August 10, 2019 - John Simon - Sunshine

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:  8/10/19
Host:  John Simon
Feature:  Random Oldies

Back on the radio from 6-9 tonight. Hangar Theater tickets, cool tunes, good company and your requests. We'll open with some Summertime tunes from Augusts past  -  and then we'll see where we go! It's been a l-o-n-g day, so there might even be some amusing mishaps. You never know with live radio.... 93.5-FM or streaming at wvbr.com. Free and fun for all ages!

  






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)

I Live for the Sun - Sunrays (8/65; #51 - this group was signed by Murry Wilson, who had recently been fired as the manager of his sons' group. They, of course, were the Beach Boys. The Sunrays used the same studio musicians as the Beach Boys, but the songs weren't as good. Neither were the harmonies. They would soon disappear from the scene.)

Out in the Sun - Beach Nuts (8/65; #106 - this was a pairing of writer/producers The Strangeloves and the NYC vocal group The Angels. It was kinda sassy, kinda sunny, and never climbed into the Hot 100 nationally.)

The Girls on the Beach - Beach Boys (8/64; dnc - this was another smashing gem from the pen and production mind of Brian Wilson. It was never released as a single, but it was included in their best-selling LP "All Summer Long.")

Beach Baby - First Class (8/74; #4 - these kids were as American as apple pie....except for the fact that they were a British studio group. There was a shorter edit released on 45, but tonight we hear the full-length version.)


Theme from "A Summer Place" - Duane Eddy (7/64; dnc - this was tucked onto the B-side of Duane Eddy's final almost-charting single called "Water Skiing," which reached #121 on the Cash Box chart. It's a tasty twangy version of Percy Faith's smash hit from three years earlier.)

Ridin' In My Car - NRBQ (1977; dnc - this evocative album track got lots of airplay in Southern New England in the Summer of 1977 but never caught on nationally. Al Anderson, who wrote it and sang it played the guitar all over it, got his start with his Connecticut high school group The Wildweeds. He eventually found his real home with NRBQ guys.)

* Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore - Walker Brothers (4/66; #13 - this was requested by a guy named "Scotty," who mentioned that lead singer Scott Walker had passed away a couple of months ago. I played it the week after he'd passed, but I'm always glad to play this one!)

* Don't Sleep In the Subway - Petula Clark (6/67; #5 - Ms. Clark had been recording since she was six years old, but was currently in the middle of a string of great singles. This was one of my favorites, and always evokes memories of the Summer of '67 for me.)

* Nashville Cats - Lovin' Spoonful (12/66; #8 - this went out at the request of my buddy David, who remembered that he used to cringe at how "Country" it sounded. He's since come to recognize the genius behind the concept  -  and what a great record it is.)


* A Summer Song - Chad & Jeremy (8/64; #7 - listener Betsy said that she'd considered calling this one in last week, but she and JH agreed that it was better suited to later in the summer. That said, what a great summertime treasure ANY time of the year.)

* Oh How Happy - Shades of Blue (5/66; #12 - this Blue-Eyed Soul Group from Detroit released one great record and this is it. Going out at the request of David from Vancouver. His conclusion upon having heard it on the radio? "It made me happy.")


* Big Iron - Marty Robbins (3/60; #26 - this follow-up to "El Paso" never got as far as its predecessor, but listener John-from-Freeville wanted to go on record as saying that Bob Weir's version didn't hold a candle to the original. Here's Bob's version. You be the judge.....)


I Want to Walk You Home - Fats Domino (8/59; #8 Pop, #1 R&B - classic Fats Domino: rolling piano, shuffle beat, big wide smile, and just enough innuendo to imply that he has more than an innocent stroll on his mind....)

 

Don't Take the Stars - Mystics (10/59; #98 - a beautiful little Doo Wop confection from Queens, NY. Forest Hills native Paul Simon would briefly join the group about a year later, but the Doo Wop genre was fading at that point. Luckily, the Folk Rock thing was just coming up around the bend.)


