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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: Music To Watch Girls By / Tony Velona
From: James Botticelli
2. Re: Ron Dante
From: Laura
3. Re: Brian Wilson influence
From: Phil Milstein
4. Re: First Beatles / 60s resurgence
From: Mike McKay
5. Re: The Cherry People / The Hangmen
From: Rat Pfink
6. Herb Bernstein
From: Ed B
7. Re: Stalker rock
From: Phil Milstein
8. Re: (Why) Brackets?
From: Ayn Rand 4fr
9. Re: Stereo 45s
From: Billy G. Spradlin
10. Re: Jailbait
From: Eddy
11. Re: Merry Go Round Stereo 45 / The Band
From: Clark Besch
12. Re: Good Vibrations/Pet Sounds
From: Eddy
13. Re: Stereo 45s / Brian Wilson
From: Bill Craig
14. Re: Left Banke / Cherry People's "And Suddenly"
From: Patrick Beckers
15. Re: The Mob / "Where You Lead"
From: Austin Roberts
16. Re: Jailbait rock
From: Matthew
17. Re: Good Vibrations
From: Bob Hanes
18. Re: 2 Austin Roberts groups (Arkade / River Deep)
From: Austin Roberts
19. Re: Hangmen
From: Phil Milstein
20. Re: Audrey Hepburn & Moon River / Mr. Wilson / red-faced Phil
From: Phil Milstein
21. Re: Left Banke / Cherry People's "And Suddenly"
From: Leslie Fradkin
22. Re: Hangmen / Cherry People
From: Mike Dugo
23. Re; Jailbait Rock
From: Bob Wallis
24. 2004
From: Bob Rashkow
25. Re: Left Banke 45 on Camerica
From: Leslie Fradkin
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Message: 1
Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 11:16:22 -0500
From: James Botticelli
Subject: Re: Music To Watch Girls By / Tony Velona
Jules Normington wrote:
> Tony also wrote "Lollipops And Roses" (Paul Petersen/Jack Jones
> would be best known versions), and, although there's not a lot
> of them, again the lyrics are eloquent and heartfelt.
Not to mention Herb Alpert's take on the LP "Whipped Cream
& Other Delights". He gave it the 'Now Sound' arrangement.
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Message: 2
Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 16:19:12 -0000
From: Laura
Subject: Re: Ron Dante
Hi all,
A big THANK-YOU to the Spectro team for posting my article.
I hope everyone enjoys reading it. It includes a wealth of
comments by the man himself, Ron Dante, and basically covers
Ron's entire career from 1963 to the present.
I'd like to wish a happy, healthy and prosperous 2004 to all.
Laura
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Message: 3
Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 11:08:53 +0000
From: Phil Milstein
Subject: Re: Brian Wilson influence
Stuart Miller wrote:
> When artists talk about Brian influencing them, do they
> not mean, "Wow, I heard this BB record and it really made
> a deep impression on me"? It may be that there is something
> much more subtle going on here but if there is, it's over my head.
Artistic influence need not be blatant to exist. The way I see it,
everything an artist has ever seen, done, read, heard, touched or
even smelled in his or her lifetime goes into the giant stewpot
that is their "heart and soul" (or, less romantically/more accurately,
brain), where it all churns around, flavoring, coloring and otherwise
affecting all of the other ingredients. To create his or her next
work, the artist then draws from this stewpot; although certain of
its ingredients may be more dominant in that work than others, because
each of the ingredients affected all of the others then all of them --
every last droplet -- can be said to have had some degree of influence.
Neither the artist nor the audience is necessarily even aware of it,
but that influence exists all the same.
--Phil M.
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Message: 4
Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 00:09:14 EST
From: Mike McKay
Subject: Re: First Beatles / 60s resurgence
Mark Frumento wrote:
> I guess the earlier the example the more likely it's not
> so much a longing for the 60s as much as an out-dated record?
> I'm a big fan of this trend none-the-less:
> Three of my favorite examples are "Yes It Is" by Rockin' Horse
> (Philips UK, 1971), the self titled LP by Sleepy Hollow (Family
> Productions US, 1972) and Stackridges' "Friendliness" (MCA UK,
> 1972).
As a huge power pop fan, I want to thank you for the tip on
Rockin' Horse and Stackridge, neither of whom I'm familiar with.
> Both Rockin' Horse and Sleepy Hollow are mostly Beatle-like and in
> fact both records sound almost exactly like the Beatles in parts.
