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SPECTROPOP - Spectacular! Retro! Pop!
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There are 25 messages in this issue.
Topics in this digest:
1. Phil's Spectre: A Wall of Soundalikes CD
From: Ray
2. Re: Kit Kats in Philly / Radio Radio
From: Steve Harvey
3. Half tones
From: Steve Harvey
4. Re: Short albums
From: Orion
5. Righteous Brothers sing Clout ?
From: Peter Richmond
6. Re: Jackie and Gayle
From: sd45john
7. Re: Sinatra concept albums
From: Richard Havers
8. Re: Gasolin'
From: Martin Jensen
9. The Four Minute Single
From: Paul Bryant
10. Butchers / Short Albums (but a long post)
From: Michael
11. Nettie
From: Simon White
12. When did rock & roll begin?
From: Richard Havers
13. Re: Four Tops & Spector
From: jerophonic
14. Re: Royalties
From: Dan Hughes
15. Cathedral - Band in the upstate NY area - 1970s
From: Steve Dickerson
16. Re: Sinatra concept albums / clowns
From: Chris
17. early Folk Rock
From: Hugo M
18. Re: Chicago / Madura / Pearlfishers
From: Steven Prazak
19. Re: Jackie and Gayle
From: Clark Besch
20. Re: Jackie & Gayle
From: Ian Chapman
21. Re: Jackie and Gayle
From: Mikey
22. Re: Cupid's Inspiration
From: Richard Havers
23. Re: Sinatra concept albums
From: Richard Havers
24. Re: Jackie and Gayle
From: Mikey
25. More tooning, Beatles, Dead, and such
From: Albabe Gordon
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Message: 1
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 02:40:28 -0000
From: Ray
Subject: Phil's Spectre: A Wall of Soundalikes CD
I can hardly wait to get this CD!! Sometimes the "copy" turns out better
than the original. I hope that this is just the start of many volumes.
Although I haven't yet heard this CD, I, like so many other posters,
have my favorite soundalikes. Some are obvious, some are not. So, my
votes go to:
1. Stay Awhile - Dusty (sprinkling glockenspiels abound)
2. I'm Nobody's Baby Now - Reparata and the Delrons (So Spectorish it's
scary)
3. When You Walk In The Room - Jackie DeShannon (everybody's choice)
4. Yesterday Has Gone - Cupid's Inspiration (has anyone heard of this
one??...I know Mick probably has)
5. I Adore Him - The Angels (the hand clapping, and those muffled drums
do it for me)
6. Hold my Hand, Hold my Heart - The Chantrellines (I know, they don't
really exist...but it's still a great song)
7. Rag Doll - Melanie (well, not really the wall of sound, but it does
have that 'Be My Baby' beat and those castanets.)
8. Soul and Inspiration - Righteous Bros..(obvious choice..they learned
from the master)
9. Laugh At Me - Sonny Bono (not on many Spectorites' lists)
10. Just You - Sonny and Cher (I always thought this was one of their
best).
There are so many others, I could go on forever...
What are your favorites?
Ray
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Message: 2
Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 19:29:46 -0800 (PST)
From: Steve Harvey
Subject: Re: Kit Kats in Philly / Radio Radio
S.J. Dibai wrote:
> I don't listen to much oldies radio anymore, but the big oldies
> station here, WOGL Oldies 98, used to play plenty of national
> hits by Philly artists. But if it wasn't a national hit, well...
> they played local R&B hits but not local pop hits. I don't know
> if that was an official policy, but I used to hear Billy Harner's
> "Sally's Sayin' Somethin'" in regular rotation, not "Let's Get
> Lost On A Country Road."
Spanky did "Distance", but I think the Kats were first. You
hear "Sally's Sayin' Something" because Hy Lit and Len Barry
(wasn't that who sang it) are brothers-in-law or something like
that. I am fed up with the Motown deluge on WOGL. You'd think
they were the only label releasing soul tunes back in the 60s
if you listen to WOGL. Sam and Dave and Otis are the rare
exceptions to that rule.
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Message: 3
Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 19:32:36 -0800 (PST)
From: Steve Harvey
Subject: Half tones
Often to add some excitement musicians will raise a verse up a keep.
Starting in the key of A they switch to the key of A#. Same chord
progressions, but just raise a half tone each time.
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Message: 4
Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2003 23:19:31 -0600
From: Orion
Subject: Re: Short albums
Previously;
> And as for short albums: I haven't heard it, but I'm told the album
> EXCURSIONS by the Tradewinds (Anders & Poncia), on Kama Sutra, is one
> of the shortest LPs ever released.
It indeed logged at right about 21 minutes, both sides combined.....but
a good 21 minutes :)
Orion
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Message: 5
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 07:53:14 -0000
From: Peter Richmond
Subject: Righteous Brothers sing Clout ?
