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October 1964 (side D)
160 Plays1 month ago
Still more October fun as we finish the month! Lots of songs, lots of artists. More Jan and Dean, Lesley Gore Ronettes and Fats Domino. Those Liverpool Lads are also holding on, despite their new single not dropping for several more weeks! Support this podcast at the $6/month level on patreon to get extra content! Create your podcast today! #madeonzencastr
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Transcript
The Beatles' Motivational Chant
00:00:00
Speaker
The Beatles had this chant John Paul and George and probably then Stuart and Pete had this chant when things weren't going well which in their world wasn't very often because mostly it was an upward trajectory but nonetheless sometimes you know a bad night or the gig would you know didn't work properly or the amps broke or whatever I say where are we going fellas and they'd go to the top Johnny and I say where's that fellas and they say to the top of most of the Papa most I said right then we'd all sort of Cheer up. Nothing's going to stop us now, lads. We're going straight to the top. The toppermost of the poppermost.
Introductions and Setting the Stage
00:00:44
Speaker
Welcome to side D of toppermost of the poppermost. As we finish out the U.S. charts for October of 1964, I'm Ed Sheeran. I'm Kid O'Toole. And get out your team biscuits. We're on the long one. This is Martin Crabell.
Critique of the Beach Boys' 'Wendy'
00:01:00
Speaker
We start in on the week of October 17th. At number one is Duad Diddy by Manfred Mann. At number 17 is The Beatles'
00:01:45
Speaker
Number 39 is the Beatles' slow down.
00:01:55
Speaker
Moving up to number 48 is Peter and Gordon's I Don't Want to See You Again at number 68 is Is It True by Brenda Lee which we covered on the UK side. At number 71 is Wendy from the Beach Boys from the EP for By the Beach Boys. You see the title and you're going to think everyone knows it's Wendy by the Association. a Isn't that a song about Chicago?
00:02:22
Speaker
o Windy, yes. As to this song, it's nothing too special. It's good, but not an excellent lead vocal. It's a fine backing, but it does demonstrate the limitations of the Beach Boys as players. It is a Beach Boys album track all summer long, promoted to Billboard status because Capitol was playing with the EP format. I was surprised they did release a Beach Boys EP. I didn't know that either. That was interesting.
Exploring the Rolling Stones' 'Time Is On My Side'
00:03:16
Speaker
This is not a particularly strong Beach Boys song. I didn't like the organ solo, surprise, surprise. I definitely could hear a Four Seasons influence. And in fact, that was true. Brian Wilson later said that it was an attempt to emulate the Four Seasons.
00:03:36
Speaker
apparently Brian Wilson was a big fan and he said that I wanted to try and imitate the Four Seasons in a way that they would like to hear it because I liked producer Rob Crue and the way they do their vocals. I don't know if I would say they accomplished this here. The guitar I felt was very reminiscent of Don't Worry Baby. I definitely heard that. Not one of their finest songs and by the way this is not about his daughter Wendy. He made a Big point of saying that this was written way before Wendy was born. The harmonies are nice. It's Beach Boys, of course, so they're going to be nice harmonies. But other than that, this is far from top tier Beach Boys. Lower mid tier Beach Boys song. I don't mind Al Jardine's lead guitar and bass on it.
00:04:22
Speaker
and Mike and Brian have a go at trying to get the vocals and it's a nod to the Four Seasons but obviously not a blatant copy because they don't really pull it off 100% the Four Seasons style. It's okay, it would have been better with the wrecking crew to be honest.
00:04:41
Speaker
Good point. It's a decent enough middle of the album track, but as a single it's not great. No agreed at number 79 I'm into something good by Herman's hermits the debut of that song on the US charts and Following it at number 80 is the Stones version of Time Is On My Side. Great Stones. This is the Rolling Stones. Charlie's drumming is in top form here. Great lead vocal from Mick. The backing is, while not quite perfect, it is very good. The song and the way they do it plays to their strengths. Although this does expose the pop side of the Stones a little bit more than they ever really wanted to admit.
00:05:58
Speaker
It's interesting because I'm assuming this is the first version of Time is on My Side because there were two versions. There was the one that they recorded in London, which starts out with an organ.
00:06:29
Speaker
And it's a much looser kind of recording, almost you know a little sloppy.
Influences and Development of 'Time Is On My Side'
00:06:34
Speaker
I do like the vocals in that version that are a bit more up in the mix. Other than that, the vocals are pretty similar. But then about a month later, they would rerecord the song. And this is the version that you hear most today on the radio and in compilations. And that was recorded in Chicago at Chess Studios. And that version starts out with the guitar. And that's what you hear today.
00:07:36
Speaker
Overall, even though I think I like the vocal mix on the London version better, I think the Chess version is better, not just because they recorded it in Chicago, but because they got rid of the organ and it's bluesier and it's a tighter arrangement. So I'm assuming this version is the London version that was released first.
00:07:59
Speaker
That would be my guess. And my other guess would be that the second version sounds better because they recorded it at chess studios. So even if the producer isn't Chicago based, the actual backroom team, the people in the studio, the engineers,
00:08:16
Speaker
they would be the people that are used to that style so they would know how to make it sound correct. It's a good cover version that has a really interesting journey in a sense because it's not that old a song. It was originally written by Jerry Ragavoy under the pseudonym of Norman Mead and was first released by the jazz trombone player Kai Winding only in 1963.
00:08:42
Speaker
And then recorded by emrma Thomas in a version with extra lyrics written for it by Jimmy Norman. And that version by Thomas came to the attention of the Rolling Stones because they used to frequent Soho record shops a lot to get imports from America, usually Soul, R and&B and Blues records that you couldn't buy in normal shops. And this was one of them that I think all of them had picked this up and loved the Irma Thomas version so much that they worked it up to do it themselves.
00:09:15
Speaker
And I like their Irma Thomas version too. Yeah. I mean, we had that and I think we all agreed. It's actually not that different from the
Reviewing the Beach Boys' 'Little Honda'
00:09:22
Speaker
Stones version. know At number 85, Little Honda by the Beach Boys. We had the Handel's version of this song. It's another not great one from the Beach Boys this month.
00:09:46
Speaker
It's a jingle that wants to be a real boy. ah The Beach Boys version is better than the cover. I don't dislike this organ. Carl Wilson goes on and on about the fuzz on here. I don't think the fuzz is quite as impressive as he thinks it is. There are some of it, but it's not as big as he wants it to be. ah Brian Wilson and Mike Love share credit, even though if I were Brian, I would have given Mike Love the entire credit for the song.
00:10:14
Speaker
yes It's a fun record. I certainly like it better than Wendy. I like this version better than the Hundells. The harmonies are top tier. The energy I think is better in this version. And the drumming gets more complicated at the end. I've always sort of liked this song. I think it's fun and catchy, but obviously not on the level of the beach boys best tracks it's not i get around or anything like that you know it's a fun summer track and yes it is more of a jingle but i would definitely not turn it off when this song comes on the radio it's summer it's not terrible but no it's
00:10:56
Speaker
As we agree, it's an earworm, it's a jingle, which wants to be a real boy. Yeah. Lower mid-tier Beach Boys, and the best version of this song that you're going to hear, and unfortunately and unbelievably, a few versions were made of this, and I am shocked that people covered this.
