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______________ S P E C T R O P O P ______________
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Jamie LePage (1953-2002)
http://www.spectropop.com/Jamie.htm
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There are 16 messages in this issue.
Topics in this digest:
1. The Shangri Las
From: Stephanie
2. Circus Days comps
From: Matt Howell
3. Re: WIBG / July 4
From: Justin McDevitt
4. Fwd: WXYC - This Week: Hal Blaine, Comets on Fire, and more
From: Neb Rodgers
5. Re: 4 Seasons Poster Sleeve / Diane Renay
From: Billy G. Spradlin
6. Re: WIBG
From: Billy G. Spradlin
7. Re: Circus Days comps
From: Terry Rutledge
8. Re: 4 Seasons Poster Sleeve / Friday Girls
From: Leonardo Flores
9. Making MP3s - Advice?
From: Rex Strother
10. Re: Circus Days comps
From: Mark Frumento
11. Re: Gary Lewis
From: Mark Frumento
12. Re: WIBG / July 4
From: Jeffrey Glenn
13. Coasters Web Site -- "Those Hoodlum Friends"
From: Bozmartyn
14. new group
From: Francois
15. Girl Group Stamps
From: Stephen Popkin
16. GIRL GROUPS AT THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME
From: Warren Cosford
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Message: 1
Date: Thu, 22 Aug 2002 14:55:51 -0000
From: Stephanie
Subject: The Shangri Las
Man I know Mary Weiss doesn't do interviews and the last time I saw
her she was on that Brill Building special on PBS but does she know
that she has TONS of fans!!! I know the fake Shangri Las are out there
but I can't believe that she wouldn't want to give interviews. The
Shangri Las songs have been repackaged so many times and used in
movies and they have a HUGE cult following overseas they could make
some money. I guess with both of the Ganser twins being dead it
really makes no sense for her and her sister to regroup anyway.
Has anyone hear ever heard I'll Never Learn? That is one of the best
vocals Mary Weiss has ever done she is truly one of the underrated
girl group singers. I'm so glad there is an interest in them amongst
music collectors they had a good run on the charts but it should have
been longer. My only beef is their performance of Long Live Our Love
on Hullabaloo was boring but their other performances I have seen, and
there are not that many, are pretty good. I wish I was able to see
them live when they got back together for that one concert in 1989
that I keep reading about where they came out on motorcycles.
Steph
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Message: 2
Date: Thu, 22 Aug 2002 07:29:16 -0700
From: Matt Howell
Subject: Circus Days comps
Hello-
I was searching around for more info on the "Broken Toys" song that was on
musica a while back and info on the "toy town" sub-genre and discovered the
Circus Days compilation on Bam Caruso http://www.voiceprint.co.uk/bamcaruso/
Can anyone tell me about the quality of these collections? (My credit card is
half-jumping out of my wallet with anticipation.)
Thanks,
Matt
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Message: 3
Date: Wed, 21 Aug 2002 22:01:09 -0500
From: Justin McDevitt
Subject: Re: WIBG / July 4
Nick Archer's list of some of the more obscure records that were played on
Wibg Philadelphia, (THE BIG 99) brought back a memory of at least one of the
tracks that he mentioned; Frightened Little Girl by July 4.
For years I've been looking for this record which proved difficult because
of its rarity and because I could not remember the group who recorded this
track. Now I know!
Does anyone in the group have a 45 of this record that they could post to
Musica. And is this track available on a compilation CD?
Justin McDevitt
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Message: 4
Date: Thu, 22 Aug 2002 01:13:47 -0700 (PDT)
From: Neb Rodgers
Subject: Fwd: WXYC - This Week: Hal Blaine, Comets on Fire, and more
Thought the following announcement might be of interest to Hal Blaine fans; a 3
hour radio special about the man and his music. You can catch WXYC on the web
at
WXYC 89.3 FM - in Chapel Hill and live on the Web at
Schedule in brief:
Thursday 9 p.m.: HAL BLAINE on the Thursday Night Feature
Friday 9 p.m.: COMETS ON FIRE, "Field Recordings from the Sun" on the Inside
Track
Sunday 1-2 p.m.: More music of the GEORGIA SEA ISLANDS on Hell or High Water
Sunday 2-3 p.m.: FURRY LEWIS, "Fourth and Beale" on the Classic Inside Track
Northern Hemisphere
Sunday 5-7 p.m.: Timely topics with TODD & BILL on Live
Monday 9 p.m.: Various Artists, "LONDON IS THE PLACE FOR ME: Trinidadian
Calypso in London, 1950 - 1956" on the Inside Track
(snip)
HAL BLAINE on the Thursday Night Feature, Thursday 9 p.m.-midnight
Listen in and hear about the life and work of this west coast studio titan
/drummer extraordinaire who's played on more number one hits than anyone else
in history.
