ELEVEN FUTURE MUSIC STARS IN 65-66

I may make people sick with the post pertaining to 1965 - 1966, but that is where my mind is at right now, due to the research I'm doing for a novel I'm writing, which takes place in early 1966. With that said, one of the plot lines of this novel has to do with a character working at a Top 40 radio station.

I've been going through old radio station hit surveys on ARSA and some that have turned up on Pinterest and Tumblr, and I found that Top 40 radio was a cornucopia of various styles and genres.

The main reason was there were not individual formats for every genre or style, just Top 40, country & easy listening/adult contemporary (which was the new kid on the block in 1966). Smaller markets had, what was known as, block programming, which meant they were all three formats for certain portions of the day.

The other reason was every radio station had its own program director or music director, who based the playlist on sales and request. Unlike today, when large corporate radio stations all sort of play the same songs in every market based on what the corporate office says should be played. Another thing to remember was Top 40 was aimed at an audience that was, for the most part, under 30 years old and mainly between ages 12 to 20. You find individual radio station played a myriad of soul artist, British invasion groups, girl groups, and regional garage bands. They would play it and see if anyone liked it, without "testing" it first, like the corporate giants of today do.

Looking at these charts, I noticed that 1965 - 66 saw the first appearances of some major music acts of the 70s & 80s. Granted some took off within a short time (Neil Diamond, Dolly Parton, The Who), some appeared and then disappeared (Edwin Starr, The O'Jays, Statler Brothers), and some were known by other names (David Bowie, Warren Zevon) or part of a group (Don Williams, Joe Stampley, Delbert McClinton).

THE WHO - They are considered the third most influential band of the British Invasion, but in 1965-66, The Who were struggling to make an impact in the United States. They were the hot new band in their homeland, but in this country they had distribution problems, bouncing back and forth between Decca, Brunswick and Atco. They also seemed like they were too young. They also seemed odd, with their use of distortion and archaic endings to their songs. In some radio markets, "I Can't Explain" was a big hit, but not "My Generation," in another market, "My Generation" was the hit, but not "I Can't Explain."  There was also confusion caused by an earlier record, by an unknown studio group, called The You Know Who Group, followed by a goofy, annoying, nostalgia, novelty project by the Four Season masquerading as The Wonder Who, and a Canadian group, Chad Allan & the Expressions, began using the name The Guess Who. However, after their appearance at the Monterrey Pop Festival in 1967, everyone knew who The Who was.

NEIL DIAMOND - In late 1965, Diamond had his first taste of success as a Brill Building songwriter, when Jay & The Americans had a hit with his composition, "Sunday and Me." The next year, Diamond signed to the Bang label and released the single "Solitary Man."  It was not a big hit, but his next singles, "Cherry Cherry" and "Kentucky Woman," were bigger hits. By the end of the year, three of his songs were used on a new TV sitcom, The Monkees. One of those songs, "I'm a Believer" became a number one hit.

DOLLY PARTON - Many people don't know this but in 1965-66, Dolly was being marketed by Monument Records as the next Leslie Gore-Brenda Lee-Skeeter Davis. During that time period she released three singles, which received airplay in many Southern markets, but didn't seem to sell very good. The only one to make the Billboard chart, was a remake of the 50s hit, "Happy Happy Birthday Baby." The other two were a Phil Spector-ish "Don't Drop Out" and the Joe Meek-ish "Busy Signal." However, someone at Monument figured out that her popularity in the South might signal that she should be a country singer. Her next hits, "Dumb Blonde" and "Something Fishy," were country hits and the next year, she joined The Porter Wagoner Show. Once people saw what Dolly looked like, they fell in love with her.

