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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: Feldman, Goldstein, and Gottehrer
From: Trevor Ley
2. Re: I Can't Quit Her
From: Bob Radil
3. Pressing error; more JFK/Beatles theory; spine-shiverers; Clusters; odd artists on S'pop songs
From: Country Paul
4. Re: Worst singing
From: Paul Bryant
5. This is Merseybeat 3
From: Mark Frumento
6. Re: Italian Drama
From: Phil Milstein
7. Re: "My Name Is Mud"
From: Ed Rambeau
8. Re: Songs that quote others
From: Mike McKay
9. Re: Songwriter Credits, General Question
From: Steveo
10. The earliest fake-skipper?
From: ACJ
11. Re: I Can't Quit Her
From: Clark Besch
12. Re: Lennon's vocals
From: Michael Godin
13. Re: "Child of Mine"
From: Al Kooper
14. Re: Telstar vocal
From: Bob Hanes
15. At Last
From: Albabe
16. Re: Beatle myth, pt.2
From: Paul Bryant
17. Re: Dylan's bike crash
From: Paul Bryant
18. Re: Songs that "quote" others
From: David Coyle
19. Re: Fake Skipping Records
From: Phil Milstein
20. Re: Mary Hopkin
From: Eddy
21. Re: Jackie DeShannon doowop records?
From: Frank Wright
22. Re: "Unchained Melody" / Hy Zaret
From: Wes Smith
23. Re: I Can't Quit Her
From: Al Kooper
24. Re: This Diamond Ring
From: Austin Roberts
25. Re: English versions of Italian original songs
From: Al Kooper
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Message: 1
Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 00:58:45 -0000
From: Trevor Ley
Subject: Re: Feldman, Goldstein, and Gottehrer
Steveo wrote:
> It was a slow dance entitled "Thank You And Goodnight" (The
> Angels). A very creamy sound; highly romantic. Great memories.
Steveo,
Just seeing that title made the eyes swell up. That was often a
closing song at dances I went to here in suburban Pittsburgh. I
remember those three names, too. Always read the little print
credits.
Anyone know what else they contributed to?
Trevor Ley
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Message: 2
Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 03:39:39 -0000
From: Bob Radil
Subject: Re: I Can't Quit Her
John Sellards wrote:
> With all the attention "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know" is
> getting here, I thought I should mention that my exposure to "Child
> Is The Father To Man" came from a friend in radio whom I distinctly
> recall saying, "Make sure you listen to 'I Can't Quit Her '...
> Gawd! What a song!" I loved the whole album, and still do ... but I
> still tend to think my friend was right and that's the standout cut.
I agree. Although the single hardly made a dent in the charts, it did
get played on WHYN, Springfield, MA.
Bob Radil
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Message: 3
Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2004 23:54:16 -0500
From: Country Paul
Subject: Pressing error; more JFK/Beatles theory; spine-shiverers; Clusters; odd artists on S'pop songs
Re: Biggest record label "blunders": In 1963, I got a DJ copy of
something (I don't remember what) on UA - except it wasn't. It
turned out to be "Mr. Bassman" by Johnny Cymbal on Kapp. I wondered
if the entire DJ-copy pressing was like that. (Cheap styrene pressing,
too.)
Phil M, re: "Why the Beatles" and the theory that the JFK assassination
paved the way for the Beatles:
> For that to have been true suggests that had there been no
> assassination attempt The Beatles never would've broken through
> here, or at least their acceptance would've been greatly muted.
> But their music itself denies that possibility -- again, it was
> simply too strong to resist.
If that were completely true the Beatles would have hit when their
first US singles were released in '63. I hate to disagree somewhat
with my knowledgeable friend Phil; the Beatles may not have broken
through had the social circumstances been different, even being the
beneficiaries of one of the biggest promotions to date. I think that
the JFK assassination, and the passage of enough time afterward, "gave
permission" to the public to consider the Beatles. Capitol's then-
astronomical $30,000 promotion of the artists also succeeded in getting
their faces and personalities as well as their records out there, and
after weeks of grieving, the public was ready for something new and
fresh. Whether it would have been successful without the social
conditions is, in my mind, open to debate. My tuppence.
