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Jamie LePage (1953-2002)
http://www.spectropop.com/Jamie.htm
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There are 25 messages in this issue.
Topics in this digest:
1. Re: The Breakaways darling tune
From: Andrea Ogarrio
2. Re: Chris Lucey AKA Chris Ducey AKA Bobby Jameson?
From: Patrick Rands
3. Re: Top10 Seminal Rock N Roll Tunes
From: Mike Edwards
4. Re: WHAT IS ROCK AND ROLL? You tell me.
From: Phil Milstein
5. Re: Superman songs
From: Phil Milstein
6. Re: Telephone Songs
From: Dan Hughes
7. Cool site for BBC - Top of the Pops - Videoclips
From: Steve Harvey
8. Re: Telephone Songs
From: Eric Charge
9. Re: Desperately Seeking Superman
From: Lindsay Martin
10. Normie Rowe, original versions & Artie Wayne!
From: Lindsay Martin
11. Re: Gary & The Hornets
From: Kingsley Abbott
12. Soul and inspiration - the Righteous Bros
From: Richard Hattersley
13. Re: Doctor's Orders / Oz originals & covers
From: Norman
14. Re: Donna Lynn & the Beatles......& the Stones!
From: Andres Jurak
15. Re: Desperately Seeking Superman
From: Frank Uhle
16. Re: Donna Lynn (another GREAT single)
From: Kitty Hinkle
17. Re Widescreen LP
From: Andrew Jones
18. Re: Tony Romeo
From: Artie Wayne
19. Re: Telephone Songs
From: Rex Strother
20. Re: Telephone Songs
From: B. Vlaovic
21. Re: Telephone Songs
From: Phil Milstein
22. Re: WHAT IS ROCK AND ROLL? You tell me.
From: Mary
23. Who are the people in the message board photo?
From: Emily
24. Rock'n'Roll
From: Kingsley Abbott
25. Re : What Is Rock & Roll
From: Tony
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Message: 1
Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 02:12:22 -0000
From: Andrea Ogarrio
Subject: Re: The Breakaways darling tune
Me:
> ....I am delurking to ask another question about that wonderful
> unreleased Breakaways song in the film 'Darling'....
Phil C:
> I dug out the video and edited the song around to remove dialogue.
> Not totally sure how it stands up outside of the film, but I've
> played this lo-fi offering to musica for examination. Find it here:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/spectropop/files/musica/
How wonderful to hear the whole song without the dialog, especially since we
have been unable to find reference to any kind of soundtrack for the film.
Those fab ascending vocal chords at the end of the choruses just send me...
Thanks much, Phil!
Andrea O.
http://www.rapiers.net
"Champions of utterly cool, early '60s UK rock 'n' roll."
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Message: 2
Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 02:14:56 -0000
From: Patrick Rands
Subject: Re: Chris Lucey AKA Chris Ducey AKA Bobby Jameson?
Hi Steve,
I knew there was some confusion between Chris Lucey and Chris Ducey
and found out they were seperate people when I saw a picture of
Chris Ducey on the internet. I didn't realize that there was indeed
a connection beyond a misprint though. So does this mean there is an
entirely different album as recorded by Chris Ducey with the same
song titles as the Chris Lucey album?? Do these tapes still exist
and is there any chance they will be issued?
My understanding regarding the Mike Nesmith-produced Penny Arkade
recordings is that some if not all of them ended up on the Satya Sai
Maitreya Kali double cd Apache/Inca. Is Chris Ducey aware of this
double cd?
Speaking of the Chris and Craig Isha b/w I Need You, 45 on Capitol -
are these songs available on cd? Does anyone have this 45? I'd love
to hear it.
:Patrick
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Message: 3
Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 22:06:53 -0500
From: Mike Edwards
Subject: Re: Top10 Seminal Rock N Roll Tunes
Mike Rashkow writes:
> what I am hoping for is that we will hear from all 800 members of the
> group; and that the Spectopop Team of talented webmeisters will keep a
> tally of the responses, which at a certain date will lead to an
> announcement of the 10 most important seminal rock and roll records.
