Sigh.
Nice to see a Go-Gos movie. Wasn't one VH1 special enough? Again, The Go-Gos were not a band after their second album. FIGHT ME. They were a brand. They were not great instrumentalists, but they did not have to be. Their songs were catchy, but there weren't that many of them. They were fun in a B-52's way, even if Belinda Carlisle's Cher-esque vibrato on helium always bothered me. Still, it was nice to see clean-cut, good-looking gals make good in the MTV era. And someday I will play some! But you should know that there were quite a few all-female bands before them. Bands like Birtha and Fanny would have wiped the floor with them.
Brian Hyland - Mail Order Gun (1970)
Brian Hyland had three Top 10 hits in the decade. His first, "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini", went right to #1! 1960. There was also "Gypsy Woman" in 1970 (written by Curtis Mayfield) and that wonderful September song, "Sealed With A Kiss". You know I love the artists who started in the pre-Beatle era and try to reinvent themselves later on. There were so many.
In September 2006 Paul Vance, the song's co-writer, read on TV his own mistaken obituary, as a consequence of the death of another man, Paul Van Valkenburgh, who claimed to have written "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini" under the name Paul Vance. The impostor had explained his lack of royalty payments for the song by claiming that he had sold the rights as a teenager. Vance, the song's true co-author, has earned several million dollars from the song since 1960, describing it as "a money machine".
Vance also co-wrote "Playground In My Mind," the hit for Clint Holmes, and "Run, Joey, Run", a hit for David Geddes.
Traffic Safety Tip - Loaded
Brian Hyland - The Bum Is Mine (1977) Written by Allen Toussaint.
Jacqueline Taïeb - 7 A.M. (1968)
Jerry Lee Lewis - The Cannikin Clink (Let A Soldier Drink) (1969) From rehearsals for the musical Catch My Soul, of which I will go into more detail in a future episode. Let's just say I bought the vinyl soundtrack, and it's a pretty good Hair-era retelling of Othello. This is from Peter Guralnick, who authored the ne plus ultra bio (to me) of Elvis Presley:
Picture Jerry Lee Lewis as Iago in the rock ‘n’ roll version of “Othello.” You’re just going to have to imagine it. Me, too. Because as far as I know, no visual record exists except for a few scattered publicity photographs.
He played the role in Los Angeles in 1968. The show was scheduled to come to New York next (we had already made plans to attend) – but it never did. According to Jerry Lee, it was because he had grown tired of the actor’s life, six weeks of following the same script night after night was enough, even if, like any Method performer, he never did play it the same way twice. (“I never worked so hard in my life. I mean two hours and forty-five minutes running up and down stairs – it was a mess.”) Very likely the fact that his recording career revived at exactly this time, with three Top 10 country hits in a row, had something to do with it, too.
No matter. As this rehearsal recording clearly proves, Jerry Lee inhabited the role, just as he has inhabited virtually every song he has ever sung. Listen to the leer in his voice, listen to the clarity of the message, listen to his delight in the lines. Oh man, I wish I had seen the show.
When I first met him two years later, in the spring of 1970, the role was still clearly in his blood. “You know,” he said to me toward the end of my visit, “a lot of people think if you can make a lot of money, that’s what this life is all about. Well, that can’t be what life is all about, you know? If I can just play my piano and sing – you know, the proudest I ever was in my life was when I got my first record out, hear[ing] it on the radio for the first time.“ He meditated on that for a little while. “Well, life is just a vapor,” he said, winking at me, as if I, too, must surely recognize this Shakespearean allusion. “You breathe it in, and what the heck, it’s gone.“
Kenny Vance - Shuffling Up Your Downs (1969) Written by Becker and Fagen. From Wikipedia: In 1967, the songwriting duo of Walter Becker and Donald Fagen came to the Brill Building to sell their songs, and ended up knocking on Vance's door. Vance liked what he heard, and offered to manage them. The duo arranged horn and string sections for Jay and the Americans and toured with them as bassist and keyboardist, eventually recording demos and masters with Vance in 1969. He continued to work with Becker & Fagen until 1971, when he brought one of their songs ("I Mean to Shine") to Richard Perry, who then brought it to Barbra Streisand and recorded it on Barbra Joan Streisand.
