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SPECTROPOP - Spectacular! Retro! Pop!
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There are 26 messages in this issue.
Topics in this digest:
1. Doris Troy R.I.P.
From: Kingsley Abbott
2. Re: SGC Records
From: Dan Hughes
3. Re: Eleven of the best
From: Guy Lawrence
4. Re: Valiant
From: Mikey
5. Re: The Original Drifters
From: Frank Murphy
6. Re: Pat Boone 45 "Beach Girl"
From: Billy G Spradlin
7. Re: Valiant
From: Joe Nelson
8. Happy Together and Valentine's Day go together, how is
the weather ...
From: Clark Besch
9. Re: cheap CDs -- Larry Hall and others
From: Country Paul
10. Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil off-Broadway
From: Paul Evans
11. Re: Ray Peterson
From: Austin Roberts
12. Re: Artie Wayne song on Musica (another one!)
From: Artie Wayne
13. Re: Happy Together and Valentine's Day go together, how
is the weather ...
From: Alan Gordon
14. Re: Ray Peterson
From: Ed Salamon
15. Re: Teacho Wilshire
From: Al Kooper
16. Bobby Hart
From: Mark Hill
17. Re: Eleven of the best/Bad Boy
From: John Sellards
18. Re: "A Tear For Tommy"
From: Phil C
19. Re: Valiant
From: Denny Pine
20. Doris Troy R.I.P.
From: Mick Patrick
21. Al Kooper songs
From: Guy Lawrence
22. Re: varispeed listening
From: Dave Heasman
23. Re: John Simon
From: Al Kooper
24. Re: Paul Evans / Mann & Weil off-Broadway / Glizards
From: Artie Wayne
25. Neil Sedaka Yahoo Group
From: Laura Pinto
26. Re: Larry & The Legends
From: Ken Charmer
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Message: 1
Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2004 17:21:40 -0000
From: Kingsley Abbott
Subject: Doris Troy R.I.P.
Although still around 60 digests behind I caught sight of the very
sad news of Doris Troy's passing on the top of today's messages.
She was indeed a most lovely, warm hearted lady, who it was my
great pleasure to spend some time with on her trip here to promote
'I'll Do Anything'. She did a good appearance on RSG and put on a
stonking show at the Golders Green Refectory, helped somewhat by a
steady supply of liquid, and was a joy and a great laugh to go
shopping with (shoes a speciality). My memories of her always
include the everpresent fur coat...She was wonderful.
RIP
Kingsley Abbott
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Message: 2
Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2004 07:12:26 -0600
From: Dan Hughes
Subject: Re: SGC Records
Andrew C. Jones wrote:
> There was, in the mid- to late-Sixties, a label called SGC
> Records, which is best remembered today for singles by Todd
> Rundgren's early group, the Nazz. Did SGC, perchance, stand
> for Screen Gems-Columbia?
Yep.
http://www.geocities.com/toddcoll/discs/discs.html
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Message: 3
Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2004 13:12:09 -0000
From: Guy Lawrence
Subject: Re: Eleven of the best
Al Kooper wrote:
> 3) Clarence Palmer & The Jive Bombers (Savoy 1515) You Took My
> Love/Cherry. The follow-up to "Bad Boy" was not as well-received,
> but as well sung.
Al, does this track contain the same hiccupping-frog vocal gimmick that
featured on the wonderful "Bad Boy"?
Guy
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TweedleeDumsDrive-In/
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Message: 4
Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2004 08:08:21 -0500
From: Mikey
Subject: Re: Valiant
Austin Roberts wrote:
> Were the first couple of Association records on Valiant, with
> Gary Paxton recording at his house using the upstais bathroom
> for echo and having mics for different things? I think that's
> the way "Along Comes Mary" was cut.
Yes, but at the time that the Association LPs came out, Valiant had been
sold to WB.
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Message: 5
Date: Tue, 17 Feb 2004 23:24:18 +0000
From: Frank Murphy
Subject: Re: The Original Drifters
Martin of Denmark wrote:
> What's the status of these groups?
After the Invitations arrived in the UK in the sixties and
discovered they
were to tour under the name of The Original Drifters, legal
action eventually
ensued. George and Faye Treadwell won their case in the UK
courts that they
had the rights to the name "The Drifters". Their group had in
their lineup
Johnny Moore, who had been in and out of The Drifters since the
late fifties,
and had recorded with them on Atlantic. Due to their European popularity,
this set of Drifters were based in the UK. When an Atlantic
reissue it was
Johnny Moore and The Drifters who appeared on TV to promote it and they
then went on to record new hits as The Drifters on Bell/Arista.
