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Volume #0010 11/11/97
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Subject: re: Flowerpot Men
Sent: 11/9/97 3:51 AM
Received: 11/9/97 8:34 AM
From: David Bash, bashXXX@XXXXXXt.com
> Subject: Smile, Flowerpot Men, and Honeys
> From: David Marsteller, davebXXX@XXXXXXlin.org
> would it be worth the effort to get the Repertoire disc for the bonus
> tracks?
Hi David,
Most of the bonus tracks aren't all that good, but a
couple of them, "Cooks of Cake and Kindness" and "Heaven
Knows When", that make the Repetoire disc and essential
purchase for fans of The Flowerpot Men.
--
Spectropop Rules!!!!!
Take Care,
David
-----------[ archived by Spectropop ]-----------
Subject: Re: Honeys/Spring
Sent: 11/8/97 11:17 PM
Received: 11/9/97 12:00 AM
From: Dave Mirich, DmirXXX@XXXXXXm
In a message dated 97-11-08 08:00:34 EST, you write:
> And as far as Ginger's singing in The Honeys, gee I'll
> have to go back and listen. Most of my impression was
> formed from hearing the Spring album, which was
> Ginger-free, right? I think the Rovell sisters are
> annoyingly nasal sounding, and that pretty much turned
> me off to their whole output.
It's taken me awhile to warm up to Spring, but this was
Brian Wilson's band, start to finish. The wonderful
arrangements and backing vocals are proof of this. Most
songs on this CD are infinately listenable, Brian's
presence is clearly evident. However, he had much less to
do with any Honey's output as I understand it, and it
shows. The Honeys CD is very nice, it's fun to listen to.
But if you want to hear some of Brian's magic from the
tail end of his creative exquisitness, check out the
Spring CD.
Dave Mirich
-----------[ archived by Spectropop ]-----------
Subject: Re: Ginger Glantz and Pamela Lee
Sent: 11/8/97 10:19 PM
Received: 11/8/97 10:21 PM
From: Jamie LePage, le_page_XXX@XXXXXXies.com
DerekAldenBill wrote:
>an informal poll (on the) merits of the Honeys' respective
>voices. I can barely stand to listen to (Marilyn) sing...
This is going to get convoluted, I'm afraid.
In Brad Elliott's book "Surf's Up!" he mentions
Collection Series, saying that Vol. 2 was the Honeys: The
Definite Album. Brad goes on to say that only 150 copies
were pressed and that a second run was re-booted but in
what number is not mentioned. Now, I don't know what all
that means, but my Honeys box is called the Honeys: The
Definite Album, Vol. 3 (pictured in Surf's Up!). To
confuse matters, there is a sticker on the plastic slip
case that says: Beach Boys Collector's Series Vol. 2,
with a hand written number 120 on it. Whassup with dat?
What are the differences between the first and second run,
and what are "Definite Albums 1 & 2"? If my copy is a
first run, can I sell it and buy a house in Malibu?
I think the Honeys recordings are a mix of good and
not-so-good attempts, with not a single hit to justify
the misses. Occasionally there is a high point. You
mentioned He's A Doll, which is a fabulous record, and
Pray For Surf too is a very exciting recording (love the
toms and the bari saxes). It's seems as though Brian was
applying the same anonymous vocal technique that he often
used with the Beach Boys, where the blend is so smooth
that the vocalists' identities are not immediately
distinguishable. In that respect, I like the Honeys vocal
sound. Whatever you think of their individual voices, the
blend they got on The One You Can't Have and the two
previously mentioned tracks was impressive. I also really
enjoy the Honeys' Once You've Got Him and Little Dirt
Bike. Here, they sound almost like Patience and Prudence,
which can't be a bad thing.
As far as the Spring album goes, I know very little about
the background, and I may be a dreamer but I hear a lot
of Brian on that album (or at least what I thought was
Brian at the time - popular opinion now has it that David
Sandler does a great impression). So I try to shut out
the vocals and dig the tracks, much as I try to ignore
Mike Love on BB albums. One thing the Spring LP did have
going for it was good material! Very strong songs on the
album. Superstar, for one, is simply a pop music classic.
Vocal delivery? Let's put it this way. Do not play Spring
to the unititiated. You will lose all credibility.
Then there was the American Spring reunion thing circa
1980, which I think ended up being released on Rhino or
something. But I remember the demo listed the cover of
Romeo and Juliet as being "Music Produced and Arranged by
Brian Wilson" (what does that mean?), with a mix note
that read:
"Recording Produced by American Spring and mixed by Dan
Phillips and David Scott through Deep Sleep Productions,
in association with Phil Spector International Inc.)" !!!!
So, can Messrs. Phillips and Scott be anyone other than
the Kessel Kids? And, what's with the "Deep Sleep" thing?
...Phil Spector International? Is this something like gun
toting L.A. pop icon godfather quasi-bodyguards cum
record producers of the late 70's or what? If anyone can
shed light on this, please; it's been a mystery for
nearly two decades.
>Anyway, with regard to discovering new music from the early 60s,
>Brian's productions have certainly had their fans, but I still feel
>they're underrated. Why didn't "He's A Doll" get any airplay or chart
>action......?
I hate to say it, but I think Capitol was having hits at
the time *in spite of* the level of their A&R and
marketing abilities. Capitol seemed to be very
consistent in these areas throughout the 60's. Look at
the Capitol roster. They had Lou Rawls, the Lettermen,
Glen Campbell, and...and...well, that's about it! Oh
wait, they had the Outsiders too. Sure knew what to do
with them! Nope, Capitol didn't have a whole lotta
rockin' little records, imho. Even their boutique label
Tower had cooler A&R.