John Lang mentions "I Only Have Eyes For You" by the Flamingos as a
spine-shiverer. Agreed - I do remember the first time I heard it - it
was a what-IS-this moment that even "Lovers Never Say Goodbye" (another
great one) couldn't have prepared anyone for. And let me throw in the
Luvs, "We Kiss In The Shadows" (Stallion, 1963) which I just discovered -
there's a falsetto phrase in the second verse which almost lifted me
out of my seat when I first heard it, and still does.
Me, earlier:
> Clusters, "Darling Can't You Tell" (with Arlene Smith on
> duet lead vocal; Tee Gee, 1958) -- simply the best uptempo
> doo-wop I've ever heard. A cha-cha with a flute counter-melody,
> good lyrics, good singin', GREAT bass singer. 45 years later it
> still nails me.
Al Kooper:
> You've got a witness here! A great record but I think your year
> listing is off. I'd swear it is was about 1962......
Al, 50s, really. It was already an oldie when I bought it at Slim
Rose's Times Square Records in '61. Although a little before our
time, if someone has this in some format playable to musica, the rest
of us can hear what all the shouting's about.
Wendy Flynn wrote:
> Hey S'Poppers......anyone know where I can buy a stroboscope
> online?
Dan Hughes:
> Wendy, do you have a large album collection? Back in the
> sixties, a lot of albums released on the Audio Fidelity label
> (pretty sure that's the one; anyone confirm?) had the strobe
> bars printed right on the label.
Epic Records in the US had a strobe pattern around its border for
a while, but I can't vouch for its accuracy.
Country Paul
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Message: 4
Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2004 20:19:20 -0800 (PST)
From: Paul Bryant
Subject: Re: Worst singing
Watson Macblue wrote:
> At the risk of clasting an icon (so to speak), has anyone
> listened to the Crystals' assault on "Parade of the Wooden
> Soldiers" recently? I mean, give me a break. If this was
> the take Phil approved, what must the others have been like?
It's what the remote control on your CD player was made for -
oops, skip!! Likewise "The Bells of St. Marys."
pb
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Message: 5
Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 04:39:11 -0000
From: Mark Frumento
Subject: This is Merseybeat 3
I picked up a fascinating CD recently. It's called 'This is
Merseybeat 3' (the 3 in the title is paying tribute to the 1963
2-LP set of the same name, it's not #3 in a series).
In contrast to some of the junky generic CDs on Merseybeat, this
CD offers a variety of folk, beat, blues and rock from 1960s
Merseyside. It contains many live performances and transfers from
rare records. To top it off, the packaging is quite unique...
nothing remotely like the standard jewel case. On the whole it's a
very special digital experience that I highly recommend.
Best you look at the Mayfield Records web site if you want more
information:
http://www.mayfield-records.co.uk/merseybeat3.htm
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Message: 6
Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2004 22:52:56 -0500
From: Phil Milstein
Subject: Re: Italian Drama
Julio Nino wrote:
> Today listening to "Tar and Cement", by Patricia Ann Michaels, now
> playing in musica, I was again surprised to find that it was a
> version of the classic by Adriano Celentano "Il ragazzo della via
> Gluck" (very much superior, in my opinion, to Patricia Ann's
> version; I also love the charming Francoise Hardy version).
Can't speak for the other versions bandied about here recently, but the
writing credit on Patricia Ann Michaels' version of "Tar And Cement"
(Command Performance 120) does indeed read A. Celentano/Paul Vance/
Lee Pockriss.
--Phil M.
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Message: 7
Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2004 18:52:19 EST
From: Ed Rambeau
Subject: Re: "My Name Is Mud"
JB writes regarding "My Name Is Mud":
> Still really love that song. What's wrong with me?
Ed responds:
There's nothing wrong with you, JB. You're just a lover of
great music.
LOL, Ed Rambeau
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Message: 8
Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 00:34:22 EST
From: Mike McKay
Subject: Re: Songs that quote others
Steve Harvey wrote:
> Cheap Trick had a 10-inch record out in the '80s with "Daytripper". It
> was either that tune or something else on that EP that lifted the solo
> to the Yardbirds' "Think About It".
