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!)
– John Fogerty (Creedence Clearwater
Revival) – age 81
May 29– Sylvia Robinson (Mickey & Sylvia) –
born in 1935
May 30– Gladys Horton (Marvelettes) – born in 1945
Rock ‘n’
Roll Trivia
Who is performing
this song?(The song Don’t Drop Out
begins.)
(scroll down to find the answer below the
playlist)
Playlist
·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)
Who Put The Bomp (In The Bomp, Bomp, Bomp) – Barry Mann (1961, #7)
Sweetie Pie – Billy “Crash” Craddock (1959, did not chart)
* Yer Blues – The Beatles (1968,
from the White Album)
Apeman – The Kinks (1971, #45)
Keep Your
Hands Off My Baby – Little Eva (1962, #12)
* El Paso – Marty Robbins (1959, spent two
weeks at #1 in early 1960)
* Teach Me Tiger - 1965 – April Stevens (her
1959 version had peaked at #86; her 1965 version with more instrumentation did
not chart)
Another Lonely
Girl – Mark Dinning (1961, did not chart)
Just The Way
You Are – Marv Johnson (1966, did not chart)
Oh-Oh, I’m
Falling In Love Again – Jimmie Rodgers (1958, #7)
Everybody
Loves A Lover – The Shirelles (1962, #19)
* Birthday – The Beatles (1968, from the
White Album)
* Happy Anniversary – Little River Band (1977,
#16)
* Tumbling Dice – The Rolling Stones (1972,
#7)
* Do You Wanna Dance – The Mamas & The
Papas (1968, #76)
7-8pm
If Not For You
– Bob Dylan (from 1970 album New Morning)
Tear After
Tear – Patti LaBelle (1962, did not chart)
The Story Of
My Life – Marty Robbins (1957, #15, written by Hal David & Burt Bacharach)
I Love – Tom T.
Hall (1973, reached #12 on the Hot 100 in early 1974, and was #1 on the Country
chart)
Tonight I Fell
In Love – The Tokens (1961, #15, their first Hot 100 hit, cowritten by Mitch
Margo)
Life Is A
Carnival – The Band (1971, #72, cowritten by Levon Helms, and he is one of the
lead singers on the song)
I Don’t Want
To Know – Fleetwood Mac (from their 1977 album Rumours, a song written by
Stevie Nicks.She sings lead on it along
with Lindsey Buckingham.)
Hallelujah, I
Love Him So! – Peggy Lee (1959, #77.Ray
Charles had an R&B hit with the song in 1956.)
Something You
Got – The Ramsey Lewis Trio (1964, #63, R&B #23, their first song on either
chart)
I Believe In
You – Don Williams (1980, #24, Country #1)
Wondering
Where The Lions Are – Bruce Cockburn (1980, #21)
Everybody
Needs Love – Gladys Knight & The Pips (1967, #39)
Wrote A Song
For Everyone – Creedence Clearwater Revival (from their 1969 album Green River)
Love Is
Strange – Mickey & Sylvia (1957, #11, R&B #1)
8-9pm
Someday,
Someway – The Marvelettes (1962, b-side of Beechwood 4-5789, did not chart on the
Hot 100 but was #8 on the R&B chart)
* Peace Train – Cat Stevens (1971, #7)
Sweet Baby
James – James Taylor (1970, did not chart, but he said in a Rolling Stones interview
that he considers it his best song)
Baby Blue –
Badfinger (1972, #14)
Don’t Drop Out
– Dolly Parton (1966, did not chart)
Can’t Find My
Way Home – Blind Faith (from their 1969 eponymous album)
* Good Times – Sam Cooke (1964, #11)
Love Street –
Merrilee Rush (1968, the b-side of Reach Out)
Fly Me High –
The Moody Blues (1967, did not chart)
* Downtown – Petula Clark (1964, spent two weeks
at #1 in early 1965)
* Everything Is Good About You – The Lettermen
(1971, #74)
We’re In This
Love Together – Al Jarreau (1981, #15)
A Sunshiny Day
– Charley Pride (title track of his 1972 album A Sunshiny Day With Charley
Pride, but it was not released as a single)
CLOSING
THEME: Sleep Walk – Santo & Johnny (1959, #1 for two weeks)
Trivia Answer
Don’t Drop Out
was a very early Dolly Parton song, from her days as a pop artist.
Congratulations
to Mike from Ithaca, for correctly answering the question and winning two
passes 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: 5/23/26
Host: John
Simon
Feature:
Sounds of Late May
It's graduation weekend and here's a parting gift from one of the student deejays.
I'm on from 6-9pm tonight with more songs of May from back in the day, a fun birthday calendar, ticket giveaways, weather updates and good company on a rainy evening. Turn up your radio and let's take a trip together! 93.5 on the FM dial. Let music be your umbrella!
