June 04 & 05, 2009 Earworm

Two quintessential California blonds celebrated a birthday yesterday and today: Michelle Phillips of The Mamas and The Papas and Terri Nunn of Berlin. Michelle is now the only surviving member of her group and Terri is now the only of the group that made her famous, although she was not a founding member. Both are also beautiful and, in their time, were often appreciated more for that - and they're romantic or sexual exploits - than for there voices.

"Creeque Alley" is the much loved story of the paths that led to The Mama's and The Papa's own dreams coming true but even this celebration of the turmoil filled groups success has a sad twist: no one seems to know if that is Michelle on the record or Jill Gibson, girlfriend of producer Lou Adler and Michelle's replacement after being fired for her many "indiscretions". There have been many different accounts of the recordings made during that time with Michelle ultimately admitting that the only two people who know for sure are Adler and engineer Bones Howe.

"Sex (I'm A)" is Berlin's most discussed record, "The Metro" is probably the most loved by fans, and "Take My Breath Away" stands as their biggest and most commonly known song but "No More Words", from their second album, "Lovelife", is the record I played and danced to the most. Georgio Moroder's production and mixing skills are as busy as ever and all that percolating syncopation still leaves me craving a cup of coffee.

Both songs are best heard in the versions most difficult to find these days. The mono single mix of "Creeque Alley" has a more ad-hoc feel to it, suggesting an intimate live setting that best fits the material and a triumph repeat of "Becoming a reality" that is missing from the stereo mix. The twelve inch remix of "No More Words" adds more bubbles for your dance floor pleasure and, even after all these years, still brings the smell of poppers to my mind.

Happy birthday, ladies, and a have a great weekend.

June 03, 2009 Earworm

I was minding my own musical business when I happened to notice that Susan had posted a "video" of Dee Clark's "Raindrops" on Facebook and now I have it on endless repeat. I'm happy to note that Dee's testicle shrinking shrieking on the fade out still rattles me as much as it did when I was a wee one.

The production by Vee-Jay house wunderkind, Calvin Carter, was slicker than anything the label had yet released, and was awarded with their first appearance on the adult contemporary charts for it. For all its sophistication and sheen, it's that twangin' guitar, later used to great effect for Jerry Butler's "Moon River", getting along quite nicely with a strange arrangement that ranges from the subtle and cinematic to the buoyant and down right silly, that makes "Raindrops" as endlessly memorable as it is.

"Raindrops" peaked at #2 in 1961, held back from the top spot by Gary US Bonds' "Quarter To Three", a record that couldn't have been more different but what could have been a cure for what ailed Dee. It was Vee-Jay's biggest top 40 hit to date but dubious royalty was about to take the label all the way.

Susan, I hope you cheer up and dry out soon. And let us know if you need a lifeboat.

June 02, 2009 Earworm

After leaving "Yellow House", The Beach Boys and Steely Dan jumped aboard Jefferson Airplane for a very special trip with a stop-over at Graceland; Paul Simon's, not Elvis Presley's. This is just one way to describe Grizzly Bear's latest album, "Veckatimest", but you'll have to throw in more reverb and some obligatory Spectorisms to get to "Cheerleader" which, for today at least, is my favorite track.

I'll go ahead and call the whole thing enchanting and intriguing because it is and because don't want to harsh anyone's mellow. What concerns me is this feeling I've had lately that our indie spiritual guides are drifting a bit too close to the edge of Yes and the other prog rock dinosaurs we once despised for their over elaborated concepts. With "Veckatimest", it's clear that the grasp of this issue for some of our most recently celebrated bands is fragile.

