Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Oct. 1, 2016 - JS - Fall



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:  10/1/16
Host:  John Simon
Feature:  Autumn is Here



It's the beginning of October. School's back in session, nights are getting longer, leaves are starting to turn and temperatures are dropping. Back in 1966 a brand new television season had just begun, and the charts were full of TV-related tunes. Let's start the show with some of them....



Image result for The Monkees Image result for batman and robin


 







Birthday Calendar


Sept. 25 - Ian Tyson (Ian & Sylvia) - age 83
           

Sept. 26 - Olivia Newton-John - age 68
              - Marty Robbins - born in 1925

Sept. 27 - Randy Bachman - age 73

Sept. 28 - Ben E. King (Drifters) - born in 1938

Sept. 29 - Jerry Lee Lewis - age 81

Sept. 30 - Johnny Mathis - age 81
              - Marilyn McCoo (5th Dimension) - age 71
              - Frankie Lymon - born in 1942 (d. at 25)

Oct. 01 - Donny Hathaway - born in 1945



Rock ‘n’ Roll Trivia


Be my third caller when you hear the song with the bowling ball and win an hour of bowling at Atlas Bowl in Trumansburg !

(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)

Monkees Opening Theme - The Monkees (9/66; dnc - written by Boyce & Hart, this is the truncated version running under the opening and closing credits. Check out the video!)




Batman Theme - Marketts (2/66; #17 - the race to capitalize on the success of the TV show eventually boiled down to this version vs. Neal Hefti's version. This version, attributed to The Marketts was really recorded by LA's famed "Wrecking Crew.")
Image result for marketts batman      Image result for hefti batman
 

Secret Agent Man - Johnny Rivers (3/66; #3 - 1966 was swarming with secret agents working for U.N.C.L.E., KAOS, CONTROL, Impossible Mission Forces and others fighting the Cold War. This was the theme song for a show about Agent John Drake, who worked for a secret division called "M19.")

The Avengers (Main Title) - London Studio Orchestra (1966; dnc - this stylish British spy series followed the exploits of Simon Steed and Emma Peel. The dramatic opening music was half the fun!)
Image result for The Avengers TV



Snoopy vs. The Red Baron - Royal Guardsmen (12/66; #2 for four weeks - based on the exploits of Charles M. Schulz' famous "Peanuts" beagle, this was the first of three Top 20 Snoopy hits for the Florida group)

Image result for royal guardsmen      Image result for royal guardsmen return



Return of The Red Baron - Royal Guardsmen (2/67; #15 - released just two months later. Laurie Records tried to catch lightning in a bottle, and they came close....)

Bus Stop - The Hollies (9/66; #5 - founding member of the band Graham Nash opened his show at the State Theater with this very song last weekend. Summer's over and this kicks off a mini-set of Summer-in-the-rearview-mirror tunes.)

I've Got Sand In My Shoes - Drifters (9/64; #33 - follow-up to their smash Under The Boardwalk perfectly captures the end of the season.)
 Image result for Under the Boardwalk   Image result for Sand in my shoes drifters


Summer's Gone - Lettermen (1962; LP Track - Paul Anka had a big hit with this the year before, but it was a perfect vehicle for the close harmonies of the Lettermen.)

 
I Didn't Have Any Summer Romance - Satisfactions (1966; nr - Jack Nitzsche's wife Gracia sang lead on this Goffin-King tune, but it was never released at the time. Pity  -  it could've been a hit!)

Image result for Jack Nitzsche


* All Summer Long - Beach Boys (1964; LP Track - the title track of a classic album that was never released as a single, but that is certainly one of their greatest hits thanks to its inclusion in the film American Graffiti.)

* It's About Time - original TV version (an oddball request for a long-lost TV theme from the creators of Gilligan's Island. Be careful what you wish for....)
Image result for it's about time tv show


* Poor Side of Town - Johnny Rivers (11/66; #1 - his only #1 also happened to be the one hit record he also composed.)

* Spare Me a Little - Fleetwood Mac (7/72; dnc - released as a single in the UK, from the album Bare Trees  -  requested to reflect the changing of the seasons depicted on the LP cover.)

Image result for fleetwood mac bare trees



* Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) - Marvin Gaye (7/71; #4 - this rare version is "The Detroit Mix": the original way Marvin Gaye intended for it to be heard. A Rockin' Remnants exclusive!)





7-8pm



Twelfth of Never - Johnny Mathis (10/57; #9 - the B-side of the #1 ballad Chances Are)

Whole Lot Of Shakin' Going On - Jerry Lee Lewis (6/57; #3 Pop for two weeks, #1 C&W, #1 R&B - one of the true "cross-over" successes of the era, when the airwaves were still strongly segregated.)
Image result for jerry lee lewis


Save The Last Dance For Me - Drifters (10/60; #1 for three weeks - classy ballad with a Latin beat, featuring the unmistakable voice of Mr. Ben E. King.)

