________________________________________________________________________
______________ ______________
______________ ______________
______________ S P E C T R O P O P ______________
______________ ______________
________________________________________________________________________
Radio Caroline - The all day Music Station
------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are 8 messages in this issue of Spectropop.
Topics in this Digest Number 122:
1. Re: Need help with Rockfile
From: Richard Havers
2. Re: The real McCoy
From: "David Gordon"
3. Van McCoy Website
From: John Clemente
4. Re: Stage Door
From: "David Gordon"
5. Re: I Stand Accused/Sharon Tandy
From: "David Gordon"
6. Re: I Stand Accused.(Butler/Butler)
From: "David Gordon"
7. Re: The NY Music Business in the Early Sixties
From: LePageWeb
8. Van McCoy; Merseybeats
From: John Frank
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Message: 1
Date: Thu, 08 Mar 2001 13:32:47 +0000
From: Richard Havers
Subject: Re: Need help with Rockfile
Dear Scott
The Great Rock Discography has the following
Andy Anderson (c. 1965) NO
Jimmy Cliff (Island releases c. 1966) YES
Jackie Edwards (Island releases c. 1966) NO
Johnny Howard Band (looking for "One Of A Kind") NO
Peppi (Peppi Borza) NO
--
Best Wishes
Richard
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Message: 2
Date: Thu, 08 Mar 2001 19:12:34 -0000
From: "David Gordon"
Subject: Re: The real McCoy
--- In spectropop, LePageWeb wrote:
> Van was a great music man and one far too often
> overlooked in discussion of Brill Building era
> writers/producers. I mean, the guy was doing A&R for
> Florence Greenberg at Scepter in the early 60s! Those
> guys in the roundtable discussion for R&R's "Giant
> Steps: A frank discussion of race and culture" talked
> about the need for acknowledgement of black execs'
> accomplishments. Instead of whining about it and making
> irresponsible comments about Motown, why not actually
> acknowledge black execs' accomplishments? Van McCoy
> transcended all that crap about "dividing the music
> between white and black" having worked with people
> like Chad & Jeremy, Vikki Carr and Lesley Gore. Van
> McCoy is a prime example of a black music man whose
> accomplishments should be acknowledged!
.
> Van wrote one of my very favorite songs of all time -
> "Before and After" as recorded both by the Fleetwoods
> and by Chad & Jeremy. He even wrote "When You're Young
> and in Love" for crying out loud!
>
> I would love to learn more about his career and his
> music if anyone can share anything further.
Jamie,
I'm in total agreement. One of the things I love about
the sixties is that the division between "black" and
"white" music for a few brief shining years seems to have
disappeared with black writers and producers such as Van
McCoy and Quincy Jones working with people who could sing
irrespective of their colour. As for black executives,
another forgotten man is Clyde Otis who worked
extensively at Mercury. He was, I think, their first
black A&R man. He also worked as an A&R man at Liberty,
think of all those Timi Yuro records, then at Columbia.
In an old Goldmine interview Otis said that he ran into
all sorts of problems at Columbia because he knew too
much about the music business and wanted to retain
control of his own publishing which Columbia wouldn't
agree to.
I'll try to put together a basic listing of Van's
productions but don't expect it for a couple of weeks as
I'm tied up with a project for the southernsoul list.
Re "Before and After" - great song. I first came across
this on the American Breed's underrated "Bend Me Shape Me"
album. It was years before I twigged that Chad and Jeremy
had recorded it earlier. I don't have the Varese
Sarabande comp. of the American Breed but sadly "Before
and After" was omitted - if it had been included I'd
probably have a copy of the CD.
David Gordon
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Message: 3
Date: Thu, 08 Mar 2001 17:10:47 -0500
From: John Clemente
Subject: Van McCoy Website
Hello All,
As a result of the posts regarding Van McCoy, I was
fortunate enough to receive a message from Matti Taylor,
president of Van McCoy Music, Inc. She alerted me to
their fabulous website at
http://www.vanmccoymusic.com.
