May 4, 2019 - JS - 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!)

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Date:  5/4/19
Host:  John Simon
Feature:  Early May 1967


 

This week's birthday calendar includes Tammi Terrell, Tommy James, Willie Nelson, Lesley Gore, James Brown, Bobby Vee, Frankie Valli, Sonny James and Englebert Humperdinck - all of whom had great records on the chart in May of 1967. Join JS as he shines a spotlight on an amazing week in the world of popular radio. Added bonus: Pete Seeger's 100th birthday! Your requests! May the Fourth be with you!




  


Rock ‘n’ Roll Trivia


This is an audio clue: I'm playing an instrumental version of a song KV played last week (the final song of the 7:00 hour). Use last week's Blog post (or your good ear) to name that tune!

(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)

She'd Rather Be With Me - Turtles (#102, headed to #3 - their big #1 Happy Together was just starting to drop out of the Top 5 and this was poised to debut next week and quickly climb the chart)

Jimmy Mack - Martha & Vandellas (#11, down from three weeks at #10 - this was also a #1 on the R&B chart, recorded three years earlier and just sitting on the shelf until Berry Gordy heard it and said "that should be a hit!")

She Shot a Hole In My Soul - Clifford Curry (debuting at #100 this week - it would only reach #95 on the Pop chart, #45 on the R&B chart, but it became a bar band staple!)

 

Don't You Care - Buckinghams (at #7, headed to #6 next week - this was the third of five singles released by the band that hit the Top Twenty in 1967, making them the most successful American singles band of the year!)

At the Zoo - Simon & Garfunkel (down to #23 after two weeks at #10 - this is the mono 45 version, unavailable on commercial CD. This record may be better known as the flipside of The 59th Street Bridge Song, which didn't chart but gets lots of airplay to this day.)

Buy For Me the Rain - Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (peaking this week at #45 - this was the first charting single for this Folk Rock group which is still together making great music.)

All I Need - Temptations (at #42, headed to #8 Pop and #2 R&B - the Detroit vocal group was at its peak strength with David Ruffin singing lead. Every record was a classic during this phase of their career....)

 

Hypnotized - Intruders (#84 Pop, headed to #48 - this Philadelphia group was signed by Gamble & Huff, who wrote and produced this single. It would also reach #9 on the R&B chart.)

* Norman - Sue Thompson (12/61; #3 - this cute little ditty was written by John D. Loudermilk and was dedicated to the caller's brother-in-law....Norman!)

 

* I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony) - New Seekers (12/71; #7 - this was most famous as a soda pop commercial, but it spent four weeks at #1 in the UK  -  going out to Peggy in Brooktondale.)

* Groovin' - Rascals (#19 this week, headed to four weeks at #1 - this was a radical departure from their uptempo hits that preceded it, and management resisted releasing it as a single. Good thing cooler heads prevailed. Thanks Bill Shaw for the requests.)

* The Happening - Supremes (#2 this week, #1 next week  - Frank DeVol shared a writer's credit with Holland-Dozier-Holland, and this one was recorded in LA with the Wrecking Crew playing instead of the Funk Brothers. This was their last single as simply "The Supremes.")

Georgy Girl - Baja Marimba Band (down to #107 after one week at #98 - this movie soundtrack instrumental followed the Seekers' version by about four months and barely scraped into the chart, but it certainly has bounce!)

* White Bird - It's a Beautiful Day (10/69; dnc - a heavily-edited single version actually reached #118, but this is the full-length album version with Pattie Santos on harmony vocal.)

Please, Mr. Sun - Tommy Edwards (2/59; #11 - this is the mono 45 on M-G-M Records, sounding sweet and slightly scratchy just for you!)
 

