SO MANY RECORDS, SO LITTLE TIME

April 26th, 2010

Lesley Gore

Listen: Je Na Sais Plus (You Don’t Own Me) / Lesley Gore LesleyFrench.mp3

Truth be told, I try to visit most of the blogs linked on the right pretty much everyday. For one reason or the other, there’s usually something that sparks me to pull out a record or two for a listen in most of ‘em. One of my religious reads is Pop Wars. Well, my friends for um, 30 years or so write it, and they saved SO MANY RECORDS SO LITTLE TIME when I was using Blogspot and overloading their system or something with mp3′s, crashing my browser and a bunch of reader’s browsers as well. Panic. Bless them, they set up this .com, and I’ve never needed to look back.

A few posts ago, Pop Wars linked a youtube clip of Lesley Gore. I’d often thought about posting some of her singles, but was always baffled, there are so many great ones – how do I pick. I pull one, then say no, this would be better. It all goes on for a few minutes and I end up too daunted and move on down the rack. Well with that clip of ‘You Don’t Own Me’ reminding me again of Lesley Gore, I suddenly had the perfect excuse to post: share the French version with everyone. For some reason, they didn’t include it on the superb IT’S MY PARTY – THE MERCURY ANTHOLOGY. The 2 cds are so full of hits that scraping the barrel was nowhere near necessary. Get a copy before cds disappear completely.

How the hell I ended up taking a chance on this as it sat side by side next to the well known English language hit version on the rack at Smith’s Records is actually coming back to me. I was still in my single digits and had but a mere dollar per week allowance – which meant one single every seven days. The week before, I’d gotten the picture sleeved version of ‘You Don’t Own Me’, that I vividly remember. Therefore I couldn’t NOT complete the set. That’s called something nowadays, obsessive compulsive or ADD or whatever – and there are pills for it. Maybe I should get some, as I seriously do plan on becoming a pill freak once I retire. Sit around medicated all day, playing singles til they carry me out on a stretcher. As for that French version, well I sure am glad now that I sprung the buck for it back in ’64.

Listen: Immortality / Lesley Gore LesleyGoreImmortality.mp3

Hard to believe, but Quincy Jones produced many, possibly all of her Mercury hits. Yeah, the same guy who did, well hundreds of amazing records like THRILLER even. I prefer his Lesley Gore stuff still.

Long after her early/mid 60′s teen stardom faded, she was, without warning in ’75, back on A&M with a new single and album. What!

This was all quite exciting for me – I realized the childhood crush on her still had a heartbeat. Proceeding to play ‘Immortality’ a lot on my college radio shows – it clearly sounded plenty weird mixed in with all the other rock stuff of the day. Made my obsession for the obscure English groups suddenly more tolerable I’m sure.

I wanted it to be a hit bad – she even reunited with Quincy Jones for the project. I guess I was about the only guy playing it, but unfortunately to a handful of pot smokers who’d actually listen to our little hobby of a radio station, hence sales were not triggered.

Posted in A&M, Lesley Gore, Mercury, Quincy Jones, Smith's Records |

April 25th, 2010

Red Saunders & His Orch. / Delores Hawkins & The Hambone Kids

Listen: Hambone / Red Saunders & His Orch. with Delores Hawkins & The Hambone Kids
Hambone

Red Saunders found his first successful footing in the depression era Chicago clubs. His endless singles, on many labels, seemed to finally reach an early doo wop/RnB mix of ghetto wildness, a frenzy evident here.

First released in February 1952, the record was accompanied by large display ads in Billboard showing The Hambone Kids performing in front of Red Saunders and his drums. The originally issued take of ‘Hambone’ included Dolores Hawkins’ whistling but lacked her vocal interjections that appear on this version; it also included a brief passage for the full band and a tenor sax solo. The Kids’ rhythmic practice was known as hamboning or patting juba: slapping various body parts as a substitute for drumming. Dee Clark, one of those Hambone Kids, also loudly stamped his heel on the 2nd and 4th beats.

