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September 1965 (side D)
123 Plays3 days ago
Herb Alpert, Billy Stewart, A Taste of Honey, Danny Hutton (on Hanna-Barbera Records), Kim Weston, yet another new cover of "Road Runner" and more! The Magical Mystery Camp (https://www.magicalmysterycamp.com/toppermost/) once again sponsors Toppermost for the 2026 year! #madeonzencastr. Support this podcast at the $6/month level on patreon to get extra content! Also, Create your own podcast today! #madeonzencastr
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Transcript
Introduction to Magical Mystery Camp
00:00:00
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This podcast is being sponsored by the Magical Mystery Camp. Love the Beatles? Ready to kick off your summer right? Music Masters Collective, The Fab Faux, and RPM Music School are delighted to once again bring you Magical Mystery Camp.
00:00:19
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Join us this June 16th through 19th, 2026 at the breathtaking Full Moon Resort in Big Indian, New York for Magical Mystery Camp, a one-of-a-kind music vacation exploring the music of the Beatles.
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Hosted by the Fab Faux with special guests Martin Sexton, Gail Ann Dorsey, Cindy Cashdoller, and more, this all-inclusive event includes...
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Nightly performances, interactive workshops, jam sessions, and plenty of opportunities for relaxation. Plus, there's special programming in honor of paul McCartney's 84th birthday.
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Whether you're a musician or simply a fan, join a vibrant community to celebrate the magic of the Beatles' music. Dive into workshops, write songs, stargaze, swim, or just take the breathtaking beauty of the Catskill landscapes.
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This unforgettable experience is crafted to refresh your spirit and ignite your creativity. Need a little help from your friends? Music Masters Collective also offers a scholarship program to make this experience accessible to more music lovers.
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Bring your instrument or just your good spirits and prepare for an unforgettable journey. Magical Mystery Camp, where music, fun, and inspiration collide.
The Beatles' Motivational Chant
00:01:39
Speaker
Register today at www.magicalmysterycamp.com slash toppermost. And now, on to the U.S. charts.
00:01:49
Speaker
The Beatles had this chant, John Paul and George, and probably then Stuart. and Pete had this charm when things weren't going well, which in their world wasn't very often because mostly it was an upward trajectory, but nonetheless, sometimes they would have a bad night or the gig 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.
00:02:12
Speaker
And I'd say, where's that, fellas? they'd say, to the top-a-most, to the pop-a-most. And I'd right. And we'd all sort of cheer up. I'd say, where are we going, fellas? And they go, to the top, Johnny. I'd say, where's that, fellas? And they say, to the top-a-most, to the pop-a-most. And I'd say, right. And we'd all sort of cheer on.
Cashbox Charts Discussion, September 1965
00:02:55
Speaker
Welcome to Side D, toppermost of the poppermost. I'm Ed Chan. I'm Kid O'Toole. And I'm Martin Quivel. We move to the final week here on the Cashbox charts, the week ending September the 25th, 1965, at number one, Eve of Destruction by Barry Maguire. This is probably one of the few times that we're going to give it a boo. This song doesn't deserve to be at number one. Yep.
00:03:21
Speaker
Even I've got to agree with that, yes. Yeah. Help is down at number five.
00:03:33
Speaker
Please. Ladies and gentlemen, please. Please, if you... Would you move back? Quiet, quiet, please. People are getting hurt on the front two rows.
00:03:46
Speaker
The show will be stopped if you don't move back. This is the Houston Security Beetle Division. Move back, please.
00:03:54
Speaker
I've been told to make this announcement. The show will be stopped if you don't move back in the first
Beatles Songs on the Charts and Live Performance
00:03:58
Speaker
two rows. And
00:04:02
Speaker
the fellow on my right... Okay, go on. Just move back, please.
00:04:11
Speaker
Okay. Oh, thank you very much. That was wonderful. Next song I'm gonna is the title song from the latest film we've made. And it's also our new record.
00:04:23
Speaker
And it's called Help!
00:04:28
Speaker
Help! I need somebody help Not just anybody help You know need someone help When I was younger So much younger than today I never, never needed Anybody's help in any way But now these days are gone I'm not so self-assured Yesterday is moving up at number 27. Yesterday,
00:05:10
Speaker
a place to hide away.
00:05:20
Speaker
I'm not half the man I used to be. There's a shadow hanging over me.
00:05:32
Speaker
Oh, yesterday. Oh, suddenly. Act naturally is at number 48. So once again, we've got three Beatles songs on the charts.
00:05:45
Speaker
All right. Cool.
00:05:49
Speaker
Thank you. And now, before your very eye, we'd like to introduce to you, at great expense, brought specially from the other side of the earth, for you tonight, singing a song of our new album called Act Naturally Ringo!
00:06:23
Speaker
The movie They're gonna make a big start out of me make the scene about a man that's that lonely And all I gotta do is act naturally We move to number 73.
Bob Dylan's 'Positively 4th Street' Analysis
00:06:44
Speaker
We've got a banger here.
00:06:46
Speaker
Positively 4th Street by Bob Dylan. Quite possibly this is Dylan's best ever lead vocal. I love that anger in the lyrics with that you got a lot of nerve. It's aimed at someone else.
00:07:02
Speaker
It's unclear whether he's talking about a lover or a friend. great organ. The chords are simple. The verse has a 1-2-4-1 chord progression followed by 1-5-4-6-5. The song is in the key of F sharp major, but with Dylan's vocal, it manages to build on that simplicity and make a whole meal out of the anger.
00:07:27
Speaker
And incidentally, the song's title does not appear anywhere in the lyrics and was not put on an album. Obviously, big hit.
