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Song Of The Day – The Jukebox Series #7 – Paul & Linda McCartney – “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” b/w “Too Many People” – Apple Records 45 1837 1971 (M1/N1)

August 6, 2020 by Eric Berman

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – The Jukebox Series #7 – Paul & Linda McCartney – “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” b/w “Too Many People” – Apple Records 45 1837 1971 (M1/N1)

“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.

Lyrics were never his strong suit…and the lyrics from “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” are at best incoherent. However, you’d be hard pressed to argue with the musical prowess of Paul McCartney especially on today’s Song Of The Day.

Today’s single was culled from Paul McCartney’s second solo album Ram, the only album in his vast catalog credited to Paul & Linda McCartney. The album was recorded in New York City with backing musicians David Spinozza on guitar, Hugh McCracken (who replaced Spinozza for the second half of the sessions) on guitar and future Wings member Denny Seiwell on drums.

The construction of “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” picks up where the second side of The Beatles’ Abbey Road left off. Here we have McCartney dabbling in multi part suites of music, and the song is an amalgam of its many unfinished parts. McCartney wouldn’t perfect this way of song construction until “Band On The Run” two years later.

The song was inspired by Paul’s real Uncle Albert Kendall who married his Aunt Millie. Uncle Albert would habitually get drunk and then read passages from the Bible out loud. The admiral of the song was inspired by American Naval Admiral William “Bull” Halsey,” however Paul’s use of Admiral Halsey’s name was chosen because of the way it sounded and had nothing to do with who Halsey was or what he did.

The single was McCartney’s first chart topper away from The Beatles and it won the Grammy Award for Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalists in 1971. It was never released as a single in the UK, where they got “The Back Seat Of My Car” instead as the first single. The song’s flugelhorn part was played by Jazz be-bop trumpet player Marvin Stamm who never met McCartney in person, as his parts were recorded in London and overdubbed onto the master in New York. The New York Philharmonic Orchestra was also brought in for the arrangement.

The flip of the single is “Too Many People” which is also the opening track on Ram. After the acrimonious split of The Beatles, Lennon and McCartney cryptically addressed each other in lines from their songs. Several lines from “Too Many People” were seen as snipes at John Lennon, like the line “Too many people preaching practices.” Paul: “[John had] been doing a lot of preaching, and it got up my nose a little bit.” The line “You took your lucky break and broke it in too” was also seen as addressing McCartney’s former writing partner with the lucky break referring to being a member of The Beatles and his breaking it in two about their breakup.

Lennon retorted on his next album Imagine with the scathing “How Do You Sleep.” The album also included a postcard photo in early pressings depicting a smiling Lennon holding a pig’s ears in the same pose as McCartney holding the ram’s horns on the cover of Ram.

The sessions for Ram also produced McCartney’s first solo single “Another Day,” as well as early versions of “Big Barn Bed,” “Little Lamb Dragonfly” and “Get On The Right Thing” which turned up on McCartney’s 1973 album Red Rose Speedway. McCartney released an all-instrumental version of the Ram album in 1977 under the pseudonym of Percy “Thrills” Thrillington.

Ram was roundly panned by the critics when it was released in 1971; however it has grown in stature over the years. I’ve always loved the album and it is still one of my all-time favorite records after all these years. As far as “musical comfort food” goes, this one has been a staple in my diet since it came out – very tasty, always reliable with plenty of room for multiple helpings.

Song Of The Day – The Jukebox Series #4 – The Kinks – “Starstruck” b/w “Picture Book” – German Pye 45 DV-14795 (G1/H1)

August 4, 2020 by Eric Berman

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – The Jukebox Series #4 – The Kinks – “Starstruck” b/w “Picture Book” – German Pye 45 DV-14795 (G1/H1)

In a year that saw the release of The Beatles’ White Album and Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Ladyland, it’s no surprise that a low-key gem like The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society by The Kinks would fall through the cracks. However, when one considers the high caliber and quality of the album, it is surprising that it took so long for it to take its place amongst the greatest albums of the 1960s, easily equaling, it not surpassing the two aforementioned albums.

