D-Sides, Orphans, and Oddities

Some of the music is good. Some is ok. I leveraged my Korean friend's eloquence and polyglot acumen. If you like '70s Korean pop, and some strange covers of KC and the Sunshine Band in different languages, please have a listen.     

The Joseph Consortium (1969) Sides 1 and 2.  Written by Andrew Lloyd Weber and Tim Rice, this is the musical that everyone knows, recorded and played through a psychedelic prism. I've played this show on bass about a million times. It's almost identical to the version we all know. It's easy, it goes down nicely, and even the college shows I've played were tight like this.  Wikipedia: Joseph was first presented as a 15-minute "

The Blue Cats - Nowhere Man (196?) I'm gonna guess 1966 since this band released three albums of covers of their time plus some instrumental originals. Probably German studio guys bringing the Western hits of the day to their homeland.  Diane and Annita - Groovey Kind of Love (1965) Fans (?) of this release propose that this might not even be the titular singers (who sound nothing like the voices on this recording) but actually the writers, Carol Bayer-Sager and Toni Wine. Annita Ray also recorded a one-off novelty single with Eden Ahbez, the writer of "Nature Boy," in 1956. It was titled "Frankie's Song" b/w "Elvis Presley Blues."  Wikipedia: The melody is from the Rondo from Muzio Clementi's Sonatina, Opus 36, No. 5. Even though Wine and Sager claim full songwriting credits, they mainly wrote the lyrics and just slightly modified Clementi's music. Bayer Sager originally pitched the song to pop star Lesley Gore in early 1965, but Gore's producer at the time, Shelby Singleton, rejected it, as he found the word "groovy" too slangy.  Gene Cotton - Let Your Love Flow (1975)  The Undisputed Truth - Papa Was A Rollin' Stone (1972) This version actually preceded the Grammy-winning version by The Temptations, and the two are pretty similar. The Undisputed Truth had their biggest hit with a song written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong as well, "Smiling Faces Sometimes", which was originally recorded by The Temptations! This is another trivia question you can ask your friend.  Beau Williams - C'est La Vie (1984) Black Magic! - Miss Jessie (1970) Brian Wilson - Just Say No (1986) C.W. McCall - Kidnap America (1980)  The Soul Searchers - We The People (1972) Roogalator - Cincinnatti Fatback (1976) Note the Stiff Records logo on the upper left corner. This was one of the first Stiff releases. Danny Adler was an American ex-pat living in England. This was the second version of Roogalator (formed in 1972), and as much as this track smokes, the band got virtually no support from the label, and constant personnel changes killed the group. Could you have hung on that long with an entire movement (that you helped start) bubbling under your feet, only to be ignored and ultimately ripped off?  Cliff Bennett and his Band - Back In The U.S.S.R. (1968) Con-Funk-Shun - Clique (1974) Sesame Street - Cracks (1976) "Cracks" is an animated musical insert produced for Sesame Street in the 1970s. A young girl is unable to go outside to play because of the rain, and so she imagines the cracks in her wall form a camel. The camel takes her on an adventure through the wall where she meets a hen and a monkey, also made out of cracks. The voice is the one and only Dorothy Moskowitz, who I featured on a recent show. She is mostly known as the female voice of The United States of America.  Debby Dobbins - How You Gonna Feel (1979)  A selection from the one and only album by Don Thompson - Fanny Brown/Just Plain Funk/Night Ladies/Hang Loose (1977) God, I love this funk. From Dusty Groove: The one and only album from drummer Don Thompson – a funky Brunswick classic from the 70s, and one of the most unique records we've ever heard from the label at the time! Don's got this style of singing that has a bit of a southern twang at times, but he works with grooves that are definitely northern in their orientation – served up in a range of styles that includes the funky drum break of the title cut, some mellow-stepping moments on a few other tunes, and the bouncing boogie that's really become the album's calling card over the years! There's loads of great bass work on most cuts, which really grounds that album alongside Don's drums – and titles include "Just Plain Funk", "Fanny Brown", "Lovin To The Bone", "Night Ladies (part 1 & 2)", and "Hang Loose". Donny Hathaway - The Ghetto (1970) His early records were expansive and unique, and his voice was second to none. He was every bit the equal of Stevie and Marvin, but you know him from his duets with Roberta Flack.  Wikipedia: During the peak of his career, Hathaway began suffering from severe bouts of depression and exhibiting unusual behavior. In 1971, he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia for which he was prescribed various medications. At one point, Hathaway was prescribed fourteen different medications that he was to take twice a day. After Hathaway was diagnosed and began taking medication, his mental state improved. However, Eulaulah Hathaway has said that her husband became less than diligent about following his prescription regimen when he began feeling better and often stopped taking his medications altogether. From 1973 to 1977, Hathaway's mental instability wreaked havoc on his life and career and required several hospitalizations. The effects of his depression and severe mood swings also drove a wedge in his and Flack's friendship; they did not reconcile for several years, and did not release additional music until the successful release of "The Closer I Get To You" in 1978. Flack and Hathaway then resumed studio recording to compose a second album of duets. You should investigate his discography, especially this stunning debut album, Everything Is Everything. He was brilliant.  Donny Hathaway - To Be Young, Gifted, and Black (1970)  Donnie Most - Rock Is Dead (1976)  Enoch Light and the Light Brigade - Pick Up The Pieces (1975) John Miller on bass.  Enoch Light and the Light Brigade - Puppet Man (1970)  Fleetwood Mac - Sentimental Lady (1972) POACA will remember that Bob Welch rerecorded this with a more prominent Christine McVie backing vocal part. The singing members of Fleetwood Mac circa 1977-1980 could have crapped on a cracker and it would have gone gold.  The Mothers of Invention - Help, I'm a Rock (Suite In Three Movements) I. Okay To Tap Dance II. In Memoriam, Edgard Varèse lll. It Can't Happen Here (1966)  Ian Dury and the Blockheads - Reasons To Be Cheerful (Pt. 3) (1980)  Kelly Gordon - He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother (1969) First version. Beautiful.  Kid Creole and the Coconuts - Indiscreet (1983) Live. Goddammit, Carol Colman on bass.  The Residents - Die In Terror (1980)  Hoover Commercial with Brian Johnson of AC/DC on vocals. (1979)  Carpenters - Suntory Pop Jingle (1977)    

There are enough people out there who yearn for the arcane, the odd, the unsuccessful, the strange, and the historically overlooked to justify 200 podcast episodes of D-Sides, Orphans, and Oddities.  This makes me happy, and the topics are inexhaustible. From the strange singles of Freddie Cannon and Lou Christie to the occasionally wonderful singles of Les Humphries Singers, Doris, Os Mutantes, to the strange paths to fame like The American Breed ("Bend Me Shape Me") evolving into Rufus, and then Chaka Kahn, and then "I Feel For You", her biggest hit, written by Prince, but the Kahn version was actually the 4th release and, had Patrice Rushen opted to try it (she turned it down), the 5th. A Prince song with Stevie Wonder playing harmonica over his own voice being sampled.  To me, pop music is styles and the biggest records tend to be styles smooshed together. People like dangerous white music and safe black music. People like rap, but with a melodic vocal hook. While the Bee Gees were not a disco group, the Saturday Night Fever movie was a perfect petri dish. Combine Travolta's white-hot star power with the zeitgeist of Disco and the very odd recordings the Bee Gees were doing at that time. It was the success and the playing it safe in the movie's wake that doomed them.  The Beatles were preternaturally gifted with a work ethic that would kill the musicians of today. But their fame was also born of withering luck. A producer and a manager (and record company) that didn't really know what they were supposed to do with these four tough guys. None of them tried to make The Beatles pick a lead singer, so, like their live act, all four would do it. Because they had the shocking temerity to say "Nope, we're not doing that song...", it was like saying to someone with a gun In your face, "Go ahead. We've come this far. You don't know WHAT we've seen. We see through you, over and over. In Germany. In Sweden. In Wales. We never said 'no' to a gig, no matter how much driving or begging or lack of sleep, and if the Reeperbahn couldn't stop us, what makes you think YOU will?" And their genuine love of Black music somehow broke the barriers for generations of singers, players, etc.  Imagine that moment. You're in The Beatles, you've struggled and burned the roads up and played innumerable gigs, and sat, nose to nose, creating songs in your room that people would be singing and playing for 60 years hence. But now, the sessions begin, and the man in the tie wants you to record a "ringer". And you try it, but it doesn't really do anything. It's ok. But you have to decide. Play the game? Or risk this dude's red pen. Or show up with something better. And the guy with the tie has been through some shit as well. And he's tired of being relegated to 2nd string and he resents being put in a place where these four punks dare question his choice. Do better. I'm tired of this shit.  And "Please Please Me" is as black a record as anything any band from England before them had tried. And that little phrase can be attributed to everything they tried after that. Because they proved it, in that ONE shot across the bow that would resonate for what will be eons, that your old choices for ringers, publishing company favors, Brill building production lines, plug-and-play Motown stuff, etc., were going to either fade or have to adapt.  I stop my show pretty much at 1980 because that's when drum machines and synths became songwriting devices. I never liked Joy Division. I just don't get it. At that point, and with exceptions, sure, drum programming and synth programming made songwriting easy. That didn't make the songs any better. Just easier to make. Someone else can do that show.  Anyhow, this is to say thank you to all the folks that have listened and downloaded.  THIS show is me delivering a preamble and then playing 4 hours of music from past shows that I really like. Let's call this "Part 1" because the show, as I originally tried to put it together, lasted 10+ hours. So consider this show when you're on a long drive, doing work, making love to your woman, or man, or both, or none.  So...... This is the setlist, but they're not all ‘good songs'. Some are meant to show you the arcane nature of what I find most enjoyable. Song-poems (“The Beatle Boys”), artists coping with the end of their heyday (Gary Glitter) and ill-prepared for life after that, or artists way before they found their niche (The Gap Band). And, of course, groups I love like Rose Tattoo, The Free Design, and SAHB.    Leo's Sunshipp - Give Me The Sunshine (1978) The Free Design - My Very Own Angel (1969) GLS United - Rapper's Deutsch (1980) Samples “Rapper's Delight”, which samples “Good Times” by Chic, “Here Comes That Sound Again” by Love De-Luxe with Hawkin's Discophonia (which i played on one of my previous shows), and a quote from the movie Five on the Black Hand Side, specifically, a scene in the barbershop that predated the advent of Rudy Ray Moore' Dolemite character by 2 years.  Louis Armstrong - The Creator Has a Master Plan (1970) w/ Leon Thomas Rick Wakeman - I'm So Straight, I'm a Weirdo (1980) I just like playing this awful oddity from the keyboard player from Yes. This record defies description. But if you see the video on Youtube, look for a young Boy George.  James Last - Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler) (1971) From the album Voodoo-Party.  Billy Preston - My Sweet Lord (1970) One of two albums he released on Apple Records.  Rod Rogers (really, Rod Keith) and the Swinging Strings - The Beatle Boys (196?)  The Gap Band - Magician's Holiday (1974)  Gary Glitter - A Little Boogie Woogie in the Back of My Mind (1977)  The Free Design - There Is A Song (1972) I will never stop praising this wonderful group.  Stuart Damon - Eros (1970) Dr. Alan Quartermaine from General Hospital had a brief singing career.  The Millennium - There Is Nothing More To Say (1968) Lou Christie lifted this wonderful melody for his own “Canterbury Road" later that year.  From the film “Till [sic] Kingtom Comes”.  XTC- Across This Antheap (1987) I never tire of this amazing track. It's my show.  Aerosmith -Nobody's Fault (1976) I like Aerosmith's '70s albums very much. They were all loaded with hidden gems, and to me, “Nobody's Fault” was just the most succinct example of a band that made consistently good/great albums.  Frank Zappa - Andy (1980) A great, difficult tune (you try it with your band.) Recorded live in Buffalo.  Annette Peacock - The Succubus (1979)  The Red Shadow - Anything Good (1975) Carpenters - B'wana She No Home (1977) Bruford - Back To The Beginning (1978) Frank Sinatra - Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown (1974) Barry McGuire & The Doctor - South Of The Border (1970) I love this song. We are on the eve of destruction indeed. Might as well… Beach Boys - Rollin' Up To Heaven (1972?) This is so insane, and especially from a major artist, that it defies categorization.  Rose Tattoo - We Can't Be Beaten (1982) Ferocious.  Billy (Crash) Craddock - Knock Three Times (1971)  Led Zeppelin - Black Dog (1972) Unbelievable live version from “How The West Was Won”. Listen to those bass drum tricks. Especially during the coda. I wish Robert Plant never smoked. A normal drummer would go crazy with fills. Bonham put them where they belonged, no more. He showed amazing restraint at times. You wouldn't think so, but he was a grooving monster above all else.  Black Oak Arkansas - Hot And Nasty (1971) Michael (Mick) Jackson - Blame It On The Boogie (1978)  Bob & Earl - Harlem Shuffle (1969) The Kids From The Brady Bunch - Candy (Sugar Shoppe) (1972) So inappropriate that I wonder what the record company/TV show producers were thinking. Good song and a nice performance by the studio band.  Bread - Everything I Own (1972)  Carla Bley - Rawalpindi Blues (1972)  Nick Mason - Do Ya? (1980)  Liberace - Say Ciao (1970) Liberace puts it into words and music..."Never Say Goodbye, Say Ciao"...capturing the mood of Ciao Liqueur...the imported new liqueur with the elusive new taste. I can't find another song that Liberace wrote himself.  Crack The Sky - Surf City (Here Come The Sharks) (1975) Les Humphries Singers - Dancing Queen (1976) You can still hear Jimmy Bilsbury's straining, smoky tenor in the choruses. “Having the time of your life…” Poor guy.  Eddie Kendricks - Me 'N Rock 'N Roll Are Here To Stay (1974) Denny Greene - The Great Escape (1981) Ex-Sha Na Na member trying to break type like J Jocko tried a few years before. I love this. This is a dance mix of the original he did in 1977.  Dennis Wilson - River Song (1977)  Doris - Did You Give The World Some Love Today, Baby? (1970) No one knows who Doris is. I'd rather listen to her and this crazy Swedish band for a year before I ever give any time to Janis Joplin.  Rotary Connection - Didn't Want To Have To Do It (1967) Adriano Celentano - Prisencolinensinainciusol (1972) This is a wonderful remix of the original fluke hit.  The Move - Do Ya (different version) (1971)  Jeff Lynne - Doin' That Crazy Thing (1977) Rick Nelson - Don't Blame It On Your Wife (1968)  Sha Na Na Anti-Drug PSA (197?) Doris - Beatmaker (1970)  Dschinghis Khan - Rocking Son Of Dschinghis Khan (1979) Edith Head Fashion Prescription  Emerson, Lake, and Palmer - Trilogy (1973) Utopia - Eternal Love (1976)   Alix Dobkin - View Form Gay Head (1973)  Fats Domino - Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except For Me and My Monkey (1968)  John Farrar - Falling (1980)  Creedence Clearwater Revival - Feelin' Blue (1969)  Laverne and Shirley - Five Years On (1976) Written by Michael McKean. His story is too long for me to get into. For POACA he was "Lenny" of Lenny and Squiggy. Or he was David St. Hubbins in Spinal Tap. Or he was Saul Goodman's brother in Better Call Saul.  Genesis - Fly On A Windshield/Broadway Melody of 1974 (1974)  Fonzie Impressionist Track (Aaaaay, Cool, Nerd, Sit On It) (1976) One of the weirdest things in my collection. Why does it exist? And then it repeats in reverse!!              

The Beach Bums - The Yellow Beret (1966) Did you know Bob Seger was such a right-wing nut job?  The song is a parody of The Ballad Of The Green Berets by Barry Sadler, a huge hit in February 1966, reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, Cashbox, and Billboard Adult Contemporary charts, as well as #2 on the Country charts. It sold over two million copies in just the first two weeks. This song is a stark contrast to Seger's better-known ANTI-Viet Nam song, "2 + 2 + ? " released just 2 years later.  As you know, Seger finally hit the big time with Ramblin' Gamblin' Man in 1969, but what you might NOT know is that future Eagle Glenn Frey played acoustic guitar and sang backing vocals on Ramblin' Gamblin' Man.  Bob Seger - The Famous Final Scene (1977) My favorite song of his.  Wings - Give Ireland Back To The Irish (1972)  John Lennon - The Luck Of The Irish (1972)  Gilbert Neal and Ken Ray Wilemon - Photograph (2017) Gilbert Neal and Ken Ray Wilemon - Give Me Love (2017)  Johnny "Guitar" Watson - I Wanna Ta Ta You, Baby (1976) Johnny "Guitar" Watson - Superman Lover (1976) Zappa on Watson:  "Watson, he's the original minimalist guitar player. The solo on "Lonely Nights," the one-note guitar solo? Says it all! Gets the point across. I can remember guitar players in high school learning that solo and just going, "But how does he get it to sound that way?" It really was one note. If you can play that note against those chord changes and derive the same emotional impact that he got from playing that note, then you're onto something. He can make that one be so nasty. You know, like, "What's behind that note? What is the mode? Why are you continuing to play the tonic when the dominant chord comes around? Are you goin' like this [gestures with his middle finger in the F-you" position] with your playing or what?" You have to learn how to do that. (...)generally the people who write about music don't know music. Anybody can tell whether these four notes are faster than these four notes. But what does it take to listen to Johnny Guitar Watson's one note, and know that he's doin' that? Did you ever point that out to a reader? Did you ever get across that there's something more to it than rilly-rilly-ree?" Johnny "Guitar" Watson - It's All About the Dollar Bill  (1977) "Distributed by Amherst Records, 355 Harlem Road, Buffalo (West Seneca, really), NY, 14224" which was about .25 miles from where I grew up. They would occasionally have cut-out sales in that warehouse. I bought an American "Greatest Hits" album by The Move, but it was so cheaply packaged and sounded terrible.  Gilbert Neal and Ken Ray Wilemon - This Guy's In Love In With Guy (2017) Gilbert Neal and Ken Ray Wilemon -  Come Sail Away (2017) O C Smith - La La Peace Song (1974) The Equals - Black Skinned, Blue-Eyed Boys (1970) Written by Eddie Grant of "Electric Avenue" fame.  The Revox Singers - The Woodstock Message (1969?) An anti-war single from around that time. I think it was a song-poem. In other words, someone sent a poem to a "boutique" record company (in this case, Aladdin Records out of Chicago) and they wrote accompaniment.  Percy Mayfield - Walking On A Tightrope (1969) Percy Mayfield - I Don't Want To Be President (1974) Discogs:  US R&B vocalist and composer (b. August 12, 1920, Minden, Louisiana, d. August 11, 1984, Los Angeles, CA) Though maybe mostly known for penning the classic "Hit the Road, Jack", Mayfield himself was a major performer for the Specialty label in the first half of the 50s delivering slow blues ballads with his smoky voice reminiscent of Charles Brown. His biggest hit was the 1950 "Please Send Me Someone to Love", an R&B standard covered by many singers since then. The good-looking Mayfield was nearly killed in a 1952 car accident that left his face severely scarred and may have had a limiting effect on his career as a performer. In 1961 Ray Charles made his "Hit The Road, Jack" a major hit, and Mayfield was subsequently hired by Charles's Tangerine Records as a songwriter. After a decade in the background, Mayfield had a comeback and released several albums late 60s to early 70s on Tangerine and RCA. On these albums, Mayfield's smoky baritone voice is often heard accompained by top jazz session-players of the era. Percy Mayfield - Right On, Young Americans (1972) Gilbert Neal and Ken Ray Wilemon - Show Me The Way (2017) Gilbert Neal and Ken Ray Wilemon - Miracles (2017) Gilbert Neal and Ken Ray Wilemon - Fooled Around In Love (2017)  I chose some lesser-known songs from Chuck Berry's post-heyday. Some of the songs on these records are great stories like the great man could do effortlessly.  Chuck Berry - Ma Dear (1965)  Chuck Berry - Bio (1973) Chuck Berry - My Dream (1971)

You might like this little slice of relatively well-recorded tomfoolery recorded live at the famous Fillmore East in 1971. What a night it must have been. Anyhow, it really depends on which mix you like better. Lennon and Ono or Frank Zappa. To me, Some Time In New York City sounds pretty muddy. I like this album because it has (to my knowledge) none of Zappa's Xenechrony. It's all raw, but if you really pay attention, these Mothers were pretty tight.  Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention - Well  Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention - Say Please Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention - Aaawk (I love Yoko's ferocious "aaawk" squeals...like she's repeatedly being shoved underwater.) Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention - Scumbag Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention - A Small Eternity With Yoko Ono  Willie Dickson and The Playboys - Licking Stick (1969) Andrea True Connection - More, More, More (1976) Instrumental version sounds almost like a run-through. Especially that bass. I like it.  Collective Consciousness Society CCS - Whole Lotta Love (1971) Discogs: CCS (Collective Consciousness Society) was a British group formed by bluesman Alexis Korner and Danish vocalist Peter Thorup. The band itself also consisted of different studio casts who would be around but also included Tony Carr (drums), Herbie Flowers (bass), Harold Beckett (trumpet), Harold McNair (woodwind), and Henry Lowther (trumpet), among others. This wasn't all, as they were going for a unique sound to rival the top Rock acts of the day. So they would grab the creme de la creme of jazz studio musicians of the time. The entire lineup would always be subject to change throughout the band's history, depending on personnel availability at recordings. Desmond Dekker and the Aces - Licking Stick (1971) David Peel and the Lower East Side - The Ballad of New York City - John Lennon / Yoko Ono (1972) Elephant's Memory - Local Plastic Ono Band (1972)  George Torrence and the Naturals - (Mama, Come Quick, And Bring Your) Lickin' Stick (1968) Note the composer.  James Brown - Licking Stick, Licking Stick (1968) Now, the same song, re-written by James Brown.  Rusty Garnett - Licking Stick, Licking Stick (196?)  Tenth Hour - Lickin Stick (1975) This beat Shazam! Credited to Charles Manley and George Torrence.  The United States Air Force Band featuring The Free Design – "The Now Sound Of Christmas" (1968) These are all live recordings, and some have never been released on Free Design albums. ESPECIALLY the song "Shepherds and Wisemen" which, to my ears, is very good. A hidden gem.  The Proper Ornaments/Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence/Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer/Close Your Mouth (It's Christmas)/Christmas Is The Day/Winter Wonderland/Shepherds and Wise Men/Reprise-The Now Sound of Christmas. It would be so nice to hear this on a big FM radio console in a living room.  Jimmy Castor Bunch (featuring the Everything Man) - Supersound (1975) I love this. 

John Paul Joans - Got To Get Together Now (1970)  John Davidge was a politically motivated and confrontational stand-up comedian In 1970, he made a record for the UK Christmas market. His manager arranged for Eric Stewart, Lol Creme, and Kevin Godley (later of 10CC) to write the song with him. It was "Man From Nazareth" with the flip side "Got To Get Together Now".  Both were recorded at Strawberry Studios and released on Mickie Most's RAK label. The song was tipped as a 1970 Xmas #1 but lost its momentum because the other John Paul Jones objected, necessitating that all the records be recalled, destroyed, and reprinted! The song peaked at No. 25 in January 1971 after a belated post-Xmas Top of The Pops performance. A selection from Andrea True's Europe-only third album War Machine (1980)  Open Up Baby/Hootchie Kootchie Floozies/War Machine Babatunde Olatunji - Soul Makossa (1973) Originally recorded by Manu Dibango, and borrowed for Michael Jackson's "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough." Earth and Fire - Memories (1972) Earth and Fire - 21st Century Show (1970) Earth and Fire - Circus (1975) Serge Gainsbourg -  Joanna (1965)  OST from the film "ComeTogether" - ComeTogether/Get Together (1971)  Something Weird: Come Together is one of those great, unique, hard-to-categorize European films that would best be described as a slice of life from the "free love" hippie generation. TONY ANTHONY plays Tony, a free-wheeling American stuntman working in Italian films, who tries to pick up two swinging American tourists, Lisa (LUCIANA PALUZZI) and Ann (ROSEMARY DEXTER). His persistence pays off and he gives them a tour of Rome in his new sports car. As the trio develop a friendship, we find that Ann is still suffering stress from an abortion, and Lisa was recently involved in a messy affair with an older married man. Tony has his own mental baggage: he was the only survivor when his unit was massacred in Vietnam. All three are searching for an intimate relationship. Tony is hired to play a Mexican bandit in a spaghetti western in Spain -- fans of the genre won't want to miss these scenes -- and finds himself missing the two girls. When he returns, the three take a trip to Pompeii, get turned on by the ancient erotic paintings (not an easy thing to do) and plunge into a ménage à trois. However, Tony is pretty freaked out by this and drives off to sort things out. It doesn't take him long to return and accept the relationship for what it is. It all comes to a head with a jaw-dropping out-of-left-field ending that would never fly with today's test audiences... Mr. Anthony, "best known" [quotes mine] for his spaghetti western Stranger character (Stranger in Town), is hilarious (sometimes unintentionally) and his '60s voice-over philosophy is a hoot. He's also a real fashion casualty of the times in his floppy hippie hat and Mickey Mouse denim jacket. A standout scene shows him as a gigolo in bed with a whacked-out client, lots of poodles, and a vibrator. Gorgeous Luciana Paluzzi is best known as James Bond's love interest in Thunderball. Hardcore Beatles fanatics should be alerted that the soundtrack for Come Together was released on Apple Records. Co-director SAUL SWIMMER was also involved with Let It Be, and Ringo Starr and Tony Anthony starred together in Blindman.  Justin Hayward and John Lodge - Blue Guitar (1975) With 10CC.  John Lodge - Street Cafe (1980)  Robert Lamm - Song for Richard and His Friends (2006?)  Robert Lamm - Temporary Jones (1974) The Four Seasons - Silver Star (live) (1980)  Laura Brannigan - Deep In The Dark (1983)  Dave Clark 5 - Children (197?)  The Osmond Brothers - Flower Music (1967)  Firyuza - Native land (1979) The Searchers - Love Potion #9 (1975) A pointless reinvention.  The Residents - Bach Is Dead (first version) (197?) Robert Lamm - A Lifetime We (1974) 

The Knack - Africa  (1981) From their 3rd album, Round Trip.  Peter Cetera - Holy Moly (1981)  Gerard McMahon - Hello Operator (1976) Robert Lamm - Crazy Way to Spend a Year (1974) Angelo - It Don't Matter (1976) With the Chicago horns, as well as Danny Seraphine on drums, Laudir de Oliveira on percussion, and the ubiquitous Peter Cetera.  Odyssey - Home Of The Brave (1972) With Donnie "Hot Licks" Dacus.  Robert Lamm - Where You Think You're Goin? (1972) Don Felder - Never Surrender (1983) Written with Kenny Loggins ("Footloose", "Danny's Song") and featuring Pankow and Loughnane.   Gene McDaniels - Feel Like Makin' Love (1975) Joe Vitale - Sailor Man (1981) Leon Russell - Let's Get Started (1978) The Knack - Lil' Cals Big Mistake (1981) Maynard Ferguson - Rocky II Disco (1979) Featuring the real Sylvester Stallone on grunting, and Danny Seraphine on drums. Flo & Eddie - Hot (1975) Featuring D. H.L. Dacus on slide guitar. Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman signed with Columbia [Records] as Flo & Eddie. In his autobiography Shell Shocked, Kaylan revealed that upon receiving the cover art for their first album, they were appalled to learn that the printer had mistakenly printed the duo's stage names in the wrong order above their photograph. Volman was identified as Flo, which had been Kaylan's stage name in [Frank] Zappa's band, and Kaylan was identified as Eddie, Volman's stage name. The label refused to reprint the cover, saying that it would cost too much money. Thus, Kaylan and Volman decided to professionally swap stage names. They sang backing vocals on so many famous songs and albums that you've likely heard them today. Among them: "Bang a Gong" by T Rex.  Illegal Stills - Stephen Stills From The Inside - Alice Cooper "Hungry Heart" by Bruce Springsteen Blondie, Psychedelic Furs, Todd Rundgren (when you hear "Bang on the Drum All Day" at a sporting event, that's them singing,) Duran Duran, etc. Volman and Kaylan also sang on the first recording by Steely Dan, a demo of "Everyone's Gone To The Movies." I read an article where Kaylan says he was asked to be their lead singer, but he nixed the idea of singing without his partner.  James William Guercio - Tell Me (1973) Peter Cetera - Livin' in the Limelight (1980) Wikipedia: When Columbia Records dropped Chicago in 1981, Cetera was in the middle of recording his first solo album for the same label. He had to personally buy the rights to the album before it could be released. According to Cetera, Chicago's new record company, Warner Bros., released the Peter Cetera album while it was waiting for Chicago 16 to be released. Cetera has asserted that one reason for the album's poor commercial success, however, was lack of support from the record company: the record company didn't want it to be successful and didn't promote it for fear that he would leave the group. In his 2011 autobiography, former Chicago bandmate, Danny Seraphine, backs up Cetera on this point, writing, "... [the album] sank like a stone due to lack of record company support. Warner Brothers didn't want it to interfere with their plans for Chicago." A full-page advertisement announcing the album appeared on page 100 of the November 21, 1981 issue of Billboard magazine. Marcos Valle - A Paraíba Não é Chicago (1981)

