Spectropop - Digest Number 983

• From: Spectropop Group
• Date: Thu, 07 Aug 2003

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               SPECTROPOP - Spectacular! Retro! Pop!
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There are 13 messages in this issue.

Topics in this digest:

      1. Gary Miles & Garry Mills
           From: Rob 
      2. Re: Laura Nyro
           From: Steve Harvey 
      3. Laura Nyro
           From: Stuart Miller 
      4. Re: Jaedes Album 1969
           From: Scott 
      5. Tell Laura We Love Her
           From: Steve Harvey 
      6. Re: Roemans
           From: Jeff Lemlich 
      7. Chuck Woolery: He's still got it!
           From: Clark Besch 
      8. Re: More news and notes
           From: Steve Harvey 
      9. Jeffrey Comanor
           From: Bob Rashkow 
     10. Three Degrees "Dirty Ol' Man"
           From: Simon White 
     11. Re: Knock Three Times (& Lou Christie)
           From: Allan Rinde 
     12. Sire Records
           From: Scott Bauman 
     13. Re: "Stoney End" request
           From: Don Hertel 


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Message: 1
   Date: Thu, 07 Aug 2003 20:16:01 -0000
   From: Rob 
Subject: Gary Miles & Garry Mills

Hi All,
I was interested in the note re: Gary Miles "Look For A Star".
I presume this is the same song released here in the U.K. by 
Garry Mills. This is another Tony Hatch composition, it was 
featured in a U.K. horror film called "Circus of Horrors".
I think  Garry had 1 further hit over here called "Top Teen 
Baby". Can anybody provide any updates?

Rob.



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Message: 2
   Date: Thu, 07 Aug 2003 13:16:22 -0700 (PDT)
   From: Steve Harvey 
Subject: Re: Laura Nyro

There were actually five different covers for Laura Nyro's 
first LP. There is the reissue on CBS with the red cover, 
three versions of the Verve LP (with liner notes, lyrics and 
one that says More Than A New Discovery). However, the rarest 
has a shot of Laura in the street in a winter coat with her 
arms wrapped around herself. It was used for Verve's ads in 
Sing Out, but I've never seen the actual slick.



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Message: 3
   Date: Thu, 07 Aug 2003 22:23:09 +0100
   From: Stuart Miller 
Subject: Laura Nyro

Dave,
In terms of what information I have on the making of "Eli", 
Roy's name doesn't come up.  I know he did work with her and 
for all I know he may have worked on this album, but I'm not 
aware of it.

I can tell you that the album was a "done deal" before Laura 
even signed to Columbia.  In other words, the songs and layout 
were already conceived, which suggests Roy was not involved on 
that side of things.  Very strangely, the way Laura had prepared 
the work in terms of the layout was exactly as it appeared on 
record, which I think is unusual.

Geffen then went about auditioning producers.  The style of the 
album etc. was then hammered out between Laura and the producer. 
Careful thought was given to the selection of the musicians used.  
I presume you may know some of the names picked but Hugh McCracken 
was there as well as Chet Amsterdam and Ralph Casale. Laura wasn't 
used to playing with other musicians and they wanted people in who 
would be sympathetic to her music and who could interract with her.  
There were a number of amusing moments in the recording because 
Laura had a tendency to drag out a joint from time to time and 
apparently rolled big ones which were passed around amongst the 
musicians, much to the great angst of Geffen.  More than one session 
was stopped as a result of everyone's incapcity to continue.

I mentioned Artie Schroek being the drummer but Buddy Salzman was 
originally brought in, but they weren't happy. At the final mix 
they used 5 engineers, sacking four of them before they settled 
on Roy Segal, who I believe was technically very competent. 
The union was quite strong at CBS back then and some of the 
attitudes the engineers brought in were not condusive to a happy 
working environment.

So convinced was Geffen of the quality of the work that he and the 
producer organised a Listening Party for the press etc. which was 
quite innovative back then.  Hacks were dragged in and told to sit, 
the lights were dimmed, the album played, and a positive critical 
response was received. 

I've not followed Geffen's career per se so I do not know now 
how he is perceived by the entertainment establishment but he was 
extremely instrumental in the success of that album, doing marvelous 
things behind the scenes at Columbia and really pushing and argueing 
his point.  His contribution should not be overlooked. 

