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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: fuzztone
From: Phil Hall
2. Re: Psychedelic compilation albums
From: Orion
3. Re: Bogus groups
From: Steven Prazak
4. Re: I Wish You Could Be Here
From: Jim Shannon
5. Re: more on Open Up Your Heart
From: Mark Hill
6. Re: The Dis-advantages Of You
From: Art Longmire
7. Re: Beatle Covers
From: Art Longmire
8. Re: Slate Article: Holy Pop Relic
From: Paul Bryant
9. Re: S'Poppers on American Bandstand
From: Paul Evans
10. Wayne Newton and The Beach Boys???
From: Mark Hill
11. Re: Springwell version of "It's For You" in musica
From: Robert R. Radil
12. Re: Bluebeats / The #1
From: Robert R. Radil
13. Re: Off-Center / Skipping Records
From: Bob Radil
14. Hampshire, Respectable, Cilla Black
From: Blub1256ber@aol.com
15. Re: Time Is On My Side
From: Fred Clemens
16. Re: Mark & Clark - Ron Dante connection
From: Jeff Lemlich
17. Re: Everett Barksdale
From: Mike Rashkow
18. Re: Monkees-Not Playing
From: Steveo
19. Re: Tommy Li Puma
From: Steveo
20. Re: Zombies/Happy Birthday AK
From: Al Kooper
21. Tradewinds
From: Orion
22. Happy Together
From: Eddy
23. "Time Is On My Side"
From: Al Kooper
24. Re: The Wonderful Home Transmitter
From: Billy G. Spradlin
25. "I Wish You Could Be Here" - The Cyrcle
From: Dave O'Gara
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Message: 1
Date: Fri, 06 Feb 2004 18:59:19 -0000
From: Phil Hall
Subject: Re: fuzztone
Hugo M.:
> Poking around on the net, the information I receive is that
> fuzzboxes first were used in '64, a writer in UK said the
> first use of fuzz that he knew of was on the two 45s that
> launched P J Proby's career in the UK. Does anybody here
> know anything that could extend the fuzztone timeline back
> a little further?
Zip-A-Dee Doo-Dah by Bobb. B. Soxx & The Blue Jeans was late
summer of '62.
Phil Hall
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Message: 2
Date: Fri, 06 Feb 2004 14:28:10 -0500
From: Orion
Subject: Re: Psychedelic compilation albums
I have 4 or 5 different CDs by the Flowerpot Men. One of them
includes ALL songs they ever recorded (however, it was missing
two songs that are included on another "Best of" edition. I would
like to know what songs were on the LPs, if it would not be too
much trouble. As I said previously, I really like their music and
if I am missing a song or two, I will try to find it.
Peace. :)
Orion
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Message: 3
Date: Fri, 06 Feb 2004 15:13:17 -0500
From: Steven Prazak
Subject: Re: Bogus groups
I guess every era has had to deal with faux bands that tour when the real
ones aren't available. I recall an "Archies" show in late '69 that actually
sold out the Charleston (SC) Municipal Auditorium. After it was over,
I'm sure that not a soul believed that the band they just witnessed was
the real thing. My gullible 11-year-old self went mainly to see what
Jughead "really" looked like. Turns out I was one of many "jugheads"
in attendance that night.
And I've got a VTR from some teen dance show by one of several
"Zombies" touring groups milking the then-hot Time of the Season
in lieu of the recently departed genuine article. I tell ya, you've got
to have some serious grapefruits to put your illegal, but famous
named band on a television program.
Steven Prazak
Atlanta, GA
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Message: 4
Date: Fri, 06 Feb 2004 19:37:55 -0000
From: Jim Shannon
Subject: Re: I Wish You Could Be Here
Mike:
I'm on the same page. "Wish You Could" was one of Simon's
best-written songs. Cyrkle did a nice recording for him, too.
Some DJ's actually pronounced the group as "Kirkle" instead of
"Cyrkle", not sure if was a regional thing at the time.
Anyway, "the winter's gonna last a long time this year".
Jim Shannon
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Message: 5
Date: Thu, 05 Feb 2004 22:47:08 -0500
From: Mark Hill
Subject: Re: more on Open Up Your Heart
Al Kooper wrote:
> I have a version by Bobby Lee Trammell of that title.
> Think it's the same song???
Mark Hill answers:
Yes, Al, I think it *could* be. Cool! Can you tell me approx. year and
label? (Author and FLIP SIDE?) Does it have ("And Let The Sunshine In")
part of the title? Give it a spin, then see the sample lyrics below. Is it the
same tune?
