WE GOT OUR BACKS TO MONO AND WE’RE UP AGAINST THE WALL

Yesterday’s playlist for me was even more eclectic than usual. I started out with the Chambers Brothers, “Time Has Come Today” in a video I saw on somebody’s blog (and unfortunately didn’t bookmark it, and now can’t remember which of you it was, so can’t credit you, sorry!!) Anyway, from there I bounced around the later 60s, a little Iron Butterfly (In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida) a little Deep Purple (Hush) and little Scott McKenzie (If you’re goin’ to San-Fran-cisco… After that, a big leap pover to Berlioz, and then some Canadian talent – Cape Breton’s finest, Jimmy Rankin. I ended the day listening to the oldies station on my dish, and was lucky to catch a string (unintentional, I’m sure) of 60s Wall of Sound hits, produced by Phil Spector.

Phil has fallen on hard times of late, but back in the 60s he was the Boy Genius of the music industry. His signature sound was really something to behold – still is. The Wall of Sound (WOS) was a little something he whipped up using huge conglomeration of multiple musicians, unorthodox combinations of instruments, a whole swack of tracks and an echo machine. The resultant music hit you like a wall…well, of sound. And while he denounced stereo in favor of mono, after he got through with it, it sounded like a tsunami of sound that enveloped the listening in pop splendor that stereo just can’t touch. The studio musicians became famously known as The Wrecking Crew. Here, from Wikipedia:

In the 1960s, Spector usually worked at the Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles because of its exceptional echo chambers, essential to the Wall of Sound technique. Microphones in the recording studio captured the sound, which was then transmitted to an echo chamber—a basement room outfitted with speakers and microphones. The signal from the studio would be played through the speakers and would reverberate around the room, being picked up by the microphones. The echo-laden sound was then channeled back to the control room, where it was transferred to tape. The natural reverberation and echo from the hard walls of the room gave his productions their distinctive quality and resulted in a rich and complex sound when played on AM radio, with an impressive depth rarely heard in mono recordings.

WOS number came in two basic speeds: slow and mellow and here-we-go. Here’s one of each. I purposely picked selections from YouTube that don’t have live footage or other distracting videos. Not this time. So turn up your speakers, and listen to that fullness of sound, that great big wall of it, and remind yourself how lucky you are that you born at the right time...

Ike and Tina Turner “River Deep, Mountain High”



The Righteous Brothers “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling”




Videos by YT memeber tinturnerfan84, vwestlife
Album cover at http://rateyourmusic.com

STARTING OFF THE NEW YEAR RIGHT!

Greetings music lovers! Here’s hoping you had terrific holidays, and aren’t nursing too big of a hangover this morning. Today is a day of reflection, of resolution, of charting a course for the new year ahead, and of course, a day for Neil Sedaka.

I know that Neil’s 1960 hit, Calendar Girl is a well-worn favorite on all the oldies stations, and so everybody knows the words. We can have a little New Years karaoke while playing this delightfully dated video from YouTube. Neil will sing for us and maybe play a couple of notes on the piano (but I think it’s mostly there as a prop to give the girls a place to dance) and Neil will kind of shakes it up a little, too. Don’t laugh, that was pretty cool stuff back then, I can vouch for that. I really wish I knew the exact when and where of this video. I’m guessing that it could actually be 1960, and maybe even prior to the bombshell release of Chubby Checker’s “The Twist” because there is not a hint of a twist in any of the girls’ dance moves.

As for the girls, well, you will see that some of the costumes try to match up with the lyrics. Miss February is in a bunny suit with big ears, and Miss July has a weird firecracker headdress that looks borrowed from Mardi Gras. Why the choreographer didn’t follow through and put Miss March in a wedding dress (I’m gonna march you down the aisle) or Miss November in a nice little shortie (adult stores probably have them!) pilgrim dress is a mystery. And Miss August, who is supposed to be at the beach looks, well, I won’t spoil it for you, but I don’t think even Cher wouldn’t wear it!

So, here you go. I’m off to enter all the important dates for this new year in my brand new 2009 daytimer – birthdays, oil changes, the premier of LOST…





Photo from Wikimedia Commons
Video by YT member tuggle

MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR

Here’s wishing all of you out there in the Blogiverse the happiest of holidays. I want to take this opportunity to thank all those who stop by to have a read and a listen – you’re the best! I mean that sincerely. So don’t take it personally when I tell you that I’m taking a bit of a vacation from now until New Years. Will I be lounging on some beach? Schussing down a slope? No, and no. I’m planning on spending most of it finishing off the sequel to my first book of music trivia (the book for which this blog is named). I have one more chapter and some proofing left to do, and I just need to buckle down. So until we meet again on January the first, 2009, I’ll leave you with a couple of vintage tidbits.

