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SPECTROPOP - Spectacular! Retro! Pop!
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There are 25 messages in this issue.
Topics in this digest:
1. Danceland Ballroom posters
From: Phil X Milstein
2. Brian Hyland; "Silent Night"; "Driver's Seat"; the Death Department
From: Country Paul
3. Re: French covers
From: Dave Monroe
4. Re: Chipmunks
From: Michael 'Doc Rock' Kelly
5. Stella Starr
From: Simon White
6. Re: Colpix-Dimension Story / Alive And Kicking
From: Pres
7. British car songs
From: Michael Edwards
8. French covers
From: Phil Chapman
9. Re: "Silent Night"
From: Dave Monroe
10. Re: The Girls From Bahia (Americanized Bossa Nova)
From: Kurt Luchs
11. Re: "Beyond The Sea" -- Bobby Darin/Kevin Spacey movie
From: Steve Harvey
12. Musica; Bobby Darin movie; Amy-Mala-Bell; Colgems obscurities; Alan Boyd
From: Country Paul
13. Re: Alan Boyd
From: Susan
14. Lynn Holland
From: Simon White
15. Re: France Gall
From: Dave Monroe
16. Henri Salvador
From: Frank
17. Nippop launch
From: Steve McClure
18. Re: British car songs
From: Dave Monroe
19. Re: Beep effin' Beep
From: Phil X Milstein
20. Re: France Gall
From: Frank
21. Re: French covers / Jean Musy
From: Frank
22. Re: Amy-Mala-Bell
From: Davie Gordon
23. Louisville's Own
From: Don
24. The Ramrods
From: Dan Hughes
25. Dusty B-sides
From: Frank
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Message: 1
Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 13:14:40 -0800
From: Phil X Milstein
Subject: Danceland Ballroom posters
A friend of mine recently forwarded to me a link to a website
featuring some amazing, hand-painted, one of a kind* posters
for mid-'60s pop concerts, all of them for the Danceland Ballroom
in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The site is that of a dealer, Rockaway
Records in L.A., and those posters shown that are still available
for sale are at prices I doubt few of us could afford -- but,
ALL of us can at least afford to ogle 'em online.
Headliners depicted include Brian Hyland, The Strangeloves with
The McCoys, Faron Young, The Vogues, Lou Christie, The Ventures,
Bobby Rydell, The Fendermen, The Left Banke, The Gentrys, Bobby
Vee, The Turtles, Dion, The Tremelons ("see and hear 4 really
cute sweethearts in action!"), New Colony VI, Wanda Jackson, and
on and on. Ersel Hickey opening for Del Shannon, fer cryinoutloud!
And you'll gag -- or at least sigh -- at the kinds of admission
prices they were charging for these shows.
If, somehow, none of the names I've cited are quite enough to
seduce you into visiting the site, then you'll just have to trust
me that among the names I've left out is at least one you must see.
Do so at http://www.rockaway.com>/dancelandposters , and don't forget
to click on the thumbnails at left in order to view in full-size at
right.**
Yeah,
--Phil M.
*Unique because they were made to be posted only at one spot, at
the top of the ballroom staircase, put there so that concertgoers
exiting one show would see the listing for the following week's
engagement.
**As of now the very first thumbnail is appearing as a blank.
Note, though, that if you click on it nonetheless the large
version of the Beach Boys poster will appear, as it seems that
only the thumbnail file is MIA.
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Message: 2
Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 18:43:16 -0500
From: Country Paul
Subject: Brian Hyland; "Silent Night"; "Driver's Seat"; the Death
Department
Stephen C Propes wrote:
> One of the big regrets I have about my time on the air, passing on
> Brian Hyland, tho I'm sure my audience would have thought I'd gone
> bananas.
Phil M replied:
> Sure enuff. His version of "Gypsy Woman," for instance, is pleasant
> enough, but I doubt Curtis Mayfield heard Hyland's footsteps behind
> him.
Agreed - but "Come Away With Me" (on Dot) is at least as psychedelic
as the Stones' "2000 Light Years From Home," which it apes so well.
Clark Besch:
> ... It would make a great documentary to find out who these people
> were that wrote "Silent Night" and the many other Christmas hymns...