EDWIN STARR - Maybe not a major hit maker, but he certainly gave us one of the big hits of the 70s, "War," as well as the hits "25 Miles," "Contact" and "H.A.P.P.Y Radio." In 1965, Starr was on a small label called Ric Tic. His first single, "Agent Double O-Soul," about a hipster-secret agent went Top 30. Another single, in early 1966, "Stop Her On Sight (S.O.S)" only made it to number 48 on the Billboard Hot 100. Like Neil Diamond, Starr's songwriting paid off, when one of his compositions, "Oh How Happy" became a huge hit for a white vocal group named The Shades of Blue. Later, Ric Tic was bought out by Motown, which is where Starr had his biggest hits.

THE O'JAYS - In the 70s, The O'Jays were a three man soul group, who had seven Top 40 ("Love Train" & "Back Stabbers" were two of them). In 1965- 66, they were FIVE guys from Ohio, who had been recording since 1963. They had their highest charting hit of the 60s with "Lipstick Traces." It only made it to number 48 on the Billboard Hot 100, but was a top 20 hit in Canada. It also got the group some radio and TV exposure, but still they were struggling to make it big. In the early 70s, two of the original members left. The other three were signed to Gamble & Huff's Philadelphia International record label, where they became one of the best remembered soul acts of the 70s.

THE STATLER BROTHERS -  In 1964, The Statler Brothers joined the Johnny Cash Road Show as both his backup singers and opening act, mixing gospel with country. Their first two single for Columbia failed to chart, but their third single, "Flowers On the Wall". went to number 2 on the country chart and number 4 on the Hot 100 in January of 1966. After that, The Statlers never had another Top 40 pop hit and only had two Top 10 country hits. They did become more familiar to people in the later part of the 60s, thanks to their weekly appearances on Johnny Cash's TV show. When that show ended, they parted amicably with Cash, signed with Mercury Records and began churning out one hit country song after another. "Flowers On the Wall" would later turn up in the movie Pulp Fiction.

WARREN ZEVON - In 1966, Warren Zevon wasn't Warren Zevon. Instead he was Stephen Lyme of the folk rock duo of lyme & cybelle (Not a typo, they were ahead of their time by using lowercase letters).  Lyme and his female partner, Cybelle (Violet) Santiago had a minor hit with a song called "Follow Me." Their next single was a cover of Bob Dylan's "If You Gotta Go, Go Now." It was banned from radio stations for being "suggestive" (Maybe they thought it was about going to the bathroom). Zevon recorded a solo album under his real name, in 1969, that flopped. Most people became familiar with Zevon after his 1978 LP Excitable Boy, which contained the hit "Werewolves of London."

DAVID BOWIE - During the early days of the British Invasion, any single by a British band might be picked up for airplay by Top 40 radio stations. A handful of radio stations in the United States picked up a sort of The-Yardbirds-meets-The-Who styled song called "You've Got a Habit of Leaving" by David Jones & the Lower Third in late 1965. The problem was there was another British singer named David Jones, in late 65, with a record out called "What Are We Going To Do."

It shouldn't have been confusing. One record was on Parlaphone, the other was on Colpix. One was dark haired and looked like a child and other was a skinny, blonde guy with an overbite and eyes that were different colored. By the end of the year, one of those David Jones had become Davy Jones and was a member of The Monkees, and the Lower Third released a new single called "Can't Help Thinking About Me," only this time, the lead singer was credited as David Bowie. Few American radio stations picked the new Lower Third single. Bowie would have the same sort of smattering of airplay later in the decade with his original version of "Space Oddity" on Deram. By 1973, most people were not confusing Bowie with Davy Jones.

Don Williams is the middle in this concert announcement.

DON WILLIAMS - Often referred to as the Gentle Giant of Country Music because of his soft, bass-baritone voice and six foot height, Don Williams became a major star in country music in the 70s and 80s with hits like "It Must Be Love," "Some Broken Hearts Never Mend," "Tulsa Time" and "Amanda." In 1965 - 66, Williams was part of a folk trio known as the Pozo-Seco Singers, that was intended to be Columbia Records answer to Peter, Paul & Mary. Their first single, "Time," featured Susan Taylor on the lead vocal. The slow, somber ballad received substantial airplay, but barely missed the Top 40 (Number 47 on Billboard). Their second single became a hit on the easy listening chart, but not on the Top 40. The third single, "I Can Make It With You," featured Don Williams on lead vocal and became their first Top 40 hit. It also received heavy airplay on Top 40 radio stations. Their next single, "Look What You've Done," was a duet of Williams and Taylor. The group disbanded in 1970. Williams began having solo hits on the country charts in 1973 and had one solo Top 40 hit in1980 with "I Believe In You."

