Fantastic Oldies Game!

[Those RRRRs]

The Coasters with Carl Gardner were formed from group members of The Robins, whose hits included "Smokey Joe's Cafe," and "Whadaya Want," which was a standard that was recorded by many groups and artists including Otis Williams and The Charms.

 

[GridLeakBias]

The Coasters with Carl Gardner were formed from group members of The Robins, whose hits included "Smokey Joe's Cafe," and "Whadaya Want," which was a standard that was recorded by many groups and artists including Otis Williams and The Charms.

Bill Justis, best known for his 1957 Billboard #2 hit, “Raunchy”, was also a successful record producer and music arranger for both Pop and country music performers at Monument and Mercury Records and other labels. He played saxophone on the soundtrack for the 1964 Elvis Presley film, “Kissin' Cousins” and that same year took over as manager of the singing group, Ronny & the Daytonas. Justis also wrote the music for several Hollywood motion pictures including the 1977 Burt Reynolds / Sally Field hit “Smokey and the Bandit”.

 

[GridLeakBias]

(GLB, "Old Rivers" was Brennan's biggest hit, peaking at #5 in 1962.)

Thanks Alex. Somehow I couldn't find this info. :-[

 

[Those RRRRs]

How about a little Smokey? The flip of "The Tracks Of My Tears" called "A Fork In The Road" by Smokey & The Miracles was a minor hit on the east coast and while "More More More of Your Love" was a minor hit for him as well, it was better known on the East Coast and in Philly by Bob Brady & The Concords.

 

[amfmsw]

Bob Brady & Tmhe Concords version of "More...." is extremely collectable and a definite Philly favorite. Different from the Concords on Epic and their "Should I Cry" from 1964.

 

[AlexBrowne]

The 1963 Italian documentary Mondo Cane, about unusual occurrences and bizarre customs around the world, is remembered mostly for one of the best instrumentals of the rock era, "More," by Kai Winding & Orchestra; Winding, a Dane, may have been a one-hit wonder on the Billboard Hot 100, but he was well-known in big band and jazz circles as a top trombonist who had played with Benny Goodman and Stan Kenton in the mid-1940s.

 

[Those RRRRs]

Kai Winding's "More" was released on Verve Records, as were a lot of the Big Band and Jazz Records of the 50's, but one of my favorite Verve Records (Verve 10245) that comes to mind was the first Rock N Roll song released on that label called "Imagination" b/w "Ala Men Sy" by Brooklyn, NY's "The Quotations."

 

[GridLeakBias]

Kai Winding's "More" was released on Verve Records, as were a lot of the Big Band and Jazz Records of the 50's, but one of my favorite Verve Records (Verve 10245) that comes to mind was the first Rock N Roll song released on that label called "Imagination" b/w "Ala Men Sy" by Brooklyn, NY's "The Quotations."

(I know you meant, “Ala-Men-Sa-Aye” (1961, Verve 10245 B-side), didn’t you.)

The Quotations recorded a follow-up [acapella] version of “Imagination”/”Ala-Men-Sa-Aye” (Relic 1025) in 1973.

 

[AlexBrowne]

Was it an intentional or unintentional joke that the 1965 follow-up to the Four Tops' first #1 hit, "I Can't Help Myself," was called "It's The Same Old Song," by the same old writers (Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Eddie Holland), with essentially the same old melody, beat, and sax solo?; funny thing, though, that the latter is a better record than the former!

 

[GridLeakBias]

Was it an intentional or unintentional joke that the 1965 follow-up to the Four Tops' first #1 hit, "I Can't Help Myself," was called "It's The Same Old Song," by the same old writers (Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Eddie Holland), with essentially the same old melody, beat, and sax solo?; funny thing, though, that the latter is a better record than the former!

"Old Time Rock and Roll" is a song made famous by Bob Seger and featured in his 1978 album Stranger in Town. It is a nostalgic look at the music of a previous generation. The famous piano "false start" at the beginning of the song was actually an error caused by the tape operator at the recording studio. Seger and his management, however, liked how the "mistake" sounded and kept it in the final mix. Although Seger's version only reached number 28 on the U.S. pop charts when released as a single in 1979, it achieved substantial album-oriented rock radio airplay.

 

[Those RRRRs]

The "Deep River Boys" from Hampton, Virginia were a gospel group that crossed over into the R&B world. They performed with the likes of Fats Waller and Count Basie. Some of their hits included "Shake, Rattle, and Roll," "Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On," "That's Right," and "Not Too Old To Rock and Roll."

