LISTENING TO THE WHO

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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.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE QUICK CUT MONTAGE EDITS ON TV?

The problem with doing a retro blog is finding out that something you think is a thing of the past is still very much with us in another form or making a comeback among young hipsters.

Not long back, I began thinking about quick cut or jump cut montage editing. It was everywhere in from the mid-60s to the early 80s. Commercials, children's shows, sitcoms, action shows, news documentaries, even the opening to local news cast would feature, at some point, a jumble of images thrown at you at high speed. Many of these quick cut montages featured juxtaposed images, i.e: field of flowers, puppies in a basket, a chubby baby, beautiful girl in a bikini, Superman, Mickey Mouse, American flag, a car wreck, atomic test, skull and a cemetery.

I'm guessing the first major use of this in TV was the opening credits of Mission: Impossible. Here is a link to a compilation on YouTube of the opening credits of season three. Another show that used this editing method was the opening credits to The Monkees second season (This is the version that appeared in reruns). The Monkees show used this effect frequently during the musical segments.

I'm not sure the whole story behind how The Smothers Brothers found Chuck Braverman, but Braverman created two films show using quick cut montage editing that they presented on their variety show. The first one was "American Time Capsule (American History in Under 3 Minutes)."




There was a positive response so it was shown again and Braverman created a review of 1968, set to the drum solo from "In a Gadda Da Vida." Braverman went on to use the same editing style for the opening to the movie Soylent Green.

Another film maker name Dan McLaughlin made a film featuring classical art pieces set to Beethoven's 5th Symphony. The Smothers Brothers ask McLaughlin into allowing them to replace the Beethoven with a musical composition by a writer on the show, Mason Williams. The instrumental was "Classical Gas."

   


Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In used quick jump cut edits so much that the editor of the show, Arthur Schnieder, won an Emmy in 1968. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any stand alone clips of how it was used on the show, but you can find full episodes of Laugh-In on YouTube.


Sesame Street used quick jump cut edits as well, which is no surprise when you find out that Jim Henson made several experimental films before Sesame Street. Most of these featured scores by Big-Band-leader-turned-electronic-music-pioneer Raymond Scott. One was "Limbo," which features a face, made of string, talking about organizing his thoughts and he takes us on a tour of his mind. Henson was the voice of the character and later used the string face on Sesame Street. He later used the concept in a commercial for Bufferin.

   


Henson and Scott also made a promotional film for IBM called "Paperwork Explosion," which features fast paced jump cut edits layered over actors dialog.



And finally, when it comes great montage edits, one has to look at the work of Jack Cole, who was resposible for many of the great opening credits of shows produced by Universal Television in the late 60s and early 70s. I've already mentioned on this blog my love for the opening to the show The Name of the Game. That was one of Jack Cole's masterpieces.  However, his crowning achievement is the opening to The Six Million Dollar Man, which Cole says contains five layers of images, including EKG machines, computers, clocks, radar screens and footage of a NASA test pilot's crash.



Another great opening sequence that features this type of editing is Hawaii 5-O. I had to mention this because it sort of proves what I said in the first paragraph. The current version of Hawaii 5-O mixes some of the same images from the original series in what is know as hip-hop montage, which instead of juxtaposition of different images, uses slightly different versions of the same image to produces an altered version of time. This was used extensively in the film Requiem for a Dream.

In doing research on YouTube for this post, I found that I had forgotten what might be the last hurrah of this style of editing on TV: CSI. Here is a compilation of the various opening credits through out the years.

So why is this type of editing not as prevalent on TV now as it was in the 60s and 70s. After all, we have the technology to do this on a lap top or smart phone. You can find examples of student projects doing this on YouTube, why not on TV.

More than likely part of this has to do with the disappearance of opening credit sequences on TV shows. This type of editing is also considered a product of its time and out of date. Too flashy and too exciting for our post-911 "Chicken Fired" nation.    

Some claim that this type of editing causes seizures and strokes in some people. I personally feel this is some of that tinfoil-hat mentality. As a person who knows the joys of video and film editing, all I can say is I do care if it does cause seizures and strokes in some people, I just want to edit together something that looks cool.

There is always a chance that this could come back to the point we would be sick of it, but thin again I doubt we got sick of it the first time. 

 

QUICKIES ABOUT MICKEY

"If you stomped on Mickey Rooney, he'd probably turnaround and smile" The Kinks "Celluloid Heroes"

If you are wondering why I didn't post a link to an obit for Mickey Rooney, it is because everyone website and network newscast had a very good article or tribute to the career of Mickey Rooney. Instead some quick and interesting trivia about Mickey Rooney's career.

Mickey Rooney was the voice of Santa Claus in the Christmas specials Santa Claus Is Coming To Town, The Year Without Santa, Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July, and A Miser Brother's Christmas.

He turned down the role of The Penguin on Batman and Archie Bunker on All In the Family.

Sir Laurence Olivier and Marlon Brando both said he called him a great actor.

Mickey Rooney was the surviving Hollywood star featured in the Merry Melodies cartoon "Hollywood Steps Out" (above) and the Kinks song "Celluloid Heroes."

Mickey Rooney appeared in both The Twilight Zone ("The Last Night of a Jockey") and The Night Gallery ("Rare Objects"). He also stared in a Playhouse 90 production called The Comedian. All three were written by Rod Serling.

He played Nelson "Stubby" Stool in the Western comedy Evil Roy Slade.

He was a guest on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour the same night as The Who. Roger Daltrey claimed that after the famous explosion at the end of "My Generation," Mickey Rooney jumped up and down yelling "MORE! MORE! DO IT AGAIN, BOYS!"

Mickey Rooney was born Joe Yule Jr. He was cast as Mickey McGuire in a series a movies based on Fontaine Fox's comic strip Toonerville Trolley (above). He chose to use the name Mickey McGuire as a stage name. He was billed in the credits as Mickey (Himself) McGuire. At one point, TBS ran these as part of Tom and Jerry and Friends. These were probably not shown on TV as much as the Our Gang comedies because most are silent and Mickey is usually seen smoking a cigar.

Here is a portion of one entitled "Mickey's Tent Show."