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SPECTROPOP - Spectacular! Retro! Pop!
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There are 16 messages in this issue.
Topics in this digest:
1. Re: Marvin Gaye's "Here My Dear"
From: Michael Fishberg
2. Rhino Handmade titles
From: Colin Smith
3. Beaver and the Trappers
From: Lapka Larry
4. Re: Lou Adler discovers P.F. Sloan
From: Mike
5. Al on Tim
From: Al Kooper
6.
From: Al Kooper
7. don't remember his name
From: Alan Zweig
8. Re: Meeting Hayley Mills
From: Kristian Hoffman
9. Blackberry Way & Nilsson
From: Roger
10. Blackberry Way & Nilsson II
From: David Walker
11. Don Cooper, the Beaver
From: Bob Rashkow
12. Rod the Mod; Annette Records; Regal Zonophone; Beaver on musica; Don Cooper
From: Country Paul
13. Re: Good & Plenty
From: Steve Fuji
14. Re: the Bs in Abba's bonnet / Richard & Lenny / Mumps / lynx
From: Phil X. Milstein
15. Re: Appy Together
From: Laura
16. Re: Kenny O'Dell to Musica
From: Bob Celli
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Message: 1
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2004 08:20:37 -0800 (PST)
From: Michael Fishberg
Subject: Re: Marvin Gaye's "Here My Dear"
Al Kooper:
> If you have never heard the track "Anna's Song"
> from Here My Dear, you must.
It's worth the haul, but go to http://www.bbc.co.uk click
on RADIO, then go to RADIO 2, then click on the Marvin Gaye
link to hear (only until Friday) you'll hear part one of 3
programmes about MG that The Beeb are currently broadcasting.
Great stuff!
Michael Fishberg
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Message: 2
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2004 17:05:13 -0000
From: Colin Smith
Subject: Rhino Handmade titles
Hi, just a quick note to recommend the 2 new Rhino Handmade
titles "Hallucinations" and "Come To The Sunshine". Does anyone know
if these 2 Nuggets compilations are the start of many to come from
the WEA vaults, possibly including a girl group one? I also wondered about the
other single by Pat Shannon that came after "Candy Apple, Cotton
Candy"; anyone heard it? : )
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Message: 3
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2004 10:08:54 -0800 (PST)
From: Lapka Larry
Subject: Beaver and the Trappers
What a great song! I had heard that their output was
surprisingly good, and if this is any indication, I
have to find their other 45s.
Again, if anybody has anything, please contact me off
list.
Larry Lapka
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Message: 4
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2004 14:02:25 EST
From: Mike
Subject: Re: Lou Adler discovers P.F. Sloan
Dan Hughes quotes Lou Adler on P. F. Sloan and "Eve of Destruction":
> "I didn't think it was a copy of anything. It was the first rock'n'roll
> protest song and Sloan laid it down in very simple terms, not like the
> folk people were doing. If you listen to the song today, it holds up all
> the way - it's the same problems. It's certainly an honest feeling, from
> a 16 year old."
I hope Adler didn't mean this literally. Sloan was actually not quite 20 when
he wrote "Eve of Destruction." Using Adler's date, Phil would have made his
first record at 10 and written all of his surf stuff at 12 or 13!
Mike
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Message: 5
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2004 14:19:23 EST
From: Al Kooper
Subject: Al on Tim
Previously:
> Al, how was it to work with Tim Rose?
We had great chemistry and I really like that single ["Long Haired Boy"]. Think I'll dig it out and musica it. This may take awhile; go back to whatever it was you were doing........
Al Kooper
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Message: 6
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2004 14:27:45 EST
From: Al Kooper
Subject:
Country Paul:
> To Al Kooper, I was checking out a wonderful John D. Loudermilk
> wensite Phil Milstein turned me on to, and noticed you did his song
> - and George Hamilton IV's classic hit - "A Rose and a Baby Ruth."
> Never heard your version; is it still in print?
I grew up with the G H IV version. Really loved the sincerity of it when I was
about 13.
Referring to a rose and a Baby Ruth, he sings:
"I could have sent you an orchid of some kind
But that's all I had in my jeans at the time..."
I think I tried to duplicate that teen sincerity in every song I wrote in
my teens and early twenties. I worship J. D. Loudermilk.
My version was just a jam in between takes of another song on the album "Easy
Does It" from 1970. I was kinda goofing, but put it on the album nonetheless.
So, if you hear it, its not ALL together serious. "Easy Does It" is available
as a Japanese import.