 

[GridLeakBias]

The "Deep River Boys" from Hampton, Virginia were a gospel group that crossed over into the R&B world. They performed with the likes of Fats Waller and Count Basie. Some of their hits included "Shake, Rattle, and Roll," "Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On," "That's Right," and "Not Too Old To Rock and Roll."

Fats Domino recorded an uptempo version of the 1940 Vincent Rose, Al Lewis & Larry Stock song, "Blueberry Hill". The song reached #2 in the Top 40, was #1 on the R&B charts for 11 weeks, and was his biggest hit. The song had earlier been recorded by Gene Autry, and Louis Armstrong among many others.

A play on the Fats Domino name is the name of the gospel music group Fetz Domino, which means in mixed German and Latin "Groove for the Lord". In the popular 1970s sitcom “Happy Days”, set in the 1950s, lead character Richie Cunningham (played by Ron Howard) would often sing "I found my thrill..." (the first line of Domino's "Blueberry Hill") in reference to pretty girls he dated or wanted to date.

 

[amfmsw]

One of the great songs that seemed out of place and dated in the 1965 British Invasion was by NY do-woppers. The Great Jive Five with "Im A Happy Man". Listen to Dan Ingram on www.musicradio77.com promos page do his "This weeek on 77 WABC, you'll hear these superhit survey songs from The Rolling Stones (2 bars of Satisfaction)"... the other contemporary stuff, then the the Jive Five! It was wonderful, but stuck out like a sore thumb.

 

[AlexBrowne]

The Ad Libs, a vocal quintet from New Jersey with a doowop pedigree, had only one hit, but it was a swinger: "The Boy From New York City" from 1965; originally an all-male group known as The Creators, The Ad Libs' sound and name changed when they added Mary Ann Thomas as their lead singer.

 

[doowopvault]

New York City was recored by Harvey & the seven sounds on cuca records 1963 $300 record.

 

[AlexBrowne]

Harvey Fuqua, who's best known for his work as lead singer of the Moonglows (e.g., "Ten Commandments Of Love") teamed up with legendary R&B vocalist Etta James on several Chess singles including "If I Can't Have You" and "Spoonful," both from 1960.

 

[GridLeakBias]

Harvey Fuqua, who's best known for his work as lead singer of the Moonglows (e.g., "Ten Commandments Of Love") teamed up with legendary R&B vocalist Etta James on several Chess singles including "If I Can't Have You" and "Spoonful," both from 1960.

The Shirelles wrote "I Met Him On A Sunday” for a high school talent show. The girls performed the tune a cappella in the show and it was an immediate sensation. An audition and a recording studio date ensued, and promotional copies were distributed in New York resulting in a recording contract with Decca.. After a number of semi-successful recordings with Decca, the Shirelles signed with Sceptor. The 1960 release of "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" (Sceptor 1211) reached #1 Pop two weeks after release, the first record by a black female group to hit the top spot. (The Shirelles received a large part of their musical education by listening to New York's premier R&B station at the time, WWRL.)

 

[AlexBrowne]

Chicago native Chuck Leonard broke New York's Top-40 radio "color barrier" in 1965 when he became the first African-American air personality on a major market radio station after WABC's legendary Dan Ingram heard him doing his night shift on soul station WWRL and recommended to WABC management that he be hired; Leonard was a popular deejay on WABC, spending 14 years there, and later had shifts on other New York City stations including WXLO, WRKS, WBLS, WQEW, and WNSW (and filled in on WCBS-FM) before passing away in 2004 at the age of 67.

 

[amfmsw]

Gawd, I can still hear Mr. Leonard do his Dennson Clothing For Men commercials: "Dennison Clothing For Men, open 10 in the morning till 5 the next day. One location, Route 1 Union New Jersey. Money Talks, nobody walks at Dennison Clothing For Men."

That was what, 43 years ago? Who says advertising on radio doesn't work? I believe I was listening to him on 77 when the song "I'm Doing Fine Now" by New York City was a hitbound.

 

[GridLeakBias]

Gawd, I can still hear Mr. Leonard do his Dennson Clothing For Men commercials: "Dennison Clothing For Men, open 10 in the morning till 5 the next day. One location, Route 1 Union New Jersey. Money Talks, nobody walks at Dennison Clothing For Men."

That was what, 43 years ago? Who says advertising on radio doesn't work? I believe I was listening to him on 77 when the song "I'm Doing Fine Now" by New York City was a hitbound.

The Chuck Berry single, “No Money Down”/”The Downbound Train” was released on Chess 1615 in 1955. The A-side peaked at #8, R&B in 1956. As far as I know, the B-side didn’t chart, but the writing and musical talents of Chuck Berry are evident in this cut.