June 01, 2009 Earworm

I am so impressed with Mandy Moore's "Amanda Leigh" album that I can't spotlight just one track, so I'll present the 70's AM gold that is the first single, "I Can Break Your Heart Any Day Of The Week" and "Fern Dell", a song that I'm having such a hard time getting my head around that I can only say "Simon & Garfunkel and Nilsson on Broadway" and know that I'm not even close to nailing down what I'm hearing. "Amanda Leigh" brings proof that the further Mandy Moore drifts from the mainstream, brighter burns the fire that allowed her to noticeably melt the edges of even the worst cheese her career endured. The guidance of producer and main co-writer Mike Viola (Candy Butchers) allows her to come up from under the gloss and dross of her Epic albums, the heavy hand that often hampered the heaviness of "Wild Hope", and, most importantly, lets the songs leave their mark without stating that they are making a statement.

The most impressive thing about "Amanda Leigh" is not that it is impressive for a Mandy Moore album. It's simply impressive: no caveat is necessary. That's not to say there isn't room for growth but the leaps that have been taken suggest that there is bound to be more.

Now, what's up with the video?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsCr9TJ84EE

May 31, 2009 Earworm

Since a morning coffee date on Friday lasted until it was time for another date for dinner, and with a wish to get these two records that I've had running around in my head for weeks now posted, it's time for a special Sunday edition of the earworm. This works out just fine since one of the records, "You Won't Even Know Her Name", is by a girl/woman calling herself Josephine Sunday. Little is known of Ms. Sunday beyond the fact that she hailed from Washington D.C., her real last name was Visaya, and that her father was born in the Phillipines. All that information, and that she performed the song on American Bandstand in 1965 looking like a lost Ronette, are culled from the liner notes of RPM's excellent compilation, "Girls Go Zonk".

The Ronettes look is quite appropriate in that "You Won't Even Know Her Name" is one of the better Spector homages. It's short and sweet, catchy as hell, and as a cute as a button. It's also an early Mike Curb production, well before he unleashed the likes of "You Light Up My Life" and Debbie Boone upon us, so we'll considerate it as antidote to that horror. Josephine's known discography contains only two other singles while Mike Curb's goes on for years and years proving that life is not always kind.

"The Homecoming Queen's Got A Gun" by Julie Brown is a pastiche of a homage and hysterical in a way that would never fly in these post-Columbine days. Pulled from her 1984 Rhino e.p., "Goddess In Progress", and showcased in a cheap and cheesy video, it found in a home in the gay clubs where Julie had first found an audience and eventually made its way to MTV. References to this silliness are still quoted in certain circles, many that still surprise me, long after Ms. Brown's shtick wore out its welcome.

Julie followed up the success of "The Homecoming Queen's Got A Gun" with a full length LP called "Trapped In The Body Of A White Gilrl" which only proved that brevity served her well. To her credit, her 1992 satire of Madonna's "Truth Or Dare", called "Medusa: Dare To Be Truthful", is one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

Okay, I've shaken May out of the way. Now we can move on to new old things and the many many new new things that have blowing my mind. And, in case you wondering, I did it for Johnny...

May 28, 2009 Earworm

As good as Marshall Crenshaw's debut single, "Something's Gonna Happen" - released on Alan Betrock's Shake label in 1981, was, it was clear that something was going to happen. It did, but not quite as expected. Signing to Warners Brothers in '82, his debut album was called a masterpiece by just about everyone who heard it. Despite some action for "Someday, Someway" that same year, Crenshaw's records never reached the audience those in the know felt he deserved.

Rhino's "The Definitive Pop Collection" finally brought "Something's Gonna Happen" to the digital realm for those of us who missed it the first time, having been left off the expanded re-issue of his first album. The man couldn't make a bad record if he tried, no matter what some think of the drums on "Field Day".

May 27, 2009 Earworm

Continuing with three in one pattern, all of todays songs are the result of a second chance in one way or another. All three failed to make an instant splash the second time around either but have achieved a cult following that continues to grow.