Norman asked:
> In 1978 South African group Clout (with a little help from their
> friends Circus) had a world-wide hit with "Substitute". Among the
> many cover versions at the time was one by Australian duo called
> Peaches. Both versions reached #1 in Adelaide. I have heard
> elsewhere that the song was originally recorded by the Righteous
> Brothers. Does anyone have some further info for me on the Righteous
> Brothers version.
The Righteous Brothers recorded "Substitute" in 1975 while with Haven
Records, it was released as a single on Haven 7014 and also included
on the album "The Sons Of Mrs Righteous" on Haven 9203. It was written
by Willie Harry Wilson who also wrote another Righteous Brothers Haven
track, "High Blood Pressure".
Another song from the "Sons Of Mrs Righteous" album that was later to
become really big by another artist was "All You Get From Love Is A
Love Song" which of course was best known by the Carpenters a couple
of years later in 1977.
Peter
Righteous Brothers Discography: http://freespace.virgin.net/p.richmond/
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Message: 6
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 08:40:45 -0000
From: sd45john
Subject: Re: Jackie and Gayle
A footnote about Jackie and Gayle: They also appeared in the
very first pilot show of the 1960s TV show, Where The Action Is.
(The pilot, a Dick Clark production, was reportedly never aired).
It was filmed in California and Jackie and Gayle appear on a beach
singing a song that I think is called 'That Boy's Gonna Be Mine'.
Other artists include - Jan and Dean, Dick and Dee Dee, and Paul
Revere and The Raiders. The show is a wonderful trip down memory
lane, but the video copies that are floating around are of very
poor quality.
SD45John
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Message: 7
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 09:25:01 +0000
From: Richard Havers
Subject: Re: Sinatra concept albums
Peter McDonnell wrote:
> Richard, And don't forget 1958's 'Only the Lonely', a concept album
> in the sense that it was organized around songs that had a similar
> emotional somberness, on which the classics "One For My Baby", "Blues
> In The Night" and his version of "Ebb Tide". appear. This also had one
> of his best album covers, a chalk drawing of Frank's face, half in
> shadow against a black background, with him made up in whiteface, a
> slight tear shape drawn on his cheek.
Absolutely Peter. i was just using those as examples, because there are
others before Sgt Pepper. 'Only The lonely' won the award for the best
album cover at the inaugural Grammy ceremony (May 1959). Frank was
totally p****d that he didn't win anything else. With hindsight he
probably should have as it is one of his very best albums.
Sinatra had been nominated six times in four categories and indirectly
in two other categories (two nominations in both the ‘Best Engineered’
and ‘Best Arrangement’ sections). It has been said that the Grammy’s
were founded by a group of record company executives who were worried
by the advances of rock 'n' roll and, by definition, the attack this
new music was mounting on traditional popular music; a cause to which
Frank was sympathetic. It was very obvious that the awards were skewed
towards the established order. Despite having two No.1 records on the
Hot 100 Elvis didn’t even receive a nomination. The Everly Brothers,
who had had a great year, failed to win anything, despite having two
records nominated in the ‘Best Country and Western’ category. Frank
was beaten in the ‘Best Male Vocal’ category, in which ‘Witchcraft’ and
‘Come Fly With Me’ were nominated by Perry Como and ‘Catch A Falling
Star’. Henry Mancini’s Music From Peter Gunn in the ‘Best Album’
category beat both Come Fly With Me and Only The Lonely. The winner of
both the ‘Best Song’ and ‘Best Record of the Year’ was Domenico
Modugeno. His ‘Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu’, better known as ‘Volare’
cleaned up, having only managed third place in the Eurovision Song
Contest.
Have we ever had a thread about best album cover from 'our' period?
Richard
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Message: 8
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 11:59:03 -0000
From: Martin Jensen
Subject: Re: Gasolin'
Bill Reed wrote:
> By the way, that ersatz Spector track by the Dutch group Gasolin'
> that Martin played is really nice. Is it typical of their "sound"?
Hi Bill, Glad to hear you liked the song. Gasolin' was not a Dutch
group, but Danish. As far as I know, 'Kvinde Min' was the only song
they recorded that to some degree can be called Spectoresque. They
mostly did glam-rock stuff and rock'n'roll...
