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SPECTROPOP - Spectacular! Retro! Pop!
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There are 16 messages in this issue.
Topics in this digest:
1. Bedazzled by the Breakaways
From: S'pop Projects
2. Re: Chicago Transit Authority
From: Clark Besch
3. Re: 1968/9
From: Clark Besch
4. Re: Sugar Shoppe
From: Rob Pingel
5. Re: (Eu)Gene McDaniels
From: Frank Jastfelder
6. Re: Sunny
From: Julio Niño
7. Re: Warmth of the Sunny
From: Ian Chippett
8. Re: "Reach Out For Me" covers
From: Howard Earnshaw
9. Re: Bobby Hebb & family
From: Ed Salamon
10. Re: Gene McDaniels
From: Howard Earnshaw
11. Re: "Happiness Is"; American Dreams; wayward winds of time
From: Phil X Milstein
12. Re: Eugene McDaniels
From: Norm D
13. Re: Sounds Of Sunshine discog.
From: Phil X Milstein
14. Brenton Wood sighting
From: Phil X Milstein
15. Re: "Geometrics"
From: Bill George
16. Re: Anka's "Flashback"
From: Michael Thom
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Message: 1
Date: Mon, 2 May 2005 21:40:18 +0100
From: S'pop Projects
Subject: Bedazzled by the Breakaways
Now showing on a screen near you:
The Breakaways
by Ian Chapman and Mick Patrick
with foreword by Tony Hatch
and postscript by Petula Clark
An excerpt: ... Dusty Springfield, Petula Clark, Cliff Richard, Joe
Brown, Mark Wynter, Cilla Black, Jimmy Justice, Jackie Trent, Billy
Fury, Marianne Faithfull, Jimmy James & the Vagabonds, Lulu, Kiki
Dee, Lonnie Donegan, Dave Berry ... Sounds like a line-up for a super-
spectacular package tour, doesn't it? What it is, in fact, is a
(very) abbreviated roll call of British artists that were backed on
record by the Breakaways. Plus, of course, there were visiting
overseas stars too, like Chubby Checker, Dionne Warwick, Françoise
Hardy, Paul Anka, Jack Jones, Brigitte Bardot, Jackie DeShannon, Big
Dee Irwin, the Walker Brothers, Johnny Halliday and Bobby Rydell. The
Breakaways backed them all. The group did sessions for an array of
labels, and worked for nearly every UK-based producer of note,
including Tony Hatch, Joe Meek, George Martin, Shel Talmy, Andrew
Loog Oldham, Mike Leander, Robert Stigwood, Mark Wirtz, Ivor Raymonde
and Charles Blackwell, not forgetting US visitors Burt Bacharach and
Bert Berns. The Breakaways were truly ubiquitous ...
Read the full article here:
http://www.spectropop.com/Breakaways/index.htm
And find "Bedazzled" by Peter Cook & Dudley Moore, with vocals by the
Breakaways, one of the girls' finest moments, now playing at musica:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/spectropop/files/musica/
Enjoy,
The S'pop Team
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Message: 2
Date: Mon, 02 May 2005 13:48:17 -0000
From: Clark Besch
Subject: Re: Chicago Transit Authority
Bob Radil wrote:
> ... On the liner notes it says they toured as "C.T.A" and ends
> with "call them Chicago". Their 1st single in 1969, "Questions
> 67 & 68", simply credits "Chicago".
I think they were forced to change the name due to "Chicago Transit
Authority" being an actual city business name. Although, as you say,
their first 45 came out as "Chicago", one of their first appearances
was on The Mauds' 1968 45 "Forever Gone" (the B-side to "Soul
Drippin'"). The label says the horns were by "C.T.A.". So, the liners
Bob refers to are likely correct.
BTW, an early Chicago group, The Missing Links, had a few members
who later went on to form C.T.A. and record Jimmy Holvay's great
song "Makin' Up And Breakin' Up," for local label Signett.
Clark
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Message: 3
Date: Mon, 02 May 2005 14:36:12 -0000
From: Clark Besch
Subject: Re: 1968/9
Mike Edwards wrote:
> The LP was starting to replace the 45 as the industry's
> preferred format. Artists weren't releasing 4 (or even 5) 45s
> a year. Groups such as the Doors, Sly & The Family Stone,
> the (psychedelic) Temptations, Creedence, Steppenwolf,
> Led Zeppelin and Blood Sweat & Tears were coming on --
> all with a heavier pop style than their predecessors.