The Royal Guardsmen are best known for "Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron" and its many sequels but their first forty-five, "Baby, Let's Wait", is the one I love the most. It's plea of not rushing into a commitment drenched in echo and drowning in its organ heavy arrangement sounds like a man trapped between his heart and his future. The (Young) Rascals had already recorded the Lori Burton - Pam Sawyer composition (following creative, if not huge commercial, success with the team's flawless "Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart (Anymore)") but left it as an album cut on their debut, leaving the singles field open. It may have been too heavy - in every sense of the word - for the dj's of '66 but it finally found an audience upon re-release in '68 and would be the last hit for The Royal Guardsmen. If the songs scenario sounds familiar, it may be because co-author (with Lori Burton) Pam Sawyer would revisit the theme with The Supremes' "Love Child" as part of the songwriting team The Corporation. The song has shown up on several compilations over the year but I've yet to find the mono single mix available in digital form. So bad is the stereo mix that I've resorted to doing a little Sound Forge magic on my own to approximate the claustrophobia found in the grooves of the 45.

Orpheus was born in Worcester, Massachusetts and signed with M-G-M in late 1967. Their self-title debut album and the single, "Can't Find The Time" were released the following January. The single stopped at #111 but the album did well enough (#119 on the album chart) to warrant the release of two more albums. Finally cracking the Hot 100 with "Brown Arms In Houston" in 1969, M-G-M re-released "Can't Find The Time" and it crept to #80 as the band was falling apart. Chief songwriter, Bruce Arnold, would sign a newly staffed Orpheus to Bell Records in 1970 for one final album before disbanding the group in 1972. "Can't Find The Time" would hit the charts one more time in 1971, recorded by the Dallas act Rose Colored Glass, peaking at #51. A version by Hootie And The Blowfish was recorded for "Me, Myself, And Irene".


Little Jimmy Scott suffered from a rare genetic condition known as Kallman's syndrome that left him with the body of a prepubescent boy and the voice of an angel. He began singing while ushering at a Cleveland theater, performing for the crowd that lingered after the headliner had finished. Working his way to New York, he formed a close friendship with Doc Pomus who, at that time, was still trying to make it as a blues singer. Jimmy finally saw success in the late forties as the vocalist on the Lionel Hampton Band hit "Everybody's Somebody's Fool" although the success was hindered by a label credit that read "with male vocalist". Signing a with Savoy Records, owned by Herman Lubinsky, a man notorious for his cruel and deceitful dealings, would bring some immediate success, the arrangement would effectively halt his recording career for nearly two decades. As his recordings for the label stopped finding an audience, Jimmy signed with Ray Charles' label, Tangerine, and the Genius himself produced an album that was hailed as a landmark in jazz vocals. As buzz for the album grew Lubinsky brought suit against all parties involved, resulting in the album being pulled and a disillusioned Scott returning to Cleveland and menial jobs, losing touch with Pomus in the process. In 1969, and again in 1972, Atlantic recorded albums for Jimmy but the release of each would be hindered by the litigious nature of Herman Lubinsky and Scott would again return to Cleveland.

Doc Pomus never forgot Jimmy or his voice and began searching for him during the eighties with no success until he came across a concert listing for a show Scott was doing in Newark. Reunited with his old friend and with Lubinsky having died in '74 and finally out of the way, Doc began shopping tapes of Jimmy to anyone who would listen. Failing to get Scott a deal, he wrote a letter, published in Billboard, venting his frustration and daring those who would probably show up at Scott's funeral in hipster fashion only to foster their cool credentials to record this singer before it was too late.

Pomus died without seeing Jimmy signed but, after hearing Jimmy sing "Someone To Watch Over Me" at Doc's funeral, Seymour Stein was so impressed that he signed Scott to Sire Records. The resulting album, "All The Way", and it's title track, are stunning. Scott also sang with Lou Reed on "Power And Glory" that year and was seen singing "Sycamore Trees" on the series finale of "Twin Peaks". He has released ten further albums, been nominated for a Grammy, and performed with Michael Stipe, Antony and The Johnsons, and Pink Martini.