Posts Tagged ‘Fontana’
Monday, September 20th, 2010
Listen: Kind Of Hush / Gary & The Hornets GaryHornetsHush.mp3
Lou Reizner is a name you will notice often if you scour various mid 60′s singles in the Mercury/Philips/Smash/Fontana family. He either produced, A&R’d or both for the company. I’m guessing one of his pet projects, or maybe assignments, were brothers Gary & The Hornets.
Every week several bands suddenly appeared out of nowhere, clad perfectly in wide colorful cords and uncomfortably fitting polka dot or paisley shirts, complimented by the obligatory bowl cut. These kids were no exception.
A hipper looking, but not better sounding, version of contemporaries The Cowsills (sans the Mom), they covered a few well know (Herman’s Hermits ‘Kind Of Hush’) or semi well known (‘The Troggs ‘Hi Hi Hazel’) singles. None with any success.
Listen: Baby It’s You / Gary & The Hornets GaryHornetsBaby.mp3
One such well known track, ‘Baby It’s You’ was recorded by many, including The Shirelles and The Beatles, but the hit went to a female led, more soul/blues white act, Smith. For Gary & The Hornets, it was yet another unsuccessful stab at some Top 40 success.
If I had to guess, the hope was their voices would improve with age – but that wasn’t meant to be. Turns out I have five of their 7′s, and the more recent ones don’t indicate much of an upward trajectory.
Never mind. They were fun at the time, and encouraged many an aspiring youngster to give a go at cutting a single or two, and for that we should give Gary & The Hornets a nod.
Tags: Fontana, Gary & The Hornets, Lou Reizner, Mercury, Philips, Smash, Smith, The Beatles, The Cowsills, The Shirelles, The Troggs
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Monday, August 9th, 2010
Listen: Night Of The Long Grass / The Troggs TroggsNight.mp3
Pawing through my Troggs 7″ collection, jonesing to hear ‘Night Of The Long Grass’, I realized what we all know, this band made a lot of great singles, for ages. I’m not sure why they didn’t have the occasional chart hit as the years progressed. They always toured, and were really good as well.
“Night Of The Long Grass’ was criticized for being bit unsettling musically. Well not by me, but most who heard it. Had a bit of a ‘From The Underworld’ creepiness, a bigger compliment is hard to get by the way. It’s without a doubt the most obscure of their US Fontana releases, especially a stock pressing, which took me years to find. Never seen one since.
Listen: Summertime / The Troggs TroggsSummertime.mp3
Speaking of summer, what better time to talk about the most clever seasonal lyric, maybe ever. With more songs than anyone I can count encompassing schoolboy sexual eye winks, ‘Summertime’ is their true juvenile masterpiece. How this didn’t blow up, given they reunited with producer Larry Page from their Fontana/Page One hit making days, has to be down to one, and only one reason. No airplay.
Tags: Fontana, Larry Page, Page One, Penny Farthing, Pye, The Troggs
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Tuesday, July 27th, 2010
Listen: Find My Way Back Home / The Nashville Teens NashvilleTeensFind.mp3
Last night’s season premier of MAD MEN ended with The Nashville Teens’ ‘Tobacco Road’, their one decent sized US hit. It reminded me I should share this story.
Back in the late 80′s when I worked A&R for Elektra, a guy came to play me his demo. Nice kid, worked at Colony Records a few blocks away on Broadway. In the 60′s, it was a haven for every release available, and the whole back wall was a 45 only counter manned by several employees – and open until 2AM. Always a hubbub of activity, the clerks were constantly juggling customers and going into the back, searching for whatever single you desired, and usually returning with it in hand.
Problem was they sold everything at list price – then 99¢. Seemed a fortune at the time, so you had to have unsuccessfully scoured all other shops before taking that plunge. I used to coax my Aunt Carm into the shop every summer when she’d take me on my yearly pilgrimage to the city.
Anyways this fellow and I get to talking, and I ask if they still have all those 7′ singles in the back sorted by label (which is how they did in the 60′s – you needed to know which label and preferably it’s catalog # as well). “Yes, they’re still set up that way”. So I tell him some of my favorite ones: Deram, London, Sue, Fontana.
