Rockin' Remnants
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!)
Date: Jan 4, 2014
Host: John Simon
Features: 1-4-69
Early January 1969: it was the time before the moon
walk and the as-yet unheard of Woodstock Music Festival, but the nation was
still in mourning over the dual assassinations of Martin Luther King and Bobby
Kennedy as war raged on in Southeast Asia. The Beatles had just launched their
Apple Records label and popular music was becoming more topical and reflective
of the tumultuous times.
Meanwhile, Motown Records had recently lost their
ace songwriting team (Holland-Dozier-Holland) over a bitter contract dispute,
yet they seemed to be stronger than ever (holding down 5 of the Top Ten
positions on the Billboard Hot 100). In fact, their feat of having the top
three records on the Pop chart (for the 4th week in a row) was
unprecedented – and would prove to be unequalled.
Tonight’s show opens with a tribute to the recently
departed Phil Everly, who passed away on January 3rd and whose
trailblazing harmonies and cross-over C&W appeal helped to shape the sounds
of many who followed (including The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Hollies, Simon
& Garfunkel and anyone singing in close two-part harmony). Then it’s a
countdown of the Top Ten records on the week of January 4, 1969. Oh – and it’s
a four-hour show!
Birthday Calendar
Dec 30 – Bo Diddley (b. Elias McDaniel) – born in 1929
– Skeeter Davis – born in 1931
– Del Shannon – born in 1939
– Mike Nesmith – 72 years old
– Davy Jones (Monkees) – born in 1945
Dec 31 – Burton Cummings (Guess Who) – age 67
– Donna Summer – born in 1948
– John Denver – born in 1941
Jan 2 – Earl Grant – born in 1931
– Roger Miller – born in 1936
Jan 3 – George Martin – age 87
– Stephen Stills – age 68
– John Paul Jones – age 67
– Robert John – age 67
Playlist
[songs in bold are from the spotlight date of 1-4-69; 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]
6-7pm
OPENING THEME: Good Old Rock ‘n’ Roll – Cat Mother & the All-Night Newsboys (1969, #29, produced by Jimi Hendrix)
* So
Sad (To Watch Good Love Go Bad) – Everly Brothers [only reached #7 in the Fall of 1960, but this was the one I’d chosen to
start the show – and it was also the first request that came in as I was
getting ready to open the phone lines]
Bird Dog – Everly Brothers [their 3rd #1 hit, this 1958 novelty tune comes to you in
first-time stereo]
Bowling Green – Everly Brothers [a low-charter from the Summer of 1967, but a song they would open most
of their live appearances with over the years]
Top
Ten Countdown for the Week of January 4, 1969
10)
Hooked on a Feeling – BJ Thomas [headed to #5 on the Scepter Records label. Five years later Swedish Pop
group “Blue Swede” would take their version to the top of the charts]
09)
Who’s Making Love – Johnnie Taylor [down from a peak of #5 Pop and 3 weeks at #1 on the R&B chart;
Johnnie Taylor had become the heir apparent to Otis Redding who died a year
earlier. This record was his first of 17 consecutive Top 20 R&B hits.]
08)
Stormy – Classics IV [down
from a peak of #5, this song would later become a hit for Santana and would
eventually be adapted into John Legend’s 2006 hit “Save Room.”]
07)
Love Child – Diana Ross & Supremes [down from #1, this was the group’s 11th chart-topper and the
first of their singles NOT written and produced by the team of
Holland-Dozier-Holland]
06)
Cloud Nine – Temptations [peaking
in its first of 2 weeks at #6, it would also spend three weeks stuck at #2 on
the R&B chart]
05)
Wichita Lineman – Glen Campbell [on its way to a peak of #3 Pop and #1 on the C&W chart, this Jimmy
Webb composition would be recorded by over 200 artists and is considered one of
the finest Pop songs of the Rockin’ Remnants era]
04)
Soulful Strut – Young-Holt Limited [in its second week at #4 before moving up one more notch (and breaking
Motown’s stranglehold on the Top 3), this was the musical track behind Barbara
Acklin’s “Am I the Same Girl.” The instrumental version won the chart race in
the end, but Brunswick Records got two hits out of it.]
03)
I’m Gonna Make You Love Me – Supremes & Temptations [on its way to a two-week stay at #2 (but
never able to pass Marvin Gaye into the top slot), this was the
highest-charting version of this oft-recorded Gamble & Huff composition]
02)
For Once In My Life – Stevie Wonder [the first charting version of this one was cut by Tony Bennett in 1967.
This version was also recorded in 1967 and seemed destined to languish as an
album track (Motown head Berry Gordy didn’t think it was a very good
recording), but here it is in its second week at #2, and it would become one of
Stevie Wonder’s signature tunes. It’s also noteworthy for the bass-playing of
James Jamerson, who never repeats the same bass line twice on this record. Go
on -
give it a listen!]
