Jay Coffey returns - boss radio hits

[K.M. Richards]

Back to the sound of bossradiohits.com.

Thank you.

 

[michael hagerty]

First, the above post is not a Rewind. Second, I know KHJ played later Monkees releases---I was merely quoting Ron Jacobs, who had said he would not play any. If KHJ played Valleri in 1967, how did they get a copy of the song? Third, not only is the title spelled Valerie on KHJ's Top 300 list, it is also spelled Valerie on the eleven consecutive KRLA Most Requested lists on which it appeared. The song debuted at number one on April 22, 1967. From there it went to 1-1-1-2-9-5-15-13-18-21-off. Fourth, do you really think think our two biggest top-40 stations in 1967 both would misspell the title of a song by one of the most popular groups of that time? Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart wrote the song and initially named it after frequent Monkees co-star Valerie Kairys. Let me repeat that name: Valerie Kairys. A link to a story about her is below. By the way, when stations began playing Valleri in 1967, Colgems Records president Don Kirshner refused to release the song as a single. Kirshner got fired for releasing A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You as a single without the consent of Columbia Pictures. After he was gone, Valleri became a single...and Michael Nesmith thought it was the band's worst song.

Louie Shelton was the guitarist on that Monkees song (as well as on ABC, I Want You Back, Diamond Girl,
Play Me, Last Train To Clarksville and dozens of other hits. On his own website -- http://www.louieshelton.com/Louie_Shelton/Home.html -- he spells the title Valerie. So, Michael and K.M., would either of you care to tell him he misspelled it? Or do you think the copies of the song delivered to KRLA and KHJ in 1967 did indeed show the title as Valerie?

In my own defense---because I have made quite a few errors in the past twelve years---I have to point out that "meticulous" (which is Don's word, not mine) does not mean "perfect." When I unkowingly make a mistake and someone points it out, I correct it and I thank the person who told me. I appreciate K.M. and David and Michael and Jim Hilliker and Robert O'Brien, all of whom have found errors in things I have written. I continue to learn. As Stan Laurel once said to Oliver Hardy in a movie, "You remember how dumb I used to be? Well, I'm better now."

Well, Steve, turns out it was a little bit me and a little bit you when it comes to not fully doing the research.

KHJ and most likely KRLA got Valleri in 1967 the way most stations did. And it wasn't a Colgems promotion person, because Colgems had no plans to release the song. And thus, there was no KRLA exclusive and no Ron Jacobs threat not to play Monkees records.

What existed and aired on the TV show was a rough mix. Boyce and Hart had by then stopped working with the Monkees and the Monkees had a new clause in the contract requiring they get producer credit on anything issued going forward. Which meant Valleri, as it existed, couldn't be released. Kirshner didn't refuse to release it, it wasn't even a consideration.

Two disc jockeys, one in Chicago and another in Florida, had begun taping the audio of the Monkees TV show, mining it for unreleased songs and playing them on their shows. Three as-yet-unreleased Monkees songs had been on the TV show (All The King's Horses, the rock version of I Wanna Be Free and I'll Be Back Up On My Feet) prior to Valleri airing in the 23rd episode.

The DJs played Valleri, got requests and made dubs available to other radio stations around the country. As for Valerie, that's how it appeared on the closing credits of that week's episode. No doubt, that's how the DJs who taped it wrote it down, and how they labelled the dubs that made it to KHJ and KRLA. So my bad...it wasn't whoever typed up the KHJ lists.

But the song wasn't Valerie, it was Valleri. Louie Shelton's spelling notwithstanding, there's no evidence of the song ever having been published as anything other than Valleri...and more telling, when the same version of the song was featured in the 31st episode two months later, it appeared in the closing credits as Valleri. So the erroneous spelling "Valerie" was actually the work of the production assistant who wrote up the credits at Screen Gems.

A deal was cut with Boyce and Hart to return to the studio and re-cut Valleri with a horn section. The deal included other work on The Birds, The Bees and The Monkees album. Though they were, in fact, producing, they agreed to simply accept money and writer's credits so the "Produced by the Monkees" label could appear on the work, as required by the band's amended contract. It was a year after Kirshner's firing. He had violated the terms of the Screen Gems contract that gave the Monkees input into singles releases. They had recorded All Of Your Toys and The Girl I Knew Somewhere in the belief that Colgems would release that as their next two-sided single. Kirshner blew that off, not Valleri.

But even though Kirshner was fired, the band still went with his pick for their next single...Pleasant Valley Sunday.

 

[oldies76]

Thank you.

