Gregory James March 3, 2018 Songs charting in the last week of February 1955-1978

  

Rockin' Remnants

March 3, 2018
Host: Gregory James
Songs in the Billboard Hot 100 during the last week of February 1955-1978

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!)
Birthday Calendar

Birthdays February 25- March 3

Feb. 25

George Harrison 1943

         died Nov. 29 2001 at age of 58

February 26

Fats Domino 1928

         died October 24 2017 age 89

Bob Hite (Canned Heat) 1943

         Died April 5 1981 age 38

Mitch Ryder 1945

February 28

Brian Jones (Stones) 1942

         died July 3 1969 27 years old

March 1

Roger Daltry (Who) 1944

March 2

Lou Reed 1942

         died October 27 2013 at age 71

Rory Gallagher 1948

         died June 14 1995 at age 47

Karen Carpenter 1960

         died February 4 1983 at age 32

Jon Bon Jovi 1962

March 3

Mike Pender (Searchers) 1942        

  Playlist



 [all songs (except by birthday artists) are from the spotlight date of late February 1955-1978; yellow song titles are YouTube links; 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]. Chart positions are the highest attained by the record.


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

1.   Tutti Frutti: Little Richard 1956  #17. A-wop-bop-a-loo-bop-a-wop-bam-boom! One of the best lead-ins ever.

2.   Tutti Frutti: Pat Boone 1956  #12. How did this out perform Little Richard’s version?

3.   Shimmy Shimmy Koko Bop:  Little Anthony and the Imperials 1960 #24

4.   Old Payola Roll Blues: Stan Freberg and Jesse White 1960. A parody of rock and roll with very little mention of actual payola (paying DJ’s to play a record on the air in the hopes of boosting sales).

5.   I Want You Back: Jackson 5 1970  #1. From the first notes to the fadeout, an absolutely riveting track.

6.   Rag Mama Rag: Band 1970  #57

7.   Tweedle Dee: Lavern Baker 1955  #14

8.   Rubber Ball: Bobby Vee 1961 #6 (co written by Gene Pitney) 1^st time Mr. Vee overdubbed the second vocal line

9.   If You Could Read My Mind: Gordon Lightfoot   1971 #5

10.       Since I Met You Baby: Ivory Joe Hunter  1957    #12

11.       Surfin USA: Beach boys 1962  #75

12.       Crazy Mama: JJ Cale 1972 #22. Minimalism meets the wah-wah pedal.

13.       Speedo: Cadillacs 1956  #17. Calling Mr. Earl…

14.       What is Hip: Tower of Power  45 corner 1974  #91. This 45 RPM version is so hip it almost jumps off of the turntable.

15.       Top 40, News, Weather and Sports: Mark Dinning 1961 #81.     A little bit of weirdness with lots of strings and some very high pitched backup singers.

16.       Dead Skunk: Loudon Wainright III 1973  #16. Wainwright says he wrote it in 15 minutes after he ran over a skunk that was already dead.

17.       Peggy Sue: Buddy Holly 1958  #3 Co-authored by drummer Jerry Allison and named for his girlfriend.

18.       Close to You: Carpenters #1 1970 (Karen Carpenter was born during this week) Written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David.

19.       I’m Walking: Fats Domino #4 1957 (Fats Domino was born during this week)

20.       Devil with the Blue Dress: Mitch Ryder #4 1966 (Ryder was born during this week)

21.       Needles and Pins: Searchers #13 1963 (Lead singer Mike Pender was born during this week)  Written by Sonny Bono, Jack Nitzsche and an uncredited Jackie DeShannon.

22.       Never Loved A Man: Aretha Franklin #9 1967.  Recorded in Muscle Shoals, Franklin played her own piano on the track.

23.       Please Please Me: Beatles #3.  During the last week of February 1964, the Beatles had 5 songs in the Hot 100 on three different labels: Capitol had I Saw Her Standing There and I Wanna Hold Your Hand, Swan had She Loves You and Please Please Me and MGM had My Bonnie.

