Rockin’ Remnants
Rockin’ Remnants is broadcast from WVBR-FM Ithaca. Check out our webpage, like us on Facebook, and tune in to 93.5 FM or stream the show every Saturday night from 6-9 p.m. Eastern. (Or download the WVBR+app now available for iOS and Android.)
Thanks to our sponsors Island Health & Fitness and Rasa Spa for their support every week!
Date: July 27, 2024
Hosts: Gregory James and John Simon
Feature: End of July '59, '64, '74, '84.
Birthday Calendar
July 21
Yusuf Islam Cat Stevens 76 years old
July 22
Don Henley 77 years old
Estelle Bennet (Ronettes) b. 1941
Chuck Jackson b. 1937
July 23
Dino Danelli b. 1944 Young Rascals drummer
Tony Joe White b. 1943
July 24
Barbara Jean Love (Friends of Distinction) 83 years old
July 25
Verdine White (EWF bassist) 73 years old
Jim McCarty (Yardbirds drummer) 81 years old
Benny Benjamin (Funk Brothers drummer) b. 1925
July 26
Mick Jagger 81 years old
Darlene Love 83 years old
Dobie Gray b. 1940
July 27
Bobbie Gentry 82 years old
Playlist
* 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 subsequent dates) unless otherwise noted
* glossary of terms is below the playlist
6:00
OPENING THEME: Good Old Rock n’ Roll—Cat Mother and the All Night Newsboys (1969, #29, produced by Jimi Hendrix)
Back in the USA Chuck Berry #53 July 27, 1959
Johnnie Johnson played piano and Etta James and Marvin Gaye sang back up.
Right By Your Side Eurythmics #49 July 29, 1984
Nothing from Nothing Billy Preston #50 July 27, 1974
This was one of the first musical performances on SNL. The one below was on "Midnight Special."
Can’t You See that She’s Mine? Dave Clark Five #7 July 25 1964
This was the group’s fourth record, and a gold one at that.
Turn to You Go-Gos #33 July 29, 1984
*The Air That I Breathe Hollies #7 July 27, 1974
Requested by Scottie and dedicated to Peggy. This was the Hollies’ last major hit.
Already Gone Eagles #65 July 27, 1974
See You in September Tempos #57 July 27, 1959
This is the original version of the song, co-written by Sherman Edwards, the composer of the musical 1776.
Baby Come Home Ruby and the Romantics #81 July 25 1964
Missing You John Waite #29 July 29, 1984
Rikki Don’t Lose That Number Steely Dan #5 July 27, 1974
This was Steely Dan’s biggest hit and the title character was based on Rikki Ducornet.
What’s Love Got to Do With It? Tina Turner #9 July 29, 1984
This was her biggest hit.
Don’t Worry Baby Beach Boys #27 July 25 1964
Possibly the most melodic song about drag racing, this was the B-side to “I Get Around.”
Time After Time Cyndi Lauper #53 July 29, 1984
This was Cyndi’s first #1 hit.
I Only Have Eyes for You Flamingos #13 July 27, 1959
The song was written in 1934.
Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying
Gerry and the Pacemakers #17 July 25, 1964
This was their breakthrough single in the U.S.
7:00
Wild World – Cat Stevens (2/71; #11)
Yusuf Islam has said that the chord progression of the song is a reversal of a common chord progression in Spanish music.
Boys of Summer – Don Henley (11/84; #5) Tonight we heard the made-for-radio edited version, trimming about a minute from both the beginning and the end. Henley wrote the lyrics and Mike Campbell (of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) wrote the melody. Even though Petty was offered the song first, he passed on recording it.
Walking in the Rain – Ronettes (10/64; #23 Pop, #3 R&B)
The thunderstorm sound effect earned audio engineer Larry Levine a Grammy nomination.
I Keep Forgettin’ – Chuck Jackson (9/62; #55) A different song from the Michael MacDonald hit, but similar enough that he gave Lieber & Stoller partial writers’ credit for HIS song!
Do You Feel It – Young Rascals (5/66; NR) From their eponymous debut LP on Atlantic Records, featuring the work of drummer Dino Danelli.
Aspen, Colorado – Tony Joe White (8/69; DNC)
The B-side to "Polk Salad Annie" on which you can hear what a fine, soulful singer he was.
Going In Circles – Friends of Distinction (8/69; #15 Pop, #3 R&B)
Fantasy – Earth, Wind & Fire (8/78; #32 Pop, #12 R&B)
Bassist Verdine White has said this was one of his favorite bass lines.