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)
* Graduation’s
Here – Fleetwoods (5/59; #39 – today was
graduation day for the Cornell Class of 2026. Graduate Ryan Goldsmith had
stopped in to give his family a tour, and his mom asked if she could hop on to
wish him and his classmates congratulations. Meanwhile, listener Tom had
requested this one. Two birds with one stone!)
Rain – The
Beatles (6/66; #23 – today is the wettest
CU graduation in memory, so we turn to The Beatles for comfort. This song was
the B-side of the #1 “Paperback Writer,” and is one of the band’s coolest
tracks. This is the punchy mono version.)
Groovin’ –
Rascals (6/67; #1 for four weeks – this
song kicks off a mini-set of five songs recorded in NYC. It was in its second
week at #2, but Aretha Franklin was about to displace it for two weeks before
they’d come back for another two
weeks at the top. Both records were on the Atlantic label.)
On Broadway –
The Drifters (5/63; at #37 this week, down from a peak of #9 – this one features a surprise guitar solo
from none other than Phil Spector. Rudy Lewis was the lead singer on this one,
and Gary Chester played the drums.)
Hushabye –
Mystics (6/59; #20 – they were five
Italian kids from Brooklyn who scored big with this one. Later iterations of
the group would include Jay Traynor and a young Jerry Landis, aka Paul Simon.
Jay would leave to be one of Jay and the Americans, and Paul would go on to
become a hall-of-famer.)
Sweet Talkin’
Guy – Chiffons (5/66; at #18 this week, headed to #10 – they were a Bronx quartet who had a string of songs with the word
“Fine” in the title, and they use the line “he’s so fine” in the backing vocals
here. Gary Chester, again, was the
drummer.)
Ronnie – 4
Seasons (5/64; peaking at #6 – their
classic line-up could do no wrong at this point, and their move to Phillips
Records seemed to be working out just fine. Buddy Saltzman was their go-to studio drummer, and they’d soon be
back with #1 sounds of “Rag Doll.”)
* Reflections of
My Life – Marmalade (4/70; #10 – this is
a pretty good graduation day request, in from our guy in Vancouver. They were a
Scottish band and this was their first – and biggest – hit here in The States.
It’s got a very catchy singalong chorus.)
* Just a Little
– Beau Brummels (5/65; at #19, headed to #8 – they were from San Francisco and had selected a name that might lead
record buyers to think that they were from Europe – or at least put them in the
record bins right next to The Beatles. Their producer was none other than
Sylvester “Sly” Stone.)
* Armed and
Extremely Dangerous – First Choice (4/73; #28 Pop, #11 R&B – the first call for this song came in about a
month and a half ago, and I can finally honor the request! They recorded for
the Philly Groove label and were backed by MFSB. Disco was not yet fully an
established genre, but this one was leading in that direction.)
Don’t Pull
Your Love – Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds (5/71; debuting at #90, headed
to #4 – they were an LA trio that had
first started as a touring version of The T-Bones, because the hit “No Matter
What Shape” had been recorded by session players and people wanted to hear it
“live.” A caller wanted to know if it was true that he’d heard Elvis singing
this one. The answer is probably “no”: it was written with Elvis in mind, but
he’d passed on it.)
* What Is Life –
George Harrison (3/71; #10 – this one was
taken from George’s All Things Must Pass LP, and featured an all-star
cast, including all of the members of Badfinger AND Derek & The Dominoes,
minus Duane Allman. Scottie requested it, and here it is!)
All I Have to
Do Is Dream – Everly Brothers (5/58; #1 for five weeks and #1 UK for nine weeks
– this was one of several songs written
by Felice and Boudeleaux Bryant, and is one of the most-recorded songs of the
era, ranked by Rolling Stone at #141 in their RS500. Tonight we hear a new
stereo remix that reveals the magic of Chet Atkins’ electric guitar figure,
which practically acts as a third voice. Sublime!)
Buy for Me the
Rain – Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (5/67; peaking at #45 – this was the group’s charting debut, and they’re still going strong. Rain
is the operative word for this holiday weekend and this one fits right in!)
* It Might As
Well Rain ‘Til September – Carole King (8/62; #22 – she was starting to get some traction as a songwriter with her husband
Gerry Goffin, but she did release a few singles as a solo artist on the
Dimension Records label. This was her first and only real charting single until
she hit #1 in 1971 with “It’s Too Late.” That’s when she became known as more
than just a prolific writer.)
