August 30th, 2011
Listen: Ooh Poo Pah Doo (Part 1) / Jessie Hill
Ooh
As legend has it, by his teens, drummer Jesse Hill formed his first group, The House Rockers in ’51′ followed by periods drumming with both Professor Longhair and Huey Piano Smith. Well oiled, he formed a new version of The House Rockers in ’58, this time with a focus on singing.
The origins of ‘Ooh Poo Pah Doo’ reportedly lie with local pianist known only as Big Four from who Jesse Hill reportedly modeled his lyrics and melody, later fleshing the song out with an intro from Dave Bartholomew. Honed to a sharp edge on stage, he demo’d then shopped it to some local record labels. Ultimately recording the song at Cosimo Matassa’s studio with Allen Toussaint producing. Released by Minit in early ’60, the single became an instant favourite at Mardi Gras, eventually going on to sell 800,000 copies and cracking both the BILLBOARD R&B Top 5 and the pop Hot 100 (#28).
Eventually moving to Los Angeles, Jesse Hill found plenty of work both writing for and playing with fellow New Orleans musicians including Harold Battiste and Mac Rebennack as they passed through town to record. During the period, he placed songs with loads of local RnB labels, even Sonny & Cher, and as well, Ike & Tina Turner, who took ‘Ooh Poo Pah Doo’ to #60 in ’71.
Posted in Allen Toussaint, Big Four, Billboard, Cosimo Matassa, Dave Bartholomew, Dr. John, Harold Battiste, Huey Piano Smith, Ike & Tina Turner, Jessie Hill, Minit, Sonny & Cher, The House Rockers |
August 29th, 2011
Listen: Love You Baby – Bobby Blue Bland / Ike Turner & His Orchestra
Love
It might be a bit of a generic juke joint rumble, but this particular rumble was done with Bobby Blue Bland, Ike Turner and God only knows who else in one room.
Let’s envision it for a moment. No multi-day, starting at noon, air conditioned, catered, I’ve had a blog hit so I know what I’m doing recording session here. These were guys who slaved the chitlin circuit, with it’s separate drinking fountains, cordoned off restaurant seating, trudging from small town to small town, grinding out a paycheck. Just imagine the rock gut liquor hangover that morning after. Enduring long rides in crowded smoke filled cars, getting to that next engagement. And this was every day. Back when you truly had to master your craft, in fact, rouse crowds into frenzies nightly, simply to earn a working musician’s living. And if you were black, second class everything was a way of life.
Although credited on the label, Ike Turner is seldom name checked when ‘Love You Baby’ gets mentioned, if ever it does.
For me, the 2:25 playing length is a welcome daydream to another time, not unlike my fantasy with DRIVING MISS DAISY and her son’s aqua kitchen, but obviously on the other side of the tracks. I even let the phone ring off the hook last night while listening to ‘Love You Baby’ on repeat, despite it being my sister, worried about the hurricane.
Bobby Blue Bland and Ike Turner in the same room. God I wish I could have been there.
Posted in Bobby Blue Bland, Bobby Blue Bland / Ike Turner & His Orchestra, Ike Turner, Kent |
August 28th, 2011
Listen: Blues, Early Early (Part 1) /Big Maybelle Smith
Blues,
Okay, so Big Maybelle deservedly received a Grammy Hall Of Fame Award in 1999. Commendable gesture, generous even, given the deciding NARAS members in no way were to blame for the obscurity she endured during her lifetime. And to be fair, they clearly knew she earned such a recognition.
But Big Maybelle really did get shafted in her day. For instance, in ’55 she recorded ‘Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin On’, produced by Quincy Jones, a solid two years before Jerry Lee Lewis’ version. Both were full throttle rockin’, but being black of course meant the white guy got the airplay.
Her run with Savoy Records lasted between ’57 – ’61, and even in her professional lifetime, only ever released one single, ‘Blues, Early Early (Part 1)’, oddly in the middle of her string with Savoy, as Big Maybelle Smith.
Laying my eyes on ‘Blues, Early Early (Part 1)’ gave me a tingly jolt I will take to my deathbed. Was I frozen in that spot the moment I stumbled on it? Take a guess.
