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First 25,000 copies issued in an attractive picture sleeve.
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There are 14 messages in this issue of Spectropop.
Topics in this Digest Number 92:
1. Re: The Peppermint Rainbow
From: "Mike"
2. Re: Peppermint Rainbow
From: "Randy M. Kosht"
3. Claudia Loses a Bet.
From: "David Feldman"
4. Peppermint Rainbow
From: alan zweig
5. Peppermint Rainbow
From: Jamie LePage
6. RE: Soundalikes
From: "Phil Chapman"
7. Phil Spector's girlfriend
From: "Steve Marinucci"
8. Melody Goes On compilations
From: Tobias
9. Re: Hey Baby...It's Cosmic
From: Andrew Hickey
10. What Am I Gonna Do With You -- Hey Baby
From: John Clemente
11. more....... "What Am I Gonna Do With You (Hey Baby)"
From: "Phil Chapman"
12. Lesley, Specs, Claus, Quincy & Teenage Steve [?]
From: "Jack Madani"
13. Re: The Orchids/ Blue Orchids
From: Scott Swanson
14. Orchids/Blue Orchids
From: John Clemente
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Message: 1
Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2001 10:36:28 -0800
From: "Mike"
Subject: Re: The Peppermint Rainbow
Claudia wrote:
>My boyfriend recorded me a song called "Will You Be
>Staying After Sunday (Or Go Home on Monday)" and I
>swear it sounds like Spanky and Our Gang.
>We have a bet going....I say it's Elaine McFarland
>(Spanky)....anyone? Claudia
There is some similarity in the lead vocal of WYBSAS to
Spanky, but Spanky was under contract to Mercury at that
time (1968) and could not have recorded for another label.
I think its just a session singer, and the arrangement
was geared toward the Spanky singles, as they were big
hits at that time.
Mikey
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Message: 2
Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2001 08:35:22 -0800
From: "Randy M. Kosht"
Subject: Re: Peppermint Rainbow
Hi, Claudia and Spectropoppers:
Regarding the Peppermint Rainbow, I have no firsthand
knowledge, just memory, but my hunch is that it's not
Spanky, since Our Gang was still recording. Sure sounds
like her though.
"Will You Be Staying After Sunday" was out in the spring
of '69 -- if memory serves, Paul Leka wrote it(?). I
bought the single (on Decca); they also followed up with
"Don't Wake Me Up In The Morning, Michael," and there was
an LP.
Best,
Randy
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Message: 3
Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2001 12:17:07 -0500
From: "David Feldman"
Subject: Claudia Loses a Bet.
On 19 Jan 2001, at 12:04, Claudia wrote:
> We have a bet going....I say it's Elaine McFarland
> (Spanky)....anyone? Claudia
>
Uh-oh, Claudia. Methinks you owe your boyfriend bigtime.
The Peppermint Rainbow, as I recollect, featured TWO
female singers, sisters. I think they were the Lamdin
sisters, although I don't remember which sang lead on
"Will You Be Staying..."
This was a pretty big hit, actually, in 1969, I believe.
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Message: 4
Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2001 13:43:37 -0500
From: alan zweig
Subject: Peppermint Rainbow
Claudia on the Peppermint Rainbow;
>
>My boyfriend recorded me a song called "Will You Be
>Staying After Sunday (Or Go Home on Monday)" and I
>swear it sounds like Spanky and Our Gang. The group
>was Peppermint Rainbow from the late 60's..very peace
>and love-soft rock which was personified by groups
>like Yellow Balloon, Liz Damon's Orient Express,
>Lemon Pipers and Sandpipers. The groups simply reeked
>of love beads, daisies in the hair and all things
>paisley.
On the surface, from appearance, judging from the way
they look on my very beat up copy of the record (have I
hedged enough??), The Peppermint Rainbow seem to be way
more "Holiday Inn" than "love beads and daisies". First
of all, they have matching uniforms. It's not just that
the guys have turquoise blue "slacks" and the women have
turquoise blue minidresses. Or that the guys are wearing
white shoes and the women are wearing white go-go boots.
It's also that the guys are wearing these turquoise blue
"cravats" (?) or ties or ascots or whatever the hell
they are. Having said that, I've had my preconceptions
turned upside down enough times that I try not to assume
anything about groups from this era, based on appearances.
