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SPECTROPOP - Spectacular! Retro! Pop!
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There are 16 messages in this issue.
Topics in this digest:
1. Claudine Clark
From: Mick Patrick
2. Re: Reparata & the Delrons
From: Deena J Canale
3. Re: Rhino Girl Group Box Set
From: Rex Strother
4. Grady Chapman
From: Gary Myers
5. Re: The Merchants of Easy Listening, 1966-1970
From: Richard Gagnon
6. Ellie Greenwich Interview / Bobby Swanson
From: Julio Niņo
7. Re: Sunrise Highway
From: Brent Cash
8. Re: Bobby Swanson / "Sunrise Highway"
From: Mick Patrick
9. Re: Bobby Swanson?
From: Phil X Milstein
10. The German bigwig's wagon song
From: Andrew C Jones
11. Brooks Arthur to musica
From: Brent Cash
12. Re: Grady Chapman
From: Paul Oliverio
13. New Spectropix Photo Gallery
From: The S'pop Team
14. Re: songs with a gypsy / Greek/ Eastern European feel
From: Martin Jensen
15. Re: Starlight Starbright and John Marascalco
From: Lyn Nuttall
16. Da Doo Ron Ron announces NYE festivities
From: Chris King
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Message: 1
Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2005 22:31:16 -0000
From: Mick Patrick
Subject: Claudine Clark
Phil M:
> Perhaps it is fortuitous that, due to the timing of Halloween
> this year, Claudine Clark's "Walkin' Through A Cemetery"
> appeared recently at musica, as hearing it again reminded me
> of the song's nuances.
Talking of Claudine Clark . . . After many years of searching
I have failed to lay hands or ears on "Buttered Popcorn" by
her. Does anyone have a copy? If so, there's plenty of room
@ musica at the moment (hint, hint). Is it a version of the
Supremes song, I've always wondered? (Florence Ballard's finest
moment, if you axe me.)
And Phil, you're so gonna love Claudine's terrifying gospel
recordings - fire, brimstone, and all that. One of these days.
Hey la,
Mick Patrick
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Message: 2
Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2005 17:05:52 -0500
From: Deena J Canale
Subject: Re: Reparata & the Delrons
The S'pop Team wrote:
> Our recent pictorial spread devoted to Honey Ltd proved
> so popular with readers that we decided to apply the same
> formula to another of S'pop's favoured acts - Reparata &
> the Delrons. Check it out, do. Don't forget to click on
> each image for a larger version with caption.
>
> Reparata & the Delrons Picture Gallery:
> http://www.spectropop.com/Reparata/index.htm
The gallery is great, but I think the caption for this photo
needs a correction (I noticed the error in the Ace CD liner
notes as well): http://www.spectropop.com/Reparata/full33.htm
If you look above the heads of Sheila and Carol, you'll see a
sign for Jack Dempsey's restaurant. I believe that's the
Brill Building; thus the gals are pictured on Broadway, not
in Brooklyn.
Sorry to be such a nitpicker, but I can't help it...I even
noticed a couple of glaring Ronettes-related errors in the
otherwise excellent Rhino G.G. box liner notes.
I do have a query that wasn't answered in the Reparata liner
notes. Is there a record of which tracks Mike Brown played
piano on, apart from "Remember When"? I think I can detect
his style in a couple, but it would be nice to be sure.
Signed D.C.
http://www.myspace.com/roots66
http://streetsyoucrossed.blogspot.com
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Message: 3
Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2005 13:54:35 -0700
From: Rex Strother
Subject: Re: Rhino Girl Group Box Set
Doug Richard wrote:
> Just a head's up: Best Buy has the much discussed Rhino Girl
> Group Box set on sale this week for 49.99. That's a real bargin.
> Get it while you can!
Also check out Deep Discount CD for the Rhino GG Box Set:
$50.98 - free shipping. I love Deep Discount CD (and Deep Discount
DVD) for their free shipping. (I often find they beat out CostCo on
pricing). Check it out:
http://www.deepdiscountcd.com/index.cfm?request=Í.cfm?upc=1227464523
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Message: 4
Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2005 10:24:43 -0800
From: Gary Myers
Subject: Grady Chapman
Mike Rashkow:
> ... Grady Chapman (sometimes of The Robins I believe)
I think he was an *original* Robin. In the early 80's he was
doing a bogus Coasters show (which I backed him one night).
gem
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Message: 5
Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2005 17:21:04 -0500
From: Richard Gagnon
Subject: Re: The Merchants of Easy Listening, 1966-1970
Randy asks:
> I wonder if any one out there on the list can direct me to a good
> American compilation on CD, if one exists, of the kind of music
> heard on easy listening radio-pop radio in the 1960s. Records like
> "Music To Watch Girls By," Ray Conniff, "Summer of 42" theme,
> "Love Is Blue," etc., mostly instrumental tracks. I'm working on
> a personal project and I would love to have the original recordings
> I remember. Any ideas?
