August 11, 2018 - JS - August 11, 1967

Rockin' Remnants




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Date:  8/11/18
Host:  John Simon
Feature:  This Week in 1967

Tonight: a Top Ten Countdown from the "Summer of Love," with a little something for everyone (plus your requests). Time Travel: August 11, 1967 starts...now!
  


Rock ‘n’ Roll Trivia


No contest this week, but can you name an artist with two hits in the Top Fifty this week: one of them as part of his group and one as a solo artist?

(scroll down to find the answer below the playlist – and to find a glossary of terms)




Playlist

·      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

·      a glossary of terms is below the playlist

6-7pm 



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

#10) A Girl Like You - Young Rascals (last week it was #11; this week it reaches its peak position for the first of two weeks, hot on the heels of their #1 smash Groovin')

#9) Carrie Anne - The Hollies (last week is was #16; this week it tops out at #9 and that's as far as it would get. Tonight you hear the radio station promo version pictured above! Note that lead singer Graham Nash had already departed by the time this television version was being performed!)

#8) Windy - The Association (two weeks ago it spent its last of four weeks at #1; last week it was #4 and now it's starting to fall. Writer Ruthann Friedman can be heard among the many voices singing on the closing choruses!)

#7) A Whiter Shade of Pale - Procol Harum (down from two weeks at #5, but it was a big chart-topper in the UK, with a piano figure based on a JS Back aire. It also comes in at #57 on the RS500. See the glossary at the bottom of the page if that means nothing to you....)

 

#6) Can't Take My Eyes Off You - Frankie Valli (at #6 for the second week, having stalled at #2 and unable to dislodge Windy from the top slot. Frankie also had a hit with his group of Jersey boys called C'mon Marianne, which was down to #45 after peaking at #9.)

 

#5) Mercy, Mercy, Mercy - Buckinghams (at #7 last week and topping out at #5 this week. Their producer would soon move on to produce another big horn band from their home city of Chicago, who would also find a happy home at Columbia Records.)

#4) Pleasant Valley Sunday - Monkees (It was #9 last week, and headed for a two-week run at #3 next week, but the traffic at the top would be too thick  -  Bobbie Gentry was hot on their heels and would leap over them for four weeks at the top. Trivia fact: that's Monkee Mike Nesmith playing that elaborate guitar lick!) 

#3) I Was Made to Love Her - Stevie Wonder (down from two weeks at #2 Pop, but four weeks at #1 R&B. Young Stevie was a man possessed on this record!)

#2) All You Need Is Love - The Beatles (at #3 last week, #2 this week and at #1 next week, it was introduced to the world on a satellite broadcast, reaching 400 million people in over 25 countries. "Summer of Love," indeed!)

#1) Light My Fire - The Doors (in its third and final week at the top of the chart, this record is perhaps most remarkable for the brilliant editing job that brought it from a seven-minute LP track to a 2:52 7" single - and the fact that it catapulted this quartet into the public consciousness out of relative obscurity.)

* Reflections - Diana Ross & The Supremes (this record debuted on this date at #61. It would eventually top out at #2, and may have the distinction of being the song most requested by the greatest number of people of any record I've played over the years!)

Hypnotized - Linda Jones (at #23 this week, headed to #21 Pop and #4 R&B. On a week when there were no women in the Top Ten countdown, there were some beauties in the vicinity: Aretha Franklin at #11 with Baby I Love You, Bobbie Gentry at #21 with Ode to Billie Joe and more....)

7-8pm

 Birthday Calendar



August 5 – Rick Derringer (McCoys) – age 71


August 7 – B.J. Thomas – age 76
           
August 8 – Joe Tex – born in 1933          

August 9 – Barbara Mason – age 71           

August 10 – Ronnie Spector – age 75
            – Bobby Hatfield (Righteous Bros) – born in 1940
           
August 11 – Eric Carmen – age 69

Note: this week's Birthday Calendar will feature a string of great #5 records. Coincidence? Maybe not!
            

A Sweet Woman Like You - Joe Tex (12/65; #29 Pop, #1 R&B - Joe Tex alternated between novelty records and soulful love songs. This is one of the latter.)

Hang On Sloopy - McCoys (10/65; #1 - these high school kids had to get permission from their parents to go to NYC to record this record. Several years later Rick Derringer was playing in Johnny Winter's Blues band, and eventually fronting his own outfit.)

Yes I'm Ready - Barbara Mason (5/65; #5 Pop and #2 R&B for three weeks - Some sweet Philly Soul, the only thing that kept this record from the top of the R&B chart was the Four Tops' I Can't Help Myself, which spent a whopping nine weeks in the #1 slot!)

Ebb Tide - Righteous Brothers (12/65; #5 - this was virtually a solo record for the tenor in the duo, and a tour-de-force it was!)

Go All the Way - Raspberries (7/72; #5 - from the suburbs of Cleveland came a rockin' band fronted by the "triple threat" Eric Carmen [left], who wrote, sang and played the blistering guitar on this Seventies summertime smash.)

Hooked On a Feeling - B.J. Thomas (11/68; #5 - this song would be re-imagined a few years later by a European group called "Blue Swede," but this Scepter Records 45 blasted out of the speakers for several months in 1968/69.)

You Baby - Ronettes (1964 LP track; dnc - Phil Spector gave his singer "Veronica" center stage in the group called The Ronettes. Eventually he'd marry her. This fabulous track was tucked away on side two of their first big album.)

