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Volume #0272 June 11, 1999
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...in screamin' hi-fi
Subject: Andy Williams & the Older Generation
Received: 06/11/99 12:07 am
From: Ian Chapman, iandxxxxnet.co.uk
To: Spectropop List, spectroxxxxies.com
Jack Madani wrote.......
> Having now become interested in .mp3, I have managed to
> find an awesome file somewhere in the internet of Andy
> Williams singing the Bob Crewe number, "Music To Watch The
> Girls Go By." [sic] It's a bit more uptempo than Crewe's
> instrumental version, and it has something of the air of a
> Julius Wechter number, but it still rocks, and it's got the
> fuzz guitar on the opening
Couldn't agree with you more, Jack, it's a blitzer of a
track, and one which reached #33 in the UK charts back in
'67. A couple of months back, the track suddenly appeared
on a rather classy TV commercial (I forget the product!),
which led to a lot of new interest and the track being
reissued. Andy actually came over to promote it.......he
seemed surprised by it's new success, said it was a track
he rarely performed these days.
> How many scores of great recordings in the "big beat"
> "young" style are there by such older generation singers as
> Williams, Carr, Dean Martin, and so forth? I bet there's a
> bazillion. I even like those Sonny Burke-arranged Sinatra
> numbers.
You've touched on one of my pet collecting areas here,
Jack.......I love it when I find a stomper or a pop tune
by one of the "older generation", probably because they
are such a departure from those singers' usual output, and
you usually get a real quality vocal performance thrown in.
You're right, there are a bazillion of 'em.....seemed all
the "oldies" had at least one shot at the younger sound in
the 60s. A few of my personal faves and recommendations
would be:
Phil Crosby - Where The Blue Of The Night Meets the Gold
Of The Day - Reprise (probably not as old as he sounds,
but yep, it's Bing's tune, only a Jack Nitzsche-produced
stomper version with a killer sax break - has to be Steve
Douglas. Carole, I'd bet you were on this, from '63?)
Frankie Laine - Take Her, She's Mine - Columbia (Fabulous
pop ballad, another Nitszche arrangement, Terry Melcher
production, with the Blossoms all over it.......also check
out Frankie's "Don't Make My Baby Blue", same credits)
Phyllis McGuire - Run To My Arms - Reprise (stomper from a
solo McGuire Sister)
Patti Page - Till You Come Back To Me - Columbia (Patti
gets down, great double-tracked vocal, 80mph!)
John Gary - Hang On To Me - RCA (Dave Gates-arranged &
conducted catchy uptempo pop, again, a nice double tracked
vocal)
Glenn Yarborough - It's Gonna Be Fine - RCA (Great bright
'n breezy Mann/Weil tune, bit like a Gary Lewis track only
folkier, with a slight Spector influence.....nice girlie
back-ups too)
I'll stop there, apart from adding all of the Steve
Lawrence Brill Building numbers from the 60s....all great,
especially Goffin & King's "Last Night I Made A Little Girl
Cry" and "Walking Proud", and of course Eydie did her share
too.
Can anyone offer any additions?
Ian
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Subject: Classical gas
Received: 06/11/99 12:07 am
From: Paul Urbahns, Paulurbxxxxm
To: Spectropop List, spectroxxxxies.com
Stewart wrote:
>Given that "Classical Gas" is an instrumental, it would
>be interesting to hear what the Alan Copeland Singers did
>to it
I assume Tobias album is the same version I have on an
Alan Copeland Singers album and its a medley of Classical
Gas and Scarbourgh Fair. Really good, they sing Scarbourgh
Fair to the music of Classical gas. I loved the record when
it came out in the late 60s and searched for years for the
album. It's amazing how well two songs written centuries
apart can fit together so well. At least the music to
Scarbourgh Fair is old, I assume the lyriucs are too.
Paul Urbahns
paulurbxxxxm
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Subject: the Shangri-Las, Pixies Three, Reparata...
