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SPECTROPOP - Spectacular! Retro! Pop!
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There are 12 messages in this issue.
Topics in this digest:
1. Re: Overplayed songs in commercials / Happy Together
From: (That) Alan Gordon
2. Re: "Words Of Love" versions / The Mamas and the Papas
From: Rodney Rawlings
3. Demos in Musica
From: Julio Niņo
4. Re: passing Rascals
From: Phil X Milstein
5. Oldies Radio
From: Various
6. Unrelated Segments' "Where You Gonna Go?"
From: ACJ
7. New lyrics site
From: Clark Besch
8. Ray Charles to Musica
From: Clark Besch
9. Re: passing Rascals
From: James Botticelli
10. Good stuff at musica; Dina coming; Nervous Norvus; Sahara Smith
From: Country Paul
11. Boy Trouble CD
From: The S'pop Team
12. Ray Charles, R.I.P.
From: S'pop Team
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Message: 1
Date: Sat, 19 Jun 2004 09:07:37 -0700
From: (That) Alan Gordon
Subject: Re: Overplayed songs in commercials / Happy Together
Clark B., I certainly would be the LAST one to complain about commercial
usage of pop songs. I know quite a few singers and musicians who depend
on jingles to earn a living. Garry Bonner has sung on a few, I have done
only one, the Ronzoni spot. I have a lot of respect for those who who
have been able to survive the pressure of the ad business.
Speaking of pet peeves, I hate baseball fans who sit behind home plate
talking on their cell phones, and waving. As far as Oldies radio is
concerned I may be partial but the "new" music for the most part is
pretty crappy compared to the songs we grew up with. Don`t get me wrong
there are great new songs but for the most part not enough to keep me
listening for any length of time. I`m more entertained with the oldies.
I don`t think the songs of today - Rap, etc - will be played 20 and 40
years from today like the songs we love are played today. Anyway, I can
feel my rickety old soapbox starting to wobble so I`ll get off of it.
I was just thinking [I knew I smelled something burning] In my previous
paragraph I stated that in 20 to 40 years from now they wouldn`t be
playing the rap music of today. I apoligize, I was wrong. Every
generation has their own music that they listen to as they fell in love
and remember with fondness the songs that are part of their life
experiences. There are great new artists today such as Nora Jnes, and
yes the new people that are coming from American Idol etc. Yes I love
the music of my youth and I always will, but I also love a lot of
differant musical genres and I apologize for speaking out of turn.
Best, This, That, and The Other Alan
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Message: 2
Date: Sat, 19 Jun 2004 20:18:25 -0000
From: Rodney Rawlings
Subject: Re: "Words Of Love" versions / The Mamas and the Papas
Many thanks, Mike. It may in fact have been "Creeque Alley" that I
was thinking of. I am no longer sure--it was long ago. Maybe "Words
of Love" got the same treatment.
I had forgotten about "I Saw Her Again" sounding different later on
as well. Thanks for reminding me of that.
In both cases, I prefer the first version I heard. But I have to say
I like the other versions too!
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Message: 3
Date: Sat, 19 Jun 2004 20:59:54 -0000
From: Julio Niņo
Subject: Demos in Musica
Hola Everybody.
Today the ever interesting Spectromusica has been an especially cool
place, with those wonderful demos by Carole King and Jackie DeShannon.
I want to thank Mike Carter, Mick Patrick and Bob Celli for sharing
these little treasures.
Bob, you mentioned in a previous message you have a demo of "Donīt
Ever Take Her For Granted", my favorite among the wonderful Goffin/
King songs recorded by Bobby Vee. You will make me happy if you could
play it to musica some day.
Listening to those beauties make me feel glad and confused. Itīs a
little like falling in love (maybe the sweaty heat of Madrid is also
to blame).
Chao.
Julio Niņo.
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Message: 4
Date: Sat, 19 Jun 2004 19:33:06 -0400
From: Phil X Milstein
Subject: Re: passing Rascals
Al Kooper wrote:
> The Rascals, who I actually scouted for Musicor, when they were playing
> at The Barge on Long Island, became friends and loved my song. Felix
> told me that it didnt make the final cut, but to this day I have never
> heard it.
