the
> removal from the market of the 45.
> Darn do I miss 45s ... I was showing some to my 13 year old and
> he thought they were mutated CDs ... time flies.
There are still retail stores that carry new 45's. Circle CD's
in Cincinnati and it's second shop in Newport, KY are some of them.
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Message: 8
Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2003 12:32:19 EST
From: Bob Rashkow
Subject: Re: Best lines / Raindrops / Rupert's People
There are so many great lyrics out there. Among my runners-up
would have to be our much recently discussed "In The Year 2525"
by Zager & Evans, particularly the last verse, "Now it's been
10,000 years, etc." A bunch of us absolutely loved that song
back in 7th grade and if somebody had a transistor (a WHAT??!!)
he'd turn it up full blast and we'd all sing it, basso profundo,
trying to sound as serious as we possibly could! (Actually this
carried over into day camp, as it was out in the late spring/early
summer.) And I was recoiling from not liking "Get Back" by the
Beatles too much, always felt it was like an anticlimax after "Hey
Jude" which had just plainly blown my mind.
Also: Simon & Garfunkel's "Poem on the Underground Wall" which
freaked me out a lot more than "Silent Night/7:00 News" did.
"...gets suckled by the night." I think my own award goes to either
Dylan ("You'd know what a drag it is to see you....") or Jagger
("Catch your dreams before they slip away./Dying all the time/Lose
your dreams and you will lose your mind, in life unkind.")
Many anti-war lyrics including Earth Opera, Tim Buckley, Buffy
Sainte-Marie, etc. were the height of brilliance....Janis Ian's
"Society's Child" (she's coming to Old Town School in April and I
can't wait!) and I could go on all day but I'll spare you.
Agreed about "That Boy John", which I recently purchased for about
50 cents at a thrift store, with the original "Hanky Panky" on the
flip. Tommy James wouldn't have recognized it, although he
apparently heard it in order to transform it into a Number 1 hit!
I have The Magic World of Rupert's People in all its tremendous
glory. Included is a 45 that contains the original version of
"Charles Brown", which on its own merits IMHO is a fantastic
recording. Steve Brendell.....what a cool guy!
Shoo-be-doop-bop-day-wah, (from Don & Juan's "What's Your Name?'"
and I HOPE I'm right!)
Bobster
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Message: 9
Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2003 21:09:20 -0000
From: Art Longmire
Subject: Re: Viva
Thanks for the info on Viva, I too am interested in this label...
would the Sound Sandwich 45 you mention be titled "Apothecary's
Dream"? I have this one and it's quite good, definitely a
psychedelic nugget. I know nothing about the group, however.
Until I saw your post I was unaware that Viva had such a large
catalogue of releases.
Art
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Message: 10
Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2003 15:35:03 +0000
From: Phil Milstein
Subject: Re: favorite lines / Viva Burr / Telstar
Favorite song lyric, from The Ramones' Teenage Lobotomy:
Guess that I'll just have to tell 'em
That I got no cerebellum
The most ingenious evocation of stupidity I've ever heard of!
Dan Hughes wrote:
> A couple of other Viva album releases--Themes Like Old Times and Themes
> Like Old Times II. Both had 50 or 75 opening themes of old-time radio
> shows. And when you listened to them all at once, many of them sounded
> very much alike: "Tom COR-bett, SPACE ca-DET!" "Nick CAR-ter, MAS-ter
> de-TEC-tive!" "Yours TRU-ly, Johnny DOL-lar!" et al.
Which reminds me of my theory that the theme music to Ironsides was, as
if bringing updating Raymond Burr, a sped-up version of the theme to
Perry Mason.
Stewart Mason writes:
> I believe that's courtesy of our friends at the BBC Radiophonic
> Workshop. Joe Meek used the exact same opening on Glenda Collins'
> "It's Hard To Believe It" in 1964.
Perhaps Meek believed Telstar had picked up a few wandering ETs before
returning to Earth.
Gabba gabba,
--Phil M.
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Message: 11
Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2003 13:22:47 -0800
From: Steve Bonilla
Subject: Re: Jim Doval and The Gauchos
Andres:
> Jim Doval and The Gauchos also had two Beatles related records in
> 1964, BEATTLE RULE (instrumental) and STRANDED IN THE POOL on
> Diplomacy X-6 label.
I grew up in Sacramento in the 60's and was too young to ever go to
their shows but I remember them as being very popular. As I recall,
they played the better niteclubs and bowling alley lounges around
town.