Excellent site!
Regards,
John Clemente
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Message: 4
Date: Thu, 08 Mar 2001 18:56:10 -0000
From: "David Gordon"
Subject: Re: Stage Door
> In '66, the Grads, a group with a sound similar to the
> Vogues, released their version of "Stage Door" on A&M
> 797. This one's a Tommy LiPuma production, arranged by
> Nick De Caro, and anyone into mellow soft pop and
> smooth group vocals should go for this in a big way.
>
> Ian
Hi Ian,
Thanks for the info. on the Grads single - hmm, it's
more interesting that I thought. I hadn't clicked that
"Stage Door" was the same song as the Tony Jackson one.
The Grads changed their name for their next single -
"Guantanamera" (The Sandpipers, A&M 806, 07 /66). I don't
think I need go into their history.
David Gordon
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Message: 5
Date: Thu, 08 Mar 2001 18:42:59 -0000
From: "David Gordon"
Subject: Re: I Stand Accused/Sharon Tandy
--- In spectropop, Alec Palao wrote:
> >Jerry Butler did it as a ballad.
>
> Same title, different song (though no less great for
> that). Incidentally I'm surprised no-one has mentioned
> Tony Colton's original version of "I Stand Accused" with
> the Big Boss Band (Pye, June 1965). It's a slower, more
> kinda nightclub/mod arrangement, but equally cool.
>
> Tony Colton is also responsible for writing/producing
> perhaps my all time fave Brit Girl 45, Sharon Tandy's
> "You Gotta Believe It", released on UK Atlantic in 1968.
> Though Sharon recorded in the US, most famously at Stax
> in Memphis, this was done in England, most probably at
> Philips in Marble Arch, 'cos its got that killer Peter J.
> Olliff drum sound. An amazing kitchen sink production in
> a mid-period Dusty style, strings and vibes etc. Great
> emotional vocal from Ms Tandy. Bit of a looker too, if I
> remember correctly.
>
> Archivally yours
>
> Alec
Hi Alec,
I haven't heard Sharon Tandy's "You Gotta Believe It"
but will keep an eye out for it. One of her other
Atlantic singles was a great version of the Isaac Hayes
- David Porter song "Toe Hold" (originally done by
Johnnie Taylor. "Bit of a looker" - yes indeed. If I
remember rightly she was the "significant other" of
Frank Fenter who was the UK label manager for Atlantic
at the time.
David Gordon
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Message: 6
Date: Thu, 08 Mar 2001 18:47:52 -0000
From: "David Gordon"
Subject: Re: I Stand Accused.(Butler/Butler)
--- In spectropop, Dean Scapolo wrote:
> Hi all.
>
> I Stand Accused was also recorded by the Glories,
> however, I don't know if it is the same song, since I
> haven't heard any of them, even though I have the
> Glories 45.
Hi Dean,
The Glories' "I Stand Accused" is the Jerry Butler song.
It was also recorded by Inez & Charlie Foxx with an
"answer" song "Guilty" on the B-side.
Other versions of the Jerry Butler song include Issac
Hayes and a couple more I can't think of at this minute.
The Glories were a fine group, I could be wrong but
they seem to have been completely overlooked by
compilers over the years. "Give Me My Freedom" their
second single was a big favourite of mine back in '68.
David Gordon
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Message: 7
Date: Wed, 07 Mar 2001 22:47:07 -0000
From: LePageWeb
Subject: Re: The NY Music Business in the Early Sixties
GT wrote:
> When I was a kid, circa 1961-65, I took to hanging
> around Broadway, just above Times Square, looking to
> break into the music business.
An eyewitness! I enjoyed this message so much. Thanks GT
for posting it.
> This was a very special point in time for the music
> business. I consider myself to be very fortunate to have
> been around the scene, enough to have a true idea of
> what it was actually like.
> My first day in Quintano's School for Young
> Professionals, a special high school for kids in show
> business. My fellow sophomores included Mitch Margo,
> the youngest Token; Mary Weiss, lead singer of The
> Shangri-La's; Two members of Randy and The Rainbows AND
> LaLa Brooks of THE CRYSTALS.