Ben E. King
joined this group for a short period, but did not record with them. Just
before Johhny died, and at a time when The Drifters were in a
hiatus, another
group appeared as The Sounds of The Drifters. I saw adverts for
this outfit,
which featured photographs of Johnny Moore and his Drifters. This
might have
been down to an overly keen promoter. Anyway, the Treadwell
estate hit the
courts, as they had done successfully on several occasions, to
protect their
copyright. This time they lost the case.
Last year a new set of Drifters, with the estates' official
backing but (I
think without anyone who had recorded as a Drifter), hit the
cabaret scene.
I think we are now in the position of Buck Ram's Platters and The
Inkspots,
who toured for many years without an original member .
FrankM
reflections on northern soul Saturdays at 14:30 or listen now
www.radiomagnetic.com/archive/rnb.php
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Message: 6
Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2004 05:30:39 -0000
From: Billy G Spradlin
Subject: Re: Pat Boone 45 "Beach Girl"
Country Paul wrote:
> I've never heard of Pat Boone's "Beach Girl",
Eddy wrote:
> The song is available on the following CDs:
> Various Artists - Let's go trippin' (Ace)
BTW, was "Beach Girl" ever mixed in stereo? I have it on MCA
"Vintage Music -- Volumes 17 & 18" CD, in mono.
I also wonder which version was recorded first, Pat's or the
Rip Chords'? Anyone know the release dates? The Rip Chords'
version always sounded like a rough demo, with a very tinny
sounding backing track.
Billy
http://listen.to/jangleradio
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Message: 7
Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2004 01:49:49 -0500
From: Joe Nelson
Subject: Re: Valiant
Mikey wrote:
> Yea, but Valiant's BIG hit was "The Rhythm of The Rain" by
> The Cascades. That one really made a lot of money for Barry.
Not to mention the fact that the Association were on Valiant
originally.
Joe Nelson
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Message: 8
Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2004 07:41:59 -0000
From: Clark Besch
Subject: Happy Together and Valentine's Day go together, how is
the weather ...
Just an observation from the past week or so. Isn't it funny
how our own "That Alan Gordon" seems to have a padlock on THE
'60s song for Valentine's Day? I would like to know how many
times that song aired on radio on that day. On the day after
Val's Day, CBS' Sunday Morning program featured it exclusively
in their piece about love -- and they began playing it 4 different
times in that one piece!!!
I'll bet Alan got money as if it were played 4 times completely,
correct? I'm not complaining, I'm just stating the fact that
it has become (probably as early as Val's day 1967!) one of the
perfect songs for that day! Congrats, Alan, on a masterpiece,
and I still count the ending crescendo as a "spine tingler"!!
Clark
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Message: 9
Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2004 01:39:07 -0500
From: Country Paul
Subject: Re: cheap CDs -- Larry Hall and others
Mike Edwards forwarded the URL of a mini-bio and CD on sale (less than
$6.00) from Larry Hall ("Sandy," Strand, 1960) The samples promise
some moments on this, but he was not the world's strongest singer.
Still, interesting, and it does have the big hit:
http://www.oldies.com/product/index.cfm/id/55822.html
Also from Collectibles and on sale: Ray Peterson:
http://www.oldies.com/product/view.cfm/id/58762.html
for just $6.98, with mostly his heavily-orchestrated RCA
material, including
the authoritative version of "The Wonder of You" (sorry, Elvis):
http://www.oldies.com/product/view.cfm/id/58762.html
and the Raindrops collection:
http://www.oldies.com/product/view.cfm/id/63162.html
Lots more discounted CD collections from Lou Christie, The Detergents
and Paul Peterson, and many others:
http://www.oldies.com/product/clearance.cfm?Page=1
and 26 more pages.
I don't work for the company, but I bought a couple of these to
fill in some
holes in the collection. Just thought some of you might be interested.
Country Paul
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Message: 10
Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2004 15:21:54 -0000
From: Paul Evans
Subject: Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil off-Broadway
An evening at Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil's "They Wrote That?"