If I'm not mistaken, an episode of Walter Cronkite's classic series
"You Are There" 'dropped in' on Franz Gruber as he was composing it.
I forget the details; it was a looooong time ago!
Richard Williams on "Auto-arias":
> I've just remembered the brilliant "Driver's Seat" by Sniff and
> the Tears, on Chiswick.
...and on Atlantic in the US.
In the Death Department:
Phil M, you noted "Who Killed Teddy Bear" is "a great film, but
not for all tastes." Pray tell, what unique forms of whatever make
it so? (Off-list is fine if the answer is too racy.)
RIP Hank Garland. Thanks, Steve Harvey, for the heads-up on this
piece of sad news.
And also RIP, but not quite S'pop, Jerry Orbach of the TV series
"Law & Order." Few remember he originated the role of The Narrator
in "The Fantasticks" and sang the beautiful "Try To Remember."
Remembering,
Country Paul
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Message: 3
Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 12:23:48 -0800 (PST)
From: Dave Monroe
Subject: Re: French covers
Jean-Emmanuel Dubois wrote:
> But Erick Saint Laurent got some great Beatles cover
> to. His cover of Friday on my mind/vendredi
> m'obsède is great too.
> Vigon (from Morroco) got some great original songs and a nice
> cover of Harlem Shuffle.
The Tom Jones of Morocco! I've been spinning on occasion his
(English language, they all seem to be) covers of Eddie Purrell's
"The Spoiler" and Bob and Earl's "Baby, Your Time is My Time"
(both of which I actually heard first BY Vigon), and I have an LP
with all three and then some. The film clip for "Harlem Shuffle"
is on that Scoptones site, by the way. And I second that e.motion
in re: Erick Saint Laurent ...
> Claudes Channes, Hector, Gil Now, Les Mods, Les Gaellic, Illous
> & Decuyper, French pop 65-70 got a lot to offer and the more
> succesfull were not always the best ones.
Gil Now's take on "Skate" hits just as hard as Dean Parrish's, I
think I have him doing Otis Redding's "Hard to Handle" as well.
One of my early eBay regrets was losing out on a couple of Les Mods'
EPs (do have the Magic Records CD, however). The rest of the above
I don't know, so now I gotta start digging...
> When I was younger French sixties meant: Claude François, Frank
> Alamo, Sylvie Vartan & co until I discover more obscure & exiting
> gems!!!
Still, CF and SV (her covers of Mel Torme's 'Comin' Home, Baby" and
Ike and Tina Turner's "I Can't Believce What You Say" are spinnable
as well, and I deployed her fantastic "L'oiseau" [not a cover, so far
as I know] just last night) have their moments. Frank Alamo had one
track I was hunting for for a while, but I believe it was one of
hundreds, and I've forgotten what it was now, so ...
> The compilation: Gentlemen of Paris on FGL should be checked
Will do! Thanks! Also, Pop a Paris (5 Vols), Femes de Paris (3
vols.), Atomic Cafe: French Cuts (2 vols), Wizzzz!, Swinging
Mademoiselle (2 vols? can't recall), Ultra Chicks (6 vols now?),
Magic Records also has a handful of ye-ye girl EP comps ...
> By the way French sunshine pop with Illous & Decuyper, Les
> Hamster, Presence etc.. is a great genre that is craving for
> redicovery too.
I have one Les Hamsters 45, but seeing as it went pretty cheaply
compared to the other ones that were up on eBay, and that I can't
even recall what it sounds like, I suspect it's not one of the
better ones. By the way, know anything about John [sic?] Musy?
I have his "Le Rocksteady," which is goofy but effective (I've
seen skinheads out for it, so ...), I've seen his name as a
writer or arranger or producer as well. But thanks again for info ...
Dave Monroe
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Message: 4
Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 19:14:08 -0500
From: Michael 'Doc Rock' Kelly
Subject: Re: Chipmunks
Bob Rashkow wrote:
> I have yet to hear one of my favorite "ancient warhorses"
> of the holiday season--Ross Bagdasarian aka David Seville
> & the Chipmunks' "Chipmunk Song." Very dear to my heart.
The true story of the making of The Chipmunk Song" as told to
me by Si (aka Simon the chipmunk) is found in Liberty Records.
