Category: Pop

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Little Anthony and The Imperials

Tenor, Anthony Gourdine, was still in high school in Brooklyn, New York, when he helped to form the group, The Duponts. His next group, The Chesters, was to change its name and call itself The Imperials.

Little Anthony and The Imperials’ initial hit, “Tears On My Pillow”, in 1958, was to sell a million copies. This, in spite of the group not being fond of the song. Kylie Minogue revived it in 1989, with it appearing in her film, ‘The Delinquents’.

A short list of singles that had failed to perform as expected led the quintet to record a novelty song, “Shimmy, Shimmy, Ko-Ko-Bop”. It was to restore the vocal group’s status within the recording industry, as 1959 met 1960.

http://youtu.be/UGlHOasCgxY

Nonetheless, further singles failed to chart with impact and, as a result, the group split up. However, by 1964, the members had been convinced that they should re-form and from this reformation the five were to experience their most successful period, with the release of “I’m On The Outside (Looking In)”, the pop standard “Goin’ Out Of My Head”, “Hurt So Good” and “Take Me Back”.

http://youtu.be/UIEndpLXk54

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Billy Ocean

Billy Ocean was born as Leslie Sebastian Charles, in January of 1950, on the island of Trinidad. His family moved to live in London when he was eight years of age. There, the West Indian rhythms, to which he had been exposed, became influenced by the music of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Animals and American artists such as Sam Cooke, Ben E. King and Otis Redding.

Against his parents’ wishes, Billy became apprenticed to a tailor. He also began to learn how to play the piano. This eventually led him to perform in British clubs at night. The selection of his stage name was inspired by the film, ‘Ocean’s 11’, which starred Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin.

http://youtu.be/w5Lo2QevfUY

Although Billy was to sample success with his debut single, “Love Really Hurts Without You”, in 1976, it was not until 1984 and the release of the catchy “Caribbean Queen (No More Love On The Run)”, that he was propelled to global stardom. The album, ‘Suddenly’, was marketed to coincide with the release of the latter single. This was followed by the albums, ‘Love Zone’, in 1986, and ‘Tear Down These Walls’, in 1988.

The single, “When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going”, became the theme to the highly successful film, ‘Jewel Of The Nile’. More hits followed, including “There’ll Be Sad Songs (To Make You Cry)” and “Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car”, ensuring that the name, Billy Ocean, is there among those on the list of the most prominent, solo male artists of the 1980s.

The names of more hits by Billy Ocean can be located in the suggested playlists. Whilst you are there, why not peruse the list of my favourite recordings? I shall be adding to it from time to time.

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Keith West

Keith Alan Hopkins was born near London, in December of 1943. In 1964 he became the leading singer in the group, The In Crowd, which was soon renamed as Tomorrow.

Keith’s salient period came, as a solo artist, in 1967, with the release of his single, “Excerpt From A Teenage Opera”. It peaked at No.2 on the British singles’ chart.

It is a favourite track of mine for its melody, its almost childish, yet haunting aura and for the moral I obtain from the song, namely that so many human beings tend to think of themselves and their own needs even, as in this instance, with regard to the elderly.

http://youtu.be/0rExhxkX-Ic

The names of more of my favourite tracks can be found in the suggested playlists.

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Rupert’s People

“Reflections Of Charles Brown” has been a favourite single of mine since it was released in 1967. It reached No.13 in Australia and, I believe, entered the Top 10 in Canada.

Some people believe that it is at least partially cloned from Procol Harum’s “A Whiter Shade Of Pale” but wasn’t that, in turn, based on a classical piece?

I like the melody of the song, as well as the way the lyrics depict both the helplessness and hopelessness in Charles Brown’s life. One feels that he has done very little, other than work, and nor is anything likely to alter this in the austerity that was Britain, for many, at that time.

http://youtu.be/AenoFDr9nSI

A list of more of my favourite recordings can be found in the suggested playlists. I shall be adding to this list from time to time.

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The Mighty Avengers

It is virtually impossible to find out any information on this obscure British group. Nonetheless, I have decided to include its single, “So Much In Love”, for I really enjoyed listening to it as a teenager, in 1964. It spent only two weeks on the British singles’ chart, peaking at No. 46. It is also an example of the early songwriting of Mick Jagger and Keith Richard.