Neb
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Message: 5
Date: Thu, 22 Aug 2002 08:15:05 -0000
From: Billy G. Spradlin
Subject: Re: 4 Seasons Poster Sleeve / Diane Renay
Leonardo Flores wrote:
> For years I've been reading that there is a Fold Open 45 Picture Sleeve for
> the 4 Seasons Saturday's Father single on Phillips. I have never seen one!
> Do any of you Spectropoppers out there have a copy of it? It would be great
> if I could get a scan of the poster so I know what to look for. I already
> have the normal one but still no fold open sleeve!
I have never seen it either, but I would love to, since the 45 tanked I bet
it's rare! I have seen the Idaho picture sleeve as a B&W photo in Goldmine's 45
Price guide a couple years ago.
Many times Philips/Mercury would just re-use LP photos for the picture sleeve.
My favorite is the "Wonder Who" 45 which has a connect the dots pattern that
read "We are Your Favorites" when finished. I have one in my collection - but
somebody tried to connect the dots using a pink crayon!
Also many Mercury/Philips 45 sleeves are printed on cheap white paper (that has
yellowed over time) with really bad B&W graphics or an added color as a
border/accent (pink or blue).
> Also I never have heard of the Diane Renay bootleg you're referring
> to. I don't have it but I do believe Soldier Boy is on the Diane
> Renay LP.
"Solider Boy" is on Collectables "Navy Blue" CD, but I don't know if it's the
same version as on the rare 45.
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Message: 6
Date: Thu, 22 Aug 2002 08:01:40 -0000
From: Billy G. Spradlin
Subject: Re: WIBG
Nick Archer wrote:
> I was looking through some old record surveys from WIBG in
> Philadelphia from 1967. The Wibbage Top 99 always had a few
> records that were otherwise obscure. Any Spectropop material
> in this list from August14, 1967?
>
> #97 Put Your Mind at Ease - Every Mother's Son
This was a track from their second LP - "Every Mother's Son - Back!"
produced by Wes Farrell. Not a bad song but that LP had better tracks
that deserved to be pulled as singles.
> #87 With You Girl - Arbors
Never heard it but I think the same group scored with "The Letter" a
year or two later.
> #71 Balla Balla- The Rainbows
Never heard this one... is this Randy and the...??
> #58 Frightened Little Girl - The July 4
A really nice song - Think Everly Brothers go soft-pop! I only have
a MP3 of it, released on Cameo 480
> #56 The Pleasure of Your Company - S.N. & the Ct's
I found this gem a couple years ago in mint shape at a local thrift
store - written/produced by Ed Cobb for his shortlived Sunburst
record company. Great track!
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Message: 7
Date: Thu, 22 Aug 2002 15:19:51 -0400
From: Terry Rutledge
Subject: Re: Circus Days comps
Hi Matt,
I own all of the Circus Days compilations and they are well worth the money
if you are a fan of psych-pop (or pop-psych, not sure which is the correct
term). Some of the songs, including "Broken Toys" sound to my ears like they
were recorded from a vinyl source (a little crackle here and there) but in no
way did this decrease my listening experience at all. Hope this helps in some
way.
Cheers,
Terry Rutledge
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Message: 8
Date: Thu, 22 Aug 2002 20:04:53 -0000
From: Leonardo Flores
Subject: Re: 4 Seasons Poster Sleeve / Friday Girls
Previously:
> Many times Phillips/Mercury would just re-use LP photos for the picture
> sleeve.
Or Better yet it appears Beggin', Tell It To the Rain and Opus 17 sleeves
photos were taken on the same day. I love those three sleeves.
> My favorite is the "Wonder Who" 45 which has a connect the dots pattern....
The Good Ship Lollipop by the Wonder Who has the cool puzzle you're supposed to
cut up and assemble into a group photo of the group, not to mention the truly
frightening Lonesome Road picture sleeve. Who approved that one?
> Also many Mercury/Phillips 45 sleeves are printed on cheap white paper (that
> has yellowed over time) with really bad B&W graphics or an added color as a
> border/accent (pink or blue).
That's the big problem with those sleeves, the crummy paper they used. Later on
they picked up on using better paper.
