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Spectropop - Digest Number 1320



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               SPECTROPOP - Spectacular! Retro! Pop!
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There are 25 messages in this issue.

Topics in this digest:

      1. Re: Grass Roots
           From: Glenn 
      2. Cilla Black vs. Dionne Warwick
           From: James Botticelli 
      3. Re: Projections
           From: Al Kooper 
      4. Re: Monkees - I Wanna Be Free
           From: Steveo 
      5. Re: D. W. Washburn / Coasters
           From: Andy 
      6. Re: DJ enunciation
           From: Robert R. Radil 
      7. Re: Feldman, Goldstein & Gottehrer
           From: Glenn 
      8. Re: Feldman, Gottehrer, Goldstein - sixties discography
           From: Jeff Lemlich 
      9. Re: The Beat Goes On/Uni-chord songs
           From: TD 
     10. Songs not in the movie
           From: Peter Lerner 
     11. Re: Awesome group names
           From: Peter Lerner 
     12. Re: Elvis Sun Session tapes done for profit?
           From: Steveo 
     13. Re: Grass Roots
           From: Mark Frumento 
     14. Dis-Advantages of You
           From: Mark T 
     15. Re: Cilla Black vs. Dionne Warwick
           From: Phil Chapman 
     16. Benson and Hedges 101/She Let's Her Hair Down
           From: Mark T 
     17. From: Mark Hill / Happiness Is / Colt 45 / Cigarette Commercial Jingles
           From: Dr. Mark 
     18. Mark Wirtz in Mojo
           From: Doug Richard 
     19. Re: Sock it to me!
           From: TD 
     20. Grass Roots
           From: Mark T 
     21. Re: Mina - and other things
           From: Steve 
     22. Re: Cilla Black
           From: Phil Chapman 
     23. Country Paul/Homburg/record company
           From: Peter Kearns 
     24. Re: Monkees - I Wanna Be Free
           From: lightning 
     25. Re: Gary Stites
           From: Jeff Lemlich 


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Message: 1 Date: Sat, 31 Jan 2004 12:36:13 -0000 From: Glenn Subject: Re: Grass Roots Dan Hughes wrote: > Just to be a completist, it was also on the third (think it > was the third) Grass Roots album, Feelings. Nope, it was on the fifth Grass Roots album, Lovin' Things. Lead vocal by Rob Grill. Strings arranged by Jimmie Haskell. Produced by Steve Barri. And a heck of a good version. Dan Hughes also wrote: > [I suspect that] ringers were substituted for the real Grass > Roots after the third album, when they switched from cutting- > edge Sloan/Barri folkrock to poppy fluff.... There are a lot of folks out there with this view of Sloan/Barri- period Grass Roots vs. pop/rock/white soul-period Grass Roots (though it was the very same quartet that performed both). Unfortunately, most of the people in the industry involved in re-issuing records on CD also agree with you. Thus Rhino's 2-disc Grass Roots Anthology devotes about 65% of its tracks to their material from 1966 to early 1968 and about 35% to the material from late 1968 to 1975, with only ONE album track from that latter period and the rest a string of singles. Only the first three Grass Roots albums have been re-issued on CD - the first two, which were produced by Sloan & Barri, and the third, produced by Barri alone but primarily filled with Sloan/Barri songs. None of the six albums after that have been re-issued on CD. I don't agree with the term "poppy fluff" to describe the music beginning with "Midnight Confessions" and on through "The River Is Wide", "Wait A Million Years", "Temptation Eyes" (ranked in one book as one of the 100 greatest singles of the rock era), "Sooner or Later", "Two Divided By Love', "Heaven Knows", etc., etc., when the Grass Roots sold about 19 million of the 20 million records they've sold. Should the Grass Roots have stuck to their acoustic folk-rock while Dylan had already gone electric, P.F. Sloan had quit the business entirely, and the whole folk-rock movement was down the drain? In fact, I can tell you that their lead singer Rob Grill even agreed with you at the time. When Steve Barri offered them "Midnight Confessions", a Motown-influenced record with horns, Grill didn't want to do it. He thought the Grass Roots would have better luck sticking with the folk-rock sound. In retrospect, though, he's glad he took Barri's advice. So, perhaps you might say that when the Grass Roots "souled out", they also "sold out"? But not everyone on the planet agrees with the term "pop fluff" to describe records like "Midnight Confessions" and "Temptation Eyes" are of no value (an assessment inherent in your description of them as "fluff") - some feel that these are among the greatest records to ever make the Top 40, in sound quality, musicianship, vocal power and songwriting strength. One critic said "the Grass Roots' hits would go on to influence a generation of new- wavers taken by their well-honed craftsmanship and economy of purpose." Glenn Webmaster Golden Grass - The Grass Roots Fan Page http://home.att.net/~souldeep69/index.html -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 