I agree to some extent. Certainly, radio changed a lot of this too.
Formats got really tight in latter '67, and "old" groups were often
squeezed out by new artists. FM also got a large chunk of audience
and they tended to squeeze out the old AM artists. Funny thing is
that the '69 Rascals conformed to the FM sound of the day and also
to the "heavier" sound you allude to, and still didn't keep it going!
Clark
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Message: 4
Date: Mon, 2 May 2005 10:24:49 -0700 (PDT)
From: Rob Pingel
Subject: Re: Sugar Shoppe
James Botticelli wrote:
> 4. The Sugar Shoppe: Privilege / Poor Papa (Capitol). From
> the movie "Privilege", penned by John Paul Jones, of Manfred
> Mann maybe? Nice.
Here's a bit of arcane trivia that should intrigue fans of the show
"Alias." Actor Victor Garber, who plays Jennifer Garner's dad, was
one of the members of the Sugar Shoppe. Canadian group.
Rob Pingel
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Message: 5
Date: Mon, 2 May 2005 19:42:54 +0200
From: Frank Jastfelder
Subject: Re: (Eu)Gene McDaniels
Jimmy Botticelli wrote:
> Gene McDaniels later became Eugene McDaniels and put out
> some LPs. I've never heard them but was told that it was
> his attempt to present more relevant material than his pop
> stuff allowed. Too bad. "Chip Chip" is one great song.
His "Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse" LP on Atlantic (1971) is
some sort of holy grail to the rare groove community. It has lots
of breakbeats and other sample stuff on it, and the lyrics are more
contemporary. It sure is different than his '60s output.
Frank J.
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Message: 6
Date: Mon, 02 May 2005 17:54:11 -0000
From: Julio Niño
Subject: Re: Sunny
Hola Everybody.
Dave Monroe wrote:
> I recently picked up the Dave Pike recording of "Sunny," and
> have another nice Jack McDuff version as well, but can anyone
> recommend any other recordings of the song?
Hola, Dave. I will do just the opposite of what you are asking: talking
about the most horrendous cover of "Sunny" I have ever heard, the
version in Spanish by Franciska, recorded in the mid sixties. Francisca
was a very spectacular brunette, who had enormous talent ... (to
massacre songs). Her cover of " Sunny" is so histrionic and awful that
it´s fun. Franciska sings it rabidly, which is very odd considering
that the lyrics talk about love and affection. I remember one afternoon
some years ago, playing it continuously with a friend in my house and
laughing hysterically for hours. We almost choked ourselves to death.
If someday I need to take revenge on something you´ve done to me,
I´ll play it in musica.
Chao,
Julio Niño
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Message: 7
Date: Mon, 2 May 2005 14:18:05 EDT
From: Ian Chippett
Subject: Re: Warmth of the Sunny
Richard Havers wrote:
> Apparently Bobby Hebb's big hit Sunny was written the day
> after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. ...
Wasn't the Beach Boys' "Warmth Of The Sun" written at this same moment?
Maybe there's a link.
Ian Chippett
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Message: 8
Date: Mon, 2 May 2005 16:17:09 EDT
From: Howard Earnshaw
Subject: Re: "Reach Out For Me" covers
Jimmy Botticelli wrote:
> A while back I compiled Two Dozen Sunnys!, a tribute to
> Bobby Hebb of covers of his tune.
I looked at this and thought how many cover versions of the great
Bacharach-David composition "Reach Out For Me" are there. I'll
start the ball rolling with the obvious, D. Warwick. Others that
I know of are Lou Johnson, Nancy Wilson,The Sweet Inspirations
and Kathy Kirby. I know there are more, so how about it folks?
Howard
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Message: 9
Date: Mon, 02 May 2005 20:27:18 -0000
From: Ed Salamon
Subject: Re: Bobby Hebb & family
Phil M. asked:
> What kind of work was Hebb doing at the time? Apart from
> "Sunny," I know precious little about his career.
There's a rather extensive bio by Joe Viglione on All Music that is a
good start. It has lots of good info, but omits the fairly significant
fact that Bobby got his start with Hebb's Kitchen Cabinet Orchestra,
led by his blind parents. Bobby says the family supported themselves
mainly by performing, mostly on the streets of Nashville. They would
take a streetcar downtown from their home daily.