7-8pm
Birthday Calendar
May 17 – Taj
Mahal – age 84
– Bill Bruford (Yes) – age 77
– George Johnson (Bros. Johnson) – 73
May 18 –
Albert Hammond – age 84
– Rick Wakeman (Yes) – age 77
– Big Joe Turner – born in 1911
May 19 – Pete
Towshend (Who) – age 81
– Jerry Hyman (B,S&T) – age 79
May 20 – Joe
Cocker – born in 1944
– Cher – age 80
– Susan Cowsill – age 67
May 21 – Ronald
Isley – age 85
– Leo Sayer – age 78
May 22 – Doug
Gray (MTB) – age 78
– Bernie Taupin – age 76
May 23 – Redd
Holt (Young-Holt Ltd.) – 1923
– General Johnson (Chairmen) – 1941
Corinne Corinna – Big Joe Turner (5/56; #41 Pop, #2 R&B for two weeks – he was nicknamed “Boss of the Blues” and
scored nineteen Top 20 R&B hits for Atlantic Records by 1958. This was his highest-charting
crossover hit.)
Take a Giant
Step – Rising Sons (2/66; dnc – this
LA-area group included future luminaries Taj
Mahal and Ry Cooder, who were signed to Columbia along with fellow southern
Californians The Byrds – but they were difficult to categorize and market, and
this song sat on the shelf until 1992! It’s a Carole King-Gerry Goffin
composition best known as a Monkees song. This version rocks!)
And You And I
(Pt. 1) – Yes (11/72; #42 – drummer Bill
Bruford and keyboardist Rick Wakeman both had birthdays this week. This track
was edited down from a ten-minute long album track that was broken into four
distinct sections. Tonight you hear a scratchy 45 rendition that is a relic of
the times.)
Strawberry
Letter 23 – Brothers Johnson (7/77; #5 Pop, #1 R&B – this one was written by Blues guitarist Shuggie Otis, and caught the
ear of guitarist George “Lightning Licks” Johnson. The brothers had a big hit
with it, which was very good for Shuggie’s bank account!)
Brand New Day
– Albert Hammond (3/74; dnc – culled from
his It Never Rains In Southern California LP, this one was tucked onto
the B-side of his mid-charting “I’m a Train” single. It also found its way to a
wilderness camp way up in the Adirondack Mountains, where it started many a
morning fire circle gathering, often in a medley with some version of
“Beautiful Sunday.”)
You’ve Made Me
So Very Happy – Blood, Sweat & Tears (5/69; #2 for three weeks – Al Kooper had left the group, but trombonist
Jerry Hyman was still on-board – and
new singer David Clayton-Thomas had been brought in. This had previously been a
Motown hit for Brenda Holloway, but it was new to Rock audiences. The only
thing that kept it out of the top slot was The 5th Dimension’s
“Aquarius” medley.)
Delta Lady –
Joe Cocker (10/69; #69 – Rita Coolidge was on my birthday calendar on the previous show, where I mentioned her
involvement with Joe Cocker’s Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour. Tour bandleader Leon
Russell had written this song about her specifically, and Joe added it to the
repertoire.)
Our Love Was,
Is – The Who (1/68; NR – guitaristPete Townshend was chief writer and mastermind
for the group, and he was the creative force behind the concept album The
Who Sell Out. The premise was that it was a “pirate radio show” complete
with commercials and Radio London
jingles. Pete is the lead singer on this one, and you can hear hints of future
projects like Tommy and Who’s Next if you listen carefully.)
The Beat Goes
On – Sonny & Cher (2/67; #6 – Wrecking
Crew bassist Carol Kaye famously came up with the pulsating bass figure that
drives this one-chord song to greatness, despite Sonny’s inane lyrics like “The
grocery store’s a super mart, uh-huh” and “electrickly they keep a baseball
score!” Tonight we hear the punchy mono mix that pumped through radio and
jukebox speakers back in the day.)
We Can Fly –
The Cowsills (1/68; #21 – the family
group from Rhode Island had burst upon the scene with “The Rain, The Park and
Other Things” a year prior, with members ranging in age from the 40-year old
mom to 8-year old little sister Susan.
This bouncy light-as-air song was cut in the mold of The 5th
Dimension’s “Up, Up & Away,” and young Susan sings her little heart out.)
More Than I
Can Say – Leo Sayer (9/80; #2 for five weeks – this is a surprising cover of Bobby Vee’s low-charting B-side from
1962, written by Buddy Holly’s bandmates Jerry Allison and Sunny Curtis. The
only thing that kept this version out of the top slot was Kenny Rogers’ ballad
“Lady.”)
Work to Do –
Isley Brothers (10/72; #51 Pop, #11 R&B – many people first heard this song as done by the Average White Band
when it appeared as the B-side of their #1 instrumental hit “Pick Up The
Pieces,” but it was written by the three brothers from Cincinatti and had been
a pretty successful R&B hit for them two years prior. That’s Ronald Isley singing lead.)