My last Carpenters show got wiped for some reason. Maybe the ghost of Karen?  A sound that no one will forget once they hear it. I am talking about those tight harmonies. Richard's scholarly, clever approach to harmonies often goes unnoticed, but he was quite the craftsman. What can you say about Karen? She wasn't meant to be the star. She was a black sheep. Not meant to shine. Meant to be grounded into fine dust like the Carpenter women before her.  Wikipedia: In early 1966, Karen tagged along at a late-night session in the garage studio of Los Angeles bassist Joe Osborn, and joined future Carpenters collaborator and lyricist John Bettis at a demo session where Richard was to accompany (Dan) Friberg (trumpet player and friend of Richard). Asked to sing, she performed for Osborn, who was immediately impressed with her vocal abilities. He signed Karen to his label, Magic Lamp Records, and Richard to his publishing arm, Lightup Music. The label put out a single featuring two of Richard's compositions, "Looking for Love" and "I'll Be Yours". As well as Karen's vocals, the track was backed by the Richard Carpenter Trio. The single was not a commercial success due to a lack of promotion, and the label folded the next year. Carpenters - Get Together (1969) Richard on vocals. You can sort of divine, even at this nascent stage, why Richard was not going to do many vocals from here on in.  Karen Carpenter - Jimmy Mack (1980) From the aborted solo album. Backed by Billy Joel's versatile group, these sessions were replete with fawners (of the good kind) like Joel, Paul Simon (who offered up his own "Still Crazy After All These Years"), and Peter Cetera of Chicago. One gets the feeling there was so much respect, almost a quiet but unmistakable hopefulness that she could get well, be free.  Carpenters - Crescent Noon (1970) Carpenters - Get Together (1970) From a "Your Navy Presents" radio program.  Spectrum - Crescent Noon (1966) Karen Carpenter - Midnight (1980) Carpenters - Mr. Guder (1970) Wikipedia: Richard and Bettis then were hired as musicians at a refreshment shop at Disneyland's Main Street, U.S.A. They were expected to play turn of the 20th century songs in keeping with the shop's theme. The shop's patrons had other ideas; many requested the musicians to play current popular music. When the pair tried pleasing their customers and honoring the requests, they were fired by a Disneyland supervisor, Victor Guder, for being "too radical". Bettis and Richard were unhappy about their dismissal and wrote the song "Mr. Guder" about their former superior. Karen Carpenter - My Body Keeps Changing My Mind (1980)  Carpenters - Road Ode (1972) Carpenters - B'wana She No Home (1977) I like their daring choice and also this version of the Michael Franks tune.  Karen Carpenter - Looking For Love (1966)  Carpenters - You'll Love Me (1967) Carpenters - The Rainbow Connection (Recorded in 1980, released in 1999) Richard objected to the "syllabification", notably the first verse that Kermit the Frog sings in The Muppet Movie, for whom the song was written. That original was nominated for an Academy Award. So while they dutifully trudged on, Karen wasn't pleased with the outcome and the recording was not released in her lifetime.  Carpenters - One Fine Day (1973)  Carpenters - Piano Picker (1972) Your Wonderful Parade (1969) Carpenters - California Dreamin' (1967/1999) Richard Carpenter via Obscure Media: From Joe's Studio, circa 1967. This is the one tape, 4-track or otherwise, that survives, as, for some reason, Joe gave it to me. Even though the most important ingredient on tape, the lead, is on its own track, the bass, piano, drums and string machine were all bounced to another track, leaving two open…for what, I can't remember. As a result, in 1999, we transferred the 4-track to 48-track and re-did everything, including a reproduction of my original electric piano solo. I finally got around to putting real strings on the track instead of those on the Chamberlain Music Master that was on the demo. This is one of my favorite tracks on this collection. Karen, at 17, is a marvel. I especially like the way she jumps an octave, from chest voice, to head voice on the letter (and note) "A" in the opening and then seamlessly back to chest on "Dreamin'". There is some electronic noise on the lead track, we don't know why. And I realize now and I should have then, that we have an incorrect word in the second verse: "began to pray" should be "pretend to pray". Karen Carpenter - I'll Be Yours (1966) Carpenters - Morinaga Hi-Crown Chocolate Commercial (1975?) Morinaga was/is a Japanese candy company. Hi-Crown Chocolate was, as far as I can tell, a way to market sweet, sweet nicotine to kids: From the Morinaga website: CANDY FIT FOR AN EMPEROR 1964 - Hi‐Crown chocolate debuts, and becomes a major hit from one end of Japan to the other. This was the start of a long string of hit Morinaga candies -- including you-know-what. [ed: I don't.] The Morinaga Group's Corporate Philosophy The Morinaga Group's Corporate Philosophy is composed of Our Mission, Our Visions, and Our Commitments. Our Mission states how the Group will contribute to society, and Our Visions comprise the five visions that we will pursue toward the future. Our Commitments represent the values that we have developed during more than 100-year history since the founding of the Group and will continue to uphold as our firm belief for many more years to come. To describe the essence of our Corporate Philosophy in one word, it is “Delicious, Fun, and Healthy.” Carpenters - Tryin' To Get The Feeling Again (1975/1995) It would have appeared on the Horizon album but Richard decreed that the album already had too many ballads. This was recorded before the version we all know by Barry Manilow. I love her version. So weary. So deep and sad. This should have been released.  The Richard Carpenter Trio - Every Little Thing (1966)  Carpenters - Suntory Pop Jingle #1 (1977)   

Carla Bley - Enormous Tots (1974) The vocalist is Julie Tippetts, formerly Julie Driscoll, who sang on releases by Bob Dylan and Donovan. You've heard her before on this show, singing on the Centipede album. Her band of note in the late '60s, Brian Auger and The Trinity, starred in the rarely-seem 33⅓ Revolutions Per Monkee, a post-Head TV special, more psychedelic than the movie if you can believe that. As you know, I love Carla Bley. Her early '70s stuff is amazing. Like Zappa. More abstract.  The Move - Feel Too Good (1970)  The Carla Bley Band - Musique Mecanique I (1979) This suite is meant (I think) to sound like a mechanical device brought to sentience. I could and probably am very wrong. I love it.  The Carla Bley Band - Musique Mecanique II (At Midnight) (1979) The Carla Bley Band - Musique Mecanique III (1979) Electric Light Orchestra - Boy Blue (1974)  Electric Light Orchestra - Laredo Tornado (1974)  Electric Light Orchestra - Poor Boy (1974) I don't know if it was this album's legend or the fact that there's mostly a real orchestra/chorus, or the wonderful cover, but when I bought this I felt like I was holding something special. It really is a wonderful pop album. Their second-best.  Pink Floyd - Dogs (1977)  A filmstrip record from American Motors used to train salesmen how to sell the Rebel Machine. (1970) I know nothing about cars. But I did find this record and wanted to play it for you.  Nick Mason's Fictitious Sports - Can't Get My Motor To Start (1981) This is a Carla Bley vanity project that was released under Nick Mason's name. He has said he liked the record he did with Rick Fenn (who was in 10CC after Godley and Creme left to develop the Gizmo) better, but it's not nearly as interesting as this. No one knew what to do with this, and people expecting The Wall were probably amused or stunned or both.  Louie and the Rockets - Stay Away From Karen (Unholy Rollers) (1972) "Behind-the-scenes life of the Roller Derby circuit... A beautiful young woman joins a Roller Derby team, but her fierce independence and competitive spirit get her into trouble." This song was written by Bobby Hart, one half of the Boyce-Hart team that wrote "Come A Little Bit Closer" as well as a bunch of hits for The Monkees' first couple albums. And the theme. And they toured with Dolenz and Jones in 1975. Louie and the Rockets have a website.  Marvin Gaye - "T" Stands For Trouble (1972) From the film "Trouble Man", Marvin Gaye's one and only soundtrack album.  Yes - Going For The One (1976) 

The Killjoys - Naïve (1977) Featuring Kevin Rowland, later to be the lead singer of Dexys Midnight Runners who had a huge worldwide hit with "Come On Eileen".  Normally I'd frown on such trend-hopping (this was just the first of many image reinventions to come) but when lightning strikes, it strikes. But it almost never strikes twice in pop music. And it didn't for him.  The Monkees - Head Radio Promo (1968) This is hilarious! Hearing Annette Funicello and a few members of the cast waxing about these "crazy" Monkees. Not The Monkees themselves, mind you. By the way, one of the shortest soundtrack albums I've ever seen. Each side clocks in at about 14 minutes with some incidental dialog.  The Dave Clark Five - Last Train To Clarksville (1971?)  Dave Clark had been approached (according to an interview I read from 1967) for the group to do the TV show which became The Monkees. But he turned it down because he did not see his band acting on screen the way the four actors who formed the 'made for TV band' called The Monkees would be asked to do. This particular recording appears on an out-of-print collection called "Unreleased Tracks", as were the other DC5 tracks on this show.  กุง กาดิน (Gunga Din) - ฉันจะร้องเพลง I Shall Sing) (196?)  Alice Swoboda - Potter's Field (1972) B-side of her second single. She released two.  Archie Bell & The Drells - Let's Groove (1975) Doc Severinsen - Bond Street (1968) Enoch Light - Bond Street (1969) Fórmula 7 - Bond Street (1968)  Hager Twins - Pizza Man (1979) Written by Eddie Rabbitt. Peoples Temple Choir - Welcome (1973)  Lafayette - Bond Street (1967)  Lazaro Salazar - Artuditu (1978) Men Without Hats - Antarctica (1982) Mouth and Macneal - ABC (1971) The Folkswingers (featuring Harihar Rao) - Raga Rock (1966)  Richard Simmons - Wake Up (1982) Richard Simmons - You Can Do It (1982)  The Styx - Soul Flow (1971) Not the Chicago prog band.  The Body Shop Trailer (1972)  The Colours - Cocaine (1968) The Dave Clark Five - Get It On Now (197?) The Dave Clark Five - Ruby Baby (197?)

It's hard to embarrass me. But when I tagged along with some friends to the theater to see Rocky Horror Picture Show, with the toast and the actors in front of the screen acting out the scenes as they played on the screen, I finally felt true embarrassment. True, inescapable discomfort. This would be...1994? Before I was even born. It wasn't Tim Curry. He was excellent. It was the feeling that people, all these young people, will do ANYTHING to belong to something bigger than themselves. We go from one thing to another.  Tim Curry - Paradise Garage (1979)  Co-written with DIck Wagner, who wrote or co-wrote Alice Cooper's ballad-ish hits "Only Women Bleed", "I Never Cry", "You And Me" and "How You Gonna See Me Now".   Tim Curry - Working On My Tan (1981)  Tim Curry - Brontosaurus (1978) Written by Roy Wood for the album Looking On, the first Move album with Jeff Lynne. Pretty lethargic, but the original wasn't that peppy either.  Tim Curry - We Went As Far As We Felt Like Going Single (1975) Written by Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan, who also wrote "My Eyes Adored You" and Labelle's "Lady Marmalade" (both 1974). Sounds pretty familiar, doesn't it? Like a cross between "Evil Ways" by Santana and the Labelle song. Maybe they thought no one would be listening in 2022. But they couldn't imagine you and me, could they? 5th Avenue Buses - Fantastic Voyage (1967) From the album Trip to Gotham City.  I might buy this one somewhere down the road. The titles all have something in common. It was 1966. It was a fad, but these records were intended to tweak the guilt of parents.  A Letter Home - Child in Question (1975)   From the record company: What do you get when you mix about a dozen musicians (including members of The Animals & The Police) with a lot of drugs? An acid psych opus! What do you get when you package it in a prefab jacket with stock Christmas art and a festive title? Total confusion! We hypothesize that if you take enough drugs you may think this private press treasure is a holiday album...but we're not so sure.  One of the artists was Andy Summers, later of The Police, but he doesn't play on this song. The album cover was just lying around the studio, I guess. They put no thought into it at all, again, thinking no one in 2022 would be listening.  Rubber Duckie - A Teenager In Love (1973) 10cc in their nascent stages.  Billy Page - Its Pop (1965) Another rip-off attempt. Boy, this comes off as disdain. In fact, there was a whole industry pushing to keep "hippie" culture irrelevant. Soon, the industry would just subsume the entire thing in TV, music, etc. This might be the same guy that created the above 5th Avenue Buses rip-off. This label also featured Don Randi, who played sessions for more artists than you can shake a stick at.  Bobby Lyle - Shaft (1975)   From Yamaha: Conceived for theaters and similar use, the GX-1 set the electronic keyboard industry on its ear. The first polyphonic synthesizer instrument of its kind, it bridged the gap between organ and synthesizer. The velocity-sensitive keyboards allowed true expression of the voices, a concept never before imagined in electronic organs. The smaller solo keyboard was pressure-sensitive. It weighed over 700 pounds.  From Wikipedia: GX-1 voices were "programmed" onto matchbox-sized cartridges. Each cartridge had 26 screw-sized dials on them to change the VCO, VCF, VCA, and envelope of the voice. 70 cartridges in total were loaded into racks that emerged from the top of the console. From me: This keyboard featured prominently on Led Zeppelin's In Through The Out Door album. And I don't like it. Also, Stevie Wonder's Songs In The Key of Life. For example, the string-ish intro to "Village Ghetto Land." I mean, I know what he was TRYING to do. The juxtaposition and all that.  Bus Boys - Heart And Soul (1982) For a very brief time, due almost entirely to the ascendence of (and relationship with) Eddie Murphy, The Bus Boys were all over the place in the early '80s. Their schtick was working class, inoffensive, smiling, patriotic, black Rock and Roll. Nothing subversive, nothing offensive. But they were good. This album was their second, and there was just no way to keep this edifice fresh, but I like this version more than the others (Huey Lewis and the News and Exile) but it wasn't enough. Search for their videos on YouTube. They're still around.  Gayle Moran - Magic Spell (1980)  Grupo Solo - A Real Mother For You (1977)  Harry Gullett And The Wheels - The Wondering Man (197?) Jennie Darren & The Second City Sound - River Deep Mountain High (1969) Jenny Darren would record the original version of Pat Benetar's hit "Heartbreaker". A little more convincingly, if you can believe that. Hear for yourself, ya greedy so-and-so.  Lance Rentzel - Beyond Love (1971) Lance Rentzel - Lookin' Like Somethin' That it Ain't (1971) On Columbia, no less. A label of prestige and fine taste. And they must have been embarrassed when:  From Wikipedia: Rentzel was leading the [Dallas Cowboys] in receiving yards, when he was arrested for exposing himself to a 10-year-old girl. At the time the accusation was made, the press revealed a nearly forgotten incident that happened when, as a Minnesota Viking in September 1966, he was charged with exposing himself to two young girls in St. Paul, and pled guilty to the reduced charge of disorderly conduct. He was not sentenced to jail, but merely ordered to seek psychiatric care. Because of the nationwide reaction and publicity from the scandal, his wife, singer and actress Joey Heatherton, divorced him shortly thereafter. Rentzel asked the Cowboys to place him on the inactive list so he could devote his time to settling his personal affairs.[14] He would miss the last three games of the regular season, including the Cowboys' playoff drive to its narrow Super Bowl V loss to the Baltimore Colts. Rentzel finished with 28 receptions (second on the team) for 556 yards (second on the team) with a 19.9-yard average and five touchdowns. Joey Heatherton was smoking hot. She's on the left. Marty Allen is on the far right. I've played a record of HIS on my show as well.  Lark - Rubber Duckie (1973) Louie Pascua - Rama's Song - CCP Dance Company Rama Hari Prod_ Ryan Cayabyab Prince Blackman - Rockers Delight (1980)  Return to Forever  - Do You Ever (1977) Hard to fathom: An album like this reached Top 30 status on the album chart. It was a different time.  Rex Griffin - Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby (1935 - 1946) I bet you didn't know that Carl Perkins didn't write this.  From Wikipedia: "Everybody's Tryin' to Be My Baby" was written and recorded in 1936 by Decca artist Rex Griffin. On March 2, 1936 at the Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana, it was among ten self-penned tracks recorded that day by the recently-signed artist, accompanied only by his guitar. It was released on Decca 5294 in November 1936 to little notice. Griffin copyrighted it on January 22, 1944.[4] In March 1956, Carl Lee Perkins, who had released "Blue Suede Shoes" the previous December, was working on follow up material at Sun Studios in Memphis, Tennessee, and brought in a song called "Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby", that he had written. Shortly after it was recorded, Perkins and his brother were in a serious auto accident, and the song and album were not released until May 1957. Perkins was listed as the sole writer when Knox Music, Inc. published it on November 12, 1957. It is unknown, but doubtful, that Griffin ever confronted Perkins, or even learned of the matter, since he died two years later, while the 1950s non-album oriented radio environment prevailed. In retrospect, Perkins contributed a modern arrangement, along with some minor lyric changes.

Bruford - Age Of Information (1980) I guess, if I'm going to call the Bowie band of 1975-1980 the best band of the decade, this group would come close to that. With the inimitable style of Jeff Berlin on bass and the wonderful Bill Bruford on drums, this album might have been the closest Prog came to the elusive jazz/pop hybrid bred into the bone for so many of the Prog hopefuls of the era.  Jan Hammer Group - Don't You Know (1977)  Can - I Want More (1976) Can was a sometimes impenetrable German Prog outfit. Their music in the early part of the decade wasn't something I could say I liked, even though I tried like heck. This was a single, which kinda makes sense. All Prog was catching a terminal disease at this juncture, but no one knew it.  Renaissance - Flight (1983) I messed this song up on my show, but this is not a bad record. Renaissance had some great moments in the '70s, and if you are interested, go find Scheherazade and Other Stories from 1975. Like Close to The Edge, it only has three songs, but I think that record is their apex by a mile, and I like the other albums. This was from their last "Golden Era", Time-Line album, although it had been a while since they could get a record company to pony up the do-re-mi for an orchestra.  Discogs: Renaissance was originally formed in London, UK, in 1969 by ex-Yardbirds vocalist Keith Relf and drummer Jim McCarty who wanted to explore a new sound blending elements of rock, folk, and classical music. Relf assumed the role of guitarist, and they were joined by bassist Louis Cennamo, keyboardist John Hawken, and vocalist Jane Relf. This lineup recorded the first self-titled album and most of the second album, Illusion (1971). A rapid series of personnel changes followed. Guitarist and composer Michael Dunford first appeared on Illusion. Before his departure from the band Hawken recruited new vocalist Annie Haslam. By 1972, when the Renaissance recorded their third album, Prologue, none of the original members remained though McCarty still wrote music for the band. By 1973 the lineup had stabilized with Haslam, Dunford, keyboardist John Tout, bassist and vocalist Jon Camp, and drummer Terry Sullivan. This lineup produced a string of relatively successful albums over the remainder of the decade. They had one Top 10 single in the U.K., "Northern Lights", from the album A Song For All Seasons (1978). By 1980 Sullivan and Tout departed leaving Haslam, Dunford, and Camp as the stable core of the group with various other musicians coming and going through the early and mid-1980s. The group released two albums, Camera Camera (1981) and Time-Line (1983) which were not well received by either fans or critics. Renaissance went into the studio to record a further album but found themselves without a label willing to release it. Material for this album as well as discarded tracks from the sessions for the previous three releases finally saw the light of day as Songs From Renaissance Days in 1997. [Ed: Which I gobbled up the day it came out, as there was no other domestic CD of this group available at the time.] Yes - The Revealing Science of God (1973) There are moments in this song that, to me, are just amazing, transcendent, and still cause chills maybe 40 years after the first time I heard them ("Getting over overhanging trees...") like almost all of Yes' epic side-long monsters. There's a reason Prog fans like me are filled with sadness that the people who made this magic for us cannot seem to just stop recreating or trying to recreate these moments with an ever-shifting group of lesser talents. The Beatles did it right. They just stopped, resisted the potentially lucrative urge to make themselves stand there again, together, and recreate sounds from which they had long ago moved past. I like this. There's a real fire that people might have forgotten these very young men possessed.  King Crimson - Thela Hun Jinjeet (1981) So this might be #3. Tony Levin played on some later Yes albums, as well as Peter Gabriel (he plays the Chapman Stick, a strapped upright instrument with both tenor and bass strings). He also played with Paul Simon and hundreds of others. Robert Fripp played with David Bowie on his Berlin Trilogy, and Bill Bruford was amazing in Yes, his own band, Bruford, and...Genesis during a tour! Bowie and...Adrian Belew!! Who is here after stints with Talking Heads, Zappa, Tom Tom Club....it goes on and on, but I really like anything Bill Bruford played on.  Bruford - Gothic 17 (1980) I've played stuff from Bruford's first record with Annette Peacock. This is in that funky, other-worldly combination of jazz and pop. I love Jeff Berlin's voice. I wish they had dome more records together. Go find "Joe Frazier" off this album. Whoo boy.  Gentle Giant - Interview (1976)  Genesis - One For The Vine (1977) Genesis at their peak. It's hard to believe it now, but this was composed solely by Tony Banks. The scope and drama, pathos, and virtuosity amaze me especially when one considers that he (and they) never created anything this beautiful again. Who was the best keyboard player in Prog? I think about it and Kerry Minnear comes to mind, as he really was the creative force in Gentle Giant. But neither he, Keith Emerson, Rick Wakeman, or any of the others, as good as they were, authored something as wonderful as this.  Rush - Jacob's Ladder (1980) I don't care what you say. This album is peak Rush. After years of album/tour/album/tour, "The Spirit of Radio" captured their amazing musicianship, their cool humor, and the fact that you could be groovy in 7/8. I think of this record as the end of the beginning, but not in a good way. I played this in a band once. We were terrible. I had a tiny Casio keyboard (it was all we could afford) and I couldn't play the last bit on bass with anything resembling speed. Our drummer was great.  Discogs: Rush's seventh studio album. The cover depicted the famous incorrect headline "Dewey Defeats Truman" on a newspaper in the bottom left corner. However, the Chicago Tribune (the paper that originally published the error) pressured the band to remove the headline. Some versions appear altered with either "Dewei Defeats Truman" or a blanked section. The billboards in the distance (mid-right) originally read "Coca-Cola." However, the cola company objected to the use of their logo and the cover was changed to display the band members names in a similar typestyle to the original logo. Trivia: The woman on the cover of this album is model Paula Turnbull. Contrary to rumor, the guy waving in the background on the cover is not one of the members of Rush, it's actually Hugh Syme, the art director of the album. UK - In The Dead of Night/By The Light Of Day/Presto Vivace and Reprise (1978) One of the first Prog supergroups, members of other big groups smooshed together. In this case, John Wetton of King Crimson, Roxy Music, Uriah Heep, Mogul Thrash, etc., Bill Bruford, the amazing Allan Holdsworth (Soft Machine, Gong) , and Eddie Jobson (Zappa, etc.) make a great album. Then Bill leaves, and Terry Bozzio (Zappa) records another record and a live album, and then...Asia.  Joe Simon - Before The Night Is Over (1977)  I don't consider The Moody Blues or Pink Floyd prog.   

Were The Moody Blues "prog"? I don't think so. They weren't virtuosos in any sense, although they were all very competent (or somewhat competent - Graeme Edge wasn't asked to do much, really) but they WERE unique and extremely popular. And every album has a treat or two. At least the ones before 1983. All you had to do was light a marijuana joint with the pot leaves and let the gentle mellotron patina take you to a new land. I guess the key to The Moody Blues' success was that they never asked too much of the listener (like Yes or King Crimson), but never insulted them (like Chicago would, eventually.)  In 1975 they all recorded solo albums, and they were also pretty good.  Justin Hayward - Forever Autumn (1978)  Ray Thomas - Hey Mama Life (1975) Graeme Edge Band - Somethin' We'd Like To Say (1975) Trivia! Barry St. John sang backup on this album. She appeared on "Dark Side of the Moon" and of course, she was in Les Humphries Singers.  Graeme Edge Band - Be My Eyes (1977) John Lodge - Into to Children of Rock 'n' Roll (1977)  John Lodge - Children of Rock 'n' Roll (1977) Featuring Kenny Jones on drums. He was in The Small Faces, then The Faces with Rod Stewart, and then released a single in 1974 ("Ready or Not") and then this. He also played in Paul McCartney's supergroup Rockestra around this time. Maybe this is where he met Pete Townshend.  Mike Pinder - The Promise (1976) My favorite Moody released the blandest solo record of the lot. Maybe he found religion and not just mysticism. Whatever the case, I was disappointed by this. "Solar heaven?"   Mike Pinder - Free As A Dove (1976) This was co-produced by Robert Margouleff, one of the main forces behind Stevie Wonder's golden era. He and his partner Malcolm Cecil brought (and tamed) synthesizers from their unwieldy beginnings into unlikely mainstream dominance. He worked with Billy Preston, The Isley Brothers, Devo, Syreeta Wright, and Stevie. Also, a curious album was released in 1980 by a group that was ubiquitous at the time, The Bus Boys. Remember? Their hit was "(The Boys Are) Back In Town." They recorded a song with Eddie Murphy in 1988 called "Never Giving Up." I wonder what happened to them to stop their momentum. Does either of you know offhand?  John Lodge - Natural Avenue (1977) The Graeme Edge Band - Paradise Ballroom (1977) The Graeme Edge Band - We Like To Do It (1974) The Moody Blues - The Word/Om (1968)  Ray Thomas - Adam and I (1975) The Moody Blues - The Balance (1970) This song was co-written by Edge and Thomas. Most Moody Blues songs were written by one member.  The Moody Blues - In The Beginning/Lovely To See You (1969) This record came with a booklet that included all the lyrics and credits, ornately written. To wit:  The Moody Blues - The Dream/Have You Heard (1969) 

Gilbert O'Sullivan - We Will (1972) Just a nice pre-'US fame' song I thought you might like.  Michael Johnson - Rooty Toot Toot For The Moon (1973) His big hit was "Bluer Than Blue" in 1978.  Produced by Chris Dedrick.  Merry Clayton - Sly Suite (1980) Arranged by Chris Dedrick. Merry Clayton was the backup singer on the Stones' "Gimme Shelter".  From Brute Force's 1980 album (released in 2009), Planetwork. All tracks were arranged by Chris Dedrick.  Driving to the Stars Fantasy of Nationality Spinning Rock Lullaby Spinning Rock Our man recorded one solo record in 1972 (Be Free), but it wasn't released until 2000.  Chris Dedrick - Begin Work Chris Dedrick - I'll Go Away Chris Dedrick - I'm a New Man Chris Dedrick - Someday Halo - Have You Ever Felt That Feeling (1981) Produced by Lawrence Hilton Jacobs of Welcome Back, Kotter fame.  Halo - Let Me Do It (1981) Hudson and Landry - Hippie and the Redneck (1971) Carpenters - California Dreamin' (1967/1999) Hudson and Landy - The Gas Man (1974) Pere Ubu - 30 Seconds Over Tokyo (1975) Pere Ubu - Heart Of Darkness (1975) Rob Agerbeek - Ob-la-di Ob-la-da (1973) Rob Agerbeek - The Word (1973) The Chantels - It's Just Me (1966) Y Dyniadon Ynfyd Hirfelyn Tesog - Dyddiau Fu (1970) Gene Marshall - Shake Your Good Stuff (?)  Jeff Reynolds - Music For Four Footers (?) 