Hope this was useful

Stuart



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Message: 4
   Date: Thu, 07 Aug 2003 19:53:17 EDT
   From: Scott 
Subject: Re: Jaedes Album 1969

Frederick Blackmon:
> Thanks for the inquiry about the song "Hotter Than Fire". It 
> was not my group. My group spelled its name "Jaedes" WE did 
> not record that song.

Mr. Blackmon - 

I've owned a copy of your LP for several years and it's great.  
The pseudo-psychedelic "True, True,True" and your cover of BS&T's 
"Spinning Wheel" were personal favorites.

I always wondered how your group ended up on Anthena Records 
since the other LP on that label that I own is a psych-oriented 
outing by The Femine Complex.

Scott



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Message: 5
   Date: Thu, 07 Aug 2003 13:21:06 -0700 (PDT)
   From: Steve Harvey 
Subject: Tell Laura We Love Her

Dave Feldman
> DF, who still hasn't figured out how to picnic (I confess)

That's quite alright, David, as long as you can still
surrey on down.



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Message: 6
   Date: Fri, 08 Aug 2003 02:35:04 -0000
   From: Jeff Lemlich 
Subject: Re: Roemans

Michael Gessner:
> Does anyone have any of the ABC singles by The Roemans?

Contry Paul:
> I believe the core of the group subsequently became the 
> Atlanta Rhythmn Section. I'm looking for an ABC 45 of 
> theirs - "Your Friend" from c. 62-63.
> Anyone with any leads to it - CD, mp3, etc., please?

The Roemans were one of the top bands on Florida's west coast.   
All the detail you'd ever want is on the Limestone Lounge forum:

http://pub64.ezboard.com/flimestoneloungefrm7.showMessage?topicID=96.topic




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Message: 7
   Date: Fri, 08 Aug 2003 05:16:18 -0000
   From: Clark Besch 
Subject: Chuck Woolery: He's still got it!

Say, did anyone happen to see the Chuck Woolery reality show 
Aug 3 "Naturally Stoned" on the Game Show network? (Whatdya 
mean "GET A LIFE"??)  Seriously, the show was the story of 
Chuck's life from early clips, game shows, etc teasing all the 
way that he would be singing for the first time in 35 years: 
"Naturally Stoned" (which they showed the 45 label twice on the 
Columbia Collector's series 45 - no original copy I guess).  
Well, finally Chuck got around to this little live gig in front 
of mostly game show network people to perform one song with a 
group of about 5 good musicians.  Despite the video being done 
worse than you or I could tape our local band at the bar, Chuck 
did a really fine vocal performance of the song!  I was very 
glad to see he didn't slob it up.  Now, I would like to request 
that he perform "Fly With Me" and "Yellow Beads"!!  
Take care, 

Clark




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Message: 8
   Date: Thu, 07 Aug 2003 13:19:19 -0700 (PDT)
   From: Steve Harvey 
Subject: Re: More news and notes

Country Paul
> A promo of "Angel"? Wow! I LOVE this song! 
> Has Shelby Flint ever been discussed in these pages?

She teamed up with this jazz guitarist for a CD. He
did the "Wouldn't It Be Nice" CD of jazz artists
tackling Brian Wilson tunes. She's on that one too. 
So Shelby is still kicking.



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Message: 9
   Date: Fri, 08 Aug 2003 11:52:13 EDT
   From: Bob Rashkow 
Subject: Jeffrey Comanor

Art Longmire [on the Groop album]:
> I noticed that a majority of the songs were written by 
> Jeffrey Comanor.

Comanor did do some recording of his own.  His unsuccessful A&M 
LP "Sure Hope You Like It", 1970 I guess, contains "A Famous Myth" 
and "Dianne, Help Me Now" which is listed under the alternate 
title on the LP.  It also has some pretty good folk-pop which 
approaches Nilsson, Tim Hardin, etc.  Songs about loneliness and 
desolation and a couple of cool odes to livin' in the country, 
which of course was very, very in at that time!

Frank Youngwerth, good to hear from you and to know you're still
on the group!  Need to hear more from you in between jazz columns!  
I haven't ever heard Nyro do her Stoney End so at least for now 
I'll have to say no one does it like La Streisand.  

