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Volume #0407 April 12, 2000
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Represented globally
Subject: Little Pattie's Blonde Headed Stompie Wompie etc.
Received: 04/12/00 4:03 am
From: Lindsay Martin
To: Spectropop!
John Frank wrote: "this might be a good place to ask if
anyone knows of good websites to try to find Little
Pattie's "He's My Blond-Headed Real Gone Wompie Stompie
Surfer Boy"
Little Pattie's "He's My Blonde Headed Stompie Wompie
Real Gone Surfer Boy" [note my pedantic correction of the
title!] is on "Surf's Up", an Australian CD of 19 surf
tracks. It is available through Chaos Music, the Aussie
online CD store
The other tracks are not all Australian, but apart from
little Pattie you'll find such gems as Sydney's Atlantics
with two of the finest surf instrumentals recorded
anywhere on the planet: "Bombora" and "The Crusher". I'd
be interested to know if anyone in the U.S. is familiar
with these. Local legend has it that "Bombora" charted in
parts of California, but perhaps this is based on
confusion with the Surfaris' track of the same name (not
the same composition).
It's apparently a Columbia CD released through Sony
Australia, though some of the tracks are licensed from
Festival. Chaos lists "Fest" as the label, so I'm only
assuming this is the right CD, not being fully aware of
record company affiliations. Better check!
Lindsay
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Subject: Re: Free Design
Received: 04/12/00 4:03 am
From: Jill Mingo
To: Spectropop!
>Don't know the details but...
>
>A never released solo record by Chris Dedrick, from around
>1973 (?) is going to be released. I believe it will be a
>local label here in Toronto where Mr.Dedrick currently
>resides. This is about as close to a scoop as I could ever
>get with this group so I thought I'd go for it even though
>it's just a rumour I heard from a friend of the guy who
>might be putting out the record.
>
Well, it is called "Be Free" and a Japanese label called
Airmail Recordings is going to release it. I have a copy
of it, and although it is good, the fabulous harmonies are
definitely missing. But..in other news, the Free Design are
reforming for another LP! They have recently covered the
Beach Boys "Endless Harmony" track for the German label
Marina for their Beach Boys tribute LP and apparently,
they sound as stunning as they ever did. I've yet to hear
it myself though.
Jill "Mingo-go"
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Subject: Darlene Love
Received: 04/12/00 4:02 am
From: john rausch
To: Spectropop!
Darlene Love will be performing in the NY area.
Here is info:
"CELEBRATING LOVE"
Starring DARLENE LOVE
Co-Star of Lethal Weapon 1,2,3&4
With Special Guest BEN E.KING
Creator of the renowned hit "Stand By Me"
Also appearing JENNIFER BERDETTA
Hosted by WCBS-FM, 101.1 D.J. "BOBBY JAY"
Saturday June 17th 8:00PM
JOHN HARMS CENTER FOR THE ARTS
30 N. Van Brunt St, Englewood, NJ 07631
Tickets $55, $45, $35, $25
Call for Tickets-201-567-3600 Mon-Sat 11-6
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Subject: RDMH Success
Received: 04/12/00 4:02 am
From: P Woods
To: Spectropop!
> Do you have any ideas why RDMH was a relative failure? Or
> why it was so popular in England?
The failure in the States still surprises me; but I think
in England much of the success can be attributed to the
work of an A&R man called (I think) Tony Hall, who plugged
it very heavily. There was a stunningly exciting film of
Ike and Tina and the Ikettes in action which was shown on
prgrammes like Ready, Steady Go which caught the public's
interest; which was further boulstered by an early visit
of the Turners (though I seem to remember Tina was dressed
rather staidly on RSg in a brown trouser suit). This film
paved the way for the rock videos which we all take for
granted these days - but the sheer power and excitement of
the short promo was enough to excite anyone's interest. And
for those of us who'd been fans of the Turners, since
shelling out for their stuff on Sue a year or so before,
but had never had the chance to see the act live, this was
a revelation.