A few days later, he comes back to Elektra. I get a call from the front desk informing me he’s upfront. What the fuck does he want – the demo wasn’t great and I told him so already. Turns out he thought I was a nice guy, and wanted to encourage me to let him return with new songs – so he just grabbed all the old stock on those labels and brought them over as a present. A heart stopper of a moment.
‘Find My Way Back Home’ (on the short lived blue swirl label with the WHITE instead of BLACK London logo) was one of many, many jems.
True story.
Tags: Colony Records, Deram, Elektra, Fontana, London Records, Mad Men, Sue, The Nashville Teens
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Saturday, June 12th, 2010
Listen: Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine / Country Joe & The Fish CountryJoeLorraine.mp3
During the summer of ’67 when ‘the late night DJ was your fireside chat friend’, I would lie in bed with the transistor radio under my pillow, exactly as The Ramones described it in ‘Do You Remember Rock & Roll Radio’, dialing in these far beaming AM stations, usually from Boston. They’d play a nice array of all the hippie underground bands who looked so extreme and oozed the sound of San Francisico’s Haight-Ashbury seemingly dersirable lifestyle. Country Joe & The Fish were certainly tied with Big Brother & The Holding Company for best name, and after slowly climbing up the Bubbling Under The Hot 100 Billboard list for six weeks, ‘Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine’ finally peaked at #95. Not such a great result, but was I ever happy to lay my hands on this single.
Having heard it once during a quiet summer night, it sounded as alien at the time as it actually does now. Then, it was mysterious, now probably just not aging well. But my soft spot for it is still there.
You learn something everyday supposedly. I found out just tonght Corinne saw them at The Fillmore. After all these years, somehow this fact never came up. Bizarre.
Tags: Billboard, Bubbling Under The Hot 100, Country Joe & The Fish, Fontana, The Ramones, Vanguard
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Sunday, May 2nd, 2010
A few posts back, Manfred Mann on April 24th to be exact, I mentioned a terrific site lovingly maintained by Mary Payne and dedicated to 60′s pirate station Radio London. A day later, I get an email from this very iconic lady – thanking me for the kind words. I couldn’t have been more pleased – or so I thought.
Mary certainly did some trolling around, finding my post about the history of Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich’s ‘Bend It’ in the US, and proceeded to include some of those details on her Radio London site. What an knockout – thank you Mary. If ever I’d have thought as a kid that someday, even my name alone would get a mention by Radio London, I would’ve expired.
Listen: Touch Me, Touch Me / Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich DDDBMTTouch.mp3
Well within her post, she wonders what US Fontana did about a later single ‘Touch Me, Touch Me’, by the band for the American market – given ‘Bend It’ had been cock blocked due to suggestive lyrics. My real belief is US dj’s didn’t want to bother learning the band’s name – that simple. Add to it, they only visited Stateside once for press and local TV’s, never playing live, which also didn’t make for a successful recipe.
As for ‘Touch Me, Touch Me’, US Fontana simply didn’t release it. A few months later, (June ’67), it was included on the band’s US GREATEST HITS album, a collection of all their singles that traded pretty exclusively off some regional US hits like ‘Bend It’ and ‘Hold Tight’ (although I did hear ‘Hideaway’ twice on WOLF). It faltered at #155 in Billboard’s Top 200. Even that was a surprise showing. The icing on the Fontana brainforce’s cake was to NOT include the band’s then current single ‘Okay’ (released July ’67) on the LP – despite the group getting their first National US TV that very summer (August ’67) performing…..’Okay’. It was to be their last release with Fontana.
Debuting on Imperial with ‘Zabadak’ the following November, they finally got a loads of airplay and ultimately cracked Billboard’s Top 100.
As if the mention was not enough, I find on closer examination of her posting, that the Radio Caroline site has now been updated to include their weekly charts from the 60′s as well.
Oh boy. I’ve been there for a few hours and have barely had time to do this here post. Visit it and prepare. You will need to set aside even more hours.