Enjoy this Boss lineup! Reminds me of early 1990's KRTH, when they mostly played 60's. And the jingles are timeless! It'll be interesting once Jay goes live.

 

[TheBigA]

But even though Kirshner was fired, the band still went with his pick for their next single...Pleasant Valley Sunday.

A California band singing about a neighborhood in West Orange NJ, where Carol King and Gerry Goffin lived after their kids were born. Gerry hated the suburbs, and wrote what he intended to be a protest song. To this day, whenever I drive down Pleasant Valley Way, I hum this chorus. It's no longer "status symbol land."

 

[K.M. Richards]

Enjoy this Boss lineup! Reminds me of early 1990's KRTH, when they mostly played 60's. And the jingles are timeless! It'll be interesting once Jay goes live.

As was said elsewhere, one had better hope that the Turtles don't win any more lawsuits, or all of these streams with pre-1972 music will literally dry up.

 

[michael hagerty]

A California band singing about a neighborhood in West Orange NJ, where Carol King and Gerry Goffin lived after their kids were born. Gerry hated the suburbs, and wrote what he intended to be a protest song. To this day, whenever I drive down Pleasant Valley Way, I hum this chorus. It's no longer "status symbol land."

Just did a Google Maps street view. You're not kidding. But I can squint, think back 48 years and picture the neighbor proud of her roses, Mr. Green with the TV in every room and the folks who one-upped the neighbor's '65 Olds by buying a '66 Buick.

 

[CTListener]

As was said elsewhere, one had better hope that the Turtles don't win any more lawsuits, or all of these streams with pre-1972 music will literally dry up.

As will SiriusXM's '40s, '50s and '60s channels and much of the Soul Town, Willie's Roadhouse, Classic Vinyl and Deep Tracks libraries. With advertisers pulling the strings at FM and demanding nothing air that might attract unsellable older listeners, could a sweeping triumph by the artists led by the Turtles turn out to be a Pyrrhic victory? After all, while people who were hearing Turtles songs on Sirius XM (and are still hearing other pre-1972 artists' work on SXM and online) may unwittingly be ripping off the artists, isn't uncompensated or inadequately compensated exposure better than no exposure at all? Who wins if the '50s and '60s disappear from the airwaves and the Internet?

 

[TheBigA]

... isn't uncompensated or inadequately compensated exposure better than no exposure at all? Who wins if the '50s and '60s disappear from the airwaves and the Internet?

Mark Volman says exposure doesn't justify stealing. These songs got lots of free exposure when they were new. The music is well known. They feel Sirius and other platforms are using their music to make money. Otherwise, why would they be playing those songs?

 

[K.M. Richards]

The music is well known.

When I read that, I thought about oldies76's over-repeated opinion on the playing of songs that didn't chart so well but which he -- and allegedly others -- remember fondly. Those songs (and a lot of higher charting ones) must not be resonating with listeners or they would test well enough for airplay ... or would have in the past, when there was more pre-1972 music on the classic hits stations.

Those songs would necessarily go away as well if the lawsuits are successful. I wonder if oldies76 has considered this. Flo and Eddie may be his true enemies, not the radio programmers.

From the Turtles' website, here is contact information for their attorney, in case oldies76 or any of his fan club members want to write and express their opinion:
Evan S. Cohen, Esq.
1180 South Beverly Drive, Ste 510
Los Angeles, CA 90035-1157
Phone (310) 556-9800
Fax (310) 556-9801
[email protected]

(I figure if it's on the band's website, it's freely postable here.)

 

[TheBigA]

Those songs would necessarily go away as well if the lawsuits are successful.

I'm not so sure about that. It's up to the broadcaster to decide if they still want to air the songs and pay the royalty, as opposed to playing the song for free. That also depends on how they set the royalty rate. I don't think any of these state laws specify a rate. TTBOMK, they just say that there is local copyright protection. The rate would then have to be negotiated, unless Congress steps in an applies the post 1972 rules to pre-1972, which is something I don't expect.

 

[Art Landing]

I didn't know until this discussion Mark Volman from Mark Scott (the voice of the Hollywood stars in the Gilmore Field era from from KFWB) but find he is apparently the Pat Haden (Rhodes Scholar quarterback for the old Los Angeles Rams) of Rock and Roll - someone with brains in addition to talent in his field:

"Volman was born in Los Angeles, California, and grew up in Westchester, a suburb of Los Angeles, where he graduated from Westchester High School in 1965. In 1992, aged 45, he started his bachelor's degree at Loyola Marymount University. Volman graduated with a B.A. degree in 1997 Magna c_u_m Laude and was the class valedictorian speaker. During the speech he led the graduates in a chorus of "Happy Together". CBS Evening News covered Volman's graduation and interviewed his parents who were perplexed at their son's academic accomplishments." --- Wikipedia (sorrry for the underscore - the software doesn't like the English rendering of the Latin word for "with" and inserted asterisks.)