A Summer Symphony - Lesley Gore (6/69; dnc - this was tucked on the B-side of the non-charting 98.6/Lazy Day single, and is perfect for a night like this.) 

 

So Much In Love - The Tymes (8/63; #1 - some smooth Philadelphia Doo-Wop love on a midsummer's night, on the Cameo-Parkway Records label.)

It Could Be We're In Love - Cryan' Shames (8/67; at #97 this week, headed to #85 - if you grew up in the Chicago area, this was one of the biggest hits of the summer. Nationally, it nearly went unheard.)

Hound Dog - Elvis Presley (8/56; #1 for eleven weeks - released this week 62 years ago, tonight it sounds like a new recording thanks to the remastering engineers at Eric Records. Buy this CD. Hear it in stereo for the first time. You'll thank me. Seriously!)

Whispering Bells - Dell-Vikings (7/57; #9 - this blistering hit pre-dates our chart by ten years and it still gives me goosebumps!)

Lipstick On Your Collar - Connie Francis (6/59; #5 - another stunner in stereo from the Eric Records family, this seemingly silly song actually has one of the greatest guitar breaks in R'n'R history.)

Denise - Randy & The Rainbows (7/63; #10 - this was a big hit for the Italian Doo-Woppers from Queens, NY. Their only other charting hit would reach a disappointing #97.)

You Know What I Mean - Turtles (8/67; at #59 this week, headed to #12 - this wasn't their biggest hit, but it may be their most polished and intricate of them all, with horns and strings arranged and conducted by Jack Nitzsche.)

8-9pm



Zip Code - Five Americans (8/67; debuting on this date at #85, headed to #36 - a shameless attempt to recapture the magic of their #5 hit Western Union, this is a surprisingly good single!) 

Get the Message - Brian Hyland (8/67 - debuting at this date at #91 - and that's as far as it would get. I just don't get it - this shoulda been a big hit!) 

Fallin' In Love - Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds (8/75; #1 - a lush romantic ballad that deserved its place at the top of the charts in the summer of 1975, even if it WAS released on Hugh Hefner's record label.)

How Long - Ace (3/75; #3 - this one was a big hit for singer-and-writer Paul Carrack, who was actually writing about his band mate's infidelity to the group - and not about a cheating lover.)

Carolina In the Pines - Michael Murphey (8/75; #21 - before he moved to Nashville to become a big C&W star, Michael Martin Murphey had a nice hit with this excellent crossover banjo-tinged record.)

Say Goodbye to Hollywood - Ronnie Spector & The E Street Band (5/77; dnc - this most excellent collaboration between the former Ronette and Bruce Springsteen's band was pulled from wide release at the last minute by the brass at Epic Records - but promotional copies were released and I have one. This is a cover of a Billy Joel song actually written about...Ronnie Spector!)

This Little Girl - Gary US Bonds (4/81; #11 - speaking of the E Street Band, they convened to back up this New Orleans R'n'R trailblazer on this Bruce Springsteen tune. Rumor has it that he might be playing in the area this month with a local band. Twice! Recognize the acoustic guitar player in the back on the left???)

* Wait - The Beatles (12/65; dnc - this was actually the next-to-last song on the American version of the Rubber Soul LP. This request came in late, but rushed to the top of the list.)

* Strange Brew - Cream (6/67; #17 UK - the caller said "One thing I remember best about the Summer of '67 was the Disraeli Gears album by Cream." This was its opening track and the lead single, but it never charted here in the States.)

* When You Walk in the Room - Jackie DeShannon (1/64; #99 - this one was written by Jackie D, but went just about nowhere until The Searchers revisited it. It suddenly became a B-I-G hit song for her. Going out to my buddy Lou in Florida.)

How Long (Betcha Got a Chick On the Side) - Pointer Sisters (8/75; #20 Pop, #1 R&B - the sisters from Oakland, California had a big hit on the Blue Thumb label, but they were just getting started. They'd switch to a bigger label and suddenly blast off!)

Ever See a Diver Kiss His Wife While the Bubbles Bounce About Above the Water? - Shirley Ellis (2/66; #135 - maybe the title was too unwieldy. Maybe the public was tiring of her novelty records. Either way, this duet with her mentor Lincoln "Bo-Binkin" Chase was one cool platter!)

Got to Be There - Michael Jackson (10/71; #4 - I got a surprise visit tonight from my daughter and her beau, on the night before they headed back to California. This one is for her: Michael's first solo release. 💗💖)

Pilot of the Airwaves - Charlie Dore (2/80; #13 - this was the English singer/songwriter's only hit Stateside, and it goes out to everyone whose request got lost in the shuffle tonight. Thanks for tuning in. See You in September!)

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




Trivia Answer


Frankie Valli had Can't Take My Eyes Off You rising on the chart at the same time that the Four Seasons' C'mon Marianne was falling. Who guessed it?

Congratulations to you from your town, for correctly answering the question!



Glossary of Terms:

dnc = did not chart

nr = not released as a single at the time

AC = Billboard’s chart for “Adult Contemporary” records

BB = Billboard Magazine, which publishes the Hot 100 chart (previously known as the Top 100), along with several other charts

Bubbling Under = songs that were ranked but fell below the top 100

C&W = Billboard’s chart for “Country & Western” records

R&B = Billboard’s chart for “Rhythm & Blues” records

RRHOF = Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
RS500 = Rolling Stone Magazine’s ranked list of the top 500 singles of all-time




Host Next Week (8/18/18): John Rudan with a spotlight on "multipurpose Oldies!"



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