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Spectropop V#0240

  • From: The Spectropop Group
  • Date: 03/10/99

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       Volume #0240                          March 10, 1999   
    __________________________________________________________
            exciting full-color sketchbook look inside        
    
    
    
    
    
    Subject:     Beach Boys' "Smile"
    Received:    03/10/99 12:32 am
    From:        John Love, john_lXXXXXXXXrko.COM
    To:          'Spectropop List', spectroXXXXXXXXties.com
    
    There are continuous references being made to "Smile" as 
    if it actually exists as an album. I know that some songs 
    from the sessions eventually found their way onto albums 
    after "Smiley Smile", but I had thought that Brian's 
    original vision was never completed. Is there a bootleg of
    the sessions floating around?
    
    On a different subject, did anyone else enjoy Bobby Darin 
    in his "If I Were a Carpenter" phase? I've just picked up 
    a new CD which couples that album and "Inside Out", which 
    followed (plus some extra tracks). "Inside Out" is one of 
    the few LPs in my collection which I still play, so I was 
    delighted to get it on CD. A great collection of songs, 
    including stuff by Randy Newman, and a really nice version
    of the Stones' "Back Street Girl". 
    
    Johnny
    
    
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    Subject:     Re: 45s big and small
    Received:    03/09/99 7:39 am
    From:        Stewart Mason, flamiXXXXXXXXcom
    To:          Spectropop List, spectroXXXXXXXXties.com
    
    In his informed response to Keiko's question as to why 
    some 45s have different size holes, Paul Urbahns wrote:
    
    >After both companies started making 
    >both types of records. Some companies started making 33 
    >EPs (the size of a 45) but with a small hole to indicate 
    >the speed difference. I have seen European 45s with a small
    >hole (which is the way all 45s start out). The punching of
    >the big hole is an extra step which is no longer needed.
    
    I have seen some US 45s from the sixties with small holes 
    (or, often, a diamond-shaped piece of vinyl in the middle 
    of the big hole, which was also common in the UK at the 
    time). For example, I have two otherwise identical copies 
    of the Mala single of the Box Tops' "The Letter"/"Happy 
    Times" from 1967, one with a big hole and one with a small
    hole. My assumption has always been that for whatever 
    reason, some 45s escaped the factory without getting their
    holes punched. Am I wrong?
    
    To clarify one point, the current standard for singles 
    both in North America and Europe (yes, many of us still 
    release vinyl!) is to have a small hole no matter what 
    speed the single plays at. It's slightly more expensive 
    (about 3 cents more per single, usually) but it's 
    preferable for several reasons, especially ease of radio 
    play. I have a radio performance on tape by the early-90s 
    LA pop band Permanent Green Light where they have their 
    new single with them but the DJ can't play it because no 
    one can find a 45 adapter for the big hole!
    
    Stewart
    
    ***************************FLAMINGO RECORDS***************************
    
    Stewart Allensworth Mason     
    Box 40172                          "Migh-ty Taco, Migh-ty Taco."
    Albuquerque NM 87196          
    www.rt66.com/~flamingo        
    
    *********************HAPPY MUSIC FOR NICE PEOPLE**********************
    
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    Subject:     Re: Randy Newman
    Received:    03/09/99 7:39 am
    From:        Rainier Wolfcastle, MUV96XXXXXXXXnt2.lu.se
    To:          Spectropop List, spectroXXXXXXXXties.com
    
    Thanks for all the Randy Newman recommendations! It's 
    funny I asked that question because I walked into a 
    thriftstore the day after and found a Newman "Best Of..." 
    LP for less than a dollar!! It's from 1983 and the 
    tracklisting is:
    
    Sail Away
    Short People
    Baltimore
    I'm Different
    Rednecks
    Birmingham
    Rider In The Rain
    Simon Smith And The Amazing Dancing Bear
    Political Science
    The Girls In My Life (Part 1)
    I Think It's Going To Rain Today
    Lonely At The Top
    
    I'm not sure if the "best of" title refers to commercial 
    success or what's regarded as the best stuff off his 
    albums, but I have to admit I find the majority of these 
    songs pretty boring. Sail Away is amazing, Short People is
    hillarious and Simon SMith is pretty cool too (but not as 
    good as Harpers Bizarre's version), but.....some of these 
    songs' arrangements and production are quite bland, 
    uninspired and, well...the songs on his debut LP all sound
    like music from the Cole Porter/Irving Berlin era of 
    American popular music, which is one of the key reasons I 
    love that album. But if this "best of" is an indication of
    Newman's output in the seventies.....let me just say there 
    is one thing I can't stand and it's music which sounds 
    like seventies piano-rock/AOR like Billy Joel. Ugh! :)
    
    But "Sail Away" definitely sounds like an album I'd love; 
    very much like a continuation of the first LP. So please 
    don't kill me yet :) 
    
    T.
    
