Oldies

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – The Jukebox Series #42 – The Flamingos: “I Only Have Eyes For You” b/w “Love Walked In” – Roulette Golden Goodies Series 45 RPM Single GG20 (C5/D5)

September 22, 2020 by Eric Berman

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – The Jukebox Series #42 – The Flamingos: “I Only Have Eyes For You” b/w “Love Walked In” – Roulette Golden Goodies Series 45 RPM Single GG20 (C5/D5)

“The Jukebox Series” focuses on the 80 records that inhabit my 1963 Seeburg LPC1 jukebox. I’ve had my jukebox (or as I like to call it “the prehistoric iPod”) for a little over twelve years and in that time I’d like to think that I’ve perfected the mix of 45s within.

You’d be hard pressed to find a sweeter, more sumptuous doo wop classic than today’s Grammy Hall Of Fame recording by The Flamingos, a group that Billboard called “one of the finest and most influential vocal groups in pop music history.”

Cousins Jake and Ezekial Carey grew up in Baltimore hailing from the same neighborhood as Sonny Til of The Orioles. They relocated to Chicago where they formed The Flamingos in 1953. After numerous personnel changes and stints recording for record labels like Chance, Parrot, Checker (a Chess subsidiary where they scored their first big hit “I’ll Be Home”) and Decca, they signed to George Goldner’s End Records in 1958.

At the time, the group consisted of Nate Nelson, Jake Carey, Paul Wilson, Tommy Hunt and Terry “Buzzy” Johnson. Goldner’s modus operandi was to steer the group away from recording original material in favor of recording standards, which is how they came to record today’s dreamy jukebox classic “I Only Have Eyes For You.”

The song was written by Harry Warren and Al Dubin for the 1934 film Dames. It became a hit by Ben Selvin reaching the #2 position on the charts in 1934 and The Flamingos recorded it in 1958 sending it up to the #11 position on the pop charts and #5 R&B in 1959. The recording comes from a long line of records whose production enhancements (like the reverb on the background vocals) are equally as important as the performance, in creating a perfectly plush celestial atmosphere.

The song was from The Flamingos’ 1959 album Flamingo Serenade that also featured their one-of-a-kind takes on such standards as “As Time Goes By,” “Where Or When,” “I’m In the Mood For Love,” “But Not For Me,” “Love Walked In” (the flip of today’s single), “Begin the Beguine,” “Music, Maestro, Please!,” “Time Was” and “Goodnight Sweetheart.” While “I Only Have Eyes For You” was by far their biggest hit, their other hits included “Mio Amore,” the Doc Pomus song “Your Other Love,” “Nobody Loves Me Like You” (written by Sam Cooke) and “I Was Such A Fool.”

There have been literally hundreds of cover versions of today’s song by the likes of Eddy Duchin, Al Jolson, Billie Holiday, June Christy, Rosemary Clooney, Doris Day, Dinah Shore, Ella Fitzgerald, Lionel Hampton, Count Basie, Lester Bowie, Carmen McRae, Frank Sinatra, Johnny Mathis, The Temptations, The Lettermen, Jerry Butler, Toni Tennille, Bette Midler, Kenny Rogers, Art Garfunkel, George Benson, Mark Eitzel, Carly Simon and Rod Stewart, but The Flamingos’ version reigns supreme. The group’s opulent harmonies had a profound influence on the Motown and Philadelphia soul sound, and their stage choreography was a major influence on The Temptations and numerous other doo wop and soul groups.

By 1960, Hunt left for a solo career on Scepter Records and Nate and Terry split to form The Modern Flamingos in 1961 who recorded an album for Atco Records who forced them to change their name to The Starglows. The Flamingos were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame in 2001 and Tommy Hunt, Terry Johnson and Johnny Carter performed together at the ceremony. Terry Johnson owns The Flamingos name and still tours today, recently releasing The Diamond Anniversary Tour CD in 2013 featuring the current lineup of Terry Johnson, Starling Newsome, Stan Prinston and Theresa Trigg.

Son Of Sun

September 22, 2020 by Marty Masters

I’m your Uncle Marty, as we continue our deep delve into Sam Philips and his Sun Studio releases with and for you on adventure number 553 of The Award Winning 3D RadioActivity.