Discussing the Velvelettes' Soulful Sound
00:11:15
Speaker
We mentioned the Pat Boone B-side with the Hundells. Once again, we'll mention it just because that's a terrible record. Yes, not good.
00:11:24
Speaker
That's a record that needs to go into the five pits of wherever. One, two, three, go!
00:11:57
Speaker
At number 87 she's not there by the zombies when they're not too busy revving up the motorcycle for the Shangri-La's. multi-talented. Number 89, Look Away by Garnet Mims, a great R and&B lead vocal. It's a good song. The percussion drives this track to the drums. I'm not a big fan of the sax. I know I sound like I'm dogging on sax this month, but it's played out a little bit. This is an enjoyable disc and that's really all that it's aiming to be. Nothing deep. Yeah, I agree. I said I'd better look away before she sees
00:13:05
Speaker
greatly vocal from Garnet Mims here. What a soul singer. I wonder if he influenced Otis Redding, because he sounds a little, to me, Otis Redding on this track. And this was co-written by Norman Mead, who co-wrote Time Is On My Side. I thought the horn solo was kind of strange on this. At times it almost sounded like a mariachi horn. This isn't the right song for mariachi kind of horns.
00:13:29
Speaker
This song was standard soul at the time. I just felt like Garnet Mims deserved better than this song. It was such a great, great soul singer. I just wish it had been better material, but great vocal on this.
00:13:42
Speaker
But I mean, as you were saying, it's an enjoyable fall song. You can hear it playing while you're starting to get the fire going. Enjoying a hot cup of cocoa in the late October malaise, shall we say. Yeah. It's a decent song, but just wish was a little better than it is, but great vocal from him.
00:14:01
Speaker
Yeah, it's a great song. His voice is great. The Johnny Cash thing. okay I had this thing for this song and I'd written it down and I thought Johnny Cash has just recorded Ring of Fire and is running a bit late with a recording of Ring of Fire and the other group that are following coming in with Garnet Mims to do this song and they can't get hold of the horn players that they need.
00:14:22
Speaker
And these guys have been recording for hours and hours. Ring of fire. And just as they're about to leave, the engineer shouts, no, you're not going anywhere. We've paid you all this money. You can stay and you can do this, Jim.
00:14:35
Speaker
That's as good an explanation as any. That is Marv Quabel's fanfic for this episode. At number 90, Needle and a Haystack by the Valvolats. Is that how it's called? Yeah, I think it's Valvolats. Valvolats, yes.
00:14:50
Speaker
I was familiar with them as a Motown girl group, but that's all I knew about them. I'd heard maybe two or three songs of theirs. This was a surprise to me. Calgill gives a tremendous lead vocal, and while they're maybe a bit underused, I like the building of the backing vocals as well.
00:15:10
Speaker
The hand claps are great, and the Funk brothers are on fire, particularly James Jamerson. Unlike his fancy bassline, this is just a real simple bassline. I can play it, so it's gotta to be easy. But it is executed with just such amazing soul. You know, we've talked a lot on our show about the Motown Junkies website, which I love and I still do, but half of a bone to pick with them because they only gave this a six out of 10. I completely disagree. Get out of town.
00:16:06
Speaker
I love this song, and I hadn't heard this song in years. The title vaguely ring a bell with me, but as soon as I played it, I thought, oh, yeah, I'd forgotten about this. This is a banger. I think it's catchy. I love the sax solo. The band just swings on this. The hard-hitting drums and the group. I mean, I don't think the fella, let's get enough attention today. Normally, I don't love Du-Lang, Du-Lang, backup, solos like that, but it works.
00:16:35
Speaker
on this. This has got soul. I love the harmonies and the harmonies get pretty complicated and sophisticated on this track too. And I think we'll get this song in a later episode. He was really saying something is another follow-up. That's a banger too. That's a great one too. We'll get to that later. So the Velvelettes deserve a lot more attention than they get. This is Norman Whitfield, by the way. I think he's a co-writer on this. Love this track.
00:17:04
Speaker
Now Motown Junkies only gives it 6 out of 10 because they like their later records so much more. Quoting from their review, tougher and louder, guitar heavy, and with more of a blues influence, this record has me checking out the rest of their catalog. It's good, but never in a million years is it the one song they deserve to be remembered for. A work in progress, a hint of the shape of things to come that also happens to be very groovy in its own right. I think they give it 6 out of 10 because they like the other records from this act so much more than this one. na that See, I disagree. I mean, the other records are great too, but nah, this is just as good. So, sorry, love your blog, but nope, this deserved a higher rating. Eight and a half to a 9 out of 10.
00:17:50
Speaker
Thank you. there We all like it. We always loved this song. And a bit of a pun here. Why on earth has this never been used as a needle drop in a film? Ah, there you go. I mean, I know it's a pun, but I'm using there. But why have they never used this in films? They should.
00:18:10
Speaker
I really enjoyed the saxophone. I think that's amazing. Like I said, the Funk Brothers, wonderful music, great lyrics. um It's got a nice truth to the story as well that they're saying, you know, finding the right person is very much like finding a needle in a haystack. I know that's romantic and a bit sappy, but that's me. reg Let's face it, the two songwriters that you've got and the production of them, you know, of Whitfield and William Stevenson, they are top-class writers and producers themselves. Just look them up, people. You'll see loads of songs that they've both written. Stevenson's written with Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder has written with all sorts of people, and Smokey, they've written together. Fantastic songs.
00:18:51
Speaker
at number 97 when you walk into the room by the searchers which we've previously covered at number 98 gone gone gone by the Everly brothers a Don and Phil Everly song nice guitar nice harmonies I like the drums I like the electric guitar here yeah It might have been a bit better if it were just a bit more up-tempo, but it's not a bad record. It's maybe trying a little bit too hard to sound like 1964, but if that's the biggest fault, that's not much of one. It's not a great record, but it's a good one. I like it. I really would have liked to see the Everly's try more in this general style. Yeah, I would agree.
00:20:02
Speaker
isn't top tier Everly Brothers, but it's fun. I like the rhythmic guitar, like the lyrics, a lot of fun. Almost reminded me a little of like a skiffle rhythm. Wish the harmonies were a little more on display. Those tight Everly Brothers harmonies, you know, maybe a little bit more. But other than that, fun record, really liked it. And this was their final top 40 single of the 60s.
00:20:25
Speaker
Wow. To me, I listened to this and I thought it's like an update to the Everly sound. Yeah. And it's almost like the screaming out, hey, this is the sound of the future. Mm hmm. Because it fits in with what's going on there. I really enjoyed it. Upper mid tier, Everly Brothers. I wish they'd have tried to do a bit more and carried on with this vein and seen where they would have gone. And as a shout out, the cover version by Robert Plant and Alison Krause is fantastic.
00:21:17
Speaker
99, the return of Leslie Gore with Hey Now and we're going to get another Leslie Gore song. I like this tune. It's not Leslie Gore's best, but it's probably the best we've had in, oh, a half a year, maybe even a full year, since it's my party and Judy's turn to cry. It's good if pretty standard backing and I dig those hand claps. It's better than the song we're getting later from her.
