January 20, 2018 - JH: Nuggets

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: January 20, 2018

Host: JH
Feature: Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era: 1965-68


Playlist

[Playing the #1 songs based on weeks at the top of the chart, from 1955 to 1975, in some years there were ties; 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]

6pm-7pm  

OPENING THEME:  Good Old Rock ‘n’ Roll – Cat Mother & the All-Night Newsboys (1969, #29, produced by Jimi Hendrix)

Tonight's spotlight feature is  Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From the First Psychedelic Era 1965-68.  Assembled by future Patti Smith guitarist Lenny Kaye, Nuggets was released as a double album in 1972 on Elektra records.  It featured American psychedelic and garage rock singles, and the liner notes written by Kaye included one of the first uses of the term "punk rock".  Rolling Stone magazine voyed the album #196 on its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Subsequent re-issues include: a fifteen installment series in the 1980s; a 4 CD box set in 1998; a 2000 single CD compilation entitled "Nuggets From Nuggets" based on the 4 CD box set; and a 2006 single CD of the original 1972 release, all on Rhino Records.  It is the 2006 release that is being played tonight.  Past DJ Bobby Comstock played Nuggets on Rockin' Remnants in the late 80s, so it's time to do it again!





 I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night) - The Electric Prunes (1967 - #11: garage rock at its finest with oscillating guitar opening the song)

Dirty Water - The Standells (1966 - #11: Although the song is about Boston, The Standells were out of LA; the song is beloved in Boston and is often played following victories by the city's professional sports teams)


Night Time - The Strangeloves (1965 - #30: The Strangeloves were Bob Feldman, Jerry Goldstein, and Richard Gottehrer, who put on the personas of Giles, Miles, and Niles Strange, sheepherders from Australia)

Lies - The Knickerbockers (1965 - #20: the group out of Bergenfield, NJ was seen regularly on Dick Clark's Where the Action Is and had a hit with this Beatlesesque tune)

Respect - The Vagrants (1967 - UC: although a regional hit on the East Coast, Aretha Franklin's release of the song a month later doomed The Vagrants' version; group featured young guitarist Leslie West, who left the group in 1969 to form Mountain)

A Public Execution - Mouse (1966 - #121: Dylanesque tune from the group out of Tyler, Texas) 


*San Francisco Girls - Fever Tree (1968 - #91: not on Nuggets, but this listener request fits the era and the genre)


No Time Like the Right Time - The Blues Project (1966 - UC: group of Greenwich Village musicians formed in 1965 that included Al Kooper and Steve Katz, who would leave to form Blood, Sweat, and Tears; remaining members of group would reform as Seatrain [13 Questions])

Oh Yeah - The Shadows of Night (1966 - #39: group that said it took a British version of the blues and gave it a Chicago touch; biggest hit was a cover of "Gloria")

Pushin' Too Hard - The Seeds (1967 - #36: The Seeds are credited with creating the term "Flower Power" and are seen as precursors to punk rock)

Moulty - The Barbarians (1966 - #90: song tells the story of how drummer Victor "Moulty" Moulton lost his left hand; a prosthetic allowed him to hold a drum stick)


Don't Look Back - The Remains (1966 - UC: popular Boston-area band that opened for the Beatles on their final American tour in 1966; group broke up in late 1966 but reformed in 1998 and still performs)

45 Corner

Tear Drop City - The Monkees (1969 - #56: written and produced by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart off the "Instant Replay" LP, released after Peter Tork left the group; does not appear on any single-CD "Greatest Hits" - a true lost classic)


An Invitation to Cry - The Magicians (1966 - UC: though the group was short-lived, members Alan Gordon and Garry Bonner would gain fame as songwriters, most notably "Happy Together" for the Turtles; group member Mike Appel would go on to become Bruce Springsteen's first manager)

Liar, Liar - The Castaways (1965 - #12: only hit for the group, song was used in the movie "Good Morning Vietnam") 

