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Volume #0240 March 10, 1999
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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.
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
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....
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
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 ===================
--------------------[ archived by Spectropop ]--------------------
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