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Jamie LePage (1953-2002)
http://www.spectropop.com/Jamie.htm
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There are 12 messages in this issue.
Topics in this digest:
1. Re: George Goldner and Tico Records
From: Stuffed Animal
2. Tommy Sands/ Glen Glenns / Billy Harner
From: Leonardo Flores
3. More Fugs; Forum; Pet Projects; Bubble Puppy
From: Country Paul
4. Re: The Forum
From: Ron
5. Motorcity
From: Simon White
6. Sandpipers/Grads
From: Mike Edwards
7. Four Freshmen
From: Kingsley Abbott
8. Re: Latin music(s)
From: Leonardo Flores
9. Re: Ford Theatre
From: Stephane Rebeschini
10. Re: Sandpipers/Grads
From: Paul
11. Bubble Puppy
From: Dan
12. Re: Motorcity
From: Ian Chapman
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Message: 1
Date: Sun, 09 Feb 2003 21:32:43 +0000
From: Stuffed Animal
Subject: Re: George Goldner and Tico Records
Re the new Spectropop feature George Goldner and Tico Records:
http://www.spectropop.com/tico/index.htm
> There's probably no form of popular music more
> under-appreciated in the United States than Latin music.
Mike:
> I would have to disagree with this. Billboard publishes two
> Latin charts and many artists pay at least lip service to
> Latin culture when making recordings . . .
Just because there are now Latin charts in Billboard doesn't
mean pop culture at large has begun giving Latin music its due.
Latin artists still feel so neglected by the mainstream, they
pushed for the creation of the Latin Grammys. However, I
certainly wouldn't argue that the chart success of artists like
Shakira, Enrique Iglesias and Marc Anthony hasn't made a
difference. Latin music and Latin influences in other genres
are still vastly under-appreciated, in my opinion, but less so
today than in the past.
> I would suggest that most Latin music has its basis in Puerto
> Rican and Cuban culture. Although both countries are Spanish-
> speaking, any ties they have to Mexico seem to end there.
You're just talking about salsa, but Latin music also encompasses
ranchera music, cumbias, tangos, bachata, merengue, flamenco and
even certain types of disco music. And Mexico's importance in
the scheme of things cannot be understated. Historically, Latin
artists from whatever country haven't really reached the pinnacle
of success until they've made it in Mexico City.
Your view of Latin music's origins is, like mine used to be, far
too narrow. This is a truly international music with roots in
Europe (not just Spain, but France, Italy and Germany), North
and West Africa, and the indigenous tribal cultures of the
Caribbean and South America. Twenty-first century Latin music
also encompasses a lot of urban African-American influence, not
to mention punk, heavy metal and alt-rock influences in the music
of "rock en espanol" bands like Jaguares and Mana.
Stuffed Animal
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Message: 2
Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 01:23:45 -0000
From: Leonardo Flores
Subject: Tommy Sands/ Glen Glenns / Billy Harner
Hello,
I hope some of you saw the performance of Tommy Sands on
Marty's Corner. He performed "Teenage Crush," which he
hasn't sung in many years. Sand's beautiful daughter is
booking shows for him since 2003 and he is performing again,
having done 4 concerts this month alone. Just recently he
has been doing shows with Rockabilly Hall of Famer Glen Glenn,
who also performed on the show last evening. Although I wasn't
familiar with his music, I was familiar with the studio he
recorded in... Goldstar. Lots of great stories he told about
Era & Dore Records, Jan & Dean, Annette Klein, and Phil Spector.
I've been trying to locate Billy Harner. Funnily enough, Mr.
Glenn's guitar player noticed I had a bunch of Kama Sutra 45s
in my DJ Box and mentioned to me that his barber was Billy
Harner! Go figure...
I'll keep you all informed if any more 50s and 60s artists
will be on the show. There is no charge for the tickets and
it's a first come, first served sitting, but meeting Tommy
Sands and Glen Glenn was very far out. Unfortunately I didn't
know Mr. Sands was in "The Longest Day," my favorite WWII film.