Doc
Michael "Doc Rock" Kelly
The Rock 'n' Roll PhD
http://www.DocRock.us
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Message: 5
Date: Sat, 01 Jan 2005 13:35:12 +0000
From: Simon White
Subject: Stella Starr
Firstly, a Happy New Year to those for whom it is relevant .
Would some kind individual be able to point me in the direction
of some biographical information on the U.K. singer Stella Starr
who recorded a version of Pomus & Schuman's "Bring Him Back"
for the Piccadilly label? My efforts seem to throw up a stripper
or a drag queen.
That last sentence sounds like a microcosm of my life .
Simon White
Use it before you lose it!
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Message: 6
Date: Sat, 01 Jan 2005 11:09:03 -0500
From: Pres
Subject: Re: Colpix-Dimension Story / Alive And Kicking
I'm so far behind so this may have been clarified already but...
Bill Mulvy wrote:
> The Colpix-Dimension Story also has a great garage rock classic,
> "Georgiana", by the Princetones.
Phil Milstein:
> Not on my copy, a 1994 2-CD set on Rhino. Anyone know the story
> of what are apparently multiple editions of "The Colpix-Dimension
> Story"?
My Rhino set has it as track 19 on disc 2. Right before 'New Recruit'.
Regarding Alive and Kicking, no one mentioned that Bruce Sudano,
Mr. Donna Summer, and member of Brooklyn Dreams ("Heaven Knows"
with the above mentioned Donna, and several lower chart placements)
was the organist.
pres
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Message: 7
Date: Sat, 01 Jan 2005 22:50:48 -0000
From: Michael Edwards
Subject: British car songs
I know I'm a little late with this one but the definitive
British car song was and is "Beep Beep" by the (New) England
vocal group, the Playmates on UK Columbia DB 4224 from 1958.
The song was so popular in the UK that it was re-issued on
Pye International (7N 25714) in 1976. The Daily Mirror at the
time noted that "Big Dave" over at Pye Records was confused
as to which version to put out: one referring to a Nash Rambler
or a Bubble Car.
Happy New Year to all,
Mike Edwards
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Message: 8
Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2005 23:17:27 -0000
From: Phil Chapman
Subject: French covers
Julio:
> the wonderful "Pas comme les autres" is a cover of Dusty
> Springfield's "Something Special", released in 1964 as the
> B-side of "Stay Awhile"
Dusty's first self-penned, and one of my favourite of her
flips, "Once Upon A Time", was also given a French treatment
in the form of Françoise Hardy's "C'est Le Passé".
Incidentally, I know there are plenty of Dusty comps around,
but the only version of "Once Upon A Time" that I've found
on CD appears to be different from the 45.
Phil C.
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Message: 9
Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2005 11:12:43 -0800 (PST)
From: Dave Monroe
Subject: Re: "Silent Night"
Clark Besch:
> ... It would make a great documentary to find out who these people
> were that wrote "Silent Night" and the many other Christmas hymns...
Phil X Milstein:
> No disrespect intended, but "Silent Night" strikes
> me more as a funeral dirge than an XMas song ...
The origins of "Silent Night" I've always thought were relatively
well known, but ...
"The Christmas Eve of 1818 was at hand. Pastor Joseph Mohr of
St. Nicholas Church in Oberndorf decided that he needed a carol
for the Christmas Eve service. The little poem he had written
two years earlier while serving at the pilgrim church in Mariapfarr
just might work. Perhaps this poem could be set to music. He hurried
off to see his friend, Franz Xaver Gruber, who was a schoolteacher
and also served as the church's organist and choir master. Maybe he
could help. He did."
"In a few short hours Franz came up with the hauntingly beautiful
melody that is so loved and revered to this day. At the request of
Joseph, who had a special love for his guitar, Franz composed the
music for guitar accompaniment. Just short hours later, Franz stood
with his friend the pastor, Joseph, in front of the altar in St.
Nicholas church and introduced 'Stille Nacht' to the congregation."
http://www.rockies.net>/~spirit/silentnight2.html
"Many interesting fables abound for the origins of 'Silent Night'.
Most of them are fanciful and untrue."
http://www.rockies.net>/~spirit/silentnight8.html
Dave M.