Thank you again Mary, you’ve made my year – and keep up the great work on your Radio London site.
Tags: Billboard, Dave Dee Dozy Beaky Mick & Tich, Fontana, Imperial, Manfred Mann, Mary Payne, Radio Caroline, Radio London, UK Pirate Radio, WOLF
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Sunday, March 7th, 2010
Listen: James Brown’s Boo-Ga-Loo / James Brown
James Brown's Boo-Ga-Loo / James Brown
One day, around ’90, I decided to own every last James Brown single from the 60′s and 70′s. It was a most fun challenge, and surprisingly easy. Don’t forget, we were still in the heyday of folks dumping their vinyl for cd. Despite all the unsolvable problems that began with the onset of the cd configuration, it was absolutely a miracle for the vinyl collector. What could be better than the entire world wanting to unload their records?
James Brown’s temporary switch from the King label to Smash lasted a only year or two. Seems he signed one contract before the previous one expired, ultimately settling it all by agreeing to record only instrumentals for Smash. Some fans seem to downplay their interest in the period – not me. Besides, I’m a sucker for any releases from the Mercury Records Group: Philips, Fontana, Blue Rock, Limelight and of course Smash.
The best part of all this being the public tired of his assembly line, contract fulfilling output, so sales declined faithfully with each release. These last few before returning to King became the hardest to find. Good fun in my book.
‘James Brown’s Boo-Ga-Loo’ came and went completely unnoticed. Although the label copy suggested it’s from his NEW BREED album, it’s not. Well, sorta not. The track is actually an edited version of ‘New Breed’ retitled and easily doubles as incidental music for a B movie. No problem.
Listen: Jimmy Mack / James Brown
Jimmy Mack / James Brown
Equally enamored with muzak renditions of familiar hits meant many of his singles for the label were prime wants like ‘Let’s Go Get Stoned’ plus his own covers of ‘Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag’ and ‘Try Me’ for instance.
The last Smash 7″, and non-LP as well, is a lazy, slightly mundane (and therefore perfect for my tastes) version of Holland-Dozier-Holland’s ‘Jimmy Mack’. As with many of the jazz organists from that period, I bet they all rattled out these one after the other in a day long session, thereby making both recording costs and sales pressure low. Everyone needed a few for party music I guess. Another hard one to find, yet most likely competition is pretty minimal.
Tags: Blue Rock, Fontana, Holland-Dozier-Holland, James Brown, King, Limelight, Mercury, Philips, Smash
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Friday, January 22nd, 2010
Listen: From The Underworld / The Herd 03 From The Underworld.mp3
I just think this is one of the greatest singles ever made. I have loved it since the very first listen. Now considered a psychedelic classic, it wasn’t at the time, or for years. The Herd were accused of being too mainstream then. The media and public sometimes look down on you if you’re successful, usually associating it with being lower quality, simply because it’s mass appeal, I guess. I do that too I suppose. Still, I never could understand why this record wasn’t appreciated then as it is now, but at least it got it’s day.
Even the lyrics entranced me, a seldom occurrence. Stuff like “a black night’s coldness” and “into another world you will pass” gave me the creeps. I liked getting the creeps then, had a bit of a cemetery attraction. That may have been a pot smoking side effect, going there late at night, alone, stoned, to scare myself. And I really did, several times that summer. Quit the cryptic visits and smoking pot shortly thereafter.
Peter Frampton downplayed his time with The Herd for years. You couldn’t mention it to him. Now I think he realizes it was very credible, as he was super nice about doing the jukebox tab for me. I wanted to advise him while signing it, not to be too flattered. It’s just that living in the US, one never sees Andy Bown.
The above US promo-only foldout picture sleeve is nearly extinct. The only one I’ve ever seen actually. Oh and thank you Howard Thompson for the test pressing. It was a really awesome birthday present that year.
Above: Jukebox Tab signed by Peter Frampton
Tags: Andy Bown, Fontana, Howard Thompson, Peter Frampton, The Herd
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Saturday, January 9th, 2010
It’s been one year ago today since we lost Dave Dee, therefore I’ve decided on this re-post from January 2009.