Peaking at #20 on the Billboard RnB chart, it was, like Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ ‘I Put A Spell On You’, a consistent seller. By ’63, parent company CBS decided to reissue ‘Hambone’ as Okeh 7166, pictured here. And then again in ’67 (Okeh 7282). These reissues used an alternate take running 2:13, in which The Hambone Kids and Dolores Hawkins are accompanied throughout by guitar, bass, and drums only; the rest of Red Saunders Big Band / Orchestra contributing only shouts of “Hambone!” at the beginning and end of the piece.

There are many versions of ‘Hambone’ floating around this earth, as was the case with all big selling black records in the 50′s, endless vanilla white artists watered them down for middle America consumption. This here is the real deal though.

Posted in Billboard, Delores Hawkins & The Hambone Kids, Okeh, Red Saunders & His Orch., Screamin' Jay Hawkins |

April 24th, 2010

Manfred Mann

Listen: Ha! Ha! Said The Clown / Manfred Mann ManfredHa.mp3

Doesn’t take much for me to play a Manfred Mann single, usually can’t stop at one. You know, they may be the first band I can think of who lost a lead singer (theoretically signaling the end), but instead bounced back with a replacement equally as successful, yet sounding nothing the same. And if that wasn’t enough, did it a third time as well.

‘Ha! Ha! Said The Clown’ comes from that middle bit, when Mike D’Abo replaced the bluesy Paul Jones. Everyone loved them just as much – weirdly without blinking. As with Manfred Mann line up #1 (which I’ve covered a while back), line up #2 had a flawless run of singles, every one a must. I can’t pick a favorite, they all represent some great memory or other.

Howard Thompson reminded me earlier today of the most awesome RADIO LONDON site, which, mistakenly I thought was already linked over there in the right hand column – but in fact was not (it’s there now).

On the air less than three years, it’s saga as ‘thee’ pirate station is fascinating. Start on the homepage and check it out sometime. I randomly clicked on the chart from this day in ’67, knowing any one of these lists would include loads of singles doubling as a suitable excuse for alerting everyone to the site’s existence. ‘Ha! Ha! Said The Clown’ sits at #14, a bit of a drastic drop from the previous week, when at #1.

Scroll to the bottom of the page, and click on BACK TO THE FAB 40 INDEX to check out any week you like. Plan ahead – set aside at least an hour.

Posted in Howard Thompson, Manfred Mann, Mike D'Abo, Paul Jones, Radio London |

April 21st, 2010

Robin Trower

Listen: Man Of The World (Mono) / Robin Trower RobinTrowerMan.mp3

I don’t really care how dated some folks accuse this era of music to be – or how derivative it all seems now. I agree, you can see how it planted the seeds for mainstream rock radio to go down a wrong way street, yet some of these early bands were very exciting during their beginning days. Robin Trower had just left Procol Harum, he’d had enough of their ‘never have a good day’ music. Nonetheless, camaraderie prevailed and Procol Harum bandmate Matthew Fisher obliged as producer.

I think what set Robin Trower’s band apart was lead singer James Dewar. What a voice. He had a darkness vocally that is reserved for very few: Jim Morrison, Paul Rodgers and John Doe come to mind.

This single preceded the debut album TWICE REMOVED FROM YESTERDAY by seemingly a few months, but I don’t know for sure. I worked for a record distributor at the time, while still in college. All the product was organized by label, and every week about 10-15 copies of this one would move. Slowly but surely, it creeped forward piece count wise – so that by the time it’s followup hit (BRIDGE OF SIGHS), the band were on fire.

Needless to say, the single got no Top 40 play, but like most 7′s back then, their main objective was to focus the album rock dj’s toward something a bit more commercial, and this US white label is from the very tail end of when promos were pressed to include both mono/stereo mixes. For fun, here’s the mono version – not an easy one to find.

