Spectropop V#0244

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   Volume #0244                          March 18, 1999   
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               Look, Listen, Vibrate, Smile               




Subject:     UK Decca girls
Received:    03/18/99 2:01 am
From:        Ian Chapman, iandXXXXXXXXlnet.co.uk
To:          Spectropop List, spectroXXXXXXXXties.com

Please don't think I'm using Spectropop to advertise, but 
some readers might like to know that a CD I compiled 
featuring 60s girls who recorded for UK Decca is now out. 
It's called "The Girls' Scene" and is on Deram 844 897-2. 
The 25 tracks cover various musical styles, but I did 
manage to squeeze as many Spector-soundalikes as I could 
on there!! I won't take up space by listing all the tracks, 
but a few that Spectropop readers might appreciate are:-

The (Blue) Orchids - Oo Chang A Lang
Adrienne Poster - Shang A Doo Lang
Exceptions - Soldier Boy
Lulu - Try To Understand
Marianne Faithfull - Is This What I Get For Loving You?
Jean Martin - Save The Last Dance For Me
Vernons Girls - Only You Can Do It
Antoinette - Jenny Let Him Go
There's also Olivia Newton John's first record, "Til You 
Say You'll Be Mine", and a Joe Meek track, "My Friend Bobby" 
by Pamela Blue.

Ian


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Subject:     Re: Smile/Brian Wilson
Sent:        03/09/19 10:13 pm
Received:    03/18/99 2:01 am
From:        Marc Wielage, XXXXXXXXtrax.com
To:          Spectropop List, spectroXXXXXXXXties.com

JM  said on the 
Spectropop List:

> I'd like to express what seems to be a minority opinion,
> that the stuff that's emerged from the Beach Boys' "Smile"
> sessions isn't all that exciting and pales in comparison
> with the stuff Brian was producing in '64-65.
>--------------------------------------<

I must confess I completely agree with you, Jonah. I've 
heard hours of the SMILE sessions myself, and I came away 
from the experience believing that the main reason why the
album was never released in that form is because it was 
extremely uncommercial. Some of the stuff was downright 
unlistenable, even for long-time Beach Boys fans -- at 
least when compared to their previous hits.

In fairness to Brian, though, who's to say that he 
couldn't have found a way to remix and re-record enough of
it (or even add more material) to yield at least a couple 
of hits off the album? It's possible with some more work -- 
during the years when Brian was together enough to do it -- 
Brian might have been able to pull that off. But we'll 
never know now.

True story: I once saw Brian, drunk out of his mind and 
staggering through Tower Records on Sunset Blvd. at about 
11PM one Wednesday night around 1984, and I got up the 
nerve to ask him whether they'd ever finish the SMILE 
album. He looked like a deer caught in the headlights, and
stammered that they'd burned all the master tapes.

I reminded him that BILLBOARD carried a story within the 
last few months that copies of all the master tapes were 
just found at Brother Studios, which they were in the 
process of shutting down and/or moving. He paused for a 
second, looked at me, and then nodded his head. "Yeah, we 
found the tapes. But then we burned 'em again! 'Scuse me, 
I gotta go..." and he left the store.

So that's my take on the SMILE sessions. *sigh*


--MFW

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
-= Marc Wielage      |   "The computerized authority     =-
-= MusicTrax, LLC    |       on rock, pop, & soul."      =-
-= Chatsworth, CA    |         XXXXXXXXtrax.com         =-
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Subject:     Re:  Jonah on Brian
Received:    03/18/99 2:02 am
From:        Frank Youngwerth, FMXXXXXXXXom
To:          Spectropop List, spectroXXXXXXXXties.com

>Just thought I'd stir up some debate. I'd love to know if 
>anyone agrees with me.