Joe Stampley is second from the left.

JOE STAMPLEY -  In the 70s, Joe Stampley became a major country star with hits like "Soul Song," "Roll On, Big Mama," & "Put Your Clothes Back On," and recorded novelty songs with Moe Bandy in the 80s, such as "Just Good Ole Boys," "Holding The Bag," and the rather homophobic "Honky Tonk Queen" and "Where's The Dress." However, in 1965 - 66, people probably heard him and thought he was Mick Jagger. He was lead singer of a group called The Uniques, who were on the Paula record label. They had a minor hit with a song called "You Ain't Tough," which sounded like the Rolling Stones, except for the chorus, where Stampley would go country singer for a few seconds. The Uniques also had hits with "Not Too Long Ago" and "All These Things," which Joe Stampley re-recorded as a solo artist in the mid-70s. It went to Number 1 on the country chart.

DELBERT McCLINTON - Even before 1965 - 66, Delbert McClinton was part of rock & roll history. He is the person playing harmonica on the Bruce Channel 1962 Number 1 hit "Hey Baby." That song influenced The Beatles first two hits, "Love Me Do" & "Please Please Me." In 1965, McClinton and singer Ronnie Kelly, recording as The Ron-Dels (Get it) recorded a folkish song "If You Really Want Me To I'll Go." It received minor airplay, but because of being on a small label, it just snuck into the Hot 100 and peaked at Number 97.  McClinton has been a sort of cult artist writing songs for other artist, recording duets with Bonnie Raitt ("Good Man, Good Woman") & Tanya Tucker ("Tell Me About It"), as well as, his two most famous songs, the 80s hit "Giving It Up For Your Love" and "I'm Your Weatherman," featured in the movie Groundhog Day. (Note: There was a band called the Rondells. Most photos are of them, so I used a photo of the 45 at the top of this post)

Honorable Mentions - Danny Hutton of Three Dog Night worked for Hanna-Barbera Records and had a minor hit (Number 73) in 1965 with the song "Roses & Rainbows." Fellow Three Dog Night member, Cory Wells, was in the garage band, The Enemys. They were one of many bands that recorded the song "Hey Joe" before Jimi Hendrix. They also appeared in an episode of The Beverly Hillbillies, where they performed the song "Mo-Jo Woman" & "Oh Pretty Woman."

Jimmy Page & Glen Campbell - Jimmy Page, besides joining The Yardbirds and appearing in the film Blow Up with them, he was on several major radio hits of that era, such as "Downtown" by Petual Clark, "As Tears Go By" by Marianne Faithful, "Is It True?" by Brenda Lee. He and future Led Zeppelin band mate, John Paul Jones, played on most of Herman's Hermits and Donovan's big hits of 1966.

Glen Campbell was working and, sometimes, touring with The Beach Boys. He is playing on the Pet Sounds LP. Like Page, Campbell was a session guitarist. He worked in Los Angeles with the Wrecking Crew, which meant he was on hits by Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Nancy Sinatra, Jan & Dean, The Byrds, The Mama & Papas, Sonny & Cher, etc etc.

PODCAST TAKES YOU BACK TO THE SPRING OF 1966

The new format for the podcast are a success. Jeff & Jamie's trial run as guest host of the podcast has had more hits than any other podcast on this website.This time Jeff is by himself with a musical montage on memories from the spring of 1966, the height of Batmania. Using the Airheads Radio Survey Archive as a reference, he has mixed the major hits, that have been overplayed on Oldies radio stations for years, with songs that were favorites on Top 40 radio, but have rarely been heard from since 1966.