Listen: Take A Fast Train / Robin Trower RobinFastTrain.mp3

Both of those two initial albums still have a spot with me. Dark, maybe minor key and full of great songs, they don’t get a hint of the praise they each deserve.

The B side to ‘Man Of The World’, the non-LP ‘Take A Fast Train’ is very typical: not quite good enough for the album but a ‘must’ for the die hards. I have no idea if the track ever made it’s way onto one of those scrape the bottom of the tape library barrel anthologies, but if not – here you go.

Posted in Chrysalis, James Dewar, Jim Morrison, John Doe, Matthew Fisher, Paul Rodgers, Procol Harum, Robin Trower |

April 20th, 2010

Julian Cope

Listen: Charlotte Anne / Julian Cope JulianCharlotteAnne.mp3

This came out not long after I joined Island in ’88. Ron Fair was part of the A&R team, and produced the single (plus the album from which it came, MY NATION UNDERGROUND).

I hadn’t seen Ron for years, he went on to big success with The Black Eyed Peas and Keyshia Cole – good for him. But we did finally have a chance to reunite at a recent party in New York – and despite my praise of his work with Julian, he was pretty humble.

‘Charlotte Anne’ is such a classic British pop single. I remember sitting in the little parking lot behind Island’s St. Peter’s Square office in London back then, listening to it in Ron’s car. I loved the track that first time and still do.

Listen: Beautiful Love / Julian Cope JulianBeautifulLove.mp3

Luckily I had the privilege of getting to know Julian and his then sidekick/producer Donald Skinner. They were making one of his masterpieces, PEGGY SUICIDE. What a fucking fantastic work from start to finish that baby is. Soon after release, I ventured to Norwich and caught an early show on the UK tour in support of the album. No lie – it was the place to be in the solar system that night.

‘Beautiful Love’ is probably my all time favorite Julie single – reminds me so much of The Herd’s ‘I Don’t Want Our Loving To Die’. So what’s not to like.

Visiting New York for a few days press prior to the album’s US release, he stayed, as always, with his in-laws out on Long Island. It was a blistering hot July day, and into the office comes Julian wearing flip flops, a wide brimmed sun hat, shades and swim trunks just a touch bigger than your average sized thong. That’s it. He plopped onto the sofa in my office and proceeded to have a totally casual conversation with Phranc and Marianne Faithfull, neither of whom seemed to blink twice.

Island was one hell of a fun place to work at times.

Posted in Donald Skinner, Island, Julian Cope, Keyshia Cole, Marianne Faithfull, Phranc, Ron Fair, The Black Eyed Peas, The Herd |

April 17th, 2010

Just Brothers

Listen: You’ve Got The Love To Make Me Over / Just Brothers
JustBrothersGotTheLove.mp3

These two Detroit brothers are best known for their ’65 B side, ‘Sliced Tomatoes’, which became a big hit amongst the Northern Soul posse a few years later. As a result, a re-release in ’72 on Groove Merchant found it again on the B side, this time to ‘You’ve Got The Love To Make Me Over’. Sadly overlooked, the single rivaled the best ones of the day by The Chi-Lites, The Dramatics, you name it, and still does.

Go ahead, play ‘You’ve Got The Love To Make Me Over’ twice and tell me honestly, can you stand to live another day without a copy?

Posted in Just Brothers, Music Merchant, Northern Soul, The Chi-lites, The Dramatics |

April 16th, 2010

Lee Dorsey

Listen: Go – Go Girl / Lee Dorsey LeeDorseyGo-GoGirl.mp3

Lee Dorsey, poor soul, never did top the sound of ‘Working In The Coalmine’, probably to most people that is. I mean it’s a pretty hard one to improve on, but to have even scaled that high is huge. Technically, his first ever Top 100 single ‘Ya Ya’ peaked at #7, whereas ‘Working In The Coalmine’ got to #8. Great as that first single is, it’s the sound and production I’m referring to. Still, I must have a dozen of his 7′s, and you just can’t go wrong picking up any that you see.

