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SPECTROPOP - Spectacular! Retro! Pop!
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There are 12 messages in this issue.
Topics in this digest:
1. Re: Candy & the Kisses "The 81"
From: Hans Huss
2. Re: How to do the 81!!
From: Dave Monroe
3. Re: LPs, CDs, MP3s ...
From: Phil Hall
4. Max Crook & his Musitron
From: Mick Patrick
5. workin' it with the Fourmost Authority
From: Phil X Milstein
6. Dumb Angel Gazette #4 Art Show in San Francisco
From: Brian Chidester
7. Re: The 81
From: Howard Earnshaw
8. Re: Candy & the Kisses "The 81"
From: Dave Monroe
9. Run Joey Run
From: Phil X Milstein
10. Re: workin' it with the Fourmost Authority
From: Regina Litman
11. "The 81" and other Songs Played in Philly but not in DC
From: Regina Litman
12. Music City Weekender
From: Dave Monroe
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Message: 1
Date: Fri, 25 Nov 2005 00:46:04 -0800 (PST)
From: Hans Huss
Subject: Re: Candy & the Kisses "The 81"
Will Stos wrote:
> It's pretty neat that a mid-size hit like "In My Lonely Room,"
> could get remade and turned into another mid-size hit like
> "The 81." I always really enjoyed the Martha and the
> Vandellas' song and thought it should have been a Top 20
> contender at least. Does anyone know if it was one of those
> regional hits that made the Top 10 in some places and didn't
> chart in others?
I, too, have always loved "In My Lonely Room", it's a wonderful
recording and easily a contender for a Martha & the Vandellas
Top Five. (I recall my amazement at its non-inclusion in the
1974 "Anthology".) As for regional success, it's hard to tell
if a mid-sized hit in 1964 was a hit in R&B territories as well
as Billboard did not publish an R&B chart from December 1963 to
January 1965. I pulled out my old copy of the Cash Box Black
Contemporary Singles Charts, 1960-1984 (G. Albert & F. Hoffman,
eds., Scarecrow Press, 1986) - for the first time in years,
great fun! - and was thrilled to discover that "In My Lonely
Room" did in fact make # 6 (in May, 1964), a higher chart
placing than both "Quicksand" (# 7) and "Live Wire" (# 11),
and, surprisingly, "Dancing In The Street" ( # 8). Not sure
about the accurateness of Cash Box's "Top 50 in R&B Locations"
(as the list was called at the time) but most likely this would
indicate that the song - most deservedly - did have a few more
admirers.
I checked on another favourite from those days, the Marvelettes'
truly wonderful "As Long As I Know He's Mine" (which only made
# 47 on Billboard's HOT 100, week ending December 14, 1963),
and was happy to find that it reached # 3 on Cash Box's R&B
chart.)
By curious coincidence, I recently picked up a nice piece of
memorabilia, a copy of the original sheet music for "The 81"
with the title given as "the Eighty-One". (I'd like to think
that it's Kenny Gamble's own longhand.) Will try to post a
scan to the site this weekend. Altogether now: "Tired of doin'
the monkey, tired of doin' the swim...".
Hasse Huss
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Message: 2
Date: Fri, 25 Nov 2005 08:00:01 -0800 (PST)
From: Dave Monroe
Subject: Re: How to do the 81!!
Tony Leong wrote:
> Someone recently showed me how the 81 was done!! Bear with me,
> I can DO it, but describing it is a bit hard!! ...
'Cos it's so fine, in a big boss line, of course. Thanks! And I
know EXACTLY what you mean in re: Siobhan Fahey and/or ZOOM.
Okay, now on to the Kennedy assassin, the missing matter in the
universe, the Higgs Boson, and the skin color of dinosaurs ...
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Message: 3
Date: Fri, 25 Nov 2005 13:45:23 -0000
From: Phil Hall
Subject: Re: LPs, CDs, MP3s ...
Tom Taber wrote:
> You know what I miss with most CD players? In addition to
> liking holding a CD, 45, 78; I like WATCHING it go 'round,
Like a lot of other Spectropoppers, I love the look and feel
of an LP. Looking at the pictures, watching the label spin
around and reading the liner notes; even just reading the
songwriter credits are all part of the experience of being a
music collector. However, I recently bought an mp3 player
and I can tell you that, like it or not, they will put a very
significant dent in the CD market in the near future. You
can argue about which format will dominate; mp3, aac, wma,
etc. But since CD's are just one digital form of music, I
suspect that in 2 or 3 years, they'll be on the way to being
replaced by the new ones. In fact, long-term, I think that
as a collector's format, vinyl will survive longer than CD's.