This was the era of the British Invasion, Motown & Stax soul, folk rock, garage bands, and girl groups. Emerging sounds included psychedelia, easy listening and country pop.

How many songs will you recognize? Enjoy!

GLEN CAMPBELL & HIS PARENTS IN A SOUTHWESTERN BELL COMMERCIAL

Southwestern Bell had an ad campaign featuring celebrities from each state they served. A parent or relative would say they called the celebrity long distance. Glen Campbell and his parents represented Arkansas (BTW: As a monster kid, I still think it is cool that Missouri was represented by Vincent Price and his niece).

It is amazing that I haven't seen this commercial in years, yet remember it word for word. NOTE: This cuts off abruptly.

WE'RE GONNA CHANGE IT UP A BIT - COVER SONGS THAT WERE DRASTICALLY DIFFERENT THAN THE ORIGINAL

Let's face it, most cover songs sound pretty close to the original. The Beatles version of "Twist and Shout" sounds like the Isley Brothers version, Smash Mouth's version of "I'm a Believer" sounds almost identical to The Monkees version, and even the Jeff Beck Group's version of "Love Is Blue" sounds like Paul Mauriat's "Love is Blue." These are called "faithful" cover versions.

However, there artist that take things in a totally different direction. This blog post (and podcast) will celebrate those great cover versions that "changed it up a bit."

Since I'm using the podcast for illustration, I won't go into very much detail. However, I will point out the inspiration for this post. The Bluebelles' 1984 British hit "Young At Heart" was the subject of a lawsuit by former Fabulous Poodles' fiddle player Bobby Valentino, who played on the record. He said that he should get a credit and some compensation, because his fiddle playing contributed to the success of The Bluebelles recording. It was originally recorded by Bananarama the previous year with a typical bouncy, synthesizer pop song that Bananarama was known for. The judge agreed that his country pop fiddle made the remake a big hit.

I got to thinking about other cover songs that seem to be unrecognizable from the original. Vanilla Fudge's headbanging psychedelic version of The Supremes hit "You Keep Me Hanging On" came to mind, along with Peggy Lee's smoldering, beatnikish version of Little Willie John's bumpin blues "Fever."

I once heard an interview where Screaming Jay Hawkins said he liked Nina Simone's version of "I Put a Spell On You" better than his. On the other hand, I had a co-worker in radio, who would become visibly angry at the very mention of James Taylor's version of the Jimmy Jones hit "Handy Man." Personally, I never cared for Donna Summer's version of "MacArthur Park" and I like most of Donna Summer's hits.

Everyone has covered "Do You Want To Dance?" and "Money," but Bette Midler and the Flying Lizards did those songs different than any other act.

Many of theses are either, rocker becomes ballad, soft rock becomes heavy metal or disco, even a psychedelic pop song turned into a bluegrass song and a bluegrass song from a 60's rural sitcom turned into a Celtic dirge. Even a British rock band doing a goofy Perry Como song about mannequin lust. So lets take a listen.

NOTE: I realize the sound is bad on this. I'm using "borrowed" equipment, so I don't have control of the sound quality. My apologies. I also used a "guest announcer" for this podcast.

"Young At Heart" The Bluebelles 1984 (Original recording by Bananarama 1983)
"For Once In My Life" Stevie Wonder 1968 (Original hit Tony Bennett in 1967)
"Summertime Blues" Blue Cheer 1967 (Original hit by Eddie Cochran 1958)
"Do You Want To Dance?" Bette Midler 1972 (Original hit by Bobby Freeman 1958)
"Love Buzz" Nirvana 1989 (Original recording by Shocking Blue 1969)

