Rockin' Remnants is broadcast from WVBR-FM Ithaca. Check out our webpage, like us on Facebook, and tune in to 93.5
or stream
the show every Saturday night from 6-9pm! (Or download the WVBR+ app now available for iOS
and Android!)
– Darlene Love (Blossoms, Bob B. Soxx & The Blue Jeans, some songs credited to the Crystals) – age 85
– Dobie Gray – born in 1940
– Mick Jagger (Rolling Stones) – age 83
Jul 27 – Bobbie Gentry – age 82 or 84
Jul 28 – Jonathan Edwards – age 80
Jul 29 – Jim Stewart (co-founder of Stax Records) – born in 1930
Jul 30 – Paul Anka – age 85
– Jimmy Cliff – born in 1944
Jul 31 – Lobo – age 83
– Gary Lewis – age 80 or 81
Aug 1 – Jerry Garcia (Grateful Dead) – born in 1942
Rock ‘n’
Roll Trivia
What group/artist had a Top Ten hit with this song in the 1950s? (The Dave Edmunds 1973 version of Born To Be With You begins to play.)
(scroll down to find the answer below the
playlist)
Playlist
·yellow song titles are
YouTube links
·songs with * were
requests
·all chart information
comes from the Billboard Top 100 (for chart dates before/during July 1958) or
Billboard Hot 100 (for chart dates during/after Aug 1958) unless otherwise
noted
·a glossary of terms is
below the playlist
6-7pm
OPENING
THEME: Good Old Rock ‘n’ Roll – Cat Mother & the All-Night Newsboys
(1969, #29, produced by Jimi Hendrix)
Catch A Falling Star – Perry Como (1958, #1)
La Dee Dah – Billy & Lillie (1958, #9)
Click Clack – Dicky Doo & The Don'ts (1958, #28)
Come Back When You Grow Up – Bobby Vee (1967, #3)
Without You – Johnny Tillotson (1961, #7)
Working In The Coal Mine – Lee Dorsey (1966, #8)
Crazy Eyes For You – Bobby Hamilton (1958, #40)
I'm Gonna Knock On Your Door – Eddie Hodges (1961, #12)
* I'm Just A Singer (In A Rock And Roll Band) – The Moody Blues (1973, #12)
* Kicks – Paul Revere & The Raiders (1966, #4)
* El Paso – Marty Robbins (1959, spent two weeks at #1 in early 1960)
* Lady Eleanor – Lindisfarne (1972, #82)
(Sittin' Here) Lovin' You – The Lovin' Spoonful (from their 1966 album Hums Of The Lovin' Spoonful)
The Wind – Cat Stevens (from his 1971 album Teaser & The Firecat)
Tower Of Strength – Gene McDaniels (1961, #5)
It's Only Make Believe – Conway Twitty (1958, #1 for two weeks)
I Only Want To Be With You – Dusty Springfield (1964, #12, her first hit as a solo artist)
7-8pm
Sunny – Bobby Hebb (1966, spent two weeks at #2. He reportedly wrote this as he recovered from grieving the loss of his brother.)
(Today I Met) The Boy I'm Gonna Marry – Darlene Love (1963, #39, her first hit as a solo artist)
Drift Away – Dobie Gray (1973, #5)
Waiting On A Friend – The Rolling Stones (1981, reached #13 in early 1982)
Ode To Billie Joe – Bobbie Gentry (1967, #1 for four weeks)
Sunshine – Jonathan Edwards (1971, peaked at #4 in early 1972, his only Hot 100 hit)
Gee Whiz (Look At His Eyes) – Carla Thomas (1961, #10, one of the first hit records engineered by Jim Stewart. It was recorded by Satellite records, the original name of Stax Records, but was reissued and distributed by Atlantic.)
