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: 4/15/17
Host: John Simon
Feature: April 1963
The British Invasion was less than a year away. JFK and his young family were in the White House and Pop radio was full of the optimistic sounds of Girl Groups, Surf Bands and teen dance music. Nobody knew how quickly things would soon change....
Birthday Calendar
April 9 – Carl Perkins –born in 1932
April 13 – Jack Casady (Jefferson Airplane) – age 81
– Al Green – age 71
April 14 – Percy Sledge – born in 1940
Rock ‘n’ Roll Trivia
Bobby Vinton had a record on the chart this week. Can you name the artists who had originally charted with it?
(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)
Another Saturday Night - Sam Cooke (debuting at #66, headed to #10 Pop and #1 R&B - Sam Cooke could do no wrong musically. This was one of six charting songs for him in 1963. Sadly, he would be gunned down in a motel lobby a year-and-a-half later at age 33.)
Pipeline - Chantay's (at #9, headed to #4 - high school surf band scores a big one! Unfortunately, it was their only charting record - ever.)
I Will Follow Him - Little Peggy March (at #3, headed for three weeks at #1 - she was 15 years old when this record reached the top of the charts, but teens were scoring hits all over this week's chart)
Killer Joe - The Rocky Fellers (at #57, headed to #16 - four teenaged brothers and their dad, all from the Phillipines)
* Birthday Party - Pixies Three (headed to the charts in early November of 1963, this is a dedication from our buddy KV to her nephew Jonah and her sweetheart Tom, both with birthdays this week and all tuning in from home)
Having a Party - Sam Cooke (5/62; #17 - this completes a double-shot of birthday celebration for KV and her family, and gives us a chance to play two Sam Cooke tunes within twenty minutes of each other!)
* Where The Boys Are - Connie Francis (1/61; #4 - regular listener Barbara requests this one every year at Spring Break time, and we're happy to oblige.)
Foolish Little Girl - Shirelles (at #29, headed to #4 Pop)
* Blame It On The Bossa Nova - Eydie Gorme (down to #38 from a peak of #7 - this would be her highest-charting single; her husband Steve Lawrence also had a record climbing our chart this week, and they'd have a couple of successful duet records before the year was over)
* Please Come To Boston - Dave Loggins (6/74; #5 - this mournful ballad was his only big hit, but it seems to have universal appeal....)
Our Winter Love - Bill Pursell (down to #27 from a peak of #9 - a terrifically atmospheric instrumental featuring a fuzz bass guitar and Bill Pursell's piano skills)
Da Doo Ron Ron - Crystals (bubbling under this week, headed to #3 - one of Phil Spector's first great "Wall-of-Sound" creations.)
45 Corner: Sun Arise - Rolf Harris (at #63, down from a peak of #61 - his American chart debut on the Epic Records label. His next release would be "Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport," and that would be the record most of America would remember)
El Watusi - Ray Barretto (a cool crossover dance hit that didn't get played much in upstate NY, but that garnered enough big-city airplay to reach #17 on the Billboard Chart. Bubbling under this week....)
Puff The Magic Dragon - Peter, Paul & Mary (in its first of two weeks at #4, headed to a peak of #2 - young Peter Yarrow wrote this song in Ithaca, NY as a Cornell student)
Ride The Wild Surf - Jan & Dean (9/64; #16 - featuring the fine support of LA's famed "Wrecking Crew," with Hal Blaine thundering on the drums)
Matchbox - The Beatles (9/64; #17 - Ringo got to sing this one and Capitol released it as a single here in the States. Carl Perkins wrote it.)
Let's Stay Together - Al Green (2/72; #1 Pop and #1 for NINE weeks on the R&B chart)
Take Time To Know Her - Percy Sledge (3/68; #11 - recorded in Muscle Shoals and considered to be one of the great examples of "swamp soul" from the late sixties)
Crown Of Creation - Jefferson Airplane (11/68; #64 - the title track of their latest LP, featuring the rumbling bass playing of Jack Casady)
* My Boyfriend's Back - Angels (9/63; #1 - one of the great Girl Group singles from the genre's most fertile year. The caller remembers his old girlfriend loving this one...and he also remembered the "answer record")
* Your Boyfriend's Back - Bobby Comstock and The Counts (9/63; #98 - rush-released to capitalize on the success of the Angels' hit, this was one of several nationally-charting singles for the Ithaca natives)
Don't Be Afraid Little Darling - Steve Lawrence (peaking on this date at #26 - his previous single was a big #1 smash written by Goffin-King. This Mann-Weill composition didn't come close to matching its success.)
