February 14, 2015 - JS - Valentine's Day

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:  2/14/15
Host:  John Simon
Feature:  Valentine's Day

 

Birthday Calendar


February 8 – England Dan Seals – born in 1938
           

February 9 – Carole King – age 73
                   – Barry Mann – age 76

February 10 - Roberta Flack - age 77

February 11 – Gerry Goffin – born in 1939
                     – Sergio Mendes – age 75
          








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)


There's a Kind of Hush - Herman's Hermits (2/67; #4 - HH's last big hit was a two-sided affair, with the B-side No Milk Today reaching the Top 40 on its own. The Bear Family label is releasing a two-disc package of the entire catalog of this band in brand-new stereo in a month or two. Stay tuned!) 



Love Is In The Air - John Paul Young (7/78; #7 - a reminder that tonight's show will be loaded with Valentine's Day requests and dedications.)

Cupid - Sam Cooke (6/61; #17 - five different acts would chart with this Sam Cooke number, with the Spinners topping the list at #4)

La La Means I Love You - Delfonics (2/68; #4 Pop, #2 R&B for four weeks - the first nationally-charting Pop hit for this smooth Philly quartet) 

Our Winter Love - Bill Pursell (2/63; #9 - this stately instrumental featured a fuzz guitar and a chorus of Nashville's finest. It would later be covered as a vocal ballad by the Lettermen, reaching #72 in early '67.)



This I Swear - Skyliners (7/59; #26 Pop, #20 R&B - a full-tilt romantic pledge from this white Pittsburgh quintet featuring the lead vocals of Jimmy Beaumont. Smokey Robinson would later cite this song as a major influence on his writing style.)

* Tracks of My Tears - The Miracles (7/65; #16 - requested by a listener in New Jersey. Rolling Stone would rank this record #50 in its "Top 500 Singles" list. Bob Dylan allegedly once called Smokey Robinson "America's greatest living poet.")

* Love Minus Zero (No Limit) - Bob Dylan (1965; Bringing it All Back Home LP -  requested by listener Will from the East Hill, who cited it as containing "some of Dylan's very best words about love.")

* Love Me - Elvis Presley (11/56; #2 - going out to Larry from Barbara in Danby, this was from the days when RCA would release a new Elvis record every six weeks or so. This Elvis record was stuck at #2 for two weeks because another Elvis record was in the top slot!)

I Hear a Symphony - Supremes (11/65; #1 for two weeks - one of five consecutive #1s from Motown's premier girl group)



* Sit Down I Think I Love You - Buffalo Springfield (12/66; LP track - going out from Mark to Abby in Falls Church, VA. Stephen Stills brought this one to the band and it would later be covered by the Mojo Men, who'd scrape the lower regions of the Top 40 with it in 1967)

45 Corner: Never Had it So Good - Ronnie Milsap (10/65; #106 Pop, #19 R&B - long before he moved to Nashville and became a big Country star, Ronnie Milsap dabbled in "blue-eyed soul." This Ashford & Simpson composition was his lone entry on the R&B chart. Tasty!)



Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing - Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell (4/68; #8 Pop, #1 R&B - one of a string of Ashford & Simpson compositions recorded by "America's sweethearts.")

*** Still the One - Orleans (7/76; #5 - requested by THREE different listeners. From Abby to Mark in Virginia, from Glen to Sara in Watkins Glen and from Bill to Gail out in the country. Happy Valentine's Day!)



* Angel Baby - Rosie & The Originals (1/61; #5 - going out to Joanne from John on Snyder Hill. Rosie was barely 15 when this was released on the Highland Records label.)

7-8pm

(You're My) Soul & Inspiration - Righteous Brothers (4/66; #1 for three weeks - penned by Barry Mann & Cynthia Weill, as was You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling and so many more....)

(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman - Aretha Franklin (9/67; #8 - written at the request of Jerry Wexler, who had a song title in mind for Aretha, but no words or ideas. Carole King would later release her own interpretation on her Tapestry LP.)

Some of Your Lovin' - Honey Bees (2/65; dnc - one of a number of Goffin-King compositions recorded by their "go-to" demo group, who also went by the name The Cookies, The Palisades, and The Cinderellas.)



I Never Dreamed - The Cookies (6/64; dnc - lyrics by Gerry Goffin, music by Carole King, released on the Dimension label to no response from the record-buying public. A shame!)



Make The Night - Palisades (7/63; dnc - The Shirelles, Dionne Warwick and Chuck Jackson all recorded this one, but no one was able to get much airplay with it. Another shame!)

 * Like A Lover- Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 (4/68; b-side of The Look of Love - dedicated to Lynne from Johnny, this was the first recorded version of this song that would eventually become a jazz standard.) 