I would have brought the OST LP and my WWII MI Helmet to sign
along with his LPs.
If you would like to still see the show it's on
http://www.kcet.tv
and can be viewed on the internet.
Cheers,
Leonardo Flores
http://www.the45club.com
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Message: 3
Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 02:03:48 -0500
From: Country Paul
Subject: More Fugs; Forum; Pet Projects; Bubble Puppy
First, kudos to our list's own Phil Milstein who, in his
other persona - keeper of the song-poem flame - was a major
source on the subject in the Arts section of today's
(Sunday's) New York Times! Way to go, Phil!
Stewart Mason:
> [The Fugs'] first two (and best) albums are available
> on eMusic if anyone cares to investigate.
More Fugstuff: I prefer their second Reprise LP, "It Crawled
Into My Hand, Honest," where their musicality came closer to
their lyrical and poetic abilities. However, there were no
masterpieces like "Morning, Morning." Hiring a better-grade
band helped. My memory is fading here, so a few names and
facts have become hazy, but drummer Bob Mason and a later bass
player - whose name eludes me at the moment - came from another
Providence band, possibly Soup (featuring Martin Mull; one
album on Vanguard), who opened a sold-out show for them when
they came through Providence in their ESP-Disk days. I do
remember a local legend about the bass player not taking a
shower for two weeks, eating lots of LSD, and being carried to
the draft board in a basket. Needless to say, the government
wasn't real interested in sending him to Viet Nam! Unfortunately,
he never quite returned from that "mind excursion," and some
time later checked himself into Bellevue Hospital in NYC
claiming to be Paul McCartney. (I believe that last part was
documented in an item in Rolling Stone.)
From "bnbnk":
> ...a 45 on Mira Records by a group called The Forum (The River
> Is Wide b/w I Fall in Love ) produced by Norm Ratner,
> engineered by John Haeny. Don't know when it was released.
> It's a decent single. Any idea on the year?
Steve Stanley says the album was 1967; my single is dated 1966
(radio station stamp), which may explain JB's observation that
"'The River Is Wide' was clearly recorded under entirely different circumstances." Thanks for the Ratner info, Steve; and Javed,
I prefer the Forum to the Grass Roots' version.
> "Pet Projects: The Brian Wilson Productions" - the most eagerly
> anticipated CD here at S'pop HQ for quite some time....
> http://www.spectropop.com/recommends/index.htm#PetProjects
I'm with Harvey Williams - it WAS worth the wait. The Survivors'
"After The Game" has been on my want list for almost 40 years,
and it's still as beautiful and imperfect as I remember it. It's
unbelievable that one or more of these tracks wasn't a huge hit
(my money would have been on "Pamela Jean" or "Guess I'm Dumb;
I would have lost).
Dan Hughes:
> Besides the Elevators, I enjoyed the Red Krayola and Lost &
> Found and even Bubble Puppy on IA.
Bubble Puppy's "Hot Smoke and Sassafras," despite the dated
lyric, is a remarkable piece of power pop/garage/psychedelia,
and a personal favorite: supertight playing and arranging and
an innovative structure. (Oddly, I've never heard their album,
though.)
Patrick Rands, I know Bobby Jameson was said to be very self-
destructive during his period of prominence. I gather he is
still alive? Unfortunately, I can't stream the audio to your
show - slow modem. (And since David Matthews mentions
http://www.revola.co.uk I suggest checking out the listing
for the "Chris Lucey" album, a Bobby Jameson nom de plume,
which I hadn't heard of until now.)
More soon (including off-list responses I owe lots of people....)
Country Paul
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Message: 4
Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 12:57:56 -0000
From: Ron
Subject: Re: The Forum
Billy G. Spradlin wrote re. The Forum:
> Were they a studio creation or a real band? After
> listening to it again this song would have been perfect
> for the Righteous Brothers to record - they were starting
> to hurt for hits by that time.
According to the liner notes of the CD, they were a group.
They were what was left of Les Baxter's Balladeers. There
is a picture of a marquee with the billing as the Balladeers.