00:08:02
Speaker
You got a lot to say you got a helping hand to lend You just want to be on the side that's winning.
00:08:18
Speaker
It's not my all-time favorite Dylan song, but, wow, these lyrics are just devastating. He is throwing verbal punches Now I know the reason you're here, it's to figure out who Dylan is talking about.
00:08:31
Speaker
Why is he so upset? And where is this 4th street he names in the title but never says directly in the song? There's certainly always going to be debates on the subject of Dylan's material. But, with the title, is Dylan telling us that this is positively something rather than another thing?
00:08:48
Speaker
There is a 4th street in the middle of Greenwich Village which we know was the heart of the folk movement in New York City. Dylan lived on that street for some time, and this was recorded only four days after he went electric at Newport.
00:09:00
Speaker
As much as the general consensus is that this isn't about one person, an ex-flame, Dylan can't stay away from writing as if it could be, singing, I used to be among the crowd you're in with.
00:09:12
Speaker
An easy connection to make to both Susie and Joan, and this has some backbone to it with Dylan saying in 1985, I don't write songs to critics. Perhaps Dylan doesn't hold his fans or friends as critics.
00:09:26
Speaker
He's turning his back on those he says who did so first, but Izzy Young, a very prominent folk leader and who helped Dylan in the early stages of his career, asked if the song was about him.
00:09:39
Speaker
I don't know if it was, but it was unfair. I'm in the village 25 years now. i was one of the representatives of the village. There is such thing as the village. Dave Van Rock was still in the village.
00:09:51
Speaker
Dylan comes and takes from us, uses my resources, then he leaves, and he gets bitter. He writes a bitter song. He was the one who left. Some say this song could be about Edie Sedgwick, but as most sources will agree on, Dylan really didn't start fooling around with her until after he married Sarah, which was in November 1965. Edie's time to shine came next year, with much of Blonde on Blonde, most likely, being about her.
Review of 'Everybody Loves a Clown'
00:10:17
Speaker
I love the rolling organ that helps propel the track throughout. I mean, it it just sounds like a forward motion. There are endless lyrics you can quote here about, Do you take me for such a fool to think I'd make contact with the one who tries to hide what he don't know to begin with? Though I know you're dissatisfied with your position and your place, don't you understand? It's not my problem. And the final mic drop lines. I wish that for just one time that you could stand inside my shoes. And just for that one moment, I could be you. Yes, I wish for just one time you could stand inside my shoes. You know what a drag it is to see you.
00:11:00
Speaker
Wow. Very definitely. Bob is angry. He is pissed. Yeah, that's there's there's no question about it. Just devastating lines. Whether he's aiming this toward a specific person, to his critics, a hit. Great put-down lyrics on this song. Nice sneering vocal. I love the guitar on this, especially the arpeggio touches on there. And yeah, the organ is fabulous.
00:11:25
Speaker
Could Dylan possibly be... one of the greatest writers of put-downs ever in song lyrics. He's up there. Yeah, he puts those rap diss artists to shame. That's right.
00:11:38
Speaker
And Cashbox really just doesn't know how to review Bob Dylan, do they? ah No. Okay, what they said about this record. Although Bob Dylan is presently holding down the number one niche on the top 100 with Like a Rolling Stone, he's a natural to create another sales storm with this self-penned follow-up called Positively Fourth Street.
00:12:02
Speaker
The side is a throbbingly bittersweet funky a affair. I don't know which of those adjectives applies to this song. Yeah, I wouldn't call this funky. I wouldn't call it throbbingly either. No.
00:12:16
Speaker
Bittersweet. Okay. That applies. Yeah. Yeah. In which Dylan attacks those people who wouldn't accept him when he was an unknown. So that's that theory that you were referring to. Yeah.
00:12:27
Speaker
From a Buick six is a rollicking, fast moving blues, drenched folk rocker. We all say hit. I may see a little bit bigger hit than kit, but we all say hit for sure. Absolutely. Yeah.
00:12:40
Speaker
I'll agree with that about the B-side because that is a rocker of a sum. At number 74, Everybody Loves a Clown by Gary Lewis and the Playboys. Hal Blaine, Snuff Garrett, and Carl Radel all up appear on this record.
00:12:55
Speaker
Cool. It's another Leon Russell tour de force for Gary Lewis. Nothing too exciting, but it is nicely poppy. More or less the same formula we've heard. Good enough singing, tight playing.
00:13:06
Speaker
I love the pop. I'll give it a low hit. Yes, I'm clown, but Why can't you see the other side of me? Guess I'll be the guy who plays the part of a clown with a broken heart.
00:13:50
Speaker
This is another one of these songs that they used to play a lot on oldies radio. I like it. I like the chord changes. i like the harpsichord sounding keyboards. It adds to the poppy quality of it. The lyrics aren't brainy, but catchy, memorable. Nice modulation toward the end. I like that. and and I like that keyboard riff that was slightly reminiscent of a circus.
00:14:45
Speaker
You know, that kind of feeling. And apparently, Leon Russell was the session leader for this. And Hal Blaine, Snuff Garrett, always enjoyed it, just for what it is. A fun pop track. So I'd give it a hint.
00:15:02
Speaker
Yeah, it's okay. I like that unison bit, you know, where all the instruments are playing the same thing and doing that riff there. That's really nice, that change. Mm-hmm. But yeah, it was okay. And the fact that it's called Everybody Loves a Clown, I couldn't help but keep thinking about his dad, Jerry Lewis. I wonder what his dad be like doing this song.
00:15:22
Speaker
Well, Marv, there is a video out there. Thank you. Thank you very kindly, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Hullabaloo. And now for our first act, we've got to... I'm very sorry, Gary.
