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This is the new design in today's music
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There are 10 messages in this issue of Spectropop.
Topics in this Digest Number 162:
1. Brill Building Doc
From: Al Quaglieri
2. Twinn Connexion
From: Jill "Mingo-go"
3. Mary Mary
From: "Jack Madani"
4. Re: DynoVoice
From: "Tony Leong"
5. THE DYNOVOICE STORY
From: Mick Patrick
6. INTENTIONALLY DELETED
FROM ARCHIVES
7. Ellie Greenwich
From: Alan Zweig
8. Marcia Hillman
From: Alan Zweig
9. zombies petition
From: "Jennifer"
10. The Liquid Room
From: David Ponak
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Message: 1
Date: Mon, 07 May 2001 11:08:54 -0400
From: Al Quaglieri
Subject: Brill Building Doc
I too saw the Brill Building documentary last week at
the Museum of TV and Radio. The official name was
"Hitmakers: The Teens Who Stole Pop Music."
Much like another filmmaker who recently documented
another American musical form on PBS, producer Morgan
Neville admitted near-total unfamiliarity with the
Brill Building sound before diving into this project.
In the post-film interview, he claimed that the project
was difficult because of a dearth of source and
research material; this is odd, because the period has
been extensively documented in such books as Gillett's
Sound of the City, Ward's Rock of Ages, and countless
issues of Goldmine, Discoveries, Record Collector, Bomp,
and every other reference work or periodical covering
American popular music. Even a cursory web search
brings up Richie Unterberger's fine introductory essay,
the fact-packed Spectropop website, and countless other
informative hits. Thank god he had the good sense to
get Greg Shaw to put most of it into a meaningful
context.
Because it was all news to the producer, the show kind
of feels like a history of Trenton, NJ as told by a guy
who drove there for the first time last week. The
obvious names were contacted and interviewed, but many
nuances (and major players) were notably absent. Neil
Diamond's name is mentioned, once. Bert Berns doesn't
exist. Steve Lawrence speaks, but his connection to
Kirshner/Goffin/King is unclear. Phil Spector's
apprenticeship in NY goes unmentioned, his
contributions limited to live clips of the Crystals,
Ronettes and Righteous Brothers (asked why no Spector
interview or Philles tracks were used, Neville said
he'd heard these were impossibilities to negotiate "so
I didn't even ask").
I fear the casual viewer will come away with the
impression that 25 or so memorable ditties hardly
placed the Brill players in the Cole Porter / Irving
Berlin firmament. The film should have ended with a
collage of 3-second musical clips and images that would
have definitively demonstrated the remarkable range and
depth of this talented stable of tunesmiths.
That said, the clips and the interviews were fun, and
it was wonderful to finally see some serious attention
paid to this underappreciated period in American pop
music.
Al Q.
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Message: 2
Date: Mon, 07 May 2001 13:28:40 +0100
From: Jill "Mingo-go"
Subject: Twinn Connexion
You say this LP isn't impossible to find...I've seen it
once in 5 years of looking for it, which was in Japan
for 40 pounds (I had already spent a considerable
amount of money, didn't buy it and regret it to this
day.
I usually stay away from ebay as I don't want to get
suckered into the whole paying more than I can afford
thing, but if anyone on this list has an extra copy for
sale, PLEASE let me know...do you know how much it goes
for on Ebay? If it isn't too unreasonable, I'd gladly
buy it. I've put ads in Record Collector and never even
had an acknowledgement on it. I also routinely ask in
second hand collector shops, and only once have I spoke
to someone who knew what I was talking about.
It is an AMAZING LP.
Jill "Mingo-go"
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Message: 3
Date: Mon, 07 May 2001 10:30:07 -0400
From: "Jack Madani"
Subject: Mary Mary
spectropop writes:
>Mary Weiss rules!
Does she ever. You know, I was always a fan of the girl
groups, but in more of a oldies-radio sort of way. My
time on the Spectropop list has really galvanized my
interest, to the point where I have been learning about
all these other obscure groups. And I tellzya, this
quote from Shadow Morton hisself so spot on captures my
feeling about Mary:
>"Here she was, this teenage
>girl with no experience in show-biz, and I made her act
>out all these crazy parts...Nobody else was doing
>anything like 'Past Present and Future' and 'I Can Never
>Go Home Anymore'...I musta been outta my skull...but no
>matter what I asked her to do, she delivered, each and
>every time."
