________________________________________________________________________
______________ ______________
______________ ______________
______________ S P E C T R O P O P ______________
______________ ______________
________________________________________________________________________
The Ultimate Brill Building Star
------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are 22 messages in this issue.
Topics in this digest:
1. The Majors - A Wonderful Dream
From: Michael Godin
2. Wonderful Dream
From: Doc Rock
3. AL KOOPER - THE SONGS NOT THE SINGER
From: Mick Patrick
4. Re: Sidebar: fake live albums
From: Mike Anderson
5. Not live
From: Doc Rock
6. Re: Sidebar: fake live albums
From: James Botticelli
7. A whole rope of possible threads
From: "Paul Payton"
8. Re: Kit Kats
From: "Mike Arcidiacono"
9. Re: Kit Kats
From: "Vincent Degiorgio"
10. Tom Moulton and The Kit Kats
From: Frank Lipsius
11. Re: Jeff Barry's Greatest Hits
From: "Don Charles"
12. Hullabaloo
From: Guy Lawrence
13. Re: Kenny & The Kasuals
From: Bryan
14. Fake Live? or Living Fake!?
From: James Botticelli
15. Re-mixing
From: "John Lester"
16. When songwriting starts to suck
From: Alan Zweig
17. Re- AL KOOPER - THE SONGS NOT THE SINGER
From: Richard Havers
18. Hello!
From: Ronnie Allen
19. Hurrah!!! I'm Going To the Party!
From: "Martin Roberts"
20. Re :When songwriting starts to suck
From: Frank
21. Re : Hurrah!!! I'm Going To the Party!
From: "Frank"
22. Re: Racey!
From: "Luis Suarez"
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Message: 1
Date: Sat, 19 Jan 2002 08:47:16 -0800
From: Michael Godin
Subject: The Majors - A Wonderful Dream
Reply for Justin Re; The Majors A Wonderful Dream
Justin,
A Wonderful Dream by The Majors is available on The
Golden Age of American Rock & Roll Volume 9. On Ace
Records from the UK. I bought my copy locally here in
Vancouver but the series is available from Collectors
Choice Music www.ccmusic.com I will be happy to play it
on my show tomorrow - Sunday, January 20 from 6 to 10
Pacific time.
Glad to help out
Michael Godin
Treasure Island Oldies
http://www.TreasureIslandOldies.com
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Message: 2
Date: Sat, 19 Jan 2002 08:14:26 -0500
From: Doc Rock
Subject: Wonderful Dream
I have the original LP....
Doc
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Message: 3
Date: Sat, 19 Jan 2002 23:02:28 +0000 (GMT)
From: Mick Patrick
Subject: AL KOOPER - THE SONGS NOT THE SINGER
Hello,
> -----Original Message from David Ponak:
>
> I just got the Al Kooper "Rare & Well Done" double disc
> set on Sony Legacy. One disc consists of rarities, the
> other is a career overview anthology. There are a few
> amazing soft rock moments on this that make it well worth
> aquiring ... Some of his material gets way too deep into
> "blues rock" terrain for my taste, but the good stuff is
> really great. A cool set.
Mmm, as a recording artist, AL KOOPER has never reached
me. The lack of response to David's message leads me to
suspect that many Spectropoppers feel likewise. However,
Al Kooper the Brill Building songwriter, that's another
matter. Usually sharing credits with his colleagues BOB
BRASS and IRWIN LEVINE, Al wrote some really good songs.
Off the top of my head, here's a list of just a few that
I'd recommend:
THE WATER IS OVER MY HEAD - Eddie Hodges (Aurora). Great
record. This freckled teen idol really had something.
British harmony vendors the Rockin' Berries cut this song
too.
THIS DIAMOND RING - Sammy Ambrose (Musicor). Gary Lewis?!?!
For Pete's sake do me a friggin' favour!!! This is by far
the best version, and the original. (The b-side is even
more amazing).