I do, however, own the Sleepy Hollow album and very much enjoy it.
What you don't point out is that the lead vocalist makes a very
deliberate effort on most tracks to sing exactly like John Lennon,
and is quite successful at it. Actually, the album's lead track
could have been plopped right in the middle of John's debut solo
album "Plastic Ono Band," and no one would have been any the wiser!
By the way, many years ago a friend of mine told me that he'd gone
to see a soft porn flick at a drive-in. As a fellow Beatle fanatic,
he came back raving that a band called Sleepy Hollow had done the
soundtrack for it and that it was great. I've always wondered if
they simply used songs from their album, or whether Sleepy Hollow
recorded additional tracks expressly for the film. And this story
has its own parallel in my own experience; I wrote to Buddah Records
begging for a copy of the "Hot Parts" soundtrack after seeing the
film (am I the only one in history who's actually seen it?!) and
being blown away by the Steve Martin/Michael Brown tracks. (They
fulfilled my request, by the way.)
> What's fascinating to me is that 1971 and 1972 couldn't have been a
> good time to sound like the Beatles if you were hoping to sell a lot
> of records (they didn't!).
It ain't necessarily so:
1. Emitt Rhodes' self-titled solo debut album reached #29 in 1971,
and a couple of singles from it flirted with the Top 40.
2. Badfinger had the last of their four major Top 40 hits, all
of which were very Beatles-sounding, in 1972.
3. Raspberries had their first two hits, both Top 10, in 1972.
4. Stealers Wheel's very Beatlish "Stuck in the Middle with You"
would follow in March of 1973.
5. My hometown heroes Blue Ash (incidentally now reunited and
making music together again!) *almost* broke through with
"Abracadabra (Have You Seen Her)" and their "No More, No Less"
album that year as well.
Great melodic rock 'n' roll with hooks took a pretty good beating,
but was nonetheless not totally bowed, through that era.
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Message: 5
Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 11:38:55 -0500
From: Rat Pfink
Subject: Re: The Cherry People / The Hangmen
Mark wrote:
> By the way, I LOVE the Cherry People album. Sorry the
> Hangmen didn't. I'm sure they liked their album better.
> Oops, I'm sorry. No one cared to record an album of what
> they wanted to play.
The Hangmen's album, "Bitter Sweet", while not as good
as their earlier 45s is easily on a par with the Cherry
People's LP.
RP
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Message: 6
Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 01:35:18 -0000
From: Ed B
Subject: Herb Bernstein
Hello happy new year.
Long time record collector here just found an album by Herb
Bernstein "Herb Bernstein's New Crusade" Metromedia MD-1003.
I haven't had time to listen to it yet; seems his name is all
over mid sixties records and, if my memory serves me right,
DYNO-VOICE and Bob Crewe Productions.
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Message: 7
Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 11:06:29 +0000
From: Phil Milstein
Subject: Re: Stalker rock
Stewart Mason wrote:
> ... "One Way Or Another" (just
> about the most blatant song about
> stalking ever to become a big hit) ...
After "Every Breath You Take", of course ...
> ... would be greeted
> with howls of outrage if a man had sung it.
... yet it somehow wasn't. Go figure.
--Phil M.
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Message: 8
Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 02:22:22 -0000
From: Ayn Rand 4fr
Subject: Re: (Why) Brackets?
Paul Bryant wrote:
> So the question is... why was there this rash of silly
> brackets in song titles in the 60s? Who started it (anyway)?
I think it's just a way of distinguishing the OFFICIAL title
of the song from what the listener might guess it to be. Or of
adding info so that the record can be located by someone who
heard it on the radio.
Sales might be lost if the listener did not know what title to
ask for at the store.
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Message: 9
Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 10:39:10 -0000
From: Billy G. Spradlin
Subject: Re: Stereo 45s
I did a little googling out of curiousty and found out that
the first Stereo 45 was Danny & The Juniors "Somehow I Just
Can't Forget" on ABC-Paramount in 1959. Another web site says
Roy Hamilton's "Dont Let Go" on Epic as the first commercially
released Stereo 45. I have a Pat Boone 45 on Dot (in a box
somewhere) that proudly displays "STEREOPHONIC" at the top.
RCA released some very rare Stereo 45s in the late-early 60s
(Elvis, Jim Reeves and I think Neil Sedaka also got this
treatment). But I agree with Mikey these were all pressed
mainly for stereo jukeboxes and didn't sell well with the
general public. Hit Records from Nashville had many "Compatible
Stereo" 45s in the early-mid 60s.