In that time, Claranelle Morris’ daughter found my remembrances of her Mom. She googled her name. Claranelle was the sweetest lady from Fontana, who would send me all things released by the label, and especially those by Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich, who I had originally written to her about in the 60′s (see post). One of the best communication results via SO MANY RECORDS, SO LITTLE TIME I’ve ever been lucky enough to have.
Tags: Claranelle Morris, Dave Dee Dozy Beaky Mick & Tich, Fontana
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Tuesday, November 10th, 2009
Listen: Black Is Black / Los Bravos
Black Is Black / Los Bravos
Without a doubt, this was a signature song to my Summer ’66 soundtrack. This guy’s voice was almost scary. Between that and the lyrics, it especially sounded powerful late at night. I spent a week in Brooklyn that August, glued to the various New York City stations and heard this often. Along with The Lovin’ Spoonful’s ‘Summer In The City’, this song faithfully brings me back to that un-airconditioned summer vacation of listening to the radio by night and dragging my Aunt Nancy round the record shops by day: The House Of Oldies, King Karol and Colony basically. I spent hours in them. Thank God for her patience. Colony was really well stocked, but very expensive – list price: 98¢! This was huge money for a kid in his single digits. Much more interesting were the shops in the East Village. Most of them sold promos for a quarter. Lots of white label Fontana’s, pink label Decca’s and the London Group’s orange swirls. You could spot those a mile away. I vividly recall getting Pinkerton’s Assorted Colours ‘Don’t Stop Loving Me, Baby’ in one such place.
Los Bravos, from Spain, big in England, well ‘Black Is Black’ was. Now big here. What a concept. Play good music on the radio, people buy it.
You still catch this one occasionally on the Oldies stations in smaller US markets and it does pop right out .
Listen: I Don’t Care / Los Bravos
I Don't Care / Los Bravos
The UK followup actually did okay, #16. It was easily a song that band and producer Ivor Raymonde worked hard on. I still would bet my last dime they all knew it wasn’t quite good enough despite the almost good enough parts, yet my guess is they needed something out quick and just went with it, hoping no one would notice.
Their US label, London Records’ offshoot Press, did notice. It never got released Stateside.
Listen: Going Nowhere / Los Bravos
Going Nowhere / Los Bravos
Instead, ‘Going Nowhere’ was the US followup to ‘Black Is Black’. Not a big showing chartwise, it peaked at #91. In a very signature Ivor Ramonde production, it sounds identical to his approach with The Fortunes. He had his sound down. I heard this a bit around Christmas of that year (see chart below). Turns out lead singer Mike Kogel was German, adding a great accent to his Gene Pitney vocal style. Spanish band and the first ever to chart in Billboard, German singer, pretty exotic for the day.
Listen: Bring A Little Lovin’ / Los Bravos
Bring A Little Lovin' / Los Bravos
What a surprise. Almost two years later, an eternity then, when no one expected it, Los Bravos finally really followed up ‘Black Is Black’ with a song equal in greatness. ‘Bring A Little Lovin’ sounded fantastic on the radio. I lit up every time I heard that intro. It was everywhere in Spring of ’68. Oddly, it didn’t chart in the UK, making the British pressing a very pricey item. Even US copies are hard to unearth now. Had they come with this straight after ‘Black Is Black’, the sky would’ve been the limit.
Tags: Billboard, Decca, Fontana, London Records, Los Bravos, Pinkerton's Assorted Colours, Press, The Fortunes, The Lovin' Spoonful
Posted in Billboard, Decca, Fontana, Gene Pitney, Ivor Raymonde, London Records, Los Bravos, Mike Kogel, Pinkerton's Assorted Colours, Press, The Fortunes, The Lovin' Spoonful, WNDR | No Comments »
Monday, October 26th, 2009
Listen: October 26 / The Pretty Things PrettyThingsOctober26.mp3
I’ve been unable to even write an entry these past few days due to my loss on eBay. I desperately wanted to win the US Fontana stock copy of The Pretty Things ‘Midnight To Six Man’, which finally appeared for sale last week. In fact, I’ve wanted one my whole life. I have the US wlp, the UK copy etc – but not a US store pressing. Somehow eBay is claiming my user name/password didn’t match – mind you I’ve not changed them in probably ten years since joining. Therefore my $200.00 bid went unplaced, and a lucky fellow in Europe grabbed it for $31.00. I’ve tried emailing him, offering to buy it – but no reply. Not even a sympathy condolence. So I’ve been literally shattered. Anyone know of a copy I could buy? Name your price.
