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SPECTROPOP - Spectacular! Retro! Pop!
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There are 25 messages in this issue.
Topics in this digest:
1. Netiquette reminder time
From: S'pop Team
2. Storey Sisters
From: Doc
3. Re: West Side Story
From: Karl Baker
4. Jimmy Webb Productions
From: Jon Cook
5. Re: Hit Records stereo
From: Mike
6. RIP Sandra Dee
From: Country Paul
7. Re: Help with the Emotions!
From: Einar Einarsson Kvaran
8. Re: No Bass (and Great Bass)
From: Hasse Huss
9. Hit Records stereo singles
From: Paul Urbahns
10. Re: West Side Story
From: Chris Schneider
11. Re: The Storey Sisters & other new identities
From: Chris Brame
12. Re: No Bass
From: Gary Myers
13. Re: "Baby It's You"
From: Bob Rashkow
14. Re: West Side Story
From: Bob Rashkow
15. Re: Don Grady
From: Bob Rashkow
16. Re: Storey Sisters "Bad Motorcycle"
From: Anthony Parsons
17. Re: No Bass (Steam)
From: Bob Rashkow
18. Ignominy ??
From: Tony
19. Low Grades
From: Jeff Lemlich
20. Girl pop info question... Jana Louise?
From: Kees
21. Nashville rock; Le Coeur d'une Generation; no Mamie; Dick Dale
From: Country Paul
22. Enoch Light Lives!
From: Bill Reed
23. Welk upbringing
From: Mr. Shawn
24. Re: Don Grady
From: Mark Frumento
25. Smokey Vandy Hampton of The Impressions
From: Bill Swanke
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Message: 1
Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2005 12:05:07 -0000
From: S'pop Team
Subject: Netiquette reminder time
Hi all,
Recently we have seen a rise in the amount of messages received
without mention of either a sender or subject. It tends to be
very time-consuming to search through the archives attempting to
identify which message is being replied to and by whom, making
moderating both lengthy and tedious. Please help us to maintain a
regular flow by signing your messages and indicating which message
you are replying to, preferably quoting a relevant line or two.
Thanks
S'pop
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Message: 2
Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2005 00:27:54 GMT
From: Doc
Subject: Storey Sisters
PC:
> "Bad Motorcycle" is my favourite track from a 1962 Ascot LP "All
> Girl Million Sellers" (possibly the first ever girlgroup compilation?).
I bought the All Girl Million Sellers 40 years ago!
The version with the edited intro is on the CD Surf Bunnies
& Hot Rod Honeys, # Superb 200, track #29.
Doc
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Message: 3
Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2005 17:22:06 -0500
From: Karl Baker
Subject: Re: West Side Story
Dave Monroe:
> If ONLY someone would cut Natalie Wood's (or, at any rate,
> whoever's doing her singing for her) songs out of WSS.
That wasn't Natalie Wood singing in 'West Side Story'. It was
Marni Nixon who also dubbed in for Audrey Hepburn in 'My Fair Lady'.
Karl
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Message: 4
Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2005 17:38:30 EST
From: Jon Cook
Subject: Jimmy Webb Productions
Hello all -
The recent Jim Webb discussion brought to mind something I've
always wondered about. Can anybody tell me how good the reunion
album he did with the 5th Dimension is? 'Earthbound' is out of
print and I can't find anything about it on the Net. If posters
have info on the Supremes album he did, that would also be greatly
appreciated. Thanks for all the great music you've all introduced
me to -
jon
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Message: 5
Date: Sun, 1 May 2005 13:05:51 -0400
From: Mike
Subject: Re: Hit Records stereo
Ed B:
> The subject of Hit Record singles in stereo apparently wasn't
> mentioned in the recent thread about "Keep On Dancin'" etc.
> Upon listening to various singles I have quite a few that are
> in real stereo which is rare for 63'-66' singles "When I grow
> Up To Be A Man"/"Matchbox # 147" is a good example.
Ed, many of the HIT 45s are cut in "compatible" stereo, meaning
they will play mono on a mono player and stereo on a stereo player.
The downside to compatible stereo is that the frequency range
suffers somwhat because of how the grooves are cut. A straight
mono or stereo cut will have a wider frequency range and
therefore better sound.
Mikey
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Message: 6
Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2005 01:52:54 -0500
From: Country Paul
Subject: RIP Sandra Dee
Our sympathies go out to Dodd Darin, who is a member of this group.
