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SPECTROPOP - Spectacular! Retro! Pop!
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There are 14 messages in this issue.
Topics in this digest:
1. Dave Godin
From: Kingsley Abbott
2. Re: Fever authorship
From: ACJ
3. Cowsills sing for milk AND BASEBALL!
From: Clark
4. Now Playing In Musica: THE BLEUS "Milk And Honey" Amy Records
From: Mantan
5. Re: The Man From Nazareth
From: M. G. Still
6. Re: Fever authorship
From: Gary Myers
7. Re: Fever authorship
From: Eddy
8. 60s recording sessions
From: George
9. Re: Fever authorship
From: Bill Reed
10. Early days in the UK pop record industry
From: Frank Murphy
11. observation from Smile show
From: Brent Cash
12. The mysterious John Davenport
From: Charles G. Hill
13. Re: David Pomerantz
From: Bill George
14. A Touch Of Velvet, A Sting Of Cash?
From: Tom K. White
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Message: 1
Date: Sun, 17 Oct 2004 12:43:56 +0100
From: Kingsley Abbott
Subject: Dave Godin
It was with very great sadness, but not great surprise as I
knew him to be ill, that I read of the death of Dave Godin.
In the whole of the history of appreciation of black American
music, I can think of no-one who has been so influential in
bringing wonderful music to the attention of a growing number
of people. I had the privilege of first meeting him when I was
a raw teen back in the early sixties when he was rumnning the
Tamla Motown Appreciation Society, and he introduced me to a
huge variety of artists that at that point I had never heard of.
With other key members like David Nathan, he organised publicity
and social events for fans and artists alike. With the serendipitous
nature of such things I have just chanced upon a small card badge
that he hand made for a small party for Irma Thomas when she visited
London in the mid-sixties. Irma was amazed at the party in her honour,
and loved meeting such knowledgeable folk. Dave always went the extra
mile for what he believed in.
He was also a fantastically interesting person to speak to on many
other subjects, especially with his other passion of film censorship.
His depth of knowledge here too was legendary. Though I had not
managed to meet up with him in recent years, we enjoyed many long
phone calls. It was also a measure of the man that he would write
individual letters thanking people for positive reviews of his
wonderful Ace Deep Soul Treasures series. In case anyone out there
in S'pop land has not caught up with this four volume series, it can
be recommended absolutely without question.
I always thought he was a prime character for an OBE or some such
award, but I seriously doubt if he would have accepted it. What he
did he did for love. He will be very seriously be missed.
Kingsley Abbott
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Message: 2
Date: Sun, 17 Oct 2004 10:02:51 -0400
From: ACJ
Subject: Re: Fever authorship
For Phil X. Milstein: If no one's answered this already,
Eddie Cooley was a popular R&B bandleader of the '40s and
'50s; "Johnny Davenport" was a pseudonym for Otis Blackwell,
one of the all-time great R&B songwriters. (I'd heard the
rumors about Little Willie John being "Davenport".)
ACJ
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Message: 3
Date: Sun, 17 Oct 2004 00:37:27 -0000
From: Clark
Subject: Cowsills sing for milk AND BASEBALL!
Wow, just sitting here waiting for the AL playoff game to start
in Boston and here comes the announcer saying the Cowsills are
up next!! As the announcer (national TV on Fox!!) explains how
the Cowsills, the players and crowd sit thru a medley of Rain,
Park, Other things/We can Fly/Indian Lake/Hair!!! You could see
some players were not too enamored with standing while hearing
some old singers they never heard of. Then they are announced
as a local state band that "dominated the charts in the 60's"
and they sing "The Star Spangled Banner" followed quickly by
"Hair" sung live! They did a good job on the anthem, but "Hair"
was cut off by Fox about 10 seconds into the song. Kinda strange,
tho, as I'd never heard anyone at a game sing a song after the
anthem. Either way, nice recognition of Susan and the Cowsills!