Mike Goldsmith rang me late one Friday night. He was jonsing to do some record digging, suggesting we hit random spots on Long Island that next day. I agreed. Somehow he’d sussed a comic book store that stocked records and so we leisurely dropped by. Holy whatever. The owner had stumbled on a radio station find. His store, including the backroom, was brimming, more liken heaving, with the most obscure promos I have truly ever seen in one place. Clearly a mainstream dealer had combed them first, leaving behind what was unfamiliar. Fine. Thank you God.
I picked up easily five hundred 7′s, hitting the cash machine several times. All in original sleeves. Note the period brown, ribbed, fold over bottom on this particular copy as proof.
And all mint. We were both experiencing tremors that cocaine crack can’t touch.
Miracles happen.
Posted in Big Maybelle, Big Maybelle Smith, Jerry Lee Lewis, Mike Goldsmith, Quincy Jones |
August 26th, 2011
Listen: The Whip / Alexander Jackson & The Turnkeys
The Whip / Alexander Jackson & The Turnkeys
Guy Stevens, who ran Sue UK, was at his most adventurous around ’65 – ’66. Handfuls of obscure RnB records from small independent American labels were finding their way onto Sue and getting released in England monthly. One of the more bizarre chain of events involved this single.
Originally issued in the US as ‘Flea Pot’ by The Lala Wilson Band, Guy Stevens licensed the record and upon release as Sue (WI-386), changed both it’s title and artist to ‘The Whip’ by Alexander Jackson & The Turnkeys. One of the instrumentals that appealed to amphetamined Mods meant the band’s true identity started to become a topic.
Rumors of it being The Graham Bond Organization, with Eric Clapton sitting in on guitar sonically seemed possible given the single directly preceding it on Sue’s release schedule, Little Joe Cook’s ‘Stormy Monday Blues (Part 1 & 2)(WI-385), was an alias for Chris Farlowe & The Thunderbirds. As well, the two bands often shared nights at The Flamingo on Wardour Street. Seemed an easy possibility but alas, this was not the case.
Either way, with very few copies having sold, it’s value continues to perform like Apple stock, and rise with no end in sight.
Posted in Alexander Jackson & The Turnkeys, Eric Clapton, Guy Stevens, Lala Wilson Band, Sue Records, The Graham Bond Organization |
August 25th, 2011
Listen: Peek A Boo / The New Vaudeville Band
Peek A Boo / The New Vaudeville Band
The New Vaudeville Band did not get their due respect, even though they never made a bad single, and their albums are full of flawless…..vaudeville. A genre cornered successfully by The Bonzo Dog Band and later dabbled into by The Kinks, I’m guessing maybe these guys were just a touch ahead of the credibility curve. Add to that, their first single ‘Winchester Catherdral’ became a worldwide #1 and, even back then, they landed into the mainstream before the press could give them praise, so they didn’t. Never mind, these singles speak for themselves.
The two followups to ‘Winchester Catherdral’ in order were ‘Peek A Boo’ and ‘Finchley Central’.
Although hits in the UK, only ‘Peek A Boo’ made the Top 100 here (#74 in February ’67), due in part to a great performance on the then, newly ‘In Color’ version of popular Saturday night variety show HOLLYWOOD PALACE. Singer Tristam The VII, Earl Of Cricklewood wore a blue sparkley jacket identical to the one Mick Jagger pranced in just a month earlier on THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW (January ’67) when they caved, changing the lyrics for the boss, Ed himself, and thereby performing ‘Let’s Spend Some Time Together’ as a worldwide one-off.
‘Finchley Central’ Picture Sleeves: Above (UK) / Below (US)
Listen: Finchley Central / The New Vaudeville Band
Finchley Central / The New Vaudeville Band
‘Finchley Central’ followed in late spring. Although not housed in a now very hard to find color UK picture sleeve, indeed US Fontana sprang nonetheless for a cover, except in black and white. Both are pictured above. Despite climbing to #16 in England, for places like Texas and Florida, a single in the style of your parents music (with a vocal that doesn’t even begin until 1:04 into the song, and then lyrically about the London subway system) during the summer of psychedelic ’67 meant…little.
Well actually it did Bubble Under The Top 100 at #102 for a stubborn three weeks. Maybe people equated it to something off SGT PEPPER or YELLOW SUBMARINE and thought it so far out that it was actually in, as it got some play and sold a handful.
See, The New Vaudeville Band were so good even The Beatles wanted to sound like them, and occasionally did.