I cant think of any 45s from 1967 that were issued stereo-only!
At http://www.oldiesfun.com/oldiesfunfactoids.html someone
mentions buying Jimmy Gilmer & The Fireballs "Goin Away" in
May 1968. You might be right with the Doors having the first
Stereo 45 to hit the Top 40. But I have a original copy of
"Hello I Love You" in stereo, and that was the single released
before "Touch Me".
Billy
http://listen.to/jangleradio
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Message: 10
Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 18:00:00 +0100
From: Eddy
Subject: Re: Jailbait
Simon White:
> But what about "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl"? Who did
> the original of that? I have Little Richard's version
> but assume it's a blues standard......
The original on this is by the first Sonny Boy Williamson
(John Lee) from 1937, but definitely inspired by Son Bond's
Back and Side Blues from 1934.
Eddy
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Message: 11
Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 15:53:24 -0000
From: Clark Besch
Subject: Re: Merry Go Round Stereo 45 / The Band
Art Longmire wrote:
> The discussion on stereo 45's got me to thinking about a
> 45 I have by the Merry Go Round on A&M records. It's a
> white label promotional copy of "Live" in stereo, and is
> the only stereo 45 by the group I've come across. Of course,
> this dates from 1967 when stereo 45's were far from common.
> In fact this is the ONLY stereo 45 I've found from '67.
> Has anyone else seen this Merry Go Round 45? I have several
> other of their later promo singles-for instance " 'Til The Day
> After"- but none are in stereo. Also the font is different on
> this "Live" promo.
Art, Glad to hear that SOMEONE has the stereo "Live" 45. I knew
about it since Billboard printed a small one paragraph about A&M
deciding that they would for the first time release a special
mono/stereo 45 of "Live" to FM radio stations. So, it was the
first on A&M, and possibly since the early 60's stereo 45 demise!
Hold on to that baby! I love Emitt, by the way! I too, have his
other MGR dj 45s and none are stereo.
> Another sort of puzzling 45 I have is one by the Band on Capitol
> Records. It's their first single, "I Shall Be Released", but
> instead of the artist name being given as The Band, the name on
> the record is "Music From Big Pink". It makes me wonder if the
> group (or the record company) might have released some early
> copies of their first single under this name.
Art, I have that alternate Band name 45 too. In fact, I think I
may have "The Weight" that way on DJ. I think Doug Richard once
told me that the band didn't have a name at the time, but I can't
remember for sure what the deal was. I know he's reading, so fill
us in, ok? :)
Take care,
Clark
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Message: 12
Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 18:06:49 +0100
From: Eddy
Subject: Re: Good Vibrations/Pet Sounds
Good vibrations was meant for the unreleased Smile album
and was actually the first track they started recording
for the project. But since that one wasn't happening, it
got released as a single and then wound up on Smiley Smile.
As far as I know there was never mention of it being intended
for Pet Sounds.
Eddy
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Message: 13
Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 01:00:23 -0000
From: Bill Craig
Subject: Re: Stereo 45s / Brian Wilson
Clark,
I wrote my last post before reading yours. You did a great job of
addressing the issue. Thanks.
Bill Craig
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Message: 14
Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 18:16:52 +0100
From: Patrick Beckers
Subject: Re: Left Banke / Cherry People's "And Suddenly"
> For the Left Banke, "Ivy, Ivy" was the A-side, while "And
> Suddenly" was the B-side. And of course, these two songs were
> both the work of Michael Brown and lyricist Tom Feher, the
> latter of whom is the lead vocalist. No other Left Banke
> members are present on these tracks.
As a Left Banke fan myself, I want to make a slight correction on
the facts written above.
Ivy, Ivy was indeed the A-side, with And Suddenly as the B-side
(both were recorded in February of 1967). But, while Ivy, Ivy was
indeed written by Brown/Feher, the B-side was not. This was written
by Brown/Bert Sommer. The late Bert Sommer also sang lead on both
tracks (and not Tom Feher).
And while being on the subject of Michael Brown, has anyone on this
list ever heard the 1994 release of Yvonne Vitale's On This Moment?
Yvonne Vitale is (was?) Michael Brown's wife and on this album she
performs 16 (at the time new) Michael Brown tunes, some of those co-
written by Shane Faubert and Carl Vitale. While the lead vocals are
not my cup of tea, to say it in a mild way, some of the songs are
very fine. Not as good as his work from the Sixties and Seventies,
but in 1994, it was good to hear this songwriter could still write
some good, catchy stuff!