* B-A-B-Y – Carla Thomas (1966, #14, one of many other hits for Stax)
The Story Of My Love – Paul Anka (1961, #16)
Sitting In Limbo – Jimmy Cliff (1973, from the soundtrack of the Jimmy Cliff film, The Harder They Come)
I'd Love You To Want Me – Lobo (1972, #2 for two weeks)
She's Just My Style – Gary Lewis And The Playboys (1965, reached #3 in early 1966)
Uncle John's Band – The Grateful Dead (1970, #69)
8-9pm
* Hooked On A Feeling – B.J. Thomas (1968, peaked at #5 in early 1969)
* Your Precious Love – Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell (1967, #5)
Baby's Birthday – The Guess Who (1965, did not chart)
Birthday Morning – The Association (1968, the b-side of Time For Livin')
I Want A Boy For My Birthday – The Cookies (1963, the b-side of Will Power)
(They Long To Be) Close To You – The Carpenters (1970, #1 for four weeks)
* 16 Candles – The Crests (1958, spent two weeks at #2 in early 1959)
* Atlantis – Donovan (1969, #7)
Born To Be With You – Dave Edmunds (1973, did not chart in the US, UK #5)
Down By The River – Albert Hammond (1972, #91)
Yellow River – Christie (1970, #23)
Give A Little Bit – Supertramp (1977, #15, in case you want to give a little bit to support Hospicare for their Women Swimmin' fundraiser. The event is the morning of Sat Aug 8 and you can hear The Yardvarks -- including John Simon! -- play at Myers Park to welcome the swimmers as they cross the lake.)
CLOSING
THEME: Sleep Walk – Santo & Johnny (1959, #1 for two weeks)
Trivia Answer
The Chordettes reached #5 with the song Born To Be With You in 1956. The 1973 version by Dave Edmunds did not chart in the US but was #5 in the UK.
Congratulations
to Miles from Ithaca, for correctly answering the question and winning a pass for two to
Cinemapolis!
Rockin' Remnants is broadcast from WVBR-FM Ithaca. Check out our webpage,
like us on Facebook,
and tune in to 93.5 or stream
the show every Saturday night from 6-9pm! (Or download the WVBR+ app now available for iOS and
Android!)
Thanks to
our sponsors Island Health & Fitness and Rasa Spa for their support every
week!
Date: 7/25/26
Host: John
Simon & John Rudan
Feature:
Easy As 1-2-3!
Tonight on Rockin' Remnants: it's not live, it's Memorex!
Because I'm playing an out-of-town event and no one on the team could cover for me, I've submitted two hours of my pre-recorded self (from 6-8pm) before JR takes over at 8 with an hour of his own. There will be no giveaways this evening, but you'll find plenty of great tunes, a cool theme and a terrific birthday calendar. I hope that you tune in - and I'll be back in a few weeks, scout's honor!
Playlist
·YouTube links follow
certain entries
·songs with * were
requests
·all chart information
comes from the Billboard Top 100 (for chart dates before/during July 1958) or
Billboard Hot 100 (for chart dates during/after Aug 1958) unless otherwise
noted
·a glossary of terms is
below the playlist
6-7pm
OPENING THEME:
Good Old Rock ‘n’ Roll – Cat Mother & the All-Night Newsboys (1969, #29,
produced by Jimi Hendrix)
Hold What
You’ve Got – Joe Tex (2/65; #5 Pop, #2 R&B – this was the Texas native’s first nationally-charting single, and it
kicks off this week’s feature: Songs
That Count To 3. He would go on to chart 32 additional R&B hits by
the end of 1978, including a string of novelty records – but he could certainly
sing a sweet love song.)
1-2-3 – Len
Barry (2/65; #2 Pop, #11 R&B – the
Philly-born singer got his start with The Dovells, and this was his debut
single as a solo artist. It was also his biggest hit, and New York’s WABC
turned part of it into a station promo. Which part? The part that says “A-B-C,”
of course!)
Mr. Lee – The
Bobbettes (9/57; #6 Pop, #1 R&B for four weeks – the five Bobbettes met at P.S. 109 in Spanish Harlem and were signed to
a recording contract when they were all between 11-13 years old. This was their
first and biggest hit and was also the first record by a Black group to reach
both the Top Ten on the Pop chart and #1 on the R&B chart, and it was
written about a teacher they didn’t particularly like. Atlantic Records had
them sweeten the words, and the rest is history.)
All Together
Now – The Beatles (1/66; NR – The
Beatles’ foray into film began with the black-and-white A Hard Day’s Night,
followed by the campy Help! Their third cinematic project was the
cartoon movie Yellow Submarine, which included this little bit of fluff.
It wasn’t high art, but it fits tonight’s theme….)
ABC – Jackson
5 (4/70; #1 Pop and R&B – Motown’s
brand new superstars burst upon the scene with four consecutive #1 records.
