The Madison Singles Part 3-More Variety More Fun!

This week, somebody at work decided that I should have this cold flu crap going around so I had to cancel my only two music shows and stayed home and sulked all day.  It didn't help that it had to rain all day either.   So the only way to keep my spirit up was to continue our little journey of 45s found in Madison last weekend. Perhaps the most strongest of finds since Davenport 2014.  Or maybe not.  The story continues.

1)     Why-Frankie Avalon (Chancellor C-1045)  #1  1959

Being the completest that I am, I had the picture sleeve 45 but not the record till I found a fairly used copy at Mad City Music X, (Yes guys, you get to share the blame here)  but it's one of those innocent and sweet love songs that the girls would love, and the guys would play just to get a little.  B side Swinging On A Star, is one of those imitated Mack The Knife big band sounds that the teen idols would attempt to do.  It's pretty silly and cheese bally but it's only a 1:45 song.  Why would be Frankie's last number one record. 

2)     Hello Young Lovers-Paul Anka (ABC Paramount 45-10132)  #23 1960

Another Mack The Knife ripoff but I think this has a better arrangement than Swinging On A Star from Mr. Avalon.  Paul also seemed to be more at ease with this Vegas type of music than the others If you're not into this sort of finger popping you can move on to the next record.  Anka has seemed to take over some of the Singles Going Steady blogs with the music found, like Bobby Darin has done. In the end Bobby wins out in terms of quality songs. But I'll defend Paul Anka right up to.....you're having my baby. To which I'll then lift up my leg and let out a prolonged fart. 

3)     Kind Of A Drag-The Buckinghams (USA 860)  #1  1966

The horn sound didn't start with Chicago or for that matter Blood Sweat And Tears but rather The Buckinghams, which came from Chicago like the CTA band and were mostly a singles act, but their debut for USA Record went straight up the top of the charts.  Eventually Columbia was impressed enough to lure the guys away to the major label for a couple years before the band broke up. B side You Make Me Feel So Good, is less interesting.

4)    Theme From The Sundowners-Flex Slatkin  (Liberty F-55282)  #70  1960

And we are back into theme from the happening motion pictures at the time.Passable theme music not unlike Ray Conniff or Mitch Miller but proceed at your own risk. One of the five for a quarter records found at the Pick and Save St Vincent De Paul.  This record has a sticker from an old Woolworth's store advertising buy 6 for a dollar.  I wouldn't think the label means 6 for a hundred dollars.  I know, a bad attempt of being funny. and being stuck with a flu cold my sense of humor is nil. And I'm starting to hack and cough now.  It's gonna get worse before it gets better.

5)    Don't Throw Your Love Away-The Searchers (Kapp K-593)   #16 1964

If nothing else, the British Invasion did put more of a rock and roll variety on AM radio in 1964, the kids were getting tired of haphazard ballads and fingerpopping teen idols and anything Beatles would guarantee a top ten placement.  For the other Brit bands, they would have their share but most couldn't budge the Fab Four off the top ten, but that didn't mean they weren't trying.  The Searchers have been one of most underrated of Brit Bands at that time and they gave us a nice ear catching melody of sorts of Don't Throw Your Love Away complete with a middle eastern guitar hook. Kapp Records was basically a label for squares but they did snag record rights to The Searchers via Pye UK, they may not have charted as high as The Beatles or this song but they were quite good. I do think their best period was the late 70s, when Sire picked them up and The Searchers made their finest albums for that label.  Which of course didn't sell but collectors know about them and always on the lookout looking for them.

6)    Sandy-Ronnie And The Daytonas (Mala 513)  #27  1965

Little GTO gang of session players under the banner of Ronnie and The Dayatonas, Sandy is their answer to Surfer Girl. A nice tribute from the style of Brian Wilson.  Side note: the record that was pressed on might be the all time worst ever for vinyl plastic, in the inverted circle in the middle. Even without a record sleeve, this 45 actually plays pretty clean. Somebody must have taken fairly good care of it despite it being sleeveless.  Side note 2: the Wilken as co writer might be Maryjohn Wilken of Waterloo fame, a Nashville songwriter, which leads to....

7)   Waterloo-Stonewall Jackson (Columbia 4-41393)  #4 1959

Wilken co wrote this one with John Loudermilk.  It made number 1 on the country charts and number 4 on the pop chart.  There were about five other copies of this 45 over at St Vincent De Paul and this one was in the best condition of them all.  B side Smoke Among The Tracks, would later be covered by Dwight Yoakam, who knows a good country song or two.

8)   What The World Needs Now Is Love-Burt Bacharach  (A&M 1004)  1968

One of the more prolific songwriters ever, with Hal David, his songs make Dionne Warwick a standout vocalist but on his own not so much.  I think this is considered to be a find, although the A side was The Bell That Couldn't Jangle, was a Christmas single. To which I'm sure the Fifth Dimension probably did. Or Dionne Warwick may have. Bobby Vinton and the Belmonts did cover. Either way, neither side charted.

9)   Medicine Man (Part 1)-Buchanan Brothers  (Event 3303)  #22 1969

This song is the only song that I ever played that my mom told me to play something else.  But then again playing it 6 times in a row might have something to do with that too.  They weren't brother but rather Cashman, Pistelli and West under an alias. I did managed to get their album on CD a few years ago and outside of Medicine Man and Son Of A Loving Man, the rest of the album was quite awful.  This song has a the grooviest bass guitar solo introduction and of course the best one note keyboard played too. I wouldn't say it was bubblegum, this song is too strong to be lumped in with Ohio Express and The Archies. It still cuts a mean groove 48 years onward. Side 2 is part 2, with the longest fade in, in record history, it's almost half of the so called 2:01 timing on the B side.

10)   Stars And Stripes Forever-John Twomey  (Casablanca NB 821)   1974

The strangest 45 of the batch comes from this 25 cent orphan that spent at least a good two years at Half Priced Books in the discount bin before a sympathetic record hoarder came along and took it home.  I thought it was a disco number since it was on the Casablanca label but rather this invokes memories of the Gong Show. Twomey's memorable performance comes from the Johnny Carson Tonight's Show.  Twomey's performance is called a manualist, a fancier word than making fart noises with his hands.  But you got to admit. he was damn good at this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSmD9hrbrF0