Download or play:
https://archive.org/download/The3dRadioactivity/3dradio_20200920SonOfSun.mp3

Another jam packed show, 22 tunes averaging two and a half minutes long, and over six decades old, proving how timeless this music really is. Next time, we will either get closer to The Sun or possibly open the door to a different studio. Tell me your preferences by sending an email, or with a message on our Facebook page which has links to the archives of all the earlier episodes and graphics in the photo section. Look for us on Denver’s MileHiRadio, Theacidflashback.com, TuneIn, and InternetFM dot com, because the best FM radio is now on the Internet.

Until we meet again, Keep Rockin’ On!

…Uncle Marty

“It’s not true I had nothing on, I had the radio on.”

…Marilyn Monroe

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – The Jukebox Series #37 – Jose Feliciano: “Light My Fire” b/w “California Dreamin’” – RCA Victor 45 RPM Single 47-9550 1968 (P4/Q4)

September 17, 2020 by Eric Berman

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – The Jukebox Series #37 – Jose Feliciano: “Light My Fire” b/w “California Dreamin’” – RCA Victor 45 RPM Single 47-9550 1968 (P4/Q4)

Two songs from the 1960s that are unquestionably classics today…and Jose Feliciano had a hand in making them so…

The Doors’ “Light My Fire” topped the US charts in July of 1967, at the height of the Summer Of Love. Along with Iron Butterfly’s “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida,” It became one of the most covered songs by bar bands of the late 1960s. A year later, the song found its way again on the pop charts peaking at the #3 position as covered by Jose Feliciano as the A-side of today’s single.

Song writer Robby Krieger said in an interview about the cover: “It’s really a great feeling to have written a classic. I think I owe a big debt to Jose Feliciano because he is actually the one, when he did it, everybody started doing it. He did a whole different arrangement on it.” (Wikipedia – James, Gary (1994). “Interview With Robby Krieger”. Classic Bands. Retrieved January 18, 2011.) Feliciano’s version won two 1969 Grammy Awards, for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance and Best New Artist and firmly established him with the American record buying public.

The flip of the single is Feliciano’s take on The Mamas & Papas’ “California Dreamin’.” The also song made the rounds as another one of the most covered of its era including versions by Wes Montgomery, The Carpenters, The Four Tops, Melanie, Bobby Womack, Hugh Masekela, The Seekers, Raquel Welch, The Beach Boys , Wilson Phillips, and it still gets regularly licensed for use in film and commercials today.

Puerto Rican born Jose Feliciano was permanently blind from his birth in 1945. As a child he learned to play guitar at an early age and was influenced by classical guitarist Andre Segovia, jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery and Ray Charles for his vocal skills.

Feliciano came up from the same fertile Greenwich Village folk ground as Bob Dylan, Fred Neil, John Sebastian and Joan Baez, and he signed with RCA Victor Records in 1964 to begin his long and legendary recording career. He was a virtuoso Latin guitarist whose early records ran the gamut from traditional Latin tunes and pop hits of the day performed in a crossover folk, pop, jazz and soul bag.

By 1967, Feliciano relocated to Los Angeles. He was already a household name in Latin America and RCA teamed him up with producer Rick Jarrod who had worked with Jefferson Airplane and Harry Nilsson to record the both sides of today’s classic single and the album Feliciano!

The album is one of the quintessential albums of the late sixties and features near definitive versions of often covered sixties classics including Gerry & The Pacemakers’ “Don’t Let The Sun Catch Your Crying,” Bacharach & David’s “Always Something There To Remind Me,” Bobby Hebb’s “Sunny,” Tom Paxton’s “The Last Thing On My Mind” and of course the requisite Beatles covers “In My Life,” “And I Love Her,” and “Here, There And Everywhere.”

Musicians on the record included José Feliciano on guitar, vocals, arrangements, Ray Brown on bass, Jazz percussionist Milt Holland, Jim Horn on alto flute, recorder and Harry Nilsson’s production team of producer Rick Jarrod, George Tipton providing orchestration, string & woodwind arrangements and Perry Botkin Jr with song arrangements. The single and album were recorded in November 1967 and January 1968 at RCA Victor’s Hollywood studios.

