Subject:
Sent: 11/11/98 2:13 am
Received: 11/11/98 2:15 am
From: Spectropop List, spectrXXXXXXXXities.com
__________________________________________________________
__________ __________
__________ __________
__________ S P E C T R O P O P __________
__________ __________
__________________________________________________________
Volume #0182 November 11, 1998
__________________________________________________________
Expressing the feelings of the young mind of today
Subject: Rebels: Black and White
Sent: 11/08/98 9:42 am
Received: 11/08/98 12:29 pm
From: Jimmy Cresitelli, JimmXXXXXXXXcom
Some thoughts about Miss Alston's remarks...
Barbara, I loved your input re "He's A Rebel." I think a lot of us
in today's world are too young to know (or have maybe forgotten)
what it was like between the races in the early 60s. Even though
the world of music revolved on its own cool axis, just the fact
that blacks and whites were working together-- even enjoying one
another's company-- would have been viewed as radical by much of
the nation in 1963. Those studio shots featuring Phil Spector and
Darlene Love speaking intimately-- even touching one another--
would have been cause for alarm in many areas of the good old USA.
I can understand your point about rebels not being black-- society
would have frowned upon that! Nope... rebels were unshaven white
boys who rode motorcycles through Brooklyn, in what we called "rat
packs." I can well imagine, after having recorded those early
beautiful, bluesy, smoky numbers, hearing "He's A Rebel" and being
told that it was YOUR record to go out and perform on stage!
The girl-groups songs themselves were aimed toward white teens,
mostly, judging by the overall "look" of audiences in those days,
not to mention the stars who were promoted heavily. Yes, I realize
there were plenty of black artists recording in different genres,
but girl-group pop was recorded by basically anonymous groups of
young black girls. You didn't see many group shots-- though
Annette and Lesley were to be seen all over the place! When I
began collecting in 1970 at the age of 14, and saw my first Girl
Group album covers-- even though by then I'd become familiar with
the singles-- I was astonished to see that those chirpy little
groups were mostly composed of black girls!
I remember my Dad coming home from House of Oldies with a copy of
"Walking In the Rain" ($7.00 at the time) and telling me that he
saw an album by the Ronettes; I asked, "Oh! What'd they look
like!!!" And he said, "three cute black chicks." I had no idea,
and thought I was very cool listening to "black" music-- even though
we know that girl group pop can't really be considered as such, as
a genre generally speaking. Darlene Love herself talks about having
to record "that kiddy-bop" music back then.
Spector truly, truly considered his artists as simply bricks in
that wall of sound... but we know better, don't we gang!!!
Jimmy
Subject: Mono
Sent: 11/09/98 2:52 am
Received: 11/09/98 7:44 am
From: Trucker Toby, MUV9XXXXXXXXent2.lu.se
I've read many times that people like Phil Spector and Brian
Wilson preferred mono cos they could (paraphrasing) "control the
listening experience" and I've always wondered what that means
exactly!! Is it because they could blend instruments together in a
way which made them unseparable from eachother, creating one big
noise/sound as opposed to a stereo mix where everything is spread
out...??
Tobias
PS. This list sure is great! For someone who was born in 1977, I
find all yr posts about 60s music so incredibly interesting,
particularly as one listee was a member of one of the greatest
girlgroups ever!
Subject: Re: Pizzicato 5/Burt Bacharach
Sent: 11/09/98 9:00 am
Received: 11/10/98 1:19 am
From: Marc Wielage,XXXXXXXXctrax.com
Trucker Toby <MUV9XXXXXXXXent2.lu.se> asked on the Spectropop List
>but there's one track called "On My Own" which is pretty
>good and the original must be much better but I haven't heard that
>one. So who performed the ultimate version of "On My Own" in the
>first place? The lyrics are written by Carol Bayer Sager which
>means the track dates from the late seventies to early eighties.
>Anyone know?
>-------------------<snip>-------------------<
That would be Patti LaBelle & Michael McDonald's 1986 smash hit,
widely available on a dozen different CDs.
