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SPECTROPOP - Spectacular! Retro! Pop!
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There are 26 messages in this issue.
Topics in this digest:
1. Re: The rise of The Rascals
From: Clark Besch
2. Jack Nitzsche at Spectropop update
From: Martin Roberts
3. new Lesley Gore
From: Patrick
4. Re: Bobby Hebb
From: Richard Havers
5. Re: Bobby Sherman
From: Paul Evans
6. Re: Paul Simon a/k/a Jerry Landis
From: Clark Besch
7. Re: (Eu)Gene McDaniels
From: Clark Besch
8. Norman Hurricane Smith
From: Simon White
9. Our Patch Of Blue - Zoom Zoom Zoom
From: Lyn Nuttall
10. Re: (Eu)Gene McDaniels
From: Gary Myers
11. Re: Stigwood; "Bedazzled"
From: Phil X Milstein
12. Re: Chicago Transit Authority
From: Gary Myers
13. Leave it to whom?
From: Frank M
14. Re: Eugene McDaniels
From: Gary Myers
15. Rip Chords counterrevisionism
From: Phil X Milstein
16. Re: In Arts
From: Guy Lawrence
17. Re: "Reach Out For Me" covers
From: Frank J
18. Looking for a memory possibly from 1961- 62
From: John Frederick Brown
19. Re: Reach Out For Me
From: Simon White
20. Re: Jordan & Wayne
From: Artie Wayne
21. Re: Anka's "Flashback" [O'Day/ Wayne]
From: Artie Wayne
22. Connie Landers - R I P
From: Paul Urbahns
23. Re: "I Love New York"
From: zenwoman1@aol.com
24. Re: Chicago Transit Authority
From: Mike Bennedict
25. Barry White discog.
From: Phil X Milstein
26. Re: (Eu)Gene McDaniels
From: Dave Heasman
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Message: 1
Date: Mon, 02 May 2005 13:28:50 -0000
From: Clark Besch
Subject: Re: The rise of The Rascals
Artie Wayne wrote:
> Clark...How ya' doin'? I'd like to share a Rascal story with
> you and our Spectropals.
Artie, loved the story. Sounds like the "DW Washburn" Coasters
/Monkees story. One artist was a little out of time by the
time they recorded the song, while the other was hot and ended
up with the hit.
I'm wondering what you have to say about my thoughts on the 1966
era Kingsmen, since you were there. Within a year, much of the
grunge garage groups were passe, including the Kingsmen, who tried
to get a little more pop oriented (such as "If I Needed Someone"),
it seemed, as time went by. You must have been recording "Good
Lovin'" with them in very early 1966. The Kingsmen had so many
things going on that were good and bad it seemed. They were suing
Jack Ely (lead singer on "Louie, Louie") for his right to use the
band name. The FBI had looked into the songs lyrics as sung by
Ely. Ely changed his group's name to Jack Ely and the Courtmen
and released "Louie, Louie" followed by "Louie, Go Home" in 1966.
The Kingsmen, meanwhile, were going around doing "Louie" with a
differnet lead vocalist. Then, another thing that had to be good
and bad was the fact that the Kingsmen version of "Louie" WOULD
NOT DIE! #1 in fall/winter of 63 in Northwest, #1 nationally
December 63/early 64, #1 in many markets in summer 65, #1 many
markets in spring/summer 66! Throw in the Raiders' use of the
song on "Where the Action Is" in 66 as well as Tommy Boyce's
"Louie" sounding theme song to the show, "Let's Go Where the Action
Is" too. "Louie" was a monster that still won't die, but it must
have been good to have as a trademark to get gigs with in the 60's,
yet it made it really hard to chart high with records when that
record was in the racks for people to buy as well. "Louie" had to
kill sales of many Kingsmen releases, it would seem.
Artie, whatcha think?
BTW, you can get a great interview with the Kingsmen drummer,
Billy Truett, on the Lance Records site this week.
http://www.lancerecords.com/news2.htm
Clark
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Message: 2
Date: Sun, 1 May 2005 21:26:54 +0100
From: Martin Roberts
Subject: Jack Nitzsche at Spectropop update
To celebrate Eddie Hodges week on the site, the new ROTW playing
on the Home page is Eddie Hodges "Halfway":
http://www.spectropop.com/JackNitzsche/index.htm
Eddie Hodges has written a cool piece for The Jack I Knew page
http://www.spectropop.com/JackNitzsche/friends.htm#eddiehodges
and written on his time at work and play with Terry Melcher and
Jack Nitzsche. Read this on The Producers - Terry Melcher - Part 3.
http://www.spectropop.com/TerryMelcher/TerryMelcher3.htm
Eddie is also featured on the hottest CD release of the year,
"Hearing Is Believing - The Jack Nitzsche Story" (Ace Records).