2 Date: Sat, 31 Jan 2004 10:05:59 -0500 From: James Botticelli Subject: Cilla Black vs. Dionne Warwick Paul Bryant wrote: > The character singing the song is > a not unintelligent but slightly naive young woman trying > to work out some profound, difficult moral problems > (question - which other 1960s pop song fits that > description? Answer - The Shoop Shoop Song!!). Yes but will you still love me tomorrow? -- James Botticelli -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 3 Date: Sat, 31 Jan 2004 10:13:01 EST From: Al Kooper Subject: Re: Projections Mike: > ..before it ever arrived to my ears. I was amazed, really, > at my intimate and total familiarity with something I'd > been away from for so long. > So Al, you and the rest of the boys sure must have done > something right! Thanks for all the great music. Yikes! I am humbled by your sincerity. Thanks so much for listening ! Al Kooper -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 4 Date: Sat, 31 Jan 2004 12:21:27 -0800 (PST) From: Steveo Subject: Re: Monkees - I Wanna Be Free Jim asks: > Anyone recall an almost forgotten Monkees song called > "I Wanna be Free"? Not sure if was a "B" side or an > LP track. Jim, "I Wanna Be Free" was a huge hit for the Monkees (Davy Jones specifically on vocal) and was released as a 45. It may have been a "B" side originally to another hit, but it got a lot of airplay, and thus became a double-sided hit. I seem to remember a picture sleeve that accompanied the 45. Steveo -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 5 Date: Sat, 31 Jan 2004 21:07:23 -0000 From: Andy Subject: Re: D. W. Washburn / Coasters John Cook wrote: > When was D.W. Washburn? If it was early '68, > that would put it within range of that interest. Not sure of the release date but, it was recorded on 2/17/68 and 3/01/68 in Hollywood, CA.... also the Coasters did record this song in october of '67 but, it was not released by King records when scheduled, but was re-issued (if this is a correct term) when the Monkees version broke, at least that is what I was told. Andy -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 6 Date: Sat, 31 Jan 2004 20:32:59 -0000 From: Robert R. Radil Subject: Re: DJ enunciation Dan Hughes wrote: > East Side Story--Bob Seger & the Last Herd. > I mean, I wonder how many stations passed on their > records because when the DJ announced the group the > audience would hear "Bob Seger and the Last Turd." The DJs would have to speak *very* clearly! As they would when playing a cut from "Dolly Parton's Greatest Hits"! Bob Radil -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 7 Date: Sat, 31 Jan 2004 19:51:11 -0000 From: Glenn Subject: Re: Feldman, Goldstein & Gottehrer I wrote: > One of my favorite songwriting stories is about this > song. "Goldmine" magazine interviewed the three... Eddy: > I have that issue of Goldmine right here and I quote: Eddy, Thank you SO MUCH for looking that up for me, and for going to the extra effort of checking for the Tommy James "Mirage" quote. Getting this info from you was as much a relief as if I'd found the issue myself. That was really nice of you! Well, at least I had the *gist* of the "My Boyfriend's Back" story - that they'd written the whole song in one sitting except for getting stuck on one line of the lyric, and it actually took them months to come up with that one line. I was just way off on exactly how many months it took! Still, the fact that they wrote the whole song, but wouldn't let it go until they found THE right line, and that took three months to come up with - that kind of care for the quality of the finished product impressed me very much, and the story has always stayed with me. That kind of care paid off, too! I mean, "If I were you I'd take a permanent vacation" is pretty much the coolest line in the song, isn't it? Worth the wait, I'd say. If there had been some awkward line there, they may not have "hey la"-ed that song all the way to #1. Thanks again, Eddy. Glenn -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 8 Date: Sat, 31 Jan 2004 21:29:21 -0000 From: Jeff Lemlich Subject: Re: Feldman, Gottehrer, Goldstein - sixties discography David L Gordon: > FELDMAN, GOTTEHRER, GOLDSTEIN > This is an incomplete list of sixties records written > and produced > THE LAST WORD (Boom 60014) 08/66 > Hot Summer days > ? > Prod : Fireplace Productions Thanks for the listing, Davie. The flip of 60014 is Bidin' My Time, and both sides were pdouced by Bob Feldman. Jeff Lemlich http://www.limestonerecords.com -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 9 Date: Sat, 31 Jan 2004 14:32:27 -0500 From: TD Subject: Re: The Beat Goes On/Uni-chord songs Add Howlin' Wolf's "Smokestake Lightning", "Somebody's Walkin' in My Home", and Muddy Waters "She's Alright" -- TD -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 10 Date: Sat, 31 Jan 2004 16:57:45 -0000 From: Peter Lerner Subject: Songs not in the movie Splendor in the Grass by Jackie DeShannon. Jackie liked this song of hers so much that she recorded it three times - once