Based on the picture on their lp, I thought they looked
like a Vegas lounge act. They consisted of Phil Campos,
Rene Nole and Riselle Bain. The notes contain an interview
with Ms. Bain. Apparently they recorded as the Forum, and
toured as the Balladeers. Phil Campos had extensive folk
experience and made many appearances on other people's records
in the early sixties. The notes do not give much indication of
his activities since the Forum. He died within the last few
years.
Ron
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Message: 5
Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2003 15:42:45 +0000
From: Simon White
Subject: Motorcity
Kingsley:
> Regarding Motor City - let's assume that the letters were
> made of plasticene - then with not too much cheating (well
> OK, a letter or three) you could get the anagram 'contrived'
> from it, which is probably as close to a musical definition
> of the output of the majority of that label as you really
> need. Well, hush my mouth!
In defence of...
Motorcity was a massive project undertaken with genuine
motives. Yes it was 'contrived' - in the same way Spector
'contrived' to make records, in the same way as Berry Gordy
'contrived' to make records, in the same way that George Martin
'contrived' to make records, although I am not comparing the
actual Motorcity recordings to anything produced by the
aforementioned. Don't forget that Motorcity and its founder
Ian Levine made the last-ever recordings by Mary Wells, Marv
Johnson, Earl Van Dyke, David Ruffin, Hattie Littles, Herman
Griffin and others when NOBODY else was going to record them.
Over 100 ex-Motown artists were recorded for the project, 90%
of whom otherwise had little chance of ever recording again.
The label had a top twenty U.K. hit with Frances Nero, an
obscure and previously lost Motown artist from the 60s. They made
the best record Chuck Jackson had released in 15 years, recorded
Saundra Edwards, a voice that hadn't been heard since her leads
with The Elgins, brought Wanda Rogers in from the cold etc, etc,
etc. I had close contact with Motorcity in the last year of its
existence - I worked there - and acknowledge that a lot of the
700+ Motorcity recordings fall short of the mark - and, believe
me, so did some of the artists. But Ian Levine tried to give these
people a chance at something other than the relatively useless
self-aggrandizing adoration of the anoraks who would prefer that
they languish in obscurity so they could carry on being elitist.
Hush indeed.
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Message: 6
Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 16:26:51 -0000
From: Mike Edwards
Subject: Sandpipers/Grads
I was just messing around with some Sandpipers' stuff
when I read on the sleeve notes of their "Greatest Hits"
album that they had once recorded as the Grads. I didn't
know that but it reminded me that someone was looking to
hear the Grads' 45 "Everything In The Garden"/"Stage Door".
Please write in and let me know which side you want.
Mike Edwards
(still looking for that big 45 by Chase Webster on Dot –
it's the one called "Like I've Never Been Gone" from 1962)
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Message: 7
Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 15:03:58 -0000
From: Kingsley Abbott
Subject: Four Freshmen
Brian Chidester:
> I have an interview with Mark Eric from two years ago,
> where he discusses being influenced by the Beach Boys'
> "Friends" record, as well as Walter Wanderly. He also
> had a song recorded by the Four Freshmen in '67, which
> Brian Wilson cannot even lay claim to.
Not quite true - the Freshmen did a later cover of "Surfer
Girl". Bet BW was thrilled!
Kingsley
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Message: 8
Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 19:54:37 -0000
From: Leonardo Flores
Subject: Re: Latin music(s)
> There's probably no form of popular music more under-
> appreciated in the United States than Latin music...
Being Latino as well as living in LA, I've always grown up
with Latino Music in the home. Perhaps under-appreciated in
the entire US but here in LA you can't hardly get away from
it. All you have to do is turn on the TV and Radio to the
many Spanish stations on the air. Really the main issue is
that these stations broadcast in Spanish, so if some English
speaker likes a song, they can't find it beacuse the artist's
name was said in Spanish.