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Message: 10
Date: Sat, 01 Jan 2005 16:26:26 -0000
From: Kurt Luchs
Subject: Re: The Girls From Bahia (Americanized Bossa Nova)
Patrick Rands wrote:
> For my next radio show in July I'm working on collecting together as
> many recordings by the Quarteto Em Cy I can get a hold of (from the
> early 60s to the late 1970s) - and I had a hope of including their
> Americanized bossa nova records recorded as The Girls From Bahia. I
> think it'll be the perfect music for the heat of the summer.
Did you ever have any luck with this? Did you know that Sem Sinatra
has the whole "!Revolucion con Brasilia! The Exciting New Sounds of
The Girls From Bahia" LP on his site in mp3 format at:
Sem Sinatra's Solar System Of Sound
http://www.retrolicious.com>/exl/semsinatra/
My question is, has anyone made their other early work (particularly
the American stuff) available digitally somewhere? I'd like to
hear "Pardon Our English" and all the rest of the work by the
original quartet (up through 1967), including the early Brazilian
albums under their original name Quarteto Em Cy. I guess they have
more albums, guest appearances on other albums, non-LP singles...lots
more! Can anyone help with this? I just fell in love with their
sound. I think it's very odd none of it seems to be on official CDs
given that the group still exists in some form.
Kurt Luchs
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Message: 11
Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 16:17:42 -0800 (PST)
From: Steve Harvey
Subject: Re: "Beyond The Sea" -- Bobby Darin/Kevin Spacey movie
I think Spacey's desire to make a film about Darin overran his
logic. The whole point of the Darin's life was that he lived
about three lives in his one short life. He died young in terms
of age, but lived a lot more than most people do. Having someone
as old as Spacey playing Darin is pointless.
Steve
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Message: 12
Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 19:42:37 -0500
From: Country Paul
Subject: Musica; Bobby Darin movie; Amy-Mala-Bell; Colgems
obscurities; Alan Boyd
On musica....
Claire Francis, Mikki Young's "Who Killed Teddy Bear" is
magnificently Bondian. Nicely done. Shoulda been a hit....
Steve Crump:
> In 1969 Pattie recorded "Gravitation", written by Alma Cook,
> which was released on the Aussie Columbia label.
Strange mixture of trumpets and ska and a mellow bridge.
Was this a hit in Oz?
Mick Patrick:
> Beverley "Happy New Year (Deram DM.101, 1966); written by
> Randy Newman; produced by Denny Cordell. Click right here
> to listen:
> http://groups.yahoo.com>/group/spectropop/files/musica/
Great song, performance and production, Mick; and Happy New Year
to you, too!
Thanks for mentioning the Bobby Darin movie, David Coyle.
I've heard the same critical pans of the movie and praise for
the singing, which claims Spacey essentially channels Darin.
Interesting to note that Dodd Darin (who has also been with us
on S'pop if memory serves) consulted on and approved the project.
I think this is one to see, no matter what the critics say.
(Heck, I never thought "Showgirls" was as rancid as the critics
did - not that it was Oscar-worthy by any means....)
Davie Gordon:
> ...[Y]ou can now see a listing of almost every single issued
> through Amy-Mala-Bell in the period 1959 - 1974....[T]here's
> more than enough information to give you a good idea of the
> range and depth of the A-M-B Group....The URL for the AMB
> Yahoo Group is http://launch.groups.yahoo.com>/group/amymalabell
Hours of work for you, hours of fun for us, and dozens of memories
and questions! Thanks, Davie - they sure did have a wildly varied
catalog! I thought two back-to-back on Amy, Terry & The Mellows'
"Bells of St. Mary" (812) and the Ramrods "Ghost Riders" (813)
charted, at least the latter, not to mention "Jerry Landis"'
"Lone Teen Ranger" (875). Guess not.... And it's interesting that
there's a solo "Tico" record directly following (876). I also
wonder if Jay Walker & The Pedestrians (Amy 848) were the same
band that used to play Brown University fraternity parties in
the early 60s. (I always considered them the model for Otis Day
& The Knights in "Animal House.")
While we're into cool music, S'pop member Larry Lapka's Alternative
Top 40 group has two Colgems obscurities worth hearing: Fountain of
Youth - Day Don't Come, Colgems 1032 (1968); and Hung Jury - Buses,
Colgems 1010 (1967). Not earthskaing perhaps, but new to me and
highly listenable IMO. Nice work Larry!