‘Go – Go Girl’ has a strange tame studio thing going on. It certainly showcases his voice, always nice upfront. But the mix and realtive low volume of the instruments aren’t in Allen Toussaint’s usual style. The whole point is dirty New Orleans funk.

Well that makes this one even more intriguing. Plus I love a mid-chart flop every time (#62).

Posted in Allen Toussaint, Amy, Billboard, Lee Dorsey |

April 13th, 2010

Hot Chip / Kool Chip

Listen: Over & Over (Maida Vale Session Version) / Hot Chip HotChipOverBBC.mp3

Smart ass as it may appear to be, the two act’s names sound pretty good together, don’t you think? I’ve covered Hot Chip before, given that ‘Ready For The Floor’ was tied with Sparks ‘Good Morning’ as favorite single of the year in ’08. Nothing could touch either of them. I still go through bouts of iPod repeats with both from time to time.

But there’s nothing like ‘Over & Over’ live. It’s the anthem everybody knows, and I’ve felt the floor bounce at more than one Webster Hall show during it, which always is slightly unsettling.

I hadn’t even realized I owned this, sorry, I meant that I hadn’t realized until today that it’s not the album edit, but instead from a BBC session. As opposed to the studio version, this one hints at the high point ‘Over & Over’ still brings to every Hot Chip show.

Listen: Jazz It Up (Vocal) / Kool Chip KoolChip.mp3

According to the label copy, either Kool Chip or ‘Jazz It Up’ was the Mellow Sound of Summer ’87. I don’t quite recall it that way. In fact, despite working for the label, I know nothing about Kool Chip. Nice job guys.

I tried to Wikipedia him and got: did you mean KOOL WHIP?

Whatever, I always kinda liked this one. It indeed is linked to ’87 given the dated sound but it’s certainly nice to have a personal reminder of what a fun summer I had.

Posted in 4th & Broadway, EMI, Hot Chip, Kool Chip |

April 10th, 2010

The Ramones

Listen: Bonzo Goes To Bitburg / The Ramones RamonesBonzo.mp3

No one said it better than Seymour Stein: “A band like The Ramones don’t come along once in a lifetime, they come along once”.

Somewhere on the west side, either 14th or 23rd Street, they were recording a few songs. Damn if I can remember where.

As I recall it, there was a single to do between albums for the UK and the band had a song they figured would work. Well not John, but the others that is.

Around 10 pm, the phone rang. It was Joe. Did I wanna go to The Ritz for a drink and oh, could you pick me up? Couldn’t have come at a more boring moment, I was alone for the weekend. Got in the Honda, and headed over.

I remember this as clearly as looking in the mirror. He jumped into the front seat. There was definitely something about the expression on his face, eyes almost bugging and kind of panting, breathing anxiously. “You gotta hear this song, can I play it, it’s a rough mix but you gotta hear it”. Ah – yeah!

In went the cassette. I guess I was luckily the first person to hear it outside of the studio walls. Joe kept watching for my reaction, beaming at the same time. How could he not. The Ramones had just finished recording one of the greatest singles of all time.

I pulled over on 2nd Ave. I had too. This sounded so fantastic it was almost unbelievable. We listened a few more times really loud. It was warm, windows open, perfect until more than a few kids, awestruck at seeing Joey Ramone sitting in this car, started to clammer. God bless him, Joe had time for everyone, autographs, pictures, you name it. It often took us half an hour to go a couple blocks from his place to eat – every walk of life stopped him on the street, fans, foreigners, even cops, always. So after a bunch of hellos, it was time to drive along.

You see, one of The Ramones biggest fans was Joe himself. So he had no problem with my insistence we drive a bit and keep listening. We went round and round town, up the east side, through the park, down the West End Highway, playing this for at least an hour, probably two. No exaggeration.

Does life get any better than a memory like that?

No.

Above: Jukebox Tab signed by Joey Ramone

Below: One of the few clips that actually captures their sheer power.

