I've Got The Music In Me-Kiki Dee (Rocket MCA-40293) #12 1974
Hello It's Me-Nazz (S G C 45-001) #71 1969 #66 1970
I Believe In You (you believe in me)-Johnnie Taylor (Stax STX-1024) #11 1973
I Don't Blame You At All-Smokey Robinson/The Miracles (Tamla T-54205) #18 1971
Everybody's Got The Right To Love-The Supremes (Motown M-1167) #20 1970
I Understand Just How You Feel-Johnny Ferguson (MGM K-12905) 1960
I Wanna Rock-Johnny Sardo (Warner 5014) 1958
Ding Ding Dong-Jive Tones (APT 45-25020) 1958
77 Sunset Strip Cha Cha-Pete Candoli (Warner 5039) 1959
Bristol Stump-The Dovells (Parkway P-827) #2 1961
Big Brown Eyes-The Redjacks (Apt 45-25006) 1958
One Step Ahead Of My Past-Hank Locklin (RCA 47-7813) #14 Country 1960
You Are My Sunshine-Ray Charles (ABC-Paramount 45-10375) #7 1962
Look Into My Eyes-The Chantels (Carlton 555) #14 1961
Will We Start All Over Again-Hank Thompson (Capitol 4454) 1960
Mad-Dave Dudley (Mercury 72308) #6 Country 1964
When I'm With You-Sheriff (Capitol B-5199) #61 1983, later reissued and hit number 1 1988
Who Slammed The Door-Little Caeser (RCA 47-7270) 1958
Keep Your Hands Off My Baby-Little Eva (Dimension 1008) #12 1962
CDs
Sugarland-Twice The Speed Of Life
Sugarland-Love On The Inside
Tom Waits-Small Change
In the band that I'm sitting in with, they have a bunch of Sugarland songs that I needed to hear, but the best part of this is that I can find their CDs for a couple dollars or less at the thrift stores. Garth Fundis (Don Williams) produced the first album, with the disposed Kristen Hall leaving, and kewpie doll Jennifer Nettles and Kirstan (with an A) Hall being the main performers. There's a helluva lot of autotuner in Nettles' voice which kinda makes the songs sound wooden but they have a rock and roll vibe on Something More and Down In Mississippi (up to no good). I wasn't that impressed when this album came out in 2004, but in the 17 years passing, Faster Than The Speed Of Life has aged fairly good despite the autotuned vocals but then, the quality of country music has really gone down the shitter. Love On The Inside shows lesser autotune dependency, but Nettles tends to oversing at times. Small Change is where Tom Waits really starts showing his weird side with The Piano Has Been Drinking (not me).
Half Price Books had a interesting array of 45s of note. Some soul music to speak of, but the Johnnie Taylor forty five looks to be a reissue from Fantasy Records when they took over Stax in the 1970s. Hello It's Me from NAZZ is a either a bootleg or a Collectibles reissue, the key is that the MO (Monarch Records), that the vinyl was hard pressed and not the soft version as per SP (Specialty Records). Even as a reissue, it's probably the find of the forty fives this week. Upon further listening, it is a bootleg copy, the mix is horrendous.
These 45s may not been as hard rockabilly as the Davenport finds and the quality of I Wanna Rock falls short. Warner Brothers at that time, was starting out and couldn't find that rock and roll star, till they got the Everly Brothers a couple years later, Used Heart sounds geared toward the teeny boppers. Sardo was a bit lighter than Johnny Tillotson so to speak. Sardo would make one more forgettable 45 for Warner Brothers before disappearing. Pete Candoli's 77 Sunset Strip Cha Cha is what you expect, if you are interested, seek out the Warner single with Don Radke's straight version of that TV Theme. I'm surprised this didn't show up on a Austin Powers movie. B side Beer Barrel Conga continues the cha cha craze that never took off after 1960. But then again, I'm a sucker for such forgotten stuff like this.