00:21:43
Speaker
Oh, I'll have something to say about that. But until then, I thought this was quite a departure for her. It has an R and&B sound to it, which I like. I liked her vocal approach. It has kind of a growl in her voice, which you know we haven't really heard as much from her. Glad to hear the change up in this. ah You can hear that crystal clear Quincy Jones production style in this.
00:22:33
Speaker
Unfortunately, this was not a hit for her. They were trying to make this a hit. It was her first single, not to enter the top 40, but maybe it was too much of a change up for her for fans that they didn't like this ah R and&B song. But I thought it was a nice change ah for I liked hearing this different side of her. Yeah, again, not saying this is the most memorable song ever, but I liked hearing this other side of her.
00:22:58
Speaker
I enjoyed it. I wouldn't switch it off if it came on the radio. I'd like to listen to it. Lovely hand claps. Their vocals are fabulous. The song could be seen as a bit cliched to a degree, yeah but it's not a bad song. It's enjoyable. And I love what he's doing. Well, I mean, you you know, you look at everything else we've had from Leslie Gore, yeah basically since Beatlemania started. Not good. Yeah. This is a nice change compared to that.
00:23:24
Speaker
Yeah. And as you say, compared to the other song we're going to get, it should be noted the songwriter who is credited as S. Gordon is Sonny Gordon, not Sam Gordon. Sam Gordon is a much better known songwriter, perhaps best known for Itsy Bitsy, Teeny Weeny, Yellow Polka Dot Bikini. That's the other Gordon you're on about, isn't it? Right. And that's not Sam Gordon, not Sonny Gordon. Sonny Gordon was not a hugely successful songwriter, which is kind of surprising.
00:23:51
Speaker
And we got some reviews for this song. Critical reception to the song was generally very positive, which we agree. In a single review for Billboard, DJ Eddie Clark called the song very commercial and noted the song's hand clapping rock and beat. Again, we agree.
00:24:09
Speaker
ye ye Get ready, here's what Cashbox has to say. Oh, this ought to be good. They described the song as a tantalizing, multi-voiced, blues, jazz-flavored rakachacha that should keep Gore's chain of hits intact. Rakachacha! Again. Oh, we love these reviews. That's why we keep reading them. I know. They're so fun. And in 1999, Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill mentioned that she would include this song amongst one of her mixtapes if she could. Interesting. Wow. We move on to the next week, the week of October 24th. At number one is Do I Diddy. At number 27 is I Don't Want to See You Again by Peter and Gordon. So it keeps climbing up. At number 52 is Mashbox.
00:25:19
Speaker
At number 74 is I'm Gonna Be Strong by Gene Pitney. Back to the big, overly dramatic Gene Pitney. This tune meanders a bit. I'm not a fan of those kettle drums, and the backing just goes too big. More badly recorded strings. Overall, it's decent, but not much better than that. Holy cow, this was way over the top with the arrangement. Yeah, the kettle drums.
00:26:17
Speaker
too much string and piano over the top, the climactic ending, just too over dramatic for my taste. Gene Pitney had to sing it in such an over-the-top, over-dramatic way just to keep up with the overbearing arrangement and production. I did not care for this. This was written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, who of course we've seen many, many times on these charts, and it was just too over-the-top for me. It needed to be taken down several matches.
00:26:49
Speaker
Pitney by Numbers. I did not like this at all. It's probably my least favorite song written by those two as well, actually. Yes. But I found out something interesting, though, somebody else who covered it later on. So it was first recorded by Frankie Wayne in 1963.
00:27:08
Speaker
But this was the first time it became a hit when Gene Pitney recorded it. But it was also recorded in 1980 by the band Blue Angel. Now you may think, who the heck is that? The lead vocalist at the time was Cyndi Lauper.
00:27:26
Speaker
And she would end up re-recording the track and releasing it as a single in 1994. And it was recorded again in 1982 on the Quiet Lies album by Juice Newton. So other people recorded this. OK. This was Gene Pitney's biggest hit. It was a top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK singles chart. Spoiler.
00:27:52
Speaker
Yep, so spoiler. At number 77, Reach Out For Me by Dionne Warwick, which we've already covered. At number 80, Slaughter on 10th Avenue by The Ventures. Another record that I don't know what this is doing in the charts here. It's a song by Richard Rodgers, and it first showed up at the end of the Rodgers and Hart 1936 Broadway musical comedy, On Your Toes. Wow. Get ready for this description of this musical.
00:28:21
Speaker
Slaughter is the story of a hoofer, hoofer, h-o-o-f-e-r. Yes, indeed. Who falls in love with a dancehall girl, who is then shot and killed by her jealous boyfriend. The hoofer then shoots the boyfriend, hitting on Rocky in the eye, huh? Rocky didn't like that.
00:28:40
Speaker
This track, more or less standard Ventures guitar and backing. The guitar is nice enough. The drums are well played. More terrible organ. The organ and the sax seem to sort of mesh together into one and both of them are terrible. Decent, but not much more than that. It's not even the best Richard Rodgers tune, so.
00:28:58
Speaker
No, I didn't really care for this. The backstory that this was based on the score of this ballet, the comedy on your toes, I found that more interesting than the actual song. Typical venture sound with the the quotes, wet guitar licks, the overall surf sound. I mean, other than that, I didn't really find it that remarkable.
00:29:56
Speaker
It needs a melody. It needs something better than a drunk old man using a £20 portable organ that you can buy in any thrift shop. It's okay. I liked it a bit more than Kit did, but you know. It is interesting how both old and new, the Broadway tunes are showing up again and again in the charts here.
00:30:19
Speaker
Yeah, that's true. That does seem to be a theme of this month. At number 82, Don't Ever Leave Me by Connie Francis, Jeff Berry, Ellie Greenwich tune, surprisingly strong vocals from Connie Francis. Although she does sound a bit like a female Neil Sedaka or Paul Anka here. Pure pop. The percussion is strong. The Wii U backing. Don't care for that. The piano break is simple, but effective. It's more than listenable. It's a hit, but maybe a lower end hit for me.
00:31:19
Speaker
I felt this was a little bit of a throwback. I felt like it was trying to sound like a girl group track with the ooey ooey backing vocals, sort of trite lyrics. I mean, just typical, don't leave me, I'll be blue. Even a sort of Phil Spector-ish production with the prominent echo. I don't hate it, but I just felt like it was just kind of a wannabe Phil Spector Ronettes sound. Do you agree with me that in the tone and phrasing, it's a little bit like Anil Sadaka type of thing? Maybe a little bit. Pure pop. They're trying to change up what she's doing. It completely jumped out at me like there's this fast beat that's going on in there and then she's singing along to it and I'm thinking, know it's not what you used to from Connie Francis. It's all right, but it's not something that I come back to listen to again. Agreed.
00:32:10
Speaker
at number 84 What Good Am I Without You by Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston. I love the piano opening here.
00:32:35
Speaker
There's a bit too much of the backing, but Kim Weston just kills it on that first verse. Marvin over his vocal seems to have a bit more piano overlaid. The backing is a bit too much, but it's all for me about Kim Weston. It's okay when they're singing together, but I want to hear more of her. Weston is the stronger of the two vocalists here. Interesting.
