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SPECTROPOP - Spectacular! Retro! Pop!
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There are 7 messages in this issue.
Topics in this digest:
1. to ponder at your leisure
From: Phil X Milstein
2. Re: Betty Swann, Baby Washington, Evie Sands
From: JK
3. The Marvelettes on CD
From: Mike Edwards
4. Re: Chris Montez
From: Austin Roberts
5. Re: The Pleasure Seekers
From: Mark Maldwyn
6. The Young Lions - from the source
From: Country Paul
7. Re: Gazette label
From: Mike Miller
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Message: 1
Date: Fri, 19 Aug 2005 11:33:24 -0800
From: Phil X Milstein
Subject: to ponder at your leisure
I may not have any fancy-ass boxsets to give away, but I'm hoping the
mere challenge of the thing will be enough to get y'all to scratch
noggin a bit over this one. According to Dawson & Propes's
indispensable "45 RPM: The History, Heroes And Villains Of A Pop
Music Revolution," what is the one notable thing the original U.S.
releases of the following records have in common?:
Crows: Gee
Penguins: Earth Angel
Crests: Sixteen Candles
Silhouettes: Get A Job
Rays: Silhouettes
Hank Ballard & Midnighters: The Twist
Richard Berry: Louie Louie
Sam Cooke: You Send Me
Lavern Baker: Tweedle Dee
Bobby Day: Rockin' Robin
Mystics: Hushabye
Brenda Lee: I'm Sorry
Dion: The Wanderer
Tokens: The Lion Sleeps Tonight
Don & Juan: What's Your Name
Drifters: Save The Last Dance For Me
Little Anthony & Imperials: Tears On My Pillow
Beach Boys: Surfin' Safari
Lulu: To Sir With Love
Strawberry Alarm Clock: Incense And Peppermints
Five Man Electrical Band: Signs
Steam: Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye
Please deposit answers in the box near the front desk.
Dig,
--Phil M.
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Message: 2
Date: Fri, 19 Aug 2005 12:36:01 -0400
From: JK
Subject: Re: Betty Swann, Baby Washington, Evie Sands
Jim Allio wrote:
> Found a treasure trove of CDs at Amoeba in Berkeley last night:
> Bettye Swann, Baby Washington and a reissue of Evie Sands' genius
> "Any Way That You Want Me."
Evie Sands is performing around LA with as part of Adam Marsland's
Chaos Band...and wonderful she is too...JK
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Message: 3
Date: Fri, 19 Aug 2005 16:38:56 -0000
From: Mike Edwards
Subject: The Marvelettes on CD
Phil writes:
> It is time I upgraded my Marvelettes sette from vinyl to CD. In
> looking into what's out there, though, I found only a thicket of
> confusing information, and was unable to get a handle on which, if
> any, of the CDs out there was the closest to being comprehensive.
> Any thoughts on the matter? My one absolute requirement is that it
> include "Strange I Know" and "Twistin' Postman" –
An excellent move on your part, Phil. Hope all is well by the way.
Nobody does a better job than reissuing their back catalog than the
Tamla Motown organization. They seem to come up artist compilation
CDs on a 5 year cycle. The definitive Marvelettes set is the double
CD, "Deliver: The Singles (1961-1971)" from 1993 and the title says
it all. Unfortunately this is out of print and used copies appear to
be going for upwards of $50. Better settle for the 25 track,
"Ultimate Collection" which contains the titles you are looking for
and sells for around $10.
The Marvelettes were probably the closest Motown came to having a
bona-fide "girl group" on its roster with cuts such as "Little Boy
Blue" and "Finders Keepers, Losers Weepers" being as good as any
you'll find in that genre.
If you're trawling amazon.com, I would recommend picking up a copy
of Marc Taylor's book, "The Original Marvelettes: Motown's Mystery
Girl Group" for an insightful and analytical history of the group.
The Marvelettes. File under "Pre Beatles hit makers still on the
charts in 1969". There weren't to many of those.
Mike Edwards
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Message: 4
Date: Fri, 19 Aug 2005 13:46:58 EDT
From: Austin Roberts
Subject: Re: Chris Montez
Clark, re: Chris Montez:
> Never liked his music much (other than "Lat's dance" which I
> also heard later) and at the time threw it in with guys like
> Trini Lopez thinking the sound was just not something I really
> liked--the schmoozy vocals and with applause or chatter making
> them sound more like stars (I guess)....Montez's vocals (like
> Lopez's to a lesser extent) never seemed to put much effort
> into them IMO.