With regards
Martin, Denmark
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Message: 9
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 05:10:41 -0800 (PST)
From: Paul Bryant
Subject: The Four Minute Single
Hi all, Phil Spector deliberately put the wrong timing on the label of
You've Lost that Lovin' Feelin' because the 3.45 timing would have
frightened deejays (!). The single which broke the four minute barrier
was always, in my mind, The House of the Rising Sun. Until, that is, I
recently for the first time heard Marty Robbins' great cowboy ballad El
Paso, an American No 1 from 1959 - this clocks in at four and a half
minutes. And since it's a ballad, it would seem unlikely that an edited
version could have been issued (I could be wrong there). So why did the
Animals get the prize for the first single to break the 4 minute barrier?
pb
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Message: 10
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 13:40:14 -0000
From: Michael
Subject: Butchers / Short Albums (but a long post)
This talk about short albums, and the butchering in America of
British artists' UK releases, has inspired me to share with you an
article I wrote two years ago on the very subject. I wrote this for
the online 'zine FUFKIN. Hope you enjoy it:
===============
Butchers' Tales
There's nothing quite like stacking some of the great albums by
British bands of the 1960's on the turntable and sitting back and
enjoying the musical ride. From countless listens over the years,
each sequence and stop has become permanently ingrained, with some of
the classic hits serving as the indispensable cornerstones of the
journey. After all, what would Rubber Soul be without the
jubilant "I've Just Seen A Face?" What would Between The Buttons be
without its driving kickstart "Let's Spend The Night Together?" And
what would Are You Experienced be without "Purple Haze?"
They would be the true versions of the albums, that's what. They
would be the way the artists intended them. I'm sure most Fufkineers
already know all about "Butchering," so I'll sum this up briefly for
those who do not...In 1964 to about 1967, British recording artists
had a better chance of winning a lottery than seeing their UK albums
issued in identical form in America. The artwork was revamped, the
album titles only occasionally matched, but most importantly, the
albums were almost always several tracks shorter. British albums in
1964 usually consisted of fourteen tracks, while the American
editions typically had only eleven. Any reason why? Well, the labels
might have told you something about a fee owed the copyrighters for
American distribution of English recordings, thereby making an eleven
track album less expensive to assemble. The more popular theory of
course was that by withholding a few tracks from various albums, it
wouldn't be long before there would be enough stragglers to patch
together an additional album. After all, three UK albums of fourteen
tracks apiece equals forty-two tracks to play with. Forty-two divided
by eleven comes pretty close to four...and there were always stray EP
and singles sides to fill in the cracks when the math didn't result
in even numbers.
Nowadays fans of a top artist consider themselves lucky if the object
of their musical affection throws a new album to the world on a
yearly basis, and no label dares issuing a new collection while the
previous one still lingers in the upper regions of the Billboard
album chart. But in the mid 1960's it was quite the opposite. If a
band had a smash-selling album, the label worked overtime to stitch
together another one to ship as soon as possible, while the fever was
high. In 1964 alone, Epic Records issued four different Dave Clark
Five albums in America. From 1964 to 1967, an American Rolling Stones
fan could count on a new album to buy about every four months.
In today's world we have websites to let us know what tracks are only
available in certain parts of certain continents, but back in the mid
1960's those who knew about such things simply stumbled onto the
information. Perhaps they had a friend or relative who took a trip to
Europe and found these 'odd' albums in the stores. Or they caught the
occasional picture in 16 Magazine of an English release. Or their
local radio station was one of the many across the country that
sought the British Beatle albums so that they could play some of
those tracks not yet available in America (WABC in New York, for
example, was playing "Drive My Car" in December 1965, six whole
months before Capitol Records finally issued it in America. The
crafty station simply had gotten a hold of an English copy of Rubber
Soul, which had that and three other songs not on the American
pressing.) Some record stores, once it became apparent that Beatle
fans wanted every single track they could get their hands on, even
began stocking imported albums.
But in those days, a Hollies fan in the States was most likely not
aware that his group had a whole album's worth of selections that
seemingly dreaded transatlantic travel.
And what was the reaction on the artists' part? Well, confusion for
one thing. One need only view a videotape of the Beatles playing
their historic August 15, 1965 Shea Stadium concert and listen as
John introduces "Baby's In Black," trying to speak to the American
fans in terms they would understand: "This song is off our LP Beatles
VI...or something. I don't really know what it's off. I haven't got
it." John succeeded in not only identifying the wrong album, but also
in proving that sometimes even the artists couldn't make sense of
their own American output. Two weeks to the day after the Shea
concert, the group gave a press conference at the Capitol Records
Tower in Los Angeles, where, in response to a reporter's question
about some additional songs on the British version of their latest
album, Help! John, Paul and George, despite their locale, spoke
freely about their disgust with Capitol's treatment of their albums.
And yet some artists, like The Rolling Stones more or less adopted
the American LP's as their own, as Mick Jagger was wont to casually
refer to American-only titles like December's Children or Flowers in
interviews. (Unlike most British bands, The Stones and their manager
Andrew Loog Oldham actually had a fair deal of involvement in the
preparation of some of the American LP's)
Nonetheless, one would not be amiss for suspecting that in 1964, a
manual circulated amongst American record companies, entitled How To
Make An American Album Of British Music, as all of them seemed to
employ the same tricks now and again:
NOW AIN'T THAT JUST A LITTLE BIT BETTER?