To reflect the importance of the release, which is already
attracting a lot of interest and reviews, the previous single
page has been updated.
The "Hearing Is Believing" page has a menu of links to:
the Track list, the Nitzsche Site Review, David A Young's
informative, fun and very groovy, Spectropop Review, Ace Records
Review, Online Reviews, Paper Reviews (what the rock scribes have
written in MOJO, UNCUT, The Daily Telegraph, LA Times and others), exclusive pictures, a few of the cool visuals from the booklet in
LARGE size and, finally, once you've read all the press and must
have a copy NOW, a link to Buy!
In my quiet corner of England's green and pleasant land it's hard
to keep up with everything going on elsewhere. I'd appreciate a
copy/scan or link to any reviews of interest that I've missed. All
contributors will be acknowledged.
http://www.spectropop.com/JackNitzsche/AceCd.htm
Is that it, nothing else? Oh yes, KHJ Jingle #8 is playing
On The Radio page:
http://www.spectropop.com/JackNitzsche/radio.htm
Martin
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Message: 3
Date: Mon, 02 May 2005 17:33:30 -0000
From: Patrick
Subject: new Lesley Gore
You can get a sample of the new Lesley Gore album here:
http://www.enginecompanyrecords.com/lesleygore/
Enjoy! I know I have!
:Patrick
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Message: 4
Date: Mon, 2 May 2005 18:25:30 +0100
From: Richard Havers
Subject: Re: Bobby Hebb
Phil X Milstein wrote:
> What kind of work was Hebb doing at the time? Apart from
> "Sunny," I know precious little about his career.
Hi Phil
This is what I have in my files.....
Hebb's (b.26.7.41 Nashville, Tennessee) parents, both blind, were
trained guitarists who brought him up in a musical atmosphere. At
twelve he played the spoons and sang with the Smokey Mountain Boys
on the Grand Ol' Opry. He joined the US Navy on leaving school,
where he played trumpet in his ship's jazz combo. After he was
discharged he studied guitar with Chet Atkins and Hank Garland,
started writing songs in '58 and had moderate success in '61 with
his "Night Train" recorded with Sylvia Shemwell as Bobby & Sylvia.
Apparently he acquired the nickname of the 'song-a-day man', as
he had written some 3,000 songs between '58 and '66. At one time,
Hebb was even hailed as the natural successor to Sam Cooke. His
chart success belied the predication as only "A Satisfied Mind",
which made No.39 in '66, and "Love Me" No.84 in Jan '67, entered
the American listings. In '73 "A Satisfied Mind", "Love Me" and
another song, "Love Love Love", had new life breathed into them
as they became firm favourites on the British Northern Soul Scene.
Richard
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Message: 5
Date: Mon, 02 May 2005 10:52:39 -0000
From: Paul Evans
Subject: Re: Bobby Sherman
Mark:
> Bobby Sherman - Happiness Is (Vocal version) Pre-Metromedia.
Hi Mark and Larry,
"Happiness Is" was originally cut and charted by Ray Conniff.
The song garnered lots of covers, Bobby Sherman's among them.
Soon after, the song became the commercial jingle for Kent
Cigarettes, which stayed on the air for three years plus.
At the time (1966), cigarette commercials were still legal.
However, the cigarette companies could NOT (do to government
restrictions) equate smoking with enjoyment.
So, counting on the Conniff records popularity, Kent's ad agency
copped the Conniff record and just played the key phrase and tag
line, "That's What Happiness Is" instrumentally - leaving it up
to the listener to fill the words in on their own. Sneaky!
Didn't know about the Dean Martin CD (apparently without my song)
and no, the song was not recorded by the Association as far as I
know.
Soon after our song got popular, there was another song titled
"Happiness Is" that was part of the Broadway show based on the
"Charlie Brown" cartoon strip.
"Happiness Is" was co-written with Paul Parnes.
Ray Conniff also recorded it in Spanish.