    
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    Subject:     forwarded request
    Received:    03/09/99 7:39 am
    From:        Big L, biXXXXXXXXtmail.com
    To:          Spectropop List, spectroXXXXXXXXties.com
    
    I got this by private e-mail. If you can help this gentleman, 
    please reply to him personally, not to me. Thanks.
    
    >>>>I am looking for any CD that has the song "My Dad" by
    >>>>PaulPeterson.  I have been looking everywhere.Thank you.
    
    >>>>Pat Sweeney
    >>>>duXXXXXXXXom
    
    
    ==
    Big L                   Check out my Radio Legends pages at:
    biXXXXXXXXtmail.com    http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Hills/9816
    
    
    
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    Subject:     fuzz tone
    Received:    03/10/99 12:32 am
    From:        Jack Madani, Jack_MadXXXXXXXX12.nj.us
    To:          Spectropop List, spectroXXXXXXXXties.com
    
    >I was there in the studios when the fuzz-tone was first 
    >used, it was a Gibson pedal (at first we'd simply take a 
    >tube out of our amp to get a "fuzz" sound late 50s, then a
    >pedal was built for that effect). No I wasn't the "first" 
    >at that, but was one who quickly used it for an "effect". 
    >I saw the potential in it. 
    
    I seem to recall reading that it was Johnny Burnette's 
    guitarist, whose name eludes me, who first came up with 
    such an effect, and it was one of those by-accident things
    --a loose tube in an amp that'd been knocked around, and 
    when he started playing it sounded hot so they left it. 
    That sort of thing.
    >
    >But I was the "first" to use the Echoplex on bass, and the
    >first to use all kinds of effects on bass for movie scores 
    >- inc. fuzz-tones (listen to "Heat Of The Night" movie), 
    >and a few record dates (one with Brian even w/sound 
    >effects)...
    >Listen to the theme of "Airport" cut out at Universal 
    >Studios. I had my Gibson Maestro box on with the "steam" 
    >and "claves" and octave-divider buttons on (could play 2 
    >octaves at once, and I could also trigger that just fine, 
    >again, with the strong way I pick with a hard pick). 
    >And "True Grit", same thing, others like that. But effects
    >sort of ran their course very quickly (as they all knew in 
    >the 60s).
    
    Carol, I'm thinking that in the mid-late sixties you must 
    have played on some Nelson Riddle-scored movies as well, 
    like for instance another John Wayne flick, Rio Bravo or 
    Rio Lobo (the one that costarred Rickie Nelson).
    And maybe Riddle's Batman tv show dates? And I also 
    wonder if you maybe played on the original Star Trek tv 
    show sessions. I'm thinking in particular of that "vulcan 
    love theme" music, whose melody is all played on a picked,
    fuzzy bass. 
    
    This leads me to something else that I dig about the era 
    that we celebrate here, which is that even *incidental 
    movie music* from those days just rocks with the echo of 
    the studio, and electric basses playing melodies, and big 
    drum kits with those fluent 32nd runs up and down the toms. 
    The Beach movies all have it, of course, but so do a ton
    of other movies from that time period. 
    
    
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    Subject:     surreal/Twilight Zone aspects of the 45
    Received:    03/10/99 12:31 am
    From:        Doc Rock, docroXXXXXXXXcom
    To:          Spectropop List, spectroXXXXXXXXties.com
    
    Will wrote:
    
    >Has anyone ever heard the song "Chu Sin Ling," by the girl
    >group the Bermudas? Doc, I'm especially asking you! If you 
    >like the faux Egyptian in "Egyptian Shumba," you'll 
    >definitely, um, well like (?) this song?
    
    Well, I have that record. It is OK. But what I like, make 
    that LOVE, about the Shumba is the insane screaming/
    yelling/fast tempo/surreal/Twilight Zone aspects of the 45. 
    The Bermudas sound like Annette and Donna Loren singing 
    a ballad to put Frankie to sleep.
    
    No comparison!
    