So the Peppermint Rainbow may have been the hippest,
avant garde, long hair freaks. And those awful uniforms
may have been some horrible management idea. (Actually
it probably was.) When you listen to the whole record
though, it kind of fits with the uniforms and the "poofy"
hair-dos. At best they sound like the Fifth Dimension
(I'd call them a "white Fifth Dimension" except that
some folks probably thought the Fifth Dimension were
already the white Fifth Dimension.) At worst they sound
a bit like the Seekers (or the New Seekers) especially
on the song "Don't wake me in the morning Michael" The
strange and mysterious anomaly on the record is their
spot-on "cover" of Green Tambourine. I've enquired about
this earlier but maybe not on this list. It sounds to me
like the instrumental track is not just similar but
identical to the Lemon Piper hit version. Paul Leka, the
songs co-writer, produced this record and wrote a couple
of other tunes on it. It sounds to me like he brought
more than songs with him. (This is probably a question
for Carol.)
I get the sense that Spanky and Our Gang were more
"genuinely" hip. I don't know why. Maybe it's their
association with Bob Dorough who seems like the real
thing to me. Then again, he could be hip but they don't
have to be. Which actually brings up a question I've
always had. Two really cool soft pop vocal groups.
Spanky and Our Gang and Harpers Bizarre. Each of their
records is almost ruined for me by songs that I can only
describe as "vo-dee-oh-doh". Oldtimey, Rudy Vallee. They
parody some barbershop Roaring Twenties song style. If
you want, I can name songs. But they both do it and it
drives me crazy. Who liked that stuff? What were they
thinking? If it was just one group or one song, I could
ignore it. But it seemed like some kind of "phenomenon".
Please explain.
AZ
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Message: 5
Date: Sun, 21 Jan 01 15:44:21 +0900
From: Jamie LePage
Subject: Peppermint Rainbow
Hi Claudia,
I found this on the Bulletin Board:
http://www.escribe.com/music/spectropop/bb/index.html?bID=60
"Neither of the female members of the Peppermint Rainbow
(sisters, Patricia & Bonnie Lamdin) sang with any other
groups. The male members of the Peppermint Rainbow were
supposedly members of the Lemon Pipers (who were
produced by Paul Leka)."
Hope this helps.
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Message: 6
Date: Sat, 20 Jan 2001 22:27:49 -0000
From: "Phil Chapman"
Subject: RE: Soundalikes
Mikey wrote:
> Yes, those "Hit Records" versions are awesome
> .............A 2 Cd set of these from the
> original masters would be a welcome item.
I'm also fascinated by these 'budget' Spector
soundalikes. The UK equivalents were mainly provided by
Woolworth's, who had the likes of Jimmy Page & Elton
John at their disposal. Two of the more entertaining
items are session singer Maggie Roberts' version of "Be
My Baby", featuring backing vocals in the wrong octave
so it's pure Disney from the second verse - and "Baby I
Love You" by The Starlings: In an attempt to fill the
sound stage there is a three-part male chorus throughout
which lends a sacrificial Hammer Horror quality.
It's worth mentioning other European language covers,
particularly the French: - Les Surfs provide competent
versions of "Be My Baby" and "Not Too Young To Get
Married", Johnny Hallyday "Da Dou Ron Ron", and Richard
Anthony's version of "Then I Kissed Her" remains
remarkable faithful to the original arrangement. Hmmm...
a compilation of all of these would certainly make for
interesting listening.
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Message: 7
Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2001 22:36:13 -0800
From: "Steve Marinucci"
Subject: Phil Spector's girlfriend
Apparently, the new issue of Entertainment Weekly
mentions that Phil Spector's girlfriend is none other
than Nancy Sinatra. Talk about a small world...
steve
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Message: 8
Date: Sun, 21 Jan 2001 06:50:04 -0000
From: Tobias
Subject: Melody Goes On compilations
I only have portions of these three soft rock
compilations, on tape. Could somebody please burn me
CDRs of the three volumes, since M&M doesn't exist
anymore? I'll pay for postage et al, of course.
Tobias
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Message: 9
Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2001 06:49:19 -0800 (PST)
From: Andrew Hickey
Subject: Re: Hey Baby...It's Cosmic
> By the way. the Poptones label here in the UK snuck
> out two limited 7" singles with one track each from
> the four Boettcher related albums - Curt, Sandy S,
> Millennium and Joey Stec. Only 1000 copies of each,
> there may still be a few around...
Sounds great - I'll have to try and pick those up...
anyone else think Curt sounds a *lot* like Sean
Macreavy on several of the tracks on the solo one?
BTW Kingsley, did you get my e-mail? My account's
playing up (again) and I had no reply...
=====
Subliminal message:
Buy the new Stealth Munchkin album -
www.geocities.com/stealth_munchkin
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Message: 10
Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2001 22:45:10 -0500
From: John Clemente
Subject: What Am I Gonna Do With You -- Hey Baby
Hi,
"What Am I Gonna Do With You -- Hey Baby" is one of my
favorites from the mid 60s. I know of two more versions
of the song. One by Skeeter Davis on RCA and the demo
version of the song recorded by The Cookies.