Bobby Lee Trammel had no Billboard pop hits, but there's a track by him,
"You Mostest Girl", on That'll Flat Git It: Rockabilly from the Vaults of
Decca, Vol. 3. So that would be country and connect back to the first
"Open Up Your Heart" -- in that they are *both* on Decca. Hmmm.
I find it hard to imagine a "rockabilly" version. As the Country Church/
Rosemary Clooney/Flintstones versions are all the same song with similar
arrangements. A novelty song, sounding something like you might hear
children sing in Sunday school. Opening with the lines... (I'm paraphrasing
from memory...):
Mommy told me something a little kid should know.
And it's all about the devil, and I've learned to hate him so.
They say he causes trouble, when you let him in the room
And you never ever leave him, if your heart is filled with gloom
chorus:
So let the SUN-SHINE in
Face it with a grin
Smiler never lose
And frowners never win
(Come to think of it, I'd *LOVE* to hear a rockabilly version of this!)
Checking British chart information, I find yet another, "Open Up Your
Heart" by Joan Regan, from May of 1955- **also** on Decca (F 1074). Could
it be the same song, too??? Same label and even *year* as the first.
Regan is a UK singer with 19 chart hits. Last one being, "Must Be Santa",
(#42, 12/60 Pye) A song that I know better as by Lorne Greene. So that
has her doing a similar sort of novelty tune. Hmmmm.
Mark T wrote:
> I know of 3 versions of this song [Open Up Your Heart]:
> Thomas and Richard Frost
> Almond Marzipan on Trend in England, which I think is the original
> Rainbow on Evolution
The song is an early 70s pop tune, in the vein of Edison Lighthouse/White
Plains. Great record. I am sure not the same as the earlier songs mentioned
with this title.
Thomas & Richard Frost had a #83 hit, "She's Got Love?" (Imperial)
10-69
A friend emailed me this about the Frost, "Open Up Your Heart": "It
almost sounds like a Tom Bahler project as far as the arrangement and
voices! A better comparison would be to "Love Grows Where My Rosemary
Goes". Speaking of Thomas and Robert Frost, I work with their younger
brother. They're from the San Francisco Bay Area. He said it was so cool
for him to hang out with them "back in the day". He was a teenager and
he got to meet a lot of groovy 60's people."
So in conclusion, we are definitely talking about 2 *different* songs, both
with a number of cover versions. And I think the one I initially wrote about
(by Cowboy Church Sunday School) is unique, in that *3* known cover versions,
all have the *same song* covered as the B-side of *each one*.
"Dr. Mark" Hill
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Message: 6
Date: Fri, 06 Feb 2004 21:26:27 -0000
From: Art Longmire
Subject: Re: The Dis-advantages Of You
Justin McDevitt wrote:
> First of all, The Brass Ring were the true representatives of
> the Now Sound that had its brief moment in the mid to late 60s.
> Phil Bodmer, who founded and arranged much of their material
> was the pied piper of this genre.
Hello Justin!
Glad to hear that you like "The Dis-Advantages of You" by the Brass
Ring as much as I do -- like you, I think it's a classic. I've got an
equally interesting story on how I happened onto this song. I heard
it as a kid on the Benson and Hedges commercial, and really liked it
even then but had no idea it was ever released as a record, let alone
that it made the charts. In the 1980s I recorded an audio tape of a
TV show that featured the commercial, so I got to hear it again.
Then, in the early 90s I found the album "The Dis-Advantages of You"
in a thrift store, with that great cover. I already had a couple of
Brass Ring 45s, which were pretty good, so I went ahead and purchased
it. Once I put the needle on the first track, my jaw dropped -- it was
the Benson and Hedges theme! If anything the song was even better
than I remembered it, and I couldn't believe my blind luck at
stumbling across it. Later I researched the tune and discovered that
it had been a chart hit in the spring of 1967. I was just turning
eleven then, but don't recall hearing it on the radio at the time.
For those of us who were around at the time, the "Now" sound or as I
call it the "Mod sound" is every bit as evocative of the era as psychedelic
music or soul music. I agree with you that "Disadvantages" is the
quintessential example of that sound.
Art Longmire
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Message: 7
Date: Fri, 06 Feb 2004 21:43:09 -0000
From: Art Longmire
Subject: Re: Beatle Covers
Steve Harvey wrote:
> I got an import album by a band called Revolver. The album
> was called Northern Songs. It had "It's For You" and most of
> the other Beatles tunes the Fabs never got around to doing
> themselves. Kinda neat hearing a Beatlish band doing the
> songs in the Beatles style instead of other artists. I've
> never seen another copy so I burned it onto CD once I got
> a burner.