00:33:23
Speaker
By this time Mary Wells has left Motown and we're going to get to her in just a little bit here. And so Motown needed to find a new joint partner for him.
00:33:33
Speaker
And they were trying to groom Kim Weston as sort of the next Mary Wells in terms of trying to make her a successful solo artist as well. And so they paired her up with Marvin Gaye to give her more exposure.
00:33:47
Speaker
And so this is the song, What Good Am I Without You? And they would, of course, record other songs together, the most famous being It Takes Two. That's a great duet. Better than this one. I love the work by the Funk Brothers here. I love the piano on this. I love that. I'd say this has hints of jazz as well as, of course, soul. I would say this is not on the level of Motown's best duets.
00:34:12
Speaker
And certainly not, it takes two. But this is good. I think Marvin and Kim Wesson are just sort of getting to know each other at this point. so they're feeling each other out in terms of vocal styles. Kim Weston is really good on this. I mean, Marvin is great. He's Marvin Gaye. What do you expect? But I think Kim Weston may be more of the star on this. The Andantes, of course, are singing back up. And it's a good duet, but I think they would get better and better as time went on. And of course, Marvin Gaye would also pair up with Tammy Terrell.
00:34:42
Speaker
They were the best paired up together. And I've heard no rumors of Marvin Gaye sleeping with Kim Weston. So, you know, there's that. In fact, the only one that there were ever rumors of him having any sort of a affair with was Mary Wells.
00:34:55
Speaker
middle tier Motown song and that's not to denigrate Motown because what do you expect that many incredible songs from Motor City that there's always going to be a middle tier. Kim's voice stands out the most in here. Eventually they'd both work it so that both of their voices work better together. It's decent and there's two or three songs that they would do better as duets.
00:35:18
Speaker
Yes. At number 89, you should have seen the way he looked at me by the Dixie cups. Another Barry Greenwich song. This one, it's a standard girl group song. I kind of like the horns, but the track doesn't really go anywhere. And of course, the lyric ends with a march down the aisle. It would not have been out of place a year ago. At this point, it's no better than, oh, that's nice. And the polite little pat on the head. That's exactly what I said. Throwback.
00:36:23
Speaker
Throwback to like 62, 63. Meet cute at a party. They go out and they kiss and then they get married at the end. Just another one of these nice girls date and they get married. We've seen this so many times. Yeah, the horns are okay. But other than that, these kinds of songs would become dated very, very soon and would go away. So ah yeah, I mean, the Dixie cups, they're fine. Their harmonies are fine. and they perform it fine, but this is already like a throwback. Dangerously one trick pony at this point. Dixie cups are a great vocal group and they've just given this song. I couldn't get past the lyrics. I just really did not like the lyrics to it at all. I thought I've heard better songs with this subject and by Crikey, that songwriting team have written a lot of songs with this exact premise in it.
00:37:21
Speaker
Chapel of love had some charm to it. And it was catchy. This is not it. So we get to be a little bit self-referential here. It's taken us two years, but this is now the 1000th song that we've talked about on top or most of the pod. Wow. My gosh. I wish it were a better song. Yes.
00:37:43
Speaker
At number 90 on the Billboard charts, the return of the new beats. Everything's all right. Ugh. It's a John D. Ladder milk song. They very much steal from their own bread and butter bagging. They amp up the screaming in the falsetto. The non-falsetto bits almost sound like they're parodying Mick Jagger in places. This is a miss from the guy who liked bread and butter.
00:38:39
Speaker
I needed aspirin after listening to this song. Absolutely ripping off his own song, Bread and Butter. I mean, that Sesame Street kind of intro again. That falsetto is just awful. It can't hold a candle to Frankie Valley. It was like nails screeching down a chalkboard. It was like a parody listening to this. And of course it isn't, but it sure sounded like it. I will say this made Bread and Butter sound like a masterpiece and that's saying something for me. Well, and Johnny Loudermilk is such a good song. I know. I've had so many great songs and it's it's actually not a terrible song. It's just that this version of it is dreadful. Yeah. Oh, just awful. Absolutely awful. Barb, I think this needs to be just blown up. This might be in our worst of 64. Possibly. This is a good contender. That vocal is definitely in the worst of 64.
00:39:31
Speaker
Yeah, as I said, nails screeching down the chalkboard. Which one was it? There was one that we did that was the Four Seasons, and we were all moaning about the vocal. it where It was too much from Frank. That was screechy. h And I almost found myself wishing to go back to that one again, and I absolutely hated that one as well. Yeah, exactly.
00:40:16
Speaker
This makes that one sound like opera. This goes along with the one in the UK this month where we mentioned that that guy was completely out of tune most of the time. This goes there for the worst vocals. The Heinz we were talking about. This will go on there along with that as was one of the worst vocals of the year.
00:40:35
Speaker
Yeah. At number 93, a song which is only better by comparison. Chuck Berry disappoints us with Little Marie. It's a very limp remake of Memphis. Granted, if Chuck Berry hadn't done it, somebody else would have, but it's not good. The vocal and guitar are good enough, but it is just lifeless. My heart was torn apart as I look back at my Marie.
00:41:03
Speaker
And there the pieces still remain with you in Tennessee
00:41:13
Speaker
This is Chuck Berry, you know? And he just sounds so half-hearted. He just lacks energy. And whoever is singing back up with him doesn't even sound in sync. It's a sloppy production. Obviously, this cannot compare to Memphis, Tennessee. It's like somebody said, to him we need a single. du So he said, all right, I'll just write a sequel to Memphis, Tennessee, and I'll just write something that sounds like it. All right, let's just slap this together. OK, here's a single. What a disappointment.
00:41:43
Speaker
he even gets long distance information into the first verse again. yeah
00:41:52
Speaker
Just ripping off his own lyrics. And the lyrics are disappointing as a sequel. yeah mean you know What's going on with Marie? you know you You want to hear that story and we don't get nearly enough of that. And clever and funny. He could have really made this funny. He's better than this.
00:42:13
Speaker
There could have been a good sequel, and this was not it. No, definitely not. At number 95, Walking in the Rain by the Ronettes, Phil Spector, Man in Wheel, we had Walking in the Sand, now it's Walking in the Rain. Oh, we're going to get Walking in the Snow and any more walking in anywhere else. Mummy's only looking for her hand in the snow, you know. yeah yeah And then in the 1980s, do we get in an entire album of these songs by the Weather Girls?
00:42:42
Speaker
Yeah. This track is good, but not top notch Ronettes, except for the middle eight. I really liked the middle eight, the like walking in the rain bit. It's sores there, but then it goes back to just slightly better than average. The effects work, the backing is smooth. All in all, the great middle eight only elevates the song a little bit. The Spectre production hurts this record. Yes. yeah I will say Ronnie's voice on this is so good. She really saves the production.
