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Spectropop - Digest Number 761



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                        Jamie LePage (1953-2002)
                  http://www.spectropop.com/Jamie.htm
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There are 25 messages in this issue.

Topics in this digest:

      1. Handbags And Gladgrags
           From: Alan Warner 
      2. Re: Be My Multilingual Baby
           From: Frank 
      3. Re: Phil Spector now...
           From: Richard Hattersley 
      4. Falsetto memory syndrome
           From: Richard Williams 
      5. Re: Falsettos etc.
           From: Roger Smith 
      6. Re: falsettos (and close harmony in general)
           From: Jack Madani 
      7. Remixing The Four Seasons
           From: Paul Urbahns 
      8. Way Out West
           From: James F.  Cassidy 
      9. Re: Melisma
           From: William Murphy 
     10. Daylight And Darkness
           From: Phil Milstein 
     11. Miss Frankie Nolan / Bob Crewe
           From: Ronnie Allen 
     12. Four Seasons remixes
           From: Stewart Mason 
     13. Foskett
           From: Kingsley Abbott 
     14. Falsetto; Andy Pratt; Scott Garrett; Bobby Doyle
           From: Country Paul 
     15. Re: Hammond & Hazlewood
           From: Luis Suarez 
     16. Bruce does a Ronnie does a Frankie
           From: James F.  Cassidy 
     17. Brian Wilson DVD
           From: Richard Havers 
     18. melismata!
           From: Stratton Bearhart 
     19. Re: Foskett
           From: Richard Havers 
     20. Re: Hammond & Hazlewood
           From: Richard Havers 
     21. Re: Demis Roussos
           From: Ron Weekes 
     22. Re: Andy Pratt
           From: Phil Milstein 
     23. Randy and The Rainbows
           From: Stuart Miller 
     24. Re: Randy and The Rainbows
           From: Phil Milstein 
     25. Re: Four Seasons remixes
           From: Vincent Degiorgio 


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Message: 1
   Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 01:01:39 -0800
   From: Alan Warner 
Subject: Handbags And Gladgrags

For all you TV Themes buffs out there, Mike D'Abo's
HANDBAGS AND GLADRAGS (originally recorded by Chris Farlowe on
Immediate in '67, covered by Rod Stewart on Mercury in '69 and
successfully revived last year in the UK by Stereophonics on V2)
is used as the signature tune of the critically-acclaimed British
TV comedy sitcom "The Office";  BBC America just started running 
the first series of this show last night.
Rock on!

Alan Warner



-------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 2 Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 10:19:57 +0100 From: Frank Subject: Re: Be My Multilingual Baby David A. Young: > A number of folks have already responded to Guy Lawrence's > request for information about French-language versions of > "Be My Baby"...... > Chance "Reviens Vite Et Oublie" (French) Hey David,how on earth did you ever hear of Chance ??? This is a group I produced a long time ago with quite a few covers of US hits, Rhythm Of The Rain, Come Sofly To Me, Three Cool Cats,Sh-Boom, Hey Paula... I just can't believe this one was known outside of France !!! Frank -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 3 Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 13:08:11 +0000 From: Richard Hattersley Subject: Re: Phil Spector now... Alias: >What is Phil Spector up to these days? Where does he live? The Last I heard, he was producing tracks on the new Starsailor album. I also heard mutterings that he dates Nancy Sinatra. Richard http://www.wiz.to/richardsnow/ -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 4 Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 12:08:42 +0000 From: Richard Williams Subject: Falsetto memory syndrome Another big guy with a wonderful falsetto gift: the late, great Billy Stewart (particularly "I Do Love You"). Richard Williams -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 5 Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 09:40:55 -0500 From: Roger Smith Subject: Re: Falsettos etc. Bob Rashkow: > Anyone else as helplessly in love with Roussos' voice as I am? I'm not very familiar with Roussos, but, as a fan of Harry Nilsson, I was surprised to learn that he had a modest hit (in France and Italy) in 1980 with a recording of an obscure Nilsson song called "The Wedding Song". Harry Nilsson and Perry Botkin Jr wrote "The Wedding Song" for the musical play "Zappata!" which opened (and closed) off-Broadway in 1980. Oh .. and Demis Roussos and Harry Nilsson share the same birthday - June 15. -- Roger http://www.harrynilsson.com/ -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 6 Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 09:23:00 -0500 From: Jack Madani Subject: Re: falsettos (and close harmony in general) Stuart Miller: > I was surprised by the support that Russell Tompkins had. > Compared to the sweet soul of the Delfonics, this was chicken > in a basket nite club stuff. Did the guy ever sing in anything > other