"Hooked On a Feeling" Blue Suede 1974 (Original hit by B.J Thomas)
"I Put a Spell On You" Nina Simone 1965 (Original hit by Screaming Jay Hawkins 1955)
"There Is a Time" Solas 2008 (Original recording by The Dillards with Maggie Peterson 1964)
"Fever" Peggy Lee 1958 (Original recording by Little Willie John 1956)
"Diamonds & Rust" Judas Priest 1977  (Original hit by Joan Baez 1975)
"Careless Whispers" Seether 2009 (Original hit by Wham 1984)
"Handy Man" James Taylor 1978 (Original hit by Jimmy Jones 1960)
"The Locomotion" Grand Funk Railroad 1974 (Original hit by Little Eva 1962)
"Bette Davis Eyes" Kim Carnes 1981 (Original recording by Jackie DeShannon 1975)
"Money" The Flying Lizards 1980 (Barrett Strong 1959)
"Sweet Dreams (Are Made of These)" Marilyn Manson 1994 (Original hit for The Eurythmics 1983)
"Satisfaction" Devo 1980 (Original hit for The Rolling Stones 1965)
"Fox On the Run" Tom T. Hall 1976 (Original hit by Manfred Mann 1969)
"Summertime" Billy Stewart 1966 (Written in 1937, first rock era version by Sam Cooke 1957)
"Never Gonna Say Goodbye" Gloria Gaynor 1974 (Original hit by the Jackson Five 1972)
"You Keep Me Hanging On" Vanilla Fudge 1968 (Original hit by The Supremes 1966)
"MacArthur Park" Donna Summer 1980 (Original hit by Richard Harris 1968)
"Woodstock" Mathews Southern Comfort fall 1970 (Original hit by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young March 1970)
"With a Little Help From My Friends" Joe Cocker 1968 (Originally recorded by The Beatles in 1967)
"Walk On By" The Stranglers 1980 (Original hit for Dionne Warwick 1962)
"Proud Mary" Ike & Tina Turner 1971 (Original hit for Creedence Clearwater Revival 1969)
"Light My Fire" Jose Feliciano 1968 (Original hit by The Doors 1967)
"Knock On Wood" Amii Stewart 1979  (Original hit by Eddie Floyd 1966)
"I'm a Man" The Yardbirds 1965 (Original hit by Bo Diddley 1955)
"House of the Rising Sun"  Frygid Pink 1970 (Original hit by The Animals 1964)
"Hey Joe"  Jimi Hendrix 1967 (Original hit by The Leaves 1965)
"Glendora" The Downliners Sect 1966 (Original hit by Perry Como 1956)
"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" Diana Ross 1970 (Original hit for Marvin Gaye & Tami Terrell 1967)

And last but not least:

"Blinded By The Light," "For You" and "Spirits In the Night" Manfred Mann's Earth Band 1976-1980 (Original recordings by Bruce Springsteen 1973).

P. S: Before you say "You left off The Cowboy Junkies version of the Velvet Underground's "Sweet Jane." It is different than the version of the Loaded LP." True, but the Cowboy Junkies version is identical to the version The Velvet Underground performs on the Live 1969 LP. So it doesn't count.

TEN ANNOYING, SHORT-LIVED, POP MUSIC GENRES

This post started off as a comparison of two sub genres of rock music. The problem was, as I tried to do some research on the subject, I found very little information or music on-line about it. So I just decided to mix it into a post about several other genres.

If you are on social media, you would assume, from reading all those stupid memes that your un-hip friends post, that Millennials listen to the worst music ever made. In doing some research for this, I found that the hipsters and Millennials are actually into some very interesting and technical, experimental music.

Also, I've noticed these memes usually come from one of three places 1) a country radio station or redneck humor Facebook site, 2) a classic rock - AOR radio station Facebook site or a 3) right-wing political - talk radio Facebook website. All three have an agenda.

Let's look back at the history of rock and roll and see if we can find any trends, that those who criticize the current music scene, bought into that could be scene as vomit inducing.