Country Paul
-------
Entertainment
02/20/2005 22:40:06 EST
Teen Film Star Sandra Dee Dies at 62
By BOB THOMAS
Associated Press Writer
LOS ANGELES - Actress Sandra Dee, the blond beauty who attracted a large
teen audience in the 1960s with films such as "Gidget" and "Tammy and the
Doctor" and had a headlined marriage to pop singer Bobby Darin, died Sunday.
She was 62.
Dee died Sunday morning at the Los Robles Hospital & Medical Center in
Thousand Oaks, said Cynthia Mead, nursing supervisor.
She died of complications from kidney disease after nearly two weeks in the
hospital, said Steve Blauner, a longtime family friend who represents
Darin's estate. Blauner said Dee had been on dialysis for about four years.
"She didn't have a bad bone in her body," he told The Associated Press in a
phone interview. "When she was a big star in the pictures and a top five at
the box office, she treated the grip the exact same way she treated the head
of the studio. She meant it. She wasn't phony."
The family expected to hold private funeral services.
At Universal Studios, Dee was cast mostly in teen movies such as "The
Reluctant Debutante," "The Restless Years," "Tammy Tell Me True" and "Take
Her She's Mine."
Occasionally, she was able to do secondary roles in other films, such as
"Imitation of Life," "A Portrait In Black" and "Romanoff and Juliet."
At the height of her fame, Dee was arguably the biggest female teen idol of
her time. "She was Gidget, and she was Tammy, and for a time she was young
America's ideal," film critic Leonard Maltin once said of her.
After a one-month courtship, Dee married Darin in Elizabeth, N.J., in 1960.
A son, Dodd Mitchell, was born to the couple the following year.
In 1965, with her divorce from Darin dampening her teen appeal, Dee was
dropped by Universal.
"I thought they were my friends," she said in an interview that year with
The Associated Press, referring to her former bosses. "But I found out on
the last picture ('A Man Could Get Killed') that I was simply a piece of
property to them. I begged them not to make me do the picture, but they
insisted."
Born Alexandra Zuck on April 23, 1942, in Bayonne, N.J., Dee became a model
while in grade school.
In a mid-career interview with The Associated Press, she explained her name
change: "I used to sign vouchers and sign-out sheets with 'Alexandra Dee.'
Somehow it stuck." When she was signed to her first film, she said, "'Sandra
Dee' was the name they gave me."
Dee made an independent film "Rosie!" (1968), starring with Rosalind
Russell, but her movie career dwindled after that.
Her name was resuscitated in 1978 with the film "Grease," which featured the
song "Look At Me, I'm Sandra Dee" mocking her squeaky-clean image. But Dee
didn't mind, Blauner said.
"She always had a big laugh about it. She had a great sense of humor," he
said.
Blauner said her favorite films were the ones she made with Darin. Despite
their divorce, he remained the love of her life, Blauner said.
In a March 1991 interview with People magazine, Dee said she was sexually
abused as a child by her stepfather and pushed into stardom by her mother.
Dee, who turned to pills and alcohol, said she hit bottom after her mother
died in 1988.
"I couldn't function," she told People, adding that she began drinking more
than a quart of scotch a day as her weight fell to 80 pounds. She said she
stayed home almost constantly for three years. Her last film credit was for
the 1983 movie "Lost."
Dee credited her son with helping her turn her life around. She began seeing
a therapist regularly and hoped to land a job on a TV series.
Kate Bosworth portrayed Dee in last year's movie "Beyond the Sea," a
biography of Darin.
Actor Kevin Spacey, who directed and co-wrote the film and played Darin, has
said Dee approved of the movie. "She called me...and said she loved it," he
said last year.
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Message: 7
Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2005 10:30:19 -0800 (PST)
From: Einar Einarsson Kvaran
Subject: Re: Help with the Emotions!
Not exactly Good News, Clark. The Emotions do not appear
in the "Complete Stax-Volt Singles 1959 - 1968 box set.
Einar
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Message: 8
Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2005 05:33:27 -0800 (PST)
From: Hasse Huss
Subject: Re: No Bass (and Great Bass)
John Fox wrote:
> the bass is so prominent (and so good) on virtually every
> other Cameo-Parkway record (witness anything by The Orlons).
Good to see The Orlons get a plug. Listen to 'Crossfire!' for
a great bass line (and great everything else as well).
Hasse Huss
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Message: 9
Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2005 17:26:45 EST
From: Paul Urbahns
Subject: Hit Records stereo singles
Ed B wrote:
> The subject of Hit Record singles in stereo apparently wasn't
> mentioned in the recent thread about "Keep On Dancin'" etc
Actually Ed B the subject of stereo was addressed in the Keep On
Dancin' thread because Hit Records was an all stereo label from
the beginning on albums, and started marketing the singles in
stereo with Hit 90. Due to a disk cutting error the Keep On Dancin'
single is in mono and that fanned theories that it may have been
an early version. It was not until a stereo album showed up with
it in stereo that shot that theory down.
