Spectropop - Digest Number 1651

• From: Spectropop Group
• Date: Sun, 19 Sep 2004

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               SPECTROPOP - Spectacular! Retro! Pop!
________________________________________________________________________


There are 20 messages in this issue.

Topics in this digest:

      1. The Outsiders
           From: Austin Roberts 
      2. Re: Gillian Hills
           From: Mark M. 
      3. Re: Brent Records / Terry Cashman
           From: Austin Roberts 
      4. Re: Gillian Hills
           From: Tom Taber 
      5. Re: Dean Reed's "Elizabeth"
           From: Andrew Charles 
      6. 4 Tops Background Vocals
           From: Dave 
      7. Re: The Outsiders
           From: Orion 
      8. Re: Gillian Hills
           From: J. Stewart 
      9. RIP Skeeter Davis
           From: Charles Ellis 
     10. Re: Gillian's Hills
           From: Phil X Milstein 
     11. Re: Supremes' back-ups
           From: Woppo 
     12. Vogue Records
           From: Christian Steiner 
     13. Skeeter Davis, R.I.P.
           From: Mick Patrick 
     14. Hello from new member Claire Francis
           From: Claire Francis 
     15. Re: Skeeter Davis, R.I.P.
           From: Carl 
     16. Re: Del Shannon box set (some details)
           From: Mike Griffiths 
     17. dream babes, beat girls, and musica
           From: John H 
     18. 2 x 2
           From: Phil X Milstein 
     19. Re: Geraci
           From: Gary Myers 
     20. RIP Skeeter Davis
           From: various 


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Message: 1
   Date: Sun, 19 Sep 2004 12:31:16 EDT
   From: Austin Roberts 
Subject: The Outsiders

Someone mentioned:
> The Outsiders ... 

The only big record that I remember by the Outsiders was Time Won't 
Let Me. They had some other smaller hits but I don't pemember Bend 
Me Shape Me except by the American Breed. I spoke with Gary Loizo 
(spelling?) recently. He has a studio in the Chicago area and the 
Breed had just cut a song of mine. They did a great job!

Austin Roberts



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Message: 2         
   Date: Sun, 19 Sep 2004 17:08:55 -0000
   From: Mark M. 
Subject: Re: Gillian Hills

Previously:
> ... and (Gillian Hills') well known short raunchy appearance in 
> Antonioni's "Blow Up".

Al Kooper:
> Not well known to me. What'd she do/play? I'm intrigued by the 
> adjective "raunchy".

After starring in the UK film Beat Girl, GH released many records 
in France and only one in Britain, as far as I know, before 
returning to acting. There's a double cd out in France.

Mark M



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Message: 3         
   Date: Sun, 19 Sep 2004 12:48:18 EDT
   From: Austin Roberts 
Subject: Re: Brent Records / Terry Cashman

Country Paul:
> ... I had no idea Terry Cashman was in the Chevrons. Their "Lullaby"
> (Brent) is one of the great forgotten doo-wop tracks. In fact, there 
> was a lot of great stuff on that label, including Bertha Tillman 
> ("Oh My Angel") and Skip & Flip, among others.

Terry Cashman (Dennis Minogue) gave me my first job writing songs for 
Ampco\Pamco (ABC) in the 60's. He was a terrific mentor. I also met 
the other two members of Cashman, Pistilli and West and remain friends 
with all three. Pistilli lives here in Nashville and Tommy In new 
Jersey. When Pistilli left the Buchanan Bros., Dennis and Tommy asked 
me to take his place. Another lucky break for me, as I was a sponge 
(still am; so much to learn still) at the time, and learned from the 
experience. I spoke with Terry C. a couple of weeks ago and he's doing 
really well with his Baseball songs. One of my all time favorite pop 
songs is Sunday Will Never Be The Same (Cashman and Pistilli).  

Al, I didnt know Terry was in the Chevrons either.

Previously:
> My fave has always been "If Ya Wanna Be Happy For The Rest of Your 
> Life, Never Make A Pretty Woman Your Wife - From My Personal Point 
> of View Get An Ugly Woman To Marry You" by Jimmy Soul. Now THAT'S 
> some Shakespearian wisdom right dere.
> 
> Al Kooper
> (don't show dis to my wife)

Unfortunately, someone did show this to my wife and now I'm divorced.

Austin Roberts 



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Message: 4         
   Date: Sun, 19 Sep 2004 08:39:38 -0700 (PDT)
   From: Tom Taber 
Subject: Re: Gillian Hills

Previously:
> ... and (Gillian Hills') well known short raunchy appearance in 
> Antonioni's "Blow Up".