Clark
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Message: 4
Date: Sun, 17 Oct 2004 01:21:54 -0000
From: Mantan
Subject: Now Playing In Musica: THE BLEUS "Milk And Honey" Amy Records
Per MGStill & Tom Diehl's request I've just posted one side of
The Bleus' 45rpm release on Amy Records A-11,038 (8867-BW)"Milk
And Honey" written by Carrol Quillen & Grady Smith.
When there's available space on Musica I will post the superior
b-side, the Eddie Hinton-Jim Coleman penned "Leavin' Lisa" ...
Amy Records A-11,038 (8868-BW). Both sides are Garage-Soul at its
finest. The Bleus deserves to be included on the next Nuggets comp
-if there is another one.
--Mantan--
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Message: 5
Date: Sun, 17 Oct 2004 01:36:31 -0000
From: M. G. Still
Subject: Re: The Man From Nazareth
Thanks for the layers of responses as to whom "John" was,
including the strange possibility that he was an Eastern
European (music hall theatre, maybe?) comedian. I'll go to
that website later and read more - thank you! Every possibility
and angle was covered; the only thing missing was a mention of
John-Paul II.
M. G. Still
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Message: 6
Date: Sat, 16 Oct 2004 17:26:52 -0700
From: Gary Myers
Subject: Re: Fever authorship
Phil Milstein:
> Most versions of "Fever" that I've seen credit the composition
> to "Eddie Cooley" and "John Davenport". Were these pseudonyms
> for Little Willie John? If not, anyone know who they are?
Without taking the time to look anything up, I can tell you that
Cooley also had (and, I think, wrote) the hit "Priscilla" (Eddie
Cooley & the Dimples, IIRC).
gem
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Message: 7
Date: Sun, 17 Oct 2004 08:11:02 +0200
From: Eddy
Subject: Re: Fever authorship
Phil M:
> Most versions of "Fever" that I've seen credit the composition
> to "Eddie Cooley" and "John Davenport". Were these pseudonyms
> for Little Willie John? If not, anyone know who they are?
Cooley is NOT Little Willie John. He was a songwriter who also
recorded "Fever" once for the "We wrote 'em and we sing 'em" album.
Davenport is none other than Otis Blackwell, who used his
stepfather's surname as a pseudonym to avoid legal issues.
Eddy
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Message: 8
Date: Sun, 17 Oct 2004 10:22:25 -0000
From: George
Subject: 60s recording sessions
Hello: I'm the recording engineer/mixer for many of the 60s rock
sessions produced by Bob Crewe, including The Rays, Freddie Cannon,
Billie & Lillie, Frankie Valli & Four Seasons, Mitch Ryder, and the
Girl Watchers album. Other sessions include Mickey and Sylvia/Kitty
(Mickey Baker), He's So Fine (Chiffons) 16 Candles/Crests, Every
Mother's Son, The Platters..(With This Ring), Vanilla Fudge, and also
hundreds' of demos for others like Carol King, Neil Sedaka, and
countless more. I hope I can be of assistance in answering any
questions you might have regarding the methods used / mics &
equipment, etc.
Regards,
George
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Message: 9
Date: Sun, 17 Oct 2004 15:28:32 -0000
From: Bill Reed
Subject: Re: Fever authorship
Phil X Milstein wrote:
> Most versions of "Fever" that I've seen credit the composition
> to "Eddie Cooley" and "John Davenport". Were these pseudonyms
> for Little Willie John? If not, anyone know who they are?
I believe that Little Willie John might have laid partial claim
to this song, but it was in fact written by the great Otis Blackwell
(under the pseud. Davenport) and Eddie Cooley, a singer-songwriter
("Priscilla"). Then to complicate matters, in 1958 Peggy Lee recorded
it with three additional verses she had penned ("Romeo loved
Juliet..."; "Captain Smith and Pocahontas..."; "Now you've listened
to my story. . .") and, I believe claimed partial songwriting
royalties. I seem to recall that she did not have legal right
to do this, some friendly litigation ensued, and now when anyone
sings those additional lyrics (more often than not) Ms. Lee and,
now, subsequently her estate gets a piece of the royalty pie.