Hope this helps,
Paul Evans
http://www.paulevans.com
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Message: 6
Date: Mon, 02 May 2005 13:35:01 -0000
From: Clark Besch
Subject: Re: Paul Simon a/k/a Jerry Landis
Artie Wayne wrote:
> He came to see us play one night and flipped out over
> me performing one of Pauls songs,"He was my Brother"
> to a standing ovation.
Artie, great story (as usual). Do you have any demos with Paul
or any of your early demos that could be posted to your website
or Musica?
Clark
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Message: 7
Date: Tue, 03 May 2005 05:18:17 -0000
From: Clark Besch
Subject: Re: (Eu)Gene McDaniels
James 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.
Did anyone but me think that the melancholy horn arrangement in BJ
Thomas' "Everybody's Out of Town" remind one of the Gene McDaniels
hit "Tower of Strength"??
Clark
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Message: 8
Date: Tue, 03 May 2005 10:19:32 +0100
From: Simon White
Subject: Norman Hurricane Smith
I'm sure this is relevant somewhere. It is to me. Norman Hurricane
Smith produced Little Richard's sessions at Abbey Road Studios in
late 1966. Four brassy tracks were recorded and two, "Get Down With
It" (a cover of Bobby Marchan and Richard's second version) and
"Rosemary" (a cover of Fats Domino) were released on a UK 45 and not,
it seems, in the States.
The other two tracks, "Rocking Chair" a loose vocal/instrumental
based on "Slippin and Slidin" and a version of "Hound Dog" (his
third !) Both were unreleased until they appeared on a Sony CD
in the United States in 2004.
I loved Norman's 'Don't Let It Die" when it came out.
Simon White
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Message: 9
Date: Tue, 03 May 2005 11:24:38 -0000
From: Lyn Nuttall
Subject: Our Patch Of Blue - Zoom Zoom Zoom
Our Patch Of Blue had a single on Warner Brothers in 1969 called
Zoom Zoom Zoom, written by Bernard de Cesare Jnr and Pasquale Zompa.
Zoom Zoom Zoom is apparently the same song as the minor hit by
Australian band Cam-Pact (same songwriters) and I have feeling
it may be the original version.
Do we know anything about the band or the songwriters? Fats Domino
recorded three De Cesare-Zompa songs on 'Fats Is Back', 1968, but
apart from that..? And as for the band, I kinda like their name,
but that's about all I know about them.
Lyn
http://www.PopArchives.com.au
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Message: 10
Date: Mon, 2 May 2005 21:55:34 -0700
From: Gary Myers
Subject: Re: (Eu)Gene McDaniels
James Botticelli:
> Gene McDaniels later became Eugene McDaniels and put out
> some LPs.
He also wrote "Feel Like Making Love".
gem
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Message: 11
Date: Tue, 03 May 2005 11:21:58 -0800
From: Phil X Milstein
Subject: Re: Stigwood; "Bedazzled"
S'pop Projects wrote:
> The Breakaways by Ian Chapman and Mick Patrick
> ... 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 ...
I've never thought of Stigwood as being a music guy himself. Did
he really do much in the way of production, or did he simply take
credit for others' work in that arena?
> 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/
Terrific record! Is that the only version of "Bedazzled" from the
'60s era? Did Cook and/or Moore write it themselves?
--Phil M.
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Message: 12
Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 09:44:22 -0700
From: Gary Myers
Subject: Re: Chicago Transit Authority
Clark Besch:
> I think they were forced to change the name due to
> "Chicago Transit Authority" being an actual city
> business name.
And I've been told that their earliest name was The Big Thing.
gem
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Message: 13
Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 08:48:27 +0100
From: Frank M
Subject: Leave it to whom?
Previously:
> 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."
Last week whilst watching 'Married with Children' I noted a guest
appearance of someone called Jerry Mathers. Living in the UK I've
never seen 'Leave it to Beaver' and this week once again Spectropop
provides some enlightenment.
Thanks
FrankM
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Message: 14
Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 09:49:00 -0700
From: Gary Myers
Subject: Re: Eugene McDaniels
Norm D:
> He started off as a jazz singer...
A bit of which came though on his shake on the word "and"
in "Point Of No Return". :-)
gem
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Message: 15
Date: Tue, 03 May 2005 13:21:18 -0800
From: Phil X Milstein
Subject: Rip Chords counterrevisionism
Someone here recently posted a link to a Rip Chords history,
at http://www.ripchords.info - I reiterate it now just to make
sure that no one who might be interested inadvertently overlooks
it. It's written by Rev. Ernie Bringas, co-founder of the group,
and aims primarily at clarifying who exactly sang what on the
group's recording sessions, in order to correct the historical
record on those matters. The richness of Bringas' detail, his
pride in the group's accomplishments, and his lack of bitterness
at what seems to have been a somewhat inimical aftermath, are
commendable, and the autographed photo of Doris Day is real fine,
as well.
