'60s On 6 Playlist

The Guess Who had a #22 hit with Shakin' All Over in June of 1965. The original version was by a five-man London group, Johnny Kidd & the Pirates. Kidd's real name was Frederick Heath. He co-wrote the song and sang lead on the recording. It went to number one in the UK in 1960 but failed to chart in the US. Sadly, Kidd died in a car crash at age 30. Shakin' All Over was also recorded by the Swinging Blue Jeans, Australian pop singer Normie Rowe and a New York quartet called the Twiliters. Peter Noone played Johnny Kidd's original version on his Something Good program. Here is the song:

 
A huge surprise today on the '60s channel: Harlem Shuffle, a 1966 single by the Fabulous Flippers. The band formed in 1964 in Lawrence, Kansas and was originally known as Terry & The Flippers, after guitarist Terry Wiermann. For several years, they performed throughout the midwest on weekends. They knew if they quit school to go on a national tour, they would have lost their 2-S deferments and might have wound up fighting in Việt Nam.

The Fabulous Flippers performed a lot of frenetic choreography à la the James Brown Revue and the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. The Flippers released eight singles, one EP and one album. They specialized in remakes of pop songs such as Shout, Summertime, Green Onions, I Don't Want To Cry, Since I Fell For You, More Today Than Yesterday -- and Harlem Shuffle, originally a minor hit for Bob & Earl in early 1964. The Flippers' version got a lot of airplay in the midwest but never charted nationally. Here it is:

 
In the interest of accuracy and completeacy -- that's a word I just made up -- here are three more songs played on the '60s channel. This brings the total to 3,983.

Good Good Lovin' - Blossoms (101/1966, 115/1967)
Harlem Shuffle - Fabulous Flippers (--/1966)
Heaven - Rascals (39/1969)
 
It was nice to hear Don & The Goodtimes' I Could Be So Good To You, which reached #15 on the KHJ Boss 30 and #19 on the KFWB Fabulous Forty here in Los Angeles but stalled at #56 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was the first track on their So Good album and should have been a much bigger hit than it was, considering it came out in the boss, bitchin' groovy, hippy-dippy springtime of 1967 and fit right in with Windy, Groovin', Happy Together, Western Union, The Happening and A Little Bit O' Soul. Here is the song:

 
I'm just full of interesting trivia about songs of the 1960s. (I'm probably full of a few other things, too.) The Gary Lewis & The Playboys 1965 recording of This Diamond Ring was produced by Thomas "Snuff" Garrett, who was also the producer for Bobby Vee, who was offered the song first but turned it down.

Bobby Ambrose, a Miami-born singer who had been a member of the r&b group the Afro-Beats, was actually the first to record the song. His version was on Billboard's Bubbling Under chart for only one week, at #117. Ambrose was a heroin addict and died in 1988 at age 47. Here is his original version of This Diamond Ring:

 
I was surprised to hear Boys Cry by Eden Kane. "Eden Kane" is Richard Sarstedt, who had five top-ten hits in the UK in the 1960s. He is an older brother of Peter Sarstedt, whose 1969 song Where Do You Go To My Lovely went to number one in the UK and reached #70 in the US. (Peter died in January 2017). Here is Boys Cry:

 
Today during the Satellite Survey countdown for this week in 1960, the '60s Channel played You Belong To Me by Joni James & 100 Strings. The song stalled at #101 on Billboard's Bubbling Under chart. Joni's original version of You Belong To Me was a hit in 1952. Jo Stafford, Patti Page, Dean Martin and Sue Thompson also recorded the song.

Joni did a series of concerts at the London Palladium in January 1959. (The January 18 show was televised.) While in London, she recorded several songs at EMI's Abbey Road studios. Twelve were released on the album 100 Strings & Joni. Two others, You Belong To Me and I Need You Now were released as a single.

Three more 100 Strings & Joni albums followed: I'm In The Mood For Love: Songs By Jimmy McHugh in 1960, On Broadway in 1961 and In Hollywood in 1962. Joni, born Giovanna Carmella Babbo, is 88 now. She continued to perform until 2006. Here is her original 1952 recording of You Belong To Me:

 
The '60s Channel just played Johnny Cymbal's Mr. Bass Man, a #16 hit from 1963. The "bass" on the song is Ronnie Bright, who was a member of the Valentines, 1954-57, and the Coasters, 1968-2009. He also sang on Jackie Wilson's Baby Workout and Barry Mann's Who Put The Bomp In The Bomp Bomp Bomp.

Johnny Cymbal was born John Hendry Blair in Ochiltree, Ayrshire, Scotland. Using the name Derek, he had a #11 hit with Cinnamon in January 1969. Mr. Bass Man was produced by Alan Lorber, who also worked with Gene Pitney, Neil Sedaka, Jackie Wilson, Chuck Jackson, Mike Clifford, Lesley Gore, Orpheus and the Coasters. French cabaret singer Henri Salvador recorded the song as Monsieur Boum Boum. Listen at your own risk:

 
I just noticed Manfred Mann's 1964 number-one hit Do Wah Diddy Diddy is missing from that huge list. Why didn't somebody tell me? Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich had written Da Doo Ron Ron, which was a big hit for the Crystals, and wrote Do Wah Diddy Diddy in an attempt to duplicate the success of the Crystals' hit. The Exciters' recording of Do-Wah-Diddy (the original title) stalled at #76 in February 1964. Eight months later, a remake by Manfred Mann went to number one. Here is a live performance:

 
Yikes! I just discovered two more omissions from this list -- and both were top-ten hits: The Jelly Beans' I Wanna Love Him So Bad (9/1964), written by Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich, and the Ad Libs' The Boy From New York City (8/1965), written by George Davis and John Taylor. Davis also co-wrote, and played baritone saxophone on, Aaron Neville's Tell It Like It Is.