By 1968, Feliciano’s superstardom from the Grammys, hit records and numerous TV appearances was short lived. Feliciano’s star fell quickly after performing an impassioned and very personal performance of “The Star Spangled Banner” before Game 5 of the 1968 World Series which proved very controversial to many Middle Americans who were never exposed to Latin music. As a result, radio stations stopped playing his records for several years after.

After scoring a surprise hit with his self-penned Christmas classic “Feliz Navidad” in 1970, his career seemed to stall in America, however he has constantly continued to be a strong draw in Latin American countries. During the 1960s and 1970s, he appeared on dozens of TV variety and came back in 1976 with his hit TV theme to Chico And The Man. He also composed music for the 1970s TV shows McMillan & Wife and Kung Fu.

Feliciano is a perennial of the summer shed circuit and continues to perform around the world today.His “Feliz Navidad” has become a regularly played as a Christmas holiday staple during the last months of every year. His latest release is a tribute album to Elvis Presley released last year on the Select-O-Hit record label called The King.

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – The Jukebox Series #36 – The Friends Of Distinction: “Grazing In The Grass” b/w “Going In Circles” – Collectables 45 RPM Single COL 04769 (M4/NL4)

September 16, 2020 by Eric Berman

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – The Jukebox Series #36 – The Friends Of Distinction: “Grazing In The Grass” b/w “Going In Circles” – Collectables 45 RPM Single COL 04769 (M4/NL4)

Some of the world’s best-loved and biggest hits have their origin in afterthought…

“Grazing In The Grass” was originally an instrumental hit recorded by South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela that topped the charts in 1968. Masekela came to record the song after purchasing a cowbell-infused novelty record in Zambia called “Mr. Bull #5.” After turning in his debut album to UNI Records which was contractually short by three minutes, the label suggested he cover the single. While in the studio, actor and singer Philemon Hou came up with a new melody which became “Grazing In The Grass.”

Masekela thought little of the song, but included it on the album anyway to fulfill his contract. When UNI executive Russ Regan decided to release it as a single, Hugh Masekela became the first South African recording act to reach number one on the pop charts. (Fun fact: The guitarist on Masekela’s version of the song was Bruce Langhorne, who was the subject of Bob Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man.”)

The Friends Of Distinction were a soul group from southern California that formed in 1968 around Harry Elston, Floyd Butler, Jessica Cleaves and Barbara Jean Love. Elston and Butler were members of The Hif-Fi’s, who warmed up for Ray Charles on tour, along with Marilyn McCoo and Lamont McLemore who went on to form The 5^th Dimension. The group secured a recording contract with RCA Records after joining forces with ex-Cleveland Browns running back Jim Brown who took on management of the group.

When Elston heard Masekela’s hit version of the song, he wrote lyrics to it for Friends Of Distinction to record. Their version hit #3 on the pop charts and #5 R&B. While many people believe that the song is about getting high, it’s actually about bulls grazing in the grass.

The song has been covered by Stevie Wonder, Chet Atkins, Boney James and Meco, and has been featured in many films including Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Jackie Brown, I Shot Andy Warhol and I’m Gonna Get You Sucka.

The flip of today’s single is The Friends’ follow-up single “Going In Circles” which was also a million seller that climbed to #3 on the R&B charts and #15 pop in 1970. The slow jam heartbreak/coming-of-age song was written by Jerry Peters and Anita Poree and has been covered by The Gap Band, Isaac Hayes (on his Black Moses album) and Luther Vandross.

The story goes that after six albums and five years of hits including “Love or Let Me Be Lonely,” “Time Waits for No One,” and “I Need You,” The Friends Of Distinction broke up somewhat acrimoniously with Elston and Butler going separate ways to work outside of the music industry. By 1990 the legacy and influence of The Friends’ recordings had grown substantially. After not speaking to each other for many years, Elston and Butler agreed to work together again, however the reunion was short lived as Butler suffered from a heart attack and died in Elston’s arms. Elston reformed the group in 1996 with new members including Geno Henderson, Wendy Brune and Berlando Drake. They continue to tour and perform the music of The Friends Of Distinction around the world today.

