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SPECTROPOP - Spectacular! Retro! Pop!
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There are 25 messages in this issue.
Topics in this digest:
1. Scott Shannon's True Oldies
From: Dave O'Gara
2. Re: The Cowsills
From: Bob Rashkow
3. Re: Cash Box singles charts online
From: Gary Myers
4. Re: The Frank Guida Sound
From: Austin Roberts
5. Re: The Frank Guida Sound
From: Austin Roberts
6. Re: Glen Campbell
From: Jens Koch
7. Chuck Berry and Al Kooper
From: Dave
8. Re: The Cowsills
From: Gary Myers
9. Re: Keith; Bunker Hill; Rain
From: Phil X Milstein
10. Re: Cash Box charts
From: Orion
11. Re: Gary Bonds, songwriter
From: Gary Myers
12. Re: Chuck Berry and Al Kooper
From: Eddy Smit
13. Re: The Cowsills
From: Richard Havers
14. Re: Jerden label
From: Superoldies
15. Re: Glen Campbell
From: Steve
16. Re: Bunker Hill
From: Davie Gordon
17. Re: Promo Men
From: Austin Roberts
18. Rain, the Kinks & other things
From: Ken Silverwood
19. Re: Bunker Hill
From: Norm D. Plume
20. Re: Glen Campbell
From: Jens Koch
21. Re: The Cowsills
From: Gary Myers
22. Dean & Jean
From: Austin Powell
23. Re: The Cowsills
From: Richard Havers
24. Re: Jerden label
From: John Berg
25. Re: Dean & Jean
From: S'pop Projects
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Message: 1
Date: Mon, 06 Sep 2004 15:38:06 -0000
From: Dave O'Gara
Subject: Scott Shannon's True Oldies
For those of you who have lamented the tight playlists of Oldies
Radio Stations, there is now something different available. I don't
know how many markets he's in, but New York DJ Scott Shannon's True
Oldies Channel has landed in my city and the playlist is refreshing.
They claim to have over 10,000 singles available and vow to play them
all, from doo-wop to the early 70's. So far, I haven't caught any
repeats. You'll find some details on his website:
www.trueoldieschannel.com
One song I heard yesterday that I always loved but never owned was
Tra La La La Suzy by Dean and Jean. Don't know anything about the
writers or performers. Anyone here have some insight? Thanks..
Dave 0'
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Message: 2
Date: Mon, 06 Sep 2004 12:25:35 EDT
From: Bob Rashkow
Subject: Re: The Cowsills
Clark Besch:
> ... the Partridge Family are phonies whether you like music or not.
I always thought it was quite a step down for Shirley Jones, even
though the series must have introduced her to a whole world of TV
viewers who'd never seen many of her flicks or her musicals, etc.
Still, they came up with some good stuff. "It's One Of Those Nights"
is probably my favorite and I never heard the LPs in their entirety.
However! That said! They pale in comparison with their supposed
mentors The Cowsills. Among all the beautiful stuff The Cowsills did
is the B-side to "Poor Baby", "Meet Me at the Wishing Well", which I
always thought of as their effort at a late 6Ts protest tune. The
Philips and Joda sides are super and well worth having.
Bobster
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Message: 3
Date: Mon, 06 Sep 2004 10:08:09 -0700
From: Gary Myers
Subject: Re: Cash Box singles charts online
David A. Young:
> ... Randy Price has compiled the data from most all charts from
> Cash Box magazine from the '50s through the '90s.
There is a book on the CB charts: "Cash Box Pop Singles Charts,
1950-1993" by Pat Downey, George Albert & Frank Hoffman, 1994,
Libraries Unlimited: Englewood, CO.
gem
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Message: 4
Date: Mon, 06 Sep 2004 15:04:55 EDT
From: Austin Roberts
Subject: Re: The Frank Guida Sound
S.J. Dibai:
> ... while Doug Sahm must have written that tune as a Texan answer
> to U.S. Bonds. What's all the more delightful about this track is
> that it was the flip side of Sir Doug's cover of "Quarter To Three"!