00:15:36
Speaker
It was your line. It's been so long since I've worked with someone else before. Uh, no. That's my mistake, Dad. It was your line because you've got introduce myself in a playboy. Oh, yeah. That's right. Now, our very... By the way, Dad, you know all the groups at the beginning of the Hullabaloo show have all those beautiful models working with them in their numbers? well Yeah. Well, can we have them, too? yep Models, my son.
00:15:57
Speaker
You're old enough now, and I picked them myself, especially for you. Real pretty girls. Oh, Dad, yeah. They're real pretty. Hey, fellas, we got them! Okay. Thanks a lot, Dad. Your first grade. That's wonderful. I'm going to smack that kid one of these days. Well, ladies and gentlemen, what else can I say? With this brand new recording, Everybody Loves a Crown. Everybody, what is it? Would you just move your finger? Your thumb is in the way of the r and it looks like... Everybody loves a clown. Here he is, ladies and gentlemen, my son, the singer.
00:16:26
Speaker
I don't know if you guys have seen it, but it is Gary Lewis with some uncomfortably young girls, like six years old. Ooh. Ooh. There's one of these young girls who is just staring up at...
00:16:46
Speaker
Gary Lewis with, I don't know if it's admiration or if they instructed her to imagine that he was just a big ice cream cone. It's slightly creepy. Wow. That's unsettling.
00:16:59
Speaker
That's really unfortunate. They don't go so far as to suggest anything, but it's awfully creepy. And the end of the gag is he finishes the song and he turns to the girl and
00:17:39
Speaker
Can have your autograph? Sure, but you probably want my dad's too. He's Jerry Lewis, you know. Is he anybody?
00:17:50
Speaker
ah Oh dear. All right, Kit, you want to read the cash box review for this song?
Commentary on 'Not the Lovin' Kind'
00:17:56
Speaker
Sure. They said Gary Lewis and the Playboys are odd on favorites to repeat their last time out hit of save your heart for me with this follow-up Liberty item called everybody loves a clown. The tune is a rollicking happy go lucky romancer about an amusing fella who's who begs a gal he digs to try to understand him. Time Stands Still is an easygoing, romantic lament with a nostalgic, years-back novelty sound.
00:18:28
Speaker
So that's got both a fella and a gal in their review. Double whammy. At number 85, Not the Lovin' Kind by Dino, Desi, and Billy. So two in a row from the offspring of famous entertainers.
00:18:45
Speaker
The record itself warmed over birds' leftovers, and there's no second verse. It's not terrible, it's catchy, but it does sound like it belongs in a 70s cartoon. Meh.
00:18:58
Speaker
Yes, I completely agree. i even said like a monkey's throwaway. Well, I mean, you again, it's what I was just saying last week that you can see the coming of the monkeys from some of this material that's on the charts. Mm-hmm. Yeah,
00:19:13
Speaker
yeah Exactly. It was produced by Lee Hazelwood, who worked quite a bit with Nancy Sinatra. So that would make sense, that he would work on this with the Dean O'Martin connection. Billy Strange arranged it.
00:19:27
Speaker
It's a weak lead vocal, extremely average mid-60s bubblegum pop. Low meh for me. Speaking of children of iconic stars, well, two hours to three ain't bad. Sorry, Billy.
00:19:40
Speaker
Um...
00:19:54
Speaker
I'm not the loving kind So you better get it off your mind Give you money, I don't care Take you with me anywhere I'll tell you, baby, I'm not the loving kind
00:20:17
Speaker
Songwriting by numbers, they do the best that they can with it, but it's nothing special. Not due to Dino, Desi, and Billy, but I do kind of like that birds appropriation at the beginning there. Mm-hmm. Yeah. So Cashbox says that Dino, Desi, and Billy should have no difficulty scoring a repeat performance of their current I'm a Fool smash with this excellent follow-up called Not the Loving Kind.
00:20:44
Speaker
Side... is a rhythmic, easygoing ode about a guy who serves notice on his gal, gal again, that he is not interested in romance.
00:20:57
Speaker
Chimes of Freedom is a funky, low-key, Bob Dylan penned message sign Well, hold on, they've done a Dylan song.
00:21:20
Speaker
Far between the morning's finish and the midnight's broken toll, we ducked inside the doorway, thunder crashing.
00:21:35
Speaker
Those majestic bells and boats struck shadows in the sound, seeming to be the charm of freedom passion.
00:21:49
Speaker
A, Dino Desi and Billy doing a Dylan song. B, Cashbox really does not know how to review Bob Dylan songs. No. We call them all funky. Funky.
00:22:01
Speaker
It's funky. Yep, when I think of funk, I think of Bob Dylan. Of course. Yeah, of course. You can get down to this. Yeah. Yeah, you know, he picked it up during his Christian era.
00:22:12
Speaker
That's right. Yeah, he did. Yeah, that's about as close to funk as he got. Oh. At number 87, Secretly by the Letterman.
00:22:23
Speaker
Well, this is Two Silhouettes, Redux. It's a cover of ah Jimmy Rogers' 1958 hit record. It's fine enough for what it is, but it's fairly second rate. The harmonies almost, but don't quite manage to resuscitate the record. I hate that twangy guitar. Loma.
00:22:43
Speaker
Loma.
00:22:53
Speaker
Wish we didn't have to meet secretly Wish we didn't have to kiss secretly Wish we didn't have to be Afraid to show the world that we're in love Till we have the right to meet openly Till we have the right to kiss openly We'll just have to be content to be in love wow, this is a ripoff of Silhouettes. You can absolutely hear it.