Al Kooper:
> Not well known to me. What'd she do/play? I'm intrigued by the 
> adjective "raunchy".

Antonioni managed to show on screen an area of the female body 
previously unseen in a general release motion picture. Might have 
been hers, might have been the "Je t'aime" girl's.  It all went by 
so fast!

Tom Taber



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Message: 5         
   Date: Sun, 19 Sep 2004 13:45:03 -0400
   From: Andrew Charles 
Subject: Re: Dean Reed's "Elizabeth"

To Andres: I remember seeing one TV news story about Dean Reed, 
and how he was going to try and re-establish his career in the US. 
Unfortunately, not long after that story, he died mysteriously. 
Too bad.

ACJ



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Message: 6         
   Date: Sun, 19 Sep 2004 14:15:55 -0400
   From: Dave 
Subject: 4 Tops Background Vocals

My ears tell me there are female background vocals on "Bernadette" and 
"Ask the Lonely," but can anyone confirm this?

I certainliy can't trust my ears.  I was lucky enough to see all of the 
major Motown vocal groups from the 60s and 70s live.  But IMO, none of 
them could match the Tops vocally -- not even close.  I was shocked out 
of what little mind I had left to see the "3 Tops" duplicate the 
background vocals on "Bernadette."  It's one thing to create a wall of 
sound in the studio, quite another to produce one in a small theater in 
London with a pickup orchestra and four guys with microphones (this was 
in 1972, when the Tops were enjoying a revival in England)..



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Message: 7         
   Date: Sun, 19 Sep 2004 13:42:41 -0500
   From: Orion 
Subject: Re: The Outsiders

Someone mentioned:
> The Outsiders ...

Austin Roberts:
> The only big record that I remember by the Outsiders was Time Won't
> Let Me. They had some other smaller hits but I don't pemember Bend
> Me Shape Me except by the American Breed. I spoke with Gary Loizo
> (spelling?) recently. He has a studio in the Chicago area and the
> Breed had just cut a song of mine. They did a great job!

The Outsiders did have another hit of some substance "Respectable" 
which hit #15 on Billboard and #13 on Cashbox.  It lasted 9 weeks on 
the charts for Cashbox but only 8 for Billboard.  Other than that Girl 
in Love  (my personal favorite)  ony bounced to 21 for 9 weeks on 
Billboard and  #24 for 9 weeks on Cashbox. 

zedboy wrote:
> I just saw Sonny Geraci from The Outsiders, and he was great. He did
> a bunch of covers, including Bend Me Shape Me. I know that was The
> American Breed but I read somewhere that The Outsiders also had a hit
> with it. Anybody remember that? I never heard it.

It didn't any national charts and that includes the "Bubbling Under Hot 
100". It is possible it was a hit on a regional basis but it is not 
something I have heard of.

Orion



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Message: 8         
   Date: Sun, 19 Sep 2004 20:20:17 +0100
   From: J. Stewart 
Subject: Re: Gillian Hills

Al Kooper on Gillian Hills in Blow Up:
> Not well known to me. What'd she do/play? I'm intrigued by the
> adjective "raunchy".

Since you ask...she was one of the two women who roll around naked 
with David Hemmings in the photographic studio in "Blow Up". Risking 
typecasting she was also one of the two women who, after meeting him 
in the record shop, roll around naked with Malcolm McDowell in the
William Tell Overture scene in "A Clockwork Orange". By today's 
standards neither scene is particularly "raunchy" but they certainly 
were considered so at the time.

JS



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Message: 9         
   Date: Sun, 19 Sep 2004 20:38:09 -0000
   From: Charles Ellis 
Subject: RIP Skeeter Davis

I just found out about her passing via Yahoo- apparently she'd been 
fighting cancer for a long time.  I had always loved her 1960s work 
at RCA with Chet Atkins producing, especially "End of the World" and 
the Goffin-King tune "I Can't Stay Mad At You".  I do recall that 
she married a member of NRBQ a while back.  Maybe someone can post a 
1960s Skeeter rarity to musica in her memory......

Charles Ellis

Here's a link to the Yahoo obit: http://tinyurl.com/5lppx



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Message: 10        
   Date: Sun, 19 Sep 2004 16:01:43 -0400
   From: Phil X Milstein 
Subject: Re: Gillian's Hills

J. Stewart wrote:
> Since you ask...she was one of the two women who roll around naked
> with David Hemmings in the photographic studio in "Blow Up". Risking
> typecasting she was also one of the two women who, after meeting him
> in the record shop, roll around naked with Malcolm McDowell in the
> William Tell Overture scene in "A Clockwork Orange". By today's
> standards neither scene is particularly "raunchy" but they certainly
> were considered so at the time.