I agree with a lot of what you say. I deeply appreciate 
the beauty of Pet Sounds and the Smile sessions (Actually 
Brian started veering in that direction earlier, on the 
very albums you prefer, with wonderfully weird stuff like 
"In the Back of My Mind"). But I don't think it's 
necessarily the best music the Beach Boys ever made, (let 
alone that Pet Sounds is the greatest rock album ever--and
although it's surely a cool record, no way is "Good 
Vibrations" anywhere near the best pop or rock single ever, 
although Mojo's recent poll says so).

Frank


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Subject:     Brian Wilson
Received:    03/18/99 2:01 am
From:        Carol Kaye, carolkXXXXXXXXlink.net
To:          Spectropop List, spectroXXXXXXXXties.com

JM:  
>When Brian started to feel that he was better than all
>that, he lost touch with that part of his talent that 
>most people (rightly) responded to.

I don't agree. I worked on almost all of Brian's dates in 
the 60s, and he was growing fast in his producing, 
arranging and writing. He had a warm relationship with all
of us studio musicians. He was very happy when producing in
using us for all the great Beach Boy tracks of the hits of 
the 60s....there was a slight rift between the touring 
group and himself, not really much but enough that they 
sort of starting going their separate ways after we all 
cut the Pet Sounds and Smile albums.

Brian, when losing some of us (I went mostly into TV shows
and movies, and quit working for Brian after meeting Manson) 
from 1969, sort of went into a self-imposed hibernation.
..don't blame him...he didn't use any more drugs than 
anyone else back then (no, not the studio musicians, we 
lived on coffee - never used drugs)...but being very 
sensitive and not resolving left-over issues from his 
childhood (imo) and not getting the help he needed then, 
plus being famous/rich, etc. was a detriment to him for 
awhile. He's fine now, but paid a huge price (Landy and 
all).

Brian NEVER "felt better than all that" at all...I knew 
him well (we studio musicians worked on EVERYBODY'S hits 
back then, and he was one of the most humble people you'd 
ever meet. Still is. He doesn't have the slightest 
inclination towards ego which is somewhat a problem I 
think -- we all need a certain amount of ego to rise above
things. 

He just grew symphonically out of the surf-rock early days, 
thanks to the enouragement (and feedback) of his 
jazz-experienced, big-band-experienced elite studio 
musicians - yes, I have to brag here as I see it's still 
not known out there that fine musicianship was both 
admired and paid well....hardly any rockers on the rock 
records of the 60s at all. 

Very few sides were cut by the actual Beach Boys (only a 
few dates at the beginning, and a few sides cut at Brian's
house mid-60s)...Brian's music was potent and needed the 
experience. But potency or not, we cut everybody's hits, 
and maybe the general public will eventually know this 
about the 60s records coming out of LA. Our names did NOT 
get on the backs of albums until 1973 (was not required 
until then by the Musician's Union).

Hopefully people will NOT assume judgements anymore about 
Brian from all the outdated slander of the past written by
writers copying other writers who got it wrong. 

Carol Kaye http://www.carolkaye.com/

PS. Very sad about Dusty Springfield, many of her 
recordings were done out here in LA, she was a lovely 
person and huge talent.


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Subject:     Smile
Received:    03/18/99 2:01 am
From:        Jamie LePage, le_page_XXXXXXXXties.com
To:          Spectropop List, spectroXXXXXXXXties.com

Stewart Mason wrote:

>There are actually many, many [Smile] bootlegs...
>The 2-CD Vigotone set seems to be the consensus favorite, 
>but if anything feels strongly for or against any of the 
>other favorites, I'm willing to be persuaded.

I believe the Sea of Tunes collector series will next 
feature a more comprehensive Smile set that will make the 
current Vigatone set outdated. There is also word that 
Vigatone will revamp its Smile comp for a more updated 
version.

All the best,

Jamie


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Subject:     ambrose pt.5????
Received:    03/18/99 2:01 am
From:        Jack Madani, Jack_MadXXXXXXXX12.nj.us
To:          Spectropop List, spectroXXXXXXXXties.com

This online music site, www.on-air.com, is really very 
interesting to listen to. There are three different 
channels, "popular," "oldies," and "dance." You use 
realplayer to listen.

