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Post by jk on Jul 21, 2022 4:12:39 GMT -5
I hadn't heard of Dee Jay And The Runaways until yesterday, when I started going through the alphabetical list of Hits Archive's YouTube channel for 1966. According to Amazon, "The song, Peter Rabbit was the biggest hit to ever come out of Iowa selling in excess of 400,000 copies!" I have yet to discover just how well it charted nationally. Curiously, the organ (Farfisa?) solo is the only part of the song in a minor key: vancouversignaturesounds.com/hits/peter-rabbit-by-dee-jay-and-the-runaways/
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Post by jk on Jul 24, 2022 5:21:36 GMT -5
I don't believe I've posted this one yet… It was quite a shock to see jazz giant Julian "Cannonball" Adderley racing up the US charts in the mid sixties! "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy", a Joe Zawinul composition recorded live by The Cannonball Adderley Quintet in ’66, features Joe on a Wurlitzer electric piano previously used by Ray Charles. I bought the 45 at the time and have often performed it myself over the decades -- it's perfect as a piece for solo piano. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercy_Mercy_Mercy
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Post by jk on Jul 31, 2022 15:27:14 GMT -5
"The 13-minute Come Out (1966) uses ... manipulated recordings of a single spoken line given by Daniel Hamm, one of the falsely accused Harlem Six, who was severely injured by police. The survivor, who had been beaten, punctured a bruise on his own body to convince police about his beating. The spoken line includes the phrase 'to let the bruise's blood come out to show them'. Reich rerecorded the fragment 'come out to show them' on two channels, which are initially played in unison. They quickly slip out of sync; gradually the discrepancy widens and becomes a reverberation. The two voices then split into four, looped continuously, then eight, and continues splitting until the actual words are unintelligible, leaving the listener with only the speech's rhythmic and tonal patterns." [ Source]
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Post by jk on Aug 1, 2022 3:38:25 GMT -5
Short '66 (previous name Golden Corvairs) were a "Netherbeat" (Nederbiet) group from Amsterdam, whoser repertoire combined recent compositions with covers of older stuff, mostly instrumentals. Consisting of Ben de Roest (bass and lead vocals), Ralph Norman and Paul Thé (guitar and vocals) and Jerry Göbel (drums), the band was around from 1964 to 1969. The striking "I Don't Know Why" was on the flip of their second single, the appropriately chosen "Route 66": www.nederbiet.nl/wpimages/wpefdc149b.jpg
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Post by jk on Aug 1, 2022 14:17:23 GMT -5
The story goes that Jeff Beck took his mother to the cinema to watch Antonioni's Blowup (1966), in which he and his then fellow Yardbirds perform in a London club as a cross between The Velvet Underground (who it seems had turned down the role) and the guitar-demolishing likes of The Who. Jeff was a little embarrassed, as he claimed he had had an erection on the set. That aside, it's a pretty cool episode in a very cool film. The lineup of musicians playing on the soundtrack is pretty mind-boggling too... bestclassicbands.com/yardbirds-blow-up-8-1-17/
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Post by jk on Aug 4, 2022 9:54:31 GMT -5
What was happening in the land of frogs' legs and Fernandel in the year of years? Well, Michel Polnareff took "Love Me, Please Love Me" to the top of the French charts. Listening to it again last night and marvelling at the unexpected forays into falsetto, it struck me that I hadn't heard it since *gulp* 1966. Haunting song though it is, my favourite by M. Polnareff is the organ-heavy "Le bal des Laze", which gave him a #7 hit in his home country two years later. I had a heck of a time tracking this down, as all I knew was that it was about "le château" - - even some French friends of mine at the time had no idea. (I got there by sheer luck a few years back.) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Polnareff
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Post by jk on Aug 5, 2022 3:39:59 GMT -5
Now here's a curiosity with a Beach Boys connection. Sylvie Vartan was a big name in France in the '60s and, I gather, still is. This is her take on the Boys' "Sloop John B", which she retitles "Mister John B", with a slight change of lyrics. It's interesting to note which musical elements of Brian's arrangement she retains: This is the gist of the lyrics (with grateful thanks to Google Translate): "Today your boat is coming back Three years is not nothing Are you proud of yourself, Mr. John B? But who are you looking for On the dock there? We don't wait for a boy like you "For you no chimes No garland of flowers This ain't Tahiti, hey, Mr. John B But who are you looking for, etc "Your bag looks heavy to carry You did well But did you keep your hands clean, say, Mr. John B? But who are you looking for, etc "The compass rose (you touched it) Alcohol flowed (money flowed) You say "I love you" in every language, Mr. John B But who are you looking for, etc "Today your boat is coming back So you remember That a girl was waiting for you here, Mr. John B Yet on the quay Look, she's here A boy like you doesn't deserve her No, a boy like you doesn't deserve her" en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvie_Vartan