----------------------------------------------------------------
I don't know what my wife and I expected when we went to see
Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil's retrospective of their songwriting
careers - but we were knocked on our cans. They took us on a ride
from their early "chick songs", through Barry's "Who Put The Bomp",
and right up to today with a song from the musical adaptation
of "Mask" that this timeless team is currently working on. And that
song from "Mask" took Barry's melodies and Cynthia's always-
intelligent lyrics a step higher - and that's an awesome thought.
Cynthia does most of the talking as they give us the behind-the-
scenes stories of how and why they wrote their songs. Barry sings
for a grueling hour and a half and I'll swear that he never sounded
better. He's backed by three wonderful singers and an amazing
rockin' band.
When we said hello backstage (with Neil Sedaka and Jamie Carr
standing by), Barry and Cynthia told us that they hoped to move
their show to a bigger theater at the end of this run at the McGinn/
Cazale Theater.
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Message: 11
Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2004 10:32:16 EST
From: Austin Roberts
Subject: Re: Ray Peterson
Laura Pinto
> I saw him in Chapel of Love: Jeff Barry and Friends, the PBS
> special from 2000 that's available on home video. He still
> has that same voice. He sang my sentimental favorite,
> "Tell Laura I Love Her."
Dave O'Gara
> Just a quick footnote to the above comments on Ray Peterson.
> In the late 80's I had the good fortune to emcee an oldies
> show where Ray was the headliner. Of all the people in the
> recording industry I've worked with, Ray was by far the nicest!
Having just sung at the Gene Hughes benefit,one of my highlights
was in talking with Ray, who also sang (beautifully). He seems to
be doing well,especially considering what he's been through recently.
He truly is one of the nicest, gentlest souls I've ever met. He has
a great sense of humor and loves to talk about some of the 60's and
70's acts he's worked with.Since I was the youngest (the kid) at
this benefit,I was all ears.Although I did a lot of shows in the
late sixties and through most of the seventies,Ray made me realize
just how much he's done. What a class act.
Austin Roberts
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Message: 12
Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2004 10:56:19 -0800 (PST)
From: Artie Wayne
Subject: Re: Artie Wayne song on Musica (another one!)
Clark.......thanks for posting "Open up your Heart" by the
U.S.Males. I wrote that with Stan Bleiman who was the lead
singer of the Charlotte Russe [produced by Paul Leka for
Fontana records]. The other song you posted, "Too many
Questions" I co-wrote with Mark Barkan. It was good to hear
them...... Thanks again,
regards,
Artie Wayne
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Message: 13
Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2004 14:10:50 -0700 (MST)
From: Alan Gordon
Subject: Re: Happy Together and Valentine's Day go together, how
is the weather ...
Hi Clark, regarding the performance of "Happy Together"...
The amount of time the song airs determines how much you
get paid. When a song is on a network show it's more money.
I've said this before, but it's worth repeating... The
production of the record by Joe Wissert and Chip Douglas's
input and of course the Turtles make that record a masterpiece,
the song is good but the record production is special. As far
as how many times it has been played according to BMI it has
now passed the 6 million performance plateau in the USA. And
everytime I hear it I say AMEN!!!
Best,
That Alan
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Message: 14
Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2004 15:43:16 -0000
From: Ed Salamon
Subject: Re: Ray Peterson
Ray sang at Gene Hughes' benefit last week.
Used two canes to walk, but still sings great.
Ed Salamon
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Message: 15
Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2004 16:43:17 EST
From: Al Kooper
Subject: Re: Teacho Wilshire
Dan Hughes:
> Al, you said you did a lot of work with Teacho Wilshire.
> I have a 45 that was arranged by Teacho, and I wondered
> if you did any work on it? It's on AROCK Records, AR-1000.
> A division of Arseroc Record Corp, 1650 B'way, NYC. The
> songs are "Cards on the Table" (writer Allen Davis, Sylvia
> Music) b/w "Unchained Melody". It also says "Elevator
> Productions" and "PHD Prod. Inc." on the label.
Don,
I did this 43 years ago!!!!!! I cant remember stuff like that...
Besides he'd give me an acetate demo, the key he wanted it in,
and the instrumentation. Sometimes I wouldnt even know who the
artists were. Thats what ghostwriting is all about, my friend.
AK
John Clemente:
This post caught my eye because Allen Davis is a pen name for
Van McCoy.