7-8pm

 Birthday Calendar


April 29 – Bob Miranda (Happenings) – age 77
            – Tammi Terrell – born in1945
            – Tommy James – age 72



April 30 – Willie Nelson – age 86
            – Bobby Vee – age 76
           
May 1 – Sonny James – born in 1929
            – Judy Collins – age 80
            – Ray Parker, Jr. (Raydio) – age 65



May 2 – Englebert Humperdinck – age83
            – Lesley Gore – orn in 1946


May 3 – Pete Seeger – born in 1919
            – James Brown – born in 1933
            – Frankie Valli – age 85
            – Mary Hopkin – age 69

May 4 – Nick Ashford (Ashforn & Simpson) – b. in 1941
           

I Got Rhythm - Happenings (at #23, headed to three weeks at #3 - written by the Gershwin Brothers and released on the Tokens' BT Puppy Records label, with Bob Miranda on lead vocal.)

Ain't No Mountain High Enough - Marvin & Tammi (this was "bubbling under" and headed to #19 Pop, #3 R&B - written and produced by Ashford & Simpson, this was the first release for "America's Sweethearts." They were magical together!)

I Think We're Alone Now - Tommy James & Shondells (#5 this week, down from a peak of #4 - their biggest hit of 1967, released on the Roulette label.)

 

Mirage - Tommy James & Shondells (debuting at #69, headed to #10 - this was actually the result of a happy accident: they were rewinding the I Think We're Alone Now tape at playback speed and realized that it could be turned into a great song. Voila!)

The Party's Over - Willie Nelson (#24 C&W - this one never registered on the Pop chart, but it's become something of a bar room standard. At 86 years old, Willie is still writing and recording and touring!)

Come Back When You Grow Up - Bobby Vee (7/67 - this whimsical treat would eventually spend three weeks at #3, unfortunately stuck behind The Beatles and Bobbie Gentry.)

I'll Never Find Another You - Sonny James (bubbling under - and headed to #96 on the Pop chart, but it would spend four big weeks at the top of the C&W chart. It was written by Tom Springfield and was a big hit for The Seekers two years earlier.)

Release Me - Englebert Humperdinck (at #36, headed to #4 - this re-make of the "Little Esther" Phillips hit from a few years earlier spent four weeks at #1 in the UK. Ironically, Atlantic Records re-released her version to capitalize on Englebert's success and it spent two more weeks on the Opo chart in June of 1967!)

California Nights - Lesley Gore (down to #35 from a peak of #16 - this was the Jersey girl's final Top Forty hit, and she actually got to sing it on the popular Batman show starring Adam West.)

Let Yourself Go - James Brown (bubbling under - this dance single would hit the charts next week and reach #46 Pop and #5 on the R&B chart. All CD versions feature the much longer version, but tonight you hear the original King Records 45.)

Beggin' - 4 Seasons (down to #30 this week from a peak of #16 - Frankie Valli had just released a solo single called Can't Take My Eyes Off You, and the 4 Seasons' string of big hits would soon end.)

45 Corner:  Sunshine Girl - Marketts (4/67; dnc - Jerry Riopelle co-wrote this tune and recorded it with a studio group called The Parade at about the time this version was released. The Parade reached #20. These guys stiffed.)

* Tramp - Otis & Carla (debuting at #79 this week, headed to #26 Pop and #2 R&B - Otis as in Redding, Carla as in Thomas = Stax Records royalty.)

To Be a Lover - Gene Chandler (bubbling under, headed to #94 Pop, #9 R&B - The Duke of Earl kept churning out great singles, many written and produced by fellow Chicagoan Curtis Mayfield. Here's a great example.)

8-9pm


May 4, 1970 was the date of "the Kent State massacre," when four American college students protesting US fighting in Vietnam were gunned down by Ohio National Guard troops. Several listeners called or made contact asking for some sort of musical commemoration. That's how we'll open the 8:00 hour.

* Find the Cost of Freedom - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (6/70; dnc - this was the B-side of Neil Young's Ohio, which was written in immediate response to the shootings. Stephen Stills composed this haunting meditation.)