Patrick Beckers
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Message: 15
Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 12:33:19 EST
From: Austin Roberts
Subject: Re: The Mob / "Where You Lead"
James,
Such is life for both of us I guess. I liked your version.
Best, Austin
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Message: 16
Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 13:08:39 EST
From: Matthew
Subject: Re: Jailbait rock
This is a very subjective topic and you can take a song to mean
whatever you think, hell you can read stuff into a song that was
never meant to be there. However, below is a list of songs that
more rock'n'roll and garage then Spectropop but here you go with
a list of possible jailbait songs:
Andrea Williams: Jail Bait
Chocolate Watchband: Sweet Young Thing
Syndicate Of Sound: Hey Little Girl
The Yardbirds: Good Morning Little School Girl
The Chesterfield Kings: Hey Little Bird
Aquavelvets: Thirteen
The Original Sins: Just Fourteen
The Milkshakes: She's Just Fifteen
The Coastwatchers: Teenage Cutie
Chuck Berry: Sweet Little Sixteen
Elvis Presely: Little Sister
The Critters: Younger Girl
Stray Cats: Sexy Seventeen
The Coasters: Young Blood
The Sonics: Dirty Old Man:
Don & Dewey/The Premiers: Farmer John
Dee Clark: Hey Little Girl
Mouse & The Traps: Maid Of Sugar, Maid Of Spice
Canned Heat: Sweet Sixteen
Neil Young/Music Machine: Cherry Cherry
Sam The Sham & The Pharoahs: L'il Red Riding Hood
The Devil Dogs: So Young
Dave Clark 5: Little Bitty Pretty One
Them: Little Girl
Alex Chilton: Hey! Little Child
The Everly Brothers: Wake Little Susie
Ray Charles: This Little Girl Of Mine
Professor Longhair & His Blues Scholars: Hey Little Girl
Tommy Youngblood: Hey Little Girl
Major Lance: Hey Little Girl
The Underdogs: Little Girl
The King Krooners: Pretty Little Girl
Modest "Show Stopper" Clifton: Pretty Little Baby
Huey "Piano" Smith: Little Liza Jane
And of course...Thank Heaven For Little Girls...ouch
Matthew
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Message: 17
Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 10:48:27 -0800 (PST)
From: Bob Hanes
Subject: Re: Good Vibrations
As Susan pointed out "Good, Good, Good Vibrations", as it was originally
titled, was begun during the Pet Sounds sessions. In fact the original
recordings carry the same master reference number for both Here Today
and Pet Sounds. Something Derek Bill and I were confused and confounded
over for years, before we found out they were begun with the same rhythm
track. Operative word, BEGUN, the similarities are there rhythmically,
but that ends quickly, IMHO.
The Right Reverend Bob, dumb angel chapel,
Church of the Harmonic Overdub
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Message: 18
Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 12:53:55 EST
From: Austin Roberts
Subject: Re: 2 Austin Roberts groups (Arkade / River Deep)
Hey Jeff,
I wrote that about a girl I met on a beach and liked her name so
much that a year later in 1969 I wrote and sang it out in LA as
River Deep. George Tobin And Johnny Cymbal produced. I appreciate
your liking it. It brings back some cool memories of LA in the late
sixties, early seventies.
Best, Austin
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Message: 19
Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 13:32:34 +0000
From: Phil Milstein
Subject: Re: Hangmen
Jeff Lemlich wrote:
> There was no connection between the groups. The Fairfield County
> group came from Fairfield, Connecticut, and oh what a record
> they made! I did "Stacey" in my short-lived garage-punk band
> The Hivebizzers, but changed the lyrics to reflect some of the
> newer drugs those crazy kids were consuming. I still can't believe
> I found that record at a Hialeah thrift shop!
Thanks for the clarification, Jeff. The Lyres also did a great cover
of Stacey, found on their megagenius 2nd LP "Lyres, Lyres."
--Phil M.
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Message: 20
Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 13:01:22 +0000
From: Phil Milstein
Subject: Re: Audrey Hepburn & Moon River / Mr. Wilson / red-faced Phil
Watson Macblue wrote:
> ... instead, the role went to Audrey Hepburn, who couldn't sing at
> all. Hepburn's "singing" was done for her by Marni Nixon - Andrew
> Gold's mother, by the way.