Dave Monroe:
> But what I worried about with CDs I worry even more about
> with mp3s, that the ability to select ONLY the tracks one
> thinks at last one wants, certain tracks will simply
> disappear, at least from ready circulation.
I imagine that in the relatively near future, even import
companies like Bear Family will begin selling their music
digitally. So the obscure tracks will remain somewhat obscure,
but they won't go away. Because of mp3 trading, legal or
otherwise, they may even proliferate to a degree.
Phil H.
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Message: 4
Date: Fri, 25 Nov 2005 20:26:50 -0000
From: Mick Patrick
Subject: Max Crook & his Musitron
Ah, Max Crook. How would Del Shannon's career have been
without him?
I just searched the S'pop Discussion Forum Archives for the
words "Max", "Crook" and "Musitron" and found these hits:
http://tinyurl.com/ceche
So I guess there are quite a few of you who would be
interested in the CD that has been the soundtrack to my
working day today, "The Sounds Of Tomorrow" by Max Crook
and Scott Ludwig.
Notable tracks include:
"Runaway", recorded at the Robbs' studio with Del Shannon
on guitar and production.
"Beeswax", recorded at Motown Studios in 1959.
Read more about the CD here:
http://www.cherryred.co.uk/rpm/artists/varioussounds.htm
Are any of the recordings Max released as "Maximilian"
available on CD, I wonder?
Fascinating booklet written by Mark Brend, author of the
book "Strange Sounds: Offbeat Instrumentals and Sonic
Experiments in Pop".
Ah, Max Crook. How would Del Shannon's career have been
without him?
Any questions?
Hey la,
Mick Patrick
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Message: 5
Date: Fri, 25 Nov 2005 13:22:06 -0500
From: Phil X Milstein
Subject: workin' it with the Fourmost Authority
I think anyone would be hard-pressed to nominate a cooler record
than "Dance, Dance," by the Fourmost Authority. Where I could
once simply accept this record on face value, however, more and
more I find myself needing to know something about it, and about
the cats behind it. Does anyone know anything about the Fourmost
Authority? (I've seen their name printed as both "Four...," and
"Fore..." Which is correct?) They were on GNP Crescendo -- were
they an LA group? Were any of their other sides half as great as
"Dance, Dance"? (Were anyone's?) Has "Dance, Dance" ever been
comped? Has anyone noticed the awesome line, tossed off during
the fadeout, that reads, "I ain't had a woman in 69 years" ...
oh, wait -- wrong song. The "Dance, Dance" trailoff goes, "C'mon,
work it. Take your clothes off, baby"?
Dig, Dig,
--Phil M.
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Message: 6
Date: Fri, 25 Nov 2005 13:22:15 -0500
From: Brian Chidester
Subject: Dumb Angel Gazette #4 Art Show in San Francisco
Hi All,
Below are the details for the latest event/party/art show that
Domenic Priore and I are holding. It will be in San Francisco,
for anyone living in the Bay Area, and it's free. Hope to see
some Spectropop readers there!
Yours,
Brian Chidester
BEATNIK SURF AESTHETIC:
THE SAN FRANCISCO LAUNCH PARTY FOR DUMB ANGEL #4: ALL SUMMER LONG
Friday, December 30, 2005
7:00-11:00 p.m.
Mollusk Surf Shop
4500 Irving Street @ 46th Ave.
San Francisco, California
Featuring the art of John Severson and Rick Griffin (SURFER
magazine, 1960-1965), Michael Dormer (Hot Curl, MUSCLE BEACH
PARTY, SHRIMPENSTEIN), Frank Holmes (the Beach Boys unreleased
SMILE album cover and booklet, 1966), Thomas Campbell (SPROUT)
and John McCambridge, Mollusk?s own board-haper/photographer/
painter.
Live surf instrumental music provided by L.A.'s top combo, the
Boardwalkers, featuring guitar ace Dan Valentie ? formerly with
Paisley Underground garage rock godz the Unclaimed.
Oil-lamp light show will be complimented by juxtaposed
screenings of Greg MacGillivray and Jim Freeman's film FREE &
EASY (1967) and John Severson's PACIFIC VIBRATIONS (1969),
Exploding Plastic Inevitable-style. The show opens with an
audio carpetorium preview of the original 1966 SMILE album,
compiled by Domenic Priore, author of "Smile: The Story of
Brian Wilson's Lost Masterpiece" (Sanctuary Books, London,
2005, forewords by Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks).