Stevie Wonder - Light My Fire (1970) Listen to that bass player.  Syreeta Wright - Spinnin' and Spinnin' (1974) No one was EVER as hot as Stevie in the '70s, and the album this came from proves that even occupied with his own music, he can lovingly produce one of the best female-sung records of the '70s. I love this factoid from Wikipedia: Three artists who performed on this album (Stevie Wonder, Deniece Williams, Michael Sembello) would all have Billboard number one songs ("I Just Called to Say I Love You", "Let's Hear It for the Boy", and "Maniac", respectively) within a year of each other, a decade after this album's release. Another artist on this album, Ollie Brown of Ollie & Jerry, would have a Billboard top ten single, "Breakin'... There's No Stopping Us", in the same one-year period. The song "Come And Get This Stuff" was originally intended for Rufus, but lead singer Chaka Khan refused to do the song. Instead, Stevie wrote "Tell Me Something Good" for them which appeared on their album Rags to Rufus. There's no word to describe how good he was in this five-year period. This song made it to #49 in the UK, and never a peep in the US, which is a shame.  Gentle Giant - Weekend Cowboy (1970) I love their sound on these early demos. Less prog than they would become, a sort of The Band meets Harry Chapin. Through the filter of England, of course.  Godley and Creme - Random Brainwaves/I Pity Inanimate Objects (1979) When Gary Storm played this on Buffalo's WIZR 107.7, I had never heard anything like it. I still love what they did with the backing vocals.  Jimmy "Bo" Horne - Dance Across The Floor (1978)  Lawrence Hilton Jacobs - Larry's Theme (1978) He was Freddie "Boom Boom" Washington on Welcome Back, Kotter and Michael Jackson's father Joe on The Jacksons: An American Dream ("Get the switch!") but I actually find his albums in the late '70s very listenable, especially this. So much shit came out from TV stars around that era. Scott Baio was the worst.  Les Humphries Singers - Mexico (1972) Included here because doing this show helped me discover them. My one-man raison d'être is to make you a believer! It's not that good. Just a strange pre-sampling curio.  Nino Tempo and April Stevens - Love Story (1972) From Buffalo, NY! Their biggest hit was "Deep Purple" from 1963. They were siblings. God, she was beautiful. Her first record came out in 1950 (!) but her biggest solo hit was "Teach Me, Tiger" from 1960. She reprised this in 1965, but this was virtually the same recording, with dialog implying that she had kidnapped one of The Beatles in order to seduce him. Just wow. I love it.    Men At Work - Down Under (original, non-hit version) (1980)  A brief retelling of The Greg Ham Story. Don't Do Drugs. Mudcrutch - Don't Do Me Like That (original, non-hit version) (1974) The almost note-for-note prototype for the Tom Petty hit a few years later.  The Osmonds - War in Heaven (1973) Sammy Davis Jr. - John Shaft (1972) Ok, ok. Shaft. Ok! Shut up and let me finish my dinner.  Sha Na Na PSA (1972) Pink Floyd - Scream Thy Last Scream (1967) I was surprised to learn that Nick Mason sang this.  Bee Gees - Lovers (1976) This is a very strange and wonderful album track from a band on its....third ascension?  Sensational Alex Harvey Band - The Dolphins (1979) I love this song as much as any I have ever played on D-Sides. I never would have heard it if not for this show.  The Langley Schools Music Project - The Long and Winding Road (1977) You should read about this. I think I read about this in RE/Search magazine.  The Residents - Give it To Someone Else (1980) Every song on The Commercial Album is about 60 seconds long. There are 20 per side.  Wild Cherry - Baby Don't You Know (1977) A wonderful, horrible attempt to recapture the lightning of the last single, "Play That Funky Music". THIS is how you follow up a fluke hit: One more time Well we play that funky music And we were looking so good yeah Electrified funky feeling Was coming down like I thought it would So we went out on the road yeah Try to get ourselves ahead And on the way I was surprised to discover That all those funky people Had been misled, they were shouting out Black? NO! White? Right!, Oh what a sight! I really didn't know the suckers was white Baby don't you know, Baby don't you know Baby don't you know, Baby don't you know That the honkey's got soul Baby don't you know, Baby don't you know Baby don't you know, Baby don't you know That the honkey's got soul Roger Nichols and Small Circle of Friends - Don't Go Breaking My Heart (1968) So beautiful, especially the "Middle 8". Just amazing harmonies.  The Free Design - Day Breaks (2001) This will be my funeral song. I don't WANT a funeral. Just a little party for people to remember funny stories about me. In life, very few people are still in touch with me in an earnest sense. People have come and gone and sometimes I look around and wonder if someone should have bought me a ball gag long ago. Still, even after all the mistakes I have made in my life and my dealings with people I have lost, I know deep down that some people will be genuinely touched by the fact that we met and decided to be in each other's lives for as long as we had. If you listen to this song and put yourself in that place, celebrate the people who DID choose to be with you, no matter WHAT you said. Everyone is broken. Everyone. You're not alone.  Co-written by my friend Bruce Dedrick.  The Free Design - Friendly Man (1971) Adriano Celentano - Prisencolinensinainciusol (1972) This song is being used for a commercial in the US. I like to think it's because of me.  The Beatles - Revolution (Take...Your Knickers Off!) (1968)

Joe Simon- Come Back Home (1974) I have to play you a Joe Simon song that was used as a sample for a VERY famous Hip Hop song. Not many people know.  Helen Reddy - I Am Woman (1971) The original, superior (to my ears) version. She has appeared on my show singing in ads for cigarettes in Australia, as well as later misses like "Handsome Dudes." Barbara, The Grey Witch - Witch's Love Song (1971) Obituary Barbara Roehrs, also known as Barbara the Gray Witch of Raven House, passed away on Wednesday, June 30, 2021, at Healthwin in South Bend, IN, after suffering the long-term effects of a stroke. She was born Barbara Ann Hostetler on May 9, 1944, in South Bend. She was the youngest child to John and Anna May Hostetler, both of whom preceded her in death. Barbara was a talented and accomplished artist. She was a larger-than-life personality and public figure. She hosted a U93 radio show and appeared yearly at the Niles Haunted House. She was a beloved friend and counselor to many and had a large and loyal following. She was an animal lover. She loved spending time with her dogs – especially her beloved ‘familiar,' Gabby. She also loved back road adventures in her Volkswagen Beetle, meeting new people, and seeing new places. She loved fishing and having a good time. The family would like to extend a thank-you to the Heart to Heart Hospice team and the healthcare workers at Healthwin for caring for Barbara so well.   So for my money, the best band of the 1965-1980 period was the band that David Bowie assembled for his Station To Station/Low/"Heroes"/Lodger/Stage phase. They were loose and tight. Funky and capable. With him as a singer, there's no way the band could lose. But these dudes were special. Carlos Alomar, Dennis Davis, and George Murray. Robert Fripp and Adrian Belew functioned at a right-angle in the proceedings, but that, too, made the ensemble special. I rank them higher than Led Zeppelin for their harmonies, Bowie's lyrics, and just the bravery. Higher (ever so slightly) than The Beatles for their live performances, and the fact that their music was really one guy showing up with an unfinished idea and the band using the ideas as clay. They could jam but they never recorded anything that wasn't precise and good fun.  David Bowie - Fashion (1980) David Bowie - It's No Game (1980) David Bowie • Station To Station (Live) (1978) Children of the Night - Dracula's Undying Love (1976) This collection of 1970's "Rock & Roll" songs tells the story of a big party at Count Dracula's house. The between-song skits have a pretty cut-rate vibe throughout (Dracula sounds remarkably like Dan Ackroyd doing his SNL Yortuk Festrunk "Wild & Crazy Guy" character, The Mummy introduces himself with the lyrics to the Bob McFadden & Dor single "The Mummy")... Count Lorry & The Biters - Frankenstein Stomp (1974) David Bowie - “Heroes” (Live) (1978) Electric Food - Nosferatu (1970) German heavy prog rock band which included all Lucifer's Friend musicians except John Lawton. You know who John Lawton was. He was in Les Humphries Singers! Sang their biggest hit, "Mama Loo" and enjoyed a stint with Uriah Heep.  Dick (Ghoulardy) Knight - His Ghoul (1973) By the time this single was released, the name "Ghoulardi" was owned by Storer Broadcasting out of Cleveland, OH. Hence the different name. Go here to read about Ghoulardi, a story that could never happen now. You can see the "T.K. Productions" on the bottom of the label here. Read their story. You wouldn't know it from this but T.K. ended up owning the charts in the late '70s. The part The Bee Gees didn't devour, that is.  Iggy Pop - Sister Midnight (1977) Jimmie John - What Happens When We Die? (1964) Jo Banks and the Soul Train - The Toy Shop Killer (1979)  David Bowie - What In The World (Live) (1978) Johnny Fever - Zombie (1967) Mickey and His Mice - Cracker Jack (1970) Discogs: Wilfred "Mickey" Fields was a saxophonist from the Baltimore area, a local legend who refused to play outside his Baltimore area, although he was invited several times to take the road for tours with many famous bands. He is recognized as one of Baltimore's best-known jazz saxophonists and has mentored many other jazz musicians, including Paul H Brown. Mickey created the "Monday Night Jam Session" at Sportsman's Lounge, allowing many young jazz musicians to perform. He was also known for his constant encouragement of young artists. Fields began his career with the blues jump band The Tilters. As a solo artist, he recorded on Atlantic Records and Groove Merchant. Howard Earl Washington, a Baltimore area jazz drummer, was another member of the Tilters. The Tilters played for the great Ethel Ennis. Fields then recorded several songs with his group "Mickey And His Mice", entitled "Cracker Jack", known as one of the 100 most funky titles ever created and the popular "Little Green Apples". He then recorded an album with the great Richard "Groove" Holmes, for the label Edmar (New Jersey). Fields also played with his talented sister, Shirley Fields, who has been a singer for many years and who has also played an important role in the Baltimore Jazz Company. Monsters - Transylvania Disco Hustle (1977) Produced by the same guy that produced "Dracula's Undying Love." In fact, three of the guys that played on that record played on this!  Screen Idols - Blind Man (1979) Notable for the presence of one Woody Woodmansey, ex-Spiders From Mars drummer. Right after Woody Woodmansey's U-Boat. 

Gaylord & Holiday - Dixie (1977) A remnant from the Amherst Records Story show.  Santiago - Nice And Slow (1976) A remnant from the Amherst Records Story show.  Bobby Hatfield - Messin' In Muscle Shoals (1971) One half of the Righteous Brothers records some forgettable pseudo-Americana, but you can't take the pure show-biz mawkishness out of the delivery.  Bruce Haack & Miss Nelson – (Excerpt from) Dance, Sing, And Listen Again & Again! (1963) Included here because this was an early attempt to use synthesizers for more than burps and squeaks. A children's album that's pretty strange but not bad.  Charles Dodge – (Excerpt from) Synthesized Voices (1976) Liner notes: "A1 and B realized at the Columbia University Center of Computing Activities and the Nevis Laboratories A2 realized at the Bell Telephone Laboratories" Pretty strange synthesized vocal music.  Cradle - Man Is A Man (1970) The Quatro sisters record a kind of Moody Blues meets Blue Cheer hybrid of prog. Suzi Quatro quit to become a solo star (mostly in England) and as Leather Tuscadero on Happy Days. Patti Quatro appeared on Fanny's Rock and Roll Survivors album. The single from that album was a cover of "I've Had It", which I remember them performing on American Bandstand, but it didn't help. I still felt kinda funny watching them.  Don Powell - Black Man (1972) Tronquista - Hoffa's Blues (1966) Rare 1966 blues release by an anonymous R&B / blues singer in a tribute to Teamster's President Jimmy Hoffa who was very popular with African-Americans for his stand on equal rights. It was pressed in 1966 for the Teamster's convention in Miami and was available only at this event. The name Tronquista is the name used for the Teamsters union in Puerto Rico so this may be a clue to the identity of the artist and suggests it was privately pressed in the Miami area rather than union headquarters in Detroit. John Strand - Remembering Laci (2003) From WFMU: "Remembering  Laci" was written and performed by John F. Strand, a guard at Tracy, California's Deuel Vocational Institution.  Here's the Wikipedia article.  Lila - Step Into Time (1978) Liner notes: Dear Friend, We are happy you are listening to our songs of the Mother. This album was inspired by the ideals of Sri Ramakrishna (1836-1886) and his wife Sarada Devi (1853-1920), great devotees of the mother, who dedicated their lives to loving tolerance and appreciation between devotees of all religions and all paths. "All the main religions and spiritual paths are true", Ramakrishna said, after practicing 80 of them one by one. "God is Form and Formless Mother, and Father, Son, Friend, Beloved. He is available in whatever way the individual heart yearns for him". We hope our songs help you in your own way. We bow to your soul and individuality. Everyday day at noon, we pray for a new world of Love and Harmony. Join with us if you would like. Lila Lou Christie - Mickey's Monkey (1969) You know I am a big fan (for various reasons) of Lou Christie's Buddah Records period. From the late '60s to the early '70s, he made some pretty odd recordings, but he also made the wonderful Paint America Love. This was the album before that.  The Mam'selles - Oye Coma Va (1969)  Voodou Juju - The VooDou Ju Ju Obsession Part 1 (1969) Richard O'Brien - Shock Treatment (1981) You kids love that Rocky Horror Picture Show. But you might not know is that there was a sequel. It was called Shock Treatment. It was not very good. And it went virtually unnoticed. In fact, it only showed at midnight movies (as did the Rocky Horror zeitgeist in time). But without the electric Tim Curry on screen, it was just another "let's make a move, guys!" dynamic. I saw RHPS once and I felt horribly embarrassed. And it takes a lot to embarrass a man who mixed plaids with stripes. I cannot imagine this. This version of the theme song is not on the OST, as it is slightly more radio-friendly (in its time) than the cast version.  Star Drek - Bobby Pickett and Peter Ferrara (1976) Yeah, the same Bobby Pickett that had a big hit with "Monster Mash". That one oddball hit kept him in cheap capes and attempts at all sorts of permutations, including comedy and disco.  Stephen Kalinich - If You Knew (1969) In 1969, he recorded his only album, A World of Peace Must Come, with production by Brian Wilson. It was unreleased until 2008. The Beach Boys appear on some of the tracks from the album. While under contract as an artist signed to the Beach Boys' Brother Records, Kalinich co-wrote several songs released by the group including "All I Want to Do", "Be Still", "Little Bird", as well as "A Time to Live in Dreams" with Dennis Wilson. Many Beach Boys completists are unaware of their collaborations with Kalinich and Charles Lloyd. These people are idiots.  Stephen Kalinich - The Magic Hand (1969)  Stop Smoking...Stop Over-Eating With Reveen (1978) Excerpt from this nutty record out of Canada. Peter Reveen quickly gained fame across North America with his stage shows. AKA Reveen The Impossibilist.  Supernatural Family Band - Thank You (Falettenme) (1976) "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" was a 1969 hit for Sly and the Family Stone. This is a crazy cover with young girls offering up the least soulful interpretation since Ann Margret. But somehow all the craziness works for me. I don't know. The tuba? The harmonica?  The Average Disco Band - I Want You (She So Heavy) (1976) A remnant from the Amherst Records Story show. Listen closely and you can hear a swarthy male voice intone "J'taime". Maybe some Serge Gainsbourg floating around? This song bears almost no resemblance to the Beatles version.  The B.C. & M. Choir - Stealing In The Name Of The Lord (1969) "B.C.& M." stands for "Baptist, Catholic & Methodist Choir."  The Eric Burdon Band - City Boy (1975) The Mighty M.C.'s - Drugs, Don't Get Involved (1986) The Minute Men - Please Keep The Beatles In England (1964) The United States of America - Osamu's Birthday (1968) To be rerecorded by Joe Byrd and the Field Hippies the following year. In THAT version, the vocals were recorded phonetically with backward backing, then reversed. Interesting, but she was no Dorothy Moskowitz.  Bruce Haack & Miss Nelson – (Excerpt from) Dance, Sing, And Listen Again & Again! Bill Niles and His GoodTime Band - Bric-a-Brac Man (1967) Bill Spiller - Hot Pants Girls (1971) Byron MacGregor - How Good You Have It In America (1974) Carol Channing & Jimmy C. Newman - Lousiana Cajun Rock Band (1978) Senator Sam Ervin - Bridge Over Troubled Water (1974) Stop Smoking With Reveen Excerpt (LP)

Sunflower Radio Promo (1970) The Beach Boys - Slip On Thru (Instrumental backing and backing vocals ) (1970)  The Beach Boys - Forever (1970)  The Beach Boys - Til I Die (vocals only) (1971) The Beach Boys - Add Some Music To Your Day (1970)  The Beach Boys - Seasons In The Sun (1971) Originally titled "Le Moribund" ("The Dying Person"), it was a huge hit for Terry Jacks in 1973, who had previously been part of a husband-wife band called The Poppy Family. The Poppy Family had a sitar player in the band. Four people. One was a sitar player. ANYHOO, Jacks tried repeating his luck by recording another Brel song, "Ne Me Quitte Pas", as "If You Go Away", but as the French say, "La foudre ne frappe jamais deux fois." Wikipedia: The first version of the song was recorded by Jacques Brel, who also wrote it in a brothel in Tangiers. Sung in a marching tempo, it tells of a man dying of a broken heart and shows him saying his last farewells to his close friend Emile, a priest friend, an acquaintance named Antoine, and his wife who has cheated on him numerous times with Antoine. Despite knowing of Antoine being his wife's lover, he wishes no ill upon him but tells him to take care of his wife. The American poet Rod McKuen translated the lyrics to English. In 1964, the Kingston Trio first recorded an English version of "Seasons in the Sun", which was later heard by Terry Jacks and became the basis for his rendition. Jacks rewrote the lyrics, although he is uncredited for it. He justifies the rewriting by stating that he deemed the original version and its translations to be "too macabre". The inspiration for the rewritten lyrics was a close friend of his who was suffering from acute leukemia and died four months later. The Terry Jacks rendition, which was later dedicated to the friend, has the dying man giving his last words to his loved ones with whom he shared his life, much like the original. However, unlike the Jacques Brel version, the man does not die broken-hearted but instead, acknowledges the rights and wrongs of his actions in life as he passes away peacefully. In the rewritten version, the man first addresses his close friend, whom he had known since childhood, and reminisces the happy times they had such as playing and studying together ("climbed hills and trees", "learned of love and ABC's"), and friendships with others ("skinned our hearts and skinned our knees"). He then addresses his father, who tried to give him a good upbringing and exert a positive influence on his undisciplined life ("I was the black sheep of the family", "You tried to teach me right from wrong", "wonder how I got along") which included overindulgence, vices, and revelry ("too much wine and too much song"). The man finally addresses "Michelle", possibly his daughter or niece, and stating how she lifted his spirit up in times of despair. Before he dies in peace, the man reminds all three that he will always be alive in their hearts and will be present in spirit when they see people or visit places; pretty girls (old and new friends) for the close friend, young children playing for the father, and flower fields for Michelle. This version is actually produced for The Beach Boys BY Jacks. He produced this one song and they gave him the heave-ho. Maybe he said, "I'll produce, but there's this song I wrote called 'Put The Bone In' which you might like." The ticket back to Vancouver was on its way.  Allan Sherman - Pop Hates The Beatles (1964) The Average Disco Band - Eleanor Rigby (1977) Coming soon, my Amherst Records show!  The Average Disco Band - Help (1977)  Avon "Elusive" Salesperson Ad (1969)  Bill Haley and His Comets - Rock Around The Clock (1974) Live from the Hammersmith Palais in London.  Bill Haley and His Comets - Rock Around The Clock (1979) Amsterdam, Netherlands. Notable as having Chico Ryan from Sha Na Na on rhythm guitar. To me, I guess.  Bill Haley - Rock Around The Clock (1968 vocals, accompaniment overdubbed horribly by a bunch of anonymous guys.) Bill Haley and His Comets - Rock Around The Clock (1968) Philips Studio, Stockholm, Sweden, before an audience invited to a session by Sonnet Records.  Boiling Point - Let's Get Funktified (1978)  ? - Dedicated To The ATA (197?) Off the album CB Truckin': 20 Gigantic Hits  Elton John - She Sold Me Magic (1970) Erwin Bouterse and His Rhythm Cosmos - Disco Party (1979)  Freddy Cannon - Red Valley (1971) Featuring Wadsworth Mansion, which had a catchy as hell hit the previous year with "Sweet Mary". One album and zap.  Invader - Disco Soodara-bushi (1979) Joe Thomas - Tongue Twisters (1983) Known as "The Ebony Godfather".  The Jules Blattner Group - 2001: A Soul Odyssey (1969) I played their song "Call Me Man".    Winterspring - No One (1970)  Bill and Lisa - Koobamanah (1973) From the back cover: "Music today is so open to style and expression that we enjoy the challenge of always presenting a wide variety of songs to reach as many people as possible. They have been entertaining alternately between the Montauk Golf & Racquet Club and Gurney's Inn for the past three years. Off-season, Bill and Lisa perform on cruise ships, including trips to the South Pacific and the Orient."   Kool and the Gang - Raw Hamburger (1969) Formed by Robert "Kool" Bell, his brother Ronald Bell and a bunch of their New Jersey teenage friends in the mid-60s (then called the Jazziacs), Kool & the Gang played traditional jazz in regional venues for several years, slowly morphing their style to incorporate emerging funk sounds of Sly and the Family Stone and James Brown. They were signed by the De-Lite label in the early '70s and gathered a small but loyal national following (in particular for their 1971 release Live at the Sex Machine). The group's fortunes exploded in 1974 with Wild and Peaceful, an infectiously raw album that spawned three smash hits, "Funky Stuff," "Hollywood Swinging," and "Jungle Boogie," all featuring great instrumentation and lyrics virtually shouted by the group. However, as quickly as they rode to fame, Kool & the Gang faded, their rough sound appearing out of place against the slick, dance-oriented sounds that began to dominate popular radio in the late '70s. And then they broke up, never to be heard from again.  Kool and the Gang  - Country Junkie (1972)  Looking Glass - Sweet Something (1973)

Born in North Carolina, Ray Denson started to dance professionally in 1951, taking on the professional name of Billy Lamont. His singing career started in 1956. "(Zap! Pow!) Do the Batman" was recorded for Atlantic in January 1966 with Gate Wesley and his band, one of the first Batman records. "Communications Is Where It's At, Parts 1 & 2" was credited to Billy the Baron & His Smokin Challangers (sic), released in 1976.  Probably Lamont's final release was the 12-inch maxi-single "The Man With the Master Plan"/"The Cowboy" (credited to Billy Lamont & the Unn Band), issued in 1980.  Billy Lamont died on June 3, 2012, aged 82.  Billy The Baron & His Smokin Challengers - Communications Is Where It's At (1975) Billy Baron and the Umm Band - The Man With The Master Plan (1980)  Gate Wesley & Band - (Zap! Pow!) Do The Batman (1966) Billy LaMont on lead vocals Freddie Cannon - She's A Mean Rebel Rouser (1983) On Amherst Records! Notice the label reads, "From The LP 'Rock Attack'" which never came out. Oh, Lenny...I played this side because the credited writer Frederick A. Picariello is Freddie Cannon's real name. He wrote this. Old rocker to the bone. In his discography, his name is spelled "Freddy" AND "Freddie".  Side 2 of the 1966 Musicor Label All-Star (?) Album "The Gene Pitney Show"! Gene Pitney - There's No Living  The Critters - I'm Gonna Give The Bitter End Singers - I'm On The Run  Teddy and the Pandas - (Bye, Bye) Out The Window Steve Rossi - My Alphabet of Tears  Marie Knight - Cry Me A River    Selections from the 1973 album, "Carnival", by The Les Humphries Singers. Dixie  Something I Saw  Uniform  Carnival    Me - Scare Us (2012)   The first try was so successful, we need to do it again.  Percy Faith - A Summer Place '76 (Original release in 1959) In 1960, the original Percy Faith version (from the movie of the same name) reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for nine consecutive weeks, a record at that time.  Gene Vincent - Be-Bop-A-Lula '69 (1956) Produced by Kim Fowley, the remake eliminates the swing in favor of a straight 4/4. The original reached #7.  Charlie Daniels Band - Uneasy Rider 88' (1973) The original reached #9. Charlie Daniels had played on records by Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, and co-wrote the Elvis song, "It Hurts Me." And apparently, he felt the need to retro-fit his big hit to denounce gays instead of hippies. His biggest hit was "The Devil Went Down To Georgia." Bobby Hebb - Sunny '76 (1966)  The Residents - Santa Dog '78 (1972) The Moonglows - Sincerely '72 (1954)  Sœur Sourire (The Singing Nun) - Dominique '82 (1963) Belgian singer (born Jeannine Deckers) in 1933. Later she became a nun (Sister Luc-Gabrielle) and recorded 'Dominique' in 1963. The song was an international hit and even reached #1 on the Billboard chart after it was released in the USA with the artist name 'The Singing Nun'. The Singing Nun also achieved the remarkable feat — the first in American chart history — of a simultaneous No. 1 single and No. 1 album, both of which sold over a million copies. She committed suicide on March 31, 1985. Deckers and her companion Annie Berchet were found dead in a flat at Waure near Brussels. Both had taken an overdose of barbiturates. The tragedy happened after the Belgian authorities demanded the tax from the monies earned during her fleeting 15 minutes of fame. The convent took a large share of the royalties from her success, as did her record company. This apparently left the former nun in such a state of depression that she took her own life. In a joint suicide note, Deckers wrote: “We are going together to meet God our Father. He alone can save us from this financial disaster.” I told you. Religion ruins everything.  Michael Rabon & The Five Americans - I See The Light '69 (1965) John Durrill was the keyboardist and wrote "Dark Lady" for Cher.  Louis Jordan - Caledonia '56 (1945)  Johnny Kidd & The Pirates - Shakin' All Over '65 (1960) Legendary Stardust Cowboy - Paralyzed '80 (1968) Andre Williams - Bacon Fat '86 (1956)      

Allen & Rossi - Sway (1976) POACA will recall Marty Allen's ubiquitous presence on 70s talk shows and game shows. Whether they like it or not. Naw, he was funny! More Allen and Rossi vinyl to come! From Both Sides Now, a wonderful resource for people wanting to know the stories behind the labels: The Calla label started in 1965 as an independent New York label, owned by Nathan (Nate) McCalla. Calla hit big with J.J. Jackson's "But It's Alright" in 1966, a song recorded in England with British musicians backing Jackson, and then turned this 45 hit into an LP of the same name. Calla licensed the rights to J.J. Jackson's material to Warner Brothers sometime later, and the same song re-charted in 1969 on WB. Other artists on the label included The Sandpebbles, Jean Wells, Billy Mitchell, and Betty LaVette, Rudy Love, and The Persuaders. Early singles and possibly the first album were distributed by Cameo-Parkway, but Cameo-Parkway soon ran into problems staying in business. With Cameo-Parkway on the rocks, McCalla decided to do his own distribution. McCalla was a friend of Morris Levy and was part of the Roulette Records group of labels, but operated independently as far as distribution. This worked well until 1972 when the material seemed to dry up. Calla was all but inactive for the 1972-1975 years. But in 1976, Calla issued a handful of albums distributed by a company called Shakat Records. The albums that sold well were shifted to CBS for distribution later that same year, and CBS eventually reissued several of the Calla albums on Epic, with a small Calla logo. Calla shut its doors in 1977 when Nate McCalla decided to go on an extended stay outside the United States. When he returned in 1980, he was soon murdered. Like many record company execs, Nate McCalla was less of a studio man and more of an office man, one who knew what he liked, signing a wide variety of musical genres to his label. He leaves a relatively small but quite interesting musical legacy.  Dennis Parker - New York By Night (1979) 12" Mix.  Dennis Parker - Like An Eagle (1979) 12" Mix"  Look at this guy. Just look at him. Sweat. Muscle. Mmmm. I think I'm gay now. Actually, he did straight porn AND gay, and he hooked up with Jacques Morali, and then made this album. I actually like it. As disco goes, it's in the hands of the master. And so was Dennis, for a while. Side One of "The Gene Pitney Show" (1966): This is a fake live album, with Joe O'Brien as emcee. The album features several Musicor acts of the time, many of whom never had an LP release, meaning that this album is the only place to find some of these songs in stereo. I believe this album was meant as a ploy to get more exposure to other Musicor acts by having their biggest star (Pitney) "appear" with the others in concert. However, as stated earlier, this is a fake live album, and a poorly done one. Crowd noises are added in at seemingly random points in the songs, some of the sound effects weren't properly cued up so you can hear the FX record gain speed. On top of this, Joe O'Brien randomly starts speaking at random points on some tracks. If it weren't for the hard-to-find songs (in stereo or mono) this would be just a waste of vinyl.  Gene Pitney - Backstage The Critters - Georgianna  The Bitter End Singers - Let Me In or Keep me Out Teddy and the Pandas - Once Upon A Time The Platters - I Love You 1,000 Times Danny and Diego - Glitter and Gold  Tony Bruno - This Time You're Right (1974) Tony Bruno - Love Was Born Today (1974) I'm glad I bought this little-known soundtrack to a little-known movie with songs by a little-known singer that I love (Tony Bruno).  Elliot Lurie - Rich Girl (1976) Elliot Lurie - Disco (1975) I have raised 3 children, done thousands of gigs, won Musician of the Year in High School, etc., but NOTHING gives me more pleasure than doing my imitation of Elliot Lurie.  Therapy - Fantasia on Eleanor Rigby (1975) Sleeve notes: "This album, our third, is a selection of material which can be heard at a typical Therapy performance." I'm the Greatest - David Hentschel (1975) Phil Collins on drums.  Selections from Side One of Les Humphries Singers' "Carnival" album (1973) WHICH I OWN!!:  Kentucky Dew Do-Da Lonely Kind of Man Square Dance  Les Humphries was not a bad songwriter at all. Somewhat derivative in places, but mostly inoffensive pop in the vein of Gilbert O'Sullivan or a young Elton John after a night out.  Os Mutantes - Panis et Circenses (1970) English version. Translates to "Bread and Circuses".  Os Mutantes - I Feel A Little Spaced (1970) English version of "Ando Meio Desligado". These are not bad. I think the songs are so good and the performances so sincere and unaffected that they transcend our clunky lexicon. They must have done this to expand their audience in the USA. It didn't work but I'm glad they released this at all.  Bobby Lee Trammell - You Mostest Girl (1958) Our favorite guy, Bobby Lee Trammell, records an almost note-for-note copy of Elvis' "You're So Square (Baby I Don't Care)".  J.D. Drews - Don't Want Nobody (1980) Jürgen Drews from the aforementioned LHS tries to break into the American market by anglicizing his name and adopting all the quirky affect of a real-live New Wave singer with somewhat staid results. This song was written by P Delph and D Edwards. I can't see that they wrote anything else. The Brecker Brothers, Jan Akkerman, and Joe Chemay.    Pete Sacco - Pennsylvania (197?) Lou Christie's brother recorded this on the Lightning Label. 