Here's an aside. Gary Bonds is an old friend (name dropper) who had a
certain singing and writing style, but here's the kicker; he co-wrote
the country smash Friend Don't Take Her She's All I've Got for Johnny
Paycheck.
Austin R.
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Message: 5
Date: Mon, 06 Sep 2004 15:15:31 EDT
From: Austin Roberts
Subject: Re: The Frank Guida Sound
Steve Jarrell:
> I was told by so folks from Norfolk that did work for Frank Guida
> that Frank had his studio remodeled at one time. After the remodeling
> was complete, the sound was lost and no more hits came out of the
> studio. Austin, do you know or did you ever hear that story?
I did hear that story; it does sound like something most people end up
doing though. Don't screw with what works!
Austin Roberts
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Message: 6
Date: Tue, 07 Sep 2004 00:47:48 +0200
From: Jens Koch
Subject: Re: Glen Campbell
Robert:
> I wish Brian could have produced a whole album for Glen Campbell!
I just watched the Imagination DVD. In there Glen talks of how he
was fooling around on his guitar during one of the studio sessions
with Brian. Brian heard, picked up on it, and lo and behold, the
opening riff of "I Get Around was born".
Jens
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Message: 7
Date: Tue, 07 Sep 2004 00:03:21 -0000
From: Dave
Subject: Chuck Berry and Al Kooper
Hey, guys, been kinda following the group for a while, but I'm a bit
younger, and don't know all the references. Anyhow, I was doing a
bit of *illegal downloading* (I'm actually one of the few who
actually use downloading as a means to find new music to go buy) and
I came across a file that said "Chuck Berry and Keith Richards-
Nadine- Live in St. Louis, 1987". It was a video (from 'Hail, Hail,
Rock and Roll", I believe) and I was wondering if that was Mr. Kooper
on keys. If so, where was that filmed? Like I said, I'm relatively
young, and just learning about a lot of the things discussed on this
list.
Dave
Btw- my band "Earl" (www.earlsounds.com) was invited to play
"Beautiful Delilah" on a tribute to Chuck Berry called "Brown-Eyed
Handsome Man" coming out this month on Undertow Records, with such
artists as Jay Farrar, Fontella Bass, Ry Cooder, the Bottlerockets,
and many more. It should be a really good album.
np: "Street Fighting Man" by the Stones
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Message: 8
Date: Mon, 06 Sep 2004 20:57:30 -0700
From: Gary Myers
Subject: Re: The Cowsills
Me, earlier:
> I think Jon Cowsill (who was too young to be in the group during their
> hit days) is now playing drums for the Beach Boys. <<
Richard:
> Jon plays guitar and sings.
So you mean he's not playing drums for the BB's? I know he sings very
well, but he was also playing drums very well in that lounge trio (named
"Sassy" with a girl singer and KB player who handled LH bass). At one
point he told me that he auditioned to become one of the Lettermen (one
member was leaving). I didn't know he also played guitar.
At any rate, I'm pretty sure I heard something about a "Jon Cowsill"
drumming for the BB's, but maybe it was only on one tour or something.
gem
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Message: 9
Date: Mon, 06 Sep 2004 20:58:10 -0400
From: Phil X Milstein
Subject: Re: Keith; Bunker Hill; Rain
Country Paul wrote, re Keith:
> And what a strange-lookin' cat he has become.
Indeed, he seems to have morphed into David Lee Roth!
> ... for anyone who doesn't know the song, join Davie's group and listen
> to Bunker Hill's "Hide & Seek" (Mala 451) - it rocks like crazy, but the
> sound quality makes Gary US Bonds on LeGrand sound like digital hi-fi!
If you think Bunker Hill's "Hide And Seek" is wild, try out his "The
Girl Can't Dance" sometime. Hill's tracks on both were, I believe,
provided by Link Wray and his Raymen.
I've found lurking on my hard drive a reggae version of Jose Feliciano's
"Rain" (refrain: "Listen to the falling rain, listen to it fall").
Anyone know who this version might be by?
Yeah,
--Phil M.