Wedding Bell Blues - 5th Dimension (11/69; #1 for three weeks - this Laura Nyro composition became a staple in the 5th Dimension repertoire, and part of the joke was that "Bill" Davis and lead singer Marilyn McCoo were sweethearts. Life imitates art!)
Image result for 5th Dimension


I'm Not Too Young To Dream - Frankie Lymon (1959; dnc - Frankie left the Teenagers for a solo career, but his angel-like voice changed and heroin started to take its toll. He'd be dead at age 25. Here's a rarely-heard recording on the Gee Records label.)
Image result for frankie lymon and the teenagers     Image result for frankie lymon funeral




I Swear By Stars Above - Ben E. King (9/66; #35 R&B - one of his string of forgotten singles on the Atco Records label. This one completely missed the Pop charts.)
Image result for Swear By Stars Above


Don't Worry - Marty Robbins (1/61; #3 Pop, #1 C&W for TEN weeks - featuring the "fuzz bass" of Nashville studio cat Grady Martin!)

* Didn't You Know (You'd Have To Cry Sometime) - Gladys Knight & Pips (3/69; #63, #11 R&B - requested by listener Jane on her birthday. She wanted to hear her "favorite Gladys Knight song." It might be mine, too.)
 Image result for didn't you know (you'd have to cry sometime)


* Knock On Wood - Eddie Floyd (9/66; #23 Pop, #1 R&B - thunder and lightning were crashing all around us as this song was playing. Thanks for the request, George!)

45 Corner:  Don't Let the Green Grass Fool You - Wilson Pickett (1/71; #17 Pop, #2 R&B - this sizzling version of a sizzling Wilson Pickett tune is even more sizzling on this monoraul radio station promo 45, designed to sound especially good through radio speakers.)



Lowdown - Boz Scaggs (7/76; #3 Pop, #5 R&B - Grammy: R&B Song. Boz Scaggs comes to Ithaca's State Theater next weekend. Tonight we play the 45 version of his big hit.)
Image result for Silk Degrees
 

Here Comes That Song Again - Roy Orbison (6/60; non-charting B-side - this lush ballad was buried on the back of Only The Lonely, which reached #2 on the Pop charts)

Rip Van Winkle - Devotions (2/64; #36 - a last-gasp Doo Wop novelty record featuring the sounds of a bowling ball scattering the pins  -  signaling the time to call to win an Atlas Bowl certificate.)

Hawaii Five-O - Ventures (3/69; #4 - one more great TV theme instrumental. The Ventures were actually touring when this was scheduled to be released, so the actual recording was done by studio musicians from....The Wrecking Crew!)





8-9pm



* Little Green Apples - O.C. Smith (8/68; #2 - Grammy: Song of the Year. Roger Miller also had a hit, but this version was requested by two separate listeners. It must be Apple Harvest Festival Weekend in Ithaca!)
Image result for Little Green Apples   Image result for O.C. Smith


Oh Girl - Chi-Lites (5/72; #1 Pop and R&B - this was the second consecutive R&B #1 for Eugene Record and the group. Mournfully beautiful....)

* Thunder and Lightning - Chi Coltrane (9/72; #17 - a request from Moravia, which was being rocked with both thunder and lightning at the time.)

Image result for chi coltrane - thunder and lightning


Four Strong Winds - Neil Young (2/79; #61 - this treatment of Ian Tyson's composition was a single released from Neil's Comes A Time album, and featured a multitude of guitars along with Nicolette Larson's harmony vocals.)

Let It Ride - Bachman-Turner Overdrive (2/74; #23 - this group rose from the ashes of the Guess Who, when lead guitarist Randy Bachman split with Burton Cummings.)

* (Sittin' On the) Dock Of The Bay - Otis Redding (3/68; #1 for four weeks - requested by listener Lew in Newfield, just back from a family funeral and  thinking of his late brother who loved fishing from the dock. Sigh.)

* Heroes Are Hard To Find - Fleetwood Mac (2/75; dnc - this was the title track of their final LP before Buckingham & Nicks joined the band. It was released as a single in both the US and UK, but didn't chart in either place.)
Image result for heroes are hard to find 45    Image result for heroes are hard to find fleetwood mac      


Hopelessly Devoted To You - Olivia Newton-John (7/78; #3 for two weeks)

Where Is The Love - Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway (6/72; #5 Pop, #1 R&B - Grammy: Vocal Pop Duo. These two met at Howard University and released a string of beautiful duet records. Donny Hathaway tragically jumped from a hotel window in NYC a few years later.)

* Nothing But a Heartache - Flirtations (3/69; #34 - these American expatriates landed in England and had a big American hit with this retro-sounding Girl Group treasure on the Deram label.)

You Don't Have To Be a Star - Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis (9/76; #1 Pop and R&B - the sweethearts of the 5th Dimension scored big with this dance hit, featuring the unmistakable sounds of Motown's James Jamerson on bass.)
Image result for Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis


Goin' Back - Dusty Springfield (7/66; #10 U.K. - The Byrds charted with this Goffin-King composition here in the States, but it was one of Dusty's big hits in England a year earlier. Tonight we gave away a pair of tickets to the Dusty/Petula/Adele/Amy Winhouse revue at the Hangar Theater.)

* The Last Song - Edward Bear (12/72; #3  - again: life imitating art! Our last song of the evening is.....Last Song, requested by Jeff and especially appreciated by Woody in Danby!)
 


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






Trivia Answer


Rip Van Winkle by the Devotions opens and closes with the thundering crash of a bowling ball (okay...a cannonball) on a set of bowling pins.

Congratulations to Chris from Ithaca for correctly answering the question and winning an hour of free bowling at Atlas Bowl in Trumansburg!








Host Next Week (10/8/16):  Kim Vaughan with a SPOTLIGHT





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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