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Visit the updated Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil Page at Spectropop :
History, new photos, introduction to Barry Mann compilation
albums, thorough Brill Building era discography and more! Brill
Tone CD - full liner notes and track listing.
http://www.spectropop.com/go2/mannweil.html
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There are 4 messages in this issue of Spectropop.
Topics in this Digest Number 213:
1. Marginal Crystals Collection
From: "Tony Leong"
2. Jean Thomas Fox
From: John Clemente
3. Diane Renay's new web site
From: LePageWeb
4. The Wanderers
From: John Clemente
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Message: 1
Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 03:51:33 -0000
From: "Tony Leong"
Subject: Marginal Crystals Collection
Hey Gang,
I found a more interesting Crystals CD collection from
Marginal. Besides containing a photo of the "He's A Rebel"
LP cover, this collection (unlike the last) has 28 cuts!!
The other one had a photo of the "Twist Uptown" LP and
fewer tracks. Virtually ALL of their Philles tracks are on
here, including the x-mas songs, and 2 from their United
Artist period. Even a full version of "The Screw" is here,
and I guess it's the Crystals at their unison 4 (??) part
harmony best (Dee Dee is really up there with her soprano!!)
Most of the cuts have good audio quality. One omission
that I was disappointed about was the "Crystals" version
of "Wah Wahtusi" (actually the Ronettes were the vocalists
for that one, but they sang "Mashed Potato Time" too, and
THAT was on this CD!!). Other Crystals cuts that have yet
to surface on CD are "Please Be My Boyfriend" and the
reported rough draft of La La's take of "It's My
Party"--I'm sure we'll be able to hear those someday. And
does anyone reading this know if the Crystals were the
FIRST group to record "On Broadway"??
Tony Leong
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Message: 2
Date: Sun, 22 Jul 2001 01:07:53 -0400
From: John Clemente
Subject: Jean Thomas Fox
Hello All,
If this message seems belated, it is because I've been on
vacation and am now catching up on my mail.
I wrote to Jean to ask her about her sessions with Ron
Dante as part of the Archies. This is her response:
> John,
>
> It's possible, but I can't remember. I did lots of
> demos for Ron Dante, but I don't remember actually
> doing an Archies session. It's possible some of our
> demos were used on the album, but I'm not sure.
>
> Best,
>
> Jean
Jean did a superb job on "Oh What A Night For Love" for
the Lords of Flatbush soundtrack. She was asked by Brooks
to record for the LP because she did jingles for him as
did Jamie Carr, who also sang some cuts on the soundtrack.
Jamie Carr is Billy Carr on Colpix (My Gidget).
Regards,
John
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Message: 3
Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 15:05:28 +0900
From: LePageWeb
Subject: Diane Renay's new web site
Mick and John mentioned Diane Renay's shiny new web site.
Yep, and if you forget what the hook to Blue Navy Blue
sounds like, well just go right over there and wait
until the audio loop finishes loading to be reminded!
After you get past that and the cool looking lake applet,
you can't help but notice when scrolling around - Diane
Renay was a stone cold knockout! The pics on her web site
bear witness - Diane Renay may have been *the* most
attractive white female vocalist of the era, and it's hard
to imagine any guy not falling head-over-heels for her. Oh
sure, she's darling enough in that sailor uniform, but
check her out in civies hangin' with Jan and Dean, with
the Stones, the Supremes, and at the pool with Bobby
Rydell. She's *irresistable*.
Not that I'm drooling over the keyboard here or anything,
it's just that there is something about it...I'm not sure.
I knew Blue Navy Blue of course, but I really only
became familiar with her other material around the time
Growing Up Too Fast came out. Don't know why. Never even
knew what she looked like. But since then, I've spent
considerable time thinking about her career. In fact,
some members will remember that Diane Renay was actually
a participating member herself of the Spectropop Group!
Well, I took out my latest ish of Cha Cha Charming with
that great Diane interview (you'll get a lot more on
Diane from ChaCha #003 than from anything at her web
site, btw), and I started thinking about her career.
Again.
Here are a few quotes from Diane:
June 22, 1999 from Spectropop V#0278
>
> I was under contract to Bob Crewe by the time the Four
> Seasons recording "Big Girls Don't Cry" hit the top of
> the charts.
Renay implies here that her deal was with Crewe, not 20th
Century Fox. Makes sense, after all Crewe did her records
for other labels too. This follows an established pattern
considering the following quote from "The Vee-Jay Story"
by Mike Callahan and David Edwards
> ...on August 13 [1963], the Four Seasons filed suit
> against Genius, Inc., the production firm headed by Bob
> Crewe, for Vee Jay's nonpayment of royalties. (The Four
> Seasons were technically not under contract to Vee Jay,
> but to Genius, Inc. Crewe's company had the contract with
> Vee Jay, so the group had to sue Crewe and Crewe had to
> sue the label.)