The most common maneuver was to make sure the latest hit single
featured somewhere in the lineup. Most English groups purposely left
the singles off the albums so that the less affluent British record
buyers wouldn't end up spending money on repeats. The American label
executives thought differently. Keen that albums weren't as usually
as strong sellers as singles, the labels reasoned that the inclusion
of the hit was their lure. So London Records squeezed "Not Fade Away"
onto The Rolling Stones' debut album, Atco deleted "Spoonful" from
Fresh Cream to fit "I Feel Free," and did likewise with The Bee Gees'
Idea, tacking on "I've Gotta Get A Message To You" at the cost
of "Such A Shame" (clouding Vince Melouney's only moment in the
American sun.) And Epic Records decided that The Hollies' 1967 album
Evolution would be a perfect home for a girl named "Carrie-Anne."
These are but a few examples of this practice. Sometimes the lineup
benefited. Few would disagree that "Let's Spend The Night Together,"
added to the American Between The Buttons, makes a much more logical
opening track than "Yesterday's Papers." And "Happy Jack" bumping a
so-so cover of "Heat Wave" on the second Who album did no serious
damage. But having "I'm The Urban Spaceman" lead off the American
parade that The Bonzo Dog Band entitled The Doughnut In Granny's
Greenhouse (re-christened in America after the added hit single)
kills the impact of "We Are Normal," a perfectly logical album
opener, here relegated to track two. The inclusion of this hit
eventually caused another problem for Liberty Records of America. The
Bonzos' third British album Tadpoles decided to house this track as
well. This meant Liberty had to find another track to use in its
place, and found a ready-made substitute with a non-album flipside
entitled... "Ready Mades." Simply swapping the tracks was one thing,
but because the track that preceded "Spaceman" on Tadpoles has its
ending overlapping the intro, Liberty decided to merely splice off
the ending, causing the track to end jarringly abruptly.
PLAY IT AGAIN, SAM
One of the cheaper tactics of the day, if the American label just
absolutely had to have another album out on the streets in the next
five minutes, but didn't quite have enough material to fill it up (or
did but was reluctant to take the time to get approval), was to
repeat a song already issued on LP over here. No less than three
selections from The Who's second and third U.S. albums were brought
back for an encore on their fourth, despite the group having several
orphan EP and singles tracks at the time. Similarly, Flowers by The
Rolling Stones was kind enough to offer some English album cuts not
yet issued in America, some single sides not yet housed on an album,
and even a few songs not yet released anywhere in the world. But
while London Records had several other tracks handy that fit those
categories, the label, for a reason that fans still can't figure out
thirty-four years later, iced this otherwise worthwhile cake with
three repeats from the previous two American studio albums. The only
one who could have benefited from that bright move was the Einstein
who decided "Ruby Tuesday" made a good leadoff track, as his idiocy
was overlooked.
And what American Kinks fan loved their version of "Louie Louie" from
the Kinks Size album so much that they were happy to see it once
again on Kinks Kinkdom? (But it wasn't a total rip-off. After all, if
you bought the stereo pressings of both albums, at least you had the
song in two completely different fake stereo techniques.) But we
shouldn't be too hard on Reprise Records. After all, they let The
Kinks off relatively easy in the butchering game. As early as late
1965, starting with their album The Kink Kontraversy, the Muswell
hillbillies saw their American label leaving their English album
sequences intact.
Laurie Records, American distributors of Gerry And The Pacemakers,
apparently heard someone ask for a second helping of "Jambalaya," as
they served it on both the group's first and second platter. But in
fairness, some labels didn't grant the American bands diplomatic
immunity either. One of the 1963 Beach Boys albums, Little Deuce
Coupe, was stuffed with four repeats from previous albums...two of
them from the album that preceded it. And grab any two Jan And Dean
albums at random and it's about a sixty percent bet there will be a
common track between them.
ROLL OVER, BEETHOVEN
Also filed under cheap would be the decision to mix The Beatles songs
on the A Hard Day's Night and Help! albums with instrumental
selections by The George Martin Orchestra, even though the UK
versions simply filled the album with additional Beatles songs.
Especially upsetting regarding this move was Capitol's raising the
price of Help! by one dollar because of its gatefold package. Poor
American Beatle fans, keen to hear some new songs by their heroes,
were paying a little extra for a little bit less. It was this Capitol
creation that Paul and George expressed particular disliking for in
the aforementioned August 1965 press conference.