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – The Jukebox Series #35 – Neil Diamond: “Solitary Man” b/w “The Time Is Now” – Bang 45 RPM Single 45 578 (K4/L4)

September 15, 2020 by Eric Berman

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – The Jukebox Series #35 – Neil Diamond: “Solitary Man” b/w “The Time Is Now” – Bang 45 RPM Single 45 578 (K4/L4)

I’ve always been willing and able to give Neil Diamond a pass for syrupy hits like “September Morn,” “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers” and the many other middle of the road cringe-worthy songs that he cut during the 1980s, in exchange for the greatness of hits like “Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show,” “Sweet Caroline,” “Holly Holy,” “Cracklin’ Rosie,” “I Am…I Said,” “Song Sung Blue,” “Cherry Cherry,” “Kentucky Woman,” “Thank The Lord For The Night Time,” “I’m A Believer,” “Girl, You’ll Be A Woman Soon,” and today’s jukebox classic, the sublime “Solitary Man.” How could you not?

“Solitary Man” was Neil Diamond’s first single as a recording artist after seeing success as a songwriter of hits for others around the Brill Building. Diamond was one of the first signees to the Bang record label which was formed in 1965 by Bert Berns, Ahmet Ertegun, Neshui Ertegun and Jerry (Gerald) Wexler. (Their first initials gave the label its name.) Some of Berns’ other early signings on the label were The Strangeloves (“I Want Candy”), The McCoys (“Hang On Sloopy”) and Van Morrison (“Brown Eyed Girl”).

“Solitary Man” was produced by Diamond’s Brill Building cohorts Jeff Barrie and Ellie Greenwich and it was a minor hit when released as a single in 1966 climbing to #50 on the pop singles charts. After signing with UNI Records and having more mainstream success, the song was re-released as a single by Bang in 1970 and it charted again at #21.

Neil Diamond: “Solitary Man was my first song where I tried to really raise the level of my songwriting. It was inspired by the Beatles’ song ‘Michelle,’ which was also written in a minor key. I don’t think I’d ever written a song in a minor key before, it was the first and it kind of broke the dam for me.” (Mojo) It was also an early example of Diamond looking inside to write more personal material about himself. Diamond: “After four years of Freudian analysis I realized I had written ‘Solitary Man’ about myself.” (Pete Paphides from The Times.)

The song was the lead track on Diamond’s debut album for Bang called The Feel Of Neil Diamond. The album included several original compositions including “Cherry Cherry,” “Do It” and “Oh No No (I’ve Got A Feelin’),” plus covers of “Hanky Panky,” “Red Rubber Ball,” “Monday Monday” and “La Bamba.”

The song has been covered by Johnny Cash, Cliff Richard, Chris Isaak, T.G. Sheppard (who scored a #14 Country hit with the song in 1976), Billy Joe Royal, Johnny Rivers, Jay And The Americans, The Sidewinders, B.J. Thomas, the metal band HIM (who took the song into the UK top ten) and many others.

Diamond was one of Bang Records’ early success stories, but he left the label and signed to UNI records because he felt that Berns was holding him back artistically by not releasing his introspective song “Shilo” as a single. After Berns died suddenly in December of 1967, his wife took control of the label and she took to releasing older Diamond song as singles in order to compete with his latest output for UNI. One of the singles she released was “Shilo,” which climbed into the top forty.

The flip of today’s single was one of two B-sides that graced the “Solitary Man” single. The original 1966 issue of the single featured the track “Do It” on the flip; the 1970 rerelease featured the bluesy “The Time Is Now.”

The Neil Diamond we hear on “The Time Is Now” isn’t the syrupy sweet balladeer of “Heartlight” and “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers,” nor is it the fun-loving Brill building party boy of “Cherry Cherry.” Instead, we get a rough-cut Diamond totally ensconced in the blues.

Diamond was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1984 and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011. Additionally, he was an honoree at the Kennedy Center Honors in 2011.