On another point, one of the Ike and Tina singles on
Philles which was announced in the music press but later
pulled was "Two to Tango", apparently produced by Bob
Crewe. Did this ever surface anywhere?
Best,
Paul Woods
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Subject: River Deep Mountain High.
Received: 04/12/00 4:03 am
From: jake tassell
To: Spectropop!
Do you have any ideas why RDMH was a relative failure?
No, anything I could say on the subject would just be a
guess. Maybe a better question to ask would be: "Do you
have any idea how Phil Spector got away with everything he
was doing for so long?"!!!
Or why it was so popular in England?
British spleen, I should think.
Jake Tassell
PS. On a sad note, Heinz Burt died on Friday. For those of
you not familiar with Heinz, he was Joe Meek's peroxide
blonde bombshell in the early Sixties. He had a big hit in
the U.K. with 'Just Like Eddie' and played bass in The
Tornados ('Telstar'). There is a tribute page at:-
http://www.geocities.com/meeksville/heinzobit/index.html
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Subject: Re: RDMH & production
Received: 04/12/00 4:03 am
From: Dave Feldman
To: Spectropop!
Jamie LePage is amazingly civil in his disagreements with
me. So in order to punish him....
>
>First, thanks to all who expressed opinion on High
>Fidelity. I realize the characters are going to be
>discussing records off Rolling Stone's "Best 100 albums of
>all times" rather than Cinderellas or Paris Sisters B-sides,
>and as Keith D'Arcy wrote, "Why fill the movie with
>songs that cannot be found outside collector's circles?"
>Well, exactly. The whole soundtrack/film cross-promotion
>aspect would be lost and I doubt anyone here kids themself
>into thinking it could (or should) be any other way.
Also, I think "us" types tend at times to champion obscure
songs at the expense of hits. My guess is that if we did a
"blind ear tasting" of 50 random girl group hits and 50
girl group obscurities, we'd favor the hits.
>As strong as the _song_
>RDMH itself is, I think the Easybeats version sounds
>embarrassingly tiny next to I&TT, and don't even get me
>started on Eric Burdon's version! Talk about overreaching
>one's grasp!
But I'll bet you a good "alternative pop" version could be
done by a mopey female singer, such as Sarah McLaughlin.
>
>Dave then name-checks Danny Hutton's Funny How Love Can
>Be. What a great, great record, and for the very reasons
>Dave mentions. Dave, have you heard the original by the
>Ivy League? Hearing that one makes you realize just how
>far Hutton's version is "overproduced in a thrilling way."
>The Ivy League original is litle more than a slow, vocal
>harmony ballad (albeit a good one).
Yep, Ivy League sounds a little wan. I wonder if I'd feel
differently if I had heard the Ivy League version first.
Imagine loving the Ivy League original! What a travesty
the kitchen sink version would likely be.
>Another wild remake of
>an Ivy League original, of course, is Sagittarius' My World
>Fell Down, itself quite an overproduction in a thrilling
>way, doncha think?
I do think. This is one case where the (over?) ambitious
production adds to the song's charm and innocence.
>That two West Coast producers/artists
>within a stone's throw of Brian Wilson would cover songs
>by the relatively obscure Ivy League seems to be more than
>a coincidence. Anyone know how these two songs made their
>way into the hands of Hutton and Gary Usher?
Me? Actually know something? Sorry.
>
>The "everything but the kitchen sink" approach remains a
>most appealing trait of many pop records of the 66-68 era.
>Just to namecheck a few more...Smashed! Blocked! by John's
>Children, Excerpt from a Teenage Opera by Keith West,
>Something I Got To Tell You by Glenda Collins, Green
>Tambourine (and Jelly Jungle) by the Lemon Pipers, Sweet
>Talking Guy by Chiffons, Make Believe by Wind, Fakin' It
>by Simon & Garfunkel, and of course Strawberry Fields,
>Walrus, Rich Man, Good Vibrations and Heroes & Villians.
All good examples (I've not heard "Smashed! Blocked!). I'd
add "My Baby Must Be a Magician" by the Marvelettes, with a
truly silly and irresistable production. ("Lookee here!
