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: May 31, 2014
Host: Kim Vaughan
Feature: 1959, Sounds Familiar
Along with spotlighting the 5-31-59 Billboard Hot 100 chart, this week on Rockin’ Remnants we’re exploring songs that sound like other songs. We’ll start with “Taurus” by Spirit and “Stairway to Heaven” by Led Zeppelin, in light of the recent plagiarism lawsuit, and then we’ll hear clips from a few other pairs of songs as well. Sounds familiar!
Birthday Calendar
May 25 – Mitch Margo (The Tokens) – age 67
– Tom T. Hall – age 78
May 26 – Levon Helm (The Band) – born in 1940
– Peggy Lee (b. Norma Deloris Egstrom) – born in 1920
May 27 – Ramsey Lewis – age 79
– Don Williams (Pozo-Seco Singers) – age 75
May 28 – Gladys Knight – age 70
– John Fogerty (Creedence Clearwater Revival) – age 69
May 31 – Peter Yarrow (Peter, Paul, and Mary) – age 76
– John “Bonzo” Bonham (Led Zeppelin) – born in 1948
Rock ‘n’ Roll Trivia
What was the first song released on Berry Gordy’s first record label?
(scroll down to find the answer below the playlist)
Playlist
[songs in bold are from the spotlight date of 5-31-59; 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)
Kansas City – Wilbert Harrison (#1 on 5-31-59; the second of its two weeks at the top. This was a cover of a Little Willie Littlefield song from 1952 called “K.C. Lovin’”, written by Lieber/Stoller)
The Battle of New Orleans – Johnny Horton (#2 on 5-31-59. This song would spend the following six weeks at #1.)
Dream Lover – Bobby Darin (#3 on 5-31-59)
Sorry, I Ran All The Way Home – The Impalas (#4 on 5-31-59)
My Heart Is An Open Book – Carl Dobkins Jr. (#47 on 5-31-59, peaked at #3)
I Waited Too Long – LaVern Baker (#44 on 5-31-59, peaked at #33, written by Neil Sedaka)
That’s My Little Suzie – Ritchie Valens (#82 on 5-31-59, peaked at #55)
That’s Why (I Love You So) – Jackie Wilson (#23 on 5-31-59, peaked at #13)
Tallahassee Lassie – Freddy Cannon (#30 on 5-31-59, peaked at #6, written by his mom)
So Fine – The Fiestas (#14 on 5-31-59)
It’s Late – Ricky Nelson (#64 on 5-31-59, peaked at #9, the b-side of “Never Be Anyone Else But You”)
Endlessly – Brook Benton (#13 on 5-31-59)
Never Be Anyone Else But You – Ricky Nelson (#40 on 5-31-59, peaked at #6)
Just Keep It Up – Dee Clark (#34 on 5-31-59, peaked at #18)
* Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini – Brian Hyland (1960, #1)
There Is Something On Your Mind – Big Jay McNeely (debuted on the Hot 100 on 5-31-59 at #89, peaked at #44. This was Big Jay McNeely’s only song to reach the Hot 100. He was the bandleader and tenor sax player; the vocals were by Haywood “Little Sonny” Warner.)
Hushabye – The Mystics (debuted on the Hot 100 on 5-31-59 at #81, peaked at #20)
A Boy Without A Girl – Frankie Avalon (debuted on the Hot 100 on 5-31-59 at #63; his song Bobby Sox To Stockings also debuted this week, at #60. Both songs would make it to the Top Ten.)
Breezy – The Tokens (1966, dnc)
I Love – Tom T. Hall (peaked at #12 in 1974, was a #1 hit on the Country chart. Hall is also known for writing “Harper Valley P.T.A.” for Jeannie C. Riley.)
Life Is A Carnival – The Band (1971, #72. Co-written by Levon Helm along with Rick Danko and Robbie Robertson with a horn arrangement by Allen Toussaint. The musical notation for this song is printed on a wall behind Levon Helm’s grave in Woodstock.)
Hallelujah, I Love Him So – Peggy Lee (#85 on 5-31-59, peaked at #77. Ray Charles’s version from 1956 didn’t make it to the Top 100 but peaked at #5 on the R&B chart.)
It’s A GoodDay – Peggy Lee (1947, #16 on the pop charts. Peggy Lee wrote the lyrics, and the music was written by guitarist/composer Dave Barbour, her husband at the time.)