Steve B
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Message: 12
Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2003 20:43:39 -0000
From: Guy Lawrence
Subject: Re: Jim Doval & The Gauchos
Matt wrote:
> I recently watched an old episode of Shindig which featured this
> group...they flat-out ROCKED and I was amused by their Raider-like
> ponytails...hmm, which (or rather who) came first, I wonder? Anyone
> know anything about them?
I didn't know anything about them but this query rather appealed to me
and I did some research and turned up some interesting stuff. Jim Doval
& the Gauchos (from Fresno, California) released an album and at least
seven singles. Their album (ABC 1965) was a supposedly recorded live at
a nightclub and was chock-full of what we now call "frat rock"
standards ("Money", "Little Latin Lupe Lu" etc), the Premiers "Farmer
John" LP comes to mind as a similar package. Their 45's include a cover
of "Bony Maronie" and a Beatle-novelty ("Beattle Rule"). It seems that
Gauchos shows were often frequented by Vito Paulekas and his band of
"Freaks", presumably honing the craft that would see them become
fixtures at Byrds gigs at Ciro's a year or so later. I love these kind
of bands (like their ABC labelmates, the Spats) has anyone got some
Gauchos goodies for Musica?
Guy
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TweedleeDumsDrive-In/
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Message: 13
Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2003 17:59:55 +0000
From: Phil Milstein
Subject: Re: Fetish Factors
Tom Taber wrote:
> "Fetish Factors" - what a great name for a group!
Or a reality TV show ...
Diddy wah,
--Ph.M.
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Message: 14
Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2003 14:55:07 -0800 (PST)
From: Philip Hall
Subject: Re: Teddy Randazzo & The Duprees
I'll throw "Around The Corner" by Teddy Randazzo up on musica when
I get home tonight.
Phil Hall
Clay, NY
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Message: 15
Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2003 15:57:53 -0700
From: Rex Strother
Subject: "Innate" Timing
Phil Milstein:
> On the other hand, I'm inclined to view the three-minute length of
> a pop song (and of course these times are very approximate) as more
> of a natural thing. While the cylinder and early record technologies
> apparently capped side lengths at three minutes, I wonder what the
> average length of songs was prior to the advent of recording
> technology. My guess is that it wasn't very different. In fact, I
> wonder if Edison, Berliner and the other early inventors of sound
> recording didn't start out AIMING to get three minutes onto a side
> because that was roughly the standard, rather than three minutes just
> happened to be the most they could fit on there at the time. The
> point I'm trying to get to is that somehow three minutes seems to
> satisfy an innate human standard for a singular piece of music-as-
> entertainment; whereas album lengths are simply more arbitrary than
> that.
I think one would be hard-pressed to suggest an "innate human standard"
for the ideal time span to enjoy a song. If so, I would expect
geniuses along the lines of Mozart and Beethoven would have found it
and stuck to it.
At best, perhaps there is a modern / Western / popular / song (tune and
lyric) formula which fits best into a 3-minute segment (i.e., so many
choruses before we're bored to death).
But I'm sure if we searched all history and all cultures - that many
music length formats would be equally satisfying (just as there are
many time signatures, melodic scales and harmonic tonalities which are
popular in various cultures). I would suspect technology has dictated
the length of our songs, our albums and our future attention spans.
Rex
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Message: 16
Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2003 18:57:09 -0000
From: Jeffery Kennedy
Subject: Re: Gay Songs
How about these:
"Town Without Pity" Gene Pitney
"I Belong" Kathy Kirby
"I Think We're Alone Now" Tommy James & the Shondells
Just about everything written by Tony Romeo (the Partridge Family's
"That's Be the Day," Austin Roberts' "Something's Wrong With Me")
...and the most explicit of the bunch, Nancy Sinatra's "I Love Them
All (the Boys in the Band)"
Jeffery
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Message: 17
Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2003 18:23:55 +0000
From: Stuffed Animal
Subject: Re: Tom Wilson / Steve Tudanger / "That Boy John" / Roberta Day
> Wilson died in 1978, of a heart attack. The Advocate obit must
> have been about someone else with the same name.
My mistake. But was this Tom Wilson the same one who worked with
Connie Francis in 1967, producing her LIVE AT THE SAHARA IN LAS
VEGAS and single sides like "A Letter From A Soldier?"
> Who was this guy (Steve Tudanger)? Wasn't he involved with
> Definitive Rock Chorale and Other Voices? If so,this guy made
> some great music. The DRC was really good, especially their
> singles on Bell (of course). Anybody know all of his groups/
> recordings they can post a listing of? From what I've found I
> don't see any bad records.
