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Long Playing Microgroove Unbreakable Records
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There are 24 messages in this issue of Spectropop.
Topics in this Digest Number 410:
1. Electric sitars
From: Richard Williams
2. electric sitar
From: "Yisrael Herczeg"
3. Speaking of Sitar
From: "Den Lindquist"
4. Oooops!!!
From: Bob Rashkow
5. Where The Boys Are
From: "Don Charles"
6. PF Sloan
From: "Robin Wills"
7. Re: Tony Romeo
From: "Jeff Lemlich"
8. Re: Electric sitars
From: Vincent Degiorgio
9. The Fantastic Story of Mark Wirtz
From: Mark Frumento
10. Re: Tony Romeo ("Oh Boy")
From: Lindsay Martin
11. Merseybeats
From: Doug
12. Re: Merseybeats /Escorts
From: "Norman"
13. Lothar and the Hand People
From: "Javed Jafri"
14. Re: Chip Taylor
From: "Sean Anglum"
15. Welcome to the Club / PBS
From: Neb Rodgers
16. Re: electric sitar
From: "Javed Jafri"
17. Re: Spector vs Medley
From: "Robert Conway"
18. RE: Sharon Tandy
From: Ken
19. Re: PF Sloan "I Found a Girl"
From: "Robert Conway"
20. Re: Spector vs Medley
From: "Javed Jafri"
21. Re: electric sitars
From: "Jeff Lemlich"
22. Connie sues Universal
From: Vincent Degiorgio
23. Yahoo! Groups Downtime Fri 03/15/01 9PM PST (GMT-8)
From: "Spectropop Administration"
24. Bubblegum Ball & Scram party in LA
From: Kim Cooper
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Message: 1
Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2002 10:27:51 +0000
From: Richard Williams
Subject: Electric sitars
It's interesting to speculate that the electric sitars on
the Delfonics, Stylistics and Corner Boys tracks were
actually the same instrument, since Thom Bell arranged all
three. And where, someone please tell me, is he today?
For more specialised tastes, can anyone think of another
pop single to feature the koto, apart from the
Association's "Pandora's Golen Heebie Jeebies"?
Richard Williams
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 2
Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2002 10:42:06 +0200
From: "Yisrael Herczeg"
Subject: electric sitar
Don't forget "Paper Sun" by Traffic.
Yisrael Herczeg
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 3
Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2002 07:57:50 -0500
From: "Den Lindquist"
Subject: Speaking of Sitar
>From: Freeman Carmack
>
>lets not forget "Turn Down Day" by the Cyrkle,or
>"Cry Like a Baby" by the Boxtops.
Does anyone remember Lord Sitar and an album released on
Capitol in the fall of '67, featuring almost lounge-like
renditions of such songs as "Black Is Black", "Daydream
Believer" and "I Can See For Miles"? A single (Capitol
5972) released in Aug, '67 had as its B-side the Rolling
Stones "Have You Seen Your Mother Baby..", which was not
on the LP.
The hot topic of the day was whether Lord Sitar was none
other than George Harrison, who at the time was dabbling
with the sitar (reference "Within You, Without You"), and
Capitol itself seemed to play up the "who is Lord Sitar"
angle to generate some speculation. The whole thing just
ran its course, with no indication as to the identity of
Lord S. (I never came across any Harrison comments on the
matter).
Den.
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 4
Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2002 22:24:46 -0000
From: Bob Rashkow
Subject: Oooops!!!
Hi, everyone, I may have given incorrect information to
Andy Baker on the message board re Jack Nitzsche--I
credited Nitzsche with Pieces of 8's 1966 record "LONELY
DRIFTER" and I suspect I have gone and mixed that up with
his 1963 instrumental, "Lonely Surfer"!!!
Baker was inquiring about a list of Nitzsche's
writing/producing repertoire & I felt so guilty about it
that I told him I'd put it out there for any of you to
reply to him. Thanks in advance, I'm thoroughly enjoying
all the threads as well as continuing my joyous romp
through Jeff Glenn's lost jukebox list. I happen to love
"The Gypsy Cried" (as far as Lou Christie goes) but I
also love it on "You And I (Have A Right To Cry) (flip of
How Many Teardrops) when he hits that "sort of flat" note
toward the end!!! (All of Lou's CO & CE and Colpix 45s
are on my want list & I'm completely unfamiliar with them.)