3D Sun Babies

September 15, 2020 by Marty Masters

I’m Uncle Marty, this is Chapter 552 of The 3D RadioActivity. Sun Records is an independent label founded by producer Sam Phillips in Tennessee. Initially, he had concentrated mainly on African-American musicians because he loved RnB and wanted to bring it to a white audience. In 51, Sam produced “Rocket 88” by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats, who were actually Ike Turner and his Kings of Rhythm. Because of Ike’s Delta blues connections, he was contracted as a talent scout and effectively was an in-house producer who brought Howlin’ Wolf, Bobby “Blue” Bland, Little Milton, Billy “The Kid” Emerson and Roscoe Gordon to Memphis. Sun became the first label to record Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash and many others. While this episode is the first in a series that looks into some of the notable studios and companies like Chess, Stax, and Vee-Jay, these babies won’t require special eyewear to focus on The Sun.

**Download or play:**
https://archive.org/download/The3dRadioactivity/3dradio_202009133DSunBabies.mp3

We have managed to set a program record by squeezing 23 tunes into an hour or so, most well under 2 and a half minutes and averaging from the time in the 50’s before cars had four headlights. There’s lots of great music to look at in the Sun Studio Catalog, so we will continue to play more of these classic cuts that made history. Got any suggestions? Then tell me by sending email, or with a message on our Facebook page which has links to the archives of all the earlier episodes and graphics in the photo section. Look for us on Denver’s MileHiRadio, Theacidflashback.com , TuneIn and InternetFM dot com, because the best FM radio is now on the Internet.

Until we meet again, Keep Rockin’ On!

…Uncle Marty

“It’s not true I had nothing on, I had the radio on.”

…Marilyn Monroe

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – The Jukebox Series #34 – Dusty Springfield: “The Look Of Love” b/w “All I See Is You” – Stardust 45 RPM Single 45-URC-1258 (I4/J4)

September 14, 2020 by Eric Berman

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – The Jukebox Series #34 – Dusty Springfield: “The Look Of Love” b/w “All I See Is You” – Stardust 45 RPM Single 45-URC-1258 (I4/J4)

Her voice was smooth, and her delivery was as sultry as it comes. She was the British version of Dionne Warwick, Martha Reeves and Mary Wells all wrapped into one. While she was a much bigger star in her native England, Dusty Springfield sent numerous singles up the charts on these shores as well, including “I Only Want To Be With You” (#12/1963), “Wishin’ And Hopin’” (#6/1963), “I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself” (#3/1964 UK), “You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me” (#4/1966), “Son Of A Preacher Man (#10/1969), “The Windmills Of Your Mind” (#31/1969) and “What Have I Done To Deserve This” with The Pet Shop Boys (#2/1987).

She was also credited with introducing the Motown Sound to English music fans by helming a special edition of the British music TV show Ready Steady Go!, that featured the first UK TV appearances by Martha Reeves And The Vandellas, The Temptations, The Supremes, the Miracles and Stevie Wonder. She also covered her share of Motown hits for consumption by the UK market.

Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O’Brien (aka Dusty Springfield) got her start as a member of the “sister” act The Lana Sisters performing on TV and as part of shows on military bases around the UK. From there, she joined the family folk group called The Springfields with her brothers Tom and Tim who were best known by their recording of “Silver Threads And Golden Needles.”

“The Look Of Love” is one of Dusty Springfield’s signature hits. It was written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David for the James Bond film parody Casino Royal and was originally conceived as an instrumental. It is the epitome of sophisticated song craft coupled with Dusty’s slightly removed smooth and soulful croon atop a light an airy samba beat. It’s no wonder that it was nominated for Best Song in the 1968 Grammy Awards, but lost out to Bobby Russell’s “Little Green Apples,” as recorded by O.C. Smith. Springfield recorded the song twice. The first version was released on the Colgems Records soundtrack to the film Casino Royale.