Speaking of Beatle covers, one of the most bizarre records I've ever
found is an LP of Beatle songs, done identically note for note to
sound like the originals, by a group with no listed name, with the
record contained in a blank white cover. I've tried to research this,
with no success. If there are any Beatle experts out there who have
heard of this, please fill me in, because frankly I'm puzzled!
There's no date on the record either, needless to say.
Art Longmire
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Message: 8
Date: Fri, 06 Feb 2004 13:28:02 -0800 (PST)
From: Paul Bryant
Subject: Re: Slate Article: Holy Pop Relic
Quote from the article:
> Until now, no official version of Smile has ever
> existed, just reimagined renditions of songs that
> found their way onto subsequent (and disappointing)
> Beach Boys albums: fragments smuggled out of the
> vaults and onto muddy bootlegs and a half-hour's worth
> of exquisite, professionally mastered material that
> appeared on the 1993 Beach Boys box set, Good
> Vibrations.
followed by
> I'm a Smile cultist of medium intensity (yes to
> bootlegs...)
This is shoddy journalism, because any Smile bootleg
listener would know that there are four or five (probably
more) Sea of Tunes Smile boots of studio quality material,
and not one of them the least bit "muddy".
Anyway this guy just peddles the same old tired stupid
line that after Smile the Beach Boys were has-beens
and their albums disappointing. No one has been
seriously arguing that for decades.
pb
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Message: 9
Date: Fri, 06 Feb 2004 21:32:17 -0000
From: Paul Evans
Subject: Re: S'Poppers on American Bandstand
Clark wrote:
> I'm sure that Paul Evans and others must have had songs or
> appearances on the show, but were not listed in the book I have.
Hi Clark,
Sure I appeared on the show -- several times. According to Dick's
book, "Rock, Roll and Remember", when they needed someone to play
the part of Fred (in the Back Seat) on one show, they pulled a yet-
unknown Bobby Rydell from the audience. Did that make him a
star? :-)
I also appeared on his local Philadelphia show several times, with
early records that never made it to the charts.
Dick was ALWAYS terrific to me. When I put together my compilation
CD, "I Was a Part of the 50's", a few years ago, I asked him for a
quote that I could use, and got one by fax two days later.
Paul Evans
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Message: 10
Date: Fri, 06 Feb 2004 16:34:12 -0500
From: Mark Hill
Subject: Wayne Newton and The Beach Boys???
Country Paul wrote:
> Wayne Newton! I've heard some of his kiddie rockabilly that really rocks;
> and of course the Beach Boys-with-Wayne-singing-lead "Comin' On Too
> Strong."
Wayne Newton and The Beach Boys???
I have never heard about this one. Can you elaborate???
"Dr. Mark" Hill
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Message: 11
Date: Fri, 06 Feb 2004 23:35:00 -0000
From: Robert R. Radil
Subject: Re: Springwell version of "It's For You" in musica
Clark Besch wrote:
> I always felt Springwell's was a weak attempt at covering
> Three Dog Night's great version!
But have you guys heard Cilla Black's version from 1964? I think she
was the one Lennon-McCartney had in mind for the song.
Bob Radil
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Message: 12
Date: Sat, 07 Feb 2004 00:16:16 -0000
From: Robert R. Radil
Subject: Re: Bluebeats / The #1
Jim Shannon wrote:
> A Connecticut garage band called the Bluebeats had a minor
> regional hit called "Extra Girl" in '66 on Columbia Records.
> A year or so later, they changed their name to The #1 and
> released a song called "The Collector" which charted into the
> top 40 again only regionally. Does anyone know if "The
> Collector" was actually the soundtrack to the motion picture?
Unfortunately, I don't have the answer, but I do have a mint condition
single that I can post to musica once there is space, if anyone is
interested.
Bob Radil
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Message: 13
Date: Sat, 07 Feb 2004 00:21:46 -0000
From: Bob Radil
Subject: Re: Off-Center / Skipping Records
Mark Hill wrote:
> A customer had brought back a new LP with a skip, and they
> were opening up new copies to find a good one. They opened
> and played maybe 8-10 copies and every one skipped. I'm sure
> these stories are *legion*!
If they were all pressed from the same master, then they should
all skip.