I recently heard Bobby and his sisters reunite for an all gospel
performance, which was tremendous. I feel very blessed to live in
Nashville, where I get to interact more with my music heroes than
I ever did living in NY and LA.
Ed Salamon
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Message: 10
Date: Mon, 2 May 2005 16:32:24 EDT
From: Howard Earnshaw
Subject: Re: Gene McDaniels
Jimmy Botticelli wrote:
> Gene McDaniels later became Eugene McDaniels and put out
> some LPs. I've never heard them but was told that it was his
> attempt to present more relevant material than his pop stuff
> allowed. Too bad. "Chip Chip" is one great song.
Please also check out Gene's nothern soul plays, "Lonely Town" and
the incredible "Walk With A Winner," not to mention one of the most
atmospheric ballads to ever reach vinyl,"Another Tear Falls", which
was covered in the UK by The Walker Brothers.
Unfortunately for Gene, his big US hits (?) "Tower Of Strength" and
"100 Pounds Of Clay" were bushwacked by UK artists Frankie Vaughan
and Craig Douglas respectively, so he failed to make the British charts.
Howard
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Message: 11
Date: Mon, 02 May 2005 15:33:47 -0800
From: Phil X Milstein
Subject: Re: "Happiness Is"; American Dreams; wayward winds of time
Mario wrote:
> Another version of "Happiness Is" was by a '60s garage band named
> Beaver & The Trappers. The interesting thing was their lead singer
> was Jerry Mathers, the famous child actor. At the end they sing,
> "Happiness is ... Beaver." It may not be the same song, I'm not sure.
Your impulse that it may be a different song is the correct one after
all. The Beaver & The Trappers song is actually titled "Happiness Is
Havin'." Also, unless there are two versions out there, I believe that
last line actually reads, "Happiness is ... money!" Either way, though,
it's a great record.
Orion wrote:
> Although I have not watched even one of the programs, my firm belief
> is that nostalgia can never be properly re-recorded. The only true
> nostalgia that we can feel good about and comfortable with is that
> which is actually from that era. Just my opinion, but I think many
> feel this way.
Count me among them, O. My belief is that any period movie (or
"historical fiction" of any medium) says a whole lot more about the time
it's made IN than the time it's made ABOUT. Besides, "American Dreams"
is mass entertainment, not encyclopedic history; and furthermore Dick
Clark, for whatever his virtues, has always been a corner-cutter of the
first order.
Charles Ulrich wrote:
> I think you're exaggerating the change a little by using this example.
> "Who Are The Brain Police?" was actually the B-side of "Trouble Comin'
> Every Day". Neither side reached #1. Did they chart at all? I do know
> that "Freak Out!" spent 23 weeks on the Billboard album chart, but
> never rose higher than #130.
I agree that Mike was exaggerating, but I believe he was did so in fair
service to his point that the culture shifted farther and faster in the
1960s than at any other time before or since. Although the Mothers'
chart positions may have been negligible at best, clearly they attracted
a sizeable and growing following right out of the box; and Mike's
stylistic contrast between that music in 1967 vs. Anka's (and etc.) in
1960 was, in my opinion, valid and well-made. To those who doubt his
point, simply compare the zeitgeist shifts between 1960 to 1967 vs.
those between 1998 to 2005, and I think you'll agree that they seem
relatively glacial now.
--Phil M.
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Message: 12
Date: Mon, 2 May 2005 15:00:15 -0700 (PDT)
From: Norm D
Subject: Re: Eugene McDaniels
Jimmy Botticelli wrote:
> Gene McDaniels later became Eugene McDaniels and put out some
> LPs. I've never heard them but was told that it was his attempt to
> present more relevant material than his pop stuff allowed. Too
> bad. "Chip Chip" is one great song.
McDaniels did at least two albums for Atlantic in the early '70s. Until
their recent reissue on CD they were incredibly sought-after and heavily
sampled. He started off as a jazz singer, then was turned into a successful
pop singer after signing with Liberty, with a great range of writers. He
apparently hated this phase of his career, and went back into jazz
singing when his contract expired. His two Atlantic albums were very
political for the time -- Black power-inspired, but by no means
opportunistic. The songs are his own, and they are good. He then
became a songwriter for others, in particular Roberta Flack whose
international smash "Feel Like Making Love" was one of his. His other
biggie is "Compared To What", initially recorded by Les McCann and,
later, dozens of others.