Posted in Beggars Banquet, Joey Ramone, Johnny Ramone, Jukebox Tab, Seymour Stein, The Ramones, The Ritz |

April 6th, 2010

Dave Edmunds

Listen: Girls Talk / Dave Edmunds DaveEdmundsGirlsTalk.mp3

And there are some things you can’t cover up with fancy production and expensive marketing campaigns. Like a bad song. Not the case here.

I was a Love Sculpture fan, followed Dave Edmunds Rockpile, and was as surprised as the next guy when ‘I Hear You Knocking’ became a US hit. I liked a bunch of those ’73 – ’74 singles too, when he dropped the Rockpile tag, ‘Born To Be With You’ a particular gem.

Then that whole Dave Edmunds / Nick Lowe partnership, also called Rockpile (sometimes) often resulted in soundalike singles and albums released way too frequently, and my interest drifted more often than not. But when these guys recorded a scorcher, regardless of who’s name it was issued under, there was no competing. ‘Girls Talk’ case in point.

Posted in Dave Edmund's Rockpile, Dave Edmunds, Love Sculpture, Nick Lowe, Rockpile, Swan Song |

April 4th, 2010

Young Disciples

Listen: Apparently Nothin’ / Young Disciples YoungDisciplesApparently.mp3

The first time I heard this, knowing it was on Talkin’ Loud, the classy if short sell-by-date label from the early 90′s, I thought – yes, Young Disciples are an act with plenty more fantastic tracks like ‘Apparently Nothin’ in the pipeline.

Apparently not. I faithfully got every single, well several before kinda wandering away. For me, nothing quite lived up to this moment. But having your solid 15 minutes in the spotlight is better than none.

Posted in Talkin' Loud, Young Disciples |

April 3rd, 2010

Orbital

Listen: Satan / Orbital OrbitalSatan.mp3

As threatening live as the title implies, this would blow your hair back as well as your mind during their NY shows from the 90′s. Probably their most popular single (#3) when re-released in ’97, it’s this original version from ’91 (#31), that still holds a strong place in my heart.

What a great time the 90′s were for singles. Everyone had moved to cd’s, but faithfully the UK companies would always issue a 7″ counterpart – even for electronic stuff like this, that on vinyl, was desirable as a 12″ way more.

Posted in London Records, Orbital |

April 2nd, 2010

Thelonious Monk

Listen: Hackensack / Thelonious Monk TheloniousHackensack.mp3

Phil and I spent the night trolling through boxes of 7′s looking for fun stuff to play this Sunday during Lord Warddd’s Happy Sundays at Brooklyn Bowl residency. As always, even if a record clearly won’t work for a particular dj event, sometimes you still need to listen. A Thelonious Monk UK single from ’62 being the perfect example. We agreed, given that neither of us are jazz fans and probably don’t know good from great, there are occasionally pleasant ones to listen to every so often. And we also agreed this was just that.

An edited version from some album, it makes for a very pleasant 2:58 on the ears, and doesn’t overstay it’s welcome. Like all jazz singles, one of the great things about them – is that they’re pressed up as singles at all.

Posted in Brooklyn Bowl, CBS, Lord Warddd, Thelonious Monk |

March 29th, 2010

Pat Lewis

Listen: Can’t Shake It Loose / Pat Lewis PatLewisShake.mp3

Using the title, ‘Can’t Shake It Loose’, to describe how you feel after the first few listens would be a little ‘done before’. This time there’s coincidentally no better way to say it that I can think of.

Turns out ‘Can’t Shake It Loose’ was Pat Lewis’ very first single as a solo artist. I stumbled on it at a record treasure trove that doubled as a junk store in Brooklyn. It led me to pick up anything I’d find by her through the years, every last one a monster Northern track. That process all began in the late 90′s.

I’ll tell you she was an early Motown backup singer and guess what, has a Facebook page with the most incredible bio. Do yourself a favor – go there. Everyone of you will find out you’ve got Pat Lewis’ voice all over your music collection.