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Post by jk on Aug 7, 2022 12:32:57 GMT -5
Lou Christie, aided by his regular songwriting partner Twyla Herbert, released some fabulous 45s in his day. Today's question is: what famous "classical" piece does Lou quote in the first couplet of this song? (I'll organize a prize in due course -- probably my standard award on such occasions, a plateful of fried bananas.) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhapsody_in_the_Rain
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Post by jk on Aug 8, 2022 5:04:58 GMT -5
Scopitone fans, this is your lucky day! Here's Antoine, aka the French Bob Dylan, singing "Les Élucubrations d'Antoine" (Antoine's fever dreams), possibly backed by Les Problèmes but don't quote me on that. Antoine's friendly sparring match (lyric-wise) with older French rock icon Johnny Hallyday has been a boost to both their careers over the years. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_(singer)
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Post by jk on Aug 14, 2022 4:35:24 GMT -5
Looking through 45s from 1966 on YouTube yesterday, I bumped into this song called "Surrender Your Love" by The Carrolls. I played it and immediately recalled being knocked out by it at the time. Information being scant in those days, I had no idea that the group hailed from Liverpool! It could have been a Motown act for all I knew, it was that good. The Carrolls were four siblings: Irene on lead (what a voice!) and her brothers Lee, Ron and Mike on backing harmonies: www.thefootballvoice.com/2016/11/mersey-beat-carrolls.html
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Post by jk on Aug 15, 2022 6:24:49 GMT -5
Recently I've been scouring YouTube using the string "45 1966" and now and again it's come up trumps -- as in this post and its predecessor. I can find nothing online about this hidden gem or the group, the wonderfully named Musique and The Lyrics, except for a picture sold on eBay a while back ( here). Written by Raul Abeyta, Roger Christian and Gary Usher, "My Love And Life" features a highly unusual lead vocalist:
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Post by jk on Aug 17, 2022 4:51:50 GMT -5
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Post by jk on Aug 17, 2022 6:31:32 GMT -5
I'd say Otis Redding did for the Stones' "Satisfaction" what Wilson Pickett later did for "Hey Jude" -- he gave it new life. "Otis Redding recorded a rendition of 'Satisfaction' for his album Otis Blue/Otis Redding Sings Soul, released in 1965. Redding claimed that he did not know the lyrics of the song. 'I use a lot of words different than the Stones' version,' he noted. 'That's because I made them up.' Of that session, Steve Cropper said, '...if you ever listened to the record you can hardly understand the lyrics, right? I set down to a record player and copied down [from the Stones' version] what I thought the lyrics were and I handed Otis a piece of paper and before we got through with the cut, he threw the paper on the floor and that was it.' Music writer Robert Christgau described it as an 'anarchic reading' of the Stones' original. Redding's soul-style arrangement featured horns playing the main riff, as Keith Richards had originally intended. In 2003, Ronnie Wood noted that the Rolling Stones' later concert renditions of the number reflect Redding's interpretation." [ Source] Otis’s rendition just missed the top 30 in both the US and the UK: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otis_Redding
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Post by carllove on Aug 17, 2022 6:43:00 GMT -5
The story goes that Jeff Beck took his mother to the cinema to watch Antonioni's Blowup (1966), in which he and his then fellow Yardbirds perform in a London club as a cross between The Velvet Underground (who it seems had turned down the role) and the guitar-demolishing likes of The Who. Jeff was a little embarrassed, as he claimed he had had an erection on the set. That aside, it's a pretty cool episode in a very cool film. The lineup of musicians playing on the soundtrack is pretty mind-boggling too... bestclassicbands.com/yardbirds-blow-up-8-1-17/Pretty darned awesome scene jk! Thanks for sharing.
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Post by jk on Aug 20, 2022 16:13:27 GMT -5
I noticed a 1966 track on YouTube by jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal, was reminded of that verse in Chuck's "Go, Go, Go" of three years earlier... "Backed up by a jazz band, layin' on the wood Mixin' Ahmad Jamal in my Johnny B. Goode Sneaking Erroll Garner in my Sweet Sixteen Now they tell me Stan Kenton's cutting Maybelline, oh baby" ...and had an idea. To Ahmad’s "April In Paris" I then added Erroll's "Affinidad" and Stan's "Anna" -- enjoy!