 
Five high-schoolers -- one male and four females -- formed The Jelly Beans in 1962 in Jersey City, New Jersey, and signed a recording contract with Red Bird Records in 1963. I Wanna Love Him So Bad was released in the US, the UK, Sweden, Japan, France, Germany, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. It reached #9 in the US. The Jelly Beans' follow-up, Baby Be Mine, stalled at #51. They released two more singles before breaking up in 1965.

And yes, the Jelly Beans' "down down down down be-doo-be-doo" chorus seems to have been plagiarized from this song:

 
The '60s channel plays the Beach Boys' Barbara Ann several times a week -- but always the single, which was 2:05 in length, never the 3:23 version from the Beach Boys Party album. Brian Wilson and Dean Torrence (of Jan & Dean) shared lead vocals on Barbara Ann, which, like Marvin Gaye's Got To Give It Up, sounded live but was recorded in a studio.

Fred Fassert wrote Barbara Ann for his sister, who was named.....umm.....Barbara Ann. The song was first recorded in 1959 by the Desires, a Bronx quartet originally known as the Montereys. Fred Fassert's brother Chuck was in the group. Another member was Ernie Maresca, who would have a solo hit in 1962 with Shout, Shout, Knock Yourself Out. The Desires later added a fifth member and became the Runarounds. Finally they became the Regents -- and they had broken up before Barbara Ann was finally released in 1961. It reached #13 in July. Here it is:

 
The '60s channel just played one of the rarest recordings in music history. The Andantes, who sang background on hundreds of Motown hits, recorded Like A Nightmare in early 1964. Very few copies were pressed and the single was never released to radio or retail. This article explains the reason:

The Andantes – “(Like A) Nightmare” | Classic Motown

Here is the song. I think it sounds like Martha & The Vandellas' Quicksand.

 
I found another missing song. Well, it's missing, so I didn't actually find it. I.....oh, you know what I mean. Johnny Rivers' 1967 remake of the Four Tops' Baby I Need Your Lovin' should have been on the list. It reached #8 on the Hot 100.

Today the '60s channel played a really obscure Percy Sledge song from 1967. It got to only #44 on the R&B chart and #87 on the Hot 100. We can add Baby Help Me to the list. It was written by Bobby Womack, who also co-wrote (with his sister Shirley) It's All Over Now, which he recorded in early 1964 with his four brothers. They called their group The Valentinos. The Rolling Stones also had a hit with the song. Womack had several solo hits including Daylight, Harry Hippie, Lookin' For A Love, Across 110th Street and That's The Way I Feel About'cha.

 
Here is another one to add to the list: the original 1966 version of Somebody To Love by The Great Society, featuring Grace Slick on lead vocal. The song, originally titled Someone To Love, was written by guitarist Darby Slick after he discovered his girlfriend had slept with another man. Grace was married to Jerry Slick, the band's drummer.

The Great Society broke up in October 1966 after Grace replaced Signe Anderson as lead singer of Jefferson Airplane. Jefferson Airplane's version of Somebody To Love became a #5 hit in 1967. Here is the original:

 
I heard an album track on the '60s channel – and, for once, it was by somebody other than the Beatles. It was the Four Tops' I Got A Feeling, from their 1966 album On Top. It was written and produced by legendary Motown songwriting team Holland-Dozier-Holland. Barbara Randolph, who had been a member of the Platters in 1964-65, recorded the song for Motown subsidiary Soul. It was released as a single in September 1967. She also recorded for RCA, Mercury, LHI and Winning but never had a chart hit. Lisa Stansfield, Eliza Spence, British dance singer O'Chi Brown and Swedish rock/doo-wop group The Boppers have also recorded I Got A Feeling. Here is Randolph's version – and it should have been a hit.....but maybe it sounded too much like the Elgins' Heaven Must Have Sent You:

 
Channel98 said:
I heard an album track on the '60s channel – and, for once, it was by somebody other than the Beatles. It was the Four Tops' I Got A Feeling, from their 1966 album On Top. It was written and produced by legendary Motown songwriting team Holland-Dozier-Holland. Barbara Randolph, who had been a member of the Platters in 1964-65, recorded the song for Motown subsidiary Soul. It was released as a single in September 1967. She also recorded for RCA, Mercury, LHI and Winning but never had a chart hit. Lisa Stansfield, Eliza Spence, British dance singer O'Chi Brown and Swedish rock/doo-wop group The Boppers have also recorded I Got A Feeling. Here is Randolph's version – and it should have been a hit.....but maybe it sounded too much like the Elgins' Heaven Must Have Sent You:

Click to expand...


I like it, and it does sound like something that should have been a 1960's hit.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom