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 4, 2017
Host: John Simon
Feature: 1959 PLUS a Spotlight on Music from the Motor City (and none of it Motown!)
Birthday Calendar
February 26 – Fats Domino – age 89
– Mitch Ryder – age 72
– Evie Sands – age 70
February 28 – Brian Jones (Rolling Stones) – born in 1942
March 1 – Roger Daltrey (The Who) – age 73
– Mike D'Abo (Manfred Mann) – age 73
March 2 – George Benson – age 74
– Karen Carpenter – born in 1950
March 4 – Bobby Womack – born in 1944
– Mary Wilson (Supremes) – age 73
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)
Stagger Lee - Lloyd Price (fourth and final week at #1 on both Pop & R&B)
Venus - Frankie Avalon (headed to #1 for a five week run for the Philadelphia teen sensation)
I Cried a Tear - LaVern Baker (peaking on thius date at #6 Pop, but it would spend five weeks at #2 on the R&B chart)
Lonely Teardrops - Jackie Wilson (down to #14 after a peak at #7 Pop - and seven weeks at #1 R&B!)
Please Mr. Sun - Tommy Edwards (at #39, headed to #11 Pop - the flip side was The Other Side Of The Mountain, which also charted and was later covered by Donny & Marie Osmond. Tonight we hear the mono MGM 45.)
Spotlight On The Motor City: Music from Detroit!
(Just Like) Romeo & Juliet - The Reflections (4/64; #6 - this, like many Detroit records, featured the uncredited playing of a bunch of Motown Records' "Funk Brothers.")
Cool Jerk - The Capitols (4/66; #7 Pop, #2 R&B - a rollicking dance number that reached #1 in several urban centers, including Detroit and Philly.)
45 Corner: Ramblin' Gamblin' Man - Bob Seger System (12/68; #17- Bob Seger was a staple of '70s and '80s radio, but he got his start as a tough-rockin' bar-band player. He still refuses to release these early singles on CD. Here's the punchy mono 45 on the Capitol label..)
S.O.S. (Stop Her on Sight) - Edwin Starr (12/66; #48 - on the small Ric-Tic label, this was one of the main reasons that Berry Gordy bought the label: so that he could add Edwin Starr to his roster, and so that the Funk Brothers would stop "moonlighting" for competing labels.)
Everlasting Love - Carl Carlton (9/74; #6 - Carl's first hits were recorded when he was a young Detroit teen, and he was presented as an alternative to "Little" Stevie Wonder. This was his biggest crossover hit. Two-and-a-half minutes of musical magic!)
Journey To The Center of Your Mind - Amboy Dukes 6/68; #16 - another tough-rockin' working class Detroit group. This one featured a young guitar slinger named Ted Nugent.)
House of the Rising Sun - Frijid Pink (2/70; #7 - this was a far cry from the Animals' hit version, and even a farther cry from the Joan Baez recording of the old folk song. Hard-driving metal on the Parrot Records label.)
Raspberries, Strawberries - Kingston Trio (at #80 this week, headed to #70. These guys singlehandedly opened the door for Peter, Paul & Mary and other "Folk" acts, including....Bob Dylan.)
Just a Matter of Time - Brook Benton (at #15 this week and headed to #3 Pop. It would spend a whopping nine weeks at #1 on the R&B chart!)
* Birthday - The Beatles (1968 - never released as a single by the band, but a staple of Real Rock Radio. This goes out to Wild Bill from Groton on his birthday.)
Love Child - Diana Ross & The Supremes (11/68; #1 for two weeks - the Supremes had recently replaced founding member Florence Ballard, but the hits kept on a-comin'. Mary Wilson would outlast Diana Ross as the only remaining original band member to appear on all of their records.)
Any Way That You Want Me - Evie Sands (8/69; #59 - the American Breed scored with a low-charting version of this a year earlier, but this was one time where Evie Sands wasn't "robbed" of a hit. Read a short history of her tortured career here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evie_Sands)
* Blueberry Hill - Fats Domino (10/56; #2 Pop, #1 R&B for 11 weeks! - this is probably his signature tune. Tonight we hear a first-time stereo version from our friends at Eric Records.)
Domino - Van Morrison (11/70; #9 - Van Morrison has a history of recording tributes to his mentors and heroes. This one gave him his highest-charting single.)