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com>/group/AlternativeTop40/files/
if you're a member; if not, you might consider joining.
Mark F:
> I wanted to thank the person who posted the link to Alan Boyd's CD.
It might have been me in part, but someone else led me to it -
and it's got a lot of the feel of the Beach Boys, as you note.
You also mention: "The track 'Too Damn Cold/Hawaiian Rhapsody'
is a funny track with a cool Smile tribute embedded. Beach Boy/60s
harmony pop fans should not hesitate to buy this CD." And, as I
remember, the price is right, too.
And now that I'm completely caught up with the group, and the
change of the year, once again I wish you all a Happy New Year,
and extend thanks for making the last few years so cool.
Cheers,
Country Paul
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Message: 13
Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 13:09:04 EST
From: Susan
Subject: Re: Alan Boyd
Mark Frumento writes:
>I wanted to thank the person who posted the link to Alan Boyd's CD.
You're welcome! Here - I'll post it again for those who missed
it first time around - http://www.boydproductiongroup.com> is his
webpage, but you can order by emailing info@boydproductiongroup.com>
Alan's music is very Beach Boys-esque, but it goes beyond that.
This is indeed a talented singer-songwriter in his own right...
and his production values are pretty damned high, too!
Order it up, folks - you won't be disappointed.
Susan
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Message: 14
Date: Sat, 01 Jan 2005 19:10:56 +0000
From: Simon White
Subject: Lynn Holland
Mick P wrote:
> Add the following to the list of discs you produced at Polydor:
> Lynn Holland "Oh Darling How I Miss You" b/w "Before" on UK
> Polydor BM 56035 in 1965.
> I haven't heard this one but understand it has an MOR flavour.
> Who knows, maybe someone on planet S'pop will post the tracks
> to musica?
By strange coincidence I have the very 45 in front of me now.
When I found this, Phil C. quipped that it was probably a Claire
Francis production, although Claire's name doesn't appear on the
label - John Hawkins as 'musical director' does however. When time
and space allow, I'll 'play' something to 'musica', as they say.
I'm also in the process of securing a Sonny Childe mp3. I have
one side already, and now I desperately need to have it on 45.
Simon White
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Message: 15
Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 11:14:16 -0800 (PST)
From: Dave Monroe
Subject: Re: France Gall
Emmanuel Dubois wrote:
> The best France Gall song being Zoïzoï in 1970 and
> Teeny weeny boppy in 67 (a Gainsbourg song)...
We spun "Zoizoi" last night! The OG (er, "ooriginal gansta") 45
seems regularly to go for $120 or so on eBay, though a friend
reported a while back not one but two for all of five bills each
(and that may have been Canadian, adding inflation to injury) in
Montreal. But it's been comped at least a couple of times recently
(Sexologie, Dingo), and there's a nice Jazzman reissue (which my
tagteam partner deployed last night, along with Jacqueline Taeib's
"7 heures du matin" of a comp I picked up for her--I've got to
learn to invoke my OG 45 rule, you do the digging, you spend the
money, you get to play the track ...).
But my fave rave FG tracks are "Nefertiti" (which I did get to use,
at least), "Laisser tomber les filles" (see also April March's
brilliant translation/cover, "Chick Habit"), "Polichinelle" and
the hyper-chirpy "Deux oiseaux," as well as her her German-language
"Ich liebe dich, so wie du bist," "Computer No. 3" (produced by
Giorgio Moroder!) and, especially, (depsite 2/3 of the title) the
uber-buoyant "Merci, Herr Marquis."
Interestingly, and unlike most every other artist of the time,
she doesn't seem to much repeat her French catlogue in German;
I at least have only one track by her in both languages, and
the German one is over a significantly different arrangment.
"Teenie Weenie Boppie" was a while back floorfiller here,
however, as it had been covered by Cat Power (Sonic Youth's
Kim Gordon + Pussy Galore's Julia Cafritz).
At any rate, Happy New Year ....