HAWAII - Gene Pitney (Musicor). Not to mention "The Last
Two People On Earth", "I Must Be Seeing Things" and
others. Pitney was the ultimate Brill Building star.
WHEN SOMETHING'S HARD TO GET - the Essex (Roulette).
BOBBY'S COME A LONG LONG WAY - the Eight Feet (Columbia).
Jangly, folkrock, pirl-group sound. How great would this
have been by Bonnie & the Treasures?!
ONE BOY TELLS ANOTHER - the Surfer Girls (Columbia). Top
of the range teenage girl-group record.
TELL ME LIKE IT IS - Barbara English (Reprise). Lulu cut
this song too.
Al Kooper wrote a rather splendid autobiography titled
something like "Backstage Passes & Backstabbing Bastards"
which contains some good stories about his days on the
Brill Building scene, I seem to recall.
MICK PATRICK
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Message: 4
Date: Sat, 19 Jan 2002 09:55:16 EST
From: Mike Anderson
Subject: Re: Sidebar: fake live albums
> An adjunct to the "fake party song" has to be the "fake
> live album," studio creations overlaid with wild
My apologies if this strays a bit too far from "on topic":
Some live albums, really live albums, get a little studio
help, after the fact, to improve the performance. I'm
wondering if one of my favorites, Jefferson Airplane's
Bless Its Pointed Little Head got any of this treatment.
Anyone know, yes or no?
Mike Anderson
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Message: 5
Date: Sat, 19 Jan 2002 08:18:27 -0500
From: Doc Rock
Subject: Not live
Has anyone mentioned Jan & Dean's Command Performance
"Live" LP, with all-studio vocals?
Doc
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Message: 6
Date: Sat, 19 Jan 2002 13:57:37 EST
From: James Botticelli
Subject: Re: Sidebar: fake live albums
> An adjunct to the "fake party song" has to be the "fake
> live album," studio creations overlaid with wild
> applause.
The O'Jays last Bell LP was ruined by fake applause
between and overlapping the beginnings and endings of
great soul ballads....Their Bell stuff was so brilliant
that I was forced, FORCED I tell ya! to go out and
locate the 45's to forsake the applause..JB
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Message: 7
Date: Sat, 19 Jan 2002 21:42:41 -0500
From: "Paul Payton"
Subject: A whole rope of possible threads
Jeffrey Glenn: Thank you for the Kenny Young lowdown. You
tied together several loose ends in my collection.
All the Wildweeds/KitKats talk is a good reminder of just
how many vital local scenes there were out there in the
60's. Anyone have any info on Otis & The All Night
Workers ("Don't Put All Your Eggs In One Basket"), a
mid-late 60's Top 5 hit across upstate New York (home of
Wilmer & The Dukes, another regional monster)? Also while
upstate, any info on Buffalo's Rising Sons, who did the
superb "(So) In Love (With You)," one of the last Swan
records c. 1964?
Kinglsey Abbott: Thanks for the reminder about
http://www.jamguy.com.
Jamie/Guyden was one of the great indies; the depth and
variety of their catalog and their distributed labels
(including Philles) is astonishing. This was one of the
first music websites I discovered - and spent many hours
in! (Still looking for the Sharps' "Gig-A-Leen" - they're
the black vocal group that backed Duane Eddy's Jamie
sides!)
I still don't know why I can't get Yahoo archived music
to play, but I did hear some of the samples of Diane
Renay. From the 30-second bite, I'd say the new "Navy
Blue" is much more to my liking than the old one! And her
voice is just fine, too. Interesting bit: bottom of the
second page of snapshots is 2001 one of Diane and Sue
Thompson ("Paper Tiger," "Norman");
http://www.dianerenay.com/snapshots_pg2.htm
and scroll down. And note how young Jan & Dean look in
their '60's with her!