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Post by jk on Aug 25, 2022 4:37:34 GMT -5
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Post by jk on Sept 1, 2022 15:52:32 GMT -5
Time now for two Tommies, messers Roe and James, both of whom had big hits in 1966. Tommy Roe had charted several times prior to "Sweet Pea" and even though "Hanky Panky" was Tommy James and The Shondell's first hit (and a US #1 at that) it had been recorded two (or was it three?) years earlier. Both artists would be regarded as precursors of bubblegum pop, a much-maligned genre that was more influential than many would like to admit. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Roeen.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_James
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Post by jk on Sept 2, 2022 6:05:07 GMT -5
Vendetta was a popular crime/drama series to be seen on UK TV from 1966 for a couple of years. I recall the ladies at the high-street store record department where I worked at the time were potty about its Italian star, Stelio Candelli (Danny Scipio in the story). John Barry's brooding theme tune fits its mood perfectly: televisionheaven.co.uk/reviews/vendetta
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Post by jk on Sept 3, 2022 4:38:39 GMT -5
"Two Faces Have I" was a US #6 hit in 1963 for Lou Christie, who I see is making his third appearance in this thread. Here he is three years later, showing off two faces of his impressive singing ability. On 29 January, he mimed "Cryin' In The Streets" (the B-side of his biggest hit, "Lightnin' Strikes") on Hollywood a Go-Go... ...and on 8 March on The Mike Douglas Show, with a complete change of style, he sang "Softly, As I Leave You", which Sinatra had recorded a couple of years earlier. It's possible his management wanted him to pursue this avenue now that he was a major star... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Christie
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Post by jk on Sept 3, 2022 16:22:26 GMT -5
Here are two 1966 tracks from Volume 20 of a series of CDs called Lost Jukebox. First off, the Jackie deShannon composition "My Group And Me" by the wondrously named Raga and The Talas who, according to the YouTube blurb, were believed to be a studio-based outfit fronted by Jackie's brother Randy Myers: The New Society's "We Have So Little Time" was co-written by Kin Vassy, a name I'd heard before but had no idea where. It turns out KV sang the "yippee-tie-oh" bits at the end of Frank Zappa's "Montana"”!
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Post by jk on Sept 4, 2022 14:54:59 GMT -5
Looking for candidates for this thread, which seems to have become my pet obsession on EH these days, I often find myself in fascinating areas, including the world of film music. Take this slab of exotica by Hank Mancini, as JH calls him. According to uploader the45prof and other sources, "Hawaii (Main Title)" was ripped from a mono 45 single, RCA Victor 47-8951, with the Mancini-penned "Driftwood And Dreams" on the flip. (If my spies are to be trusted, the album from which it comes, Music of Hawaii reached #6 in the East Listening Charts.) Written by Elmer Bernstein and Mack David, it is performed here by Henry Mancini, his Orchestra and Chorus, and produced by Joe Reisman: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaii_(Elmer_Bernstein_song)
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Post by jk on Sept 6, 2022 5:26:26 GMT -5
By sheer coincidence, South Asia's very first pop song, "Ko Ko Koreena" (or Korina), was recorded by the very first South Asian pop singer, the Pakistani playback singer Ahmed Rushdi, in my musical year of years: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Rushdi
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Post by jk on Sept 6, 2022 8:50:11 GMT -5
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Post by jk on Sept 7, 2022 12:35:38 GMT -5
Looking at other Asian countries as potential candidates for this thread, China had just that year embarked on a staggeringly un-cultural Cultural Revolution. Japan is a different matter altogether: "In the 1960s, many Japanese rock bands were influenced by Western rock musicians such as the Beatles, Bob Dylan, and the Rolling Stones, along with other Appalachian folk music, psychedelic rock, mod and similar genres: a phenomenon that was called Group Sounds (G.S.). John Lennon of the Beatles later became one of the most popular Western musicians in Japan. By the late 1960s, Group Sounds bands such as The Tempters, the Tigers, the Golden Cups, the Ox, the Village Singers, the Carnabeats, the Mops, the Jaguars, the Wild Ones and the Spiders had big hits. … The Tigers were the most popular Group Sounds band in the era. Later, some of the members of the Tigers, the Tempters, and the Spiders formed the first Japanese supergroup, Pyg." [ Source] What a great name, The Carnabeats! But they were only formed in 1967, so instead let's go for The Spiders. The first track on their debut album, Album No. 1, is "Furi Furi '66". Some nice guitar work in there: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spiders_(Japanese_band)
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Post by jk on Sept 8, 2022 6:13:54 GMT -5
Looking around for Soviet pop from 1966 and not finding anything worth posting, I stumbled across this bizarre USSR propaganda film about The Beatles:
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