Posted in Ed Sullivan, Fontana, Hollywood Palace, The Beatles, The Bonzo Dog Band, The Kinks, The New Vaudeville Band, The Rolling Stones |
August 24th, 2011
Listen: Puppet On A String / Sandie Shaw
Puppet On A String / Sandie Shaw
As a kid growing up in the US, I never quite understood what the Eurovision Song Contest was. I do recall seeing lists of the various entires for a few years running. Seems each country from the mainland had one, and England got their entry as well. Despite that bit of water safely guarding them from being part of Europe when it might not have been convenient, in the case of this competition, the water was ignored.
Pretty much all the entries sounded dreadful and were of no interest to me, except occasionally those UK ones. Or at least the artists performing them.
Must have been ’67 when Sandie Shaw’s ‘Puppet On A String’ was one such entry. Despite anything previously involved with said competition, I loved this one. A backing track that mimicked The New Vaudeville Band playing ska, topped off with Sandie Shaw’s perky sulky voice, provided an unexpectedly wonderful recipe.
Simultaneously, her hip factor went out the window, so unhip an event Eurovsision apparently being. For a few years there, she was a happening, barefooted, Yardley mod girl type. Despite this record hitting #1 in England, suddenly things changed in hipsville.
But like Lulu, the years have treated her miraculously well. Neither of them appear to age, at all, shockingly. Maybe up close, but at even the slightest distance, this pair look like a million bucks.
‘Puppet On A String’ didn’t make it over that two week hump of airplay in America. Getting a true chance to sink into the public’s awareness level and become a hit meant surviving that fortnight of ‘new single’ rotations. So for a brief window, the record sounded spectacular coming through the dashboard of our family’s car, an emerald green ’64 Ford. Both the local Top 40′s gave it some decent spins, keeping me throbbing for one of my then heart throbs.
Posted in Eurovision Song Contest, Lulu, Reprise, Sandie Shaw, The New Vaudeville Band |
August 23rd, 2011
Listen: Isi / Neu
Isi / Neu
Shaving off just over a minute from the full length, opening track on NEU ’75, their third album, meant 3:55 worth of hit single potential got itself pressed onto a hopeful UK 7″, anxious to follow Kraftwerk and Mike Oldfield into the charts.
From the way history implies, copies didn’t go much further than from occasional shop counter tops to Julian Cope’s and David Bowie’s houses. Not surprisingly, little to no airplay nor sales transpired, making even the promo pressings scarce.
Nowhere near as raw as expected, my initial few listens didn’t find me returning for multiple plays, not at first. But through the years, ‘Isi’ makes for a handy set breather during my Sunday afternoon record hops at the house, on rainy days, particularly in the autumn. Try it sometime.
Posted in David Bowie, Julian Cope, Kraftwerk, Mike Oldfield, Neu, United Artists |
August 22nd, 2011
Listen: Are You Ready To Rock / Wizzard
Are You Ready To Rock / Wizzard
My guess is when you can play every instrument under the sun, most get boring. Combine that with the option your competitors don’t have: the ability to pull a real musical curveball out of your hat, and you’ve unexpectedly just described Roy Wood.
Not totally mind you. Don’t forget that Roy Wood could write hooks and choruses seemingly in his sleep, and decorate the whole thing with an over the top visual to match the over the top audio.
So was the case with his band Wizzard. Not content with having masterminded The Move in ’66, then The Electric Light Orchestra in ’70, Roy Wood outglammed glam via Wizzard in ’72.
Yes, the rainbow haired frontman whipped up a rockabilly meets Beach Boys/Neil Sedaka pop stomp recipe with every Wizzard single. I couldn’t for the life of me understand why the US hadn’t come to their senses and jumped on this train back in ’73 and ’74, when ‘Are You Ready To Rock’ continued a by then, British chart Top Ten onslaught, this one peaking at #8. Really tried convincing every last person in earshot pay attention to this UK national treasure but to no avail.
In hindsight, I understand. The American consumer’s musical tastes were sterilized by lazy, laid back radio programmers, all leaning to southern boogie noodle doodle or California soft rock to fill their playlists, and the future WalMart shoppers were no brighter then than now, hence limping along behind like injured lemmings.
A true multi decade damaging setback for our country. They were not ready to rock, and certainly not to bagpipes.
Posted in Neil Sedaka, Roy Wood, The Beach Boys, The Electric Light Orchestra, Warner Brothers, Wizzard |
August 20th, 2011
Listen: Censorshit / The Ramones
Censorshit / The Ramones
Clearly ‘Censorshit’ was yet another overlooked gem in the band’s catalog. Seems like the story of their professional life.