The more I hear other tales-from-the-crypt recordings,
the more I realize that Mary was absolutely the greatest
actress of the genre. Compare, for instance, a tune
called "Condition Red" (which I think happens to be by
the Goodies, but I can't remember for sure without the
disc in front of me); it's a great production and all,
but the lead girl's emoting at the end of the song comes
off as whiny, not tragic. At one point, she kind of
gasps, "gawd!" only she makes it sound more like she got
some blood spattered on her dress and was going "ewwwww!!!"
Mary, on the other hand, in tunes like "I Can Never Go
Home Anymore" and even the classic "Leader Of The Pack",
manages to infuse as much world-weariness into her roles
as, say, Marlene Dietrich did in "Touch Of Evil." Only,
Mary was, like, a teenager.
When I listen to the spoken parts of "Give Him A Great
Big Kiss," I get goosebumps. And when she says, "he's
good bad, but he's not evil," my hair always stands on
end.
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Message: 4
Date: Tue, 08 May 2001 13:14:52 -0000
From: "Tony Leong"
Subject: Re: DynoVoice
Hey Joseph and Mick, I have not yet seen the Dynovoice
collection, but I'm wondering if there are any
unreleased Toys cuts on there. When I met the ladies a
few years ago, they told me that they recorded a second
LP after "Toys Sing A Lovers....", but the project was
shelved. I was also told, and John Clemente wrote it in
his book (a MUST for every girl-group nut!!) that the
group also cut versions of "Opus 17" and "Let's
Hang On". That would be interesting to have the "lost"
Toys LP on CD, just like the Red Bird Story included the
"Lost" Jelly Beans LP (with chatter, missed notes and
all!!). As an aside, can you all imagine "The Lost
Shangri-Las CD" complete with between the takes gum
cracking and salty language??
Tony (still enchanted by the presence of the elusive
Mary Weiss!!)
[ John Clemente's Girl Groups:
http://www.spectropop.com/gg/girl.html
]
Joseph E. Vine Jr. wrote:
>"Mick Patrick" wrote:
> >
> > I just opened my copy of the new DYNOVOICE STORY double
> > CD this morning. Diane Renay, Jeanne Thomas and the Beach
> > Girls are all featured.
>
> I would like to see the full DynoVoice CD Track List.
> Who released the DynoVoice / DynoVox CD? (Westside?)
>
> My dynoVoice CD "wish list":
>
> The Toys:
> See How They Run MONO version
>
> The Toys:
> Attack STEREO version
>
> The Toys:
> Silver Spoon
>
> The Toys:
> Happy Birthday Broken Heart
>
> The Invitations:
> Hallelujah
>
> The Invitiations:
> What's Wrong With Me Baby
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Message: 5
Date: Tue, 08 May 2001 21:49:20 +0100 (BST)
From: Mick Patrick
Subject: THE DYNOVOICE STORY
Greetings,
For the benefit of Mike Arcidiacono, Joseph E Vine and
David Ponak, here are more details about THE DYNOVOICE
STORY:
This is a brand new release on the Westside label.
Catalogue number is WESD 226. I buy all my CDs from Jim
Stewart. He gets all the new 60s CDs in stock as soon as
they are issued. His URL is:
http://www.soulsearchingplus.co.uk/
It's a 56 track double CD with a 12 page colour booklet.
Artists contained include the Toys, Mitch Ryder, Eddie
Rambeau, Norma Tanega, Diane Renay, the Invitations, the
Beach Girls, Jeanne Thomas, Jessica James, Maggie Thrett,
the Hi Fashions, Charlotte & Emily, the Motivations,
Billy Dearborn, the Sky, the Chicago Loop, George
McCannon III, Lainie Hill, Kenny Wells, Duff Thurmond,
Peter Antell, George 'n' Sonny Sands, the Little Bits
featuring Karyl Mann, Jimmy Williams, the Glitterhouse
and, of course, the BOB CREWE Generation.