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Message: 10
Date: Mon, 06 Sep 2004 22:14:01 -0500
From: Orion
Subject: Re: Cash Box charts
Gary Myers wrote:
> There is a book on the CB charts: "Cash Box Pop Singles Charts,
> 1950-1993" by Pat Downey, George Albert & Frank Hoffman, 1994,
> Libraries Unlimited: Englewood, CO.
I have that book you mentioned, but it is out of print and very hard to find.
It is a great book though, much like the Billboard books.
orion
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Message: 11
Date: Mon, 06 Sep 2004 21:00:13 -0700
From: Gary Myers
Subject: Re: Gary Bonds, songwriter
Austin Roberts wrote:
> Gary Bonds is an old friend. He co-wrote the country smash Friend
> Don't Take Her She's All I've Got for Johnny Paycheck.
Wasn't there also a soul version of that? And, if so, is it possible that
version came first?
gem
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Message: 12
Date: Tue, 07 Sep 2004 09:10:44 +0200
From: Eddy Smit
Subject: Re: Chuck Berry and Al Kooper
Dave wrote:
> I came across a file that said "Chuck Berry and Keith Richards-
> Nadine- Live in St. Louis, 1987". It was a video (from 'Hail, Hail,
> Rock and Roll", I believe) and I was wondering if that was Mr.
> Kooper on keys. If so, where was that filmed?
If you're referring to the October 16, 1986 show, filmed at the Fox Theatre
in St Louis, the keyboard player there would be Chuck Leavell.
Eddy
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Message: 13
Date: Tue, 07 Sep 2004 08:58:49 +0100
From: Richard Havers
Subject: Re: The Cowsills
Gary Myers wrote:
> At any rate, I'm pretty sure I heard something about a "Jon Cowsill"
> drumming for the BB's, but maybe it was only on one tour or something.
Gary I was wrong, it's keyboards John plays. Mike Kowalski drums for the
BBs, as he has for a good many years.
Richard
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Message: 14
Date: Tue, 07 Sep 2004 04:13:44 -0000
From: Superoldies
Subject: Re: Jerden label
Have the masters for Jerden surfaced? Offhand I'm only aware of the
early Paul Revere sides on this label.
Shawn
www.superoldies.com
12000 oldies in rotation (1955-1969)
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Message: 15
Date: Tue, 07 Sep 2004 12:59:42 -0000
From: Steve
Subject: Re: Glen Campbell
Rob wrote:
> Guess I'm Dumb is about as perfect as '60s pop gets. With an amazing
> vocal by Glen, and production by Brian Wilson, this single should have
> been a huge hit. This song is the reason I bought the Pet Projects
> (Brian Wilson Productions) CD. I wish Brian could have produced a
> whole album for Glen Campbell!
You should hear the B side, That's All Right. It's another great song, plus
an earlier single called Same Old Places. They both knocked me out when
I heard them. Same Old Places is a Pitneyesque ballad, but Glen's voice is
deeper and darker on this one. Oddly enough one of his very early singles,
Prima Donna, sounds exactly like a Johnny Crawford reject. Guess he was
trying all kinds of things at the time.
Cheers,
Steve
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Message: 16
Date: Tue, 07 Sep 2004 14:00:37 -0000
From: Davie Gordon
Subject: Re: Bunker Hill
Phil Milstein wrote:
> If you think Bunker Hill's "Hide And Seek" is wild, try out his "The
> Girl Can't Dance" sometime. Hill's tracks on both were, I believe,
> provided by Link Wray and his Raymen.
For more on Bunker Hill have a look at
http://koti.mbnet.fi/wdd/bunkerhillbio.htm
While you're there have a look around the rest of this excellent Finnish
website -- one of the best places on the net for info on the roots of rock.
Davie
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Message: 17
Date: Tue, 07 Sep 2004 11:58:31 EDT
From: Austin Roberts
Subject: Re: Promo Men
The late Jerry Fine was the BEST promo man I ever worked with (at
Chelsea Records in 1972 and 1973. Another good one was Lenny Petze
(not sure of spelling before Cindy Lauper days).
Austin R.
