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SPECTROPOP - Spectacular! Retro! Pop!
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There are 15 messages in this issue.
Topics in this digest:
1. Re: Blowed Up, real good!
From: Steve Harvey
2. Re: "If My World Falls Through"/Rose Garden CD
From: S.J. Dibai
3. Re: Midnight Cowboy -- what's the real story?
From: Bryan
4. Re: The Golden Lost
From: Art Longmire
5. Re: The Groop/Midnight Cowboy
From: Art Longmire
6. Appy Together
From: Mike Rashkow
7. Re: SH not HP
From: Orion
8. Re: Tribute by Horizon!!
From: Peter McCray
9. Re: Tony Rossini
From: Peter Lerner
10. Links to Ed Rambeau, Mark Wirtz & Artie Wayne / "Here My Dear"
From: Country Paul
11. Re: Carl Wayne/The Move
From: Jim Shannon
12. Re: Shindig: live or Memorex?
From: Bob Celli
13. Re: Witches & The Warlock
From: Jeff Lemlich
14. Re: SH not HP
From: Art Longmire
15. Re: b/w + c/w = TSW
From: Clark Besch
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Message: 1
Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2004 15:50:14 -0800 (PST)
From: Steve Harvey
Subject: Re: Blowed Up, real good!
Phil M. wrote:
> I have heard that the Velvet Underground were invited to be the group
> playing in the party scene, but for some reason turned it down. (They
> were also invited to the band in Blow Up, but couldn't get their visas
> together in time.)
I always heard that the Who were the original pick for the Blow Up flick
(because of their habit of smashing up their equipment). Heard
Townsend nixed it due to the cheap guitar the director wanted him to
smash up. Jeff Beck took over with the Yardbirds and had no problem
with the guitar. However, the Mark Wirtz piece in Mojo also mentions the
Tomorrow connection to Blow Up. Doubt that the Velvets were considered
considering they couldn't get arrested stateside, let alone abroad. The
film seems to be based on the Who.
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Message: 2
Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2004 02:12:38 -0000
From: S.J. Dibai
Subject: Re: "If My World Falls Through"/Rose Garden CD
Hello again, everyone!
Art Longmire wrote:
> I do have the "If My World Falls Through" single by Rose Garden.
> I haven't listened to it in years but I like it a lot -- nice lead vocal,
> harmonies, and jangly folk-rock guitar.
Somebody sent me an mp3 of it over the weekend. It's very good, but
I think it must have sounded dated when it came out in 1968. It sounds
more 1966, or '67 at latest, to my ears.
> I never knew anyone else had recorded it. Was this written by
> Kenny O'Dell?
Yes. O'Dell was related to one of the band's producers.
The Bobby Vee version I referred to is on his Do What You Gotta Do
album from 1968, which I tried listening to recently after not playing
it for a while, but I just couldn't take much of it. "If My World Falls
Through" is one of the better tracks, but the cheesy Lincoln Mayorga
arrangement (with peppy horns and high-pitched female backup
vocals) brings it down somewhat. Amusingly, Vee sang it in a higher
key than The Rose Garden's Diana Di Rose!
> I've never heard the Rose Garden LP or the CD release by Collectors
> Choice, and have always wondered how good it was.
I picked it up recently on CD. Not great, but certainly not bad. If
you like Byrdsy folk-rock with the addition of an androgynous female
singer (singing either lead or harmony), I'd recommend it. There are
some cool tracks on it, and interesting historical footnotes: three
songs co-written by future Redbone co-founder Pat Vegas, two songs
written by Gene Clark but not recorded by him or The Byrds, and one
song the band wrote with Kim Fowley (actually an adaptation of a
folk song, but that's nitpicking).
If you are curious, Richie Unterberger's liner notes to the CD are
easily readable online at http://www.richieunterberger.com/rosegarden.html
I asked Richie if he knew why The Rose Garden CD didn't include the
follow-up single (and why so many Collector's Choice reissues don't
have bonus tracks), and he told me that the major labels don't often
make bonus tracks available to Collector's Choice, even though CC
would like to include them. Heavy sighs!
S.J. Dibai
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Message: 3
Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2004 11:09:10 -0800
From: Bryan
Subject: Re: Midnight Cowboy -- what's the real story?
Phil M. wrote:
> I have heard that the Velvet Underground were
> invited to be the group playing in the party scene
I've heard so many stories over the years about songs that were
supposed to be used in this movie, and bands that were supposed to
appear in it --
Joey Stec once told me that his "I Don't Know How to Say Goodbye"
(co-written with Lee Mallory) was supposed to be used in the movie.
On their Japan 2003 CD, he introduces it as "this one's on the
soundtrack to Midnight Cowboy" ... (?)
I've read/heard that Bob Dylan's "Lay Lady Lay" was also written/
recorded for the movie too, but missed the deadline, which led
to them using Harry Nilsson's ''Everybody's Talkin'" (by Fred Neil).