I suspect some Spectropoppers will gag over certain trax
. . . the Karyl Mann side, for starters, is a killer -
kinda Frankie Lymon meets the Ronettes. Ronnie should
keep a copy under her pillow.
Great to read of MARY WEISS of the Shangri Las spotted
out in public at the Brill Building documentary
screening. I have an amusing Shangs story to share but
it will have to wait until another day because I simply
HAVE to wash my hair.
MICK PATRICK
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Message: 6
6. INTENTIONALLY DELETED
FROM ARCHIVES
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Message: 7
Date: Tue, 08 May 2001 16:57:08 -0400
From: Alan Zweig
Subject: Ellie Greenwich
Finally I bought a record that's fully relevant to the
Spectoresque aspect of this list (which I was actually
ignorant of when I first joined. I noticed the "pop"
not the "spectro")
The record is Ellie Greenwich Composes, Produces and
Sings. Half the songs are originals. I don't think
they're quite the classics some of her other tunes are
but I like the arranging - by Hutch Davie, Gary Sherman
and Jimmy Wisner - and her voice is certainly suited to
this kind of vaguely Ronettes-ish material.
Of the five originals, I think maybe "Goodnight
Goodnight" could have been a hit. If it wasn't. I don't
recognize any of the originals myself. They all have
that sound but I don't think they quite measure up to
her more famous hit songs.
Anyway in the liner notes it says she's about to produce
a group called The Definitive Rock Chorale. Did that
happen? That sounds interesting.
Oh and just so I can avoid writing a third post, what
can anyone tell me about "The Jon and Robin Elastic
Event". It's a boy girl thing that sounds almost
exactly like Nancy and Lee. Did they have any hits?
They do this tune "Doctor John" that sounds like it
could have been a minor hit.
I was at a record show. I bought anything that looked
likely.
The big score was something called Queen Anne's Lace,
featuring a woman named Anne Philips. It's a great soft
pop record.
AZ
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Message: 8
Date: Tue, 08 May 2001 16:57:07 -0400
From: Alan Zweig
Subject: Marcia Hillman
Who was Marcia Hillman?
I bought some records somewhat relevant to this list at
a record show on the weekend.
One of them was the Music Explosion "Little bit of soul".
The liner notes are by Marcia Hillman. I thought "I
just read that name somewhere". Yes there it is on the
writing credit to a truly strange and awful song - but
somehow enjoyable - song called "Feeling" on The
Hobbits record "Men and Doors". (How many bands called
The Hobbits were there???)
She also wrote other songs on this record. I guess I'm
also asking because Marcia Hillman sounds like the name
of someone I could have grown up with.
Another record more relevant to this list is "Queen
Anne's Lace". Really nice soft pop. The group is led
by Anne Philips. Who's she? She was good.
AZ
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Message: 9
Date: Tue, 08 May 2001 21:12:31 -0000
From: "Jennifer"
Subject: zombies petition
I'm sure many of you like the zombies!!
anyway please follow this link for my petition to vh1 to
tape the upcoming rod argent/colin blunstone shows in new
york. This is one tremendously influential band who
deserve to get the credit that they missed out on in the
60s!!!
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/zmbievh1/petition.html
thanks in advance for your support.
love,
jennifer
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Message: 10
Date: Mon, 07 May 2001 15:25:24 -0400
From: David Ponak
Subject: The Liquid Room
Hello once again. Here's what went down over the
weekend in The Liquid Room.
The Liquid Room airs every Saturday night from Midnight
to 3AM (PDT) at 90.7 FM KPFK Los Angeles as well as
streaming at http://www.kpfk.org.