Gone,
--Phil M.
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Message: 16
Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 18:57:40 +0100
From: Guy Lawrence
Subject: Re: In Arts
I wrote:
> Does anyone know anything about Smart &
> Cole or the interesting looking In Arts label?
Phil wrote:
> Here is a partial In Arts discography:
> Not sure what to make of the "Inc." preceding "Smart & Cole"
> -- does anything like that appear on your copy?
Sure, the S'Pop research centre was my first port of call and
that In Arts discography looks exceedingly tempting. One track
by ESB has been included on a reissue compilation but the rest
are going to have to be tracked down the hard way! The correct
billing for the Smart & Cole 45 is Smart & Cole Inc.
Guy
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/TweedleeDumsDrive-In/
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Message: 17
Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 20:22:58 +0200
From: Frank J
Subject: Re: "Reach Out For Me" covers
> Jimmy Botticelli wrote:
> I looked at this and thought how many cover versions of the great
> Bacharach-David composition "Reach Out For Me" are there.
Check out http://www14.brinkster.com/hitmaker/
There are 25 versions of ROFM listed. BTW, the site is a must
for every Bacharach fan.
Frank J.
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Message: 18
Date: Tue, 03 May 2005 18:40:40 -0000
From: John Frederick Brown
Subject: Looking for a memory possibly from 1961- 62
In 1962 I was just turning nine years olds and as a present
from my parents I was given a record player and two 45s.
One was Tommy Sands 1961 recording of "Jimmy's Song" and "Wrong
Side Of Love" which I just re-purchased on the 1992 Bear Family
CD set. This purchase has made me want to try and track down the
other.
Can't remember the title, can't remember the label, can't
remember the artist, can't remember if the chorus I do
remember is from the "A" or "B" side.
The chorus went (I think):
Light the candles, throw the rice
Pour the wine and cut the cake
Put their picture in the paper
Pardon me, while my heart breaks
The song could have been called "Pardon Me While My Heart
Breaks" but I'm not sure.
I do remember that the label looked something like the "Laurie"
label but instead of red, white and black I remeber peach, blue
and white.
Does this ring a bell? Would sure like to recapture a moment.
Thanks
John
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Message: 19
Date: Tue, 03 May 2005 21:26:11 +0100
From: Simon White
Subject: Re: Reach Out For Me
Howard Earnshaw wrote:
> 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?
I had a conversation recently about this song with another member
of this list who shall reamain nameless (Phil Chapman).
The versions we discussed in particular were Kathy, a version by
Universal Mind on Red Coach from 1975 and an album track by the
great Roy Hamilton which also appeared on a CD "Rare Collectable
And Soulful" on Kent. I've been a closet Kathy fan since I was a
kid - I realise now it was the shiny lipstick that did it. Hers
is not my favourite version though. Lou is pretty hard to beat,
eh Howard ?
Simon White
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Message: 20
Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 13:30:25 -0700 (PDT)
From: Artie Wayne
Subject: Re: Jordan & Wayne
Tom...How ya' doin'? I remember going to the pressing plant,
in the Bronx near where I lived to get commercial copies of
"Find a Little Happiness", the record Danny Jordan and I did
for Diamond records, everytime we did a record hop in
Philadelphia and Conneticut.
Joe Kolsky told us each time we treked out to one of these
exciting but dangerous gatherings...we were just one record hop
away from going into heavy rotation on the local radio stations.
A prediction that unfortunately, never seemed to materialize.
regards,
Artie Wayne
http://artiewayne.com/
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Message: 21
Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 12:59:58 -0700 (PDT)
From: Artie Wayne
Subject: Re: Anka's "Flashback" [O'Day/ Wayne]
Clark...How ya'doin'?
It really was an honor to have Paul Anka Cover "Flashback" that
I co-wrote with my friend Alan O'Day ["Undercover Angel", "Angie
Baby"] "...but it was part of one of the bitterest cover battles
I've ever seen. The "Warner Raiders", as I called my professional
staff of songpluggers, were so enthusiastic about the song that
they each ran out the day they heard it and got commitments from
the Four Tops, Diana Ross, The 5th Dimension, and Paul Anka to
record it.