I was lucky enough to actually be in the studio when this song was recorded. Not the room with the desk, but the live one, where the band were set up facing one another. I recall them doing it three, four time tops, Joe singing guide vocals for the others to follow.
A few guitar overdubs happened later to enhance. Don’t recall if John did them, or if Ed Stasium (super producer, super talent, super kind human being, super friend) completed those bits.
And there you had it. The Ramones putting another stake in the heart of music history’s timeline.
Life can treat you very well, sometimes not, as we all know. Then there’s people, who sometimes can take away everything you own if they decide to.
On this particular occasion, life treated me not only well, but to a privilege bordering on miracle.
And remember, although others can take away your every possession, they can never take away your memories.
Posted in Ed Stasium, Radioactive, The Ramones |
August 19th, 2011
Listen: Mercy, Mercy, Mercy / Marlena Shaw
Mercy, Mercy, Mercy / Marlena Shaw
Like with Bobby Hebb’s ‘Sunny’, I also have a similar penchant for ‘Mercy, Mercy, Mercy’. Basically, never do I pass up a copy, in fact, the loungier the better.
There are plenty of renditions around by everyone from Jaco Pastorius to Nils Lofgren. Not to mention versions buried in jazzy muzak albums that came fast and furious in the late 60′s.
’67 was the year that saw the song hit Billboard’s Top 5 twice, The Buckinghams version with lyrics, and the original instrumental from The Cannonball Adderley Quintet which went to #1, no doubt a surprise to both artist and label. Big fan of both.
Those in the know, like England’s mods, would attest that the grooviest, hands down, is from Marlena Shaw. Here’s a lady that recorded for the who’s who of RnB/Jazz labels during her career: Chess subsidiary Cadet, Blue Note and Verve.
In ’63, after initially deciding to go for the big time, and get into a record company, she auditioned for, but was turned down by Columbia. Several years later, they changed their minds and signed her away from Blue Note after releasing the wonderfully titled WHO IS THIS BITCH, ANYWAY?
Sounds familiar. I got invited in to Columbia for an interview in the late 80′s, never heard another word from them. About ten years later, out of the blue they rang again, this time offering me a job. I figured, give it a try. Lasted twelve years.
Posted in Blue Note, Bobby Hebb, Cadet, Cannonball Adderley, Chess, Jaco Pastorius, Marlena Shaw, Nils Lofgren, The Buckinghams, The Cannonball Adderley Quintet, Verve |
August 18th, 2011
Listen: Cat Food / King Crimson
Cat Food / King Crimson
They’d probably cringe, but even the most hardened album acts like King Crimson made a decent single from time to time. Or the labels, back before creative control was bestowed on the artist, may have heard a hook in the thick of an opus, thereby being able to edit/rearrange a twelve minute album piece into three and change for a 7″ single.
Not sure if that’s the case with ‘Cat Food’. King Crimson’s albums never did hold my attention through a whole side, so I’m not positive if this is the full version. But I sure did love this song when it got some concentrated play from the local college station, WAER. What a surprise to walk into Discount Records, on the Syracuse University campus, and find a few copies of the single in their racks.
That store was a shrine in the late 60′s, when record buying was in full, and I do mean full swing. A beehive of white drugged up students with money to spend on white drugged up rock music made for the ultimate market. Box lots of all the latest releases by Ten Years After, The Nice, Spirit, Pink Floyd and whatnot seemingly evaporated into thin air.
I’d bet the stunning cover art on those King Crimson albums drew in more than one spontaneous purchase. So too did this 7″ picture sleeve, in those days unheard of, particularly from the UK. Between both it’s mini album construction, and the pink inner sleeve housing a matching pink labelled pressing, I found myself committing an exorbitant $1.98 to the cause. Excellent investment, as it turned out.
Posted in Discount Records, Island, King Crimson, Pink Floyd, Spirit, Ten Years After, The Nice, WAER |
August 17th, 2011
Listen: Make You Feel Alright (Women) / The Easybeats
Make You Feel Alright (Women) / The Easybeats
Having signed a then lucrative five year deal with United Artists for territories outside of homeland Australia in early ’66, part of the plan to launch The Easybeats in the US, I’m guessing, was to immediately release their biggest hit, ‘Make You Feel Alright (Women)’, while new material was being recorded. As a result, in early Spring, UA’s subsidiary label, Ascot, coupled the band’s first #1 at home with another Australian A side ‘In My Book’, and housed the single in a now very scarce picture sleeve.