Here's a dial that's marked "Echo!")
Dave
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Subject: From CK - on Brian and the Beach Boys
Received: 04/12/00 4:03 am
From: Carol Kaye
To: Spectropop!
As for people believing that movie, I'd say that most are
just turned off of it because of its content - the TV
audience is a lot more sophisticated than most people know,
they're well-trained from all the tabloid press (the
dirt-books at the library belie that also...hardly ever
checked out), and most are learning the truth one way or
another anyway. It all kind of backfired as now more than
ever, people are turned on to the music and the man who
created it all...the man and his music.
BTW, I never was "offered any gold records at all by BW"
and no, he never was in the studio the way portrayed in
the movie -- he was just the opposite: a confident,
totally great professional, wonderful to work for, easy to
please and while the tracking sessions were sometimes long
(he'd cut only 1 tune vs. what we usualy did in the Union
allotted 3- or 3-1/2 hour date, 04 -5 tunes), he paid us
well, wrote all the notes, did practically all the
engineering from what I could tell, and we loved his sly
sense of kidding and humor...he was always a happy guy in
the studios, very sharp young natural great talent, the
best.
Van Dyke also was good to work with and for, always a nice
fellow, knew what he was doing.
And no, BW didn't go "crazy" during the Fire sessions at
all, that's pure rot. Sure he wore a fire-hat, so did Lyle
Ritz - Brian got better and better in his writings all the
time and he was fun to work for. In his home, if he wanted
to record in the sand-box, why not? So what. He was a
playful young man back then -- I heard that he also
recorded in the bottom of his empied-out pool for a great
sound back then....as a recording musician, that makes
sense to me. One studio musician of our group purposely
went to record in one of the Egyptian pyramids for the
same reasons: SOUND.
No, I never recorded at BW's house and if he appeared in
his robe, so what! Hugh Hefner apparently LIVES in his
robe.
I think it's obvious that the BB's were and still are
America's favorite group -- we hardly ever saw them in the
60s. They'd drop by the studio for 1-2 min's to say hello,
and were gone, a happy bunch of guys. As for the stories
about BW being a "taskmaster" for recording the voices on
top of our tracks "just right", well so be it, it paid off
handsomely. Besides, they still would had had a long ways
to go to equal the toughness and discipline that regular
studio singers go through to record. That includes all the
star-singers too.
Brian knew what it took to get the job done and he did it
and yes, their singing was great -- I'm sure they were
very happy with the way the music sold and is still great
today. Recording a hit record is a serious hard-working
business and I'm sure you can hear Brian's great producing
chops, the way he was in full-charge of his dates --
totally unlike the movie...and you didn't see him
interviewed after the movie showed on TV either.
Another few things. I never saw Murry as portrayed like in
the movie -- we liked and worked for him (Sunrays), we
talked about this on our other dates and never knew any
enmity between Brian and his father -- they were both very
quiet about that on their dates. Marilyn and her sister
were portrayed wrongly too, they were very very savvy
people, never silly. Lastly, Nancy Sinatra sent me an
email after I mentioned the actress who played my part
saying "that's the only thing they got right"....it was
very upsetting to her, she loves Brian and his music.
But I know the meticulously-done music scenes (even tho'
some things were totally wrong) helped with the
music-appreciation, people enjoyed the impact of the music
...Alan Boyd tried and Gary Griffin did too, the rest was
out of their hands.
Thanks to BW's connections to his great fans, his
wonderful wife Melinda, his true friends, family, and
faithful musicians and in spite of his past family losses,
negative stuff, etc. he's still the same BW, altho' his
plate is sure full these days. As for the "writer's block",
that's musician-talk for just a temporary thing....who
feels like writing with all this stuff happening? As they
say, the show will go on.
Was a great show at the Roxy!
Carol Kaye http://www.carolkaye.com/
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Subject: Brian Live
Received: 04/12/00 4:03 am
From: David Ponak
To: Spectropop!
