__________________________________________________________
__________ __________
__________ __________
__________ S P E C T R O P O P __________
__________ __________
__________________________________________________________
Volume #0194 December 13, 1998
__________________________________________________________
Headed for No. 1 on all the charts
Subject: Gene
Sent: 12/12/98 1:39 pm
Received: 12/13/98 8:38 am
From: Ron Bierma, ELROXXXXXXXXom
To: Spectropop List, spectrXXXXXXXXties.com
In a message dated 12/10/98 6:47:00 PM, you wrote:
>And does anyone know what Gene's up to these days? He's been
>pretty quiet the past three decades, it seems.
Gene's got a pretty active fan base on the web...check it out.
Last time I signed on, they were all talking about his performance
in Connecticut (I think) That was about a year ago.
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Subject: Gene/Hurts To Be In Love
Sent: 12/12/98 7:47 pm
Received: 12/13/98 8:38 am
From: IAC, ianXXXXXXXXlnet.co.uk
To: Spectropop List, spectrXXXXXXXXties.com
Hi Jonah,
Interesting point about that track - apparently it was intended
for Neil Sedaka (you can easily imagine that, yes?) but Gene ended
up recording his vocals over it, so the girls wouldn't necessarily
have been the same session girls Gene usually used. I think the
girls on "HTBIL" really enhance the record, which is my own
personal fave of all Gene's tracks. Gene tours the UK regularly,
in fact he's over here now doing just that - always seems to pull
in the audiences over here without any trouble.
Ian Chapman
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Subject: Re: Gene Pitney
Sent: 12/11/98 10:41 am
Received: 12/12/98 11:01 am
From: james fisher, JHFXXXXXXXX.net
To: Spectropop List, spectrXXXXXXXXties.com
for JM...I saw Gene in concert here in LA about 2/3
years ago. It was a triple bill--Gene,Chuck Berry and The Penguins
("Earth Angel") Pretty good show all round (though Chuck looked
like he wanted to be somewhere else in a hurry.) Gene still sounds
like Gene though some of those high notes are a bit of a problem
now and he wisely dances around them....it was great to see him
after such a long silence and of course he did all his many hits
and he kept up a nice patter between numbers. I've always thought
that he is a vastly under-rated singer,let's hope he gets all the
credit he deserves for helping to make the early '60's music so
great. His work with Phil spector on "Every breath I take" was
fantastic. (He didn't do that track at the concert--perhaps he
figured that without Phil being there to erect The Wall ...... )
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Subject: Whither Gene?
Sent: 12/12/98 12:07 am
Received: 12/12/98 11:01 am
From: James Cassidy, casswrXXXXXXXXlink.net
To: Spectropop List, spectrXXXXXXXXties.com
JM asked a couple of questions about Gene Pitney. I
don't know who the background singers were, but I'm pretty sure
that most of Gene's stuff was recorded in NYC.
As for Gene's current activity, he toured the summer tent circuit
as recently as two years ago here in the Northeast US.
Unfortunately, I was unable to attend. I also missed an "indoor"
concert here in Boston about four years ago. The Boston Globe gave
it a favorable review and said that Gene's singing and range were
as strong as ever.
Jim Cassidy
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Subject: "Boyfriend" songs
Sent: 12/12/98 8:01 pm
Received: 12/13/98 8:38 am
From: IAC, ianXXXXXXXXlnet.co.uk
To: Spectropop List, spectrXXXXXXXXties.com
Just to clarify - the Shirelles recorded "I Want You To Be My
Boyfriend" - one of their early ones, the flip of "I Met Him On A
Sunday" - this same song was later done by the Chic-lets in '64 on
Josie - a great side, produced by Feldman, Goldstein and Gottherer,
and the group, according to Alan Betrock, was actually Diane
Christian backed by the same girls who were Patty Lace & the
Petticoats (sort that one out!!) I don't have either record, but I
know someone who does - I'll check the writing credits and get back
to you, unless anyone else knows??
Ian Chapman
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Subject: Barry Mann, Schizo Genius
Sent: 12/11/98 3:05 pm
Received: 12/12/98 11:01 am
From: David Feldman, felXXXXXXXXderables.com
To: Spectropop List, spectrXXXXXXXXties.com
Scott said, in part:
>The next honoree was Lester Sill. Cynthia Weil gave a nice talk
>about how writer-friendly Lester was and then Barry Mann came out
>and did a lengthy medley of songs that he was involved with as a
>tribute to Lester: On Broadway, Only In America, Blame It On the
>Bossa Nova, I Love How You Love Me, My Dad, Uptown, He's Sure the
>Boy I Love, Walkin' In The Rain, She's Who Put the Bomp, You've
>Lost That Lovin' Feeling, Soul and Inspiration, We Gotta Get Out
>of This Place, Kicks, Hungry, Just A Little Lovin', I Just Can't
>Help Believing, Make Your Own Kind of Music, Patches, Rock and
>Roll Lullaby, Here You Come Again, Sometimes When We Touch, Just
>Once, Never Gonna Let You Go, and Don't Know Much.