Bob Radil
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Message: 14
Date: Fri, 06 Feb 2004 17:01:35 EST
From: Blub1256ber@aol.com
Subject: Hampshire, Respectable, Cilla Black
Tom Taber: >living in Western N.Y. at that time near the Canadian border,
both (Keith Hampshire) songs were big hits......
So Keith Hampshire was Canadian? Ontario?
Doesn't "Respectable", covered adequately by The Outsiders with their
signature organ, sound like it should have been covered by Bill Deal & The Rhondels?
Also for once and for all is this originally by The Chants, circa 1961-62?
Or is that a completely different tune?
I admit Cilla Black isn't one of my favorite singers and I've only heard
"You're My World" and some other cover she did early in '68 which I can't think of
right now (it came out in the States about the same time as Madeline Bell's
version of "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me")......but Helen Reddy's take pales in
comparison. I do like very much the way she (Cilla) builds the song from start
to finish, creating a certain amount of drama and emotion, and it's
interesting to hear that she did a number of her other tunes the same way. I might
just become a fan yet! Let us relegate Helen Reddy to the 7Ts where she belongs
and give her "Somewhere in the Night" (Batdorf-Rodney); hers IMHO is not only
the definitive version but it puts most of her other material in the
background. Bobster
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Message: 15
Date: Sat, 07 Feb 2004 00:18:38 -0000
From: Fred Clemens
Subject: Re: Time Is On My Side
Eddy wrote:
> Irma Thomas does have the original. The Kai Winding version
> is from the same year though.
Sorry Eddy, but Kai Winding came first. His version, which allegedly
used the Enchanters as the "Vocal Group" (uncredited), was recorded
in October of 1963. Irma Thomas' version didn't surface until around
July of 1964, as the flip side of her R&B Hit, "Anyone Who Knows What
Love Is (Will Understand)".
Fred Clemens
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Message: 16
Date: Fri, 06 Feb 2004 23:13:13 -0000
From: Jeff Lemlich
Subject: Re: Mark & Clark - Ron Dante connection
> There WAS a Mark And Clark Band! They were twins who gigged
> around Florida for a lot of years. They had a 45 on MTA, and
> a full-length album (plus some singles) on Columbia.
I guess I should have also mentioned that their Columbia album
and 45s were produced by Ron Dante. Ron, I see you also wrote
the music for "Jigsaw Woman", which SHOULD have been a hit!
Jeff Lemlich
http://www.limestonerecords.com
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Message: 17
Date: Fri, 06 Feb 2004 19:05:04 EST
From: Mike Rashkow
Subject: Re: Everett Barksdale
Al Kooper wrote:
> Everett Barksdale or Charley Macey - both outstanding sidemen
> and staples of the New York recording scene in the 50s and 60s.
> (My best guess is that it was Everett.)
I believe if one goes back and checks the original Nat King
Cole Trio, they will find Everett Barksdale was the man on guitar.
I never had any idea about that until something I read stated it;
maybe twenty five years after I last had the pleasure of working
with him.
I wouldn't presume to be a judge of his ability, but I will tell
you that a nicer man and a more cooperative, positive spirit never
opened a case in any studio where I was working. Always a gentleman,
always dressed like a businessman and always gave you his best.
Di la,
Rashkovsky
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Message: 18
Date: Fri, 06 Feb 2004 14:08:22 -0800 (PST)
From: Steveo
Subject: Re: Monkees-Not Playing
Mikey wrote:
> There was a problem with Don Kirshner and the guys
> in that Don didn't want them in the studio at ALL
> until they were needed to sing....etc.
Mikey,
I agree. He could have integrated them in the 4th chair
somehow, and moved them up eventually. Well, they ran
their course anyway, IMHO.
Steveo
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Message: 19
Date: Fri, 06 Feb 2004 21:18:47 -0800 (PST)
From: Steveo
Subject: Re: Tommy Li Puma
Chris Mondia wrote:
> I was wondering why I never read much about the mid
> to late 60s production work of Tommy Li Puma.
Chris,
Tommy Li Puma still works in Los Angeles as a producer.
I agree, he indeed is great! Someone mentioned that he
was in a wheelchair..don't know..if anyone has any info
on him, it would be great to hear!
Steveo
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Message: 20
Date: Sat, 07 Feb 2004 07:54:23 EST
From: Al Kooper
Subject: Re: Zombies/Happy Birthday AK
Glenn:
> This birthday's a special one for you, Al. Hope it's very happy!
