Singles Going Steady 19-Destroyed Records (revised)

Broken records, cracked records, records that have seen better days, records that were used for frisbees, records that got cola spilled on them and got stuck to the grooves.  These records were part of my growing up years and I'm surprised my dad still had them in his collection.  I may have just put them there for  I had no use for them anymore.  Now I have retrieved some of them to compile the best of the lot.  The best records that I should have taken better care of.  I'll probably never find better copies but who knows, maybe I might.   I have found some of these songs via You Tube.  The rest, I just need a better condition of record.

1.  Paint It Black-The Jalopy Five  (Hit Records-No. 258) 1966  Last month I posted a blog about the Hit Records, which did cover versions of certain singles and at times they could their own against the original copy.  This is not one of them although the garage punk nature of this song pales next to the Stones.  But it's really not that bad either.  Bobby Russell sings lead on this song, or so says the rumor. There are collectors out there that do collect things from the Hit Record Label and somebody was nice enough to include this via You Tube.  And if you take a look at EBAY at some of the outrageous prices they want for some of the Jalopy Five stuff (90 dollars for a scratched up copy of Yummy Yummy Yummy?!) you'd be shaking your head too.  Most of the time the Jalopy Five would cover The Rolling Stones or The Beatles.  B Side is The Harris Brothers (whoever they are) covering The Walker Brothers' Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore, written by the late Bob Crewe with Bob Gaudio (Four Seasons) .Give them credit, the arrangements are very close to the originals.  

2.  Don't Hold Back-Spyder Turner (MGM K13692)  1967  Northern soul obscurity although this is the best of four different versions on You Tube. Recorded in Detroit with some of the Motown  Funk Brothers although not credited on the 45 but one of the arrangers is one Dennis Coffey  who would have instrumental hits in the early 70s.  I think I got this record in the 10 cent bins at an old Marion drug store, which later became a pinball place where all the undesirables hung out.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeRYg4HDUgg

3.  Just A Little Bit-Roy Head (Scepter  SCE 12116) 1965 The white James Brown?  This reached number 39 on the Billboard charts in October of 1965.  Roy is better known for Treat Her Right which prompted Scepter to issue this and an album too.  I remember seeing the album over at the Salvation Army in Marion years ago and never picked it up although I did later when I was in Ann Arbor. The 45 was in a box of 10 records they sold over at K Mart.  You remember those box of records?  They would stick a couple of top ten hits by established artists and then sandwich the hits with a lot of unknown and uncharted stuff.  Which some of them were actually better than the original singles that I wanted.  Over the years, the forty five has a nasty crack that makes it impossible to play.  Varese Vintage has put out a very good overview of Roy Head's biggest hits, called.....Treat Her Right.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7cOggFF7sE



4.  Heartbreak Hotel-Frijid Pink (Parrot PRT 352)  1970  Last Singles Going Steady the Pink made the list on their debut single which flopped.  They return with a boogie fueled piano boogie with a guitar riff that's from Mississippi Queen. I remember the Peoria station played this when I spent the summer at Grandma Ambrose's trailer and The Lincoln record store had a used copy of this although I'm guessing the reason why they took it back in was a groove wide scratch which would skip on the player.  The song got reissued as a bonus track on the import Frijid Pink S/T album.  This You Tube video you can watch the record spin around.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlRKImbQFoA

5.  Let It Go, Let It Flow-Dave Mason (Columbia 3-10662)  1977  In my road trips to Arizona I have been come home with assorted singles over the years but as you know it gets so hot down there that some of them don't make it out in one piece.  This one got left out in the sun too long and got warped.  It made 45 on the charts in 1978 and was the third single off Let It Flow, an album that bored the hell out of me outside of this song and We Just Disagree, (the first single So High tripped out at number 89).  I have no idea what happened to the album.

6.  Ball Of Fire-Tommy James & The Shondells (Roulette R 7060) 1969  Growing up, I was a huge Tommy James fan and anything that I could find on 45, I usually bought, or showing it to Ma and say I WANT I WANT I WANT and whatever the brat wanted, the brat usually got.  There were some exceptions, she told me to put The Beatles Lady Madonna picture sleeve 45 back one day.  Why I remember these useless trivia is beyond me since I can't recall what I did five minutes ago.  A number 19 showing although Oldies radio never plays this.  But they will of Crimson And Clover or Mony Mony.

7.  On Broadway-King Curtis (Atco 45-6406)  1966  A 9 cent record that Ben Franklin store had up in Waterloo and I guess I bought this on word association. Basically the same arrangement as The Drifters, but done with a excellent sax solo from the King. The guitar player sure sounds like Duane Eddy.  But if this came from Muscle Shoals as rumored than perhaps it's Joe South doing the guitar.  Mere speculation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ6Xmv2yHjI

8.  Tears And Kisses-Frankie Randall (RCA 47-8434)  1964  The other side is Bewitched and Randall is basically a pop singer.  Steve Lawrence also covered Bewitched but that's not the intent here.  I played the other side a lot more often and sorry to say my copy gave up the ghost years ago and nobody on You Tube has posted the song.  So it remains a ghost shall we say.  But it is interesting to note that the arranger of Tears And Kisses was David A Gates, who at around the mid 60s was producing the initial recordings of one Captain Beefheart.  And Gates provides more of a Phil Spector type of production. But you would know him better as the main singer and songwriter of Bread.  I would love to find a replacement copy of this song.

9.  Shake It Up-The Cars (Elektra  E-47250) 1981  Actually this record plays all right, when I moved away from home, I just stuck it in my dad's 45 collection and left it at that but then I reclaimed it the other day.  For hoarding reasons I guess, although next time I do a 45 dump when I at the St Vincent De Paul in Madison I might donate it there.  Classic rock plays it all the time.  One of the few records that remained in its sleeve all these years and scratched up to holy heaven like the majority of Dad's 45s.  He could never take care of any of them it seems.

10.  The Family Of Man-Three Dog Night (Dunhill D-4306)  1972  Like Tommy James, it was a big event when a new Three Dog Night single would come out and the early 70s were their peak.  By this single, a number 12 showing, the band was starting to choose more MOR and a less interesting pop sound.  Harmony was their last good album and the B side, Going In Circles was the start of things to come.  And not in a good way.  When our fifth grade teacher invited us to bring music to listen to, she was kind enough for me to be the DJ.  Her musical tastes were like The Carpenters so after she played that, I played Three Dog Night.  I'm sure the rest of the classmates brought some things to listen to, my grade school crush brought Donny Osmond though.  Somehow I managed to talk her into getting the next Three Dog Night album, which was 7 Separate Fools.  Our love was doomed to fail soon after that.

Perhaps in another edition of fun with scratchy records I'll throw up a copy of I Just Don't Know If I Can by Lesley Gore (Mercury 72553) but this version from 45 cat is no where near as nice as mine.  Mine looks like it's been dragged down a highway.  Actually this is my copy.  Look ma, no grooves left!


No records here were harmed or destroyed in the making of this blog. All but Heartbreak Hotel are from my personal collection.  Originally Roy Head and Lesley Gore's were from 45 Cat but since they kept disappearing from this blog, I decided the hell with it, and scanned off my chewed up copies of the songs.  They still make good reference copies although playing them would need a needle replacement on the player.