You know, as long as there've been lady parts and attendant man parts to go into them, abortion has been practiced. It always will be. No law can change it either way. The only thing that laws like Roe do is give a safe, clean room in which to practice the fetal cell-smooshing arts for the poorest and least advantaged of us. That seems to be the real reason people wave signs and chant their religious nonsense. Taking things away from people they think are less deserving. Because as my old mistress Missy Quinn said (and I'm paraphrasing) if you can't trust a woman with a choice, how can you trust her with a child?    Bill Seluga - Dancin' Johnson (1978) Bill Seluga was a founding member of the improv comedy troupe Ace Trucking Company. His Raymond J. Johnson bit was pretty much that, a bit. He was probably best known for the bit "But ya doesn't have to call me Johnson". It was the voice and the repetitiveness that was supposed to be funny. In the '70s, it was. The Ace Trucking Company was active from the late '60s through the mid-'70s and was frequently on variety programs like The Tonight Show, Mike Douglas, Dick Cavett, and The Midnight Special. Fred Willard was in this group So was Patty Deutsch, who was also in the later incarnation of Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, as well as the Exorcist parody album The Hexorcist. I could go on and on.  Cold Chisel - Choirgirl (1980) Kinky Friedman - Rapid City, South Dakota (1974)  Abortion Suite:  Victor Buono - I Am (1971) American actor and comedian. Six foot four and tipping the scales at some 400 pounds, Victor Buono often played the "heavy" on screen. A 1971 album Heavy! charted, thanks in no small part to Victor's performance of the "Fat Man's Prayer" on The Tonight Show. He also played the role of King Tut in the '60s Batman series.  The Gaunga Dyns - Rebecca Rodifer (1967) Peggy Seeger - Nine-Month Blues (1979) Discogs: Peggy Seeger (born June 17, 1935, New York City) is an American folksinger. She is also well known in Britain, where she lived for more than 30 years with her husband, songwriter Ewan MacColl. The well-known Pete Seeger is her half-brother. Gary Paxton - The Big "A" = The Big "M" (1978) Malvina Reynolds - Rosie Jane (1975) Lee Hazlewood - I'll Live Yesterdays (1971) Harry Chapin - Woman Child (1972) Sylvain Sylvain - Formidable (1981) Lorene Mann - Hide My Sin (A-b-o-r-t-i-o-n N-e-w Y-o-r-k) (1972) Hmm. Same label and backing vocalists as Elvis.  End of Abortion Suite.    Adam & Eve - Hey Neandertal Man (1970) I Nuovi Angeli - L'uomo di Neanderthal (1970)  Harlem Underground Band - Smokin Cheeba Cheeba (1976) John Farrar - Falling (1980) Kin Ping Meh - Come Together (1972) Syreeta - How Many Days (1972) Dave Clark Five - Good Old Rock and Roll (1969) The Holy Mackerel - Wildflowers (1968)  Todd Rundgren - Tin-Foil Hat (2017) Featuring Donald Fagen.  John Travolta - What Would They Say (1978) American Spring - This Whole World (1972) Denny Laine - The Blues (1973) Three Dog Night - A Change is Gonna Come (1969) Michael Nagy (Naj) - A Clever Man (1998) Adriano Celentano - Pregherò (1962) Barry McGuire - This Precious Time (1965) Cindy und Bert - Im Fieber Der Nacht (1978) Elvis Presley - Proud Mary (1972) Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons - Hickory (1974) Gary Lewis and the Playboys - Then Again Maybe (1972)  Frank Zappa - I Don't Wanna Get Drafted (1980)  

Cal Tjader - Along Comes Mary (1967) Cal Tjader - Gimme Shelter (1971) Marran Gosov - Lampenfieber (1977) Now THIS is German Existentialism! The English translation to what he is singing: At the first time came energy At the second then the imagination At the third came with you the pleasure At the fourth you've kissed me At the fifth I was searching you At the sixth then only cursed you At the seventh i have discovered you At the eighth tasted on the skin   Stage fright Without you I can not be Fever Without you I'm alone Fever My cross and yarn on the pulse of power Fever I need you again and again Stage fright   At the ninth you've touched me At the tithe seduces me very quick At the eleventh came the Wonderland At the twelfth it started all over again   You are hope and energy The engine of my imagination My cross and yarn on the pulse of power My time-escort until midnight Without you I can not be Without you I'm alone I need you again and again stage fright Sakarin Boonpit – ควายหายล้อมคอก (Buffalo Disappears Around the Stall) (1978?) Thai cover version of Elvis' "Little Sister" Silver Apples - Oscillations (1968) Silver Apples - Program (1968) Silver Apples - I Don't Care What The People Say  (1998) Silver Apples-  You and I (1969) Decades after their brief yet influential career ground to a sudden halt due to being sued for exorbitant amounts by Pan Am Airlines, Silver Apples remain one of pop music's true enigmas: a surreal, almost unprecedented duo, their music explored interstellar drones and hums, pulsing rhythms and electronically-generated melodies years before similar ideas were adopted in the work of acolytes ranging from Suicide to Spacemen 3 to Laika. Silver Apples was formed in New York in 1967 and comprised percussionist Danny Taylor and lead vocalist Simeon, who played an instrument also dubbed the Simeon, which (according to notes on the duo's self-titled 1968 debut LP) consisted of "nine audio oscillators and eighty-six manual controls... The lead and rhythm oscillators are played with the hands, elbows and knees and the bass oscillators are played with the feet." Although the utterly uncommercial record — an ingenious cacophony of beeps, buzzes, and beats — sold poorly, the Silver Apples resurfaced a year later with their sophomore effort, 'Contact', another far-flung outing which fared no better than its predecessor. This record's cover, depicting the duo in the cockpit of a Pan Am airplane, resulted in a legal battle that left the band unable to continue recording and releasing music. However, in 1996 the Silver Apples resurfaced, as Simeon and new partner Xian Hawkins released the single "Fractal Flow." American and European tours followed, and a year later a new LP, 'Beacon', was released to wide acclaim.  Simeon Coxe died on September 8, 2020. Wendy & Bonnie - The Winter Is Cold (1969) From Under The Radar: Genesis, released in 1969, was the one and only album from sisters Wendy and Bonnie Flower. The San Francisco-based siblings were 18 and 15 at the time the album was originally released, and the music of Genesis belies their tender ages. The songs on Genesis are light psychedelic folk, reminiscent of artists like The Free Design, Tim Buckley, and, to a certain degree, fellow Californians, The Mamas and the Papas. The sisters' harmonies are the main draw, floating into the ether above the airy soundscapes. While songs like “Let Yourself Go Another Time” and “The Winter Is Cold” are upbeat and jaunty, most of Genesis is restrained beauty. The album has been championed of late by artists the likes of Jarvis Cocker, Stereolab, and Super Furry Animals, the latter of which sampled the gentle Wendy & Bonnie paean “By the Sea” in the opening of its 2003 song, “Hello Sunshine.” Unfortunately, at the time of its initial release, Genesis did not find as impressive a following. Shortly after the album was released, and amid promotion for the record that included an aborted slot on The Merv Griffin Show, the group's record label, Skye Records, dissolved due to bankruptcy. Subsequently, Wendy and Bonnie Flower faded into seeming obscurity. Then my show came along. This show opens with Cal Tjader, who co-owned Skye Records along with being an in-demand percussionist. he was a family friend that thought the young girls would benefit from not being thrust into the pop scene without a guiding hand on their team. But when the label went belly-up, Bonnie went off to college. I like most of this album. I wonder how many other hidden masterpieces got snuffed out before they got a chance to be heard by a wider audience. I mean these two teenagers, 15 and 18, got pretty far relatively speaking. Even for the time.  Wendy and Bonnie - By the Sea (1969)  Wendy and Bonnie - Five O'Clock In the Morning (1969)  Wendy and Bonnie - Let Yourself Go Another Time (1969)  Yardbirds - Knowing That I'm Losing You (Tangerine) (1968) Yardbirds - White Summer (1968) The Yardbirds - Glimpses (1967) The Yardbirds - Dazed and Confused (1968) Eric Burdon & The Animals - Orange And Red Beam (1968) Freee Fall - Big Mack Truck -?????  That's really how it's spelled. Recorded "live" onboard Norwegian Cruise Liners and, as the name states, intended for the passenger/tourist audiences. I enlarged the back cover because it's amazing. Apparently Norwegian gave these passenger-only records as gifts. I gotta get some more.  Brandon Wade - Letter From a Teenage Son (1967)  Bulldog - Rock & Roll Hootchi Coo (1974) Rick Derringer (the composer) spelled it "Hoochie Koo". Believe it or not, it had been rendered on vinyl three times before his own recording in 1973 became his biggest hit (by far). It was first recorded in 1970 by Johnny Winter and his band, Johnny Winter And, of which Derringer was a member. In 1973, Derringer recorded a solo version, which was his only Top 40 chart hit as a solo artist in the U.S. It became a staple of 1970s radio and rock music compilations. The song was initially recorded by Johnny Winter in 1970 with his band "Johnny Winter And", which included Rick Derringer and other former members of The McCoys, Derringer's previous band ("Hang On Sloopy" was their biggest hit...by far.). In 1970, they recorded the song during the Live Johnny Winter And tour, which was released as Live at the Fillmore East 10/3/70. Winter and Derringer later recorded the song with Winter's brother for Edgar Winter's White Trash live 1972 album Roadwork. Bulldog was an obscure spinoff of The Rascals that formed in 1971. Gene Cornish and Dino Danelli, after leaving their successful act behind, signed with Decca Records. That first album sank without a trace, and their contract with Decca came to an abrupt end and Bulldog spent the majority of 1973 trying to avoid the oldies circuit that had started swallowing up their contemporaries. They signed with Neil Bogart's Buddha Records in 1974 and released Smasher. Perhaps Buddha's primary reputation for bubblegum and novelty records can explain why this release was virtually ignored upon its release. The album sank without even a slight showing on the Billboard charts and Bulldog was dead by early 1975. Cornish and Danelli would resurface a few years later, teaming up with Wally Bryson (Raspberries) in the power-pop act, Fotomaker. Though they issued several albums, they too were dealt a merciless death, leaving Cornish and Danelli on the oldies circuit in a revived lineup of The Rascals. They would later be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame along with the rest of their former bandmates that they had worked so hard to extricate themselves from.  Rick Derringer rererererecorded the song in 2012, a new version of the song with lyrics reflecting his Christian beliefs. Titled "Read the Word and Live It Too". He supported Trump. So f him.  Cledus Maggard - Virgil And The $300 Vacation (1976) I've played Cledus Maggard and The Citizen's Band on my show once before, playing the song "The White Knight" on my CB Radio show.  Leslie Podkin - You Won't Need No Money (1961) Ogo - Marijuana [Guam] (?) Roy E. Baker - Ballad Of The Abortion Child (A Love Letter From Heaven)  (1974) Obituary: Roy “Boy” Edward Baker, age 85 of Knoxville, passed away Saturday, August 30, 2014. Roy was born May 28, 1929, in the coal mining town of Hazard, KY to Gilbert and Mahalia Baker. It was growing up in Hazard that he picked up the nickname “Roy Boy.” He was never able to shake the nickname and it has followed him throughout his life. He was affectionately known as “Roy Boy” by the many friends that loved him so. As a boy, Roy was a Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer all rolled into one. In the small coal-mining where he lived, people worked hard and went to bed early. At night, Roy Boy would slip out of a bedroom window just to wake the town by ringing the church bell. He was the epitome of mischief. His father was a coal miner and Roy grew up expecting that he would follow in those footsteps. It didn't take him long to decide he needed to pursue something else. “I worked a half-day in a coal mine where donkeys drug the coal out. I decided that was not the life for me,” he said. Roy left the coal mining town where he grew up and continued to have a career with General Motors in the tool and die industry. An accomplished musician playing piano, guitar, banjo, drums, and the bull-fiddle, Roy enjoyed many years as a musician, singer, and songwriter. While working for General Motors, he often played musical shows on weekends. The name “Roy Boy” became his stage name. As a movie actor, he played the part of a coal miner in the movie “October Sky,” which was partly filmed in Knoxville and Oliver Springs. When he was nine years old, Roy began drawing cartoons and selling them to his classmates in Hazard. A true patriot of America, Roy continued to use his talents drawing pictures that exemplified his patriotic love of God and country. On any given day you could find him sharing his art with friends at fast-food restaurants. His trademark was the patriotic clothing that he designed and wore in support of America. His iconic little red and white striped truck proudly displayed the American flag and could be seen in parades and events all over East Tennessee. His support for humanitarian projects was recognized and honored in various circles. He was recognized as the Man of the Year in Abstract Art by the city of Knoxville in 2007.  The British North-American Act - Corduroy Coat (1969)

Brenda Lee - Takin' What I Can Get (1976) Carla Bley - Rawalpindi Blues (1971) From the great artist herself. The first piece we wanted to record was RAWALPINDI BLUES, which featured Jack Bruce and trumpet player Don Cherry, but it seemed impossible to get them both in New York at the same time. By the time Jack could get away (he was working almost every night in London with Tony Williams' band) Don had to leave for commitments in Europe. So we split the music into two parts and recorded Don's parts first. This actually enhanced the piece since it was intended to be a dialogue between Eastern and Western cultures. The first session, featuring Don Cherry and the “eastern band”, took place on Nov. 30th, 1970...The band's improvised sections were of the highest quality, rare and effortless. Don left the country the next day and on Dec. 7th Jack arrived and went right into the studio and recorded for 2 days and nights almost straight through. Luckily John McLaughlin was also in town so we were able to use him on electric guitar. With Jack on bass guitar, Paul Motian on drums and myself on organ, we had the “western band”  Again, I was amazed at how great the playing was. We finished up RAWALPINDI BLUES and also recorded BUSINESSMEN, DETECTIVE WRITER DAUGHTER, parts of … AND IT'S AGAIN, and a few other bits and pieces. Jack and John went back to London and I settled down to putting RAWALPINDI BLUES together. After listening to the material we had so far I decided to bring in another singer to do parts of RAWALPINDI BLUES that hadn't been suitable for Jack or Don. I needed someone who could slide his voice around. Steve Ferguson, formerly of NRBQ, was a country singer from Kentucky, but I heard a connection between the way Steve moved his voice and the way it's done in Eastern music. He came in on Dec. 18th and it worked out well.  Using the best of the things we had so far, we put a tape together. RAWALPINDI BLUES was really difficult to mix. We had indiscriminately filled up all 16 tracks right at the beginning and then crammed in other elements wherever there was the slightest space. So when we finally got down to mixing it, it was all hands on the board and took two full days. One of the most un-nerving and time-consuming parts was a process I used a few times called cross-fading, which involved mixing two 16-track tapes down to a 2-track tape all at once. They used to flinch at RCA when we called in and told them how many machines we would need that day. From then on we tried to keep things simpler. We didn't want Ray Hall to grow old before his time. We ended up calling it (the album) a chronotransduction, which was a word coined by Sherry Speeth, a scientist friend of Paul's (Paul Haines, the lyricist), although we still call it opera for short. I find this whole album amazing, frustrating, thrilling, devastating. I LOVE Jack Bruce on this. Linda Ronstadt sings on this album as well. I highly recommend it. "Hotel Overture" might be the most amazing horn-playing (French horn player Bob Carlisle) I've heard on record.  Chuck Berry - Little Marie (1964) Sort a sequel to "Memphis". No, it's a sequel to "Memphis".  Dave Clark and Friends - I'm Sorry Baby (1972) Davey Johnstone & China - One Way Ticket (1977) Ass-kicking music from Elton John's band. I love it. Released on his label.  Frank Sinatra - Everybody's Twistin' (1962) Dolly Parton & Porter Wagoner - Mendy Never Sleeps (1970) Even before my time, Dolly Parton was a young talent brought into the fold of Nashville society by Porter Wagoner, more or less, by starting out as a singer on his TV show. She was too talented, too gifted a songwriter and singer, too unconventionally beautiful, and too ambitious to stay there for long, even though she stayed two years past her initial agreement. Dutifully, she stayed longer than she should have, and in fact, the hit "I Will Always Love You" was written for him.  Petula Clark - L'Agent Secret (1969) Bill Haley and the Comets - A Little Piece At A Time (1971) Billy Thorpe - Drive My Car (1975) His next album would be his breakthrough and zenith in the US, "Children of the Sun".  Kevin Coughlin - I Gotta Be Me (1969) Soupy Sales - Muck-Arty Park (1969) From the album, "A Bag of Soup". Soupy Sales was a television comedian whose antics delighted children and enraged adults. He flirted with mainstream success with comic pop songs on television and radio, but in the end remained a cult personality, albeit one who pushed the envelope of what was possible in TV comedy. He played a big role in the growth of "pie-in-the-face" comedy.  The Residents - Elvis and His Boss (1978) Tom Jones - Never Had a Lady (1979) Me singing over an instrumental song I programmed.  Noel Harrison - A Young Girl (1969) Coca-Cola - Keep Things Jumping (?) Burgess Meredith - The Capture (1966) Played The Penguin in the TV series with Adam West. There was a whole series of Batman records released to promote the 1966 TV series where they got the actors from the show to do these "in character" songs.  The Cowsills - The Milk Song (1969) This is the band that served as the prototype for The Partridge Family. But the mother was not seen as attractive enough. So Shirley Jones would have to be the one to sing "Whale Song" and make me feel funny. Down there. I didn't understand these feelings.  Datsun - All You Really Need (1972?) The Dave Pell Singers - Oh, Calcutta (1972) Oh, Calcutta was an off-Broadway musical that got pretty bad reviews but thrived in the era of flower-power as a corporate weapon. Loosen up, brother!! Anyhow, it enjoyed a long run, eventually reaching Broadway, with revivals running for years and years. One skit's first draft was written by John Lennon of The Beatles.  Stereo Speaker Test (?) Dick Clark - The Wasting of Wesley Joe Grimm (1969) John & Ernest - Super Fly Meets Shaft (1973) Produced by Dickie Goodman, the then-king of the cut-in record.  The Garden Club - Little Girl Lost and Found (1967) One member was Tom Shipley, later of Brewer and Shipley, who had a Top 10 hit with "One Toke Over The Line". Which Lawrence Welk covered on his TV show.  The Gentle Touch - Among The First To Know (1967) Hank Levine - Let Us Begin Beguine (1964) George Burns - The Sun Shines On My Street (1969) ANOTHER take-off/tribute based on The Beatles' Sargent Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band cover. There were many. Who was George Burns?  POACA might recall that before television was the king of everything, radio was the thing. And no one was bigger in that medium than the plain-spoken, often exasperated but always kind and honest George Burns. He and his wife/comic foil Gracie Allen reigned supreme for decades. It would not be exaggerating to say that she was the most famous radio star for years. Gracie Allen ((in real life, an amazing intellectual who held her own on the very difficult quiz show "Information, Please" (which you should research but you will not because no one reads this)) had a singular ability to make audiences love her. From the '30s to the '50s, Burns and Allen were one of the most beloved shows in all of America. And George Burns won an Academy Award in 1974 for his appearance in The Sunshine Boys (when he replaced another giant of radio, Jack Benny, who died before the movie was made.) He also appeared in the movie Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band with Peter Frampton. No one won an Oscar for that. He also reached the Top 20 in the country chart with "I Wish I Was Eighteen Again".  Jayne Mansfield - That Makes It (1966) Basically, The Big Bopper's "Chantilly Lace" from a woman's point of view. Jayne Mansfield was an attractive, versatile Marilyn Monroe-esque It-Girl who gave birth to Mariska Hargitay of "Law and Order SVU".  Julie London - Marlboro Song (1963) The Lettermen - Touch Me (1970) Mike Curb and Bob Summers - Teenage Rebellion (1969) Orson Welles - I Know What It Is To Be Young (But You Don't Know What It Is To Be Old) (1984) Ah, the French.  The Partridge Family - Summer Days (1971)

This show features Rita Lee, the first, best-known singer in Os Mutantes, one of the greatest non-English bands ever. Their music was inspired and free of boundaries, their lyrics subversive and literate. They carried on for years after her departure. I don't think the original three ever reunited. Maybe someone from Brazil can teach me about Os Mutantes. From my international fan club.    Larry Jon Wilson - Ohoopee River Bottomland (1974) Listen to those handclaps during the last verse. That's production.  Charles Lloyd - All Life is One (1971) Alan Jardine, Bill Cowsill, Brian Wilson, 

You would be right to think of Sha Na Na as a goofy amalgam of caricatures from a bygone era that might not have actually existed. But there was a time, JUST before their crowning achievement: their show being syndicated, when they attempted to be real, songwriting artists. Not of their self-appointed time and place, but as legitimate pop singers. I DO like some of their stuff. Scott Simon, J Jocko, and Denny Greene released solo records. They were not successful. None of these songs were, either. Scott Simon co-wrote "Sandy" for Grease.  ShaNaNa (letter-spacing is intentional - this is how the label reads) - Top 40 (1971) Reached #84, the closest thing they ever had to a hit record. Produced by Eddie Kramer, a South African-English recording producer and engineer that collaborated with several artists now in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, including the Beatles, David Bowie, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, the Kinks, Kiss, Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, John Mellencamp, and Carlos Santana. Also Anthrax, Joe Cocker, Loudness, Peter Frampton, John Mayall, Ten Years After, Mott the Hoople, John Sebastian, Carly Simon, Dionne Warwick, Small Faces, Sir Lord Baltimore, and Whitesnake. (Deep breath) Kramer's film soundtrack credits include Blue Wild Angel: Live at the Isle of Wight, Festival Express, Jimi Plays Monterey, Jimi Plays Berkeley, Live at the Fillmore East, Mad Dogs and Englishmen, The Pursuit of Happiness, Rainbow Bridge, The Song Remains the Same, and Woodstock: Music from the Original Soundtrack and More. And this album by ShaNaNa. Sha Na Na - Bounce In Your Boogie (1972) Produced by Jeff Barry, who co-wrote "Do Wah Diddy Diddy", "Da Doo Ron Ron", "Then He Kissed Me", "Be My Baby", "Chapel of Love", and "River Deep - Mountain High" (all written with his then-wife Ellie Greenwich and Phil Spector); "Leader of the Pack" (written with Greenwich and Shadow Morton); "Sugar, Sugar" (written with Andy Kim); "Without Us" (written with Tom Scott), etc. And he produced this album for Sha Na Na.  Sha Na Na - Glasses (1972) This is the only song I could find in their discography that was written by John "Bowser" Bowman.  She Na Na - Only One Song (1971) This might be their best original, save for the clunky drum punch-ins and mediocre preaching.  John Lennon's backing band of choice from 1971-1973 or so also tried to succeed on their own terms, first as a kind of hippy-dippy second-rate peace-loving band of conscience, and later as a hippy-dippy second-rate peace-loving band of conscience that had backed John Lennon. Carly Simon was in the band for a brief time.  Elephant's Memory - Old Man Willow (1969) This is from the Midnight Cowboy soundtrack. I love Buddah Records.  Elephants Memory - Crossroads of the Stepping Stones (1969) Produced by Wes Farrell who was the music director for The Partridge Family.  Elephant's Memory - Mongoose (1970) John Lennon - Woman is the Nigger of the World (1972) With Elephant's Memory and Invisible Strings. I happen to love this song and Yoko's lyrics are truer every day.  John Lennon - Sunday Bloody Sunday (1972) Which is better? This, or McCartney's "Give Ireland To The Irish"? Chuck Berry - Bio (1973) Backed by Elephant's Memory.  Elephant's Memory - Running Man (1974)  Someone gave Ringo Starr a big pile of cocaine (a hell of a drug) and convinced him that he could run a record label, or at least serve as a tax-dodge for someone else. From the website Rare Beatles: As early as 1970, Ringo had involvement with a production company, Beachport Company Ltd. (in fact, most of the RING O' RECORDS releases feature this name). On July 26, 1973, Ringo started a new music publishing company, Wobble Music Ltd.. However, his own compositions were published by two other Ringo-owned companies, Startling Music Inc. and Richoroony Ltd.. Ringo purchased Tittenhurst Park, John and Yoko's old manor, on September 18,1973 and immediately made the in-house studio, re-christened Startling Studios, available for use by other recording artists. With Apple Records not being fun anymore and virtually little product being released, George formed Dark Horse Records Ltd. on May 23, 1974. Hot on George's heels, on June 28, 1974, Ringo started a company called Reckongrade Ltd.. By December 11, Ringo changed the name to Pyramid Records Ltd.. On April 4, 1975, Ringo officially declared that RING O' RECORDS was open for business, even though one single and an album had already been released! Just to add more confusion to the paper trail, the RING O' name and logo were trademarks of another Ringo company, Wibble Records Limited. RING O' RECORDS actually signed artists and produced records. However, Ringo was not, personally, an active participant in the company, nor was he signed to the label. Over a three-year period, seven albums, and 17 singles were released. [Ed: Click that link for a complete discography.] In North America, Capitol Records distributed the first two singles and the first album of the fledgling label. Polydor issued the label throughout the rest of the world. But distribution problems and the lack of a personal recording deal saw Ringo put his floundering company on hiatus for 18 months. Polydor became the worldwide distributor for the newly re-launched RING O' RECORDS in March 1977. Only a handful of artists (eleven) recorded for the label. In 1978, RING O' RECORDS, in Europe, became a production company, the Able Label. Ringo's financially disastrous venture into the record business was over. Bobby Keys - Gimme That Key (1975) Dirk and Stig - Ging Gang Goolie (1977) Listen for Eric Idle. This is him and Ricky Fataar, late of the South African band The Flames, The "So Tough"-era Beach Boys, and The Rutles, of which this record is a precursor. If in name only.   Someone gave George Harrison a big pile of cocaine (a hell of a drug) and convinced him that he could run a record label, or at least serve as a tax-dodge for someone else. At least his discography is more extensive. Among same: Henry McCullough - You Better Run (1975) Late of Wings. One wonders how this signing happened. If you listen to "Money" by Pink Floyd, Henry is the one saying "I was really drunk at the time..." They also recorded Paul and Linda but they didn't offer much in the way of insight. Any Beatle fan knows this label.  Attitudes - Ain't Love Enough (1975) Yes, THAT David Foster.  Jiva - Don't Be Sad (1975) Jiva was the first American act signed to Dark Horse Records. According to Geoffrey Giuliano's George Harrison biography, Harrison signed Jiva because they were followers of the young Indian Guru Maharaji, to whom he had been introduced by his future 2nd wife Olivia. Stairsteps - Posado (1976) This was originally The Five Stairsteps and Cubie, and then just The Five Stairsteps. Then Five Stairsteps. And then, for a brief time, "Dr. Jimmy and His Amazing Dancing Uvula", and finally, just Stairsteps.  They recorded "O-o-h Child", the huge hit from 1970.  Ravi Shankar - I Am Missing You (1974) Ravi Shankar - Dreams (1974)   The Temptations - Psychedelic Shack (long version) (1970) The Lundstroms with Tiny - The B-I-B-L-E (?) Think - Gotta Get To Know Each Other (1971) Think had an oddball Top 10 hit in the US with "Once You Understand".  Traffic Safety Tip (Public Service Announcement) (?) Spike Jones Without His Orchestra - What is a Disc Jockey? (1954) Vox Populi - Ah! (1969)  Wayne Newton - Charade (1964) We All Together - It's Us Who Say Goodbye (1973) Werner Müller - The Stripper (1972) William Shatner - That's Me Trying (2004) Wilson Malone Voice Band - Penny Lane (1968) Xerox - Bit By Bit (?) 

Discogs: Dave Mason was a founding member of the group Traffic, but left following the release of their debut album, Mr. Fantasy (1967), only to rejoin halfway through the sessions for their next album, Traffic (1968), after which he left again. Last Exit (1969), a compilation of odds and ends, features little material by Mason apart from his song "Just for You". Traffic later re-formed without Mason, although he briefly began working with the band for a third time, touring with them in 1971 and playing on Welcome to the Canteen. In his brief spells with the group, Mason never quite fit in; Steve Winwood later recalled. In 1970, Mason was slated to be the second guitarist for Derek and the Dominos. He played on their early studio sessions, including the Phil Spector production of "Tell the Truth", which was later withdrawn from sale (and is now a collector's item). He also played at their first gig at the London Lyceum but left the group soon after that. For a brief period in the mid-1990s, Mason joined Fleetwood Mac and released the album Time with them in 1995. He toured with them over the course of 1994–95. Over the course of his career, Mason has played and recorded with many notable pop and rock musicians, including Jimi Hendrix, the Rolling Stones (e.g. on Street Fighting Man), George Harrison (appearing on All Things Must Pass), Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Michael Jackson, David Crosby, Graham Nash, Steve Winwood, Fleetwood Mac, Delaney & Bonnie, Leon Russell, and...Cass Elliot. One of Mason's best-known songs is "Feelin' Alright", recorded by Traffic in 1968 and later by many other performers, including Joe Cocker, whose version of the song was a hit in 1969. For Traffic, he also wrote "Hole in My Shoe", a psychedelic pop song that became a hit in its own right. "We Just Disagree", Mason's 1977 solo US hit, written by Jim Krueger, has become a staple of US classic hits and adult contemporary radio playlists. Cass Elliot was credited with creating the group name 'The Mamas and The Papas' while watching a TV program, with the other band members, while temporarily residing in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Although some releases were still credited to Mama Cass Elliot, it was around this time that she used her original stage name, Cass Elliot. She starred in many a TV show including two specials of her own. She was loved and is still admired for her pleasing alto and all-around ability to entertain. In her way, she was as troubled as her other drug-taking contemporaries like Jim Morrison, in addition to her life-long weight problems which probably kept her close to people but not so close that her loneliness abated. She, to me, sounds like an American Annie Haslam.  So if you didn't know that these two members of the RRHOF did an album together, now you do!  Wiki: After being introduced by a mutual friend, Mason and Elliot hit it off and decided to pursue singing together professionally. Elliot, having released two solo albums at that time, missed the collaborative effort of producing music, and Mason, who had just arrived in the U.S. after splitting with Traffic, was interested in a fresh collaboration. Originally Elliot was intended to be co-producer with Mason on an intended solo album by the latter: after Elliot sang background for Mason on some sessions the idea of the album being a Mason/Elliot collaboration emerged.  Dave Mason and Cass Elliot - Glittering Facade (1971) Dave Mason and Cass Elliot - Sit and Wonder (1971) Dave Mason - Every Woman (1973) Dave Mason - Shouldn't Have Took More Than You Gave (1970) Dave Mason - Save Me (1980) Michael Jackson on backing vocals.  Dave Mason and Cass Elliot - On and On (1971) Cass Elliot - I'll Be There (1972) Cass Elliot (billed as Mama Cass Elliot) - It's Getting Better (1969) Cass Elliot - New World Coming (1970) Dave Mason - The Lonely One (1973) Stevie Wonder on harmonica solo.    Laura Nyro - Beads of Sweat (1970) Laura Nyro (rhymes with "Hero") was a female Jimmy Webb (or he a male Laura Nyro) who reinvented songwriting possibilities for a generation. She influenced so many writers that I cannot list them here. Her influence really shows itself in the works of Todd Rundgren, Elton John, Patti Smith, so so many. She merged the melodic gifts of Carole King with the lyrical ones of Bob Dylan. You know her songs. Between 1968 and 1970, a number of artists had hits with her songs: The 5th Dimension with "Blowing Away", "Wedding Bell Blues", "Stoned Soul Picnic", "Sweet Blindness", and "Save the Country"; Blood, Sweat & Tears and Peter, Paul and Mary, with "And When I Die"; Three Dog Night and Maynard Ferguson, with "Eli's Comin'"; and Barbra Streisand with "Stoney End", "Time and Love", and "Hands off the Man (Flim Flam Man)". Ironically, Nyro's best-selling single was her recording of Carole King's and Gerry Goffin's "Up on the Roof". Laura Nyro - Eli's Coming (1968) Laura Nyro - New York Tendaberry (1969) Laura Nyro - Mr. Blue (1978) Laura Nyro - Smile (1976) Cockney Rebel - Psychomodo (1974) Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel - Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me) (1976) Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel - Sebastian (1973) Paul Revere and the Raiders - Ain't Nothing Wrong (1976) Everybody tried disco. Everybody. This song was written by Harry Casey and Rick Finch! Flopped.   Johnny Cougar - Need Somebody Baby (1976) Like my unfortunate management deal that forced me to call myself "Sir Gilbert Slitherbottom VI", John Mellencamp's management had no idea who or what he was. He started out for a brief period of time as a "glam rocker" but then tried out for a solo career with his first album Chestnut Street Incident released by former David Bowie manager Tony DeFries on the Mainman (division of MCA) label. That album was a complete flop partly due to the fact that the record label wanted to mold John into something he was not (a pretty boy ala James Dean) and the fact that the album mostly consisted of cover songs.  Johnny Cougar - The Man Who Sold the World (1976) What a strange curio from the early days of John Mellencamp.  Queen - All Dead, All Dead (1977) The Spotlights - Batman and Robin (1966) Produced by Leon Russell and Snuff Garrett. Gig's a gig! Dion and the Belmonts - My Girl the Month of May (1966) This album features the song "For Bobbie" which was written by John Denver, and he recorded it himself in 1972, retitling it' "For Baby." Mick Taylor - Leather Jacket (1979) Moody Blues - Veteran Cosmic Rocker (1981) Ruth Copeland - The Silent Boatman (1970) Do you prefer this version or the one by Parliament?