Finding the singles is not an easy or cheap process, but well, well worth it.

Posted in Golden World, Motown, Northern Soul, Pat Lewis, Solid Hit |

March 28th, 2010

Archie Bell & The Drells

Listen: (There’s Gonna Be) A Showdown / Archie Bell & The DrellsARchieBellShowdown.mp3

God bless The New York Dolls. They couldn’t have picked a more perfect song to cover. I never heard Archie Bell’s version when it peaked (’69). I just found a copy at a record stall and figured it’d be fun to have. They made a bunch of good singles, but how do you top ‘Tighten Up’?

A very good way to spend 50Â¢.

Posted in Archie Bell & The Drells, Atlantic, The New York Dolls |

March 27th, 2010

The Konrads

Listen: I Thought Of You Last Night / The Konrads
I

A year or two back, there was a sizeable piece in RECORD COLLECTOR about The Konrads ‘I Thought Of You Last Night’, primarily due to David Bowie’s involvement as a one time band member, if only for a few short weeks. Although it’s unclear, and I think unlikely, that he plays on this particular single, it’s understandably become a most desirable item nonetheless.

The article focused on the US Decca release, and at the time of writing, a standard pink label promotional copy had finally surfaced, thereby verifying it’s existence beyond only ever appearing in an old Decca release schedule. The most interesting part being the writer’s fairly adament and embarrassingly for him, dismissive position that the record absolutely did not make it beyond the promotional pressing stage. Therefore supposedly no commercial copies were manufactured. I mean, come on, how the fuck would a journalist some forty years later even know that anyway?

Well, it’s not true. I own a commercial copy.

I emailed the chap a few times, but he never responded.

Posted in David Bowie, Decca, Record Collector, The Konrads |

March 26th, 2010

Bobby Womack / The J. Geils Band

Listen: Looking For A Love / The J. Geils Band JGeilsLooking.mp3

I used to pretty much ignore The J. Geils Band during this period, well always if the truth be told. They were a six piece, one too many in my imaginary rule book, and man did they look bad. Endlessly touring, always playing upstate New York, mostly with some up and coming UK band as support. So, I’d go to the show, but usually found my way backstage to talk with said English group, stalking them for obscure info and details while they boogied through their headline set. It was way more exciting to stand in a crowded dressing room talking to Steve Marriott or Phil May than listen to The J. Geils Band’s blues jams.

Now I wish I could have found a way to do both. Eddie & The Hot Rods were big fans, and I started to appreciate them in hindsight. Barrie Masters constantly pestered everyone about them. So now, I can listen and appreciate them a lot more. Please accept my apologies guys, but you did need a visual make over I’m afraid.

Listen: Lookin’ For A Love / Bobby Womack BobbyWomackLookin.mp3

Bobby Womack, on the other hand, was always a favorite. Funny enough, the English group fan in me had a lot to do with that as well. I was very friendly with Rich Fazekas from United Artists’ LA office in the early 70′s, when they had two distinct sounds to their roster: one a bunch of UK bands like The Move, Hawkwind, Brinsley Schwarz and Family; then the other RnB via Ike & Tina Turner, Monk Higgins, Marlena Shaw, Donald Byrd and Bobby Womack.

It was Roger Chapman who cornered me at the label’s LA location on Sunset, giving a stern lecture about both Bill Withers and Bobby Womack. He took me into Marty Cerf’s office and forced several new tracks from Bobby Womack’s then current COMMUNICATION album on me, at the same time recounting he and Family’s first exposure to Bill Wither’s ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’. It was on the car radio somewhere between Houston and Dallas, and they would literally pull over every time it came on, drooling as it played. Being a Family freak, I hung on his every word of advice, hence my initial Bobby Womack crash course and eventual worship.