More importantly, one has to understand that Latino music is
marketed to a Latino Market in Spanish as opposed to being
marketed in English. So it might appear to the english-speaking
audiences that it's under-appreciated, but at least here in
Los Angeles it's very influential for many people. Sure there
are many cross-over artists but they are nowhere near the
numbers of performers who only perform in Spanish.
My Heart Loves the Samba,
Leonardo Flores
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Message: 9
Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 22:34:17 +0100
From: Stephane Rebeschini
Subject: Re: Ford Theatre
Stewart Mason a écrit :
> While I'm at it, does anyone have any info/memories/opinions
> on the Boston band Ford Theatre? They had two albums on
> ABC-Dunhill in '68 and '69, TRILOGY FOR THE MASSES and
> TIME CHANGES, and one local hit single in late '67, "Who You
> Belong To," which was truthfully their only really great
> song. I'm just wondering because my friend R. Stevie Moore,
> a cult hero of no small stature himself, is the nephew of Ford
> Theatre's guitarist, Harry Palmer, and considers his uncle his
> greatest mentor and biggest fan.
The TRILOGY FOR THE MASSES is a great album, IMHO, while
"TIME CHANGES" is very different, more pop oriented and really
deceiving compared to the first LP. It's worth mentioning that
Ford Theatre managed to release their third (and last) single
with a song called "Jefferson Airplane", which must have confused
many record buyers: was it the new Jefferson Airplane song
titled "Ford Theatre" or the other way round??
Harry Palmer also guested on an album I really like, "Smooth
As Raw Silk" by Silk (1969, also on ABC)
Regards,
Stephane Rebeschini
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Message: 10
Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 19:07:51 EST
From: Paul
Subject: Re: Sandpipers/Grads
Mike Edwards wrote:
> ....someone was looking to hear the Grads' 45 "Everything
> In The Garden"/"Stage Door". Please write in and let me
> know which side you want.
I'd love to hear both sides please Mike, see which is best.
I love the Sandpipers.
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Message: 11
Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2003 18:51:17 -0600
From: Dan
Subject: Bubble Puppy
Country Paul sez,
> Bubble Puppy's "Hot Smoke and Sassafras," despite the dated
> lyric, is a remarkable piece of power pop/garage/psychedelia,
> and a personal favorite: supertight playing and arranging and
> an innovative structure. (Oddly, I've never heard their album,
> though.)
Can't remember if it was the single or the album cut (not both)
of Hot Smoke & Sassafras that had a 31-second intro. I loved
playing a 30-second voice-only PSA over the intro. Start the
turntable, hit the cart machine, and listen to the nice lady talk
right up to the post.
By the way, I interviewed the Bubble Puppy when HS&S was atop the
charts. A nice bunch of fellows, and they told me that the
International Artists office was a holy mess--you couldn't walk
across the room because record albums were scattered everywhere.
You probably know that they later did an album on ABC using the
name Demian.
---Dan
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 12
Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2003 01:05:15 -0000
From: Ian Chapman
Subject: Re: Motorcity
Simon wrote:
> In defence of Motorcity........
Agreed, Simon. I always felt that Motorcity was a worthy
undertaking, done with the best of intentions, and it seems
that the artists did too, at least at the outset. Miss Ray’s
account of the studio reunion in her autobiography “Berry,
Me & Motown” stirs the emotions, especially the arrival and
subsequent recording of Marvelette Wanda Rogers.
Who would ever have thought we'd see Frances Nero's name in
the national chart? Shame that hers was the only Motorcity
hit, after what must have been a considerable financial
outlay on Ian Levine’s part. There were a few gems amongst
the other original material that had real chart potential -
Joe Stubbs’ sublime “Smoke In The Air” being a case in
point.
I might add that it was also Motorcity that resulted in the
Dominion live show, one of the most memorable I’ve ever
seen, with a line-up that included Carolyn Crawford, the
Elgins, Kim Weston, Syreeta, Edwin Starr and former Supremes
Jean Terrell, Scherrie Payne and Lynda Lawrence (plus Susaye
Green who was also in the audience the night I was there).
A magic night indeed.
Ian
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