than alto? He seemd to be stuck up there permanently. It's possible you're being a bit hard on Russel Tompkins, whose voice I love. But it's also possible that what made those Stylistics ballads so gorgeous is as much the Thom Bell production as it was that male falsetto. > It is an interesting point when you think of it, that the male > voice forced into a higher register, can produce such an attractive > sound that it has permeated popular music and had an influence as > profound and as prolonged as it has. So true. I spent years and years singing in college a cappella groups, and whenever we went to jamborees I was always struck by how much better the all male groups sounded than either the all female groups or the mixed voice groups. I agree with you that the high register male voice can sound really beautiful, and what I think all of those a cappella women's groups usually did wrong was to try to emulate the male style, and send their high voices even higher. Consequently the female groups' harmonies ended up sounding like they were pumped up by helium. And the SATB groups ended up sounding choral, instead of sounding like close pop harmony, because they too gave the highest notes to the women. Naturally, I'm speaking from my own experience, but the only women's a cappella group that I ever dug was the early '80's Smith Smiffenpoofs. The key to their good sound was that they had a couple of outstanding altos with a deep range like the low voice in the Pointer Sisters. Consequently, instead of trying to go high, the Smiffenpoofs went down. I think that came out not exactly how I meant it. I hope you get my drift. On the other hand, the Anita Kerr singers always sounded awesome to me, so it is definitely *possible* to get a great tight harmony with female voices on the top end. I guess the trick is to sing with as little vibrato as possible. Of course, without a good arrangement it'll all be for naught. jack -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 7 Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 09:29:29 EST From: Paul Urbahns Subject: Remixing The Four Seasons Ron asked: > Did the Four Seasons rerecord or remix their hits? I have a > version of "Ain't That a Shame" that sounds like the original > but little things are different. It is most noticeable at the > ending where the group sings the word "shame" over and over but > without Frankie's singing in between as I remember he did on > the 45. I'm too lazy to dig out my single. According to what Bill Inglot told me there are no multi-track master tapes on the Four Seasons material. All Frankie got from the label was album and singles masters same as Freddy Cannon got from Swan. Apparently they didn't see any value in having the actual work tapes. Anyway, Frankie or Bob Crewe (can't remmber which) said there was a lot of remixing done for the Edition of Gold LP (DEL ORO) and that could explain a different version of "Ain't That A Shame". I don't have that album, but I believe "Ain't That A Shame" is on there. Paul Urbahns -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 8 Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 11:35:26 -0500 From: James F. Cassidy Subject: Way Out West Jimmy B asked me to elaborate on my tongue-in-cheek remark about the Mae West rock album produced by Ian Whitcomb. The album, "Way Out West" (1966), featured the 74-year-old queen of sexual innuendo warbling and moaning her way through such rock standards as "Great Balls of Fire" and "Twist and Shout." As camp, I suppose it's worth a laugh or two, but Mae's shaky vibrato at times sounds like a cat in heat duct-taped to an unbalanced washing machine on the spin cycle (don't tell me you haven't tried that old party game!). If you're still interested in hearing it and can't find the original vinyl, Mae's "Twist and Shout" and "Light My Fire" appear in crystal-clear (or is that crystal-shattering?) digital quality on Rhino's "Golden Throats" CD collections (volume I and II, respectively), alongside such gems as Jack Webb flat-lining his way through "Try a Little Tenderness" and Leonard Nimoy struttin' his Vulcan funk on "Proud Mary". Jim Cassidy -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 9 Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 09:26:08 -0800 (PST) From: William Murphy Subject: Re: Melisma A melisma is one syllable spread over several notes - strictly speaking, anything more than a single note. That's all it means. Trust me. Bill M. (MA in Music, so no arguments!) -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 10 Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 11:31:34 +0000 From: Phil Milstein Subject: Daylight And Darkness Somebody here -- Richard Williams, if I'm not mistaken -- recently mentioned a Smokey Robinson song (apparently from the solo end of his career) entitled "Daylight And Darkness". Does anyone know if that track's available on a CD of any sort? --Phil M. -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 11 Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 12:41:57 -0500 From: Ronnie Allen Subject: