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: 8-23-14
Host: John Simon
Feature: August 23, 1967
Tonight marks the 11th anniversary of John's very first show (August 23, 2003). Along with some of the songs he played on his maiden voyage, there'll be a spotlight on the week of August 23, 1967 - especially some of the lower-charting records that have been lost to time (Blades of Grass, Ian & Sylvia, Brian Hyland...). Add to that a loaded birthday calendar and your requests, and you've got yourselves another Saturday night in Rockin' Remnants Land!
Birthday Calendar
August 18 – Maxine Brown – 85 years old
August 19 – Ginger Baker (Cream, Blind Faith) – 75 years old
August 20 – Isaac Hayes – born in 1942
August 21 – James Burton (session guitarist) – 75 years old
– Jackie DeShannon – 70 years old
August 23 – Rudy Lewis (Drifters) – born in 1936 (d. at 27)
– Keith Moon (The Who) – born in 1947 (d. at 31)
Playlist
[songs in bold are from the spotlight date of DATE; 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)
All You Need is Love – Beatles (#1 on this date for just one week, tonight we hear the mono 45 version on Capitol Records)
Happy – Blades of Grass (down to #105 from a peak of #87; a competing version by the Sunshine Company would reach BB #50)
Twelve Thirty (Young Girls Are Coming to the Canyon) – Mamas & Papas (bubbling under this week; next week this one would debut at #72, eventually reaching #20)
(I Wanna) Testify – Parliaments (Released on the fledgling Revilot label; at #30 this week, headed to a peak of #20 Pop and #3 R&B. George Clinton was the only member of the New Jersey vocal group to make the trip to the Detroit recording studio and appear on the record!) Cool threads!
(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher & Higher – Jackie Wilson (at #55 this week, headed to #6 Pop and #1 R&B. The session players were actually Motown's "Funk Brothers," moonlighting on the session for Brunswick Records' Carl Davis.)
Jamaica Farewell – Harry Belafonte (10/56; #14)
For Your Love – Ed Townsend (4/58; #13 - this and the previous record were played on JS' very first show on August 23, 2003)
* Soul Finger – Bar-Kays (at #38 this week, down from a peak of #17 Pop and #3 R&B, this has been the theme music of our daily Tompkins County Trivia segment for many years)
Traffic Jam - James Taylor (from 1977's "JT" album, this one seemed quite apropos on the weekend that 4,000 freshmen descended upon Collegetown)
Expressway to Your Heart - Soul Survivors (with its opening car horns and traffic sounds, this one did too. It would be released on the small Crimson Records label in September of '67 and eventually reach #4 Pop and #3 R&B)
Lady Friend – Byrds (debuting - and peaking - at #82 this week, this was David Crosby's final single as a member of the Byrds, who didn't deem the track worthy of inclusion in their current album)
45 Corner: Don't Let the Rain Fall Down on Me – Critters (their final Top 40 single, peaking at #39 this week. This song is only available on one domestic CD, and that's a stereo version. Tonight we play the original mono 45 on the Kapp Records label for you.)
Lovin' Sound – Ian & Sylvia (at #104 this week, headed to a peak of #101 on the Billboard chart. This single would, though, reach #96 on the competing Cashbox chart)
* To Love Somebody – Bee Gees (at #18 this week, peaking next week at #17. This Gibb Brothers composition would go on to be recorded by Nina Simone, the Flying Burrito Brothers and others - requested by long-time listener and former staffer Chip)
* Albatross – Fleetwood Mac (2/69; #1 UK - requested by long-time listener Brad, who still remembers JS' very first clunky show)
Put a Little Love in Your Heart – Jackie DeShannon (7/69; #4 - her highest-charting recording was one of hundreds of songs she composed, including the worldwide smash Bette Davis Eyes.)