00:23:28
Speaker
The electric guitar riff tries to place the Letterman and in the rock pop world, but doesn't really work. Their harmonies are fine. I mean it's the Letterman, but that whole ripoff of Silhouettes just wrecked it for me.
00:23:43
Speaker
And just to add on something you said about the original was done by Jimmy Rogers, not the country pioneer. This is a different Jimmy Rogers. This was miss for me. I guess Silhouettes was eminently rip-off-able because we've now had three versions of it and we've had no reply. Yeah, that's right.
00:24:02
Speaker
Yeah, vocals are okay, but otherwise it's a cheesy retake of a song that was better in 1958. At number 90, How Nice It Is by Billy Stewart.
00:24:16
Speaker
It's maybe a touch too easy listening, but it's a really good lead vocal and fine background singers. It's a nice bit of soul. I like the guitar. It's very much the work of a developing performer.
00:24:30
Speaker
Low hit. I would agree. i like bits of it. Didn't like the background singers at the beginning and the pre-chorus. I thought they were too distracting and upfront in the mix.
00:25:18
Speaker
Billy Stewart's a good singer, but this just doesn't suit him as well as it could. It's just not that distinctive ah a soul ballad. You know, there's some chord changes that, once again, sound a bit Curtis Mayfield-ish, and that was true of the previous song we've talked about, Billy Stewart, Sitting in the Park. But I like that one better than this one. I'd say just for his voice, I'd give it a high math.
00:25:42
Speaker
Yeah, I liked his voice. He wrote the song himself. So yeah, I'd probably give it a high meh. But I'm going to go on a tangent. It's produced by Billy Davis, who we've already encountered. But under the pseudonym of Tyron Carlo, strange pseudonym, he co-wrote songs such as Rite Petite, Lonely Teardrops, and the song we talked about earlier, Rescue Me by Fontala Bass.
00:26:08
Speaker
He was part of the original formation of Motown. Billy Davis had already learned that talent alone wasn't enough. You needed connections, belief, and a little bit of luck. That's when he met Gwen Gordy. Gwen was unlike anyone he had known, sharp, creative, and deeply rooted in Detroit's growing network of black musicians.
00:26:27
Speaker
She believed that music could be more than entertainment. It could be identity. The two of them connected instantly, both personally and artistically. They would stay up late at night in small apartments, writing lyrics on napkins and humming melodies into cheap tape recorders.
00:26:43
Speaker
For Billy, this wasn't romance, it was revelation. Through Gwen, he met her brother, Barry Gordy. Junior Barry was a factory worker at the time, writing songs between shifts at the Lincoln and Mercury plant.
00:26:56
Speaker
He had a fire in his eyes, the same one Billy carried, but Barry thought like a businessman, while Billy thought like a poet. Together, they became a balance of vision and practicality, melody and motion.
00:27:08
Speaker
Detroit's independent music scene was still in its infancy. Major labels ignored black artists unless they could be molded into something acceptable. Billy and Barry wanted none of that.
00:27:19
Speaker
They wanted the raw emotion, the sound that came from the streets, from the church, from the heart. They began to write for local acts, young singers trying to break out of the neighborhood circuit.
00:27:30
Speaker
Their songs carried that unmistakable blend of joy and ache, the soul of Detroit. Billy's understanding of harmony and rhythm began to shape what would later be called the Motown sound.
00:27:41
Speaker
He was precise, but emotional, disciplined yet deeply human. He'd sit at an upright piano with Gwen beside him, humming the top line while Barry worked out a bass groove that made people move without even realizing it.
00:27:54
Speaker
Together, they wrote songs that weren't just catchy, they were alive. As money started to trickle in from small local sales, Billy learned his next big lesson, success could divide as quickly as it united.
00:28:06
Speaker
He left to go and work for Chess Records because he felt that he was being sidelined for other songwriters. As the new A&R director for Chess, carrying his Detroit sensibility and his deep belief that music should make people feel first and think later, Billy began assembling a team of writers, producers and musicians who understood that feeling.
00:28:27
Speaker
He wasn't chasing hits, he was building a sound. His sessions were legendary for their warmth and precision. Artists said he had a way of listening that made them better. He didn't just hear what you sang, he heard what you meant.
00:28:40
Speaker
Under his direction, chess records began to shift. The label known for 12-bar blues was now pulsing with rhythm and melody. Billy produced or co-wrote songs for Etta James, The Dells, Billy Stewart, Jackie Ross, and countless others each artist carried a piece of his vision that perfect marriage between gospel's passion and pop's clarity Wow, that guy has written nearly really good soulungs so we have mentioned billy stewart before but we will once again
00:29:11
Speaker
give his story. He started out as part of the Stewart family, a gospel group. Bo Diddley discovered him, brought him to Chess Records, and Billy was in Bo Diddley's band before he emerged with his own name, appearing on both the R&B and pop listings in the summer of 1962 with Reap What You Sow.
00:29:34
Speaker
Billy Stewart would die tragically in a car crash in 1970 at the age of Wow. At number 92, track we've talked around but actually haven't discussed that much, and we've got a fair bit of discussion on
Production Insights on 'Taste of Honey'
00:29:50
Speaker
it.
00:29:50
Speaker
It is Herb Albert and the Tijuana Brass' version of Taste of Honey. It should be mentioned that this was actually intended as the B-side of the single, but...
00:30:03
Speaker
It's another instance of the DJs flipped it over and preferred that side more than the third man theme. This would be a runaway hit for Herb Alpert. A mariachi style opening, which quickly moves to a four on the floor with all the musicians coming in after a rest. We'll talk about how they recorded that.
00:30:23
Speaker
After our reviews, very well played. Love those driving horns. They keep your feet moving. And Herb Alpert is using all the possibilities of the studio moving forward from his Lonely Bull era.