What Do You Want – Yardbirds (8/66; NR – from Over Under Sideways Down LP)
Twenty-Five Miles – Edwin Starr (2/69; #6)
This was one of the last tracks that Motown drummer Benny Benjamin played on. Legend has it that it was Benjamin who gave the Motown house band its name-The Funk Brothers.
Memo From Turner – Mick Jagger (10/70; DNC) With Ry Cooder on slide guitar and Randy Newman on piano!
Good, Good Lovin’ – The Blossoms (4/66; #101)
The “In” Crowd – Dobie Gray (1/65; #13)
8-9pm
Slow Cookin’ – Bobbie Gentry (Date Unknown; NR) The song was written by a pair of songwriters at Fame Recording Studio in Muscle Shoals. Gentry retired in 1982, so the recording must have been made before then.
Leave a Tender Moment Alone – Billy Joel (7/84; #41 > #27 – six songs were released as singles from his Innocent Man LP, and three of them made the Top Ten. This one fell short, but the harmonica was played by Toots Thielemans.)
Only Sixteen – Sam Cooke (7/59; #40 > #28 Pop, #13 R&B – The song was inspired by the sixteenth birthday of Lou Rawls’ stepsister Eunice. That's Lou on the left, and he was Sam’s main musical sidekick.)
Wishin’ & Hopin’ – Dusty Springfield (7/64; #9 > #6 – this Burt Bacharach/Hal David composition was Dusty’s first stateside Top Ten record, and a campy version by Ani DeFranco ran over the opening credits of My Best Friend's Wedding.)
Feel Like
Makin’ Love – Roberta Flack (7/74; #6 > #1 – this breezy number would reach #1 two weeks from now, making it her
third #1 hit in a two-year span.)
Dancing in the Dark – Bruce Springsteen (7/84; #2 – this was the lead single from the Born In the USA LP, and would spend four weeks at #2, stuck behind Prince’s “When Doves Cry.” It would also be his biggest hit and the most danceable of his songs.)
Go Insane – Lindsey Buckingham (7/84; #70 > #23; Buckingham says that MTV airplay helped to drive this one up the charts; not surprisingly, the song drew its inspiration from his break-up with Stevie Nicks.)
La Grange – ZZ Top (7/74; #84 < #41 – Gregory James calls it “a boogie riff for the ages.”)
A Hard Day’s Night – The Beatles (7/64; #2 > #1 for two weeks – this movie and its soundtrack LP provided much of the sound of that summer, with the American album yielding six charting songs for the band and one orchestral hit under George Martin’s name. The movie’s title is a famous Ringo-ism.)
Free Man in Paris – Joni Mitchell (7/74; #87 > #22 – the song was about record producer/label namesake David Geffen, and the recording featured background vocals by David Crosby and Graham Nash, along with guitars by Larry Carlton and Jose Feliciano.)
Don’t Change Horses in the Middle of the Stream – Tower of Power (7/74; #72 > #26 Pop, #22 R&B – this single from their Back to Oakland LP boasted the classic line-up of the Bay Area band, featuring the vocals of Lenny Williams, the ToP horns and their blistering rhythm section.)
The Heart of Rock ‘n’ Roll (Is Still Beating) – Huey Lewis & The News (7/84; #27 < #6 – this one had peaked a couple of weeks earlier that summer. GJ says “The heart of rock ‘n’ roll is in Cleveland.”)
Reach Out I’ll Be There – Four Tops (10/66; #1 Pop and R&B – word has come that founding member Abdul “Duke” Fakir passed at age 88 on July 22nd. He was the final surviving original member of the quartet, and the main drummer on this one was none other than Benny Benjamin. That's Duke on the left.)
CLOSING THEME: Sleep Walk – Santo and Johnny (1959, #1 for two weeks)
Glossary of Terms:
DNC = did not chart
NR = not released as a single at the time
AC = Billboard’s chart for Adult Contemporary records
H100 = Billboard Hot 100
Bubbling Under = songs that were ranked but fell below the top 100
CW = Billboard’s chart for country and western records
RB = Billboard’s chart of rhythm and blues records
RRHOF = Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
RS 500 = Rolling Stone Magazine’s ranking of the top 500 singles of all time.
Host August 3, 2024: Jan Hunsinger whose theme will be Golden Oldies!
Thanks for tuning in! You can listen to Rockin’ Remnants every Saturday night from 6-9 p.m. Eastern on WVBR (93.5 FM in Ithaca NY) or streaming on WVBR.com.
Thanks again to our sponsors Island Health & Fitness and Rasa Spa for their support every week!