The Osmonds “The Plan" (1973) The platitudes are vague enough, the admonishments placid enough, the complaints about society inoffensive enough. Kolob was/is a Mormon magical land with...never mind. Look it up. Kolob Records was the exclusive domain of the Osmond family (Jimmy, too--in fact he was making records in Japan as early as 1969 and his hit in the US, "Long-Haired Lover From Liverpool" featured The Mike Curb Congregation, which we have played on this show many times) and in 1973 Kolob released this. It's very professionally done. There's instrumental virtuosity in many styles. Makes for a pretty good listen once or twice, but I think it ruined their credibility in the younger market. Both "Goin' Home" and "Let Me In" reached #36 on the Billboard chart. This album didn't reach #50.  POACA might recall that at one time The Osmonds roamed the teeny-bopper landscape free of predators, and actually charted 4 Top 10 hits. I thought it was more. And my sister bought every Tiger Beat and Teen Beat magazine she could find. Always Donny's toothy grin. And she also bought a few Osmond albums, including this one. I want the one they released ONLY in Japan, The Wonderful World Of The Osmonds. Because I love that shit. My birthday is coming up in 10 months. Might as well? Both Donny and Marie would try to change their images down the road, but when this came out, it was really the beginning of the end for any question of artistic integrity.  War In Heaven Traffic In My Mind Before The Beginning Movie Man Let Me In One Way Ticket To Anywhere Are You Up There It's Alright Mirror, Mirror Darlin' The Last Days Goin' Home Lou Christie Selections from "Paint America Love" (1971) I came across this album when I was heavy into Q Magazine out of England. They did an article about it and I tried to find my own copy. And I like it. I find that Lou Christie is just a little different, a little more daring than his contemporaries. He tried and failed at much, but what hit, I really love. I will never not be fascinated by Paint America Love.  Look Out The Window Wood Child Paint America Love Buddy and Cathy Rich - The Beat Goes On (1967) Dyke and the Blazers - Let a Woman Be a Woman, Let A Man Be A Man (1969)  Funk band formed in 1965 in Phoenix, Arizona. Best known for their 1966 hit single Funky Broadway, later even more successfully covered by Wilson Pickett. The band was disbanded when bandleader "Dyke" Arlester Christian was shot to death in 1971. Eddie and Dutch - My Wife The Dancer (1970) G. C. Cameron - If You Don't Love Me (1974) Written by Stevie Wonder. G. C. sang both lead parts on The Spinners' big hit, 1970's "It's a Shame", co-written and produced by Stevie, and remained with Motown as a solo artist when The Spinners left Motown in 1971. Although Cameron was not a major-seller for the label, he did have a hit with "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday", the theme song of the 1975 film Cooley High, which was later covered to great success by Boyz II Men. Gene Vincent - Be Bop A Lula '69 (1969) Produced by our friend Kim Fowley.  Lou Christie - Genesis and the Third Verse (1968) I love Lou's collabs with his Gypsy pal, Twyla Herbert. Herbert was born in Riverside, California. Christie was 15 years old when he met Herbert, a "bohemian gypsy, psychic, and former concert pianist," at an audition in a church basement in his hometown, Glenwillard, Pennsylvania. She was over 20 years older than him, with flaming red hair, a self-described clairvoyant and mystic who allegedly predicted which of their songs would become hits. They co-wrote "Lightning Strikes".  The Jackson Five - Doctor My Eyes (1973) Yes, The Jackson Five covered Jackson Browne.  John Travolta - Razzamatazz (1976) Julie London - Louie Louie (1969) King Crimson - Cirkus (1971) Renaissance - Can You Understand (1973) 

Ray Charles - The Sun Died (1968)  Ray Charles - Understanding (1968) This song only reached #46 in 1968, but it was a big enough hit to inspire the odd-ball takeoff recorded by The Red Shadow. It contains the unfortunate little snippet:  My old lady also understands that a man must have respect What I mean is, if she must play around don't let me catch her, because what I don't see can't hurt me, you understand? But on the other hand, If I should ever catch her I'm not gonna talk about-a and call her a bunch of bad names like you all might No no mh What I'm gonna do, I'm gonna go down-town to the Hardware store and buy myself a double blade ax, Come back, square off, and believe her soul's gonna Belong to the good lord Because her head's gonna belong to me, and I Guarantee she'll know what I mean when I'll say... The Red Shadow - Understanding Marx (1975) Red Shadow was an odd outfit performing polemical rock and roll from the mid-1970s. The core of the group was three ideologically minded economists who met at the University of Michigan in the early 1970s. They decided to form a band to preach the urgent message of left-wing economics.  Red Shadow put out two albums, Live at the Panacea Hilton (1975) and Better Red (1978) [Ed: WHICH I JUST BOUGHT FOR YOU!!]. Red Shadow's song “Gone Gone Gone” is a parody of the Beach Boys' “Fun Fun Fun” in which the malign corporate overlords will be “gone gone gone when the workers take their power away.” Similarly, “Anything Good” reworks Chuck Berry's “Johnny B. Goode” to accommodate the following lyric:  They may know how to serve the ruling corporate brass But they'll never have the knowledge of the working class No no, no they don't know know know Anything good Sammy Davis Jr. - The People Tree (1972) Written by Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse, who also wrote Sammy's only #1 hit, "The Candy Man". That song was from the soundtrack to the movie Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. "The People Tree" was, in fact, the follow-up single, and it sank without a trace.  Gordon Parks - Blowin' Your Mind (1972) With vocals by O. C. Smith, whose big hit was "Little Green Apples". Talk about trying to make lightning strike twice (see "The People Tree")! O. C. Smith had been recording since the mid-'50s, starting out as Ocie Smith. An excellent stylist. I could and should do a whole show about him.  Leonard Nimoy - Spock Thoughts (1967) The Beach Bums (alias for Doug Brown and the Omens) - The Ballad of the Yellow Beret (1966) With Bob Seger(!) on vocals. Look at the composer.  From AllMusic: Despite a meager recorded output, Doug Brown and the Omens continue to hold a key place in Detroit rock and roll history as a launching pad for the young Bob Seger. Brown was already fronting the Omens when he first met Seger in 1964, soon inviting the aspiring singer/songwriter to join the band; financed by Del Shannon, sometime around 1965 the group cut a single, "TGIF"/"First Girl," which represents Seger's first known official recording. In January 1966, Brown produced Seger's regional solo blockbuster "East Side Story," the record credited with making the singer a Detroit superstar; the following summer, he also helmed Seger's "Heavy Music," another local smash.  Which doesn't excuse this particularly tone-deaf single. I guess no one thought their darker moments would be around in 2021.  The Osmonds - Havin' A Party (1975) Gentle Giant - Weekend Cowboy (1970) The Isley Brothers - Sweet Season/Keep On Walkin' (1972) Pat Boone - Wish You Were Here, Buddy (1966) James William Guercio  - Tell Me (1973) Terry Kath on vocals, uncredited.  Bob McGrath - Sir Duke (1977) The Utica Club Natural Carbonation Beer Drinking Song (1968) The band playing on this is the Chicago-based The Trolls. Richard Berry - Doin' It (1973) Richard Berry wrote and recorded the original 'Louie, Louie,' later performed by The Kingsmen. It is the second most-covered song in the history of rock music. Be Thankful For What You Got (inst.) - William DeVaughn (1974) From Wikipedia: DeVaughn was a salaried government employee as a drafting technician and a part-time singer. He wrote a song called "A Cadillac Don't Come Easy", which was eventually re-written to become "Be Thankful for What You Got", in 1972. He spent $900 towards getting it recorded with Omega Sound, a Philadelphia production house. The record producer at Omega, John Davis (a member of the MFSB studio session group), came up with a smooth arrangement, eventually booking time to record at Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia, used by Philadelphia International Records.  The song was released on Roxbury Records, a subsidiary of Chelsea Records, run by industry veteran Wes Farrell. You know him from his work with The Partridge Family.  The record sold nearly two million copies on its release in spring 1974, reaching No. 1 on the US Billboard R&B chart and No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. With a sound and content influenced by Curtis Mayfield, its simple and encouraging lyrics hit home, to the extent that it became featured on gospel radio stations. When his success as a recording artist seemed guaranteed, DeVaughn quit his government job. DeVaughn released an album, mainly of songs with a religious character, and its second single, "Blood Is Thicker than Water", reached No. 10 R&B and No. 43 pop later in 1974; "Give the Little Man a Great Big Hand" had only minor R&B chart success early the following year. Live, DeVaughn preached to and admonished his audience from the stage [Ed: Just like George Harrison!]. He lost interest in the music industry not long afterward, working in a record store and again as a draftsman. Dave Dudley - Coffee, Coffee, Coffee (1965) Written by Tom T. Hall.   Terry Jacks - Put The Bone In (1974) Lee Edwards (The Christian Con Man) - Maui Girl (1983) From one of the biggest inspirations for this show, for better or worse, 365 Days Project: "The Christian Con Man Goes Hawaiian" is like a three-wheeled Radio Flyer rolling down a rocky hill. It starts slow but careens out of control by the journey's end. The track "Maui Girl" appears at the point when Lee Edwards is really picking up momentum (or another glass of cheap whiskey). "KIMCHEE LOVIN'!! I SHOOK HER COCONUTS!" UK - In The Dead of Night (1979) This is the almost never-heard single recorded with Terry Bozzio on drums, instead of the original with the also-great Bill Bruford.  Bill Haley and the Comets - Me and Bobby McGee (1972) The Four Tops - So Deep Within You (1973) Odd to hear The Four Tops cover The Moody Blues. This has to be Justin Heyward on lead guitar. HAS to be.  IS. Here is an article. Fanny - Conversation With a Cop (1970) From Discogs: Fanny was an American rock band, active in the early 1970s. They were one of the first all-female rock groups to achieve critical and commercial success, including two Billboard Hot 100 top 40 singles. The group was founded by guitarist June Millington and her sister, bassist Jean, who had been playing music together since they moved from the Philippines to California in the early 1960s. After playing in several bands, they attracted the interest of producer Richard Perry who signed them to Reprise Records in 1969 as Fanny. The band recorded four albums together before June Millington quit the group. Following a final album, Fanny disbanded in 1975. Lee Dorsey - Yes We Can Can (1970)  Jackie Lynton - The Ballad Of Hank McCain  (1969) From the soundtrack to "Gli Intoccabili" (aka "Machine Gun McCain"); Written by Ennio Morricone. Fricking GREAT.  GTOs - Circular Circulation (1969) Hugh X. Lewis - Evolution and The Bible (1968)  Frank and Nancy Sinatra - Life's a Trippy Thing (1971?) Renaissance - Island (1969)

The KISS Show!! With Gilbert Neal and Ken Ray Wilemon:   Wicked Lester - She (1972) Lips - Beck (1971?) The original version of “Beth”, obviously from a cassette. This band never released anything. Lips was born the night Criss's previous band Chelsea died.  While the material they would develop was similar to the material Chelsea had done, several later KISS songs were born in this period.  "I know you love complainin'..." Crazy Joe and the Variable Speed Band - Eugene (1981) Co-written and produced by Ace Frehley. "Crazy Joe" was actually Joe Renda, White Plains NY producer and recording studio owner linked to the local Ren-Vell Records and North Lake Sound studio. He is perhaps best remembered for...this..., but his roots extend back to early 60s garage rock. Gilbert Neal and Ken Ray Wilemon - Beth  Gene Simmons - Black Tongue (2004) Garbage. Utter trash.  Kiss - Bad Lovin' (1978) (“Dr. Love” demo) Peter Criss - Hooked On Rock and Roll (1978) Gilbert Neal and Ken Ray Wilemon - I Was Made For Loving You Kiss - Watchin' You (1972-73) Paul Stanley - Tracks Of My Tears (2021) Wicked Lester - Too Many Mondays (1972) Turn up the volume to hear at comparable volume. It speaks to how Kiss would have turned out if they hadn't decided on the gimmick we all know.  Gilbert Neal and Ken Ray Wilemon - Dr. Love   Potpourri featuring some bad Jan and Dean:   The Free Design - You Could Be Born Again (1968) Bernie Waldon - Bright Lights And Go-Go Girls (1968) Obituary: Bernard E. “Bernie” Waldon, age 77, passed away June 27, 2012, in Brooksville, Fla. He was born in Crawfordsville to Floyd and Agnes Waldon. He graduated from Crawfordsville High School and moved to Indianapolis in 1965. Bernie worked in radio for several years at WILO, WHOW and WIRE in Indianapolis, and WZIP in Cincinnati. He was a musician working with several Country and Bluegrass groups mainly the Indiana Band and Bluegrass Partners. He appeared on radio and television, was a guest on the Grand Ole Opry and Renfro Valley Barn Dance. Bernie retired from Emery Worldwide in 1977, prior to that he worked for Purolator Courier. Bernie was a private pilot and past president of the Indiana chapter of the Antique Airplane Association of which he was a national lifetime member. He also belonged to the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Associations, the Experimental Airplane Association and the Luscombe Association. He served eight years in the Indiana National Guard. Billy Dee Williams - A Taste Of Honey (1961) This was the first version of what would become a very popular war-horse for singers all over the world. Another trivia question! Who did it first? Lando California.  Jean DuShon - For Once In My Life (1966) This was the first version of what would become a very popular war-horse for singers all over the world. Another trivia question! Who did it first? Jean DuShon.    Jerry Jeff Walker - Mr. Bojangles (1968) This was the first version of what would become a very popular war-horse for singers all over the world. Another trivia question! Who did it first? Jerry Jeff Walker. He also wrote it.  Rod Rogers & The Swinging Strings - Beatle Crawl (1965) Tony Bruno - Rhoda Mendelbaum (1969) How I love Tony Bruno.  Gianfranco & Gian Piero Reverberi - Nel Cimitero Di Tucson (1968) From the movie "Django, Prepare a Coffin". Starring Terrence Hill.  The Jackson Five - Doctor My Eye (1973) Jan and Dean - Laurel and Hardy (1966-1969) In response to market forces, Jan and Dean decided to go all out and record a psychedelic album of their own. In the process, Jan got into a car crash that left him somewhat debilitated. The album was finished by 1969. While presented as a Jan and Dean album, Jan Berry (even though he wrote and produced the material) only played and sang on a few songs due to complications from his car accident. Dean Torrence, who by that time had become disillusioned with the duo's prospects, only appears on one song. Glen Campbell made some contributions to the sessions, and singer Tom Bahler performed lead vocals on several songs. Tom Bahler wrote "She's Out of My Life" for Frank Sinatra. He never sang it, but Michael Jackson did on Off The Wall. Bahler also wrote the Bobby Sherman hit "Julie, Do Ya Love Me". A song I wrote and sang in my mind for Julie Pawlowski of Emporium Avenue, West Seneca, NY, 14224. This song was co-written by Roger Christian, who co-wrote several songs for The Beach Boys, mostly about cars, including "Ballad of Ole' Betsy", "Car Crazy Cutie", "Cherry, Cherry Coupe", "Don't Worry Baby", "In the Parkin' Lot", "Little Deuce Coupe", "No-Go Showboat", "Shut Down", and "Spirit of America", all of them penned with Brian Wilson. And Roger Christian was from Buffalo, NY. We rule.  Jan and Dean - The Universal Coward (1965) You have to hear this to believe it.  Jan and Dean - Yesterday (1965) Kathy McCord - She's (I'm) Leaving Home (1970) Kathleen McCord was born to Bill and Ann McCord. Both of them were in the show business: Bill was a radio and television announcer at NBC, whilst Ann was a singer who sang backup on Perry Como's TV show and hit records like "Catch a Falling Star", "Round and Round" and "Magic Moments". She was introduced to Chip Taylor by her brother, Billy Vera (who had a big weepy hit with "If I Could Just Hold You Again") when she was 16 years old. She has something to do with Kiss. I forgot. 

Bill Withers - You Got The Stuff (1979) Bruce Johnston - Deirdre (1977) Not bad on Sunflower, but excrement here.  Frank Sinatra - I Sing The Songs (1977) Written by Bruce Johnston. Barry Manilow's Grammy-winning version was actually the third recording, after Captain and Tennille and David Cassidy. But if you listen to this show, you already know that.  The Soft Machine - Feelin' Reelin' Squeeling' (1967) Sons of Champlin - Fat City (1966) Lead singer Bill Champlin joined Chicago in 1982.  The Archies - Don't Touch My Guitar (1969) The French Fries (Sky and the Family Stone) - Danse A La Musique (1968) The Shaggs - Things I Wonder (1969) Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb (demo) (1979) Utopia - Sunburst Finish (1977) The Beach Boys - Loop De Loop (1970) The Beach Boys - 'Til I Die (Remix) (1970) Brian Wilson - It's Over Now (1977)   My Two Favorite Side-Long Songs: Renaissance - Song of Scheherazade (1975) Yes - The Gates of Delirium (live in Detroit) (1976)

The Beach Boys - TM Song (1976) I am hoping The Beach Boys knew that this song was so terrible that no DJ in his right mind would offer up anything but the "money" song, which, in this case, was a nearly total soul-evisceration of Chuck Berry's wonderful hit. The BB version went to #8, but that was on the heels of their surprisingly popular Endless Summer compilation from the previous year. Even with the little play that starts the song, the whole thing lasted a mercifully short 1:35. I hate BB apologists.  The Beach Boys - Transcendental Meditation (1968) Charles Lloyd and The Beach Boys - TM (Transcendental Meditation) (1972) Backing vocals by Al Jardine, Billy Hinsche (a friend of the band from way back, who was in Dino, Desi, and Billy) Carl Wilson, Michael Love, and Pamela Polland.  Ringo Starr - Back Off Boogaloo (Stop and Smell The Roses Version) (1981) Albert Desalvo - Strangler in the Night (1967) Sleeve reads "...These are my thoughts, feelings and emotions." Albert H. DeSalvo. Astor paid the real serial killer Albert DeSalvo (The Boston Strangler) fifty bucks for the rights to Strangler In The Night which was then ghostwritten and recorded by The Bugs adding the voice of former Boston WEEI reporter Dick Levitan, who actually interviewed DeSalvo a couple of times. Muhammad Ali - Ali's Elusive Dream (1976) If Dan was here, he'd say this was Ali's Rubber Soul.  Wolfman Jack - Free Shots (1975) Cautionary tale about VD. Who was Debbie Sabusawa?  Mike Douglas - Have a Nice Trip (1968) Cautionary tale about drugs.  Reuben Ware - The Fate Of Mary Jo Kopechne (1971) From Wikipedia: On July 18, 1969, Kopechne attended a party on Chappaquiddick Island, off the east coast of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. The celebration was in honor of the dedicated work of the Boiler Room Girls and was the fourth such reunion of Robert Kennedy campaign workers. Robert's surviving brother, Senator Ted Kennedy, was there. Kopechne reportedly left the party with Kennedy at 11:15 p.m.; according to his account, he had offered to drive her to catch the last ferry back to Edgartown, where she was staying. She did not tell her close friends at the party that she was leaving, and she left her purse and keys behind. Kennedy drove the 1967 Oldsmobile Delmont 88 off a narrow, unlit bridge, which lacked guardrails and was not on the route to Edgartown. The vehicle landed on its roof in Poucha Pond. Kennedy extricated himself from the vehicle and survived, but neglected to inform authorities until the next day of the accident and his inability to rescue Kopechne. Assistant Medical examiner Donald Mills signed a death certificate listing cause of death as accidental drowning. A private funeral for Kopechne was held at St. Vincent's Roman Catholic Church in Plymouth, Pennsylvania, on July 22, 1969. The service was attended by Kennedy, his wife Joan, his sister-in-law Ethel, and hundreds of onlookers. Kopechne was buried in St. Vincent's Cemetery in Larksville, Pennsylvania, in the parish cemetery on the side of Larksville Mountain. She was among the fifth generation of her family interred in that cemetery. The exact time and cause of Kopechne's death is not positively known, due to conflicting witness testimony at the January 1970 inquest, and lack of an autopsy. Kennedy claimed the accident occurred shortly after he left the party at 11:15 p.m. on July 18. But part-time Deputy Sheriff Christopher "Huck" Look testified that he saw Kennedy's car, with Kopechne and Kennedy in it, around 12:40 a.m. on July 19. John Farrar, the fire rescue captain who retrieved the body on July 19, testified he believed that Kopechne stayed alive for up to half an hour in an air pocket, and ultimately suffocated in the submerged vehicle. A petition to exhume the body for autopsy was denied by a Pennsylvania court.  Kennedy failed to report the incident to the authorities until the car and Kopechne's body were discovered the next morning. Kopechne's parents said that they learned of their daughter's death from Kennedy before he informed authorities of his involvement. They learned Kennedy had been the driver from wire press releases sometime later. Melinda Marx - How I Wish You Came (1965) Melinda Marx was the daughter of Groucho Marx.  Michael Chaplin - Restless (1965) He was the son of Charlie Chaplin.  Nino Tempo and April Stevens - Put It Where You Want It (1973) From Buffalo, NY. My home town.  Ray Manzarek - The Whole Thing Started With Rock and Roll (1974) Scott Walker -The Plague (1970) Ike and Tina Turner - Sweet Rhode Island Red (1974) Paul Revere and the Raiders - Swim (1964) The Boones - Please Mister Postman (1974) The Hollies - The Baby (1972) The Royal Guardsmen - Squeaky Vs. The Black Knight (1966) Same catalog number as "Snoopy vs. The Red Baron". This version was issued only in Canada and only for approx. 2 weeks while licensing issues were being worked out using the "Snoopy" name. Art Linkletter - Dear Mom and Dad (1969) Autry Inman with Bob Luman - Ballad of Two Brothers (1968) Frank Lyndon - Fonzie Meets Kotter's Sweathogs (At The School Dance) (1976) Herman Silvers & Cornell Tanassy - Hello Ronnie, Good-Bye Jimmy (1980) James Brown and the J.B.s - Gimme Some Skin (1977) Johnny Cash & Rosey Nix - Father and Daughter (1974) In the 1980 Rolling Stone Record Guide, this album is described as "weird". It's not. It sounds like a gap-filler. Johnny doesn't sound his best here singing this Cat Stevens cover with his daughter, who also cannot seem to sing. She was the daughter of June Carter and her second husband (of three), Edwin "Rip" Nix. I tried to find his football card from his time with the Tennessee Vols, but I don't think football cards were a thing? Edwin and June divorced in 1966. In around 1985, Edwin married Ira Pilkinton.  During her first marriage, to singer Carl Smith, she had a daughter, Rebecca Carlene Smith, professionally known as Carlene Carter, a country musician. Her song "Every Little Thing" appeared on my band "East of Idaho"'s setlist during the first year of our existence. She married Nick Lowe, who I've featured on another episode, and appeared in his wonderfully droll video for "Cruel To Be Kind".  Wilt Chamberlain - That's Easy To Say (1960) The Millennium - There Is Nothing More To Say (1968) Genesis - Apocalypse in 9/8 (1972) The Free Design - Friendly Man (1971) You know I love The Free Design more than almost any group I've discovered on my show. Here are three of their best songs.  The Free Design - Love Me (1971) The Free Design - A Leaf Has Veins (1968)

As Bob Burtman would say, "Icksnay on the uck-fay" as the Parliament Funkadelic live version of "Tear The Roof Off" commenced to play.  Some songs that James Brown made famous and then decided to rerecord. Cocaine is a hell of a drug.   James Brown - I Feel Good (1975) Not the version you're used to hearing.  James Brown - Problems (1975) If you Google "James Brown" and "Problems", it will take a LONG time to get to this song.  James Brown - It's A New Day (1970) My favorite song by JB.  Parliament-Funkadelic - Tear The Roof Off (Live 1976) Do not listen if the swears offend you.  The Clash - Radio Clash (Remix) (1980) African Music Machine - Mr. Brown (1974) Chuck Brown - B.A.D. (1984) George McCrae - I Get Lifted (1974) From Wikipedia: He was about to return to college to study law enforcement, when Richard Finch and Harry Wayne Casey of KC and the Sunshine Band invited him to sing the lyrics for a song that they had recorded for the band, but could not reach the high notes that were required for the song. The original intention was that Gwen, his wife, should record it, but she was late for the session and George recorded alone. The rest is history! Finch and Casey began their decade-long chart dominance. People don't recall what a big influence the Miami Sound had on dance floors and AM radios all over the country. You just can't fake those grooves.  Jimmy “Bo” Horne - Let Me (Be Your Lover) (1978) Sampled by Stereo MC's to fine effect.  Jimmy “Bo” Horne - Dance Across The Floor (1978)  Ron Louis Smith - Make Me Know It (1978) Ronald Louis Smith is the original KC and the Sunshine Band trumpet player and the leader of the horn section and choreographer. He created all the dance moves the band was famous for. The Sunshine Band was formerly called the Ocean Liner Band. Ronald Louis Smith wrote/produced the hit disco record "Spank" artist Jimmy Bo Horne. He arranged and played the trumpet parts in the big reggae record "Buffalo Soldier" by Bob Marley. He also worked with Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine at Miami Sound Studio. Chicago - What's This World Coming To (1973) I love Chicago albums V, VI, and VII. As good a trio of records any group recorded in the '70s consecutively, except for Stevie.  Bobby Rydell - Sway (1976) This is not the original 1960 hit, but an attempt to modernize through the demon known at the time as Disco. Many, many artists rode the train to sadness. Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Kate Smith, Bobby Hebb, so so many.  Frank Sinatra - All Or Nothing At All (1977) This is not the original 1939 hit, but an attempt to modernize through the demon known at the time as Disco. Many, many artists rode the train to sadness. Bobby Rydell, Sammy Davis, Kate Smith, Bobby Hebb, so so many.  The Beach Boys - Here Comes The Night (1979)  This is not the original 1967 song, but an attempt to modernize through the demon known at the time as Disco. Many, many artists rode the train to sadness. Ringo Starr, Rod Stewart, The Hollies, so so many. Osmonds - I, I, I (1979) Produced by Maurice Gibb. No answer from Robin or Barry.  Jeff Lynne - Goin' Down To Rio (1977) From his two-sided dance single. Attendant dance steps on the cover. He was in The Move.  Bobby Hebb - Sunny '76 (1976) Neil Diamond - Dancing In The Streets (1979) Elton John - Thunder In The Night (1979) Lawrence Hilton Jacobs - Kiss and Tell (1979) Maureen McGovern - I'm Happy Just To Dance With You (1979) Sammy David Jr. - We'll Make It This Time (Theme from "Kojak") (1976) Tom Jones - Don't Cry For Me, Argentina (1979)

The King's Singers - Strawberry Fields Forever (1978) Scratch and sniff! Produced by the late, great Greg Lake.  Bangor Flying Circus - Norwegian Wood (1969)  The Goodship Lollipop - Maxwell's Silver Hammer (1969) Ken Ray Wilemon and Me - Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)  Bud Shank - I Am The Walrus (1968) Charlotte Dada - Don't Let Me Down (1972) The Girl with the Golden Voice, a title she has more than justified since she started her career with the Uhuru Dance Band early in the 1960s. She also sang with Franco and the Walking Shadows before breaking off as a solo artist, recording with Leader of Uhuru Dance Band Stan Plange and his Experimental Group and the Britain-based group Cool Blaze. Cher - The Long and Winding Road (1973) At 30:50 of this podcast, the bass player makes a pretty big goof.  Ken Ray Wilemon and Me - The Long and Winding Road Ken Ray Wilemon and Me - Old Brown Shoe  Don Randi Trio - Tomorrow Never Knows (1966) Don Randi began his career as a pianist and keyboard player in 1956, gradually establishing a reputation as a leading session musician. In the early 1960s, he was a musician and arranger for record producer Phil Spector's Wall of Sound. He played piano on "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'" by Nancy Sinatra and on her albums as well as being a member of her touring band for decades. He performed on the Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations" and "God Only Knows". His piano can be heard on the Buffalo Springfield songs "Expecting to Fly" and "Broken Arrow". He claims to have played on over three hundred hit records, working with Linda Ronstadt (the harpsichord on "Different Drum"), Quincy Jones, Cannonball Adderley, Herb Alpert, Sarah Vaughan, Lee Hazlewood and Frank Zappa. Doug Parkinson In Focus - Dear Prudence (1969) Fickle Pickle - Maybe I'm Amazed (1970) Ken Ray Wilemon and I - You've Got To Hide Your Love Away Ken Ray Wilemon and I - Here, There, and Everywhere Ken Ray Wilemon and I - I Should Have Known Better  Franck Pourcel and His Orchestra - Don't Let Me Down (1969) Gary McFarland and Gabor Szabo - The Word (1966) Ray Conniff - Hey Jude (1978) Ken Ray Wilemon and Me - Gimme Some Truth  The Koppycats - Things We Said Today (1966) Ian & The Zodiacs were a British Rock'n'Roll and Beat band formed in 1958, originally known as The Zodiacs, in Liverpool, England. The band existed in relative obscurity until relocating to Germany in 1964 where they achieved national success. During the band's three-year stint in Germany, they released three albums under their name, exclusive to the country until their re-release. They also released two cover albums featuring material by The Beatles with the name The Koppycats. The Koppycats - Nowhere Man (1967) Jeesh, get the chords right. And the harmonies.  Les 409 - Hello Goodbye (1967) Les 409 - I'm a Man (1967) Link Wray - Please Please Me (1963) Mike Quinn - Apple Pie (1969) Nicky Scott - Honey Pie (1969) Helen Merrill - Norwegian Wood (1970) Ken Ray Wilemon and Me - Beware of Darkness  Ken Ray Wilemon and Me - Jet    