01)
I Heard It Through the Grapevine – Marvin Gaye [in
its fourth of 7 weeks at #1, this would be the most successful recording in the
history of Motown (until Lionel Richie & Diana Ross collaborated on
“Endless Love” in 1981). Rock critic Dave Marsh named it the greatest single of
all time in his “The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever
Made.”]
7-8pm (birthdays and more Phil Everly)
The Wayward Wind – Bobby Comstock & The Counts [released in 1960 on the Mohawk Records label
by this Ithaca combo; did not chart nationally]
That’s The Way Love Is – Del Shannon [3/64; #133]
A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You – Monkees [3/67; #2 - written by Neil Diamond, this was the first
single to feature a lead vocal by Davy Jones]
Under My Thumb – Del Shannon [this note-for-note cover of the Rolling Stones’ song stalled at #128 in
the fall of 1966]
As Tears Go By – Marianne Faithfull [recorded by the 17-year old and released on London Records, it reached
#9 in the UK and #22 in the States in December of 1964]
You Can’t Judge a Book By the Cover – Bo Diddley [8/62;
#48. Or perhaps by the alternate title seen below!]
Let Me Get Close to You – Skeeter Davis [8/64; #106, written by Carole King & Gerry Goffin]
* Cryin’ in the Rain – Everly Brothers [1/62; #6, also written by Carole King & Gerry
Goffin]
New York’s a Lonely Town – Trade Winds [2/65; #32]
Love Me Do – Beatles
Wake Up Little Susie – Simon & Garfunkel [4/82; #27, from their reunion album Concert from
Central Park]
* Walk Right Back – Everly Brothers [2/61; #7]
* Without You – Nilsson [2/71; #1 (4 weeks)]
* Smackwater Jack – Carole King [9/71; b-side of the two-sided #14 hit So Far Away]
When Will I Be Loved – Linda Ronstadt [4/75; #2 This Everly Brothers cover was backed by a
Buddy Holly cover ("It Doesn't Matter Anymore") and spent two weeks at #2]
Cathy’s Clown – Springer Brothers [4/80; #89 C&W]
Let It Be Me – Jerry Butler & Betty Everett [9/64;
#5, #1 R&B (3 weeks)]
8-9pm (70s birthdays and more from our chart date)
I
Started a Joke – Bee Gees [at #40, headed to #6]
Ready Or Not (Here I Come) – Delfonics [at #44, headed to #35 Pop
and #14 R&B]
Kay
– John Wesley Ryles, I [peaking at # 87 for two weeks; #9 C&W]
Beginning
of My End – Unifics [at
#51 this week, headed to #36 Pop and #9 R&B]
These
Eyes – Guess Who [hit #6 in the Spring of ‘69]
Farewell Andromeda (Welcome to My Morning) – John Denver
[9/73; #89]
Love Me – Yvonne Elliman [10/76; #14, written by Barry
& Robin Gibb]
On the Radio – Donna Summer [1/80; #5 Pop on the
Casablanca Records label]
England Swings – Roger Miller
In My Life – The Beatles [from 1965’s Rubber Soul LP, featuring George Martin’s famous
“harpsichord” solo (which was really a piano sped up on playback in the studio]
What Is and What Should Never Be – Led Zeppelin [from the 1969 LP Led Zeppelin II]
If You Don’t Want My Love – Robert John [4/68; #49]
9-10pm (more birthdays, more chart date, more Everly Bros.)
Joanne – Michael Nesmith and the First National Band
[8/70; #21]
Colorado – Manassas [7/72; b-side of a low-charting
single]
She’s a Lady – John Sebastian [debuting
at #89 on this date, headed to a peak of #84. This Kama Sutra 45 clocked in at
1:45]
Baby
Baby Don’t Cry – Smokey Robinson & Miracles [debuting at #53 and headed to #8 Pop, #3
R&B]
This
Is My Country – Impressions [peaking
at #25 this week, headed to #8 R&B]
Can
I Change My Mind – Tyrone Davis [at #29 this week, headed to #5 Pop and three weeks at #1 R&B, this
was originally the purported b-side]
Tragedy
– Brian Hyland [bubbling
under at #102 this week, headed to #56]
This
Magic Moment – Jay & The Americans [at #79 this week, headed to #6]
Son of a Preacher Man – Dusty Springfield [at #18, headed to #10 Pop and recorded in Memphis]
Baby
Let’s Wait – Royal Guardsmen [this cover of a Rascals’ album track is in its second week at #39,
headed to a peak of #32 for the “Snoopy” group]
Let it Be Me – Petula Clark [this rare Everly Brothers cover was released on a French EP in 1968]
Cathy’s Clown – Everly Brothers [their debut record on their new label spent 5 weeks at #1 in the Spring
of 1960]
The End – Earl Grant [9/58; #7]
CLOSING THEME: Sleepwalk – Santo & Johnny (1959, #1 for two weeks)
Host Next Week (Jan 11): JR with a spotlight on the songs of early Jan 1970
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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