Miss Frankie Nolan / Bob Crewe There was a recording that came out in 1961 by an artist named Miss Frankie Nolan. It was called "Summer All Year Round" and was on the ABC-Paramount label. I've heard that Bob Crewe produced it and also that the Four Seasons (or some of the members of that group) were on it. And I've heard a really far-out rumor (that I really don't believe) that Miss Frankie Nolan is, in fact, Mr. Frankie Valli! Can anyone here provide more details about that unheralded commercial flop that in my opinion deserved a much better fate? Thanks! Ronnie Allen -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 12 Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 12:59:55 -0500 From: Stewart Mason Subject: Four Seasons remixes Ron asks: >Did the Four Seasons rerecord or remix their hits? I have a version >of "Ain't That a Shame" that sounds like the original but little >things are different. It is most noticeable at the ending where the >group sings the word "shame" over and over but without Frankie's >singing in between as I remember he did on the 45. I'm too lazy to >dig out my single. I'm sure there must be at least one CD of remixed Frankie Valli/Four Seasons hits out there. When I was living in Albuquerque, my local oldies station of choice occasionally used to play a version of "Oh What A Night (December 1963)" that really emphasized the disco pulse of the song much more than the original single did and included a sort of dub-style instrumental break with echoed vocal interjections. They also played the more familiar version. Said station, Big 98.5, is one of those rare oldies stations that has local jocks (itself a vanishing concept in the increasingly Clear Channelized radio world) who actually, to an extent, program their own shows. For example, whenever Bobby Jones is on, you're gonna hear a lot of prime '70s soul, whenever Bobby Box is on, expect rockabilly and '50s crooners, and whenever Lightnin' Larry is on, you're gonna hear a lot of late '60s acid rock. (This is the only oldies station I know of that has the MC5's "Kick Out the Jams" in light rotation.) If you're ever in central New Mexico, have a listen. You'd be amazed what a few simple changes to the standard oldies-radio mix can do. Stewart -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 13 Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 18:06:40 -0000 From: Kingsley Abbott Subject: Foskett Kingsley Abbott: > any current discussion on classy falsettos should include > Jeff Foskett, currently with Brian Wilson's band. From DJ Jimmy B: > and aural evidence of this assertion of Jeff's prowess can > be found at......? http://www.new-surf.com As I said, The 'Thru My Window' is my fave, but there is a nifty 21 track 'Best of..' that includes many of his own songs and covers of 'I Live For The Sun', 'Reflection OF My Life', 'I Can't Let go' and 'New York's A Lonely Town'. Also at the same website are details of the other Jeff - Jeff Larson - whose albums are harmony filled, melodic and filled with strong songs. With jeff larson, I'd recommend 'Watercolour Sky' as the strating point. Back to Jeff F for his 'prowess evidence', anyone who attended the Brian Wilson tour, may recall Jeff's delivery of the four high lines on 'Desert Drive'. Absolutely classic '63/4 surfin' wail! Kingsley -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 14 Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 13:25:59 -0500 From: Country Paul Subject: Falsetto; Andy Pratt; Scott Garrett; Bobby Doyle I never meant to start a "best falsetto ever" contest (if indeed it was me), but I developed the taste from doo-wop. Missing are some of the great high voices of the 50's - the smooth falsetto on the Five Discs' "I Remember" (Emge/Vik/Rust) (Eddie Parducci?) and Vince Castro on "Bong Bong" (Apt)(originally "I Love You Madly", but a Charlie & Ray song had that title earlier), which has a gorgeous twin falsetto line on the fade. Nor do I mean to say Larry Henley had the best falsetto voice - just a highly effective one for what he was doing. And I guess I can forgive "Wind Beneath My Wings" - he did give us "Everything's Alright" and "Shake Hands" plus that neat website! (And Mochili, thanks for the info on the Louisville connecytion. I also have a CD by Dean and Marc as a duo, but aside from "There Oughta Be A Law" and a cover of Travis & Bobn's "Tell 'Em No," they really needed Mr. Henley's leads for maximum impact.) Phil M., re: Andy Pratt, "Avenging Annie" was my big discovery - WBRU played it in demo form (which I got from his studio) and made Andy a local superstar in Providence, RI for a few months. He actually sold out an 1100-seat hall based on his Polydor album and the demo of "AA". Unfortunately, being a serious practitioner of artistic temperament, he'd fired his band a few days before and showed up with new and unrehearsed one. As his songs were highly complex, the show was an edge-of-your-seat "are they gonna make it through this one?" experience, but one not to be missed. If there was ever a record that should have been a hit, this was it! There's