Birthday Calendar

January 14: Clarence Carter - 82
                   Jack Jones - 80

January 15: Ronnie Van Zant - born 1948

January 16: Barbara Lynn (Ozen) - 76
                   Jim Stafford - 74

January 17: Chris Montez (Ezekiel Christopher Montenez)                     75
                   Mick Taylor (Rolling Stones guitarist 1969-74) -                  70 

January 18: Bobby Goldsboro - 77
                   David Ruffin (Temptations) born 1941

January 19: Phil Everly - born 1938
                   Janis Joplin - born 1943
                   Dolly Parton - 72
                   Lee Martin "Dewey" Bunnell (America) - 66

January 20: Huddie William Ledbetter (Lead Belly) - born        1888 
                   William Powell (O'Jays) - born 1977
                   Paul Stanley (Stanley Bert Eisen - Kiss) - 66

60 Minute Man - Clarence Carter (1973 - #65: his cover of the 1951 hit by the Dominoes)

Wives and Lovers - Jack Jones (1963 - #14: song that capturres the attitudes of the "Madmen" era; Jack Jones even looks a bit like Don Draper)


Saturday Night Special - Lynyrd Skynyrd (1975 - #27: song that associates cheap handguns with impulsive violence)

You'll Lose a Good Thing - Barbara Lynn (1962 - #8: Lynn wrote this song that also went to #1 on the R & B charts)

My Girl Bill - Jim Stafford (1974 - #12: Stafford wrote this song about a love triangle and has an ending with a surprise twist)


The More I See You - Chris Montez (1966 - #16: Montez cover of song written in 1945; it has been used in several movies, including "Frantic" with Harrison Ford)

Brown Sugar - The Rolling Stones (1971 - #1: song came in at #490 on Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time)

I'm a Drifter - Bobby Goldsboro (1969 - #46: Goldsboro wrote this tune; he played guitar for Roy Orbison from 1962 to 1964)


My Girl - The Temptations (1965 - #1: RS magazine voted David Ruffin one of its 100 Greatest Singers; song was #88 of RS 500 Greatest Songs)

On the Wings of a Nightingale - Everly Brothers (1984 - #50: their last charting single, written by Paul McCartney; a bit out of the Rockin' Remnants era but an overlooked tune)


Get It While You Can - Janis Joplin (1971 - #78: the last song off her posthumous album "Pearl")


Jolene - Dolly Parton (1973 - #60: crossover hit for artist with 25 country #1s)

Tin Man - America (1974 - #4: George Martin produced and played piano on this Dewey Bunnell written song)

Goodnight Irene - The Weavers (1950 - #1: song written by Lead Belly ["King of the 12 String Guitar"] that topped the charts for 13 weeks; Ken Kesey made the line "Sometimes a Great Notion" into the title of arguably his greatest novel) 


Cotton Fields - The Beach Boys (1970 - UC: Lead Belly tune produced and sung by Beach Boy Al Jardine that did much better in the UK, where it reached #5)


992 Arguments - O'Jays (1972 - #57: according to allmusic.com, urban DJs played this song from the "Backstabbers" LP so much that the record company released it as a single)


Hard Luck Woman - Kiss (1976 - #25: "Starchild" Stanley wrote the song for someone like Rod Stewart to sing, but after success of "Beth" the group recorded it with Peter Criss doing the vocals)

Back to our feature: "Nuggets"

You're Gonna Miss Me - 13th Floor Elevators (1966 - #55: written by singer-songwriter Roky Erickson, a founding member of the group)

Psychotic Reaction - Count Five (1966 - #5: one of the first successful psychedelic rock songs)

Hey Joe - The Leaves (1966 - #31: group inspired by the Beatles; co-founder and bassist Jim Pons would go on to play with the Turtles and the Mothers of Invention; Jimi Hendrix made the song famous)
 

Romeo & Juliet - Michael & the Messengers (1965 - UC: cover of the hit by the Reflections by the group out of Milwaukee)

Sugar and Spice - The Cryan Shames (1966 - #49: their cover of Searchers song written by Tony Hatch; two original members still perform under the group's name; and another group with a member who had a prosthesis)