00:31:18
Speaker
This is one of the songs Herb Alpert is most known for. big hit. This is a just a song. I hate to use the term iconic, but I can't think of any other way to phrase it. Everybody knows this track. It's well arranged.
00:31:32
Speaker
Herb Alpert really reimagined the song. The epitome of making a song your own. This definitely does love music. The horns in it, love his playing. As you said, it does keep your toes tapping, you know, so it's danceable. And it's interesting how it starts, as you mentioned, that mariachi-style opening, which is a kind of dramatic opening, and then you hear that four on the floor come in, and then the rest of it. Classic of the 60s, a hit for me.
00:32:01
Speaker
And people have asked me, do you prefer this version of the Beatles version? They are just so different. He really made this song his own. It's entirely different. It's okay to like more than one different take on a song, people. Yes, it is. Yep, love this. It kept my attention all the way from start to finish, which is not an easy thing to do for an instrumental song. But yeah, this was great.
00:32:22
Speaker
Wonderful. So I want to talk about a couple of different things about this record. First off, the four on the floor, which we discussed. Now, what is four on the floor? I describe it as a bass drum hitting on every quarter note. do you have a better description, Marv?
00:32:38
Speaker
I think that's right. So you'll get a bass on the one, a snare on the two, bass on the three, snare on the four. So it's one, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. It'd be a lot faster than that, but yes.
00:32:51
Speaker
Yeah. Now there are two places where we have seen four on the floor and are probably familiar with it. from First off, good old Pete Best claims to have invented Four on the Floor with the Beatles in Hamburg, and he referred to it as the Atom Beat.
00:33:09
Speaker
Hmm. I don't know, but he certainly did play in that style. Yes, he did. Ringo also plays in that style at times, although he adds much more to it than just the Four on the Floor.
00:33:20
Speaker
Right. The other place that you will hear Four on the Floor is in disco. Mm-hmm. So yeah it's the main beat of disco. Yep. Yep. Staying alive. It's there. It's throughout all the BG stuff and all over. So it both looks back and looks forward. Okay.
00:33:39
Speaker
How Herb Alpert got to this record. What we are told by the engineer was that we were in the mastering room at Gold Star Recording Studios in LA and I was making him an acetate copy of another song he was going to record, a song called Whipped Cream. Well, which as we know, he did record.
00:33:59
Speaker
He told me that was the name of his next record. and that it was going to be all about food. So that is why I suggested A Taste of Honey, and that is how it got into Herb's list. Wow.
00:34:12
Speaker
Larry Levine also notes that other song titles on the album include Tangerine, Green Peppers, Lollipops and Roses, El Garbanzo, and Peanuts, which we have previously discussed.
00:34:26
Speaker
I'm getting hungry now. Mm-hmm. So beyond that, the recording was also a bit of a story. It's almost like Herb Alpert's own little version of Sergeant Pepper.
00:34:38
Speaker
Okay. The basic track for Taste of Honey was developed by Herb Alpert in the studio with many of l LA's top studio session players, including the Wrecking Crew and Hal Blaine.
00:34:51
Speaker
The drums were in the center of a relatively small 19 by 24 Studio A with the rest of the musicians clustered around them. The rest of the instrumentation included a Fender bass, an electric and an acoustic guitar, a piano and percussion played by Julius Wechter. Is that right, Marv?
00:35:09
Speaker
Yeah, that's it. Wechter. Yeah. Albert liked to direct the basic tracks and overdub his trumpet parts later, again, like Paul McCartney in the bass. Yes. Along with the rest of the horn section.
00:35:21
Speaker
The drums were mic with a Neumann 67 above and an RCA 77 in the kick drum. Nice. The electric guitar amp had a Shure 57 pointed straight at the speaker about six inches away.
00:35:34
Speaker
Levine mic'd the acoustic guitar with an EVRE-15, running all of them into a Scully four-track deck through Studio A's custom-made 12-input console.
00:35:45
Speaker
Again, engineering wonders, just like the Beatles were getting over at Abbey Road. Mm-hmm. Yep. Yeah. However, despite the fact that these were some of the best studio musicians, the rest in return, because there's a rest in there, which then comes back and they're all supposed to hit the same note. Okay. For some reason, they couldn't get it together. The return was difficult for the musicians. So they ended up recording the backing in sections. Okay.
00:36:15
Speaker
Okay. Again, a very Sergeant Pepper type thing. For sure. And instead of just doing a rest, they had Hal Blaine do that prominent four on the floor, which you hear periodically through the song.
00:36:37
Speaker
Oh, interesting. Okay, so there was there wasn't just a keep the beat going and toe-tapping. Well, I mean, yeah he did keep it when they were all playing, but it was peace, stop, peace, stop, peace, stop. But it's during that stop. Originally, it was intended that there would just be silence. There would be a rest in between there. Oh, okay. L was the click track.
00:36:58
Speaker
Exactly. So Blaine contributed the distinctive isolated bass drum, which they had originally intended to take out. The basic track had been recorded in stereo to two of the four multi-track channels, again, something the Beatles would pioneer with Sgt. Pepper.
00:37:17
Speaker
yeah Obviously not quite pioneering it, but... Albert's harmony trumpets, he played each part and the trombone were recorded as individual overdubs. To create room for all of these horn parts, Levine bounced them down to one track on the second four track deck.
00:37:34
Speaker
wow All of that was inventiveness in the studio on this side of the Atlantic. And this was really Herb Alpert's first foray into a real studio. You know, everything else had been kind of homemade in the garage kind of thing. Yeah.