with acoustic guitar for her Metric Music "folk" demo, once with rock backing by the Byrds (a pretty disorganised affair), and the sweet dramatic version that most of you have probably heard. Peter -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 11 Date: Sat, 31 Jan 2004 17:02:44 -0000 From: Peter Lerner Subject: Re: Awesome group names previously; > Brian Diamond & The Cutters (awesome name for a group!) Mike Edwards: > Which set me thinking, what other groups have names like > that? I'll start the ball rolling with an obscure British > (?)band.. Guy Rope & The Tent Pegs .. it's true! Dawn Chorus and the Blue Tits. (did a nice version of "When You Walk In The Room"). Rumour has it that UK TV personality par excellence Carol Vorderman was a Blue Tit in earlier life. Peter -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 12 Date: Sat, 31 Jan 2004 09:00:14 -0800 (PST) From: Steveo Subject: Re: Elvis Sun Session tapes done for profit? Dan wrote: > Hacked to pieces for profit? I mean, if that was their > game wouldn't they have gone for, say, half-inch strips? Dan, I believe that this was done both for the benefit of the fans AND for profit! The articles in the New York Times said that it was a New Jersey firm that was doing this. I'm not exactly sure what the arrangement with Elvis Presley Enterprises was. Steveo -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 13 Date: Sat, 31 Jan 2004 23:51:01 -0000 From: Mark Frumento Subject: Re: Grass Roots Glenn wrote: > I don't agree with the term "poppy fluff" to describe the music > beginning with "Midnight Confessions" and on through "The River > Is Wide", "Wait A Million Years", "Temptation Eyes" (ranked in > one book as one of the 100 greatest singles of the rock era), > "Sooner or Later", "Two Divided By Love', "Heaven Knows", etc., > etc., when the Grass Roots sold about 19 million of the 20 million > records they've sold. Boy do I agree with Glenn! I don't own a lot of Grass Roots records but do own what little is available on CD. They were an amazingly diverse group. It's easy to forget that they also had some incredible writers, producers and arrangers behind them. To me they were one of the acts who kept well arranged, melodic pop alive well into the 70s. Let me add to the list: "Bella Linda" and "Lovin' Things" -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 14 Date: Sat, 31 Jan 2004 18:10:20 -0000 From: Mark T Subject: Dis-Advantages of You The original version of this was done by a group called The Answer on Columbia. The Brass Ring version on Dunhill was a cover. The Answer version was the one actually used on the commercial. -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 15 Date: Sun, 01 Feb 2004 00:24:35 -0000 From: Phil Chapman Subject: Re: Cilla Black vs. Dionne Warwick Paul Bryant: > I hesitate to say this, in fact here goes my credibility > right now, but Cilla's version of "Alfie" is loads better > than Dionne Warwick. It's because she's a worse singer. Paul, I agree with your interesting comparison of the versions. Conversely, IMHO the worst version of "Alfie" is by Cher. I really like Cher from her S&C days and their Spector-sounding stuff, but the track to her recording of "Alfie" sounded to me like some escaped animal had invaded the session. And wasn't that the version used in the U.S. release of the film? As for credibility, don't worry about it. Re: my recent post on the Patti Labelle sessions, a rather thoughtful Vicki Wickham said to me, in conversation about some R&B records, "Phil, you like all the wrong things!" - Nothing's changed:-) Phil C PS - Re: Lulu/Aretha Franklin - are we talking about "Oh Me Oh My? -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 16 Date: Sat, 31 Jan 2004 18:14:23 -0000 From: Mark T Subject: Benson and Hedges 101/She Let's Her Hair Down I also remember the 101 jingle very well. It was done by The Tokens and appears on a bootleg I have of their commercial jingles. They also did a full length version of the song, with different lyrics, as a real song, kind of like Hillside Singers did with the Coke commercial. Haven't seen anyone mention the great Clairol commercial song, She Lets Her Hair Down. Originally done and recorded by Don Young on Bang and then made into a hit by the Tokens. I remember never hearing it on the radio but seeing it in my record store and buying it hoping it would be the commercial jingle and it was. Probably my favorite Tokens record. -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 17 Date: Sat, 31 Jan 2004 15:53:37 -0500 From: Dr. Mark Subject: From: Mark Hill / Happiness Is / Colt 45 / Cigarette Commercial Jingles Ed Salamon: > Subject: Re: cigarette commercial music > Another great one is Paul Evans' "Happiness Is", a hit by Ray > Conniff, I'm pretty sure I have a vocal version of this by BOBBY SHERMAN. *Prior* to his Metromedia label days. Steveo: > One of the best 60's commercials music was "Colt 45 malt liquor > theme"! This used an ocarina as lead and was very quirky. It had > a moderato beat, but was very memorable! The title of this piece > is "A Completely unique Experience". Any known recordings of this???? "Dr. Mark" Hill * The Doctor Of Pop Culture /*/ drmark7@juno.com http://groups.yahoo.com/group/popmusicpopculture -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 18 Date: Sat, 31 Jan 2004 21:37:29 -0000 From: Doug Richard Subject: Mark Wirtz in Mojo I don't think this has been mentioned here yet, but there is a six-page story on Mark Wirtz and Tomorrow/Keith West in the February issue of Mojo magazine. Doug -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 19 Date: Sat, 31 Jan 2004 17:07:16 -0500 From: TD Subject: Re: Sock it to me! Howard: > A while back I was listening to a radio prog. when they played > a record from the 50s where the phrase 'Sock It To Me' was used. > I sure some Spectropoppers will know! Although it wasn't from the 50's, Rex Garvin and the Mighty Cravers used "Sock it to 'em, J.B." (the J.B. was James Bond). They also had a hit inspired by the Lestoil commercial-- "Emulsified"! --TD -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 20 Date: Sat, 31 Jan 2004 18:17:34 -0000 From: Mark T Subject: Grass Roots > Dan, who suspects ringers were substituted for the real > Grass Roots after the third album, when they switched from > cutting-edge Sloan/Barri folkrock to poppy fluff.... Their Sloan-Barri folk rock was good but nowhere near as good as their "poppy fluff". That was great. Speaking of the Roots, anyone know why Optical Illusion wasn't a single? That was vintage GR and should have been a hit. It also should have been on the Rhino double CD as well as Powers of the Night from their comeback LP in 81. -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 21 Date: Sat, 31 Jan 2004 23:02:52 -0000 From: Steve Subject: Re: Mina - and other things Julio: > I think I have (Mina's) Spanish version of "Grande, Grande, > Grande" somewhere. Personally, I don't like it very much, > it is too seventies style for my taste, but I can play it > to musica if you are interested. Mike: > One other Italian song not yet mentioned: "Volare" by Bobby > Rydell on Cameo from 1960. Mike and Julio Sometime in the next few weeks or so I hope to be set up for playing songs to Musica - then I can put some music where my talking goes. By the way - just remembered 2 more.... Piano - Mina Softly As I leave You - Matt Monro Uno Tranquillo - Riccardo Del Turco Suddenly You Love Me - The Tremoloes Cheers Steve -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 22 Date: Sun, 01 Feb 2004 02:10:17 -0000 From: Phil Chapman Subject: Re: Cilla Black John Love: > ...there are plenty of others too that made the grade - > McCartney's brilliant "It's For You" and "Step Inside Love", "Step Inside Love" is structurally and dynamically similar to the Ronettes "Born To Be Together", and was written shortly after. I once shared this observation with (Sir) Paul during a Wings session, as he seemed bemused by my use of BTBT as a monitor-alignment tape. -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 23 Date: Sun, 01 Feb 2004 00:05:31 -0000 From: Peter Kearns Subject: Country Paul/Homburg/record company Country Paul wrote: > Also, kudos to list member Peter Kearns, who has created a very > respectable version of Procol Harum's "Homburg" with his brother > Terry channeling Gary Brooker's voice to quite an extent. Thank you for taking the time to listen. I agree it's a splendid number. :-) And re the record company thing: I've wondered this myself. It's a shambles out there these days what with every man and his milkman doing an album. But hopefully it'll eventually level out and those that aren't so serious will pack up their kit and walk home. hahaha. Peter. -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 24 Date: Sat, 31 Jan 2004 17:52:08 EST From: lightning Subject: Re: Monkees - I Wanna Be Free I Wanna Be Free was never released as a single. It appears on their first album, "The Monkees" (Colgems 101) and "The Monkees Greatest Hits" (Colgems 115) -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 25 Date: Sat, 31 Jan 2004 21:33:26 -0000 From: Jeff Lemlich Subject: Re: Gary Stites Country Paul: > "Superoldies" asked about Gary Stites, who had "Lonely For You" > on Carlton (1959). There's a citation for a website for one > Sammy Hall, a minister; the Google sample reads: "This marks the > first time Gary Stites takes a producer's credit on a Birdwatchers > single. ... Gary Stites recycled 'She Tears Me Up' for the flip of > this as well." However, the website is under re-construction, and > the document with this reference is gone. (The Birdwatchers are > also referenced in Fuzz Acid & Flowers.) Hi Paul, The narrative on Sammy Hall's site was reproduced from a story I wrote on the Limestone Lounge. The full text can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/3bk6s The last I'd heard of Gary Stites, he was retired and living in Ocala, Florida. That was several years ago and I've lost track of him since then. Jeff Lemlich -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
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