Some of the Boston stations, like WBZ charted it, but nationally, not much transpired. Except as luck would have it, at WOLF in Syracuse, the hometown life changing Top 40 station forever glued to my ear as a kid. Spring ’66 found this youngster, who should’ve been knee deep in coloring books, instead becoming a fan of The Easybeats, amongst many.
‘Make You Feel Alright (Women)’ reminded me of The Pretty Things ‘Big City’, both depending on bar chords sliding around way up high on the guitar neck, a style and sonic I found ridiculously addictive. The Pretty Things performed ‘Big City’ that way on SHINDIG, and I forever recognized the technique introduced to me by their guitarist Dick Taylor, while sitting about 2 feet from the black and white TV screen.
Have a look at the May ’66 WOLF chart below, and you’ll begin to make sense of how great records like ‘Make You Feel Alright (Women)’ took over my life.
Posted in Ascot, Dick Taylor, Shindig, The Easybeats, The Pretty Things, United Artists, WOLF |
August 16th, 2011
Listen: How’d We Ever Get This Way / Andy Kim
How'd We Ever Get This Way / Andy Kim
After writing countless, seriously countless, hits with Ellie Greenwich during their Brill Building, girl group days, plus together discovering and producing Neil Diamond, Jeff Barry set out on his own. Initially producing The Monkees, then establishing Steed Records and signing Andy Kim.
As well as having later hits with some of those Brill Building classics, Andy Kim’s co-written Steed debut, ‘How’d We Ever Get This Way’ made it’s way to the US Top 30. It was omnipresent in ’68, taking years to shuck the overplayed curse.
Not to be overshadowed, the two conjured up ‘Sugar Sugar’ for The Archies, another song that brought on cringes for ages, and now sounds pretty great.
Years later, they’re part of a continuing testament to Jeff Barry’s writing and production genius, and how contributions from Andy Kim proved he was far from a parasite in the midst of it all.
Posted in Andy Kim, Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry, Neil Diamond, Steed Records, The Archies |
August 15th, 2011
Listen: Film Star / Suede
Film Star / Suede
Easily my favorite British act from the 90′s, and one of my favorites of all time. Favorite hardly describes it really. We’d met when they were unsigned, looking for a deal, having recorded their demo with Ed Buller, then resident engineer, in the Island demo studio at 22 St. Peter’s Square, during my last few months at the label.
By then, I was plotting my new venture through Warner Brothers, The Medicine Label, back in New York, but still spent a lot of time in London. I would soon try to sign them to my company for the US. Didn’t happen, but never mind, it not once blemished my love for their music.
It was during those months in early ’92 that I did my A&R drill, showing up at several of their shows around England, where they were playing to bulging crowds in small pubs and clubs, booked only a month or so prior to the frenzy. One night after a show at the Princess Charlotte Pub in Leicester, Brett, Mat and I rode back to London together, Brett dj-ing David Bowie’s HUNKY DORY the entire trip. In my opinion, Suede never took their eyes off it as one of the band’s great inspirations.
Third album, COMING UP unexpectedly took everyone off guard. Having replaced their original guitarist, the naysayers were naysaying big time. Big surprise, new guitarist Richard Oakes was a much better musician and ultimate band catalyst. As well, COMING UP established Mat Osman as one of rock’s very most accomplished bassists. After the album’s cycle, which by it’s finishing stretch had delivered five Top 10 UK singles, the non-believers were silenced. A fantastic work.
‘Film Star’ was the fifth of those five, a #9 in England.
Posted in Brett Anderson, David Bowie, Ed Buller, Island, Mat Osman, Princess Charlotte Pub, Richard Oakes, Suede, The Medicine Label |
August 14th, 2011
Listen: The More I See You / Chris Montez
The More I See You / Chris Montez
It was as if the guy who recorded ‘Let’s Dance’ a few years earlier was a completely different person. That song fit easily into both the surf and farfisa bubblegum spaces perfectly. A fit that suited The Ramones just fine, they covered it from nearly day one.