Seems like there's a lot of stories out there about this one, and I'm
not quite sure what to believe, what's real and what is simply
wishful thinking. Does anyone know if there's a *definitive* story
somewhere (online hopefully) about the music supervision/music
scoring for this movie? Thanks!
Bryan
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Message: 4
Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2004 22:30:53 -0000
From: Art Longmire
Subject: Re: The Golden Lost
Phil Hall wrote:
> While doing a little Internet research on The Groop, I ran across
> an obscure but interesting-looking CD called "The Golden Lost".
> http://www.sunpk.com/art/cdart/pages/016goldenplaylist.htm
Hello Phil,
This looks like a terrific CD. I do have several of the songs on it and
they are all great -- for instance, "Jack" by World of Oz (an English
soft-psych group) is a nice tune, although I like the flip side, "King
Croesus", even more. Also have "Chelsea Morning" by Jennifer
(Warnes). This is one of her singles on the Parrot label, from the
late sixties -- her best work by far, in my opinion. Again, this song's
flip, titled "The Park", is even better. And of course "Montage"
by Picardy is wonderful.
Art Longmire
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Message: 5
Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2004 22:50:24 -0000
From: Art Longmire
Subject: Re: The Groop/Midnight Cowboy
P.A. Ferra wrote:
> Question for you (or anyone else who may know this):
> There must have been at least two bands that went by the name "The
> Groop". Do you know which band they were referring to? The American
> Groop or the Aussie one?
Hello P.A.,
The Groop on the "Midnight Cowboy" soundtrack is an American band,
and included Aileen Thomas. I spoke with her via e-mail several years
ago, and she very graciously gave me a little bit of info on her career
with the band, expressing surprise that I was interested in such an
obscure group! I have a copy of a Groop 45 on United Artists and was
trying to research it and so came across Aileen's website. By the way,
her husband is Elkin Thomas, of the group the Avant Garde, who had
the big hit (in the U.S.) "Naturally Stoned". His bandmate in that band
and lead singer on "Naturally Stoned" was future game show host
Chuck Woolery.
If my memory serves me right, the Groop had two male and two female
members. One question I have that maybe someone can answer -- is the
Midnight Cowboy Groop the same band that had an LP on Bell Records
circa 1968?
Art Longmire
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Message: 6
Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2004 09:50:09 EST
From: Mike Rashkow
Subject: Appy Together
This may be old news, but "That Alan" and others may be pleased to
know that Applebees, one of America's favorite restaurant chains, is
using "Happy Together" in a current TV commercial.
Di la,
Rashkovksy
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Message: 7
Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2004 21:34:15 -0600
From: Orion
Subject: Re: SH not HP
Dan Hughes wrote:
> I seem to remember Hit Parader being heavier on articles and features,
> Song Hits being thinner with not as much extraneous stuff. But they both
> sure enough gave us LYRICS to sing in the tub, much to Mom's chagrin!
Does anyone remember "eye" magazine? It lasted 15 issues, I think. I own
a copy of all of them, they have some interesting articles, pictures and
sniplets about singers, groups, etc. from the era of 1968. Although it was
aimed at the psychedelic crowd, it does have some other music stuff in it.
Orion
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Message: 8
Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2004 21:41:04 +1100
From: Peter McCray
Subject: Re: Tribute by Horizon!!
Artie Wayne:
> Thanks to my friend Allan Rinde, the world [or at least a couple
> of interested Spectropoppers] can hear the record I produced by
> Horizon, a "tribute" to the late Brian Jones, which Neil Bogart
> bought over the phone.
Loved it, Artie -- way over the top and all the better for it! A pity that
it didn't make a real impact at the time -- there's an awful lot of
creativity crammed into that 3 minutes 40 secs.
Thanks very much for tracking it down for us Spectropoppers.
Best wishes,
Peter
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Message: 9
Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2004 22:29:15 -0000
From: Peter Lerner
Subject: Re: Tony Rossini
Julio asked about Tony Rossini. Up until recently Tony had his own
website under the name of Rossini Entertainment. It seems to have
disapppeared now, but it told of his later career, which included a
spell with Toni and Terri & The Pirates in the mid-60s, recording, for
the Monument label, such gems as a cover of the Beatles' "For No One"
(Monument 979). The interesting part for me was that Terri was an
early incarnation of the songwriter Donna Weiss, who wrote songs
in the '70s with Jackie DeShannon, including "Bette Davis Eyes".
Peter
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Message: 10
Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2004 20:34:35 -0500
From: Country Paul
Subject: Links to Ed Rambeau, Mark Wirtz & Artie Wayne / "Here My Dear"
Ed Rambeau sent the Diane Renay Video clips from the Old-Time Radio
Convention (Sept. 2002 in NJ):
http://66.34.56.217/concreteclay.wmv
http://66.34.56.217/kissmesailor.wmv
I must say tell you how much I enjoyed being there for the event -- the clips
capture a good part of the excitement and warm feelings in the room. Thanks
for sharing them, Ed.