Randy Bachman is Canadian royalty for his pop success in the '60s and '70s with various bands. And for his seeming inability to stop rockin'. But first, I have a sincere question for both of you:  You're not a...commy, are you?  Hagers - 84 Olympics - The Russian Game (1984)  The Guess Who - Take The Long Way Home 1970 (The Way They Were) Chad Allan & the Expressions - Stop Teasing Me (1965)  Union - Mainstreet USA (1981) You....ARE....going...TO....TOUR.....WITH....THE...OLDIES....we LOVE!!!!!!! Get in the box with Cummings. We can wait. The Canadian government can wait.  Union - Next Stop London (1981) Brave Belt - Crazy Arms, Crazy Eyes (1971) God help the person with these afflictions. This was the band he formed after he left The Guess Who and before he formed BTO.  Here he is with his purse.  Brave Belt - It's Over (1971) Brave Belt - Too Far Away (1972) Bachman-Turner Overdrive - Easy Groove (1977) From the album Freeways. Here's a good article on the history of Randy Bachman and BTO in particular.  Bachman-Turner Overdrive - Lookin' Out For #1 (1975) This was their last big-ish hit in the USA.  Chad Allan & The Expressions - Made In England (1965) Axe - Take the Long Way Home (1970) The second song in the show, recorded as an instrumental for RB's first post-Guess Who album, Axe. I much prefer Burton Cummings' wailing.  Chad Allan - Ramona's Hourglass (1968) Written by our boy. The Guess Who? - Believe Me (1966) Ironhorse - I'm Hurtin' Inside (1980) Brave Belt - Never Comin' Home (1972)  Randy Bachman - I Am A Star (1978) Randy Bachman - Just A Kid (1978) Randy Bachman - Maybe Again (1978) Ironhorse - Sweet Lui-Louise (1979) Trying to tweak the record-buying public by reminding them of the accidental stuttering in "Ain't Seen Nothing Yet".  Axe - Zarahemla (1970) Iron Horse - One & Only (1979) The Guess Who - Palmyra (1970) The Guess Who - Silver Bird (1970) The Guess Who - The Answer (1970) Union - Keep the Summer Alive (1981) You know this song as a Beach Boys release, but what you might not know is that it was co-written by Randy Bachman.  Union - All Night Long (1981)    

Australian Playboys - Black Sheep R.I.P. (1967) The "Australian Playboys" was the name given to the Melbourne-spawned rock & roll band The Playboys, for their appearances and record releases outside of Australia, to avoid confusion with Gary Lewis's backing band "The Playboys." Because if you mess with Jerry's boy, you're gonna have a bad time. Only one person humiliates Gary Lewis, and that's his father.  Eden's Children - Awakening (1968)  "Sham," as ABC wanted the non-existent fans to call Richard Schamach, really was. To be hyped as better than Cream no doubt created expectations this trio could never live up to.  Produced by Bob Theile, who wrote “What a Wonderful World” and produced countless great artists from the '60s.  Bob Kuban and the In-Men - Drive My Car (1966) Their hit was “The Cheater” (1965). The frontman/singer was Walter Scott. Scott disappeared on December 27, 1983. In April 1987, his body was found floating face-down in a cistern. He had been hog-tied and shot in the back. Scott's second wife, JoAnn (née Calcaterra), pleaded guilty to hindering the prosecution of his murder and received a five-year sentence. Her lover, James H. Williams Sr., whom she married in 1986, was found guilty of two counts of capital murder involving the deaths of his previous wife, Sharon Williams (who died from what was originally thought to be an auto accident in 1983), and of Walter Scott. That, my friends, is Rock and Roll.  Briarcliff Strings And Voices - I Want To Hold Your Hand (1966)  Burt Bacharach - Lisa (1967) Eden's Children - Just Let Go (1968) Here is an excellent interview with the lead singer Richard Lee ("Sham"). "After Eden's Children, I went out to play with Edgar Winter when he was putting together White Trash. When Rick Derringer became available to Edgar I made a hop to Boston again and played with Vern Miller's (The Remains) group Swallow, with George Leh."  Eden's Children - Invitation (1968) Eden's Children - Stone Fox (1968) Freddy Weller - Listen to the Young Folks (1970) Gary Wilson - Chromium Bitch (1977) Gary Wilson is an experimental musician/performance artist best known for his 1977 album You Think You Really Know Me, after which he promptly retired from recording and performing concerts. He slowly gained a strong cult following during the 1980s and 1990s, and in the early 2000s became active again. Hamilton, Joe Frank, and Reynolds - Who Do You Love (1975) On Playboy Records. What's that trivia question I gave you?  Hot Chocolate - Walking On The Moon (1980) “Baby you make me Feel like Im walkin...”  Hudson & Pickett - Sky High Market (1976)  Jim Valley - Try, Try, Try  (1967) Jim Valley - Go-Go Round (1967) Jim Valley - I'm Real (1967) Jimmy Webb - Saturday Suit (1973) Jimmy Webb - Arnie's Appeasement Signals (Samurai Sequence)(1973) Jimmy Webb - Gymnast's Ballet (Fingerpainting) (Soundtrack)(1973) Jimmy Webb - Song Seller (1972) Mean Mister Mustard - Davy Jr and Guess Who? (1969) Paul Revere and the Raiders - We Gotta All Get Together (1970 Version)  Paul Revere and the Raiders - We Gotta All Get Together (1969 Version) Written by Fred Weller. He also recorded a version solo. It's not THAT great a song.  Raiders - Song Seller (1973) Written by Jimmy Webb.  Raiders - Just Seventeen (1970) My favorite Raiders track.  Paul Revere Interviews His Raiders - Free Cardboard Disc from Teen Scoop mag (1967) They had an unbelievable sense of humor.  Freddy Weller - Sexy Lady (1974)

Frederik - Se Jokin Minulla On (1975) The Locomotion in Finnish.  Alice Babs - Been To Canaan (1973) Pretty Purdie and the Playboys - You've Got A Friend (1971) Carole King - Child of Mine (1970)  Design - I Feel The Earth Move (1973) The City - Now That Everything's Been Said (1968) From the great Light In The Attic website:  By the mid-‘60s, King's marriage to Gerry Goffin, with whom she'd written many of those wonderful hits, had hit the rocks. A divorce loomed, and King all but retired to raise their two daughters. She headed west to Laurel Canyon in ‘67, taking the children with her, and made the previously unlikely move of joining a progressive folk-rock band. King formed The City with future husband Charles Larkey on bass and Danny Kortchmar on guitar and vocals. With King on piano and vocals, they created a folk-rock sound that pre-empted the singer-songwriter boom of the ‘70s. Produced by Lou Adler and featuring Jimmy Gordon on drums, The City's sound is deep and soulful, imperfect but passionate. And the songs, with King writing or co-writing all but one, are as exceptional as you'd expect and as widely covered as her factory work. “Now That Everything's Been Said” was a hit for American Spring [Ed: That was the band that Brian Wilson produced, featuring his wife Marylin and his affair d'couer, his sister-in-law Diane.], “A Man Without A Dream” was tackled by The Monkees, and “Hi-De-Ho (That Old Sweet Roll)” was a hit for Blood, Sweat & Tears. Central to the album's appeal is King's own stirring reading of her track “Wasn't Born To Follow,” covered masterfully by The Byrds for the Easy Rider soundtrack. King had been used to a life on the sidelines, and her stage fright left the trio unable to tour the LP which adversely affected their fortunes. That, plus some behind-the-scenes distribution problems, meant the album was quickly deleted, and it remained so for the next thirty years–partly at King's request. Even so, its failure was a surprise to those concerned. “I was 26 when Now That Everything's Been Said was released in 1968,” King says of the album. “[We] expected it to zoom to the top of the charts within, at most, a few weeks. Individually and together, we optimistically imagined the album's success as if it had already happened. Danny and Charlie kept telling each other, 'It's a great album. The City is gonna be Number 1 with a bullet!'" Frances Yip - I Feel The Earth Move (1973) The Isleys - It's Too Late (1972) From one of my favorite pages, Wilson and Alroy's Record Reviews: Their review of Brother, Brother, Brother (two stars out of five) This is the kind of thing you can do when you own your record company: the Isleys turn over half the running time to three Carole King covers ("Brother Brother," her then-current hit "Sweet Seasons," and a ten-minute version of "It's Too Late"). All of which are calming and pretty but not particularly moving, similar in style to Givin' It Back but not quite as rough. Those numbers are complemented by some funkier tunes more reminiscent of Get Into Something, including the single "Pop That Thang," "Love Put Me On The Corner," and the propulsive "Work To Do." More than anything, this is transitional, pointing out the direction that was to pay off far better commercially and artistically starting with the next studio album. The younger crop of Isleys played most of the instruments again but still received no producing or arranging credits. Carol Burnett - It's Too Late (1972)  Jerry Butler - So Far Away (1972)  Daffi Von Cramer - Locomotion (1972) Lone Kellerman - Kom An Baby (1977) Mike James Kirkland - It's Too Late (1973) Nora Aunor - Sweet Seasons (1972) Known as "The Grand Dame of Philippine Cinema" for her contribution to the Philippine film industry. Aunor has released more than 360 singles and recorded more than 200 songs and over 50 albums. She has notched more than 30 gold singles and with an estimated gross sales of one million units, Nora's cover of "Pearly Shells" (1971) is one of the biggest-selling singles in the Philippines. Due to a botched cosmetic surgery in Japan while endorsing a cosmetic surgery clinic based in Shinagawa and Makati, her vocal cords were damaged and she cannot sing due to paralysis of her left vocal cords. Peter Nero - Jazzman (1975)  Rita Coolidge - One Fine Day (1979) Carole King - Pierre (1975) Marlena Shaw - So Far Away (1972) Vikki Carr - So Far Away (1971) Carpenters - One Fine Day (1973)  The City - Snow Queen (1968) The City - I Wasn't Born to Follow (1968) The Counts - Jazzman (1974) The Lettermen - You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Man (1970) Tiiti - Sata Kettaa (1979) Carole King - Time Gone By (1979) The Anita Kerr Singers - You've Got A Friend (1973)  Stanislaw Sojka - You've Got A Friend (1979)  

  The Association was a pretty popular late-'60s singing group. Think Three Dog Night. Like that. Pretty similar arc. You know "Cherish", "Along Comes Mary", "Windy", etc. After the hits dried up, members like Jerry Yester fought the inevitable slide into oldies tours with the odd single, tour, and always in a state of flux. In 1975, a cobbled-together version of the band recorded what would be known to fans as "The Association Bites Back". While RCA was the record company of...record...they do not have tapes that they can remaster for a waiting public. But replacement member Larry Brown did put some of the songs on YouTube. Cassette quality, but a nice historical curio of a once-thriving concern. Here are 4.  And oldies tours are exactly where they ended up. Think Three Dog Night.    Travelin' Boy That's What She Said Time to Get High Cherish (a disco remake with a strangely funkified coda.)   The Pullice - Can't Get Enough (1966) As seen on the lower right, this is how they spelled their name.  McDonald's Commercial (1969) Grady Tate - Multiplication Rock “6” (1973) Nostalgia for POACA. Born in Durham, NC, in a district called “Hayti”, the historic African-American community that is now part of the city of Durham, North Carolina. It was founded as an independent black community shortly after the American Civil War on the southern edge of Durham by freedmen coming to work in tobacco warehouses and related jobs in the city. By the early decades of the 20th century, African Americans owned and operated more than 200 businesses, which were located along Fayetteville, Pettigrew, and Pine Streets, the boundaries of Hayti. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the neighborhood continued to develop through years of racial segregation imposed by white Democrats in the state legislature, following the Reconstruction era in the South. With black-owned businesses and services, a library, a hotel, a theatre, and a hospital, the community became self-sufficient. It declined in the late 20th century, due to suburbanization, which drew some residents to newer housing outside the area. A 1958 urban renewal and freeway project took down houses and businesses in 200 acres of the community and split it with a freeway. St. Joseph's African Methodist Episcopal Church (1891) is listed on the National Register of Historic Places; its congregation was founded in 1868. The church has been used since 1975 as a community and cultural center. Hayti's residents have included African Americans who achieved national reputations for their successes. From Wikipedia: Ernie Barnes, NFL star and nationally renowned artist Reverend Shirley Caesar, minister, gospel musician Blind Boy Fuller (born Fulton Allen) blues guitarist and singer Biff Henderson, staff member of Late Show with David Letterman John P. Kee, gospel musician Lamont Lilly, Movement for Black Lives activist, journalist, and 2016 vice presidential candidate John Lucas II, NBA player and professional coach Pigmeat Markham, known in the 1950s–1960s as the National Funnyman; his family was the most prominent on its street, which came to be called (and later officially named) Markham Street in the Hayti District Tracy McGrady, NBA player, finished high school in the Hayti District Clyde McPhatter, 1950–1960s musician, member of the Drifters, member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Rodney Rogers, NBA player André Leon Talley, fashion consultant Grady Tate, jazz drummer Tommy Wilson, NFL player for Los Angeles Rams, Cleveland Brown, and Minnesota Vikings There is a similar district (well, there was) called “Soul City” near Hendersonville, NC. Friends of mine say they can't find much that's left.  21 Years of Rock n Roll (1977)  "The record that launched the Rock 'n' Roll era became a hit in Australia in July 1956. It proved to be one of the most fantastic hits of all time with collective sales estimated at over 22 million. 'Rock around the Clock' has been waxed in thirty-five different languages with over 140 versions globally. 2SM/3XY/4IP with the ANZ Bank commissioned the cream of Australian rock talent to record this limited-edition tribute to 21 years of Rock 'n' Roll. Hope you enjoy it." The artists: Glenn Shorrock of Little River Band Graeme 'Shirley' Strachan & Frankie J. Holden  John Paul Young who had one big US hit with "Love Is In The Air".  Daryl Braithwaite Renee Geyer  Aurora Toy Sales Film hosted by Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble (1969) Originally seen at the 1969 New York Toy Fair. Bev Bevan - Heavy Head (1976) Cat (Bob Chance) - Slap Dance (1979) Colours - Bad Day At Black Rock, Baby (1968)  Colours was signed to Dot Records in 1967 and released their first single later that year. In 1968, they issued their self-titled debut LP. In 1969, they issued a follow-up LP titled ‘Atmosphere', but only Dalton and Montgomery are credited on the record. After the band broke up in late 1969, Radle went on to play in Delaney & Bonnie and, shortly afterward, Derek & the Dominoes and J.J. Cale and Eric Clapton. Chuck Blackwell also achieved some renown in the early 70s by playing with Leon Russell, Joe Cocker, Taj Mahal, Freddie King, and other artists. Doris Duke - Feet Start Walking (1971) Harmon Bethea The Maskman - Prices and Crisis (1974) A World War II veteran, he recorded and performed gospel and rhythm and blues with the Progressive Four and the Corinthian Singers for Lillian Claiborne's D.C. label in 1947 and '48. In late 1949, Claiborne paired Bethea with another of her local acts, The Cap-Tans. In the midst of the British Invasion and the surge of Motown Records, Bethea took on the persona of “The Maskman", first donning the mask in 1968. His backing group evolved from the Cap-Tans to The Agents. The Bethea continued recording and performing well into his 60s. Helen Reddy - Baby, I'm A Star (1977) The only track on her Ear Candy album produced by Kim Fowley. INXS - Doctor (1980) INXS - Jumping (1980) The Vegetables (INXS) - We Are The Vegetables (1980) Jerry Lawler - Heart Of Stone (197?)  John Sebastian - Face Of Appalachia (1974) A beautiful song co-written by Lowell George.  Don Walker and Michael Hutchence - Speed Kills (1981) From the movie of the same name.  Michel Legrand - Wonder Where I'll Be Tomorrow (1974)  Skafish - We'll See a Psychiatrist (1978) The Osmond Brothers - Takin' on a Big Thing (1970) The Family Dogg - Advice To Smokey Robinson (1972)  

The Age of Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In (Also known as The Flesh Failures) Music by Galt MacDermot; lyrics by Gerome Ragni and James Rado From Peter Lawford to Georgio Moroder, just about every singer had taken this anthem of flower power and tried to make it their own. From the Tony-nominated Broadway musical "Hair", you couldn't swing a love bead without bumping into a version of this song when it came out. It summed up the era succinctly, simply, and inoffensively. If you're of a certain age, it will send chills down your spine as you recall a very brief time where The Man was on his heels for once. It made #1 for The 5th Dimension and has been covered over 70 times, which isn't much compared to Yesterday or Summertime, but you have to understand that all those versions were grouped into two years, basically.    Bert Tenzer (with Kings Road) (1969) VERY bad voice-overs of actors pretending to belong to that generation. Old voice-over pros either paying tribute or making fun. We shall never know.  Andy Williams/The Osmonds (1969) Andy Williams was old showbiz but I love the fact that he tried everything. Including Claudine Longet. I really love Andy Williams. He was daring and cool.  Diana Ross and the Supremes (1969) Englebert Humperdinck (1969) Donna Gaines, AKA Donna Summer/Original German Cast of “Hair” - Wassermann (Aquarius) (1968) Johnny Mathis (1969) You hear him most during the holiday season. Then he goes away! Melba Moore (1970) My second-favorite version. God damn, she sings it. One of the few versions here that tried to reinvent and recontextualize.  Peter Lawford (1969) Yes, the designated driver in the Rat Pack.  Raphael (Live) (1980) Ray Conniff And The Singers (1969) The Ventures (Instrumental) (1969) Tony Martin (1969) My favorite version. Discogs: Tony Martin (Alvin Morris) had enjoyed a long and illustrious career as a star of stage, screen, and shellac (his first national hits for Decca came before the Second World War!), scoring international Top Ten singles in the Forties and Fifties along the lines of his rendition of Stranger in Paradise, overshadowed in the wake of Tony Bennett's competing version. But by the time Tony pitched up at Motown, he had had no hits for eight years, and his film career had long since hit the skids. Ethel y Los Drakers - Siempre Brilla El Sol (Spanish) (1971) Jennifer (Warnes) (1969) Yes, the same gal that sang "Right Time of the Night" and "I Had the Time of My Life" with Bill Medley. If you look close, she's singing backing vocals during the Roy Orbison "Black and White" concert.  Galt MacDermot (1968) Julien Clerc (French) (1969) Light My Fire  The Doors  Again, a ubiquitous cover song which appeared in every singer's set-list at that time. Provocative enough for the young, melodic and simple enough for the more seasoned entertainer. One more thing: The Doors were an amazing band when it came to producing singles. Their albums are sometimes embarrassingly naive and treacly, sort of like The Moody Blues or Three Dog Night. But those singles, whew boy, they were good.  Stevie Wonder (1969) This is a great version. Listen to the king of soul bassists, James Jamerson, eviscerate all that came before him.  The Free Design (1971) This album is in my hall of fame for GREAT albums I could listen to over and over and find new things. Albums I discovered since I started this old show. Everything, from the production to the harmonies to the amazing upside-down covers. I am trying to get my hands on Chris Dedrick's solo record "Be Free". Soon. Maybe my birthday? Come on, now. Anyhow, this I put up there with Syreeta's records with Stevie, The United States of America, The Seeds of Love, all of them. The peak of the concept, along with There Is A Song (1972). And no one bought them!! If you like Sunshine Pop, this is the stuff. Better than The Mamas and the Papas. To my ears, by far. Listen to how low the Dedrick sisters are asked to sing. I love women in the lower register. I am a huge fan of all the Dedricks.  And that's Billy Cobham on drums!  Bob Thiele and his New Happy Times Orchestra with Gabor Szabo (1967) Clarence Carter (w/Duane Allman) (1967) Rhetta Hughes (1968) Shirley Bassey (1970) Also extremely very good. She is perhaps best known for having done the vocals on the theme tunes to three films in the popular British espionage film franchise James Bond. Woody Herman Orchestra (1969) Another cool version, this one by the Woody Herman Orchestra. Herman had been recording since the Big Band era. Fans of Frank Zappa will recognize the name Sal Marquez, who played trumpet solo #1.  Amii Stewart (1979) Chet Atkins (1968) Even though he made his bones as a session player/producer, Chet was surprisingly open to doing modern songs by pop artists, to his credit. Like my friend Andy Williams.  Minnie Ripperton/Jose Feliciano (1979) Os Baobas (AKA The Bubbles) (1968) The Soul Merchants (1968) The Lettermen (1968) This album made it to #43 on Billboard.  The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band (1969) Al Green (1971)

Andy Williams - Theme From "Love Story" (12" Version) (1979) Normally, I have a deep disdain for old show business icons trying to ride the ol' disco train, but Andy Williams gives it all in this updated version of his big hit from 1972. Jeesh, say what you want about the guy, but on this, he BRINGS it. I believe this is the "short" version. The long version is 10 minutes. After doing this show for almost 6 years, Andy Williams has become one of my favorite vocalists.  Ann Peebles - Come to Mama (1975) Bob Seger covered this on his break-thru album Night Moves. I like this version much more. Al Green's producer produced this as well. Discerning ears will hear it right away.  Freddie Garrity and the New Dreamers - I'm Telling You Now (1976) Freddie and the Dreamers were an English beat band that had some hits between May 1963 and November 1965. The band's stage act was enlivened by the comic antics of the 5-foot-3-inch-tall Freddie Garrity, who would bounce around the stage with arms and legs flying. This album was about 10 years after their heyday. I can only imagine in 1976, arms and legs flying to keep the blunt from burning the studio rug. IYKWIM.  Freddie and the Dreamers - Tin Pan Alley (1978)  Charlie Dore - Fear Of Flying (1979) Charlie Dore had a fair-to-middling hit with "Pilot of the Airwaves" in 1979. I think they were grooming her to be a sort of Ricki Lee Jones. Hey, George Harrison sang one of her songs!!  Chicago - Street Player (12" Version) (1978) Look at that Donnie Dacus laughing in the middle of the shot. He seems so happy. They were already planning on kicking him to the curb. Of course, it made not one fricking bit of difference in the end. Wikipedia: His work in the starring role of Woof in Hair, with Annie Golden, Treat Williams, Beverly D'Angelo, John Savage was directed by Academy Award winner Miloš Forman. Hair was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards. The movie opened the Cannes Film Festival in 1979. Dacus' debut with Chicago followed the death of founding member Terry Kath. The first album Dacus appeared on (Hot Streets) went to No. 12 and platinum. Dacus also was in the lineup for Chicago 13. After the 1979 tour in support of Chicago 13, Dacus was released from the band without an announcement. Someone didn't put into the cocaine kitty.  In 1982, Dacus joined Badfinger.  Danny Livingstone - Rudy, A Message To You (1967) Dion - Daddy Rollin' (1968) B-side of "Abraham, Martin, and John". Trailer for the film Dr. Frankenstein on Campus (1970)  Eli Culbertson - I Need Your Love Tonight (1974) I thought this was a good example of an Elvis impersonation before Elvis died. But at the time, the artist insisted it was not an impersonation.  Eli Culbertson - Boogie Queen (1974) George Harrison - Fear Of Flying (1979) George Harrison - Lay His Head (1987) The Beach Boys - Here Comes The Night (12" Version) (1978) Jack Lee - Come Back And Stay (1976) Jack Lee also wrote "Hangin' on the Telephone".  Little Richard   Hurry Sundown (1967) Mars Bonfire - Born To Be Wild (1968)  Moby Grape - Never (1968) Niela Miller - Baby, Please Don't Go to Town (1961) John Lee Hooker - One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer (1966) Polaroid Swinger Commercial (1965) Barry Manilow on vocals. Renaldo & The Loaf - Ow! Stew The Red Shoe (1981) Terri Gibbs - Same Old Mop (1975) Terri Gibbs had a big hit with "Somebody's Knocking". This single predated that one by 6 years.  Manu Dibango - Soul Makossa (1971) Wikipedia: "Soul Makossa" is a song released as a single in 1972 by Cameroon saxophonist and songwriter Manu Dibango. It was originally recorded as the B-side for "Hymne de la 8e Coupe d'Afrique des Nations", a song celebrating the Cameroon national football team's accession to the quarterfinals of the Africa Cup of Nations football tournament, as well as Cameroon's hosting the games for the first time; the lyrics were written by Cameroonian poet and musicologist S.M. Eno Belinga. Except for some words in English, it was written in Duala, a native dialect continuum from Cameroon.  In 1972, David Mancuso found a copy in a Brooklyn West Indian record store and often played it at his parties at The Loft. The response was so positive that the few copies of "Soul Makossa" in New York City were quickly purchased. The song was subsequently played heavily by Frankie Crocker, who deejayed at WBLS, then New York's most popular black radio station. Since the original release was so obscure, at least 23 groups quickly released cover versions to capitalize on the demand for the record. Later in 1972, American-based Atlantic Records licensed the original Manu Dibango version from French record label Fiesta, and released it as a single. The single peaked at number 35 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1973; Dibango's original version of the song and a cover by Afrique was on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart at the same time. The song also became an international hit leading to even more cover versions by various groups around the world.  The song is probably best known for the chanted vocal refrain "ma-ma-ko, ma-ma-sa, ma-ko ma-ko-sa", which was adapted and used in songs by many prominent artists such as Michael Jackson's "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" from his album Thriller (1982). The refrain is a play on the word makossa, Dibango's main music genre. Roy Hawkins - The Thrill Is Gone (1951) No, B.B. King did not write this tune, but he certainly made it famous. I thought you might like to hear the original.  Tony Orlando & Dawn - Happy Man (1976)

Do you like the band Queen?    I do:  For good or bad, they maximized the potential of the modern recording studio with repeated vocal passes until the magnetic tape was almost transparent, pushing the envelope literally to the breaking point. They never EVER limited themselves to one style. One need only listen to the first four tracks of “A Night at the Opera”. From almost prog changes in “Death on Two Legs” to the underrated, brave, funny, and effortless whimsy of “Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon” to Roger Taylor’s best Queen song, “I’m In Love With My Car” to the light, breezy but taut pop masterpiece “You’re My Best Friend”. I didn’t even mention what would come on Side Two.  No Band Rocked Harder. Go back and listen to “Tie Your Mother Down” or “Killer Queen” (my first Queen record) and they effortlessly mastered style after style. And surprisingly, in the time of Glam, they weren’t Glam. Sure, they looked it. But looks were part of the contradiction.  Freddie Mercury never took himself too seriously. We all knew he was gay, but we didn’t care. In 1975, Elton John was flamboyant, but Freddie was gay. And the reason it never hurt him was because he didn’t care, at all, about what we thought of that. Think about how many gay pop singers had come out before that. Besides John Lennon, I mean.  Hits, hits, more hits. All styles. You just never knew what was going to come out of that radio. Every member wrote and every member wrote hits (in England, anyhow). And those hits were big, never cheap, never gimmicky.  They had a joy and a sense of daring that no one since The Beatles had tried. I cannot emphasise enough how many chances they took. Some, like “Mustapha”, didn’t land, but some most assuredly did.  I will also add that no member released anything remotely approaching solo success or artistic transcendance. I think this speaks to an overall undefinable chemistry. For a band, this is a GOOD THING.  I don’t:  Queen had the pretension to put the words, “No synths!” in their liner notes. Isn’t multi-tracking guitars until you gag pretty much the same thing? And making your vocal arrangements dense and multi-tracked to the point of sounding like a chorale, to me, was the same cheat.  I said no band rocked harder. But they were severely limited by their drummer. They couldn’t swing. Cheap Trick, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles...they could swing. I never heard a Hammond organ on a Queen record or soul of any kind. Or real emotion except for rage, lust, and occasional whimsy. There was nothing...whiter...than a Queen album.  Roger Taylor should not have been allowed to put his own songs on Queen albums. Those songs were all pretty much dreck, sounding like the opposite of the good things about Queen. They sounded like studio jam sessions. I never liked a single one. His boring solo records bear this out.  Queen is the bonafide best example of “live album as placeholder”. By no means were they the only ones. But if you’re the hottest band in the world (and would continue your run) why break your momentum with one of the worst, most lifeless live albums of the ‘70? It could only be as a money grab. This is a theme with Queen. In fact, by the end, Queen, like Journey, became a money-making Queen tribute band. I HATED HATED HATED that movie. We’ll never truly know how it went down since Roger Taylor and Brian May had control of the way the story was told. But as an amateur movie critic, I would have really liked a bio that discussed the band less and just focused on Freddie’s amazing life, warts and all. That IS the remaining member’s fault. Reinventing the history, even of a band, does a disservice to Freddie Mercury. I think by now we can handle the dissonance and contradictions. “The Game”, from 1980 was their only #1 album in the US. None of their subsequent albums reached even the Top 20. Sales don’t necessarily reflect quality, but I can assure you, young reader, in this case, the dearth of subsequent sales tells the story. Queen was decidedly on the downswing in America. Queen had 2 #1 songs in the US. Both from “The Game”. And “The Game” was their sole #1 album on Billboard. Ironically, it was the first album on which they DID use synths. “Another One Bites The Dust” and “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” were both departures. Almost parodies of styles derived from Black music.  This podcast is all Queen but very little...QUEEN. Every member is represented (including Paul Rodgers, but only one Bad Company song) but like I said, Queen was an unidentifiable mix of talents, and not only that, their chemistry was never duplicated...by them, anyhow. Queen’s trajectory was closer to The Doors than The Beatles in that every one of their albums had some pretty bad songs to go with the ringers.  I saw them for the “Jazz” tour, Buffalo, NY. 1979. They were ok.  So...I like Queen. For their constant bravery, which cannot be faked. For their daring use of harmony. For their very underrated bassist John Deacon. And because, like The Doors, those singles were like nothing before or since. Who would dare?  Man Friday & Jive Junior - Picking Up Sounds (1983) Man Friday is a former member of Funkapolitan who did this one 45 with John Deacon, which was produced by Wham! guitarist Robert Ahwai. Queen - Fun It (1979) A precursor to "Another One Bites The Dust", no? Freddie Mercury - In My Defence (1986) From Wikipedia: Dave Clark...wrote a science fiction stage musical, Time, which debuted in 1986. It played for two years in London's West End, starring Cliff Richard (replaced later by David Cassidy). The musical also launched a concept album called Time which featured Richard, Freddie Mercury, Leo Sayer, Stevie Wonder, and Dionne Warwick. Two million copies were sold and it spun off several hit singles. In the UK. Not so much in the US. Clark was by Mercury's bedside when he died on 24 November 1991.  The Opposition (John Deacon) - Sunny (1970) Deacon's pre-Queen band.  Michael Jackson & Freddie Mercury - State of Shock (1983) Brian May & Friends - Star Fleet Project (1983) Larry Lurex - I Can Hear Music (1973) Free - Heavy Load (1970) Queen - Tenement Funster - Sheer Heart Attack - Lyrics (1974)  Roger Taylor - Fun in Space (1981) Roger Taylor - Future Management (1981) Bad Company - Burnin' Sky (1976) Roger Taylor - Killing Time (1984)  Larry Lurex - Goin Back (1973) John Deacon & The Immortals - No Turning Back (1986) Roger Taylor - I Wanna Testify (1977) Freddie Mercury - Time Waits For No One (1986) Queen - Mother Love (1991) Queen - The Loser in the End (1974)  Roger Taylor - Masters of War (1984) Brian May - Let Me Out (1984)   