Al "Still don't have an orchid of some kind" Kooper
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Message: 7
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2004 15:08:19 -0500
From: Alan Zweig
Subject: don't remember his name
I was just surfing around and found this on a page from the Stax website. It's no big deal, but it made me smile. You know, with the level of trainspotting and thoroughness you often find online, it was nice to see someone whose priorities lay elsewhere. I didn't know who else I could share this with:
"The Blues Brothers Band performed on stage last July 4 in Avoine, France, near Macon at a summer blues festival. I met Steve Cropper and Eddie Floyd there and was able to have a short talk with Steve a few minutes before the show. Here are some infos he gave me.
"About his next projects: a recording with the singer of the Rascals (don't remember his name) and a NEW BOOKER T. & THE MG'S ALBUM."
AZ
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Message: 8
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2004 12:38:36 -0800 (PST)
From: Kristian Hoffman
Subject: Re: Meeting Hayley Mills
Ronnie A.,
Thank you for your Hayley Mills update. In the darkest
heart of the '70s punk movement in NYC I used to be
able to clear the dance floor by playing her immortal
recording of what I considered to be a great song,
"Cobbler, Cobbler": "The boy I love is killing my
feet!" Why couldn't they relate, especially after
witnessing her Oscar-worthy murder reenactment in
"Tiger Bay"?
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Message: 9
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2004 16:20:04 -0500 (EST)
From: Roger
Subject: Blackberry Way & Nilsson
Previously:
> Tom Northcott did a version of "Blackberry Way" on his Uni LP. I
> always felt the song was cousin to "Waterloo Sunset" and "Penny Lane"/
> "Strawberry Fields."
> If anything, it's a lawsuit cousin to "My Old Desk" (Harry Nilsson),
> which is quoted musically in the middle of the Move record ("ooo-wah,
> ooo-wah," etc).
Roy Wood included the bit from "Good Old Desk" as an intentional
homage to Harry's song. Nilsson, of course, understood that and didn't
sue. The Move's recording of "Blackberry Way" was a bigger hit, so
there's probably more people who, hearing "Good Old Desk" for the first
time, will think Harry lifted the tune from the Move's song.
-- Roger
http://www.harrynilsson.com/
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Message: 10
Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2004 08:03:38 +1030
From: David Walker
Subject: Blackberry Way & Nilsson II
Hi,
The flip side to "Blackberry Way," "Something," seemed to get a bit of pop
press at the time because of similarities to one of the Bee Gee-penned
Marble hits.
P.S. Didn't all Nilsson songs have an "ooo-wah, ooo-wah" in them?
Cheers,
David Walker
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Message: 11
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2004 16:37:59 EST
From: Bob Rashkow
Subject: Don Cooper, the Beaver
Don Cooper did record one solo LP on Roulette in either '69 or '70, trying
that male solo folk thing. Uneven album, but it's mostly by him if I remember correctly, and some of it is pretty good, heartfelt stuff.
If you enjoyed "Happiness Is Havin'" by Beaver & The Trappers, it's also
contained on the HITSVILLE 29 BC comp. IMHO a pleasant surprise first time I heard it.
Bobster
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Message: 12
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2004 17:36:17 -0500
From: Country Paul
Subject: Rod the Mod; Annette Records; Regal Zonophone; Beaver on musica; Don Cooper
Mike:
> ....HP's "London correspondent" wrote, "All I can say is God help
> [Jeff Beck] with [Rod] Stewart aboard ... a real Grade-Z singer"!
> I've always wondered if anyone has bothered to remind him of this
> statement over the years!
TD Bell:
> ....The London correspondent was right. Stewart's imitation of
> Sam Cooke is like gravelly-voiced Andy Devine singing tenor.
But when it worked - as in NOT when Stewart's amateurish lyrics got
in the way - I thought Stewart was really fine. Best example IMO:
"I've Been Drinkin'" (a/k/a "Drinkin' Again"), unjustly
underexposed in the US; don't know about the UK. But having said
that, I could listen to a whole day of Sam Cooke; not so for Rod
the Mod.
Dave O'Gara:
> ....Annette Records...."Beatle Blues". The songwriting credit goes
> to Annette Lee Spector. I guess that's where the label name comes
> from, but what was her relationship to Phil? Just wondering ...
First wife. (Only coincidence that Carol Connors' real first name
is Annette.) Early Philles 45s have "Phil & Annette" scratched into
the blank space around the label.
Phil M:
> RZ's early history is briefly discussed in the Goldmine book "The
> Beatles Digest" (Krause Publ., 2000). In an article about the
> Beatles' early releases on Parlophone, Bruce Eder writes:
> "...EMI [had] two budget labels, Regal Records and Zonophone Records,
> which were later merged into Regal Zonophone."