How could Musicor possibly have passed on The Rascals?!
--Phil M.
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Message: 5
Date: Sun, 20 Jun 2004 02:22:09 +0100
From: Various
Subject: Oldies Radio
Dear members,
For convenience, recent posts on the subject of Oldies Radio
have been compiled into a handy digest:
-----------------------------------------------------------
Previously:
> Since you work in oldies radio, what do you think about the state
> of it today? A lot of it stinks, considering the industry's general
> abandonment of anything before 1964. Now I hear the industry in a
> few short years plans to abandon the 60s and move to 70s-80s oldies.
> Related post...
> http://www.radio-info.com/mods/board.php?Post=200220&Board=oldies
> On the demise of WCBS-FM...
> http://www.radio-info.com/mods/posts.php?Cat=&Board=nyc
This is a touchy subject for me as my feelings about Oldies Radio are
180 degrees opposite my PD's opinion. We've clashed a bit over the
format, (generic/bland 60's & 70's songs). He wins the argument with
me for two reasons: 1) Reasearch and 2)well, he's the boss!
Seriously, though, there's no question Oldies radios stations in most
larger to medium markets have become cookie cutter within the format.
Here in central Massachusetts, oldies listeners can easily tune in on
the FM band my station, one in Boston and one in Providence. We are
virtually all playing the same songs.
Apparently the "reasearch" indicates to Program Directors that
constant repetition of the same "smash" oldies is the key to building
and maintaining an audience. Personally, I just don't get it. No
offense to following artists but I cringe every time I hear us play
Get Together by the Youngbloods, Unchained Melody by the Righteous
Brothers, Listen to the Music by the Doobie Brothers, etc. You all
know the type of songs I'm talking about. These are great songs by
great artists but why do we play them EVERY DAY? The boss says I'm
too close to the situation, that listeners come and go and need to
hear a totally familiar song anytime/everytime they tune in. But,
don't radio stations encourage long term listening with "listen at
work" promotions? Listeners have got to be hearing the same old songs
all the time. Yet, ratings seem to be strong for this format.
With baby boomers getting older, and ad revenue harder to come by,
sales departments don't seem to want the older audience. That's
probably why 80's music is seeping into oldies formats. Playing music
from earlier than, say, 1964, goes against this desire to pull in
younger listeners.
I think the above objective could still be achieved by carefully
including more of the music that appeals to the readers of this forum
but that doesn't mean you'd be likely to hear anything as "obscure"
as something like Nashville Cats by the Lovin' Spoonful. We've NEVER
played that song. I would consider my station more versatile if we
would simply go a bit deeper in an arist catalog so that a Creeque
Alley or a Might As Well Rain Until September makes it on air.
If there's a common denominator in this "blandness" it's that so many
of the medium and major market stations are owned by giant
corporations that simply wouldn't succumb to the "variety" in the
format argument. Best hope for hearing the kinds of music that many
of us would like to hear probably rests in the hands of "Mom and
Pop" stations, independently owned stations and the internet. Till
then, I gotta pay the mortgage so let me go "cue" up Respect by
Aretha and on with the "show"!
Dave 0'Gara
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Shawn wrote:
> Here's my rant about oldies radio...I think it has become a serious
> joke: http://www.superoldies.com/insider.html
Interesting reading. One correction: in one of the paragraphs
on payola you have the name of the House Oversight Subcommittee
Chairman listed as "Oren Hatch". It should be Oren Harris.
Rat Pfink
-------------------------------------------------------------
I don't think anybody who really loves the music of the 50/60s can
stomach commercial oldies anymore. WOGL is so stale and formulated I
rarely listen to it. If I never hear Bachman-Turner (both tunes),
Steely Dan (all three tunes) and Brown-Eyed Girl that's fine with me.
I didn't mind these tunes the first 10,000 plays, but enoughs enough.