Speaking of lifting Yardbirds solos, the punk classic "Last Time Around"
by The Del-vettes on Dunwhich nicks the solo to "Mr. You're a Better Man
Than I" virtually note-for-note. A great song nonetheless.
Mike
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Message: 9
Date: Mon, 26 Jan 2004 16:52:17 -0800 (PST)
From: Steveo
Subject: Re: Songwriter Credits, General Question
Bob wrote:
> ....Another deal was on "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes". Dottie
> Wayne, the lyricist on the song told me that Ben Weisman gave up
> a third of the song to Snuff Garrett (aka Marilyn Garrett on the
> record label) to get it recorded by Bobby Vee. I was always
> told that Snuffy suggested the key change mid song, but Dottie
> says it was finished! I guess business is business but I think you
> should have to donate a little more than a title or an opportunity!
Bob,
Shades of the Elvis Presley-Col.Parker syndrome...
Steveo
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Message: 10
Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 00:11:09 -0500 (EST)
From: ACJ
Subject: The earliest fake-skipper?
I just remembered - I have on tape a track from the early 1950s
called "Get Out Those Old Records," by Broadway legend Mary Martin
and her son Larry Hagman (then still in his twenties). At the
beginning and near the end, Mary and Larry sing, "The ones (clap)
the ones (clap) the ones we heard so long ago." This might make
this track the earliest "fake-skipping" record.
ACJ
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Message: 11
Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 06:54:02 -0000
From: Clark Besch
Subject: Re: I Can't Quit Her
John Sellards wrote:
> With all the attention "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know" is
> getting here, I thought I should mention that my exposure to Child
> Is The Father To Man came from a friend in radio whom I distinctly
> recall saying, "Make sure you listen to 'I Can't Quit Her '...
> Gawd! what a song!" I loved the whole album, and still do ... but I
> still tend to think my friend was right and that's the standout cut.
That and "Just One Smile", which was huge in Chicago on WLS (#6) in
'66. "I can't Quit Her" was the 45 and got airplay in Kansas on FM.
I loved the Arbors version as well. It's one of those where I don't
even think of it as the same song. Much like Billy Joe Royal/Deep
Purple "Hush", Stevie Wonder/Beatles "We Can Work it Out", Box
Tops/Arbors/Cocker "The Letter" - all 3 sound like different songs
to me there! Anyway, "Child" is my brother's fave album and it IS a
true classic.
Clark
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Message: 12
Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2004 22:34:10 -0800
From: Michael Godin
Subject: Re: Lennon's vocals
Mike McKay wrote:
> You've hit the nail on the head, Steveo!
> I once compiled my personal view of Beatles covers........
> ........Note the common thread running through virtually every
> selection: a Lennon lead vocal............ And he is, quite simply,
> my favorite rock 'n' roll *singer* of all time. More ruffled feathers,
> no doubt. Believe me, there are loads of other singers I dearly love
> as well. But I can only say that when John sings, he touches my
> emotions in a way that is unique to him.
Mike - Speaking of hitting the nail on the head, what you had to say
was spot on in my opinion! Hearing John's spine-tingling vocals on
"Twist and Shout," "Dizzy Miss Lizzy," "Rock & Roll Music," or something
as impassioned but more tender like "It's Only Love" or "I'll Be Back" -
one of my all-time favourite songs of John and the whole band too.
Knocks me out at the bridge ("Iiiiiiiiiiiiiii thought that you would
realize...") - totally overwhelming! It's no wonder I was so affected
by The Beatles as a young kid. They were truly amazing. Having lived at
the time contributed tremendously to my experience of their music; they
are still stand out today, and again especially John's vocals.
I will never forget having the good fortune when I was 16 I was able to
have a phone interview with John while he and Yoko were in Montreal in
1969 at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel for their "Bed-In For Peace".
Imagine...I was a 16 year old kid interviewing his hero on my high
school radio station. His first comment, you ask? "Hello high school!"
I'll never forget.
Cheers.