Sorry Andy Baker!!! The Bobster
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 5
Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 00:17:11 +0000
From: "Don Charles"
Subject: Where The Boys Are
> Mention of the "WTBA" movie brought back a memory of
> Neil Sedaka, probably on the Mike Douglas Show. I
> believe Howard Greenfield was on with him. It seems
> that they labored over the theme song for some time.
> When they got to the producers' office a bit early,
> they started to wonder "What if they don't like it?"
> and hurriedly came up with another version and melody,
> just in case, in about 15 minutes. Can we all guess
> the rest? Did the original ever see the light of day
> anywhere?
I recall an interview Connie did with Jerry Osborne that
appeared in Discoveries Magazine some years back. She
said she never recorded the other "Where The Boys Are."
However, she cut at least three different versions of the
hit version. There was the one she did for the movie,
the first version she cut with Ray Ellis, and the one
that got released, which, according to what Joe Sherman
told me, was revamped quite a bit.
Don Charles
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 6
Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 00:58:44 -0000
From: "Robin Wills"
Subject: PF Sloan
Hi
It was a great pleasure to finally meet Phil when he was
over in London. We talked a lot about his new stuff. He
is a driven man and still really passionate about music.
He now talks about making music more akin to symphonies
with movements and all. He somehow reminded me of Joe
Pesci though...Then again Dave Davies reminds me of
Harvey Keitel in The Bad Lieutenant!
All the best
Robin
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 7
Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2002 21:50:25 -0500
From: "Jeff Lemlich"
Subject: Re: Tony Romeo
Mark Frumento wrote:
> I'm sure he had songs scattered all over the place but
> is their anyone else who benefited from this many high
> quality songs by him?
Didn't Tony also write the Brooklyn Bridge two-sider,
"Welcome Me Love" and "Blessed Is The Rain"?
Tony did a pretty remarkable solo single on Columbia, "My
Old Gin Buddy And Me". So what if he couldn't sing a lick?
The production on this thing (by Van McCoy) is amazing...
and his Bill Murray type voice just adds to the
brilliance. There's even a "circus"/calliope type break
that would make Gary Usher proud.
Jeff Lemlich
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 8
Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2002 21:39:21 -0800
From: Vincent Degiorgio
Subject: Re: Electric sitars
On Monday, March 11, 2002, at 02:27 AM, Richard Williams wrote:
> It's interesting to speculate that the electric sitars on
> the Delfonics, Stylistics and Corner Boys tracks were
> actually the same instrument, since Thom Bell arranged all
> three. And where, someone please tell me, is he today?
>
> For more specialised tastes, can anyone think of another
> pop single to feature the koto, apart from the
> Association's "Pandora's Golen Heebie Jeebies"?
>
> Richard Williams
My hero Mr. Bell was last living in Seattle and/or Hawaii.
The man was simply the best music maker and he and Linda
Creed were one of the best teams ever. Brian Chin, who is
a great writer living in NY interviewed him a few years
back. I offered to pay to be on the line...he refused.
Sorry, I'm useless where it comes to Koto's except for
the Italo disco band from the 80's
Vincent Degiorgio
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 9
Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2002 23:14:59 -0500
From: Mark Frumento
Subject: The Fantastic Story of Mark Wirtz
I know some of my friends from other Yahoo Groups know of
Mark Wirtz but I was wondering how well known he is to
fans of US pop? He's probably most famous for a song
called "Excerpt from a Teenage Opera" sung by Keith West.
Beyond that I think he's done some film work here in the
US.
Anyway, last year RPM Records released a 2 CD
retrospective of Mark Wirtz written, produced and/or
performed material and it is fantastic. The influences
range from the purely English to Spector to Brian Wilson....
sometimes coming off as a little bit of Curt B... as you
could well imagine.