Hi gang, Chris Montez recorded a song of Chris Welch's and mine
entitled We'll Watch The Sun Coming Up (also on the Sonny And Cher
album ALL I EVER NEED IS YOU). If anyone can find the Montez
version, this group can. It would be greatly appreciated.
Austin Roberts
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Message: 5
Date: Fri, 19 Aug 2005 19:10:55 -0000
From: Mark Maldwyn
Subject: Re: The Pleasure Seekers
Mick Patrick wrote:
> I have a question, or several, about the following record: The
> Pleasure Seekers "If You Climb On The Tiger's Back" b/w "Theme From
> The Valley Of The Dolls", released on Capitol 2050 in 1967. Are
> either of these tracks out on CD? If so, info please. If not, if
> anyone has the 45, maybe they could post it to musica please. I'd
> love, indeed NEED, to hear it. Are these Pleasure Seekers the same
> group that recorded for Hideout and Mercury? If not, does anyone
> know anything about them? Thanks in advance.
Are these the group who had Suzi Quatro amongst them? There's a Dory
Previn connection here I think. Fantastic Gillian Hills track on
Musica by the way!
Mark M
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Message: 6
Date: Fri, 19 Aug 2005 20:34:41 -0400
From: Country Paul
Subject: The Young Lions - from the source
I found access to Lincoln Mayorga (now a concert pianist, by the way)
and asked if he could clear up our questions regarding the Young
Lions. The following is his correspondence in toto:
Dear Paul,
I'm afraid I can't tell you much about The Young Lions. This was a
project which Ed Cobb produced on his own. I usually did the
arranging on our productions. He and I shared credits on some
projects which we didn't necessarily work together on. The Young
Lions was such a project. I'm quite sure that Phil Spector was not
involved. Ed was very fond of the Phil Spector sound and our
productions sometimes were under that influence.
I hope this information will be helpful to you.
Sincerely,
Lincoln Mayorga
-----
Ask and ye shall receive! :-)
Country Paul
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Message: 7
Date: Fri, 19 Aug 2005 21:23:38 EDT
From: Mike Miller
Subject: Re: Gazette label
Hey Mark,
Regarding the "Gazette" label, owned by The 4 Seasons partnership.
Yes, there were 4 singles released on this label before it's rather
quick demise. Here is the complete discography as known:
GAZETTE 8000 Happy People / Daydream
by Lock, Stock, & Barrel
GAZETTE 8001 Buena Vista / Material Man
by Light
GAZETTE 8002 When I'm Gone / ??? same ???
by Lux
GAZETTE 8003 No. 1 Momma / All Because Of You
by Lock, Stock, & Barrel
The selections by Lock, Stock, & Barrel would be considered to be of
a "heavier" rock and roll complete with horns. By far, the best song
out of all 7 is "Happy People" a driving great song with a great
melody. I have no info about the actual members of this group, but
some of the songwriting credits might give us a hint of a member or
two (P.Martone - R. Jiminez - S. Viscuso - T. Scorsone) The song
Daydream was written by John Sebastian.
The songs by Light and Lux are actually the same group. One of the
members, Bob Grimm actually became a guitar performing member of The
4 Seasons during their early Motown days about 1972 for a short time.
He took the place of Tommy DeVito after his departure. Two of the
songs by this group are of a folksy mellow sound, similar to Crosby,
Stills, & Nash. One of the songs, "Material Man", has a much heavier,
bluesy sound with a female lead singer.
I am unaware of why the label lasted for only 4 records with the
track record of The 4 Seasons, and the production and songwriting
talent of Bob Gaudio. Early on in the career of the 4 Seasons, Gaudio
and Valli were signed to a production contract with Decca records
(1963) which saw the release of their first record by The Page Boys
called "Ole Buttermilk Sky" / "If Tears Could Speak". Although the
first record failed to hit the hot 100, they continued on with many
productions by Peggy Santiglia (of The Angels), Chollie Maye, The
Four Evers, Wade Flemons, Jackie Hill, The Bitter End Singers, Joe
Pesci (as Jonathan Marcus), Frank Sinatra, and many more. Although
many of the sides are good, a hit eluded the partnership until the
1970's when Gaudio co-produced Roberta Flack and Peabo Bryson, Diana
Ross, Michael Jackson, and finally Neil Diamond.
Hope this helps,
Mike Miller
DooWopDaddy
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