Take A Dip With Dinah - Kenny Vance (1969) Ibid.
The Gass - In The City (1966)
The Gass - The New Breed (1966)
The She's - The Fool (1966)
The What Four - Ain't No Use In Crying Susan (1966)
Formed in Manhattan and comprised of Elizabeth Burke (drums), Cathy Cochran (guitar), China Girard (rhythm guitar) and Diane Hartford (bass). They signed with Columbia in 1966, where they released "Baby I Dig Love" b/w "It's Hard to Live On Promises" and "I'm Gonna Destroy That Boy" and "Ain't No Use in Crying, Susan."
"I'm Gonna Destroy That Boy" is a great title.
The What Four - Do You Believe (1966) Different band, same name. This one from Dayton, Ohio.
The What Four - It's Hard To Live On Promises (1966)
Traffic Safety Tip - Corpse
The What Four - Whenever (1966) The males.
The What Four - Baby, I Dig Love (1966) The females.
The What Four - I'm Gonna Destroy That Boy (1966)
Topper Headon - Drumming Man (1985) Ex-drummer for The Clash. 'Drumming Man' is a cover of Gene Krupa's signature tune 'Drummin' Man', as originally recorded by Gene Krupa & His Orchestra in 1936.
XTC - This World Over (1984)
L Ron Hubbard/Yvonne Gillham Jentzsch - The Golden Dawn (1972) Scientology is an applied religious philosophy, jerk.
John Phillips - Zulu Warrior (1973-1979)
Sensation Alex Harvey Band - Give My Compliments To The Chef (1974) The cover is a send-up of the big Roger Dean covers done for Yes, Uriah Heap, etc. I love this record very much. Alice Cooper was a pretty tame imitation/contemporary. This is the real stuff.
Traffic Safety Tip - Lady Luck
Frank Zappa - Little House I Used To Live In (1970)
The Shadows Of Knight - Shake Revisited '69 (1969)
?-?
Velvet Underground - Waiting For The Man (1967)
The Webspinners (Ron Dante) - Theme From Spider Man (1972)
Thee Prophets - Rag Doll Boy (1969)
?-?
Tito Puente - Oye Como Va (1962) Original version
Traffic Safety Tip - Bottle
Tony Martin - Aquarius (1982)
Pink Floyd - Vegetable Man (1967)
Lorne Greene - Waco (1966)
Traffic Safety Tip - Corpse II
Winchester 76 - Buffalo (1967)
Winston Cigarettes - It's How You Make It Long (1967)
Joe Byrd and the Field Hippies - You Can Never Come Down (1968)
Hot Chocolate - You Could've Been A Lady (1971)
D-Sides in Korean.
You, too, can be a Dorothy Moskowitz completist!
Yet MORE First Recordings of Famous Songs.
For my 200th Podcast, I wanted to thank you all. Greatest Hits, Part 1.
The Police, before they were The Police.
Chuck Berry.
Stiff Records, Solo Cream Members, and that ”Sidehackers” Soundtrack You Have Been Begging For.
A Small Eternity In New York City.
One Bad Apple
Chicago and Some Extracurricular Activities
Carpenters. Again.
Music Mrs. Neal Can’t Stand
The Monkees, Bond Street, and Richard Simmons
Tim Curry was Frank N. Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Lance Rentzel...also recorded music.
I‘m gonna Prog you good. Prog you like you know I should. I‘m gonna Prog you until you‘re sore. THEN I‘m gonna Prog you some more!!
The Moody Blues
Chris Dedrick
Some Great Songs From Past D-Sides Episodes!
The DAM Trio with David Bowie.
Hodge Podge of Rarities
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