I have a sleeve with no record of a Phillips Group called the Friday Girls,
does anybody know anything about the group. Record is Phillips 338707 PF and
the songs are I Won't Miss You and I Wanna Be Free. I bought it because this
Girl Group of Four Girls looked so cute.
Hopefully soon me and my friend will set up a 4 Seasons web-site with a gallery
of Picture Sleeves, LP's and 45's.
Cheers
Leonardo Flores
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Message: 9
Date: Thu, 22 Aug 2002 14:36:57 -0600
From: Rex Strother
Subject: Making MP3s - Advice?
I want to upgrade my Bell Sisters website with MP3 selections (rather than
current RealMedia), but my server space restrictions require the songs use
32 kbps. I could post this to an MP3 group, but since the Spectropop folk
know the kind of music I'm dealing with - 50s pop in mono - I thought maybe
someone could suggest, off list, which (free?) encoder might do the best job
on very compressed mono files. I'd like to get the best possible sound
within my restrictions and could use some advice.
Rex Strother
http://www.bellsisters.com
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Message: 10
Date: Thu, 22 Aug 2002 21:01:41 -0000
From: Mark Frumento
Subject: Re: Circus Days comps
Matt Howell wrote:
> Can anyone tell me about the quality of these collections? (My credit card is
> half-jumping out of my wallet with anticipation.)
Buy away! Though some of the material is recorded from vinyl sources, most of
it is still incredibly hard to find otherwise. Short of a recent compilation
called "Fading Yellow", no other set has matched the quality song selection for
obscure late 60s British light pop (i.e. toy town etc).
"Broken Toys" happens to be one of my favorites on the whole set. It also
happens to be agreeable to my kids making it "ok" to play in the car.
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Message: 11
Date: Thu, 22 Aug 2002 21:12:11 -0000
From: Mark Frumento
Subject: Re: Gary Lewis
I highly recommend that you take Billy up on his offer of the Gary Lewis CD.
It's great to have both 1967 albums and some great bonus tracks in one place.
Nice sound and lovingly put together. I'm especially fond of "Main Street", a
track I had never heard before.
Thanks Billy! It was quite a bargain for me considering I still owe my end of
the trade... Pop Works is on its way!!
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Message: 12
Date: Thu, 22 Aug 2002 18:17:32 -0700
From: Jeffrey Glenn
Subject: Re: WIBG / July 4
Justin wrote:
> ... Frightened Little Girl by July 4. For years I've been looking for this
> record which proved difficult because of its rarity and because I could not
> remember the group who recorded this track. Now I know! Does anyone in the
> group have a 45 of this record that they could post to Musica. And is this
> track available on a compilation CD?
Justin, I've just played it to musica. Billy Spradlin also had a copy up
there, but I'm replacing his, because it's a better transfer (Billy himself
didn't do the transfer; if he had it would have sounded great).
Enjoy! It's a great record.
Jeff
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Message: 13
Date: Fri, 23 Aug 2002 01:48:00 -0000
From: Bozmartyn
Subject: Coasters Web Site -- "Those Hoodlum Friends"
A compendium of everything related to The Coasters -- the greatest R'n'B/doo-
wop/novelty group of the fifties. Discographies, links, bios, etc.
http://www.angelfire.com/mn/coasters/frontp.html
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Message: 14
Date: Thu, 22 Aug 2002 17:42:25 -0000
From: Francois
Subject: new group
Hi everyone,
You're all welcome to join this new group where we discuss and share
opinions, memories, pics, etc about everything involving the great
Swingin' London era...from Mersey Beat to Jimi Hendrix with a look at
the mods and the rockers, the psychedelic trend, through books,
movies, girlie mags and even sport...everything is covered as long as
it's related ...
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sensational60s/
hope to see you there
cheers
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Message: 15
Date: Fri, 23 Aug 2002 02:55:33 -0400
From: Stephen Popkin
Subject: Girl Group Stamps
I saw something in today's daily news about a series of Girl Group stamps
issued by several countries, in conjunction with the R and R Hall Of Fame.
Including the Cookies and Dixie Cups!
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Message: 16
Date: Fri, 23 Aug 2002 03:18:23 -0400
From: Warren Cosford
Subject: GIRL GROUPS AT THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME
Hi Folks:
Just back from 30 hours or so in Cleveland with Mary Wilson and
"The Girls" for the unveiling at The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
of a special collection of postage stamps honouring many of our
Girl Group Favs. What a time!! Anyone else on this List there?
Warren Cosford
Radiopro (TM)
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