Granted that Hepburn was no great vocal technician, but her debut take
of "Moon River" demonstrates that she could carry a tune just fine, as
well as imbue the right one with a subtle dramatic flair. In fact, I've
yet to hear so touching a version as her's.
But I'll admit that my use of the word "debut" may be stretching its
definition a bit. Although Hepburn was apparently the first to tackle
this classic Henry Mancini tune, her version of it in "Breakfast At
Tiffany's" was dubbed (by the ubiquitous Miss Nixon, I believe) for the
original release of the movie, and did not appear until a remastered
version was released in the 1990s. (I wonder which is currently
in-print. And whether "debut" means "first-ever," or "first released").
On the subject of Brian Wilson-influenced songs, add John Cale's "Mr.
Wilson," from his mid-'70s "Slow Dazzle" LP, to the list. Although not a
direct BBs copy, it does offer some of the elements of their sound, and
a lyric that is a direct tribute to the master. In interviews given
around the time it came out, Cale related an anecdote in which Brian,
upon settling in to watch Francis Coppolla's "The Conversation,"
freaked out over its opening line, "Good evening, Mr. Wilson." According
to the story, the paranoid Brian then perceived the entire movie as
being addressed to him.
Albabe Gordon wrote:
> Hey Phil. Actually it's more like The Blues Magoos, "We Ain't
> Got Nothing Yet." ... and according to the liner notes, the
> riff is credited as being played on a fender bass by Joe Osborn...
> but James Burton was on the track as well... I wonder who came
> up with the great lick?
Oops -- color me red in the face. Not the first time I've jumbled those
two songs, by the way. Perhaps in future posts I should flag those
"facts" I've taken the time to double-check, vs. those poured straight
from the leaky sieve that is my memory. It's probably no surprise that,
at least in the semi-spontaneous domain of this chat board, I'm
generally more interested in underlying truths and opinions than I am in
perfect objective accuracy, but I understand and respect that others
here feel very differently, and I don't wish to mess anyone up with
misguided reportage. (For the record, my comments above all fall into
the "unchecked" category.)
--Phil M.
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Message: 21
Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 11:51:26 -0700
From: Leslie Fradkin
Subject: Re: Left Banke / Cherry People's "And Suddenly"
Mike wrote:
> For the Left Banke, "Ivy, Ivy" was the A-side, while "And Suddenly"
> was the B-side. And of course, these two songs were both the work
> of Michael Brown and lyricist Tom Feher, the latter of whom is the
> lead vocalist. No other Left Banke members are present on these
> tracks.
Your info is in error. Bert Sommer sang those tracks that you mention
although Tommy did help write them. That record caused quite a bit of
harm to the group because of Mike's actions in that episode.
Les Fradkin
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Message: 22
Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 11:34:51 -0600
From: Mike Dugo
Subject: Re: Hangmen / Cherry People
> By the way, I LOVE the Cherry People album. Sorry the Hangmen
> didn't. I'm sure they liked their album better. Oops, I'm
> sorry. No one cared to record an album of what they wanted to
> play.
If this is implying that The Hangmen didn't record an LP...they
did. It's titled "Bittersweet" and was released in '66. I'd say
it's about equal to the Cherry people LP - in my opinion.
Mike Dugo
60sgaragebands.com
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Message: 23
Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 17:37:07 -0000
From: Bob Wallis
Subject: Re; Jailbait Rock
Boston area group Teddy and the Pandas had a regionally hit song in
1965 (which bubbled under the BB 100) in the Bob Stone penned tune
"We Can't Go On This Way". The lyrics went:
"Sugar is sweet but you're much sweeter
Flowers are pretty but You're even prettier
Your love much warmer than a summer's day
But you're so young and we can't go on this way"
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Message: 24
Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 20:44:54 EST
From: Bob Rashkow
Subject: 2004
All the best to everybody at Spectropop, the coolest, hottest,
GROOVIEST discussion group online...... for a great 2004.
Bobster
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Message: 25
Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 11:52:54 -0700
From: Leslie Fradkin
Subject: Re: Left Banke 45 on Camerica
Jules:
> it's one of those 45s I'd never part with. Just wondering if
> it's one of those 45s that surfaced much over there in the US
> ...I ordered stock of it for my record shop here (Sydney,
> Australia) back then, and I remember it taking a while to come
> through from the one-stop we used in L.A. Well worth the wait
> and effort though. Anyone else here know that gem?
I have it as well. I think "And One Day" is more my favorite
(The B-side).
Les
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