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Volume #0152 September 24, 1998
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Apply the same care as with conventional records
Subject: iMusic - Four Tops Bulletin Board
Sent: 09/22/98 11:25 am
Received: 09/23/98 1:22 am
From: Alicia Martuge, ZablX .net
To: Spectropop List, spectroX ties.com
four tops girl
http://imusic.com/cgi-bin/bbs/bbs.cgi?x=fourtops
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Subject: Chico's Girl
Sent: 09/22/98 11:57 pm
Received: 09/23/98 9:44 am
From: Jack Madani, Jack_MadX 12.nj.us
To: Spectropop List, spectroX ties.com
So is Chico's Girl going to show up on any compilation soon?
Also, I just had a memory flash. Was this song covered by
Bernadette Peters? I have two albums of hers from the late
seventies/early eighties, and the covers of both lp's are
portraits of Bernadette, done by Playboy illustrator Varga. (yowza
! talk about yer whipped cream and other delights!). Anyway, I
think there was a song called Chico's Girl on the first album. Was
that it?
Those were pretty good albums, btw. Half the songs were Broadway
type numbers, the other half were updates of the girlgroup sound,
albeit recorded in the very dry, multipoint source recording style
that so contemporary then.
jack
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jack Madani - Princeton Day School, The Great Road,
Princeton, NJ 08540 Jack_MadX 12.nj.us
"It is when the gods hate a man with uncommon abhorrence that they
drive him into the profession of a schoolmaster." --Seneca, 64 A.D.
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Subject: Darlene Love in NYC
Sent: 09/22/98 5:35 am
Received: 09/22/98 7:49 am
From: David Feldman, feldX derables.com
To: Spectropop List, spectroX ties.com
Any Spectropoppers in the New York City area, I'm sure, will be
happy to learn that Darlene Love is having a booksigning at the
Union Square Barnes & Noble on 9/28 (a week from today, Monday),
and evidently she will sing, too. 7:30--8:30 P.M.
Be there or be Loveless.
Dave Feldman
Song of the Week: The Boy with the Arab Strap (Belle & Sebastian)
Seed of the Week: Mustard
Annoyance of the Month: Humidity
Best Time Killer of the 90's: Filling out the UPDATED gender survey at
"http://www.imponderables.com"
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Subject: Re: Bacharach Box
Sent: 09/23/98 1:04 pm
Received: 09/23/98 6:59 pm
From: Marc Wielage, X trax.com
To: Spectropop List, spectroX ties.com
CC: Dave Mirich, DmirX om
Dave Mirich <DmirX om> asked on the Spectropop List:
>When does the Rhino Box finally come out? In the meantime I've
>been listening to the Bacharach tribute cd.
----------------<snip>----------------
Yeah, I'm looking forward to that, too. There's a lot of "never
released on CD" titles on that one, including such rarities as
Trini Lopez' excellent "Made in Paris."
The new issue of the ICE Newsletter (snippets are at
http://www.icemagazine.com/ice)
says the boxed set will be out
sometime in November.
You can also probably find out more at
http://www.rhino.com elsewhere on the Net.
--MFW
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
-= Marc Wielage | "The computerized authority =-
-= MusicTrax, LLC | on rock, pop, & soul." =-
-= Chatsworth, CA | X trax.com =-
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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Subject: Two number one groups on the same day Pt.1
Sent: 09/23/98 5:37 am
Received: 09/23/98 9:44 am
From: Alicia Martuge, ZablX .net
To: Spectropop List, spectroX ties.com
August 21, 1997, two of my favorite groups, the Monkees and the
Four Tops, BOTH performed in NYC at the same time! Unfortunately I
could only see one, so I went with the Monkees. The Monkees are now
a trio without Mike Nesmith, just as the Four Tops are now a trio
with the passing of Lawrence Payton. The Monkees hit "Last Train To
Clarksville" was released Aug. 16, 1966. The Four Tops song, "Reach
Out I'll Be There" was issued on Aug. 18, 1966. Yet incredibly the
4 Tops song went to #1 first, probably because of its urgency and
sense of reassurance.
four tops girl
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Subject: Two number one groups on the same day, Pt.2
Sent: 09/23/98 5:45 am
Received: 09/23/98 9:44 am
From: Alicia Martuge, ZablX .net
To: Spectropop List, spectroX ties.com
July 4, 1998 I went to see Question Mark and the Mysterians
perform in Central Park. An email told me that the Four Tops also
performed on July 4, 1998-at Myrtle Beach, SC. The reason why I
brought this up is that I mentioned earlier that "Reach Out I'll
Be There" went to #1. But Question Mark released a classic rock 'n
roll song "96 Tears" which knocked "Reach Out" off the #1 spot. I
just HAD to see this group for myself and happily Question Mark
and the Mysterians put on a rockin' performance. The supreme irony
in this is that "96 Tears" was knocked out of the #1 spot by the
Monkees' "Last Train To Clarksville" Go check out "Question Mark
and the Mysterians". You'll be glad you did. :)
four tops girl
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Subject: Uh-Oh
Sent: 09/22/98 5:35 am
Received: 09/22/98 7:49 am
From: David Feldman, feldX derables.com
To: Spectropop List, spectroX ties.com
> Ferry 'Cross The Mersey
> Venus In Blue Jeans
>
> has this ever been remarked upon before?