Baby Please Don't Go - The Amboy Dukes (1967 - #106: song written by Big Joe Williams in 1935; group featured Ted Nugent)

Tobacco Road - The Blues Magoos (1966 - UC: group would find success with their next single, "We Ain't Got Nothin' Yet")

Let's Talk About Girls - The Chocolate Watchband (1967 - UC: garage band with a harder edge that broke up in 1969, reformed in 1999, and is still performing)


Sit Down I Think I Love You - The Mojo Men (1967 - #36: cover of Buffalo Springfield tune written by Stephen Stills, done in baroque style; group had a female drummer)


Run Run Run - The Third Rail (1967 - #53: group included Joey Levine, who would go on to sing for The Ohio Express ("Yummy, Yummy, Yummy") and Reunion ("Life Is a Rock, (But the Radio Rolled Me"))

My World Fell Down - Sagittarius (1967 - #70: group of studio musicians with Glen Campbell taking the uncredited lead vocal)

Last three songs from the original Nuggets omitted due to time constraints:

Open My Eyes - Nazz (1968 - UC: featuring a young Todd Rundgren who wrote the song)

Farmer John - The Premiers (1964 - #19: The Premiers opened for The Kinks, The Rolling Stones, and the Dave Clark Five)

It's A-Happening - The Magic Mushrooms (1966 - #93: five guys from the University of Pennsylvania)

 From the Nuggets From Nuggets CD:

Shape of Things to Come - Max Frost and the Troopers (1968 - #22: song written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil for the movie "Wild in the Streets")





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


Host Next Week: (1/27): KV, hosting her 5th Anniversary Show!

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 streaming here.

January 13, 2018 - JS - Instrumentals

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:  1/18/18
Host:  John Simon
Feature:  I Have No Words!


Like singing along to the Oldies? Well, tonight you're out of luck (😟) as JS shines a spotlight on INSTRUMENTALS all night long. Dance tunes, Surf tunes, Movie tunes, TV commercials - it's all fair game! We'll take a short break for the B'day Calendar at 7 (and we'll fold in some vocal versions of some classic instrumentals), but we're basically unplugging the vocal mic and shining a light on the melodies and the instruments. 6-9 p.m. Eastern time, streaming at wvbr.com and airing on 93.5 FM locally. Snow, schmoe bro! C'mon by!

 

Birthday Calendar


January 7 – Paul Revere (Raiders) – born in 1938
           

January 8 – Elvis Presley – born in 1935
            – Little Anthony (Imperials) – age 78             
            – Robbie Krieger (Doors) – age 72

January 9 – Scott Walker (Walker Bros.) – age 75
            – Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin) – age 74
           





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)

Our Winter Love - Bill Pursell (2/63; #9 - Bill was a session piano player and bandleader. This moody piece featured a fuzz bass and a lilting melody, and this is how we get things rolling tonight.)

  

* Telstar - Tornadoes (1/63; #1 - this was a studio group in England assembled by producer Joe Meek. It captured the Cold War perfectly, which prompted a listener to request it in light of today's ballistic missile scare in Hawaii.)



* Pipeline - Chantay's (3/63; #4 - a group of high school kids from Southern California brought this to near the top of the charts!)

           

Atlantis - Shadows (1/63; #2 UK - The Shadows were England's equivalent of America's Ventures, with an uninterrupted string of charting singles that spanned a decade. Curiously, they failed to land a single record on the US charts.)

Green Onions - Booker T & M.G.s (8/62; #3 Pop, #1 R&B for four weeks - this mixed-race quartet doubled as the house band for Stax Records in Memphis. This was their first really big hit, named by guitarist Steve Cropper because it was "downright nasty  -  like green onions!")

* Pavane - Brian Auger (1971; dnc - from their Befour LP, this instrumental features the big fat Hammond B3 organ of Brian Auger.)

Batman Theme - Marketts (2/66; #17 - this is one of three versions on the chart on this date, and the highest-charting of the three. Composer Neal Hefti had a version that stalled at #35; singers Jan & Dean also had a charting version.)

