________________________________________________________________________
SPECTROPOP - Spectacular! Retro! Pop!
________________________________________________________________________
There are 15 messages in this issue.
Topics in this digest:
1. Re: solo you can't hear them
From: Robert
2. Re: Bob Lind today
From: Robert
3. Bobby Darin bioflick
From: David
4. Re: A Song That Never Comes
From: Richard Campbell
5. Re: Mark Lindsay
From: Larry Lapka
6. Re: Kenny Young
From: Barry
7. Re: Smile concert
From: Phil X Milstein
8. John Peel - R.I.P.
From: Davie Gordon
9. Re: Mark Lindsay & Artie Butler
From: Artie Butler
10. Songwriters: In search of Tom Lane & Sharyn Pulley
From: Richard
11. Re: Greg Shaw, R.I.P.
From: Al Wagenaar
12. Re: John Peel - R.I.P.
From: Mark Wirtz
13. Re: Spanky & Our Gang
From: Al Wagenaar
14. Re: Spanky & Our Gang Q
From: Clark Besch
15. Early days in the UK pop record industry
From: Claire Francis
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Message: 1
Date: Tue, 26 Oct 2004 05:49:36 -0000
From: Robert
Subject: Re: solo you can't hear them
Larry Lapka asks:
> This begs a question: did anybody who was a main fixture
> of a band have solo material that just drove you off the
> deep end?
Colin Blunstone (gasp!) ... well, everything after "One Year," anyway.
Rob
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 2
Date: Tue, 26 Oct 2004 06:03:56 -0000
From: Robert
Subject: Re: Bob Lind today
Country Paul wrote:
> I've heard some of the tracks from Lind's new album at his
> website. The compositions are still great, and his voice is
> still a very effective instrument, but he needed your production
> touch.
What's posted on Bob Lind's website now are home-recorded demos
of new songs. He's currently in the studio with two young producers and
all his new songs (including ones that aren't posted on the site) working
on the "real" versions ... and yes, I agree, his voice is just as expressive
as ever.
Rob
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 3
Date: Tue, 26 Oct 2004 06:12:29 EDT
From: David
Subject: Bobby Darin bioflick
Is Connie Francis portrayed in the movie? From her book, she was one of
Bobby's good girls! Even more interesting would be the scene when Connie's
dad pulled a gun on Darin at an Ed Sullivan rehearsal -- is that in the film?
David
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 4
Date: Tue, 26 Oct 2004 11:45:44 -0000
From: Richard Campbell
Subject: Re: A Song That Never Comes
Austin Roberts asked:
> Was there ever a song on any of their albums called Waiting
> For A Song That Never Comes, by the same guys that wrote
> Sunday Will Never ...?
"A Song That Never Comes" was Cass Elliot's single in 1970, and was
written by Terry Cashman, et al, who wrote "Sunday ..."
Richard
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 5
Date: Tue, 26 Oct 2004 06:03:30 -0700 (PDT)
From: Larry Lapka
Subject: Re: Mark Lindsay
I just found Mark Lindsay's solo output too middle of the road for
my tastes. It especially irked me that this guy, who had one of the
best voices -- and was quite creative as a writer and producer –
decided that his solo career would be just the opposite -- sterile
voice and he wrote and produced little of his solo output.
There are gems to be had on his three solo LPs on Columbia, but
plenty of junk. His Raider albums had become virtual solo albums
from Goin' To Memphis on, so why did he feel the need to pursue
a solo career anyway? Heck, for a time his name "... featuring Mark
Lindsay" was part of the Raiders' monicker. I guess he just wanted
to branch out a bit, but the stuff is generally real hard to listen to.
He did put out a couple of singles on WB that brought him back to
the fore, although they were virtually ignored. I love his "Silly Little B
Side" (I think that's what it was called) flip to one of those singles
(I think it was "Sing Me High, Sing Me Low" or something like that –
another decent song, by the way, although it is pretty MOR).
On another note, Mike Nesmith's solo stuff away from The Monkees
both irked me and intrigued me at the same time. He did stuff that I
would not have heard if he had not done it -- sort of back to basics
country space cowboy material, if you know what I mean. Some of
this material is hard to listen to today, but he was quite the innovator.
Larry Lapka
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 6
Date: Tue, 26 Oct 2004 08:30:47 -0500
From: Barry
Subject: Re: Kenny Young
Austin Roberts wrote:
> Both songs were written by Kenny Young, who was produced by
> the Jeromes as the San Francisco Earthquake. Kenny came over
> from England (though he was American) and sang some background
> with me on one of my singles, Ricki Ticki Ta Ta Ta. He had two
> beautiful English "birds" with him, who seemed very taken by Kenny.