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Message: 18
Date: Tue, 07 Sep 2004 17:16:49 +0100
From: Ken Silverwood
Subject: Rain, the Kinks & other things
Phil said:
> I've found lurking on my hard drive a reggae version of Jose
> Feliciano's "Rain" (refrain: "Listen to the falling rain, listen
> to it fall"). Anyone know who this version might be by?"
And I would give the answer "Bruce Ruffin", 1971 on Trojan Records,
no relation to Jimmy or David of course!
Totally unconnected is the news that The Kinks "You Really Got Me"
is out on sale to commemerate the 40th anniversary of it topping the
UK charts. Bad news I didn't know was that Dave Davies is recovering
from a stroke & also Eden Kane (who now resides in L.A) is also
recovering from a heart problem. Eden was due to appear as part of
one of the Golden Oldie package tours doing the rounds of the UK,
for the life of me I can't recall who's taken his place.
Ken On The West Coast
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Message: 19
Date: Tue, 07 Sep 2004 10:08:52 -0700 (PDT)
From: Norm D. Plume
Subject: Re: Bunker Hill
Previously:
> If you think Bunker Hill's "Hide And Seek" is wild, try out his
> "The Girl Can't Dance" sometime. Hill's tracks on both were, I
> believe, provided by Link Wray and his Raymen.
> For more on Bunker Hill have a look at:
> http://koti.mbnet.fi/wdd/bunkerhillbio.htm
>
> While you're there have a look around the rest of this excellent
> Finnish website -- one of the best places on the net for info on
> the roots of rock.
There's a great scene in John Walter's movie "Hairspray" that
features the kids in a record store dancing to "Hide & Seek". Does
anyone know the dance they were doing? Such a good movie...
...and such a good website, too; thanks for the link, Davie.
Does anyone know of a good Bunker Hill CD? I don't know if he did
enough to qualify for a whole compilation, but even a few tracks
together would be a gas.
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Message: 20
Date: Tue, 07 Sep 2004 18:10:30 +0200
From: Jens Koch
Subject: Re: Glen Campbell
Steve:
> You should hear the B side, That's All Right. It's another great
> song, plus an earlier single called Same Old Places. They both
> knocked me out when I heard them. Same Old Places is a Pitneyesque
> ballad, but Glen's voice is deeper and darker on this one. Oddly
> enough one of his very early singles, Prima Donna, sounds exactly
> like a Johnny Crawford reject. Guess he was trying all kinds of
> things at the time.
My favorite Glen track from this period, and probably of all time,
is Can't You See I'm Tryin' ... Guess he was trying to be rock'n'
roller too.
Jens
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Message: 21
Date: Tue, 07 Sep 2004 09:59:56 -0700
From: Gary Myers
Subject: Re: The Cowsills
Richard:
> ... it's keyboards John plays. Mike Kowalski drums for the BBs,
> as he has for a good many years.
So, it this the same Jon (John?) Cowsill that I'm talking about,
who also plays drums, and who was one of the youngest of the
Cowsill family? It sounds doubtful.
gem
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Message: 22
Date: Tue, 07 Sep 2004 01:26:17 +0100
From: Austin Powell
Subject: Dean & Jean
Dave O:
> One song that I always loved but never owned was Tra La La La Suzy
> by Dean and Jean. Don't know anything about the writers or
> performers. Anyone here have some insight?
Best I can do is....Dean was Welton Young and Jean was Brenda Lee
Jones. Apart from Tra La La La Suzy which they wrote they also did
Hey Dean, Hey Jean (Let's Have A Party) (an Ernie Maresca song). I
loved 'em both. I guess they recorded other stuff but these two are
the only ones I ever got. Both were on Rust around 63/64 and both
got a UK release on EMI's Stateside label.
Austin P
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Message: 23
Date: Tue, 07 Sep 2004 20:39:31 +0100
From: Richard Havers
Subject: Re: The Cowsills
Previously:
> ... it's keyboards John plays. Mike Kowalski drums for the BBs,
> as he has for a good many years.
> So, it this the same Jon (John?) Cowsill that I'm talking about,
> who also plays drums, and who was one of the youngest of the
> Cowsill family? It sounds doubtful.