    "Draggin' Wagon" 'by the Surfer Girls, b/w "One Boy Tells 
    Another," now THERE is a record. I love it when a GG does 
    a bass part and a falsetto part, all with females! 
    Doc
    
    
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    Subject:     Rupert Holmes
    Received:    03/09/99 7:39 am
    From:        Tom Simon, tsiXXXXXXXXom
    To:          Spectropop List, spectroXXXXXXXXties.com
    
    At 11:35 AM 3/8/99 , you wrote:
    >
    >Rupert Holmes is one of those 1970s pop composers who 
    >deserves a lot more than just being known as "that Pina 
    >Colada guy." Quite a talent. 
    >
    >--MFW
    >
    
    Or as the guy who wrote "Timothy."
    
    
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    Subject:     re: Rupert Holmes
    Received:    03/10/99 12:32 am
    From:        jon adelson, humthefirst2bXXXXXXXXil.com
    To:          Spectropop List, spectroXXXXXXXXties.com
    CC:          Marc Wielage, XXXXXXXXtrax.com
    
    Marc...I'll have to pick up the cd...just have the vinyl...
    don't have the album with me, but memories are coming 
    back...the baseball song (I think it was called "The 
    National Pastime," with the national anthem as the melody)
    comes to mind..."and that's when I made my pitch", then the
    crack of the bat...corny humor can be fun.
    
    
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    Subject:     Some of Claudia's points
    Received:    03/10/99 12:32 am
    From:        Jack Madani, Jack_MadXXXXXXXX12.nj.us
    To:          Spectropop List, spectroXXXXXXXXties.com
    
    >The third one is by the Lemon Pipers....It is
    >called "Rice is Nice". This song typifies the whole feel 
    >and sound of that era between the late Sixties and early 
    >Seventies outside the Woodstock sound.
    
    You can find Rice Is Nice, along with a bunch of other 
    bubblegum blasts from the late sixties, on a pair of discs
    called "The Complete Buddah Chart Singles Vols. 1 & 2." 
    Short weight at just over thirty minutes apiece, but you 
    can likely find them for five or six bucks apiece, if not 
    less. Music-for-a-Song (is it www.musicforasong.com?) had 
    them several months ago for dirt cheap, even after adding 
    in the S&H.
    >
    >The second item I 'd like to speak about is my love for 
    >all those great "overproduced" singles
    ....
    >They are pretty, are 
    >extremely well orchestrated, and qualify as "real" music. 
    ....
    >(Mel Carter);
    
    Oh my, YES. Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me is one of my 
    favoritest recordings of all time, bar none. In a similar 
    vein, I'd add Frank Sinatra's Strangers In the Night, Dean
    Martin's Everybody Loves Somebody, Vic Damone's (or is it 
    Al Martino?) Blue Spanish Eyes (mentioned on the list 
    recently, I believe), Bobby Rydell's Volare, almost any of
    the Lettermen's hits, the Vogues' Turn Around, Look At Me, 
    and those Tony Hatch-produced diamonds for Petula Clark. 
    Or Mason Williams' Classical Gas. Those tunes were so darn
    big, with way more musicians involved than the song 
    necessarily was worth, so that when you got to the 
    choruses you couldn't help but be picked up and carried 
    along against your will (the Hatch tunes of course aren't 
    included in this statement. they totally rule on *any* 
    level). For what it's worth, I note that many of the 
    aforementioned tunes have a pronounced 6/8 feel, like some
    record company suit's idea of fogey-approved rock. Teenaged
    symphonies to God? These are like Geezered symphonies to 
    dog. And yet, I can't help myself when these come on the 
    radio. They're my Doc Rock Category 1-2 tunes.
    
    >that the Sixties through mid Seventies was a goldmine of 
    >many, many different sounds, feels and looks .... 
    >the bell bottomed- fur vested Sonny and Cher look,
    
    lampooned to great effect on later episodes of the Beverly
    Hillbillies. Ten-foot-tall Jethro in striped pants, fur 
    vest, love beads, Beatle wig and granny glasses was a 
    scream.
    
    Jethro:  I'm gonna go over to the Drysdales' and woo that 
    purty little Italian maid like I was the greatest Roman of 
    them all.
    Uncle Jed:  Caesar?
    Jethro:  No, but I plan to hold her hand.
    