>
>The Beach Boys could go into a studio today and cut "She's A Doll" or
>"Pamela Lee"
OK, I give up. What is Pamela Lee? Are we talking
Survivors here?
LePageWeb
n.p. Ginger & the Snaps
"Growing Up Is Hard To Do" (Boyce-Hart-Venet)
-----------[ archived by Spectropop ]-----------
Subject: Re: Toons
Sent: 11/8/97 11:37 PM
Received: 11/9/97 12:13 AM
From: Dave Mirich, DmirXXX@XXXXXXm
In a message dated 97-11-08 08:00:34 EST, you write:
> I'm trying to get some broadcast-quality (read: cd or
> virgin vinyl) of the Toons 'Looking At Girls' as
> well as information on the band's demise and possible
> whereabouts of the members - all of this for a radio
> special.
I'd love to know as well what happened to the
fabulously talented members of the Toons. I knew there
was one LP (I didn't know about there being two of them).
I found it at a used recored store for $2. A truly
magnificent record (at least the first side)., someone
on the PS list said (Jack?) that it is pretty much
flawless (side 1). As a BB soundalike, or "tribute",
it's the real thing. The group dedicated the LP to Brian
Wilson. But Looking at Girls is not the best song on the
album, great, fun song, but some of the others are truly
majestic. Search the web for email addresses for the
fellows in the band. Search the on-line phone book for
their names (LA? SF bay?). Good luck Kevin, keep us
informed.
Dave Mirich
-----------[ archived by Spectropop ]-----------
Subject: Re: Classic Girl Group Sound Post-1966
Sent: 11/9/97 3:44 AM
Received: 11/9/97 8:34 AM
From: David Bash, bashXXX@XXXXXXt.com
> A question for you listers.
>
> Can you think of examples of hit records released post 1966 that still
> had the classic girl group sound.
>
> I can think of at least three but it's open to argument if they qualify
> as either classic or "girl group"
>
> 1. Just for Tonight/ The Chiffons--1966
> 2. Condition Red/The Goodies--1969
> 3. Love ( Can Make You Happy)/Mercy--1969
>
> There's got to be some others but I can't think of any right now.
> Elements of the sound did reemerge in the post-punk/new wave era and
> could be heard in groups ranging from Bananarama to Blondie to Holly and
> the Italians and more.
>
> Could Phil Spector score a hit today?
>
> Javed
Hi Javed,
I suppose one could make the claim that "They Don't Know"
by either Kirsty MacColl or Tracy Ullman had the classic
girl group sound, especially Ullman's version because it
was more vocally expansive.
By the way, how many of you like the stereo Warner
Brothers version of "Love (Can Make You Happy)" better
than the mono Sundi version? I know I do.
I think that it's pretty unlikely that Phil Spector could
score a hit today. He tried unsuccessfully in the late
70s/early 80s, and my guess is that he's more or less out
of touch with the nuances of today's music. However, if
he would employ the aid of some contemporary producers
and songwriters, they could form a symbiosis where,
combining Spector's classic stylings with a current
viewpoint, a hit could very well be created.
--
Spectropop Rules!!!!!
Take Care,
David
-----------[ archived by Spectropop ]-----------
Subject: Re: Wild Honey
Sent: 11/9/97 3:34 AM
Received: 11/9/97 8:34 AM
From: David Bash, bashXXX@XXXXXXt.com
> From: dave prokopy, prokXXX@XXXXXX.net
>> I'm not sure which it would be, but one thing I'm confident of
>> is that nothing even remotely close to "Wild Honey" would
>> have been released, and in some ways I'm glad that "Smile"
>> wasn't released, because "Wild Honey" was showed the band to
>> have such remarkable versatility; besides, I like it a good
>> deal more than any configuration of "Smile" I've heard.
> ...couldn't disagree more. i think the world needed a _smile_
> album a LOT more than they'll ever need a _wild honey_. any
> decent R&B group could have done _wild honey_, and done it
> better. _smile_, on the other hand, was a truly original piece
> of art.
Hi Dave,
While I certainly respect your opinion that the world may
have needed "Smile" more than "Wild Honey", I
categorically disagree with your assessment that "any
decent R&B group could have done 'Wild Honey' and done it
better". The Beach Boys put their unique stamp of
innovative (if not relatively spare, in this case) vocal
arrangments, songwriting, and a lo-fi production value
(that was extremely rare for the time) onto "Wild Honey",
creating a work that stands alone with respect to R&B.
That's not to say it's the best R&B influenced album ever
made, but know that had I heard this album done by an R&B
artist I really like such as Sam & Dave, The Four Tops,
or Wilson Pickett, for example, it never would have stood
out as being as remarkable a work as it is. Think about
it: a bunch of guys from Hawthorne, CA flawlessly
executing an album of this type, imbuing their own
suburban stylings onto a genre that most others of their
ilk wouldn't have dared touch, and doing at the very
least a fine job on it!
--
Spectropop Rules!!!!!
Take Care,
David
-----------[ archived by Spectropop ]-----------
Subject: Three Dog Night hits
Sent: 11/10/97 9:37 AM
Received: 11/11/97 2:14 AM
From: Marc Wielage, XXX@XXXXXXrax.com
To: drichXXX@XXXXXXco
CC: Spectropop List, spectroXXX@XXXXXXies.com
Don Richardson 
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