Michael Godin
http://www.TreasureIslandOldies
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Message: 13
Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2004 22:05:58 EST
From: Al Kooper
Subject: Re: "Child of Mine"
Michael Coxe wrote:
> Btw, CHILD IS FATHER TO THE MAN is one of my all-time favorite
> records, that along with the Rascals ONCE UPON A DREAM, clued
> this 60's teenager into the modern pop music idiom, far beyond
> his tarheel R&R, Beach Music & R&B roots. Thanks Al (& Steve,
> Fred, Bobby, Jim, Randy, Jerry & Dick & arranger Catero).
>
> As a minor side note, I've found it interesting that Michael
> Brown's father Harry Lookofsky was one of the session violinists.
Catero (Fred) was the engineer, not the arranger.
Harry Lokofsky was the top string contractor in NYC for many years.
Al Kooper
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Message: 14
Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2004 21:30:24 -0800 (PST)
From: Bob Hanes
Subject: Re: Telstar vocal
Bobby Rydell did a vocal version of the song on his "15 Big Hits"
album, I think; I don't have the album at this time in my life.
The Right Reverend Bob, dumb angel chapel,
Church of the Harmonic Overdub
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Message: 15
Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 01:13:20 -0000
From: Albabe
Subject: At Last
Steveo said of "At Last":
> I think Glenn Miller had the first big hit on it!!! Nice
> version..."
I think so too. I think it was first heard/seen in the (great)
movie "Orchestra Wives."
~albabe
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Message: 16
Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2004 20:24:11 -0800 (PST)
From: Paul Bryant
Subject: Re: Beatle myth, pt.2
Mike McKay wrote:
> I once compiled my personal view of Beatles covers.....
> .......Note the common thread running through virtually
> every selection: a Lennon lead vocal.
I dig all on your list and agree, but hang on, where's
Paul's amazing throat-shredding "Long Tall Sally" in all
of this? And "Kansas City?" This can't be your full
list. C'mon, let's have the full list! I always
struggle with "Long Tall Sally" - it's as good as Little
Richard. But how can that be? Little Richard was the
quasar of rock.
pb
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Message: 17
Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2004 20:36:14 -0800 (PST)
From: Paul Bryant
Subject: Re: Dylan's bike crash
Dan Hughes originally wrote:
> Dylan was never the same after that motorcycle accident.
Carlo Ponti responded:
> Dan, There are also those who have opined that the
> motorcycle accident was nothing more than just Bobby coming
> off the bike, which happens to all riders at one point. I have
> read somewhere that it was no more than Zimmerman and his
> spinmeisters trying to build the James Dean-type myth by making
> it sound more dramatic than it was.
I think the truth about this one has been pretty well nailed by now.
By May '66, Dylan had finished his punishing world tour (the most
confrontational in rock & roll, surely), and was staring a whole pile
of further commitments in the face which Al Grossman had kindly lined
up, based on the premise when you're hot you're hot. So, there was
The Book ("Tarantula"), a possible TV special, another world tour, a
new album, a new movie. And a book of lyrics. So when Bob did fall off
his motorbike and crack his neck vertebrae, a little lightbulb went on
in his head and he immediately went into Myth Overdrive. The appalling
commitments he was facing melted away - even the most flint-hearted of
promoters and publishers couldn't push Bob to do anything when he was
holed up in Woodstock poised between life and death, horribly scarred,
etc etc. So, in the words of those old Victorian melodramas, in one
bound Bob was free.
But free to do what? After 1966 it was seven years before he toured
again. He went into a very strange downward spiral culminating in "Self
Portrait," which is one of the strangest albums released in rock, so he
later said, in an attempt to stop people liking him so much! Anybody
else ever tried to sabotage their own career so deliberately as Dylan
did between 1967 and 1972?
pb
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Message: 18
Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2004 17:23:29 -0800 (PST)
From: David Coyle
Subject: Re: Songs that "quote" others
The opening riff of "Day Tripper" is also quoted in
the instrumental break of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers'
version of "What'd I Say?" (played by Eric Clapton).
David
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Message: 19
Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2004 22:24:40 -0500
From: Phil Milstein
Subject: Re: Fake Skipping Records
Steveo wrote:
> How about intros: "Slowdown" (Beatles) or "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy"
> (Buckinghams)?