Again, I'm not quite sure how Little Willie John fits in here.
It might have been songwriting for hire, with LWJ perhaps supplying
the title and the hired guns doing the rest. Gets a bit fuzzy here,
but Davenport is Blackwell and Cooley is, well, Cooley.
Bill Reed
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Message: 10
Date: Sun, 17 Oct 2004 15:38:42 -0000
From: Frank Murphy
Subject: Early days in the UK pop record industry
Here'a an article by Alan Warner which explains quite a bit
about the UK music scene in the early sixties.
http://www.emimusicpub.com/worldwide/music/catalog_jtf_a-long-time-ago.html
OR
http://tinyurl.com/4u4wc
Frank Murphy
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Message: 11
Date: Sun, 17 Oct 2004 16:59:20 -0000
From: Brent Cash
Subject: observation from Smile show
Hi everyone,
It's really no 'stretch' to say that the music of Brian and
The Beach Boys will live on after all of The Beach Boys (and
all of us) are gone. I got more tangible evidence of that last
night at the "Smile" show as I watched four guys not more than
18 or 19 sitting in front of me. The one with the mohawk under
his baseball cap proved it when he,with fist pumping in the air,
shouted perfectly in time with Brian's vocal: "Over and over, the
crow cries uncover the cornfield!" Now,isn't that beautiful!
Brent Cash
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Message: 12
Date: Sun, 17 Oct 2004 10:35:20 -0500
From: Charles G. Hill
Subject: The mysterious John Davenport
Phil X Milstein writes:
> Most versions of "Fever" that I've seen credit the composition
> to "Eddie Cooley" and "John Davenport". Were these pseudonyms
> for Little Willie John? If not, anyone know who they are?<<
"John Davenport" was Otis Blackwell, who was then having a tiff
with his publisher over royalties. ("Davenport" was apparently
Blackwell's stepfather's name.) According to Otis, Willie didn't
really want to do "Fever" in the first place, but was persuaded by
King's Henry Glover. Cooley and Blackwell had a songwriting
partnership in those days.
CGHill
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Message: 13
Date: Sun, 17 Oct 2004 13:43:00 EDT
From: Bill George
Subject: Re: David Pomerantz
Mark Wirtz was asking about the current activities of
David Pomerantz. I just saw online that he has written
the music for a new musical with book and lyrics by Kathie
Lee Gifford! It sounds like a show aimed toward children.
I once had an LP by him which I got somewhere dirt cheap. I
only knew him from the song "Trying to Get the Feeling" by
Barry Manilow. I don't have the LP anymore, so I must not
have liked it very much.
Bill
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Message: 14
Date: Sun, 17 Oct 2004 20:32:09 -0000
From: Tom K. White
Subject: A Touch Of Velvet, A Sting Of Cash?
Hey mis amigos, I was just wondering, has anyone (particularly
Mark Wirtz) heard the new version of The Mood Mosaic's "A Touch
Of Velvet, A Sting Of Brass" that's going about? I came accross
it on a German compilation the other day, and had to check it out.
It's credited to the (stupidly named) Dixi Disco, the same guy who
mixed the compilation supposedly (although he's credited as "Dixy"
in some places), written by J. Ferdy (one of Mark's pseudonyms right?)
and copyright House Nation Records/Dance Street GmbH. The weirdest
thing about it is it seems to be nothing more than a remix using a
large sample of the original track (horns, strings, Ladybirds,
everything). It's not a total monstrosity, but there's no real
reason to like it either... Hope this isn't news to Mark! I was
just wondering how much that guy had to pay Mark for the privelege!
Ciao for now...
Tom K
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SPECTROPOP - Spectacular! Retro! Pop!
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