The Admin Team at Spectropop are busy keeping up with what they have on
their plates at the moment. So I suggest that members submit their lists
without requiring that anyone tabulate them. It could be interesting. Any
list that includes an item from Johnny Cymbal can't be all bad!
Mike Edwards
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Message: 4
Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 22:02:57 +0000
From: Phil Milstein
Subject: Re: WHAT IS ROCK AND ROLL? You tell me.
Mike Rashkow wrote:
> But is "Rock and Roll" "Rock and Roll"? My vote is no. No such
> thing. No more than all Classical is simply Classical as opposed
> to Baroque, Chamber, Symphonic, Operatic, etc.
Defining rocknroll is about as simple a task as defining humor, or art,
or genius, or love. Each presents a most slippery slope, and as soon as
you're done some joker is bound to come alone and poke a deflating hole
in your creation.
My solution is to use these words most guardedly, and reserve those
usages for situations where the exact definition won't be as important
as the general sense I'm trying to impart. Thus, while I appreciate
Mike's challenge, I, for one, am not gonna go there.
With all good humor,
--Phil Milstein
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Message: 5
Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 22:04:57 +0000
From: Phil Milstein
Subject: Re: Superman songs
Would "Up, Up And Away" by the 5th Dimension qualify?
--Phil M.
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Message: 6
Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 21:43:56 -0600
From: Dan Hughes
Subject: Re: Telephone Songs
Okay, gang, thinking caps on--what telephone song spent 3 weeks at # 2 in
Billboard's Hot 100, and 14 weeks at # 1 on Billboard's country chart?
---Dan
(Hints tomorrow if nobody gets it right away)
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Message: 7
Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 19:59:01 -0800 (PST)
From: Steve Harvey
Subject: Cool site for BBC - Top of the Pops - Videoclips
Lots of musical clips from 64 on. Some strange stuff that hit over there,
but not in the USA. Jimmy Gilstrap! live Van Morrison with Cliff Richards.
Unfortunately only 30 seconds a pop:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/totp2/videoclips/date/1968/
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Message: 8
Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 06:24:26 -0000
From: Eric Charge
Subject: Re: Telephone Songs
The greatest telephone song of all time:
BUSY LINE by the wonderful ROSE MURPHY
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Message: 9
Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 17:37:35 +1000
From: Lindsay Martin
Subject: Re: Desperately Seeking Superman
Alison McCallum - "Superman" (1972)
This one was written & produced in Australia by pop geniuses and
ex-Easybeats Harry Vanda & George Young.
For the numerically minded: #10 Sydney,
#16 Melbourne, #10 Adelaide.
(Anyone out there have some Brisbane charts? I'd love to get hold
of them!)
Lindsay
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Message: 10
Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 19:07:56 +1000
From: Lindsay Martin
Subject: Normie Rowe, original versions & Artie Wayne!
Phil wrote:
> Normie Rowe's "It's Not Easy"...
> Does anyone know if Normie's is the original version...?
Norman knows more about Normie Rowe than I do, and he may have
further information, but my hunch is that Normie's version of
Mann-Weil's "It's Not Easy" may well have been the original.
It's always hazardous to make claims about original versions,
but I can't find any earlier versions in a quick Internet search
For example, Eric Burdon & the Animals had it on an album in '67,
New York group The Will-O-Bees had a single on Date in '68 which
barely charted, and the Sweet Inspirations had it on a '69 album.
Although it was a hit in Australia by an Australian artist, "It's
Not Easy" is a British production, recorded in London (echoes of
"Friday On My Mind"!), and it's not implausible that the song was
acquired from the publisher, rather than being a "cover". Still,
I would welcome any corrections to this view.
By the way, it wasn't unusual for Aussie pop records to have been
the original versions of songs written by American songwriters.
In this connection, I've lately discovered, to my amazement, that
Artie Wayne had a hand in writing the following songs, all well-known
in Australia, but three contrasting songs would be hard to find:
Judy Stone - "4,003,221 Tears From Now" (Wayne - Raleigh)
Ray Brown & the Whispers "Go To Him" (Wayne - Coleman)
Marcia Hines - "From the Inside" (Wayne)
"Go To Him" is a legendary B-side, a moody classic of 60s Oz beat
group rock, but who'd have thought it was co-written by the same
guy that co-wrote Judy Stone's perky country-tinged pop hit from
'64? And who wrote Marcia's stirringly produced power ballad from
'73 as well! The man's versatility is extraordinary.