Out of our time purview, but while we're on the topic I'll mention
anyway that Tom Waits used a similar effect on the reprise version of
his beautiful "Innocent When You Dream," from "Frank's Wild Years." In
fact, this version is subtitled "(78)", and so not only quite accurately
recreates the crackle 'n' pop of a well-played 78, but manages to effect
the tone of an acoustically-recorded source sound, as well.
I also know a reissues compiler who has, on rare occasion yet more than
once, included his own '60s-styled recordings amidst authentic '60s
originals, with a crackle 'n' pop track added to accentuate the effect.
Some customers have been fooled; others decidedly have not.
--Phil M.
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Message: 20
Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 08:28:54 +0100
From: Eddy
Subject: Re: Mary Hopkin
Art Longmire:
> I have the Postcard LP and one song I'm interested in on that
> album is the Donovan song "Lord of the Reedy River". Does anybody
> know if Donovan ever recorded a studio version of this,
Donovan recorded it in December 1968 at De Lane Lea Studios,
together with Voyage of the Moon. The understanding is that
these were only demos for Mary Hopkin. Nevertheless both
tracks appear on the HMS Donovan 2LP set (a UK only release
from 1971, but re-issued on cd in 1998 on BGO).
Eddy
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Message: 21
Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 07:38:11 -0000
From: Frank Wright
Subject: Re: Jackie DeShannon doowop records?
Bill George wrote:
> Someone recently wrote me asking about the following two records.
> I don't know anything about them, but hopefully someone here
> will (someone here always does!). I am assuming that they are
> Jackie DeShannon compositions, and may be included on some
> doowop compilations.
> Valley High -- Bill and Doree Post (Jackie DeShannon)
> I Don't Need A Diary -- Prudhomme Sisters (Jackie DeShannon)
---
I have a 45 of "Valley High" by Bill & Doree Post (Valiant 6029).
Sorry, but the artists are the credited composers of this song.
The flipside of the disc is another song that Bill & Doree wrote,
that became a hit for Connie Stevens - "Sixteen Reasons (Why I
Love You)". As I recall without listening, Valley High is a
sentimental ballad about their high school days. No Doowop here.
No mention of Jackie DeShannon on the label. Better luck on the
other song that you inquired about.
Frank Wright
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Message: 22
Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 08:19:28 -0000
From: Wes Smith
Subject: Re: "Unchained Melody" / Hy Zaret
Thanks much to Mick Patrick and Phil Milstein for their
insightful comments on one of my all time favorite songs!
A couple more excellent versions(although neither were hits)
are Gene Vincent's version from one of his early Capitol LPs
(3/'57),and my favorite version of them all, the Blackwells
beautiful version on Jamie 1157(5/'60)
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Message: 23
Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 02:54:13 EST
From: Al Kooper
Subject: Re: I Can't Quit Her
John Sellards:
> With all the attention "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know" is
> getting here, I thought I should mention that my exposure to Child
> Is The Father To Man came from a friend in radio whom I distinctly
> recall saying, "Make sure you listen to 'I Can't Quit Her '... Gawd!
> what a song!" I loved the whole album, and still do ... but I still
> tend to think my friend was right and that's the standout cut.
I'm just glad somebody likes anything I did. It's a tough world
out there - -
Al Kooper
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Message: 24
Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2004 03:54:52 EST
From: Austin Roberts
Subject: Re: This Diamond Ring
Steveo:
> As far as This Diamond Ring goes, it is a good song,
> but Leon Russell's arrnagement was the golden touch
> that made the record. Love that cordovox!
Steveo, You're right;great arrangement to a great pop song!
Best,
Austin
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Message: 25
Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2004 22:18:19 EST
From: Al Kooper
Subject: Re: English versions of Italian original songs
Julio Nino wrote:
> Are these versions in English better known than the Italian
> originals in UK and USA? Because, personally I think none of
> them can compare with the originals.
One of the greatest was called "Il Uno De Tante." I can't remember
the original Italian artist BUT Leiber & Stoller bought the original
Italian backing track, took off the lead singer, wrote English words,
gave it to Ben E. King and voila - "I, Who Have Nothing"
Al Kooper
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