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For Your Further Musical Enjoyment
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There are 7 messages in this issue of Spectropop.
Topics in Digest Number 58:
1. Simon & Garfunkel early years CD?
From: "Matthew Kaplan"
2. Small Talk
From: Jack Madani
3. Harpers Bizarre
From: DJJimmyBee
4. Re:Harpers Bizarre
From: alan zweig
5. Re: Critters et al
From: Toby
6. New Poptones reissues
From: Christopher Davidson
7. new Poptones
From: Jill Mingo
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Message: 1
Date: Mon, 13 Nov 2000 07:58:03 EST
From: "Matthew Kaplan"
Subject: Simon & Garfunkel early years CD?
I just saw a print advertisement for the cd "Two Can
Dream Alone" by Simon & Garfunkel on NMC Records in
England. From what I can tell this brings together all
of their pre-fame singles like "Lone Teen Ranger" and
Tico & The Triumphs. Does anybody have more complete
details? Is it well put together, what are the tracks?
Good notes?
Matthew Kaplan
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Message: 2
Date: Mon, 13 Nov 2000 10:29:45 -0500
From: Jack_Madani
Subject: Small Talk
spectropop writes:
>Besides the
>excellent songwriting (check their version of Small Talk
>for a great rendition of this Bonner/Gordon favorite),
Oh yes! Small Talk is also covered by Claudine Longet
and is included in the Varese Sarabande Best Of Claudine
Longet. I meant to describe my pleasure over this new
release but I just haven't gotten around to it.
Small Talk is my favorite track on the album, with an
instrumental backing that screams Turtles (in a mellow
vein, bien sur), and Andy Williams himself adds the
harmony vocal. Tres cool.
My biggest complaint over the Longet Best-Of is that it's
underfilled (somewhere in the mid-40 minute range). But
the music itself is never less than sweet (although the
instrumental arrangements occasionally veer close to the
bland side), and in several instances is totally swell.
Besides Small Talk, another favorite of mine is her
version of the beatles' Here There & Everywhere, which
benefits from a pulsing plucked-string figure that brings
to mind a similar figure used in Andy Williams' own hit
Can't Get Used To Losing You.
(Strange how that Andy Williams seems to get name-checked
rather often here on Spectopop, btw)
I don't have the disc at hand, but I recall that Nick
deCaro had a hand in many of the tracks.
Bonner/Gordon rule!
jack
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Message: 3
Date: Mon, 13 Nov 2000 11:20:56 EST
From: DJJimmyBee
Subject: Harpers Bizarre
>Harpers Bizarre stuff is NOT all novelty rock. I
>recommend their albums highly.
Their take on "Me Japanese Boy" was not long ago covered
by the Pizzicato 5 and is a monster softie (written by
Burt and Hal)
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Message: 4
Date: Mon, 13 Nov 2000 12:45:14 -0500
From: alan zweig
Subject: Re:Harpers Bizarre
Jamie LePage wrote
>
>...someone...mused that
>Harpers Bizarre records were all novelty rock
>
>Harpers Bizarre stuff is NOT all novelty rock. I
>recommend their albums highly.
>
>Their albums each have several lovely tracks. Van Dyke
>Parks's "Come to the Sunshine" and "High Coin" work very
>well, as do Randy Newman's "Vine Street", "Debutante's
>Ball" and "The Biggest Night of Her Life"..
I think you're both right. I wouldn't call them "novelty
rock" but their nostalgic, old timey, vo-dee-oh-doh sound
does seem to dominate. I had five of their records. I
just put what I considered the great tunes onto CD. The
tunes that DON'T remind me of Winchester Cathedral. There
are 14 of them. Not bad I guess. Average of three per
LP. On the other hand, I made the CDR mostly because it
was so annoying listening to the records due to all those
stupid "novelty" tunes. What the hell, here are the 14
tunes. The two real gems are "Mad" and "Comes Love".
But they are:
1. Comes love
2.Raspberry rug
3. 59th street bridge song
4. I can hear the darkness
5. Jessie
6. High coin
7. Hey you in the crowd
8.Las Mananitas
9. Funny how love can be
10. Mad
11. Drifter
12. Something better
13. I love you Alice B Toklas
14. There's no time like today
death to winchester cathedral
AZ
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Message: 5
Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2000 04:10:56 -0000
From: Toby
Subject: Re: Critters et al
These songs/artists from the Melodies For You comp makes
me curious...