Volman is making the same basic "laws have to count and be respected" argument against the entitlement generation as those in other controversies. This includes those who oppose allowing illegal immigration just because of poverty and injustice in other countries, scuttling of historic contractual water rights just because there is a drought or government involvement in what began as protected religious sacraments just because excluded groups don't like old boundaries.

Favored treatment for inventors, including intellectual creativity, was a part of our constitution from the beginning and Congress passed laws accordingly. This is appropriate - the legislative branch is supposed to make the laws, courts should read and apply hem and the executive is supposed to administer them. When technology or circumstances create a new situation the law (maybe even the Constitution) needs to be reviewed and a decision made as to the changes. But that isn't fast enough for some people and so those affected like Mr. Volkman get ticked off and claim "foul."

Sorry, but he has a point and the right to ask the courts about it. If the courts say the law as it stands is on his side and old music on the Internet deserves compensation then Congress needs to stand up to the plate and adapt the law to today's technology. If those of us who enjoy listening to music from that era on the Internet have to wait until things get sorted out, too bad. Just as with immigration, water rights and religious institutions we are and must remain a nation of laws when it comes to intellectual property.

Personally I think there should be a cutoff point for protected status (perhaps fifty years) because most recording artists after all did receive payment at one point; architects don't get a new commission each tine a building they designed changes hands. But the balance is for Congress, not pirates on the Internet, to determine.

 

[Thomps2525]

Michael, I appreciate your diligent research and lengthy essay about the Monkees song. I have the boxed set of the Monkees' tv shows and I should have re-watched episode #23 to see how Valleri was spelled in the credits. So it was shown as Valerie. Since the song was supposedly written for Valerie Kayris, does anyone know why Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart changed the spelling of the name?

K.M., Lou Simon hosts a top-40 countdown each weekend on Sirius XM '60s Channel. He tries to avoid doing countdowns from weeks when the Turtles had a song in the top 40 but he can not always do that. On January 24 this year, he played the songs from January 24, 1969. The Turtles' You Showed Me was #12 but, because he could not play it, he substituted the original 1964 version by the Byrds (then known as the Jet Set). They recorded the song in 1964 but it wasn't released until 1969, when it appeared in two versions---acoustic and electric---on the Preflyte album. Here is the electric version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sHCEYjNYsI

 

[TheBigA]

They recorded the song in 1964 but it wasn't released until 1969, when it appeared in two versions---acoustic and electric---on the Preflyte album.

And amazingly the song was actually written by The Byrds' Roger McGuinn (under his birth name of Jim McGuinn) and Gene Clark. Occasionally Roger does the song now in his solo shows. He seems to dislike the song because of its innocent lyrics. They really fit The Turtles better.

 

[michael hagerty]

Michael, I appreciate your diligent research and lengthy essay about the Monkees song. I have the boxed set of the Monkees' tv shows and I should have re-watched episode #23 to see how Valleri was spelled in the credits. So it was shown as Valerie. Since the song was supposedly written for Valerie Kayris, does anyone know why Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart changed the spelling of the name?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sHCEYjNYsI

Steve: Interestingly, there is nothing anywhere from Tommy Boyce or Bobby Hart that indicates either of them had ever met Valerie Kairys, much less wrote a song about her. That seems to be urban legend.

Valerie appeared in a lot of Monkees TV episodes, but according to the Monkees sessionography Valleri was recorded on August 6, 1966...five weeks before the first episode of The Monkees aired, and seven weeks before her first appearance on the show.

In Tommy Boyce's book, he says that Don Kirshner called asking for a song with a girl in the title for the Monkees to record. Tommy told Kirshner he had one even though he didn't. Kirshner demanded that they come out to his house and play it for him. Boyce told Kirshner to give him a few hours, that Bobby Hart was still sleeping, hung up, woke Bobby and told him they had to make up a song about a girl right away. They whipped up a riff and a basic melody, came up with a list of girls' names, but didn't like any of them. They were in the car on Mulholland on the way to Kirshner's and still didn't have a name. Tommy pushed Bobby...think...someone you really liked once. Hart said there was a girl in high school...she didn't feel the same way about him...he'd written a song about her, which he didn't like, but he really liked her name..."and her name was Valleri".