Thanks for the fascinating post, Scott. What a fascinating body of
hits above. Have to admit that I've always placed Barry Mann and
Cynthia Weil in the second-tier of Brill Building writers, and many
of the above, to my taste, fall solidly in that category (not that
there's anything wrong with writing catchy, less than profound
songs). But gee: On Broadway; He's Sure the Boy I Love; Walkin' In
the Rain; Lovin' Feeling; Soul & Inspiration; We Gotta Get Out of
this Place; Hungry; Make Your Own Kind of Music. Awfully impressive.
Dave Feldman
Movie of the Week: "Babe: Pig in the City"
Best Network TV Show of New Season: "Sports Night" & "Cupid" (tie)
CD of the Week: "We Three Kings" (Roches)
City of the Week: Montreal
Best Time Killer of the 90's: Filling out the UPDATED gender survey at
"http://www.imponderables.com"
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Subject: cartoon
Sent: 12/12/98 11:34 am
Received: 12/12/98 12:33 pm
From: john rausch, XXXXXXXXnet
To: Spectropop List, spectrXXXXXXXXties.com
Hi Everyone, Just thought I`d share this cartoon ,
http://members.tripod.com/rauschj/cartoon.jpg
although not factually correct,I`m sure some will get a kick out of
it.
Jonr
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Subject: In defense of Collectables
Sent: 12/11/98 9:08 am
Received: 12/12/98 11:01 am
From: Stewart Mason, flamXXXXXXXXcom
To: Spectropop List, spectrXXXXXXXXties.com
Jeffrey Thames writes:
>In a message dated 12/8/98 5:19:57 PM Central Standard Time,
>PaulurXXXXXXXXom writes:
>
>>I am not impressed by Collectables, they use the
>>wrong versions on 45's and some of the CD's are from albums. My
>>Angels is even though they claim they had a tape. Of course some
>>may be remastered but there is no way of telling what you are
>>getting. They don't know oldies music. Period. I'd look elsewhere.
>
>I have one full-length Collectables CD (in addition to a few CD
>singles, and those are chancy, I'll grant you), and it's probably
>one of the few times they got it right. It's M's *Pop Muzik*,
>which basically collects the band's (man's?) debut, *New
>York-London-Paris-Munich* (with two songs originally in medley
>form now two separate entities), and adds "M Factor", the original
>B- side to "PM". It doesn't sound like it was mastered from an
>album (at least not to me), and as far as I know, it's the only
>disc you can find the original 5-minute "Pop Muzik" on (and
>believe me, I've looked). Maybe they should stick to that era,
>n'est-ce pas?
The early 80s Collectables CDs I have -- the compilations by M and
the Vapors -- both sound great, but I agree that much of their 60s
output is of questionable audio quality, and just as importantly I
really wish they would do more in the way of liner notes. But
Collectables have done some very good 60s work, especially their
reissues of Lelan Rogers' International Artists material (
including the 13th Floor Elevators and the early records by Red
Crayola), most of which is fine Texas psychedelia.
Also, some of their mastered-from-vinyl material is very
interesting from a historical perspective. Their Cicadelic 60s
compilations of ultra-rare regional obscurities are spotty (like
all of these projects, including the Pebbles and Back from the
Crypt series), but they're important because most compilations
focus on either garage or heavy psych and the Cicadelic 60s comps
focus more on folk-rock and psych-pop. Some of these obscurities,
like the unbelievably atmospheric "Lemon Fog" by the Lemon Fog or
"Come Back Bird" by the Chevelle V (from my hometown of San Angelo,
Texas!), both from VOLUME TWO: NEVER EXISTED!, are just
wonderful.
Me, my only real problem with the label is their name is
misspelled!
Stewart
***************************FLAMINGO RECORDS***************************
Stewart Allensworth Mason
Box 40172 "Juju Chang."
Albuquerque NM 87196
www.rt66.com/~flamingo
*********************HAPPY MUSIC FOR NICE PEOPLE**********************
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Subject: Laura Nyro and...
Sent: 12/12/98 12:45 pm
Received: 12/13/98 8:38 am
From: jon adelson, humthefirst2XXXXXXXXil.com
To: Spectropop List, spectrXXXXXXXXties.com
This is my first posting. I enjoy the list. One of those who
touched me the most was Laura Nyro. Although she was popular later
than many of the artists I've seen mentioned here, there's a
wonderful album with Patti LaBelle that hopefully serves as a
connector. I heard she passed away. Any references to articles or
literature would be appreciated.
Also, about 30 years ago in New York City I knew a gentleman named
Steve Spooner, who loved the music of this era. At one time he
worked with Warner Brothers Publishing. I haven't seen him since
1976. Does anyone know of him and whether he's still in the
business?
Thanks.
Jon A
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
End
Spectropop text contents © Spectropop unless
stated otherwise.
All rights in and to the contents of these documents, including each element embodied therein, is subject to copyright
protection under international copyright law. Any use, reuse, reproduction and/or adaptation without written permission of the owners is a violation of copyright law and is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.
