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Explanatory notes for the interested and informed Listener
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There are 12 messages in this issue.
Topics in this Digest Number 349:
1. Re: Cryan' Shames
From: "Robert Conway"
2. Tremeloes & Shames
From: "Kingsley Abbott"
3. Re: Cryan Shames
From: Billy G. Spradlin
4. re: Pixies Three
From: "Jack Madani"
5. Re: Pixies Three?
From: "Don Charles"
6. Re: Other Voices and Fuzzy Bunnies and things that go bump in the night.
From: Michael Rashkow
7. Re: Magic Lamp again
From: "Peter Lerner"
8. Re: ALMA COGAN MEETS ANDREW LOOG OLDHAM
From: "Jan Kristensen"
9. Re: Juan Garcia Esquivel
From: "Ken Levine"
10. Egyptian Shumba
From: Bobby Lloyd Hicks
11. the Strangeloves - Real McCoys?
From: Michael Rashkow
12. Liberty Records
From: "Mike Arcidiacono"
________________________________________________________________________
Message: 1
Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2002 05:52:45 -0600
From: "Robert Conway"
Subject: Re: Cryan' Shames
Justin McDevitt wrote:
> I was listening to one of the Cd's included in the
> four-vol Rock Artifacts collection. Some great
> tracks on all of the Cd's, though I prefer Vols 3
> and 4, one of which includes The Crying Shames 1966
> recording, "FIRST SAW HER IN A MAGAZINE...
The title of that Cryan' Shames tune is "I Wanna Meet You."
By the way, for all you Shames fans, Sundazed will reissue
the group's three Columbia LPs with bonus tracks late next
month.
Bob Conway
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Message: 2
Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2002 13:21:31 -0000
From: "Kingsley Abbott"
Subject: Tremeloes & Shames
The Trems are still gigging around the UK with 2/3 orig
members on the 90s style package shows that play theatres
and old cinemas.
Seeing the Shames reference, reminded me just how much I
enjoyed their softer sounds, especially "It Could Be
We're In Love" and "I Wanna Meet You", the latter being
the correct title for the 'First Saw You In A Magazine'
song that was mentioned. They made three nice albums.
BTW Joe - Sea of Tunes in Buck Street, Camden Town was
run by Barry Appleby - it was where I found my first slab
of Jeff Foskett (though I didn't know it at the time)
with the Good Vibrations (group name) single of
"Weekend"/"Mary Ann" - must have been mid-late 80s, and
was the best 75 pence I ever spent! Barry is still
around somewhere...
Kingsley Abbott
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Message: 3
Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2002 23:02:33 -0000
From: Billy G. Spradlin
Subject: Re: Cryan Shames
> Secondly, earlier today I was listening to one of the
> Cd's included in the four-vol Rock Artifacts collection.
> Some great tracks on all of the Cd's, though I prefer
> Vols 3 and 4, one of which includes The Crying Shames
> 1966 recording, "FIRST SAW HER IN A MAGAZINE, (referred
> to in Chicago from whence they hail as "The Shames".
Actully the song is called "I Wanna Meet You"! I highly
reccomend getting the Columbia/Legacy CD Comp "Sugar And
Spice", and I'm hoping Sundazed's reissues of thier
original 3 albums are still in the works!
> There is also a great track by the Tremeloes, EVEN THE BAD
> TIMES ARE GOOD. Hearing this again got me to wondering
> what has become of this group. Are any of its members
> still involved in the music business in the UK?
According to the liner notes of Sequel's excellent comp
"The Singles" the group is still around playing the UK
Oldies circuit. Check out their website at:
http://www.tremeloes.oldiemusic.de/
And thanks to Al for the information on the Motown CD
reissues. I'm glad they have/are getting the catalog
straightened away.
For a short time in the early 90's Motown chopped-out a
lot of CD's and you could find many 60's comps and
reissues for as little as $2.99 at Wal-Mart, Camelot. So
I snagged a lot of things (that I've never heard before)
and wondered why some tracks sounded great but others
were hissy, in muddy fake stereo, the wrong take/mix, or
sounded like the oxide was flaking off the heads when
they transfered it to digital (Martha Reeves & The
Vandellas - "Quicksand" on the "Greatest Hits" CD for
example).
Speaking of Martha Reeves & The Vandellas has the 45 Mix
of "Jimmy Mack" ever been reissued in Stereo? Many of
the older CD comps use an alternate take with a slow
intro. The new "20th Century Masters" CD also uses this
take (someone at Universal wasn't paying attention!)