Received: 06/11/99 12:07 am
From: Tom Waters, shangrixxxxom
To: Spectropop List, spectroxxxxies.com
I'm looking for different versions/mixes of Shangri-Las
recordings. Is the key to look for Shangri-Las recordings
in stereo? Does anyone know where any pre-Red Bird
recordings of the Shangri-Las might be available on CD,
besides Wishing Well and Hate to Say I Told You So? Also,
are any recordings of the Pixies Three available on CD
besides 442 Glenwood Avenue, Birthday Party, Summertime
USA and Cold, Cold Winter.
For the record, my favourite girl group recordings of all
time are The Boy by the Shangri-Las, the Loneliest Girl in
Town by Reparata and the Delrons, Born Too Late by the
Poni-Tails, Cold Cold Winter by the Pixies Three, Till by
the Angels and lots of others by these groups and many
others (the ones I listed are just the top ones!).
Finally, has anyone seen any video clips of the five girl
groups I mentioned above and does anyone know if they are
available ? The only ones I have are: 1. Give Him a Great
Big Kiss by the Shangs from Shindig, 02 . Give Him a Great
Big Kiss from Hullabaloo, 03 . Long Live Our Love by the
Shangs from Hullabaloo, 04 . My Boyfriend's Back by the
Angels from I don't know what TV program. These are the
only ones I know of that are commercially available.
All right, while I'm on a roll, I'll ask one more question
for now, does anyone seen or know if old Neil Sedaka clips
are available anywhere from the 50's or 60's? Again, the
only ones I have are the Calendar Girl Scopitone, and Take
Me Out to the Ballgame duet with Jerry Lee Lewis from
Shindig. These are commercially available.
Tom
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Subject: Re: Claudine Longet
Received: 06/11/99 12:07 am
From: Steve McClure, novaxxxxcom
To: Spectropop List, spectroxxxxies.com
Paul Urbahns wrote:
> I have most everything Claudine Longet recorded....
> She co-starred with Peter
> Sellers in The Party and sang the title song for the movie
> "A Flea In Her Ear" which starred Rex Harrison.
I don't want to spoil the party by seeming to put down all
you Claudine Longet fans out there, but Paul Urbahn's
reference to Mlle. Longet's co-starring role in the
classic comedy "The Party" reminded me that the one thing
that does spoil "The Party" for this Sellers fan is the
unfortunate presence of the simpering nymphette in
question. Although she suits the film's atmosphere of mid-
'60s kitsch, I suppose. Interesting musical footnote re
"The Party": it's probably the only film in which Peter
Sellers is shown playing the sitar.
Steve McClure
PS: Here's a trivia question for you folks out there in
Spectropop-land. From which film is the following quote
taken, and which LP featured it on the inside of the
gatefold cover?: "Well, Leo, what say we promenade through
the park?"
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Subject: Various
Received: 06/11/99 12:06 am
From: Jamie LePage, le_page_xxxxies.com
To: Spectropop List, spectroxxxxies.com
Ian Chapman writes about Claudine Longet:
>...her repertoire sat comfortably
>next to the likes of Sergio Mendes and Burt Bacharach.
>Several nice tracks to choose, my personal faves being
>"Small Talk"
Yeah! Small Talk, written by Bonner & Gordon, was also
recorded by a male group which I can't put my finger on at
present. Perhaps the Cyrkle? Harpers Bizarre? Can anyone
help here?
Anyway, Claudine's records are top class, with great
players, arrangements by Nick DeCaro and engineering by
Bruce Botnick (Love/Forever Changes, etc.). My favorite
Claudine Longet recording, just slightly ahead of Small
Talk, is Hard to Say Goodbye, written by Roger Nichols!
FANTASTIC song, and Claudine's whisper voice delivery
suits it perfectly.
Big Lenny writes about the Turtles:
>I can't think of another artist or group that got a rawer
>deal from their record company...
White Whale was indeed an elusive label; I know little
about the operation. Why do you think the Turtles were
particularly given a raw deal, Lenny? I'm not disagreeing,
just curious. btw, love the White Whale single by Brit band
John's Children "Smashed! Blocked!", which I understand was
actually recorded by Simon Napier Bell in LA with the
clique (Wrecking Crew). Carol, any recollection of this?