00:43:43
Speaker
She sounds so wistful and emotional on this. When she sings, so where can he be? And she sings this like she means it. I just love her voice on this. And I have to say, the effects on this are pretty impressive for 1964. The thunder and rain and all sound pretty realistic. And in fact, I found out that The Thunder and Lightning Effects earned the audio engineer on this, ah Larry Levine, a Grammy nomination. He deserved it. That was pretty impressive. So just a little side note there. But I will say I thought Ronnie Spector's vocals on this were superb. I was so impressed. But as far as in general, yeah, the Phil Spector production was a little over the top and not among the best Ronette's records. But it had some moments.
00:44:37
Speaker
and particularly having to do with Ronnie. Yep, love Ronnie's vocal. I love all of Ronnie's vocals on this. I think the wall of sound loses what could have been a delicate, less produced, stripped back song. We're going to talk about another version of it briefly and you can bring up your thoughts on that then. Okay.
00:44:57
Speaker
So in 2004, the Ronettes version was ranked at number 266 on Rolling Stone's Top 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Six years later in the 2010 list, it was at number 269 and it did not make the 2021 list at all.
00:45:13
Speaker
The Jane the Americans cover of this song from 1969 is perhaps known a bit better, but it's actually not the version that I like best. The version that I like best comes to us from Rita Wilson. Yes, that Rita Wilson, Mrs. Tom Hanks in 2012, she did an acoustic version. And while Ronnie could sing rings around Rita Wilson, her version of the song, her record is a much better version.
00:46:16
Speaker
take Ronnie's vocals and put them over that arrangement. Yeah. Paging Peter Jackson. He's never going to get out of his basement, is he? No, never. We'll just give him more to do. At number 96, Oh No, Not My Baby by Maxine Brown, a Goffin and King song, a really emotional lead vocal, really nice backing from Dee Dee Warwick.
00:46:41
Speaker
The backing is just a touch dramatic, but the strings are actually pretty good. The overall effect works for me. I would rank this a hit. This was originally recorded by the Shirelles and Sam Greenberg gave Maxine round the song because he didn't feel that the Shirelles had done it justice and that Maxine needed to find the original melody from the recordings. They had gone so far off by each group member taking their own lead No one knew any anymore where the real melody stood. I think that's a bit harsh. I think the Shurell's version is okay, but the Maxine Brown version is much better.
00:47:43
Speaker
I really like her voice on this. It's strong. It's and emotional. She really understood the lyrics and and the emotions on this. I thought the strings were a little much. I thought they threatened to overpower her voice at times. I think they should have been brought way down in the mix. But I do like the chord changes in the chorus. There were some nice changes there.
00:48:08
Speaker
You would expect that from Carole King. And some of that I thought, I can hear some of tapestry-ish changes there. But overall, I like this song. I don't think I had heard this before. I think the vocals are what drew me in. And I think she interpreted the lyrics the best. Certainly better than the Shirelles version.
00:48:28
Speaker
Yeah, I've heard this version of it many times. I like this version of it. I like her voice produced by Greenberg and the return of Luther Dixon again, producing this. Many years later, Carole King herself would do a really great singer-songwriter, her classic style version of it herself. Oh, wow. I don't think I've heard that. I'll have to look that up.
00:49:30
Speaker
So speaking of Carol Kane, do you think she was being ever so slightly passive aggressive here? As Wikipedia describes it, the songs lyrics describe how friends and family repeatedly wore the singer about a partner's infidelities. We know something about that, don't we, Carol Kane? Maybe. Oh no, that's not her baby.
00:49:53
Speaker
Maxine Brown has an interesting story about how she got to the beat that she used. She was playing the Shirelles version, and a group of children skipping rope on the sidewalk picked up the song's main hook before Brown, hearing the children singing, oh no, not my baby, as they skipped, gave Brown the idea for the song's melody. That's kind of cool, actually. Yeah, that is cool.
00:50:17
Speaker
at number 97, Chained and Bound by Otis Redding stacks perfection.
00:50:46
Speaker
a great pleading vocal, perfect backing, horns, guitars, and drums compliment each other absolutely perfectly. The lyrics, well, okay. Do we really need another bondage type song? We've heard those before, but and we'll take it. Hey, I love this. Otis Redding wrote this. And I kind of liked his upending of the words chained and bound, you know, as positive things being chained and bound, I love. And I kind of liked it, but that voice, oh, nobody could sing like him. You know, you could just picture him on the stage on his knees and, you know, singing this with all his heart. It's just amazing. And the horns on this. This is, as you said, R and&B, it stacks at its finest. I listened to this in awe. I loved, loved this. Did Otis Redding ever record a bad track? I don't think so.
00:51:38
Speaker
Nope. And also added to that, when Otis is working and using Cropper as an arranger, you also get a really nice tasteful backing as well. Those two together always used to work wonderfully doing arrangements together. Yep. Never overdone.
00:51:55
Speaker
At number 99, Listen Lonely Girl by Johnny Mathis, written by Scott Lyons and Allard. It's a nicely vocal, ah particularly the break and the end, but the song itself, the version itself is pretty average overall. I don't like the backing. The tempo is too slow. And by the way, the Scott is Bobby Scott, one of the writers of Taste of Honey. And later, he ain't heavy. He's my brother. Oh, two better songs. Yeah.
00:52:46
Speaker
I don't dislike this song as much as some of the other Johnny Mathis ones we've covered recently, but it's still not a terribly memorable, remarkable song. A boy Johnny gives it his all, particularly at the end when he hit that high note.
00:53:16
Speaker
He's trying to make something out of the song. You know, he's Johnny Mathis. He's a great singer. But I can understand why Johnny probably doesn't include this in his greatest hits. Compilations. It's just nothing that I would listen to on a regular basis.
00:53:34
Speaker
I think you could use AI to replace Johnny's voice in this and put Andy Williams in there, and I don't think you'd change any interest that I've got in the song. Nicely put. We move on to the final week of October. It is the Halloween charts.
00:53:52
Speaker
October 31st, at number one is Baby Love by The Supremes. Moving up to number 20 is I Don't Want to See You Again by Peter and Gordon. At number 62 is Ringo by Lauren Green. Lauren Green talksings a song about an outlaw. We were talking about fanfic stories. Here's another fanfic story. The fanfic story about real cowboy Johnny Ringo. The backing is pleasant enough, but it sounds like they just went to an effects record or went to chat GPT and said, cowboy music, please. Surely the only reason this chartered as high as it did was because of Bonanza fans and really confused Beatles fans. Who must have been in for a big shock when they realized this was not about Ringo Starr. All I can figure is that obviously Bonanza was a hugely popular show and, you know, Westerns were very popular at this time. Western TV shows, Western films.
00:55:05
Speaker
The backing! of ringo was nicely produced. Found out Hal Blaine was on drums and percussion. Tommy Tedesco was on guitar. I assume other members of the Wrecking Crew were probably a part of this and then Warren Green's voice. But he's not singing, not even rapping. He's just sort of. And then this happened. But amazingly, I think this went to number one. Yeah, I think in December, Steve Preview.
00:55:34
Speaker
and apparently he said he wanted it written kind of in the vein of a much better song, El Paso, by Marty Robbins. It's of its time and I don't quite understand why it was that popular but maybe some of our listeners from that period can tell us why this was such a huge hit. Why did this get to number one and William Shatner never got to number one?
00:55:58
Speaker
Good question. Obviously a very much an inspiration to William Shatner, I would have thought. William Shatner never did a song called John Paul and George. There's still time head. And you know William Shatner's John Paul and George William Shatner.