This was the second, spending two weeks at the top of the Pop chart and four
weeks at #1 R&B. As with all of them, young Michael handles the lead
vocalist duties, and it exploded out of the radio!)
It’s As Easy
As 1-2-3 – Jan & Dean (6/65; dnc – Jan
Berry and his steady girlfriend Jill
Gibson co-wrote this song and the two of them were the primary voices on
the recording, which was tucked onto the flip side of “You Really Know How to
Hurt a Guy.” They’d split soon after this, and she would later claim fleeting
fame as Michelle Phillips’ short-term replacement in The Mamas & Papas, but
that’s a whole other story for another time.)
Blue Suede
Shoes – Carl Perkins (3/56; #2 Pop and R&B for four weeks – Carl Perkins recorded for Sun Records in Memphis and was a major
influence on George Harrison, who recorded several of his songs with The
Beatles. This particular number became strongly identified with Carl’s former label
mate Elvis Presley, but tonight we hear the original.)
Hippy Hippy
Shake – The Swingin’ Bluejeans (3/64; #24 Pop, #2 UK – this record rolled in on the wave called The British Invasion, which
was unleashed by a different Liverpool quartet. Just as The Beatles had cut their teeth covering American groups, these
guys made a career of recording Little Richard, Girl Group songs and – in this
case – Chan Romero’s dance hit. It was the biggest record of their career, and
opens with “One-two-three-for goodness’ sake!”)
Land of 1,000
Dances – Wilson Pickett (8/66; #6 Pop, #1 R&B – “One-two-three * one-two-three!” That’s how soul shouter Wilson Pickett
counts this one in, and then goes on to list a number of recent or contemporary
dance crazes. It’s one of four charting versions of Chris Kenner’s song, and
the one that made the biggest impact.)
Wooly Bully –
Sam The Sham & The Pharoahs (4/65; #2 for two weeks, #31 R&B – they were a Dallas-based quintet and this
was their biggest hit. The count-in was a happy accident in the studio:
songwriter/lead singer Sam says he playfully counted in “in Tex-Mex” as
“uno-dos-one-two-tres-quatro,” and they kept it on the recording.)
I Saw Her
Standing There – The Beatles (2/64; #14 – this
one was released as the B-side of the group’s breakout hit “I Want to Hold Your
Hand,” which spent seven weeks at #1. The flip side – on its own – reached #14,
and Rolling Stone ranks it at #140 in the RS500. Several adult eyebrows were
apparently raised when Paul counted it in as “one-two-three-FUH!”)
500 Miles –
Peter, Paul & Mary (1/63; dnc – this
lilting Folk song was paired with a low-charting single called “Settle Down,”
but has become one of the group’s most memorable contributions. Their next two
singles – one written here in Ithaca, the other written by that unwashed
phenomenon Bob Dylan – would both reach #2. All three songs can be found on
their Greatest Hits compilations.)
One – Three
Dog Night (5/69; #5 – well, it’s time to
feature the prime number by itself for a moment. This was the group’s first of eighteen consecutive Top 20 hits, and
was written by none other than Harry Nilsson. Nice way to open the floodgates!)
White Rabbit –
Jefferson Airplane (7/67; #8 – the song’s
writer and singer Grace Slick counts out three different pills, but just one at
a time. This is also the first of two big hits from the summer of 1967 that have
a counting section, and both were recorded in California.)
Let’s Live for
Today – Grass Roots (6/67; #8 – PF Sloan
and Steve Barri produced this one, after taking an Italian hit song and
commissioning English lyrics. The group included bassist/singer Rob Grill and
future cast member of “The Office” Creed Bratton, and that’s guitarist Warren
Entner singing the “1-2-3-4” part.)
Feel Like I’m
Fixin’ to Die Rag – Country Joe McDonald (8/69; NR – Country Joe wasn’t scheduled to appear as a solo act that Saturday at Woodstock, but
Santana wasn’t quite ready to go on, so he stepped up to the mic and led the
crowd in his raucous “Fish Cheer.” He then proceeded to sing this anti-war rag
and invited the audience to sing along. Those of us who remember the film might
remember the bouncing ball highlighting the sing-along lyrics.)
Ball of
Confusion – The Temptations (6/70; #3 Pop, #2 R&B for five weeks – David Ruffin was no longer with the group,
and their producers were going for a pointedly more topical sound. This one starts with a
shouted “1-2-1-2-3-4” before the bass kicks in, and what follows is a scathing
condemnation of the state of American Pop culture in 1970.)