I always sent off to England for their singles starting around ’68. Lucky for me, I have nice copies of every release. I was a bit disappointed in ‘October 26′ upon arrival. It was tired sounding, and by far their weakest track of the period, logically not finding a place on their PARACHUTE materpiece. I figured just to be clever, I’d post it today, due to it’s namesake.
Listen: Cold Stone / The Pretty Things PrettyThingsColdStone.mp3
However, the B side ‘Cold Stone’ was a whole other story. It made up for the A side’s wimp. Phil May’s addictive vocal in full frontal attack, it couldn’t hide their RnB baby steps. Who the fuck was picking the A sides at Harvest then is what I’d like to know. Peter Jenner….can you answer that question?
Tags: Fontana, Harvest, Peter Jenner, Phil May, The Pretty Things
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Sunday, August 23rd, 2009
Listen: A Groovy Kind Of Love / The Mindbenders
A
Listening to BBC2 a few weeks back, I was loving that ‘Days’ by The Kinks just normally got a spin. Immediately followed by The Mindbenders ‘A Groovy Kind Of Love’, I realized once again, England was always a natural habitat for me. Had I been a native, I could’ve simply turned on the radio in the car for musical bliss.
Despite ‘A Groovy Kind Of Love’ becoming a massive mainstream hit, reaching #2 in both the US and England, it still sounds freaking great every time. Talk about an intro. I was on the phone with Duane when the above Kinks/Mindbenders segue went down and had to take a breather for a brief moment as it happened.
Listen: : Ashes To Ashes / The Mindbenders
A
Beginning with ‘Ashes To Ashes’, The Mindbenders’ success began an unfair linear downward erosion, with each single being played less and achieving lower and lower chart numbers each time, then no chart placings at all. The trajectory was softer in the UK, but more severe here, with this single being the big hit’s followup and doubling as The Mindbenders’ last US chart entry (#44. ’66). It worked out fine in the end for the fellows. Basically, they turned into 10cc.
Listen: : I Want Her, She Wants Me / The Mindbenders
I
Most obscure is their US pressing of ‘I Want Her, She Wants Me’, Rod Argent’s’ song from The Zombies’ ODDYSSEY AND ORACLE. They deserve an A+ for cover choice, this version being as equally necessary to a full, healthy life as the original. Admittedly, the band suffer from the lack of Colin Blunstone’s angelic voice on this one, a set back not only for The Mindbenders, as well, for every other musical combo till the end of time.
Listen: : It’s Getting Harder All The Time / The Mindbenders
MindbendersHarder.mp3
Listen: : Off And Running / The Mindbenders
Off
They landed a two song technicolor spot in the classic TO SIR WITH LOVE film, performing ‘It’s Getting Harder All The Time’ and ‘Off And Running’. But despite the movie’s success, and character lead, Lulu, achieving her US #1 as a result, unbelievably it did The Mindbenders zero good in ressurecting their US presence.
Almost cookie cutter in beat group song perfection, Fontana US issued both tracks as a double A side. Promos occasionally turn up, but stock copies are very thin on the ground. Despite my constant search through the years for such a pressing, I only found one a recently, pictured above.
Tags: 10CC, Colin Blunstone, Fontana, Graham Gouldman, Lulu, Rod Argent, The Mindbenders, The Zombies, To Sir With Love
Posted in 10CC, Colin Blunstone, Duane Sherwood, Fontana, Graham Gouldman, Lulu, Rod Argent, The Mindbenders, The Zombies, To Sir With Love | No Comments »
Monday, August 10th, 2009
Listen: Sweet William / Andy Bown AndyBownWilliam.mp3
It’s real simple. Andy Bown was in The Herd. He has a lifetime, out of jail free card. End of story.