also a Clive Davis story about this song; he asked a candidate for a producer job to name 10 songs that should have been hits and weren't. #1 on the list: "Avenging Annie." Davis hired him. Re: the discussion about the song "The Day I Died" - I have a version by Scott Garrett, an obviously white guy on OKeh, best known for R&B artists. I guess the date was '58 or '59 (it's on the yellow label). Taken about 30% faster than the Playmates' version, the breakneck speed sort of undermines it, IMO. OKEH 4-7104 "The Day I Died" (S. Edwards) [no other credits listed] "In My Heart" (Eisner-Weiss) Laurie 3023 "A House of Love" (Jimmy Craig) Arr./Cond. Sid Bass "With the Voices of Elise Bretton" "So Far So Good" (S. Hodes) The follow-up was a syrupy and preachy ballad with spiritual content - what they used to call a "religioso" at the time - which actually got some airplay, at least on New York radio. (Pass on the flipside.) Stephane Rebeschini: > I have a rather interesting LP by Bobby Doyle...." The Bobby > Doyle Introductory Offer" Warner WS 1744 '68 USA LP....From > Houston, Texas - white, blind soul/rock/pop singer....That's > the kind of obscure records Warner produced in the late 60s > and which are often quite good, with great musicianship. Stephane, thanks for mentioning this. The album contains the outstanding original version of "Nobody There At All," which I have as a 45 (!), Warner Bros.-Seven Arts 7207. The song was later done by Spooky Tooth on their excellent "The Last Puff" LP. (A wildly uneven group, but their many peak performances were spectacular.) And yes, there was a significant period where the Warner or Reprise imprint was a true imprimatur of quality. Mick Patrick, thanks for clearing up the Irma Thomas "Anyone Who Knows What Love Is" history. My fave is still the straighter (whiter?) reading, which I was grateful to get after many years of searching - it had been left off most of her collected "greatest" in previous issues. But you, sir, are a veritable geyser of amazing knowledge. Again, thank you. Finally, Bob Rashkow mentions Eddie Holman's "This Can't Be True". Yes - what a way with that title phrase!! And thank you too for the compliment; I always enjoy your posts, too. Country Paul (eternally catching up - now only 4 digests behind!) -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 15 Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 18:48:11 -0000 From: Luis Suarez Subject: Re: Hammond & Hazlewood Great write-up, Richard. A couple of corrections - It was "Oliver In The Overworld" that Hammond & Hazlewood wrote for. It was a BBC chidren's TV special that featured Freddie Garrity of Freddie and The Dreamers. I have the soundtrack LP and it's great - bouncy toytown stuff. Also, I think the Radiohead connection has more to do with the fact that Albert Hammond thinks that "Creep" sounds an awful like the Hammond & Hazlewood-penned Hollies smash "The Air That I Breathe" than anything else. I doubt Hammond and Thom Yorke have ever been in the same room together, at least not without their lawyers present. There are tons of H&H tunes and productions that Hammond doesn't list on his website - they're great ones too. Luis -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 16 Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 13:55:39 -0500 From: James F. Cassidy Subject: Bruce does a Ronnie does a Frankie As Jack pointed out, Springsteen did a Ronnie Spector on "Born To Run". For her part, Ronnie has said her whole style of singing was an attempt to sound like Frankie Lymon. Who was Frankie trying to sound like - Clyde McPhatter or the Ink Spots maybe? And the beat goes on. Jim Cassidy doing a Sonny Bono -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 17 Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 19:10:50 +0000 From: Richard Havers Subject: Brian Wilson DVD News just in......or have I missed this? Brian Wilson - On Tour. DVD, GBP18.00. Due In: 28/02/03 Brian Wilson on tour is a documentary film celebrating the music of this legend. Following Brian through the U.S. and Japan on his first ever solo tour, this DVD also show Brian teaching his 10 piece... For more info: http://www.freakemporium.com/cgibin/product.cgi?BRCD099 -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 18 Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 19:18:12 -0000 From: Stratton Bearhart Subject: melismata! Basically,the term is that used by musicoligist to describe a vocal device found in numerous cultures which involves the singing of many notes over the restriction of metre in spoken languge in syllables etc. Yet melisma has become most obvious in Western music through the colision of African pentanonic scales with church music. So we can identify it in Gospel music where it is most prevalent as a musical aspiration towards spiritual ecstacy and in black popular music as personified in the work of Stevie Wonder and others and in modern pop in the over-used vocal ornamentations of a myriad sterile singers. A sad prospect for such a liberational singing style which has its roots in something