December 23, 2017 - JS - Late 1967

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:  12/23/17
Host:  John Simon
Feature:  December 1967

 'Twas the night before the night before Christmas, and my last Remnants show of the calendar year. The spotlight shines on this date 50 years ago - plus a great birthday calendar, some holiday Oldies and your requests from 6-9 p.m. Eastern time. C'mon by - no charge and plenty of cheer....

 

Birthday Calendar


December 17 – Eddie Kendricks (Temptations) – born in 1939


December 18 – Keith Richards (Rolling Stones) –age 74
           
December 19 – Maurice White (EWF) – born in 1944
            – Zal Yanovsky (Lovin' Spoonful) – born in 1944


December 20 – Kim Weston – age 78


December 21 – Carl Wilson (Beach Boys) – born in 1946

December 22 – Maurice Gibb (Bee Gees) – born in 1949
                      – Robin Gibb (Bee Gees) – born in 1949

December 23 – Eugene Record (Chi-Lites) – born in 1940




Rock ‘n’ Roll Trivia


Audio Question (7:00 hour)

(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)

The Rain, The Park & Other Things - Cowsills (down to #6 after two weeks at #2, this is one of the truly great debut records  -  and little sister Suzy Cowsill continues to perform with two of her brothers fifty years later!)


Daydream Believer - Monkees (in their fourth and final week at #1, this was the first single on which they actually got to play the instruments!)

(The Lights Went Out In) Massachusetts - Bee Gees (co-written by the twins with a birthday this week, this one had spent two weeks at #11 before falling to #20 this week.)

My Baby Must Be a Magician - Marvelettes (at #63, headed to #17 Pop and #8 R&B, and featuring a cameo spoken appearance by Melvin Franklin of The Temptations. "You are under my power....it is the Power of Love!")

Cross My Heart - Billy Stewart (at #93 this week, headed only to #86 Pop and a more respectable #36 R&B. Birthday man Maurice White played drums on many of Billy's big hits.)

Snoopy's Christmas - Royal Guardsmen (this perennial holiday favorite was released earlier in December 1967, and rounded out the group's trio of "Snoopy" hits)

   

* Pata Pata - Miriam Makeba (just off, down from #12 on the BB Hot 100 - requested by our buddy David in Vancouver, a terrific South African party record on the WB label.)

Christmastime Is Here Again - Flirtations (1968; dnc - this is the original UK b-side of their retro-sounding 1969 hit Nothing But a Heartache.)

Scarborough Fair - Simon & Garfunkel (3/68; #11 - the title track from their Parsley Sage Rosemary & Thyme LP would be released as a single a few weeks into 1968.)

 

Neon Rainbow - Boxtops (peaking for the fourth week at #24! Go figure....)

Honey Chile - Martha Reeves & Vandellas (at #16 this week, headed to a peak of #11 Pop and #5 R&B on the Gordy Records label.)

45 Corner:  Since You Showed Me How to Be Happy - Jackie Wilson (peaking this week at #32 Pop and headed to #22 on the R&B chart. Tonight you get the mono 45, not available on CD or LP anywhere!)

    

Susan - Buckinghams (at #34 and racing toward #10 for the Chicago-based band, this would be their fifth Top Ten record of the calendar year, making them  -  technically  -  the most successful American singles band of the year!)

Hard Candy Christmas - Dolly Parton (11/82; #8 C&W - from the soundtrack to the film The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.)

* Riu Riu Chiu - Monkees (1967; dnc - requested a cappella holiday music from "The Pre-Fab Four." Pretty cool....)

7-8pm

I'm Gonna Make You Love Me - Supremes & Temptations (12/68; #2 Pop and R&B - a pairing of Motown's two biggest vocal groups, with tenor Eddie Kendricks sharing lead vocal duties with Diana Ross.)

It Takes Two - Marvin Gaye & Kim Weston (1/67; #14 Pop, #4 R&B - this classic Motown duet was a bittersweet hit for Kim Weston: "sweet" in that it sold a lot of records, "bitter" in that Marvin was about to record with a new duet partner. Her name? Tammi Terrell.)

Do You Believe in Magic - Lovin' Spoonful (9/65; #9 - their charting debut for the Kama Sutra label features an iconic lead guitar break from Zal Yanovsky.)

The Last Time - Rolling Stones (3/65; #9 Billboard, but #1 for four weeks in The U.K. - next up? (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction. The Rolling Stones were f'real.)

  

Out of Time - Rolling Stones (recorded for 1967's Flowers LP, but not released as a single until 1975, when it would top out at #81.)

Soul Man - Ramsey Lewis Trio (just off the chart, having peaked at #49 - featuring Maurice White on drums. Several years later he'd leave Chess Records and Ramsey Lewis' trio to form Earth Wind & Fire.)