00:37:49
Speaker
They've done exactly the same there as, like you said, as they would do with Sergeant Pepper's where they've got two four tracks and they bounce down from one four track down to a second four track. And yeah, so they're doing the same as they did on Sergeant Pepper's.
00:38:04
Speaker
Except on Sergeant Peppers, they actually synced them up, which I don't think they synced them up here. I think they just recorded it and then bounced it down to a second four track. Right. Okay. That's the way I read that, but it's still very similar.
00:38:15
Speaker
Yeah. We all agree. It's a great song. Certainly. i mean we've talked about Taste of Honey many times before. It's a great version. Yep. At number 97, another great song. Take Me In Your Arms. Rock Me A Little While by Kim Weston, a Motown smash.
Discussion on 'Take Me In Your Arms'
00:38:32
Speaker
It's a Holland Dozier Holland song. Take me down. Hold me for a little while. Hey, baby.
00:38:43
Speaker
know you're leaving. Leave me behind. Leave me behind.
00:39:10
Speaker
When I first sat down and was re-listening to it, I thought, you know, this is a bit Motown by numbers. And then I realized, wait a minute, it's the rest of the Motown sound that is imitating this record.
00:39:24
Speaker
So it works. It's a great rhythm accompanied by some brilliant bass playing. The Funk Brothers build. All the elements come together for a blazing climax. A big hit. This is right up my alley. I love this song. Kim Weston, we've talked about her before, that she wasn't the big star she should have been on Motown. And this is one example of why she should have been bigger, because she sings the hell out of this. You can hear the gospel dripping in her voice. And the backing by the Funk Brothers just knocks it out of the park, particularly... that piano that runs throughout the song and the drums. And as you mentioned, of course, James Jamerson's bass. It's just catchy as hell. Shows that she should have been a much bigger star. And I should add that the first version of the song i heard was the Doobie Brothers cover from 1975. And that's a great cover.
00:40:21
Speaker
I like that too. But the original, you can't beat it, big hit. yeahp Great vocal and instrumentation, makes your feet move, big hit. Yeah, I'd give it 8.5, 9 out of 10.
00:40:34
Speaker
Yep. And so, as we always do, Motown Junkies says of this track, so often on this blog, I've described a record as being electrifying, but this is maybe the one that actually comes closest to that description. It is positively buzzing with juice to the point you expect the lights to start flickering. Maybe it's a sign of the times. Kim had won the internal battle to become Mary Wells' replacement as Marvin Gaye's duet partner They then go on to give this record a 9 out of 10, again with their disclaimer, well, we're not giving it a 10 out of 10 because we are limiting the number of 10 out of 10s, and they would have no objection if anybody were to say this is their favorite Motown record of all time. Yeah, it's just an incredible track. It was a Holland Dozier Holland production and song, and that Eddie Holland actually recorded the original version of this in 1964, but it wasn't released commercially until about 2005 on a compilation album called A Cellar Full of Motown. But this is the version that everybody knows, and it's just a Motown classic. like Nine out of ten? I agree with that.
00:41:48
Speaker
A Cellar Full Motown. Once again, a reference to Brian Epstein. Exactly. Yep. Yes, I noticed that. Yep. Mm-hmm. Take me in your arms Rock me, rock me little while Take me in your arms Rock me, rock me a little while
00:42:29
Speaker
You won't embrace one small Taking your arms Rock, roll, roll, roll, roll
00:43:13
Speaker
Darling, before you leave, take in your arms. Rockin' it, rockin' it, rockin' it.
00:43:43
Speaker
Oh, baby.
Danny Hutton's Musical Journey
00:44:20
Speaker
I said I win, baby I said I win, me Oh, rock me, baby Oh, take me Oh, rock, rock, rock, rock For a little while Wait, before you walk out the door Run me Wait, before you walk out the door Sway me Wait, before you
00:44:59
Speaker
Take me in your arms Rock me, rock me a little while I said, well, baby
00:45:42
Speaker
At number 99, Roses and Rainbows by Danny Hutton. Well, this is corporate sounding rock. I mentioned a song which sounds like it came out of a 70s cartoon. This is one of them, but it has good reason.
00:45:57
Speaker
Danny is the descendant of the Bobbies, except, well, he wrote his own material. This song is cheery, just catchy enough, played in song well enough, but it is constructed to be humble and inoffensive.
00:46:12
Speaker
Meh. Yep, that was pretty much my call. Very average mid-60s bubblegum pop.
00:46:26
Speaker
I give up everything just to have you near me, cause roses and rainbows are you. The sky is always blue whenever I'm with you.
00:46:43
Speaker
I think I just love you, cause roses and rainbows are you.
00:46:51
Speaker
This is bubblegum like crazy. Danny Hutton sings it well, but I could imagine the Archies doing this.
00:47:14
Speaker
I don't know if that's a triangle, but I hated that. It made it sound like a children's song. I just thought that was silly. This doesn't need to get any more bubble gum and all that it already is. Yeah, I would give this a meh.
00:47:27
Speaker
Wow. I do not like that bell sounding instrument. It sounds untuned and awful. Yeah, really annoying, very clawing. Yeah. And other than that, I was just imagining Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Scooby-Doo, the Jetsons and the Flintstones getting the groove onto this, but I wasn't.
00:47:49
Speaker
Well, Marv, there's reason for that. This song was written to appear in an episode of The Flintstones. If you're wondering, the label is HBR447.
00:48:01
Speaker
HBR stands for Hannah Lennon. hbr stands for hannah Barbera Records. There is an episode of the Flintstones called No Biz Like Showbiz. And at the beginning of it, you have Fred and Barney sitting in watching the TV, flipping around, and they come across...