Mark Wirtz points to a new Ladybirds' track:
http://markwirtz0.tripod.com/mw/id41.html
It's got a nice feel to it, Mark. I'd never heard of Mood Mosaic before this
thread.
Artie Wayne wrote:
> Thanks to my friend Allan Rinde, the world [or at least a
> couple of interested Spectropoppers] can hear the record I
> produced by Horizon, a "tribute" to the late Brian Jones,
> which Neil Bogart bought over the phone:
> http://artiewayne.com/tribute.html
Pretty nifty, Artie. It sounds like everyone had a bunch of fun with it.
Thanks for posting it!
Me, earlier:
> ... I don't think anyone purposely sets out to make a bomb
Phil M.:
> Then there is Marvin Gaye's "Here My Dear," the story of
> which someone else could probably tell better (and more
> accurately) than I.
I'm curious; could someone please step to the fore on this?
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Message: 11
Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2004 19:42:26 -0000
From: Jim Shannon
Subject: Re: Carl Wayne/The Move
I sent a dispatch yesterday on the talented Carl Wayne, one of the
original members of The Move, about their song called "Blackberry
Way", which I believe was their second or third single. Does anyone
recall if this song was released in the U.S.? "Blackberry" was a catchy
little song, and got considerable play on progressive stations in the
late sixties. I know it was released on Deram in the U.K., as the
follow-up to "Night of Fear".
Jim Shannon
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Message: 12
Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2004 00:16:22 -0000
From: Bob Celli
Subject: Re: Shindig: live or Memorex?
Ed Rambeau wrote:
> The vocals were all live. The track was pre-recorded. The background
> singers were on the track. And the shirt is gone forever.
You mentioned the Blossoms and the Wellingtons on the actual
Shindig performance, but my question is did they participate in the
backing track session also? Some years ago Bobby Vee sent me a tape
of the backing track from a Shindig appearance in which he did a
song called "Cross My Heart". The Blossoms and the Wellingtons were
included in the video I have of the performance. The backing track
also contains Bobby's harmony vocal. I would guess he did a scratch
vocal at the session, added the overdub and then removed the scratch
vocal. Does that sound like the process that would have been used?
Bob Celli
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Message: 13
Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2004 00:51:49 -0000
From: Jeff Lemlich
Subject: Re: Witches & The Warlock
Mark wrote:
> Does anyone know anything about Witches & The Warlock?
> I just discovered one of their singles on the Sew City label.
> Very Supremes sounding.
If Detroit can be the Motor City, New York's garment district can be
Sew City: so thought label owner Matt Parsons. History shows the
public didn't make the connection, but as you say, the Witches &
Warlock left behind some pretty good music. The "lead witch"
was named Glenda (the good witch?), who got the gig through a
connection with Enoch Gregory, the Dixie Drifter (one of NY's
hottest d.j.'s). The Warlock's name was Ray.
Jeff Lemlich
http://www.limestonerecords.com
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Message: 14
Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2004 00:16:42 -0000
From: Art Longmire
Subject: Re: SH not HP
Mike McKay wrote:
> This is correct. Song Hits was mostly lyrics with a few brief
> articles thrown in. Hit Parader had longer, more in-depth
> articles.
Hello Mike,
I've got about 14 issues of Hit Parader and its sister publication
Song Hits dating from 1966 to 1971, with the majority from '66
to '68. These magazines are indeed a treasure trove of information
about the music of the era. One thing I love about these magazines
is that they don't take themselves too seriously, and they cover
an amazing list of artists from all different categories of pop,
soul, rock, country, and easy listening. I especially like that these
magazines covered artists who are rarely mentioned in publications
even today, as well as candid comments from musicians and great
record reviews. For instance, Hit Parader had a section where
musicians discussed their favorite songs and music. Interestingly,
Neil Diamond cites James Ray as an influence. Also have two
interesting Left Banke interviews, one from 1966 with Michael
Brown and one from 1967 without him. In the second interview
neither the interviewer nor the group mentions that Michael is
gone from the lineup!
One thing that's easy to gauge is the popularity of The Monkees in
this era. They had by far more featured magazine covers than any
other act, at least in the issues I've got.
Art Longmire
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Message: 15
Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2004 22:19:31 -0000
From: Clark Besch
Subject: Re: b/w + c/w = TSW
I agree with both explanations of "c/w" and "b/w", but my favorite is
"TSW", coined by one of my all time fave DJs, Dex Card of WLS, in
Chicago in the mid-'60s. "TSW" meant "Two Sided Winner"! The way
I figured it, if there was a reason to mention the "c/w" or "b/w" side
at all, I'd just as soon call it a "TSW" or it wasn't worth mentioning
anyway, right? ......what did I just say??
Clark
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