Conversation, dancing, snacks and liquid refreshments will be
part of the environment.
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Message: 7
Date: Fri, 25 Nov 2005 14:51:52 EST
From: Howard Earnshaw
Subject: Re: The 81
Dave Monroe wrote:
> Here's a perennial question amongst my set. Just how DOES one
> do The 81? "In a big boss line," sure, but ...
John H.wrote:
> Good question. I'm still trying to figure out how to do the Zonk.
> (The Peanut Duck is a lot easier.)
.....never mind all that, we still get a kick out of shaggin' here
in the UK :-))
Howard
ps.. looking at his UK copy of the 'The 81' on Cameo Parkway....
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Message: 8
Date: Fri, 25 Nov 2005 12:44:03 -0800 (PST)
From: Dave Monroe
Subject: Re: Candy & the Kisses "The 81"
Hans Huss wrote:
> I, too, have always loved "In My Lonely Room", it's a wonderful
> recording and easily a contender for a Martha & the Vandellas
> Top Five....
"(We've Got) Honey Love" is my No. 1 M&TVs track, and hovers
high on my list of all-time Motown favorites (after, say, Smokey
Robinson's "The Tracks of My Tears" and The Velvelettes' "He Was
Really saying Something"). But hope you're familiar with The
Action's cover of "IMLR." They also recorded excellent covers of
"I'll Keep On Holding On" (The Marvelettes), "Since I Lost My
Baby" (The Temptations), "I Love You (Yeah!)" (The Impressions),
"Baby You've Got It" (Maurice and The Radiants), "Hey Sah-Lo-Ney"
(Mickey Lee Lane), "Land of 100 Dances" (Cannibal and The
Headhunters), "The Cissy" and "Harlem Shuffle" (Bob and Earl),
and that's just what was either officially released or what
comes to mind.
See, e.g., ...
http://uppers.org/showArticle.asp?article=8
http://www.ready-steady-go.org.uk/action.htm
http://www.nostalgiacentral.com/music/action.htm
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Message: 9
Date: Fri, 25 Nov 2005 16:45:38 -0500
From: Phil X Milstein
Subject: Run Joey Run
Anyone know who the female voice on David Geddes's "Run Joey Run"
was? The record is the best example I know of of a post-'60s,
male-centered take on the Shangri-Las's essence -- OK, the Tubes's
"Don't Touch Me There" was good, too, but more overtly tongue-in-
cheek -- and the lady does an excellent job of filling in for
Betty and etc..
Dig,
--Phil M.
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Message: 10
Date: Fri, 25 Nov 2005 23:54:06 -0000
From: Regina Litman
Subject: Re: workin' it with the Fourmost Authority
Phil X Milstein wrote:
> I think anyone would be hard-pressed to nominate a cooler record
> than "Dance, Dance," by the Fourmost Authority. Where I could
> once simply accept this record on face value, however, more and
> more I find myself needing to know something about it, and about
> the cats behind it. Does anyone know anything about the Fourmost
> Authority? (I've seen their name printed as both "Four...," and
> "Fore..." Which is correct?) They were on GNP Crescendo -- were
> they an LA group? Were any of their other sides half as great as
> "Dance, Dance"? (Were anyone's?) Has "Dance, Dance" ever been
> comped? Has anyone noticed the awesome line, tossed off during
> the fadeout, that reads, "I ain't had a woman in 69 years" ...
> oh, wait -- wrong song. The "Dance, Dance" trailoff goes, "C'mon,
> work it. Take your clothes off, baby"?
1. In the Washington, DC, area in the summer of 1967, I heard two
versions of "Dance, Dance" on the radio at different times on
different stations. WEAM played the Fourmost Authority's version
early in the summer, but WPGC did not play this one. Later that
summer, WPGC played a version by local favorites the Chartbusters
(who had had a national hit called "She's the One" in 1964), but
WEAM didn't play this one.
2. I liked the version by the Chartbusters but LOVED the version
by the Fourmost Authority (and I remember the spelling being
"Fourmost"). What I really liked about the Fourmost Authority's
version was a very smooth guitar sound in the instrumental break.
Maybe it wasn't a guitar - maybe it was an organ or electric
piano.