> Great guy and writer; fine choice in women!
Kenny Young, who worked for Bobby Darin's T.M. Music with Art Resnick, wrote
"Under The Boardwalk", and actually recorded a ton of singles under his own and
various other names. Of course, he went on to write such songs as "Just A Little
Bit Better". They're all really cool teen pop singles. In 1972, he signed to Warner
Brothers and recorded two of the best singer-songwriter albums, before forming
the group Fox, which had a giant European hit called "Only You Can".
If anyone's interested, I can post the singles I have by him. It's an interesting group
of odd teen pop singles.
Barry
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 7
Date: Tue, 26 Oct 2004 10:59:13 +0000
From: Phil X Milstein
Subject: Re: Smile concert
Country Paul wrote:
> Brian actually did smile a couple of times (he even got up a danced
> around for a few bars); he also played a few measures on the
> keyboard. And while his voice is definitely a rougher instrument than
> it used to be, he was indeed hitting the notes, and wasn't doubled by
> Jeff Foskett nearly as much as I'd expected.
A couple more notes about the Wilson/Smile show in Boston: During the
pre-Smile segment, Brian introduced a set of two songs as a tribute to
his late brothers. I can't remember which "Carl" song they played, but
the second song was Dennis' beautiful "Together" -- nice version, too.
During the post-Smile/encore segment, Brian strapped on his bass for
a few songs. If I recall correctly his was the only bass for those songs,
and he looked more comfortable standing and playing than he did at
any other point in the evening.
Yeah,
--Phil M.
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 8
Date: Tue, 26 Oct 2004 15:38:06 -0000
From: Davie Gordon
Subject: John Peel - R.I.P.
This has got to be one of the worst weeks ever. Here's a link to the
news story: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/041026/325/f5bkv.html
Davie
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 9
Date: Tue, 26 Oct 2004 11:46:20 EDT
From: Artie Butler
Subject: Re: Mark Lindsay & Artie Butler
Frank Jastfelder wrote, re: Mark Lindsay's "Bookends":
> Thanks Paul, what a great song. Very Bacharachesque. I like the typical
> Artie Butler flugelhorn. He used it a lot on the "Love Machine" soundtrack,
> too. Although I'm not sure who introduced the flugelhorn to these adult
> contemporary songs, Burt or Artie. Maybe Mr. Butler can shed some light
> on this? And how was songwriting with Jerry Fuller?
Working with Mark was a pleasure. He was a lot of fun to work with, and
we stay in touch to this day. Regarding the flugelhorn, it was Burt who
brought it into popularity initially. It was such a great sound, all of us other
guys jumped on the bandwagon. Burt created that sound.
In addition Jerry Fuller was really a treat to work with. He had great ears,
and was always extremely professional. I saw Jerry about a year or so
ago, and it was great catching up. He is really a great guy. We worked
together on projects for Mark Lindsay, Andy Williams, O.C. Smith, and
dozens of others I can't quite recall at this time.
Hope some of this info answers your questions.
Artie Butler
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 10
Date: Tue, 26 Oct 2004 11:47:23 -0000
From: Richard
Subject: Songwriters: In search of Tom Lane & Sharyn Pulley
Another goose chase I am on, friends. They were session composers for
Dunhill in the late 60's. Let me know if you know how to reach them.
At least one of their publishing companies has asked ME to let THEM
know if I find them!
Richard
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 11
Date: Tue, 26 Oct 2004 14:22:18 -0000
From: Al Wagenaar
Subject: Re: Greg Shaw, R.I.P.
What a shock to lose Greg Shaw. No one, and I mean no one, influenced
my musical listening and collecting as much as Greg. I remember seeing
his Juke box Jury column in the early Creem Magazines, then ordered a
Bomp British Invasion issue from the sleeve notes inside the 2 LP
British Invasion set on Sire. This had to be 73 or 74. From there I
was hooked, awaited each new Bomp, traded 45's with Greg (he wanted
those cool Fentons I could find...lived in Michigan then), sold his
Bomp singles at record shows in Detroit (Stu Shapiros shows). Finally
met him at a show with the Romantics in Detroit. What a cool guy, and
could he talk music. Had the priveledge of writing for Bomp (which led
me to write for Goldmine back then). Those were exciting times, with
garage comps coming from Greg like Pebbles, and the whole punk new wave
thing exploding. And those Flamin' Groovies Records on Sire, they
wouldn't have happened without Greg. Lost touch in the mid Eighties,
and I've always meant to reconnect. I waited to long. Greg will be
missed by many. I for one will miss the passion that was his. I kind of
feel like a piece of my life just dissapeared.