24.       Rhythm Of The Rain: Cascades 1963 #3. Complete with genuine sound effects of actual rain.

25.       Lonely Teardrops: Jackie Wilson 1959  #7

26.       Loving You: Minnie Ripperton 1975  #1. She sang in alto, soprano and falsetto ranges on this track.

27.       La Bamba: Richie Valens 1959  #1 (posthumously). Derived from Mexican folk music and sometimes played at weddings in Veracruz.

28.       Twine Time: Alvin Cash 1964 #14 Inspired by a dance popular on Chicago’s South Side.

29.       All Strung Out on You: John Travolta  1977. Yup, you heard right.

30.       Lightning Strikes: Lou Christie 1966 #1. Christie was known for his use of falsetto, which blended well with the back-up singers.

31.       Junk Food Junkie: Larry Groce 1976 #9. Live version of a song that makes fun of a health food fanatic’s craving for junk food—a favorite Ithaca pastime.

32.       You Send Me: Sam Cooke 1958 #1. Cooke was a soul music pioneer, writing dozens of hits.

33.       If Loving You Is Wrong: Millie Jackson  1975  #42. Several versions of this song exist, this one told from a woman’s perspective.

34.       Do You Wanna Dance: Bette Midler  45 corner. 1973 #17. A slowed down and smoking version of Bobby Freeman’s 1958 original, this track put Midler on the map.

35.       Love Is All Around: Troggs 1968 Entered Hot 100 at #98, rose to #7. Watch Bill Nighy sing it in the film Love, Actually. Note: this clip contains profanity.

36.       Lover’s Question: Clyde McPhatter 1959 #6.  Noah Hopkins sings the vocal bass line.

37.       Beyond the Sea: Bobby Darin 1960 #6. A track that should have made Darin a member of the Rat Pack. 

38.       How Deep Is Your Love: Bee Gees 1978 #1. Yet more falsetto…

39.       Beatnik Fly: Johnny and the Hurricanes 1960 #15. Reportedly, the Beatles opened for Johnny and the Hurricanes in Hamburg.

40.       Ain’t Got No Home: Clarence “Frogman” Henry 1957 #20. Henry could sing in a variety of vocal registers including “frog” (or vocal fry) register. 

41.       Town Without Pity: Gene Pitney 1962 #13. Title song from the movie of the same name.

42.       Too Much: Elvis Presley 1957 #2. First performed on Ed Sullivan’s show.

43.       Hooked On A Feeling: BJ Thomas 1969  #5. The track features an electric sitar.

44.       Dream Baby: Roy Orbison 1962  #4. Some of the best back-up singing on an Orbison track.

45.       Ballad of Thunder Road: Robert Mitchum 1962  #62. From movie of the same name in which Mitchum starred. He also wrote the lyrics. Who knew?

46.       Energy Crisis ’74: Dickie Goodman 1974   #33. Representative of a song genre that interspersed spoken dialogue (in this case questions posed to President Nixon) with snippets from popular songs of the day. An early version of sampling.

47.       Flashlight: Parliament 1978  #16. Funkadelic!

48.       Um Um Um Um Um Um: Major Lance 1964 #5 The title says it all…

49.       Gee Whiz: Carla Thomas 1961 #10.  She wrote it when she was 15.

50.       Cast Your Fate To The Winds: Vince Guaraldi 1963. A surprising hit with at least three tempo changes, sounding a bit like Brubeck at times. Guaraldi went on to score the Charlie Brown TV cartoon series.

51.       Anyone Who Had A Heart: Dionne Warwick 1964 #8. A poly-rhythmic Burt Bacharach composition, Warwick reportedly recorded her vocals in one take.

 

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

Host Next Week (3/10/18):  Kim Vaughan with a spotlight on songs about pie or pi (3.14....)


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