The mention of Merry Clayton reminds me the first time I
heard her, an early Capitol side: "Spanish Boy (The La La
Jace Song," produced by TM Music, i.e., Bobby Darin!
Keith writes: "Jonathan King ... now in jail for
unspeakable acts...." Sorry to hear that; you're
obviously not speaking, right? But when he founded UK
Records, King had the best corporate mission statement
I've ever heard: "The purpose of this company is to have
fun and make money." Works for me! :-)
Don Charles: re: Jeff Barry's Greatest Hits, how could
you forget the first two Raindrops hits, or his brilliant
solo on Red Bird, "I'll Still Love You," the best Marvin
Gaye song Marvin Gaye never did?
Justin McD: If you loved the Majors' "Wonderful Dream,"
check out the follow up, "Tra La La." Impeccable
production and danceability, and a super doo-wop hook.
The Majors also recorded as the Versatiles, and had a
small hit with the beautiful "Lundee Dundee" (named for
what the group was singing behind the lead) and the
flip-side ballad "Whisper In Your Ear."
Bryan: re: Kenny & the Kasuals, I have their indie 45
"I'd Love To Go Flying." I thought they were a one-off;
what's their background?
Another Saturday night,
Country Paul
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Message: 8
Date: Sat, 19 Jan 2002 10:05:25 -0500
From: "Mike Arcidiacono"
Subject: Re: Kit Kats
> Is that Tom Moulton of Tramps, Disco Trek etc fame. I
> used to buy all his stuff in the 70's
Yes, it sure is. Tom does alot of oldies remixing these
days.
Mike
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Message: 9
Date: Sat, 19 Jan 2002 10:52:58 -0500
From: "Vincent Degiorgio"
Subject: Re: Kit Kats
"John Lester" wrote:
> Mike Arcidiacono wrote:
> > my friend Tom Moulton remixed the Kit Kats
> > material for the 2CD set that came out last year. Tom
> > told me he really loves the group, so that job was a
> > labor of love for him.
>
> Is that Tom Moulton of Tramps, Disco Trek etc fame. I
> used to buy all his stuff in the 70's
Yes it is. The world's best ever...forever...remixer and
some-time producer uses a home system built on an amazing
pro tools rig and four track master machine to do all of
those remixes on the classics on numerous labels from
Taragon to Bethlehem.
The man loves music, and it shows in everything he does.
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Message: 10
Date: Sat, 19 Jan 2002 12:25:54 -0800 (PST)
From: Frank Lipsius
Subject: Tom Moulton and The Kit Kats
Yes, Tom Moulton of the Trammps etc has been remixing and
mastering all the Jamie/Guyden CDs since -- and because
of -- the Kit Kats. He had long wanted to remix the Kit
Kats: we were tempted to put on the CD cover his comment
that he would prefer mixing the Kit Kats to the Beatles
(perhaps they needed it more), but it had long been a
goal of his. If it had been up to him, we would have put
out a 3-CD set of the Kit Kats, not just the two-CD set
we did put out (though there is still plenty of material
left). And from that work on the Kit Kats, seeing the
session tapes we still had intact in the vault, he has
continued to remix all our CDs and guided our releases
toward the songs where we have not only the final tapes
or even the final session tapes but all stages of the
tapes before they got mixed down (in the days of four
tracks or even eight tracks) to make room for the vocals.
It has been an extremely fruitful relationship because
Tom has enhanced the sound of every tape he's touched and
has also found numerous, previously unknown songs from
the tapes in the archive. There would have been no
People's Choice CD had he not found the tapes he did and
we are excited by his discovery of a previously unknown
Moses Smith song, "Try My Love," that will be in the
forthcoming "Northern Side of Philly Soul" CD.
Frank Lipsius
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Message: 11
Date: Sat, 19 Jan 2002 18:50:08 +0000
From: "Don Charles"
Subject: Re: Jeff Barry's Greatest Hits
"Jack Madani" asked:
>Ain't there a place on that excellent list for the
>theme song to "The Jeffersons?"