Girl Don't Tell Me - Beach Boys (1966; dnc - this little nugget was tucked onto the B-side of Barbara Ann and featured a rare lead vocal by guitar player Carl Wilson.)

   

Little Saint Nick - Beach Boys (1963; dnc - a perennial holiday classic from the Beach Boys' Christmas Album. A double-shot for Carl's birthday!)

Merry Christmas Baby - Otis Redding (10/68; dnc - Booker T & The M.G.s backed Otis up on this holiday classic. Many WVBR listeners are more familiar with Bruce Springsteen's cover, but this is a Rockin' Remnants favorite.)

    

Hello, Goodbye - Beatles (at #3 this week, poised to leapfrog into the top slot for a 3-week run at the top of the chart. Goodbye to 1967, hello to 1968.)


Judy In Disguise - John Fred & His Playboy Band (an off-the-wall parody of The Beatles' Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, at #6 this week. Three weeks later it would knock the Beatles out of the top slot.)

Theme From Valley of the Dolls - King Curtis (6/68; #83 - Dionne Warwick's version would spend four weeks at #2 a few months from now, where it was quietly tucked on the B-side of.....)

 

I Say a Little Prayer - Dionne Warwick (down to #10 this week from a peak of #4 - Aretha Franklin would also take this one to the Billboard Top Ten, hitching a ride on the flipside of The House That Jack Built!)

 

 


Frosty the Snowman - The Ventures (1965; dnc - crazy mash-up of Tequila and Frosty. Ho, Ho, Ho!)

 

8-9pm



 Fanny (Be Tender With My Love) - Bee Gees (12/75; #12 - another beautiful ballad with a beat, and all three brothers get co-writing credit.)

Please Come Home for Christmas - Eagles (12/78; #18 - Don Henley pulls the heartstrings and the band chalks up another seasonal crossover hit.)

* A Letter to Myself - Chi-Lites (2/73; #33 Pop, #3 R&B - we acknowledge Eugene Record's birthday with this "kitchen-sink" amalgam of his tried-and-true formula: spoken word introduction, lonesome harmonica and Oh Girl-type vocal arrangement.)

* Baby's First Christmas - Connie Francis (12/61; #26 - the charting b-side of a #10 picture-sleeve single on the M-G-M label.)

 

Christmas Is My Time of Year - Christmas Spirit (11/68; dnc - a one-off holiday record on the White Whale label, masterminded by Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan of The Turtles and writer/producer Chip Douglas, along with members of the Modern Folk Quartet and some lesser-known White Whale artists. Again, Ho, Ho, Ho!)

Bend Me, Shape Me - American Breed (at #13 this week, headed to a peak of #5 - 2:15 of bouncy brassy Chicago Pop music on the Acta Records label!)


In and Out of Love -  Diana Ross & The Supremes (down to #12 from a peak of #9 - a bit of forgotten fluff from Motown Records. A year later and the girls would part ways for good....)


Christmas Time is Here Again - The Beatles (12/67; dnc - each year The Beatles cut a special "holiday message" for Fan Club members, and each year they became more outlandish. Here's this year's installment.)

Up-Up and Away - Hugh Masekela (at #75, headed to a lowly peak of #71 Pop and #47 R&B - a few months later the South African horn player would top the charts with Grazin' In the Grass. This is a sneak preview....)

    

The Bells of Saint Mary's - Bob B. Soxx & The Blue Jeans (1963; dnc - from the Classic Phil Spector LP A Christmas Gift for You. It's a Wall of Sound replete with bells and castanets and big fat drums.)

 

I'll Make Every Day Like Christmas - Joe Tex (12/67; dnc - a pledge of year-'round fidelity from the quirky Soul singer on the Dial Records label.)

Cold, Cold Winter - Pixies Three (12/63; #79 - a little bit of plaintive Girl Group cotton candy for you)

* Little Christmas Tree - Jackson 5 (1973; dnc - Berry Gordy followed Phil Spector's lead ten years later with A Motown Christmas: a two-record set featuring all of his biggest stars. This one goes out to Lynne downtown.)

Merry Christmas Darling - Carpenters (1972; dnc - one last lush hurrah before the final curtain. Merry Christmas, everyone.)

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






Trivia Answer


King Curtis charted with "Theme From Valley of the Dolls" two months after Dionne Warwick spent four weeks with the same song at #2. Even more to the point, her version was the b-side of "I Say a Little Prayer," at #10 on our chart this week!

Congratulations to D. Rose from Enfield, for correctly answering the question and winning a $25 Gift Certificate to Rasa Spa!








Host Next Week (12/30/17):  Gregory James with a spotlight on December 1962





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.