Luckily, in Aston, I can get WVLT outta Vineland, NJ. They play some
stuff I rarely hear. Jerry Blavat plays some neat stuff too,
occasionally I even get to hear it without him trying to sing over the
record or talk through the whole damn thing. The Rockabilly Roadhouse
is far from polished, but it's nice to hear some rockabilly other than
the Stray Cats (the 2 tunes) or Queen's Crazy Little Thing Called Love
(the 1 tune).
What is interesting is the local convience stores around here called
Wawa. Like Cumberland Farms or 7-11s elsewhere these stores have piped
in music and I'm impressed. When was the last time you heard Gene
Vincent singing "Race With the Devil" or Joe Clay's "Don't Mess With
My Ducktail" and you weren't the one playing them? Last month I walked
in to the strains of the Turtles' "You Know What I Mean". I didn't even
hear that on the radio around here when it came out! Somebody hip is
minding the shop.
Instead of bitching about how bad radio we need to try to educate the
next generation. Hip them to B-sides, outtakes and album cuts that you
know are prime. Tell them about different takes and the stories you
post on this site. Hopefully a few of them will work there way into the
system and throw in some good stuff.
Every Saturday WGLS (89.7FM) outta Rowan University has Sammy Peppers'
Beatle show at 10-12am. I like his sense of humor and the fact that he
speaks his mind. I've been burning some CDs of more obscure British
Invasion stuff (Kingsize Taylor, etc.) Make the stuff available to djs
and they might just start playing it.
Flip, flop and fly,
Steve Harvey
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Message: 6
Date: Sat, 19 Jun 2004 23:02:15 -0400
From: ACJ
Subject: Unrelated Segments' "Where You Gonna Go?"
For David Coyle: I have not only heard "Where You Gonna Go?", but
virtually everything else the Unrelated Segments recorded - all those
tracks, together with all known tracks by fellow Detroit rockers The
Tidal Waves, and some '70s demos by Segments leader Ron Stults, are on
an excellent Collectables CD titled - oddly enough - "Where You Gonna
Go?"
I bought the CD because it had the Tidal Waves' biggest single, "Farmer
John" b/w "She Left Me All Alone" - but I spotted the "Where You Gonna
Go?" / "What I Like About You" connection right away.
ACJ
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Message: 7
Date: Sun, 20 Jun 2004 04:36:34 -0000
From: Clark Besch
Subject: New lyrics site
Hi all, not sure how long it will last, so get your lyrics to tons of
songs while this guy is not jailed! http://www.top40db.net/
Clark
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Message: 8
Date: Sun, 20 Jun 2004 05:23:19 -0000
From: Clark Besch
Subject: Ray Charles to Musica
Hi, There are so many great Ray songs and I think he makes any good
song great. Hard to find any unusual pieces to put up on Musica by
him. I posted a Coke 60's commercial of Ray's (he had others too)
that may not be that uncommon, but I think it's rare in stereo.
Thanks, Ray, for the music! Clark
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Message: 9
Date: Sun, 20 Jun 2004 23:47:45 -0400
From: James Botticelli
Subject: Re: passing Rascals
Al Kooper wrote:
> The Rascals, who I actually scouted for Musicor, when they were playing
> at The Barge on Long Island, became friends and loved my song. Felix
> told me that it didnt make the final cut, but to this day I have never
> heard it.
Phil Milstein:
> How could Musicor possibly have passed on The Rascals?!
Did I miss something? What Kooper track did the Rascals record? Atlantic
was preferable to Musicor anyway. Where's Musicor today? But I love the
Platters Musicor material. No dis to 'em...
JB/inclined to read short messages, not a Spectropop tradition.
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Message: 10
Date: Sun, 20 Jun 2004 01:44:47 -0400
From: Country Paul
Subject: Good stuff at musica; Dina coming; Nervous Norvus; Sahara Smith
Mick Patrick:
> ..."So Goes Love", Carole King's original demo...is playing
> @ musica: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/spectropop/files/musica/
> Obviously, Shirley Abicair (sigh) followed Carole's demo quite
> closely - lovely song.