There should be, shouldn't there? But as far as I can
tell, that recording was never issued on a single, and
my list was singles-and-hit-oriented. Ja'Net DuBois
(one of the lead actors "Good Times") and Owen Waters
are the vocalists on "Movin' On Up," by the way.
Regarding any controversy over the production of "Iko
Iko" - Joe Jones was probably at the session, and
probably did contribute to the record, but both Jeff
Barry and Ellie Greenwich have said they produced it.
I have no reason to disbelieve them.
Don Charles
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Message: 12
Date: Sat, 19 Jan 2002 21:14:30 -0000
From: Guy Lawrence
Subject: Hullabaloo
Don't know whether this was discussed before but I notice
that several volumes of Hullabaloo are available on VHS
and DVD in the States. Has anybody got them? Do I have to
reach for my credit card again? Most importantly what is
the Strangeloves clip like? I need a detailed account!
All the best,
Guy Lawrence
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Message: 13
Date: Sat, 19 Jan 2002 19:41:15 -0800
From: Bryan
Subject: Re: Kenny & The Kasuals
> Bryan: re: Kenny & the Kasuals, I have their indie 45
> "I'd Love To Go Flying." I thought they were a one-off;
> what's their background?
I used to have that single too. As for Kenny & the
Kasuals, I've done a bit of research since I posted, and
discovered that their Live At The Studio Club album was,
in fact, a "fake" live album. I read a lot of info on the
Fuzz, Acid & Flowers website, a great research source.
This is a link that should take you to the site:
http://www.spectropop.com/go2/borderlinebooks.html
FYI, turns out that the Studio Club is in Dallas, Texas.
Here's more info:
"In fact it was not a live album at all - it was the
result of one afternoon's work in a recording studio, but
it captured the band playing cover versions of some of
the popular songs of the time like Gloria, Baby Please
Don't Go, You Better Move On, Money, and AlI Day And All
The Night. Just 500 copies were pressed in mono and
around 400 sold, but it gradually acquired a legendary
reputation among record collectors and by the
mid-seventies copies were changing hands for megabucks
hence its eventual reissue in 1977."
Bryan
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Message: 14
Date: Sun, 20 Jan 2002 00:44:33 EST
From: James Botticelli
Subject: Fake Live? or Living Fake!?
> As for Kenny & the Kasuals, I've done a bit of research
> since I posted, and discovered that their Live At The
> Studio Club album was, in fact, a "fake" live album.
On the "fake live" tip, a few that I don't think were
mentioned: Argo, Cadet, Brunswick type recordings of
"Smoky Supper Club" groups like Young Holt, Ramsey Lewis,
Ahmad Jamal, etc, etc....JB/cigarette burning in mouth as
the words get typed
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Message: 15
Date: Sun, 20 Jan 2002 06:24:21 -0000
From: "John Lester"
Subject: Re-mixing
I have to say that I am not familiar with the Kit Kats...I
have a song "That's The Way" which I think I also have by
Joe Meek's Honeycombs........ but can I pick up on this
re-mixing.
Why do songs have to be re-mixed - I can understand the
need for a first time mix when the song has not been
issued before or simply unfinished...however, when the
song has been issued, are we not taking away the
originality from the era by doing this. Or am I just
simply missing the point?
Having said that, and as I said before, when I was (much)
younger, I would actively buy ALL Tom Moulton's remixes in
the 70's and I still think his Disco Trek is one of the
best albums in my collection.
It's the principle of re-mixing that I am a little
uncertain of. Can you convince me of a need for it?