00:48:23
Speaker
Basically, the Flintstones version of Dick Clark American Bandstand. And introduced is one Danny Hutstone, who sings this very song.
00:48:37
Speaker
I must have the wrong station.
00:48:40
Speaker
Way up in the sky, I think I see why.
00:48:47
Speaker
The birds do all their singing colors. Rosals and rain over the years. Hey, what is this? Oh, you got the wrong station again, Fred. Here, let me try.
00:49:00
Speaker
Gee, never there's something wrong with a tuna. It's not the tuna that's out of whack, it's the country.
00:49:12
Speaker
What is with these kids?
00:49:19
Speaker
Dead Rock TV Game of the Year ah thereon has been postponed to bring you this special program. Postponed? Today we're interviewing the world's most famous teenage impresario.
00:49:29
Speaker
And later we get a performance of it from Pebbles and Bam Bam. Of course. Yep. The other thing about that appearance, there is a character in there called...
00:49:41
Speaker
Mr. Epi-Brian Stone. You have to do that, so... Yeah. Oh, that's funny. Oh, dear. So, Kitsch, you want to tell us where else we might know Danny Hutton from? Yes, indeed. After doing this record, he also had another one called Big Bright Eyes, which charted in 66, so we may...
00:50:02
Speaker
ah come across that as well. But he then joined three Dog Night. Yes, he was one of the three lead vocalists. Now here's an even crazier connection.
00:50:15
Speaker
He also, for a time after the Three Dog Night broke up, he managed punk bands. including okay it gets better including fear wow wow yeah now fear just briefly because this would probably be a whole other podcast but fear is a band that john belushi love hold on a second and then another voice comes on and it says ian hey this is john belushi All right.
00:50:47
Speaker
Yes. And he says, listen, I'm buddies with the guys from Fear. I'm doing a cameo on the show. I told him I do the cameo of Fear could play, but I want to bring some punks up and you put together some people to come up and just dance for this for the Saturday Live.
00:51:04
Speaker
at John's behest calling Washington DC and having some bands with some people, supposed to be like 15 people come up to New York to the studio to be audience to give a live. I read maybe it was like Minor Threat Guys or something like that. Actual punk rock audience rather than just Mr. and Mrs. Missouri.
00:51:20
Speaker
So fear called called you then. Fear and Michael O'Donohue. Yeah, that's what I understand. Michael O'Donohue, I saw him. People from Saturday Night Live too. it wasn't just fear. they ah They urged them, they they were familiar with you from, I guess, if if my story is correct, you were like at the Black Flag show. Me and a couple buddies had seen Belusi at the Black Flag show and smoked joints with him and stuff. Really? Yeah, he's cool. No kidding, that's funny. Did you get in bus together? No, everybody drove by themselves. We didn't even know who was going to be there until we got there. I was going to go for fear on the Sunday night.
00:51:53
Speaker
night after saturday night live then we decided last minute to get down for the saturday night that's wild scraped up enough cash They were all excited to get John Belushi back for an episode. So he loved Fear and said, you know, we've got to have on the show.
00:52:08
Speaker
now so they did We knocked over a $60,000 camera at Soundcheck. A friend of mine hit a camera. We were led back to the green room. They said, you've just caused $100,000 worth of damage. and they said, well, you're not obviously not going to do the live show. Well, then Belushi said, well, I'm not doing my cameo.
00:52:25
Speaker
Some machinations behind the scenes went on. We're back on again. We were then told, you can do the show, but you got to keep it cool. But obviously, our plan was the opposite. Well, it was a bit crazy.
00:52:39
Speaker
Musical guest.
00:52:42
Speaker
So here we go. We're going to slam dance on network TV. Fear comes on and it was like, boom! why don't they
00:52:53
Speaker
Everybody starts diving off the stage, running up into the audience, diving on top of audience members.
00:53:04
Speaker
John Belushi's going nuts. Little by little, this fight breaks out between know the New York people and the DC people. People were like fighting, falling into the audience members.
00:53:16
Speaker
This is called New York's Alright if you like saxophones. New York's alright
00:53:32
Speaker
This is the contact sheet um for being at Saturday Night Live when Fear played. You see the the actual, the live performance of Fear on stage. So I didn't go down to obviously slamdabs because that wasn't my thing. So I stood up there in the green room taking photographs through the glass consecutively of the action that was happening.
00:53:55
Speaker
If you look at it, you will hear one moment where the microphone stand falls into the crowd and you hear someone shout. Somebody grabs a mic and says, This is up with... And that voice belongs to me.
00:54:12
Speaker
But the best part of the whole night to me is just before they went to, commercial they caught, did some dude walks out with a huge pumpkin. It was insane.
00:54:23
Speaker
So fear is probably best remembered for that appearance and for, I think they were banned from Saturday Night Live after that. New York papers, of course, sensationalized. It said you did $200,000 worth of damage. Of course. Yeah, when actually it was very minor. Gee, it wouldn't be fun if they didn't. Yeah, that's true. I get a phone call at the Four Seasons, and they said, hello, he's leaving. And I said, yes, that's me. Who's this? They said, this is so-and-so from the New York Post. And we have it on good account that you caused $10,000 worth of damage to the studio at Rockefeller Center last night on NBC.
00:54:59
Speaker
ah Saturday Night Live and I said that's a bold-faced lie. We're professionals. We cost $400,000 worth of damage to the studio. I counted it myself. Bang! They printed it. So he gave this quote to the paper and that's when they went wild with it. and ah It kind of was a embellished, but they the the press went with it. And no matter how much they make about it, they they got all the advertising for free that they got out of that. So it was, it was, they enjoyed, maybe they don't say it, but they enjoyed the hell out of it. Yeah, that's for sure. They definitely took it a long way. So let's see what happens. I wonder if Saturday Night Live will have another hardcore band.