I mean, who'da thunk it?
Oh, and thanks to Artie for graciously replying to my questions on
this topic. He's a gentleman and a bloody good bloke!
Omigoodness, I'm lapsing into quaint Australian patois. Must be
that fine Victorian Sauvignon Blanc I've been using to celebrate
the end of the working week.
Have a good weekend when it gets to you,
Lindsay,
Friday night in Oz
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Message: 11
Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 09:58:09 -0000
From: Kingsley Abbott
Subject: Re: Gary & The Hornets
Larry asked about Gary & the Hornets. I seem to recall I have a couple
of singles in the inner sanctum. If memory serves, they are "Summer's
Over" (which can also be found on the 'Beach Street And Strip' CD) and
another on a red label - could it have been "Kind Of Hush"? Did they
cover that or am I way off beam? Larry, you should contact off list
if you'd like me to search further...
Kingsley Abbott
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Message: 12
Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 12:40:42 +0000
From: Richard Hattersley
Subject: Soul and inspiration - the Righteous Bros
Who actually produced the Righteous Brothers' "Soul & Inspiration"? When I
first heard it I thought, Wow great Spector production. However every copy
I had said Prod by Bill Medley. And yet no other Bill Medley prod sounds
like this. Although "See that girl" is quite strong as well. Then recently
I picked up a greates hits album called 2 by 2 on MGM records. Looks like
an early 70's disc. This says Prod by Phil Spector against "Soul and
Inspiration". Anyone wise to the truth?
Richard
http://www.wiz.to/richardsnow
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Message: 13
Date: Sat, 01 Mar 2003 00:16:11 +1030
From: Norman
Subject: Re: Doctor's Orders / Oz originals & covers
re: Elisabeth's thread about "Doctor's Orders"
I wanted to jump in straight away but found little time to do so. Being a
Greenaway-Cook fan I bought the Sunny 45 as soon as I heard it. I grew to
like the b-side just as well (Only When You're Feeling Lonely). It went to
#2 on the local charts in 1974.
I heard Carol Douglas's version a little while later on a specialist
program (in retrospect I imagine that it was not a commercial radio
station). I only heard it once and it blew me away. I was lucky enough to
pick up the Carol Douglas Album a little while later (I suspect it may be
the one that the radio station had been using).
I was not a great fan of disco music (or what was pushed on us by the
radio stations at the time) but was absolutely amazed that I played more
than one track on the album. My two other favourites being "A Hurricane is
Coming Tonite" and "Will We Make it Together". The info re: The Carol
Douglas Album 1975 RCA BKL1- 0931 (Australian release).
Phil Chapman:
> Normie Rowe's "It's Not Easy"...
> Does anyone know if Normie's is the original version of this Brill
> Building song?
I would like to find out how, why, when and where some of the Australian
singers accessed the catalogues. I have often read that much of what was
recorded here was picked up, and even parrotted, from the originals.
A case which comes to mind is the local version of Raincoat in the River
by Dig Richards and the R Jays. I have never heard the Sammy Turner
original, so I am only surmising, but listening to Dig Richards' version
there are too many throw away vocal inflections most unusual for an
Australian singer at the time, either he mimicked the original or he
listened to a few American singers of the time (ie, Brook Benton, Ben E
King, Gene McDaniels).
Norman
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Message: 14
Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 14:55:45 -0000
From: Andres Jurak
Subject: Re: Donna Lynn & the Beatles......& the Stones!
Hi Spectropop people!
We all know about two great Donna Lynn's Beatles related songs. But
she was also somehow related to... the Rolling Stones! Check the
Photos section http://photos.groups.yahoo.com/group/spectropop/lst
All the best
Andres
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Message: 15
Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 11:45:13 -0500 (EST)
From: Frank Uhle
Subject: Re: Desperately Seeking Superman
A new lister here - first post.