John Lester
----- Original Message From: Frank Lipsius
> Yes, Tom Moulton of the Trammps etc has been remixing
> and mastering all the Jamie/Guyden CDs since -- and
> because of -- the Kit Kats. He had long wanted to
> remix the Kit Kats: we were tempted to put on the CD
> cover his comment that he would prefer mixing the Kit
> Kats to the Beatles (perhaps they needed it more), but
> it had long been a goal of his. If it had been up to
> him, we would have put out a 3-CD set of the Kit Kats,
> not just the two-CD set we did put out (though there
> is still plenty of material left). And from that work
> on the Kit Kats, seeing the session tapes we still had
> intact in the vault, he has continued to remix all our
> CDs and guided our releases toward the songs where we
> have not only the final tapes or even the final
> session tapes but all stages of the tapes before they
> got mixed down (in the days of four tracks or even
> eight tracks) to make room for the vocals. It has been
> an extremely fruitful relationship because Tom has
> enhanced the sound of every tape he's touched and has
> also found numerous, previously unknown songs from the
> tapes in the archive. There would have been no
> People's Choice CD had he not found the tapes he did
> and we are excited by his discovery of a previously
> unknown Moses Smith song, "Try My Love," that will be
> in the forthcoming "Northern Side of Philly Soul" CD.
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Message: 16
Date: Sat, 19 Jan 2002 17:39:19 -0500
From: Alan Zweig
Subject: When songwriting starts to suck
"Ken Levine" wrote:
>Somebody brought up the two Neils. Sedaka certainly is a
>crowd pleaser in concert and Diamond would score a lot
>more points with me if he stopped wearing that stupid
>pirate shirt. You're pushing 60 pal!
Neil Diamond brings up a question for me that perhaps
some people on this list could actually address. I loved
Solitary Man and to a lesser degree, his next seven or
eight singles.
And I liked the material that others covered, like the
Monkees. Now I think he's just bad. Boring.
So I want to ask for opinions on how songwriters start to
suck. Neil Diamond always had a tendency to get a little
bombastic, even cheesy. But there were other qualities to
his music which kept that tendency in check. Now it seems
to me that those other qualities are gone and all that's
left is the cheesy bombast.
I think this happens to a lot of writers. Billy Joel.
Elton John. I can't believe I liked Elton John once
when I hear his present material. I guess songwriters
tend to repeat themselves and maybe after a while we get
tired of their tricks. But even though I recognized the
"Bacharachisms" in Burt's collaboration with Elvis
Costello, I still found the songs fresh and new.
Any theories?
AZ
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Message: 17
Date: Sun, 20 Jan 2002 09:56:49 +0000
From: Richard Havers
Subject: Re- AL KOOPER - THE SONGS NOT THE SINGER
Mick Patrick wrote
> Al wrote some really good songs.
> Off the top of my head, here's a list of just a few
> that I'd recommend:
nice list Mick but what about.....
I Love you More Than Youll Ever Know, My Days Are
Numbered, I Can't Quit Her (from BST The Child is Father
To The Man), New York City (You're A Woman and The
Warning (Someone's on the Cross Again), both are from New
York City You're A Woman a 1971 solo album. The latter
has Carol Kaye's bass on about half the tracks
....and as a recording artist he reached me too. One of
the great unsung
The rock machine turned me on!
Richard
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Message: 18
Date: Sun, 20 Jan 2002 19:29:40 +0900
From: Ronnie Allen
Subject: Hello!
Hello everyone,
I'm Ronnie Allen. I formerly worked as the east coast
writer/researcher/and interview for Casey Kasem's
American Top Forty (from 1972 through 1987). I live in
Morrisville, PA and have been a deejay for quite some
time on several local radio stations. Currently I do air
shifts at WBCB, based in Bucks County, PA.
Back in 1961 I came out with a record on the Dapt label
called "Flip Over You" b/w "Ronnie Swanee." It sold about
six copies in my home town alone! Yep, Flip "flopped."
And I became a no-hit wonder.
But I figure that's okay because no one can ever call me
a has-been. I'm more like a "never was"!