8-9pm
24 Hours At A
Time – Marshall Tucker Band (3/74; NR – their
second studio album was A New Life, and they were beginning to experiment
with horns and guest players, but this one was true to their original sound.
Doug Gray sang the words, Toy Caldwell played the guitar licks and his brother
Tommy Caldwell was the bass man.)
Tiny Dancer –
Elton John (3/72; #41 – Madman Across
the Water was chock full of radio-friendly songs, but this one was a
stand-out that Rolling Stone ranked at #397 in its list of the 500 greatest
songs of the era. It also clocked in at 6:12, which kept it from garnering the
radio play it deserved. That led the label to release the radio edit that we
hear tonight, which fades at about the 3:45 mark.)
Wack Wack –
Young Holt Trio (12/66; #40 Pop, #12 R&B – drummer Redd Holt and bassist Eldee Young had parted ways with pianist
Ramsey Lewis and recorded this one with piano man Don Walker, calling
themselves The Young Holt Trio. They’d later change it to Young-Holt Unlimited
and have one more very big hit!)
Gimme Just a
Little More Time – Chairmen of the Board (1/70; #3 Pop, #8 R&B – writers/producers Holland-Dozier-Holland had
left Motown after a contentious series of failed negotiations for better terms,
leaving Motown to scramble to fill the void, while also starting their own
label and production company. Litigation kept them from putting their own names
on their record label, so this one was attributed to “Edythe Wayne,” and
featured the unique vocal stylings of journeyman General Johnson. It was one of the first releases for Invictus
Records, and continues to get lots of play on the Carolina Beach Music scene in
and around Norfolk, VA.)
The Long and
Winding Road – The Beatles (5/23/70, debuting at #35 – how can a record suddenly appear on the Pop chart at #35 out of
absolutely nowhere, you ask? Well, it can if you are The Beatles. Three weeks later it would reach the #1 slot and stay
there for two weeks. It also has a nice cameo appearance in the 2019 film Yesterday.
It’s worth finding and re-watching!)
Wildfire –
Michael Martin Murphey (5/75; #3 for two weeks – a shortened edited version was released as a single, but the
full-length LP version is the best way to hear it. A caller confessed that he
found this one pretty depressing, but I still remember listening in the car
with my then pre-teen daughter who was absolutely mesmerized, and having it
lead to a long discussion. Sigh. I miss those days.)
* Strange Brew –
Cream (7/67; dnc – an old friend from
high school asking to hear some music for singer/bassist Jack Bruce, who’d had a birthday just last week. We went
back-and-forth a couple of times, which led to this double-shot that starts
with the opening track from Cream’s Disraeli Gears LP. Jack actually
doesn’t sing the lead on this one – that’s Eric Clapton – but he sings harmony
and adds a great bassline.)
* Theme for An
Imaginary Western – Mountain (3/70; NR – this
was the second track from their breakthrough Climbing! LP, and was
co-written by Jack Bruce and Peter Brown. It features bassist Felix Pappalardi
on vocals, who happened to be a product of the HS of Music & Art in NYC,
where my buddy Jason and I met and became fast friends.)
MacArthur Park
– Richard Harris (5/68; peaking on this date at #2 – this was the unlikeliest of hit singles, clocking in at over seven
minutes long and consisting of four distinctly different musical motifs – AND being
sung by a Shakesperean actor, no less! It was written by Jim Webb, and two
other artists would later have great success with it as well. Go figure!)
Don’t You
Write Her Off – McGuinn, Clark & Hillman (5/79; #33 – they were three former members of The Byrds who reunited for a one-off
album on Capitol Records. John Rudan remembers that album getting lots of
airplay when he was first getting involved with WVBR some 47 years ago!)
I'll be back on June 20th. See you then!
CLOSING
THEME: Sleepwalk – Santo & Johnny (1959, #1 for two weeks)
Congratulations
to Slade from Ithaca, for winning a pair of tix to see Europa at The Hangar
Theatre next Friday!
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
(5/30/26): Kim Vaughan with a mystery theme
Thanks for tuning in - and for voting us
Ithaca's Best Local Radio Show in the most recent 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!
![Chairmen Of The Board – Give Me Just A Little More Time – Vinyl (Scranton Pressing, 7", 45 RPM), 1970 [r6532779] | Discogs](https://i.discogs.com/2xz-pt_TRAy70VSlcCb19k363x-Z2EKXALNJDpD92kk/rs:fit/g:sm/q:40/h:300/w:300/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTY1MzI3/NzktMTcwNDU4MzY1/MS00MzkzLmpwZWc.jpeg)