* True Love Never Dies - Allen Orange (1961; dnc - an obscure New Orleans treasure going out to Tom in Groton from our very own KV!) 

* Jambalaya (On the Bayou) - Fats Domino (12/61; #30 - the request was for "a Mardi Gras tune." How 'bout Fats Domino interpreting Hank Williams???)



* Hot Fun In The Summertime - Sly & The Family Stone (8/69; #2 - requested by listener George, who was hoping to "push back the cold and snow with a Summer song." We should note that wind chills were supposed to dip down to nearly 20 below on this night!)

* Isn't She Lovely - Stevie Wonder (1976; from his  Songs in the Key of Life LP -  dedicated to little Audreanna in Austin from her grandmother Jayne in Newfield. This was never released as a single, but it's one of Stevie's most-requested songs on Rockin' Remnants.)

I Only Want To Be With You - Dusty Springfield (1/64; #12 - the first solo hit here in the States for a singer who would go on to have many before her premature death from cancer.)

 

On The Street Where You Live - Andy Williams (9/64; #28 - written by Lerner and Loewe for the hit musical My Fair Lady. Stay tuned in  -  the flip side "Almost There" charted two months later, and is just as pretty. I'll play it on an upcoming show.)

8-9pm



* God Only Knows - Beach Boys (8/66; #39 - the b-side of Wouldn't It Be Nice, both from the Pet Sounds LP. Rolling Stone lists this one as #25 of the Top 500 Singles of all-time, and the movie Love, Actually uses this over the final sequence of the film. A dual request from two guys who attended JHS 52 in Manhattan. What a coincidence!)

Because - Dave Clark 5 (8/64; #3 - an uncharacteristically beautiful ballad from the usually-stomping British Invasion outfit.)
 
I'd Much Rather Be With The Girls - Donna Lynn (4/65; dnc - written by Keith Richard and Andrew Loog Oldham, this one opens a mini-set of songs for girls nursing wounded hearts on this Valentine's Day. Love? Bah, humbug!) 



Hit the Road, Jack - Ray Charles (10/61; #1 Pop for two weeks, #1 R&B for five weeks - won a Grammy for best R&B record that year and is listed as #377 on the Rolling Stone Top 500 list.) 

Fire - The Crazy World of Arthur Brown (9/68; #2 - lyrically, it may not fit  -  but it was time for somebody to do some yelling around here....)

You're No Good - Linda Ronstadt (2/75; #1 Pop - earlier versions by Dee Dee Warwick and Betty Everett paved the way for this rip-roaring explosion of southern California Pop Rock!)

 * Some Kind of Wonderful - Drifters (3/61; #32 - another Goffin-King creation from NYC's famed Brill Building. This one goes out to Lew from Jayne.)



Too Busy Thinking 'Bout My Baby - Marvin Gaye (4/69; #4 Pop, #1 R&B for six weeks! - the follow-up to his smash I Heard it Through the Grapevine, released on Motown's Tamla Records label.)

* Reason To Believe - Rod Stewart (7/71; #62 - written by Tim Hardin and released as the A-side of the single. A month later, deejays flipped it over and Maggie Mae became one of the biggest records of the year. A "live" version of this would become a Top 20 hit in 1993. Check out the video.)



Everlasting Love - Carl Carlton (9/74; #6 - Robert Knight had a hit with it in the '60s, Rex Smith & Rachel Sweet did in the '80s, and Carl Carlton killed it in the '70s.)

I Wish You Could Be Here - Cyrkle (2/67; #70 - from the pen of Paul Simon, a lovely ballad about the gently falling snow. Meanwhile, horizontal winds were creating white-out conditions right outside our bay windows in lower Collegetown!)

You Can't Change That - Raydio (4/79; #9 Pop, #3 R&B - fronted by Motown session guitarist Ray Parker, Jr. and picked out especially for the deejay's sweetheart tonight.)



The Closer I Get to You - Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway (2/78; #2 - one of a string of smooth Soul hits for the Atlantic Records duo.)

Love Is All Around - The Troggs (2/68; #7 - an uncharacteristically pretty tune penned by Reg Presley, leader of the band. This one is also featured in the film Love, Actually, although the words are changed to "Christmas Is All Around.")

Love Is The Answer - England Dan & John Ford Coley (3/79; #10 - originally released by the song's composer Todd Rundgren and his band Utopia (see video). England Dan would eventually head to Nashville and make it big as a Country singer.)



* Stuck On You - Lionel Richie (6/84; #3 - dedicated from Johnny to Lynne on the Southside. TLF. F'real.)

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







Congratulations to Jayne from Newfield, for winning a pair of tickets to the Kitchen Theatre's next play!








Host Next Week (2/21/15):  Kim Vaughan with a spotlight on February 1960 - and songs about Winter





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.