One of those two scenes was sped up, for comic effect, but now I can't
remember which one it was.

--Phil M.



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Message: 11        
   Date: Sun, 19 Sep 2004 16:09:16 EDT
   From: Woppo 
Subject: Re: Supremes' back-ups

Tony Leong:
> Right!!! And I believe a combo of HDH and some Tops also figured in
> on "Standing at the Crossroads of Love" and "Run Run Run"!!!!

I know there are males singing with Mary and Flo during the chorus of 
"Run! Run! Run!" but I never knew about "Standing At the Crossroads". 
I can hear Flo real good on that song.



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Message: 12        
   Date: Sun, 19 Sep 2004 22:43:16 +0200
   From: Christian Steiner 
Subject: Vogue Records

Yes, there definitely has been a German branch of Vogue. It seems to 
have been one of the leading labels in Germany throughout the sixties 
judging by the masses of Vogue singles you can find on German 
fleamarkets. Their catalogue did feature licensed hits from the US 
and Europe (mainly France and the UK) - e.g. garage stompers like 
FIVE BY FIVE "fire" as well as many German "Schlager" which were 
produced especially for the label. They also had many stars from 
other countries, who did German sung versions of their own hits (e.g. 
Francoise Hardy, France Gall, Petula Clark etc.). I love that label 
(for it covers many of my musical tastes featuring Psychedelic, 
Sunshine Pop, Schlager etc.) and the mostly beautiful cover art. Does 
anyone know where one can find a complete discography of the German 
branch of Vogue?

Krischan from Germany



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Message: 13        
   Date: Sun, 19 Sep 2004 23:05:33 +0100
   From: Mick Patrick 
Subject: Skeeter Davis, R.I.P.

Charles Ellis on the passing of Skeeter Davis:
> I just found out about her passing via Yahoo- apparently she'd 
> been fighting cancer for a long time.  I had always loved her 
> 1960s work at RCA with Chet Atkins producing, especially "End of 
> the World" and the Goffin-King tune "I Can't Stay Mad At You". I 
> do recall that she married a member of NRBQ a while back. Maybe 
> someone can post a 1960s Skeeter rarity to musica in her memory. 
> Here's a link to the Yahoo obit: http://tinyurl.com/5lppx

Sad news, indeed. Skeeter had the voice of an angel, and was one 
of the finest exponents of the songs of Goffin & King that ever 
lived. I've posted a track to musica, "Optimistic" (RCA 47-7928, 
1961); not a Goffin/King number, but beautiful nonetheless, and 
an excellent example of the countrypolitan style, of which Skeeter 
and her producer, Chet Atkins, were pioneers. To the best of my 
knowledge, this great recording is not available on CD. Listen 
here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/spectropop/files/musica/

To read more about Skeeter Davis in the S'pop Discussion Forum 
Archives, visit: http://tinyurl.com/5s5cq

For Jeffery Kennedy's review of Skeeter's "The Pop Hits Collection" 
CD, visit the S'pop Recommends section at:
http://www.spectropop.com/recommends/index2003.htm#SkeeterDavis

R.I.P.

Mick Patrick



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Message: 14        
   Date: Sun, 19 Sep 2004 22:19:47 -0000
   From: Claire Francis 
Subject: Hello from new member Claire Francis

My name is Claire Francis. I was head of A&R for Polydor in London
for a few years in the sixties. While I was there, I recorded myself
as an artist. I recorded "But I Don't Care"  and "I've Got My Own
Thing Going", for Polydor records in the 60's, along with several other
records. I discovered some old Spectropop messages in which Ian Chapman 
and Elisa wanted to know more about me. I am happy to say hello to all 
of you.

I am currently trying to locate copies and original masters of my work 
as well as articles written about me to give to my daughters. Is there 
anyway anyone out there can help. I will be happy to give a gift for 
this help. 

Love and Light, Claire Francis



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Message: 15        
   Date: Sun, 19 Sep 2004 22:39:24 -0000
   From: Carl 
Subject: Re: Skeeter Davis, R.I.P.