Billy
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Message: 4
Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2002 10:26:34 -0500
From: "Jack Madani"
Subject: re: Pixies Three
> > Is there a Pixies Three CD compilation that is still in
> > print (I would assume as a Japanese import)?
> >
> > I am putting together a Girl Group CD to include the
> > track Cold Cold Winter.
Don't need to wait for a new comp for that one, if memory
serves. Doesn't "Cold Cold Winter" appear on that
fabulous 2cd Mercury Girl Group comp? I put off buying
that particular comp for more than a year, thinking I
didn't need it. Boy was *I* wrong. A number of classic,
well-known girlgroup tracks are on there to be sure, but
there's also a treasure trove of lesser known gems. Gems.
> The Pixies new CD, "Our History," has every recording
> they ever made, including unreleased takes, demos, and
> their final, unreleased Cameo single.
Cool! Including "Love Me?" A slice of girlgroup heaven,
that one. PLUS, man oh man, do their DelVal/Baldymore
accents come through loud and clear on that one. That is
one cd that I will definitely NOT wait to buy.
Dehn't whunt a boy hew ehnly whunts me as a frand.....
jack
who is considering moving to 442 Glenwood Avenue
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Message: 5
Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2002 18:11:13 +0000
From: "Don Charles"
Subject: Re: Pixies Three?
James Botticelli on Cold Cold Winter:
>
>Is it by The Pixies? Pixies Three?
The Pixies Three did release a single called "Cold, Cold
Winter." It was featured on the 1996 Mercury compilation
GROWIN' UP TOO FAST which I was involved with.
Don Charles
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Message: 6
Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2002 18:41:43 EST
From: Michael Rashkow
Subject: Re: Other Voices and Fuzzy Bunnies and things that go bump in the night.
In a message dated 1/10/2002 Mike Greenberg writes:
> This is a question for Mike Rashkow, but may be of
> interest to other Spectropoppers:
>
> I have two singles you co-produced with Ellie Greenwich:
> The Other Voices covering Brute Force's "No Olympian
> Height" (they added an "s" to "Height" in the title) and
> The Fuzzy Bunnies covering Al Anderson's "No Good To Cry."
>
> I'd love to hear about these two groups, particularly who
> was in them, and about these records.
>
> Thanks in advance for any information/recollections...
To Mike Greenberg, thanks for your interest and inquiry.
First, "No Olympian Height" by The Other Voices - See the
following (annnotated) e-mail I received recently from
Paul Levinson, a member of that group, answering some
questions I had sent out:
> Hey, Mike -- hope all's well with you! In response to
> your questions:
>
> 1 & 2: I wrote "Sunshine Mind," words and music,
> entirely on my own.
>
> 3. This e-mail is fine; or, you can reach me at
> Fordham University (where I'm Professor of
> Communication & Media Studies)
>
> 4. If you mean "The New Outlook / The Other Voices":
> the two other guys were Stu Nitekman and Ira Margolis.
> We've been out of touch for decades. (Their original
> name was The New Outlook---I changed it to The Other
> Voices from the title of Truman Capote's first
> novel--opinions???) (Stuart was the lead voice--Paul
> was the entrepreneur type and songwriter of the
> group-- and well, Ira was Ira --what can I tell you)
>
> You and Ellie Greenwich were the publishers
> (Pineywood Music).
>
> You and Ellie produced a recording of Sunshine Mind
> with the Fuzzy Bunnies -- it was the B-side of their
> "Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Any More" record.
>
> Jimmy "Wiz" Wisner produced a recording of Sunshine
> Mind with Donna Marie -- it was the A-side, and
> released by Columbia. (I still have some copies of
> that one.)
>
> More details about me -- I'm author of 8 books
> (science fiction, and scholarly), 30 stories,
> hundreds of articles, etc., etc are on my web page:
> http://www.sfwa.org/members/levinson
I had asked Paul about the names of the others in the
group and about Sunshine Mind specifically so he was
answering those rather than about Olympian.
So a bit more on Olympian: Brute was a regular visitor to
our office and "the girls" did the backgrounds on his
Columbia album, which included that song, as I remember.
Ellie and I both knew Brute and liked him. He would often
come by and play us new stuff he had written, and we
always wanted to find something that was "chart oriented",
but his material was generally very unusual to say the
least. To wit, The Fuh King, In Jim's Garage (my
personal fave) and To Sit On A Sandwich, etc.