CHEATING
Another common thing was for the American label to take the British
cover art and stick their own title on it by using banners and
borders to cover up the existing one. The most popular example would
be Capitol slapping a headline of Meet The Beatles over the British
cover of With The Beatles. The front of The Rolling Stones' first
British album had no verbiage whatsoever, making it quite easy for
London Records to christen it England's Newest Hitmakers, The Rolling
Stones to present as their first US long-player. Capitol transformed
the sleeve of In Touch With Peter and Gordon into I Go To Pieces,
Reprise did a cut and paste of The Kinks to make it You Really Got
Me, and...try not to get confused by this one...London Records took
the British cover of the Stones' Out Of Our Heads, which bore no
resemblance to the American album of the same name which preceded it
by two months, and altered it for the American release, December's
Children. And while Them Again and Kinda Kinks retained their titles,
a side by side glance at the English and American covers shows the
craftiness of the Stateside art department staff.
WE SET THE SCENE
Sometimes the brains at the American labels decided "Ah, we can make
a better cover than those Limeys did, can't we?" And so, gone was the
alluring red-tinted photo of The Stones that graced the wordless
cover of UK Aftermath and in came a blurry color shot, onto which was
placed artist and group name (and even "Including "Paint It Black'.)
The mod pose of Jimi and his mob from the UK Are You Experienced was
rejected in favor of a fish-eyed, purple tinted shot of them in a
garden, the photo surrounded by a shade of yellow-green that hasn't
been used for anything else since 1967. And that ultra-cool overhead
shot of The Who in their Mod fashion that graced their British debut
album also ended up in the watsebasket of American Decca, who thought
it better to remind American buyers of the group's country of origin
by sticking on a shot of them near Big Ben. Kinks Kontraversy, Live
Kinks, A Hard Day's Night, The Bee Gees' Idea, and The Animals'
Animalisms are but a few of the other victims of their artwork being
kidnapped upon arrival in the States.
THE SONGS REMAIN THE SAME...ALMOST
Also in the bag of tricks was the practice of creating semi-
equivalent albums. That is to say, the American label would forgo the
British artwork and even the album title, but still come pretty close
to matching a particular UK album. For example, the cover of the
American Hollies albums Hear Here and Dear Eloise/King Midas In
Reverse didn't look anything like their UK albums Hollies or
Butterfly, but they were, to a fair degree, the same album (after the
label cleared room for "I'm Alive" and "King Midas In Reverse," that
is). The same can be said for The Yardbirds' American album Over
Under Sideways Down compared to its close relative in the UK, Roger
The Engineer. And it didn't matter whether you, in America, called it
The Moody Blues #1 or The Magnificent Moodies as they did in Merry
Olde, because they were close enough in content.
AFTERMATH
And so it went. While the suggestion that resequencing a Freddie And
The Dreamers album was tampering with the performers' artistic
intentions can warrant an instant breathalyzer test, it's equally
hard to argue a band's right to be upset with seeing outsiders
rearrange their work. Finally, around about 1967/1968, labels on both
sides of the pond became more sympathetic towards a group's ideals,
since album-rock had become such a strong force. It didn't stop
London Records from considering adding "Jumpin' Jack Flash" to the
American Beggar's Banquet (an idea eventually nixed), nor did it stop
Paul McCartney from being persuaded to add his current hit
single "Helen Wheels" to the American pressings of Band On The Run.
But for the most part, a much maligned but intriguing part of the
history of recorded music was over, and the art of butchering became
as rare as, oh, original copies of Yesterday And Today.
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Message: 11
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 09:14:01 +0000
From: Simon White
Subject: Nettie
All this Nettie talk reminded me of a question I wanted to pose to the
group. Who are Nettie's Children on the Capitol 45 "Paint The Little
Girl Blue"? It's a real "Sally Go Round The Roses" soundalike.
---
Simon
I must get a little hand for this watch.
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Message: 12
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 14:49:34 +0000
From: Richard Havers
Subject: When did rock & roll begin?
Paul Bryant wrote:
> You can't push the origins of folk rock back before rock and roll
> itself, and I would also respectfully argue that there are instrumental
> components without which a song really can't be rock or folk rock. So I
> don't think Leadbelly originated skiffle. He inspired the originators,
> and provided the skifflers with most of their songs.
But Paul, when did rock and roll begin?
There is a good case to be made for its genesis in the late 40s, well
before 'Rocket 88' (1951). Similarly if you listen to Western Swing you
here some elements of skiffle and folk rock; and the blues are never
too far away from all three. In truth I don't think it matters a whole
hell of a lot. All these terms are just marketing men trying to pigeon
hole things. It's a convenient way of establishing a new phenomenon.
In a 1956 Melody Maker article by Alexis Korner, under the headline
'Skiffle or Piffle', he described the British Skiffle craze. “In 1952
shortly after Ken Colyer’s return from New Orleans the first regular
British Skiffle group was formed to play in the intervals at the
Bryanston Street Club. This group consisted of Ken Colyer, Lonnie
Donegan and I playing guitars, Bill Colyer on washboard and Chris
Barber or Jim Bray playing string bass.” Korner went on to criticize
skiffle for introducing a vocal element, saying “a commercial success,
but musically it rarely exceeds the mediocre.”