Posted in Atlantic, Barrie Masters, Bobby Womack, Brinsley Schwarz, Donald Byrd, Eddie & The Hot Rods, Family, Hawkwind, Ike & Tina Turner, Marlena Shaw, Marty Cerf, Monk Higgins, Phil May, Rich Fazekas, Roger Chapman, Steve Marriott, The J. Geils Band, The Move, United Artists |

March 25th, 2010

Leon Haywood

Listen: It’s Got To Be Mellow / Leon Haywood LeonHaywoodMellow.mp3

I’ll make this real simple. The single’s a double sider must have. Despite one of my most hated words being ‘mellow’, I tolerate it just fine here. I loved when this got pop airplay back in ’67. And did you know while making solo vocal records, he also played with The Packers and Dyke & The Blazers? Me neither.

Listen: Cornbread And Buttermilk / Leon Haywood LeonHaywoodCornbreadButtermilk.mp3

Phil and I played this at the Otis Clay show we DJ’d a few nights back. Nothing like the A side, this is an instrumental for instance, it sounds damn good loud. As with many a food inspired title, how do you not listen to a single called ‘Cornbread And Buttermilk’?

Posted in Decca, Dyke & The Blazers, Leon Haywood, Lord Warddd, Otis Clay, Phil Ward, The Packers |

March 24th, 2010

The Left Banke

Listen: She May Call You Up Tonight / The Left Banke LeftBankeSheMayCall.mp3

What a nice initial saga. Both ‘Walk Away Renee’ and ‘Pretty Ballerina’, The Left Banke’s first two singles became deservedly sizeable US hits. Although from New York, both their sound and image were very English, and so they caught my ear.

The 3rd single, ‘Ivy, Ivy’ however, didn’t happen, neither at radio nor with the public, (or as if it mattered with me). They seemed to have completely lost the plot. Turns out, there was a bit of a line up shuffle, most of the original band suddenly weren’t invited to participate – both label A&R and manager clearly being pussies, caved, thereby allowing the inferior track to not only be recorded, but worse yet, released, resulting in a ‘game over’ career killer.

Probably hoping whatever lineup nonsense would calm down and all could be salvaged, Smash lifted ‘She May Call You Up Tonight’ from the first album, issuing it as single number 4. Obviously, the shine for the band had really been tarnished by the very weak ‘Ivy, Ivy’ and airplay was scarce. Luckily, not in my hometown. WNDR played it heavily. I couldn’t buy a copy fast enough.

I bet had ‘She May Call You Up Tonight’ been the followup to ‘Pretty Ballerina’, a big hit it would have become.

Posted in Smash, The Left Banke, WNDR |

March 23rd, 2010

Gladys Knight & The Pips

Listen: The End Of Our Road / Gladys Knight & The Pips GladysEndRoad.mp3

Feeling victims, as were The Marvelettes and Mary Wells, of being tossed the leftovers, those songs passed on by Motown’s A level acts (The Supremes, Marvin Gaye, The Temptations) according to legend, really pissed off Gladys Knight and her Pips (all family members as it turns out). Having moved from Vee Jay to Motown in ’65 with wider success in mind, they quickly found themselves relegated to subsidiary Soul, set up for the more RnB, less leaning pop acts. good call there. From ’66 – ’68, they recorded some of the label’s dirtiest and most raw sides. I’m sure to Berry Gordy’s surprise, ‘I Heard It Through The Grapevine’ became the company’s biggest selling single at that point, leaping to #2 pop and bringing Gladys Knight’s signature rasp to the mainstream.

Even better was “The End Of Our Road’, it’s followup. Peaking at #15 on Billboard’s Hot 100, it was a mighty strong showing for such a picture perfect dirt and grime black single. Their performance, recording and mix are so aggressive, it’s impossible to not be dragged in. Played this a few nights ago at the Otis Clay show – it sounded mighty powerful through that big system, filled the room, every last head and foot surrendering.

Posted in Berry Gordy, Billboard, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Marvin Gaye, Mary Wells, Motown, Norman Whitfield, Otis Clay, Soul, The Marvelettes, The Supremes, The Temptations, Vee Jay |