10. Rural Norwegian/Scandinavian accent novelty songs (70s - 80s): The Wurzels, Da Yoopers and the Bananas at Large. It started in the 50s with a comedian named Harry Stewart, who recorded under the name Yogi Yorgenson. His stuff was kind of fun. Then, in the 60s, came Stan Boreson and Doug Stetterberg doing parodies of popular songs with some rural Norwegian/Scandinavian humor, still okay. That was all. Then, the rural Norwegian/Scandinavian, sort of was revived by a group from England called the Wurzels, who did recorded a parody of "Brand New Key" as "Combine Harvester." Technically, their music was a British rural variation, but the elements were there such as beer and farm implements. In the 80s, some groups out of Minnesota and Wisconsin, began recording original songs, most of these were about two subjects: deer hunting and farting. The redneck crowd like these songs and, if you are in country radio you get request these songs. Ugh.

9. Acapella - Doo Wop Revival (80s - 90s): The Nylons, Take 6, 4 P.M, All-4-One, Boyz 2 Men, New Edition. It started with the Nylons and their covers of Steam's "Kiss Him Goodbye (Na Na Na Hey Hey)" and The Turtles' "Happy Together." It didn't immediately take off, but then New Edition gave us a cover of "Earth Angel," to coincide with its use in Back To the Future. From then on, all boy band (really they are vocal groups not bands, but that is what people call them) had to do some acapella variation of a doo wop, oldies hit or country hit. Even when they covered a song, with musical backing, there would be at least a few bars of acapella. I think Boyz 2 Men had a whole acapella CD. The last hurrah (and best song of this trend) was The Straight No Chaser version of the "Twelve Days of Christmas."  

8.  American Ska - Punk (90s): Save Ferris, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Real Big Fish. In the early 80s, the Ska - Punk movement came out of England with bands like The Specials, The Untouchables, English Beat and Madness had some great songs. In the 90s, some American bands tried to revive the sound. The problem with these bands were their songs were usually too fast or just bad. Save Ferris (great name for a band) committed the ultimate sin by doing a cover of a song from the 80s that I HATE, "Come On Eileen." I also thought Reel Big Fish's "Sell Out" was one of the worst songs ever.

7. Big Band - Timeless Standards Revival (90s - Present): Squirrel Nut Zippers, Cherry Poppin Daddies, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Brian Setzer Orchestra, Michael Bubble, Puppini Sisters. This can be blamed on the short lived popularity of swing-dance. There has always seemed to be a push to bring back the Big Band era and the music of the pre-rock and roll era ever few years, but in the late 90s and early 2000's it almost succeeded. The groups doing original songs were on Alternative radio, where they sounded out of place. The more Timeless stuff helped kill off light AC and, when given its own radio format, it was the same songs over and over. Worse was how major stars (Rod Stewart, Michael Bolton, Bobby Caldwell, Paul McCartney, Carly Simon) recorded CDs of the "Timeless songs" and became un-cool.

6. American Blues Revival (Late 80s - early 90s): Omar & the Howlers, Fabulous Thunderbirds, Jeff Healy Band. This is the subject that has caused me not to post in a while. I was going to compare the music of the late 60s British blues revival with the American blues revival of the late 80s. When I was in college, the local AOR station seemed to play a huge glut of these American blues revival bands. Out of all of the stuff being played, I only liked about three songs, "Bad To the Bone" & "Who Do You Love" by George Thorogood and "Smoking Gun" by The Robert Cray Band. There was also a tone of local blues bands around. I always preferred the late 60s British blues of Led Zepellin, Cream, Fleetwood Mac and Ten Years After. There was something made their interpretations of the blues different. Maybe it was help from acid, pot, Alistair Crowley and that person Robert Johnson met at the crossroads, but their blues was like atomic thunder from outer space. A new generation discovers it every year. The American blues revival of the 80s has largely become the in-house music of chain barbecue restaurants like Rib Crib and Famous Dave's. Here is the thing that caused my lengthy lack of post. Doing research on those bands was impossible, because I could find very little information about them on the Internet. I could track down very little of the music. I looked in an old Gold Disc AOR catalog from the 90s at work and only found a few names I remembered. Most of the groups had names like Jimmy Fudbucker and the Skillet Lickers. The only thing I found was a comment on the message board that summed up why these groups didn't have the impact of the British groups of the 60s. This person said "It lacked the feeling and soul that the blues is supposed to have. They made the blues bland and boring." 
 

