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Volume #0045 02/23/98
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The Dealers Choice
Subject: Nino Tempo and April Stevens
Sent: 2/18/98 1:13 AM
Received: 2/18/98 2:27 AM
From: Doc Rock, docroXXX@XXXXXXom
I could not disagree more with the comments about Nino Tempo and April
Stevens CD SWEET AND LOVELY, which I reviewed last year for Discoveries
magazine. (For an email copy of my review, email me at
docroXXX@XXXXXXom.)
Sure, many of the tracks on the CD share a similar sound. But that can
be said about anyone, from the Beach Boys to Pet Clark to the Kinks to
Phil Spector. But many of the tracks on SWEET AND LOVELY have different
sounds.
The 1985 cut, "I'm Fallin' For You," is uncharacteristically country,
with Nino yodeling.
"Teach Me, Tiger," a pre "Deep Purple" April solo hit record from 1959,
was inspired by a very popular TV ad of the time for hair cream. In the
ad, a pre-Get Smart Barbara Feldon rolled around on a tiger rug and
growled, "Hi, Tiger!" to the camera. The sound was pre-Ginger, more
Marilyn-Monroe-in-the-fifties.
"I Love How You Love Me," is a masterpiece, perhaps my favorite non-hit
record from the mid-sixties. Nino and April belt it out, complete with
bagpipes and electric guitar! Hey, it worked for me when I bought the
single in 1965, and it's even greater in stereo CD sound.
One of the best cuts is "The Coldest Night of the Year," and I'm not even
much of a fan of slow songs.
Nino played with the Glenn Miller orchestra and April sang with Benny
Goodman briefly. Later, Nino also played sax, piano, drum, and/or guitar
on most of Phil Spector's Girl Group records.
The only criticism I have of the CD is that it left out wonderful cuts
like "I Surrender Dear," ""Our Love," "My Old Flame," "Sea of Love/Dock
of the Bay (medley)," and "No Hair Sam" (a great answer record to Charlie
Rich's "Mohair Sam"). Maybe if we're lucky, there'll be a volume two?
Doc Rock
---[ archived by Spectropop - 02 /22/98 - 04 :08:24 AM ]---
Subject: Carl Wilson tribute page
Sent: 2/19/98 6:56 AM
Received: 2/19/98 8:25 AM
From: Big L, biXXX@XXXXXXmail.com
I have put up a short tribute to Carl on my web page.
All clipped from cabinessence.com, so far, so if
you've been there, you've probably seen all of the
stuff.
Has anyone heard the original version of "I Can Hear
Music?" Been looking for it for years. Supposedly,
Carl owned a copy of the single, and that's how the
Bs came to cover it.
==
Big L Check out my Radio Legends pages at:
biXXX@XXXXXXmail.com http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Hills/9816
---[ archived by Spectropop - 02 /22/98 - 04 :08:24 AM ]---
Subject: Pet Pet Sounds
Sent: 2/19/98 6:00 AM
Received: 2/19/98 8:25 AM
From: Brent Kubasta, bkubaXXX@XXXXXXccc.edu
Here are two sleepers from Petula Clark that all Spectropop
fans should give a listen to:
1. "Dance With Me"
>From the *My Love* album, this is one Petula's greatest moments.
Beautiful song, gorgeous arrangement, and perfect phrasing on the
lead vocals. (And do it right: listen to a *mono* copy.)
2. "Days"
>From the *Kiss Me Goodbye* album. Am I asking to be flamed if I
say I think this version brings out the harmonic beauty of the
song far more than the Kinks' original recording?
I don't have all of Pet's albums, but most of the ones I've heard
suffer from filler material. *My Love* is an exception: there's a
number of really strong cuts, especially on side two.
Brent
---[ archived by Spectropop - 02 /22/98 - 04 :08:24 AM ]---
Subject: Re: Spectropop V#0044
Sent: 2/19/98 2:56 AM
Received: 2/19/98 2:58 AM
From: le_page_XXX@XXXXXXies.com
Jack Madani said:
> ......it seems to me that Hatch understood that Gold Star
> sound so well that he was well capable of recreating it
> in England; there are any number of non Petula cuts on
> the Here Come The Girls series that have elements of the
> Wrecking Crew sound...I'm sure that these non-megastars
> weren't being transported to LA to record...