Hawaii 5-0 - Ventures (3/69; #4 - exposure on television helped record sales, and this TV theme got lots of help from the popular show. The Ventures were busy touring, so this was really recorded by members of LA's "Wrecking Crew.")

* Harlem Nocturne - Viscounts (3/60; #52 Pop, #17 R&B - requested by a listener who vividly remembers listening to this from an old-school jukebox back in the day.)


* Hang 'Em High - Hugo Montenegro and His Orchestra (6/68; #82 - the call was for "some Clint Eastwood music." Montenegro's big hit was The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, and he also released For a Few Dollars More. The big hit for Hang 'Em High, though, was Booker T & The MGs, who went Top Ten.)

       

Spooky - Mike Sharpe (1/67; #57 - instrumentalist Mike Sharpe wrote and recorded this one, but it would really take off when lyrics were added and the Classics IV took a crack at it a year later. They recruited Mike Sharpe to lay down a sax solo!)

  

45 Corner:  Love Is All Right - Cliff Nobles (5/68; dnc - poor Cliff Nobles was sure he had a hit record coming - but DJs flipped it over and flipped for the instrumental bed called The Horse. The James Boys rode it all the way to #2 for three weeks, but it was attributed to the guy who didn't even appear on it! Here's the side with vocals.)

  

Am I The Same Girl - Barbara Acklin (2/69; #79 Pop, #33 R&B - Brunswick Records had a big instrumental hit with Young-Holt Unlimited and Soulful Strut, which reached #3 a couple of months earlier. Brunswick label mate Barbara Acklin added a vocal track and they sold a whole other batch of records using the same instrumental bed!)

Music to Watch Girls By - Andy Williams (3/67; #34 - Bob Crewe's instrumental version of this one went to #15. Two months later Andy Williams added words and followed him right up the chart.)

7-8pm

Like, Long Hair - Paul Revere & Raiders (8/61; #38 - Paul Revere played piano on this rocked-up version of a Rachmaninoff piece!)

Beck's Bolero - Jeff Beck (3/67; dnc - this was the b-side of a non-charting single, featuring Jimmy Page on second guitar, Keith Moon and John Entwistle of The Who on drums and bass, respectively, and Nicky Hopkins on piano.)

The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Any More - Walker Brothers (4/66; #13 Pop, #1 UK - we interrupt tonight's Instrumentals show for a couple of the era's finest male vocalists. The Walker Brothers couldn't buy a hit here in The States, but their career took off when they relocated to England.)

You're Lost Little Girl - The Doors (1967; dnc - the second track on their Strange Days LP features the tasty guitar stylings of Robbie Krieger.)

If I Remember to Forget - Little Anthony & The Imperials (1965; dnc - another album track that should've been a single, this one from the Reflections LP on the Veep Records label.) 

* In the Mood - Glenn Miller Orchestra (1940; #1 for thirteen weeks - we never go this far back unless it's for a special cause. This was a request from our friend Betsy who recently lost her mom - and this was her parents' favorite. Seventy-eight years later it still swings like nobody's business!)


* Cast Your Fate to the Wind - Sounds Orchestral (3/65; #10 - there were several charting versions of this one, including a vocal one from Shelby Flint  -  but listener Greg requested this one. We aim to please!)

Peter Gunn - Duane Eddy (10/60; #27 - Ray Anthony had a higher-charting version, but Duane Eddy had more twang. Another case of television exposure helping create interest in a record.)


* The Rockford Files - Mike Post (5/75; #10 - Mike Post had an ear for private eye/cop dramas. He'd reach #10 six years later with the Theme to Hill Street Blues.)

In the Ghetto - Elvis Presley (5/69; #3 Billboard, #1 Cash Box - this record solidly ushered in Elvis' third career comeback, and the lyrics go perfectly with tonight's weather forecast.)

Burning Spear - Soulful Strings (2/68; #64 Pop, #36 R&B - this one opens with an African thumb piano and light percussion, and builds with flute and drums and ultimately swirling strings.)

45 Corner:  Theme Without a Name - Dave Clark Five (8/64; dnc - this was quietly tucked on the flipside of one of the greatest rock ballads of the British Invasion. Because made it to #3 in the States, and I'll bet that more than half of the kids who bought the single flipped it over at least once....)