Mick Patrick on the passing of Skeeter Davis:
> Sad news, indeed. Skeeter had the voice of an angel, and was one 
> of the finest exponents of the songs of Goffin & King that ever 
> lived. I've posted a track to musica, "Optimistic" (RCA 47-7928, 
> 1961); not a Goffin/King number, but beautiful nonetheless, and 
> an excellent example of the countrypolitan style, of which Skeeter 
> and her producer, Chet Atkins, were pioneers. To the best of my 
> knowledge, this great recording is not available on CD. Listen 
> here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/spectropop/files/musica/

What a loss.  Skeeter's RCA albums are favorites of mine - her sound 
is one-of-a-kind.  The song "Optimistic" is included on the new 
Collectables CD Blueberry Hill/The End of the World I was just 
playing this past week.  It includes a number of Skeeter's singles 
not available on other CD compilations.  Hopefully, more of Skeeter's 
music will be issued on CD in the coming months.  

Carl/Minnesota



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Message: 16        
   Date: Sun, 19 Sep 2004 16:46:11 -0700 (PDT)
   From: Mike Griffiths 
Subject: Re: Del Shannon box set (some details)

Following are two recently posted messages from the Del Shannon 
Yahoo mailing list. Also, I came across this at Amazon.de:
http://tinyurl.com/4hojc
 
It's simply listed as - Home And Away [BOX SET] Del Shannon - and the 
release date is listed as November 9. The price is listed at EUR 201,99 
(which is about $246.00 U. S.) It says you can pre-order a copy (although 
the site is in German). 
 
By the way, there is an incredible sessionography in the files section of 
the Shannon list which seems to document most (if not all) of Del's 
unreleased recordings, based on available info. Worth joining just to take 
a look at. It will definitely give you an idea as to what the 80 unreleased 
tracks might be. Or e-mail me directly and I'll send it as an Excel 
worksheet attachment.
 
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/RockonDelShannon/
 
Cheers,
Mike

----------------------
 
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/RockonDelShannon/message/348
 
From: Mark Dillman 
Date: Tue Aug 17, 2004 5:50 am 
Subject: CD box set Bear Family
 
I have received an e-mail from Richard Weize, the gentleman who owns 
and runs the Bear Family label in Germany. He has shared some 
information about the forthcoming Del Shannon CD box set and has given 
me permission to share that information with you. Following is the exact 
title, catalog number, numberof discs, description of contents, and a 
release time frame. He also says Brain Young of the Del Shannon 
Appreciation Society is heavily involved. My thanksto Richard for the info!
 
"The Del Shannon set -- 08 CDs -- will be out in early November (finally). It 
will contain all of his commercial recordings (1960-1970), some 
unissued, plus 2 CDs of demos.
 
BCD 15925 HL
Del Shannon
Home And Away
The Complete Recordings 1960 - 1970"

----------------------
 
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/RockonDelShannon/message/351
 
From: rainman157
Date: Wed Sep 1, 2004 11:55 am 
Subject: Re: CD box set Bear Family
 
This is just in from a 100% dependable source involved with the upcoming 
Del Shannon box set.
 
"The Del Shannon CD Box Set will be released November 8th, and will be 
240 tracks, 80 of which will be unreleased, including Del's jazz session, 
country sessions for BerLee, and the unreleased 13 track DUNHILL 
album!
 
Also included will be 30 Hi-Lo Club demo's, plus a 1962 session in the 
U.K. at Belinda Studios, and unreleased material from Liberty Records 
including "Something To Write Home About" and an alternate take of 
"Under My Thumb."
 
Many photos will be included, a hardbound liner notes, and a sessionography 
and discography of everything Del recorded from 1959-1970. "
 
EIGHTY unreleased tracks!!! I hope this release will form the basis for 
much discussion in the months to come. 




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Message: 17        
   Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2004 00:52:25 -0000
   From: John H 
Subject: dream babes, beat girls, and musica

There have been some great songs in musica lately, songs whose 
presence make me wonder if there isn't an unending supply of lost 
pop gems somewhere in a vault underground! What Four, Gillian Hills, 
Natalie Wood, Shelley Fabares, to name but four of more than a 
dozen gems I've loved recently. Does anyone know if there will be a 
new "Dream Babes" or "Where the Girls Are" collection sometime 
soon? 

I'm hoping this year's "Girls Go Zonk: US Beat Girls" CD was just the 
tip of a very groovy iceberg.

P.S. Would anyone be able to play Joanie Sommers' Shindig version 
of "Before And After" to musica? I know it's only on DVD, but figure it 
couldn't hurt to ask!

John H




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Message: 18        
   Date: Sun, 19 Sep 2004 21:21:33 -0400
   From: Phil X Milstein 
Subject: 2 x 2

A couple of questions, a couple of comments:

* Which artist debuted "Glad All Over"? If it's any help, my Dave Clark
5 hits album credits the song to a writing team of Campbell-Connelly.