Hit singles started stereo in 1964 that's when Compatible mastering
became available at the Columbia Studios disk mastering facility.
Prior to Hit 90, only the albums were in stereo because they had
to ship the tapes to New York to have them Compatible mastered.
Compatible was a disk mastering process where all frequencies 500HZ
and below were put into mono so mono cartridges could track the
stereo groove. It also mean money saving because Hit only had to
manufacture one record instead of keeping a double inventory.
Hits were recorded in stereo from the beginning in 1961, the major
studios there were very advanced when it comes to stereo. Look at
the early DECCA and Columbia country recordings done in stereo.
Hits were recorded at the Sam Philips Studio for two years, Columbia
Studio, for two years and by then they had opened their own full
stereo facility. That's why some of the Hit sound-a-likes were
recorded in the same studio, in some cases with the same musicians
and engineering staff and background singers that worked on the
original name versions. Some times they just replaced the lead
vocalist.
Paul Urbahns
the Hit man
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Message: 10
Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2005 02:07:21 -0800 (GMT-08:00)
From: Chris Schneider
Subject: Re: West Side Story
Dave Monroe wrote:
> IF ONLY someone would cut Natalie Wood's (or, at any rate,
> whoever's doing her singing for her) songs out of WSS.
> Especially "I Feel Pretty." Downnright ridiculous. Just leave in
> the stuff featuring Russ Tamblyn, George Chakiris, and Rita Moreno
But half of what makes WSS, both on stage and on film, is the
tension between the jazzy style and the operatic style used by
Bernstein for the various characters' music. Remove half of that
and the equation won't work nearly as well.
In any case, according to my copy of the Sony Masterworks reissue
of the "West Side Story" soundtrack (SK 48211), the voices employed
by the protagonists are:
Maria -- Marni Nixon
Tony -- Jim Bryant
Anita -- Betty Wand (who also provided notes for Leslie Caron's "Gigi")
Only Tamblyn and Chakiris supplied their own singing voices.
Chris
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Message: 11
Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2005 06:08:00 -0000
From: Chris Brame
Subject: Re: The Storey Sisters & other new identities
Steve:
> Any other examples of this tactic anyone can think of, and what
> is a good name for this tactic of picking up a master and renaming
> the act (re-grouping, maybe)?
One of my favorite songs: Brian Wilson's "She Rides With Me" by
Joey and the Continentals, later issued as by the G.T.O.s - hmm.
She'd rather ride in a GTO than a Continental?
Chris
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Message: 12
Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2005 21:43:04 -0800
From: Gary Myers
Subject: Re: No Bass
I'm pretty sure that "To Know Him Is To Love Him" has no bass
(Teddy Bears, not P&G).
gem
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Message: 13
Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2005 12:58:04 EST
From: Bob Rashkow
Subject: Re: "Baby It's You"
Phil Milstein:
> "Baby It's You" is so well-constructed a song that it seems
> hard to ruin. Consequently, I've never heard a cover version
> that I didn't like.......
Not too crazy about Gary & The Hornets' 1969 version (way post
"Hi Hi Hazel"), but I like the B-side "Tell Tale" a lot. It
pre-dates the kind of stuff The Osmonds were doing in the early
70s but with an infinitely better arrangement--although I doubt
it would have charted.
Bobster
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Message: 14
Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2005 13:06:47 EST
From: Bob Rashkow
Subject: Re: West Side Story
Dave Monroe:
> If ONLY someone would cut Natalie Wood's (or, at any rate,
> whoever's doing her singing for her) songs out of WSS.
> Especially "I Feel Pretty." Downright ridiculous.
JFTR, they're Marni Nixon's songs, but without the schmaltz,
WSS just doesn't cut it IMHO. BTW it's my favorite movie and
the main reason is the choreography. And it never fails to
bring out the old salties no matter HOW MANY times I watch it!
Bobster
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Message: 15
Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2005 13:16:32 EST
From: Bob Rashkow
Subject: Re: Don Grady
JCP:
> I think Don Grady also released an album under his real name,
> Don Agrati, for Elektra Records, sometime in the early 70s.
And let's also not forget that cute, talented Don Agrati,
Mouseketeer, Robbie Douglas, and Yellow Balloon-er, was also a
sometime member of the fabulous LA pop group The Palace Guard! ! !