00:56:13
Speaker
a John Paul and George Harrison the fourth. um Seriously, I can't believe that a fantastic song like El Paso was mentioned in passing as being an influence on this.
00:56:27
Speaker
It makes me think of much better artists, you know, I'm thinking of like, you know, C.W. McCall, who would make a living of the talking singing style, you know, thinking convoy and things like that. Yeah. Much better songs. So if Lorne Green's Ringo is anything at all of an inspiration of that, thank you for that at least. Other than that, doesn't it go on?
00:56:50
Speaker
Yes, it's long. It's long and drawn out for no reason whatsoever. And I would say you get to the next song, but I'm not really looking forward to that one either.
00:57:02
Speaker
We got a little bit more, not necessarily about this song, but about the way this song came to be and the artists, which we have been mentioning. So, you know, we've mentioned Alan Livingston earlier. We found an article entitled, what do Bonanza, the Beatles and Bozo have in common? The answer, the amazing Alan Livingston. That's what Alan Livingston would spend time at Capitol and he would spend time at NBC.
00:57:29
Speaker
And he would go back to Capitol. So Alan Livingston was the one who signed Frank Sinatra to Capitol. Alan Livingston was the one who would bring Bonanza to NBC. And of course, Alan Livingston is the one who would convince Dave Dexter we really got to release these records from these guys. Quoting, Livingston first heard about the Beatles in 1963.
00:57:55
Speaker
when he'd read about the group in the English music press. The Beatles records were being released in the United Kingdom by EMI, and because EMI was Capitol's major stockholder, Capitol had the right of first refusal on the Beatles in America. But Capitol rejected the Beatles' early hit single as unsuitable for the American market.
00:58:13
Speaker
Only after Livingston received a call from the Beatles manager Brian Epstein from London wanting to know why there was no interest in the group and Livingston told them that he hadn't even heard the Beatles sing. Epstein told them to listen to one of their records and call him back. Livingston did end the Beatles sign with Capitol which agreed on a $40,000 budget to promote the first single.
00:58:34
Speaker
And in February of 1964, the Beatles made their appearance on the Ed Sullivan show. So Bozo, the Beatles, and Bonanza. Bonanza starring Lauren Green. Thank you for Bonanza. And a lot of other things. You got to give them the Beach Boys. You got to give them Frank Sinatra's Capitol era. And Bozo the Clown. We like Bozo the Clown. Chicago reference area. You know, we've had a Chicago reference in probably all four episodes this month. That's right. It's a record.
00:59:03
Speaker
At number 70, Mr. Lonely by Bobby Vinton, written by Clinton and Allen. Another one which recorded a long time ago, recorded in 1962, but was a hit in 1964. Epic Records initially did not display any confidence in Bobby Vinton. The song was included on his first vocal album, Roses Are Red, but was not released as a single at that time.
00:59:27
Speaker
Vinton wanted it to be the follow-up, but Epic's executive chose the very similar Rain Rain Go Away, instead giving Mr. Lonely to Buddy Greco, whom they were grooming as their next big superstar. Greco's version reached only number 64. After Vinton heard Greco's version on the radio, the executives confessed to him that they felt that he was more of a musician, he meaning Vinton, and songwriter than a singer.
00:59:53
Speaker
However, in the following months, Vinton's continued success as a vocalist made them reconsider their position. This version of the song, Bobby Vinton out Johnny Mathis is Johnny Mathis. Yeah, and it was interesting. I didn't recognize it immediately from the title, but then when I heard it, I thought, oh, yeah, this used to be played on the old East Station here, Magic 104. Yeah, it's very emotional. I don't particularly care when he hits those high, almost yodeling kind of notes. I'm Mr.
01:00:50
Speaker
What's particularly interesting is how this song eventually became associated with the Vietnam War. That apparently Bobby Vinton wrote this in the late 50s when he was serving in the army and the lyrics describe a soldier who was sent overseas and has no communication with his home and he's lonely.
01:01:10
Speaker
and longing for somebody to talk with. And so the single was released just as the Vietnam War was escalating. And of course, soldiers were experiencing a similar situation and so could certainly relate to it and that his voice, you know, you could tell it's getting a bit more emotional. It sounds like he's almost is crying in the second verse. So this record became particularly associated with the Vietnam War and became a big hit because of that. now We'll see it again in December when it will hit the top of the charts. So it's interesting how this song took on greater meaning because of that. It's one of the bobbies. Why someone never thought of putting Vint and Darren and V together and just calling them the bobbies? I'll never know.
01:01:58
Speaker
I know. um You two both liked it more than I did and after that explanation there from Kit, I might have a re-listen to it and see if I'm more interested in it because i I didn't like it much. I thought it was middle of the road and okay in the background.
01:02:14
Speaker
Yeah, I didn't love it either. Let me clarify that. I wasn't a huge fan, but when I read that it turned out to have this larger meaning, I thought, oh, maybe I need to take a second listen. It's actually kind of a counterpoint to the unreleased until the archive edition song Tommy's Coming Home from Flowers and Dessert that Paul and Elvis Costello wrote. Although I'd say Tommy's Coming Home is a better song.
01:02:37
Speaker
I would agree, but obviously they're two different sides of the coin because Tommy's coming home in a box and Mr. Longley is presumably actually going to make it the way home. I should mention that in 1966, Bobby Vinton actually recorded a sequel to this in which the singer comes home called Coming Home Soul. Oh, wow.
01:02:56
Speaker
Yeah. So there you go. I think it's more dramatic if he comes home in a box, but honestly, but at number 83, sidewalk surfing, another Jan and Dean song, thankfully a much shorter title written by Wilson and Christian. The song itself, again, nothing special skateboard sound effects. It's a standard surf song, but applied to skateboarding, cliche horns, the lyrics. I love this couplet.
01:03:24
Speaker
So get your girl and take her tandem down the street. Bust your buns. Bust your buns now.
01:03:59
Speaker
When I first heard this, I had to go back and listen and look up the lyrics. I'm like, I'm sorry, did they just say, bust your buns now? And yeah, I heard correctly. Believe it or not, Brian Wilson wrote the music and the lyrics were by Roger Christian, who Brian was working with at the time. And so Jan and Dean, they wanted to compose a song about a sport other than surfing. And they thought about, hey, what about skateboarding? And they tried to write a song about it and were having a hard time coming up with it. And they wanted to parody the Beach Boys song Catch a Wave from 1963's Beach Boys album Surfer Girl. So Jan Barry asked Brian Wilson and Roger Christian to come up with something like that. And they came up with Sidewalk Surfin'. So they were kind of parroting themselves, which I think is pretty funny. The trumpets are kind of a surprise. They come out of nowhere in the middle of the song.
01:05:03
Speaker
Grab your board and go sidewalk surfing with me
01:05:27
Speaker
It's fun. It's light. When you think of it as kind of a parody, it it takes on a new meaning. It's okay. Exactly. But Buster Bunn's now. That was a surprise. I can understand why Jan and Dean did this and Wilson didn't keep it for the Beach Boys. I wouldn't say it's the best from either group. And I'll leave it there for everybody to decide what that means, my opinion of the song is.