Burt Bacharach: “When I’m scoring a picture, whether it’s Butch Cassidy or Casino Royale or What’s New Pussycat?, all those melodies that turned into what became hit songs came from what I saw on the screen when I was scoring and what I heard. The first thing is you service the motion picture. If you’re lucky enough and you have a theme that turns into a hit whether it was Dusty (Springfield) singing ‘The Look Of Love’ in Casino Royale, what was most important there was the sexuality of Ursula Andress wearing very little clothes and making very sexy theme with the saxophone playing the melody of ‘The Look Of Love.’ Then we put Dusty on. First and foremost is it’s written for the picture, you don’t force it in.” (Record Collector via Songfacts)

Springfield then rerecorded the song for the Philips label in 1967, where it was relegated to the B-side of the “Give Me Time” single. It also appeared on The Look Of Love album, which was her last U.S. album for Philips Records in 1967 before signing with Atlantic and releasing the landmark Dusty In Memphis album. (Tracks for her last Philips album entitled Dusty Definitely in England were not released in America until the 1990s under the title Dusty In London.)

The song has been covered by a myriad of artists including Sergio Mendes and Brasil ’66 (whose version charted at #4 on the pop charts), Nina Simone, Shirley Bassey, Isaac Hayes, Ahmad Jamal, Claudine Longet, Diana Ross and the Supremes, Dionne Warwick, Andy Williams, The Delfonics, Tony Joe White, The Meters, The Vanilla Fudge, The Zombies, Diana Krall (whose recording made it into the top ten of the Canadian charts), Anita Baker and literally dozens more.

The flip is Springfield’s 1966 single “All I See Is You”, written by Ben Weisman & Carl Westlake, which also reached the US Top 20

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – The Jukebox Series #33 – Unit 4+2: “Concrete And Clay” b/w “When I Fall In Love” – London 45 RPM Single 45-LON-9754 (G4/H4)

September 13, 2020 by Eric Berman

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – The Jukebox Series #33 – Unit 4+2: “Concrete And Clay” b/w “When I Fall In Love” – London 45 RPM Single 45-LON-9754 (G4/H4)

Today’s Song Of The Day is a somewhat forgotten British Invasion classic from 1965, featuring future members of The Kinks and Argent amongst its band members.

Unit 4 was a British harmony vocal group that was started in the early 1960s by Brian Parker who was a member of British star, Adam Faith’s backing band The Roulettes. Parker set out to form his own band and recruited Buster Meikle on vocals and guitar, Tommy Moeller on vocals and piano and Peter Moules on bass. Soon thereafter, they added two more members, Rod Garwood (bass) and Hugh Halliday (drums) who became the “+2” of their namesake. Their first British single was “The Green Fields” which was a top 50 hit in 1964.

By 1965, they were joined by two guest musicians, Bob Henrit who later went on to become a member of The Kinks and Russ Ballard who was a founding member of Argent. Both had worked with Parker and were also members of The Roulettes. Henrit and Ballard later joined Unit 4 + 2 as full members in 1967.

Their 1965 single, “Concrete And Clay” topped the British charts due to its inclusion on pirate radio playlists. In America, Unit 4 + 2’s recording of the song competed on the charts with a rival version by singer and Bob Crewe protégé Eddie Rambeau. Rambeau’s version climbed to number 35 on the charts, while Unit 4 + 2’s made it up to number 28. Both recordings kind of cancelled each other out, so neither was able to attain the attention that it should have on these shores.

A full length album was rush-recorded and released to capitalize on the success of the single in England, but the material was lacking and attempts to find a suitable follow up single failed to catch fire on the charts. As time went on, the band delved into psychedelic music as they strived to keep up with the ever changing times. During the late 60s, the group with Henrit and Ballard now full members recorded a version of Bob Dylan’s “You Ain’t Going Nowhere” that didn’t hold a candle to the more successful version by The Byrds.

The song was covered by Gary Lewis And The Playboys, Cliff Richard, Martin Plaza (of the group Mental As Anything) who brought the song to the #2 position on the Australian charts in 1986, Randy Edelman who brought the song to #20 on the UK charts in 1976, Kevin Rowland (of Dexy’s Midnight Runners) and They Might Be Giants.

The flip of today’s single is a cover of the Victor Young and Edward Heyman standard “When I Fall In Love” which was popularized by Nat “King” Cole and hundreds of other pop vocalists. The group’s cover puts them more into the category of easy listening artists like The Lettermen.