Cold Sweat - Mongo Santamaria (7/68; #45 R&B - this Latin-tinged treatment of the big James Brown hit failed to register on the Pop chart, but got enough play on Black Radio to make a ripple. Tonight we hear the original 7" single.)

Love In Every Room - Paul Mauriat & His Orchestra
(5/68; #60 - this one arrived just as Love Is Blue was falling off the chart, but didn't come close to matching its predecessor's chart success. Of course Love Is Blue spent four weeks at #1. No simple feat.)

 

* Classical Gas - Mason Williams (6/68; #2 for two weeks - this is another record that got lots of exposure on television: Mason Williams was musical director for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and his piece was featured several times on the show. It ended up winning a Grammy for Pop Instrumental of the Year.)

8-9pm

Love's Theme - Love Unlimited Orchestra (2/74; #1 - majestic swirling strings on top of a driving beat propelled this record to the top of the charts. The orchestra, under the direction of Barry White, included a young saxophonist who would later become....Kenny G.)

Whole Lotta Love - King Curtis

Tubular Bells - Mike Oldfield (2/74; #4 - best known as the theme from The Exorcist, this is the original single edit, pared down to 3 1/2 minutes from a 49-minute LP piece.)

* Water Song - Hot Tuna

Hijack - Herbie Mann (2/75; #14 - this one has nearly as much vocalizing as it does flute. Tonight we hear the heavily-edited DJ Promo 45. "Hi-jack...your love!")

Theme From Electric Skateboard - Brother Jack McDuff (12/69; #95 - swingin' Jazz single on the Blue Note Records label.)

The Mule - The James Boys (8/68; #82 Pop, #23 R&B - these are the same James Boys who did The Horse for Phil...L.A. of Soul Records. The Fantastic Johnny "C" added vocals and they called it Hitch It to The Horse, so they got two hits out of it.)

 

(We'll Be) United, Pt. 1 - Music Makers (2/68; #78 Pop, #48 R&B - Gamble & Huff recruited the James Boys to their record label and had them change their name to The Music Makers. This same instrumental track was used to back up the Intruders' record of the same name. Later Peaches & Herb would also chart with it.)

TSOP (The Sound Of Philadelphia) - MFSB (3/74; #1 Pop and R&B - The Music Makers finally morphed into the studio band called MFSB - the label said it meant "Mother, Father, Sister, Brother," but word on the street was that it was a more colloquial translation. This group would back up The O'Jays, Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, Three Degrees, Jerry Butler and more  -  and this song would become the theme music for television's Soul Train.)

You Keep Me Hanging On - Funk Brothers (10/66; #1 Pop and R&B - we've heard the Philadelphia studio players, the Stax players and from L.A.'s Wrecking Crew. Now it's time for the Motown Records studio group: The Funk Brothers, who played on more #1 records than the Beatles and Elvis combined. This is what the song sounded like before the Supremes added their vocals. Bam!)

45 Corner:  Keep That Same Old Feelin' - Crusaders 6/76; #21 R&B - these Jazz players were signed by Motown in the late Sixties, and did some session work when the label moved to L.A. This is an edited version of an album track that got airplay on the R&B circuit, edited down from 7+ minutes to 3:27.)

Sophisticated Cissy - The Meters (3/69; #34 Pop, #7 R&B - Art Neville of the first family of New Orleans Soul: The Neville Brothers, who played on lots of hits with The Meters.)

Theme From A Summer Place - Ventures (7/69; #83 - one of the biggest Instrumental hits of all-time was Percy Faith's version of this back in 1960 - nine weeks at #1. Here's a very tasty and retro-sounding cover from the Summer of '69.)

When Will I See You Again - Three Degrees (9/74; #2 Pop, #4 R&B - one more featuring the playing of MFSB. See you again next month!)

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









Host Next Week (1/20/18):  Jan Hunsinger with a spotlight on Rhino Records' Rock Artyfacts Boxed Set.





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.