Bobster
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Message: 16
Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2005 18:41:04 -0600
From: Anthony Parsons
Subject: Re: Storey Sisters "Bad Motorcycle"
Phil Chapman:
> "Bad Motorcycle" is my favourite track from a 1962 Ascot LP "All
> Girl Million Sellers" (possibly the first ever girlgroup compilation?).
> I'm sure this track has found its way to CD at some time or other,
> as I have acquired an mp3 of it, but this version has an edited
> intro which omits a saxophone glitch, and brings the vocals in sooner.
I have this track on 2 different "unofficial" CDs - Surf Bunnies
& Hot Rod Honeys (Superb 200) from Germany and Volume 1 of the
five volume Cameo Parkway series All The Hits By All The Stars
(Liberty Bell PCD 7013), country of origin unknown. The sound
quality is superior on the All The Hits CD.
I'm surprised to hear that there are only 2 Storey Sisters because
it's clear from listening that there are at least 4 voices on the
record and I was under the impression that there were 5 members in
the group. I don't know where I got this impression, though. I'm
also surprised to hear this referred to as "rockabilly". To me,
it's pure late 50s rock & roll, what we used to call "dancing with
the refrigerator" music when I was growing up in the 60s.
I had heard about this record most of my life from a cousin whose
older sister had the 45 but I didn't actually hear it until about
1996 when I finally got the Surf Bunnies CD. It immediately became
a favorite of mine as well and was always guaranteed to perk me up
after a hard day at the office. The Tracey Ullman version is cute
but like most of her covers, it's a limp dishrag compared to the
original. Just my opinion and not meant as a dis! (dis-rag?)
Sincerely,
Antone
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Message: 17
Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2005 13:19:35 EST
From: Bob Rashkow
Subject: Re: No Bass (Steam)
Michael T:
> Another hit without a bass is "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye"
> by Steam. Recorded as a throwaway B-side, Paul Leka (who co-
> wrote it) noted years later, "We didn't even put a bass on it.
> It was a piece of **** then and it's a piece of **** now."
Sorry to hear that......perhaps he prefers "The Nylons'" version
better? Seriously, though, "NNHHKHG" has always been a 1969
favorite of mine. Maybe because it was No. 1 in Chicago when I
celebrated my Bar Mitzva......:--)
Bobster
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Message: 18
Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2005 19:59:36 -0000
From: Tony
Subject: Ignominy ??
Egads ... I was viewing the goggle box t'other day and Bloomin'
Heck if I didn't see a commercial for an E D drug ... the music
for it being The Ronettes and 'Baby I Love You' (it was either
that or 'Be My Baby') ... what a come down. Sigh !
Tony
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Message: 19
Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2005 18:02:02 -0500
From: Jeff Lemlich
Subject: Low Grades
I've uploaded another 40-year-old demo to Musica. This time,
it's the Bradley Recording Studio acetate of "Low Grades", a
song best known by Linda Lane on the Tower label. Once again,
no artist is credited, so it's time for the Spectropop sleuths
to do their thing.
Jeff Lemlich
http://www.limestonerecords.com
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Message: 20
Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2005 19:02:53 -0000
From: Kees
Subject: Girl pop info question... Jana Louise?
Jana Louise recorded a few 45 for Dot in 1964/65 and 1 LP
"Dixie Cup of Sand". After that, I could find no recording
activities. From the liner notes of this album I have some
information on her: a 20 years old daughter of an Irish mother
and Danish father, talented singer, twice national step-dance
champion, crowned as "Miss Shamrock" beauty queen at the
International Auto Show, etc.
Is there a Spectro Professor on Girl Pop who has any additional
information about this Jana?
Kees
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Message: 21
Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2005 21:21:45 -0500
From: Country Paul
Subject: Nashville rock; Le Coeur d'une Generation; no Mamie; Dick Dale
Catching up (as always), I just read Paul Urbahns' excellent
review of Nashville. Two things come to mind: Still no mention
of The Newbeats, who were hitmakers on Hickory ("Bread and
Butter" has been in a commercial over the past year, and, like
him or not, no male falsetto could cut like Larry Henley's);
and Skip Spence's "Oar."
I think most of us know the story of "Oar," so I'll dance over
it quickly: Alexander "Skip" Spence was the first drummer for
Jefferson Airplane, then became one of that amazing guitar line
that fronted Moby Grape. Falling out with the Grape on tour in
New York, he did enough drugs to stay up all night and then some,
riding his motorcycle to Nashville and doing (I think it was)
three consecutive days or so in Columbia's studios laying down
an amazing/great/awful/outsider psychedelic masterpiece/disaster
(choose your own nouns and adjectives) that was among Columbia's
five all-time worst-selling albums. It has, of course, become a
cult classic, re-released and expanded by Sundazed, and the subject
of a fairly recent tribute album of all the songs in order.