Part of the explanation for the record being ignored is that it was totally out of step with what was going on musically during the late 1960s. While bands were letting their freak flags fly with psychedelia, The Kinks dropped a laid-back nostalgic look at England on an unsuspecting public. Perhaps the record was also a little too British for American ears, but the fact is that The Kinks hadn’t had a proper hit on the U.S. charts since “Sunny Afternoon” hit the top twenty in 1966, and the band’s decision not to tour in support of the album upon its release didn’t help matters either.

The last album by the original quartet of Ray and Dave Davies, Pete Quaife and Mick Avory also had a tough birthing process which saw an early 12-track version pulled at the last minute by Ray Davies because he wasn’t satisfied with its quality. The band’s label then balked at Davies’ request to turn it into a double album, finally settling on the 15-track masterpiece we know today.

Today’s Song Of The Day inhabits position G1/H1 in the jukebox and comes from a German single on the Pye record label. I purchased the single on EBay about ten years ago and it was quite pricey for a 45rpm record, but considering the greatness of both songs, it was well worth the price of admission to be able to have these tracks cycle through on the juke.

The single was released in many territories around the world including the U.S., and failed to chart in all of them. The A-Side of the single is “Starstruck” which is a tuneful cautionary tale about the foibles of living the nightlife, something Ray Davies was probably no stranger to at the time. While I’ve always loved the song, it’s the B-side that got me to seek out a copy of the single for the juke.

“Picture Book” was one of a trilogy of songs about nostalgia for photographs that Ray Davies wrote around this time. The other two were “People Take Pictures Of Each Other” which ended up on the Village Green album, and “Pictures In The Sand” which wasn’t released until 1973 on The Great Lost Kinks Album compilation.

The song finally gained wide exposure in 2004 when it was used in an award-winning Hewlett-Packard ad campaign for digital photography. After all those years as an album cut that was only familiar to die-hard Kinks fans, the song finally got heard. Ray Davies: “I always knew that song would have its day…sometimes you just know. It was never a hit, but it’s become a hit in another way.”

Boogie RiD3

August 4, 2020 by Marty Masters

Once again, Uncle Marty is at the helm of The 3D RadioActivity, as we set out on our 546th passage beyond adventure where we’ll examine some of the avenues and vehicles where BOOGIE can be found.

**Click to download or play:**
https://archive.org/download/The3dRadioactivity/3dradio_20200802-BoogieRiD3.mp3

Our Summertime Seconds Series sails along next with BOOGIE tracks for children of all ages, whether they might be all the way from Mean Mamas to Pretty Babies because we still have over 300 to pick our upcoming programs from, even after ten BOOGIE shows without repeating a tune! If you want to help drive this bus, with your ideas fueling it, tell me by sending email. Remind your circle of best friends and family to look for us on Theacidflashback.com, Denver’s MileHiRadio, TuneIn and InternetFM dot com, because the best FM radio is now on the Internet.

Until we meet again, as Radio Dave always says, “Rock On!”

…Uncle Marty

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

…Marilyn Monroe

Song Of The Day – The Jukebox Series #2 – Brian Wilson “Caroline No” b/w “Summer Means New Love” – Capitol 45 5610 (C1/D1)

August 2, 2020 by Eric Berman

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – The Jukebox Series #2 – Brian Wilson “Caroline No” b/w “Summer Means New Love” – Capitol 45 5610 (C1/D1)

Today’s record inhabits position C1/D1 in the juke and it’s the only single attributed to Brian Wilson during his reign within the Beach Boys. The single was the first release from the group’s masterpiece Pet Sounds, although it was released in advance of the album. It really was a Brian Wilson solo record, as none of the Beach Boys appear on it. Rather, the musicians were members of the famous Wrecking Crew, a West Coast studio collective that played on hundreds of hit records during the 1960s featuring Hal Blaine on drums, Frank Capp on vibraphone, Carol Kaye on electric bass, Glen Campbell on guitar, Barney Kessel on guitar, Lyle Ritz on ukulele, Al De Lory on harpsichord, Bill Green on flute, Jim Horn on flute, Plas Johnson on flute, Jay Migliori on flute and Steve Douglas on tenor sax.