Dave
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Message: 16
Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 15:52:15 +0100
From: Frank
Subject: Henri Salvador
Fred Clemens:
> During a safari a few years ago, I encountered Henri Salvador, a
> popular French Artist who covered the Tokens "The Lion Sleep Tonight"
> as "Les Lion Est Mort Ce Soir"(sp?)....Salvador had done numerous
> covers of English language tunes, including that of Johnny Cymbal's
> "Mr. Bass Man", and Lou Monte's "Pepino (The Italian Mouse)".
He also recorded a pretty good cover of the Coasters' "Along came
Jones" as "Zorro est arrivé"!
Frank
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Message: 17
Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2005 13:35:07 +0900
From: Steve McClure
Subject: Nippop launch
Happy New Year to my fellow Spectropoppers!
Those of you are interested in Japanese pop music may want to
check out a new website called Nippop that's been launched by
my colleagues Keith Cahoon and Bill Haw, along with yours truly.
Nippop aims to be the best online source of information in English
about Japanese popular music. Here's the url for Nippop:
http://nippop.com>/
When you have a moment, please have a look at the Nippop site.
Subscribe to the free-of-charge Nippop newsletter. Suggest artists
you'd like to see profiled on Nippop. All feedback is welcome;
criticisms, plaudits, and friendly advice are all appreciated.
May the music keep our spirits high!
Steve
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Message: 18
Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2005 09:36:49 -0800 (PST)
From: Dave Monroe
Subject: Re: British car songs
TD wrote:
> One of my all-time favs is "Call Me Lightning" by The Who.
The single loudest 45 I own, by the way. Certified PA killer.
And there's a band in town by that name ...
http://www.callmelightning.com>/
http://www.revelationrecords.com>/releases/121.html
Joan Jett covered "CML" (as she did Tommy James' "Crimson and
Clover," which I think went unmentioned when we were on that
topics), by the way, released it as a b-side. The hits just
keep on coming ...
Dave M.
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Message: 19
Date: Sat, 01 Jan 2005 20:47:42 -0500
From: Phil X Milstein
Subject: Re: Beep effin' Beep
Michael Edwards wrote:
> I know I'm a little late with this one but the definitive
> British car song was and is "Beep Beep" by the (New) England
> vocal group, the Playmates on UK Columbia DB 4224 from 1958.
> The song was so popular in the UK that it was re-issued on
> Pye International (7N 25714) in 1976. The Daily Mirror at the
> time noted that "Big Dave" over at Pye Records was confused
> as to which version to put out: one referring to a Nash Rambler
> or a Bubble Car.
I'm a little confused. The British release was of a different version
than the American one?
My mom claims she went to college (Univ. of Conn.) with The Playmates --
and judging from that LP cover photo we saw here recently, it doesn't
seem the sort of thing a lady would make up -- but I doubt she'd know
the answer to my question.
--Phil M.
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Message: 20
Date: Sun, 02 Jan 2005 08:25:22 +0100
From: Frank
Subject: Re: France Gall
Dave Monroe:
> Interestingly, and unlike most every other artist of the time,
> she doesn't seem to much repeat her French catlogue in German;
> I at least have only one track by her in both languages, and
> the German one is over a significantly different arrangment.
> "Teenie Weenie Boppie" was a while back floorfiller here,
> however, as it had been covered by Cat Power (Sonic Youth's
> Kim Gordon + Pussy Galore's Julia Cafritz).
Dave, if you have any foreign languages France Gall tracks, could
you either play them at Musica or send them over? I see France
quite regularly and I'm pretty sure she hasn't got any of these
tracks and would love to hear them again.
Thanks
Frank
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Message: 21
Date: Sun, 02 Jan 2005 08:27:26 +0100
From: Frank
Subject: Re: French covers / Jean Musy
Dave Monroe:
> ... By the way, know anything about John [sic?] Musy?
It's Jean Musy, Dave. He was indeed a very well respected French
arranger composer.
Frank
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Message: 22
Date: Sun, 02 Jan 2005 02:12:27 -0000
From: Davie Gordon
Subject: Re: Amy-Mala-Bell
Me:
> ...[Y]ou can now see a listing of almost every single issued
> through Amy-Mala-Bell in the period 1959 - 1974....[T]here's
> more than enough information to give you a good idea of the
> range and depth of the A-M-B Group....The URL for the AMB
> Yahoo Group is http://launch.groups.yahoo.com>/group/amymalabell
Country Paul:
> Hours of work for you, hours of fun for us, and dozens of memories
> and questions! Thanks, Davie - they sure did have a wildly varied
> catalog! I thought two back-to-back on Amy, Terry & The Mellows'
> "Bells of St. Mary" (812) and the Ramrods "Ghost Riders" (813)
> charted, at least the latter, not to mention "Jerry Landis"'
> "Lone Teen Ranger" (875). Guess not....