And there was the hook of the song, which they then re-arranged and finished up by singing it out loud in the car. Within 20 minutes they were playing it for Kirshner. Hart says the only thing he disagrees with about Boyce's account is that they really didn't have the words down by the time they got to Kirshner's, so they sang "And her name is Va-a-a-a-alleri...I love her...Va-a-a-a-alleri....I need her...Va-a-a-a-alleri" and then said "and we'll put a little something here for the verses".

They both agree that the song was finished that afternoon and the Monkees cut it the next day.

 

[Thomps2525]

At the time McGuinn and Clark wrote You Showed Me, they were performing as a duo. They sang at the Ash Grove, the Troubador, McCabe's Guitar Shop and other local clubs. At one of the Troubador's "hootenannies" in 1964, they met singer/guitarist David Crosby, who was also on the bill. Crosby joined the group...and then came Michael Clark and Chris Hillman and the Byrds were born. (Or should I say "hatched"? Probably not.) Some sources say the quintet was originally known as the Jet Set...and other sources say that McGuinn and Clark were calling themselves the Jet Set when they performed as a duo. Darn this World Wide Web and all its conflicting information!

 

[Thomps2525]

Again, Michael, thank you for the research and information. Now I'm wondering if Boyce & Hart's "Va-a-a-a-alleri" might have been inspired by Van Morrison's "G-L-O-R-I-A, Glo-o-o-o-ria." Compare the instrumental opening of Gloria with the guitar part of Valleri. Compare the way Davy Jones sings the name "Valleri" with the way Morrison sings the name "Gloria." And Davy didn't really need that microphone anyway.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWTa9CE51sA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkaMVLHxzWE

 

[michael hagerty]

Again, Michael, thank you for the research and information. Now I'm wondering if Boyce & Hart's "Va-a-a-a-alleri" might have been inspired by Van Morrison's "G-L-O-R-I-A, Glo-o-o-o-ria." Compare the instrumental opening of Gloria with the guitar part of Valleri. Compare the way Davy Jones sings the name "Valleri" with the way Morrison sings the name "Gloria." And Davy didn't really need that microphone anyway.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWTa9CE51sA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkaMVLHxzWE

Could have been, though neither Boyce nor Hart mention that.

Kirshner, on the other hand, is quoted as saying that he wanted a Monkees' song with a girl's name in the title "because the formula worked so well for Neil Sedaka" (Oh! Carol was his first Top 10, and Kirshner took credit for giving Sedaka the idea)....so Valleri may owe more to Oh! Carol than to Gloria.

 

[TheBigA]

And Davy didn't really need that microphone anyway.

However, I believe that's him playing the tambourine. It goes off tempo several times in the song.

Not a whole lot of lyrics in this song...just 2:14...nice & quick. Don't bore us...starts with the chorus.

 

[Thomps2525]

The original recording of Valleri used on the tv show featured Louie Shelton on guitar, Larry Taylor on bass, Billy Lewis on drums and Gene Estes on tambourine. Yeah, we know that the Monkees initially did not play their own instruments...but, come on, couldn't Davy had been trusted to shake a fershlugginer tambourine? He does seem to be really playing tambourine on that tv episode, though. Did a producer think that Davy would be unable to shake the tambourine in a believable way which would correspond to the sound heard on the recording? Was the original tambourine track removed from the song so Davy could replace it "live" for the video? I wonder. By the way, record reviewer Mark Prindle includes this comment in his paragraph about the More Of The Monkees album: "Just listen to Davy Jones not really play that tambourine!"

http://www.markprindle.com/monkeesa.htm

Another actor who shook a tambourine on television but not on the band's recordings: Suzanne Crough, who portrayed Tracy Partridge on the 1970-74 Partridge Family sitcom (and died two months ago at 52).

 

[oldies76]

When I read that, I thought about oldies76's over-repeated opinion on the playing of songs that didn't chart so well but which he -- and allegedly others -- remember fondly. Those songs (and a lot of higher charting ones) must not be resonating with listeners or they would test well enough for airplay ... or would have in the past, when there was more pre-1972 music on the classic hits stations.

They did play more of them in the past, primarily during weekend specials, not nearly as much during regular rotations.

Those songs would necessarily go away as well if the lawsuits are successful. I wonder if oldies76 has considered this. Flo and Eddie may be his true enemies, not the radio programmers.

Yes, I've considered it. It would be very unfortunate if pre 72's become unplayable on streams. BUT (the big word here is but), thankfully I have the vast majority of them in my own music library to enjoy whenever. So not all is lost and in my case, will never be if I can help it.