The oldies channel is really very eclectic. And today I 
heard something unbelievably weird: "Ambrose Pt.5," by 
Linda Laurie. What the heck is this bizarre recording? 
It's a dialogue, a girl hectoring her boyfriend with 
mundane commentary that's punctuated at regular intervals 
by this strange little passage:

she: Ambrose, why do we have to walk in this dark subway 
tunnel? he: Just keep walking.

Any info on this? 
jack "ambrose" madani
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jack Madani - Princeton Day School, The Great Road,
   Princeton, NJ  08540   Jack_MadXXXXXXXX12.nj.us
"You knew the job was dangerous when you took it, Fred." 
 --Henry Cabot Henhouse III
-------------------------------------------------------------------------


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Subject:     45's
Received:    03/18/99 2:02 am
From:        Marc Miller, marXXXXXXXXcom
To:          'spectroXXXXXXXXties.com', spectroXXXXXXXXties.com

I don't believe this fact has come up in the recent 
discussion about 45's/33 etc. If it has, forgive me. I 
have read in at least one place that the speed of 45 RPM 
was arrived at by subtracting 33 from 78. Anyone know if 
that's true?

Marc


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Subject:     Re: 45s big and small
Received:    03/18/99 2:01 am
From:        Big L, biXXXXXXXXtmail.com
To:          Spectropop List, spectroXXXXXXXXties.com

>I also read RCA simultaneously put a $12.95 record player 
>on the market to play its 45s. 

Absolutely true. There used to be one for sale at a junk 
store in the town I grew up in. Made of the old hard 
bakelite, and large hole 45s were all it was capable of 
playing. No doubt an attempt by RCA to create a "slave" 
market for it's 45 format. Fits right in with the 
explanantion Paul U. gave us. 

==
Big L                   Check out my Radio Legends pages at:
biXXXXXXXXtmail.com    http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Hills/9816



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Subject:     BOUNCE spectroXXXXXXXXties.com: Non-member submi
Received:    03/18/99 2:01 am
To:          Spectropop List, spectroXXXXXXXXties.com

========= Start of forwarded message =========

Several rock and roll legends were inducted into the Rock 
and Roll Hall of Fame, including Dusty Springfield, Curtis
Mayfield, Paul McCartney. McCartney was already in the Hall
as a member of the Beatles but like the late John Lennon, 
he's also being inducted for his accomplishments as a solo
artist. Speaking of the Beatles, the group's producer 
George Martin was also inducted at the ceremony tonight at
New York's elegant Waldorf Astoria Hotel. McCartney, who 
didn't attend when the Beatles were inducted in 1988, made
his first major public appearance since the death of his 
wife, Linda, last spring.

Curtis Mayfield was inducted as a solo artist. He is 
already in the hall as a member of the Impressions. 
Mayfield is working with Lauryn Hill on a duet for a new 
movie, Mod Squad.

Other inductees included Del Shannon, who made "Runaway" a
hit in 1961; the gospel group The Staples Singers; and 
British singer Dusty Springfield, who lost her long battle
with breast cancer just before her induction. 

The foundation's voting body inducts between five and 
seven members each year. Inductees are featured in the 
Rock And Roll Hall of Fame museum in Cleveland, Ohio, 
which exists to "preserve, exhibit and interpret the 
living heritage of rock and roll".

In related news, Congessional Reps. Dennis Kucinich, 
D-Ohio, and Charles Norwood, R-Ga., introduced legislation
that would help old chart-toppers defend their claim 
against imposter 50s favorites performing at the same time
in different cities.

Carl Gardner, an original member of The Coasters, has been
irritated by what he considers impostors for more than 20 
years. Now he's one of about a dozen golden-oldie 
performers who've asked Congress to protect them from 
competitors using the same names and singing the same 
songs.

"These guys are making like they're the real Coasters. 
They're in their 20s and 30s and I'm 70 years old," 
Gardner said Monday from his home in Florida. "This 
trademark law must be changed. If we don't nip this thing 
in the bud now it's going to go across the whole United 
States with all entertainers."