The decision to include chart positions was a made real late - it
dawned on me on Monday that Decemeber '74 marked the end of Bell so
I'd not a lot of time to key in all the 70's releases. Then I thought
I'd better add the chart positions - that wasn't meant to happen
until sometime in the new year so it was, to put it mildly, a real
rush job. I managed to not note Lobo's biggest hit - and I'm sure
I've missed some low-charters.
I've got Terry & The Mellos noted as charting top twenty on WABC in
New York but I don't think it charted nationally.
> And it's interesting that
> there's a solo "Tico" record directly following (876). I also
> wonder if Jay Walker & The Pedestrians (Amy 848) were the same
> band that used to play Brown University fraternity parties in
> the early 60s. (I always considered them the model for Otis Day
> & The Knights in "Animal House.")
At the moment I've next to no info. on Jay Walker and The
Pedestrians except for this intriguing lead - one of the writers of
"Hey Now" was Peter Antell.
That's what fascinates me about Amy-Mala-Bell, all these mysterious
one-shot records which turn out to be involve names we know better
from other records.
Can I insert a plea here - could some kind soul please send me a scan
of the old Rock Marketplace article on Paul Simon's pre-Simon &
Garfunkel days. My copy of the mag got lost when I moved back to
Scotland.
Davie
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Message: 23
Date: Sat, 01 Jan 2005 22:34:49 -0000
From: Don
Subject: Louisville's Own
Finally found the book I've been going through boxes for...
Louisville's Own was published in 1983 by Brenda and Bill Woods. It
covers local recorded music from 1953 to 1983, from PeeWee King to
Mary Travers (she was born in Louisville).
Past threads on the group have talked about NRBQ and the MerseyBeats
USA which was a precursor to that band (I was the drummer in the MB
USA) also from a later version of the Merseybeats was Tim Krekel, who
played with several headliners over the years (Ronny Milsap to Billy
Swan to Jimmy Buffett) and is now a prominent song writer for
Combine Music in Nashville and has penned several no.1 hits for
country artists. Louisville has a long and colorful history and the
book has documented a crucial part of that time.
Not sure if it is still available, but you may find it online
somewhere.
Don
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Message: 24
Date: Sun, 02 Jan 2005 06:46:20 -0600
From: Dan Hughes
Subject: The Ramrods
Country Paul:
> I thought two back-to-back on Amy, Terry & The Mellows' +"Bells of St.
> Mary" (812) and the Ramrods "Ghost Riders" (813) charted, at least the
> latter, not to mention "Jerry Landis"' "Lone Teen Ranger" (875). Guess
> not....
Actually, (Ghost) Riders In the Sky (remake of a 1949 Vaughn Monroe
number one hit) by the Ramrods entered the Billboard Hot 100 in January
1961, stayed on the chart for 9 weeks, and peaked at number 30.
The very first Hit Parader magazine I ever bought (I was 13) had a
feature article on this hot new group from Connecticut. Strange how you
remember obscure things--this same issue of Hit Parader had the lyrics
to Stayin' In, at which I laughed out loud (because admit it, they sound
pretty stupid when you read them without hearing the music), and it also
had the lyrics to Are You Lonesome Tonight, astonishing to me because it
also had the copyright line that said it was written in the 1920's and I
thought Elvis had written it.
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Message: 25
Date: Sun, 02 Jan 2005 08:41:57 +0100
From: Frank
Subject: Dusty B-sides
Phil Chapman:
> Dusty's first self-penned, and one of my favourite of her
> flips, "Once Upon A Time", was also given a French treatment
> in the form of Françoise Hardy's "C'est Le Passé".
> Incidentally, I know there are plenty of Dusty comps around,
> but the only version of "Once Upon A Time" that I've found
> on CD appears to be different from the 45.
I generally found that Dusty's B sides were almost always great
tracks worthy of the A side.
Frank
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