Add to that, a haircut rivaling only Brian Jones.
But seriously, he’s made a lot of great singles. These are two. ‘Sweet William’ was originally released as the B side of The Herd’s seminal classic ‘From The Underworld’. The above version was a re-record for Andy Bown’s second solo album, ironically titled SWEET WILLIAM. I always loved the song.
Listen: New York Satyricon Zany / Andy Bown AndyBownSatyricon.mp3
Go back and read my story of meeting he and Peter Frampton during a Frampton’s Camel show back in the 70′s. It was an exciting moment. A few years later, ‘New York Satyricon Zany’ came out as a UK single, with an obvious Peter Frampton solo during the last passage. Either way, it became an instant favorite, and it’s just one example of Andy Bown’s many songwriting and vocal superiorities.
Tags: Andy Bown, Brian Jones, Fontana, Frampton's Camel, GM Records, Peter Frampton, The Herd
Posted in Andy Bown, Brian Jones, Fontana, Frampton's Camel, GM Records, Mercury, Peter Frampton, The Herd | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 5th, 2009
I got a fantastic email today from a reader in France, Bands Michel, who alerted me to a site whereby you can read just about every BILLBOARD from the 50′s, 60′s and onwards. These are mesmerizing. Scrolling through the weekly singles reviews whereby they predict records that will achieve Top 20, Top 60 or simply a ‘Chart’ placing alone is worth the visit. Most of the greats are in that later section, although many a ‘should have been a hit’ record features in the other two as well. Not to mention stunning full page tip sheet adds for singles by The Herd, The Who, Mary Wells, Scott Walker, Ike & Tina Turner, The Small Faces, multi artist adverts for Mercury, Okeh, Motown, Fontana, Deram, Ric Tic, Bang, Sue Records plus hundreds and hundreds more. Do yourself a favor:
BILLBOARD MAGAZINE ARCHIVE
Tags: Bang, Billboard, Deram, Fontana, Ike & Tina Turner, Mary Wells, Mercury, Motown, Okeh, Ric Tic, Scott Walker, Sue Records, The Herd, The Small Faces, The Who
Posted in Bang, Billboard, Deram, Fontana, Ike & Tina Turner, Mary Wells, Mercury, Motown, Okeh, Ric Tic, Scott Walker, Sue Records, The Herd, The Small Faces, The Who | No Comments »
Friday, July 3rd, 2009
Listen: Getting Might Crowded / Betty Everett BettyEverettGetting.mp3
A nice one to have on Vee Jay, but even nicer on UK Fontana. A Northern Soul classic, a Mod favorite, lot’s of descriptions have been pinned on this baby. Part of a healthy chart run in ’65 – she had five BILLBOARD Top 100′s. Pretty much all of her Vee Jay output is worth having. Good songs, most of them have been covered too. This one’s a perfect snapshot of the time period’s all nighter club ambience. Best left alone, kinda like ‘Be My Baby’.
Tags: Betty Everett, Billboard, Fontana, Northern Soul, Vee Jay
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Thursday, June 18th, 2009
Listen: Cry To Me / The Pretty Things PrettyThingsCry.mp3
I don’t need much prompting to give The Pretty Things a shout out. Phil May is one of music’s greatest vocalists. When I was running The Medicine Label at Warner Brothers in the 90′s, I asked then chairman Mo Ostin, during casual hallway conversation, if he’d let me reissue their 1973 FREEWAY MADNESS album, which was ripe for CD format. No problem.
Mo was the ultimate executive, they literally don’t make them that way any more. Prior to getting the green light to set up Medicine, I had a memorable meeting/job interview with him. I wanted details of when he signed both The Kinks and Family, which he ever so graciously recounted. And that was only the beginning of the many fascinating stories.