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Merrilee Rush and The Turnabouts

“Angel Of The Morning”, sold in excess of a million copies and was Merrilee Rush and The Turnabouts’ only major hit. Merrilee, who was born in January of 1944, in Seattle, Washington, was nominated for a Grammy Award, that of Female Vocalist of the Year, in 1968, as a result of her performance on this recording.

The actual recording of “Angel Of The Morning” took place in Memphis, Tennessee. The song had been written by Chip Taylor, the brother of actor, Jon Voight, and the uncle of actress, Angelina Jolie. Chip had already achieved major success, in 1966, when the British group, The Troggs, had taken another song of his, “Wild Thing”, to N0.1.

Despite the progressive advancement in technology, I still much prefer this original version of “Angel Of The Morning” to the revival by Juice Newton, in 1981, although, granted, this single, too, sold more than a million records.

http://youtu.be/cbUNVm1k3nU

Apparently I stand corrected, Evie Sands recorded the original version, in 1967.

The names of my favourite recordings can be found in the suggested playlists. I shall be adding to this list from time to time.

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Neil Sedaka

Not only did Neil Sedaka write or co-write most of his own songs, he also wrote hits for other artists. Neil wrote his first piece of music, in Brooklyn, New York City, at the age of thirteen, in 1952, in collaboration with his next-door neighbour, Howard Greenfield.

Neil, who was a student of the classical piano, joined the group, The Tokens, but left it long before it benefitted from its large, instantly recognisable hit, “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”; a revised version of The Weavers’ hit of 1952, “Wimoweh”. Among the artists who recorded songs written by Neil and Howard were The Clovers, Connie Francis, LaVern Baker, Clyde McPhatter, The 5th Dimension, The Captain and Tennille, and Tony Christie.

http://youtu.be/pCBFHj3mRmU

Neil’s personal recording career was doing well until the British Invasion swept the global charts, ending many artists’ careers. It was to be countries such as Australia that were to support his recordings over this long lean period. In Australia, his release of 1968, “Star-Crossed Lovers” went to No.1; followed, in 1970, by “Wheeling, West Virginia” (No.9) and “Standing On The Inside” (No.10), in 1973. Neil actually recorded “Wheeling, West Virginia” during one of his many visits to the land ‘Down Under’.

http://youtu.be/DULHFltFIdk

It was to be 1974 before Neil Sedaka would again have a No.1 hit in his home country. This came in the form of “Laughter In The Rain”. Nineteen seventy-five was also an excellent year, as The Captain and Tennille took “Love Will Keep Us Together” to No.1 and Neil’s recording of “Bad Blood” did likewise. A slow version of his No.1 from 1962, “Breaking Up Is Hard To Do”, ended the year off nicely for him by also entering the Top 10 in America.

The names of more recordings by Neil Sedaka can be found in the suggested playlists. Whilst there, why not look at the list of my favourite recordings? I shall be adding to it from time to time.

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Wilson Pickett

Wilson Pickett’s voice epitomised soul. A voice honed in travelling gospel groups; a voice that would cultivate what became known as the Scream.

Wilson was born in rural Alabama, in March of 1941. He was the fourth of eleven children whose future was totally dependant upon the crop, cotton.

In 1955, Wilson Pickett moved to Detroit where he lived with his father. It was there that he met the group, The Falcons, which contained Eddie Floyd among its members. Eddie was to write and record “Knock On Wood”, in 1966, the same song that Amii Stewart was to take to the top of the charts, in 1979, at the height of the disco era.

The Falcons modelled itself upon Hank Ballard and The Midnighters. Hank Ballard was to pen and record “The Twist”, in 1959, which, in 1960, Chubby Checker covered, and, in doing so, launched an international dance sensation.

“You’re So Fine” and “I Found A Love” were hits for The Falcons but Wilson was already aiming to become a solo artist. This aim, he thought, would come to fruition when he was signed to Atlantic Records, however, things did not work out, and it was not until 1965 when he moved to Memphis, to record in the Stax studio, that his goal began to take shape. “In The Midnight Hour” and “634-5789 (Soulsville, U.S.A.)” were among the tracks recorded there.