>
The ones I own, and that I'm very pleased with, are part of Time
Life Music/MCA's "Your Hit Parade" series. They are "'60s
instrumentals" and "'60s instrumentals take two", each containing
24 of the easy listening gems you seek, from The Pink Panther Theme
to Classical Gas. Many of the chestnuts Clark mentions are in there.
I believe this collection was available by mail subscription or tv
offers or both, but they do turn up in used stores, at least they
do around here in Montreal.
An online search yielded this, to give you more info:
http://tinyurl.com/8qo9m
and for volume two: http://tinyurl.com/aozjz
Hope this helps...happy hunting!
Richard
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Message: 6
Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2005 22:43:59 -0000
From: Julio Niņo
Subject: Ellie Greenwich Interview / Bobby Swanson
Hola everybody,
This afternoon I put my siesta off. I wouldnīt have done it even
if my flat had been on fire, but I had to read the interview of
Ellie Greenwich that Sheila Burgel has just posted in the
Chachacharming web page. Itīs wonderful and fun. In the future,
when I listen to "Be My Baby" I think I wonīt be able to help
smiling maliciously:
http://www.chachacharming.com/article.php?id=&
Changing the subject; Elizabeth wrote about Bobby Swanson:
> Does anyone here happen to know anything about who he was or
> whatever happened to him? I'd really appreciate any info and/
> or pictures, if any actually exist...
Elizabeth, I donīt know much about him, thereīs a little info
included in some of the "Tee Age Dreams" CDs, apparently he was
an Eskimo, and considering that the Igloo label for which he
recorded some tracks was from Anchorage, maybe he was from
Alaska.
I love his voice, tender but with a narcotic spectral touch. Iīm
only familiar with a couple of songs by him "Ballad of An Angel"
on Igloo, 1961, a wonderful death song, and "Janieīs Face" on
Donna, also 1961, which can be considered a continuation of
"Ballad Of An Angel", because the ghost of his girlfriend appears
to him in his dreams. Both songs were written by him and both
are included in some of the volumes of the "Teen Age Dreams"
compilations, but there aren't any photos of him in the booklets.
I also feel curious and would love to see one.
Chao.
Julio Niņo.
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Message: 7
Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2005 22:46:33 -0000
From: Brent Cash
Subject: Re: Sunrise Highway
Spencer Karter wrote:
> Does anybody have SUNRISE HIGHWAY by Peter Anders, or The
> Spurrlows' version, or The Love Generation version?
How can I not respond to this-the very song that led me to finding
Spectropop-via Google-one Winter's day! A gorgeous Anders-Poncia
number with such swirling key and chord changes that perhaps only
Charlie Parker could've solo-ed over it.
Someone who did "glide" over the maze of musical twists in the song
in a most perfect way is reportedly Ron Dante on The Spurrlow's
sublime (and unfortunately, rare) Rod McBrien-produced version. If
Mr. Dante (still reading, hopefully) or Laura Pinto have any inside
info, please let the yarn spin.
Also, check out the version by S'pop hero Brooks Arthur with Kenny
Karen on vocals.
Brent Cash
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Message: 8
Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2005 23:17:33 -0000
From: Mick Patrick
Subject: Re: Bobby Swanson / "Sunrise Highway"
Brent Cash:
> Also, check out the version (of "Sunrise Highway") by S'pop
> hero Brooks Arthur with Kenny Karen on vocals.
Tell us more, Brent, do. There's room @ musica (hint, hint).
Elizabeth Curtis on Bobby Swanson:
> Does anyone here happen to know anything about who he was or
> whatever happened to him? I'd really appreciate any info and/
> or pictures, if any actually exist...
Julio Niņo:
> I love his voice, tender but with a narcotic spectral touch.
> Iīm only familiar with a couple of songs by him "Ballad of An
> Angel" on Igloo, 1961, a wonderful death song, and "Janieīs
> Face" on Donna, also 1961, which can be considered a
> continuation of "Ballad Of An Angel", because the ghost of
> his girlfriend appears to him in his dreams. Both songs were
> written by him and both are included in some of the volumes
> of the "Teen Age Dreams" compilations, but there aren't any
> photos of him in the booklets. I also feel curious and would
> love to see one.