FREEWAY MADNESS, one of those Mo signings, holds some serious sentimental placemarks. Plus it afforded the band their first US tour. How insane is that? Despite their legendary status almost instantly, it wasn’t until spring ’73 that The Pretty Things played their initial US show, at LA’s Whisky A Go Go. I up and flew to California in April, like the senseless Anglophile that I was. Turned into a fantastic trip. Rich Fazekas, then part of United Artists hip college radio department, put me up for the week and introduced me to old Hollywood. UA had Family, Hawkwind, Ian Whitcomb, Man, The Move, Wizzard, endless Blue Note acts. It was the place to be. We raided, with Greg Shaw, UA’s publishing office, then anxious to dispose of their 7″ library. Talk about timing. We saw Tim Buckley at The Troubadour and of course The Pretty Things at The Whisky several nights straight. One month later, I booked them back at my college. May 19, 1973 to be exact.
Fast forward to last night. At a friend’s for dinner, I became engrossed in THE ROLLING STONES ALBUM FILE & COMPLETE DISCOGRAPHY, by Alan Clayson, that was meant to be casual coffee table glancing. I intended taking a quick look, then couldn’t put it down. Learn something every day – and with this book you’ll learn many somethings. For instance, March 7, 1965. Manchester. Following a stopped Rolling Stones show at The Palace Theater, Keith and Mick taxied across town to leap onstage with The Pretty Things (Brian Jones was a room mate of The Pretty Things at the time) at The Manchester Cavern that evening. Among the songs that Mick duetted with Phil May: ‘Cry To Me’.
Tags: Alan Clayson, Family, Fontana, Greg Shaw, Hawkwind, Ian Whitcomb & Bluesville, Mo Ostin, Phil May, Rich Fazekas, The Medicine Label, The Move, The Pretty Things, The Rolling Stones Album File & Complete Discography, Tim Buckley, Troubadour, Whisky A Go Go, Wizzard
Posted in Alan Clayson, Fontana, Greg Shaw, Hawkwind, Phil May, Rich Fazekas, The Move, The Pretty Things, The Rolling Stones Album File & Complete Discography, Tim Buckley, Troubadour, United Artists, Whisky A Go Go, Wizzard | No Comments »
Sunday, December 28th, 2008
Listen: Zabadak / Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich
Zabadak
Last year around this time, Bob Lefsetz, who publishes a fascinating subscription letter you should all Google and sign up for, wrote about hearing The Box Tops during Christmas break in Vermont, ’67. It was a nice piece, time traveling me back to that Christmas/New Year’s week, growing up outside of Syracuse, a ten year old obsessed with records. I wrote him a response with much of the following, but don’t know if he ever read it. He never responded.
Everything happens for a reason. It motivated me to start my own blog, so all good.
Basically, I still like the winter weather as it reminds of that week off school as a kid. Everyone wants to escape it here in NY nowadays but I love staying home, hanging around the deserted city, having friends over especially if they bring Christmas cookies, keeping the fireplace going and hoping for snow.
Growing up near Syracuse was pretty drab but we had one remarkable perk: a Top 40 station, WOLF, that from ’64 – ’67 seemed to flawlessly play the good bits of BILLBOARD’s chart alongside national non-hits, most of them British, and many rightfully considered classics today, including several US flops each by The Who, Them, The Move, The Zombies, The Kinks, The Moody Blues, Unit 4 + 2, The Hullaballoos, The Pretty Things and Manfred Mann.
So I’d spend that whole week glued to the radio, crawling the record shops and record departments at W.T. Grants and Woolworths, collecting chart handouts, asking for discarded Billboard magazines and stocking up on deletions.
One of the UK bands whose label, Fontana, didn’t or couldn’t put the needed payola cash behind them on a national level, actually had hits upstate: Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich. Some consider them too pop, or zany, but I just loved their image of paisley pants with flowered shirts and their music.
Eventually, they switched US labels in late ’67, to Imperial, who made a big attempt at breaking them here and almost did. ‘Zabadak’ got a lot of play, charted in many markets and got great reaction. KHJ in Los Angeles took it Top 10. (See chart above). Both my local Top 40′s were spinning it, and even the adult contemporary one.