The song was written by Wilson and Tony Asher and while it only reached #32 on the charts, the meager chart position shouldn’t fool you into thinking that this is a minor recording. It is a major artistic achievement in every way possible! The original title for the song was “Caroline I Know,” however Brian misheard the title as “Caroline No” and both he and Asher decided that the title was more in keeping with the ennui of online casinos australia the song’s lyrics.

Many people believe the song is about Brian’s wife of the time, Marilyn Rovell, however the song was a composite of an ex-girlfriend of Asher’s who cut her hair and moved to New York, and Carol Mountain, an unrequited high school crush of Brian’s.

The drum heard at the beginning of the song was actually a large upside down empty water bottle that was lying around the studio. On the Pet Sounds album, the track ends with the sounds of trains which were pulled from the studio’s sound effects library meshed with the barking of Wilson’s dogs Banana and Louie. The sounds do not appear during the fade on the single release. It is also alleged that Murray Wilson (Brian’s father) took the master tape of the song before it was submitted to Capitol and sped it up in an effort to make Brian sound younger on the record. Nevertheless, to this day the sped up version is the one that is used on the album.

The single’s flip is a gorgeous instrumental that originally appeared on the Beach Boys’ 1965 album Summer Days (And Summer Nights). It is another Brian Wilson solo recording with none of the Beach Boys present in the studio. The song features many of the same Wrecking Crew members listed above. In a little under two minutes, Wilson conjures the feeling of that first blush of romance and hope, without ever uttering a single word.

Song Of The Day – The Jukebox Series #1 – Dale Hawkins: “Susie Q” b/w “Don’t Treat Me This Way” – Checker 45 #863 – 1957 (A1/B1)

August 1, 2020 by Eric Berman

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – The Jukebox Series #1 – Dale Hawkins: “Susie Q” b/w “Don’t Treat Me This Way” – Checker 45 #863 – 1957 (A1/B1)

Today marks the beginning of a new semi-regular series for Song Of the Day by Eric Berman. “The Jukebox Series” will focus on the 80 records that inhabit my 1963 Seeburg LPC1 jukebox. I’ve had the jukebox (or as I like to call it “the prehistoric iPod”) for a little over twelve years and in that time I’ve perfected the mix of 45s within.

Today, I will begin with “A-1” on the jukebox and systematically proceed through all of the records that are in there with a focus on why the tune is worthy of inclusion and how I got it.

I always thought that I’d have the Buck Owens single “A-1 On The Jukebox” in the “A1” position within my jukebox, but I don’t have a copy of the single, and as a rule don’t choose songs based on the novelty value of a visual pun that most people won’t see, so “A-1” in my juke box is Dale Hawkins’ swamp rock classic “Susie Q.”

I purchased and original Checker 45rpm pressing of the record at a garage sale several years ago for 10 cents and it was money very well spent. Sonically, it sounds killer pouring out of the vintage juke speakers.

Dale Hawkins wrote the song, although when it was released it was also credited to Stan Lewis who owned the record label and Eleanor Broadwater who was the wife of Nashville DJ Gene Nobles. Such was the way the music biz worked back in the 1950s, royalties had to be spread around if you wanted your record released and played on the radio.

Once the track was recorded, the master was licensed to Checker Records who released the single in 1957 where it climbed to #7 on the R&B charts and #27 on the pop charts. The guitarist on the track was a young 15 year old future Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall Of Famer James Burton, who went on to play with the likes of Ricky Nelson, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, John Denver, Glen Campbell, Gram Parsons, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Costello, Roy Orbison, Joni Mitchell, Vince Gill and countless others.

Over the years, the song has seen notable covers by The Rolling Stones, Creedence Clearwater Revival (who issued it at their debut single), Jose Feliciano, Suzie Quatro (a real Suzie Q), Lonnie Mack, The Crew-Cuts, Gene Vincent, Johnny Rivers, Quicksilver Messenger Service, The Everly Brothers, Linda McCartney (as Suzy and the Red Stripes), Bobby McFerrin and Flash Cadillac. None of the covers can even approach the greatness of the original, which is why it is included in my jukebox.

The flip is a sturdy rockabilly rave up which doesn’t get as much play time as it should; however when it does come up, it always sounds great.