I know that Steve Tudanger was a good friend of Ellie Greenwich,
and Jeff Barry knew him, too. He recorded for Jeff's Steed label
as a member of Playhouse. I highly recommend the two Playhouse
singles, "Just We Two" b/w "C'mon And Ride" and "You Don't Know It"
b/w "Love Is On Our Side." Tudanger was also, of course, co-
producer and background vocalist on Miss Ellie's LET IT BE WRITTEN,
LET IT BE SUNG album.
> "That Boy John" is really and truly one of the great girl-group/
> R&B/jazz fusion songs ever recorded. Anyone agree?>>
It's definitely one of the greats, but I don't really hear it as a
jazz fusion record. Care to elaborate on your description?
On yet another subject, didn't someone recently post session
information about Roberta Day's wonderful United Artists single
"Someday?" Please refresh my memory. Who produced that record?
Who arranged?
Don "Stuffed Animal" Charles
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Message: 18
Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2003 12:16:23 -0000
From: Chris King
Subject: COOL YULE Saturday 20th December BRIGHTON
Dear Brit-based Spectropoppers -
Saturday 20th December (the Saturday before Xmas!) sees Da Doo
Ron Ron celebrate our 5th (!) Xmas shindig, with MEGA special
guests, Emma Wilkinson, the series winner of Stars In Their Eyes
2001 and happenin' mod jazz instrumental combo The Gene Drayton
Unit (think Booker T meets Blue Note). Emma won a landslide victory
in the 2001 SITE grand final performing 'Son Of A Preacher Man'
as Dusty Springfield & will perform a selection of 60s pop and
soul classics. The GDU will also perform a solo set.
You can purchase tickets in advance online here now. Tickets are
also currently available in person from the Sussex Arts Club.
Alternatively, you can simply reserve places in the normal way &
pay £8 on the door on the night. E-mail the names of all those
wishing to attend to:- dadooronron.club@ntlworld.com
Many thanks indeed for your indulgence,
Chris Da Doo
Check the DDRR web-site for more info:-
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/dadooronron/
Da Doo Ron Ron - 60s girly sounds a-go-go!
Saturday 20th December - Xmas shindig
@the Sussex Arts Club, 07 , Ship Street, Brighton, East Sussex, BN1.
Tel:-01273-778020 The Sussex Arts Club is located in Ship Street,
just off the seafront, between the Brighton Pier & the Brighton Centre.
8pm - 2am
EXTRA Special guests - Top mod instrumental combo The Gene Drayton Unit
featuring guest vocalist Emma Wilkinson, Stars In Their Eyes series
winner 2001 as Dusty Springfield.
£8 tickets are available online or in person from the Sussex Arts Club
Tel:-01273-727371 / 7780202
Click here for the Sussex Arts Club website
Reservations (£8) are also available in advance
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Message: 19
Date: Tue, 09 Dec 2003 23:34:52 EST
From: Mike Rashkow
Subject: Re: Coke ads @ Musica
Country Paul on Coke ads:
> Any more in your stash you want to share?
I'll be happy to share them all with anyone who wants them. I'd
just like to keep a list and do it once. So anyone who wants same,
please contact me off line and put something in there about how
great they are so I can forward it to Coke---kind of like a petition.
I'll send it to anyone who asks via e-mail attachment next week. Fair?
I also have some Jean Nate' stuff that is even better...I mean it.
Ellie vocals and Ron Dante vocals. The company/agency turned them
down. I'll have to send the acetate to Mr. P. Chapman to clean it up
first.
I've got to go to sleep.
Seriously, I thank everyone for their nice comments on the Coke
jingles. It's kind of interesting that they hold up 34 year later.
Amazing actually.
Di la,
Rashkovsky
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Message: 20
Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2003 20:20:52 -0000
From: Art Longmire
Subject: Re: He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss)
Speaking of masochism, I was doing some research on singer Clydie
King and came across this label scan:
http://www.geocities.jp/hideki_wtnb/2801a.jpg
I've never heard this but it sure is a provocative title!
Art
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Message: 21
Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2003 06:41:34 -0800 (PST)
From: Artie Wayne
Subject: Re: Snuff Garrett
James.......How ya' doin'? Have you been able to get Snuff's
address or phone# for me? My friend Ed Silvers, former president
of Warner Bros. music, would like to reconnect with him.
Thanks, Artie
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Message: 22
Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2003 23:01:37 -0000
From: Bill Reed
Subject: Re: A Christmas Gift to You: A Tribute to Phil Spector
David A. Young wrote:
> Hi, gang, require the catalogue number, please, and if anyone
> can provide me with a label scan and/or a lead about where I
> can find a copy for myself, I'd greatly appreciate it. Please
> contact me privately if you can help.
There are suds of copies for sale on E-Bay. There are at least three
different verisons. Curious.
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