I finally had the chance to listen to the set all the way
through and it's packed with great pop songs, groovy go
go material and tons of fun stuff. I highly recommend it.
At only $14 it's a great pop bargain.
Curious who else out there knows Mr Wirtz's work?
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 10
Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2002 16:59:00 +1000
From: Lindsay Martin
Subject: Re: Tony Romeo ("Oh Boy")
Mark Frumento wrote:
>how great Tony Romeo's songs are.
Tony Romeo wrote a wonderful song called "Oh Boy",
released in '74 by Diana Trask. She was an expatriate
Australian who worked - if I recall correctly - in the
"country" scene in Nashville (for all I know, she might
still).
"Oh Boy" always impressed me as one of those pop songs
that is full of ideas: it has multiple hooks, heaps of
variety packed into it.
It was a hit in Australia in '75: No.3 in her home town,
Melbourne, and No.4 in Sydney, but may not be as well
known in the U.S. where it was recorded..
Great, indeed, Mark!
Lindsay
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 11
Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2002 23:28:12 -0000
From: Doug
Subject: Merseybeats
George Harrison quoted a line from "Sorrow" (their
biggest hit, released under the name The Merseys) in
"It's All Too Much." I don't think anybody's mentioned
this yet.
Doug
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 12
Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2002 15:32:35 +1030
From: "Norman"
Subject: Re: Merseybeats /Escorts
Ken and Mark refer to "From Head to Toe" (Smokey
Robinson song) a hit for Chris Clark but alas not
for The Escorts (1966).
apparently Paddy Chambers (from The Big Three) had
joined them by the time this record came out. And. of
course Paul McCartney played tamborine on the song (very
desirable at the time I suppose).
The best gear to come from the Escorts was in 1964,
including their rendition of Dizzy Miss Lizzy.
Norman
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 13
Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2002 00:20:44 -0500
From: "Javed Jafri"
Subject: Lothar and the Hand People
> I have both Lothar and the Hand People albums (actually, I
> have the self-titled LP and my fiancee has the follow-up,
> SPACE HYMN), and my only complaint is that they actually
> don't use the theremin *enough*, especially on the first
> album, which is a lot more conventional than releases by a
> lot of the more out-there early electronic groups of the
> era. They do get points for integrating electronic and
> acoustic instruments better than most.
>
> I'm pretty sure there's some theremin on the United States
> of America album -- I just had that out yesterday and I
> was struck by how really good it is.
My first intro to Lothar and The Hand People was in the
pages of Hit Parader magazine when I was about 11. They
seemed to getting a lot of coverage in that magazine and
I'm really not sure why. This was pre-Crawdaddy and HP
was about the only teen music magazine with any "serious"
content. Dr. Demento was writing for the magazine around
1967 under his real name. Barrett Hansen (?). Anyway,
Lothar was actually the name of their theremin. I used to
see the first album in the stores but it was too
expensive for me. I never did get to hear the group until
sometime in the early 70's when I heard "Machines" on the
radio and loved it but by this time the album was long
out of print. I finally found an unauthorized copy of the
first album under the title "Spores" and loved the whole
side with "Machines". Not necessarily Spectropop material
but better than the recordings I have heard by say
Autosalvage or Ultimate Spinach.
Javed
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 14
Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2002 11:28:17 -0700
From: "Sean Anglum"
Subject: Re: Chip Taylor
Nice to see Chip Taylor getting some due on the list!
Besides writing one of my all-time favs, "I Can't Let Go",
I'm quite fond of some of his WB recordings from the early
70s. Some real good country rosk stuff. Many have been
re-released by Chip and can be found on Amazon.com, among
other places.
His royalties keep rolling in, too - the most recent
George Strait release from late last year, "The Road Less
Traveled", features one of these refugees from Chip's 70s
writing. "The Real Thing" is a fine tune, done well by ol'
George. "Ya wanna pull my string? Make it the real thing
for me!" Good stuff.