Ed Silvers, President of Warner Brothers, music strongly suggested
that we let the 5th Dimension come out with it first, since we
ran their publishing company and the publishing company of their
producer Bones Howe.
When The Tops, And Ross heard that the 5th were cutting it, they
backed off. Paul Anka, on the other hand, rushed into the studio
with Rick Hall to record it and beat the 5th on the market.
There were full page ads for both records in all the trades. Both
got a lot of play, but the groups record is the one that made it.
Although "Flashback" was the 5th's last hit record, to my
knowledge, it hasn't been included in any of their greatest hit
collections. And even though his version of the song revived radios'
interest in him and paved the way for his next single, "You're
Havin'My Baby", which became #1, Paul didn't include our song on
the U.S.release of the "Havin'My Baby" album.
Perhaps this was my agressive publishing Karma catching up with me.
Although we had other covers throughout the years, by Blue Swede,
Tom Jones and Cher, the song still hasn't become a big hit. Perhaps
I should get it to Clive Davis for the next American Idol...
Bo Bice!!!
regards,
Artie Wayne
http://artiewayne.com/
P.S. Michael...Thanks for posting Ankas' version of
"Flashback" to musica.
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Message: 22
Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 20:56:27 -0400
From: Paul Urbahns
Subject: Connie Landers - R I P
Music City News just reported, "Former vocalist Connie Sue Landers,
60, died Jan. 30. Early on she toured as a backup singer with LeRoy
Van Dyke's Auctionettes. She previously had her own group Connie &
The Cones. She recorded for a variety of labels, among them Spar,
Mercury, Roulette and NRC Records. Following her music career, she
worked many years as an airline flight attendant."
Connie recorded a variety of sound-alikes and original compositions
for about 4 years for the Hit Records label of Nashville. My attempts
to locate her over the last 20 or so years ended iin failure.
In honor of Connie, I have posted to Musica one of her 1965 songs
(written and recorded by Connie) called "Ring Telephone", which is
very much in the Lesley Gore mode.
Paul Urbahns
a very sad Hit fan
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Message: 23
Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 19:21:42 EDT
From: zenwoman1@aol.com
Subject: Re: "I Love New York"
Hey all you groovy Spectropop people...
I just got an email saying that "I Love New York" artist
Marva Josie, written by Claire Francis and Herbie Hancock
sold on Ebay for $208.50 - This is just a 45 rpm....!!!
Why is this so expensive; what makes it so costly? I would
really like to know, I am kind of shocked!! I truly would
like to understand the answer to this question. Is it because
it is a 45 rpm, or because it is Marva or Herbie? I cannot
imagine anyone paying that amount of money for my records!!
By the way...I am feeling so much better and have really enjoyed
reading the posts on Spectropop. I felt all the prayers from you
all, so nice and strong. I hope you won't mind giving me your
prayers again in July when I have to have another of the same
surgery.
Love and Light,
Claire Francis
http://www.clairefrancis.com
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Message: 24
Date: Tue, 03 May 2005 23:50:53 -0000
From: Mike Bennedict
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".
Clark Besch:
> I think they were forced to change the name due to
> "Chicago Transit Authority" being an actual city business name.
Yupe, the band was threatened with leagal action for calling
themselves the CTA.
Mike.
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Message: 25
Date: Tue, 03 May 2005 18:46:34 -0800
From: Phil X Milstein
Subject: Barry White discog.
Very cool Barry White discography at
http://members.chello.nl/p.klein6/Html/barry_white_discography.htm
It's not much on images, but seems a fairly exhaustive listing of
White's releases, which extend as far back as 1960 and include
quite a lot of surprises. It also informed me of the existence
of a Del-Fi CD of White's '60s productions, which I have since
ordered.
--Phil M.
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Message: 26
Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 22:54:16 +0100
From: Dave Heasman
Subject: Re: (Eu)Gene McDaniels
Frank J...
> His "Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse" LP on Atlantic (1971)
> is some sort of holy grail to the rare groove community.
Bah. I bought it used in about '73 but didn't like it quite enough
and gave it to a charity shop before it got precious. "Supermarket Blues" was good-ish. I liked "She's Come Back", which was a b-side
I think, about 1962.
Dave, rueing the day in London.
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
SPECTROPOP - Spectacular! Retro! Pop!
End
