March 21, 2026 - GJ & JS - Ampersands, Pt. II

 Date:  3/21/26
Host:  Simon & James
Feature:  Ampersands, Pt. II/Hal Blaine

 

Note: tonight's show is a rare re-broadcast of an archived show from March 16, 2019. Due to a series of unforeseen circumstances, no one from the team was available to appear in the studio on this night. Instead you get a vintage show with some edits and tweaks (fewer weather updates, a ticket giveaway that makes little sense), plus a very excellent spotlight on session drummer Hal Blaine. Enjoy! 

Tonight JS (left) and GJ (right) continue to feature acts joined by ampersands, and expand to add some group leaders & their crews. [KV in the middle gets the night off]. We'll also bring you a whole hour featuring the incredible Hal Blaine, who passed away at age 90 this week seven years ago. Trivia prizes, fun banter and your requests from 6-9 p.m. Everybody's welcome!

  


Rock ‘n’ Roll Trivia


It's an audio trivia challenge. Stay tuned....

(scroll down to find the answer below the playlist – and to find a glossary of terms)




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)

Tonight we're featuring duos, trios and even groups joined together by an ampersand.GJ goes first....

A Man Like Me - Jimmy James & Vagabonds
    This 1972 record on the Stateside label did not chart.

Let the Good Times Roll - Sam Butera & The Witnesses
    This track is from 1960. Butera was born in New Orleans and picked up the tenor sax for the first time at the age of seven. 

Sound Your Funky Horn - KC & The Sunshine Band
   The band hailed from Hialeah Florida, hence its name. They recorded six top 10 singles and five #1 singles, but this track did not chart.
   
* Shakin' All Over - Johnny Kidd & The Pirates
   This was the original version recorded in 1960, covered by The Who and Guess Who. This track reached #1 in the U.K. but did not chart in the U.S.
 

Over The Mountain (Across the Sea) - Johnnie & Joe (5/57; #8 Pop, #3 R&B - the first of four "ampersand acts" made up of male/female acts who were NOT romantically involved.)



Gonna Mess Up a Good Thing - Fontella Bass & Bobby McClure (2/65; #33 Pop, #5 R&B - recorded in Chicago, this would later be covered by Greg Allman on his Laid Back LP)

Playboy - Gene & Debbe (2/68; #18 - this duo recorded a couple of singles in Nashville. This is the only one that took hold.)

Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing - Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell (4/68; #8 Pop, #1 R&B - dubbed "America's Sweethearts" by the Motown publicity machine, these two made sweet music together but were never really a couple.)

It's Gonna Be Alright - Gerry & The Pacemakers (4/65; #23 - A "Merseybeat" group from Liverpool, this track was released in the U.S. on the Laurie label.)

Alright - Adam Faith & The Roulettes (1/65; #31 - Faith was an actor, film editor and financial journalist as well as a singer.)

* Judy In Disguise (With Glasses) - John Fred & His Playboy Band (1/68; #1 - how ironic that this out-of-the-blue parody of a Beatles title would actually knock "Hello Goodbye" out of the #1 slot!)

Shout - Lulu & The Luvvers (8/64; #94 Billboard, #7 UK - Written by the Isley Brothers in 1959. Lulu was 15 years old when she recorded it.)

Hey Paula - Paul & Paula (2/63; #1 - their names were really Ray and Jill, but the record company knew what it was doing and this romantic duet captured the fancy of record buyers everywhere!)

Everlasting Love - Rex Smith & Rachel Sweet (6/81; #32 - this one keeps coming back: The Love Affair reached #1 in the UK in 1967, Robert Knight had a hit with it in the States a few months later, Carl Carlton went Top Ten in 1974, and these two scored in 1981....a great song lives on!)

  

    

Can't Get Enough of You Baby - ? & The Mysterians (3/67; #56 -     This group from Michigan was inspired by surf rock and the British Invasion. "?" was the stage name of Rudy Martinez. The band's name was taken from a 1957 sci-fi movie.)

