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: John Simon
Host: 5/2/15
Feature: Punchy Mono and single edits
Tonight: punchy mono single mixes from 6-9 p.m. with JS, just the way they sounded blasting from your car radios and jukeboxes back in the day. It's cheap date night - fire up the grill and let's have a party!
As it says on the record label below, labels wanted their product to sound really compelling to the buying public, so many discs were "produced & mixed for greater & sharper sound reproduction on the air." Tonight we'll play a bunch of original 45s - and a bunch of recordings that faithfully reproduce the punchy sounds of yesteryear.
Birthday Calendar
April 26 - Duane Eddy - age 77
– Pete Ham (Badfinger) - born in 1947
April 29 - Tommy James (Shondells) - age 68
April 30 - Johnny Farina (Santo & Johnny) - age 74
– Bobby Vee - age 72
May 1 - Judy Collins - age 76
Playlist
[songs in bold are from vinyl 45 RPM records; 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)
Five O'Clock World - The Vogues (11/65; #4 - on the small Co & Ce Records label. Stereo versions have been released, but none sound as good as the original 45.)
Since I Lost My Baby - Temptations (7/65; #17 Pop, #4 R&B - Motown exec Berry Gordy actually had a small AM radio transmitter built at the Hitsville USA studios, and he would listen to sample pressings on his car radio before approving them for release)
Jimmy Mack - Martha & Vandellas (3/67; #10 Pop, #1 R&B - this one was recorded in 1963 and left to languish in the vaults until Martha Reeves demanded better treatment. Berry Gordy ordered staff to bring him the Vandellas' unreleased recordings and flipped when he heard this one. He ordered it to be updated and released right away. It sailed to #1 on the R&B charts.)
Just Once In My Life - Righteous Brothers (4/65; #9 - Phil Spector led the "Back To Mono" movement when records were first being transferred to CD. In this case, he may have been right: the urgency and drama of this recording is slightly watered down in stereo pressings. This comes to you from the Ace reissues label, and they've done it right. Co-written by Goffin and King with Spector).
You Didn't Have to Be So Nice - Lovin' Spoonful (11/65; #10 - all CD versions of the song have w-i-d-e stereo separation, but this one sounds best in its mono form. The only place that's available is on the original 45.)
I Love You - People (4/68; #14 - this Zombies cover spent 18 weeks on the chart, carrying it right through the Summer of '68, but it always sounded better on the radio than on the turntable. It turns out that Capitol released a radio-station-only promo that was about a minute shorter and mastered with extra compression and low end. This one is unavailable commercially - a Rockin' Remnants exclusive!)
She's Not There - Zombies (10/64; #2 - their debut single sounded unlike anything else on the charts at the time. The mono 45 has a hi-hat cymbal overdub missing from all LP and CD versions, although this part was added years later by drummer Hugh Grundy for a special Decca release. RS500 ranks this single as #291.)
Kicks - Paul Revere & Raiders (9/66; #4 - Columbia Records produced some of the punchiest single mixes of them all. This is a prime mid-sixties example. Stereo is okay, but the mono positively rumbles!)
Please Mister Sun - Tommy Edwards (2/59; #11 - another case where the stereo sounds anemic, with background vocals in one speaker and Tommy Edwards sounding thin and tinny. This one sounded great on the radio.)
Lonely Island - Sam Cooke (3/58; #26 - a lost treasure from one of the greatest talents of the era. This one is hard to find....)
* Words of Love - The Beatles (1965; from the Beatles VI LP - this request came in on my previous show, when I was highlighting "supersonic stereophonic sounds" and the caller took issue with the assumption that stereo was better. He cited this song as a case in point. Thanks, David from Vancouver. It's all your fault!)
45 Corner: Whenever a Teenager Cries - Reparata & Del-Rons (1/65; #60 - the power and the majesty of the original mono mix elevates this one to a whole other level. What could've been a silly bit of teen pap is transformed into a rather bold statement. Who knew???)
* This Magic Moment - Drifters (2/60; #16 - Ben E. King passed away at his home in New Jersey at age 76 on Thursday, leaving behind a remarkable string of great recordings. His career can be divided into his Drifters period, his solo period, and his '70s Funk period. Here's one beautiful record representing that first phase.)
* When A Man Loves A Woman - Percy Sledge (4/66; #1 Pop and R&B - another great voice that recently fell silent. This one was recorded in Muscle Shoals and is only available in mono, as it was recorded. R.I.P.)
No Matter What - Badfinger (10/70; #8 - the first of three Top 20 hits penned by Pete Ham, who would later take his own life at age 27. Great music and a very sad story.)
Mirage - Tommy James & Shondells (4/67; #10 - this one was born when an engineer actually played their hit I Think We're Alone Now backwards in the studio. Tommy James loved the chord progression, wrote lyrics to fit and it was released as a single on April 29, 1967 - TJ's 20th birthday!)
The Night Has A Thousand Eyes - Bobby Vee (12/62; #3 - Bobby began his recording career at 16 and stayed with Liberty Records for his entire charting career. Wait 'til you see this video!)
Rebel-'Rouser - Duane Eddy & Rebels (6/58; #6 - his second charting release for Jamie Records became a bona fide smash, and established his signature "twangy guitar" sound.)
