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: September 26, 2015
Host: John Simon
Feature: 1966
Tonight: join JS on a thrilling ride through yesteryear on Central NY's longest-running local request Oldies show. The Spotlight will be shining on late September 1966. Get out your transistor radios and let the music play!
Birthday Calendar
September 21 – Dickey Lee – age 74
– Don Felder (Eagles) – age 68
September 23 – Ray Charles – born in 1930
– Bruce Springsteen – age 66
September 24 – Gerry Marsden (Gerry & The Pacemakers) – age 73
Rock ‘n’ Roll Trivia
Audio Trivia: can you name the television show that used this record as its theme music?
(scroll down to find the answer below the playlist)
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)
Cherish - Association (in its first of three weeks at #1 - David Cassidy would take this one to the Top Ten five years later)
You Can't Hurry Love - Supremes (down from two weeks in the top slot - Phil Collins would take THIS one to the Top Ten fifteen years later!)
Bus Stop - Hollies (stuck in the #5 position for three consecutive weeks. A classic!)
Mr. Dieingly Sad - Critters (at #20, headed to #17 - this was penned by band member Don Ciccone, but the record label thought John Sebastian's "Younger Girl" might be a stronger debut single. That one stalled at #42.)
Walk Away Renee - Left Banke (at #40, headed to #5 - penned by band member Michael Brown, this one would eventually also chart for the Four Tops and Southside Johnny)
Cast Your Fate To The Wind - Shelby Flint (down to #63 after a peak at #61 - this release on the Valiant Records label was the third charting version of this song - and the only one with lyrics)
Little Darling (I Need You) - Marvin Gaye (down to #57 Pop after a peak of #47 - but it reached #10 on the R&B chart. Marvin was about to start a very successful collaboration with young Tammi Terrell, and the hits would start rolling again)
Mas Que Nada - Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 (the chart debut for Brasil '66 - at #85 this week, headed to #47)
* Sounds of Silence - Simon & Garfunkel (12/65, #1 - Columbia Records took an acoustic album track and added electric instruments. The result was their very first charting record...and it was a big hit!)
* See You In September - Happenings (down to #12 from a peak of #3 - requested by two different listeners: great minds think alike)
* Poor Side of Town - Johnny Rivers (at #72 this week, headed to #1 in November - requested by listener George the week before. Johnny Rivers' only chart-topper - and one of his only original compositions released as a single!)
45 Corner: Try To Remember - Ed Ames (1/65; #73 - from the long-running Off-Off-Broadway musical The Fantasticks. The LP version ran 4+ minutes. This single clocks in at 2:32)
Butchie's Tune - Lovin' Spoonful (the b-side of their only #1 - Summer In the City was still on the chart this week, down to #37. Owners of the record could flip this over and play it for days.)
* The Joker Went Wild - Brian Hyland (down to #34 from a peak of #20 - requested weeks ago by listener Chip, when 1966 was also in the spotlight and this record was just starting to climb. Better late than never....)
Girl On a Swing - Gerry & The Pacemakers (at #64 this week, headed to #28 - the final charting US single for this Liverpool band, managed by Brian Epstein)
Impressions - The Jones Boys (peaking at #101 - this duo consisted of birthday boy Dickey Lee and Alan Reynolds, who shared writing credits on this one.)
* Immigrant Song - Led Zeppelin (11/70; #16 - from their "Led Zeppelin III" album, played in memory of drummer John Bonham, who passed away 35 years ago today.)
Born To Run - Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band (9/75; #23 - the debut single for a scruffy kid from New Jersey who would go on to become one of the biggest stars in the world. Rolling Stone Magazine ranks this single as #21 in its RS500.)
Here, There & Everywhere - The Fourmost (at #126 this week, headed only to #120 - The Beatles were churning out so much material that Capitol had a hard time deciding what to release as singles. This Revolver track was assigned to The Fourmost, but it never caught on in the States.)
Dianne, Dianne - Ronny & The Daytonas (at #71, down from a peak of #69 - Ronny was a high school kid who landed in Nashville. His songwriting mom got him a record deal and he churned out some surprisingly affecting ballads, along with a couple of car hits.)
Polyanna - The Classics (peaking on this date at #106 - The Classics would have to legally change their name to the Classics IV, because there already was an established group with that name. Their lead singer would have to quit imitating Frankie Valli, after the Four Seasons' management team threatened to withhold advance releases from NYC's powerful WABC if they continued to play this record. In the "It All Works Out" category, Dennis Yost & The Classics IV did pretty well, nonetheless.)