Bob Celli:
> I have the following Carole King demos: A Forever Kind of Love, Go
> Away Little Girl, Don't Ever Take Her For Granted, Sharing You and
> Ferguson Road. I've managed to clean up "Sharing You". There's still
> much work to be done on the others. I taped them from Bobby Vee's
> acetates several years ago.
Wow, gentlemen, what took you so long to play these to musica?!? I've
never heard "So Goes Love" by anybody (I know that I should know who
Shirley Abicair is by now, but I don't). What a beauty this song is!
Even in its underproduced form, it's a gem. And I love King's version
of "Sharing You" - all it needs is an electric bass and a litle EQ to
be a "real" release. Nice clean-up work, Bob; please bring on the
others!
On the topic of Mr. Velline, his "I Can't Hear You" is interesting - I
know it well by The Newbeats, who I thought did a superb job with it,
but about halfway through, I "got" the Vee version, sped up as it is.
Nice to have an alternate on this.
Phil M.:
> Barney [Kessel]'s ten-second masterpiece, "Honey Rock," is now
> playing at musica.
Didn't get to that one. Unfortunately, Yahoogroups has told me that I've
enjoyed listening to enough music for one night. (How considerate of
them to provide a net nanny! I must've been a good little do-bee to get
three songs - all killer, no filler!)
Michael C.
> ...am going to see S and G and The Everlys when they hit the Hollywood
> Bowl soon. Their last swing thru town was incredible.
Anyone know if there any New York/New Jersey area dates, please?
Coming to musica when there's room: Dore Alpert's exquisitely beautiful
"Dina" (A&M 714, 1963), my all-time favorite 45. (First available 2800
KB I see gets filled with it!) I truly love many hundreds of records, but
in case of fire, I rescue this, The Teddy Bears 45s, The Spectors 3 "I
Really Do," and The Clusters "Darling Can't You Tell."
Quick note: Recently came into the Nervous Norvus compilation by our own
Phil Milstein on Norton. I've only gotten a few tracks into it, but the
man's story - and Phil's writing - is absolutely fascinating. He was a
major hitmaker yet an outsider, would-be for years, and a major-label
hitmaker but also a song-poem maven. You can't make stories like this up!
Yeah, Singin' Jimmy Drake (NN's other handle) is a tad outside our focus,
but close enough to be worth a look and listen.
Also a bit outside of us on the modern side, but well worth hearing:
Sahara Smith. She came in second on NPR's Prairie Home Companion's youth
talent contest for kids 12-to-20 from towns under 20,000 - but she can
sing and she can write! Google her; there's even a Yahoogroups discussion
group about her. (Contact me off-list if you'd like to hear a live mp3;
or google her name - there's even a Yahoogroups discussion group that has
just launched.)
Country Paul
(now returning you to our regularly-scheduled era)
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Message: 11
Date: Sun, 20 Jun 2004 13:11:56 +0100
From: The S'pop Team
Subject: Boy Trouble CD
Julio Niņo:
> I've just received ACE's new incursion in the GG territory,
> this time with Alec Palao as Cicerone: "Boy Trouble", a
> compilation of tracks from the vaults of Gary S. Paxton,
> many of them previously unreleased. The collection is
> wonderful, full of surprises and effervescent sixties pop...
Mick Patrick's review of this CD has just been installed at
the Recommends section. Access the review via the new S'pop
homepage http://www.spectropop.com or directly right here:
http://www.spectropop.com/recommends/index2004.htm#BoyTrouble
Enjoy,
The S'pop Team
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Message: 12
Date: Sun, 20 Jun 2004 13:21:49 +0100
From: S'pop Team
Subject: Ray Charles, R.I.P.
Dear Members,
A Ray Charles obituary has been installed at the S'pop Remembers
section: http://www.spectropop.com/remembers/RayCobit.htm
Two further tributes - one by David Nathan, the other by Dr. Mable
John - are available here: http://www.soulmusic.com/EYS-RayC.htm
R.I.P.
The S'pop Team
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SPECTROPOP - Spectacular! Retro! Pop!
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