John Patrick Cowsill....one in the very same. I just wish I sounded
more believable. I guess having screwed up on the guitars for keyboards
made it sound like I don't know!
Mike Kowalski......the present BBs drummer is a good friend, he played
on Bryter Layter by Nick Drake.....does that sound like I know?
Last time I saw John was at a gig at Edinburgh Castle, we chatted about
the fact that I had bought 'The Rain The Park and Other Things' in
Andorra with a Spanish picture sleeve.....wish I still had it.
Here's a little link
http://www.beachboysband.net/MEMPAGES/JC_PAGES/JC_H-PAGE.htm
Richard
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Message: 24
Date: Tue, 07 Sep 2004 14:56:33 EDT
From: John Berg
Subject: Re: Jerden label
Shawn, Over the past few years there have been no less than three
series of releases of Jerden masters -- by Ace Records (UK),
Sundazed (USA) and Norton (USA). Ace's Alec Palao went right from
the master tapes, having come here to Seattle to DAT everything in
the Jerden vaults and thus unveil true stereo mixes on quite a few
songs for the first time. All these series are worth buying, as
each comes with slightly different song selections, and each has
good liners.
John Berg, Seattle area
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Message: 25
Date: Tue, 07 Sep 2004 20:56:19 +0100
From: S'pop Projects
Subject: Re: Dean & Jean
Dave O:
> One song that I always loved but never owned was Tra La La La Suzy
> by Dean and Jean. Don't know anything about the writers or
> performers. Anyone here have some insight?
Austin Powell:
> Best I can do is....Dean was Welton Young and Jean was Brenda Lee
> Jones. Apart from Tra La La La Suzy which they wrote they also did
> Hey Dean, Hey Jean (Let's Have A Party) (an Ernie Maresca song). I
> loved 'em both. I guess they recorded other stuff but these two are
> the only ones I ever got. Both were on Rust around 63/64 and both
> got a UK release on EMI's Stateside label.
S'pop have installed a new search engine. How useful. Let's see, type
in the words "Brenda Lee Jones", click "Go", and up pops a message
submitted by Mick Patrick three years ago. Find it reprinted below.
At your service,
The S'pop Team
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Message: 1
Date: Mon, 01 Oct 2001 21:46:08 +0100 (BST)
From: Mick Patrick
Subject: BRENDA MELSON RIP
Singer/songwriter/guitarist BRENDA MELSON, better known
as Jean of 1960s duo Dean & Jean, has died aged 63. Her
lengthy recording career included collaborations with
Eubie Blake, Roland Kirk, Tommy Tucker and Richard
"Groove" Holmes. Brenda also recorded solo as Brenda
Jones, Brenda Lee Jones and Brenda Lee Melson.
Born in Dayton, Ohio, Brenda began her recording career
in the early 1950s. She teamed up with Welton Young in
1958, the pair were christened Dean & Jean by their
manager, future congressman C J McLin. Dean & Jean inked
with the New York-based Laurie label in 1960. Early
duties included the writing of songs such as "King
Without A Queen" and "The Majestic" for Dion.
Dean & Jean began recording for Rust in 1962 and hit the
Top 40 with "Tra La La La Suzy" and "Hey Jean, Hey Dean"
in 1963/4. They recorded many other excellent tracks for
the company including stomping updates of the evergreens
"I Wanna Be Loved" and "Mack The Knife" but split up
soon afterwards. Brenda went on to record with Richard
"Groove" Holmes.
After overcoming cancer in 1979 Brenda became a born
again Christian and began a voluntary career in prison
welfare. She and her husband formed the Son Reign
Ministry in 1985. Of the 28 prisons in the state of Ohio,
Son Reign ministered in 23 of them. After a lengthy
hiatus Brenda resumed her recording career in the 1990s
distributing cassettes of her albums free of charge to
any prison inmate who requested them.
Brenda Melson died of cancer on Saturday August 4 aged
63.
MICK PATRICK
PS Some readers may be aware that I was involved in the
release of a Dean & Jean LP some years ago. Brenda (Jean)
was a big favourite of mine.
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