For Los Angeles residents, there's a few groovy live
shows coming up which you may want to attend:
Tuesday May 8-Goldfrapp at the El Rey Theater
Wed May 9-The Tiki Tones at Liquid Kitty
Thursday May 10-Linus Of Hollywood at the Alterknit
Lounge in the Knitting Factory (9PM)
Thurs May 17-Tipsy/DJ Me DJ You/Seksu Roba-The Knitting
Factory
Sun May 27-The Cripple Circus Tour with Anubian
Lights/The Ray Makers/Seksu Roba & more Mr. T's Bowl
(5621 N. Figueroa, Highland Park)
The Liquid Room-5/6/2001
The Association/Come On In
Birthday (WB)
Chocolate Barry/Hell
The Stations Of Abandoned Days (Radio Khartoum)
The Avalanches/Since I Left You & Stay Another Season
Since I Left You (XL-UK)
Nancy Sit/Hanky Panky
Girls In The Garage Vol. 9 (Romulan)
Cibo Matto/About A Girl
Moonchild Sampler (WB)
Martin Denny/Sake Rock
Quiet Village (Scamp)
Rupert Holmes/Who What When Where Why
The Epoch Collection (Varese)
The Bee Gees/Technicolor Dreams
This Is Where I Came In (Universal)
Fun Lovin' Criminals/Loco
Loco (Chrysalis-UK)
Priscilla (Paris)/I'm Home
Priscilla Sings Herself (York)
Chisato Moritaka/Tokyo Rush
This Summer Will Be More Better (Zetima-Japan)
Ennio Morricone/The Man With The Harmonica
(Apollo Four Forty Remix)
Morricone RMX (Reprise)
Laika & The Cosmonauts/The Ipcress File
The Amazing Collossal Band (Upstart)
Nick DeCaro/Under The Jamaican Moon
Italian Graffitti (MJM)
Rolf Kuhn/Paranoid
New Happy Discoteque (BASF)
Fantastic Plastic Machine/Love Is Psychedelic
Beautiful (Emperor Norton)
The Divine Comedy/Mastermind
Regeneration (Parlophone-UK)
Al Green/I Want To Hold Your Hand
Love Ritual (MCA)
Dominatrix/The Domanatrix Sleeps Tonight
The Perfect Beats Volume 2 (Tommy Boy)
George Sarah/Eyes Goodbyes
Opus Eleven (BIABD)
Reportage/Satisfaction
Italia (RLP)
Linus Of Hollywood/Need You Around
Let Yourself Be Happy (Franklin Castle)
The Mamas & The Papas/12:30 (Young Girls Are Coming
To The Canyon)
The Best Of (MCA)
Our Hour/Anarchy The The UK
Not Dead (LD&K-Japan)
Scott Walker/Thanks For Chicago Mr. James
Till The Band Comes In (BGO)
Gypsophile/Les Regards A L'Envies
Dee Lone Les Choses (Radio Khartoum)
The Parade/Sunshine Girl
The Parade (A&M)
Springs/Paradise
Picnic (Universal-Japan)
Leslie Gore/Je Ne Sais Plus (You Don't Own Me)
It's My Party Vol. 5 (Bear Family-Ger)
Goldfrapp/Lovely Head
Felt Mountain (Mute)
The Isley Brothers/Hello It's Me
Beautiful Ballads (Legacy)
Neil Hefty/Man Chases Man
The Odd Couple (soundtrack) (Dot)
Hideki Kaji/Disco Madonna
My Love, My Milk (Trattoria-Japan)
Francoise Hardy/Le Petit Garcons
The Vogue Years (BMG-Ger)
The Free Design/Springtime
Cosmic Peekaboo (Marina)
Jackie & Roy/The Winds Of Heaven
Grass (Capitol)
Motocompo/Snack Music
Krackerjack Party (Poplot-Japan)
Gil Tythall/Wildwood Flower
Country Moog (Athena)
Gary McFarland/A Hard Days Night
Sympathetic Vibrations (Verve)
Christian Bruhn/Ford Capri II
Pop Shopping (Crippled Dick Hot Wax)
Charles Fox/About Her
Love American Style (soundtrack) (Capitol)
Mike Post/Wouldn't It Be Nice
Railhead Overture (MGM)
Lalo Schifrin/Vaccinated Mushrooms
There's A Whole Lalo Schifrin Going On (Dot)
Sakura & The Qwests/My Boy Lollipop
Girls In The Garage Vol. 9 (Romulan)
Nana Kinomi/Suki Sa
60's Cutie Pop Collection. Suki Suki Edit (King-Japan)
Paul Williams/Morning I'll Be Moving On
Someday Man (Reprise)
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