> 5. MFQ, "Night Time Girl"
If MFQ is short for The Modern Folk Quartet, is "Night
TIme Girl" a Harry Nilsson song or Spector production?
> 6. Tommy Roe, "It's Now Winters Day"
The Curt Boettcher record? What does it sound like
compared to Boettcher's other productions for the
Association, Ballroom, et al?
> 8. Critters, "Younger Girl"
A group whose name I read about fairly often on this list
but whose music I've never heard...care to recommend them,
Jamie?
...and it saddens me that Petula Clark wants to have
anything to do with Andrew Puke Webber :-)
Toby
http://www.spectropop.com/go2/curtboettcher.html
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Message: 6
Date: Mon, 13 Nov 2000 06:38:52 -0800 (PST)
From: Christopher Davidson
Subject: New Poptones reissues
Toby wrote:
> I'm listening to the new Curt Boettcher and Millennium
> releases right now...hmmm, anybody else agree that the
> material is good, but not as good as the original
> Sagittarius and Millennium albums? A lot of Boettcher's
> music on his solo album sounds more like the laidback
> space country of "The Blue Marble" than the folk-ish
> harmony pop of "Introducing The Ballroom". I definitely
> prefer the latter style.
I totally agree with this observation, although I was
too chicken to come out and say it for fear of getting
instantly vaporized by flames. Maybe stupidly, I hunted
down the Japanese pressings of the Boettcher and
Millennium releases without hearing them and was pretty
disappointed w/ both. Curt's voice is in good shape,
but where are the lush choral vocal overdubs that really
make Sagittarius & Millenium so special? Many of the
songs -- even tho some went on to find a place on great
records -- sound like works in progress that have yet to
be completed.
On a related note, there was another semi-new Millenium
disk that came out only in Japan called The Millenium
Continues, which is different from the Poptones release,
and it too was mostly working demos and songs that
didn't capture the magic, IMHO.
The only thing I can harp on that sort of pinpoints why
it was all somewhat dissappointing to me is a quote in
the liners from one of the band who says "These
recordings have none of the pretentiousness of our
efforts at Columbia Studios." Far be it for me to
criticize someone who created this stuff, I'm just a fan,
but "pretentiousness?" I read that while listening to
the disk and was puzzled because Boettcher's were the
only records I can recall hearing that were 100% free of
pretense. Everything he touched was really simple and
gorgeous and not afraid to be proud of its emotions.
Definitely the furthest thing from pretentious. Did the
band really feel this way and try to get Curt to change
the way he produced and wrote? And is this what we're
all listening to on these releases? I'm not sure at all
if I understanding the dynamics at work here.
Maybe we're all expecting unreleased volumes to pour out
that sound just like "Present Tense" (maybe the Ballroom
release fooled us into thinking there was an endless
supply of great stuff), and it just ain't there, for
whatever reason.
Chris D.
=====
Chris Davidson
CAD Records
http://www.spectropop.com/go2/curtboettcher.html
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Message: 7
Date: Mon, 13 Nov 2000 14:25:01 +0000 (GMT)
From: Jill Mingo
Subject: new Poptones
As for the New Poptones releases, well, I bought "Misty
MIrage" on the Japanese CD, which has FAR superior
liner notes to the very stylish but not really easy to
read El graphic sleeves of Poptones (yeah, I rebought
the Poptones one too as it has a couple bonus tracks
because I'm one of those ultra sad Boettcher collectors).
I think this is an AMAZING LP, with the production of
"Tumbling Tumbleweeds" being perhaps some of the most
mindblowing production I have heard for the time. It is
a different style to Millenium and Sagittarius, much
more like "Blue Marble" for sure, but I think that is
an amazing LP if you can get past the HORRIBLE pressing
quality.
The real amazement for me is Sandy Salisbury's LP.
Curt's warm and beautiful production with the sweetest
melodies around. Curt never fails to amaze me in his
production. A lost gem that has brought so much joy
into my heart. Buy this LP.
Jill "Mingo-go"
http://www.spectropop.com/go2/curtboettcher.html
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