The “In” Crowd – Ramsey Lewis (1965, #5, his highest-charting single out of 19 songs that made the Hot 100.)
Look What You’ve Done – Pozo-Seco Singers (peaked at #32 in 1967, with Don Williams and Susan Taylor sharing lead vocals)
I Believe In You – Don Williams (1980, #24)
Everybody Needs Love – Gladys Knight and the Pips (1967, #39)
Someday Never Comes – Creedence Clearwater Revival (1972, #25)
Day Is Done – Peter, Paul, and Mary (1969, #21, written by Cornell alum Peter Yarrow)
D’yer Mak’er – Led Zeppelin (1973, #20, the song emerged from John Bonham’s exploration of doo-wop and reggae rhythms)
* Guitar Boogie Shuffle – The Virtues (#15 on 5-31-59, peaked at #5)
* Fever – Peggy Lee (1958, #8, she replaced some of the lyrics of Little Willie John’s version from 1956 with some that she’d written)
* Mercedes Benz – Janis Joplin (1971, dnc)
Thirty Days – Chuck Berry (1955, did not chart on Top 100 but reached #2 on the R&B chart). Yes, folks, that is a 78 r.p.m., on it's way out as a vinyl format in the mid 50's.
Working For The Man – Roy Orbison (1962, #33)
* Everyday People – Sly and the Family Stone (spent four weeks at #1 in 1969)
“Sounds Familiar” clips:
Taurus – Spirit (1968)
Stairway to Heaven – Led Zeppelin (1972)
Surfin’ USA – Beach Boys (1963, #3)
Sweet Little Sixteen – Chuck Berry (1958, #2)
He’s So Fine – The Chiffons (1963, #4)
My Sweet Lord – George Harrison (1970, #1 for four weeks)
He’s So Fine – The Chiffons (spent four weeks at #1 in 1963, #1 on R&B chart as well. In 1976, George Harrison was found guilty of “subconscious plagiarism” due to the similarity between his song “My Sweet Lord” and this song.)
more “Sounds Familiar” clips:
Lonely For You – Gary Stites (1959, #24)
It’s Only Make Believe – Conway Twitty (1958, #1 for two weeks)
Lovey Dovey – Clyde McPhatter (1959, #49)
The Joker – Steve Miller Band (1974, #1)
Lovey Dovey – Clyde McPhatter (#84 on 5-31-59, peaked at #49. This is a cover of a 1954 song by The Clovers, which didn’t make it onto the Hot 100 but reached #2 on the R&B chart.)
more “Sounds Familiar” clips:
The Beat Goes On – Sonny and Cher (1967, #6)
Judy In Disguise (With Glasses) – John Fred and His Playboy Band (1968, #1 for two weeks)
She’s Just My Style – Gary Lewis and the Playboys (1966, #3)
Action – Freddy Cannon (1965, #13, from the tv show “Where the Action Is”. Joel Whitburn says this song is the same as the 1960 Ricky Lyons song “Shim Sham Shuffle”; I think it sounds more like “I Like It Like That” – especially the Dave Clark Five cover version which came out just a couple months prior to “Action”.)
I Like It Like That – Chris Kenner (1961, #2)
Yeah Man – Sam Cooke (1965, from Cooke’s posthumous album “Shake”. When Arthur Conley released “Sweet Soul Music” in 1967 with the writing credits “Redding-Conley”, Sam Cooke’s business partner sued to get Cooke’s name added.)
Lonely For You – Gary Stites (#28 on 5-31-59)
* Surfin’ USA – The Beach Boys (1963, #3, originally credited only to Brian Wilson. Subsequent releases gave writing credit to Chuck Berry, since this song was a re-working of Berry’s “Sweet Little Sixteen”.)
Southern Nights – Glen Campbell (1977, #1)
The Rubberband Man – The Spinners (spent three weeks at #2 in 1976)
Money (That’s What I Want) – Barrett Strong (1960, #23)
CLOSING THEME: Sleepwalk – Santo & Johnny (1959, #1 for two weeks)
Trivia Answer
“Come to Me” by Marv Johnson was the first song released on Tamla Records, Berry Gordy’s first record label.
Congratulations to Chip from Ithaca, for correctly answering the question and winning a gift certificate to Papa John’s Pizza!
Host Next Week (June 7): John Simon
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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