But Skiffle, it could be argued, started out in the late 20s.
"Hello Folks. We are gathered here to do the Hometown skiffle Everybody
shake that thing."
In 1929 Blind Lemon Jefferson and other stars of the Paramount label
made what has been described as the first sampler record. It was
entitled Hometown Skiffle by the Paramount All Stars. The label of the
record credits Blind Lemon Jefferson, Blind Blake, Will Ezell, Charlie
Spand, Papa Charlie Jackson and the Hokum Boys. The Hokum Boys were
made up of the others plus Alex Hill and Georgia Tom Dorsey. The record
has one or two choruses of a number of the artists best known records.
It is the first known mention of the word Skiffle.
Arguably Jug Band music is the first footings of rock ‘n’ roll, genuine
ensemble playing that was made to dance to, listen to and generally
inspire a good time feeling. The songs they sang were 30 years or more
ahead of the sex and drugs revolution of the 60’s; lyrically they were
far more outspoken in the 30’s. The Memphis Jug Band on sex
"I woke up this mornin’, feelin sad and blue.
Couldn’t find my yo yo, didn’t know what to do.
Come home daddy, mamas got them Yo Yo Blues
I hurried downtown, called my daddy on the phone
He said don’t cry mama, daddy’ll bring your yo yo home.
Go back, mama, your daddy’s got you, come right on."
Memphis Yo Yo Blues 1929
……..And on drugs……….
"Since cocaine went out of style
You can catch them shootin’ needles all the while
Hey hey honey take a whiff on me
Just takes a little coke to give me ease
Strut your stuff long as you please
Hey hey honey take a whiff on me"
Cocaine Habit Blues 1930
31 years later, almost to the day. Lonnie Donegan entered the UK
singles chart with 'Have a Drink on Me', the chorus of which goes
Have a drink, have a drink on me
Everybody have a drink on me
Hey hey everybody drink on me
It all goes to prove that there are no new ideas just old ones thought
of again. I still like to think of Lead Belly as the father of Skiffle,
and Lonnie as its Prodigal Son!
Richard
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Message: 13
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 19:34:13 -0000
From: jerophonic
Subject: Re: Four Tops & Spector
I have a memory of Spector comparing the percussion over top of James
Jamerson's bassline in the intro to "Reach Out" to the sound of
someone tapping his fingers on a vinyl auto slipcover. Was this in
print, on the radio, or what? Or am I dreaming?
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Message: 14
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 12:36:34 -0600
From: Dan Hughes
Subject: Re: Royalties
Steve asks:
> In the '60s US royalties were $.02 per *song*; they were $.22 per
> *album* in the UK. A UK album with, say, 14 songs that had originally
> borne a royalty expense of 22 cents would cost six cents more to
> license in the US -- unless, of course, it was cut. Can any list
> members confirm or refute my hunch that this discrepancy has since been
> eliminated?
As of Jan 1, 2004, the ASCAP composers' royalties will be 8.5 cents per
song, or 1.65 cents per minute, whichever is greater (so a song longer
than five minutes will earn more money). This is for each song on a CD,
so if a CD has 12 tracks (typical?) all composed by the artist, the
artist earns $1.02 per CD sold for writing (this is in addition to the
royalties the artist gets for being the performer).
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Message: 15
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 18:16:10 -0000
From: Steve Dickerson
Subject: Cathedral - Band in the upstate NY area - 1970s
I am new to the S'pop group, but was wondering if anyone knew about
the whereabouts of the old upstate NY band called Cathedral. Usually
a 10 piece group - more or less, playing a fair amount of R & B, with
a few originals.
Steve Dickerson
NY
ex - member of it.
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Message: 16
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 09:50:44 -0800 (PST)
From: Chris
Subject: Re: Sinatra concept albums / clowns
And what about "Watertown," the 1969 Sinatra album made up of songs
by Jake Holmes and Bob Gaudio? I haven't heard it, but ... sounds
intriguing. Anyone have any experience of the album? How does it
compare with, say, Lee Hazelwood's "Trouble Is A Lonesome Town"?
Chris
P.S. I guess that clown art is an acquired taste. I always found
the cover of "Only the Lonely," like the cover of Sarah Vaughan's
1974 "Send In The Clowns," to be vaguely kitschy and embarrassing.
Then again, I've also been known to giggle at the art for Jume
Christy's otherwise exemplary "Ballads For Night People" (1959) ...
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Message: 17
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 16:13:56 -0000
From: Hugo M
Subject: early Folk Rock
Previously:
> After Lonnie Donegan there was nothing until...