Raised On Records, Sean
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 15
Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2002 16:03:16 -0800 (PST)
From: Neb Rodgers
Subject: Welcome to the Club / PBS
A link for an upcoming PBS special about the women
of rockabilly!
http://www.pbs.org/itvs/welcometotheclub
Lets have a party,
Neb
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 16
Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 01:02:56 -0500
From: "Javed Jafri"
Subject: Re: electric sitar
> Don't forget "Paper Sun" by Traffic.
>
> Yisrael Herczeg
I think that was an old fashioned acoustic sitar as
opposed to an electric sitar and there were a lot of
songs that used the real thing so to speak especially
during 1967-69. George Harrison led the way and one of my
fave Indian styled recording by him is the "Inner Light"
which was the b-side of "Lady Madonna.. By the way the
Kinks are supposed to be the first band to use a sitar in
a pop-rock setting on See My Friends from early 1965.
Javed
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 17
Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2002 23:59:02 -0600
From: "Robert Conway"
Subject: Re: Spector vs Medley
Anybody recall an interview PS did for Rolling Stone (I
am fairly certain) not long after his involvement with
the Beatles? I would love to get a copy of it. PS
talked about the voices of the Righteous Brothers and
John Lennon and Paul McCartney. As I remember he claimed
the voices of Hatfield and Medley were nothing very
special in that there were many black vocalists who could
have done the job just as well. I guess the point is
that material and production often make the artist.
Bob Conway
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 18
Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 00:00:57 -0000
From: Ken
Subject: RE: Sharon Tandy
Thanks for your correction, did Kiki Dee have any
output on Motown.?
-----Original Message from Ian Chapman
Ken,
The song Sharon Tandy recorded (on Atlantic) was "Toe
Hold", not the Chris Clark song. Sharon wasn't with
Motown - could you perhaps have been thinking of Kiki Dee?
Ian
> The Smokey Robinson song you could be thinking of is "From
> Head To Toe" released in 1967 by Chris Clark on one of
> Berry Gordy,s labels. She was a white girl who went on to
> be a big wheel in the Motowm set up. She also recorded a
> number of classics whilst there, including "Love's Gone
> Bad (what an atmospheric track that is!!). "Head To toe"
> was also released by a Sharon Tandy maybe on Polydor in
> England, who if I remember correctly spent some time with
> Motown.
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 19
Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2002 23:41:28 -0600
From: "Robert Conway"
Subject: Re: PF Sloan "I Found a Girl"
>From: "Kingsley Abbott"
>BTW, on the "I Found A Girl" strand, Sloan's demo was on
>the old Trousdale Music Sampler LP called I believe
>"What's Going On Here". I think it did re-emerge on CD
>somewhere, but I forget where for now. Maybe someone has
>it??
Sloan's version of "I Found a Girl" is on his 18-track
"Anthology" on the One Way Records label. Also re.
Sloan: Can anyone tell me if Sloan's Atco LP, "Measure
of Pleasure," has been released overseas on CD?
Bob Conway
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 20
Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 01:25:54 -0500
From: "Javed Jafri"
Subject: Re: Spector vs Medley
> Anybody recall an interview PS did for Rolling Stone (I
> am fairly certain) not long after his involvement with
> the Beatles? I would love to get a copy of it. PS
> talked about the voices of the Righteous Brothers and
> John Lennon and Paul McCartney. As I remember he claimed
> the voices of Hatfield and Medley were nothing very
> special in that there were many black vocalists who could
> have done the job just as well. I guess the point is
> that material and production often make the artist.
Yes I have that issue somewhere and I always remember it
because for some reason he "dissed" the Beach Boys on it
and said something to the effect that they never came up
with any important ideas or innovations in terms of
musical progress. Even "Good Vibrations" was a minor
achievement according to Phil.
Javed
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 21
Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 01:36:21 -0500
From: "Jeff Lemlich"
Subject: Re: electric sitars
Richard Williams wrote:
> It's interesting to speculate that the electric sitars on
> the Delfonics, Stylistics and Corner Boys tracks were
> actually the same instrument, since Thom Bell arranged
> all three.
