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Special Disc Jockey Record
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There are 13 messages in this issue of Spectropop.
Topics in this Digest Number 281:
1. Brill Building Documentaries Tangent
From: Jack Madani
2. Monkees Urban Legend
From: Stewart Mason
3. Re: Where The Girls Are
From: "Jake Tassell"
4. Breakfast of Champions
From: LePageWeb
5. AYE UP, ENA, IS THAT MINNIE'S RING YOU'RE WEARING?
From: Mick Patrick
6. Re: WHERE THE GIRLS ARE
From: Mike Carter
7. STOP, LOOK & LISTEN
From: Mick Patrick
8. Variations on a Theme called Hanky Panky
From: Stewart Mason
9. Re: Ellie Greenwich
From: Mike Rashkow
10. Re: ELLIE GREENWICH
From: "Vincent Degiorgio"
11. Re: AYE UP, ENA, IS THAT MINNIE'S RING YOU'RE WEARING?
From: Frank
12. Sam The Record Man
From: Rip Gooch
13. Donna Loren
From: "Ken Levine"
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Message: 1
Date: Thu, 01 Nov 2001 03:18:06 -0000
From: Jack Madani
Subject: Brill Building Documentaries Tangent
Just catching up on a whole summer's worth of Spectropop
digests....
Say, something that I didn't expect that came up out of
the A&E documentaries on the Brill Building crowd: Tony
Orlando's name and face kept popping up, with the phrase
"demo singer" always added on. I didn't know that about
Tony.
Subsequently, I happened to hear "Knock Three Times" on
the radio one day, and it suddenly struck me: that
would've made an absolutely killer Spectropop recording
if it had come out maybe ten or so years earlier.
Cancha just hear it, sung maybe by Jay & The Americans,
with a Leiber & Stoller production?
jack "twice on the pipes" madani
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Message: 2
Date: Wed, 31 Oct 2001 22:07:13 -0700
From: Stewart Mason
Subject: Monkees Urban Legend
Jamie asked of the Monkees:
>OK. fine - then suppose the backlash was NOT because
>they didn't play live at their shows.
>
>Then where did that "Particular Urban Myth" originate?
um, well...speaking as someone who came thisclose to
getting a master's degree in the study of urban legends
(I've been fascinated by them since I was four and I
found a scrapbook my older sister had made of "Paul Is
Dead" stories from the fall of '69, including one of the
quickie mags on the rumor -- do I wish I still had that!!!!)
and could tell you music-related ULs, rumors, myths, and
related topics all night long, I gotta say, I have never
heard any story that the anti-Monkees brigades were
inflamed because the boys didn't play live! Do you have
any cites? I could very well have missed it.
Are you sure you're not conflating the whole "they don't
play on their records" brouhaha with the Monkees/Hendrix
DAR legend? (The Experience opened for the Monkees on
part of the '67 tour, but the kids didn't dig them and
Jimi asked to be let go. So the Monkees and their
managers, for giggles, announced that the Daughters of
the American Revolution had protested Hendrix's "wanton
onstage sexuality" and that's why he was dropped -- to
this day, that story is still making the rounds!)
S
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Message: 3
Date: Wed, 31 Oct 2001 13:11:46 +0000
From: "Jake Tassell"
Subject: Re: Where The Girls Are
> That was the first LP I compiled, Jack. It was the
> brainchild of my colleague Ady Croasdell and might have
> been the first ever girl-group compilation album. Anyone
> know for sure? So you quite like it, huh? Every time I
> hear "In His Car" by Robin Ward I will picture in my mind
> your beloved copy of Kent LP 016 locked between your solid
> arms and your pounding chest.
Not to mention - "Let's Break up For A While" - what a
sound.
I've had that L.P. for donks too. I bought it in Rock On
about the time it came out. It's a lovely item.
By the way, somebody told me you lived in Herne Hill,
Mick - is that right?
Jake (in SW2)
{ ADMIN NOTE: Mick Patrick's colleague for the album was
Adrian Croasdell. Adrian's name was inadvertently
misreported in Mick's original post. Apologies for any
inconvenience. ]
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Message: 4
Date: Wed, 31 Oct 2001 22:59:26 +0900
From: LePageWeb
Subject: Breakfast of Champions
Mick Patrick wrote:
>
> PS: I hope the above communication won't cause you to
> choke on your breakfast again, Jamie!
GULP! :-o
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Message: 5
Date: Wed, 31 Oct 2001 23:19:57 +0000 (GMT)
From: Mick Patrick
Subject: AYE UP, ENA, IS THAT MINNIE'S RING YOU'RE WEARING?