Along comes ‘The More I See You’ in ’66, and the first time I remember hearing it was at Carmen’s Barber Shop, the little dive my Dad took me for haircuts. The hour or so we’d spend there was rather fascinating, with me trying to figure out some of the coded adult talk amongst them all, yet with most attention being paid to the MOR station Carmen had permanently affixed on his little sound system. I believe the station call letters were WSEN or WSYR, but can’t be sure. What I am sure of is it would make for industrial strength hipster listening if only some of those shows had been air checked. Lots of Julie London, Ella Fitzgerald, Sammy Davis Jr. and Jackie Trent with husband Tony Hatch. Seems they were the British Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, and most of their singles, both together and separately, are worth picking up if you stumble on them.
Tony Hatch in fact wrote ‘Call Me’, not only the Chris Montez single that preceded ‘The More I See You’, but the title of the album from which it came.
Turns out when switching to his A&M label in ’65, Herb Alpert suggested this more soft rock sound, possibly looking for his own version of Astrud Gilberto, who despite the slight technicality of being a different sex and therefore looked much better, sounded quite similar.
Posted in Astrud Gilberto, Chris Montez, Ella Fitzgerald, Eydie Gorme, Herb Albert, Jackie Trent, Julie London, Sammy Davis Jr., Steve Lawrence, The Ramones, Tony Hatch |
August 13th, 2011
Listen: Toxygene (7″ Edit) / The Orb
Toxygene (7
Even though I’d left Island during ’92, I still had loads of friends there, and would visit the UK office in St. Peters Square a lot. The company was always putting out tons of great stuff, and I needed all those promo only pressings in a bad way.
On one such visit, a new scout had just signed The Orb off of Big Life, and cornered us insisting we hear ‘Toxygene’, their forthcoming single. It was the end of a fun Friday. Gary Crowley was driving, so we passed through to collect Julian Palmer for drinks. Turns out the Island canteen was hopping as the staff would always hang late when the energy swirled into one of those fun nights.
Lord knows I wish I could recall who this A&R fellow was, I think he moved on to Universal Publishing. I thank him to this day.
We flipped for ‘Toxygene’. In our then current state, and played really, really loudly on that initial unveiling, the car and train sound effects embodied real live paranoia. Against band, management and company policy, he burned us a copy, making Gary promise not to play it on his Radio London slot that weekend.
Promises unbroken, Gary kept in under wraps, and quite frankly, the cdr didn’t leave my sight for weeks. ‘Toxygene’ eventually became a well deserved #4 smash in the UK.
On a 7″ pressing, it’s almost as hard to find as it would be to recreate the fantastic memory of that Friday.
Posted in Big Life, Gary Crowley, Island, Julian Palmer, Radio London, The Orb |
August 12th, 2011
Listen: Buffalo Gals (Single Edit) / Malcolm McLaren & The World’s Famous Supreme Team
Buffalo Gals (Single Edit) / Malcolm McLaren & The World's Famous Supreme Team
Howard Thompson sent me this one the week of release in Britain, or more likely, even before street date. Getting those packages from him provided yours truly the honor of being the first disc jockey in America to play so many great records, ‘Buffalo Gals’ being one.
Back then, I co-hosted a midnight – 2am Specialty show, as they’re referred to nowadays, on the town’s local AOR outlet, WCMF. Those stations were basically the enemy, force feeding the public on mainstream corporate rock only, although in the case of this particular one, with the occasional great record or two thrown into evening rotation.
Their overnight jock, Roger McCall, would always have considerable leeway given his shift, and spun more than a safe number of playlist no-no’s in those early hours. We ended up co-hosting that show together, specializing in all the groovy stuff of the moment, on Tuesday nights.
Every once in a while, there’d be some mind blowing record, often from England and courtesy of Howard, that I’d take in to debut.
Like Howard, Roger and I had musical tastes that were profoundly in synch and we’d play those singles over and over really loudly in the studio while simultaneously doing the show, and of course giving them some needle time as well.
Yes, this was one of those records. Seriously, our jaws dropped on first listen. How could anything possibly be so good?
Years later while working at Island, Chris rang and asked me to take a meeting with Malcolm McLaren, he having originally signed him to the US label and issuing ‘Buffalo Gals’. Malcolm’s reputation certainly preceded him, so I was excited.
Honestly don’t recall what he was shopping at the time, maybe his French voguing record that ended up on Epic. But he was a riot to sit with for half an hour. An absolute storyteller/salesman.