Tales of Brave Ulysses – Cream (6/67; from the hit LP Disraeli Gears, this was released as a B-side in the UK. The A-side was Strange Brew, which peaked at #12)
One Step At a Time – Maxine Brown (7/65; #55 - written by up-and-coming songwriters Ashford & Simpson, who would come into their own at Motown Records two years later)
Up On the Roof – Drifters (11/62; #5 - featuring the smooth vocals of Rudy Lewis, who succeeded Ben E. King as the lead singer of these Atlantic Records stalwarts. Lewis would die of a heart attack two years later and be replaced by Johnny Moore)
* Some Kind of Wonderful – Drifters (3/61; #32 - a double-shot of Rudy Lewis. This one was a dedication to Jayne & Lew, who are celebrating their anniversary this weekend)
Walk On By – Isaac Hayes (released as a single on this very date in 1969, eventually reaching #30 Pop and #13 R&B. The LP version clocked in at 12:00 long. The 45 edit times out at 4:34)
I Can See for Miles – The Who (released as a single in October of '67, this blistering record would peak at #9 on the Hot 100)
* San Franciscan Nights – Eric Burdon & The Animals (at #26 this week and headed to a peak of #9, this trippy ode to the Haight-Ashbury scene featured a bizarre spoken introduction and a lovely mandolin figure running through it)
45 Corner: Blues Theme – Davie Allan & The Arrows (down to #51 after a peak of #37, this fuzz-toned instrumental opens with the roar of motorcycle engine and runs full-throttle for 2:06. Tonight it comes to you on the original Tower Records 45.) This was the theme to the biker flick The Wild Angels. Click here to see the trailer!
* Reflections – Diana Ross & Supremes (racing up the chart at #8 this week, headed to a peak of #2, this is the first single giving Diana Ross top-billing on the record label. Requested by long-time listener Barbara from Danby.)
* Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie – Jay & Techniques (at #9 this week, headed to a peak of #6 for this interracial group from the Harrisburg, PA area. Requested by JS' junior high buddy Mark, listening in from Virginia!)
* So In Love - The Tymes (one of the first records ever played on the air by JS back in 2003, this #1 smash from 1963 was accompanied by a birthday shout-out from long-time listener Mary Anne's long-time listening daughter Carmen. We are fa-mi-ly....)
* So Into You – Atlanta Rhythm Section (2/77; #7 - requested by Bonnie & George, who got married to it and are celebrating their wedding anniversary this weekend)
* Radar Love – Golden Earring (5/74; #13 - the radio edit clocks in at 2:56; the LP version clocks in at 6:24. We split the difference and faded it at the 4-minute mark)
* White Rabbit – Jefferson Airplane (down to #40 this week from a peak of #8)
Get the Message – Brian Hyland (peaking at one of two weeks at #91, this record deserved more airplay than it managed to get)
Zip Code – Five Americans (at #52 this week, headed to #36 on the small Abnak Records label)
Put Your Mind at Ease – Every Mothers Son (bubbling under this week. Next week it would debut at #82 and eventually reach #46, revealing a psychedelic side to the Come On Down to My Boat boys.)
Things I Should've Said – Grass Roots (at #47 this week and headed to #23 on the Dunhill Records label. This one combines Hollies-like harmonies with a driving backing track that sounds like it could be a "Wrecking Crew" session....)
It Could Be We're in Love – The Cryan' Shames (at #87 this week and headed to a disappointing peak of #85 nationally, but this record spent four weeks at #1 on Chicago's big WLS. It also reached #70 on the Cashbox chart. Why it didn't do better nationally is a mystery. Great record, big label [Columbia], contemporary sound....)
* Summer Rain – Johnny Rivers (11/67; #14. In the words of the guy who made the request: "Thanx John, I remember this song in 1967 in my dorm room in Boston feeling hurt missing the cutie I dated that summer. It was raining and sloppy outside and this song came on the radio and said it all. Happy Anniversary.")
You're My Everything – Temptations (at #21 this week, headed to #6 Pop and #3 R&B, this record featured the shared lead vocals of both Eddie Kendrick AND David Ruffin.)
You Know What I Mean – Turtles (at #48 this week, headed to #12 on the White Whale label and composed by Bonner & Gordon, who were also responsible for Happy Together and She'd Rather Be with Me.)
45 Corner: Amarillo By Morning - Terry Stafford (12/73; #31 C&W - this would later become a #1 hit for Country superstar George Strait, but here's the original version, released on Atlantic Records by the same guy who recorded Suspicion ten years earlier. A Rockin' Remnants exclusive!)
* Mama Told Me Not to Come - Three Dog Night (5/70; #1 - written by Randy Newman)
* Brandy (You're a Fine Girl) - Looking Glass (reached #1 this week in 1972; requested by a listener who identified herself as "a sailing girl.")
More Love – Smokey Robinson & Miracles (at #35 this week, down from a peak of #20 Pop and #5 R&B. Dedicated to all of the listeners out there from a very appreciative and content DJ. Thank you and goodnight.)
Host Next Week (August 30): JR with a spotlight on August of 1971.
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.