3. I've never heard the version by the Fourmost Authority since
then, and I'd never come across a reference to it until now.
However, I do have the Chartbusters' version in my collection on
a group anthology I got in the mid-1990s that was put out by a
company called Eagle that's in, I think, Germany. I'd love to
hear the Fourmost Authority's version again.
4. What happened with "Dance, Dance" on Washington area radio in
the summer of 1967 also happened with a song called "Happy". Two
different versions were played at different times and on
different radio stations. The Blades of Grass' version was
played on WPGC early in the summer, while the Sunshine Company's
version was played on WEAM later in the season. While I enjoyed
both versions of "Dance, Dance", I much preferred the Sunshine
Company's version of "Happy" and still do. I have both in my
collection on various artist compilations.
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Message: 11
Date: Sat, 26 Nov 2005 00:20:19 -0000
From: Regina Litman
Subject: "The 81" and other Songs Played in Philly but not in DC
Tony Leong wrote:
> When I first did the 81 to "In My Lonley Room", it was a bit
> hard being that the Vandellas track had a faster tempo than the
> Candy cut!! Too bad there's no footage existing of Candy and
> the Kisses performing the song.
>
> And Will, yes, my Mom said that "Do The 81" was played a lot
> here in New York in the mid-60's. It was one of those
> nationally unknown, but big in the NY area hits like "It's
> Gonna Take A Miracle", and the majority of Ruby and The
> Romantics records!!! Oh, and how can I forget to mention
> "Whenever A Teenager Cires" by Reparata and the Delrons!!!!
"The 81" by Candy and the Kisses is one of those records I NEVER
heard on any Washington, DC, radio station as either a current
record during its chart run or as an oldie in later years but
came to know very well from oldies radio after I moved to
Philadelphia 19 years ago this month.
Another such record is "Sally's Saying Something" by Billy Harner.
Plus a couple that really are by Martha and the Vandellas -
"Third Finger, Left Hand" and "Love Makes Me Do Crazy Things".
Regarding "In My Lonely Room" by Martha and the Vandellas - one
time during the prime of Beatlemania, one of my best friends and
I sat studying the Top 40 survey of DC-area station WWDC (which
converted gradually to an easy listening format between 1964 and
1966) that we had picked up in a local record store. I named off
songs I hadn't heard yet, and this was one of them. My friend
said something along the lines that I wasn't missing anything and
that this song, which was ranked somewhere around mid-survey,
ought to be #40 - in other words, she didn't like it very much.
Of course, for a really bad song, she might have said that it
didn't belong on the survey at all.
A few observations to be made:
1. We were only 11 going on 12 at the time, April 1964, and
probably didn't like anything that didn't come from Liverpool.
2. We weren't exposed much to other cultures and still had to
shake some of the prejudices of our parents - hers were
Southerners, and my father, though a respected businessman whose
store was located in the heart of a black area, feared that race
riots would cause destruction of his business. So, it was hard
for us to appreciate some of the songs done by black acts in
1964. My parents were fans of some of the more mainstream black
artists, such as Nat King Cole (whose death the following year
deeply saddened my mother) and Louis Armstrong (my father bought
his "Hello Dolly" album, and the whole family enjoyed listening
to it), and this helped open the door for me to enjoy the
Supremes and other acts that I started to hear a lot on the
radio that year and well into the future.
3. Years later, when I finally did get to hear "In My Lonely
Room" (on DC radio, when I still lived there), I found that I
really liked it a lot, and still do. It is probably one of my
favorite Martha and the Vandellas' records. (But I don't like
"Love Makes Me Do Crazy Things" very much.)
4. In April 1964, one non-British act my friend and I probably
would have liked a lot was the Beach Boys. They have a similarly-
titled song called "In My Room" that I consider to be one of my
all-time LEAST favorite songs by the group. If this was the song
my friend had said should have been #40, I would have probably
said it didn't belong on the survey at all!
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Message: 12
Date: Fri, 25 Nov 2005 15:27:45 -0800 (PST)
From: Dave Monroe
Subject: Music City Weekender
By the way, knowing at least a few of you are in Nashville,
I'll be down there this Saturday night spinning 60s soul 45s
at the Boys Named Sue Scooter Club Music City Weekender ...
http://www.bnssc.com/index.php?q=node/59
... so if you happen to be there, or happen by, do say hello,
I'll be the guy who looks least likely to be spinning records
there, well, spinning records there. Okay, maybe I oughtta
pack, so ...
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