Song Of The Day – “Things Will Never Be The Same” by Four Just Men

July 30, 2020 by Eric Berman

Obscure British Invasion music produced by George Martin!

Last week I wrote about Freddie & The Dreamers single, “I’m Telling You Now,” and the American album of the same name. The record was not a Freddie & The Dreamers album per se, although they were the featured group on the cover. It was a compilation released in 1965 to introduce unknown British Invasion groups to American audiences featuring two tracks each by Freddie & The Dreamers, Mike Rabin & The Demons, The Toggery Five, Linda Laine & The Sinners, Heinz and the group whose song is today’s Song Of The Day, Four Just Men.

Four Just Men were one of the better groups to ride on the coattails of The Beatles and The British Invasion, and while their output was miniscule to say the least, it was indeed potent.

They were a Merseybeat group whose original name was Dee Fenton & The Silhouettes. Upon changing their name to Four Just Men in 1964, they were signed by George Martin who produce several non-charting British singles for them in 1964 through 1965. The group’s two Parlophone singles were “Things Will Never Be The Same” b/w “That’s My Baby (which were the two songs on the U.S. compilation album) and “There’s Not One Thing” b/w “Don’t Come Any Closer.” Both singles were originals, written by singer-guitarist Dimitrius Christopholus and guitarist John Kelman. They changed their name yet again, this time to Just Four Men after another band also calling themselves Four Just Men threatened to sue EMI.

While the group toured with The Rolling Stones, The Searchers and Del Shannon in support of the two singles, neither charted and they were dropped by EMI, only to resurface in 1966 as a psychedelic group called Wimple Winch, who were known for the local hits “Rumble On Mersey Square South” and “Save My Soul.”

The two Four Just Men singles, as well as eight previously unreleased tracks from the era and 16 songs by Wimple Winch were released on the now out of print import CD The Wimple Story 1963-1968.

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Don’t Let’s Start” by They Might Be Giants

July 26, 2020 by Eric Berman

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Don’t Let’s Start” by They Might Be Giants

You can’t bottle creativity, but in the case of They Might Be Giants, you certainly can buy it! They were two wild and crazy nerd-boys when they burst onto the scene in the mid-1980s, we just didn’t realize how wild and crazy they really were.

The two Johns: Flansburgh and Linnell have always looked at the world through different glasses than the rest of us, and it has manifested itself in some of the most creative ways to hear music. Case in point was “Dial-A-Song,” where you could call a phone number and hear a new original song on an answering machine…every day! The call was to a Brooklyn exchange, so they came up with the tag line “Free when you call from work” to publicize the service. This went on for several years.

“Dial-A-Song” got them signed to their first record deal and today’s Song Of The Day comes from their debut album released in 1986. Once they conquered your telephone, it was only a matter of time before TMBG discovered the internet where they were amongst the first groups to use the medium to publicize and distribute their music.

With songs like “Birdhouse In Your Soul,” “Dinner Bell,” “Why Does The Sun Shine (The Sun Is A Mass Of Incandescent Gas),” and “Older” in their repertoire, it was only a matter of time before they got into the children’s music game releasing the album No! in 2002. They’ve since released several more children’s record insuring that their original fan base would take their kids to see them some day.

Indeed, I fulfilled my duty as a parent and took my own kids to see them in 2002 when they were eight and five years old respectively. On the road, they perform adult and kids shows at most tour stops and they also have a penchant for debuting newly written songs about each town they’re performing in each night.

The two Johns are still very active today on stage and off where they regularly record and release enjoyable and inventive podcasts. If you’ve never heard their records or seen their shows, you really should before you grow up, or even worse, they do!

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Tahitian Moon” by Porno For Pyros

July 25, 2020 by Eric Berman

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Tahitian Moon” by Porno For Pyros

Jack White… Prince… Jerry Garcia…Bruce Springsteen…David Byrne…Curt Cobain…Perry Farrell…all world-class performers with charisma to burn! The type of performer you can’t take your eyes off of when they’re on stage.