> Thanks for all the great music. And thanks for bugging CBS until
> they put out the Zombies' "Odyssey and Oracle" album, which gave
> the world "Time of the Season". I'd like to hear that story
I dont like to change things, Glenn, so I spent my birthday sick as
a dog with a cold, playing some upholstered sewer in NYC as I might
have forty-several years ago when I began my r&r journey. I like to
play gigs on my birthday so that no sentimentalist can ruin it with
a surprise party - my biggest fear.
As far as The Zombies album:
I had made my first pilgrimage to the UK in 1968, a week prior to
starting my job as staff A&R man at Columbia Records. I found about
forty LPs worth buying there and in fact did so. When I got home,
the Zombies one stuck out like a store gem. So I took it into work
and requested a meeting with my new boss, Clive Davis. I played a
few tracks for him and told him how much I thought he should
purchase this album for release in the US. He candidly told me that
he had recently recommended that Columbia US pass on it, but that he
would relisten because I was so hot on it.
I think because I was brand new there, he did buy it but put it on a
subsidiary label called Date that they were just launching in case I
was wrong. Well, they almost blew it by putting out two singles that
bombed, but braved the 3rd one "Time Of The Season" which went to #1
and then sold a lotta Date albums. I was never rewarded with a gold
record, a raise, or even a Clive Davis thank you, for this, BUT when
the already disbanded Zombies came across the pond to pick up their
gold records, they came into my office and thanked me vociferously,
and that of course was more than sufficient.
Al Kooper
Zombie fan
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Message: 21
Date: Fri, 06 Feb 2004 23:25:40 -0600
From: Orion
Subject: Tradewinds
Jim Shannon:
> Thanks for the info. Glad there places like Treasure Island
> Oldies that think "outside the box". I'll have to listen. Do
> you have the Tradewinds "Mind Excursion"?
"Mind Excursion" is available on several compilations. I will
try and get you the names. I know I have it on at least three.
I, personally, like everything that was on that LP by The
Tradewinds later known as "Innocence" and actually Anders and
Poncia. I have several LPs by them solo and grouped. They made
really nice pop music. I have tried to find recent information
about them, but really have struck out.
Orion
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Message: 22
Date: Sat, 07 Feb 2004 11:48:25 +0100
From: Eddy
Subject: Happy Together
This site has a whole bunch of LP covers for imaginary albums
and I figured *that* Alan Gordon (& everybody else for that
matter) might get a kick out of this one : http://www.theartrocks.com/tgactnw/50morganstein.html
...which gives me a good enough excuse to ask about the
outro to Happy Together, where the line "so happy together"
is repeated over and over and this "how is the weather" is
thrown in. I always found that pretty funny. What's the story
behind that?
Eddy
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Message: 23
Date: Sat, 07 Feb 2004 08:03:31 EST
From: Al Kooper
Subject: "Time Is On My Side"
DJJB:
> I always thought Irma Thomas did the original version of
> "Time Is On My Side". Then along comes my pal with a Verve
> recording by Kai Winding -- a vocal version -- that by all
> sounds sounds like it may have come first. Anyone know
> anything about this?
Being a pal of Jerry Ragovoy who wrote the song and doing a huge
interview with him in Goldmine about ten years ago when ya still
could do huge interviews in Goldmine, I know that the Kai Winding
version was the original.
Al Kooper
Soul Clinician
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Message: 24
Date: Sat, 07 Feb 2004 16:17:49 -0000
From: Billy G. Spradlin
Subject: Re: The Wonderful Home Transmitter
John Sellards:
> it's an $18 kids toy called the Wild Planet Radio DJ
My brother bought me one of these for my birthday as a "gag gift"
last year and I had fun messing around with it. I can go out in my
backyard and listen to casettes or run it through my PC's output.
My only gripe is that the modulation is weak and theres no jack for
a power supply, it eats batteries up quickly (I'm not very good with
a soldering iron so I havent tried adding one).
There are people using this toy with a high gain outdoor antenna
to create low power "community" stations that broadcast that can
cover several blocks or up to a mile in good weather with a legal
100 milliwatts.
Check out http://home.att.net/~weatheradio/wprdj.htm for info.
Billy
http://listen.to/jangleradio
(broadcasting at AM 1610)
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Message: 25
Date: Sat, 07 Feb 2004 17:02:46 -0000
From: Dave O'Gara
Subject: "I Wish You Could Be Here" - The Cyrcle
previously
> Another forgotten 45 "I wish you could be here" from Cyrkle.
If anyone is interested, there's a photo of the Cyrkle's
"Wish You Could Be Here" 45 picture sleeve in the photo section.
Dave 0'
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
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