5. Mummers String Bands (50s): Ferko String Band, Nu-Tornados, Quaker City Boys. If you wondered what in the world that photo at the top of this post represented, here it is. Sadly, I have to blame this one on one of my broadcasting media heroes: Dick Clark. The Mummers Parade has been a New Years Day tradition for over a century in Philadelphia. In the 50s, it was aired live on TV. This was also when American Bandstand was broadcast from Philadelphia.  The oddly dressed marchers and bands in the parade can only use string and percussion instruments. Some how they wound up catching the nations attention. Ferko String Band performed mainly instrumentals on records, but they had a hit. A vocal group, with a Mummers sanctioned banjo and glockenspiel, called The Quaker City Boys gave us "Teasin." 



The Nu-Tornados, on the other hand, gave us the dorkiest hit of the early days of rock & roll. A song called "Philadelphia U.S.A."It makes "Pink Shoe Laces" look like "Blowin In the Wind." The trend lasted roughly a year and thankful stayed in Philly after that.

4. Nostalgia - Camp (60s): New Vaudeville Band, Ian Whitcomb, Rainy Daze, Purple Gang, Bonzo Dog Band.  The Pop Art movement of the 60s lead to nostalgia for the pop culture of the past. In some circles, it was known as camp. Starting in about 1965, British Invasion artist Ian Whitcomb, known for his breathless hit "You Turn Me On," started reviving old ragtime songs like "Where Did Robinson Crusoe Go With Friday On Saturday Night?" The next year, British composer Geoff Stephens, wrote a song called "Winchester Cathedral." He had it recorded by a studio group with a vocal by John Carter, the former lead singer of the Ivy League, singing through a megaphone, like singers of the 1920s. Using the name The New Vaudeville Band, the song became an unexpected hit and spawned some other records with that sound. Several older artist (Rudy Vallee, Guy Lombardo, Lawrence Welk, George Burns and Tony Randall) and easy listening acts recorded cover versions, as well as bringing back more old songs from the 20s. It also spawn two bad copies that were blatant drug references. A band out of Denver used the nostalgia sound for their sledgehammer subtle minor hit "Accapolco Gold" and a British group called the Purple Gang recorded "Granny Takes a Trip." One group who started out doing the nostalgia sound revival act but left it behind was The Bonzo Dog Band. Here is one of those nostalgia tunes they recorded.


    

3. Death Songs (50s - 60s): "Teen Angel," "The Leader of the Pack," "Tell Laura I Love Her," "Last Kiss." This is one of those trends that have for years caused people to ask "WHY?". What caused the teenagers of the late 50s until the British Invasion to love such morbid songs. Many trace the beginning of this to be early 1959 and the death of Buddy Holly, Richie Valence and Big Bopper.  First came Mark Dining's "Teen Angel" and soon the Top 40 was filled with car wrecks (Ray Peterson's "Tell Laura I Love Her" J. Frank Wilson "Last Kiss"), drownings (Jody Reynolds "Endless Sleep"), suicides (Pat Boone "Moody River", ghost girls ("Laurie"), a football team in a bus crash ("The Hero"), a girl eaten by a shark ("The Water Was Red") and a biker who may have hit a truck ("The Leader of the Pack"). This phase started to fade with the death of President Kennedy. Teens turned to the happy music of the British Invasion and Motown acts. The nail in the coffin (pardon the pun) may have been "I Want My Baby Back" by Jimmy Cross. It was a parody that took things a little too far. Jimmy misses his dead girlfriend so much that he digs up he coffin and crawls inside with her. Of all of these songs, my favorite is "Johnny Remember Me" by Johnny Leyton. He never says what happened to the girl or really if she is dead or not, but, thanks to production from Joe Meek, she is a spooky as a Roger Corman Poe movie.