No-one here remembers The Springfields? Shame, shame; how could y'all
(y'all ESPECIALLY) forget the "Silver Threads And Golden Needles" lp?
Terrific UK beat group versions of folk chestnuts like "The Old Gray
Goose Is Dead", all rocked up with early-Beatles guitar lines and...
and stuff.
Hugo M.
http://free.hostdepartment.com/P/PME
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Message: 18
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 10:45:26 -0500
From: Steven Prazak
Subject: Re: Chicago / Madura / Pearlfishers
Re: Alan Gordon's inquiry about Chicago's Live in Japan 1972 disc.
It's excellent. Especially powerful live takes of the then-new
Chicago V tracks. Also of note, Peter Cetera sings both Questions 67
& 68 and Lowdown in Japanese.
On a related Chicago front, Sony in Japan earlier this year re-ished
the 1st Madura double elpee. Madura was a 3-piece (keyboards, guitar
& drums) formed from the ashes of the Bangor Flying Circus, managed
& produced, like labelmates Chicago, by Jimmy Guercio. Imagine a lean
& jazzy early '70s Chicago (minus the horns) and you've got a good
handle on these cats.
On a completely unrelated note, I think heap plenty S'poppers will get
a major charge out of the Pearlfishers new disc Sky Meadows. Unlike
their previous glorious "Burt & Brian" inspired affairs, this new one
seems to take a tip from early A&M soft pop & "Someday Man"-era Paul
Williams. Rather a unique inspiration source for a modern-day Scottish
band to take, but hey, no complaints from me! There are some audio
snippets on their website, if anyone is so inclined:
http://www.pearlfishers.com
Steven Prazak
Atlanta, GA
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Message: 19
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 15:45:14 -0000
From: Clark Besch
Subject: Re: Jackie and Gayle
Hi, I also enjoyed the small amount of material I have heard by
Jackie & Gayle. Somewhere I have a pic of them with whoever it was
that played "Mr. Novak" on Tv and was the subject of one of their
45s. They have a pic sleeve 45 on Capitol. Quite a good looking
duo. I've seen them lipsynching on Shivaree to some song. Also, I
think the best thing I've heard them sing is their lipsynch
performance on the "Where the Action Is" pilot to the song "That
Boy's Gonna be Mine". Great song. I have never seen it listed as a
45 tho. If space is created and there is interest, I would play it
to Musica. Glad to hear they are still around!
Take care, Clark
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Message: 20
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 20:28:02 -0000
From: Ian Chapman
Subject: Re: Jackie & Gayle
Mikey wrote:
> Jackie and Gayle are an act that history has pretty much
> forgotten, altho' they were very popular for a short time
> in 1965/66.
History may have forgotten, but Spectropop hasn't.
Jackie & Gayle broke away from the New Christy Minstrels
in '64 to go it alone. The debut 45, "Why Can't My Teacher
Look Like Mr Novak" (..."instead of Mr Ed"....)
was actually on Capitol, but I absolutely agree Mikey,
their later output is top-notch stuff.
For UA, they did "All The Good Times Are Gone", which
some of you might know by Barbara English - but by far and
away the best are the two Mainstream 45s. These included
a cover of the Breakaways' "That's How It Goes (as sung on
"Shindig!"), a lovely version of the Russ Teitelman tune
"I Wanna Make You Happy" as done by Margaret Mandolph
and Dusty; and as already pointed out by Mikey, a superb
Sloan/Barri original in "It's The Thought That Counts".
They don't come much better than that one.
Clark added:
> Also, I think the best thing I've heard them sing is their
> lipsynch performance on the "Where the Action Is" pilot to
> the song "That Boy's Gonna be Mine". Great song. I have never
> seen it listed as a 45 tho.
Yes, I've seen that clip too - you're right, they didn't cut the
song themselves, it's a Diane Ray original on Mercury. Great
song indeed.
Ian
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Message: 21
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 15:14:33 -0500
From: Mikey
Subject: Re: Jackie and Gayle
Clark wrote:
> Also, I think the best thing I've heard them sing is their
> lipsynch performance on the "Where the Action Is" pilot to
> the song "That Boy's Gonna be Mine". Great song.
Clark, PLEASE play that Jackie and Gayle Song to musica!!
thanks,
Mikey
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Message: 22
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 20:28:33 +0000
From: Richard Havers
Subject: Re: Cupid's Inspiration
Ray wrote:
> 4. Yesterday Has Gone - Cupid's Inspiration (has anyone heard
> of this one??...I know Mick probably has)
Cupids Inspiration were Laughton James (b.21.12.46 Stamford
Lincolnshire) bass/drums; Terry Rice-Milton (b.5.6.46 Stamford)
vocals and Wyndham George (b.20.2.47 Paddington) guitar. They
played together as the Ends during '66 & '67. After a residency
at Hamburg's Star Club, they reverted to a semiprofessional status.