Al Wagenaar
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 12
Date: Tue, 26 Oct 2004 09:22:18 -0700 (PDT)
From: Mark Wirtz
Subject: Re: John Peel - R.I.P.
I am speechless. Not only yet another pivotal music
pioneer and icon, but, again, someone who was
critically instrumental in the support of my career.
Without John, I don't think I would have had one.
Dreadful news.
I can only wish that John is in a garden now which is
indeed perfumed and filled with joyful calm and
harmony.
My prayers and condolences go out to all that were
close to John.
To say that John will be missed would be an
understatement.
Mark Wirtz
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 13
Date: Tue, 26 Oct 2004 14:24:48 -0000
From: Al Wagenaar
Subject: Re: Spanky & Our Gang
Would you believe the baby on the Greatest Hits collection is not
Spanky's. I promoted a show with the Mamas & Papas back in the
eighties. Spanky was in the group. Had her sign the LP. She laughed
and wondered what ever happened to the kid they used for the photo.
Al Wagenaar
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 14
Date: Tue, 26 Oct 2004 15:50:48 -0000
From: Clark Besch
Subject: Re: Spanky & Our Gang Q
Austin Roberts:
> Was there ever a song on any of (Spanky & Our Gang's) albums called
> Waiting For A Song That Never Comes, by the same guys that wrote
> Sunday Will Never...
Austin, you are probably thinking of the Mama Cass single, "A Song
That Never Comes". It was her last chart record in August,1970.
It's funny to think about this now, but her solo career to me was
quite a departure from the Mamas and Papas, just like the
Lindsay/Raiders thing. The Mamas and Papas had the strong meaningful
writings of John Philips and a mostly serious approach to music.
When Cass started her solo stuff, it often was bubblegummy and light-
hearted, but overall was "all over" the place. Starting with
recording an old standard, "Dream a Little Dream of me"--that was
wierd. Then, a song I really liked, but obviously very dark in
comparison with her songs to come, John Hartford's great "California
Earthquake" with that destructive ending. Then, it was back to a
standard type, "Move in a Little Closer". Then came the "happy
upbeat bubblegum" of "It's Getting Better", "Make your Own Kind of
Music", and "New World Coming". I actually liked all but the middle
one there. "A Song that Never Comes" was ok too. The charters were
done, but in the last 3 months of 1970 she continued on with
45s "Good Times are Coming" and "Don't Let Life Pass You By". Then,
came the odd pairing of Dave Mason and Cass as "Mason & Cass". The
Lp came out on Blue Thumb (Mason's label) and the singles on Dunhill
(Cass' label). With that great marble vinyl "Alone Together" Lp
still reverberating on the airwaves, this pairing to me was odd at
the time, but soon, Mason was doing more MOR stuff too, so in
retrospect, it wasn't so odd. The timing was not good for Mason,
since his 45 "Waitin' on You" came out about the same time as the
duo's "Something to Make You Happy" in January, 71. "Too Much Truth,
Too Much Love" soon followed, but neither sold well. Soloing again,
72 saw solo Cass singles of "Baby, I'm Yours", "Break Another Heart",
and "Does Anybody Love You". After that, I lost track (interest?) in
Cass' career until her unexpected death in 74. I have never read any
biography on her, but if she lived in the mood of her songs, she was
happy, I guess.
Clark
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 15
Date: Sun, 24 Oct 2004 17:46:14 EDT
From: Claire Francis
Subject: Early days in the UK pop record industry
Frank Murphy:
> Here'a an article by Alan Warner which explains quite a bit about
> the UK music scene in the early sixties: http://tinyurl.com/4u4wc
I really enjoyed reading the "reflections" article about EMI in the 60's.
Some of the names mentioned in the article really brought memories of my
days at Transglobal Music which was EMI's New York office. After reading
the article, I remembered Ardmore & Beechwood, the publishing company for
EMI and how many times I had to write them for sub-license agreements. I
remember seeing the memos on Cliff Richard and Adam Faith and Acker Bilk
regarding licensing them in the U.S.. All the memories just keep flooding
back.
As I look back at it now, I realize how lucky I was to be in the UK
during the 60's.
Thanks for helping me remember such a wonderful time in my life. Please
let me know if you find any more records that I did, even if you just
tell me the names, I would be grateful.
Love & Light,
Claire (she who remembers) Francis
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
SPECTROPOP - Spectacular! Retro! Pop!
End