I think he's still very active in production and writing film scores, though
I'm not sure if he's still singing. If anyone knows of a version he did of
"Compared To What", I'd be pleased to know.
His early '60s Liberty recordings are great -- "Point Of No Return" is
a wonderful G&K song -- and I think they're also terribly undervalued.
McDaniels could have been a grand international star, but I guess he
decided he didn't want to be groomed like that, and he became big in
his own way, and has been his own man.
He was also very handsome, judging from the one bit of film I've seen of
him. He was one of the featured acts in that wonderful pre-Beatles era UK
pop film, "It's Trad Dad" (directed by Richard Lester). McDaniels is singing
"Another Tear Falls" (by Bacharach & David?). I remember it as a moody
piece: shrouded in shadow, cigarette smoke, very film noir... I've not seen
it for years, but it's left a long impression. If you've never seen this film,
do try and dig it out: it's so British, it's so hopelessly dated, it's so
quirky ... and it has the Right Reverend Eugene McD (as he later became)
showing how much soul he had.
Norm D.
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Message: 13
Date: Mon, 02 May 2005 19:34:24 -0800
From: Phil X Milstein
Subject: Re: Sounds Of Sunshine discog.
Jimmy Botticelli asked, re Sounds Of Sunshine:
> How many were done? I have two to date.
Ranwood 940: Sea Gull / She Takes Care Of Me
Ranwood 896: Love Means Never Having To Say You're Sorry / Linda The
Untouchable (1971)
Ranwood 912: I Do All My Crying In The Rain / It's Hard To Say Goodbye
Forever (1972)
Ranwood 913: Yesterday Keeps Getting In The Way / Anything Can Happen (1972)
Ranwood 921: Make It Happy / Nature Boy (1972)
Ranwood 925: Make Believe Saturday Night / Today Is The First Day (1972)
Ranwood 932: End Of The World / Over And Over (1972)
GNP Crescendo 802: One To One (1975)
same group?:
Ltd. Touch & Sounds Of Sunshine:
PIP 8942: The Young And The Restless / Young And The Restless (instr.) (1973)
Sounds Of Sunshine:
PIP 6527: Nadia's Theme / Nadia's Theme (instr.) (1976)
I have the Ranwood 912, and so have posted its sides to my Probe site,
at http://www.philxmilstein.com .
Dig,
--Phil M.
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Message: 14
Date: Mon, 02 May 2005 19:53:43 -0800
From: Phil X Milstein
Subject: Brenton Wood sighting
A friend of mine returned from the recent "Ponderosa Stomp" festival in
New Orleans not only raving about Brenton Wood's performance there, but
forwarding me a couple of photos she took of him, including one with
Wood and his guitarist Alex Chilton. Find the both of them now in the
Photos section: http://photos.groups.yahoo.com/group/spectropop/lst
Dig,
--Phil M.
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Message: 15
Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 00:02:07 EDT
From: Bill George
Subject: Re: "Geometrics"
Hi everyone, I wanted to let everyone know about a project that I'm
involved with that is now universally available. It's a CD by composer/
songwriter L. Warde, titled "Geometrics." You can check it out at
www.platso.com . It is available on Amazon, CD Baby, and Tower
Records online. It's a beautiful recording with voices, string quartet
and guitar. Some might call it classical, or new age, or Celtic, or
pop, or that it sounds like a film score. But it is truly unique and
unclassifiable, and I find the music uplifting and beautiful. I sing
on four of the ten tracks. Check it out -- it's not Spectropop, but
I think it is universally appealing.
Bill George
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Message: 16
Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 03:17:19 -0500
From: Michael Thom
Subject: Re: Anka's "Flashback"
Clark Besch wrote:
> I notice Anka did a 45 on Fame in '74 which had "Flashback"
> on the flip. This must be Artie Wayne's great song. Can anyone
> play it to musica?
It is Artie's song, and I've played it to musica. "Flashback" was the
A-side, and it was issued in 1973. The equally strong flip, Anka's own
"Let Me Get To Know You," showed up later on a UA release.
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
SPECTROPOP - Spectacular! Retro! Pop!
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