That's exactly right. Hatch's style is quite recognizable even on the
non-hits from the Here Come The Girls series, and we know these must have
been recorded in London. I don't know if I'd go so far as to say he
"recreated" the Gold Star sound, because as I mentioned before the Pet
Clark sides I am so fond of are very British. Yet, Hatch-produced records
certainly share common ground with the West Coast sound. Even if his
production style was derivative, it worked.
David Bash wrote:
>"I Can Hear Music: The Songs of Greenwich & Barry", and it
>was created by Polygram Publishing.
OK, a question about this. If memory serves, Barry/Greenwich were signed
to Trio Music, which was a Leiber/Stoller publishing firm. Trio is still
controlled by Leiber/Stoller to this day. How do PolyGram fit in?
Interesting...
Jeff and Ellie recorded most of their best work for Red Bird, which was o
Leiber/Stoller company. Many of these masters are on the CD you mentioned.
>The only disconcerting thing is that there are no
>Spector tracks on it because apparently, even though
>this is a publishing disc and is not officially released,
>Spector put the kabosh on any of his tracks being included.
Although Jeff, Ellie and Phil wrote a relatively small number of songs
together, almost every one was of stellar quality and today retains great
value. All of these co-writes are co-administrated with Phil's company
Mother Bertha, and it is ABKCO who administers Phil's interests (both
publishing and masters, btw).
Trio Music have most likely been a benefactor of ABKCO's careful
administration of Mother Bertha and Philles properties. ABKCO is known to
be very selective in granting licenses; rare in today's corporate
"maximize profits" mentality. I would guess an amicable agreement was
struck when the Jeff & Ellie CD was planned where funding might be more
appropriately used to produce new masters of these classic
Spector/Barry/Greenwich songs by contemporary artists.
But I still don't get why this is PolyGram...
>Subject: KHJ
>From: Paul MacArthur, rtf_XXX@XXXXXXdu
> Some say the sixties began when Kennedy was shot and ended
> with Nixon's resignation. I think in terms of musical
> excellence, it started a little earlier than that, circa
> Phil Spector, but after Nixon's resignation we had a
> dramatic down turn in the quality of popular (and less
> popular) music.
Nice one, Paul. That's a pretty good description of what "Spectropop"
encompasses.
Jack Madani wrote:
>
> Yes, well, I guess I haven't maxed out on non-psych 60's
> pop yet, after all.
Good to hear!
> ......there's more here to listen to than just Deep Purple
> and All Strung Out. The first half of the skimpy (46
> minutes) cd is still firmly in the mold of Deep Purple,
> eight of the first ten tracks being Big-Beat updates of
> Tin Pan Alley standards.
That's my problem with their recordings. The *sound* is classic early
60's LA as in Gold Star/Western, but the songs and the arrrangements are
not as imaginative as other LA records from the same era.
> "The Coldest Night of the Year," ...features some chord
> progressions that will put the listener in mind of other
> Mann/Weil numbers... However, it's not a reverby wall of
> sound, but rather an intimate recording with a picked
> spanish-harlem acoustic guitar.
See, that's what I do like about their records. Without the wall, you can
hear what the studio is contributing to the overall ambiance. Then, when
listening to latter day Philles, it's easier to hear what is going on.
> "You'll Be Needing Me Baby," was written by David
> Gates...does Gates not receive enough credit when the
> great pop svengalis are written about?
I really don't care to mention Bread etc. as all that is from the 70's
and after. I do view Gates as a talented latter day Brill Building writer
who made some classic records (without regard to their commercial
success). Hey, Little Star is pure genius. Lost in Wonderland too. Also,
He's My One and Only Jimmy Boy has to be one of the all-time great
non-hit girl group records ever!
le_page_XXX@XXXXXXies.com
RodeoDrive/5030
---[ archived by Spectropop - 02 /22/98 - 04 :08:24 AM ]---
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