Still, I really thought Olympian was a great tune and
suited the group's style so I pushed to do it. Stuart
sounded good on it. I don't remember how we got these
guys. They were definitely not music business--three
Jewish college boys from the Bronx.
It was recorded at A&R ( Roy "something??" was the
engineer) done on 8 track. Hutch Davie did the charts.
I don't know where the "s" came from. Typo??
As to "No Good To Cry", I'm so glad you asked because
there is something very special about this cut which,
when stated, will likely result in some very interesting
comments and questions as well as some loud cries of
disbelief, etc. (And of which I feel I may justifiably
take a great deal of pride and satisfaction).
The Fuzzy Bunnies were a "bar band" from Long island.
Hammond B3 Organ and leader--John Turi; drums and
vocals--Roger Valdez; guitar and vocals -- Chuck Alden;
bass and vocals--Robbie ????--I do remember he had a pet
ferret-first one I ever saw.
They had caused a bit of a stir playing at one of the
first big "disco" type clubs for the rich in NYC.
Somebody pulled our coat about them and we went to see
them. I think the name of the club was Arthur or
Arthur's--again with the "s" issue. They did mostly
covers, Beatles and stuff, but they were pretty tight and
Roger had a great big voice. We were always finding it
hard to get hold of decent talent--one of the reasons we
did studio group stuff. We liked them.
A lot of people wanted to sign them, but somehow we were
able to put together a deal by bringing in Sid Bernstein
(?) who was then a noted manager and promoter. He had the
Rascals (Young Rascals) among others and had a big rep
and a lot of clout.
They wanted Bernstein far more than they wanted us but we
tied it up as a package, they got Bernstein, we got a
production contract. Then we put together a showcase
night at the club and got a bunch of A&R guys from
various labels to come in and fight over them. They did.
Why or how Decca got the deal I don't know or can't
remember--Bernstein handled that part and it was probably
money up front that did it because Decca was not a factor
in the business and couldn't get a record played anywhere
at the time.
No Good To Cry, Heaven Is In Your Mind and Sun Ain't
Gonna Shine were all tunes they did on stage. Make Us One,
was their song and their production. We were allowed in
the studio when they did it , but not allowed to be
involved--pretty uncomfortable situation. But that had
been the case almost from the beginning--once we got them
the deal. They just hated me--probably with some good
reasons; among which was that I was not a Beatles fan and
they didn't like what I was doing to their records.
Particularly they didn't like the "symphony" I put over
the top of Turi's organ on Sun Ain't Gonna Shine. They
really wanted to produce themselves.
Anyway, here is the key thing about No Good To Cry. I am
willing to state categorically (whatever that means),
that this record was the first use ever of a synthesizer
on a pop record.
To the best of my knowledge the only thing that had been
released with a synthesizer on it prior to No Good to Cry
was 'Switched On Bach" the album by Walter Carlos (who
ultimately became Wendy Carlos via a sex change operation
it seems.) Carlos got more and better sounding stuff
out of a synthesizer circa 1969 than most people can
today.
To put things in perspective, when Carlos' album came out,
almost no one had ever heard of a synth--those who had
heard of it called it a Moog, the name of the guy who
developed the original--Robert Moog.
I saw a review of the album, went and bought it and was
totally intrigued. I didn't know a thing about how it
worked but I wanted to get that sound on my records. It
was (at the time) absolutely amazing! It still is when
you realize how it was done. If those of you reading this
have never heard the Carlos thing--check it out. I think
you'll agree.
Well, here was a Fuzzy Bunnies record that was intended
to be the "B" side and I had my chance. Most people I
asked knew nothing about synths, but the arranger we used
on "Sun Ain't Gonna Shine" and a few other things, Ron
Frangipane did know (or at leastclaimed to). He also
happened to know Walter Sear, a man who had worked on
the development of the original equipment with Moog.
Sear had the equipment. Frangipane contacted him, we
booked the date, Ron wrote the parts and then the fun
started.
To appreciate this story, one must be aware that at that
time--and for a few years after--a synth consisted of
banks of tone generators, filters, envelopers, reverb,
harmonic followers (or something like that)-- all
separate units that had to be patched together to make a
sound--and an ugly sound at that. Basically you got a
pure sine wave that had to be manipulated though all
sorts or peregrinations to sound musical.