  

2. Spoken Word Recitations: (60s): "A Open Letter To My Teenage Son,""I.O.U," "Grover Henson Feels Forgotten," "History Repeats Itself," "The Americans (A Canadian's Opinion)," "Gallant Men." This may get me into trouble. Before there was talk radio and memes on Facebook, there were the spoken word recitations. Don't get me wrong, not all were preachy tirades. Some spoken word recitations were stories with a musical background, such as "Old Rivers" by Walter Brennan, "Ringo" by Lorne Greene, "Phantom 309" by Red Sovine, and "The Shifting Whispering Sands" by Billy Vaughan with Ken Nordine. The others give us lectures against burning our draft card and respecting our elders, the similarities between President Lincoln and President Kennedy, how Europeans and "smug self-righteous Canadians" need to respect Americans, the true meaning of the Pledge of Allegiance, how kids need positive role models and how much your mother has done for you. 75 percent of these records used an instrumental version of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" for a background. After the 60s, these type of recordings fell out of fashion because they don't gel well with the rest of the programing on music stations.  Imagine if you were listening to the radio today and between the latest hit by Beyonce and the latest hit by Katy Perry, the radio station played a cranky, old, white griping about how today's teenagers are stupid, people on welfare or illegal aliens . You understand. I will admit I do have two favorites that actually came along after the boom of these records in the mid to late 60s. One is 1999's "Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)", which was credited to producer Baz Luhrmann, but the reading is by actor Lee Perry. The other is 1971's "Desiderata (Child of the Universe)" by talk show host Les Crane. What I like about these are the upbeat music and positive, affirmative tone.


    

1.  Answer Songs (50s - 60s): "He'll Have To Stay," "I'm the Girl From Wolverton Mountain," "I'll Save The Last Dance For You," "Tell Tommy I Miss Him," "I'm the Duchess of Earl," "Oh Neil," "Yes, I'm Lonesome Tonight," "Gary, Don't Sell My Diamond Ring," and "I'm Glad They Took You Away Ha-Ha!" The most ridiculous of all of these trends I mentioned has to be the answer song trend of the 60s. It's roots were planted in the early 50s on the rhythm and blues side when Hank Ballard & the Midnighters released "Work With Me, Annie" and on the country side with Hank Thompson's "The Wild Side of Life." Etta James fired back at Ballard with "Roll With Me, Henry" and Kitty Wells snapped back at Thompson with "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels." For some reason the peak began in 1960 and lasted until the British Invasion hit (Let's face it, the British Invasion groups can be thanked for getting rid of awful stuff). Every time a male artist or group had a hit, another record company would release a bad re-write of the song with a female singer or group and visa versa. You can tell from the above titles that much of this was pure dreck (although "Oh Neil" was by Carole King, who Neil Sedaka wrote "Oh, Carol" about, so there was a point to that one).  The only ones that worked are Jan Bradley's "Mama Didn't Lie," an answer to The Shirelles hit "Mama Said There Would Be Days Like This," Katy Perry's "California Gurls," which was an answer to Jay-Z "Empire State of Mind" and, the grand daddy of all answer songs, "Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynard Skynard, which was an answer to Neil Young's "Southern Man" and "Alabama." The reason these work is they are original songs that sound different than the songs they are an answer to not a carbon copy with the gender of the singer changed.
     
Some will, of course, holler "What about disco? What about rap? What about hair bands? What about psychedelic music? What about punk?" Those genres and styles had staying power, whether you like them or not. These are brief flash in the pans. Lucky for us they were brief.
 

R. I. P JACK DAVIS

You may not recognize the name, but you will recognize the artwork. Mad magazine and TV Guide covers, print ads for the TV show Cheers, Sesame Street children's books, covers for several country artist (he must have been a favorite of Homer & Jethro), the famous "giant Frankenstein Monster poster" that was advertised in comic books of the 60s & 70s, the designs for Mad Monster Party and the Jackson 5 cartoon and the Man From UNCLE lunchbox. Jack Davis was everywhere.