The Might Quinn (Quinn the Eskimo) - Manfred Mann (3/68; #10 Pop - this record spent two weeks at #1 in the U.K. and featured the terrific Pop voice of Mike D'Abo. Another first-time stereo version.)
* Lady Jane - Rolling Stones (7/66; #24 - this charting b-side featured multi-instrumentalist Brian Jones on Appalachian dulcimer.)
Without Your Love - Roger Daltrey (9/80; #20 - his body of work with The Who is impressive and well-known. Here's a very tasty solo single that shows his kinder and gentler side.)
Since I Don't Have You - Skyliners (quietly lurking at #83 on this date in 1959, this record would eventually climb to #12 Pop and #3 on the R&B chart. First-time stereo from the folks at Eric Records.)
* Sorry (I Ran All the Way Home) - Impalas (headed to #2 on this date - nice outing for a mixed-race band from Brooklyn, NY!)
A Lover's Question - Clyde McPhatter (at #32, down from a peak position of #6 Pop and #1 R&B for the former Drifters lead singer.)
It Doesn't Matter Anymore - Buddy Holly (Buddy Holly's plane had gone down on February 3rd. The record company released this on Feb. 23 and it was on its way to #13 on our spotlight date. It would spend two weeks at #1 in the UK.)
Donna - Ritchie Valens (peaking on this date at #2, one month after Richie died in the plane crash that also took Buddy Holly and The Big Bopper.)
Try Me - James Brown (at #73 this week, down from a peak of #48 Pop - and #1 R&B. This lilting ballad was a far cry from the funky style of the future "Godfather of Soul.")
Everybody Likes to Cha-Cha-Cha - Sam Cooke (at #61 this week, headed to #31 Pop and #2 R&B. The man could swing as good as he could croon!)
Come Softly To Me - The Fleetwoods (quietly positioned in the "Bubbling Under" section of the Pop chart, this little item on the Dolton label would rocket to the top just five weeks later and stay there for an entire month.)
A Groovy Kind of Love - Mindbenders (3/65; #2 - Wayne Fontana had left the group to become a solo superstar. The remaining members decided to soldier on on their own and this record sailed to a two-week run at #2. Meanwhile, Wayne Fontana faded into obscurity.)
* Chantilly Lace - The Big Bopper (the third big star to go down in the small airplane on "the day the music died.")
Run Run Run - Jo Jo Gunne (3/72; #27 - blistering single by two refugees from the California band Spirit.)
* 20 Miles - Chubby Checker (3/63; #20 - Philadelphia entertainer Ernest Evans resembled a slightly slimmer Fats Domino in the eyes of Dick Clark's wife. She jokingly suggested they call him "Chubby." "Chubby Checker," no less.)
Lonely Too Long - Young Rascals (3/67; #16 Pop, #3 R&B - these guys had recently scored a #1 with Good Lovin', which they'd borrowed from The Olympics. This one they wrote themselves. A classic!)
Special Occasion - Smokey Robinson & The Miracles (8/68; #26 Pop, #4 R&B - the hits just kept on coming!)
* Goodbye To Love - The Carpenters (7/72; #7 - it starts as a wimpy ballad and suddenly has a crazy fuzz-guitar solo that lasts for over a minute near the end!)
Touch a Hand, Make a Friend - Staple Singers (2/74; #23 Pop, #3 R&B - one of a long string of great records for this family group on the Stax Records label.)
Come & Get Your Love - Redbone (2/74; #5)
45 Corner: Breezin' - George Benson (10/76; #63 - this jazzy guitar piece was written by Bobby Womack, who actually appears on this very recording. Warner Brothers released an edited single of Benson's LP title track. Here 'tis, just for you!)
Shake Your Body (Down To the Ground) - Jacksons (8/79; #7 Pop, #3 R&B - the brothers consistently scored on the R&B chart, but the Pop audience took notice when brother Michael made an appearance on this single.)
* As Tears Go By - Rolling Stones (12/65; #6 - London Records)
Lost In Love - Air Supply (2/80; #3 for four weeks - this was the chart debut for this Australian hit-making machine, and it still sounds great.)
Congratulations to Stephen from Ithaca, who won a pair of tickets to the Kitchen Theater!
Host Next Week (3/11/17): Jan Hunsinger with a spotlight on States of The Union
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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