Greetings,
Just a few of my personal highlights from the Songmakers
documentary series:
A new interview with a very smart Mary Weiss looking just
like Coronation Street resident Diedrie Barlow.
Home movie footage of the four Shangri-Las in the
recording studio.
Carole King acetates galore.
Dionne Warwick duetting with her sister Dee Dee on (I
think) Shindig.
Shirley of the Shirelles looking lovely in the present
day and sounding fantastic live in 1963.
Brief interviews with songwriters Jack Keller and Rudy
Clark and Shirelles' mentor Luther Dixon.
A great shot of Little Eva and Carole King carrying
matching handbags and several rare glamour stills of
Carole dating from c. '59/'60.
> Mick,
> Could the air fare to London be deducted from the entrance fee?
> Frank
Yo Frankie, Only if you bring a crate of Dr Peppers, too.
Oh, and DONNA LOREN to perform the advertising jingle
live in person for me while dancing the Zonk. Otherwise
my best offer is five quid minus the bus fare from
Trafalgar Square.
MICK PATRICK
PS: Phil Spector was notable by his absence. As was any
music he produced. I assume he priced himself out of this
first rate piece of work. More fool him.
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Message: 6
Date: Thu, 01 Nov 2001 02:28:10 -0000
From: Mike Carter
Subject: Re: WHERE THE GIRLS ARE
MICK PATRICK writes:
> I'm presently putting the finishing touches to WHERE THE
> GIRLS ARE #5. My pal Mike Carter and all the other "CK
> heads" out there might like to know that it will contain
> not one, two or three but FOUR Goffin/King compositions.
Mike Carter, MICK PATRICK'S pal, says he loves suprises,
therefore is hesitant to ask his chum what FOUR
Goffin/King compositions are going to be on WHERE THE
GIRLS ARE #5. He supposes that he will just have to wait.
However, a bit of intuition might become an important
clue in another case when Special Agent Patrick is
implicated in "The Mystery Of The Missing Demo".
In the meantime, MC will pull out his vinyl copy of "Stop,
Look And Listen" and ponder those cover girls too.
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Message: 7
Date: Thu, 01 Nov 2001 00:08:35 +0000 (GMT)
From: Mick Patrick
Subject: STOP, LOOK & LISTEN
Greetings,
> Mick, Who are the 3 girls on the cover of (the) "Stop,
> Look and Listen" (1985 Impact label LP)? Just models
> or a girl group? Jan K
Those three lovely young ladies were a girl-group, Jan,
but not as we know it. They were known as the
Del-Monas and recorded for the Big Beat label, a
subsidiary of Ace, as was Impact. I have a copy of
their 1985 LP "Dangerous Charms" which, alongside a
number of original songs, includes versions of vintage
gems like "Peter Gunn Locomotion" and (Goffin/King
alert!) "Chains". I believe it is in the style young
people refer to as "frat rock" (whatever that means).
The girls' names are Sarah ("Stop"), Hilary ("Look")
and Louise ("Listen"). If only he knew as much about
some of the acts featured on the LP, I hear people
muttering.
How great it was for us Spectropoppers to hear from
MIKE RASHKOW the other day. Les Girls' great title
track of the "Stop, Look & Listen" LP was, if you ask
me, the best ever Greenwich/Rashkow collaboration.
The group comprised Ellie plus two of the Rag Dolls;
Jean Thomas and Mike Rashkow's wife Mikie Harris. I'm
sure I've also seen Mikie's name listed as a back-up
singer on some Blondie albums.
MICK PATRICK
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Message: 8
Date: Wed, 31 Oct 2001 13:40:41 -0700
From: Stewart Mason
Subject: Variations on a Theme called Hanky Panky
Mike Rashkow wrote:
>YES, THIS WAS OURS. I came up with the concept for
>doing Hanky Panky in a variety of musical styles. Ellie
>and I worked out the rough arrangements.
I'd like to go on record as calling this one of the
most brilliant and bizarre songs of its time, and one
of my all-time favorites.
S
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Message: 9
Date: Wed, 31 Oct 2001 08:42:36 EST
From: Mike Rashkow
Subject: Re: Ellie Greenwich
In a message dated 10/31/2001, Don Charles writes:
> The compilation just wasn't thought out very well -
> either that or they couldn't get access to certain things.