Personally, I love it, but then again, I was always strange....
Also from the catching up files, I am blessed with a copy of the
French-Canadian band Le Coeur d'une Generation's sole album, plus
their non-LP singles and music from related artists. Thank you,
Michel Gignac, for expanding my ears. I loved "Ton Nom" [Your Name],
their 1971 single (#6 in Quebec, on Gamma) and the recently-
discovered (by me) #2 hit "Pierrot les cheveux" [literally "Peter
the hair," probably "Hairy Peter"] which is absolutely charming.
The rest is pretty interesting, including two French covers of the
Beau Brummels' "Don't Talk To Strangers," theirs from '71 (good,
different from the Brummels) and one by Les Aristocrates (more
faithful to the Brummels' original, which is one of my great faves).
This LP is not available on CD, unfortunately, but a lot less worthy
stuff has been reissued, so who knows.. Again, merci beaucoup, Michel!
Julio Nino mentions a Mamie Van Doren webpage,
http://koti.mbnet.fi/wdd/mamievandoren.htm - FYI, it wouldn't load
for me tonight (2/22/05).
[Admin note: adding a full stop or a comma to the end of a URL will
render it inaccessible]
Steve Jarrell:
> It is really nice to read postings about Dick Dale. I was his
> sax player in the 70's. I really admire Dick and probably
> learned more about the music business, and how to run a band,
> from him than anyone in my life. God Bless him, he's still
> going strong!
I second this - and welcome to S'pop, Steve - I don't recall you
posting previously. I do recognize your name from various album
credits; glad you're here. And a special shout-out to an atypical
Dick Dale song that got good airplay in the northeast, "Mr.
Peppermint Man" - one of the great "slop" tracks.
Country Paul
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Message: 22
Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2005 05:36:02 -0000
From: Bill Reed
Subject: Enoch Light Lives!
I've put together a five-minute medley of my bargain basement
covers collection (I tend to collect Tops and Hits Hits Hooray).
If interested, you can access it here: http://tinyurl.com/69esa
Scroll to the bottom and click "HERE". The last segment of the
medley relates to an active member of this list. I would be
curious to know of his reactions, memories, suspicions, depressions,
revulsions, etc. to the brief snippet.
Bill
http://people-vs-drchilledair.blogspot.com
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Message: 23
Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2005 06:54:44 -0000
From: Mr. Shawn
Subject: Welk upbringing
Phil X Milstein wrote:
> Welk was born and entirely raised in the U.S.
> However, he grew up in an isolated enclave of German immigrants
> in, I believe, Nebraska, thus accounting for his accent.
...actually he was from Strasburg, North Dakota - I've driven
through the area many times but it seems always at night & never
have been to his museum/home yet. Here's a bit of info on it:
http://tinyurl.com/4bdy6
Shawn
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Message: 24
Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2005 17:01:50 -0000
From: Mark Frumento
Subject: Re: Don Grady
Jon Christopher Pennington wrote:
> I think Don Grady also released an album under his real name,
> Don Agrati, for Elektra Records, sometime in the early 70s.
> Haven't heard it, but it probably doesn't hold a candle to the
> Canterbury-era stuff.
His solo album is very good and has some excellent interesting
touches. Depending on your perspective it could be better than his
Canterbury-era material. I think he was more mature and confident on
his LP.
Mark F.
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Message: 25
Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2005 05:12:29 -0600 (Central Standard Time)
From: Bill Swanke
Subject: Smokey Vandy Hampton of The Impressions
Original member Fred Cash of The Impressions called a little
while ago and told me that 21 year member of The Impressions
Smokey Vandy Hampton passed away recently. He replaced Curtis
Mayfield as lead singer for the group shortly after Curtis
went on his own and his voice sounded almost exactly like that
of Curtis. Hampton had been ill for some time. The funeral is
set for 1 PM CST this Friday, 2/25 at the A R LInks Funeral Home,
78th and Cottage Grove, Chicago, Illinois. Fred asked me to get
the news out to the Beach Music and Doo Wop communities so if
you would pass this on Fred would really appreciate it.
Willie C.
See the Cafe at:
http://www.BeachMusicCafe.com
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SPECTROPOP - Spectacular! Retro! Pop!
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