* Was Dion's version of "Take Good Care Of My Baby" the original? Was it
released under his name alone, or with The Belmonts? Any stories on how
he got this song first, how Vee came to cover it, or etc.?

Speaking of Dion, the recent thread here about Dean & Jean set me 
to listening to their "Please Don't Tell Me Now," on vol. 2 of Ace's
"Laurie Records Story" series ( http://tinyurl.com/5lwqo ), and being
struck by how much, and how great, of a Dion cop it is. It'd make a very
worthy substitute should you find yourself in a Dion frame of mind, but
somehow with no actual Dion music at hand. (And wasn't another title in
the category of Dion soundalike mentioned here recently?)

Finally, thanks for the recent posting of The Cowsills' "All I Really
Wanta Be Is Me." I'd never heard this song before, but, despite the
distractingly loud snare, really enjoyed it. Pure folk-rock, of the best
variety, in fact it reminds me in places of The Beau Brummelstones'
"Don't Talk To Strangers." And, for better or worse, it's very hard to
find a trace of the group that would soon enough be hitting with "Hair,"
"The Rain, The Park, Etc.," and the theme to "Love American Style."

Yeah,
--Phil M.



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Message: 19        
   Date: Sun, 19 Sep 2004 19:15:09 -0700
   From: Gary Myers 
Subject: Re: Geraci

Zedboy wrote:
> ... saw Sonny Geraci from The Outsiders, and he was great.

He also sounded very good at Festa Italiana in Milwaukee last year. What 
wasn't good was the jokes that he and the drummer tried to tell, making 
them seem like a bad lounge act.

gem



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Message: 20        
   Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2004 00:20:06 -0400
   From: various 
Subject: RIP Skeeter Davis

Some thoughts on Skeeter Davis:

---------------

John DeAngelis:

I had the distinct pleasure of meeting and getting to know Skeeter 
Davis just after she recorded her wonderful collaboration with NRBQ:
"She Sings, They Play" (available on CD). As a person, she was as 
sweet, sincere, unaffected, and soulful as her many wonderful 
recordings. She was an honest, kind, and generous person. I'm 
grateful to have known her, and I will continue to cherish her music 
and her memory.

---------------

Don H.:

Though Skeeter was best known as a Country singer, her pop stuff was 
great.  Esp, the many Goffin/King songs, like "I Can't Stay Mad At 
You".  Has anyone ever heard of a G/K song that she did called "Try 
To Get Close To Me"?  I've never heard it, or even verified that it 
exists, but I imagine it is a variation of "Let Me Get Close To You".

---------------

Steve Harvey:

Skeeter was married to Joey Spampinato of NRBQ for a number of years 
and has a couple shots of them together in her autobiography, Bus Fare 
to Kentucky. Unfortunately, they got divorced a few years back.

---------------

Country Paul:

Too many RIPs, and too many of those are just too young. Kenny Buttrey, 
age 59 -- what an amazing cross-section of records he played on. Johnny 
Ramone, age 55 -- three of the four originals are gone. And then I see in 
musica a note next to an incredible Skeeter Davis record that she too has 
passed on, at age 72. (And somehow, I missed hearing "Optimistic" when 
it was new; great single!)

This brief obituary appears on The Hartford [CT] Courant website:

Opry Member Skeeter Davis Dies at 72

September 19, 2004
by Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Skeeter Davis, who hit the top of the pop charts with
"The End of the World" in 1963 and sang on the Grand Ole Opry radio show 
for more than 40 years, died Sunday of cancer. She was 72.

Davis died at a Nashville hospice, said Grand Ole Opry publicist Jessie
Schmidt. Davis had been diagnosed with breast cancer in 1988 and had a
recurrence in 1996.

Davis, nicknamed Skeeter by her grandfather who said she was so active she
buzzed around like a mosquito, had toured with Elvis Presley and the Rolling
Stones.

She became a regular on the Opry, a live radio show, in 1959, and continued
to perform as late as this year.

In 1973, she was suspended from the Opry for more than a year for protesting
the arrest of "Jesus freaks" in Nashville.

"I felt like a child without a home," she said after her reinstatement.

Besides "The End of the World," her hits included "I'm Saving My Love" and
"I Can't Stay Mad at You."

A native of Dry Ridge, Ky., Davis was born Mary Frances Penick. She took the
name Skeeter Davis in the 1950s when she became half of the Davis Sisters
duet.

She began a solo career after her duet partner, Betty Jack Davis, was killed
in a 1953 car wreck. Skeeter Davis was critically injured in the same
accident.

Her autobiography, "Bus Fare To Kentucky," was published in 1993. 



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