Mohair Sam - Charlie Rich (8/65; at #131 this week, headed to a peak of #21 on the Pop chart  - Charlie Rich would eventually become a C&W superstar, but he was going for success as a Pop singer in the mid-Sixties. This treasure on the Smash Records label was his biggest hit of this phase of his career.)

 

7-8pm

 Birthday Calendar


August 4 – Timi Yuro – born in 1940
            – Larry Knechtel (Wrecking Crew) – born in 1940

August 5 – Rick Derringer (McCoys) – age 72

             
August 7 – BJ Thomas – age 77

August 8 – Joe Tex – born in 1933

           
August 9 – Barbara Mason – age 72
           

August 10 – Ronnie Spector (Ronettes) – age 76
            – Bobby Hatfield (Righteous Bros.) – born in 1940

Do I Love You - Ronettes (7/64; #34 - the Ronettes rose above the rest of crowd at Philles Records partly because label owner Phil Spector had set his sights on Veronica Bennett, who would eventually change her name to Ronnie Spector. That's her in the middle.)

Unchained Melody - Righteous Brothers (8/65; #4 - this was originally the intended B-side of the single, and is basically  a solo performance by tenor Bobby Hatfield. It would later re-chart in the Summer of 1990 when it was prominently featured in the film "Ghost" and made it all the way to #13 here in the States. It would also spend four weeks at the top of the British chart!)

What's A Matter Baby - Timi Yuro (8/62; #12 - Billboard calls her a "White female Soul singer," and who am I to argue? She was born in Chicago and raised in Los Angeles.)


Don't Worry Baby - BJ Thomas (7/77; #17 - after he left Scepter Records, BJ recorded a number of singles on the MCA label. This is a really cool cover of the Beach Boys tune.)

That's How It Feels - Soul Clan (8/68; dnc - this was the B-side of their lone charting single Soul Meeting. The Soul Clan was an Atlantic Records "supergroup," made up of male Soul stars Solomon Burke, Arthur Conley, Don Covay, Ben E. King and Joe Tex  -  left-to-right.)

Yes, I'm Ready - Barbara Mason (8/65; down to #31 on this date after peaking at #5 - she was more than just a singer: she wrote this one, along with its follow-up. Teri Desario and Harry "KC" Casey would take it to #2 about fifteen years later.)

* Summertime - Sam Cooke (11/57; #81 - Sam Cooke had been a Gospel Music superstar when he decided to take a stab at secular music. His first charting single was "You Send Me," which spent three weeks at #1 in the Fall of 1957. This was the B-side.)


Summer Breeze - Seals & Crofts (9/72; #6 - this is a perfect snapshot of a cool Summer evening  -  just like tonight. It appears that JH played it last week as a request, but you can never have too much of a good thing.)

* Mack the Knife - Bobby Darin (10/59; #1 for NINE weeks - the listener said "In honor of a song that made it to R& R charts from the humble origins. 'Die Moritat von Mackie Messer' from the 'Threepenny opera' composed by Kurt Weil and sung by Bertolt Brecht.")


* Eve of Destruction - Barry McGuire (9/65; #1 - the nation was becoming more polarized and the culture wars were starting to spill over onto the airwaves. This scathing rant about the war and racial injustice and moral hypocrisy went all the way to the top. Several months later a USMC Staff Sergeant would achieve similar success with "The Ballad of the Green Berets.")

      

45 Corner:  Breezin' - Sammy Gordon & The Hiphuggers (1/72; dnc - contrary to popular belief, George Benson did not write this one. Bobby Womack did and he took it to #43 on the R&B chart as a duet with Jazz guitarist Gabor Szabo. Several months later this NYC bar band recorded a slinky version of it and sold lots of copies out of the trunk of their Cadillac. Here's a very clean copy, just for you!)

 

Brown-Eyed Woman - Bill Medley (8/68; #43 - after years of singing together with his Righteous Brother Bobby Hatfield, baritone Bill Medley branched out on his own. This Mann-Weil tune featured The Blossoms on background vocals. Funny enough, Bill Medley and Darlene Love were involved in an interracial romance  -  and here they are singing about some of the challenges they were facing.)