Baby You're Driving Me Crazy - Joey Dee & Starlighters (2/63; #100 - These were the other Jersey Boys. There is, apparently, a street corner in Passaic dedicated to the group. They were the house band at the Peppermint Lounge on Manhattan's 45th Street, a very trendy dance club in the 1960's.)

 

7-8pm

 Birthday Calendar

The Birthday Calendar is light on Ampersand Acts this week, and the main event is the passing of the legendary drummer Hal Blaine. Most of this hour will be devoted to his body of work. With the exception of this first song, he played on every one of them!



March 10 – Dean Torrence (Jan & Dean) – age 79          

March 15 – Mike Love (Beach Boys) – age 78
            – Glen from Watkins Glen – age undeclared

* Vehicle - Ides of March (3/70; #2 - this was their first big single on the WB label and the first to utilize a big horn section. It was a smash, and was requested by a guy with a birthday on "the Ides of March." Happy birthday to Glen!)

HAL BLAINE was a session drummer who eventually became leader of the legendary Wrecking Crew in LA, so dubbed because some older studio players complained that these unconventional 'kids' were "going to wreck the business." Hal played on thousands of hit records, including 38 #1 singles and over 150 Top Ten records! 

Bruce Gary (drummer for The Knack) was famously quoted as saying "One of my biggest disappointments in life was finding out that a dozen of my favorite drummers were Hal Blaine." 


Wendy - Beach Boys (10/64; #44 - Hal Blaine said "I tightened my snare drum for the Beach Boys so it had a higher speaking voice sound. Then I'd hit the floor tom-tom on the same beat as the snare. Both added tension to the group's soft harmonic sound.")

Ride the Wild Surf - Jan & Dean (9/64; #16 - Jan Berry was one of the first producers to discover the brilliance of the Wrecking Crew. Soon everybody was hiring them to play on their sessions.)

* Wichita Lineman - Glen Campbell (11/68; #3 Pop, #1 C&W - again, two people called this one in. Glen had gotten his start as a session player, so he was well aware of Hal Blaine's brilliance when he booked this session.)

Be My Baby - Ronettes (8/63; #2 for three weeks - Brian Wilson famously recalls the first time that he heard this record and had to pull over to the side of the road because he was overwhelmed by its "brilliance." He still calls it the greatest record ever made.)

Another Saturday Night - Sam Cooke (4/63; #10 Pop, #1 R&B - if you recorded in LA, you wanted the best players on your sessions....)


I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight - Boyce & Hart (12/67; #8 - Joe Osborn played bass. Hal was called in at the last minute when the other drummer canceled. Boyce & Hart became instant converts.)

Kitty Doyle - Dino, Desi & Billy (9/67; #108 - it's a wonder that this one didn't chart. Melodic, bouncy and sophisticated - and featuring the magic of Hal Blaine.)

Him or Me - What's It Gonna Be? - Paul Revere & The Raiders (4/67; #5 - this recording featured three percussionists: Hal Blaine on the kit, Jim Gordon on snare and hi-hat and Jim Keltner on a bass marching drum! Meanwhile, Paul Revere and the boys could have a smash record and still be free to do their daytime television show and make concert appearances.)

Batman Theme - Marketts (2/66; #17 - there were four Batman-related records on the chart at this time. The winner? The one with Hal Blaine on drums!)


*** Trivia Loop*** We'll play short snippets of ten song intros. Hal Blaine played on three of them. Can you name them? Answers at the bottom.


Poor Side of Town - Johnny Rivers (11/66; #1 - all of Johnny's productions - including his records for the 5th Dimension - had Hal Blaine on drums.)

Can't Help Falling In Love With You - Elvis Presley & The Jordanaires (12/61; #2 Pop, #1 UK for four weeks - "I used brushes on the snare drum with my right hand and a soft mallet on the tom-tom with my left. The result was a hint of Surf and Hawaii that Elvis liked.")

* Good Vibrations - Beach Boys (12/66; #1 - at the time, this was the most expensive single ever produced: seven different studios over the course of eight months, featuring multiple tempo-shifts and the eerie sound of the theremin. Going out to David from Betsy!)