01:05:53
Speaker
I would have liked a little Marty McFly-verse where, you know, they're on the skateboard being pulled by a truck. Why didn't Marty go from 55 to 64? At number 86, Ain't It The Truth by Mary Wells. We said Mary Wells was coming and here she is. A nice intro. I love the echoey finger snaps. It's a great lead vocals. The backing is good, but maybe just a little muddy. And then when the backing singers come in, it gets more than a little bit too busy. The horns are good, but the song doesn't really need as much of them as we get. I really love the opening and closing 20 seconds. The rest, it's serviceable. Yeah.
01:06:33
Speaker
Very quickly, I was going to say, you know when you said the finger snaps? That's actually clever because they've got finger snaps and a wood block in there doing exactly the same thing. Oh wow. Which is why you've got that almost percussive feel to it.
01:07:10
Speaker
So Mary Wells is gone from Motown. 20th Century Fox Records offered her what at the time seemed like a better deal. And so this is a single from that label. And you can definitely tell this is not Motown. It just doesn't have that crisp, funk brothers backing. This is not My Guy for sure. It's not a bad song. There's a nice crisp beginning. But I just feel like there's nothing really remarkable about the song. And it doesn't showcase her voice.
01:07:41
Speaker
and until toward the end. Toward the end, you hear that flirtiness in her voice and all, but it just never really takes off. And unfortunately, that's kind of how her tenure at 20th Century Fox would go. It's a shame because she's a great singer and she could have done a bit more with it if somebody was producing it better in a sentence. I mean, the song was written by L.A. Piguiz, who would be a solo artist himself, known as Luke Courtney.
01:08:08
Speaker
And he he wrote songs for the Nashville of teens ready in the dreamers chubby checker the mccoys and so many more so to do a comparison. This would be a say Maxwell silver hammer to my guy being i want to hold your hand maybe.
01:08:27
Speaker
Yeah. At number 87, SWIM by Bobby Freeman. This is a painful rehash of a not so great dance record. The whole drum sound is terrible and the cymbals in particular were badly recorded. Bad organ. I'm sure Kit will let us know about that. It's trying to milk every little bit it can out of the swim craze.
01:09:27
Speaker
I don't even really like the original, the Come On and Swim song. This is a stain on the memory of Do You Wanna Dance? Well, interesting story behind this. So yes, this is the follow up to Come On and Swim, purely a dance record. But the producer is Sylvester Stewart.
01:09:46
Speaker
slice do Yep. He was working for Autumn Records in San Francisco at the time and was producing numerous records there, are including Laugh, Laugh by the Bo Brummels. And he actually co-wrote this too. Yikes! You know, he had a learning curve. Obviously he learned. And so, yeah, this was a sliced stone production, believe it or not. But definitely this was just meant to cash in on Come On and Swim. It's a dance record and not a great one. well Let's face it, dad dancers the world over are so happy that this and its predecessor came out because dads are still doing the swim to this day.
01:10:28
Speaker
At number 88, maybe tonight by the Shirelles, a Van McCoy song. Good girl group harmonies. It's a really good lead vocal. More hand claps that I like. The guitar and drums are mixed a little bit low, but they're audible enough in the mix. It's an okay to good song and a fairly ordinary, but perfectly adequate record.
01:11:24
Speaker
It's catchy with the hand claps. You know, we like hand claps here. It's a typical girl group song, except lyrics are a little racier. You know, maybe tonight, you know, I don't hear anything about marriage here. But the sound is the typical girl group kind of sound, which, as we've talked about earlier, will be dated soon. They're performing it just fine, but not one of their all time best for sure.
01:11:49
Speaker
Yeah. The Supremes would kind of make the old girl group sound just kind of go away. You know, Holland does your own and their productions and songwriting and the Supremes would update that girl group sound. Yep. Great vocals songs. Midlin is okay.
01:12:04
Speaker
At number 90, Mountain of Love by Johnny Rivers, our old friend Johnny Rivers. This is an okay cover of a good song. The 1959 Harold Dorman original is much better. Good guitar. Johnny Rivers' vocal is not the best. I like the drums, but the tambourine is kind of overpowering it. Like Kit said, we like hand claps, but here the hand claps are way too much up front. The backing vocals are average to poor.
01:12:32
Speaker
more not great harmonica. It averages out to okay, I think. Sometimes the record is good, but more often it's just mediocre or bad slash pointless.
01:12:43
Speaker
I may have liked it a little better than you did. I remember this is another one that I hadn't heard in ages and that used to be played on oldies radio. It's a decent cover. I'm not saying I love it, but I kind of like the harmonica. I kind of thought it was nicely arranged and produced, full country rockabilly, pretty good vocal from Johnny Rivers. I'm not saying it's better than the original for sure, but I thought this was one of his better covers.
01:13:10
Speaker
And it was a big hit for him. The Wrecking Crew backed him on this as I think they backed everybody at this point. ah
01:13:51
Speaker
It's just kind of there for me for the most part and you yeah like it a little bit better maybe than you Joe. You know the originals better the Charlie Pride version in 1982 that goes to number one I think that's better.
01:14:02
Speaker
Yes, absolutely. Alright, a song which Johnny Rivers' Mountain of Love dominates over. Yes. She understands me by Johnny Tillotson at number 91. Ugg. Bad Strings. A sing-song lead vocal. Terrible backing. The only interesting thing about this record is the guitar, which Sounds completely out of place. Although it actually sounds like something from about five years in the future to give our second Marty McFly reference. This sounds to me like Marty McFly playing that solo in the Back to the Future dance.
01:14:40
Speaker
ah
01:15:07
Speaker
I hate this record. Dum dee, daddy, dum dee, daddy. Yeah, you just nailed the worst part of the whole record that dumbed it out. Oh, boy, does that get annoying really fast. And the lyrics are very simple and not in a good way. And it was first released in 1963 by Teresa Brewer. And it was on her album, Terrific Teresa Brewer, and didn't do well, ah charted at number 130 on the billboards bubbling under. So then, of course, Johnny Tellston releases his version and did much better. I don't know why. um That dum dee dum dee dum thing was dumb. I just really i couldn't stand that part. That killed the song for me.
01:15:57
Speaker
awful lyrics by the numbers music. I would say let's go to a better song but we're not going to. I still think this is a better song than that last one, but it's not a good song. This is definitely a record where my reaction was WTF. At number 96, it's the next song from Leslie Gore with the unfortunate title, Sometimes I Wish I Were a Boy. Uh, well, if we're going to be generous, we can call it the first trans rights record.
01:16:30
Speaker
Uh, and I promised I would tell this, but I will keep this story short. A couple of years back, I saw Paul at the Austin city limits festival and the crowd around us was significantly filled by younger college age kids. He did obla de obla da and they were just going ecstatic over it. And it's like, but it's not that great a song. Oh, but way back then he was advocating for cross dressing. It's like, uh, no.
01:17:01
Speaker
But yeah, as to this song, nothing original there. It's actually not a bad record other than the opening. It's short and repetitive, but it is not recorded badly. It's pretty well produced, Quincy. The horns are mostly well recorded and not too much overdone.