What Becomes of the Brokenhearted - Jimmy Ruffin (at #23 this week, headed to #17 - this song was intended for the Four Tops, but Jimmy Ruffin cajoled the songwriting team into giving him a crack at it. Though it wasn't a huge hit, it's becoming one of Motown's most enduring classics.)
Summer Samba - Walter Wanderley (at #44, headed to #26 - a bouncy organ-driven instrumental.)
Roller Coaster - Ides of March (down to #113 from a peak of #92 - their second and final charting record on the Parrot Records label. They'd come back several years later with the addition of horns and reach #2 with their driving Vehicle on the Warner Brothers label.)
* Cry To Me - Solomon Burke (2/62; #44 Pop, #5 R&B - one of several charting versions of this song. This one was featured in the film Dirty Dancing.)
Let It Rock - Chuck Berry (2/60; #68 - using the same chords and melody structure as Johnny B. Goode, this A-side was soon overshadowed by its B-side, Too Pooped to Pop.)
45 Corner: Cherish - Association (#1 on this date - back in the golden age of Top 40 radio the #1 record would be played about once an hour. This 45 version of Cherish was edited to 20 seconds shorter, slightly sped up, and converted to punchy mono for optimal impact on radios everywhere.)
Theme From The Munsters - Billy Strange (1/65 - the B-side of his Theme from James Bond, which reached #65 on the Pop chart.)
To Make a Big Man Cry - Roy Head (peaking at #95 on this date - a big, lush ballad that deserved to be heard by more people than it was.)
If My Car Could Only Talk - Lou Christie (peaking on this date at #118 - this record was produced and arranged by Jack Nitzsche and mysteriously stalled in the Bubbling Under zone.)
* Good Vibrations - Beach Boys (12/66; #1 - this was probably being recorded and mixed at about this time back on our chart date. It would turn out to be the most expensive single ever recorded up to that time, but it would become further evidence of Brian Wilson's genius - and would introduce the eerie sounds of the theremin into the canon of Pop Music.)
Maggie May - Rod Stewart (10/2/71; #1 for five weeks - originally slated to be the B-side of Reason To Believe, this quickly became the hit side - and would spend the entire month of October as the #1 record!)
Mare Take Me Home - Matthews Southern Comfort (8/71; #96 - one of three charting singles from their Woodstock LP, this one fit right in with the singer/songwriter Country Rock music of the period.)
* (You've Got Me) Dangling On A String - Chairmen of The Board (5/70; #38 Pop, #19 R&B - the request came in from a listener who was on a "Carolina Beach Music" jag, and these guys epitomize that sound.)
There's a Moon Out Tonight - Capris (2/61; #3 Pop, #11 R&B - in light of tonight's Super Blood Moon and tomorrow night's lunar eclipse, here's a throwback to the Doo Wop sounds of this Italian group from NYC. It was originally released in 1958 and went nowhere.)
Born Too Late - Poni-Tails (7/58; #7 - gettin' lost in the Fifties!)
Have You Heard - The Duprees (11/63; #18 - another Italian-American Doo Wop group, this one from Jersey City.)
Cruel To Be Kind - Nick Lowe (7/79; #12 - Nick Lowe is coming to the Hangar Theatre this Tuesday. Here's his biggest hit as a performer, blasting out of the speakers back in the day.)
I'm Ready for Love - Martha & The Vandellas (11/66; #9 Pop, #2 R&B - next up for Martha and the girls would be Jimmy Mack, and then hits would start to decline.)
So It Goes - Nick Lowe (7/78; #109 - his first near-charter for the Columbia label)
* Lost In The Fifties Tonight - Ronnie Milsap (7/85; #1 C&W for three weeks - a throwback classic built on The Five Satins' In The Still Of The Night, going out to Mary Anne and Augie.)
Already Gone - Eagles (5/74; #32 - Don Felder joined the band after their first LP and his guitar kicked things into a whole new level. Exhibit A!)
Trivia Answer
ANSWER.
Congratulations to David from Ithaca, for correctly answering the question and winning a pair of passes to Cinemapolis! David recognized the theme from CBS-TV's The Munsters, which ran for two years until it was completely overwhelmed by ABC's Batman, which swept the country and was also in "living color."
Host Next Week (10/3/15): JR with a spotlight on October 1976
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.