>
Not that I know of Jack, but I sure don't have to play the records
or even hum them to myself to see the amazing similarity.
Dave Feldman
Song of the Week: The Boy with the Arab Strap (Belle & Sebastian)
Seed of the Week: Mustard
Annoyance of the Month: Humidity
Best Time Killer of the 90's: Filling out the UPDATED gender survey at
"http://www.imponderables.com"
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Subject: separated at birth
Sent: 09/23/98 11:24 pm
Received: 09/24/98 12:20 am
From: Kieron Tyler, kierX .org.uk
To: Spectropop List, spectroX ties.com
Jack Madani noted the 'uncomfortable similarity' between Ferry 'Cross The
Mersey and Venus In Blue Jeans.
You're right, naughty old Gerry - and also - for some time I've thought
that the inspiration for Ferry was 'On Broadway', have a listen to the two
back-to-back and you might agree.....
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Subject: River Deep Celine High
Sent: 09/23/98 6:48 am
Received: 09/23/98 6:59 pm
From: Jack Madani, Jack_MadX 12.nj.us
To: Spectropop List, spectroX ties.com
Flippin' channels and happened to alight upon VH-1 in the middle
of their Divas show, just as Celine Dion was revving up for the
final couple of choruses of River Deep Mountain High. I have to
admit, I kind of giggled behind my hand as she tried so hard to
pump up the energy with her fist. Celine, I knew Tina Turner. Tina
was a musical hero of mine. Celine, you're no Tina Turner.
So was River Deep Mountain High any sort of hit for Mlle. Dion?
And is there any connection between her recording it and those
aborted Spector sessions?
jack
p.s. at the end they trotted all dem divas on stage: Shania Twain
(a diva??), Gloria Estafan (a diva????), Mariah Carey, Celine,
Carole King (huh???), and Aretha Franklin (hey nineteen, that's
'retha franklin). Boy oh boy, did all their voices sound p-u-puny
next to Aretha. It reminded me of a surfin & drivin tape I made
once; I was groovin' to Little GTO, thinkin it sounded pretty good,
until I Get Around kicked in immediately after. Ain't Nothin'
Like The Real Thing, I guess.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jack Madani - Princeton Day School, The Great Road,
Princeton, NJ 08540 Jack_MadX 12.nj.us
"It is when the gods hate a man with uncommon abhorrence that they
drive him into the profession of a schoolmaster." --Seneca, 64 A.D.
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Subject: Re: River Deep, Mountain High
Sent: 09/22/98 19:29 pm
Received: 09/23/98 6:59 pm
From: Jamie LePage, le_page_X ties.com
To: Spectropop List, spectroX ties.com
Alicia 4T girl wrote:
>I like the B side I Love You Baby. Phil Spector
>in that case departed from the usual practice of not
>recording vocals on this B side to let Tina sing.
Alicia 4T girl brings up an interesting topic. I suppose it is a
commonly held belief that the primary reason Philles singles had
instrumental B-sides was that Phil didn't want to allocate budget
for them, he thought the flip was just a bothersome necessity.
Phil's productions were very costly by standards of the day, so it
served his purpose to keep a few cats after a regular session and
have them jam for a few minutes. Nice ploy; Gold Star and the #47
were paid for the session anyway, and Mother Bertha ended up with
all the publishing.
There were exceptions, but I think basically this was the thinking
behind the mid-to-late Philles Bs. With Ike & Tina, maybe it was part
of the deal with Ike: "You stay away from the As and I'll throw you
the Bs."
The differences in production style between the Phil tracks and the
Ike tracks on the River Deep LP are striking. Ike's sides sound like
one quick take with his skeleton "current" touring band. Phil's
tracks of course are the Wrecking Crew WoS at its densest. If
anything redeems the Ike tracks, it's Tina-Supreme.
I'm not very familiar with pre-Philles I&T sides, yet I have always
suspected (maybe someone can clear this up) that Spector had Ike
re-record their early R&B singles for the Philles B's (and the
album) rather than record new material. My theory is that it served
the purpose of spending almost nothing on Ike's throwaway tracks,
yet Phil ended up with a quasi "best-of I&T" album for Philles
(later A&M). Anyone that can clarify, please do.
btw, how about that scene in the Tina flick where she is in-studio
recording River Deep? Yes, obviously there wasn't a glass vocal
booth smack in the middle of Gold Star, and of course the vocal
wasn't recorded together with the track, but granting artistic
license for the film, it was an impressive moment. I was moved
how such a single scene could cinematically translate a general
understanding of what Phil and co. achieved at that precise moment
in the 60's.
Finally, other RDMH versions that immediately come to mind:
Nilsson (good), Easybeats (decent), Eric Burdon and the Animals
(obnoxious), Celine Dion (pathetic). Any others? Marc?
--
le_page_X ties.com
RodeoDrive/5030
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