Well, I attended both Brian Wilson shows at the Roxy over
the weekend (Friday and Saturday, April 7 & 8). What an
amazing weekend! Brian was in a good mood, and seemed more
relaxed than at some of the larger shows. Vocally, he was
also more relaxed and assured. The band (Wondermints,
Jeffrey Foskett, plus extra Chicago folks) were amazing as
usual. At times you get the feeling that the sax and bass
players would rather be playing in Spyro Gyra, but their
"musico" tendencies only got in the way once or twice. In
terms of the set list, the show's been changed around a
bit since the last leg of the tour. They do an "unplugged"
type middle section where several of the ballads are
performed to wonderful effect. Also, two "new" songs are
performed, one being the vocal version of "This Isn't Love"
(the instrumental from "Songs Without Words," with
lyrics by Tony Asher) and a song called "The First Time."
Both sounded great. Other surprises included "Please Let
Me Wonder" (which was first added last October at the
Bridge School Shows) and a snippet of Barenaked Ladies'
"Brian Wilson" that served as a segue into "Till I Die."
Aside from those, it was the usual array of hits and album
tracks that they've been doing on tour. Audience members
included Lindsey Buckingham, Peter Buck, Bette Midler,
Patty Smith, Doug Fieger, Nancy Sinatra and probably many
others I didn't spot. A groovy time was had by all.
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Subject: Grace of My Heart
Received: 04/12/00 4:02 am
From: Ian Chapman
To: Spectropop!
I'd recommend anyone who hasn't already done so to get the
soundtrack CD. Songs which are only heard fleetingly in the
movie are there in all their glory. Not only do you get the
stunning "Secret Love", but also the irresistable "Born To
Love That Boy", my own fave - co-written by Gerry Goffin.
You could play that one at any Da Do Ron Ron night, and
no-one would ever guess it was anything other than an
authentic 60s girl-group classic. There's the Nancy &
Lee-cloned "Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder" by
Tiffany Anders & John Rice, and "Truth Is You Lied" by
Jill Sobule, which I guess is meant to equate to Skeeter
Davis' early brush with the Brill Building. Elvis Costello
doesn't quite get it right with "Unwanted Number" (his
personal take on "Love Child") - no way would you have got
away with lyrics like "...when he came to my room and asked
me to undress" in 1965. But For Real perform it so
convincingly, it's hard not to like it. There are a few
duds, admittedly - I personally don't care for the
introspective quasi-Joni Mitchell tracks, and I can't
understand why the version of "God Give Me Strength", sung
by Ileanna Douglas' character - a highlight of the movie -
was ditched in favour of Elvis Costello's own. It's not
bad, but couldn't they have included both?
Ian
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Subject: Re: Grace of my Heart/Stewart and Gaskin
Received: 04/12/00 4:02 am
From: Stewart Mason
To: Spectropop!
Jimmy C writes:
>Remarkable. The song for the film is actually sung by Miss
>Lily Banquette, she of a group called Combustible Edison,
>but Bridget does it glorious lip-synching justice. Catch
>it now. Eminently rentable!
Yes, very much so! I was lucky enough to catch the world
premiere of this film at the 1996 Toronto International
Film Festival, and while it has a few bits where I was
gritting my teeth at somewhat muddled chronology, it meant
a lot to me that director Allison Anders and company were
at least making the attempt to get some of the details
right. John Tuturro's performance as the Spector manque is
completely unsubtle and utterly fearless in its silliness.
And there's a very cool cameo by Steven McDonald of my
beloved Hawthorne bubblegum-punks Redd Kross as one of the
faux Beach Boys, which was a nice treat.
For those who might be interested, Miss Lily Banquette was
in a previous life Liz Cox, drummer/singer of the defiantly
odd '80s psych-pop band Christmas, whose three albums IN
EXELSIOR DAYGLO (1986), ULTRAPROPHETS OF THEE PSYKICK
REVOLUTION (1989) and VORTEX (1993, recorded 1990,
featuring James McNew of Yo La Tengo and Dump on bass)
occasionally try a bit too hard to be outre but are
recommended if you're fond of, say, the International
Artists label.