A Superman song with girl group elements that I quite like is "Superman"
by Joyce Davis (at first I thought it was Joyce Harris, recently being
discussed here, but checked and found out my memory was wrong.) It is a
United Artists 45 from '62.
Frank Uhle
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Message: 16
Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 16:49:37 -0000
From: Kitty Hinkle
Subject: Re: Donna Lynn (another GREAT single)
Previously:
> ...(Donna Lynn) also had a single released: A-Side. I Had A Dream I
> Was A Beatle, B-Side. My Boyfriend Got A Beatle Haircut...
I have the Donna Lynn song on an album called "Beatlesongs" on Rhino
from 82 that may be relatively easy to find. It also features the
fab "We love you Beatles" by the Carefrees and a load of other magic
- plus some true crap.
As a side note, someone probably mentioned it in a post and I missed
it, but a great use of a phone call in a song is Captain Beefheart's
"The Blimp" - all the vocals are recorded over the phone. My apologies
if this was already posted!
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Message: 17
Date: Thu, 27 Feb 2003 22:46:40 -0500 (EST)
From: Andrew Jones
Subject: Re Widescreen LP
Richard Havers: Whaddya know - someone else besides me remembers the
"Widescreen" album! "Soap Opera" was my favorite track on it.
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Message: 18
Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 09:24:27 -0800 (PST)
From: Artie Wayne
Subject: Re: Tony Romeo
Sorry to disappoint you, but I don't have any stories about Tony.....
we didn't hang out or anything. He was one of the most natural writers
I ever worked with when he brought me a song it was always complete.
It was either you liked or you didn't. With his classical background
it was no surprise to me that it reflected in so many of the hits he
wrote for the Partridge Family.
regards, Artie Wayne
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Message: 19
Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 10:26:11 -0700
From: Rex Strother
Subject: Re: Telephone Songs
For songs based on a telephone call, include "Your Most Valuable
Possession" by Ben Folds Five on their album "The Unauthorized
Biography of Reinhold Messner". It's a funny, melancholy sweet
instrumental featuring an answering machine message from Ben Fold's
dad rambling on (probably drunk) about something he saw on the news...
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Message: 20
Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 12:15:41 -0500
From: B. Vlaovic
Subject: Re: Telephone Songs
For Canadians there was the Stampeders cover of 'Hit the Road Jack' which
featured a phone conversation between the singer and Wolfman Jack. And
although I don't recall if it actually had a telephone conversation
Sugarloaf's 'Dont Call Us, We'll Call You' did have the touch tone dial up
sounds (rumoured to be the same you'd get if you phoned CBS records, hence
the title of the song)......and what about Lene Lovich's vocal impersonation
of a touch tone phone in 'Lucky Number' or Chrissie Hynde's (Pretenders)
heavy breathing phone call in, erm, 'Phone Call'. I guess I'm outta the
Spectropop time range here.
N
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Message: 21
Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 14:25:12 +0000
From: Phil Milstein
Subject: Re: Telephone Songs
> Okay, gang, thinking caps on--what telephone song spent 3 weeks at # 2 in
> Billboard's Hot 100, and 14 weeks at # 1 on Billboard's country chart?
Hello Darlin', by Jim Reeves I believes.
--Phil M.
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Message: 22
Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 17:33:38 -0000
From: Mary
Subject: Re: WHAT IS ROCK AND ROLL? You tell me.
What is rock and roll? Well, one thing that ISN'T rock and
roll is hard rock. I don't like it when hard rock "singers"
and heavy metal performers are called "rock and rollers".
To me, rock and roll would be the kind of singing done by
the Beatles, esp. on their early songs, Chuck Berry doing
most of his material, Buddy Holly, Dion and the Belmonts,
Bill Haley and the Comets, and Jerry Lee Lewis (his big
hits...he also sang country), among many others. Brenda
Lee sang some rock and roll (such as "Is It True?" and
"Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree") but many of her songs
were country songs. Connie Francis certainly had many rock
and roll type songs as well as pop songs. I would call
"Lipstick On Your Collar" a rock and roll song, for example,
but would call "My Happiness" a pop song of the ballad
type.
Mary S.
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Message: 23
Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 17:37:35 -0000
From: Emily
Subject: Who are the people in the message board photo?