Unfortunately, I've never heard The Cookies demo.
Darlene McCrea told me that she has an acetate of their
cut (nice collectors' item). During a radio interview
with The Cookies in 1997, I played The Inspirations'
version for them, thinking it might be The Cookies in
disguise, but they all said "nice job, but not The
Cookies". I'm sure their version will finally surface on
a CD, as did their version of "Good Good Lovin'" from the
same period. Goffin/Titleman also wrote and produced
Darlene's "My Heart's Not In It" for Tower Records in
1964.
John Clemente
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Message: 11
Date: Sat, 20 Jan 2001 20:49:41 -0000
From: "Phil Chapman"
Subject: more....... "What Am I Gonna Do With You (Hey Baby)"
Apart from the versions mentioned (posted to egroups), I
have a rather strange male version of this great song by
'The Singing Bodies' - does anybody have any info on
this?
Whilst on the subject of varying mixes of Jack Nitzsche
productions: is there a stereo mix of PJ Proby's "I
Can't Make It Alone" which includes the Righteous
Brothers style harmony vocal? - I've only ever heard it
on the 45.
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Message: 12
Date: Sat, 20 Jan 2001 21:31:57 -0500
From: "Jack Madani"
Subject: Lesley, Specs, Claus, Quincy & Teenage Steve [?]
>> "What Am I Gonna Do With You"--
>>Definitely my very favorite Lesley Gore recording
>
>The vocal on the Mercury Anthology (and ALSO, Rhino's
>1998 "Best Of Lesley Gore: Sunshine, Lollipops &
>Rainbows" and Demon-Westside's 2000 "My Town My Guy And
>Me/Sings All about Love" 2-fer) sounds awfully HARSH to
>me--and I'm not 100% certain it is the same vocal on the
>"Golden Hits" CD.
That was also my immediate reaction the first time I
heard the Mercury Anthology version. But at this point I
couldn't say for sure any more.
>The Rhino "Best Of" CD credits NO arranger for Track 14
>'What Am I Gonna Do With You' yet Jack Nitzsche IS
>credited as arranger on Track 17 'Off And Running.'
>
>The Demon-Westside CD booklet says:
>"What Am I Gonna Do With You (Hey Baby)
>Recorded in New York, July 23, 1965
>Written by Russ Titelman & Gerry Goffin
>Arranged by Don Costa
>
And on the Mercury "It's My Party" Lesley twofer, it
says produced by Quincy Jones, with orchestra arranged
and conducted by Claus Ogermann.
Costa? Ogermann? Each excellent arrangers in their own
right to be sure, but I'm sorry, ain't no way that track
was arranged by anyone but Jack Nitzsche.
>Jamie also asked whether the Bear Family box was worth
>the investment, and I say yes, even if "only" for the
>sake of all the previously unreleased material found
>there, not least of which is the entire cancelled
>"Magic Colors" album.
I started relistening to the Lesley Mercury twofer, and
was surprised at how much Lesley in later years seemed
to be inching towards a Fifth Dimension-y, almost *soul*
sort of sound.
As for the Magic Colors-related tracks on the twofer,
they sounded to me like tracks that might have been
meant for the Partridge Family. The notes said the
producer for that unreleased album was Steve Douglas.
Would that be "Teenage" Steve Douglas?
jack
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Message: 13
Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2001 12:32:46 -0800
From: Scott Swanson
Subject: Re: The Orchids/ Blue Orchids
>I know the Spectropop thread mentioned "Mr Scrooge" and
>"Just For You" but I have a hunch - and it is just aq
>hunch - that we may be talking about two different
>groups here.
They're definitely two different groups. The British
group (three schoolgirls from Liverpool) were always
known as just "The Orchids" but their 2 U.S. singles
were credited to "The Blue Orchids" for the exact reason
we are discussing them here. ;-)
In 1965 they (the British group) changed their name to
The Exceptions and released one final single before
splitting up.
Hope this helps,
Scott
http://www.spectropop.com/go2/orchids.html
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Message: 14
Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2001 22:34:58 -0500
From: John Clemente
Subject: Orchids/Blue Orchids
Hello,
In answer to Lindsay Martin's comments about The Blue
Orchids vs. The Orchids. Yes, the name of the Brit group
was changed so they wouldn't be confused with the NY
group who recorded for Columbia and Roulette. Not much
is known about the NY group. They recorded three singles
for Columbia and two for Roulette (oddly enough, one in
'62 and one in '65, the latter with a recycled B-side).
The Columbia sides were recorded between September of
'63 and October of '64.
John Clemente
http://www.spectropop.com/go2/orchids.html
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