 

Slip Away - Clarence Carter (8/68; at #51, headed to #6 Pop and #2 R&B - Clarence Carter cut a bunch of fine records at Muscle Shoals studios and this is one of the finest.)

8-9pm




Fool On the Hill - Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 (8/68; debuting at #61 this week, headed to #6 - this tasty Bossa Nova treatment of the Beatles tune also happened to be on the very CD I'd ever purchased back in the early nineties and I got really excited when I realized it tonight! I had NO clue what a Pandora's box I was about to open....)

M'Lady - Sly & The Family Stone (8/68; debuting at #97 this week, headed only as far as #93 - perhaps it sounded too much like "Dance to The Music," but this one fizzled shortly after it arrived on the scene. Too bad  -  it's a cool tune, man....)


* Day By Day - Godspell (5/72; #13 - this was the hit from the Off-Broadway musical, and featured the dulcet tones of Robin Lamont  -  going out to JSF in Brooktondale.)

  

A Whiter Shade of Pale - RB Greaves (12/70; #82 Pop - R.B. Greaves had a couple of MOR Soul-tinged hits before ATCO released this one. It's a nice version of the Procol Harum hit. Funny enough, RB Greaves was a nephew of Sam Cooke himself.)


Lodi - Al Wilson (8/69; #67 - speaking of "MOR Soul singers," Al Wilson would eventually hit the jackpot with "Show & Tell," and you may have heard his hit "The Snake" a couple of weeks ago on JR's show. Tonight you get his cover of the Creedence tune, released on Johnny Rivers' Soul City label.)

     

(You Make Me Feel) So Good - McCoys (8/66; #53 - lead singer/guitarist Rick Derringer was 18 when this record charted, and these boys had seen a LOT since their big break the summer before with Hang On Sloopy. Soon he'd leave the band and team up with the Winter Brothers to play on some rockin' Blues records.)


I Just Can't Help Believing - BJ Thomas (8/70; #12 - BJ Thomas had an impressive string of records and is rather underappreciated as a vocalist. Hearing this one prompted a listener to call in asking for more! I had to put my foot down and say "two is enough.")

 

Don't Worry Baby - Ronnie Spector (Brian Wilson famously had to pull over the first time he heard The Ronettes' "Be My Baby" on his car radio. He was so moved that he wrote this song and offered it to Phil Spector for the girls to record. Phil declined, so the Beach Boys cut it themselves and had the hit with it. Years later, Ronnie Spector finally recorded it! Check out this live performance from 1998.)


When She Was My Girl - Four Tops (8/81; #11 Pop, #1 R&B for two weeks - long after they'd left Motown Records, the Four Tops landed on Casablanca and had a very nice resurgence thanks to this single.)

Mr. Tambourine Man - The Byrds (7/65; #1 - this was a major breakthrough for the music industry: Folk Rock had arrived, and The Byrds were leading the charge. Little did the public know that  -  except for Roger McGuinn on electric 12-string  -  they weren't really playing their own instruments. In this case, the bass was played by session man Larry Knechtel, drums by Hal Blaine, keys by Leon Russell....yep, it was "the Wrecking Crew" again!)

Rockin' Pneumonia & The Boogie Woogie Flu - Johnny Rivers (10/72; #6 - speaking of Larry Knechtel, guess who's playing the blistering piano licks on this record? You guessed it! He'd also play the lead guitar solo on Bread's "Guitar Man" a year or two later. Amazing!)

 

* Rock Me Gently - Andy Kim (9/74; #1 - caller Scotty gets the last word tonight, even though I had a different record queued up. Sometimes the squeaky wheel does get the grease.)

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





Congratulations to Jerry from T-burg, for winning tickets to see Little Women at The Hangar Theatre!



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
MOR = middle of the road




Host Next Week (8/17/19):  Kim Vaughan with a spotlight on Lullabies and the Night-Time Sky



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!