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Message: 16
Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2004 15:22:27 -0500
From: Mark Hill
Subject: Bobby Hart
Dr. Mark Forwards more Trivia from DJ JJ's Almanac:
Turning 65 today (Wed 02/18/04): Bobby Hart
He co-wrote Austin Roberts' first hit,
"Something's Wrong With Me," with Danny Janssen...
"Dr. Mark" Hill
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Message: 17
Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2004 00:34:13 -0000
From: John Sellards
Subject: Re: Eleven of the best/Bad Boy
Guy:
> Al, does this track contain the same hiccupping-frog vocal
> gimmick that featured on the wonderful "Bad Boy"?
Am I the only person who thinks he sounds like Louis Prima?
John Sellards
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Message: 18
Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2004 00:53:31 -0000
From: Phil C
Subject: Re: "A Tear For Tommy"
Mick:
> Yep, both sides written by Al Kooper, Bob Brass & Irwin Levine.
> I wish I could find a copy of the record. Until then I'll have
> to make do with some vile CD of dubious legality. "At This Stage
> Of The Game" is now playing at musica:
Al:
> So Mick, ANYONE - any chance of a copy of any magnitude of
> "A Tear For Tommy"
We'll get there, eventually... latest info is that it is by
Linda Lawrence & The Cluster.
Meanwhile, did you get to listen to "At This stage Of The Game"?
I can see why it's still around... a neat melody, interestingly
phrased over a 7-bar verse and 9-bar chorus, flipping to the minor
for the payoff line. Linda's vocal is effortlessly agile.
However, I'm curious about '& The Cluster': there are some slightly
suspect male backing-vocals with a falsetto in Theremin style, and
a distinctly Ondiolinique keyboard under the middle 8.
Quite a sophisticated piece of gooey girlpop, IMHO!
Phil C
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Message: 19
Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2004 00:17:23 -0000
From: Denny Pine
Subject: Re: Valiant
Mikey wrote:
> Yea, but Valiant's BIG hit was "The Rhythm of The Rain" by
> The Cascades. That one really made a lot of money for Barry.
Joe Nelson:
> Not to mention the fact that the Association were on Valiant
> originally.
To expand, Valiant was originally owned by Warner Bros with
its purple label and silver logo. In 1964 it was sold to Four
Star Television (distributors of "Burke's Law" and its spinoff
"Honey West") and given a brand new red label with black shield
logo.
In 1965 the label went independent, hence the black bar that
appeared at the bottom of the label covering the "Four Star
Television" disclaimer. Finally in 1967, Valiant is bought
back by Warner Bros. where The Association's future records
will be released, starting with the "Insight Out" album and
its accompanying single "Windy".
The only record I know of that was released on both variations
of the Valiant label was "Get It" by The Silvertones, which was
originally released on the Goliath label.
Denny Pine
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Message: 20
Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2004 20:27:30 -0000
From: Mick Patrick
Subject: Doris Troy R.I.P.
Kingsley Abbott:
> ... I caught sight of the very sad news of Doris Troy's passing
> She was indeed a most lovely, warm hearted lady, who it was my
> great pleasure to spend some time with on her trip here to
> promote 'I'll Do Anything'. She did a good appearance on RSG
> and put on a stonking show at the Golders Green Refectory,
> helped somewhat by a steady supply of liquid, and was a joy and
> a great laugh to go shopping with (shoes a speciality). My
> memories of her always include the everpresent fur coat...
> She was wonderful.
Thanks Kingsley - a nice recollection of a nice person. I was
fortunate to see Doris in performance myself, at the 100 Club on
Oxford St in 1995. She'd just finished a long run co-starring in
"Mama, I Want To Sing", the musical based on her life. She put on
a great show - "I'll Do Anything" and "Face Up To The Truth" being
particular highlights. Doris' pal Barry St. John was one of her
backing singers, just for old time's sake. Oh, and I found myself
next to Van Morrison at the bar at one point.
Anyway, a week or so later a few pals and I took Doris out for
dinner - fish curry, at her favourite Indian restaurant in Soho.
The waiters called her "Mama". She was absolutely great to talk to,
not diva-ish at all, and a bit naughty really. She talked at length
about her career, our intention being to publish the interview in a
soul magazine. Unfortunately, that didn't happen.