On their return to England, they sent Donovan's manager, Ashley
Kozak, a series of photographs and tapes which interested him
enough to take over their management and secure them a record deal.
They added drummer Roger Gray, (b.29.5.49 Stamford) and it was
this line up that recorded Teddy Randazzo's 'Yesterday Has Gone'.
This timeless song climbed to No.4 in the UK, and gave the newly
formed NEMS label their first ever single success. As soon as the
song charted the group added pianist Garfield Tonkin, (b.28.9.46
Stamford), "to create added depth." Still under the guidance of
recording manager Jimmy Duncan and musical director Johnny Arthey,
their followup 'My World' did not fare as well, only reaching No.33
in the autumn of '68; although it still spent 8 weeks on the chart.
Rice-Milton left to pursue a solo career, his manager claiming "He
could be as big as Tom Jones"; given his voice it is somewhat
surprising he did not achieve more. At the same time James was
replaced by Gordon Haskell, who had been in League Of Gentlemen
and The Fleur de Lys, on bass; he would later play with King
Crimson. Bernie Lee replaced George. A '69 single on Bell and a
couple on CBS in '70, failed to emulate their early success and the
group broke up in '71.
Richard
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Message: 23
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 20:45:08 +0000
From: Richard Havers
Subject: Re: Sinatra concept albums
Chris wrote:
> And what about "Watertown," the 1969 Sinatra album made up of songs
> by Jake Holmes and Bob Gaudio? I haven't heard it, but ... sounds
> intriguing. Anyone have any experience of the album? How does it
> compare with, say, Lee Hazlewood's "Trouble Is A Lonesome Town"?
Chris, a little something I had on file about Watertown. I have never
heard the Lee Hazlewood so I'll leave a comparison to others
Whereas Sinatra's classic Capitol albums were thematic this is a
concept, in reality a song cycle, play, story about an imaginary New
England town. Bob Gaudio and Jake Holmes created the tale of a man who
has been left by his wife to look after their children. Each song adds
to the imagery and at the same time conveys the sadness of a man
without hope. Frank handles it brilliantly and conductor/arranger
Charlie Calello creates a musical backdrop that is both retro and
modern, a perfect counterpoint to Frank. It is a brilliant, underrated
album that bombed at the time and amongst serious Sinatraphiles it
causes tempers to fray in heated debate as to its true merits. The
measure of its commercial failure is in the fact that over 400,000 were
pressed at the time and it sold around 35,000, which was about 40% of A
Man Alone; Sinatra's previous album. It became his third album in
succession to do better in Britain than America. One aspect of
Watertown’s failure was its lack of obvious single material. As a
concept album it was very definitely the sum of its parts.
Richard
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Message: 24
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 15:15:55 -0500
From: Mikey
Subject: Re: Jackie and Gayle
Ok, If Clark will play the Jackie and Gayle song to Musica, I'll make
some other tracks available for Spectropop members to hear. Ive got
everything else, I believe.
Mikey
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Message: 25
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2003 13:02:56 -0800
From: Albabe Gordon
Subject: More tooning, Beatles, Dead, and such
From: Steve Harvey, Subject: Perfect Buck
> However, if you tune your guitar to an electronic tuner you will
> have to retune it to the record if you're trying to figure out
> something on Buck's discs. I learned "Buck's Polka" last year.
Just a similar aside. Miles Davis Kinda Blue had been "accidentally"
mastered a bit slow/flat when it came out in '59. Probably around a
quarter step. I remember it being a real bitz' brew to figure out
those great toons. I understand the newest version is at the right
speed. A vari-speed control on your turntable was a very helpful
thing back then, if you were a musician.
From: John Berg, Subject: Re: Tuning down a "half step"
> ...Easy solution: Black Top simply slowed down the tape of tracks
> -- in this case by a full note, so that Robert could hit the highs
> -- then they "corrected" the pitch back to normal. Nobody was the
> wiser.
There are some Beatles tunes that were slowed down a pitch or two
before the vocals were added, not so much so that Lennon or McCartney
could hit the notes, but so that with the added compression on the
voice when the track is played at the proper pitch, the lead voice
sounded younger and snappier. Probably, mostly a puberty thing.
From: Steve Harvey, Subject: Tuning down a "half step"
> ...A car would make a corner too fast and the tires would squeal.
> Because it was slightly offkey it would drive anybody with perfect
> pitch up the wall. Kind of like chalk squeaking on the blackboard."
Phil Lesh of the Dead has perfect pitch. I understand it was hell
for him to play when, after retuning a few times during a gig (when
they didn't have a piano or organ), the whole band would be a few
cents sharp or flat. Firetrucks and ambulances musta made him twitchy.
It probably helped to be a little stoned.
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End