All in all, Unit 4 + 2 released 16 singles and two albums in England between 1964 and 1969. The song was rerecorded by songwriter and original vocalist, Tommy Moeller for a UK album in 2011. Moeller was also known as the public face of another British one-hit wonder, Whistling Jack Smith who had a number five whistling hit with “I Was Kaiser Bill’s Batman.” In the U.S. Unit 4+2 are barely remembered for this one great track, which to my ears sounds like a prequel to today’s faux folk groups like Mumford And Sons and The Lumineers.

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – The Jukebox Series #32 – The Trashmen: “Surfin’ Bird” b/w The Castaways “Liar Liar” – Eric 45 RPM Single 247 (E4/F4)

September 12, 2020 by Eric Berman

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – The Jukebox Series #32 – The Trashmen: “Surfin’ Bird” b/w The Castaways “Liar Liar” – Eric 45 RPM Single 247 (E4/F4)

Today’s jukebox classic is a near-perfect pairing of two garage rock classics by two different artists on one solid 45 RPM record. One side gives us the stompin’ “Surfin’ Bird,” a song that set ‘60s frat parties into motion by The Trashmen. It is paired with another garage classic on the flip, The Castaways’ one-hit wonder “Liar Liar,” in all its primal glory.

The Trashmen’s “Surfin’ Bird” was itself an amalgam of two other hits originally by The Rivingtons, one being “Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow,” and the other, “The Bird Is The Word.” The Trashmen took the chorus to both Rivington songs and strung them together to make this nonsensical garage rock classic. When the record came out, the songwriting was credited to the group’s singer and drummer Steve Wahrer whose idea it was to string the two songs together. After legal representatives from The Rivingtons’ camp contacted The Trashmen, later copies of the single gave The Rivingtons sole writing credit of the song.

The Trashmen formed in Minneapolis in 1962 and consisted of Tony Andreason on lead guitar and vocals, Dal Winslow on guitar and vocals, Steve Wahrer on drums and vocals and Bob Reed on bass guitar. Along with “Surfin’ Bird,” they placed five other singles in the charts including “Bird Dance Beat” which climbed to #30 in 1964.

The song has been covered by the likes of The Ramones, Silverchair, The Cramps and Pee Wee Herman who sang it in the movie Back To The Beach. It was also awarded screen time in the movies E.T., Full Metal Jacket and in John Waters’ classic cult film Pink Flamingoes.

Most recently, the song was used in a 2009 episode of Family Guy which brought the track back to the #50 position on UK singles charts, and #10 on the iTunes chart. It was also the subject of a Facebook campaign to send the song up the UK charts in 2010, in order to keep the winner of X-Factor off the top of the charts during the Christmas season. The campaign resulted in the song’s highest chart position of #3. The group broke up in 1967, but reformed in the 1980s and have toured on and off in some form ever since.

On the flip of today’s double A-sided single is another garage classic, “Liar Liar” by the one-hit-wonder garage rock group The Castaways. The Castaways were also from Minnesota and consisted of James Donna on keyboards, Robert Folschow and Dick Roby on guitar, Roy Hensley on bass and Dennis Craswell on drums.

The group formed to play frat parties where today’s song became popular enough to allow the group to record and release the track on the Soma record label. It is Folschow’s falsetto that is heard on the single which climbed up to the #12 position of the singles charts in 1965. The group performed the song in the 1967 beach movie It’s A Bikini World.

The song was also used in the films Good Morning Vietnam and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, and was covered by Debbie Harry of Blondie in 1988 for the film Married To The Mob. Harry’s version climbed to #14 on the Modern Rock charts. The group still exists today with James Donna the only original member.