Jive Tones Ding Ding Dong, is a one hit doo wop group, with the mysterious E Price writing this and b side Geraldin, which makes me think of Reuben And The Jets, tho I doubt that Frank Zappa ever heard of them, Ray Collins maybe. Even Don Costa adds a fun arrangement to Geraldine. Johnnie Ferguson's I Understand Just How You Feel, the followup to Angela Jones, failed to chart on the top 100, a ballad not that different from the aforementioned Johnny Tillotson would have done, but it is a mystery why this song didn't chart, but the G-Clefs' version made it to number 9 a year later. Ferguson did one more single for MGM and disappeared just like the Jive Tones did. B side Flutter Flutter was co written with one Mel Tillis
A few soul singles pop up including Taylor's I Believe In You, Smokey's I Don't Blame You At All and The Supremes (without Diana Ross) Everybody's Got The Right To Love, which came off Right On, a album that had some fine soul sides (Up The Ladder To The Right, I Got Hurt, Bill When Are You Coming Back), had that on cassette years ago but the vinyl album is quite pricey, even if Diana Ross isn't on it. My guess with the big hit of Tears Of A Clown, Smokey opted to try another uptempo song with I Don't Blame You At All, which may have been the last gasp of that great Detroit sound before Barry Gordy packed up and went west. That rare classic Motown song you never hear anymore. The Dovell's Bristol Stomp is fun too, however the record been played a lot. Quite Scratchy.
Kiki Dee used to record for Motown, actually Tamla and then Rare Earth, then she found her way to Elton John and managed to have her classic period in the mid 70s with I Got The Music In Me, which featured EJ's producer and some of his bandmates. She could do MOR with Simple Melody, the B side. Recently I found a 3 CD overview of her career called Gold, which combines most of her work on Rocket, as well as some sides recorded for Liberty and RCA to go with the Tamla/Rare Earth recordings. CD 3 has way too many ballads, but CD 2 is worth hearing.
The second batch of 45's the Redjack's record had a repeat scratch that made the record unplayable. The Chantels Look Into My Eyes might have been a record from the old box of 45's that forever ruined me (this is a different record) but I do recall two Chantels 45s, one was Maybe and perhaps this one. Not as over the top like Maybe. Mad, written by Tom T Hall, is one of the classic Dave Dudley songs, however this record got played a lot and is quite scratchy, Don't Be Surprised is mellower. This probably was a jukebox copy. Hank Thompson's Will We Start It All Over Again, didn't chart, which I find hard to believe but there were quite a lot of classic country songs from 1960. A underrated a honky tonk number, note the echo on the vocal on the bridge. It Got To Be A Habit, continues Thompson's sense of humor that makes this song fun to listen to, and plenty of steel guitar and country piano. Ken Nelson produced. And finally A Hank Locklin number sweeten by the Nashville sound. And the best of them all, Ray Charles, You Are My Sunshine, with Gerald Wilson arranging. This may sound dated today but back then, Charles was inventing a new type of Modern sounds in Country n Western.
Little Eva's Keep Your Hands Off My Baby made number 12 and was part of the mashed potatoes craze and was the follow up to the Loco Motion. Surprisingly, the cheap recycled vinyl that was second rate back then actually wasn't too scratched up. B side Where Do I Go, is not that remarkable, but it doesn't sound out of place from the likes of Leslie Gore. Written by the Carole King/Gerry Goffin team. And this is the first version of When I'm With You, by Sheriff, a minor band that had a middle of the top 50 chart placing in 1983, but five years later shot up to number 1. The first single You Reminded Me bombed, but When I'm With You did slightly better. How it managed to hit number 1 years later might have been due to an inclusion on a soundtrack. B side Living Without You, was a Boston soundalike knockoff, not bad but perhaps a change of pace on the jukebox. Probably better than Give Me Rock N Roll, which was on the reissued 1988 45. Arnold Lanni would become a producer later on. The 1983 version is on the multi coloured Captiol label, considered to the orange/yellow swirl one of the more beloved label from Capitol. Who's Slamming That Door was a one off single for Little Casesar on RCA and was kinda of rock and blues number originally done by Lou Stein. Passable, B side I'm Reaching was slightly better. A slight crack at the outer groove into the record but doesn't affect play. Just something that I needed to hear.
If you're not familiar with the deadwax initials, this will refresh your memory.