However, while revisiting an old laptop today, I discovered that I
still have a transcript of the conversation on file. Expect to see
it on the S'pop website in the not too distant future. Doris kept
the best stories for when the mic was switched off, I recall. :-)
In the meantime, have a click around the Doris Troy website. One
of the items on offer is a nice biography penned by S'popper Simon
Bell: http://www.doristroy.com
Better yet is a lovely personal tribute to the great lady available
on Simon's own DustyNews site:
http://www.simonbell.com/DUSTYNEWS.html
Mick Patrick
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Message: 21
Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2004 23:40:03 -0000
From: Guy Lawrence
Subject: Al Kooper songs
As we discussed recently, Al wrote two great tracks for
the Banana Splits. I currently have one of them, the
lovely "Let Me Remember You Smiling" posted, with Al's
blessing, over at Tweedlee Dum's Drive-In - alongside a
choice Archies album track, an Ed Cobb rarity and an
unreissued New England regional hit.
Guy
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/TweedleeDumsDrive-In/
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Message: 22
Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2004 22:34:23 -0000
From: Dave Heasman
Subject: Re: varispeed listening
Al Kooper wrote:
> I gotta say that back in the days of marijuana, I quite enjoyed
> perusing certain 45s at 33+1/3.
> My favorito 45 @ 33 is The Collins Kids' "Whistle Bait," which comes out
> sounding, both vocally and instrumentally, like Led Zeppelin.
There's a guy with a website with audio samples who reckons
that most of the Robert Johnson recordings were speeded up.
The samples sound really good at a lower speed. Would that
have been possible in the 78 rpm pre-tape era? Don Law recorded
Johnson. I imagine some people on this list met him.
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Message: 23
Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2004 16:52:22 EST
From: Al Kooper
Subject: Re: John Simon
Phil M:
> John Simon's name shows up on an awful lot of late '60s
> faves of mine (and I don't mean The Band), yet he is rarely
> spoken of in circles where great producers are discussed
Mike R:
> I first heard of him when he produced Brute Force's
> "Confections Of Love". That was good enough for me.
I think thats when I met John. Brute (Steve F) was a friend
of mine. We met again on some Simon & Garfunkel sessions -
he produced Bookends - one of their best, I think. I would
play him songs I was writing at the time. He offered to
produce those songs if I ever got a deal. The next deal I
got was Blood Sweat & Tears. He was my first choice for
producer. All my basic tenets of record producing I learned
from watching John produce Child Is Father To The Man. He
went right from that album to Music From Big Pink and then
to Cheap Thrills. Not bad for a guy who lived in Blauveldt,
NY, huh ?
Al Kooper
Second Generation Record Producer
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Message: 24
Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2004 11:06:02 -0800 (PST)
From: Artie Wayne
Subject: Re: Paul Evans / Mann & Weil off-Broadway / Glizards
Paul.......How ya' doin'? Excellent Barry Mann story!!! I'm
looking forward to your take on the Mann/Weill off broadway
show..... What do critics know anyway? Did they ever do
a demo at Associated Recording Studios?
I'm going to see Toni Wine and Allan Rinde this weekend.....
and will give her your regards. Toni has shown interest in
learning to use a computer....it may not be long before we
have a new Spectropopper.
regards,
Artie Wayne
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Message: 25
Date: Tue, 17 Feb 2004 21:42:18 -0000
From: Laura Pinto
Subject: Neil Sedaka Yahoo Group
Hi all,
While we're on the subject of one of my OTHER favorite singers,
I might as well post the link to a Yahoo Group I started awhile
back, called Music of Sedaka. It's been a little on the quiet
side lately. I started the group originally to steer people
towards Neil's wonderful music, which remains highly underrated
by the general populace.
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/MusicofSedaka/
Thanks,
Laura
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Message: 26
Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2004 13:30:19 -0000
From: Ken Charmer
Subject: Re: Larry & The Legends
Harry Jay:
> Welcome to the club, just would like you to know that after
> 40 years our CD with 27 tracks, including a Acapella, &
> rehearsals, has just been released on Crystal ball records.
> You can find it on E-Bay, and Doo-bop Shoo-bop records store
> http://www.doowopshoobop.com
> & maybe several others. We did these in the 50s & 60s.
OK, so where do I find this CD including Larry & The Legends,
the site is so full it's impossible to find. Give us a clue?.
And is there any connection with the 4 Seasons and 'Don't Pick
On My Baby'?
Seasonally,
Ken Charmer
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