    
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    Subject:     The Bermudas
    Received:    03/10/99 12:32 am
    From:        wisemen, wiseXXXXXXXXxthree.demon.co.uk
    To:          Spectropop List, spectroXXXXXXXXties.com
    
    YES I've heard the song Chu Sen Ling - it's cool and dreamy with the
    couple drinking sake on the Ginza Strip. All I know comes from the
    sleevenotes of this garage compilation... their first release was
    'Donnie' in early 1964 reaching #62 in the national charts. They 
    had one more single before disappearing.... all I know - hope I've
    helped.
    
    eva
    
    
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    Subject:     Tokens/Happenings
    Received:    03/10/99 12:32 am
    From:        Jack Madani, Jack_MadXXXXXXXX12.nj.us
    To:          Spectropop List, spectroXXXXXXXXties.com
    
    I've seen recent digests referring to a Tokens album 
    called "It's A Happening World." But doesn't that album 
    get more properly credited to the Happenings? I know the 
    Happenings are some sort of offshoot-sideproject-
    pseudonymous alter ego to the Tokens, although I'm not 
    entirely clear of the specifics of that relationship.
    
    Anyhow, I've got a vinyl lp somewhere in my collection by 
    the Happenings and I was sure it's called "It's a 
    Happening World." I suppose I could be wrong.... 
    
    
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    Subject:     BOUNCE spectroXXXXXXXXties.com: Non-member submi
    Received:    03/10/99 12:32 am
    From:        wisemen, wiseXXXXXXXXxthree.demon.co.uk
    To:          Spectropop List, spectroXXXXXXXXties.com
    
    ========== Start of forwarded message ==============
    
    Subject:     LA VERN BAKER:  
    
    Born Delores Williams on 11/11/29 in Chicago. A versatile
    vocalist proved capable of melting blues, jazz and R&B 
    styles. During her time at Atlantic Records (1953-62), 
    Baker cut half a dozen singles that rose to high positions
    on both the pop & R&B charts. The niece of blues singer 
    Memphis Minnie, LaVern was blessed with a powerful voice, 
    which she put to used as a teenager singing in nightclubs 
    under the stage name of "Little Miss Sharecropper." She 
    recorded under that name and other pseudonyms (including 
    Bea Baker), finally adopting the name LaVern Baker while 
    singing for Todd Rhodes & His Orchestra. As an R&B pioneer, 
    Baker suffered from the segregationist impulses of the 
    larger culture by having her songs "covered" by a white 
    singer, Georgia Gibbs, whose sanitized versions greatly 
    outsold Baker's own because mainstream white pop stations 
    were reluctant to play "race records." She lost 
    considerable airplay, sales and income from the cover 
    syndrome. Baker, however, continued to record for Atlantic
    until such barriers came down and she finally enjoyed 
    considerable success, particularly on the R&B charts. 
    After leaving Atlantic Records, Baker continued to record 
    and tour until 1969. She thereupon embarked on nearly 2 
    decades of exile from her U.S. homeland, running a 
    nightclub at Subec Bay in the Philippines (where she wound
    up receiving treatment after acquiring pneumonia while 
    entertaining the troops in Vietnam. In 1990, she was among
    the first 8 recipients of a Career Achievement Award from 
    the R&B Foundation. That same year, Baker was inducted 
    into the R&R Hall of Fame. On 3/10/97 LaVern Baker died.
    
    Her Billboard charted hit are:
    
    1/15/55 -Tweedle Dee---Atl.1047
    10/6/56 -I Can't Love You Enough/Still---Atl.1104
    12/29/56 -Jim Dandy/Tra La La---Atl.1116
    7/1/57 -Jim Dandy Got Married---Atl.1136
    9/16/57 -Humpty Dumpty Heart---Atl.1150
    12/8/58 -I Cried A Tear---Atl.2007
    4/20/59 -I Waited too Long---Atl.2021
    7/27/59---So High So Love/If You Love Me---Atl.2033
    11/2/59 -Tiny Tim---Atl.2041
    5/2/60 -Wheel Of Fortune/Shadows of Love---Atl.2059
    11/14/60 -Bumble Bee---Atl.2077
    2/13/61 -You're the Boss (with Jimmy Ricks)---Atl.2090
    4/10/61 -Saved---Atl.2099
    12/1/62 -See See Rider---Atl.2167
    2/13/65 -Fly Me to the Moon---Atl.2267
    1/15/66 -Think Twice (with Jackie Wilson)---Bruns.55287
    
    =============== End of forwarded message ===================
    
    
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