deeper. Stratton Bearhart. -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 19 Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 20:23:27 +0000 From: Richard Havers Subject: Re: Foskett DJ Jimmy B: > and aural evidence of this assertion of Jeff's prowess can > be found at......? Kingsley: > anyone who attended the Brian Wilson tour, may recall Jeff's > delivery of the four high lines on 'Desert Drive'. Absolutely > classic '63/4 surfin' wail! Kingsley's absolutely spot on.......Jeff's got one of the great falsetto voices. Richard -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 20 Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 20:33:23 +0000 From: Richard Havers Subject: Re: Hammond & Hazlewood Hi Luis Thanks for the info on 'Oliver in the Overworld', and the kind words. I got jittery when I read the bit about 'Creep', because I know when I wrote it, about 3 or so years ago, I had looked into it pretty thoroughly. I went to the Ascap site to check it out..... CREEP (Title Code: 330472529)   Writers:    GREENWOOD COLIN CHARLES    GREENWOOD JONATHAN RICHARD GUY    HAMMOND ALBERT LOUIS    HAZLEWOOD MICHAEL E    O BRIEN EDWARD JOHN    SELWAY PHILIP JAMES    YORKE THOMAS EDWARD It might have been one of those 'plea bargain' situations. Radiohead write it, then realize what they have done, contact messrs H&H and say we'll do you a deal. We will cut you in on the writing credit.....everyone ends up a tad richer than when they started. Best Richard -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 21 Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 14:02:50 -0700 From: Ron Weekes Subject: Re: Demis Roussos Stuart Miller wrote: > ...the worst proponent of them all--Demis Roussos.... Then Frank added: > Demis Roussos was (and still is) an incredibly gifted singer. > I've known him personally from the very beginning (I co-wrote > one of the Aphrodite's early song). He could have done great > things if he had been interested but I always had the feeling > that he was just there for the money (unlike his pal Vangelis) > and he did not really care. Bad management took him away from > the success he had in the beginning. He now regularly gives > concerts in churches. I missed the first part of this thread. I had completely forgotten about Demis Roussos. He was extremely popular as a solo artist during a two year period (1973-75) when I was living in the Mexico City area. At the same time, one of the newer Latin stars that was just emerging was a fellow by the name of Julio Iglesias. My favorite male Latin singer of the time was a fellow named Roberto Carlos. A bit far from the original Demis Roussos thread, but it brought back some great music memories of a time when I lived in a country that has become a second home to me. And isn't this list about great musical memories? Landlocked in Idaho! Ron Weekes http://www.garyusher.com -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 22 Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 15:49:30 +0000 From: Phil Milstein Subject: Re: Andy Pratt Country Paul wrote: > Phil M., re: Andy Pratt, "Avenging Annie" was my big > discovery - WBRU played it in demo form (which I got from > his studio) and made Andy a local superstar in Providence, > RI for a few months. He actually sold out an 1100-seat > hall based on his Polydor album and the demo of "AA"...... Great record, great story. It might interest you to note that the Boston Globe has run several stories in the past few weeks referring to Pratt's return to the local club scene, after a decade or more toiling (musically and otherwise) in Europe. Perhaps I should try to catch one of those shows, before he's gone again. --Phil M. -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 23 Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 21:15:47 -0000 From: Stuart Miller Subject: Randy and The Rainbows I might have missed it over the last 40 years or so but did the Tokens ever own up to Randy and the Rainbows? Every interview I've ever read on them makes no mention. Stuart -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 24 Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 16:21:39 +0000 From: Phil Milstein Subject: Re: Randy and The Rainbows Stuart Miller wrote: > I might have missed it over the last 40 years or so but did > the Tokens ever own up to Randy and the Rainbows? To being influenced by them? or to BEING them? --Phil M. -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
Message: 25 Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 13:44:05 -0800 From: Vincent Degiorgio Subject: Re: Four Seasons remixes Ben Liebrand, very famous in Holland and parts of Europe for his productions and remixes, did a great job on "Oh" as well "Long Train Running" by The Doobies. The biggest crime where FV & The Four Seasons are concerned in remix land is that no one ever did proper ones on "Soul" and "Heaven Above Me" on FV's solo album. Simply amazing songs... V -------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]-------------------
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