Oh, and as for the reissue label of today’s jukebox classic, you really can’t go wrong with a label named Eric…

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – The Jukebox Series #30 – Ricky Nelson: “Stood Up” b/w “Waitin’ In School” – Imperial 45 RPM Single X5483 (U3/V3)

September 10, 2020 by Eric Berman

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – The Jukebox Series #30 – Ricky Nelson: “Stood Up” b/w “Waitin’ In School” – Imperial 45 RPM Single X5483 (U3/V3)

Growing up in public must be very hard to pull off gracefully. And for every artist who has achieved some semblance of normality in the public eye, there are dozens whose lives were ruined by it. Ricky Nelson managed, but just barely…

Nelson’s father Ozzie was a big band leader and his wife Harriet, a big band vocalist who supported Red Skelton on his popular radio show. When Skelton was drafted in 1944, his producer John Guedel created a radio show around the couple and their family called The Adventures Of Ozzie And Harriet. The Nelson’s children were first played on the radio series by professional child actors until Dave and Ricky (aged 12 and 8 respectively) joined the show on February 20, 1949.

Ricky didn’t have any inkling to make records until telling a girl he was trying to impress that he was going into the studio to cut his first record. At the time, he didn’t have a record contract, but he did have connections. Ricky’s father arranged for him to record Fats Domino’s “I’m Walkin’” for Verve records in 1957. Crucially, he then lip-synched the song on the TV show before the single came out, resulting in a #4 hit on the Billboard charts. Its flip side “A Teenager’s Romance” climbed all the way to #2 after he also performed it on the show. Nelson was one of the few fortunate artists who had a built in mechanism to get his songs heard by a mass audience through exposure on the family show which ran on TV from 1952 through 1966.

After this success, Ozzie negotiated a long-term deal with Imperial Records for Ricky that gave him approval of what songs he would record and final say over sleeve artwork, which was unheard of at the time. His first single for the new label “Be Bop Baby” went on to sell over a million copies. While on Imperial, he scored hits with “Poor Little Fool” (#1 Pop/#3 Country), “Lonesome Town” (#7 Pop), “It’s Late” (#9 Pop), “Never Be Anyone Else But You” (#6 Pop), “Just A Little Too Much” (#9 Pop), “Sweeter Than You” (#9 Pop), “Travelin’ Man” (#1 Pop), “Hello Mary Lou” (#9 Pop), “Young World” (#5 Pop), “Teen Age Idol” (#5 Pop) and “For You” (#6 Pop), mostly propelled by his performances of the songs on TV.

From 1957 to 1962, Nelson scored 30 Top-40 hits, more than any other artist except Elvis Presley who had 53, and Pat Boone with 38. For some, Nelson was the consummate teen idol with dreamy good looks and a smooth voice that sugar-coated the numerous gooey ballads he committed to wax. But this double shot of rockabilly illustrates that Nelson was so much more than just a teen idol. He was a way out rockin’ cat whose backing band was also one of the hottest in the land.

Early in his recording career, Nelson became fed up with the contemptuous attitude toward rock and roll of the jazz musicians his father chose for him to record with. In 1957 he formed one of the sturdiest bands of all time. He didn’t have to look far for his guitarist since his 18 year old friend James Burton was already living in his home. With the nimble-fingered Burton and his distinctive sound on electric guitar, he added James Kirkland on bass, Richie Frost on drums and Gene Garf on piano. Elvis Presley’s backup vocalists, The Jordanaires were also featured on Nelson’s recordings but they were not credited at Presley’s request.

Today’s jukebox classic features two rockabilly blasts from 1958. The A-side “Stood Up,” climbed all the way to the #2 slot on the pop charts, while its flip, “Waitin’ In School,” which was written by Johnny and Dorsey Burnette, rose to #18.

In 1963, Nelson signed a long-term deal with Decca Records. His Decca era produced some solidly great albums and singles, although his standing on the charts was dismal. As the 1960s came to a close, you pretty much could not give a Rick Nelson record away. Things were so bad that Nelson began performing shows on the oldies circuit at county fairs.

His last big single was “Garden Party” from 1972, which was about being an artist on the oldies circuit before his time. While performing at Madison Square Garden as part of a multi-act oldies bill, Nelson’s penchant for performing new material was met with boos from the audience. Disgusted by his audience’s expectations, he wrote “Garden Party” which when released climbed to #6 on the Billboard charts and topped the Adult Contemporary charts.

Nelson died in a plane crash on New Year’s Eve in 1985. He was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame in 1987.