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: March 5, 2016
Host: John Simon
Feature: Back to Mono
Birthday Calendar
February 28 – Brian Jones (Rolling Stones) –born in 1942
February 29 – Gretchen Christopher (Fleetwoods) – age 19*
March 1 – Roger Daltrey (The Who) – age 72
– Mike D'Abo (Manfred Mann) – age 72
March 2 – Karen Carpenter –born in 1950
March 4 – Bobby Womack – born in1944
– Mary Wilson (Supremes) – age 72
* - Gretchen Christopher has only celebrated 19 birthdays, but she's really 76 years old.
Rock ‘n’ Roll Trivia
An audio clue: can you name the record this sound effect comes from?
(scroll down to find the answer below the playlist)
Playlist
[songs in bold are played tonight from vinyl 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)
You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling - Righteous Brothers (2/65; #1 for 2 weeks - one of Phil Spector's greatest achievements was this brooding masterpiece that clocked in at almost four minutes long. To guarantee airplay he lied about the running time on the record label. There are stereo versions out there, but this mono version is the way it was intended to be heard.)
Everything That Touches You - Association (2/68; #10 - their final Top Ten record, and maybe their best. The opening bass line never stops propelling the song forward, and their harmonies were never stronger. I love this record!)
You Didn't Have To Be So Nice - Lovin' Spoonful (12/65; #10 - the follow-up to their debut hit is finally available on CD in its rock-solid mono form. Stereo versions feature background vocals that are out of balance. The mono mix is sublime.) 
(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet - Blues Magoos (2/67; #5 - this proto-punk outfit from The Bronx made one great record and this is it. Stereo versions are nice, but this one is lethal.)
Love Is All Around - The Troggs (2/68; #7 - their first three chart hits were grungy and loud. This one was totally out-of-character and is one of the prettiest records of the year. Subsequent versions would be recorded by Wet! Wet! Wet!, REM and movie character Billy Mack in the film Love, Actually.)
Dedicated To The One I Love - Mamas & Papas (2/67; #2 - this one started as a soundcheck exercise for the band and became the most successful version of this classic song. It's also the first to give Michelle a vocal spotlight. It's taken nearly 50 years for the mono version to appear anywhere other than on the original 45. Thanks to Real Gone Music, here it is!)
(Today I Met) The Boy I'm Gonna Marry - Darlene Love (4/63; #39 - Darlene's previous record had spent two weeks at #1, but it was credited to The Crystals. Phil Spector promised to make it up to her, but their relationship was fraught with trouble and it took years for her to reach the stardom she deserved.)
It's All In The Game - Tommy Edwards (9/58; #1 for six weeks - this was one of the biggest records of the year. Subsequent versions were released by Cliff Richard, the Four Tops and even Van Morrison, but Tommy Edwards' was the definitive one.)
Fire & Rain - James Taylor (9/70; #3 for three weeks - believe it or not, Johnny Rivers was the first to release this as a single...beating JT by one week. It, of course, is one of James Taylor's signature tunes. Rolling Stone ranks it at #227 in its RS500. Tonight we play the mono 45 that was released exclusively to radio stations, just the way you remember it on your car radio.)
* You Don't Know Like I Know - Sam & Dave (1/66; #90 Pop, #7 R&B - this is the first of a long string of singles for the Stax Records duo. An excellent mono request from Lew in Newfield.)
* It Was a Very Good Year - Frank Sinatra (1/66; #28 - this record, which earned Sinatra a Grammy for Male Vocal of the Year, was requested by a young listener named Kii who knows what he's talking about. No mono here, but you can cut the poignancy with a knife....)
Love You So Much - New Colony Six (2/67; #61 - a great little record by a rocking Chicago group that would soon morph into an MOR outfit on a bigger label. This is the Sentar Records 45 in blistering mono - the way it was meant to be heard!)
You Can't Sit Down - Dovells (4/63; #3 - a sizzling dance number on the Cameo-Parkway label with lead singer Len Barry singing his heart out. The star here, though, just might be the swirling organ. Or the hand-clapper....)
I Love You Eddie - Crystals (9/63; b-side - the flip side was He's a Rebel, featuring the uncredited brilliance of Darlene Love and The Blossoms. Listener Barbara remembers hearing this on her transistor radio down in the metropolitan area, along with a bunch of other teens with their radios all tuned to the same station. She also really liked a boy named.....yep, Eddie. The magic of radio makes it seem like yesterday!)
Come Softly To Me - Fleetwoods (4/59; #1 for four weeks - three high school kids from Olympia, WA recorded this original tune with a set of jingling car keys as the only accompaniment. Dolton Records added a little soft guitar strumming and it took off. How can Gretchen be celebrating her 19th birthday this week? Why...she's a leap year baby! She's actually 76 years old.) 
Baby Love - Supremes (10/64; #1 for four weeks - the second of five consecutive #1 records for "the no-hit Supremes," as they had been mockingly known among their label mates. Mary Wilson and the girls got the last laugh, didn't they???
)
Fly Me To The Moon - Bobby Womack (8/66; #52 - he was an ace guitarist, a smooth vocalist and writer of songs for artists including Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin, George Benson and the Rolling Stones. This was his first solo hit on the national stage.)
The Kids Are Alright - The Who (8/66; #106 - one of a slew of great records by this London band who finally take America by storm at the Monterey Pop and Woodstock music festivals. Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend continue to tour as "The Who." This song was the title track of their autobiographical movie.)
The Mighty Quinn (Quinn The Eskimo) - Manfred Mann (3/68; #10 - Mike D'Abo took over the lead singing duties from Paul Rogers in 1966. This was his biggest hit with the band here in the States, singing a song that was buried in Dylan's "basement tapes" collection of demos.)