8-9pm

Finger Poppin' Time - Hank Ballard & Midnighters (5/60; #7 Pop, #2 R&B for two weeks - Ballard said his original vocal inspiration was cowboy singer Gene Autry. In July 1960, the group was the first in history to have three singles in the Hot 100 at the same time, a record they held until the Beatles broke it in 1964.)

Quicksand - Martha & Vandellas (11/63; #8 - Released in 1963 on the Gordy label. After she stopped performing regularly, Martha Reeves sat on the Detroit City Council for four years.)

 

 

Breaking the Walls of Heartache - Johnny Johnson & The Bandwagon - This group recorded the kind of music known as "Northern Soul" that evoked a pop sound akin to that of Motown's "Sound of Young America." This track released in 1968 on the Direction label and reached #4 on U.K. charts.

* A Taste of Honey - Herb Alpert & Tijuana Brass (10/65; #7 - this won a Grammy for Record of The Year. Hal said "The first time we ever ran down the intro, it was a train wreck. The horns didn't come in together after the pause, so I counted off the beat with my bass pedal, which gave the horns a cue.")

 

* Ventura Highway - America & Hal Blaine (10/72; #8 - called in by a drummer friend in the DC area, this one features the tasty stylings of Joe Osborn on bass and Hal Blaine on drums.)


The Boxer - Simon & Garfunkel (4/69; #7 - this was another audio clue for tickets to the Kitchen Theatre's current production of "The Royale," a play about boxing in the Jim Crow South. Caller #3 was Kyra from Ithaca. Meanwhile, it was Hal Blaine playing that crashing drum in an elevator shaft on the record.)

 

* Spring Fever - Orleans (1977; dnc - after a long CNY winter, this caller really wanted to share this optimistic album track with the rest of the world. Spring officially arrives this Wednesday, and none too soon!)

 Still the One - Orleans (8/76; #5 - it's a double-shot for this band with strong ties to Ithaca. John Hall grew up in Elmira, Wells Kelly grew up here and drummer Larry Hoppen attended Ithaca College. This was their highest charting single, and you can't NOT sing along on the chorus.)  

If You Don't Know Me By Now - Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes, Feat. Teddy Pendergrass (9/72; #3 Pop, #1 R&B for two weeks -  Masters of Philadelphia, they recorded, as one might expect, on the Philadelphia International label. Composers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff sang back-up vocals.)

45 Corner:  Hurting Each Other - Ruby & The Romantics (4/69; #113 - this is the stereo Radio Station Promo 45, which has yet to appear on CD anywhere. The Carpenters would release their own version a year and a half later - with Hal Blaine on drums - and go all the way to #2.)

 

I Want You to Be My Girl - Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers (4/56; #13 - The Teenagers really were in their teens when they recorded this track on the Gee label. Frankie Lymon, whose vocal style inspired that of many artists to follow, was all of 13 years old at the time of this record's release.)

 

* You're the One - The Vogues (9/65; #4 - the first nationally-charting record for this group featured the uncredited drumming of....Hal Blaine! Thanks to Chip from Ithaca for calling this one in.)

CLOSING THEME:  Sleepwalk – Santo & Johnny (1959, #1 for two weeks)


Trivia Answer


01) Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Any More - Walker Brothers
02) Bend Me, Shape Me - American Breed
03) Hawaii Five-O - Ventures
04) Midnight Confessions - Grass Roots
05) Get Off My Cloud - Rolling Stones
06) Dizzy - Tommy Roe
07) Rag Doll - 4 Seasons
08) You Didn't Have to Be So Nice - Lovin' Spoonful
09) Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me - Mel Carter
10) I'm Gonna Make You Love Me - Madeline Bell

Congratulations to Jerry from Trumansburg, who knew the answer to the question (#'s 4, 6 and 9) and who won a gift card to Luna!


Glossary of Terms:

dnc = did not chart

nr = not released as a single at the time

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 (3/28/26):  Kim Vaughan with a spotlight TBD 


Thanks for tuning in! 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.

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