John Rausch adds:
>"At the film's end I
>read the end credits, and learn that the incandescent
>Lesley Gore herself has helped pen "My Secret Love."
>
>...I saw the movie a few times and always assumed the
>Kelly character was supposed to be loosely based on Lesley
>Gore. The song Secret Love, I had always assumed was a song
>recorded by Doris Day? I didn`t catch the end credits you
>mention. Thanks.
That was the one that went "Once I had a secret love," and
this is definitely a different song. Kelly seems to be
based more on folks like Shelley Fabares or Paul Peterson:
she's a TV star making records not because she wants to,
but because she's being made to. In the film -- and this
is a very minor element of a picaresque film, so I'm not
ruining anything by revealing it -- Kelly's previous
singles have been uninspired at best, because she neither
believes in or cares about what she's singing.
On the other hand, "Secret Love" is an artistically
successful song because it's a coded message that she
connects to emotionally: The Illeana Douglas-as-Carole
King character recognizes what everyone else has failed to
register, that Kelly is a closeted lesbian. The lyrics take
on a somewhat different meaning in that light.
Jamie LePage mentions:
>In talking about the soundtrack, Stewart Mason wrote "Beta
>Band, whose prog-pop-jazz-funk oddities sound like
>Hatfield and the North crossed with Beck..." Wow! Hatfield
>& the North on Spectropop - that's gotta be a first! My Egg
>LPs will probably remain in storage for at least a few more
>years, but I do occasionally dig out the Dave Stewart/
>Barbara Gaskin album with that great cover of It's My
>Party.
Just in case anyone's interested in this, the album
Jamie's referring to is Dave Stewart and Barbara Gaskin's
UP FROM THE DARK (Rykodisc 1986), a collection of mid-80s
UK singles featuring a number of interesting art-pop
reworkings of '60s tunes familiar and obscure. If you're
familiar with Brian Eno's "pop" albums (HERE COME THE WARM
JETS, etc.) or perhaps Thomas Dolby's synthetic-yet-warm
THE GOLDEN AGE OF WIRELESS (they cover Dolby's "Leipzig"),
that should give you an indication of the style, though
they're neither as poppy as Dolby or as quirky as Eno.
Covers include:
I'm In A Different World (Holland/Dozier/Holland)
It's My Party (Lesley Gore)
Busy Doing Nothing (Jimmy Van Heusen -- the Brian Wilson
song would have been a *great* idea, though!)
I Know I'm Losing You (Norman Whitfield)
Roads Girdle The Globe (Andy Partridge, XTC)
Siamese Cat Song (!!!) (Peggy Lee; yes, from LADY AND THE TRAMP)
And no, this Dave Stewart is NOT the guitarist from the
Eurythmics, but the keyboardist/songwriter from the
abovementioned Hatfield and the North (this Dave once
wrote "the only thing I have in common with the guy from
the Eurythmics is I can't play guitar either") and various
other Canterbury bands. Hatfield and the North, named after
a UK road sign (not unlike their contemporaries Kilburn and
the High Roads, the late Ian Dury's first band), are highly
recommended for pop fans who want to stick a toe in the
waters of '70s UK prog but are put off (as well you should
be) by the humorless inanities of Yes or Emerson Lake and
Palmer. H&TN made non-epic, human-sized music, a
fascinating, largely instrumental blend of oddball UK
psych-pop (Syd Barrett, Kevin Ayers, Tom Newman, early
Soft Machine, early Mike Oldfield) and cool jazz. There's
a friendly humor to their music -- song titles include
"Your Majesty Is Like A Cream Doughnut" and "Big John Wayne
Socks Psychology on the Jaw," and one song features a verse
sung while gargling -- and the proceedings are never
ponderous, "difficult" or indeed less than pleasant. Hey,
if you've ever listened to a Creed Taylor-produced
soft-jazz album, you're already halfway there! The
necessary albums are HATFIELD AND THE NORTH (Virgin 1974)
and THE ROTTER'S CLUB (Virgin 1976) and there's a couple
of compilations and live sets as well.
Stewart
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