Procol Harum had a song, "Magdalene, My Regal Zonophone," on their
"Shine On Brightly" album. (Extra credit question: who was Magdalene?
And no, I don't have an answer.)
Phil Milstein again:
> I have played to musica one of Jerry's kid records and one of his
> teen records...Beaver & The Trappers'...pimply and libidinous
> "Happiness Is Havin'"....I've heard a rumor, from a generally
> authoritative source, that Jerry Mathers is an uncle to Marshall
> Mathers, aka Eminem, but I don't know anything more about it than
> that.
This track sure is punky enough to suggest that familial relationship.
(Gee whiz, the Beav sure grew up!) Actually, I sorta like it. But
"Wind-up Toy" could stand to go back for re-grooving! :-)
Me, previously:
> I'm not familiar with "The Same Old Trouble"; who did that, please?
Eddy:
> Don Gibson - it's on "The singer the songwriter 1961-1966" box.
Thank you.
Dave OGara, re Cooper/Dodge Band:
> ...[A] Connecticut-based band called the Cooper/Dodge band. He
> said the leader of the group was Don Cooper and my friend thought
> Don may have gone on to record solo on Roulette. My guess is
> probably early- to mid-'70s. Anyone have any information on this
> artist?
I no longer have them, but I remember an album and, I believe, a 45
on Roulette. Sort of a folkie singer-songwriter type but not
particularly memorable or noteworthy, if I recall correctly.
Country Paul
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Message: 13
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2004 23:04:44 -0000
From: Steve Fuji
Subject: Re: Good & Plenty
Me, previously:
> > Is this album on the Senate label, with a song called "Living
> > In a World of Make-Believe?" This song, as a single, came out
> > in late 1967 and made the KHJ Boss 30 in Los Angeles. It sounds
> > like a male-female duo. The artist is listed as "Good N Plenty."
> > I bought this single in December 1967 and have never been able
> > to find out anything more about it.
S. J. Dibai:
> Alright, we're getting somewhere! This LP is on the Senate label,
> with "Living In A World Of Make Believe" closing out side A. The
> track was written and produced by Wes Farell and Tony Romeo--now
> that I think about it, could that mean this was a New York-based
> act, or at least that they recorded there?
>
> Thanks for the info on the single--what, pray tell, was the B-side?
> P.S. If you like that single--seek out the album!
I would expect that the album is even rarer than the single. The B-side
of the single is called "I Played My Part Well," and "Living in a
World of Make Believe" made the "bubbling under the hot 100" charts
on Billboard. How are the other songs on the album?
Steve Fuji
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Message: 14
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2004 17:54:33 +0000
From: Phil X. Milstein
Subject: Re: the Bs in Abba's bonnet / Richard & Lenny / Mumps / lynx
Dave OGara wrote:
> I have a promo single on Dunhill called "Sunny Girl" by the
> Hep Stars and the writer is listed as Benny Andersson. Is this the
> same Benny that was part of ABBA?
One and the same. Benny was in the Hep Stars -- Sweden's Beatles;
meanwhile, Bjorn Ulvaeus was in another band with the same initials, the
Hootenanny Singers, a popular folk-pop outfit. The two bands met up on
tour, Benny and Bjorn got to talking music, then got to writing
together, and the rest is Abbalicious pop history.
> The first time I became aware of Andy Paley was during his time
> with a band called the Sidewinders, whose 1972 RCA album was
> produced by Richard Robinson and contained a bona fide classic
> called "Rendezvous" (not the Springsteen song, but just as
> irresistible). Anyone who sees it in a bargain bin can safely
> invest.
I concur -- the album's uneven, but its high spots (also including
"Parade," "Slip Away," and "Miss Mary") are high indeed. (For what it's
worth, Billy Squier was a late-period Sidewinder, having joined after
their one and only album was made.) However, the album's credited
producer was Lenny Kaye. Robinson, working under Dennis Katz,
RCA's new "hip" president (and brother of Steve Katz), had an A&R gig
there at the time, and had had some success doing "The Rapper" for The
Jaggerz. Robinson was initially assigned to produce The Sidewinders'
album, but at the last minute was sent to London to handle Lou Reed's
solo debut. Before splitting for that session, he brought in Lenny Kaye
to replace him as Sidewinders producer.
The only other record I can think of that Kaye produced under Robinson's
aegis at RCA was the Andy Zwerling thing, "Spiders In The Dark" or
something like that. Robinson's other production credits there included
a couple of mid-period Flamin' Groovies titles and Hackamore Brick. All
decent enough records, but notably insufficient in the production area,
and he did not last long in that capacity.