Keep in mind--the keyboard used was relatively
meaningless--it was only to cue the tone generators. No
chords were possible, single notes only. For reference
on this, I seem to remember that even a couple of years
later, Stevie Wonder was using a synth which was owned
and programmed by a guy named Robert Margolin (No, not
Steady Rollin' Bob Margolin). And the thing was "pre
programmed" by he and another guy. It took hours to set
up and they used to get liner notes credit. Believe me,
it was no way plug and play. It was the beginning of
time, the first day of school - it was the dark ages AND
it was analog--tubes and transistors.
Well, I thought I was going to be Alice In Wonderland and
it turned out that I was Goofy in Disney World. I had
only heard Walter Carlos' thing. I had no clue how
primitive the equipment was or how difficult it was to
utilize. I expected that someone would bring in a device
similar to (I think it was called) a Mellotron--which had
pre-recorded tape loops or something like that inside;
they were sounded by playing a keyboard. It was the
string machine/horn machine of its day. The AFM had a
regulation prohibiting its use on records--to which, of
course, no one paid any attention. It was a balky sucker
and hardly anyone used it anyway, there was a slight
delay in the attack--I think the tapes were all spinning
and there were different play heads that had to be moved
against the tapes by some type of solenoid--sounds nuts,
but so does a Stanley Steamer and people drove those all
over NYC. Not in the same century--but it still makes the
point. Boy, I will go off on tangents.
Well anyway, in comes Sear to Decca Recording Studios on
57th Street, with a cartload of electronic stuff and
starts hooking it l together. Right away we had a
problem--Decca was a Union shop and there was an issue
about who could plug things together. Plus I don't think
Frangipane had actually ever used one before himself.
So, three hours or so later there were some screeches
coming out of the thing. I was blowing the budget out of
the water trying for the impossible.
Finally Frangipane's parts went in the trash and we did
several overdubs with this Rube Goldberg contraption
generally following the organ parts except for the
section that could generously be described as "the
instrumental". Most people hearing the record at the
time, just thought it was a B3 hooked to a VFR--like the
instumental on Del Shannon's "Runaway".
The Fuzzy Bunnies were there with hatred written all over
their faces--I'm not sure if that was the time Valdez
threatened me with a rubber hammer or not. It may have
been on the mix of Make Us One. What's the difference.
Finally the nightmare was over, we had a synthesizer on
our 8 track ( possibly a 12 or 16 though I doubt it),
nobody was talking to each other, Ellie and I went to the
Carnegie Deli for cheesecake and I think I am the first
person to use a synth on a pop record. Yes I was likely
second to The Big Hurt for using phasing, but until
proven otherwise, I'm staking my claim to this synth turf.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
To prove that what goes around comes around, my younger
son Duke, a musician and sound engineer in NYC is
friendly with and has worked some with Walter Sear.
As for the Fuzzy Bunnies, who knows. The group imploded
as almost all of them do. Valdez inherited a house and
some money from an aunt, left the business and went to
live way out on Long Island. Chuck Alden continued to
write a bit and we talked to him a few times a couple of
years later. Ran in to Turi once in front of the Ed
Sullivan (now David Letterman) Theater; we didn't have
much to say to each other. Robbie and the ferret--gone
but not forgotten.
To close the circle, back to The Other Voices and Paul
Levinson (who later on worked with and wrote some stuff
with my ex, Mikie Harris), here is some more of an
exchange of mail I had with him:
> P.L. I'm of course interested in what made you think
> of "Sunshine Mind" and me, and also how you're doing.
> Even though we didn't achieve all that much success
> together, I think of you as one of the first people who
> took my creative work seriously, and that will always
> mean a lot, very deep, to me.
>
> I have found two or three websites where folks list, or
> are talking about, my LP, "Twice Upon A Rhyme". Ed Fox
> and I wrote most of the songs on that (did you know Ed?),
> and I wrote the rest. We also produced and performed on
> it (along with Peter Rosenthal, and a few other people).
> I released it on my own record company, Happysad Records,
> in 1972, and it of course sold a negative number of
> copies. I still have loads of vinyl copies in the attic,
> and can send you a copy (along with a CD, if you like).
>
> After Peter & I reconnected a few years ago, we wrote two
> new songs. We made of demo of one of them -- "I Knew You
> By Heart" (I wrote the lyrics, Peter the music, and he
> did all the vocals and instruments on the demo).