Some like Jerry Garcia didn’t have to do much but just show up and play to be the focal point of their band…but the others worked their tails off honing their stage craft and earning the well-deserved adulation they received. Now, I’m sure some of you are thinking that Perry Farrell doesn’t belong in that heady company, and my answer to you is that you probably never saw him front Porno For Pyros.

Out of the ashes of Jane’s Addiction rose Porno For Pyros with Stephen Perkins (also from J.A.) on drums, plus guitarist Peter DiStefano and bass player Martyn LeNoble. For some, Jane’s Addiction were the be-all and end-all of Farrell’s music career, but I’ve always found Porno For Pyros’ two albums to be far more interesting and musically satisfying than anything from Jane’s Addiction.

This song comes from Good God’s Urge , Porno’s second album released in 1996. By then they had established themselves with “Pets,” a bona-fide hit that was a MTV staple and a highlight of the Woodstock ’94 festival.

Of course, Farrell will always be linked with the Lollapalooza festival he founded 23 years ago, which has found a home for the last decade here in Chicago where you can see Farrell either fronting a band or spinning a DJ set most years.

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Empty Lives” by Graham Parker

July 15, 2020 by Eric Berman

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Empty Lives” by Graham Parker

He was never a punk rocker and was already around too long to be part of the “New Wave,” but marketing is marketing and that’s how much of the world came to discover Graham Parker.

By the time of Squeezing Out Sparks, his 1979 breakthrough album, Parker had already been recording with his trusted band The Rumour featuring Martin Belmont, Brinsley Schwarz, Andrew Bodnar, Bob Andrews and Steve Goulding for several years, and had classic albums like Howlin’ Wind (1976), Heat Treatment (1976) and Stick To Me (1977) under his belt.

But like fellow journeymen Nick Lowe, Dave Edmunds and Elvis Costello, the music machine had to put them somewhere, so new wave, punk rockers they became. Sparks was Parker’s most consistent album and it benefitted by the promotion that accompanied a label change in America from Mercury to Clive Davis’ Arista imprint.

By the recording of Parker’s second album for Arista, The Up Escalator from 1980, Bob Andrews was out of the band and members of the E Street Band (including Bruce Springsteen) participated in the recording sessions which were helmed by producer Jimmy Iovine. Escalator would also be the first album credited to just Graham Parker. The record was his highest charting album, but was not as well received as his previous release.

Here’s a live version of the album’s signature track from the now-defunct TV show Fridays. Throughout the 1980s and to the present, numerous albums on numerous record labels including Elektra, RCA, Atlantic, Capitol, Razor & Tie and Chicago’s own Bloodshot Records (where he’s recorded his last several albums) have been met with declining sales, but no decline in quality of performance and songwriting.

In fact, Parker’s releases over the last ten years have been his best yet.

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Daddy’s Home” by Shep & The Limelites

July 13, 2020 by Eric Berman

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Daddy’s Home” by Shep & The Limelites

Shep & The Limelites consisted of James “Shep” Sheppard, Clarence Bassett and Charles Bakersfield. They formed in Queens, New York in 1960 and are primarily remembered for their signature hit (and today’s Song Of The Day) “Daddy’s Home.”

Sheppard was originally a member of a group called The Heartbeats that signed with the Hull record label in the late 1950s. The group scored several minor hits on Hull including “Your Way,” “Baby Don’t Go” and “A Thousand Miles Away.” It was while a member of The Heartbeats that Sheppard co-wrote and recorded an early version of “Daddy’s Home” as their last single on Hull.

The Heartbeats met the demise of so many groups of the day and called it quits in 1959 after being ripped off by managers and not paid for their shows by promoters.

Two years later, Sheppard formed The Limelites with Bassett and Bakersfield and were once again signed by Hull Records. Their first single as The Limelites was “Daddy’s Home,” which soared all the way to the number two position on the charts in 1961 and was covered by the likes of PJ Proby, Jermaine Jackson, Toots & The Maytals and Cliff Richard. The group scored several other hits including “What Did Daddy Do,” “Ready For Your Love” and “Our Anniversary.”

The group continued until 1966 before breaking up. Sheppard was found shot to death in his car on the Long Island Expressway in January of 1970. He had just reformed The Limelites and was beginning to tour the rock and roll revival circuit.