That following year, Wilson began recording in the famed Muscle Shoals studios, in Alabama. “Land Of 1000 Dances” topped the soul charts and rose to No.6 on the pop charts.

http://youtu.be/Kk4Uwge4DzQ

Wilson Pickett became an inductee into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, in 1991. His career received another boost from the film, ‘The Commitments’, in which he was viewed as the personification of soul. The film and its subsequent soundtrack introduced a new generation to songs such as “Mustang Sally”.

http://youtu.be/My2apquxKKQ

Wilson died from cardiac arrest in January of 2006, at the age of sixty-four.

The names of more recordings by Wilson Pickett can be found in the suggested playlists. While there, you may like to peruse the list of my favourite recordings. I shall be adding to it from time to time.

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The Troggs

The Troggs became one of Britain’s most salient and distinctive bands of the mid-to-late 1960s. Unlike much of its material, the group did not write its initial hit, “Wild Thing”, which has been covered many times by artists as diverse as Jimi Hendrix, Tommy Roe, Jeff Beck, The Runaways, The Creatures, Sam Kinison, and Tone Loc. The song was written by New Yorker, Chip Taylor, a brother to actor, Jon Voight. The recording of “Wild Thing” by The Troggs, in 1966, made the song an instant classic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwRrXjWgkaY

The group arose from near the town of Winchester — famous for its cathedral — in southern England, and from 1966 until 1968 consisted of leading vocalist and the band’s principal songwriter, Reg Presley; guitarist, Chris Britton; bassist, Peter Staples and drummer, Ronnie Bond. “With A Girl Like You”, written by Reg, was the quartet’s follow-up to “Wild Thing”, and went to No.1 in Britain, as well as a number of European countries.

Reg Presley’s ability to write songs at either end of the musical spectrum is made no more stark than when one listens to the overtly sexual, “I Can’t Control Myself”, followed by the reflective poignancy of “Love Is All Around”. The latter has been revived by the likes of R.E.M. and the Scottish group, Wet Wet Wet. Unlike so many other artists in the retrospective 1990s, Wet Wet Wet’s cover was highly meritorious and spent fifteen weeks atop the British charts. What a pity so many other revivalists of that musically best-forgotten decade did not follow suit!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ut5uC91FcbI

I have always thought that The Troggs’ “Little Girl” deserved to sell better than it did. Its controversial subject matter deals with having a child out of wedlock, and, in 1968, for this reason, was generally shunned by radio stations.

Reg Presley died in February of 2013, at the age of seventy-one.

The names of other tracks by The Troggs are available in the suggested playlists. A list of my favourite recordings can now be located in the suggested playlists.

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Del Shannon

Charles Weedon Westover was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in December of 1934. In 1954, he was drafted into the army and deployed to serve in Germany. There, in his spare time, he played the guitar in a band.

Once his military service had expired he returned to Michigan, where he worked as a truck driver. In the evenings he played rhythm guitar in a group, of which, in 1958, he was to become its leader and singer, under the name of Charlie Johnson.

Recordings of this group, The Big Little Show Band, were sent to Detroit, and, in 1960, Charles was signed to a contract. Under the name of Del Shannon he was assigned not only to record, but to write songs as well.

Del’s rise was meteoric, as his single, “Runaway”, went to No.1 on Billboard’s chart in April of 1961. “Hats Off To Larry” was to perform almost as well.

His success in America waned after that, however, across the Atlantic the opposite was the case. In Britain, between 1961 and 1965, Del had eight singles enter the Top 10 on the British charts. He became the first American to cover a recording by The Beatles, “From Me To You”. The British duo, Peter and Gordon, recorded “I Go To Pieces”, a song written by Del, in 1964. Although it did not chart in America or Britain, it did in Australia.

Unfortunately, depression and alcoholism punctuated Del’s later life and in February of 1990, at the age of fifty-five, he used a rifle to suicide at his home in Santa Clarita, California.

The names of more tracks by Del Shannon can be found in the suggested playlists.