Yes, I'm ignorant. Cynthia Weil?...
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Message: 24
Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 18:00:14 -0000
From: Kingsley Abbott
Subject: Rock'n'Roll
I have a wonderful picture of Rashkovsky sitting stirring
his cauldron, cackling wildly as he mutters 'This will wind
'em all up!' - indeed the question is a wonderful one to pose
at this juncture of the list, and one that we will probably
all have our own answers to. For mine, I'll trust my original
images that I developed when I first began collecting way back
in the (just) post-Rashkovskic era of the early sixties.
I always pictured Rock 'n' Roll as wild with particular feels
of rhythm - certainly Haley, Domino, Richard, Hawkins, Lewis,
Vincent et al were all there, with Chuck Berry as the central
defining figure. My criteria developed to be summed up simply
as the sort of people who you wouldn't trust your
girlfriend/boyfriend/wife/husband/daughter/son with
(delete as applicable dependant on age/sex/orientation etc!!).
Vocal groups, in the main, or what we now call Doo Wop, were
somehow a bit different. My first tentative 45rpm purchases
buying good black pop or so I thought. Subsequent knowledge
tells me that there were certainly many great group records
that I would call R'n'R. Elsewhere there was R&B that begat
certain Soul, much of which became black pop (most Motown).
Others of Mike's suggestions - Beach Boys, Lymon, Orbison,
Cymbal, Twitty, Holly, Drifters etc were always pop - good,
crafted pop, but pop certainly. (Maybe it is 'pop' that we
need to define alongside R&R???) All of these seemed to be
much safer figures (tho probably not in reality) than the greasy
rascals that purveyed debauchery and God knows what! I've always
felt happy using such, albeit highly subjective, definitions that
fit my music world view....thus Johnnie Allen's version of
'Promised land' is still fine Rock'n' Roll, whilst safer white
acts don't do it for me. R'N'R needs an edge of sweat, a leer,
and a strong element of parental disapproval. I'd be happy with
any definition that saw R'n'R as growing out of R'n'B with elements
of the above. (Thinks: Though R'n'B is also a term that has been
twisted to something way away from its original meaning...but
that's another story)
The net result of these musings is that probably R'n'R probably
doesn't fit Spectropop, though our sides do seem to be infinitely
elastic.
Another totally different definition would be music that makes
you able to get up and dance and make a total prat of yourself -
as two certain Spectropoppers who shall remain nameless found
out only last night!!!!!
Kingsley
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Message: 25
Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 18:15:43 -0000
From: Tony
Subject: Re : What Is Rock & Roll
Rock & Roll began in the early fifties and lasted through
to the mid 60s and is a subset of Pop music. Pop, the short
form of Popular, is the umbrella that covers all music that
is in vogue at 'any' point in time.
At the same time, we do not have a 'single' subset only,
there can be umpteen ...
Elvis - Rock & Roll
Beach Boys - Surf Music
Fats Domino - R & B
Frankie Lymon - Doo Wop
etc etc etc
Rock & Roll drew the most attention in the early days because
it was so different from what had gone before, (plus we all
loved to play it loud - LOUD! Still love to play it loud as a
matter of fact ) Yet there were literally hordes of great
records released, hits or misses, that cannot be considered
R & R even when performed by a 'R&R' artist .. ie. Conway
Twitty - It's Only Make Believe.
> So, group---what does it mean? How do we parse it, what do
> we call it? Certainly Reggae is Reggae, and Rap (gag) is Rap,
> and Blues (thank God) is blues.
I say we simply call it those much abused, and oft times hated,
words .. Pop Music, for that is what it is.
My List of Seminal Influences
1 Carl Perkins - Blue Suede Shoes
2 Jackie Wilson - That's Why
3 Guy Mitchell - Rock A Billy
4 Rosemary Clooney - C'Mon A My House
5 Percy Faith - Summer Place
6 Ritchie Valens - La Bamba
7 Duane Eddy - Rebel Rouser
8 All Philles Records up to, but excluding, River Deep, Mountain High
9 Alan Jones - Donkey Serenade
10 Glenn Miller - Moonlight Serenade
Tony
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