King Crimson - Cadence And Cascade (1970) There are versions with Greg Lake and Gordon Haskell singing lead floating around. Now the rarely heard version with Boz Burrell, who I think was being groomed as a kind of heartthrob in mid-60s England but ended up learning bass from Bob Fripp of King Crimson. Then he joined Bad Company and didn't sing a note. KC must have really believed in this song. Their second album was a virtual carbon copy of their first.  Don Potter - Unchain My Heart (1978)  Caravan - The Love in Your Eye (Live) (1974) A more energetic Moody Blues, a far better band than Barclay James Harvest, Caravan never reached any sort of appreciable sales, but they were pretty interesting. Using a full orchestra in the studio and live before even Renaissance, listening to them reminded me of that same old pop vs. prog de-evolution that so many prog bands ended up suffering.  Elizabeth C. Farrell for New York State Assembly (1968) Anti-hippie political campaign flexi-disc. Elizabeth C. (Betty) Farrell was a New York State Assembly candidate for the 138th district in 1968. Embryo - Wajang Woman (1976) Family - In My Own Time (1971) Family - The Weavers Answer (1970)  Sri Darwin Gross - With Eckankar(1972) Religion ruins everything. It's a constant scam with willing, gullible fools who keep pumping money and mindpower into what they hope is salvation of a permanent kind. But it's all a big grift. All of it.  And so it was with a fellow named Paul Twitchell, who started a loony off-shoot of Scientology called Eckankar. This was around 1964. When he died in 1971, his wife chose Darwin Gross as his successor. And this album was released. It's pretty high-quality backing for such a mediocre singer. Judge for yourself!  Family - Burlesque (1972) The bass player is our own prog god John Wetton! This was what he was doing between Mogul Thrash and King Crimson. I wonder if HE sang "Cadence and Cascade" at one time. This is a combination of boogie and prog if there ever was one. Wetton's playing style is instantly recognizable.  Frank Pellico - Shaft (1976) Pellico played the stadium organs for both the Chicago Cubs (Wrigley) and the Blackhawks (United Center). Funny Bone – Ride On Bones (1977) I love this record. Calvin Arnold recorded singles until the '80s. Worked with Fats Domino in 1970. I owe Fats a show.  Chatham - Hump Up (197?) Johnny Watson - Unchain My Heart (1967) Before recording his own hits in the '70s and doing stuff with early acolyte Frank Zappa, he was sort of like James Brown on this release, an instrumental album without the "Guitar" part in his name.  Lennie Macdonald - Sad City Woman (1975) Featuring Mike Giles on drums. You know. MICHAEL Giles, the first drummer for....King Crimson. The violin solo features Wilf Gibson, who played with Electric Light Orchestra on their first two albums. Wilf played on LOTS of stuff in the decade. Including CARAVAN, and, most notably, on Kiki Dee's most popular album, I've Got The Music In Me. That was released on Elton John's label.  The singer sounds just like Gerry Rafferty. Or vice-versa.  De Maskers - Unchain My Heart (1967) I should have played this, their 1965 collaboration with what must have been an increasingly desperate Chubby Checker. Next time. I just love this cover. De Maskers (The Masks) was a Dutch pop group. The mask gimmick lasted a year, maybe?  Streetwalkers - Me and Me Horse and Me Rum (1976) From Discogs: In 1974 Roger Chapman and Charlie Whitney formed a band with a fluid line up including Family and King Crimson members. They released an album "Chapman Whitney Streetwalkers" the same year. In 1975 guitarist and vocalist Bobby Tench from The Jeff Beck Group. They released three studio albums as Streetwalkers, before disbanding in 1977.  Also on this record: Wilf Gibson.  Boz - Isn't That So  (1966) Neoton Familia - California Dreamin' (1978) Hungarian disco for you.  NGC-4594 - Skipping Through the Night (1968) The name refers to the designation for the Sombrero Galaxy in the New General Catalogue of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars or NGC. I hate The Doors and their influence on bands that tried the same thing they were trying to do.  Painted Faces - Lost You In My Mind (1967) Chapman-Whitney - Parisienne High Heels (1974) Another collaboration featuring John Wetton and Michael Giles who played in different iterations of King Crimson. Great song. Roger Chapman's voice is a little offputting at first, but these songs are uniformly interesting.  Roger Chapman and The Shortlist - Prisoner (1981) More good stuff despite the cheesy '80s synth, and more John Wetton on bass.  Sakura (櫻花) - Papa's Got a Brand New Bag (1971) Shankar Ganesh - Coca Cola (198?) From the liner notes of the compilation: "Play That Beat Mr. Raja" is the very first compilation dedicated to Tamil recordings in the West. It explores the wild shores of these late 80's Kollywood music productions. With an avalanche of cinematic strings, analog synths, mind-blowing vocal punchlines, and drumkit earthquakes mixed with folkloric percussive elements, it reveals the audacity of composers such as Ilayaraja, Shankar Ganesh, or Hamsalekha. Covering an impressive range of styles, it features Kamal Hassan's vocoded rap "Vikram Vikram", Shankar Ganesh's disco stomper "Coca Cola", and the irresistible Bontempi instrumental "Love Theme", among many other hits. Straddling boundaries between traditional southern Indian identity and digested western influences, these selected oddities remain a lesson of creativity and freedom in the world of soundtracks, with their stunning incorporation of the most typical of 80s tools in a classical context, and constant love for daring structures and demented arrangements. Sri Darwin Gross - At The Grassroots (1972) You are Soul, an eternal, creative being. Unlimited. Divine. Does something inside you long to know life’s purpose? To make sense of the world around you? Eckankar is an active, individual, creative spiritual practice. A companion and road map for your journey home—to the heights of Self-Discovery and God-Discovery, and beyond. Come along and discover the most secret part of yourself. The key to spiritual freedom lies within you. Shigeko Toya - Unchain My Heart (1973)  Mell Martin - Space Oddity (1980) Sri Darwin Gross - It Just Is! (1972)

Some of these songs...I can't even find the years they were released.    Drink Your Wine - Free Reign (1968?) Pop/Rock group from Evansville, Indiana. Originally known as The Corvettes. Josef Laufer and the Golem Group - Ďábel diskoték (Disco Duck) (1977) A Czech version of the Rick Dees American hit.  Frantz - Exhibition Tonight (1983) Freddy Cannon with Ron Dante - Down On Beale Street (2019) I have featured both of these guys from time to time. Not always in a flattering light. So it goes.  Ennio Morricone - Here's To You (1971) (feat. Joan Baez) This song, from the movie Sacco and Vanzetti, has its own Wikipedia page. You should read about Sacco and Vanzetti. James Luther Dickinson - John Brown (1972) Linda Sexton - Unborn (197?) Lyn Todd - Devil Woman (1980) Claude Peloquin/Jean Sauvageau - Monsieur l'Indien (Quebec 1974) "Recorded in one take, “Monsieur L’Indien’s” haunting loops were created using an analog/mechanical hybrid: small motors rotated an arm equipped with magnets which triggered pre-programmed sensors featuring snares and bass sounds, like the Wurlitzer Sound Man. Péloquin’s contribution was a haunting spoken-word piece about civilization slowly taking over First Nations by building high voltage electric lines around Monsieur l’Indien’s house. It was a slap in the face of Québec’s government, which had nationalized hydroelectricity some ten years earlier. “Frontiers are the hemorrhoids around a nationalist rash,” says Péloquin." The instrument was called a "Sauvageau machine".  The Emporium - I'm So Glad/Rain/I Dig Rock and Roll Music (1970) The Tremeloes - Yellow River (1970) Traffic - Paper Sun (1967) I love this song. Always did. Steve Winwood was and is amazing. This was Traffic's first single.  Waiting For The Sun - Waiting For the Sun (1978) Golden Half (ゴールデン・ハーフ) - 24,000 Kisses (1972) Wikipedia: Golden Half (Gōruden Hāfu) was an early 1970s J-pop band made up of 5 hafu members including Maria Mori, Eva Mary and Luna Takamura. Golden Half was promoted by Watanabe Productions and was composed in September 1970 to sing and go-go dance on the Fuji TV show BEAT POP. They often sang western pop songs in Japanese and split in 1974. The band appeared in the nightclub scenes in Yasuharu Hasebe's Stray Cat Rock: Sex Hunter where they performed their hit song Kiiroi Sakuranbo ("Yellow Cherry"). WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE THEIR PERFORMANCE???? As my son would say, this song slaps.  WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE THE TRAILER???? Trust me. You both do.  Coalkitchen - Keep On Pushin (1977) Listen to the "pushin'" and you'll know it instantly as the hook in the Salt-n-Pepa song to come out years later. Those rap producers were no fools. Thieves. But not fools.  Love - Walk Right In (1974) Yes, this is the same Arthur Lee band from psychedelia's heyday. Well, the same brand. Just totally different musicians.  Charles Wilp - Werbung als Kunst - Afri Cola Werbung (1968) Another video you HAVE to see.  "Sexy-mini-super-flower-pop-op-cola - everything is in Afri-Cola... " Famous models from the 1960s such as Marianne Faithfull, Amanda Lear, Donna Summer, Marsha Hunt [Ed: whom I have featured on this show many times - she had Mick Jagger's baby...] were depicted behind a pane of glass with ice crystals on advertising motifs for the rap-like slogan. According to Wilps, the idea for this arose during a visit to the Marshall Space Center in Huntsville (Alabama), where the Saturn V rocket was built at the time: The frozen, liquid oxygen stored in the workshop led to the formation of ice flowers on the windows of the moving cabins, behind the employees had hung pin-up photos of the 1960s beauties. Project 122 Featuring Charlie Green - Bus Stop (Electric Slide) (1990)  Odyssey 5 ‎– Everybody's Complaining (1974) Speed Glue Shinki - Calm Down (1972) Springbok - Night Fever (1978) A South African recording in the spirit of "Now That's What I Call Music", but it predated it. Except none of these recordings are by the original artists. They're cheap knockoffs.  The Christopher Hayes Movement - Tribute To Jimi (1970) Marsha Hunt's 22 - Medusa (1973) The Equals - Black Skin Blue Eyed Boys (1970) Written by Eddie Grant, who, as POACA recall, had a hit with "Electric Avenue".  The Piglets - Johnny Reggae (1971) Written, produced, and directed by Jonathan King, a relatively big deal in the UK (he came up with the "Ooga Chacka" intro to "Hooked On A Feeling" which was the hook for the US hit by Blue Swede) but in the US his only hit was "Everyone's Gone To The Moon" in 1967. He was another version of Kim Fowley, ever-teetering on the edge of an entire era without actually making any sort of big artistic difference.  The Surfers - Windsurfin' (1978) It takes about 16 years for a trend to make it from the US to Sweden, I guess.  The Wildweeds - I'm Dreaming (1968) Cadet Concept was the same label that featured Rotary Connection.  Tony Fabbri - Tony The Cool Casanova (197?) I can find very little information on this guy, but I like this song for some reason.  C.W. McCall - Kidnap America (1980) C.W. McCall was a character created by musician Billy Dale, for his advertising agency. The character was created for and first appeared in a commercial for Old Home Bread. Then, with producer Chip Davis, later to be famous for Mannheim Steamroller, he recorded a smash hit in the '70s with their CB/Trucker song, Convoy. This particular song was recorded in response to the hostage crisis in Iran from the previous year. Its effect remains to be fully measured.  Moon Blood - Come Out Of Her (1970) Patrice Manget/Blue Gene Tyranny - Condom Sense (1981) Title song to a safe sex education film from 1981. The Residents - Loss of Innocence (1980) My second favorite Residents song. This album featured 40 minute-long songs. The album featured guest singers like Andy Partridge of XTC, Lene Lovich, and David Byrne of Talking Heads. Yes, THAT David Byrne.  Amusement parks are caked with sounds A solid hunk of meat A barker's sweat flings from his tongue His tattoo shines with heat A wary stranger stands and sways Enraptured by his stance Two-headed goats come stumbling by And give a troubled glance The barker looks into the eyes The stranger tries to bend The barker swears to more delights For all who seek within The stranger enters canvas doors And smells the fresh-cut hay The barker points to Siamese twins The stranger looks away The eyes of horse-faced women Watch the few who wander through They sense the tension in the air And smell the sweet taboo A heart beats fast against a chest The stranger leaves the tent The waves of people drown the sounds Of loss of innocence  

Amon Düül II - Kismet (1978) From Wikipedia: Amon Düül began in 1967 as a radical political art commune of Munich-based artists calling themselves, in part, after the Egyptian Sun God Amon. The word Düül originally had no intended meaning.  The commune attained underground popularity for its free-form musical improvisations, performed around the happenings and demonstrations of the youth movement at the time. The commune had a liberal attitude to artistic freedom, valuing enthusiasm and attitude over artistic ability, and as a result, band membership was fluid; anyone who was part of the commune could be part of the group. They issued a declaration: "We are eleven adults and two children which are gathered to make all kinds of expressions, also musical."[5] A faction within the commune was more ambitious, conventional, and musically structured than the commune society overall. This led to a split within the collective, and in September 1968 they performed at the International Essen Song Days—Germany's first underground festival—as two groups, "Amon Düül" and "Amon Düül II", at the suggestion of drummer Peter Leopold. Amon Düül engaged in exuberant open-ended experimentation that at times equaled their psychedelic rock equivalents in countries such as the USA or Brazil (e.g. [Ed: The vastly better] Os Mutantes), with a focus on political activities. The members were close to Kommune 1 in Berlin and boasted, for a time, a prominent member in the model and activist Uschi Obermaier. Amon Düül signed a contract with the firm "Metronome Records", and continued for seven years with varying degrees of success and in various guises. They wound down in 1973 after releasing four official albums (and a posthumous fifth), though all except one were recorded at the 1968 sessions for their debut. Apparently, the man responsible was producer Peter Meisel, who released the albums without the band's approval in an attempt to capitalize on the success of Amon Düül II. The LPs are these days regarded as unique, if unessential, records in the history of German rock. In contrast, their Paradieswärts Düül album featured a pastoral, folk-influenced sound. The name 'Amon Düül' was trademarked by Chris Karrer and Peter Leopold of Amon Düül II, meaning that re-issues of Amon Düül's albums required to license the name from them. Like so so so so so many acts of the day, Amon Düül started out with a pure, sincere (if unlistenable) concept and ended up doing disco. Carole King - Disco Tech (1978) And ended up doing disco! During the nadir of her career, Carole King recorded with a band named Navarro, which co-wrote this dreck. They themselves put out two albums in the later '70s and faded away. Carole King returned in the video era with a song called "City Streets" which, to my ears, sounds so trite and overproduced that it literally means nothing. Her fella at the time died shortly after this was recorded. That's him on the cover.  Hello People - Future Shock (1974) Hello People - Destiny (1974) Hello People - Creego (1974) Two versions. One produced by Rundgren, and the other (somehow...better) recorded at home with fine TEAC equipment.  With the rock-steady guidance of Todd Rundgren and the big break of being asked to team up with TEAC to show off the possibilities of new reel-to-reel home recording technology, it seemed like a match made in heaven. Bowie. Alice Cooper. Peter Gabriel. Mime Rock was due. Alas, it was not to be. I am the proud owner of both of these records, and I feel very, very alone. And yes, they cover "Just One Victory".  From Discogs:  "Recording demonstration; from microphone placing, editing, balancing, channeling, terminology, sound recording & effects. One full-length song in this recording, it was not recorded inside a Studio; instead, it was fully recorded in someone's house to demonstrate the flexibility of the TEAC multi-track tape record. Many clear examples of what it takes to record a song, all the potential obstacles that come with making a song using all analog instruments. Home recording tips; recording at home with the 3340-S multi-track tape recorder can offer many of the important elements of the studio experience without the bill. No experience required; you have the opportunity to work ideas in private and to experiment with your own sounds, and learn what you need to know at your own pace. Recording music, like making music, is fun as it is challenging." Daddy Dewdrop - Nanu Nanu  (I Wanna Get Funky Wich You) (1978) His big hit was "Chick-a-Boom (Don't Ya Jes' Love It)". This is a mawkish attempt at a cash-in.  Deftly combining the Mork and Mindy zeitgeist with the Disco zeitgeist, he somehow creates something unlistenable and cheap. His website claims he wrote a song for Ringo Starr. Or that Ringo covered a song of his. That song, "I Wanna Be Santa Claus", was co-written by Mark Hudson, who was the lead singer of The Hudson Brothers, who POACA will remember as the bearded fellow on The Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Show, which aired on Saturday mornings, from September 7, 1974, to August 30, 1975. Chuckie Margolis!!! Ahahahah.....    The brothers released "serious" albums throughout the '70s.  Donny and Marie - I Want It Back (1978) From the movie Goin' Coconuts, which is a graphic retelling of the Dresden bombing. Graphic.  Franki Vallli - Save Me, Save Me (1978) From the album titled, "...Is The Word". Let there be no mistake. He had lots of momentum. Pretty good shelf-life for a '60s singer. His career was revitalized in 1975 with "December, 1963 (Oh, What A Night)" and "Who Loves You". I like Frankie Valli very much. You hear his voice and you know. I think of all the crooners from back then, he deserves his revivals. It didn't hurt to have Barry Gibb behind you in 1978. In a sense, they were contemporaries from different places.  And he was in "The Sopranos".   If after one listen you can't tell who wrote this, you are in the wrong place. Off with you!!!  Gnidrolog - Snails (1972) No one mentions Gnidrolog when they are listing good prog bands. Believe me. I was swimming in the prog for a good decade, and not one soul mentioned them. If I were to compare their two albums to any other artists, it would be Octopus-era Gentle Giant or Gong. I really like them. They didn't last long, but I think their productions were nice. Especially... Gnidrolog - Social Embarrassment (1972) Members Colin Goldring (vocals / guitar) and Stewart Goldring (guitar / vocals) went on to form Pork Dukes, and either ironically or to satisfy a hunger for, you know, the Zeitgeist, made the lyrics base and the music basic. One album and no one cared.  Jay Traynor - Love Is In The Air (1978) Jay Traynor of Jay and the Americans tries to jump onto the Disco train by covering the 1977 hit by John Paul Young. Look carefully at the composers.  Kitty and the Haywoods - Disco FairyLand (1978) Kitty had a long recording history as a background vocalist for such acts as Curtis Mayfield. She was also a member of The New Rotary Connection after Minnie Riperton departed Rotary Connection. Kristie and Jimmy McNichol - Hot Tunes (1978) It was "Little Darlings".  Little Nell - Fever (1978) Too much cocaine will make the dancers dance to everything.  Lenny McDowell - Locomotive Breath (1978) And what better way to bring another award-wanting episode to a close than to play a flute version of "Locomotive Breath". 

Nick Lowe And His Sound - [What's So Funny 'Bout] Peace Love and Understanding (1974) Nick Lowe And His Sound was Nick Lowe backed by Elvis Costello & The Attractions. Art Reynold Singers - Jesus Is Just Alright (1966) This is the first version of the song that went to #35 for The Doobie Brothers.  As the first gospel group to record for Capitol Records, they soon became pioneers in the development of “gospel rock”. Many considered their music too secular for the time. Their first album Tellin’ It Like It Is went on to become one of the biggest selling albums for a new gospel group. “Jesus Is Just Alright” was also covered by The Byrds. Arthur Prysock - Here's To Good Friends (1978) POACA will recall this as being the foundation for the Lowenbrau commercials. But Arthur Prysock's first single came out 20 years before this.  Burton Cummings - You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet (1976)  Buzz and Joey - The Willing Conscript (1965) Written by Gary Paxton. Joey Putzer changed his last name to Edmonds and formed a duo with comic Thom Curley. They appeared on Johnny Carson's "Tonight" show and many others. Edmonds later formed a talent agency in Chicago. Chicago Climax Blues Band - Seventh Son (1971)  Emmanuel Lewis - City Connection (Japanese Version ) (1981) Emmanuel Lewis was the little scamp that starred in Webster, opposite Alex Karras. Karras played for the Detroit Lions of the NFL. He (Karras, not Lewis) made four Pro Bowls and was a three-time first-team All-Pro player, but he also missed the 1963 season while serving a suspension for gambling. Many believe that suspension is what kept Karras (again, not the diminutive Lewis) from Canton while he was alive, though Green Bay Packers running back Paul Hornung, who also was suspended for gambling, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1986. Emmanuel Lewis was not.  After his playing career, Karras spent time as a professional wrestler and later became a popular actor. In his biggest role, he played Mongo in the 1974 film "Blazing Saddles". He played in the playoffs once, losing to Dallas 5-0. Emmanuel Lewis, as of this entry, has not been nominated for the NFL HOF. For more information on Alex Karras, also known in wrestling circles as "Dick The Bruiser", consult your local library. Or just click this.  Ella Fitzgerald - "Sanford and Son" Theme (Street Beater) (1972)  Vik Venus, Alias: Your Main Moon Man - Everybody's On Strike (1969) This was the B-side of "Moonlight", a space-based cut-in novelty record (ala Dickie Goodman). "Vic Venus" was a pseudonym for Jack Spector, a famous DJ known for his stint at WCMA, the New York City radio station that attached itself to the arrival of The Beatles in America. In fact, WCMA was the first station in the US to play "I Want To Hold Your Hand". Spector hosted the first American performance of the Beatles at Shea Stadium in 1964. "Moonlight" made it into the Billboard Top 40, barely. The record used cut-ins of Buddah Records songs exclusively.  James Brown ‎– Fight Against Drug Abuse (1971) Jeannie Piersol - Gladys (1968) Produced by Darby Slick. Watch this video!  Darby was Grace Slick's brother-in-law. His song "Somebody to Love" is still heard around the world.  Julie Ege -  Love (1971) Lou Christie - Love In A Limousine (1997) Pluto - Dat (1976) Went to #6 in the UK. Daughters of Eve - Social Tragedy (1968) This all-female band out of Chicago opened for groups such as The Buckinghams ("Kind of a Drag" ) and was featured as a backing band during local TV programming with Janis Ian to support the release of her song "Society's Child". They released 4 singles. This was their last, a more psychedelic affair than the others. Then they broke up because of...men.  Lou Christie - The One and Only Original Sunshine Kid (1975) Written by the same fellow that wrote: "I Think I Love You". On Elektra Records!? The music business was funny back then.  These next two tracks are from "The Spectrum of Music Level 6" released in 1974 to a world of restless children being forced to sing songs they did not like did not KNOW, and would forget as soon as class was over. BUT SOME OF US REMEMBERED. Here is a video of the unboxing.  Fender Bender (1974) The Cowboy (1974)  This collection (should you want me to make MP3s) contains "Sakura", "Johnny Has Gone For a Soldier", and a tight little medley from "The H.M.S. Pinafore".  Tartan Horde - Bay City Rollers We Love You (1975) More Contractual Obligation chicanery.  The Beach Boys - My Solution (1970) "My Solution" was written by Brian Wilson and recorded on October 31, 1970, shortly before the sessions for the group's album Surf's Up.  In a 1976 interview, Brian said: "We have a song called 'My Solution' which is a very odd song that has chromatic – strange chords, not regular triad chords. The notes are bunched up. It tells the story about how a guy found an old damsel outside his castle and decided to make her part of an experiment. ... It's about a guy who found his solution. It's a very odd, Boris Karloff eerie type of thing, so it's one of our more far-out, left-field things that we've done."  4 years before this, he composed "God Only Knows". I know I mentioned that a lot, but goddamn, drugs will wreck you. STAY AWAY FROM DRUGS! The Groop - A Famous Myth (1969) Midnight Cowboy is one of my favorite soundtracks. I really love this song, especially. The Groop was a harmony-based psychedelic pop and soul vocal quartet, active at the end of the 1960s and releasing one self-titled album. Not to be confused with the other Groop, based in Australia around that time. I know you were going to. Don't.  The Hello People - Jelly Jam (1969) Gotta collect all the records by The Hello People.  Vos Voisins- Ya just de t'ça (1971) Good Montreal prog.  Wallace Collection - My Way Of Loving You (1970) XTC - You're The Wish You Are I Had (Live) (1984) The best group of the '80s and '90s. Lyrics alone, they would be Top 3.  Gino Vannelli - People Gotta Move (1974) Sometimes I sneak in top 40 songs because I love them. 