Once we concluded the meeting, I pulled out my jukebox tab with the usual autograph request as part of the ask. Malcolm happily obliged, paying me quite the compliment: “Well, this truly is a new idea”.
Above: Jukebox Tab signed by Malcolm McLaren
Posted in Chris Blackwell, Howard Thompson, Island, Jukebox Tab, Malcolm McLaren & The World's Famous Supreme Team, Roger McCall, WCMF |
August 11th, 2011
Listen: Baby Come On Home / Hoagy Lands
Baby Come On Home / Hoagy Lands
Anything associated with Bert Berns gets my radar sky high. A master of New York RnB productions, I grabbed this in a stack somewhere along life’s journey years ago. The not often used black and white, as opposed to red and white, Atlantic promo label giving this obscure single from ’64 even more of an odd one out feel.
There was no way ‘Baby Come Back Home’ was going to disappoint despite the rather un-soulful sound of an artist named Hoagy Lands. Gladly, that first instinct, triggered by the Bert Berns namecheck, was right. The record is a gem.
Through the years I’ve picked up his other titles on Laurie and ABC, yet always found it baffling that, for such an obvious musical fit, ‘Baby Come On Home’, with Cissy Houston, Dee Dee Warwick and Judy Clay on backups, became his only Atlantic release.
Posted in ABC Records, Atlantic, Bert Berns, Cissy Houston, Dee Dee Warwick, Hoagy Lands, Judy Clay, Laurie Records, Led Zeppelin |
August 10th, 2011
Listen: I Shall Sing / Miriam Makeba
I Shall Sing / Miriam Makeba
I will forever regret missing Miriam Makeba when she returned to NY in ’88, supporting her then new album, SANGOMA. It reunited her with the Warner/Reprise label, and I was offered some tickets by Julie Panebianco in the label’s college department one floor down from Elektra. I recall spending that whole evening wondering what was happening only a mile or two away, while I sat home doing something completely unmemorable.
Collecting all the US and UK pressings of her singles proved surprisingly hard, so it became a mission.
‘I Shall Sing’ always escaped me for the longest time, until a few weeks back. Oddly the single isn’t even listed in most Miriam Makeba discographies. Like the album from which it came, KEEP ME IN MIND, the attempt was to bring on a more soul and rock approach, and in the case of ‘I Shall Sing’, a Van Morrison cover helped achieve the purpose. Later recorded by both Art Garfunkel and Toots & The Maytals, hands down, it’s her’s that takes the cake in my book.
Posted in Art Garfunkel, Julie Panebianco, Miriam Makeba, Reprise, Toots & The Maytals, Van Morrison |
August 9th, 2011
Listen: Sweet Illusion / Junior Campbell
Sweet Illusion / Junior Campbell
Very over produced commercially intended records, often termed schlock, were in full swing by ’73, when ‘Sweet Illusion’ was a #15 UK hit. British Decca and sometimes their subsidiary label Deram, seemed to puke them out regularly. Years later, these titles were occasionally referred to as guilty pleasures. Some of us didn’t wait for the hipster’s chic nod of approval, instead finding such artifacts a genre onto themselves to collect from the start.
‘Sweet Illusion’ was an airwaves fixture that summer ’73 in London, played way more than the sales charts indicated it should have been. Clearly, this was a disc jockey favorite, a turntable hit for sure, despite a non aggressive chart climb and ultimate peak. My guess is even the #15 slot was a healthy dose of a deal being done. Like did anybody really, really buy this one?
During his time as a founding member of The Marmalade, who used Keith Mansfield as an orchestral arranger on many of their successes, including ‘Lovin’ Things’, ‘Wait For Me Mary Ann’, ‘Baby Make It Soon’ and ‘Reflections Of My Life’, Junior Campbell reportedly studied Mansfield’s scores at close range. Being impressed with the craft of arranging for orchestras, as well the expertise of orchestral musicians in general, led to him handling accompaniment arrangements on the band’s future sessions himself. Once tired of touring in ’71, he left The Marmalade to study orchestration and composition with Eric Guilder and Max Saunders at the Royal College of Music
During the 70′s he had two self-penned solo successes, ‘Hallelujah Freedom’ (#9 in ’72), with Doris Troy, and ‘Sweet Illusion’.
Posted in Decca, Deram, Doris Troy, Junior Campbell, Keith Mansfield, The Marmalade |