For Christmas, here is the Singing Cowboy, Gene Autry, with one of my very favorite Christmas songs, “Thirty Two Feet and Eight Little Tails of White.” (date unknown but probably the somewhere in the 50s)



And for New Years, here a clip from Dick Clark’s “New Years Rock’ Eve.” It’s the earliest one I found on YouTube, dating back to 1985. As Dick says, it was already the 13th annual NYRE, which puts the starting date back to (where’s my abacus) 1972! Too bad we don’t have a clip of that one, but you’ll still get a hoot out of all the “big stars” that were part of the entertainment lineup. Ah, where are they now…







Photos from Shutterstock
Videos from 1)mummysrus 2) PHILLYmediaWATCH

WE NEED A LITTLE MITZI

Ah, the sixties. Nothing like it for sheer style and entertainment. If you don't believe me, just feast your eyes on this little production - a mini-skirted Mitzi Gaynor with a delightful foot-stompin' finger-poppin' version of "We Need a Little Christmas" (from the Broadway show, Mame). Is this not retro-tastic! I'm a big Mitzi Gaynor fan, starting with her film role in South Pacific. Apparently she will be touring a show in 2009 in North America, so we're in for a treat.



This clip is from Mitzi's 1967 TV special, The Mitzi Gaynor Christmas Show.



Video by YT member MissMitziGaynor
Photo of my tree!

MORE TOP 10 - THE SUBJECT IS RAIN

I was visiting someone's blog this morning, totally unconnected to oldies or music in general, but the blogger did ask visitors to leave the title of their favorite rain song in their comment. That got me thinking about what my favorite rain song might be. I like rain, and I like rain songs. So, here, in no particular order, is my list of top vintage rain songs, plus a video of Ronettes photos accompanying their 1964 hit, "Walking in the Rain." See how many of these songs jog your memory. What favorites would you add that I don't have?

1) Walking in the Rain - The Ronettes
2) Raindrops - Dee Clark
3) Rain on the Roof - The Lovin' Spoonful
4) Riders on the Storm - The Doors
5) Rhapsody in the Rain - Lou Christie
6) Rhythm of the Rain - The Cascades
7) Cryin' in the Rain - The Everly Brothers
8) I Wish It Would Rain - The Temptations
9) Lay Down (Candles in the Rain) - Melanie
10) Who'll Stop The Rain - CCR

Okay, here the girls...





Video by YT member JKRXBACK
Photo - my back yard, aka Lake Erie

FEATURE SONG THAT’S NEVER GOING TO GO AWAY: HOOKED ON A FEELING

Now, please don’t get upset with me if you really love this song. I don’t mind if myself. Honest. But if we can’t make fun of the things we love and/or don’t mind once in a while, then what’s the point of even getting out of bed in the morning, right? So, while we’re in the make-fun mode, let’s be brutally honest. Hasn’t this song always reminded you of some of life’s more distressing moments? Moments like: 1) your 10-year high school reunion, which actually took place in the same smelly old scuff-marked gym (who's bright idea was that?) and for which someone hired your best buddy’s "cover band" who (you finally admit it) sucked back in the day, and have only played together twice since graduation 2) all the really ugly bridesmaid dresses you ever danced in at weddings with really bad cover bands 3) taking that sweet, special someone to “Reservoir Dogs” without knowing anything about it first 4) dateless nights spent with a bag of microwave popcorn watching episodes of Ally McBeal with that creepy dancing baby 4) Listerine commercial flashbacks 5) David Hasselhoff flashbacks.

Enough of that.

I guess you could say that this song is deeply embedded in popular culture. It was initially recorded in 1969 by B.J. Thomas (accompanied by that funky electric sitar) but it’s the cover by the group Blue Swede (from Sweden, surprise!) with that opening chorus of (spellings vary) “ooga chukka, ooga chukka” that cemented this song’s (along with our own) fate. Below are two videos of "Hooked on a Feeling" for your nostalgic listening pleasure/pain. One is a kind of trippy visual tour of a jukebox that Quentin Tarantino would no doubt appreciate. The second, which is mercifully very short, is of the dancing baby. Where will this song turn up next?













Videos by YT members pigmygoatzdotcom (jukebox) and bwair (baby)
Photo at www.maurine.com//baby.htm (in case you are a total retro addict and just have to have this as your screensaver)

STUCK INSIDE THE RECESSION WITH THE BAILOUT BLUES AGAIN (with apologies to Bob Dylan)

It looks like Dee-troit, the Motor City, my beloved home town, is one baby step closer to getting some cash. So, I figured, whatever your politics may be, what better segway is there for listening to one of the truly great car songs of the vintage era - "Little Duece Coupe" by The Beach Boys. And, if you'll permit me to brag just a teensy-weensy little bit, I can sing along with this song without missing a word, I am so completely down with the lyrics. If you happened to have read the book for which this blog is named (hey, a little self-promotion never hurt anybody) then you may recall the section on car songs, and "hot rod porn" in particular. The Beach Boys were responsible for a good deal of it, but not all. But... "porn" you say? Oh yeah. Some of those cars songs from the '60s had really technical automobile parts lyrics - songs that lovingly mentioning all the tricked-out features of the singer's car, designed to make teen guys' hearts beat fast just hearing those sexy words. You still think I'm exaggerating? Check out these lines from "409"...

To get the traction I'm ridin' the clutch
My pressure plate's burnin' my machine's too much

He's hot with ram induction but it's understood
I got a fuel injected engine sittin' under my hood


Oh baby! Okay, let's cool off and take a trip back to yesteryear, and listen to "Little Deuce Coupe." As you know, I often look for vintage performances when searching YouTube, but this one caught my eye. It's "Little Deuce Coupe" set to scenes from the modern classic movie (and another big fave of mine) Men In Black.





Video by YT member DoctorDeath88
Photo is of my baby, nicknamed The O.C. (for Orange Crush). It's a '65.