What would The Beatles' 1 album sound like if The Beatles never existed? What? That makes no sense. I did this show as a tribute to how every song they wrote (almost) was enduring and solid enough to be covered by their contemporaries as well as artists of the future.    The Kids From The Brady Bunch - Love Me Do (1972) This was the album on which "It's A Sunshine Day", "Keep On", and "Drummer Man" appeared. I guess you could call this album their Rubber Soul.  The Crickets - From Me To You (1964) At this point, The Crickets consisted of Sonny Curtis, Jerry Allison, Glen Hardin, and Jerry Naylor. Arranged by Leon Russell. Curtis would later write and sing the theme song for The Mary Tyler Moore Show, "Love Is All Around". He wrote two other songs POACA know. "I Fought The Law", originally recorded by Bobby Vee (who replaced The Crickets on the bill the night Buddy Holly died), and "More Than I Can Say" which was a huge hit years later for Leo Sayer.  Brenda Lee - She Loves You (1965) The Beatles had acted as a support act for Brenda Lee when she headlined a gig at the Star Club in Hamburg, West Germany, in 1962. For any other artist of the time, that must have seemed like the toppermost of the poppermost. The year before this, she recorded "Is It True" featuring Jimmy Page on guitar.  Sparks - I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1975) Produced by Tony Visconti, who also produced Bowie's Berlin trilogy. I cannot listen to Sparks for very long. I think the people who love them have some sort of soul deficiency. But for completion's sake, here.  David Clayton-Thomas - Can't Buy Me Love (1975) I think this was his last solo album before rejoining Blood, Sweat and Tears. Whew. Hard to believe this was never issued on CD.  After he rejoined, or maybe BECAUSE he rejoined, but more likely due to those old contractual obligations, their next two albums with him would be credited to Blood Sweat and Tears - Featuring David Clayton-Thomas. Did it make one damned bit of difference? It did not.  John Mayall - A Hard Day's Night (1976) The Beatles were deceptively excellent singers. This comes into evidence when others try to ape their recordings. Produced by Allen Toussaint, who wrote the entire record except for this one track. This album charted nowhere.  The Runaways - Eight Days a Week (1978) The Runaways were pretty limited instrumentalists. This is another deceptively difficult song to carry off. I don't think it's very good.  Alma Cogen - I Feel Fine (1967) "I'm so glad...he's got me in a whirl..." This recording was released posthumously a year after her death from leukemia. It is speculated that she had an affair with John Lennon, who shagged everything not tied down or named Cynthia at that point. Because he could.  Bee Gees - Ticket To Ride (1965) Released in 1970 without the consent of the group... but only in Germany, France, and Japan. The brothers didn't even know about it until they found it in a Swiss record store after the fact. They should have waited 7 more years. They would have made a mint.  Dolly Parton - Help! (1979) The bassist, Abe Laboriel, saw his son become Paul McCartney's drummer.  Marvin Gaye - Yesterday (1969) His next album was What's Going On.  Yellow Magic Orchestra - Day Tripper (1979)  Progress Organization - We Can Work It Out (1971) A Czech rock group. A little like Vanilla Fudge. They released exactly one album. This was on it. Aren't you happy I am here to do this stuff?  Kenny Rogers & The First Edition - Paperback Writer (1973) "If you really like it, you can help me write..." I imagine after this Kenny Rogers asked for his deposit on the practice room returned. This album was a soundtrack of their TV show of the time. I cannot tell if Thelma Camacho is on this record. I played a set of her solo stuff on one of my shows. It's awful.  Revelation - Yellow Submarine (1980) Sounds like Chic. Almost a carbon copy.  The Singers Unlimited - Eleanor Rigby (1977) A pretty cool reinvention of this excellent song. From Wikipedia: Gene Puerling took advantage of cutting-edge, multi-tracking techniques of German studio engineer Hans Georg Brunner-Schwer to create his harmonic concepts and the group's signature sound. In the overdubbing process, baritone Puerling and tenor Shelton would often add two additional middle parts, after which all parts were "doubled" and "tripled." Creating these extra tracks created the fuller, richer sound of the group's recordings. The group would record their songs by having Bonnie Herman record a simplified version of the melody, after which, Len, Gene, and Don would fill in the remaining parts. Once this process had been completed, Bonnie Herman's original melodic line would be replaced with a new one, in which she could add melodic embellishments and add "color" to the group's sound. Bass singer Len Dresslar was known as the voice of the Jolly Green Giant ("Ho, Ho, Ho!") for over 40 years, as well as the voice behind other jingles.  Bonnie Herman was the singer of the original "Like a Good Neighbor, State Farm Is There" commercial jingle, which ran for several years. She is the daughter of Lawrence Welk's original Champagne Lady Lois Best and Jules Herman, who was a trumpeter in the Welk orchestra. She is the niece of big band leader Woody Herman. Amen Corner - Penny Lane (1969) Amen Corner was a Welsh R&B-tinged pop band of the late '60s featuring singer Andy Fairweather-Low, organist Blue Weaver, guitarist Neil Jones, bassist Clive Taylor, saxophonists Allen Jones and Mike Smith, and drummer Dennis Bryon. You remember Dennis and Blue as two rock-steady members of that wonderful Bee Gees incarnation of the mid-to-late '70s.  The Anita Kerr Singers - All You Need is Love (1967) Another song that seems very simple, but without the dotted eight notes, it sounds like your rich Aunt is reading you a book. I like the touches of electric guitar.  François Glorieux - Hello, Goodbye (1977) This song translates unexpectedly well to slow classical piano...That caveman in the lower-left corner was a hidden member of The Beatles named Oook.  v Buck Owens - Lady Madonna (1976)  Brothers Johnson - Hey Jude (1976) You should know, if you do not, about an album released in 1976 called "All This and World War II". The soundtrack made money but the movie tanked.  Get Back - Clarence Reid (1969) Reid had the talent and chops to be as big as Otis Redding or Wilson Pickett, but he became more popular doing dirty parodies of soul hits (“S–ting off the Dock of the Bay,” “What a Difference a Lay Makes?”) with his XXX-rated alter-ego Blowfly.  The Percy Faith Strings - The Ballad of John and Yoko (1970) Squaresville! Isaac Hayes - Something (1970) All 11 minutes of it.  Willie Bobo and The Bo Gents - Come Together (1971) Aretha Franklin - Let It Be (1970) Maybe the best of all of these. Aretha made some shitty choices, but she was an angel in front of a mic.  Peter Frampton - The Long and Winding Road (1978) This happened. We all traipsed down to the theater in anticipation of some connection, some meaningful validation of what looked like a miracle about to happen. I cannot lie. When Billy Preston popped out of that statue or whatever, I felt pretty let down.  The Hollies - Draggin' My Heels (1977)

Discogs: Band formed by three members of the Alice Cooper Group after the group split in 1974. As the name Alice Cooper had been taken by the group's lead singer, they took their name from the group's Billboard #1 hit album. However, their 1977 album, Battle Axe was not a critical success and the band disintegrated. Billion Dollar Babies - Too Young (1977) Quoting (frankly, ripping off) the "I'm 18" idea, clumsily. Even the riff.  Billion Dollar Babies - Shine Your Love (1977) Billion Dollar Babies - Wasn’t The One (1977) Discogs: When recording with David Bowie the band was alternatively known as the Spiders or the Spiders from Mars. The members during this period were Mick Ronson, Mick ('Woody') Woodmansey, and Trevor Bolder. I was a fan of the German Trilogy, not so much the Spiders-era stuff.  I never knew these albums existed, frankly. I wonder if Bowie ever heard it.  The Spiders From Mars - Red Eyes (1976) The Spiders From Mars - White Man Black Man (1976) The Spiders From Mars - Shine a Light (1976) The Lovin' Spoonful had a string of inoffensive, catchy, and enduring hits. John Sebastian had only one hit after the sixties ended, "Welcome Back", yet so effortlessly merged jug band folk with Beatle-esque pop while he was with this band. This album was made after he and everyone else left except latecomer Jerry Yester* and...the drummer, Joe Butler (pictured...on the right).  *In 2017, Jerry Yester was arrested for 30 counts of possession of child pornography in Arkansas and was released on a $35,000 bond. As a result of his arrest, he was dismissed from The Lovin' Spoonful. He pleaded guilty to eight counts of distributing, possessing or viewing matter depicting sexually explicit conduct involving a child on October 9, 2018.  In July 2019, he was handed a two-year prison sentence after his conviction for child pornography possession. The Lovin’ Spoonful Featuring Joe Butler - Amazing Air (1969) The Lovin’ Spoonful Featuring Joe Butler - Words (1969) The Lovin’ Spoonful Featuring Joe Butler - Revelation: Revolution ’69 (1969) I don't like The Doors. Never did, never will. So the fact that they released nothing but excrement after Jim Morrison died surprised me not. People just don't realize that they were a singles band above all, and everything else was just as shitty as it was after JM died.  The Doors - Treetrunk (1972) The Doors - Ships With Sails (1971) The Red Shadow - Anything Good (1977) Here's a Dangerous Minds essay about a band I've played a few times on my show. But what you might NOT know is that their underground 'hit' "Understanding Marx" was based on a Ray Charles song called "Understanding", which was more offensive in its own way, advocating violence against the women-folk in the enlightened love-fest of 1968, when everyone loved each other. Love.  Bo Diddley - Bo Diddley 1969 (1969) Executive producers (the men with the money) were Kasenetz/Katz. "Sure, we'll finance your album. But we need a sure thing..." Cary Simon - Long Term Physical Effects (1971) Chubby Checker - Karate Monkey (1966) Cook County - Pinball Playboy (1979) David Bowie - What in the World (1976) Dennis Linde - Burnin’ Love (1972) Eddie Simpson - Big Black Funky Slave (1972) Eric Burdon and War - A Day in The Life (1968) "Just keep Eric in coke...we'll pay for it later..."  Recorded at various times between 1969 and 1971, released in 1976, forgotten by 1977.  Sdtk. to Russ Meyer's "Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!" - The Smell of Female (1966) Ladies and gentlemen welcome to violence, the word and the act. While violence cloaks itself in a plethora of disguises, its favorite mantle still remains ... sex. Violence devours all it touches, its voracious appetite rarely fulfilled. Yet violence doesn't only destroy, it creates and molds as well. Let's examine closely then this dangerously evil creation, this new breed encased and contained within the supple skin of woman. The softness is there, the unmistakable smell of female, the surface shiny and silken, the body yielding yet wanton. But a word of caution: handle with care and don't drop your guard. This rapacious new breed prowls both alone and in packs, operating at any level, any time, anywhere, and with anybody. Who are they? One might be your secretary, your doctor's receptionist ... or a dancer in a go-go club! Freddie Cannon - Sock it to the Judge (1968) I am working on my Lou Christie post-1971 discography. I should do the same with Freddie Cannon and 1966. This is another in a line of attempted get-rich-quick gambits by the record industry attendant to the hottest show on TV at the time, Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, which POACA will recall as being touted as hip, subversive counter-culture. In reality, it was just the first of many attempts (this one a successful attempt) to take all the hippies, Yippees (short for Youth International Party), tie-dye, headbands, beads, buttons, face painting, etc., put it in a big blender of old show business bewilderment and fear, and end up with Jefferson Starship, Sammy Davis Jr. in Nehru, and ultimately, Ronald Reagan. This record went nowhere, of course, but I love mawkish trend-following by desperate people. Love. It.  Giles, Giles, and Fripp - One in a Million (1968) In 5 years, Robert Fripp and King Crimson would go from this to "The Talking Drum".  Herman’s Hermits - It’s Alright Now (1967) Howling’ Wolf - Pop It To Me (1969) Bo Diddley - I Don’t Like You (1969) Jack Palance - Hannah (1970)

Dee Dee Warwick - You’re No Good (1963)  The original version that, to my ears, cuts the Ronstadt version in half.  Clint Ballard also wrote "The Game of Love" for Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders. Look at that slugabed 2nd to the right. That's Eric Stewart of 10cc. Comb your hair, hippie.  Doc Severinsen - Barbarella (1968) The theme to the soft-core romp featuring Jane Fonda. Check out the party scene for a frugging Spiro Agnew. Doc Severinsen was the comic foil and bandleader for Johnny Carson. With the funny suit jackets, etc.  Doris (with Plums) - You Made a Fool of Me (1968) While this single is not from this album, it IS a bonus track if you can find this. I love her stuff. In fact, I confess to you right now that my song, "Epiphany", steals the first three chords of the verse. Those nutty Swedes. First, we steal ABBA. Then we steal this.  Gary Crosby - I'm Gonna Call My Baby (1967) Son of the guy that sang "Hey Jude". James Iron Head Baker & Group - Black Betty (1933) A rendition of the slave song. Later, a hit for Ram Jam, who's singer was previously in The Lemon Pipers, who had a hit with "Green Tambourine."  Johnny Buckett and his Cumberland River Boys - Hippie in a Blunder (1967-8) The anti-hippie sentiment of the late '60s was silly, tone-deaf (Bob Seger and Jan and Dean recorded anti-peacenik songs), and ultimately unnecessary since the peace movement itself would be bought, sold, repackaged, and neutered entirely just a couple of years later.  Roxy Music - Manifesto (1979) I can't listen to Brian Ferry's vibrato for a very long time, but this song seems to be a good fit. Like a salesman.  Redbone - Fais Do (1972) My confession. She will never see this post, but I used to dream about singing "Julie, Do Ya Love Me" to Julie Pawlowski (of Emporium Avenue) all the time. I still would. My god, I owned this on 8-track, a 2 tape set. I don't remember the TV commercial but there had to be one. "Magic Carpet Ride", "Fais Do", "Family Affair", so many songs. One after the other. Do you ever hear a song and snap into a place and time that hasn't entered your mind in decades? I got on the bus a few stops before her and would always sit in the middle of the two-space seat so that no one would take her spot. I think it worked once.  Gladys Knight and the Pips - Come Together (1975) The Harvey Averne Dozen - The Word (1967) This is one of my favorite Beatle covers. Simple and funky.  Sonny and Cher - It’s Gonna Rain (1965) No one talks about this b-side, the best thing I think Sonny or Cher ever did. His voice actually compliments the lyrics. There's a version where two different (and I mean different) lead vocal takes are played simultaneously. I don't think Sonny was that subversive, to be honest. Intentionally.  Steve Clayton - (Girls Are Imitating) Twiggy (1967) Discogs: Vocalist and songwriter with a long and varied career. Released numerous singles in the late 1950s and early 1960s in various musical styles but never achieved a hit. I like Steve Clayton a real lot. This is very similar music to "Music To Watch Girls By" which was a hit at the time. He is like Mel Tormé true, but I can hear another music industry schlepper, Tony Bruno.  If you are a vinyl junkie-type person and you marinate in the smoky studios of the '70s in your mind occasionally, do me a favor: Find a copy of his 1978 album Steve Not David. Does he mean David Clayton Thomas? I mean, by that time, no one cared about either one.  The Beach Boys - Belles of Paris (1978) Horribly uncomfortable Mike Love emoting of some pretty awful lyrics, even by his standards.   Bobby Byrd - I Know You Got Soul (1971) Bobby Lee Trammell - New Dance in France (1964) ANOTHER music orphan. He tried to be Jerry Lee Lewis, and he came THAT close, but the fates dictated otherwise. God, this episode of my show is sadder than usual. Listen for the fake audience and the attempt to glom onto Beatlemania. Unlike Tony Bruno and Steve Clayton, Trammell DOES have a Wikipedia page.  Boffalongo - Dancing In The Moonlight (1970) The original version. The version that hit big was actually the third version.  Adam West - Miranda (1966)  The Free Design - Friends (Thank You All) (1971) Alex Harvey was the original punk. His singing career began in fucking 1958. It would be 17 YEARS before he sniffed the Top 40 in the UK, and people in the USA have never heard of him mostly. But those of us who have heard of SAHB are a universally smitten lot. This was a fantastic group that never took itself too seriously. This is a common thread in great bands. They recorded until 1978, but unlike other groups of the time, their last album, Rock Drill, was just as good as the ones they recorded at their peak of popularity. I present my favorite SAHB tracks. But I like many more.  Sensational Alex Harvey Band - Hot City Symphony (1974)  Sensational Alex Harvey Band - Give My Compliments To The Chef (1975) Sensational Alex Harvey Band - Shake That Thing (1975) Sensational Alex Harvey Band - The Dolphins (1979) Johnny Mathis - Love Is All (Theme from “Midnight Cowboy”) (1970) Lorne Greene - Bonanza! (1964) Andy Williams - Music To Watch Girls By (1967) ??? - ??? Rodd Keith - Let's Go Savage You And I (?) A song-poem.  Leonard Nimoy - I Walk The Line (1970) Starland Vocal Band - Liberated Woman (1977) I mentioned this song on the Setlusting Bruce podcast. I called this my favorite (or was it least favorite) SVB song, because of my love for the chauvinistic sentiment masked as chivalry.  Nino Tempo and April Stevens - Love Story (1972) #5 in the Netherlands! From Buffalo, NY!!! Eric Burdon & The Animals - Mama Told Me Not To Come (1967) Neil Sedaka - Dimbo Man (1972)

The Collage - She’s Just Laughing At Me (1967) The same guys that wrote this wrote "Never My Love" for The Association. Produced by Steven Douglas. I love this song, but they were no Free Design.  Fox - S-S-S-Single Bed (1976) Reached #4 in the UK, did not reach anything in the US. Written by Kenny Young, who co-wrote "Under The Boardwalk" and "Arizona".  Steve Wonder - Evil (1972) Doris - Did You Give The World Some Love Today, Baby? (1970) This whole album kicks ass.  Bee Gees - Lovers (1976)  Waylon Jennings - MacArthur Park (1969) Part of the dramatic churn of the original was contained in Jimmy Webb's orchestral arrangements, as well as the interval-rich chords. Everyone loves Waylon, but this is disappointingly flat.  Tony Bruno - I’m Feeling It Now (1969) God, I love this guy. As you know, Tony found his way into the world of pornography soundtracks. This was before that. Produced by Artie Ripp, who also produced:  "Come A Little Bit Closer" by Jay and the Americans (1964) "Remember (Walkin' in the Sand)" by the Shangri-La's (1964) "Just One Look" by Doris Troy (1963) Annette - When You Get What You Want (1967) Strontium 90 - Every Little Thing She Does is Magic (1976)  Gene Marshall - Smoke It - The Pot (?) This song-poem was probably from the 70's.  Kate Smith - Daydream (1966) POACA will recall that Kate Smith's recording of "God Bless America" was the NHL's Philadelphia Flyers' pre-game theme. They won two Stanley Cups in the mid-'70s, one against my Buffalo Sabres. She occasionally sang this in person, even! She had a radio, television, and recording career spanning five decades, which reached its pinnacle in the 1940s. She became known as The Songbird of the South after her enduring popularity during World War II. The Flyers' record when "God Bless America" was played or sung in person stood at a remarkable 100 wins, 29 losses, and five ties as of April 20, 2016. In 1969, in light of Jim Morrison's arrest in Miami for indecent exposure, Smith had performed with The Lettermen, Anita Bryant, and Jackie Gleason in a concert demonstration against indecency, for which President Richard Nixon commended the stars' performances. But as we all know, Father Time has a way of turning even Kate Smith into a tone-deaf whitey pariah.  From Wikipedia: Smith's rendition of "God Bless America" was played during the seventh-inning stretch of New York Yankees home games from 2009 until April 2019, when the practice was discontinued amid controversy surrounding her 1931 recordings of "That's Why Darkies Were Born" and "Pickaninny Heaven." The following day, the Philadelphia Flyers followed suit. Her statue at The Spectrum (where the Flyers played) was removed on April 21, 2019. Her family responded by denying the racism allegations.  Mel Torme - Molly Marlene (1967) Neil MacArthur - She’s Not There (1969) A re-imagining of the Zombies hit by Colin Blunstone who also sang the original. For The Zombies.  Nora Guthrie - Emily’s Illness (1967) More info. Nora was Woody's daughter. Arlo's sister.  Paul Jones - Sheena Is a Punk Rocker (1978) I was never a big fan of The Ramones OR Manfred Mann, so this doesn't bother me much. A strange attempt at irony.  Roger Nichols and the Small Circle of Friends - Don’t Go Breaking My Heart (1968)  Alan Price - House of the Rising Sun (1980) I was never a big fan of The Animals either, but I don't understand the keyboard player's upending of their big first hit.  Bill Haley - Travelin’ Band (1972)  Bobby Darin - Melodie (1970) On the Motown label.  Clarence Carter - Backdoor Santa (1968) Klaatu - Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft (1976) You have to know this story. If you're here, you know this story. Radio station WAMS out of Wilmington, Deleware included an insert known as "Klaatu Clues" that promoted the conspiracy that Klaatu were actually the reunited Beatles. No songwriting credits, no musician names, and a hungry populace eager for any signs of a reunion pushed this pretty silly record to #32 in the US. Capitol Records (who controlled the Beatles' music in the U.S.) tried to make as much of the rumors as possible, by issuing ambiguously-worded statements that failed to make the band's identity entirely clear. The rumor was disproved when Dwight Douglas, program director at WWDC in Washington, D.C., checked the records at the U.S. Copyright Office and uncovered the band members' real names. One of which was John Woloschuk. Richard Carpenter was a fan, and The Carpenters covered this. OR he was high on Quaaludes and hallucinated Klaatu while he was lying at the bottom of the stairs, and Karen promised him that they would do this song if he got better.  Davey Johnstone - Keep Right On (1973) A very good song by the Elton John guitarist. He should have done more.  Dennis Wilson - Constant Companion (1977) From the unreleased "Bamboo" album. It's a pity. Better than anything his band (The Beach Boys) was doing at that time or since. Cocaine is a hell of a drug.  Diana Ross, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder - Pops, We Love You (A Tribute to Father) (1978) Very strange. "Pops" in this case is Berry "Pops" Gordy, Sr., father of Motown founder Berry Gordy. He had died that year from cancer. Gordy Jr. commissioned this to be made in his memory. All that star power couldn't push the single past #59. When I die, get all my superstar friends together and make them release a song about me. Call it something like "Functional is the Opposite of What I Was." Sha Na Na - Drug PSA (1973?) The Walker Brothers - The Electrician (1978) Listen to this. The previous Walker Brothers single was a cover of Boz Scaggs' "We're All Alone" which is great, but if you were a Walker Brothers fan in 1978, and there were a waning number of them if any, you just weren't prepared for this. This was a kind of blueprint for Scott Walker's solo career moving forward. Disturbing and wonderful.  Shawn Cassidy - Wasp (1980) A last try to salvage a teeny-bopper career by hiring Todd Rundgren to produce, and members of Utopia to play.  Billy Preston - Slaughter (1972) From the film Slaughter, which starred Jim Brown.   Link Wray and his Wraymen- The Batman Theme (1966) Marcia Strassman - The Flower Children (1967) The "Welcome Back Kotter" star got her start singing these little odes to flower power. This is one of the most desperately 1967 things I've ever heard, and the shelf life was very brief.  Osmonds - Utah (1972) The Swingers - Bay-Hay Bee Doll JC Penney Giveaway Premium (1966) Wolfman Jack - Sunny (?) AGC was a label out of Italy. Maybe 1970? 

4,000 Downloads! Thank you! So in return for this gift, I give you...   Lou Christie - Guardian Angels 12" Dance Mix (1981) Producer Ed O'Laughlin co-founded Next Plateau Records, which featured (and was kept afloat with sales by) early Salt 'N' Pepa. On the left is Curtis Sliwa. The 1981 CBS made-for-TV movie We're Fighting Back, featuring Bronx-born Ellen Barkin, was based on the Guardian Angels. Al Martino - Volare (Disco version) (1976) POACA know this song from multiple recordings and performances by Dean Martin, Conny Francis, Bobby Rydell, The Ames Brothers, Wayne Newton, Barry White, even David Bowie. And here it is in Disco form.  From Wikipedia: Franco Migliacci (the composer) began working on the lyrics of the song in June 1957, inspired by two paintings by Marc Chagall. He had planned to go to the sea with Domenico Modugno, but while waiting for Modugno to show up, Migliacci started drinking wine and eventually fell asleep. He had vivid dreams, and when he woke up, he looked at the Chagall paintings (reproductions) on the wall. In "Le coq rouge" was a yellow man suspended in midair, while in "Le peintre et la modelle", half the painter's face was coloured blue. So he began penning a song about a man who dreams of painting himself blue, and being able to fly. Later that same night, Migliacci discussed his lyrics with Modugno, and for several days they worked on the song, tentatively entitled "Sogno in blu" ('Dream in blue').  In 2008, Modugno's widow, Franca Gandolfi, recalled that her husband, after a storm forced open his window, had the idea of modifying the chorus of the song, introducing the word "Volare," which is now the popular title of the song. Blondie - Once I Had A Love (Heart Of Glass) (1978)  The Lettermen - The Way You Look Tonight (Disco version) (1976) D. C. (David) LaRue - Do You Want The Real Thing (1978) Read about D. C. LaRue here. He was a dance artist through and through, but that could only take him so far. But I like his voice, the fact that he didn't (or couldn't) fill the songs with grace notes. Pet peeve, that.  D. C. LaRue - Don't Keep It in the Shadows (feat. Lou Christie) (1977) This is basically a "You Should Be Dancin’" clone. I love the grunts at the end. Only some are mine.  D. C. LaRue - Have A Good Time (feat. Rita Moreno) (1979) Like Michael Franks. A little.  Bill Saluga  - Dancin’ Johnson (1978)  Exile – Heart and Soul (1981) Huge hit for Huey Lewis and the News. Didn't know it was a cover, did ya? Mike Chapman produced "Heart Of Glass" (the hit version you don't hear on this show) "The Tide Is High", "Sunday Girl", "Atomic" and "Rapture" for Blondie, the band of the early '80s. Chinn/Chapman wrote "Kiss You All Over" for this very same Exile, and too many credits to type out here.  Free Design - Hurry Sundown (1968) Lou Christie - People (1978) This is a pretty good production for a song that isn't listed in Discogs, Wikipedia, etc. Lou says this was released as a single in 1978, attendant to the short-lived People TV show of the same year. if either of you can find a reference to it, let me know. There's a fin in it for ya. And if you can find the RECORD, so I can buy it, I'll do a "Rasputin" dance on Reels for you.  Rufus Featuring Chaka Khan - Street Player (1978) Lou Christie and Pia Zadora - Don't Knock My Love (1980) Cover of Wilson Pickett's last Top 20 song, from 1971. What an odd choice of cover. I love Lou, but between him and Pia, they didn't possess any soul or chemistry whatsoever.  Lou Christie - Clouds of Rock Roll On (?) I just know it was before his 2nd (and pretty needless) Greatest Hits album in 1994. Ah, record companies. Is there anything they can't make artists do? Ivan Dixon - Shoo Shoo Baby (1966) POACA recall a top-rated TV show from the '60s called Hogan's Heroes. It was a heart-warming (if somewhat flat) arc about a bunch of American POWs in Germany during WW2, constantly befuddling, bedeviling, and flummoxing the oblivious Colonel Klink and the lovable Sgt. Schultz, while American and Russian soldiers scythed their way through Europe, trying to close the circle in the city of Berlin in a seemingly endless Bacchanalian traveling parade of rape, destruction, desecration, and madness. And don't get me started on the Germans. Aaaaannnnnnyhow, this was from the album made by the cast, which included Richard Dawson (high on goofballs in this picture), who parlayed his place in that ensemble to star in Match Game '74 and Family Feud, but began his recording career in earnest by recording "Apples and Oranges." Ivan Dixon had an even smaller role, but his performance shines. By comparison. I...guess? Suggested by Dan Lewis. He LOVES Nazi silverware. And dolls.  Lou Christie - Spanish Wine (1977) Stephen Tom Electronic Tape Experiment (1978)  Stephen Tom produced groundbreaking electronic music during the post-war years until the late 1970s. He passed away practically ignored by his peers in 1984. Very little is known about him other than that he was a radio engineer during the blitz of London and that he freelanced for Benson Fairlight at his Little Venice studios producing jingles for radio + TV advertisements. A single reel of Tom's electronic experiments was found in a box of personal tapes belonging to the composer Cissy Wakefield. The Velvet Underground - Friends (1973) Blondie - Once I Had A Love (aka "The Disco Song") (1975) D. C. LaRue (with Lou Christie) - Into The Ozone (1980)  

Abigail - Biting My Nails (1976) Co-written by John Phillips and his wife at the time, Genevieve Waite. Abigail was a sex symbol in Australia, and she appeared in Mel Gibson's first film, "Summer City" in 1977. She played the part of "woman in pub".    Barclay James Harvest - Child Of The Universe (1974) Barclay James Harvest - Loving is Easy (1978) Barclay James Harvest - Mocking Bird (1971) I don't get how a band like this got to record for such a long time. They really do rely on cliché after cliché. The Moodies are very similar, but there was a kind of charm in their records that just doesn't exist here. It's like a cross between Trans-Siberia Orchestra and America.  Devo - Mongoloid (1977) Band name subtitled "The D-Evolution Band" on labels. "Jocko-Homo" - from the soundtrack of "In the Beginning Was the End.. (the truth about DE-EVOLUTION)" a film by Chuck Statler. Chuck Statler, arguably the godfather of the music video, is a pioneer who directed music films for upstart record labels and emerging superstars like Elvis Costello, Madness, and DEVO before MTV’s existence.  Electric Light Orchestra - Beatles Forever (1982) Jeff Lynne: "It's 'cause it's so fawning, y'know. It's so over the top, y'know. Um... maybe one day it'll come out. I'd like to sort of redo it or something." Recorded for their Secret Messages album, which was originally intended to be a double album. This track didn't make it onto what turned out to be another 4/4 sunny dirgefest. I didn't even buy their last record.  In Buffalo, there used to be a TV station (1977-78) called MICR, on which you could see local announcements being posted bulletin-board style, in rolling text on a screen. While that was happening, a guy would spin tunes. So...a guy was playing a song that seemed to reach into my primordial soul. It was like a dream that came true. It was "One Summer Dream" by Electric Light Orchestra. I called the DJ and he (Bill Elliot maybe?) obliged me, live on TV, with 3 or 4 more songs by this band. I remember he played "Fire On High" which I immediately recognized as the intro music to CBS Sports Spectacular (a competitor to Wide World of Sports on ABC). Thus began my 4-year allegiance to all things ELO. I scarfed down their entire discography. Learned much. I know the year because he told me that their new album was coming out soon. A double album! I just liked the sound. Those doubled Ovation guitars, the safe arrangements, the real orchestra. It really inspired me/us the same way Rush, King Crimson, The Beatles had.  Ella Fitzgerald - It's Up To Me and You (1968) She didn't write too many songs herself, but she DID write this one, a paean to MLK, in the wake of his murder.  Barclay James Harvest - Beyond The Grave (1975) Genevieve Waite - Biting My Nails (1974) Geneviève Waite, a South African actress, singer and former model, married John Phillips on 31 January 1972, and they had two children, Tamerlane Phillips and Bijou Phillips. They divorced in 1985. She died in 2019. Listening to this album reminds me of listening to the Gayle Moran album I Loved You Then...I Love You Now. The feeling that I am the only person in the world listening to this at this particular moment. But no more! Now YOU are listening as well.  Devo - Mongoloid (1978) Album version  Genevieve Waite - Love is coming back (1974) Genevieve Waite - Times of Love (1974) Gunhill Road - 42nd Street (1971) Gunhill Road or Gun Hill Road. Gunhill Road issued one album on Kama Sutra Records, which was produced by Kenny Rogers. The album was issued twice because at the time, the drug references made in the song 'Back When My Hair Was Short' were frowned upon. So a new version was recorded, and the album was reissued with different sequencing. To no effect. Except for the Top 40 hit. Which is to say, it reached #40.  Gunhill Road - Back When My Hair Was Short (1972) Original nasty version.  Gunhill Road - Baked Bean Band (1971) Genevieve Waite - Mr. Blue (1974) Paul McCartney - I'll Give You a Ring (1982) Renegade Soundwave - Biting My Nails (1989) The Primitives - The Ostrich (1964) Lou Reed's first group with John Cale was the Primitives, a short-lived group assembled to support an anti-dance single penned by Reed, "The Ostrich". I never liked Lou Reed, Nico, The Velvet Underground, or anything related. I think that "Walk On The Wild Side" would have been another joyless dirge if it were not for my man Bowie. On Pickwick Records whaaaaa? John Phillips - Let It Bleed, Genevieve (1970) From the only record he released in his lifetime, The Wolf King of LA.   John Phillips - Mr. Blue (1975?) Recorded with members of the Stones.  The "bands" Tribe and King's Road made soundalikes for the Pickwick label, and they are notable for their ham-handed attempts to capture the energy of the original "happenings" with fake crowd noise and announcements. I love them.  Tribes - I Think I Love You (1970) Tribes - Mama Told Me Not To Come (1970) Tribes - Mississippi (1970) Tribes - Question (1970) In the tradition of... Barclay James Harvest - Taking Some Time On (1970) These two record covers.  So THIS was the record we had when we were kids. What a scam!! The Tribes became Tribes became Tribe.  Naughty Pickwick Records.