But I do love oldies and I have, over the past twelve
months, created several puzzles for Barb Jastrab's
www.oldiesfun.com website.
Last evening I hosted a show on WBCB that was also heard
on the Internet. It was a rebroadcast of a December 6th
2001 interview I did with Janie Grant who, fortunately
for her, did much better with her 1961 single "Triangle"
then I did with mine! Following the one-hour interview
segment I did another one-hour segment in which I played
14 Janie Grant records, many of them rare. Spectropop
sent me a very nice e-mail and even posted a picture of
Janie Grant to commemorate my show. It's the first time I
ever saw a photograph of her on the Internet. Thanks!
This coming Monday I will be hosting a two-hour show
featuring Diane Renay. I will post details about this
show in a subsequent message.
I hope to be communicating privately with many of you in
the weeks and months ahead!
Ronnie Allen E-mail:
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Message: 19
Date: Sun, 20 Jan 2002 11:25:15 -0000
From: "Martin Roberts"
Subject: Hurrah!!! I'm Going To the Party!
Mention of Janie Grant on the radio (wish I'd heard it)
got me digging through my 45's, (and Australian Viking
picture sleeve EP!) and YES Janie Grant "There Ain't No
Party Tonight" UA bit raucous (Janie, Raucous??!!) for my
taste but all the party noises you could wish for! I do
like Janie's early "charming pop" releases but this is
the one on my juke box. Mainly for the A-Side "I
Shouldn't Care (If You're Using Me)" wr Ross/Crane arr.
Goland and prod Granaham It's a fab, dramatic Spectorian
(Janie, Dramatic! Spectorian??!!) ballad
Go on twist my arm and I'll "play" it for you!
Martin
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Message: 20
Date: Sun, 20 Jan 2002 12:51:49 +0100
From: Frank
Subject: Re :When songwriting starts to suck
Alan wrote:
>
> I want to ask for opinions on how songwriters start to
> suck... Any theories?
Fascinating reflection. I've always wondered about the
same problem and felt the same way about these artists
The only conclusions I could come up with were these two:
1) They only had so much in them and after a while there
was nothing interesting left so they had to use tricks
over talent in order to stay on.
2) Another theory (which I found obvious in the case of
movie directors and which I think could apply to music)
is that a newcomer is really eager to do his thing. Then
with success also comes criticism (I mean good ones) in
the press and from then on everything is lost. When they
start to believe what's written about them, they're lost
to their art. I'm pretty much convinced this is what
happened to Neil Diamond, Billy Joel, Elton John and
quite a few others.
Frank
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Message: 21
Date: Sun, 20 Jan 2002 12:53:26 +0100
From: "Frank"
Subject: Re : Hurrah!!! I'm Going To the Party!
"Martin Roberts" wrote:
> Janie Grant "There Ain't No Party Tonight" UA bit
> raucous (Janie, Raucous??!!) for my taste but all the
> party noises you could wish for! "I Shouldn't Care (If
> You're Using Me)" wr Ross/Crane arr. Goland and prod
> Granaham It's a fab, dramatic Spectorian (Janie,
> Dramatic! Spectorian??!!) ballad. Go on twist my arm
> and I'll "play" it for you!
I'm twistin', I'm twistin'...
Frank
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Message: 22
Date: Sat, 19 Jan 2002 16:04:04 -0800
From: "Luis Suarez"
Subject: Re: Racey!
Hi Marc. I have 6 Racey singles and a couple of Lp's.
Here's a discography online:
http://home.swipnet.se/skroff/racey.html
I think there were at least 2 Lp's.
Racey did the original version of Toni Basil's "Micky",
it was called "Kitty"
Luis
>Michael mentioned Racey's "Lay Your Love On Me" - they
>had another single called "Some Girls" in the same vein,
>but was there an LP??? Or any more singles??? I LOVED
>this group...kinda sounded like Mud, early Sweet, etc.
>
>Marc
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
End