> What disappointed me most about it was the absence of key
> singles like "Baby, I Miss You" b/w "I Don't Wanna Be
> Your Baby Any More"(The Popsicles), "Friday Kind Of
> Monday" b/w "Right Back Where We Started From"(The
> Meantime), "Stop, Look And Listen"(Les Girls), and
> Ellie's second single for Bell Records, "(It's Like A)
> Sad Old Kinda Movie." I wish it had been completely
> singles and demos-oriented.
Boy, do you know a lot about Ellie.
As I remember it, Sad Old Kind Of Movie was done at
Larry Uttal's urging (Pres. of Bell Records). It was
pitched way too high for Ellie to sing comfortably.
Whatever you want to know about Les Girls I can tell you.
Stop Look and Listen was suppossed to be the B side. It
was done over the original track Chiffons???, The guys
at the record company gave it to us and the girls, Ellie
and Mikie Harris just put on the vocals.
James Botticelli wrote:
> > Two questions: A. Was this the "Washington Square"
> > recorded as an instrumental in the early Sities
> > featuring a banjo by--if memory serves--The Village
> > Stompers?
No, different tune
> > B. Is J. Cymbal in fact Johnny Cymbal, worbler of
> > the famed "Mr Bass Man"?
Yes, in fact one and the same.
The recent contact with the Spectropop group motivated me
to go back to the archives and confirm some information.
Some of it is proof positive that memory is a fleeting
thing, to wit:
The arranger on Variations On A Thing Called Hanky Panky
was Sammy Lowe--none of the people I previously thought
had done it. The engineer was Tori Brainerd--again not
one of the people I had mentioned.
Ellie and I also produced these acts: The Fuzzy Bunnys,
The Other Voices and The Daily News--could any of those
have been "The Down Five" in Britain??
The arranger on DRC, I Hear The Grass Singing, was Bob
Schiff who also did the charts for Ellie's record of
"Sad Old Kind of movie", which incidentally was written
by Tony Macaulay (Love Grows Where My Rosemary Grows, etc).
Thanks again for your interest,
Mike Rashkow
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Message: 10
Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2001 23:59:10 -0400
From: "Vincent Degiorgio"
Subject: Re: ELLIE GREENWICH
One can only wish that the labels will actually listen to
consumers and actually give us what we need. Van McCoy
has to be reissued, as his tremendous body of work only
leads people to the Hustle and they don't have a clue
beyond that....and the other Warwick being Dionne...one
day we'll hopefully see the Track of the Cat WB '74 album
on CD..in glorious stereo...
Vince
"Mick Patrick" wrote:
>
> I've had anti-bootleg rants in the past but serious
> collectors and enthusiasts like myself just gotta have
> items like this. Put 17 unissued Ellie demos on a legal
> CD and I'd buy it. Let's face it, that ain't gonna happen.
> Until it does I applaud Brill Tone (whoever they really
> are) and eagerly await their next release. Who will the
> next object of their attention be? Tony Orlando? Neil
> Sedaka? Dee Dee Warwick? Van McCoy? We shall see.
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Message: 11
Date: Thu, 01 Nov 01 07:44:27 +0200
From: Frank
Subject: Re: AYE UP, ENA, IS THAT MINNIE'S RING YOU'RE WEARING?
>> Mick,
>> Could the air fare to London be deducted from the entrance fee?
>> Frank
>
>Yo Frankie, Only if you bring a crate of Dr Peppers, too.
>Oh, and DONNA LOREN to perform the advertising jingle
>live in person for me while dancing the Zonk. Otherwise
>my best offer is five quid minus the bus fare from
>Trafalgar Square.
I can't wait to receive the DVD, it's on its way from LA.
>
>PS: Phil Spector was notable by his absence. As was any
>music he produced. I assume he priced himself out of this
>first rate piece of work. More fool him.
Yes Phil was out of reach for these people. Too bad.
Frank
PS I'm trying to locate Donna Loren.
[ Try here, Frank:
http://adasa.com/60s/images/DPAd2Large.jpg
]
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Message: 12
Date: Thu, 01 Nov 2001 09:14:58 +0900
From: Rip Gooch
Subject: Sam The Record Man
Sam The Record Man is closing its doors. If any of you
are in Toronto in the next couple of weeks, don't
forget to pay a visit to the store in Yonge Street.
Could be your very last chance to pick up those
obscure CDs.
To say I'm distraught is an understatement. Sam's is
one of the reasons I moved here in the first place ...
;-)
Rip G
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Message: 13
Date: Wed, 31 Oct 2001 23:46:24 -0800
From: "Ken Levine"
Subject: Donna Loren
Last I heard Donna Loren was living in Hawaii designing
clothingware. She's got a website.
But whatever happened to Robin Ward??
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
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