I can't help with photos of this teen idol, but there are some
way cool label scans available here:
http://rcs.law.emory.edu/rcs/pics/d04/4109.htm
http://rcs.law.emory.edu/rcs/pics/d15/15335.htm
http://rcs.law.emory.edu/rcs/pics/d19/19523.htm
http://rcs.law.emory.edu/rcs/pics/d21/21806.htm
Hey la,
Mick Patrick
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Message: 9
Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2005 18:04:30 -0500
From: Phil X Milstein
Subject: Re: Bobby Swanson?
Elizabeth Curtis wrote:
> I have been trying to research Bobby Swanson, who released several
> singles on Igloo and Donna, but have not come up with much. Does
> anyone here happen to know anything about who he was or whatever
> happened to him? I'd really appreciate any info and/or pictures,
> if any actually exist.
Igloo, from Anchorage, Alaska, seems to have been some sort of
vanity/song-poem hybrid. I've got some brief data on it, plus a
thumbnail scan of a Bobby Swanson picsleeve, at
http://songpoemmusic.com/labels/igloo.htm . Contact me off-list if
you'd like a better scan of the sleeve, which blends a photo of
Swanson into a drawn background.
Dig,
--Phil M.
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Message: 10
Date: Thu, 17 Nov 2005 00:00:41 -0500
From: Andrew C Jones
Subject: The German bigwig's wagon song
I'm hoping Spectropop can help me solve a small but nagging little mystery
that's plagued me for much of my life. Those with German and/or Austrian
connections, please take special note.
Sometime during the late '60s or very early '70s, when I was a boy, I remember
the CBS evening news airing a story about a prominent German or Austrian --
a political bigwig, I think -- who had recorded a single that was a big seller
in his country, and perhaps in other places in Europe as well. The song was
a Western-ish tune about a journey aboard a wagon (covered, I assume).
The story showed a clip of this man singing the song at some big gathering, with
an English translation of the lyrics flashed onscreen. The two lines I remember
most were, "I'd like to stay and enjoy them / Ah, but the wagon rolls on."
If anyone knows, please tell me (off-list, if desired) who the man was and what
the song was. Thanks.
ACJ
"Optimism works. It is more useful than pessimism." - E.Y. Harburg
U.P. GROOVES!: http://community.webtv.net/andrucharlz/UPGROOVESTheUpper
OR http://makeashorterlink.com/?P3D352CBB
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Message: 11
Date: Thu, 17 Nov 2005 02:51:14 -0000
From: Brent Cash
Subject: Brooks Arthur to musica
If all got uploaded OK, Brooks Arthur's take on "Sunrise Highway"
should be in musica, by implicit request from Mr. Patrick (I can't
wait for the upcoming feature!).
As I said earlier, The Spurrlows' version is my fave, but you do
get a nice drunken trombone intro a la B.J. Thomas's "Everybody's
Out Of Town" on this rendition.
Many of you might have the LP it's from, "Traces". It's a soft look
at late '60s pop melancholia, with a great lineup of songs including
(of course) "Traces", "The Windmills Of Your Mind", "Knowing When
To Leave", "First Of May", etc.
Brooks was a busy guy on this record, producing, engineering and
singing alongside Marilyn Jackson, Maretha Stewart, Linda November,
Jim Campbell, and Kenny Karen. Among the stalwart New York players
also present were Vinnie Bell, Gary Chester, Frank Owens, etc.
A great reflective, wintery album.
Enjoy,
Brent Cash
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Message: 12
Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2005 15:42:02 -0800 (PST)
From: Paul Oliverio
Subject: Re: Grady Chapman
Gary Myers wrote:
> I think Grady Chapman was an *original* Robin. In the early
> '80s he was doing a bogus Coasters show (which I backed
> him one night).
According to Bill Millar's book "The Coasters" the original Robins consisted
of Billy and Roy Richards and Ty Terrell. They were joined by Bobby Nunn,
who was to become a founding member of The Coasters. Formed in 1949, they
recorded on Aladdin. Grady Chapman joined the group in the mid-'50s, when
they recorded on RCA with two teenaged producers, Jerry Lieber and Mike
Stoller. RCA was the first major label they worked for, years before they
met up with Elvis.