Throughout this same period (early '70s) and beyond, Robinson was also
editing the recently-discussed Hit Parader, where Kaye was an assistant
editor. Richard's wife Lisa Robinson was meanwhile editing another
Charlton publication, the bizarre and utterly remarkable Rock Scene. (I
hope that if future generations find only one artifact by which to judge
Western culture of the 1970s, it is a stack of Rock Scenes [and, for the
'80s, Spy].) This troika had quite the little empire going there for a
while, but, while they had and exercised a lot of power, on the whole
they used it well. Instead of totally selling out and giving the kids
only the biggest-name acts, they peppered their covers with those acts
while sneaking, like musical Trojan horses, all their underground
favorites into the insides of the books. As far as I'm concerned, the
Robinsons and Kaye made major contributions to the difficult transitions
from rock to glam and on to punk.
Now, how to tie all this somehow back to Andy Paley? Um, Andy was part
of the Robinson-Kaye in-crowd, and as such was frequently seen in the
pages of the photomag Rock Scene. So, there ya go ...
Kristian Hoffman wrote:
> Yes it is THAT Benny.
But, are you THAT Krisitan Hoffman, of Mumps fame?
Country Paul wrote:
> I was checking out a wonderful John D. Loudermilk wensite ...
And Paul leaves the window open for me to turn us ALL on to the JDL site:
http://members.chello.nl/~k.vanderhoeven/Lied.html
Rooting around there brought me to two other fascinating sites:
Hey Joe history/database: http://www.heyjoe.org
original versions (book supplement): http://www.originals.be
Dig,
--Phil M.
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Message: 15
Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2004 00:45:14 -0000
From: Laura
Subject: Re: Appy Together
Mike Rashkow:
> 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.
Yeah, I've heard it a few times - heard it twice tonight, in fact -
and our Ron D. sure sounds great! (I posted about his being the
singing voice in the commercial before I was aware that this message
existed.)
'Appy Together' ... I luvvit!
Da doo Ron Ron,
Laura
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Message: 16
Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2004 01:04:35 -0000
From: Bob Celli
Subject: Re: Kenny O'Dell to Musica
Previously, I wrote about "No Obligations":
> > The only time I ever heard this song was on the flip side of a
> > Bobby Vee 45, "Woman In My Life." "Woman In My Life" did nothing, but "No
> > Obligations" did chart regionally, in the northeast I believe, but Liberty
> > did nothing to promote it and it died. Kenny did a great record on it for
> > sure. I really like it and I can see why Bobby covered it. "No Obligations"
> > made a cd appearance on The Essential and Collectable Bobby Vee a
> > few years ago.
Clark Besch replied:
> Funny that the song was good enough for 2 artists to record,
> but not good enough for 2 record labels to promote! I should also
> mention that despite Vee covering another song besides "Beautiful
> People" that O'Dell recorded, "No Obligations" was not written by
> O'Dell, but by Kenny Walker.
>
> Speaking of Bobby, possibly my fave of his is "Look at me Girl" from
> 1966. I was surprised when I got the Legendary Masters CD and found
> at the end that the backing vocals were missing.
>
> I wonder what Bobby thinks now of the Scopitone "Night Has a thousand Eyes"
> film? Quite explicit for the times!
Clark,
I just got off the phone with Bobby a few minutes ago and we
discussed "No Obligations." I mentioned the Kenny O'Dell version to him
and asked him if he had ever heard it. He implied during the entire
discussion of the song that Kenny O'Dell was the writer. I'm not sure
how many different names that Kenny wrote under, but Kenny Walker might
be one. I described Kenny's version to him, and he said that the demo
he got on the song was not as complete as the record I was describing.
BTW, "No Obligations" was only released on the single and never on LP.
Funny, we also talked about Scopitones, and I mentioned "Baby Face" to
him. He couldn't remember a thing about it, although he did remember
"1000 Eyes" and "Pretty Girls Everywhere." It was interesting that
they used the original recording on the "Baby Face" film, but recorded
entirely different versions of the songs for the other two! I agree
that all of these films were a bit explicit for the times. Pretty tame
now though!
The version of "Look At Me Girl" you heard is the only stereo
version available. They added the additional backgrounds to the
mono mix before the record was issued. It's very obvious to those who
are familiar with that song. The same thing was done to "Hickory Dick
and Doc." The 45 version has harmony vocals on it that are not
included in the stereo mix. These are the only two tracks that I know
of that were done like that.
Bob Celli
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