High On a Hill - Scott English (4/64; #77 - a lost treasure from the same writer who penned Barry Manilow's Mandy, albeit as "Brandy," and who co-wrote Bend Me, Shape Me. This one can be found on the Hard-to-Find Jukebox classics disc that was just released. Click here for all the info.)
The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore - Walker Brothers (4/66; #13 - first written for the 4 Seasons by Bob Crewe, this majestic record on the Smash label was the "brothers'" final Top 20 hit.)
Blues Theme - Davie Allan and The Arrows (4/67; #37 - from the Peter Fonda film Wild Angels. Most CD versions are "Electronically Processed to simulate stereo." Nothing sounds as good as the Tower Records 45.)
Born To Be Wild - Steppenwolf (7/68; #2 - all CDs contain either the LP version or a longer version with motorcycle sounds at the beginning and a cold ending. This one starts with a bang and ends with a fade, which is how AM radio played it back in the day. RS500; #129. Written by guitarist Dennis Edmonton under the pseudonym of "Mars Bonfire).
* Be My Baby - Ronettes (8/63; #2 for three weeks - the caller suggested that Hal Blaine was "...the greatest drummer of them all." Could be. Another Phil Spector production that was meant to be heard in powerful mono.)
Since You Showed Me How To Be Happy - Jackie Wilson (12/67; #32 Pop, #22 R&B - the uncredited players on this one were none other than Motown's notorious "Funk Brothers." This follow-up to Higher & Higher deserved to chart higher and higher, and sounds great in punchy mono.)
45 Corner: House of the Rising Sun - Animals (9/64; #1 for three weeks - the UK single clocked in at 4:26. In the US, an edited version of 2:58 was released by M-G-M on both 45 and LP, and has never been released on CD. Tonight you hear the butchered single edit. Thankfully, the 41/2 minute version has just been released in first-time stereo, and it's a true revelation.)
That's How It Feels - The Soul Clan (7/68; b-side of Soul Meeting - #91 Pop, #34 R&B - Atlantic Records assembled five of their top male Soul singers, who had one low-charting single: Solomon Burke, Arthur Conley, Don Covay, Joe Tex and the late Ben E. King. This is the b-side. R.I.P.)
Take Time To Know Her - Percy Sledge (3/68; #11 Pop, #6 R&B - music critic Dave Marsh ranks this one at #362 in his "The Heart of Rock and Soul: the 1001 Greatest Singles of All-Time." Here's the hard-to-find mono 45 version. R.I.P. Mr. Sledge.)
* Midnight Train to Georgia - Gladys Knight & The Pips (9/73; #1 Pop, #1 R&B for four weeks - this is a case of a well-mastered stereo version packing sufficient wallop, as it appears on Dick Bartley's On the Radio Vol. 5 CD.)
Build Me Up Buttercup - Foundations (1/69; #3 - most CDs carry the single-tracked lead vocal LP version. Tonight we play the double-tracked 45 version, courtesy of Rhino Records.)
What's The Use of Breaking Up - Jerry Butler (8/69; #20 Pop, #4 R&B - the Mercury Records 45 sizzles in comparison to the stereo versions that appear on CD. The studio monitor speaker was a-rockin' when this one was playing....)
Mrs. Robinson - Simon & Garfunkel (6/68; #1 for 4 weeks - almost all of the S+G singles differ from LP/CD versions, and stereo collectors long for a legitimate "singles set" from the duo. This 45 includes a longer fade and guitar notes that appear nowhere else on Earth.)
Look Through Any Window - The Hollies (11/65; #32 - from the Rhino Records History of the British Invasion set. Remarkable punch and clarity!)
Good Lovin' - Young Rascals (4/66; #1 - re-mastering engineer Bill Inglot had this to say in his Rhino boxed set notes: "In some cases, mono versions were chosen over stereo, frankly, because they rock!" Case in point.)
Everything That Touches You - Association (2/68; #10 - featuring one of the greatest bass lines in popular music, this one deserved to chart higher - not that #10 is "a flop." Stunning mono, just as you remember it.)
Louie, Louie - Kingsmen (4/63; #2 for four weeks - lead singer Jack Ely passed away earlier this week, leaving behind this remarkable slice of danceable grunge. Mono is the only way it will ever be heard - it was all recorded in one take on one microphone. R.I.P.)
Didn't You Know You'd Have To Cry Sometime - Gladys Knight & Pips (3/69; #63 Pop, #11 R&B - written and produced by Ashford & Simpson, who had strict orders for the Funk Brothers to follow their arrangement. A great lost treasure, this one is.)
(I Know) I'm Losing You - Rare Earth (8/70; #7 Pop, #20 R&B - most compilations carry the 10:54 LP version. Here's the original 45 on the Rare Earth label.)
Bring The Boys Home - Freda Payne (6/71; #12 Pop, #3 R&B - all CDs carry the stereo LP version. As the label here says, "produced & mixed for greater & sharper sound reproduction on the air")
Only Living Boy In New York - Simon & Garfunkel (4/70; b-side of Cecilia - another example of the S+G single differing from the stereo LP version. Different mix, different reverb, sublime recording.)
Host Next Week (5/9/15): JS with no particular spotlight at all - just great oldies and your requests. Submit them on Facebook or drop us a line.
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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