00:55:36
Speaker
I wouldn't think so. Hopefully it would be nice. Yeah. Well, that's good. It was a positive step. Yes. and one more interesting thing for you fellow 80s fans out there. He also fronted a group called the Danny Hutton Hitters, and they did a cover of the Nick Kershaw song, Wouldn't It Be Good?, which appeared on the soundtrack for the film Pretty in Pink. so There you go. Yep. So if you pick that soundtrack up, you will hear Danny Hutton's version.
00:56:08
Speaker
And on the Three Dog Night debut album, they do a version of the Silla Black Lennon McCartney song, It's For You. And Danny Hutton is singing lead on it.
00:56:20
Speaker
Nice. oh I think we need to start the Danny Hutton podcast. I think there's there's a lot of material here we could work with. No, range you did no, no. All right.
Notable Songs from UK and US Charts
00:56:31
Speaker
At number 100 and closing out our September in cash box land roadrunner by the Gants.
00:56:39
Speaker
There's nothing really too new about this version of the tune. Although they are very strongly aping the Looney tunes roadrunner with the meat meeps, you know, whereas all the other versions actually go beep beep from the roadrunner. The Meep Meep here is always followed by the Coyote's Puff of Smoke sound.
00:57:01
Speaker
The record, it's okay. Nice to story the guitar. The lead vocal is fine, but it's unremarkable. It's a low hit, mainly just because I've grown to really like this tune. Yep, I also rate a low hit, mainly based on just the tune itself.
00:57:53
Speaker
I hated that Roadrunner sound effect. That got really old, really fast. And it's clearly not Mel Blanc. Exactly. It's a bad imitation. If they wanted to do some kind of effect, you know, maybe once or twice, or as you said, just sing beep beep. The lead vocalist, who is Sid Herring, sounds like he's trying to do his best John Lennon impression in many ways with that rough voice in the woods, trying his best. It's not a bad garage rock cover of this, but I've heard better. Definitely better versions than this. It's amusing because nobody knew that John Lennon had spent all those years in Hamburg singing this song. Exactly. Yeah, really interesting. So I would rate it a low hit.
00:58:36
Speaker
Not an awful take of the song, but there are so many other versions of it that I prefer and would listen to. Well, if if you go way back, we did a supercut of it, remember? oh yeah. We did. We didn't include this version in the supercut, but we did do a supercut of it. Yep. Thank crikey.
00:58:54
Speaker
Boy, that Meep Meep was just so half-hearted as well. It's like they weren't even trying. It was like, oh we've got to do that. Yeah, all right. Yeah, cut and paste it in. Yeah, Meep Meep. Yeah.
00:59:06
Speaker
All right, we close out the month with our selected songs from our playlist, two UK, two US, s and a wild card from each of us. The first one from the UK, we had no problem choosing between us. We all agree, look through any window by the Hollies, that's the big hit over on the UK side this month.
00:59:27
Speaker
Yeah. Still sounds fresh today. The second one, we decided to go with the Silkies cover of You've Got to Hide Your Love Away, and it is predominantly for the Lennon-McCartney-Harrison involvement. It's not a great version, but it's definitely one that you should probably listen to, especially if you haven't listened to it before.
00:59:50
Speaker
Yeah. On the U.S. side, we go with a Dylan song and a Beatles song. We've got Positively 4th Street as our first selection. Classic Dylan.
01:00:00
Speaker
And then the one we have to select, Yesterday. Yeah, that's a no-brainer. Well, there was some thought as to give me attack naturally just because, and we didn't do that. Yeah, we'd have to go with the obvious one.
01:00:15
Speaker
And so for our wild cards, my choice is Treat Her Right by Roy Head, not just because it was recorded in Houston, not just because Lonnie Pena's brother went out on the road with Roy Head. and played this song on Shindig with Roy Head. It's a great song. It's a really nice rocking bit of soul. I really, really like this tune. Absolutely.
01:00:39
Speaker
Kit? I don't think this will surprise too many people that my wild card is Take Me In Your Arms by Kim Weston. One of Motown's finest songs, a bit underrated, in fact, as is Kim Weston. When you listen to it, you will crank it at full volume.
01:00:56
Speaker
Yeah, so my choice is the classic 1960s soul song Rescue Me by Fontella Bass because it's just absolutely a 10 out of 10 banger of a song and such a cool soul tune. Yeah.
01:01:11
Speaker
Yeah, her vocals on that are just sublime. They really are. So this time we all went with soul records for our wild cards, which is good. I mean, you know, it's certainly different from Dylan and certainly different from yesterday. and Although yesterday and Look Through Any Window are kind of similar.
01:01:29
Speaker
Mm-hmm. Yeah. Look through any window. It's definitely more pop than yesterday. Yeah. All right.
Exploration of 'Toppermost of the Poppermost'
01:01:34
Speaker
So that is September on the cash box charts. We'll be back with the UK charts for October and Halloween coming real soon.
01:01:49
Speaker
and Spooky. See you then. Take care.
01:02:12
Speaker
There was a piece in the NME, a news piece, that said the top rank records, remember when top rank had a record lately? and They introduced an LP series next week that will be called Toppermose and it's coinciding with their current advertising slogan Toppermost of the poppermost.
01:02:29
Speaker
Yes, I thought they got it from someone. They saw that, they must have seen that in either the NME or Record Mirror or Disc, Record and Show Mirror. And they've taken it from there. They've obviously thought how stupid it is.
01:02:42
Speaker
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 going to be a hip slogan. Toppermost of the poppermost.