Anyone else know about this side?
Michael Coxe wrote:
>Stewart's and Dave's comments about the Vogues rendition
>of "You're The One" brings back lots of memories.
>
>...it was sooo danceable and sooo garage-pop - my kind
>of sound...
I am very fond of Five O'Clock World and You're The One as
well, but my favorite Vogues recording is the Mann/Weil
song "Magic Town", the perfect follow up to On Broadway.
An incredible song, its lyric reflects a bitterly
reluctant acceptance of failure and rejection.
Steve Stanley writes more on the Vogues:
>It's possible that "Milk and Honey" is an obscure cover of
>a great obscure song by a band that recorded a single on
>Date Records. The principal genius behind this song and
>group (Summer's Children) was Curt Boettcher...
>
>Is Curt's name listed in the writer credits?
Good guess, but these are two different songs. In the Land
of Milk and Honey is another prime example of what Michael
Coxe called "sooo garage-pop". The Boettcher track is
nearly a prototype for the dreamy psychedilia he would
achieve later with Sagittarius and Millennium. The
obscure Summer's Children track that Steve refers to, btw,
can be found on the essential soft pop CD The Melody Goes
On, Volume 2 (M&M MMCD-1013).
Paul MacArthur wrote about Del-Fi:
>Here's my latest for you to check out: Del-Fi Records
>story in the Houston Press.
>
>http://www.houstonpress.com/archives/1998/052799/music1.html
To which Steve Stanley replied:
>Very groovy story Paul... And very well written!
Agreed! Without permission of the author (don't get mad,
Paul), here is a short passage from his article, quoted
for the sake of discussion.
>To get a sense of Del-Fi's unique history, there's
>Delphonic Sounds Today!, a compilation of songs recorded
>on Del-Fi during the '50s and '60s, except they're remade
>by contemporary artists. The Brian Jonestown Massacre does
>the Bobby Fuller Four; Elliot Kendall does Ritchie Valens;
>Man or Astro-Man? does Yo Yo Hashi; and Elliot Easton does
>the Centurians. The revised look at Del-Fi's unusual canon
>-- one filled with rock and roll, R&B, surf, hot rod, jazz,
>doo-wop and "exotic" screwball songs -- gives a unique
>spin on the label's unique history.
I just have to add that this brand new CD is fantastic,
and it fits into our "current releases influenced by
Spectropop-era music" discussion. The Wondermints do an
absolutely incredible version of Full Moon (Tropical Blend)
which was originally recorded by certified nut case Eden
Abbez. In my opinion, Wondermints surpass the original
version. Others include Elliot Kendall and his spot on
take of Ritchie Valens' Donna, David Ponak and his Mello
Cads' vocal version of An Afternoon Affair, and kudos to
Steve Stanley for his contribution to the compilation
production. This has become a current regular around my
house. If you have a chance to pick it up, I sooper highly
recommend it (dig the Negro Problem's take on BF4's Magic
Touch). Del-Fi DFCD-2114.
Jamie
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Subject: Re: Hamilton Camp
Received: 06/11/99 12:07 am
From: Michael "Doc Rock" Kelly, docroxxxxom
To: Spectropop List, spectroxxxxies.com
My favorite Hamilton Camp hit was "Oklahoma City Times."
And I STILL dream about Wrangler Jane!!!
Doc
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Subject: Total Heart-throb
Received: 06/11/99 12:07 am
From: Jimmy Cresitelli, Jimmyxxxxm
To: Spectropop List, spectroxxxxies.com
I wanted Shelley "Mary Stone" Fabares to be my older
sister; and I wanted Annette to be my girlfriend. : )
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Subject: Tuesday Weld
Received: 06/11/99 12:06 am
From: Shelby Riggs, vinylmaxxxxi.net
To: Spectropop List, spectroxxxxies.com
I agree 100% with Tom Simon about Tuesday Weld.
She was definitely the knockout girl on TV in the late
50's, early 60's.
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
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