7-8pm
Birthday Calendar
July 19 –
Bernie Leadon (Eagles) – age 78
July 20 – Dennis
Yost (Classics IV) – born 1943
– Kim Carnes – age 80
– Carlos Santana – age 79
July 21 – Cat
Stevens – age 77
July 22 – Chuck
Jackson – born in 1937
– George Clinton (Parliaments) –
age 85
– Richard Davies (Supertramp) – born 1944
– Don Henley (Eagles) – age 78
July 23 – Dino
Danelli (Rascals) – born 1944
July 24 – Verdine
White (EWF) – age 75
– Steve Goodman – born 1948
July 25 – Benny
Benjamin (Funk Bros.) – 1925
Every Day With
You Girl – Classics IV featuring Dennis Yost (5/69; #19 – the Jacksonville group scored a string of big radio hits in the late
Sixties after relocating to Atlanta. Dennis
Yost had started as the group’s drummer and lead singer, but was later
moved to the front row – and was given top billing after the success of “Spooky.”
Eventually, the rest of the band would leave to form The Atlanta Rhythm Section.)
More Love –
Kim Carnes (6/80; #10 – she was an LA
singer and songwriter who would later do some session singing, but her first
major hit was this successful cover of Smokey Robinson’s 1967 love song to his
grieving wife. A year later she’d walk away with Grammys for Record and Song of
the Year for her treatment of “Bette Davis Eyes.”)
Jingo –
Santana (10/69; #56 – released just two
months after their blistering set at Woodstock, this was the first track pulled
as a single. It wasn’t until “Evil Ways,” though, that they’d have a real hit.
And the Rolling Stone record reviewer actually panned it with this snarky
comment: “The record company slipped on this one and did not include a
libretto. Here it is : Go-Ba-Ba Go-Ba-Ba Go-Ba-Ba Lumpa Thumpa, Boom Boom, Bang
Bang Thump Thump!")
Peaceful Easy
Feeling – Eagles (1/73; #22 – multi-instrumentalist
Bernie Leadon had been with the
Flying Burrito Brothers before co-founding this band, and his tasty guitar
licks are all over this song. It was their third charting single and he’d leave
after three more years, replaced by Joe Walsh. You’ll hear more from Joe in the
following hour.)
If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out – Cat Stevens
(12/71; NR – in addition to churning out
back-to-back hit albums Tea for The Tillerman, Teaser & The
Firecat and Catch Bull at Four – all between 1970-1972 – Cat Stevens
scored the film HAROLD & MAUDE.
This song was the catchiest of them all, but it wouldn’t be widely released
until 1984 when it was included on his second greatest hits compilation.)
Any Day Now (My Wild Beautiful Bird) – Chuck
Jackson (5/62; #23 Pop, #2 R&B for three weeks – born in North Carolina and raised in Pittsburgh, he was one of the
earliest interpreters of Burt Bacharach’s music. This was his signature song,
and the one for which he is best remembered.)
(I Wanna) Testify – The Parliaments (7/67; #20
Pop, #3 R&B – they were from Jersey
City and their leader was George Clinton, who would later help this Doo Wop
group morph into a thing that he called The P-Funk Collective. Stax singer
Johnnie Taylor would later have an even bigger hit with this song, but this is
the prototype.)
A Girl Like You – The Rascals (7/67; #10 – the group charted five Top Twenty singles in
1967, and each was different from the last. This was the follow-up to their
smash “Groovin’” and both were inspired by keyboardist Felix Cavaliere’s
girlfriend. The smokin’ bass line was played by Atlantic Records’ session man
Chuck Rainey.)
Spotlight on Session Drummer Benny Benjamin:
He was the primary drummer for Motown’s vaunted
“Funk Brothers,” and his signature sound – along with the bass playing of James
Jamerson – was one of the distinctive elements of “The Sound of Young America.”
Here are three examples of his handiwork, but there are dozens more.
Dancing In The Street – Martha & The
Vandellas (8/64; #2 for two weeks – this
was their biggest hit and Rolling Stone ranks it at #40 in its RS500 list of
the greatest singles of the era. It’s a rollicking call to celebrate summer
across the USA – and around the world, even. That’s Benny Benjamin leading the
charge.)