Ruby Tuesday - Rolling Stones (3/67; #1 - Brian Jones was the most accomplished musician in the band, playing guitar and marimba and dulcimer and sitar and other exotic instruments. He plays the lilting recorder line on this one. He would die two years after this in a drug-addled swimming pool accident.)
* John Barleycorn (Must Die) - Traffic (1970 - this, the title track of one of the classic albums of the era, was requested by John in Freeville, celebrating his own 55th birthday. Nice to hear it again!)
* My Little Red Book - Love (4/66; #52 - a most unlikely cover for this quirky LA band fronted by the mercurial Arthur Lee: the song was composed by Burt Bacharach. Manfred Mann's version was a Top Ten hit in the UK. Going out to Betsy on the West Hill.)
* Glad All Over - Dave Clark Five (2/64; #6 - the debut single for this British Invasion outfit, requested by our buddy Greg. He knows punchy mono, my friends.)
* Je T'Aime (Moi Non Plus) - Jane Birkin & Serge Gainsburg (11/69; #58 - this one was banned in many markets around the world due to the heavy breathing and suggestive whispers, but the infectious organ and lilting melody still stand up. Despite the ban, this was a #1 smash all across Europe, and Top Sixty in the prudish U.S. of A.)
* Almost Cut My Hair - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (1970; from their Deja Vu LP - a classic FM radio track from the pen of David Crosby, this was one of a string of telephone requests that came in tonight. Glad you're all out there!)
45 Corner/Trivia: Susan - Buckinghams (12/67; #10 - this was their final Top Ten smash and many record buyers were baffled when they brought it home and heard the jarring 30-second "psychedelic freak-out" section in the middle that most radio stations wisely edited out. We placed the needle right at the beginning of that section. Listener Jane identified it within twenty seconds. Good ear, Jane!)
Everyone's Gone To The Moon - Jonathan King (9/65; #17 - the biggest record by Mr. King as a performer, although he'd have bigger hits as a producer and writer. This is one is readily available in stereo, but sounds even better in its punchy mono form.)
She'd Rather Be With Me - The Turtles (5/67; #3 - hot on the heels of their smash Happy Together, this one explodes out of the speakers in mono - available only on the White Whale 45.)
* We Gotta Get Out Of This Place - Animals (8/65; #13 - a recent survey declared this the #1 record for Vietnam veterans longing for home in the mid-sixties. Rolling Stone ranks it at #233 in the RS500. The hit single version has never been available in stereo.)
Up On The Roof - Laura Nyro (10/70; #92 - ironic that one of the most successful songwriters of the late Sixties only charted one record as a performer, and that she didn't write it. Tonight we hear the mono 45 from a radio station promo single. Nice!)
Baby I Need Your Loving - O.C. Smith (8/70; #52 - this one is most strongly associated with the Four Tops and Johnny Rivers, but O.C. Smith released a fine version as well. This is a case where both sides of the promo 45 are in stereo.)
* Blue Bayou - Roy Orbison (9/63; #29 - the flip side was Mean Woman Blues, which reached #5. This side went onto be covered by Linda Ronstadt in 1977, where it spent four weeks at #3.)
* Blue Angel - Roy Orbison (9/60; #9 - requested by listener Chip, who wanted to hear the cheezy background vocals going "Sha la la, dooby wah / Dum dum dum, yeh yeh, um / Sha la la, dooby wah / Dum dum dum, yeh yeh um…." Yes, Chip is a nut.)
* Eve Of Destruction - Barry McGuire (9/65; #1 - the battle in Southeast Asia was also being fought on the airwaves here in the States. A thinly-veiled rebuttal record called The Dawn of Correction shortly followed this one. Six months later Staff Sgt. Barry Sadler would top the chart with The Ballad of The Green Berets. Tonight's request comes from a Vietnam vet.)
* Don't Worry Baby - Beach Boys (5/64; #24 - listener Tom wanted to hear this mono classic. Brian Wilson wrote it as a prospective follow-up for the Ronettes' Be My Baby, but Phil Spector declined. The Beach Boys put it on the flipside of their #1 I Get Around. Rolling Stone ranks it at #176 in the RS500.)
45 Corner: Rainy Days And Mondays - Carpenters (5/71; #2 for two weeks - Karen Carpenter died at age 33 weighing 90 pounds. Before she was lauded for her soulful singing voice, she was known as a pretty good drummer. This radio station mono promo 45 sounds really, really good tonight.)
* Hot Rod Lincoln - Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen (3/72; #9 - this one goes out to long-time listener Denise, who doesn't call often but knows a good song when she wants to hear one.)
Margaritaville - Jimmy Buffett (4/77; #8 - the only place the hit single version exists is on the ABC 45. Here it is.)
Revolution - The Beatles (9/68; #12 - John Lennon famously wanted the guitar to be as loud as it could possibly get without frying the console. He also wanted it to be the Beatles' first single on their new Apple label. Paul & George finally persuaded him to put it on the flip side of Hey Jude, which would spend nine weeks at #1.)
Love, Reign O'er Me - The Who (12/73; #76 - of the many songs that could honor singer Roger Daltrey for his birthday this week, I choose the closing track of their Quadrophenia album. This is the rare single version. Goosebumps!)
Trivia Answer
ANSWER. "Susan" by The Buckinghams has a really bizarre 30-second psychedlic sound effects section about 90 seconds into the record.
Congratulations to Jane from Ithaca for correctly answering the question and winning a pair of passes to Cinemapolis!
Host Next Week (3/12/16): John Rudan with a spotlight on March 1979
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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