I show that as Burt's sixth-biggest chart success ever, out of 129
that made the BILLBOARD charts. Here's the Top 10:
#1 (4 wks.) B.J. Thomas - "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" (Scepter
12265) [11/1/69]
#1 (4 wks.) The Carpenters - "(They Long to Be) Close to You" (A&M
1183) [6/20/70]
#1 (4 wks.) Dionne Warwick & Friends - "That's What Friends Are For"
(Arista 9422) [11/9/85]
#1 (4 wks.) Herb Alpert - "This Guy's in Love with You" (A&M 929)
[5/18/68]
#1 (3 wks.) Christopher Cross - "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)"
(WB 49787) [8/15/81]
#1 (3 wks.) Patti LaBelle & Michael McDonald - "On My Own" (MCA 52770)
[3/22/86]
#1 (1 wk.) Maxi Priest - "Close to You" (Charisma 98951) [6/30/90]
#2 (2 wks.) The 5th Dimension - "One Less Bell to Answer" (Bell 940)
[10/24/70]
#2 (1 wk.) Gene Pitney - "Only Love Can Break a Heart" (Musicor 1022)
[9/15/62]
#3 (2 wks.) Tom Jones - "What's New Pussycat?" (Parrot 9765) [6/19/65]
--MFW
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
-= Marc Wielage | "The computerized authority =-
-= MusicTrax, LLC | on rock, pop, & soul." =-
-= Chatsworth, CA | XXXXXXXXctrax.com =-
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Subject: The John Lennon Anthology & Spector
Sent: 11/09/98 9:03 am
Received: 11/10/98 1:19 am
From: Marc Wielage,XXXXXXXXctrax.com
I'm surprised nobody's mentioned this yet, but...
There's about five minutes of hilarious studio chit-chat between
Phil Spector and John Lennon on the brand-new JOHN LENNON
ANTHOLOGY boxed set that came out last week.
Spector sounds half-crocked on some of it, but it's interesting
just to hear what he sounded like in the mid-1970s.
There's also a sad & ironic comment from John, where Spector
mentions Elton John in passing, pointing out that he has Lennon's
first name as his last name; Lennon answers <paraphrasing>: "Elton
is probably gonna die young. Me, I'll live to be an elder statesman
of 90." Man, that one really made me misty-eyed. Very sad.
Great set of unreleased stuff, BTW, if you're a Lennon fan.
--MFW
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
-= Marc Wielage | "The computerized authority =-
-= MusicTrax, LLC | on rock, pop, & soul." =-
-= Chatsworth, CA | XXXXXXXXctrax.com =-
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Subject: Sonny & Cher
Sent: 11/09/98 11:03 am
Received: 11/10/98 1:19 am
From: john rausch, XXXXXXXX.net
I recently saw a segment on T.V. on one of those "Entertainment
Magazine" type shows and they were interviewing two people who
were to be the "singing voices" for the actors who are to portray
Sonny & Cher in an upcoming movie. I don`t recall their names,
the guy sounded a bit like Sonny but the woman had an uncanny
grasp on Cher`s singing style.they played a clip of them singing
"Baby Don`t Go" and if you closed your eyes you could believe it
was cher singing.Really remarkable. My queation to the list is:
Has anyone heard any info on this movie and who the girl singing
is?
Thanks
Jonr
Presenting the Fabulous
RonetXXXXXXXXp://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Studio/2469/
Subject: Re: A Couple of things
Sent: 11/10/98 10:40 am
Received: 11/11/98 1:09 am
From: wXXXXXXXX.tyenet.com
First off, I've been very busy these last few weeks, but I promise
I'll put up Doc's article on "He's A Rebel," for everyone to read
by the week's end. It's a fascinating, exhausting recounting of
the story.
Next up, just back from a trip where I picked up LLLLLittle Eva:
The Complete Dimension Recordings. 29 tracks including a tribute
record as by the Locomotions called "Little Eva." This album is
truly great! Little Eva, when not jumping around to the
Loco-motion or belting out novelty items like "Makin' It With The
Magilla," has an incredible voice. She could have been a really
big girl group star if she had been given some better material. If
you like the Complete Cookies, you'll like The Complete Little Eva.
Another record of note, this one a little older, and past the
Spector era by a bit is The Seventies' Supremes Greatest Hits and
Rarities. Absolutely no Diana Ross on this, and she's not missed
at all. It sounds a little more modern than the 60s Supremes stuff,
but when you listen to songs like "Silent Voices," "I Guess I'll
miss The Man," "He's My Man," etc, you'll be amazed that the gals
didn't have a number one after Miss Ross left.
Question: How many records did the Tammys make? I've heard two so
far and they've both become favourites.
Also to the group: which groups would you consider the best
back-up singers? The Blossoms, no question, but in what order do
groups like the Breakaways, the Cookies, the Sweet Inspirations,
and others follow?
Keep an eye out for that He's A Rebel article by Doc on my GG web
site.
Will
End