"Bogus Coasters" can be defined as any Coasters singing group not including
Carl Gardner, who owns the rights to the name. Grady Chapman sang with
Bobby Nunn's Coasters.
Bill Millar's book is out of print in the U.S., but he is an English author
and "The Coasters" may be available in Great Britian. It is worth finding.
The Los Angeles high school referenced as a nexus of the Coasters' evolution,
Jefferson High School in the heart of South Central L.A., is where I taught
math for 20 years. I was the school's unofficial "musical historian."
Thank you for reading this.
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Message: 13
Date: Thu, 17 Nov 2005 08:42:08 -0000
From: The S'pop Team
Subject: New Spectropix Photo Gallery
Dear Members,
For some time now the S'pop Photos Section has been
rather full, making uploading new images problematic.
To resolve that issue, the contents have been moved
to a new location.
Nicely organised, and fully searchable, spend many
an hour viewing hundreds of pictures at the new
Spectropix Photo Gallery here:
http://www.spectropop.com/gallery
Meanwhile, there is now plenty of room at the old
S'pop Photos Section for members to upload new
images. Find that section here:
http://photos.groups.yahoo.com/group/spectropop/lst
Enjoy,
The S'pop Team
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Message: 14
Date: Thu, 17 Nov 2005 15:37:07 -0000
From: Martin Jensen
Subject: Re: songs with a gypsy / Greek/ Eastern European feel
Mick Patrick wrote:
> Btw, Sue's "You" has a certain proto-Abba quality that I suspect
> some S'poppers will enjoy. I could post the track to musica if
> there's any interest.
There is, there is! I'd love to hear it.
It has previously been mentioned that the song has something of a Greek feel,
which has sparked my interest. Maybe it is just me who has a peculiar taste in
music, but I think it could be fun to compile a list of productions with a contrived
gypsy/Greek/Eastern European feel to them. On the top of my head I can think of:
Cher: Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)
Sonny & Cher: Love Don't Come (basically the same song! ;-D)
The Electric Prunes: Sold To The Highest Bidder
Lou Christie: Wild Life's In Season
Sandie Shaw: Those Were The Days
Dean Martin: Hey Brother Pour The Wine
and then there's a song by Claudine Longet with a Greek feel that I can't remember
the name of right now. I think it has the word 'electric' in the title, but I could
be wrong.
There are probably a thousand more obvious examples that I have not thought
about. Any suggestions?
With regards,
Martin, Denmark
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Message: 15
Date: Thu, 17 Nov 2005 09:40:17 -0000
From: Lyn Nuttall
Subject: Re: Starlight Starbright and John Marascalco
Thank you to Graeme, Gary and Mike for their help in researching this song
and others with the same title.
I've revised my page more than once since posting to Spectropop:
http://www.poparchives.com.au/feature.php?id=24
(One thing I didn't predict when I started my eccentric little site was the
amount of generous collaboration I would end up getting from people all
over the world, and this page is a good example of that.)
One minor mystery remains. Why so many different songs in this period with
the title 'Starlight Starbright'? Or is this not unusual with a popular
phrase (from a nusery rhyme, in this case), and we've just emphasised it
by purposely seeking them out?
Lyn
at PopArchives.com.au
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Message: 16
Date: Thu, 17 Nov 2005 10:43:04 -0000
From: Chris King
Subject: Da Doo Ron Ron announces NYE festivities
After a splendid year (our seventh), Da Doo Ron Ron ("the legendary girl
group club" -- NME) ends 2005 with an extra special '60s fancy-dress
New Year's Eve extravaganza on Saturday, 31 December at the radically
refurbished, sophisticated Sussex Arts Club, 7, Ship Street, Brighton,
England, BN1 1AD (tel:-01273-727371 / 778020).
There'll be champagne and festive trimmings and nibbles, prizes for the
best ('60s themed) outfit, and a raffle. DJs Chris 'Da Doo' King and Simon
Bridger (Brighton Northern Soul all-dayers) spin their familiar mix of '60s
girly sounds a-go-go from the likes of The Supremes, Brigitte Bardot, Dusty
Springfield, Nina Simone, Nancy Sinatra, Lesley Gore, Petula Clark, The
Ronettes, Shangri-Las, Vandellas, Cilla, Liza Minnelli and so on. You'll
NEVER hear a MALE lead vocal @ DDRR!
Tickets are Ģ25 in advance (Ģ30 on the door) from the Sussex Arts Club /
on-line. Mail me for further info.
http://dadooronronclub.com
Many thanks for your indulgence,
Chris Da Doo
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