Bobby Eli of MFSB fame is playing the Coral Electric Sitar
on Stylistics songs such as "Betcha By Golly Wow" and "You
Make Me Feel Brand New", and on the Delfonics' records as
well.. Dennis Coffey plays the instrument on "Band Of
Gold" by Freda Payne. He later sold his Coral sitar for
$300! "Hooked On A Feeling" and the Box Tops tunes are all
Reggie Young.
Jeff Lemlich
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 22
Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2002 22:10:33 -0800
From: Vincent Degiorgio
Subject: Connie sues Universal
http://www.canoe.ca/JamMusic/mar11_francis-ap.html
Let's hope the lady gets some well deserved money...
Vince
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 23
Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 13:27:57 +0900
From: "Spectropop Administration"
Subject: Yahoo! Groups Downtime Fri 03/15/01 9PM PST (GMT-8)
Dear Spectropop Group Members,
Yahoo! Groups service will be down for scheduled
maintenance Friday, March 15, 09 :00 PM PST (GMT-8) as
Yahoo! moves its servers to a new facility.The service
should be restored the morning of Sunday March 17.
During this time the Spectropop Group Members Page will be
unavailable and email will not be delivered. (Some users
may experience email non-delivery notices while the
service is down, but all email should be delivered once
service is resumed.) Please note: once the service is
restored, there will once again be email delays due to
backlog. We expect these delays to last no longer than 2
days. Please do not re-send email to Spectropop as this
will only add to delays.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
Thank you for choosing to be a member of the Spectropop
Group.
THE SPECTROPOP ADMIN TEAM
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 24
Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2002 12:32:56 -0800
From: Kim Cooper
Subject: Bubblegum Ball & Scram party in LA
There's a whole lot of Scram/Bubblegum fun happening in
March that you should know about. We hope to see you at
the Bubblegum Ball or the Scram party!
THE BUBBLEGUM BALL, Saturday, March 23, 10 pm - 01 am, at
World On Wheels roller rink, 4645 1/2 Venice Blvd. (at San
Vicente, just east of La Brea & Pico) in Los Angeles.
Phone (323) 933-3333.
Come down to skate to the live bubblegum sounds of Ron
Dante of the Archies backed by the sparkle*jets UK,
Marizane's exploration of psychedelic bubblepop from the
Lemon Pipers to the Banana Splits, and the incomparable
sparkle*jets UK Jackson 5 extravaganza. The gum keeps
snapping between band courtesy of DJ Jim Freek. World
Champion bubble blower Kelly Kuvo will host a bubble
blowing contest, Jim Freek's Squadron of Go-Go Girlies
will be shaking it, and you can watch a video jukebox of
rare and nutty pop culture treats from the collection of
Lisa Sutton. Plus a raffle featuring great prizes from
Buddha Records, Dubble Bubble, Feral House, Hyperion Books
and Scram Magazine. No-host bar and bowling upstairs.
All ages. $10 entrance and skate rental. More info
http://www.bubblegum-music.com
SCRAM MAGAZINE #15 RELEASE PARTY, Monday, March 25, 09 pm - 01 am at Zen Sushi/Club Snack Sac, 2609 Hyperion Blvd. in
Silverlake. Phone: (323) 665 2929.
Scram is taking over both levels of this eastside hotspot
for a night of offbeat pop cultural thrills featuring live
music, DJs, and weird videos. Marizane will be offering
space-rock originals and a few of the treats from the
Bubblegum Ball. Obscenely catchy pop rockers The Shakes
will certainly play their crowd-pleasing cover of
Britney's " "Oops, I Did It Again." Alicia Bay Laurel
("Living on the Earth," http://www.aliciabaylaurel.com)
will charm the room with her original hippie comedy blues
and Hawaiian songs. Mr. The Friendly Ghost is a one-man
blues explosion who's been known to set himself on fire
and do bad things to harmonicas. Spinning disks: DJ
Gremmy, Bruce Duff, Marc Edward Hueck, Mme. Kuvo, Kevin
Lee, David Ponak and Mash McDirty (a genuine fake
Englishman playing authentic phony Beatles records). Plus
a replay of Lisa Sutton's video program from the Bubblegum
Ball. This is a free show, ages 21 and over.
More info http://www.scrammagazine.com
-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
End