Uptight (Everything Is Alright) – Stevie Wonder
(1/66; #3 Pop, #1 R&B for five weeks – he
was originally marketed as Motown’s “12-year old genius,” but his voice had started
to change and the hit records had stopped and the label was getting ready to end
the relationship - until writer Sylvia Moy asked for one more chance. This is
the record that corrected his course, and he went on to become one of the most consequential
musicians of the era.)
I Heard it Through The Grapevine – Gladys
Knight & The Pips (11/67; #2 Pop, #1 R&B for six weeks – this song, meanwhile, became one of Motown’s
most successful ones. Gladys and The Pips’ version was a monster hit, thanks in
part to Benny Benjamin’s drumming. A year later Marvin Gaye would have even a bigger hit with it. Benny Benjamin
played on that version, as well.)
The Dutchman – Steve Goodman (1972; dnc – although he was best known as a songwriter,
Steve didn’t write this one. It was written by fellow Chicago native Michael
Peter Smith, and it opened Steve’s 1972 Somebody Else’s Troubles LP.
Buddah Records released it as a single, but it never charted.)
That’s the Way of the World – Earth, Wind &
Fire (7/75; #12 Pop, #5 R&B – this
was the title track of the group’s best-selling LP and was co-written by
bassist/singer Verdine White. He’s the last living member of the original
group, and is still playing and touring.)
It’s Raining Again – Supertramp (10/82; #11 – keyboardist Richard Davies was given co-writing
credit on this upbeat number, but it was really written by singer Roger Hodgson
and ends with a kid’s chorus singing the old “it’s raining, it’s pouring”
nursery rhyme.)
Pssst....I'll see you next on August 22nd!
8-9pm
John Rudan takes over with his signature mix of
tunes from the Sixties and Seventies and early Eighties!
The Unicorn –
The Irish Rovers (1967 – A request going
out to my favorite Unicorn, plus a big hit from the renamed Rovers from 1980.)
Wasn’t That a Party
– The Rovers (1980)
Polk Salad
Annie – Tony Joe White (1970)
Flowers on the
Wall – Statler Brothers (1966 – Re-popularized
in 1994 in a gruesome scene from the movie Pulp Fiction.)
Hey Jude – The
Beatles (1968 – The #1 Hot 100 single of
the year.)
A World of Our
Own – The Seekers (1965)
Everything Is
Beautiful – Ray Stevens (1970; #1 on the Hot 100 for 2 weeks.)
Shambala –
Three Dog Night (1973)
Lonesome LA
Cowboy – New Riders of the Purple Sage (1973 – NRPS did not have
any hit singles, but some great country-rock FM radio album cuts.)
Hot Rod
Lincoln – Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen (1971 – originally done by Charlie Ryan in 1955.)
Amos Moses –
Jerry Reed (1971)
Drivin’ My
Life Away – Eddie Rabbit (1980)
Life of
Illusion – Joe Walsh (1981)
CLOSING
THEME: Sleepwalk – Santo & Johnny (1959, #1 for two weeks)
AC = Billboard’s chart for “Adult Contemporary”
records
BB = Billboard Magazine, which publishes the Hot
100 chart (previously known as the Top 100), along with several other charts
Bubbling Under = songs that were ranked but fell below the top
100
C&W = Billboard’s chart for “Country & Western”
records
R&B = Billboard’s chart for “Rhythm & Blues”
records
RRHOF = Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
RS500 = Rolling Stone Magazine’s ranked list of
the top 500 singles of all-time
Host Next Week
(DATE): Kim Vaughan with a spotlight TBD
Thanks for tuning in - and for voting us
Ithaca's Best Local Radio Show in this year's Ithaca Times Readers' Poll! You
can listen to Rockin' Remnants every Saturday night from 6-9pm on WVBR (93.5 FM
in Ithaca, NY) or at wvbr.com/listen.
Thanks,
too, to our sponsors Island Health & Fitness and Rasa Spa for their support
every week!
![Steve Goodman – The Dutchman – Vinyl (7", 45 RPM + 4 more), 1973 [r7289466] | Discogs](https://i.discogs.com/DasaWxk3m0gJJ3kggd6u6dsd1jxpsitG6ZlGYbuRu0k/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:600/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTcyODk0/NjYtMTUxNDY4NjM4/Ny01NjY5LmpwZWc.jpeg)