Do you have any anecdotes about Mary? In the
Shangri-Las' appearances on TV (as seen on videotape),
she seems so interesting, as if she posessed both
a vacant innocence and New York street smarts. (What
ever happened to her anyway? the Shangs never did the
oldies circuit, did they?)
> While waiting for the elevator on the 9th floor (I
> think) of the Brill Building, the door to Jobete Music
> opened...[also in] the Brill Building...were the
> offices of Leiber & Stoller (Trio Music); Jubilee
> Records (run by Al Ham/birthplace of "The Shoop Shoop
> Song," by Betty Everett) and Trinity Music, which had
> recently been purchased by Bobby Darin and renamed TM
> Music.
So Jeff Barry's comment about meeting Leiber and Stoller
in the Brill Building was accurate. So far we have Aldon
at 1650, Leiber/Stoller, Trio and Jobete at 1619. Do
you know where Chappell was? Didn't Chappell own Hill
and Range Music, for whom Paul Case worked? Where was
Hill and Range located? Was Big Top Records in the same
location? I am very curious to know exactly where the Teen
Pan Alley publishers and their indie labels rwere
located.
> I was this heavy set 13 yr old kid in a twenty-nine
> dollar, silver-gray, iridescent suit that I was given as
> a present for having just graduated from Catholic
> elementary school. (As far as I was concerned, the suit
> was just like the ones worn by Len Barry and The Dovells,
> those "Bristol Stomp" boys. So I thought I was looking
> good).
LOL! Lookin' sharp as a thistle!
> Although this encounter wasn't exactly my 'stairway to
> stardom,' from then on I was allowed to hang out in the
> TM lobby from then on, with an occasional invitation to
> come into the back offices/inner sanctum to hang out and
> listen to demos, etc. Very cool. I loved it.
Your post was very cool. I loved it! If and when time
allows, please do share more of your experiences during
that time.
All the best,
Jamie
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Message: 8
Date: Thu, 08 Mar 2001 20:51:55 -0800
From: John Frank
Subject: Van McCoy; Merseybeats
>> If I can find the time it would be interesting to do a
>> chronology of his writing / production work.
>
>That would be excellent! I do hope at some point you can
>find the time for this.
>
I second that! For years I only associated the name Van
McCoy with the dreadful (imo) "Disco Lady." Then I
noticed his name kept popping up on obscure and
not-so-obscure 45s and LPs. I'd love to know more about
his 60s career!
>He wrote one of my very favorite songs of all time -
>"Before and After" as recorded both by the Fleetwoods
>and by Chad & Jeremy.
...and Lesley Gore! A beuatiful song, right up there with
Lulu's "Best of Both Worlds," and Shelby Flint's "Angel
on My Shoulder" and, and, and...
>He even wrote "When You're Young
>and in Love" for crying out loud!
He did?! I didn't know that.
============
Merseybeats:
I have a "Very Best of The Merseybeats" CD put out by
the German label Spectrum (1997). Don't know how
available it is now. I got in in Amoeba Records in
Berkeley, CA. The track listing is as follows:
I Think Of You
Don't Let It Happen to Us
Wishin' and Hopin'
I Love You, Yes I Do
I Stand Accused
Last Night (I Made a Little Girl Cry)
Long Tall Sally
It Would Take a Long, Long Time
Milkman
It's Love That Really Counts
The Fortune Teller
Mister Moonlight
Hello Young Lovers
He Will Break Your Heart
Really Mystified
Good, Good Lovin'
Don't Turn Around
See Me Back
Jumping Jonah
All My Life
Al the best,
John Frank
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
End
Spectropop text contents © copyright Spectropop unless
stated otherwise.
All rights in and to the contents of these documents, including each element embodied therein, is subject to copyright
protection under international copyright law. Any use, reuse, reproduction and/or adaptation without written permission of the owners is a violation of copyright law and is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.