* Ohio - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (6/70; #14 - written and recorded within days of the shooting, this impassioned response was storming up the charts three short weeks later. It remains an enduring rebuke and reminder of this tragic event in our recent history.)

* Everybody I Love You - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (8/70; dnc - this was the final track of their Deja Vu LP. It was actually requested in the 6:00 hour (inspired by somebody else's request for White Bird.)

Turn! Turn! Turn! - The Byrds (12/65; #1 for three weeks - words from the biblical Book of Ecclesiastes, and put to music by Pete Seeger, who would've turned 100 just a day ago.)

* Foolish Little Girl - Shirelles (4/63, #4 - the listener asked to hear something by The Shirelles or The Crystals. How about one of each???)

 

* He's a Rebel - Crystals (11/62; #1 for three weeks - word reached Phil Spector that ViKki Carr was in a New York studio recording this Gene Pitney song. He wanted his Crystals to record it, but they were in NYC so he brought Darlene Love and her Blossoms into the L.A. studio with Hal Blaine and The Wrecking Crew. Their version was rush-released to radio stations and Vikki Carr's version didn't stand a chance.)

 

Blue Bayou - Linda Ronstadt (9/77; #3 for four weeks! - listener Tom Preston had this to say: "Blue Bayou was pretty faithful to the original, but one thing I like about her music is while she recorded a lot of covers, most of them were quite different from the originals. I think my favorite example is It Doesn't Matter Anymore. If you compare her version to Buddy Holly's original, it's so much slower that it's at least twice as long. When Buddy sings it, you think he means it. When Linda does, you're damned sure she means exactly the opposite of what the lyrics say.")

 

On and On - Stephen Bishop (5/77; #11 - a nice haunting late-Seventies romantic ballad to mix things up.)

* Wham Bam (Shang-a-Lang) - Silver (6/76; #16 - this poppy and bouncy bit of ear candy was used to brilliant effect in the Marvel film Guardians of the Galaxy II. Here it is in all its glory!)

Live - Merry-Go-Round (at #69 this week, peaking at #68 next week - this one would've been relegated to the slag heap of history if The Bangles hadn't released their version in 1984. Here's the original, penned by Emitt Rhodes.)

On a Carousel - Hollies (at #12 this week, headed to a peak of #11 - this was slated to be their final release on Imperial before they moved to Epic Records, but Imperial would release a couple more singles before giving up. Graham Nash sings lead. It's a brilliant single!)

I'll Never Find Another You - Seekers (3/65; #4 - this one actually spent two weeks at #1 in the UK. Tonight we hear a first-time stereo version from this brand new release!)

With This Ring - Platters (down to #27 from a peak of #14 Pop, #12 R&B - their career seemed doomed with the departure of Tony Williams in 1959, but they kept recording - with little success - with Sonny Turner on lead. A new record label, though, led to newfound success.)

You Can't Change That - Raydio (4/79; #9 - Ray Parker was a studio guitarist and bassist for Motown's L.A. studios. Raydio ws his pet project, and they had some big hits. The biggest? Ghostbusters!)

Both Sides Now - Judy Collins (11/68; #8 - "Judy Blue Eyes" won a Grammy Award for best Folk Record thanks to this single. Joni Mitchell wrote it. Little JR went out and bought the 45 in Collegetown a long time ago....)

Goodbye - Mary Hopkin (4/69; #13 - this young Welsh chanteuse had a nice string of records on the Apple Records label. Writers' credit on this one went to Lennon-McCartney!)

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




Trivia Answer


Last week KV played Sunshine Girl by The Parade. Tonight I played Sunshine Girl by The Marketts.

Congratulations to Betsy from West Hill, for correctly answering the question and winning a pair of day passes to Island Health & Fitness!



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 (5/11/19):  Gregory James with a spotlight on music from The UK and its impact on American music (and vice versa)!



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.

Thanks again to our sponsors Island Health & Fitness and Rasa Spa for their support every week!