I was feeling liberated. Finally Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich were having a hit, and The Small Faces too, ‘Itchycoo Park’ was doing equally well. US radio was about to be on pulse. I didn’t need to find a way to live in England after all.
Then thud. ‘Zabadak’ stalls at #52 on BILLBOARD’s Hot 100 (above). Seems it’s been all down hill ever since.
December 28th: it’s been 41 years today, the receipt is still in the sleeve, that I bought ‘Zabadak’ at Walt’s Records on Salina Street, doing my part. It’s a fantastic single. All jungle drums with haunting strings and chants. Sounded stunning on the radio then, like nothing else. A lot of stations played it for a few weeks. The kind of record that zaps me right back, hence I always remember the date and I’ll always remember that great record shop.
I can easily visualize the decor and it’s unique record shop smell. I wanted everything in the place, still do. One whole wall was lined with brackets that held 25+ copies of a single, where all the biggest sellers made it. But the obscure records, many of the ones I mentioned, would reside in the back on a four sided carousel that swirled, and had slot like pockets, each able to hold ten or so copies of a single. I would go straight to that unit every visit which was usually once or twice a month, having to decide which two or three singles I could afford on my dollar per week allowance. Some of the ones I had to pass up took me years to locate: The Small Faces ‘All Or Nothing’ with the picture sleeve and The Riot Squad ‘How Is It Done’ come to mind. But there were many I did get like Them ‘Richard Corey’, The Yardbirds ‘Goodnight Sweet Josephine’ and The Herd ‘From The Underworld’.
On December 28, 1967 I tore to that rack and there it was. ‘Zabadak’. My Aunt Nancy, a grand lady, had brought me shopping and kindly paid as a Christmas treat, thereby allowing me to spend my dollar allowance on Inez & Charlie Foxx’s ‘(!-2-3-4-5-6-7) Count The Days’. We went on to visit another relative that afternoon where I was tortured, staring at these jems, jonesing to get home and play them as they did not own a record player.
Now I’m convinced Hot Chip could do a killer remake of ‘Zabadak’.
Oh and one other tid bit about Walt’s. I ran there to buy Traffic’s ‘Hole In My Shoe’ the day after seeing them at Syracuse University’s Jabberwocky Club on their first tour. As I walked in, out came Traffic, with loads of soul and jazz albums. They patiently waited as I bought the single then signed it’s picture sleeve.
Tags: Billboard, Bob Lefsetz, Dave Dee Dozy Beaky Mick & Tich, Fontana, Imperial, Jukebox Tab, KHJ, Manfred Mann, Radio Charts, The Box Tops, The Hullaballoos, The Kinks, The Moody Blues, The Move, The Pretty Things, The Small Faces, The Who, The Zombies, Them, Traffic, Unit 4 + 2, Walt's Records, Woolworth's, WT Grants
Posted in Billboard, Bob Lefsetz, Dave Dee Dozy Beaky Mick & Tich, Fontana, Hot Chip, Imperial, Inez & Charlie Foxx, KHJ, Radio Charts, The Box Tops, The Herd, The Hullaballoos, The Pink Floyd, The Riot Squad, The Small Faces, The Who, The Yardbirds, Them, Traffic, Unit 4 + 2, Walt's Records, WOLF, Woolworth, WT Grants | No Comments »
Friday, November 21st, 2008
Listen: Don't Bring Me Down / The Pretty Things 04 Don't Bring Me Down.mp3
44 years ago today, a radio station in Detroit actually playlisted this. Can you believe it? It was one of the initial promos WMCR gave me, might have even been in that very first pile. A few years later, I found stock copies at Woolworth’s on Main Street in Oneida, NY, and saved a box (pictured). I bought several over a two or three day period. Lord have mercy. The great singles that were in those boxes.
Tags: Fontana, Radio Charts, The Pretty Things, WKNX, WMCR
Posted in Radio Charts, The Pretty Things, WKNX, WMCR | No Comments »