"You have to pay a $50,000 bond just to start a court case, 
in case you lose. That's a lot of money," said Gardner. 
"I'm working, but sporadically. These other guys, they 
don't even charge the kind of money I charge. If I charge 
$10,000 a night they'll charge $2,000 a night."

The groups that climbed the Top 40 in the 1950s and 1960s 
often had rosters that changed through the years. 
Sometimes, later-year replacements took the material on 
the road with their own groups, even though some member of
the core group was still performing.

Other times, dispute over the ownership of the group's 
name made it possible for entire new bands to be hired to 
re-create the music without any direct link to the 
original group.

Larry Marshak of RCI Corp. in New York, who packages East 
Coast and West Coast versions of the Platters, Drifters 
and Coasters, said he has valid, legal rights to those 
names, and does nothing deceptive with his troupes of 
young singers performing old hits.

"We make no illusions to be otherwise than what they are. 
Nobody expects to see the original members when they see 
us," he said. "It's like on any given weekend you'll have 
six Glenn Miller Orchestras or Tommy Dorsey Orchestras 
performing, and Glenn Miller's been dead for years."

Marshak said he started putting together revival shows in 
the 1970s, reuniting some original band members or using 
originals as advisers to work with entirely new groups 
performing the old material.

Kucinich, who takes seriously his home town's role as host
of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, said he was pushing for 
a change in a 1947 trademark law because both artists and 
consumers need protection.

"The knockoff groups should not be permitted to pass 
themselves off as the real thing," the Cleveland 
congressman said. "Those artists who have put their heart 
and soul into building a career and making a name and into
stunning achievements in music ought not be deprived in 
later life from the fruits of their labor."The pop music 
establishment has honoured the late Dusty Springfield by 
inducting her into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame.

========== End of forwarded message ==========


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Subject:     Phil Spector, acting strange again
Received:    03/18/99 2:01 am
From:        Bates, Robert  (Cahners -NYC), robaXXXXXXXXrs.com
To:          'Spectropop List', spectroXXXXXXXXties.com

This was in the Daily News today ...

Regards,
Rob B.

Phil Spector Produces
Quite a Stir at Waldorf 

Legendary record producer Phil Spector sure made a 
spectacle of himself at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 
Awards. Standing amid a celeb-packed crowd, Spector 
appeared to lash out at those around him - and spewed foul
language among those assembled, several eyewitnesses said.

The scene happened just as the awards wrapped up and the 
VIPs - including Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, Billy 
Joel, Bono, Bonnie Raitt, Neil Young and Tommy Mottola - 
were being ushered to a party in Springsteen's suite at 
the Waldorf-Astoria. Crowded into a hallway, Spector 
looked around at the hordes of people in such close 
quarters and bellowed, "It's like Auschwitz in here," the 
witnesses said. Spector, a member of the Hall's nominating
committee, then turned his gaze on someone who was staring 
at him in disbelief and barked, "What the ---- are you 
looking at?"

Spector did not return repeated calls for comment. But 
lawyer Marvin Mitchelson, who accompanied the 
publicity-shy icon to New York for the awards but wasn't 
present in the hallway, said the producer was probably 
just joking. "He has his own sense of humor. Other people 
may not see Phil as funny," said Mitchelson, "but what I 
saw of him, he was fine." As for the Springsteen party 
itself, it lasted until 4 a.m., according to Joel, who was
looking no worse for wear when I caught up with him 
yesterday at a Recording Industry Association of America 
luncheon that honored him, Elton John, Kenny Rogers, Led 
Zeppelin and Kenny G. Joel rolled his eyes at the mention 
of Spector, and said, "That's what makes the Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame what it is. Anybody can say anything." Joel 
said his favorite moment at the Springsteen party occurred
"when I introduced my mother to Bruce Springsteen's mother.
What a great moment for me," said Joel, "and I didn't have
a camera." 


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