01:17:18
Speaker
And, well, why did it take us so many years to realize that Leslie got with a lesbian? Oh,
01:17:55
Speaker
I'm a girl and it's wonderful and it fills my heart with joy. This song is pure trash. It is absolute trash. And Leslie Gord, she hated this too. She did not want to record this and felt rightly so.
01:18:10
Speaker
that it went against the feminist image she'd managed to earn with stuff like The Great You Don't Own Me, but she ultimately agreed to record this in exchange for some studio time in which she could record whatever she wanted, but unfortunately,
01:18:27
Speaker
The songs she did record during that time have not survived, as her label felt they weren't commercially viable. So she ultimately got nothing from that. I'm sure everybody will be shocked to know that this was written by two men, and Steve Donroy and John Gluck Jr. I feel so sorry for her that she had to record this crap. It's just essentially enforcing gender stereotypes. Sometimes, yes, sometimes I wish I were a boy. I'd been standing by the jukebox hoping he'd ask me to dance. How I wish I could run to him and hug him, but a girl mustn't make an advance. Always dancing with another and he's holding her so tight. Wish I had the nerve to cut right in and stop it, but a girl has to be polite.
01:19:16
Speaker
but the final humiliation. Now the record hop is over and I think he caught my eye. Here he comes heading straight in my direction. There he goes. He's passing me by. This poor girl. So it's just reinforcing, you know, here's how good girls behave. Oh, kind of like we've been talking about with these other marriage records. Just awful. This record just belongs in the trash. Poor Leslie Gore. Yep. Conditioning.
01:19:44
Speaker
Yep. Brainwashing. but Yep. Another one of those songs lyrically that irritates me. Times have changed. So I think now just go and ask him to dance. You don't need to think that the guy has to make the first move. Girl power for crying out loud. Just go out there, ask, and none of these sexist, you can't do this. You've got to be prim proper and do it this way, do it that way and do the other. Now it's just a song that reminds me of the awful sexual stereotypes that were in place back then. It's a time capsule and not in a good way. Meanwhile, Jan and Dean have old ladies really played by man. Another 10 years and the dad Bert Reynolds in there for them.
01:20:26
Speaker
That's right! ah Number 99, Heartbreak Hill by Fats Domino. We had a rehash of Memphis, now we have a rehash of Blueberry Hill. This is probably a better record than the Chuck Berry record.
01:20:41
Speaker
It's got a great piano and the beat. I like that they've sort of rehashing the Peggy Stu rhythm. The fast vocal is great, and it almost saves it. It would have worked if there'd been more of his piano, but the sax is shrill and borders on wacky sax style annoying territory. Yeah, this is definitely not top tier fat stomino. It is not Blueberry Hill, or I'm walking, or anything like that. If my friends should answer me,
01:21:44
Speaker
Heartbreak, heal the old, maybe end. I do like the kind of New Orleans rhythm. Yeah, but it's also kind of the Peggy Sue thing. A little bit, yeah. And I agree, would have liked some more prominent piano. But I think there's some banjo on here, which is kind of nice, a little bit of Big Easy sound. Love his vocal on this. Just classic Bats Domino vocal. It's a little bit of a different sound for him. I mean, I just feel like this is a trip to the Big Easy and not one of his most memorable records, but a fun one. I liked it.
01:22:19
Speaker
Yep, I'm going to basically say exactly the same thing. I like his voice. It's middle tier, I suppose, if I'm being polite. And I was really missing the prominent piano that you always get in fat songs.
01:22:33
Speaker
Yep. Agreed. We close out the month of October with It Ain't Me Babe by Johnny Cash at number 100. Yes. And we're also going to have a super cut. This is Johnny doing a Bob Dylan tune. It's a good version hot on the heels of Dylan's original record, although it wouldn't show up on an album for another year until Johnny Cash's 1965 album, Orange Blossom Special.
01:23:24
Speaker
Harmonica guitar the train beat rhythms. It's a bit more country in arrangement than the Dylan original You got Johnny and June together a nice cash combo lead vocal They sound great when they do that harmony the horns are a bit unnecessary but only detract a little I mostly like yeah, you know, it is so hard to top Bob Dylan's version
01:24:23
Speaker
I much prefer Bob Dylan's original. and You know, of course Johnny Cash and June Carter always sound great singing together, but I felt that the Ring of Firehorns didn't belong with this. I just thought Their approach on this sounded almost cheerful, and I never thought of this song as a cheerful, uptempo song. Now, I'm not surprised, of course, that Johnny would record a Bob Dylan cover. He was a huge Bob Dylan fan, really early champion of his, you know, had him on his television show. Absolutely huge, huge fan.
01:25:00
Speaker
I just felt like it didn't really capture for me the original sneering quality. If you're looking for this kind of man, it's not me. I think this would have worked better if Johnny had done it with the three piece. So there was him on guitar and then he had the ah upright bass player with him, didn't he? And then... Oh, like in the sun years? In the sun years. I would have liked that as a production on this instead for Johnny, because that would have worked better. But I love hearing him and June singing together. I always have done. But like you said, Kit, it's a bit almost happy when it's not a happy song at all.
01:25:36
Speaker
Exactly. Yeah, I mean, it almost sounded like they were trying to create like a sing along. And it's, you know, that isn't that kind of song. I mean, a other version, there's a lot of versions of this, which you're going to hear in the Supercut. I like the Brian Ferry version from 1974. The Turtles. This is the title of the first album. And it's got this on as a rockier song, which is different and works for them.
01:26:02
Speaker
cool Some of the other artists that you will hear in this supercut, Dino Desi and Billy, Dean Martin's son and Desi Arnaz's son, and their buddy Billy. I've always loved that. It's like, okay, two famous kids and another guy. Another guy. ah The Silky, Jan and Dean. Interesting.
01:26:20
Speaker
Nancy Sinatra, Waylon Jennings, Peter Paul and Mary, the Mona Lisa twins, who are not famous, but we love the Mona Lisa twins, and we got to give them props whenever we can. Dwayne Eddy, Brian Ferry, and maybe a couple more. The Ventures? Maybe. Just mentioning names now, aren't you? We'll see, but since Kit likes the original so much, she can skip the supercut if she wants to. No, that's all right. No, I'm interested.
01:26:46
Speaker
yeah
01:30:46
Speaker
All right. So that is the end of October of 1964. We'll be back for Thanksgiving in the States and the coming holidays real soon now for November of 1964. See you then. Oh boy, this year's gone fast. See you soon. Take care and don't eat too much turkey. And when are we going to get to song number 2000? Who knows? ah All right. Talk to you soon.
01:31:30
Speaker
There was a piece in the NME, a news piece, that said that Top Rank Records, remember when Top Rank had a record label? and They introduced an LP series next week that will be called Toppamos and it's coinciding with their current advertising slogan topper most of the popper most. Yes, and thought, they got it from somewhere. They saw that, they must have seen that in either the NME or record mirror or disc, record and show mirror as it was then. And they've taken it from there. They've obviously thought how stupid that is. How stupid is is one of those phrases that someone, an older person who doesn't understand teenagers comes up with a slogan that they think is gonna be the hip slogan of the month. Topper most of the popper most,