Now here's more from Diane on June 29, 1999 from
Spectropop V#0282
> At this time, there are several CD's on the market
> sold here [in US] and overseas, that have many of my
> recordings on them, along with lots of other oldies,
> and [neither] I nor any of the other artists are
> receiving compensation in the form of royalties.
Now we've read about recent court judgments granting
compensation to oldies artists for uses not specified in
the original contracts. For example, in one noted case
the court ruled that when master rights owners license
masters to third parties for use in oldies compilations,
in lieu of contract language stating otherwise, the
artist is entitled to 50 percent of the money. Experts
have testified at these trials that half was the current
"custom and practice" for sharing that kind of income.
Now I don't really know why she isn't receiving
compensation in the form of royalties, and whether it is
because of something similar to the Four Seasons
situation described above, but I do know that her CD on
Collectables is a licensed release. So is Growin' Up Too
Fast. Neither are bootlegs.
In the Cha Cha Charming interview Diane gushes over Crewe,
saying "He was the most incredibly handsome man...had
this incredible charisma...exuded sexuality (to put it
mildly).... Even until this day I have never met anyone
as intriguing, handsome, mesmerizing or as talented as he
was in his heyday...." Diane, who at the time was
incredibly beautiful and apparently equally
impressionable, says "I would often sleep in the guest
room of his condo (at the Dakota)...we had a very special
relationship." But then she clarifies: "we were not
lovers ever, just the closest of friends."
I don't know where all this is leading. Probably nowhere.
It is just that since Diane was a member of Spectropop
and spoke of Crewe in such high regard, I've wondered
how Crewe, at the time, could have possibly resisted
her charms. Won't you come out tonight?
"If it was for Bob, I would have jumped through hoops of
fire if he had asked me to."
In spite of her being under-compensated in the form of
artist royalties (or...otherwise), Renay's adoration
survives today. Big Girls Don't Cry?
Well, forget it. It's none of my business anyway. We were
very lucky to have had Diane Renay as a guest on
Spectropop, that's for sure. Good luck to her with the
web site, and please don't think I am calling Bob Crewe
names here either. Most significantly, none of this
diminishes my love for the music Crewe and Renay made
together. That's the important thing, and I guess I just
wonder about the rest of it way too much.
Jamie
NP "Unbelievable Guy" - Diane Renay
Diane Renay web site
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Message: 4
Date: Sun, 22 Jul 2001 01:30:05 -0400
From: John Clemente
Subject: The Wanderers
Hello All,
After reading the note on The Wanderers film, it brought
back memories for me. That movie was filmed in various
places in the Bronx, some shots on Fordham Road and some
shots in the Pelham Parkway section. The opening sequence
is on Fordham Road. The Valentine movie house and the
Army recruitment center are no longer there. Neither is
Alexander's department store. Even when the movie was
filmed in 1978, the sign on top of the Alexander's
building was missing part of the sign that used to read
"Uptown, it's Alexander's. The Alexander's store on 149th
Street had closed, so there was no more "downtown" in 1978,
hence the removal of part of the sign. The "lost" scenes
were filmed on Tremont Ave and Boston Road, which is
further south than Fordham. Talley High School in the
film is actually Christopher Columbus High School, located
at the corner of Bronxwood and Waring Aves. which is about
2 miles northeast of Fordham Road. In the late 50s and
early 60s, this school boasted the singing talents of The
Dimensions (Over The Rainbow) and The Excellents (Coney
Island Baby). I always thought it strange that they
didn't film at Theodore Roosevelt HS, which is on Fordham
Road across from Fordham University. Roosevelt was used
in "A Bronx Tale". The housing project in the background
scenes outside the high school is the Pelham Parkway
Houses, where I grew up and lived at that time. When the
movie was released in 1979, my friends and I ran to the
theatre to see The Wanderers because everyone we knew that
went to Columbus had parts in the movie as extras.
Many famous people got their start or became more
recognized in that film. Ken Wahl [Richie] went on to
star in the successful TV series "Wiseguy"; Tony Ganios
[Perry] did the "Porky's" films; Karen Allen [Nina]
starred in "Raiders of The Lost Ark"; Linda Manz [Pee Wee]
filmed "Days of Heaven" with Richard Gere; Alan Rosenberg
[Turkey] starred in "LA Law" and "Cybil"; Dolph Sweet
[Desby's Dad] starred in "Gimme A Break" with Nell Carter
and Olympia Dukakis [Joey's mom] needs no references.
Hey, I should be quiet now!
Regards,
John
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
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