Bobster



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Message: 10
   Date: Fri, 08 Aug 2003 11:24:40 +0100
   From: Simon White 
Subject: Three Degrees "Dirty Ol' Man"

Eddy Smit wrote:
> Except for somebody from Down Under, I didn't see any comments
> on the success (?) of the 3 Degrees Dirty Old man. And since it
> apparently didn't chart in the UK, I was wondering what it had
> done in the States...

"Dirty Ol' Man" was a hit in the Soul discos and gay clubs 
in the U.K. at the time.  A "Blues And Soul" magazine from 
December '73/January '74 I have here lists it at number 11 
in the 'Soul Singles ' chart and  also prints a run down of 
"what our gay brothers and sisters seem to be digging at the 
moment" .... And they were digging the following:

Love Unlimited - Loves Theme
Three Degrees - Dirty Ol' Man
Jackie Moore - Both Ends Against The Middle
Sister Sledge - Mama Never Told Me
Blue Magic - Look Me Up
Pointer Sisters - Yes We Can Can
O C Smith - LaLa Peace Song 
Gloria Gaynor - Honeybee 

U.K. radio was heavily biased against 'disco' at the time and 
none of these records made it to the mainstream charts.



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Message: 11
   Date: Sat, 09 Aug 2003 08:23:26 -0000
   From: Allan Rinde 
Subject: Re: Knock Three Times (& Lou Christie)

Sean wrote:
> I love this song [Knock Three Times] by Tony Orlando and Dawn 
> but now that someone was mentioning Ellie Greenwich possibly 
> singing on "Lightning Strikes", I heard that Ellie and someone 
> else (not one of Dawn) were backing up Tony on this song. Does 
> anyone know if that's true?

Well, after all the trouble I stirred up with my "Lightning Strikes"
post, I was hoping someone else would jump in here. The backgrounds 
on "Knock Three Times" (as well as "Candida" and probably most, if 
not all, of the first Dawn album) were not done by Joyce and Thelma, 
who at some point later in time would join with Tony O to become the 
Dawn everyone remembers. Two of the singers were Toni Wine and Jay 
Siegel (of the Tokens). According to Tony O, in his book of last 
year, "Halfway to Paradise," the third singer was Linda November 
(who is referred to several pages later as Linda September, so much 
for proof reading). According to Toni Wine, the third voice belonged 
to Robin Grean (not sure if that's the correct spelling). One day 
we'll get Linda and Robin together and sort this out.

As for the Lou Christie backgrounds, I've been told to 'lay low' 
while Toni Wine checks out her recollections with a few sources. 

For all you Southern California Spectropoppers, Lou, B.J. Thomas, 
The Angels (featuring Jiggs and Peggy), Jay Siegel's Tokens (in a 
very rare West Coast Appearance), Shirley Alston Reeves of the 
Shirelles, Little Anthony & The Imperials, Chris Montez and a few 
others, including your MC, Fabian, will be appearing in Palm Springs 
at Rocktoberfest, which despite it's name actually occurs Sept. 26-28 
and is FREE. For more info, check out
http://www.palmspringsrocktoberfest.com/



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Message: 12
   Date: Fri, 08 Aug 2003 18:18:29 +0000
   From: Scott Bauman 
Subject: Sire Records

Doug  listed some of the highlights of the early Sire 
catalogue, but I wanted to point out an important omission:

"Lo and Behold" by Coulson, Dean, McGuinness, Flint, a group 
composed of some former Manfred Mann members.  This album was 
released in 1972 and is comprised of excellent covers of obscure 
(at least at the time) Bob Dylan songs such as "Eternal Circle", 
"Tiny Montgomery", "Sign On The Cross" and "Don't You Tell Henry".  
Fortunately, it was released on CD by Raven in Australia.  
If you doubt my recommendation, check out the album review on 
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=MISS70308090534&sql=Af85h8qmnbt94

Scott



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Message: 13
   Date: Fri, 08 Aug 2003 17:58:55 -0000
   From: Don Hertel 
Subject: Re: "Stoney End" request

Frank Youngwerth wrote:
> Talking of "Stoney End", I wonder if anyone's in a 
> position to play to musica Laura's song as done by 
> the Blossoms, or Peggy Lipton.

I played "Stoney End" to musica.  
By Peggy Lipton with the Blossoms singing backup.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/spectropop/files/musica

Don NJ




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