>
> With all the success I've had as an author -- and my
> third novel is coming out in Feb, plus I've got two more
> novels, and two more nonfiction books, under contract --
> I've never lost a bit of my love for words and music.
> You certainly achieved something very impressive in
> that realm, with "Mary in the Morning".
>
> M.R. AND it's never too late to say I'm sorry for doing
> the lead on Hung Up On Love; I didn't want to be a star,
> I just didn't like what we were getting and thought I
> could get to the goal line faster.
>
> P.L. Hey -- no need to apologize! Stu's voice was way
> too Robert Goulet-ish for that song, and my voice was
> never any great shakes. Looking back on that after all
> these years, all I have is pleasure that someone liked
> the song enough (you and Ellie) to record professionally.
Mr. Greenberg--after reading this I believe you will be
more cautious about asking me any questions in the
future--unless you are bored out of your gourd.
Rashkovsky
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Message: 7
Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2002 16:18:26 -0000
From: "Peter Lerner"
Subject: Re: Magic Lamp again
Paul asks about the corporate background of the Magic
Lamp label
> Looking at Mick Patrick's Magic Lamp discography (way to
> go, Mick!), someone at that label must have been
> well-connected to the biz. Johnny Burnette, Morton Downey,
> Jr. (yes, him), the previously-discussed Jane Canada,
> Vince Edwards (Dr. Kildare?), Karen Carpenter, Jan & Dean,
> the Larry Knechtel work on the Mickey Jones 45.... Anyone
> know any corporate background? Thanks again, Mick.
>
ML 514 is the Linda Hughes 45 produced by Johnny
Burnette but gives no other clues. ML 616 (Jane
Canada)however carries an address: 6290 Sunset Blvd,
Suite 1022, Hollywood 28 - and production / arrangement
credits are to J.Fisher and B.Summers respectively. Is
that any help, folks?
Peter
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Message: 8
Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2002 19:56:51 +0100
From: "Jan Kristensen"
Subject: Re: ALMA COGAN MEETS ANDREW LOOG OLDHAM
"Keith Moore" wrote:
> I was disappointed that [ALMA COGAN'S] English
> version of Tell Him wasn't included - has this ever
> appeared on cd? Maybe something worth putting out on
> one of your compilations Mick!
Tell Him can be found on a Swedish CD from Swedish EMI
1993. Alma was very big in Sweden and Scandinavia with
several no 1 hits. The CD contains 22 songs from 1960 -
67. Alas only 2 in stereo - Don't Read The Letter an How
Many Nights.
Jan K
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Message: 9
Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2002 12:06:48 -0800
From: "Ken Levine"
Subject: Re: Juan Garcia Esquivel
> Composer/band leader/pianist Juan Garcia Esquivel [was]
> confined him to a wheelchair for the last several years
> of his life, but he was still healthy enough in May 2001
> at the age of 82 to marry his 25-year-old home health
> care worker, Carina Osario.
You sure that isn't Carina Osario Nicole Smith???? How
did Charo miss this opportunity???
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Message: 10
Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2002 23:30:40 EST
From: Bobby Lloyd Hicks
Subject: Egyptian Shumba
Thank you Joseph E. Vine Jr. for the heads up on the Lou
Christie/Tammys' "Egyptian Shumba" CD release. I can't
wait. I went to the Lou Christie website for "More
Information" and then printed that out for a friend who
has no Internet access. 58 pages!!...and my HP is
*blinking*, "black toner low". ;-)
blh
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Message: 11
Date: Mon, 14 Jan 2002 20:53:46 EST
From: Michael Rashkow
Subject: the Strangeloves - Real McCoys?
> Feldman-Goldstein-Gottehrer later a/k/a The
> Strangeloves. Bassett Hand was their frequent
> arranger on many of their productions. Does anyone
> know if he was a real person or a made-up concoction?
> (Remember, FGG asked us to believe that the
> Strangeloves were Miles, Giles and Niles Strange!)
I believe there was a lot of McCoys involvement with
these guys. Rick Derringer??? and company.
Rashkovsky
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
Message: 12
Date: Tue, 15 Jan 2002 00:29:25 -0500
From: "Mike Arcidiacono"
Subject: Liberty Records
Doc Rock:
Doc, any chance of a "Liberty Records" reprinting? And
at a slightly more reasonable price?
Thanks!!
Mike
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
End