He's So Fine - Chiffons (the #1 record on this date, in its fourth and final week at the top of both charts)
Over The Mountain (Across the Sea) - Bobby Vinton (at #22, headed to #21 - a fairly faithful-to-the-original version of a classic Oldie. Scroll to the bottom to see who recorded it first....)
On Broadway - Drifters (at #12, headed to #9 on the Pop chart - with an uncredited Phil Spector playing that cool guitar break in the middle!)
Alice In Wonderland - Neal Sedaka (just off the chart, having peaked at #17 - another great NYC recording, replete with harp and orchestra)
The End Of The World - Skeeter Davis (down to #11 from a peak of #2 Pop, #2 C&W - and #4 R&B)
In Dreams - Roy Orbison (down to #18 from a peak at #7 - two in a row recorded in Nashville)
Pushover - Etta James (debuting at #71, headed to #25 Pop and #7 R&B - a tough dance number, providing great contrast to her haunting torch ballad "At Last.")
Foot Tapper - The Shadows (#1 UK - England's most prolific instrumental group never had a charting single here in The States. This record was their final #1, sitting atop the UK charts on this very date.)
Shy Girl - Cascades (bubbling under, headed to #91 Pop - a two-sided hit in Canada, but this follow-up to Rhythm Of The Rain never made a splash here in the States)
That's How Heartaches Are Made - Baby Washington (at #61, headed to #40 Pop and #10 R&B - one of a string of great Soul platters on the Sue Records label)
That's How Heartaches Are Made - Marvelettes (11/69; #97 Pop - the final gasp for what was once Motown's premiere vocal group was a beautiful re-make of the Baby Washington tune)
* (Your Love Is Like A) Heatwave - Martha & Vandellas (8/63; #4 Pop, #1 R&B - the caller said "there were some great R&B records that year - can you play this one?" Done!)
* Leader of The Laundromat - The Detergents (12/64; #19 - believe it or not, the caller heard this spin-off satire recording several times before he ever heard the original. He thought it was really dumb, and he reports that he actually laughed out loud when he finally heard the Shangri-Las' version. See below.)
* Leader Of The Pack - Shangri-Las (11/64; #1 - produced by the legendary Shadow Morton, this morbid slab of vinyl became one of the biggest hits of the year in a year dominated by British acts - especially The Beatles.)
* Straight To Your Heart Like a Cannonball - Van Morrison (from his 1972 Tupelo Honey LP, going out by request as a dedication to our very own Nicholas Hill)
Pilot Of The Airwaves - Charlie Dore (2/80; #13 - a true "one-hit wonder," with her one sole single ever appearing on the US charts.)
* Abraham, Martin & John - Dion (10/68; #4 - Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot and killed on April 4, 1968. The caller had recently heard a news story that reminded him of this song and asked for it - and the next one - in his honor.)
* What a Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong (7/68; #116 - this one barely registered here in the States at the time of its release, although it spent five weeks at the top of the UK charts. It would reach #32 twenty years later after its appearance in the 1988 film Good Morning Vietnam)
Tired Of Being Alone - Al Green (7/71; #11 - this was his first true hit single, and it would signal the beginning of a long and storied career.)
45 Corner: Another Park, Another Sunday - Doobie Brothers (4/74; #32 - seven months later the b-side of this one would become the band's first #1 single. Tonight we hear the 45 edit, which is a full :90 seconds shorter than all other available versions. The b-side, by the way? Black Water.)
* Eve of Destruction - The Turtles (6/70; #100 - it seems that this Barry McGuire hit is requested almost every time I'm on. Tonight we hear the Turtles' version, released by White Whale Records after the band had split. A Rockin' Remnants exclusive!)
Trivia Answer
Bobby Vinton's Over The Mountain (AcrossThe Sea) was originally a hit for the duo Johnnie & Joe.
Congratulations to Tom from Long Island, for correctly answering the question and winning a $25 Gift Card to Barski's X-Treme Laser Tag!
Host Next Week (4/22/17): John Rudan with a spotlight on the Spring of '72
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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